Daniel finally exhaled, the last traces of tension leaving his shoulders. The storm was over — the blood entity's power had been purged. For the first time, the true interior of the ancient cauldron world revealed itself to him.
The massive hall surrounding him was not just a chamber — it was the control core of this artifact, the very heart of the cauldron's power. Whoever commanded this room commanded the entire ancient construct.
Yet despite scanning the space with both arcane sight and microscopic magical perception, Daniel found nothing. No main control glyphs, no heartstone, nothing that could grant absolute mastery.
'This thing is not Asgardian', he thought grimly. 'This is Kunlun's craft, a completely different lineage of magic. Top-tier, Eastern myth-level artifact stuff. No wonder I can't break its design.'
Traces of old battles lingered faintly, scars hidden beneath centuries of careful restoration. The Hand had been here — their scent was everywhere.
Through the fragments of the long sword's spiritual memory, Daniel glimpsed fragments of their betrayal:
A coup in Kunlun. Half their faction turned traitor. Most were executed. Only five leaders survived, now the Hand's dark masters.
Their alliance was nothing but a convenience of greed. No real trust bound them.
'That's their weakness,' Daniel realized. 'Divide them, and they crumble.'
The Hand might have been dismantled by Daredevil and the Defenders in this timeline, but Daniel knew better than to underestimate them. Centuries of Kunlun training still flowed in their veins, and some had likely ascended to legendary-tier power.
Even the Iron Fist barely kept them in check.
Daniel's mind moved fast, connecting dots.
If properly handled, the Defenders — Iron Fist, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage — could become a lethal strike team under his influence. Not Avengers-level, but dangerous enough.
'No hero fights alone', Daniel thought. 'I can't either.'
For now, he kept a low profile — New York, Empire State University, carefully avoiding unnecessary attention. After all, the U.S. government and S.H.I.E.L.D. were watching him.
He smirked. "Let them chase Magneto while I get stronger."
There were bigger storms coming anyway: the Chitauri, Thanos, the symbiotes, and god knew what else. Earth's problems weren't just internal anymore.
If the Hand realized how much he knew, they would move against him — not directly, but through shadows and blood.They'd target those close to him, even someone like Betty Ross, daughter of General Ross.
Daniel's gaze hardened. 'They'll regret it if they do.'
He scanned the cauldron's interior one last time. No control keys. No glyphs. Only a scarred black wall with fragments of once-carved text — now deliberately destroyed. Whatever knowledge was written there was lost.
But he wasn't leaving empty-handed.
Daniel spent hours carving thunder runes and sealing marks across the cauldron's inner surfaces. He didn't link them into a full circle — not yet. That would be a trap for the Hand, an ace up his sleeve.
'Let them think they're in control.'
When all was ready, he shot upward, toward the cauldron's mouth — the only way out.
The instant he neared the exit, a violent suction force struck him.
"Damn it!" Daniel roared, his body yanked upward as if into a vortex. Then came tearing forces — raw, conflicting energies, pulling him apart from every direction.
The harder he tried to escape, the stronger the forces became.
'The Hand… they're using the cauldron against me.'
Daniel clenched the Mjolnir. Lightning erupted in a shield around him, sparks colliding with the cauldron's own internal power.
But in that chaos, a thought sparked in his mind — a better way out.
A golden magic circle blossomed beneath his feet, arcs of space power swirling like galaxies. Daniel had no choice but to activate his experimental space array, a fusion of space runes and design principles stolen from Asgard's Rainbow Bridge.
The array flickered, unstable.
'Come on… hold together…'
Truth be told, Daniel's teleportation method was still half-baked. The math was unpredictable. One miscalculation and he'd end up miles — or even worlds — off target. Worst case? It could drain every drop of magic he had.
But staying here wasn't an option.
The cauldron's forces tried to crush him, but he locked onto the artifact's weakest point — a hairline fracture from its ancient battle scars.
"Let's roll the dice," he muttered with a grin. "Maybe I'll teleport into some girl's bath like in those cheesy isekai novels."
The array detonated with a flash of blue light and Daniel vanished.