"How are we going to meet Nightmare?" Thor looked at the distorted surroundings and looked at Strange beside him.
"Under normal circumstances, the nightmare needs to actively lead you into the dream, and then you may see him. But since we are entering through unconventional methods, we may need a little trick." Strange began to mobilize the energy of the surrounding nightmare dimension in a skillful manner.
"Is this okay?" Thor widened his eyes as he watched Strange constantly stirring the energy around him.
"Yes, that's good. I believe he will be able to find it himself soon. If he is indeed the lord of the nightmare dimension." Strange put down his hand and nervously adjusted the time loop closing chain on his wrist.
Before coming here, he also asked Ancient One how to see the nightmare. Ancient One did not hide anything and taught him in detail this spell technique that was not recorded in the books inside the library.
Judging from the effect of the spell, this should be a technique treasured by Ancient One.
After Strange figured out the trick, he felt a little confused.
As Ancient One said, the method to see the nightmare is very simple. Just use this spell to forcibly extract and convert energy in his dimension, and then the nightmare will definitely appear.
Strange couldn't remember the complex emotions that had filled his heart when he heard this method. If you went to someone's house to steal their valuables, and you exposed yourself to the owner's security system before you could hide them, he would definitely rush over in a hurry.
Strange wanted to ask: Is there any other safer way to meet the host, one that would be less irritating to the host? However, after the Ancient One finished teaching him, he simply used a mobile portal to send him back to Kamar-Taj.
If there were any better and more convenient methods, Strange would not do so. So before extracting the energy, he was very careful to insure himself and Thor.
As expected, Strange and the other two, waiting there, sensed a violent fluctuation in the surrounding spatial energy. Then, a green figure appeared before them.
"Ancient One!" The man roared angrily, and the surrounding dimensional space was rippled by the vibration of some kind of energy frequency. Then, after seeing Strange and Thor clearly, the anger on his huge face froze for a moment.
"Wait a minute, who are you? Intruders? What is the relationship between Ancient One and you?" Nightmare condensed a strong energy, as if he would swallow them with a torrent of energy in the next moment.
"We are here to do business with you." Strange stepped forward and shouted with a fearless attitude.
As expected, his shouting had no effect. Nightmare didn't want to hear what he said and violently engulfed him with the energy behind him.
However, when the torrent of energy dissipated, Strange and Thor emerged from the fading torrent of energy intact.
"We're here to discuss business with you." Strange looked at him and Thor in amazement. They seemed to have never experienced death. He looked up in confusion, staring at their nightmares in a daze, and repeated his previous words.
Nightmare still ignored Strange's words, but instead rushed into another burst of energy in disbelief.
"We are here to do business with you! We have prepared an energy acquisition package for you, which can greatly enhance your strength!" Strange walked out of the dissipated energy again and again, and Strange shouted at a very fast speed.
once.
twice.
three times.
Ten times.
After testing several times, and discovering that his most prized ability was ineffective against the two, Nightmare's face was filled with bewilderment. Where did these two come from? They were clearly inferior in energy and strength to him, yet they were immune to his abilities. This was beyond his experience.
"We are really here to discuss business with you. At least you should listen to us first." Strange has realized a certain possibility. In addition to being surprised, he also took the opportunity to explain the business to Nightmare.
"Why don't you enter the dream?" However, Nightmare had no intention of listening to Strange's business tactics. He only wanted to find out the secret of why these two people were immune to his abilities!
If all life in the real world is immune to his abilities, then wouldn't he have no future? This would destroy his job!
"Let's talk business first. We can tell you this secret after that." Strange spread his hands. Although he knew his words might lead to some bad consequences, he couldn't answer every question from Nightmare and reveal too much before the cooperation was reached and the contract was signed.
"Do you think I can't do anything to you?" The two Nightmares were extremely furious at Strange for daring to negotiate with him. He blocked his own dimension and then summoned all the strange monsters living in the nightmare dimension.
"It looks like we are surrounded." Thor looked at the strange figures emerging from the distorted energy mist, holding his Mjolnir in his hand.
"I knew this mission wouldn't be that easy," Strange sighed, but then quickly prepared himself. He now understood more deeply what the Ancient One had said: "If you want to deal with the dimensional demons, you must first make them helpless against you."
All kinds of absurd and strange creatures that could only be born in nightmares were forcibly summoned by the nightmare and ordered to charge at Strange and his men.
Time has carved its mark in this dimension.
Strange and Thor worked tirelessly to eliminate the large number of monsters that emerged, and even attacked Nightmare, forcibly dragging him into the melee.
Most creatures in the Nightmare Dimension possessed the power of that dimension, but they were unable to allow Strange and his companions to enter their dreams, which greatly reduced their strength when facing the two. They could only fight the two of them head-on like reckless men.
Although they were the most powerful creatures in the Nightmare Dimension, their power characteristics meant they were more inclined towards the spiritual element. Forcing them to engage in a head-on fight was like sealing all of a mage's abilities, then forcing them to engage in close combat with a warrior proficient in combat techniques, armed with a staff.
It was unknown how long it took before this great melee in the dimensional world stopped at the scolding of Nightmare.
Nightmare watched as Strange and the other two slaughtered wave after wave of his subordinates. They finally killed the troublesome wizard. The next moment, the opponent appeared in front of him intact, and added a sentence "We are here to do business with you."
After repeating this cycle hundreds and thousands of times, Nightmare finally couldn't stand it anymore.
Nightmare, immune to his power, was dragged into the battlefield and subjected to a beating from both men. The damage wasn't great, but the insult was immense! He couldn't kill her, and the other man was immune to his dream power. The mage even expended energy fighting him, draining his own strength!
When he thought of the other party using his power to hit him and destroy his men, Nightmare's huge face seemed to be wearing a mask of pain.
Just abandon the other party and leave them to fend for themselves?
it's out of the question!
Who knows what kind of trouble this wizard, who bears the strong imprint of Ancient One's power and is from the same lineage as him, can cause in his dimensional world if nothing is done about it.
Expel the other party?
This is a good method, but it is hard to say whether the other party will find a way to invade again.
For a while, it was neither right to let them go nor to keep them. He was helpless with the two of them. He put on another layer of painful mask on his face, and the pain was extreme.
"How can you leave?" Nightmare drove away the monsters around him and planned to negotiate with the two of them first.
"We're here to discuss business with you, and we'll leave when we're done." Strange breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Nightmare finally showing a willingness to communicate. If this continued, once the Serenity Stones Luke had given him and Thor were all used up, and if they didn't take the opportunity to withdraw, they would have to face Nightmare in his full glory.
"What do you want to talk about?" Nightmare wanted to send the two away. He had already decided that after listening to what the other party said, he would be vague and let the other party leave.
"Let's talk about how to expand the power of the Nightmare Dimension. That is, how to enhance the power of you, the Lord of Nightmares." Strange recited incessantly a manuscript he got from Nick. It had been polished a little, but every word was full of bewitching power.
It seemed as if Nightmare, simply following the instructions, would quickly gain a vast amount of energy, his strength skyrocketing once again. Nightmare, who had originally intended only to listen, was momentarily absorbed in the words, his imaginations woven into the imagery Strange had described. He even felt that the sorcerer before him was even more adept at deceiving people than the demons of Hell.
"Well, um, are you sure you can do what you said?" Nightmare was still a little bit incredulous and asked cautiously for confirmation.
"The contract can be signed." Strange took out a piece of parchment.
"The stench of the Hell dimension! Wait, are you a disciple of Ancient One or a follower of Mephisto?" Nightmare looked at Strange holding the parchment in astonishment.
"Didn't I tell you? Our lineage of the Sorcerer Supreme is now in a cooperative relationship with Mephisto. Besides him, there's also Odin, the God-King of Asgard. This is Odin's heir, Prince Thor Odinson." Strange patted Thor's shoulder. Thor gave him a blank look, still absorbed in the battle. This time in Asgard had been exhausting for him.
"It's so rare that you two would actually work together." Nightmare narrowed his eyes. He instinctively felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Speaking of a trap, it was too crude, especially since the other party was so sincere.
"Everything is always changing." Strange shrugged indifferently.
"As agreed, you'll let me see the results and facts first, right?" Nightmare asked with interest. Yes, he was tempted! For a demon god of his level, he desperately needed to absorb more energy to propel his power ever higher.
If it weren't for energy and the expansion of his own dimensional world, who would be willing to work so hard and risk being beaten? The characteristics of his power meant that if he left his own dimension, his strength would drop significantly.
If there really was a safe and convenient way to obtain energy, he would certainly be happy to try it. It could be said that this copywriting accurately struck a chord with a demon god like him.
"Yes, Luke, a veteran member of the Alliance meeting, provided the technology. You just need to give a little cooperation." Strange took out the [Black Nightmare Seed] that Luke gave him and showed it to Nightmare.
"Sweet breath of nightmare. I feel the throbbing of the dimensional world." Nightmare widened his eyes, and his huge face was full of undisguised greed for the [Black Nightmare Seed].
"This is our sincerity." Strange said.
"Give it to me! Give it to me! I will satisfy all your requests!" Nightmare demanded impatiently.
"You need to talk to its maker." Strange spread his hands helplessly.
"Its creator must be a master of the mind and darkness." Nightmare pulled the [Black Nightmare Seed] before him, gazing at it in fascination. If he had obtained this sooner, how many detours could he have avoided! How much greater would his power have become?
Even because of the appearance of the [Black Nightmare Seed], coupled with this unpleasant battle, and the mage who still made him feel annoying and unhappy, he felt a little more pleasing and friendly for a moment.
He was now completely focused on quickly understanding the structure of the [Black Nightmare Seed]. As for cooperation or not? Well, that could be discussed first. Once he had cracked the [Black Nightmare Seed] and created it with the energy of the nightmare dimension, he would have a lot of choices to make about cooperation, how to cooperate, and whether to cooperate at all.
At worst, I can just continue working alone.
The greed, perfunctoriness, and cunning on Nightmare's face were so undisguised that even the straightforward Thor could easily see through them. He turned to Strange with a puzzled look, but Strange didn't look at him. Even though Nightmare had clearly made it clear he wanted to leave, Strange pulled Thor aside and arranged a meeting time. With Nightmare showing no sign of trying to keep him, and even proactively unlocking the dimensional blockade, practically saying, "Hurry up and leave," Strange waved his hand, opened the portal, and dragged Thor through it.
Anyway, his mission was completed. He had successfully met Nightmare, successfully reached a cooperation agreement with him, and successfully handed over what Luke wanted to give Nightmare. The remaining matters were no longer his responsibility.