The remnants of Hydra were eradicated. Former President Edward returned to office, personally clearing Stark, Saitama, Natasha, and the others. He announced that the wanted orders had all been Hydra's schemes, and the villains responsible had been punished.
With Jarvis and Saturday Sale digging up overwhelming evidence of Hydra's plots against superheroes, everything was exposed to the public.
"I can't believe Hydra infiltrated even the council!"
"God, thank the superheroes—otherwise it would've been catastrophic!"
"I told you, Blindfold, Stark, they're good people!"
"Of course! And Saitama's so handsome!"
Public opinion began to shift in favor of the heroes, improving the situation.
"Living comfortably, Saitama?"
In the seaside villa, under the soft glow of lamps—
"Mmmhmm~~"
Mouth full of hamburger, eyes glued to a game console, Saitama mumbled lazily.
With nothing urgent, lounging at Stark's place was fine. After all, he was a major shareholder of Stark Industries. Life was good.
At the same time—
Kamar-Taj.
In the library, Strange's curiosity toward the forbidden book Wong had once warned him about only grew. Wong had said no one but the Ancient One herself could understand it.
But Strange suspected otherwise.
That suspicion burned until one day, when Wong was absent, Strange sneaked in.
He pulled down the incomplete book, pages missing, and studied it carefully. A peculiar symbol caught his eye—The Eye of Agamotto.
His heart pounded. He took the relic and followed the book's method, experimenting on an apple he had just bitten.
A dazzling sight appeared!
A green hexagram shimmered in his hand, time flowing forward and backward—bitten apple restored, restored apple eaten again.
It could manipulate time!
A dangerous thought arose. Restore the missing pages of the book.
Trembling with excitement, he aimed the spell at the torn sections. Slowly, the two lost pages reformed before his eyes.
"Dormammu? Eternal life? Dark power…?"
He whispered, fascinated, testing further.
Crack—
A noise like ice splitting, mirrors forming all around. A door to something dreadful was opening.
"No!!"
A furious shout broke through. Strange panicked and broke the spell.
It was Mordo.
The Ancient One's senior disciple stormed in, furious. "How dare you meddle with time itself?!"
"I… I was just following what the book said…"
"Did it not say the dangers?! Time magic can erase you from existence, destroy entire worlds!"
Wong rushed in too, scolding him.
But what shocked them most was that Strange could wield time magic at all.
"You… you are a true sorcerer!" Mordo stared at him, awed. In mere months, Strange's gift rivaled those training for years.
Wong sighed. "It's time you knew the truth."
They led him to a secret chamber. There, projections showed Earth's four Sanctums—the defense against Dormammu, the devourer of worlds.
But suddenly—
The London Sanctum flared with terrible energy.
Kaecilius!
The traitor appeared, leading zealots, channeling immense power to destroy the Sanctum.
Mordo rushed through a portal to stop him—but was caught in a devastating trap, collapsing in pain.
Strange and Wong followed, only to see Kaecilius slam a sphere of energy into the ground.
Boom!
The London Sanctum exploded. Bricks flew, fire roared. Wong and Mordo vanished.
Strange staggered to his feet—no longer at Kamar-Taj, but in a cathedral. The Eye of Agamotto hung from his chest.
"What… where are they?"
He stumbled outside—into New York.
"New York? The Sanctum…?"
Rushing back inside, he froze.
Kaecilius stood over the slain body of Daniel, guardian of the New York Sanctum. Black veins marred his face, his eyes blazing with corruption.
"Impossible…" Strange gasped.
Kaecilius sneered. "How long have you been at Kamar-Taj? What's your name?"
"Strange."
"Strange, huh? I don't care!"
With a flash, he slit Daniel's throat, then charged at Strange.
He would kill every disciple of the Ancient One and shatter her defenses against the darkness.
Strange turned pale, fleeing as Kaecilius pursued.
Meanwhile—
With rare free time, Pepper insisted on dragging Saitama out shopping.
As Stark said, "Being cooped up all day will rot your brain. He needs fresh air!"
And so the world's strongest hero was reluctantly pulled from his month-long hibernation in Stark's villa…
(End of Chapter)
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