Russell thought for a moment and asked:
"Is Cagliostro from this universe?"
Eternity gave him a long, deep look and shook his head.
"No. He came with you, but he traveled to the past on the timeline and used his power to create the Eternal Past and build the Book of Cagliostro's magic library."
The last bit of Russell's resistance crumbled. He sighed helplessly.
Still, judging from the current situation, this might not be entirely a bad thing.
After all, anyone who schemes to make themselves into a multiversal entity probably isn't thinking straight.
Russell could only feel more and more baffled.
"Are you going to leave?"
Eternity asked warmly:
"I can tell you how to find the other Eternities."
Russell's mouth twitched.
I just helped you, and you're already talking like you're kicking me out.
Eternity then said calmly,
"Although I don't know exactly how you did it, some of the powers you've taken contain fragments of a universe's origin…"
Russell gave a dry cough. Returning what he had already absorbed was out of the question. Without another word, he opened ten portals in an instant and prepared to go.
"Compared to the origin, it's just a drop in the bucket for a great being like you, Eternity. Don't worry about it. Consider saving the timeline my free service!"
"That said… I've got a few things to take care of, so I'll be going now."
"See you next time!"
Without even looking back, Russell darted through the portals, ignoring Eternity's mildly resentful gaze.
We'll just talk about hunting down Xisong next time…
Eternity sighed and dissolved into starlight.
The End of Time.
Russell stepped out of the portal.
He hadn't forgotten the generous parting gift Kang the Conqueror had left him.
The golden castle ahead contained nearly all of the special time-energy Kang had collected over countless years. If Russell absorbed it, he would wield temporal power on par with Loki from the TVA.
Even though he was already operating on a multiversal scale, the potential of this power was still immense.
He even suspected that the strange Loki he had once met in Asgard might possess similar energy.
In the next instant, Russell pressed his fingers downward, and dense magical sigils burst into existence.
They didn't follow the rigid structure of a magic circle—instead, they were freely arranged and interwoven.
A massive suction force erupted. Thick, mist-like energy began flowing from the golden castle straight into Russell's grasp.
The castle's brilliance dulled, as if weathered over centuries, until at last all its golden time-energy was drained. What remained crumbled into white dust, scattering onto the base of the isolated island.
Suddenly, a deafening roar echoed through the void—
"Richards!"
"Foolish, naïve mortal! You think you can trap the Lord of the Dark Dimension? You will pay for this! I'll burn you in the flames of magic for a hundred million years!"
For Dormammu, less than 0.01 seconds had passed since Kang's departure.
He raised his hand to open a portal to the Dark Dimension—but nothing happened.
Space remained utterly still.
Dormammu froze, unable to comprehend why.
Without pausing to think, he tried again.
The result was the same.
This time, however, he realized the problem—space wasn't unmoving. His teleportation was failing.
He glanced toward the two trembling Lokis nearby, feeling more than a little embarrassed.
The idea that he, the ruler of the Dark Dimension, couldn't even open the door to his own realm… it was humiliating.
No. I'll prove it. I'll make them watch me open the way.
Dormammu drew in a deep breath. Dark energy surged from his hand, and he slashed the space before him.
This time he wasn't teleporting—he was forcibly tearing open the dimensional boundary to connect directly to his domain.
A sound like ripping fabric tore through the air.
Dormammu succeeded.
A jagged wound split the void…
But what lay beyond left him speechless.
Where was the Dark Dimension?
Where was his endless realm of shadow and the countless souls that knelt before him?
Dormammu's eyes went wide. He all but stuck his head through the rift, desperate for an answer.
At that moment, Loki noticed something.
He instinctively looked up—and saw a figure floating in the air.
It was the same man who had been standing right in front of him earlier.
Wait… wasn't he just on the ground? Loki thought, puzzled.
Before he could process it, an enraged voice thundered through the air.
"Who's there?! Where is my Dark Dimension?!"
Dormammu turned sharply toward Loki, his eyes blazing with fury.
"Tell me! What is your connection to Richards? Why are you here at the End of Time? Are you two working together to deceive me?!"
Loki's face went pale—but in his heart, he wanted to call Dormammu an idiot.
In this situation, shouldn't you be questioning the guy floating ominously above us?
Loki tilted his head upward. Dormammu, following his gaze, looked up as well—and froze.
There was a man floating in the air, smiling at him.
Strange?
No… now Dormammu remembered. This was the one who had been standing across from him before.
Suddenly, Dormammu felt something.
Loki watched in shock as Dormammu's flaming head extinguished, revealing a pale, human-like face—one that was full of fear.
His pupils trembled.
Without hesitation, Dormammu turned and hurled himself toward the void beyond the dimensional rift.
Loki had never seen such desperation—he wasn't even sure he had been that terrified when he was hurled into the universe.
A low, mocking chuckle echoed through the air.
"Don't rush off. Didn't you just say there's a 'gap between single entities'?"
The voice was cold, almost infernal. Dormammu's back went clammy with sweat, and his movements turned frantic—nothing like the calm, all-powerful lord he pretended to be.
Bang!
Dormammu slammed headfirst into an invisible spatial barrier. He couldn't move forward. Helpless, he watched as the rift to the Dark Dimension slowly began to close.
Loki had no idea why this supposedly unstoppable ruler of the Dark Dimension was so utterly terrified—like someone who had just stumbled into the Hulk's rage.
But Hela, standing beside him, understood immediately.
No matter the lifeform, this kind of reaction only happened when confronted with something vastly stronger.
And for someone like Dormammu to be this terrified…
Hela didn't hesitate. She grabbed the still-confused Loki and forced him to kneel.
Russell raised an eyebrow.
This woman's sharper than I thought.
But his attention quickly returned to Dormammu.
Russell smiled faintly.
"Is the great Lord of the Dark Dimension… trying to run away?"
Dormammu, even in his current state, still retained the remnants of his former multiversal awareness.
One glance at Russell's aura told him the truth.
This was not just a multiversal being—this was a multiversal entity outside of any dimension.
There was only one option left.
Self-destruction.
If he destroyed this avatar completely, he could be reborn within the core of the Dark Dimension.
It would cost him most of his will and awareness, but… survival was survival.
Bang!
Dormammu detonated himself without hesitation.
But when he opened his eyes again, he wasn't reborn.
His soul was still intact—trapped inside a floating cube.
The dark energy that made up his essence condensed into a black sphere… and Russell simply consumed it.
Russell frowned.
"Compared to the entire Dark Dimension, this amount of energy is… disappointingly small."
Dormammu's mind shattered. It felt as if he were falling endlessly into an abyss.
And then—he finally understood why his teleportation had failed earlier.
The Dark Dimension was gone.
How could he return to something that no longer existed?
A quiet voice spoke in his ear.
"Tell me… how should I deal with you?"
Dormammu's sanity snapped back in an instant. Ancient cunning, unused for billions of years, surged to the surface.
"I… I can help you devour Hell!" he blurted.
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