Chapter 32

Electricity circulated within the spinning water cell, cooking the last member of the dark church trapped inside. When Abel canceled the water cell, the body fell to the ground, exuding the smell of boiled meat.

...The next three days are bound to be vegetarian.

Looking at the defeated members of the dark church, Victor gazed at Abel's face with surprise and appreciation. Just moments ago, Abel's magic had been so powerful that he could hardly resist it. He had initially thought of Abel as a peacemaker, a mage of similar strengths, but now it was clear that the mage called by the Sorcerer Supreme to assist was anything but simple.

Of course, the wand in Abel's hand also caught Victor's attention. Before, when Abel hadn't used the wand, his magical power was entirely different when he did. This piqued Victor's curiosity about Abel's wand, though it was merely curiosity.

As an extremely proud and confident person, Victor felt no jealousy despite Abel's apparent superiority; he believed he wasn't lacking and would soon catch up with Abel.

"Master Abel, thank you so much this time. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been easy for me to escape."

"Master Victor, the number of enemies you faced was too many. We are not as mature as the ancient masters and others, so it's natural we would be inferior against such numerous foes."

Nodding with a smile, Victor recognized that Abel was considering his self-confidence. He wanted to tell Abel that he didn't mind at all, but he decided to remain silent, feeling it unnecessary.

After dispatching the members of the dark church, Abel and Victor noticed that the space around them had returned to normal, transforming into an ordinary dim stone temple. The two looked toward the passage on the right, where dark dimensional power flowed, indicating it likely led to the dimensional crack.

"Master Victor, let's go to the dimensional crack now. If you want to come, the Ancient One should be there by now."

"Okay!"

The two agreed and rushed toward the dimensional crack.

When Abel and Victor reached the dimensional fissure, everyone except Daniel and Mordo had already arrived. Agatha and Jericho appeared calm; Agatha showed no signs of injury or exhaustion, while Jericho looked slightly fatigued. In contrast, Ancient One, floating in the air and chatting amiably while resisting Dormammu's dark dimension invasion and sealing the dimensional cracks, seemed the most relaxed of all.

"Ancient One! I will not let you go, nor will I give up the Earth!"

Abel recoiled slightly at the sound that emerged from the depths of the void—a voice so malicious it nearly drained his spirit.

Is this the strength of a dimensional lord?

Just as Abel and Victor braced themselves against Dormammu's voice, Ancient One let out a chuckle. "Dormammu, failure means failure. As for whether you can let me go or abandon the Earth, we shall see next time."

"Ancient One…!"

Amidst Dormammu's roar of hatred, Ancient One successfully sealed the dimensional crack. The dark dimensional powers that had permeated through the crack were completely sealed back into the dark dimension, disappearing without a trace. The members of the dark church still fighting Daniel and Mordo also returned to normal.

At the moment the dimensional crack was blocked, the remaining believers who had accepted the dark dimension's power spontaneously combusted, turning into human-shaped coal. Their bodies collapsed into pitch-black ash, and their souls, fully infested by the dark dimension's power, shrank rapidly, returning to the dark dimension through the crack that was sealing shut.

Seeing the dark church members vanish, Daniel and Mordo quickly deduced that it must be because Ancient One had resolved the dimensional crack. The two soon rejoined the others.

They approached to salute, and Daniel, relieved to see Abel unharmed, exhaled deeply.

As she surveyed her two disciples, Ancient One sighed inwardly. To distract her mind, Dormammu had forced her to witness how everyone was fighting.

Agatha and Jericho, of course, were fine; they were both extremely mature wizards. Agatha, known as the highest priestess on Earth, had a gap in strength compared to Ancient One, but it was not insurmountable. Thus, Ancient One felt no need to worry about them.

Her attention turned to the four—Abel, Victor, Daniel, and Mordo—but the result was disappointing. Daniel and Mordo faced only two opponents but managed to hold their ground. In contrast, it was Abel and Victor who had taken down several foes on their own.

Especially Abel, who had first eliminated four enemies and then helped Victor defeat his opponents. Despite their youth, they performed far better than Daniel and Mordo.

In all of Kamar-Taj, apart from the future Doctor Strange, Stephen Strange, only Kaecilius possessed comparable strength to Abel and Victor—if not slightly less than Abel.

Ancient One had witnessed Abel's battle and recognized that his magical prowess was exceptionally rare, particularly in combat.

It was just unfortunate that when Ancient One had asked Victor if he wanted to return to Kamar-Taj to learn magic with her, he had rejected the offer.

Conversely, Abel expressed interest in Kamar-Taj's magic. Ancient One also wished to include Abel in Kamar-Taj, intending at the very least to develop him into a peripheral member.

According to Ancient One's calculations, as long as Abel was on her side, when Stephen Strange eventually replaced her as Sorcerer Supreme, Abel would at least have a chance to be acknowledged and have access to Kamar-Taj as he learned magic, helping him secure his position as Sorcerer Supreme during the most dangerous period.