Chapter 103: Dormammu Comes!

Chapter 103: Dormammu Comes!

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After Lorien gave the order.

*Whoosh!*

In the next moment, Gwen transformed instantly, drawing the Black Death Sword and rushing forward. Hela followed suit, attacking with her Night-sky Sword, while Wanda clasped her hands together, effortlessly lifting several enemies into the air with her powers.

Simply put, there was no resistance from the other side.

In just a few minutes, the crisis in London was resolved.

The magicians of the holy place stood in shock. Some even rubbed their eyes, unable to believe what they had just witnessed.

So many dark magicians, defeated in mere minutes—it was like cutting through melons and vegetables.

"Is there really such a big difference between people?" one of the magicians muttered, astonished. A royal sister, a young girl, and a loli had cleaned up an entire group of enemies in the blink of an eye.

Seeing the battle had concluded, Lorien simply waved his hand and said, "Let's go. The Ancient One is probably at the last holy place."

The three girls nodded and followed Lorien, ready to leave.

"Wait!" The magician in charge of the London holy place called out, stopping them. He, along with the other magicians, saluted and expressed their gratitude. "Thank you so much for your help!"

They were polite and respectful. Lorien nodded, waved his hand in acknowledgment, and left with the three girls without saying anything further.

The scene shifted.

The four of them teleported again, this time arriving at the Hong Kong holy place. Lorien expected there to be more people here, but to his surprise, there were even fewer.

The sky above was ominously dark, and something strange was in the air.

Sensing something was off, Lorien looked up.

Good grief. The Hong Kong holy place had been destroyed. The roof was completely gone, with only fragments of frescoes left behind.

Above them loomed a gigantic eye, as vast as the sky itself, watching over the Earth. It wasn't a real eye but rather a massive projection, as if the entire sky had been painted with this dark, menacing gaze.

The eye was filled with darkness, glaring down at the world with a vicious intensity, as if it was ready to swallow the Earth whole.

"Dormammu!" Wanda suddenly exclaimed.

"Huh~?" Lorien looked at her in surprise. "You know Dormammu?"

"Yeah," Wanda nodded. "When I talked with the Ancient One, we discussed many things, including Dormammu. She said that the holy places on Earth mainly exist to resist Dormammu's invasion. The dark magicians are trying to bring the dark dimension here by using his power."

She sighed. "I've only heard about it before, but now I'm seeing it with my own eyes."

Lorien could relate. He had heard of Dormammu as well but had never seen him in person—until now.

But something felt off. In Lorien's memory, Dormammu never had the chance to fully manifest. In the end, he was sent back by Stephen Strange using the Time Stone.

So, what had changed?

Lorien distinctly remembered that Stephen and the Ancient One had appeared during the New York battle, which was famously called the "Battle of the Holy Place in New York." But now, they were in Hong Kong.

Suddenly, it dawned on Lorien—had the sacred timeline changed?

Could this be the work of *that* Conqueror?

Or had Lorien himself inadvertently altered the timeline? Since arriving in this world, he hadn't paid much attention to the male superheroes. But the female ones? Well, he'd had quite an effect on them.

But even with all these changes, the sacred timeline was supposed to correct itself, wasn't it? Even if the process was altered, the outcome was meant to revert back to normal somehow.

Yet now, as he stared up at the massive eye in the sky, it seemed like things were going off course.

"This is a real evil god, Lorien," Hela said, tugging at his sleeve. "If Dormammu falls upon Midgard, it will be the end. All life, human and otherwise, will become food for his spirit."

Gwen, hearing this, was taken aback. "That cruel?"

"Yeah," Lorien nodded gravely. He knew all this, and yet something still felt wrong. His mind was still dwelling on the timeline issue.

But snapping back to reality, he realized there was no time to waste. They had to deal with Dormammu, and fast.

Lorien looked at the darkness and the massive eye looming over the sky and knew immediately that the situation in Hong Kong had taken a dire turn.

"Come on, let's check things out."

With that, Lorien led the three girls to investigate the situation.

The four of them left the holy place and headed directly toward the source of the dark dimension rift.

It wasn't until Lorien got closer that he realized what was happening.

Kaecilius, Stephen, Wong, and the Ancient One were all present.

Kaecilius and the dark marks on the Ancient One's head stood out starkly.

Stephen knelt on the ground in pain, clutching his head as if he were fighting an internal struggle.

As for Wong...

He appeared to have passed out nearby.

Meanwhile, the Ancient One was in the midst of a fierce battle with "Kaecilius."

When Lorien arrived, "Kaecilius" was hovering in the air, long dark tentacles sprouting from his body and relentlessly attacking the Ancient One.

The Ancient One had raised a shield, protecting both Stephen and herself from the onslaught of "Kaecilius."

"Stephen, don't be deceived by Dormammu! Snap out of it and run!" she cried.

It turned out that Stephen had been "infected" by Dormammu.

Dormammu's will had invaded Stephen's mind, attacking his spiritual world, seeking possession of his body.

At the same time, "Kaecilius" roared from the other side.

"It's useless! His mana is still at the level of a child! Once I take control of his body, Midgard is only the first step! I will claim Asgard and Odin will embrace the Dark Dimension! Soon, the entire Nine Realms will be mine!"

"Kaecilius," now fully possessed by Dormammu, was raving mad.

The dark tentacles extending from his body twitched violently.

But Lorien, watching from a distance, had already pieced things together.

This "Kaecilius" was no longer the original. Dormammu had fully possessed him.

Dormammu had somehow projected part of himself—represented by the enormous eye—onto all of Hong Kong.

In doing so, any magician who had ever dabbled in dark magic was now vulnerable to being invaded by Dormammu's dark dimension, their most valuable asset—their mind—being attacked.

The Ancient One, who would normally have been able to handle Dormammu's possession, had become severely weakened the moment that giant eye appeared.

On top of that, she was also focused on protecting the future of Kamar-Taj—Stephen.

Thus, the Ancient One found herself overwhelmed by Dormammu's possession.

This was not a simple situation.

Though she was a being at the level of a god, the Ancient One was burdened by several layers of negative effects.

Meanwhile, Dormammu's full possession had given him strength approaching that of a god. At the very least, he was well beyond a sub-deity level.

So it was no surprise that the Ancient One was struggling now.

Dormammu's possession, his descent, and the erosion of minds—these things that had never happened before were unfolding right before Lorien's eyes.

At that moment, while defending herself, the Ancient One noticed Lorien in the distance.

She closed her eyes briefly, then opened them again.

The next instant, a spirit form of the Ancient One flew out and came to stand beside Lorien.

She appeared unusually calm, though a slight frown marred her expression.

"None of this was foreseen in the Time Gem," she said, her voice steady. "The timeline has been completely thrown off."

This was the real Ancient One speaking now.

While the other version of her was still in combat, this spirit form represented the true Ancient One, who had long prepared herself for any eventuality.

"Yeah," Lorien agreed with a nod, acknowledging that the timeline had indeed been thrown into chaos.

He then asked two important questions.

"So, what are you planning to do now? Are you going to keep fighting until the end? And does Stephen have the resolve to become the Sorcerer Supreme?"

These two questions caused the Ancient One to fall into a moment of reflective silence.