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*****
Stephen Strange and Mordo were backed into a desperate corner.
Just as it seemed Kaecilius was about to finish Strange off, the Ancient One appeared.
Her entrance was dazzling.
The fractured space and twisted architecture formed a stage for the Ancient One. With a wave of the energy fans in her hands, she effortlessly deflected the energy weapons fired at her by several zealots.
Her nimble footwork displayed elegance and calm as she moved with ease.
However, the situation took a sharp turn.
While the Ancient One blocked an attack from a zealot, Kaecilius, wielding a transparent energy blade, stabbed through both his zealot and the Ancient One. He then snatched the Sling Ring from her, opened a portal, and kicked her through it.
The Ancient One plummeted from mid-air, the blood seeping from her chest blooming like a bewitching flower.
Strange and Mordo chased after her, while Kaecilius and his followers opened a portal and left the Mirror Dimension.
For them, destroying the Sanctum was the priority.
Meanwhile, Strange and Mordo rushed the Ancient One into the hospital.
Seconds later, a portal opened in mid-air, and Mike and Odin stepped out.
The two looked at each other, the corners of their mouths twitching wildly.
"The Ancient One's death was a bit too hasty..." Mike couldn't help but remark.
Odin agreed. "Dying like that doesn't befit her status as the Sorcerer Supreme at all."
Just then, as if sensing something, they looked toward the New York Sanctum in the distance.
Seeing that the Sanctum had been successfully destroyed, they flew toward the hospital where the Ancient One was.
Hiding in the shadows, they watched the Ancient One's performance closely.
The Ancient One's soul separated from her body. Noticing this, Strange separated his own soul from his body and flew out, chasing closely after hers.
The two stood before the hospital's floor-to-ceiling window as the Ancient One gave Strange his final lesson.
In the shadows, Mike and Odin watched this scene with great interest. Mike flipped his hand, producing some sunflower seeds for Odin.
Odin looked at Mike in confusion. Mike demonstrated, and Odin instantly understood.
Crack, crack...
Unnoticed by anyone, the two stood in the corner, happily watching the Ancient One's performance.
The corner of the Ancient One's eye twitched imperceptibly.
Her emotions were almost thrown off by these two, but hearing Strange ask her to return to her body, she maintained her composure and said to him, "Time is relative. You haven't gotten used to the role of a master yet."
"I've spent a lot of time peering into the future, but looking at this point in time, I might not make it through."
The Ancient One spoke in a relaxed tone, revealing an attitude of indifference toward life and death.
Mike and Odin secretly gave a thumbs-up.
That tone, those lines, that expression... Spot on!
"I've prevented countless terrible events, but bad things always follow one after another. Eventually, it all leads to this step, and then it ends..."
"Do you think you're just going to die like this?" Strange asked, his tone unreadable, a trace of sadness in his eyes.
"Do you want to know what kind of future I saw in you?"
The Ancient One looked out the window, her gaze distant, as if piercing through time and space.
Strange hesitated. "No..."
The Ancient One looked at Strange with a smile, her clear gaze seemingly seeing into his heart.
Like a child whose thoughts had been seen through, Strange lowered his head slightly in embarrassment.
"I do."
After speaking, he kept his head slightly lowered, sneaking glances at the Ancient One, unable to hide the curiosity in his eyes.
"I never truly saw your future, only its potential possibilities."
The Ancient One paused, then said, "You have a naturally pure and kind nature."
"You always excel, but not because you crave success, but because you are too afraid of failure."
Strange was shaken, as if seeing a kindred spirit. His voice was low. "That's why I could become a successful doctor."
As a doctor, failure meant the loss of life, so he could not fail.
"That is also the reason why you aren't great enough." The Ancient One smiled as she pointed out Strange's shortcoming. "Your arrogance and fear make you ignorant of the simplest yet most important lesson."
Strange enjoyed a very high status in the medical field due to his outstanding intellect and unparalleled surgical skills. This led to his arrogance and complacency, thinking he could solve everything. Consequently, he became self-centered, lacked reverence for everything around him, and ignored those who cared about him—until he lost the use of his hands. Only then did he feel the real world and see its other side.
"What lesson?" Strange's eyes narrowed.
The Ancient One looked into Strange's eyes and said gently but firmly, "It's not about you."
Hearing this, Strange trembled, looking as if he had realized something.
"When you first came to find me, you asked how I cured Jonathan Pangborn. In fact, I didn't cure him. He channeled dimensional energy directly into his own body."
Jonathan Pangborn was a former patient of Strange's, diagnosed as paralyzed for life. It was Pangborn who told him about Kamar-Taj, leading him to become the mage he was now.
"So, he walks using magic?" Strange instantly understood.
"Indeed. He once faced a choice: return to his original life or dedicate himself to a higher purpose."
Return to himself and live his own life, or become a master and protect the Earth.
Hearing this, Strange murmured, "So, my hands can be healed, and I can return to my old life?"
"Of course," the Ancient One admitted with a smile, then added, "But that won't do the world any good."
Giving up the identity of a master meant giving up the responsibility of protecting the Earth.
Strange's expression became complicated as he began to struggle internally.
Then, he heard the Ancient One say slowly, "I naturally didn't want to draw power from the Dark Dimension, but as you know, sometimes one must break the rules to pursue the higher ideals they believe in."
To protect the world, the Ancient One broke the rules.
But...
"Mordo doesn't see it that way," Strange said slowly.
Mordo...
Thinking of her other student, the Ancient One felt a bit of regret, but her expression remained very calm. "Because of his upbringing, Mordo is naturally rigid and inflexible. If he could learn your flexibility and adaptability, and you could learn his steadfastness..."
"Only by supporting each other and fighting side by side can you possibly defeat Dormammu."
Fight Dormammu?
Strange, who had learned a bit about Dormammu during this time, was shocked. "I'm not ready."
That was the ruler of the Dark Dimension.
"No one is ever ready for such things," the Ancient One said faintly. "We don't get to choose our time."
Saying this, she gently held Strange's hand and spoke slowly, "Death gives life meaning. It lets you know that time is short and days are few. Do you think I'm ready to face death?"
"No one is ever ready..."
She had simply tried her best to choose a suitable time.
As she spoke, Strange felt the hand holding his vanish, and the Ancient One silently disappeared from his side.
Simultaneously, in the emergency room, the Ancient One completely lost her vital signs, leaving behind a group of dejected doctors and nurses.
Strange stood there silently for a while before his soul returned to his body.
Watching the Ancient One's body being taken away, he took off his scrubs and walked out.
He had made a difficult decision. After saying goodbye to his ex-girlfriend and fellow doctor, Christine, he put on his Cloak of Levitation and rushed toward the last remaining Sanctum in Hong Kong.
The Ancient One's death was a huge blow to him, but her final words gave him a new understanding of life and the world.
They had lost the Sorcerer Supreme; now, they had to step up.
Strange, formerly a doctor, had always saved lives. From now on, he chose to save lives in a much harder way.
Seeing Strange's choice, Mike and Odin nodded secretly and said to the soul of the Ancient One beside them, "You chose well."
The Ancient One smiled slightly. "But we still have to see what he does next."
She was truly curious about what Strange would do. After all, compared to Dormammu's power, they were too weak.
Suddenly, Mike winked at the Ancient One. "That final lesson at the parting moment was well taught."
The Ancient One's face was calm, but the corner of her mouth lifted slightly.
"But the death was too fake, too hasty," Odin added.
"Yeah, you're the Sorcerer Supreme. How could they believe you died so easily?" Mike said, speechless.
The Ancient One said calmly, "Do you two want to try it as well?"
"No need!"
"Not necessary!"
Mike and Odin coughed lightly and stopped teasing the Ancient One.
"Your body is about to be taken away."
Watching the body being wheeled off, Mike's eyes flashed. "I need to start moving."
Odin nodded, and the Ancient One followed as Mike began his operation.
The Ancient One's body was to be sent directly to the crematorium. Hiding his presence, a card appeared between Mike's fingers.
In the next second, the card dissolved into specks of light. With a thought, powerful psychic energy spread out.
Then, after implanting memories into the relevant people's minds that the Ancient One's body had already been taken away and incinerated, Mike took the body.
Opening a portal, Mike brought the body to a quiet place.
As the Ancient One and Odin appeared, two cards materialized between Mike's fingers.
"Go!"
Mike said to the Ancient One. As her soul returned to her body, the cards in Mike's hand dissolved into light, and green energy full of life wrapped around the Ancient One's corpse, healing her wounds.
For the sake of realism, the injuries on her body had been real.
The Ancient One looked at her body, nodded with satisfaction, and with a flash of her eyes, her yellow robes turned into black robes.
"I still have to go to the crematorium."
After telling the Ancient One, Mike vanished before them.
Since it was supposed to be a cremation, no loose ends could be left at the crematorium. He even had to erect a tombstone for the Ancient One.
If you're going to do something, do it completely.
Mike chuckled, and after resolving these matters as quickly as possible, he returned to where the Ancient One and Odin were.
When he appeared, the two were discussing how to spend their retirement.
Mike looked at Odin speechlessly. "You're talking so enthusiastically; have you retired yet?"
Odin chuckled. "Don't worry, the opportunity will come."
Hearing this, Mike's mouth twitched.
Good grief, are you planning to pull a fake death stunt too?
Seeing Mike looking at him strangely, Odin coughed lightly. "Let's hurry to Hong Kong."
They had delayed here for some time. If they waited any longer, he feared it would be too late.
The Ancient One waved her hand to open a portal. The three stepped through and appeared near the Hong Kong Sanctum.
At this moment, the Hong Kong Sanctum had just been destroyed.
The area around the Sanctum was a mess.
Collateral damage to buildings, collateral damage to ordinary people.
Dust filled the sky, and crowds screamed...
But all these things seemed insignificant before the invading Dark Dimension.
Where the Sanctum had been destroyed, space seemed to have been torn apart. Dark purple energy invaded like fog, followed by a large number of strange fragments tumbling endlessly in the sky above the ruins.
"This isn't energy; it's space. The invasion of an entire dimension," the Ancient One said calmly.
"Where are the mages of Kamar-Taj?" Odin asked, scanning the ground below, only to see corpses.
Clearly, these mages had been dealt with by Kaecilius.
"Hey, Ancient One, the mages of Kamar-Taj are so weak... Were they diligent?"
Under the Ancient One's gloomy gaze, Odin awkwardly changed his tune.
The Ancient One fanned herself rapidly. She had the urge to resurrect herself right now and go exchange a few moves with Dormammu.
At this rate, it was looking like a total wipeout.
Just as the Ancient One was worrying, Mike's eyes flashed as he looked down.
"They're here."
Hearing this, the Ancient One and Odin hurriedly looked over.
A rotating portal appeared below.
Strange, draped in the Cloak of Levitation, and Mordo walked out.
Seeing the destroyed Sanctum and the rapidly invading Dark Dimension, their expressions changed.
"Too late. The Dark Dimension has invaded. Dormammu is coming. No one can stop Dormammu..." Mordo murmured, looking at the zealots walking toward them, his eyes full of despair.
"No, not necessarily."
Strange looked at the Eye of Agamotto hanging around his neck. His eyes flashed as he used a time spell.
Green magical runes condensed into a magic circle in front of Strange's palm. Time began to reverse. Everything that had been destroyed began to rewind frantically, as if a rewind button had been pressed.
He was going to reverse time to before the Sanctum was destroyed.
He pulled Mordo from the reversing time into normal time.
"There's still a chance!"
Maintaining the spell, Strange said to Mordo before running toward the Sanctum.
Seeing this, the Ancient One finally slowed her frantic fanning back to normal.
It seemed she didn't need to fake her resurrection.
"Come, come here!"
Mike took out a bag of sunflower seeds and shared them with the two, lifting his chin toward Kaecilius and the zealots, who were struggling to break free from the effects of time nearby.
"The show is about to begin."
(End of Chapter)