— — — — — —
Half a day later
After finishing a whirlwind tour of the dimensional lords, led by the Ancient One herself, things had changed quite a bit for Veyron.
Compared to how he was just half a day ago when they stepped out of the Dark Dimension, the energy—the Ki—in Veyron's body had increased again by 10 x 2⁴⁵.
But this time, the power spike wasn't because of new stat boosts from [Divine Ki]'s passive effects. That part hadn't changed.
Well... It started when he came into contact with the second inter-dimensional power.
In the Marvel universe, every dimension has its own flavor. Each domain produces energy that carries its own unique traits.
But at their core? It's all just different expressions of the same universal force.
Kind of like how in the One Piece world, Armament Haki, Observation Haki, and Conqueror's Haki all boil down to the same thing: Haki—just shaped differently.
Marvel's concepts of Chaos and Order, Darkness and Light—at first glance, they seem completely opposite. But when you look at them from a higher-dimensional perspective, they're essentially the same thing.
Which meant: none of them could really trigger a new boost in his [Divine Ki].
What did power him up, however, was the sheer flood of experience points he got from those dimensional lords. Enough to push [Divine Ki] from Level 86 all the way up to Level 97.
And according to how his abilities scaled, that was huge.
Not only did each level come with a baseline power boost, but hitting Level 90 unlocked a new perk: [Lv.90: Divine Ki Power +45]
Even more insane— another Lv 90 bonus was multiplying the total power of [Divine Ki] by 10.
So altogether, his overall power had now ballooned to 10 × 2⁴⁵.
And just 10 × 2⁴⁵ = 351,843,720,888,320 times stronger.
Insane? Definitely.
"Thanks again for all the help today, Sorcerer Supreme," Veyron said sincerely after his energy finally calmed down. "If Earth ever gets hit with another dimensional threat, just let Gwen know. Unless I'm really tied up, I'll come running the moment I hear about it."
The Ancient One chuckled, stroking his beard. "We're just helping each other. If you're thanking anyone, thank those lords for being so… 'generous'."
After everything that happened today, Earth would finally get a much-needed break on the magical front.
And it wasn't just because they'd knocked a few eldritch beings down a peg— nah, it was because Earth now had someone like Veyron on its side. Someone who could stand toe-to-toe with a dimensional overlord and—unlike the Ancient One— didn't have to worry about collateral damage, or holding back.
If it weren't for the fact that some of those dimension lords still served… necessary functions, Veyron probably would've wiped them out already.
Yeah, some of those lords were so pitiful compared to Dormammu, it would've been like squashing ants.
...
"Here are the other dimensions Kamar-Taj has mapped out," the Ancient One said, bringing his palms together.
Reality twisted between his hands, space folding and bending until a bookshelf from another sanctum—several blocks away—appeared right in front of them.
"These domains might not be as powerful as the ones we just visited. Most of their lords are far weaker than Dormammu, so when you borrow power from these places, you won't have to worry too much about the cost."
"But there are a few exceptions—beings so strong that you really don't want to provoke them without good reason. If you do catch their attention… well, even if you can escape this universe, things might get messy the next time you come back."
He handed Veyron a few books from the shelf, marking several pages in red ink.
"You mean that 'Mr. Eye' we 'just happened' to run into in the second dimension we visited?" Veyron asked casually.
"...Ah, yeah. Him," the Ancient One replied, coughing awkwardly.
Shuma-Gorath, the so-called "Mr. Eye", was an extradimensional being who ruled over hundreds of dimensions.
Unlike those mass-produced dimensional overlords who had countless variants across the multiverse, Shuma-Gorath was unique—there was only one of him throughout the entire multiverse.
Even outside his home dimension, where his power would normally be reduced, he still possessed nearly limitless power. As long as even one of his conquered dimensions remained intact, his essence could return again and again, essentially making him immortal.
For a being that powerful, it was only natural that the Ancient One never intended to mess with him voluntarily.
Sure, in the old destined timeline, he was meant to die at Shuma-Gorath's hands and pass on to follow the One Above All. But hey, that was just the old timeline.
Still, not poking the beast doesn't help much when the beast comes looking for you.
After their little incident with Dormammu, the Ancient One had noticed how absurdly fast Veyron's power was rising. So naturally, he'd suggested targeting another dimensional entity with designs on Earth—one even more cunning and insidious than Dormammu.
What he didn't expect was that this so-called dimensional Lord happened to be a high-ranking servant of Shuma-Gorath.
Just as they'd finished subduing him—and before Veyron even had a chance to collect the spoils—a tentacle burst out from the Lord's body.
In the end, Veyron got out of it completely fine. In fact, he walked away with the entire dimension's origin energy... with Shuma-Gorath's silent approval, no less.
The Ancient One, on the other hand? He got dragged into another dimension for a heartfelt little chat with Mr. Eye himself.
"So yeah," he said with a twitch in his smile, "when you're borrowing power from these guys, maybe pay a little 'tribute'... just as a formality."
Even though he'd already purified himself afterward using the Vishanti's Trinity Force, the mere thought of that eye-filled monster still gave him phantom sensations—like his stomach lining was sprouting tentacles playing a string quartet.
"But really, since all you need is a sample of their power for reference, you can just borrow an equivalent amount from one of the dimensions they rule over and offer it back as payment."
"Got it. I'll be careful," Veyron nodded. He picked up one of the red-marked books and flipped it open. The spell described inside was the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak.
"The Crimson Bands," the Ancient One began, "as the name suggests, draw their power from the ruler of the Crimson Cosmos—Cyttorak."
The Crimson Bands of Cyttorak was a spell that could encase the victim in many red bands that are virtually indestructible.
"Just like Shuma-Gorath, Cyttorak is a one-of-a-kind being in the multiverse. Even when he's outside his home, his power is practically limitless, and his energy? Bottomless."
As the Ancient One narrated, Veyron used the recorded spell to link himself to the Crimson Cosmos, Cyttorak's dimension.
And almost instantly, in the Crimson Palace, Veyron's gaze locked with the ruler of that domain—seated upon the Crimson Throne.
"...So, uh? Is this how you usually cast this spell? Need to see Cyttorak first?" Veyron asked, his eye twitching.
The Ancient One fell silent.
If I told you this was actually my first time coming face-to-face with him too... would you believe me?
"…Interesting."
Cyttorak, the Destroyer, Lord of Oblivion, and Master of the Raging Storm—an immensely powerful extra-dimensional being once worshiped as both a god and a devil by primitive humans on Earth—stared at Veyron for a moment.
Then casually reached out and crushed a corner of the Crimson Cosmos with his will. It shattered into raw crimson essence, which he offered to Veyron without a word.
.
.
.