Ancient One turned her head to look at her. "Your Highness, are you sure? Fighting him on his home turf puts us at a great disadvantage."
Mavuika smiled. "Exactly because it is his home turf, he won't run. What we want is for him not to run."
She raised her hand, and golden-red flames surged from her palm, illuminating the entire street.
"Let's go."
Ancient One looked at her, was silent for a second, then smiled.
"Your Highness, you are even crazier than I imagined."
Mavuika did not answer. She leaped, transforming into a streak of golden-red light, and charged into that black crack.
Ancient One followed behind her, her yellow robes fluttering in the black mist like a flag.
On the street, Kaecilius had completely disappeared; he had been swallowed by Dormammu and turned into a part of the Dark Dimension. Those followers also fell one by one, turning into black dust and blown away by the wind.
Loki stood at the entrance of the Sanctum, looking at the crack, his brows tightly locked.
Wanda walked to his side. "They went in."
Loki nodded.
Pietro stood to the side, hands in his pockets. "Can they win?"
Loki was silent for a moment.
Then he said, "The eldest daughter has never lost."
The Dark Dimension—no sky, no Earth, no light, no sound, only an endless expanse of darkness and that suffocating, icy Akasha.
Mavuika floated in the darkness, golden-red flames Burning around her, like a lonely Sun. Her radiance illuminated the area for several hundred meters around, but further out, it remained a darkness that devoured everything.
Ancient One appeared beside her, her hands manifesting a golden magic shield. Her body glowed faintly in the darkness, like a lighthouse.
"Your Highness, be careful." Ancient One's voice echoed in the darkness. "Dormammu is everywhere. Here, he is everything."
As soon as she finished speaking, a low laugh came from the darkness.
That laughter did not come from any specific direction, but surged from all directions at once, drowning them like a tide.
"Ancient One..." The voice was low and thick, like the Earth trembling. "You have finally come."
Ancient One looked up at the darkness above. "Dormammu, stop. Earth is not something you can touch."
Dormammu laughed, the laughter shaking the very space.
"Stop? I have waited for hundreds of years, and today, Kaecilius has offered his soul. The gates of the Dark Dimension have opened. Earth will eventually belong to me."
In the darkness, two huge eyes Burning with dark red flames appeared. They were like two Planets, suspended in the depths of the Dark Dimension, coldly watching Ancient One and Mavuika.
Dormammu's gaze fell upon Mavuika.
"An Asgardian?" There was a hint of disdain in Dormammu's voice.
"Odin's daughter? Do you think she can stop me?"
Mavuika looked up at those two huge eyes.
"Then let's see!"
She raised her hand, and golden-red flames surged from her palm, transforming into a massive pillar of fire that rushed toward those two eyes.
The pillar of fire carved a dazzling trail of light through the darkness, striking Dormammu's eyes.
Dormammu let out a muffled grunt. Those two eyes disappeared, but the laughter remained, surging from all directions.
"Interesting flames." Dormammu's voice became a bit more serious.
"But you think you can deal with me with just this? It is far from enough! Let me see—what else do you have?"
Mavuika did not answer. She closed her eyes, feeling the pulse of those three powers within her body.
The first was the power of the Pyro Archon of Teyvat; it was the memory of her past life, the fire deep within her soul. It was scorching and violent, like a volcano ready to erupt at any moment, containing the power to burn everything to ashes.
The second was the Odinforce of Asgard; it was her bloodline inheritance as Odin's eldest daughter, the divine power bestowed upon her by her father when she came of age. It was steady and vast, unfathomable like the ocean, containing the power of protection and order.
The third was the Eternal Flame; it was the ancient fire she absorbed after defeating Surtur in Muspelheim. It was one of the oldest energies in the Nine Realms, pure and eternal, as ancient as time itself, containing the dual power of creation and destruction.
These three powers surged within her body like three rivers flowing into the sea. They collided, rubbed, and merged—it had taken her thousands of years to increase their fusion rate to eighty percent.
Not yet perfect, but already powerful enough.
Mavuika opened her eyes.
Golden-red flames erupted from her body, no longer ordinary fire, but golden light, like liquid sunlight.
That light was scorching and bright, illuminating the Dark Dimension for several miles around.
For the first time, there was a ripple in Dormammu's voice.
"This is..."
Mavuika did not answer. She raised her hand and gripped the void.
Thousand Blazing Suns.
Golden-red flames condensed, compressed, and deformed in her hand, transforming into a long sword entirely golden-red in color.
The blade was slender, with flame-like patterns flowing along the edge, and a dark red Eternal Flame Crystalize embedded at the crossguard.
The hilt was engraved with ancient Runes, each one glowing and pulsing rhythmically like breathing.
Mavuika gripped the sword, feeling that familiar, long-lost weight.
This sword had accompanied her through countless years of battle, having drunk the blood of Dark Elves, beheaded Fire Giants, and cleaved through the armor of interstellar warships.
"Long time no see." Mavuika said softly.
The flame patterns on the sword suddenly flared up, moving along the blade as if they had come to life.
The Eternal Flame Crystalize emitted a blinding red light, and the Runes on the hilt lit up one by one, like stars twinkling in the night sky.
Ancient One stood behind her, watching the sword, her eyes widening slightly. She could feel the power of that sword.
Mavuika tightened her grip on the hilt, turned her head to look at her, and the corners of her mouth lifted slightly.
"Now, let's stretch our muscles!"
In the depths of the Dark Dimension, Dormammu finally stopped hiding.
Those two huge eyes appeared once more, followed by a massive body formed from darkness.
It had no fixed shape, like a mass of continuously roiling dark clouds, but within the clouds, one could vaguely see countless twisted faces—those were the souls swallowed by Dormammu.
Dormammu's body blotted out the sky, stretching across the sky of the Dark Dimension like a black mountain range.
His eyes were like two dark red Suns, coldly watching the two tiny figures on the ground.
"You think a single sword can defeat me?" Dormammu's voice rolled across the sky like muffled thunder.
"This is the Dark Dimension. I am the master here. Here, I am the rule."
He raised a giant hand formed from darkness and slammed it down toward Mavuika.