On Earth-404, an uninvited guest arrived.
On the streets of New York, Reed, who had moved here after leaving Kamar-Taj, looked up at the sky, his expression changing rapidly.
Doubt, shock, fear, despair. In just an instant, four emotions flashed across his face.
"Galactus is here!"
High above, shadows loomed, and countless fireballs descended from the sky.
Reed was incredibly familiar with this sight. For more than a month, every time he recalled this scene, he would wake up in a cold sweat.
Kamar-Taj.
"A huge energy signal suddenly appeared in Earth's outer space. Why didn't the magic array react at all?"
"He didn't enter the 404 Universe through Earth's passage, but through other passages and then came here."
Wong quickly answered Mordo, then urged, "There's no time, quickly notify the sorcerers of the three Sanctum Sanctorums to open the magic array."
"It's too late." Mordo shook his head.
Compared to Wong, he was more familiar with the magic array and understood its flaws. "The enemy has already entered Earth. Go call Strange."
"Strange? Why call him?"
"Not this Strange, but Sorcerer Supreme Strange." Mordo said anxiously, opening a portal and heading to New York first.
New York.
Reed was not the only one who noticed the anomaly, and he was not the only one who knew the truth.
Sitting on the rooftop sofa of a psychological counseling office, female Ancient One looked at the purple-skinned creature with prominent horns opposite her.
"Galactus, this world does not welcome you."
"However, it is the people of this world who are calling me." Galactus replied in a deep voice.
Having just devoured a Planet a month ago, he was not hungry at the moment and his mind was clear but he did not refuse a snack.
"Who?" Ancient One asked.
"Him." Galactus swept his hand through the void, and a portrait appeared.
In the portrait, a handsome, bearded man in a plain robe was incredibly conspicuous.
Ancient One fell silent. With a brief calculation, she guessed what had happened.
"Sorcerer, you are strong, but not strong enough. Even in a deathmatch, you cannot stop me." Galactus said, seeing Ancient One's silence.
"You, who are almost a god, why die for these low-level beings?"
As Galactus said, Ancient One could not stop him. But if they fought, he would need to expend a lot of energy to defeat her. This was something Galactus didn't want to see, so he intended to persuade her to give up.
It's just that, unfortunately, this tactic usually doesn't work. Few powerful beings would stand by and watch their homeland and civilization be devoured without doing anything.
"Alright."
Ancient One nodded, shrinking into the sofa. "Galactus, thank you for your advice. I'll give you one too."
After a pause, she said, "Run, before others call him back."
Galactus sneered, disbelieving, "Who is he?"
"The Sorcerer Supreme of this world."
"Are you referring to him?" Galactus pointed to the sky, where a black shadow stood.
"Strange, you're finally here."
"Strange, you're finally here."
As soon as Strange emerged from the portal, he was met with cheers from the crowd.
"What is this big guy?" Strange asked, pointing to the giant shadow constantly approaching Earth.
"Taa III, Galactus's flagship, possesses the terrifying power to shatter Planets and devour everything." Reed replied.
His face was pale, his tone almost despairing. "This Planet is finished, Galactus is here."
Strange chuckled lightly. "Galactus? A Dimensional Lord who feeds on Planets? Sounds terrifying."
He formed a hand seal, and a golden amulet was imprinted on his forehead. Then, Strange, propelled by his cloak, flew towards Taa III.
"This Planet won't be finished. Galactus being here is useless, I said it."
High above, several fighter jets circled, constantly hailing Taa III, requesting communication.
"Unknown extraterrestrial visitor, you have entered the jurisdiction of the Earth Federation. Cease your actions immediately, or we will take coercive measures."
After a long time, the calls went unanswered, and the fighter jets departed.
Moments later, several white lines streaked across the sky, successively striking the giant being.
Time seemed to pause for an instant, then a massive and dazzling fireball soared into the sky, its intense light almost unbearable to look at.
The shockwave generated by the explosion spread wildly in all directions like surging waves.
"Shit!"
Strange, flying towards the sky, and Reed and others on the ground, cursed in unison.
None of them had expected that the authorities would be so insane as to directly launch super-yield missiles at Taa III, completely disregarding the lives of the ground civilians and economic losses.
"What should we do?" Reed panicked.
He didn't know if the missile could destroy Galactus's flagship, but he knew the missile could easily take his life.
"All sorcerers go to their respective high points and prepare the Shield of the Seraphim." Mordo's voice was also a bit urgent, but he still made a calm judgment.
Upon hearing this, the many Kamar-Taj sorcerers immediately opened portals and began to act.
And before that, a certain bookstore had already erected an energy shield.
However, Mordo's preparations ultimately proved unnecessary.
High above, after a brief moment of stunned silence, Strange quickly reacted. He formed a hand seal in front of his chest, and the Eye of Agamotto he wore opened, revealing the Time Stone within.
A green light emanated from the Time Stone, shooting towards the source of the missile explosion.
The next instant, time reversed. The shockwave that had spread out and swept all around flowed backward, and after a moment, completely disappeared, as if nothing had ever happened.
Suddenly, a voice sounded. "Are you the Guardian of this world?"
Strange looked in the direction of the voice and saw a purple-skinned man with prominent horns wearing armor. "Are you Galactus?"
"I am."
Looking at Galactus, and sensing the energy aura within him, Strange said coldly, "I thought you were some demon from Hell, I didn't expect you to be a cosmic being."
"Why do you want to devour reality?"
"I am very hungry. If I want to maintain my existence, I must eat." Galactus replied.
"Eat? Feed on Planets? Completely disregard the casualties caused?" Strange sneered.
"I didn't expect the so-called cosmic beings to be like this."
"You don't understand." Galactus shook his head. "My existence is closely related to the Universe's structure."
"If I die, the Universe's structure will be destroyed. At that time, many more people will suffer. This is a necessary sacrifice."
Strange chuckled lightly. "Necessary sacrifice, what a grand and righteous excuse."
"You disappoint me, Sorcerer Supreme of this world. Possessing power almost equal to that of a god, yet you are still dominated by mortal consciousness." Galactus's tone was grave.
He neither wanted to fight the female Ancient One nor Strange. But now, it seemed, he had no choice but to fight.
Strange's expression became solemn. He could feel that the opponent in front of him was even more powerful than all the enemies he had encountered before.
Strange launched the first attack. He quickly formed hand seals, and three dragons clawed and roared as they rushed out. They reared their upper bodies, and from their gaping mouths, three streams of dragon breath spewed towards Galactus.
However, facing this scorching, air-burning, seemingly world-consuming dragon breath, Galactus merely held out a single hand, and an energy barrier quietly appeared.
Boom!!!
The collision of energy caused ripples in the surrounding space-time, but the energy shield in front of Galactus remained motionless.
Seeing this, Strange understood that these minor spells were ineffective against Galactus. To defeat Galactus, he had to bring out his true abilities.
He muttered incantations, about to release the power imprisoned within his body.
Unexpectedly, a stream of cosmic energy suddenly shot out from Galactus's outstretched hand. Strange was caught off guard, immediately struck and plummeted from the sky, crashing heavily into a building, stirring up a cloud of smoke and dust.
"Strange."
"Dr. Strange."
Exclamations of surprise echoed from various high points in New York, those were the Kamar-Taj sorcerers.
They couldn't believe that Strange, who had led them in resisting interdimensional invasions for over a year and defeated countless Dimensional Lords, would be so easily defeated.
"Damn it, is it still not enough?" The Fantastic Four and Doctor Doom gritted their teeth.
Although they had not been on Earth-404 for long and didn't have much affection for this Planet, they empathized with its plight. They absolutely did not want this Earth to follow in the footsteps of their previous Earth.
...
"Ultron, find out who the owner of that building is, and buy it under the name of Kamar-Taj Group."
"Yes, Mr. Lucas."
On the rooftop of a certain psychological counseling office, several people had appeared beside the female Ancient One at some unknown time.
"Lucas, what do you think of the battle between Strange and Galactus?"
"I'm watching it while sitting."
Lucas stretched, and casually pulled out a box of watermelon from a portal in front of him.
"Master, Gwen, Wanda. Don't just watch, come, have some watermelon."