Chapter 0193: Supreme

Wanda didn't show too much of a reaction to Wong's words when she heard that the structure at the peak of Mount Wundagore was supposed to be a castle for her, "So that's the place. I see," She raised a brow and seemed to understand something.

"Did you already know about that place?" Steve asked Wanda, interjecting himself into the conversation.

"Not really, but I've been feeling something calling to me for a very long time now." Wanda answered, "That's probably the place that's been calling to me for so long."

"And you never thought to check the place out?" Tony asked.

"I don't know," Wanda shrugged her shoulders, "I guess I had a voice in my head telling me that it's not safe to go there. I listened and it seems like it paid off."

Nat was the only one who knew what that voice in Wanda's head was.

"Seems like a useful voice," Tony said, "Probably the same one that keeps telling me that the man behind New York is coming…"

"Again?" Nat looked at Tony with some worry.

"It's fine," Tony shrugged it off, "It isn't hurting anyone. Other than my personal life." He spoke the last part under his breath.

"Getting back on track," Wanda said, "Do you need me to examine Strange and try to use my powers to help get rid of that lingering will of this Chthon that you speak of?"

"That would be for the best, but now I'm not so sure," Wong said.

"If that place has been calling Wanda since the start," Steve said with a frown, "Then allowing her to come into contact with Strange shouldn't be a good thing either."

"I can handle myself," Wanda said, "How difficult can indirect contact with a lingering will be?"

"That's probably what that guy thought before getting himself possessed and almost killing all of us," Tony said, "Hell, I still don't know what happened after he froze us in time and lost the Time Stone."

Wanda almost lost her composure when she heard Tony's words, but still kept her act together. Natasha was the only one who noticed that discrepancy and even that was because she was already aware of the situation, same as Wanda.

"I didn't think I would be saying this so soon after meeting him," Wong said, "But I agree with Stark. You shouldn't take this risk. We were only able to notice the beacon now. But considering that it's been calling you for months now, I'm sure that having you come into contact with anything related to it would be very dangerous."

"Well, if you say so," Wanda shrugged, "I was never that fond of Strange in the first place. You can keep him sealed for eternity if need be."

Wong was a little uncomfortable with Wanda's indifference toward Strange but understood the reason behind it. The man had already been prejudiced against her since the first day of meeting her. And that prejudice only increased when he saw how talented she was in the Mystic Arts and sorcery in general.

"So if you don't need me anymore, I'll be off," Wanda created a portal for herself that led to her bedroom in Wakanda, "Toodles…"

Just as she took a step into the portal, Wong called her, "Please wait, we're not done yet."

Wanda abruptly turned to look at Wong with a narrow-eyed glare, "Don't even think about putting the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme on my head, Wong," She said with a threatening tone, "I'm not wasting my time with annoying administrative processes."

Wnog cleared his throat, "You're the most viable person after him to take that mantle, Ms. Maximoff." He said, "And you won't need to manage too much administrative stuff either. We already have most of the things streamlined."

"Not a chance," Wanda refused with a passionate tone, "You can be the next Sorcerer Supreme." She said.

Wong sighed emphatically, "I would, but you are the person who fulfills the requirement after him. I have the necessary knowledge, but the ambient magic itself will refuse to accept me."

"Then force it to accept you," Wanda said, "It's not that hard. That's how I made my first portal when Strange tried to be a dick and messed with me. I just imposed myself onto the Eldritch energy and forced it to channel through the sling ring."

Wong choked when he heard Wanda's words. He cleared his throat and said to her, "The Sorcerer Supreme is a being who has both the greatest knowledge of the Mystic Arts and who has the necessary influence over the magic of the world. The second requirement is much harder to fulfill than the first. With your talent, it will only take you some time to master the necessary knowledge, but it's impossible for me to wrestle control over the world's ambient magic from you."

"Well, then you can be the Knowledge Supreme and I'll be the Power Supreme," Wanda said, "Problem solved."

"What do you mean?" Wong asked. He had an idea of what she meant but needed to confirm it.

"Since there are two requirements and each of us fulfills one of them, we can split the role," Wanda said, "You can take care of all the administrative things and teach the new sorcerers while I seclude myself in the sanctum that I'm building and keep everything safe."

Wong was speechless when he heard her words, "There has only ever been a single Sorcerer Supreme in our history. We will be spitting on tradition if we do this."

"Wong, do I look like I care about tradition?" Wanda asked him, "I'm not going to do any of the teaching work even if I do become the Sorcerer Supreme in the first place, so it's better that you take an official role of authority anyway."

…

It took some time, but Wanda convinced Wong to accept her plan. The Avengers were left in the same waiting room despite wanting to follow the two of them. But Wong said that he'd already shown enough leeway by allowing them to enter Kamar Taj. They weren't allowed to get access to their core secrets.

Wong brought her to Strange's unconscious form that was securely kept within an enchanted room within Kamar Taj, "We've kept him under since I don't want him to mobilize his authority within Kamar Taj to turn things against us."

"See, you're saying all of these things about there being some greater authority to the Sorcerer Supreme, but all I see is an empty title. Sure, you're supposed to be the best if you're the Sorcerer Supreme, but then what significance does the title hold in the first place?" Wanda asked Wong, "Can't we just name anyone Sorcerer Supreme and call it a day?"

"It's not that simple," Wong said, "There are higher forces at play when it comes to assigning the mantle of the Sorcerer Supreme." Seeing Wanda's questioning look, Wong understood that she wasn't satisfied with his explanation and continued speaking, "I would like to tell you more, but I don't know a lot about it myself. That knowledge is only possessed by the Sorcerer Supreme themself. All I know is that there is a specific ritual that is needed when it comes to assigning a new Sorcerer Supreme. Then they are granted the necessary knowledge and authority."

"So we're going in blind," Wanda said, "Great…" She looked at Strange as Wong cast an unfamiliar magic circle over the man.

His action seemed to pull something out from Strange and moments later, the circle exploded into a projection that created enough of a shockwave to push Wanda back by a couple of steps despite her immense power. Wong was unceremoniously pushed back enough to collide with the wall.

Wanda couldn't make much out of the projection, all she saw was the faint silhouette of a three-headed figure, two of the heads seemed humanoid while the third seemed to be that of some kind of animal that she couldn't decide on. Both she and Wong could feel an insurmountable pressure building up within the room, but they were still standing. Wanda, for some reason, felt as if that pressure was merely a front, almost seeming hollow, but she didn't test it.

She heard the projection chanting something in a distorted voice as if three people were speaking without being in conjunction. Once the piercing chant concluded, a golden ball of light was pulled out of Strange before being split into two equal halves. One of them went into Wanda and the other into Wong.

Instantly, Wanda felt waves of knowledge assaulting her mind, almost threatening to overwhelm her. As the seconds passed, she felt it overwhelming her and her head started hurting with an increasing intensity. She groaned lightly and felt as if she would pass out from the pain that didn't seem like it would stop any time soon. Then, she felt as if her consciousness was pulled into another plane of existence entirely, one that made her feel extremely comfortable. And it was a familiar sort of comfort. She saw the illusion of a green and red glow within that plane and just as she tried to approach that light, she found herself returning to her body.

[You're okay now…] She heard Alex's voice in her head as she felt her clothes tightening around her as if she was being hugged.

Feeling so weak that she felt like her legs would give out at any time, Wanda chuckled lightly, [You devoured my clothes again…]

Alex couldn't help but laugh in her head when she heard her, [You just went through a very overwhelming experience. I'll take you back to Wakanda for a nap. You can return once you've recovered sufficiently. Wong is also going to be out for a while.

***

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