Outside, Kaecilius, along with his disciple, and Stephen Strange once again engaged in a chase through the streets of New York.
Blaine did not know whether all the passersby were blind, but they did not even notice the magic portals opening everywhere across the streets, intersections, and crosswalks.
Kaecilius was worthy of being one of the Ancient One's earliest disciples. Not only did his magic portals open in a flashy manner, but he could also use the same trick the Ancient One had used before to manipulate space—that is, the spell that transformed three-dimensional space into four-dimensional space. With a few gestures, buildings became obstacles on their own, or directly turned into magical "treadmills" beneath people's feet.
It was this trick that turned movement into stillness, and in Kaecilius's hands, it seemed no worse than when the Ancient One used it.
If ordinary people could see it, great chaos would have broken out long ago. Because at this moment, right beside them, at the doors of shops, magic portals were opening and closing one after another, and dazzling magical techniques were flying all over the sky. What was even more shocking was that the high-rise buildings ahead were now constantly folding downward.
Before Blaine could catch up with them, a figure suddenly appeared more than ten kilometers away in front of Kaecilius and his disciple, just in time to block their path. Looking carefully at his skin color, he seemed to be a Black sorcerer.
Kaecilius and his disciple also stopped when they encountered someone blocking the way. It seemed they were preparing to give it their all and start a decisive battle.
When Kaecilius stopped, Stephen Strange also caught up from behind. Not only Stephen Strange, but the Ancient One also appeared from somewhere in another direction around Kaecilius and the others.
Now, Kaecilius was caught in a pincer attack. Oh no, even the sides were surrounded.
There was no way to escape, so the only option was to fight to the death. Fortunately, Kaecilius was not as mentally handicapped as Blaine had imagined. Opening his hands, two transparent blades composed of dark-matter energy appeared in his grip once again, and he was already ready to do his best.
With the Ancient One here, Blaine also felt relieved and could once again become a competent hands-off shopkeeper. Just now, Blaine had been thinking that this guy, Stephen Strange, had only just been cured by him, yet had rushed out to die again. Whether Blaine should directly kill Kaecilius or not was up to him.
However, Blaine still had a reason to keep Kaecilius alive. Because if Kaecilius died, the Ancient One would probably not die according to the original plot. If the Ancient One did not die, Dormammu would not be able to force Blaine to intervene. Then the mission issued by the Ancient One would no longer be valid.
Therefore, for the sake of the fifth-level star core, Blaine had endured again and again, allowing Kaecilius to live until now. For the moment, though, Blaine could at least relax for a while.
Seeing the Ancient One directly open the Mirror Dimension, enveloping Kaecilius, his disciple, Stephen Strange, and the Black sorcerer within it, Blaine also silently activated Shadow Stealth and slipped inside.
As soon as Blaine entered, he heard the sound of fighting. He had not expected them to start fighting so quickly.
Taking a closer look, it turned out that it was only the Ancient One fighting alone against Kaecilius and his disciple. On the other hand, Stephen Strange and the Black sorcerer had become two spectators. That's right. With the Ancient One around, it was impossible for these two little rookies to make a move. However, wasn't this also hastening the Ancient One's death?
Perhaps because the Ancient One was fighting Kaecilius in high spirits, she did not notice that Blaine was also here. As for Kaecilius, Stephen Strange, and the Black sorcerer, they were even less likely to notice Blaine's existence.
No one noticed Blaine, which made him feel very reassured as he stood off to the side and took in everything with a panoramic view.
The first thing he saw was that the Ancient One was completely overwhelming Kaecilius. No matter how desperately Kaecilius fought, the Ancient One seemed calm while watching him. Dark-matter rays, dark-matter shields, dark-matter whips, and so on—Kaecilius tried every method he could, but none of them could cause any damage to the Ancient One.
One side used every means available, while the other side, the Ancient One, kept a serious expression, saw through every move, and even had energy left to counterattack. This left Kaecilius somewhat overwhelmed for a while.
"Hm?"
Blaine did not know what was going on, but when he saw this one-sided battle, why did he feel that something was wrong?
Logically speaking, according to the development of the plot, shouldn't Kaecilius use some method or some special magic to kill the Ancient One? But why was Kaecilius always at a disadvantage now? This was Marvel, always playing cards against common sense. Why did it always disturb Blaine's thoughts?
Seeing that Kaecilius and the Ancient One were still entangled in battle in the distance, Blaine could not help but frown, wondering how long the fight would last. Now Blaine even had the urge to quickly kill the Ancient One, then strangle Kaecilius to death. If the Ancient One were not Blaine's employer, maybe Blaine really would dare to do it...
Just when Blaine was puzzled, he suddenly seemed to sense something and quickly turned his gaze back to Kaecilius. At this moment, for some reason, Kaecilius seemed to have activated some mysterious gesture, or performed some kind of mysterious summoning ritual.
Moreover, after Kaecilius performed this ritual, there was a feeling as if he had transformed into an armored warrior... Yes, that was the feeling. It was like an ordinary person instantly becoming a warrior who could fight and fly.
All at once, not only did Kaecilius's entire aura change dramatically, but even the dark-matter energy in his hands became much denser. If the dark-matter energy became denser, didn't that mean his magical ability had grown stronger, and that his strength had increased as well?
Among them, the most obvious change might have been his large, dark eye circles. At this moment, after the transformation just now, Kaecilius's dark circles seemed to have become even darker, with a tendency to spread outward. Even around his eye sockets, the blackness was tinged with red, the bloodshot color caused by ruptured blood vessels. Looking carefully, it was not blood in his eyes, but around the frames of his eyes.
It was conceivable that while Kaecilius was gaining powerful energy, his body also seemed to be suffering enormous pain, as well as immeasurable damage. Maybe this was a side effect. After all, no one could obtain so much energy out of thin air for no reason, whether it was good or bad.
If Blaine's guess was correct, then Kaecilius had most likely used that kind of gesture or spell just now.
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