Free Web NovelChapter 296: Chapter 296: Anthony of Westview — Wanda and Levi (1)
The moment the spatial rift tore open, Levi knew something was wrong.
The fluctuations of chaos magic were not collapsing.
They were reconstructing.
Like an invisible web, it wrapped around his entire being, forcefully rewriting him from the very foundation of existence.
The many laws within his body instantly became sluggish, as though submerged in frozen time and sealed into unmoving amber. The concept of Greed instinctively attempted to devour the restraint, only to realize in shock that this was not energy.
It was a rule.
An obsession carried to the extreme.
A fixation called love.
Greed understood obsession.
It could even sense that the core of this thing called love was astonishingly similar to itself—both were forms of ultimate, exclusive possessiveness.
Levi lowered his head to examine himself.
On his wrist was the pristine cuff of a white dress shirt, fastened with silver cufflinks delicately engraved with the letters "W" and "V." The invincible armor from his memories had vanished, replaced by a perfectly tailored dark gray suit. A vivid red carnation rested in his breast pocket.
Instinctively, he reached for his trident.
His fingertips touched only the cold surface of a briefcase, heavy in his grasp—as though it contained not documents, but the weight of fate itself.
Levi did not panic.
Calmly, he surveyed his surroundings.
Straight asphalt roads. White picket fences. Lawns trimmed with copy-paste precision.
The sky was so blue it resembled a painted backdrop, the clouds too perfect to be real.
The entire world existed in a strange monochrome palette of black, white, and gray. Only the flower on his chest—and the warm yellow glow shining from a distant window—possessed genuine color.
Wanda’s cage.
A dream she had woven for herself... and for him.
He stepped forward. His polished leather shoes clicked crisply against the pavement, the sound lonely in the silence.
His fingers tightened unconsciously around the briefcase, feeling the unfamiliar weight.
On both sides of the street stood three identical houses. Identical black cars sat in their driveways. Even the mailboxes, fire hydrants, and trash bins seemed positioned with ruler-measured precision.
A woman in a plaid skirt was watering flowers in her yard. The moment she saw him, a mechanical, programmatic smile spread across her face.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Anthony."
Anthony?
Levi raised an eyebrow imperceptibly, nodded politely, and continued onward.
The instant he turned away, the woman’s smile froze in place. Even the motion of watering flowers halted like a paused videotape.
Only after he had walked more than ten meters away did she resume moving, like a machine reactivated after suspension.
At the end of the street stood a pale yellow house. On the mailbox, elegant lettering spelled out:
Maximoff Family
The roses in the yard were the only things on the street besides his carnation that possessed color.
Their deep crimson was so vivid it resembled fresh blood.
The moment he stepped onto the porch, the door creaked open.
Wanda stood there wearing a polka-dot dress beneath a lace apron. Her long hair had been curled into soft waves, loosely tied with a ribbon. Her smile was impossibly gentle as she wiped her hands on her apron and opened her arms toward him.
"Darling, you’re home."
Her voice carried a trace of excitement.
"Dinner’s ready. I made your favorite—roast chicken and mashed potatoes."
Deep within Levi’s pupils, a streak of dark golden light flickered briefly.
But an invisible force immediately pressed in from every direction.
It was not an attack.
It was denial.
A whisper.
A temptation.
You don’t need those things. You don’t need power. You only need to love me. free𝑤ebnovel.com
The dozen laws within his body felt submerged in thick honey, their operation slowing to a crawl. They were not sealed away—they had been reordered.
In this dimension, every power had to submit to one supreme core:
Love.
The obsessive, exclusive, utterly possessive love defined by Wanda.
Levi chose not to resist forcefully.
Instead, he wrapped an arm around her and gently placed the heavy briefcase onto the small cabinet by the door with a soft click.
Wanda’s body stiffened briefly before completely melting into him, burying her face deeply against his shoulder.
"I missed you."
Her voice trembled faintly, thick with tears.
"Every minute... every second... I kept thinking... kept being afraid... that you wouldn’t come back."
Her fingers gripped the back of his suit so tightly that her knuckles turned white, as though he were the only driftwood keeping her from drowning.
Levi gently patted her back and spoke in a softness unfamiliar even to himself.
"I’m not leaving."
The instant those words fell, the entire dimension trembled slightly.
The invisible shackles loosened by a fraction—but did not disappear.
Wanda lifted her head, eyes glistening with tears, her expression carrying a nearly pathological happiness.
"Really?"
"Really."
Levi looked directly into her eyes.
Deep within those beautiful green irises lay countless shattered fragments of distorted realities—a broken soul endlessly tormenting itself in the void.
A dream woven from chaos magic.
A dream where "loss" would never exist again.
She took his hand and led him inside.
The living room looked as though it had been ripped directly from the cover of a 1950s home magazine—beige sofas, intricately patterned rugs, and a black-and-white wedding photo of the two of them hanging on the wall.
In the picture, they smiled brightly.
Perfectly.
On the dining table, the roast chicken glistened with oil. The mashed potatoes were piled like a hill, accompanied by bright green peas and a freshly baked apple pie.
Wanda thoughtfully pulled out a chair for him before sitting opposite him, resting her chin on her hands as she gazed at him without blinking, eyes overflowing with love.
Levi cut off a piece of chicken and placed it in his mouth.
It had no taste.
Or rather, its flavor had been simplified into the abstract concept of "delicious," rather than any true sensory experience of sweet, sour, bitter, or salty.
He smiled while chewing the fake food, but his mind raced rapidly.
Within this prison-reality manifested from Wanda’s desires, he was not the single-universe-level being who had devoured the Council of Kangs.
He was not the walking catastrophe who wielded dozens of laws.
He was merely a husband who worked nine-to-five and returned home for dinner.
His only duty was to love her.
Any attempt to awaken his true identity might be judged by this fragile world as "betrayal," potentially triggering an even deeper collapse within her.
He needed to find a balance.
While properly playing the role of "Anthony," he also had to quietly seep his true power and memories into this world like mercury spreading soundlessly across the ground.
At that moment, the doorbell rang.
Wanda’s smile stiffened for an instant. A flash of panic crossed her eyes, as though perfection itself had been disturbed, but she quickly regained composure and rose to answer the door.
A couple stood outside.
The man wore black-rimmed glasses. The woman carried a pie tray. Their smiles looked molded from the exact same template.
"Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Maximoff. We’re your new neighbors, the Harts. We made a blueberry pie and hoped you’d enjoy it."
Mrs. Hart’s lips moved slightly, but the voice seemed to come from somewhere behind her, subtly out of sync with her mouth movements in a deeply unsettling way.
"Thank you! Would you like to come in?" Wanda invited warmly as she accepted the pie.
"We’d love to."
The couple spoke in perfect unison—the same tone, pitch, and even pauses between words. It sounded less like two people talking and more like the same audio track playing through dual speakers.
Levi rose and shook Mr. Hart’s hand.
The man’s grip was cold and rigid, the pressure of his fingers perfectly uniform like a robotic arm, never varying even slightly.
Without drawing attention, Levi sent a sliver of spiritual law power into the man’s consciousness.
What he touched was complete emptiness.
These neighbors were merely props Wanda had created to make her "perfect life" feel more authentic.
No souls.
Only preset dialogue and movements.
The four sat down while Wanda served tea and desserts. The Harts began chatting endlessly about amusing stories from their move.
Levi smiled and responded politely while casually scanning the room.
The clock in the corner was permanently frozen at six o’clock.
Outside the window, the sky remained trapped in eternal dusk.
Time itself had been locked at the moment Wanda considered most perfect.
"Mr. Anthony, where do you work?" Mrs. Hart asked. Her smile remained flawless, but her eyes were utterly hollow.
A dangerous thought flashed through Levi’s mind.
What would happen if he said "Avengers"?
"Laws"?
"Multiverse"?
He suppressed the impulse and answered gently:
"I work at a technology company. Research and development."
"That sounds fascinating," Mr. Hart nodded mechanically. "We heard you and Mrs. Maximoff were childhood sweethearts?"
The question caused Wanda’s eyes to light up instantly.
She immediately grabbed Levi’s hand, pride and happiness overflowing from her expression.
"Yes. We’ve known each other since we were children."
She gazed at Levi while speaking—not only to the Harts, but seemingly to the entire world itself.
"He’s the only person I’ve ever loved."
"And the only person I ever will love."
The moment those words fell, the air around them became viscous.
The restraints suppressing Levi’s powers intensified once more, pressing his laws down even further.
He understood now.
Every time Wanda emphasized this exclusive relationship, she reinforced the foundational rules of the dimension. freёweɓnovel.com
In Westview, he belonged only to her.
He could not remember anyone else.
He could not possess bonds with anyone but her.
Levi smoothly pulled her into his arms and pressed a gentle kiss against her smooth forehead.
His voice was low and certain.
"Me too."
That kiss acted like a switch.
Wanda melted completely against him, closing her eyes with a smile so sweet it bordered on obsession.
As her emotions shifted, even the color saturation of the living room seemed to rise slightly. Warm tones began bleeding faintly into the formerly monochrome wallpaper.
The Harts soon took their leave.
The moment the door closed, Levi glanced through the window and saw the couple fading away after exiting the yard—like drops of ink dissolving into water—until they vanished entirely into the twilight air.
"You’ll stay with me forever like this, right?"
Wanda nestled against him, her voice soft as a dream.
"You won’t be like them... like everyone else... saying you love me, only to turn around and leave?"
Levi looked down at her.
Within those beautiful green eyes, madness and fragility waged a brutal war.
He lifted a hand and gently brushed the back of his fingers across her cheek before giving the promise this world needed most.
"I’m not going anywhere."
Wanda relaxed completely.
Her arms wrapped around his waist as she buried her face against his warm chest, murmuring softly:
"That’s good... As long as you’re here... this world... is perfect..."
Levi gently stroked her back in comfort.
But over her shoulder, his gaze drifted toward the silent briefcase resting atop the cabinet by the door.
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