Martin's expression grew more serious than ever.
Dormammu, this was, without a doubt, the most powerful enemy he had ever faced.
It wasn't merely that Dormammu was inherently strong; the true terror lay in his ability to draw upon the full might of the Dark Dimension.
A realm akin to a miniature universe, steeped in accumulated dimensional energy, temporal chaos, and boundless power.
Dormammu, as its one true deity, could channel it all at will.
To battle Dormammu inside his own domain was to fight against the combined force of both the demon and the Dark Dimension itself.
"No wonder even the Ancient One, with all her mystical artifacts and mastery, still couldn't kill him…"
Martin unleashed a devastating blow that collided with Dormammu's surging dark sorcery. The result was a cataclysm of galactic annihilation-level magnitude.
To destroy Dormammu, one would need to enter the Dark Dimension and obliterate it entirely, along with Dormammu himself. A near-impossible mission.
"Letting the Infinity Stones fall into your hands is such a waste," Dormammu sneered, launching a relentless barrage; distinct spells, dark, frenzied, and overwhelming, all crashing down on Martin.
His gaze locked on the two Infinity Stones embedded in Martin's gauntlet, caution flaring in his eyes, but also unmistakable greed.
Infinity Stones. The real thing.
Dormammu may have held Martin in contempt, unafraid of the Stones' power, but that didn't mean he didn't want them.
Two at once, no less.
"No one in this universe has ever wielded two Infinity Stones at the same time. And you, a mere human, managed it? It matters not, because soon, those Stones will be mine!"
Dormammu's monstrous laughter echoed through the void, but beneath it was something else: wariness.
Martin's control over the Infinity Stones far exceeded Dormammu's expectations. Not only could he wield two simultaneously, he could also draw out their full potential.
Even some deities couldn't do that.
Yet this human could.
The battlefield trembled.
The entire Dark Dimension began to strain under the escalating violence of their duel.
Cracks appeared across its fabric, vast and terrifying, but though they quickly mended, the fact they appeared at all was deeply ominous.
Dormammu felt it: pressure.
With each passing moment, as Martin grew more adept at using the Stones, Dormammu found himself more and more on the defensive. His composure started to crack.
"Dormammu," Martin growled, "you will fall by my hand. Your corpse will be the foundation of my throne."
BOOM!
Martin stomped down, shattering an incoming meteor beneath his heel. The fragments became a hail of burning debris, falling like comets into the depths of the Dark Dimension.
"If you were saying that while wielding the Power Stone, I might take it seriously. But Space and Mind?" Dormammu let out a distorted, condescending laugh. "Please…"
Space and Mind. Useful, yes, more so than Time, but far from the deadliest Stones. Against Dormammu, they were mere pinpricks compared to the devastation the Power, Reality, or Soul Stones could deliver.
Even if the Dark Dimension was beginning to falter, it was still faint. Dormammu could still summon boundless reserves of energy, enough to fight Martin until the universe itself perished.
"What a pain…"
Martin frowned, raising his right hand.
The Space Stone pulsed, instantaneously, countless blue vortexes ripped open across the battlefield. Each swallowed Dormammu's incoming spells with pinpoint accuracy.
In the next breath, those same vortexes blinked out of existence, redirecting Dormammu's own attacks back at him.
BOOM!
CRACK!
Another colossal fracture split the Dark Dimension. The aftershocks from their clash bled out into realspace, instantly vaporizing entire star systems.
Explosions multiplied. Chaos reigned.
"That aura… someone's fighting Dormammu inside the Dark Dimension?"
"Which cosmic god dares such madness?"
"Dormammu alone is bad enough. But the entire Dark Dimension? That's suicide. Now, if he were forced out of it, then killing him would be another matter entirely."
Across the universe, ancient beings turned their gaze toward the growing calamity.
Someone had dared to invade Dormammu's dominion and challenge him there.
This was either a fool, or someone with supreme confidence in their strength.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Each new clash sent ripples into the cosmos. Entire planets disintegrated from the residual shockwaves alone.
No one cared about the collateral anymore. What mattered was the outcome.
If Dormammu truly fell, then the universe would be rid of one of its greatest cancers.
From afar, several ancient cosmic deities furrowed their brows, their expressions turning strange.
They could sense the Infinity Stones.
"Martin. Again? Why is it always Martin?"
They stared, watching.
Ding!
[Congratulations, Host! Your universal reputation has reached cosmic resonance! Universe-Level Prestige Draw activated!]
Ding!
[Congratulations! You have obtained: Cybertronian Relic – Time Blaster!]
A strange-looking weapon appeared in Martin's inventory. In the midst of battle, he raised an eyebrow.
A Time Blaster, capable of locking a designated area in stasis, halting all time within.
In any battlefield, it would be a top-tier artifact. Unless the enemy operated at multiversal scale, they couldn't avoid its effects.
Martin chuckled bitterly.
"Of all the relics… against Dormammu, time is probably the least useful thing I could get."
Give him something like the Locking Scepter, or a Phase Shifter, and he might actually turn the tide. But a time weapon? Dormammu existed beyond time. [TN: Don't know the first one.]
Still… the more he thought about it, the less useless it seemed.
Martin looked up once more. The oppressive darkness around him surged, but he pushed through, ripping open another tear in the fabric of the Dark Dimension. The Mind Stone gleamed, and unleashed a barrage of mental assaults, twisting and battering Dormammu's will.
He couldn't mind-control a being like Dormammu, not directly. But the interference was massive.
The Space Stone flared.
Cracks widened again across the dimension.
"Dormammu," Martin said, voice icy, "what do you think will happen if I stop fighting you directly… and start dismantling the Dark Dimension instead?"
He grinned.
"Can you still suppress time… when your domain no longer exists?"
Even without the Stones, Martin had ways to finish Dormammu once the Dark Dimension collapsed.
He would end him.
That fate was already sealed.
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