"Give it back."
As the Staff of Watoomb instantly flew into William's hand, Wong's heart trembled like a stormy sea. He quickly explained, "That staff is useless to you. It was specifically crafted for me by the Ancient One. Not only is it much weaker than the real Staff of Watoomb, but I'm the only one who can use it."
Holding the staff, William silently probed its interior and confirmed that Wong was telling the truth. This version of the staff only had a defense formation and a magic amplification function. It was nothing like the real deal that could absorb mystical energy, predict the future, heal, and defend.
"I heard you're from China?"
Wong nodded stiffly. William smirked, then casually engraved a weakened version of a healing spell into the staff and cast a healing spell on Wong before tossing it back to him and heading off to find the Ancient One.
Inside the Sanctum's small library, the Ancient One was sitting leisurely at a tea table, sipping tea.
William sat across from her, accepted the cup she handed over, took a small sip, and said, "I dropped over a dozen nukes in Hell. That should ease your worries, right?"
The usually unreadable Ancient One twitched at the corner of her mouth and sighed. "My peace of mind doesn't matter. What's more important is whether you can resist temptation, whether you can keep Hell's demon lords fearful of you."
William grinned. "Can't guarantee I won't be tempted. But as long as I don't walk into Hell myself, no matter how many demon lords enter the material world, they'll never catch me."
"Well…" The Ancient One thought for a moment. Remembering that William was the current holder of the Space Stone, she didn't look down on his strategy of "if I can't win, I run." In fact, that kind of pragmatism reassured her.
William then pulled out the pierced Dark Codex and said, "This belonged to the demon god Set. Can you help me repair it?"
To his surprise, the Ancient One showed no interest in the codex at all. "The old gods of Egyptian mythology are long dead and gone. Learning their magic might give you a few extra spells, but what else is it good for?"
"Though this sword of yours… now that's something unique. Never expected someone raised in England to forge a blade in the style of ancient China."
William just shrugged, offering no explanation.
The Ancient One continued, "Since you used Uru metal and had dwarves forge it, why does the sword have no detectable magical power?"
"Secret," William said, sipping tea and pretending not to notice the curiosity on her face.
He then pulled the Dark Codex off the Tianwen Sword and casually tossed the damaged artifact onto the tea table. Pointing at the Ancient One's forehead, he asked, "You ever think about the consequences of prolonging your life by drawing power from Dormammu's dark dimension?
What if your disciples find out and follow your example—only they lack your strength of will, and end up corrupted into Dormammu's minions?"
That final remark clearly struck a nerve, and the Ancient One finally relaxed.
"Not everyone is gifted like you," she said quietly, sipping her tea.
"I've lived long enough to realize that being the Sorcerer Supreme is not only an honor and a responsibility—it's also a shackle. If you ever—"
"Stop." William cut her off without hesitation. "If you're thinking of making me your successor, forget it. I'm not taking on the responsibility of defending Earth.
Besides, the way I do things is completely different from you. If I were in charge of Kamar-Taj, we'd end up with Earth's mages invading other realms."
Just thinking about William—who dared to drop nukes in Hell—leading an army of spellcasters was terrifying. If he ever gained real power, there was no doubt he'd launch an offensive straight into Hell itself.
The idea might sound thrilling, but the Ancient One knew better. An invasion of Hell would result in massive casualties among the mages, and many of them would inevitably fall to darkness.
Even just defending Earth saw occasional corruption. Direct contact with Hell would only increase the toll.
Since the Dark Codex wasn't worth restoring, William had no reason to linger. He packed up the damaged artifact and prepared to track down the Mephisto projection he'd tagged with a spatial marker.
At that moment, the old devil was in Rome, hiding out in a manor less than ten kilometers from Vatican territory.
So he was banking on hiding in plain sight?
William quickly realized why—Heaven's Tenth Realm had been sealed off by Odin for who knew how many years. Angels couldn't descend to Earth, which meant the Vatican had basically become a powerless spiritual hub.
Demons didn't fear running into human clergy. Without holy relics, even churches posed no barrier to their movements.
As William prepared to leave, he paused and asked the Ancient One, "If angels return to our world—would that be a good thing or a bad thing?"
The Ancient One, who was mid-sip, froze. She set down her cup and looked at William in surprise.
Was he saying he had contact with Heaven—and that he was planning to let angels return to Earth?
After a brief silence, she said, "I imagine angels—who haven't appeared for centuries—want to return to Earth even more than we do."
William nodded. That much was certain. Otherwise, Heaven wouldn't have sent Odin's illegitimate daughter Angela to Earth to negotiate with him—offering divine relics in exchange for the space bridge.
"But what do you think angels would do first, once they return?" the Ancient One asked. "Help us fight demons—or reestablish their faith?"
That made it clear for William in an instant.
If angels did descend, the Church—always itching to stir things up—would go wild without even needing angelic encouragement.
Forget fighting demons. The whole world would be thrown into chaos by their arrival.
Earth was already unstable. If angels returned, it would only get worse.
Just like Loki once said—angels didn't come to protect humanity. They came for humanity's faith.
Thinking of that, William drained his cup with a grin. "Alright, tea's finished. Time for bed. Until next time, Ancient One."
"Wait, William."
Just as he stood up, the Ancient One called out again.
She hesitated, then said, "No matter where you learned those secret arts from, they all trace back to Kamar-Taj. Shouldn't we formally let the other mages know—you're one of us?"
"You trying to take me as your apprentice?" William paused half a second and immediately saw through her intent.
"Is that so bad?" the Ancient One stepped closer. "Even if I don't know what I could teach you, I am qualified, am I not?"
So that's what this is—she's trying to recruit me now?
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