The Xenomorphs were even more useful than expected. That was the Ancient One's assessment.
For one thing, they could transmit messages in an instant. As long as an individual carried a Xenomorph inside them, Adam could perceive them in real time and engage in remote communication and control. That was truly remarkable.
If one had to find fault with them, perhaps it was that Xenomorphs still couldn't communicate with each other directly over super-long distances.
"Is this the Sanctum Sanctorum? It seems to have many powerful magical arrays." Druig examined everything around him with a critical gaze, but he had to admit the place was somewhat terrifying. Powerful magical formations were arranged on seemingly every building.
It was hard to imagine what kind of astonishing defensive system would be revealed if all the arrays were activated at once.
Of course, the person capable of controlling all the arrays simultaneously was also crucial. That would fall to the Ancient One.
"This isn't some remote, uninhabited place. If you wish to come here to learn magic, we would welcome you warmly." The Ancient One said.
Almost every year, sorcerers who couldn't quite make the grade would leave Kamar-Taj and return to the mundane world.
But this also had its downsides. Some of those sorcerers had been tempted by Dormammu and Kaecilius.
"Magic? I won't be learning that."
Druig shook his head. "Don't think I can't tell... the dark sorcerer called Kaecilius was in very poor condition earlier. If he had been at full strength, he wouldn't have been so easy to stop. Otherwise, you wouldn't have chased him for so many years without killing him."
The Ancient One removed her hood, glanced at Druig, and said nothing, her expression calm.
Mordo listened to this stranger's somewhat casual words with clear displeasure. "Don't talk about the Sorcerer Supreme taking action. Even if you gave me a Professor X and Magneto, I could handle Kaecilius."
"No need. Professor X and Magneto could kill Kaecilius without you." Druig's face was cold. "Besides, Reynolds and I are far stronger than Professor X and Magneto."
Druig pointed at his own chest. His usual icy, unapproachable expression suddenly changed, becoming exceptionally devout.
With every breath, he was one with the Xenomorph in his chest. With every thought, his consciousness seemed to reside in that sea of flowers within the dark abyss. The intense contrast created an extraordinary sense of security and belonging... a feeling that was utterly addictive.
Mordo looked furious, even laughing from anger, and turned to grab a weapon to teach this person a lesson.
Don't think he didn't know this guy was an Eternal with psychic abilities. He didn't have the powerful physique of Gilgamesh or Ikaris.
Besides, for some reason, the even more terrifying Sentry hadn't come. If it had been the Sentry, Mordo wouldn't have challenged him lightly, because he would need to use multiple powerful spells just to contend.
Mordo was already mentally planning how to teach Druig a lesson. He would first cast a spell to protect his own mind, then use his staff to unleash Kamar-Taj's ancestral staff techniques and beat this guy soundly.
A sorcerer who hadn't mastered proficient combat skills was an unqualified sorcerer... it meant they had learned nothing from Kamar-Taj.
"He's not here to fight, Mordo. Kaecilius is dead, but even greater trouble is coming soon. They are our allies." The Ancient One said.
The group entered the main hall.
Various sorcerers passed by constantly, hurrying along. They nodded slightly when they saw the Ancient One before quickly leaving with thick books in their arms.
This place felt a lot like an ancient version of a university.
Wong came forward. "Kaecilius is dead. I heard about it from Elektra and came straight from the training grounds. This is truly uplifting news. Under the combined pressure from us and Adam, we've finally eradicated the dark sorcerers."
He turned to look at Druig. "Are you looking for Elektra and Murdock? They're in the training grounds fighting a vampire. I heard this vampire was actually their teacher. But hasn't Elektra been hunting vampires? The relationships here are too complicated. I've never quite figured them out."
Druig glanced at Wong without any reaction and made no move to find Elektra.
As long as there were Xenomorphs, they were all eternally together.
"But the soil that breeds dark sorcerers is still here, and it's about to stage a comeback. What we need to do now is study how to eradicate that soil."
"Understood. Like dealing with a mudslide. But this mudslide is frighteningly strong." Wong nodded in realization.
Dormammu, Lord of the Dark Dimension, the dominant force of dark magic in this universe, Chthon's current top spokesperson, and a single-universe-level powerhouse.
Although single-universe-level gods had varying strengths, honestly, anyone facing Dormammu would feel a headache.
Even if they could win, it would be extremely difficult to kill Dormammu, because that would mean entering the Dark Dimension and fighting Him on His home turf.
The difficulty was astronomical. To kill Dormammu, they would need to destroy the Dark Dimension along with Him... equivalent to destroying a pocket universe.
Moreover, Dormammu's backer was ridiculously powerful. If truly pushed to the brink, if Dormammu disregarded the cost and demanded power from the multiversal Chthon, who knew how much strength He could unleash.
For those present, they only needed to repel Dormammu's invasion. Ideally, they could hurt Him. Strictly speaking, even that wouldn't count as truly defeating Dormammu, yet it would already be an extraordinarily difficult task.
Druig looked at the Ancient One. "Aren't you Earth's strongest, Sorcerer Supreme? You should fight Dormammu one-on-one and kill Him."
Mordo felt he truly couldn't communicate with someone as single-minded as Druig. "Do you even know who Dormammu is? Do you know how strong He is? That's an old monster who's lived for billions of years! The Sorcerer Supreme is only a few hundred years old."
At this, Druig finally understood.
He had previously learned the truth from Ajak and knew he was actually a tool of the Celestials who had lived for millions of years. But he only had memories from after arriving on Earth.
Even counting his entire life, a few million years was still vastly different from Dormammu. Moreover, he didn't possess the immense power accumulated over those millions of years. In Druig's understanding, his current abilities seemed innate, and over these seven thousand years, they hadn't been strengthened much.
Thinking of this, Druig immediately thought of Arishem... the one who had used him as a tool. Millions of years. Millions of years. He had mindlessly repeated the same tasks in cycles. That was bad enough, but he had also had his memories wiped, forced to start over with every new life-bearing planet.
The more respect he had once felt for Arishem, the more he now wanted to kill Him.
There would be an opportunity. Druig thought of Adam. Adam was not a leader who liked staying safely in secure zones. On the contrary, He possessed extraordinary aggression and expansionist tendencies.
He had seen many things in Adam's mind. Although he hadn't had time to explore that abyss-like consciousness in full, the fragmented information alone was enough for Druig to understand what kind of person Adam was and what distant, grand goals he pursued.
No one understands Adam better than I do. Druig thought this and proudly lifted his chin.
The Ancient One was like a skilled tea connoisseur. With fair, slender fingers, she lifted the teapot and poured a single, flawless drop into the ancient teacup.
Just this tea set alone would be a priceless antique in the outside world.
The Ancient One made a gesture of drinking tea. "Try this. You probably haven't had any in several hundred years."
"I don't drink this. I only drink boiled water." Druig said.
The Ancient One's gaze moved directly from Druig's face to his chest.
"I think we can have a proper talk now. We can't always let Druig run wild." The Ancient One said.
Druig's body stiffened. Then his mouth began speaking uncontrollably. "Yes, we should talk. Sorcerer Supreme, you may not know how nervous I was earlier. I had to specifically move Reynolds to a safe location."
"But there was no tension in your tone... only calm and composure." The Ancient One's gaze seemed to fall directly on Adam himself.
Adam stood by the window, quietly gazing into the distance, and said calmly, "Don't mind it. That was just polite conversation. I think anyone suddenly facing the Sorcerer Supreme would instinctively become alert... especially someone like me, who holds a weapon capable of dealing with the Sorcerer Supreme. I assume you've already guessed. I wouldn't move Reynolds for no reason and reduce your chance of instantly defeating him."
Just those words left the Ancient One's expression unchanged, but Mordo and Wong exchanged glances, both seeing shock in each other's eyes.
What nonsense was this? A weapon capable of dealing with the Sorcerer Supreme?
Did Earth have such a thing? Was it S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Cosmic Cube or something else?
"But you weren't confident, and you didn't expect me to personally move against Kaecilius. You thought it would be Mordo and Wong."
The Ancient One said slowly, "So the weapon you mentioned isn't some artifact or spell, but the Sentry. But the Sentry alone won't be enough."
"Not right now. I have ways to make him sufficient. I just don't have absolute certainty. Don't you have the Time Stone? You can look at future scenarios."
Relying on Reynolds alone? Adam had only to think about it before shaking his head repeatedly.
Reynolds was still Reynolds... timid, cowardly, good at bullying the weak and fearing the strong, with a few crossed wires in his brain.
Despite his current invincible aura of being able to crush the heavens, earth, and air... so much so that even Reynolds himself believed he was nearly invincible and wanted to test himself against everyone, especially those with great fame and status... the truth was different.
Reynolds's debut battle had been against Magneto. That fight had been extremely dangerous. If not for Adam constantly directing him, using words to stimulate Reynolds's "addiction"... or more accurately, his desire to show off... along with the Xenomorph embryo providing powerful combat instincts and the additional weapon of corrosive blood, Reynolds would barely have defeated Magneto.
In any other situation, there was no need to think about it. The moment Reynolds saw how tough a bone Magneto was, he would have fled in fear.
Fight? Fight my ass. Of course running for his life was most important.
The Ancient One shook her head. "The Time Stone is a weapon, not time itself. Trying to use the Time Stone to solve all problems on the level of time is fundamentally impossible. Plus, time itself has chaotic properties and changes constantly, making predicting the future extremely difficult."
"For example?"
"For example, in the countless futures I've seen, there are ones where Magneto destroys the world, ones where Professor X destroys the world, and even ones where Elektra has the potential to destroy the world. If you were me, which future would you believe?"
"I believe none of them. I only believe in myself." Adam said calmly.
Single-universe time was a joke... unless it was an inevitable event, a "time node" that formed part of the universe's rules.
The Ancient One picked up her teacup and took a sip. "It seems we share the same view on this. Time is merely a weapon. Aside from that, nothing else is."
"But I'm very interested in another thing you hold: magic. If I had the opportunity to learn magic, that would be wonderful." Adam said. "Don't question my learning ability. The more Xenomorphs I have, the stronger my learning ability becomes."
Linking mentally with all the Xenomorphs meant everything they learned naturally became Adam's.
"And then? After you learn magic, what next? Do you also plan to borrow power from the Vishanti to cast some spells?" The Ancient One asked.
Adam shook his head. "Borrowed power is unreliable, even if the Vishanti is a powerful and just ancient god. Compared to borrowing power, I'm more interested in developing my own path of magic."
The Ancient One's expression shifted slightly, showing surprise. Even she had never considered such a possibility. No... it was fundamentally impossible in theory.
Beings capable of acting as magical entities to lend power outward were extremely few across the entire multiverse.
But Adam was just a being who wasn't even a god. How could he dare think this way?
"Very bold, but also extremely crazy. Although the future holds infinite possibilities, if you want to walk this path, it's still almost impossible."
"You also said 'almost.' Then I am that 'almost.'" Adam's voice was very calm, as if discussing something completely unrelated to himself.
The Ancient One became deeply interested in Adam. "Then what after you succeed? After you have your own magical system and can provide power to others, what do you plan to do? Develop new magic? That would be even more difficult."
Yes, it wasn't just about being able to lend magic. It also required a complete set of spells that sorcerers could quickly learn and master.
They couldn't just treat magical particles as pure energy and scatter them randomly. That would be less effective than guns and knives.
Adam looked at the Ancient One with surprise. Druig performed the same action.
"Why would I create a complete magical system? Why develop so many spells of varying difficulties? If I'm really going to develop magic, I only need one spell."
Druig pointed at his own chest.
Adam said, "Within the range I can reach, those who praise my true name shall be granted one Xenomorph."
After thinking for a moment, Adam added, "Of course, it would be best if it's a spell that includes both successful teleportation and successful parasitization."
The Ancient One was thunderstruck. Her hand holding the teacup stopped midair. She looked up at the bold man before her in astonishment.
Was this magic a human could conceive?
Shout your name, and you instantly cross endless space to deliver a dangerous Xenomorph... one that successfully parasitizes the moment it arrives?
It sounded somewhat fanciful.
But the Ancient One could tell Adam was serious.
"Xenomorphs… It's possible that you, the master of the Xenomorphs, could truly change this universe beyond recognition."
"Perhaps. No one can say for sure what the future holds. Even if it does succeed, it wouldn't necessarily be a bad future for Earth and humanity. At least when facing danger, there would be a brand-new possibility." Adam shifted the topic.
Grasping both divine power and magic... perhaps one path would succeed. Adam definitely wouldn't abandon either.
His Xenomorphs shouldn't be mere planetary creatures. They should be cosmic beings capable of freely traversing the stars, even spontaneously performing superluminal space movement.
Then they could fly across the universe, spontaneously seeking high-quality hosts.
Adam had only to think about it to feel satisfied with that future.
But many beings would surely be dissatisfied. This was destined to be accompanied by countless wars.
The Ancient One hesitated for a moment. If it had been before, she might have tried to stop the madman before her, because it would inevitably cause massive impact on Earth. But now there was no need.
She didn't have much longer to live, and the problems with this universe itself were increasing. After repelling Dormammu, the Ancient One decided to accelerate her plans and bring Strange into the proper path as soon as possible.
Even if that proper path, in terms of probability, might also lead the entire universe toward an extremely bad future.
The future was difficult to predict accurately.
The Ancient One said nothing, deep in thought.
Adam said, "Don't worry about how I'll learn magic. Let's talk about Dormammu instead. That guy is probably furious right now. He might be glaring menacingly at Earth and could strike at any second."
Dormammu was petty. Becoming the Lord of the Dark Dimension hadn't come from kindness or mercy.
"How much do you know about Dormammu?" The Ancient One asked.
"A little. He comes from the ancient Faltine, right? But that race has almost gone extinct." Adam said. "I also had the great fortune of experiencing Kaecilius using the 'Faltine's Mouth' spell."
"Then you should know how dangerous such a demon lord is. We absolutely cannot let the battle take place inside the Dark Dimension. In the worst case, if we become entangled with Him, it's very possible other demon lords will take advantage and bypass us to attack Earth directly."
"Didn't you set up powerful magical arrays to protect Earth? Why not use them?"
"Those arrays can only provide assistance. They can't truly withstand a cosmic demon lord. What I'm saying is, you can bring out the weapon you're keeping to guard against me and use it against Dormammu."
The Ancient One said slowly, "Protecting Earth is my duty, but if Earth is gone, you won't survive either."
"No, I would survive. I could flee to Asgard in an instant. Although there's a war going on there and it's very chaotic, and Odin is either dead or close to it, I think they would welcome me very much. They'd be eager for me to bring the Xenomorphs and have my entire race join Asgard from now on."
"…"
The Ancient One fell into thought.
"When did you come up with this idea?"
"I've always had it. The more places the Xenomorphs appear, the more it proves I'm safe. At least I believe Dormammu doesn't have the power to destroy this single universe and erase all the Xenomorphs in one go."
Adam looked at the silent Ancient One. "So why would I do something like challenge Dormammu?"
"Then assist me in dealing with Him. The reward is that I will open all of Kamar-Taj's magical knowledge to you."
"Excellent. We've come full circle. In return, you must assist me in my research on magic."
Developing himself into a magical entity was destined to be a massive undertaking.
Even though the entity Adam sought was actually a super low-effort one that only needed to complete a few steps... listening to prayers and granting Xenomorphs.
Having the Ancient One involved from the start to clear some theoretical obstacles would greatly accelerate progress in this area.
"You're so confident. Aren't you afraid I'll leave backdoors in the magic I help you develop?"
"Of course I'm afraid. That's why I plan to kick you out once the research gets on track." Adam's voice was filled with steadiness as he said this.
The Ancient One fell silent once again.
After a while, she stood up. "I hope you succeed. Talking with you is somewhat taxing on the mind."
The two finally reached an agreement and slowly walked out of the main hall.
Adam casually sensed and knew that Elektra was fighting a vampire somewhere in the Sanctum.
"That guy has already become a vampire. Why are you still keeping him? Shouldn't you have eliminated him long ago?" Adam asked.
"Stick hasn't truly become a villain yet. At least not now. My help might allow him to regain his sense of justice. Of course, the greater probability is that it won't, but as long as there's that possibility, I will try."
Adam listened thoughtfully.
Gambling on probability? No, it was more complicated than that. At least Adam wouldn't do something like that.
Along the way, Adam saw many sorcerers hurrying by.
He also saw many Dum Dum Dugans.
Seeing these clones gathered in groups practicing magic, Adam finally understood what these cloned men were busy with.
"No wonder the Dum Dum Dugans who first monitored me were all so weak. The real elites were all here."
Adam nodded repeatedly, impressed by the Ancient One's creativity. He had naturally guessed what the Ancient One was using them for... undoubtedly as ascetic monks.
Cheap, mass-produced, and highly executable. What was more cost-effective than recruiting large numbers of Dum Dum Dugans?
But from another angle, the deeper meaning behind this was worth considering. It showed that the Ancient One had been making careful preparations, deliberately stockpiling large numbers of ascetic monks to help shoulder the cost.
But so many ascetic monks... were they really just prepared for the Ancient One herself? Or were they for Strange?
Moreover, Strange might not even become the Sorcerer Supreme. In other universes, there were Spider-Man Sorcerer Supremes, Iron Man Sorcerer Supremes, and even Knull Sorcerer Supremes. All of those existed.
"Does our universe have a designation?" Adam suddenly asked.
"It doesn't. Only a very small number of universes have their own specific designations. Those are worlds watched by the gods. Unfortunately, our universe belongs to the vast majority."
"In a sense, that's also a kind of luck. It means those troublesome beings will plant their nails in this unremarkable place with lower frequency." Adam said.
If calculated that way, if the Ancient One before him died, it was hard to say whether her soul would go to Eternity or the Vishanti.
"If you ever have nowhere to go in the future, you can come to me. Don't worry, I'm quite reliable and would be very happy to have a skyfather-level Xenomorph in my ranks." Adam suddenly said this to the Ancient One.
The Ancient One was caught off guard again. She looked at Druig before her in astonishment.
She found conversing with Adam extremely interesting. This guy always came up with bold, wildly imaginative plans.
At the very least, openly proposing to recruit the Sorcerer Supreme during their first meeting was somewhat unbelievable.
"Then if one day I truly have nowhere to go, I will come find you. But you should prepare yourself."
The Ancient One said with a gentle expression, speaking terrifying words. "Because by then, there will probably be a large group of magic gods and dimension lords coming after the scent."
Adam stopped walking and looked at the several-hundred-year-old woman before him. He couldn't help asking, "Just how much magic debt do you owe? What does the Vishanti say?"
The Ancient One's expression didn't change. "I drag out the debt to the Vishanti as long as I can, but I won't go too far. After all, He is on our side. When the time truly comes that I must repay, I will repay a little, then use dark magic power to repair my damaged body and spirit."
"…And what about Chthon? How do you plan to repay Him?"
The Ancient One looked at Adam with surprise, as if astonished that he even knew about Chthon. "Mephisto, Valtorr, Balthakk, Agamotto, Cyttorak… There was a period when I worked very hard, listening to extradimensional voices every day. I developed quite a few paths, so I had more choices."
"…Haven't they chosen to kill you yet?"
"Not yet for now. But I suspect some are growing impatient. So you understand why I need you to step up against Dormammu, right? If I take action, repelling Dormammu's invasion isn't difficult, but it could cause me to lose control and collapse my debt chain. You know, reassembling a collapsed chain is very troublesome."
The Ancient One hesitated for a moment and lowered her voice. "So lately I've been paying attention to the hell demons. Set is difficult to predict, so I need to observe more. But fortunately, Mephisto occasionally wanders to Earth in our universe. This is a rare opportunity. If He doesn't work, I'll try Nightmare, Zatanos, Despair, Shuma-Gorath…"
"??"
Adam suddenly felt he had discovered an incredible secret. "How are you going to repay them?"
The Ancient One's expression remained unchanged. "I generally repay a tiny bit symbolically afterward, then use the power of Raggadorr to repair myself."
"??"
Adam suddenly felt that this method of using debt to pay debt seemed somewhat familiar, leading him to suspect it might be an advanced version of a reverse pyramid scheme. He then questioned his own decision for the first time: Should he have stayed far away from the Ancient One from the beginning?
Even the usually calm Adam had to admit she was a professional. His understanding of the Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme, had been completely refreshed. He was now thoroughly convinced that as long as the pond was large enough, there really were all kinds of birds.
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