Within a mirror-like alternate dimension that existed between realities, Sebastian hovered in mid-air. He gazed calmly at the surrounding clouds that radiated brilliant platinum light in all directions. With a gentle wave of his hand, the platinum clouds swirling around him dispersed instantly. They transformed into countless vortexes of varying sizes that gradually dissipated and faded away into nothingness.
Just then, the platinum clouds within this alternate dimension suddenly surged violently with tremendous force. They transformed into three distinct clusters that gradually took shape and formed into the heads of a man, a woman, and a tiger. However, upon closer inspection, one could see that the man and woman's heads were roughly the same size, while the tiger's head was slightly smaller than the others. This was clearly related to Sebastian's recent usurpation of a portion of Hoggoth's White Magic Authority.
"Vishanti, I have arrived as expected!" Sebastian declared firmly.
As Sebastian's words fell and echoed across the dimension, the three massive heads looked down at him from above. If Oshtur and Agamotto's expressions appeared extremely displeased and annoyed, then Hoggoth's expression was absolutely grim and filled with barely contained rage.
"Sebastian Shaw, return the power you seized from us immediately, and we may let bygones be bygones for what you did before," Oshtur demanded from her position in the center.
Looking up at Oshtur who floated in the center between the other two, Sebastian chuckled softly and said with confidence, "Oshtur, we are all on the same level of existence now as Dimensional Lords. Although you are indeed much stronger than me in raw power, you should not take advantage of my relative inexperience and youth.
Now, you need to acknowledge and admit one critical thing: unless you are willing to risk the complete collapse of Earth itself and your own destruction in the process, you absolutely cannot do anything to harm me.
My past actions are already a fait accompli, an established fact that cannot be changed. You have no choice whatsoever but to give up pursuing the matter any further. What we need to do now is to discuss and negotiate a ceasefire plan that benefits us both, not waste time wrangling here pointlessly over what has already happened. What do you think?"
It must be said that Sebastian's confident toughness was indeed far beyond the Vishanti's expectations and calculations. His current bold attitude was also precisely the situation the Vishanti least wanted to face in these negotiations.
Oshtur and Agamotto both fell into contemplative silence, carefully considering Sebastian's words. Meanwhile, Hoggoth grew increasingly enraged by the second. He stared intently at Sebastian with burning eyes, letting out a low growl as he said threateningly, "Sebastian Shaw, you have usurped my divine authority without permission. We are only refusing to pursue this matter immediately for the sake of the greater good and Earth's safety. If you continue to choose to retain my authority rather than return it, then I will have absolutely no choice but to destroy your Hogwarts completely and make your new magical system a thing of the past! I will erase everything you have built!"
Sebastian did not take Hoggoth's angry threat seriously at all, because he knew very well through his understanding of cosmic politics that even if Hoggoth desperately wanted to carry out this threat, Oshtur and Agamotto would absolutely not allow it to happen. If Hoggoth really attacked Hogwarts directly, he would inevitably break the sacred rule that demon gods and dimensional lords cannot directly interfere with Earth's natural development and mortal affairs.
At that critical time, it would not only be Oshtur and Agamotto who would refuse to allow Hoggoth to do so. All the other Elder Gods scattered across dimensions and all the demon gods throughout reality would stand firmly against him in opposition. After all, Hoggoth was an extraterrestrial god from another world entirely, an Outer God from beyond Earth's reality. The Elder Gods who originated from Earth, and even the various dimensional lords who had connections to Earth, would absolutely not allow an Outer God to break the fundamental rules protecting Earth from direct divine interference.
As for the possibility of Hoggoth indirectly interfering in Earth's affairs through mortal agents or subtle influence, Sebastian felt completely confident they could settle such matters with him directly when the time came. Compared to their accumulated power and connections on Earth, even the three Vishanti members combined would not be a match for him in terms of mortal influence, let alone just Hoggoth alone. Understanding all of this clearly, Sebastian completely disregarded Hoggoth's hollow threat without any concern.
Looking up calmly at Oshtur and Agamotto floating above, Sebastian chuckled and said dismissively, "I will take Hoggoth's words as just rambling nonsense spoken in a fit of anger and frustration. Now, let us discuss more productively how to stop the war and reach an agreement, shall we?"
Hearing Sebastian's disrespectful words, Hoggoth wanted desperately to say something harsh in response, but ultimately he remained silent and held his tongue. Finally, Hoggoth glanced sideways at Oshtur and Agamotto with clear frustration. The cloud of platinum mist forming his tiger head quickly dissipated and vanished. Clearly, he did not intend to get involved in what negotiations followed. Out of sight, out of mind, he thought bitterly.
Sebastian knew very well through his strategic calculations that while Oshtur and Agamotto might possibly choose not to pursue the matter further for practical reasons, Hoggoth, whose precious authority Sebastian had forcibly seized, would absolutely never give up so easily on revenge. Hoggoth would keep a close and vigilant eye on Sebastian from the shadows of his dimension, and would definitely strike without mercy if the opportunity ever arose. Sebastian was already completely mentally prepared for this inevitable future conflict. When he had originally formulated his elaborate plan, he had already roughly calculated and anticipated the current situation would unfold exactly this way. This was simply a calculated risk he had been forced to take to achieve his goals.
"Sebastian Shaw, stopping the war is actually quite simple and straightforward," Oshtur began. "You must relinquish ownership of the Infinity Stones to neutral parties, cease all direct interference in Earth's natural historical process and development, stop initiating wars that destabilize reality, and open the Source of Magic within your new dimension to all factions of mages throughout the universe without restriction. Then the war will stop immediately, and we will no longer intervene in your affairs."
"I can agree to relinquish ownership of the Time Stone, Soul Stone, and Mind Stone to appropriate guardians," Sebastian replied carefully. "But I will absolutely retain permanent possession of the Space Stone, Reality Stone, and Power Stone for myself."
"No, that is unacceptable," Oshtur countered firmly. "You can keep the Space Stone and the Reality Stone since they are already integrated into your operations, but you need to return the Power Stone to Xandar where it belongs and was originally kept."
Hearing this counterproposal, Sebastian chuckled and said thoughtfully, "I can agree to that arrangement, but with specific conditions. The Time Stone must return to the Sorcerer Supreme, Stephen Strange, who will eventually hold that title. The Soul Stone must belong to the Guardians of the Galaxy as its rightful protectors. And the Mind Stone must remain with Vision as part of his very being. If you agree to this specific distribution of the Stones, then I can agree to keep only the Space Stone and Reality Stone for myself and return the Power Stone to Xandar as requested."
Oshtur and Agamotto clearly discussed Sebastian's detailed proposal telepathically for some considerable time before finally speaking to him again. "That arrangement is acceptable to us, but you must make a binding promise using your dimensional authority itself as collateral. You must swear that you will not seize any more Infinity Stones by any means whatsoever in the future. Otherwise, we will take immediate direct action and forcibly seize control of all the Infinity Stones ourselves, regardless of the consequences."
"Of course, I agree to that condition without reservation," Sebastian said solemnly.
"So, regarding the critical issue of my non-interference in Earth's historical development," Sebastian continued carefully, "my true body and main consciousness may indeed refrain from directly interfering with Earth's natural progression. But my avatars and clones will inevitably need to travel freely on Earth and even throughout the universe to manage my affairs and protect my interests.
However, I can make this binding promise: as long as I and my family and friends are not threatened beyond reasonable limits, and as long as Earth itself is not threatened by beings at our level of power or higher, I will absolutely not use power exceeding those reasonable limits to interfere with Earth's natural history and development.
As for opening the Source of Magic to others, since I have already named this newly created dimension the Magic Dimension, I naturally cannot and will not keep it selfishly to myself alone. It will be accessible to all mages who prove themselves worthy."
Hearing Sebastian's carefully worded conditions, although Sebastian's specific ideas and terms differed somewhat from their original demands, the Vishanti recognized they were not entirely unacceptable as a compromise. This was especially true regarding the Infinity Stones distribution. Sebastian had made significant concessions from his original position, so they naturally would not nitpick unnecessarily on other minor issues. Thus, Oshtur and Agamotto accepted Sebastian's promise as binding.
Beings who had reached the level of Demon Gods and Dimensional Lords no longer needed formal contracts or binding spells to enforce their agreements. Their word given on their own authority was absolutely binding.
Therefore, once Sebastian and the Vishanti reached this consensus and mutual understanding, they said nothing more to each other. Both sides agreed to an immediate ceasefire. Each party then left this alternate dimension and returned to their own realms.
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