"But Mordo doesn't think so!" Doctor Strange said, looking at the Ancient One.
"Mordo is stubborn and inflexible; his upbringing shaped him. He needs to learn your adaptability and flexibility, and you need to learn his resilience. Only when your strengths complement each other and you fight side by side will you have a chance to defeat Dormammu!" The Ancient One shook her head.
"I'm not ready!" Doctor Strange immediately shook his head.
He hadn't been a sorcerer for long, let alone being suddenly thrust into a mission, a mission that would have him defeat Dormammu.
How was that even possible?
This wasn't just being pressed into service; it was being drafted!
"No one is ready, and no one can choose the right time!" The Ancient One said, taking Doctor Strange's hand and looking at him seriously. "Death gives life meaning, making you aware of the brevity of time! With not much time left, do you think I was ready to face death? But you will find that extending this moment indefinitely will allow you to appreciate the beautiful scenery of the snow!"
Doctor Strange turned his head again, and the Ancient One had already vanished from the world.
In the operating room, the Ancient One's vital signs ceased. She was dead.
At least, she was dead from a mortal's understanding.
Everyone's mood was complicated, unsure what to say.
A super big shot, constantly mentioned in Lin Feng's diary, had just died, and so abruptly, it was almost a joke.
The Ancient One's death was so hasty in the first half, but after the second half, after the Ancient One's soul left her body and she spoke, they understood that the Ancient One might not be truly dead, at least her soul wasn't.
Such a being, at the level of a celestial father, and a big shot in the magic side, could freely have her soul leave her body. If her physical body died, was she really dead?
Was it possible for someone like her to survive solely in the form of a soul?
"It's possible, very possible!"
At the same time, her words revealed a very important piece of information: she herself might not have been ready to die.
It was like Doctor Strange being suddenly drafted, being asked to fight Dormammu, and even being asked to defeat him.
The Ancient One, facing her own death, might not have been so calm either. She had tried to change things, to break through this inevitable end, but no matter how she struggled, it was ultimately useless.
"Could this also be part of the plan?" Tony Stark spoke up.
Everyone looked at him, not understanding why he would say that.
"Because although this Ancient One seems to have absorbed energy from the Dark Dimension to sustain her for so many years, her strength is very strong, unlike Kaecilius. Judging by Kaecilius and the others' eyes, they clearly couldn't control the dark energy at all, but the Ancient One did," Tony Stark said. "But even so, I don't believe the dark energy has no effect on the Ancient One. After all, although legends can't be taken as a complete reference, I think the basic principles are the same: when you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back at you. Her behavior of absorbing energy from the Dark Dimension can't continue indefinitely. Is it possible that she couldn't hold on any longer? That's why she's so eager to find a successor?"
"Yes, I think what Tony said is very possible!" Nick Fury nodded. "So she died so quickly and decisively, either being consumed by the dark forces, or giving up and letting Kaecilius kill her. And it also mentions that the Ancient One seems to have resisted countless dangers, but each time, it might have led to even more dangerous situations. Can we understand it as there being countless timelines, and that this Ancient One had also observed these timelines..."
"Are you saying that in these countless timelines, in some of them, the Ancient One might have made different choices, such as not dying at the hands of Kaecilius, but thus incurring even more terrible consequences? She saw this consequence, no, maybe these consequences, so in the end she chose to commit suicide?" At this moment, Captain Rogers, who hadn't spoken much, chimed in.
Everyone thought about it, and it seemed to be true. After all, they now had the concept of infinite timelines, which meant that the timelines observed by the Ancient One might not be just one possibility, but rather worlds that actually existed.
Captain Rogers, thinking from his own perspective, figured that if he were to be eroded by the energy of the Dark Dimension and become a supervillain, he'd rather end himself while he still had control.
"And it's not like she couldn't have been saved. Doctor Strange said that her soul returning to her body might still offer a chance, right? She gave up on herself, maybe she felt she'd fulfilled her responsibilities," Bruce Banner said.
"What responsibilities did she fulfill? She just dumped it all on Doctor Strange," Tony Stark quipped.
"So, what do you think about her drawing energy from the Dark Dimension? Is that an issue?" Agent Hill asked.
"I don't think so!" Captain Rogers frowned, then said, "It's like guns and ammunition on the battlefield. They can kill people, but they have no inherent good or evil. It's the human armies that have a sense of good and evil; some are for freedom and justice, others are for evil, like the Nazis. So, I think the power of the Dark Dimension is just a pure force. In the right hands, it can save people from disaster and protect the public. But in the hands of bad people, it can also cause massive destruction. And it seems that the Ancient One wasn't corrupted by the dark energy; she should still have had her sanity. Before the dark energy completely consumed her, she chose suicide rather than being swallowed by the darkness and becoming some big villain. So, I think there's no problem!"
For a soldier like him, pragmatism was always the way to go.
Especially when facing Dormammu, a Dark Dimension Lord that they couldn't possibly win against, some extreme measures were understandable.
However, before they could think further, the video screen lit up again, indicating it wasn't over.
The first image that appeared before everyone was Thor being hung by a giant chain. The scene looked incredibly strange. "I know what you're thinking, oh no, Thor has been captured, what's going on!"
"Sometimes, to understand someone's true nature, you have to put yourself at risk!"
"It's a long story. I'm somewhat of a hero, I spent some time on Earth, fought robots, and saved the world a few times. Later, I went to space, searching for those infinitely powerful, colorful Infinity Stones, but I found nothing. That's when I embarked on a path of death and destruction!"
"Until I met you in this cage!"
As Thor spoke to himself, everyone wore a thoughtful expression, as if this was connected to some major future events, such as fighting robots, saving the world, and searching for the infinitely powerful Infinity Stones.
The others didn't understand, but Odin of Asgard understood something, and looked at his son.
He hadn't expected his son to also embark on a path to pursue the Infinity Stones?
There was a day like that?
He had also been ambitious back then, and had similar thoughts, and even acted on them, but he gave up after understanding the truth of the universe.
"How long do you think I'll be here?" Thor asked, looking at the giant flame giant in the distance, Surtur, the legendary flame giant who destroyed Asgard.
"Hahahaha, Thor, the little brat of Odin's house!"
The flame giant Surtur said with a cold laugh.
"Surtur, you son of a bitch!" Thor retorted without showing weakness. "You're still alive? I thought my old man had killed you a long time ago. That was 500,000 years ago!"
The flame giant Surtur just said indifferently, "It's not that easy, at least until I fulfill my destiny and destroy your home!"
The people of S.H.I.E.L.D. were even more dumbfounded when they heard this. 500,000 years ago?
In other words, Odin, the God-King, had existed for at least 500,000 years, which was a bit absurd for a lifespan.
Even from an evolutionary perspective, humans appeared only 300,000 years ago, and before that, there wasn't even the concept of humans.
"It's a strange thing, actually, because I've been having nightmares lately. I keep dreaming of Asgard becoming a sea of fire and ruins, and you, the Fire Giant Surtur, standing in the middle of it!" Thor said, hanging upside down.
"Then you have seen Ragnarok!" the Fire Giant Surtur declared. "The fall of Asgard, the great prophecy is about to come true!"
The two men's conversation immediately revealed another piece of bombshell news: Ragnarok.
This was a concept that had been mentioned many times in Lin Feng's diary.
They still didn't know how this major event of Asgard's destruction would take place.
According to ancient myths, Loki led all kinds of giants, along with his children, to launch a final counterattack against the gods of Asgard, which eventually led to Ragnarok.
But they all knew now that the myths were nonsense. Loki wasn't Odin's brother; he was Odin's son. Hela wasn't Loki's child; she was Odin's eldest daughter.
Many relationships had been completely messed up, so how would this legendary Ragnarok be realized?
-----------------------
Completed English PDF of this fan-fic on my Patreon shop if you want to support and own the full fan-fic in one go. Just grab the PDF and binge the entire story from start to finish!
Guys, I've uploaded some High Quality english translated fanfic on my Patreon shop! Feel free to check it out-if you're interested, you can grab a copy and support me there.
Here are a few titles of recently uploaded fanfics:
New Addition
" American Comics: Transforming into Tokisaki Kurumi "
" Marvel: A Wizard Descending "
" DC universe: Days of Being a Magic God in Marvel "
" Marvel: Starting from Loading the Shadow Army "
" A Certain Summoner of American Comics "
" Druid's Marvel Travels "
" The Stand User of the Marvel World "
" A Certain Unscientific Marvel Scientist "
" Superman in American Comics "
" My World: My Daily Life in Marvel "
" The Cute King of the Marvel World "
" Marvel: I Am the Silver Age Superman, Joining Group"
many more are available 80+
Your support means a lot-thanks in advance, legends!
patreon.com/SuperTL
(End of Chapter)