I breathed out slowly, letting all the memories—no, the lifetimes—settle into place like shifting celestial plates. Five hundred years of battle as the Ancient One. Fifteen hundred years of illusion mastery and Asgardian magic from Loki. The dark brilliance of Orochimaru's forbidden sciences and chakra techniques.
All of it churned inside me, folding into my soul until it felt as natural as my own heartbeat.
If I am to survive in this DC universe… I must become something more than human. Something more than any single template.
I opened my eyes.This world didn't know me.And that was good.
A curse, a demon, a spirit—any of them could latch onto a name. A name had power. A name had weight.
So I let mine go.Buried it.Silenced it forever.
"I am no longer Cat," I whispered into the air. "From this moment on… I am the Ancient One. Or simply… Yao."
It felt right. Powerful. Untouchable.
But a title, even one so old and feared, required structure. Presence. Power. I couldn't protect this planet drifting rootless like a leaf on the wind.
To create true planetary protection, I needed more than one sanctum. The Ancient One of my world had three:– The Sanctum Sanctorum in New York.– The Hong Kong Sanctum.– The London Sanctum.
But this world… this DC world… was larger, stranger, more chaotic. More dangerous.
Three sanctums would never be enough.
"No," I murmured, my eyes glowing faintly as mystic diagrams shimmered into existence behind my thoughts. "To anchor a global protective barrier, I'll need at least six… maybe seven points of power."
Ley lines. Nexus points. Dimensional weak spots.I began mapping them instinctively—Orochimaru's analytical precision blending with Loki's spatial awareness and the Ancient One's mystical intuition.
I saw them in my mind like threads of light:
Gotham — a cursed sinkhole of fear and dark emotion. A perfect anchor.
Metropolis — a beacon of hope, a shining counterbalance.
Themyscira — ancient divine magic, strong and undisturbed.
Central City — lightning energy and speedforce saturation.
Coast City — touched by willpower itself.
Happy Harbor — a quiet place masking immense potential.
And finally… an unclaimed location. A silent wilderness where the world's natural magic whispers unchecked.
Seven sanctums.Seven shields.Seven pillars to create a planetary barrier that even demons would hesitate to touch.
"Tower of Magic…" I mused. "A dramatic name for my central base… but fitting."
Still… one tower wasn't enough. I needed a network. A web. A lattice of protection woven through the bones of the earth.
And before I do anything… I must hunt the demons trying to seep into this world.
My fingers tapped together instinctively, forming the first sigil. Sparks of mystic energy crackled between them.
"I will be this world's Ancient One," I said softly, but with absolute certainty."I will protect it."
My cloak materialized around me in a swirl of golden sparks, and I stepped forward——already planning the first sanctum.
Already feeling the worlds beyond press against the veil.
Already preparing to fight.