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*****
"Um..."
Just as George was about to open his mouth to explain his plan to Eternity, a voice filled with majestic authority resonated directly in his mind:
"Agreed!"
Before George could even react, Eternity had vanished, taking the Ancient One's soul along with him.
"Well, at least the goal was achieved."
George shrugged somewhat helplessly.
Although Eternity had spoken only a single word, George knew that the cosmic entity had agreed to the plan he had proposed to the Ancient One—the plan to hunt down Dormammu. It seemed that after his meeting with the Ancient One two days ago, she had already informed Eternity and the Vishanti of the scheme.
"Dormammu is here!"
Sensing a terrifying surge of dark power appearing on Earth, George knew that Kaecilius had destroyed the Hong Kong Sanctum and successfully summoned Dormammu.
With a shift of his body, he vanished from the New York hospital and teleported instantly to Hong Kong.
However, he did not reveal himself immediately. Instead, he suppressed his aura completely and hid within the sky.
Dormammu, having just invaded Earth, would certainly be on high alert. If George acted rashly, the Dark Dimension ruler might sense the danger prematurely. It was better to wait until Dormammu was annoyed beyond endurance by Doctor Strange's use of the Time Stone and attempted to retreat.
That would be the moment when Dormammu was most relaxed.
Furthermore, waiting would ensure he didn't disrupt the Ancient One's original plan.
Although Doctor Strange's current strength was decent, he was still far from worthy of the title of Sorcerer Supreme; he lacked significant combat experience. But after experiencing this battle with Dormammu, he would be worthy.
By using the Time Stone, Doctor Strange would cycle through thousands of battles with Dormammu, dying thousands of times. Through this, he would essentially master all the magic he had learned, and his combat experience would become incredibly rich.
Sure enough, George soon saw Doctor Strange and Master Mordo arrive through a portal.
Then came the great battle. Doctor Strange confronted Dormammu directly, using the Time Stone to trap the entity in a time loop.
"Only at the peak of the Skyfather Level. Not a big problem."
Watching invisibly as Doctor Strange experienced ten thousand different ways to die, George felt increasingly confident about his upcoming plan.
Dormammu was trapped in the time loop by Doctor Strange, but George remained unaffected.
George was already a master of time magic himself, and he had advanced to the Single Universe Level. If Dormammu had come with his true body rather than a projection, he too would have been immune to the Time Stone's effects.
When all six Infinity Stones are combined, they can threaten a Single Universe Level powerhouse, but a single stone is far from enough.
"Stop! Make it stop!"
Seeing that Doctor Strange's will remained unbroken even after dying ten thousand times, Dormammu couldn't take it anymore. He had no desire to remain trapped in a time loop forever.
"What do you want?"
"Take your zealots, leave my world, and never come back!"
Doctor Strange made the hand gestures for a binding pact as he spoke to Dormammu.
The power of this contract magic was derived from the Vishanti. If Dormammu agreed, the contract would be established, and he would be forced to abide by it. If Dormammu dared to violate the contract, the Vishanti could use the pact as a conduit to descend and destroy him directly.
"Fine. I agree."
Dormammu considered it for a moment, then nodded.
There were so many universes and so many worlds; there was no need to waste all his time on this one.
Mages in every world are so disgusting!
Whenever he encountered a world protected by mages who worshipped the Vishanti, there were always various obstacles. This wasn't the first time he had run into this.
Seeing the contract established, Doctor Strange finally let out a sigh of relief. He was nearing his limit as well.
He canceled the time loop, turned around, and returned to the ground.
At that moment, Kaecilius and the others who worshipped Dormammu suddenly had their bodies dissolve into dark energy, which was then sucked into Dormammu.
"Honestly, you really should have stolen the whole book. The warnings come after the spells," Doctor Strange joked, watching as Kaecilius and his followers were devoured.
However, in the very next second, the smile froze on his face.
He realized that the Eye of Agamotto on his chest, which sealed the Time Stone, had suddenly opened on its own. The Time Stone flew out and landed in someone else's hand.
"It's you? What are you doing?"
Realizing the newcomer was George, Strange first sighed in relief, but then a look of confusion appeared on his face.
George raised his right hand, pressed the Time Stone into the empty slot on the Infinity Gauntlet, and smiled.
"Pulling up the weeds by the roots, of course!"
He snapped his fingers lightly with the Infinity Gauntlet. Dormammu, who had been preparing to leave, was instantly frozen in place, unable to offer even a shred of resistance.
"Done."
Using the universal laws of the Infinity Gauntlet, George completely sealed Dormammu's time, space, soul, and every other aspect of his being. He plucked the Time Stone back out and returned it to Doctor Strange, then flashed to Dormammu's side.
"Now, let's see where your main body is hiding."
Placing his hand on the crown of Dormammu's head, George followed the trace of the soul within the projection, rapidly locking onto the location of Dormammu's true body and the Dark Dimension.
If he hadn't used the Infinity Gauntlet to instantly seal the projection with a snap, Dormammu could have withdrawn his power at any moment, making it impossible for George to trace the connection back to the source.
"Found you!"
George expanded his own internal world, swallowing Dormammu's projection in a single gulp. He quickly refined and absorbed it, then tore open the fabric of the world to enter the multiverse.
Meanwhile, down below, Doctor Strange and the others wore expressions of utter shock.
The terrifying Dimensional Lord Dormammu, a being of immense power, had been instantly one-shotted by George?
He didn't even have the ability to resist. It was simply unimaginable.
"Say... since he is the Teacher's friend, why didn't you ask him for help when Kaecilius betrayed us?" Doctor Strange looked at Mordo and Wong beside him.
If George was this strong, calling him for help earlier would have solved the Kaecilius problem long ago, and the Ancient One wouldn't have had to die.
"..."
Mordo and Wong looked blank. They found it strange, too. Why hadn't they thought of George, this incredibly powerful mage?
It was as if... as if at that time, they had completely forgotten that George existed.
"Could it be..."
Seeing the blank expressions on Mordo and Wong's faces, Doctor Strange seemed to realize something. He quickly recited an incantation, and a moment later, a magic circle covered the two of them.
Their bodies shuddered, and they frowned as they replied:
"It was her. She used magic to influence our memories."
"I knew it..."
Doctor Strange sighed. In truth, he had long sensed that there were issues surrounding the Ancient One's death, and he vaguely understood why she had done what she did.
But he didn't delve deeper into it. The battle with Dormammu had made him realize that even without the Ancient One, he could never return to his old life.
(End of Chapter)