"What the hell is going on? We've detected a massive, unknown energy! And what the hell is that hole in the sky? Don't tell me your magic's out of control!" Nick Fury watched the image appear on the projection screen, his face gloomy as he once again requested a connection to the Mage King's ring. This time, the Mage King didn't refuse. Once the call was connected, Nick barked at him.
"It's Casillas!" Fierce fighting sounds and heavy breathing came from the Mage King's side. He seemed to be fighting a fierce battle with an opponent, and his answer sounded a little anxious.
"That defected wizard? What on earth did they do?" Nick's heart suddenly started to ring with alarm bells. Combined with the projected images, the sense of uneasiness in his heart increased several times again.
"He summoned Dormammu!" the Mage King shouted loudly.
Nick suddenly felt dizzy. He was no longer a complete novice. At least he knew about the existence of Mephisto and Dormammu. He also knew some information about them.
Dimension Invasion!
This is an extremely high-risk event in his opinion!
"Where's Master Ancient One?" Nick subconsciously thought of the Supreme Sorcerer Ancient One: "Could it be that she's not here?"
There was a moment of silence from the Mage King. Then, at Nick's urging, he said in a hoarse voice, "The Supreme is dead. Killed by Casillas."
This answer chilled Nick's body to the bone, and he subconsciously refused to believe it. He had seen the Ancient One before; such a powerful being! How could someone who could stand on equal footing with the God-King Odin and Mephisto, the Lord of Hell, die like this? He even thought at first that the Mage King was telling a completely unfunny joke.
But soon, Nick corrected his thoughts and began to force himself to believe the bad news. At the same time, his brain was working at high speed, and he began to consider various bad consequences and how to deal with them.
But after only a moment's consideration, Nick realized with sadness that his methods of coping seemed of little use in the face of a disaster of this magnitude. He wasn't sure how much of the safe houses he'd secretly built through corruption would be effective against a planetary disaster like a dimensional invasion.
"Where's Luke? Hasn't he come back yet?" After much thought, Nick finally thought of his troubleshooter, Luke. There's a saying that when faced with a problem, turn to Luke first. Even if he didn't want to, he had to admit that asking Luke for help was the simplest, most effective, and most efficient way to solve a problem.
"No." As expected, the Mage King gave Nick another bad answer.
"The captain and I will bring our men to aid you." Nick began selecting his companions and teammates. He couldn't afford to sit and wait for judgment in the face of a disaster of this magnitude. Even at this moment, he pulled out his pager, which he hadn't activated in the entire time. While he didn't know if they could make it in time, or if they could even drive Dormammu away, they were still a fighting force.
"It's too late. Strange has already rushed into the Dark Dimension. The situation has changed a bit now." The Mage King's tone was so complicated that Nick couldn't grasp his true emotions. This made Nick clench his fists again.
If they could survive this disaster, he would have to tell Luke to strengthen the planet's defenses! They needed to be equipped with more powerful equipment! They couldn't just pin all their hopes on the wizards.
…
Dark dimension.
"Dormammu, I'm here to negotiate."
Stephen Strange, who had died countless times, stood up again with the power of the time loop of the Eye of Agamotto and said something that made Dormammu frown and feel upset.
The Dark Dimension transcends time, and Dormammu is not afraid of time acting directly on him. Strange also understands this, so he cleverly uses the cycle of time on himself.
He set a cycle for himself, so every time he cycled, after Dormammu appeared, he passively followed Strange through the cycle again and again. Every time Stephen died, it was the beginning of a new cycle. Dormammu could remember every cycle, but he was always pulled into the next cycle by Strange.
He knew that as long as he could find a way to kill Strange, the main cause of the time cycle, he could end this cycle. He did so, but the situation was a little beyond his expectations. He successfully killed Strange, but it led to the next cycle. And the words "I am here to negotiate" were like a spell before the cycle started.
He had lost count of how many times he had killed this Strange in front of him. He was just like a little bug, jumping around in front of him, dying and coming back to life. He had used all sorts of methods, but the repetition of the other party made him tired.
"Dormammu, I'm here to negotiate!"
After dying once again, Strange jumped back into life and started the cycle again, coming before Dormammu, a giant-like human made entirely of energy.
"I don't need to negotiate. I bet you can't hold on for much longer." Dormammu did not speak, his voice was an energy frequency that bombarded Strange's soul consciousness.
"I can hold on for a long time, but what about you? How long can you hold on?" Strange said loudly.
"What do you mean?" Dormammu paused his surging energy. "Do you think I can't hold out any longer than you?"
"I believe your energy can kill me thousands of times, but what's the point? You have your dimensional power, and I also brought some power from ours. We are now in an unbreakable vicious circle. But if I am trapped here, my hometown will be safe. You are trapped here, is your home really safe?" Strange still said loudly.
"I am the lord of the dark dimension. This is my dimension, my universe, my territory! Why do you think my home is unsafe?" Dormammu roared.
"You are indeed the Lord of the Dark Dimension, but have you always been the master of the Dark Dimension?" Strange saw that Dormammu was no longer unwilling to communicate with him and immediately attacked him, sending him into the next cycle. He was delighted and said, "I once read in a book that records the history of various dimensions that the previous ruler of the Dark Dimension was a wizard named Ornar, and you are an alien energy life that defected to him.
You taught him how to exploit the Dark Dimension's properties to devour other dimensions for expansion, and he granted you a higher status and power. Later, while attempting to conquer a dimensional realm called the Unconscious, Ornar was annihilated. You and your sister, Uma, seized the opportunity to massacre Ornar's followers and, through various means, seized control of the Dark Dimension.
Even because you used the power of the magic barrier to block the invasion of the unconscious dimension, the life in the dark dimension believes that you are their guardian, which deepens your deep connection with the dark dimension.
You and your sister were driven out of the Falting race as heretics for your passion for devouring the material world. After mastering the Dark Dimension, you've never stopped devouring other universes and dimensions. But you're not without enemies, are you?
If you spend a lot of time and energy with me, and something unexpected happens in your dark dimension, what will you do? "
"This is why I hate the Ancient One! She records so much!" Dormammu said angrily. If anyone knew the most about the dark histories of the Lords of the various dimensions, it would undoubtedly be the Ancient One.
Even if the demons of each dimension could effectively conceal their dark histories and pasts, they couldn't resist a prying eye like the Ancient One, who possessed both the ability and the pleasure of self-relief. The Ancient One practically manipulated the Time Stone to its limits. Some demons silently endured his exploitation, and the dark histories he possessed of them proved useless.
Using the Time Stone, he gradually understood the workings of the various dimensional forces, then sought loopholes and gained access, naturally acquiring some inexplicable [records]. Out of some sort of wicked pleasure, the Ancient One also magically copied some of the [records] he had obtained, keeping them as a treasured collection of secrets.
If someone with unmatched strength knows the dark history of these demon gods and wants to blackmail them, he will naturally be asking for trouble.
But if a person who is very powerful and difficult to kill has a dark history in his hands, then he can only pay hush money regularly. There are really stubborn people who either cannot find the whereabouts of Ancient One at all, or are killed by Ancient One.
In a relatively short time span of just a few hundred years, nearly a thousand years compared to the Demon God, Ancient One has been able to build such a great reputation in the multiverse. Naturally, there is a reason for this. Simply being strong and able to fight is not enough.
As the Sorcerer Supreme's heir, Strange, after the Sorcerer Supreme opened up all his treasures except for a few forbidden ones, naturally came across this secret book, which records the dark histories of the Lords of various dimensions. Dormammu, the master of the Dark Dimension, occupies a significant space in the book, being described in rich and detailed detail.
"What do you think?" Strange walked up to Dormammu's energy face, which was bigger than an asteroid, and asked.
"What terms do you want to negotiate?" Dormammu didn't want to be trapped in this endless cycle with Strange again and again, especially with his true identity almost exposed by Strange. He did need to consider some matters outside the cycle, including the barrier to the unconscious dimension, which required constant attention. In short, he approved of Strange's negotiation.
"Take your fanatics and leave my territory," Strange made a demand. "Stop doing evil in our world and promise me that you will never come back. If you agree, I will stop the cycle and we will go back to our own homes and deal with the mess at home."
"As you wish." Dormammu looked at Strange deeply and gave his answer in a rumbling voice.
…
Strange slowly flew out of the dark dimension and came to the Mage King and Mordo who were confronting Kaecilius and others.
"What have you done?" Seeing Strange reappear intact, the intoxicated look on Casillas' face when he looked at the dark dimension faded. He looked at the other party in astonishment and couldn't help asking.
He didn't understand why this wizard who was seeking his own death did not die, but instead returned from the dark dimension.
"What did I do?" Strange stood firm on the ground and stretched out his tone. "I guess I had a friendly and warm negotiation with your master? The process was not beautiful, but the result was not bad."
Casillas and the others looked at each other, unsure whether to believe Strange's words. But just as Casillas was about to say something, the power mark on his forehead suddenly lit up, and a huge suction force suddenly pulled him. His whole body was like burning red charcoal, and huge energy flowed through his veins and body.
Several other Dormammu fanatics also floated up one after another, and like Kaecilius, were absorbed into the shrinking dark dimension at the entrance without any room for struggle.
"Goodbye, I helped you fulfill your wish and sent you to meet your Lord, merge with him, and gain immortality. No need to thank me." Strange shrugged slightly as he looked at Casillas and others who disappeared into the cave and turned into a ball of charcoal, losing their breath of life.
"Well done! How did you do it?" Seeing the last hole in the sky disappear and the sky returned to its original appearance, the Wizard King jumped onto Strange with almost extreme excitement, patted his back hard with his chubby hands, and asked with a laugh.
"This is incredible." Mordo felt a little jealous. He was jealous that it was not him who could do all this, but he soon calmed himself down and, like the Wizard King, stepped forward to congratulate Strange.
Undoubtedly, when the Ancient One chose Strange as his successor, some would have questioned and disagreed. However, after he successfully drove out Dormammu and saved Midgard from him, Strange became the undisputed new Sorcerer Supreme. And like the Ancient One, he was the new Sorcerer Supreme, respected and recognized by all mages.
"Oh no, I suddenly thought of a troublesome thing!" The celebrating Mage King suddenly jumped off Strange as if he had thought of something, with a panicked look on his face.
"What trouble is more troublesome than Dormammu now? We have solved Dormammu, so what trouble can't be solved?" Strange said with a smile.
"Luke's Book of Energy was absorbed into the Dark Dimension along with Kaecilius." The Mage King forced a flattering smile and grasped Strange's arm. "Master Strange, no, Your Excellency the Sorcerer Supreme, I think you should go and explain this to Luke. This isn't a matter of negligence on our part."
The smile on Strange's face gradually disappeared.