Ethan sighed. He knew the Ancient One would never give him the Time Stone. After all, in this world, the Ancient One did not know him, and her duty was to protect this plane. The Time Stone, which posed a huge threat to the entire plane, absolutely could not fall into anyone's hands.
"Although I really don't want to do this..."
Ethan knew he had no other choice. Talking would not work. He did not think his "talk-no-jutsu" had the effect of lowering the opponent's intelligence, nor did he have a similar aura. Even if he did, with the Ancient One's mental training, she would likely be immune to such attacks.
"Excuse me!"
While the two were confronting each other, the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj had already surrounded Ethan.
They had not made a move because the Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One, was right there. Since their leader had not given a clear signal, they naturally did not want to step forward forcefully.
However, when Ethan said that, Mordo, who was in the crowd, could no longer hold back.
He deeply respected the Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One, and believed her authority was not to be offended. How dare this young man, who had appeared out of nowhere and somehow found Kamar-Taj, speak to the Ancient One like that?
"Stranger, leave Kamar-Taj!"
Because of the foreign invasion, the sorcerers had all brought their weapons. The short staff in Mordo's hand was one of the weapons commonly used by Kamar-Taj sorcerers. Besides being used as a club, it could also transform into a whip.
Mordo swung his hand, and the short staff turned into a long whip emitting golden light, striking the ground in front of Ethan with a snap.
This attack was not aimed at Ethan. It was purely a warning. Unfortunately, his little trick was completely insignificant. Ethan did not even bother to look at it.
Seeing Ethan's contempt, Mordo immediately rushed forward, wanting to teach this guy a lesson. This time, Ethan finally moved.
He did not want to be touched by Mordo. Whether he would be injured was another matter. The main thing was that he could not afford to lose face.
Ethan extended his left hand and gently drew a circle in midair. Mordo was surprised to find a circular portal appearing in the direction he was rushing. With his momentum, he would definitely rush into this portal and be sent somewhere unknown by the opponent.
He stomped on the void with his foot, and golden light also emanated from his shoes, as if he had stepped on solid ground. Mordo changed direction in midair, preparing to move sideways and bypass the portal.
Ethan's extended left hand did not retract. Instead, he pointed along with Mordo's movement. The portal in midair suddenly moved forward and expanded several times, enveloping Mordo, who was trying to dodge.
This process seemed complicated, but in fact, from the moment Mordo rushed forward until Ethan transferred him away with the portal, only a few seconds passed in total.
The people of Kamar-Taj had not reacted yet when the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground came from behind them, accompanied by a muffled groan.
Wong, standing at the edge, turned his head and saw a circular portal suspended in the air above the open space, parallel to the ground. Mordo was lying below the portal, preparing to get up. It seemed he had only fallen and was not injured.
"How are you?"
"I'm fine."
Although he was not physically injured, as one of the most outstanding sorcerers in Kamar-Taj, Mordo had already felt the gap between himself and the opponent.
This intruder was not on the same level as them at all.
What made it even harder for him to understand was that this person seemed to be using Kamar-Taj magic.
"Who exactly is this guy?"
He had been at Kamar-Taj for a considerable time and thought he had a sufficient understanding of the Kamar-Taj sorcerer community, but he could not associate Ethan with any sorcerer.
"I don't know. I only know this guy is very difficult to deal with."
Wong had similar doubts. He kept thinking about sorcerers whose appearances were similar to this stranger's, but in the end, he dismissed them all.
"Very beautiful teleportation magic."
"I also have to thank you for your guidance."
The Ancient One suddenly revealed a look of realization. "So that's how it is!" She vaguely guessed where Ethan came from. It seemed this person had some connection to her.
"However, I still won't agree to your request."
"That's a pity."
Ethan had thought that by showing some connection to her, the Ancient One might agree to give him the Time Stone. It seemed it still would not work.
"I'm sure you realized this long ago."
"Yes!"
"So, you should know that to get the Stone, you only have one path to choose."
"..."
"If you have a reason why you must do this, then don't hesitate!" The Ancient One, whose hands had always been clasped behind her back, finally extended them. Along with her extended right hand, a circular disc condensed from golden magic appeared in her hand. "I will not hesitate because of this either."
Sighing, Ethan knew there was no need to continue talking. With a gentle wave of his left hand, the surrounding scenery seemed to be separated by a layer of glass.
"Mirror Dimension?"
Mordo and Wong looked around uncertainly. They suspected they were mistaken, because this was completely different from the Mirror Dimension they knew.
The Mirror Dimension they knew was another space corresponding to the real world. The two were completely parallel and did not interfere with each other. When fighting people in the Mirror Dimension, it would not affect the real world.
That was why the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj possessed considerable abilities and did not deliberately hide them, yet were still unknown to ordinary people.
Because when fighting, they would choose to fight in the Mirror Dimension.
But if they entered the Mirror Dimension, people in the real space could not see what was happening in that space. It absolutely should not be like this, where Ethan and the Ancient One seemed to have turned into holograms. Except for being untouchable, they could clearly see what they were doing.
The Ancient One, who was in the Mirror Dimension, had already started fighting Ethan. Although she was a sorcerer, the Ancient One's close combat ability was also strong. The disc condensed from magic power could be used as a short blade, shield, frisbee, or other weapon.
Ethan did not use weapons. After living in the Dragon Ball world, he gradually got used to fighting enemies with his bare hands.
It would be too naive to think that the fight between two sorcerers was just a simple contest of fists and feet.
Every time the Ancient One attacked, she would use magic power to distort the surrounding space, constantly changing the spatial structure of this area. In this chaotic space, many people would fall into panic because they could not adapt to the sudden changes in space.
But this had no effect on Ethan. Not only could he react quickly, but he could also seize control of this space in turn.
After the Ancient One distorted the space, Ethan could distort the space even further. The Ancient One could have reached out and touched Ethan, but her extended hand came out from her own side instead. If she had not reacted quickly enough, she might have hit herself.
After exchanging a few moves, the Ancient One found that this method was useless against Ethan and instead trapped herself in layers of spatial mazes.
Frowning tightly, the Ancient One condensed a huge amount of magic power in her right hand, constructing an unusually complex pattern, then knelt down and slammed it heavily onto the ground.
As a wave of energy spread out from where the Ancient One struck, the spatial maze created by Ethan was forcibly scattered, and the surrounding Mirror Dimension was also affected. Countless cracks appeared on the "wall" that felt like glass.
The Ancient One glanced at the cracks and inwardly thought, that was close.
She had not used so much magic power for too long and had almost broken the Mirror Dimension, which would have affected the real world. That was not what she wanted.
Looking at the opposite side, although her previous move had been meant to dispel the spatial maze set up by the opponent, ordinary people, even sorcerers with considerable strength, would be injured if they were grazed by the immense energy after defending themselves. This young man had taken the full force of that energy but was completely unharmed.
Things had become troublesome!
Although she had guessed that this young man might have been trained by another version of herself, she had never imagined that she would encounter something like this one day.
She gently drew a circle beside her with her right hand, opening a very small portal, then reached in and picked up the Eye of Agamotto.
The Ancient One usually did not wear this sacred artifact of Kamar-Taj on her person. She had never thought that she would have the chance to use this sacred artifact to fight someone.
This completely "unexpected" event left her with no other choice.
"If I'm not mistaken, you have already obtained the Space Stone."
"Yes!"
Ethan opened his left hand, and the blue Space Stone and the yellow Mind Stone suddenly appeared, quietly hovering in his palm.
"And the Mind Stone."
"The power of the Infinity Stones is very strong. What exactly are you collecting the Infinity Stones for?"
"To open a door."
"Open a door?"
Was this some kind of metaphor? Like opening a door to a higher level?
The reality was not as complicated as she thought. It was literally opening a door. "There is a door that I must use the Infinity Stones to open, so I must get these Stones."
"..."
The Ancient One felt that this young man might have gone astray. To open some inexplicable door, he was going to put the entire universe in danger?
"Actually, I think this universe might be safer without the Infinity Stones!"
Ethan was not joking. Without the Infinity Stones, it would be much more troublesome for Thanos to wipe out half the population of this universe.
"However, losing the Infinity Stones also means losing powerful weapons to resist invasions from other planes!"
Therefore, the Ancient One would absolutely not hand over the Time Stone. After putting on the Eye of Agamotto, she did not need any special casting gestures. The Eye of Agamotto had already "opened," emitting a green light.
The first thing she did after activating the Time Stone was to make the two Stones in Ethan's hand "return to their original places."
(To be continued.)