Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1641 Kamar-Taj Dormammu

One after another, the emerald green aura runes coiling around his wrist shattered and reformed, their speed almost transforming into emerald flames. The burning holy sword once again plunged into the charred wound along its original path. The rapidly functioning brain and surging pure psionic energy indicated that the Emperor was gradually gaining the upper hand in this struggle, yet there was no joy on the Emperor's face, and Dormammu, who was at a disadvantage, showed no anger or impatience. Amon's muscles tensed, and the neural signals from his limbs were transmitted through artificial neural synapses to the motion assistance system of his power armor, and then translated into actions by the corresponding limb's associated servers.

Some receivers failed to receive the corresponding electrical signals, and the emergency auxiliary force feedback system and server also lost response. The power armor was firmly frozen in this space, becoming a prison for the Royal Guard. He felt a roar building in his throat, accompanied by unprecedented anxiety flowing through his veins. He felt the exoskeleton of the power armor begin to loosen, and he began to move millimeter by millimeter, just like the Emperor and Dormammu who cast time arcane spells. Every tiny movement required tremendous effort.

"You still have one last, most difficult problem to solve." Dormammu mimicked the Sorcerer Supreme's usual tone, attempting to provoke the Emperor. However, the Emperor's calm expression and stable psionic fluctuations masked all emotions; aside from the initial display of anger, his emotions were no greater than those of a stone. Dormammu remained unfazed, continuing, "The shackles on your genetically modified pet remain. If you cannot solve this problem, even this genetically modified immortal being will perish. Or is it that you care about no one but yourself, that everyone but yourself is willing to sacrifice for your ideals?"

The emperor spun the holy sword, and the wound on the Supreme Sorcerer's chest continued to widen, with large amounts of blood flowing downwards due to gravity.

Thick, putrid smoke billowed from the wound, then burned in the Emperor's psychic glow, Dormammu's confident smile remaining unchanged. Dormammu smiled in the shadow of the mathematically twisted architecture. "Now we both hold each other's weaknesses, and I believe you understand human game theory well enough. You possess the Time Stone and the planetary defense system, preventing me from projecting my power into the material universe, but you have limited time and must make a choice; I possess the life of your genetically modified pet, lacking the Time Stone but possessing the soul of the Sorcerer Supreme. So, how about we start again?"

The emperor nodded, tacitly agreeing with Dormammu's statement.

The emerald green light on the wrists of the Sorcerer Supreme and the Emperor spun rapidly, then simultaneously stopped at the same symbol. This time, the symbol wasn't deciphered; instead, it began to burn. Immediately afterward, the entire space began to rewind along the timeline. The architectural components that made up the plaza began to disintegrate, unfold, and reassemble, returning to their original positions. The three people in the space began to rewind, their wounds began to heal, and the blood dripping onto the ground rose and entered their veins. Bullet fragments began to glue together to form complete bullet casings, the complex fuses of the deformed explosions magically regenerated in the air, the fired bullets returned to the muzzle along their paths, and the burnt-out propellant condensed in the air and loaded into the cartridge cases returning to the firing mechanism. A bright emerald green glow emerged from the Emperor's palm and disappeared into the body clad in an earthen-yellow robe. When everything stopped, Dormammu finally smiled.

Welcome to the Mirror Dimension!

It deliberately used the voice of the Sorcerer Supreme to shout at the Emperor and the Royal Guard in the distance. Dormammu was surprised by the Emperor's emphasis on the lives of the Royal Guard, but it was also glad that the Emperor valued the lives of the Royal Guard so much; otherwise, this game would have continued indefinitely until the Emperor lost patience and completely overturned the chessboard. The Emperor lowered his head and glanced at the emerald green halo wrapped around his wrist. The cryptic script, inherited from ancient humans' research into hyperspace, transcribed and copied from dreams and sounds, did not belong to any civilization in this galaxy. Many intelligent races' psionicists, including human psionicists (shamans, wizards, warlocks, etc.), believed that this cryptic script possessed the power of creation.

"Your kindness and foolishness surprise me."

Ammon held his spear high, ready to fire at any moment.

"What is that being who desecrated the body of the Sorcerer Supreme saying, my lord?"

"Time here is reversed, and not just once. The cycle has never stopped from the moment we stepped into this space."

The Emperor pointed his holy sword downwards, his face deep in thought. He saw something utterly impossible in this space. It was a mosquito, attempting to bite his exposed skin. It was a symbol; the Emperor allowed this insect to suck his blood. Aside from the creator of the mirror dimension, this temporary pocket dimension should not contain any life, but the appearance of this annoying insect had another omen—he foresaw Dormammu's control over the Sorcerer Supreme's body, but he hadn't foreseen the minute details within this vast space, like a missing unknown in the equation for victory—he saw more and more life. A white figure flitting past in the corner of his eye seemed to be a heron; in South American mythology, this waterfowl could cross boundaries; the distorted sky barely remained intact, with Jupiter, the symbol of kingship, twinkling in the heavens.

The gale in the mirror dimension intensified, and the clouds that had once hung high in the sky folded and deformed, descending upon them and even electrifying the air around them. The power armor surfaces even began to discharge, a phenomenon known as the St. Elmo Fire, which flashed by and was quickly dissipated by the energy released by the holy sword. This time, Dormammu approached the Emperor and the Royal Guard, its form blurred by eerily refracted light, making it impossible for even the power armor's powerful friend-or-foe identification system to accurately pinpoint its shape.

"Neither of us has any prior memories. The only certainty is that we must have grasped its essence, otherwise neither it nor I would have allowed the timeline of this space to move in the opposite direction. It does not hold complete power over this space. This mirror dimension belongs to the Sorcerer Supreme, and it also belongs to me. I also hold the advantage."

The emperor plunged the holy sword into the stone brick beneath his feet, and the emerald green halo on his wrist spun rapidly.

Orange-red sparks appeared out of thin air, swirling around his fingertips like mad bees trying to suck the honey clinging to them. Without needing to chant profound arcane incantations, an emerald green halo exploded, and all the symbols began to burn violently. Dormammu was now within a hundred meters; even Amon could feel the corrupt energy emanating from him. This wasn't a physical reduction in distance, but a sudden approach through spatial distortion, rendering the formulas of time, speed, and distance meaningless.

Thick tears of blood streamed from Wanda Maximov's eyes, blood gushing from her nose. The pressure from the planetary defense system forced her to involuntarily release crimson psionic energy. The giant serpent skull embedded in the heavy, iron-black serpent bone staff glowed, and she actively drew energy stored within the staff, allowing her to breathe a slight sigh of relief. Controlling the planetary defense system was akin to diving into the deep sea without any protective gear. In that sunless ocean, a mortal body would endure immense pressure—and now, Wanda Maximov had plunged into the outer dimension's deep sea. An attack from an unknown source was putting immense pressure on the planetary defense system she maintained—countless deformed claws and limbs, densely packed together, swarmed towards her like ants, separated from her only by an invisible layer of thick glass. She couldn't hear their howls, but she could hear the piercing noise of them scraping against the thick glass with every sharp part of their bodies.

They danced and screamed wildly, mocking Wanda Maximov behind the glass; they laughed at her cowardice, inviting her to step out of the barrier and join them; they descended from the sky riding on winding serpents, wielding gleaming swords, their armor inlaid with jewels, like angels from mythology, stars fallen from heaven; they uttered sweet secrets from countless mouths, ghosts lingered around them, chanting a name in a language never before born.

Dormammu.

The sound scraped against her brain, churning blood from her nasal cavity. She slumped her head, her vision blurred as she watched the blood drip, her remaining consciousness making her suspect that some of it contained her brain tissue. She struggled to control her emotions, trying to prevent the stinging sensation in her nose from triggering her tear ducts and making her cry, but it was difficult. Her remaining conscious mind kept telling her that this was just a dream she couldn't escape for the time being.

"No," Wanda Maximov rejected them with her last shred of sanity. The Unborn screamed in fury, revealing their hideous forms, and hacked at the barrier with swords burning with filthy flames.

"Help her, Mage Daniel!"

"I can't do it! The Eye of Agamotto doesn't allow two people to use it!" While being roared at by a three-meter-tall giant would terrify most people, the mage Daniel was not one of those fears; his nonchalant attitude made him fearless. "Help her, Royal Guard. I'll get some ice so she doesn't burn her brains."

"Anything else?"

"There's nothing I can do, Amphitrite. The planetary defense system can only be activated through the Eye of Agamotto, and as the current ruler of Kamar-Taj, no one else can relieve Wanda Maximoff of her duties. Poor girl, she needs time to grow, but aren't we all forced to shoulder responsibilities?"

"This is not the time to listen to your philosophical pronouncements, Master Daniel." Amphitrite supported Wanda's back with one hand, helping her to keep her standing. "Get some ice. I know you can do it with magic."

(End of this chapter)