240 CHAPTER 231

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I left the Dark Elves' dimension, teleporting to my office in Asgard, not before using my power to destroy the entire place down to nothing, while it was true I had erased their race from the face of the universe, and their dimension was now an empty place surrounded by darkness, I wanted to take no risks.

For all I knew, leaving that place intact would come to bite me in the ass later, so I was taking precautions so to speak.

"Four stones," I muttered, looking at my inventory, two more, and I would have the set.

Just had to wait for Thanos to help me with the last one, and I would be done with it.

"Mr. Walker," The Ancient One greeted me as she portaled to my office.

"Hi," I smiled, apparating a cup of steamy tea for her.

The Ancient One chuckled, tilting her head a bit, "You seem to be in a great mood, may I inquire the reason for such?"

"I just learned Knull is a bit worried about me," I smiled, wondering if I had worded that out fine.

"How so?" The Ancient One frowned, taking the cup of tea I had summoned for her, before taking a seat.

"Well, on my way to collecting the Reality Stone, I learned that those who held the stone, were servants of Knull, and through them, I learned a bunch of things," I smiled, summoning a can of coke and a glass with ice, "Their leader, Malekith, offered me a deal, to join his king in servitude, in exchange of keeping what I love. At first, I was a bit angry, you know my deal with Hydra and stuff, but then, I realized, why would someone that seeks to end all life, offer me a deal where life remains, I mean, sure the rest of the universe would die, but… in the end, with that deal, life would remain. Isn't it a bit odd, that someone looking to end all in creation, is offering to keep part of it?"

The Ancient One nodded, "He was either trying to trick you, and kill you at your weakest, or… he's worried about you." 

"Exactly," I nodded, "Either way, both things mean… he's concerned about the role I will play during the war that is to come. Concerned enough to use tricks or concessions."

"I find it odd though," The Ancient One replied, taking a sip of her tea, "From what you told me about him, this is… way out of character. Did Malekith tell you anything else?"

"He told about a prophecy, one that supposedly includes me," I nodded, "About how a knight of light or darkness would pick his path, and that no matter what the knight picked, he would serve, be it out of his own volition, or by subjugation."

"That gives us something to start planning," The Ancient One replied, "It's clear he intends to use you, or way or another. With that in mind, we can prepare some countermeasures for such."

I nodded, while I doubted he would be able to dominate my will, preparing for every outcome was the best way to ensure victory, "I might need to collect the mind stone, it's powers could possibly give me a mental edge, it case he tries to… break my will."

"The stones are useless against him, nonetheless, they are not against you," The Ancient One nodded, "You need both the mind stone and the soul stone, both represent the aspects of free will. With them, you should reach a level of enlightenment beyond normal possibilities, after all, you can't subjugate an indomitable mind, or corrupt an unshakeable soul."

"Sadly, I must wait for Thanos to collect the soul stone," I sighed, frowning ever so slightly.

"The sacrifice, right?" The Ancient One nodded.

"Yes, the soul stone is in a dimension outside creation. In an astral plane beyond reach, the key to that plane is suffering and death, both sacrifices I will never be willing to make." I nodded.

"But one, The Mad Titan is willing to make," The Ancient One replied, finishing her tea.

"Yes," I nodded, opening my can of coke, and pouring it into my glass.

"Any ideas when the titan will take the bait?" The Ancient One asked.

Soon, I hoped, but beyond that, I had no idea, "Within a month or two, if the information reaches his ears."

"That's a good enough time frame," She nodded.

"In the meantime, however, it's time we make some preparations, like recovering the part of your soul you bound to the dark dimension," I replied, taking a sip of my coke.

"While I'm happy you wish to recover what I lost, I don't see how that would help us," The Ancient One replied.

"Call me cliche, but I believe you will never be at your strongest without being whole," I replied with a shrug.

"I see," The Ancient One chuckled, "Then I won't complain."

"Beyond that, I also wish to start making some weapons to fight the hordes of symbiotes we will face," I replied.

"Why not destroy the planet?" The Ancient One inquired.

"Well, he's sealed in there, and I have no idea if destroying the planet would break him free, so I rather avoid touching that place until it's absolutely necessary," I replied, after all, the last thing I wanted was waking him up before time, no, right now, what I wanted was to prepare, and be ready for when the time came.

"A wise course of action then," The Ancient One nodded in approval, before asking, "What do we know of our enemy? His troops I mean."

"They are parasites, in a way at least, as they require a body to be a real threat, once they get a body, regardless of what body they get, they increase the overall strength of that person, animal, or cadaver, many times over, but in the process, they take control of the being. Only those with an incredibly strong will can overcome such a mental challenge, now, this is without Knull in the picture, when you add Knull's influence to the matter, I doubt anyone would be able to resist them," I replied, taking a deep a breath, "Their known weaknesses are, fire, and loud sounds. Which makes preparing for them easy enough, what makes them dangerous though is their numbers, they move and act like a horde, at least according to my information, an army of soldiers that will blindly follow any order given, regardless of the consequences."

"If I recall correctly, you told me that if you managed to become the only organization on earth, on the magical area at least, you would be able to ban others from entering the planet, as long as they were weaker than you, would that work on this particular case?" She asked.

I honestly had no idea, technically, it should work that way, as I was leagues above the symbiotes in power, but I had no idea if, during the war, the symbiotes would be considered an extension of Knull, which would make them bypass the ban by a technicality.

"Maybe," I sighed, rubbing my temples, "Chances are, the symbiotes will be considered a part of Knull, therefore, bypassing the ban, besides, I doubt Knull will come specifically to earth, knowing what I know about him, he will most likely attack everything and everyone at the same time. Amassing an army of soldiers using his ever-expanding symbiotes to possess the universe until there is nothing but darkness."

"Then we should probably set some wards around his planet," The Ancient One replied, frowning, "Not directly on the planet, as you said we don't want to mess with the seal if we don't know how our actions will affect it. But with can place some ward around the planet, maybe on the moon, if the planet has one, to seal them from leaving, or at least slow them down enough."

I mused at the idea, "Well, considering how powerful Knull is, chances are that won't slow him down at all, but, it's worth the try."

"I'll get on that then," The Ancient One nodded before standing up, "I will let you know once the wards are ready."

I smiled.

"In the meantime, you should focus on getting stronger, as things are, you are our strongest warrior, by far, and if you are not capable of handling him, everything will be for naught," The Ancient One added, before teleporting away.

"What a way to finish a conversation," I sighed, did she really have to finish this chat in the most ominous way possible?