"Your expression tells me you've thought of something very bad." Ancient One appeared very calm.
She didn't think there was anything wrong with her approach, and more importantly, as long as it worked.
Duval was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "I can't help but wonder if one day in the future, every notable figure in the entire multiverse will be your debtor."
"Indeed, that's an interesting future. If that day really comes, it will conversely prove that my strength has reached an extremely high level, otherwise so many strong individuals wouldn't be willing to lend me their power."
Ancient One sized up Duval. "If you become a strong figure in this universe one day, then I'll be honored to borrow some power from you as well."
Duval had never expected this. He had envisioned many possibilities beforehand, such as the Ancient One in this universe actually being a male version, exceptionally powerful, and favored by cosmic entities like Eternity.
Even a drastic change in personality would be acceptable, such as being extremely difficult to deal with, or Ancient One attacking him on sight. Duval had prepared himself for this scenario, with a meticulously crafted counter-plan and multiple self-preservation plans specifically to deal with such a situation.
As it turned out, it wasn't the worst-case scenario he had anticipated, but there were still plenty of troubles.
"I'm suddenly filled with interest in that strange future. If that day really comes, perhaps you'll be the safest person in the multiverse, in a way."
Everywhere, there would be vicious debtors, every multiversal entity, without exception, wanting to kill Ancient One more than anything, yet not wanting Ancient One to die.
However, if that time really came, and Ancient One could draw power from so many powerful beings, her own accumulated strength would probably reach an extremely high level, perhaps standing above the single universe level.
Maybe even reaching single universal omnipotence? As for becoming a multiversal entity, Duval thought about it and concluded that it was completely impossible.
"After dealing with you this time, my intuition tells me I should stay away from you." Duval seriously considered a certain possibility.
"You can't stay away. Don't forget that I still need to help you with the magic you want to develop. If everything goes smoothly, there might be results in a few decades. Surely you can live for a few more decades, or I'll have to question the genetic limits of the Xenomorphs."
"Xenomorphs aren't omnipotent, but they definitely won't have problems with lifespan, but I doubt you can live for a few more decades."
Ancient One lowered her head and thought for a moment. "If the body dies, the soul is fine."
"Very well, then I can now confirm one thing, which is that when you lose your body and achieve physical 'death,' you'll probably only be able to bear half of your original debts."
Kaecilius had many diseases all over his body, and even the Strange version of the Sorcerer Supreme, with the help of a large number of Ascetics to share the burden, had minor problems such as stomach ulcers and difficulty sleeping.
So, the question is, if Ancient One were to abandon her body and only repay her debts in soul form, how long could she last?
Or rather, how long would those powerful beings who inadvertently glanced at this universe and realized that something was wrong with Ancient One, and that she was playing tricks on them, be able to tolerate it? You must know that the current Ancient One is already struggling to repay her magical debts.
"I've said that there are always more solutions than problems." Ancient One's face showed no signs of anxiety. This Sorcerer Supreme, after hundreds of years of planning, had already made preparations in all aspects.
"I now understand why Dormammu is fixated on you. Devouring Earth is one aspect, but wanting to vent his anger and regain his dignity as a Cosmic Demon God is another."
Duval shook his head and immediately mobilized a larger number of Xenomorphs to prepare for departure. He wanted to speed up the progress of learning magic as much as possible.
In an instant, golden teleportation gates constantly appeared inside Weyland Tower.
Some ordinary people who came here to discuss business immediately stopped and looked at these things that appeared out of thin air in confusion.
"What is this, some kind of trick?"
"Don't be ridiculous, use your brain, idiot! Even if it really is a trick, how could it appear inside Weyland Tower? Weyland Corporation doesn't run a circus."
"I guess someone is invading Weyland Tower. They're crazy. Many people have proven with their lives that this method doesn't work."
Soon, their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, because they saw a large number of Xenomorphs lined up and efficiently rushing into the golden circles of light.
As the circles closed, these Xenomorphs disappeared one after another.
At this moment, even the dumbest people suddenly realized what these circles were for.
"Space teleportation? Is there really magic in this world?"
"Whose superhuman ability is this? And it's a space teleportation ability. I don't remember any Mutant who uses this method to transport people through space. Even Red Devil can't do this."
The crowd stirred, and then they took out their phones and quickly reported the situation to their superiors.
Before long, the whole world knew that Kamar-Taj had cooperated with Duval, but the exact form of cooperation was temporarily unknown.
Even so, it was enough. This would be an information that would lead to speculation, especially for people like Fury.
"Why is the Sorcerer Supreme mixed up with Duval? This is not funny at all."
Nick Fury let out a deep sigh. He felt that his job was too difficult. Everything was going smoothly, so why did the situation turn into this mess in just a few months? Everything was starting to slip out of his control.
Coulson was dead, and Fury had to vigorously promote Hill, but Hill was not Coulson after all, lacking Coulson's complete planning ability.
"The Master Mold platform has successfully crossed Venus Orbit and is heading towards the sun," Hill said with excitement, flipping through the virtual screen.
"Good job, Hill. With this, it means we have a crucial weapon in our hands," Fury said, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
The Master Mold Project is a super-enhanced version of the Sentinel Robot Project. Everyone knows that relying solely on Sentinel Robots, it would be difficult to exterminate all the Mutants in the world.
Even if the robots really achieved the ultimate solution as envisioned—being able to replicate the Mutants' X-Gene—once one robot replicated it, all other robots could synchronize the data transmission and instantly possess the relevant abilities.
But even so, facing the Mutants led by Magneto and Professor X, they were still outmatched.
Magneto could crush all metal creations, using near-omnipotent magnetic force to erase all machines.
Professor X couldn't do anything to the robots, but he could eliminate the people controlling the machines and order others to rewrite the Sentinel Robots' control code.
Of course, now these two weren't the only unstable factors. Fury had a premonition that a new powerful force was rising at the speed of light, and might soon become more troublesome than the Mutant problem. That guy was manually building and expanding a completely new and terrifying race.
"First Asgard, and now Kamar-Taj? Even the Sorcerer Supreme thinks highly of Duval, even though Duval is a disruptor of order in modern society?"
Fury hadn't dealt with the Sorcerer Supreme, but he had people under him who had.
He called in a Dum Dum Dugan.
"I said last time, when I ask you again, you need to give me an explanation. You're swallowing so much funding every time, what exactly are you doing? The countless clones you've created could form an army! If I wasn't holding you back, people would think you were preparing to establish a country overseas!" Fury's face was grim, his patience rapidly depleting with Coulson's death.
Now the matter also involved Kamar-Taj and the Sorcerer Supreme.
"Boss, I was just about to report to you. I found Duval's subordinates in Kamar-Taj, that Eternal called Druig. He talked with Ancient One for a long time."
Dum Dum Dugan said, "But my intuition tells me that guy isn't just Druig. It's highly likely that Duval is using the Xenomorph on his chest to complete the conversation with Ancient One."
Fury felt his mood worsen.
"So you don't know what they talked about?"
"Of course not. We're just a bunch of magic apprentices. The Sorcerer Supreme said there would be a time when we'd be needed soon, but I haven't figured out how she'll use us yet."
Dum Dum Dugan also looked puzzled.
Based on the results S.H.I.E.L.D. had achieved so far, their research on magic wasn't very deep. They only knew that talented magicians could generate magic particles in their bodies through learning, and mastering the relevant spells could transform these particles into powerful magic.
They couldn't yet touch the truth that using magic was like borrowing money.
So, even as cunning as Fury was, he couldn't understand Ancient One's actions. Recruiting a large number of Dum Dum Dugans, what was the use of that?
"Boss, we're about to have a big operation. Although it's not good to come to you to leak secrets, I don't think the Sorcerer Supreme intends to hide the truth."
Dum Dum Dugan tapped his head, flipping through the cloud-archived memories shared by many clones: "Almost all the mages have been mobilized, scattered all over the world, seemingly preparing to face extremely terrible enemies. It's the first time I've seen them like this."
"What about you? Since there are so many of you, you must have received Ancient One's mission, right?"
"No, on the contrary, boss, none of us have been sent out. We've all been left behind to guard the Sanctum."
Dum Dum Dugan suspected it was because their strength was too weak, but then he thought that since all the mages, including other magic apprentices, had been sent out, there was no reason not to call on them.
"Wait, boss, new memories have been uploaded over there. Let me see... Damn it, what did I find? I saw a large group of Xenomorphs mixed into our team learning magic!"
They were indeed shocked. Even when entering the great hall of Kamar-Taj, one could see Xenomorphs. Just glancing at the burly and fierce individuals around them sent a chill down their spines.
Letting Xenomorphs learn magic, was this the agreement Duval and the Sorcerer Supreme had reached?
All preparations were being advanced in an orderly manner.
Even the Dum Dum Dugans felt the prelude to a storm was coming.
At this moment, Fury heard Hill let out a cry of surprise.
"Not good, the Master Mold platform, which is about to enter the sun's orbit, has suddenly experienced a slight deviation!"
"Immediately find the cause. Our technology can't possibly fail to do even this," Fury said calmly.
Scientists and engineers came and went, talking in low voices with solemn expressions.
"The preliminary report is that some kind of terrifying unknown entity squeezed the surrounding space, and our Master Mold ship was unlucky enough to be affected by this moving force," a scientist reported.
Fury stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the sky, as if trying to see the edge of the sun.
Some kind of entity that could affect the Master Mold? This was almost like a low-grade cosmic joke. How powerful would its size have to be?
It seemed Kamar-Taj was preparing for this.
"Re-calibrate the trajectory, make sure to deploy the Master Mold to the designated location," Fury ordered.
"Failure, we've completely lost contact with the Master Mold platform... the Master Mold has disappeared."
"?"
...
Dormammu certainly had reason to be angry.
As a well-known and respected ancient Cosmic Demon God, He was treated with utmost respect wherever He went, yet He had been thwarted time and time again in this small place called Earth.
Ancient One was like an indestructible wall, clearly not as strong as Him, yet she always used various means to send Him back empty-handed.
What Dormammu found most unbearable was that Ancient One actually treated Him, this incomparably noble Cosmic Demon God, like a sucker.
"Now, even my loyal servant Kaecilius is dead!"
Dormammu was furious just thinking about it, his face full of cruelty, and raging flames burned on his planet-like body.
The people of Earth would never know how much He had invested in Kaecilius.
Those guys didn't even know how heavy a price Dormammu had paid to improve Kaecilius's strength, at least to the point where he could negotiate a few moves with Ancient One.
Dormammu sometimes felt in the dark that there were lofty figures, wandering in the infinitely distant higher dimensions, occasionally staring at Him with vicious and malicious eyes, clearly assessing a delicious delicacy.
Dormammu felt that He had done so much, but got nothing in return. Rapidly cultivating a group of Black Magic Users like Kaecilius, which led to Him bearing more burdens, was just to send these people to destroy the magic arrays on Earth, and ultimately achieve the goal of killing Ancient One.
Letting a group of guys who owed small debts solve a guy who owed huge debts? Dormammu also felt that something was wrong, but He had no choice before.
But now there was no need to worry about this, Dormammu decided to take action personally.
Killing Ancient One was not the goal, capturing the source of the Xenomorphs was the goal.
In Dormammu's huge, starless eyes, a deep cruelty clearly emerged.
The Xenomorphs as a vessel shell, were too in line with His needs.
As long as He could control the source and carefully create a magical shell, Dormammu could continuously create magical avatars and invest them in large quantities on Earth.
"Ancient One can rely on magic arrays and artifacts to resist me, can she also stop countless weaker versions of me from appearing all over the Earth?"
Unfortunately, that guy Kaecilius didn't accomplish anything. He had been busy for so many years, wasting countless Black Magic quotas in vain, and now he was dead and gone, forcing Him to take action personally.
The more Dormammu thought about it, the more angry He became. Terrifying flames condensed in His hands, and He immediately grabbed towards the endless void, and a phantom-like Kaecilius appeared in the palm of His hand.
"Lord Dormammu? I knew I wouldn't die, as long as you are here..."
"No, you will die. Your constant failures are just a burden to me, you are nothing but that! You might as well die sooner and merge with my Dark Dimension forever."
Along with Kaecilius's last scream, Dormammu kneaded Kaecilius's soul into the most primitive energy and merged it into the Dark Dimension.
Kaecilius would not be alone, because he would be with countless dead planets in this Dark Dimension, which were the corpses piled up by hundreds of millions of lives.
Dormammu slammed towards Earth, and the huge Dark Dimension opened a terrifying crack at this moment, remotely aimed at the entire solar system.
Of course, during this period, Dormammu also noticed that a strange technological creation had been swallowed into His world, but this kind of thing happened from time to time, so there was no need to care.
Everyone seemed to feel something, and they all looked up, dumbfounded, watching the changing sky within their field of vision. Everything seemed to have a terrifying black hole, brewing the aftermath of devouring everything.
Even ordinary people without any extraordinary power, at this moment, seemed to be deeply stared at by an extremely terrifying monster across countless light-years. That kind of trembling from the soul, the despair of ending thoughts, ravaged the entire planet.
Faced with a terrifying volume at the level of a single universe, Earth seemed very small.
The entire Earth began to move, and various forces began to use all means to explore the source of this change. Those strong people standing at the top level were even prepared for the worst.
Being able to cause this kind of movement must be an unimaginable and terrible enemy coming from the depths of the universe.
"What's going on? I feel very cold, like countless people are screaming in my head!"
"God, quickly look at outer space with a telescope, a huge crack has appeared in that direction!"
"Is it a god or a demon, why did they come to Earth?"
"Xenomorph, I want to become a Xenomorph!!"
Even more knowledgeable scholars were frantically flipping through ancient books, trying to find some clues from history to find out the identity of this unknown visitor.
But no matter what they did, in the face of this level of powerful enemy, it seemed pale and powerless.
This was also the first time that modern humans had to face an existence of this level—a Cosmic Demon God from another dimension.
The mountains trembled, and the oceans roared.
On the moon, Black Bolt had already donned his battle suit. His cold face showed no emotion. He simply raised his head and gazed at the rift where the Dark Dimension and the real universe intersected.
As a Skyfather-level powerhouse, Black Bolt knew more than ordinary people. He was well aware of how dangerous Dormammu was.
But he had no choice. If Earth was destroyed, the moon wouldn't be able to stay out of it either.
However, Black Bolt wasn't in a hurry to act. He alone was far from Dormammu's match. He focused on the movements on Earth.
The next second, an intense magical surge erupted from Earth. Three extremely bright spots shone in the dark vacuum of space, firmly shielding the planet.
The Sorcerer Supreme had made a move. Everyone, including Black Bolt, breathed a sigh of relief.
The upheaval in all of Midgard quickly spread through the World Tree. Before long, all the other realms felt Dormammu's arrival.
Almost every realm had a Skyfather-level powerhouse guarding it.
On numerous planets, the Asgardians and Jotunheimers who were fighting each other stopped, retreating in tacit agreement, waiting for the outcome in Midgard.
Even Odin couldn't help but rise, gazing towards Midgard.
"The master of the Dark Dimension… This guy's strength is no less than the Celestials, and in some ways, he's even more difficult to deal with than the Celestials."
Odin could see that Dormammu's attack was aggressive, clearly determined to achieve his goal.
But in the past, Dormammu hadn't gained much advantage over the Ancient One. So why this time? This time, Dormammu was confident he could devour Earth? Hence, he was putting on such a display.
"It seems I can't remain silent any longer. If it were a thousand years ago, Dormammu would never have dared to be so reckless."
Odin's face betrayed his weariness.
The vast Odin Force within him constantly exerted terrifying pressure on his body and mind, making him teeter on the brink of collapse.
The racial trait of the Asgardians was that the older they got, the stronger they became, and the faster their Godly Power grew. So, in theory, elderly Asgardians were at their strongest in their lives, but once they entered the final stages of their lives, the speed of their fall from their peak would be unimaginably fast.
The powerful Godly Power accumulated throughout their lives would eventually become the strongest killer that crushed them.
Odin felt that Loki's spreading of the false news of his death had made many believe it, so they had become increasingly presumptuous.
Laufey was like this, and so was Dormammu.
Odin assessed his condition. Even with Gungnir in hand and the Destroyer Armor on his body, he might not be able to fight Dormammu, but killing Laufey was no problem.
"First, I'll see the Ancient One's preparations. If she really can't stop him, then I will act. Protecting the peace and order of the Nine Realms is the mission of the Asgardian God-King. But after this battle, it will be up to Loki and Thor to deal with Laufey." A trace of worry flashed in Odin's eyes.
If only he had a reliable descendant, he wouldn't have to worry so much. He could directly pass on his Odin Force.
Fortunately, Thor had changed a lot, even now still fighting bloody battles on the battlefield with the Xenomorph army.
Odin also wanted to take this opportunity to see the Ancient One one last time. He had always wanted to know what the Ancient One was worried about. Was it really just Dormammu?
On the Sky Carrier.
Nick Fury calculated the position of the rift, subconsciously compared it with all the firepower carried by the Sky Carrier, and immediately gave up. He then asked, "It seems that our Master Mold was swallowed by the guy in this rift. Is there still no way to confirm the other party's identity?"
"No, but it's highly likely to be a demon from another world. Otherwise, Kamar-Taj wouldn't have reacted so strongly," Hill said. "This is the enemy that Kamar-Taj is preparing to deal with."
The atmosphere in the entire Sky Carrier was extremely heavy.
Fury's face was already black and blue.
The Master Mold Project was the key for him to re-suppress the Mutants and disintegrate Duval's forces. As long as this project was successful, Earth would return to its former state, and all the unstable factors would be eliminated.
But now, the Master Mold's carrier platform was about to be in place, ready to start researching and mass-producing combat weapons on the edge of the sun—the safest and most unexpected location. But it had turned out like this, entering an unknown realm and disappearing without a trace.
It would take a long time to create a second Master Mold platform.
More importantly, the possibility of leakage had greatly increased.
This made Fury, who was already exhausted, feel so depressed that he almost vomited blood. He had not only lost the Master Mold, but also had to face this unknown Cosmic Demon God.
Even if the Ancient One successfully defeated the enemy, what then? As the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury didn't know how to quell this global chaos that was destined to erupt.
Was he going to explain to the people of the world that this was actually a large-scale virtual reality performance? That there were no aliens, gods, demons, or other worlds? It couldn't be concealed, it simply couldn't be concealed.
"I can understand the Ancient One being prepared, but I don't understand why Duval is also qualified to join in? What makes him worthy of being chosen by the Ancient One? Could it be that someone like him is preparing to take over the Ancient One's position?"
Fury couldn't understand how Ancient One could choose Duval; it was as if she were blind. Duval was entirely capable of turning everyone in the world into Xenomorphs.
Duval looked up at the sky, equally baffled by the scene.
"In your previous encounters, was Dormammu always this flamboyant? Openly making a move in this manner? I'm genuinely worried he'll be swarmed by a bunch of World Tree's Skyfathers in the next second."
"It's quite normal. While Dormammu has a cunning side, he's mostly defined by extreme arrogance and conceit," Ancient One said.
Duval nodded slightly, "Still, I like his way of saying hello; no beating around the bush. But regardless of the outcome of this battle, this world will be completely changed, heading down another path. I doubt you've seen this in your countless futures, have you?"
Even if this Ancient One before him had an unconventional style, there probably weren't many like her across the entire multiverse, daring to play a scheme loaning game with a bunch of multiversal deities.
But Duval believed that at least this Ancient One should share the same commonality with most other Ancient Ones: an obsession with protecting Earth.
"After this battle, the existence of Kamar-Taj will be completely exposed to the world. Even ordinary people will frantically search for evidence of your existence. It seems the way you've secretly protected Earth in the past will have to change to another method starting today," Duval said.
"Perhaps there's another possibility: that we all die here today, and there will be no future to speak of, let alone considering how to face the post-war Earth."
"True enough."
"After the battle starts, you'll assist me."
Ancient One raised her hand, summoning two levitating cloaks, one red and one blue.
"The red magic cloak can envelop the entire solar system, and the blue magic cloak can protect Earth. You can choose one."
"Can't I have both?" Duval was very interested in these two cloaks.
Under the terrifying pressure, Ancient One simply stared at Duval calmly.
Duval smiled slightly and immediately summoned Reynolds.
Reynolds wanted to choose the red cloak, but the red cloak completely looked down on him. Reynolds didn't care and immediately grabbed the fleeing red cloak, forcibly draping it over his shoulders and tying it around his neck.
"I've been working on my own battle suit recently, and I always felt like something was missing. Now it's complete."
Reynolds stretched out his thick arms, holding the red cloak tightly behind him, refusing to let it escape, and grinned.
A piece of clothing that could think for itself and assist its wearer in battle—Reynolds was very satisfied. It was just that this clothing wasn't very obedient right now, but that didn't matter. Reynolds believed his charm could conquer it.
"But I still need to confirm something." Reynolds looked up at the sky, a look of fear on his face. "Boss, you don't really want me to deal with that guy, do you?"
"Don't worry, you're just assisting, following the Sorcerer Supreme's lead. My will shall be with you as well."
Reynolds felt a little more at ease because as long as Duval was certain about something, it always calmed him down.
What's more, there was also the Sorcerer Supreme, who was said to be the strongest on Earth, holding down the fort.
Reynolds felt the strength of the levitating cloak and immediately turned his gaze to Ancient One, who was wearing the blue levitating cloak.
"Don't go, Reynolds. She's not an ordinary opponent; you'll get killed."
"But you said I was stronger than anyone."
"That's right, I did say that, but she's not human."
Duval dissuaded the eager Reynolds. Don't be fooled by Ancient One's peaceful attitude; it was entirely based on her supreme confidence in her own strength.
Because she knew she was strong enough, she displayed a polite indifference to external things.
But if Reynolds really wanted to challenge Ancient One, that would be another matter entirely.
"The magic arrays are fully activated, and my people are in place. Sorcerer Supreme, what kind of battle tactics do you have in mind?" Duval asked.
Since Ancient One was going to take the lead and have Duval assist, she must have a sophisticated set of tactics.
Ancient One's expression was gentle, "There's no such thing. You just need to follow me and charge. It's best to use the weapons you've prepared at this time; otherwise, there might not be a future. Also, let me remind you that, according to my understanding of Dormammu, his goal this time might not be me, or even Earth."
Duval's eyes narrowed, thoughtful. He remembered Kaecilius's obsession with him.
"Hmm, I understand. I thought I was just here to assist, but I didn't expect to inadvertently become a key figure directly affecting the safety of Earth… I need to take out a few of the various contingency plans I've prepared."
Duval looked up at the crack that had expanded to its limit, where Dormammu's giant eye was peering out.
"Reynolds, remember what I told you? You're strong, with extraordinary potential. Now is the time to fully unleash your potential—as a Xenomorph."
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