"Ancient One, why are you truly here?"
Aron looked at her, somewhat helpless. He knew that Mephisto wasn't the kind to get involved in such a game without reason. If he had been waiting so confidently, then he had surely set a trap in advance.
"Why did you come?" he asked again.
"Supreme Mage, return at once. I can handle this." Aron pulled out the exorcism card, ready to use it if necessary. He wanted to persuade the Ancient One to leave, for the same reason he had come himself.
In this world, there were only a few true lords of hell. Even if they couldn't be completely defeated, they could always be driven away, at least temporarily.
"Someone dared to attack a disciple of Kamar-Taj," she said calmly. "Of course I had to come."
Faced with Aron's attempt to persuade her to retreat, the Ancient One shook her head. She had no intention of leaving.
"Ancient One!?"
On the other side, Satanish saw her and immediately froze in shock. He looked at Mephisto.
"I'll—" he began, but didn't have time to finish.
Mephisto shook his head.
"No! It's not time yet. First we must take that card. If we don't get it, everything is ruined!"
His voice was serious and resolute as he transmitted his thoughts to Satanish. Although they had long been enemies, now he had to rely on him.
Because Satanish was no ordinary lord of hell.
Besides ruling over his own hellish kingdom, he had another hidden identity. For a long time, he had secretly served the master of the Dark Dimension, Dormammu.
This trap was not only aimed at Aron, but primarily against the Ancient One. Mephisto and his old rival Satanish had created this dead end together.
The three sanctums that Agamotto had once established on Earth were the only barrier preventing Dormammu from entering. Dormammu could not step onto Earth personally, but he could respond to a summoning and appear in hell.
The plan was perfectly laid out. Almost flawless.
But none of them had foreseen that Aron would possess the exorcism card.
"Satanish, I will hold back the Ancient One. You take that card. Whether the plan succeeds or fails depends on you now."
Mephisto finished speaking and his enormous body, towering like a mountain, raised his hand. Furious flames wrapped around his fist as he swung toward the Ancient One.
"Come, Ancient One! Show me the power of the Supreme Mage!"
Flames sizzled around his hand, enveloping it like molten armor.
The Ancient One did not seem disturbed. She was not in a rush. She even had the time to turn to Aron and quietly say:
"Aron, watch closely. Perhaps you'll learn something about how to use magic."
Only when Mephisto's fist was nearly upon her did she finally raise her hand. In her palm appeared the Ring of Raggadorr.
It was basic, yet powerful secret magic of Kamar-Taj, the foundation for many more complex spells. Its form was a circular magical shield, both defensive and offensive. Usually it shone with an orange or golden-yellow glow.
But the Ring of Raggadorr in the Ancient One's hand was red, like the searing edge of a blade.
Boom!
Mephisto's punch struck the shield. Under the weight of his enormous body, like a collapsing mountain, the space trembled. The energy released was like a tidal wave, shattering and lifting debris in the surrounding space.
However, the very next moment red light flashed.
Mephisto's fist was stopped by an invisible force.
The Ancient One stood unmoving, one hand behind her back. With only one hand she held the magical shield and stopped his devastating blow.
Then she slowly moved her wrist. The magical shield spun like a fan. Its edge, now sharp and lethal, slashed upward.
A buzzing sound rang out, and the red light of the magical shield flared.
In the next moment, Mephisto's hand was severed, a clean line at the wrist, as if the entire limb had been sliced off by the blade of divine judgment.
"Aaaaah!!" he roared, the pain only then reaching his mind.
It had happened too quickly. Even a hell lord like Mephisto had no time to react. For a moment he froze, only then realizing what had happened.
"Ancient One! I swear I will kill you!" he bellowed furiously. His remaining hand unleashed a powerful beam of energy, imbued with the aura of death and destruction.
Wherever the beam passed, space shattered. The mirror dimension began to crack, fragile fragments splitting like broken glass and sinking into infinity.
But the Ancient One simply raised her hand calmly and waved it lightly.
Primal cosmic magic bent the trajectory of the energy, completely altering its course.
"This is the foundation of our art," she said coldly, her voice piercing through the noise of destruction.
"Kamar-Taj magic. Occult knowledge. Remember this, Aron. No matter what the future brings you… you belong to Kamar-Taj. It will always be your home."
As though her words were more important than the battle itself.
And then, without turning, she raised her finger and released a magical lightning bolt.
The lightning rumbled several times through the space, exploding in a series of strikes. The last one hit Mephisto directly, piercing his chest.
This was no ordinary spell, it was advanced magic.
The Bolts of Balthakk.
The sound of the explosion shook the entire dimension, and Mephisto's chest burst into a massive bloody hole.
His enormous, mountainous body could no longer endure. It shrank abruptly, like a balloon losing air, returning to his smaller, demonic form.
"Satanish! Hurry!" he shouted in panic, blood dripping from the wound in his torso.
Twice in a row, Mephisto had been struck hard. And only now, belatedly, did he truly feel the difference between himself and the Ancient One.
His thought, though filled with rage, was shrouded in fear: Is this old woman actually on the level of a Heavenly Father?
Was the gap between him and the Ancient One truly that vast?
He was shocked by his own realization, unable to believe it.
"Satanish! Quickly!" he shouted again, desperately seeking a way out.
"I know, I know!" Satanish snapped back, showing rare impatience. His enormous, green body moved with astonishing speed, unbefitting his massive frame.
In an instant he was before Aron. His palm, wide as a fan, crashed down toward his head.
But Aron raised his hand and met the blow without hesitation.
A thunderous crash resounded.
The familiar energy of lightning surged from Aron and struck Satanish's body, halting his charge and knocking him back.
"You'll have to get through me first, Satanish," he said calmly.
At that moment, the Ancient One brought out her other hand, the one she had kept behind her back all along. She was preparing to fight against the two most powerful demons at once.
"Ancient One, leave one to me," said Aron, with a slight sigh. Determination flickered in his eyes, but also a small shadow of frustration. He had wanted to test his strength against these enemies himself. If not for her, he likely would have already used his exorcism card and sent them all back to Hell.
But now, seeing her ready to fight both of them alone, he wondered if he had any room left to prove himself.
"No," she snapped. "Leave them to me."
It was the first time she had refused him so firmly. Her aura did not just radiate that of a protector, it emanated something far greater.
And so she fought.
Against Mephisto and Satanish, two of the highest Heavenly Fathers.
In an instant, the Mirror Dimension was lit with dazzling magic, as though the cosmos itself had exploded within it.
Aron watched the scene, his brow furrowing. He had never seen the Ancient One like this before. Her behavior, her resolve, everything was different from before.
"What's with her today?" he muttered softly, but had no time to analyze.
An explosion shook the entire world.
Destructive energy spread through the dimension, waves of annihilation so powerful that even Aron had to retreat.
A battle on the level of beings like a Heavenly Father was enough to destroy an entire planet. And now, watching the Ancient One, he realized, she was going even beyond that.
Her power was so immense that space itself bent. Cracks opened in the sky, forming unstable wormholes.
Each of them could drag an unfortunate victim into the worst of all destinies, into the cold, empty void of space, or into the unknown Nothingness, where neither light nor time existed.
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