"Is something wrong?" The princess blinked in surprise, about to speak further.
But Ye Li was suddenly replaced by a flash of blue light and vanished on the spot.
"He really just left like that..."
'Why... do I feel like I wanted to spend a little more time with him...'
Crystalia felt a faint tinge of disappointment watching Ye Li leave so decisively.
However,
His effortless teleportation only made her more convinced that he could help her find the other royal Inhumans.
"Guess I'll just wait for him then... I wonder what was so urgent that he had to leave in such a rush..."
The crystal princess glanced down at the room key lying in her palm, and a soft smile curled her lips.
She showed the key to Rachel and politely asked, "Miss Charlotte, could you take me to see this room?"
"Ah... one sec...! I need to wash my hands first..."
The cat-eyed girl looked embarrassed and quickly darted to the sink.
"Why is everyone in such a hurry..."
Crystalia muttered, puzzled. "Are Earthlings always this busy?"
Saying that, she looked over at Matilda, "Doesn't seem very busy to me... Maybe it's because she's still an immature youngling?"
Matilda, meanwhile, was sneakily stuffing those grapes with white specks into her mouth one by one, happily murmuring,
"Mmm... the more I eat, the better it tastes... Pretty unique flavor~ Is this a specialty Hawaiian grape?"
She had no idea — grapes in Hawaii didn't taste like that.
What she was eating was her big brother's enhanced "specialty"...
…..
Huen~!
Ye Li appeared high in the sky above the resort island, his gaze locked far off in one direction.
That direction—
Was New York.
Or more specifically—
The New York Sanctum.
Just moments ago,
His super spider-sense had predicted the arrival of a certain someone.
A body formed from the fabric of the stars; a head forged in magical fire—
Dormammu.
If Thanos didn't have the Infinity Gauntlet, he might not even compare to the danger posed by the Lord of the Dark Dimension.
But Ye Li estimated Dormammu's power to be somewhere between Peak Skyfather to Single-Universe Level, still within his manageable range —
As long as he handled it carefully, there shouldn't be a problem.
"Seriously, ruining my vacation…"
Huen~!
…..
Inside and outside the New York Sanctum, everything was engulfed in a layer of mirror dimension.
Within the mirror dimension,
Gravity twisted and flipped at will. Up was down, down was sideways.
Buildings warped, intersecting like mismatched puzzle pieces, forming kaleidoscopic illusions.
"This was a mistake—ugh! Aaaaah—!"
Strange and Mordo were fleeing for their lives, eventually falling from the side of a building rotated a full 180 degrees.
And pursuing them from behind were Dormammu's zealots led by Kaecilius.
It all began when Strange successfully opened the mirror dimension.
At first, he'd been thrilled to trap Kaecilius and company inside.
But then—he quickly realized...
He couldn't control it. At all.
Instead, Kaecilius, infused with Dark Dimension energy, took control of the mirror world with stunning ease.
This move?
Yeah, Strange had totally shot himself in the foot.
Soon enough, Stephen found himself cornered with no way out.
Kaecilius grabbed him by the throat and slammed him hard onto the ground—BANG!!
Then, Kaecilius rubbed his hands together—
Wenzi~—!
—Summoning a transparent magical blade.
He raised it high, ready to take Strange's life!
Just then—
Swoosh—!!
A flaming magic fan spun through the air, forcing Kaecilius back.
Clack clack clack...
The floating platform under Stephen quickly pulled him away.
Wen~—!
The magic fan returned, caught midair by a tall, slender woman.
She wore a yellow robe, wielded twin fans, her aura graceful and cool—
It was none other than the Sorcerer Supreme—The Ancient One!
"Master Ancient One… I did call you a while ago…"
Lying like a dead fish on the ground, Strange mentally groaned:
'Guess she finally showed up—!'
"You need a bit of trial by fire, Strange."
The Ancient One smiled gently at her chosen successor, then calmly walked toward Kaecilius and the cultists.
'I nearly died from that 'trial'...'
Though Stephen grumbled internally, just seeing the Ancient One's calm back gave him a deep sense of relief.
The venerable Sorcerer Supreme who had lived for centuries—
Against Kaecilius and his band of dark fanatics?
Should be an easy win... right?
Naïve Stephen still didn't realize
He was about to inherit a ticking time bomb...
If nothing unexpected happens?
Then something definitely will.