Kaecilius didn't know that Finney's change in attitude stemmed from his intention to change his personality. The
nearly six months of boredom on Vormir had led Finney to frequently contemplate the future. If Thanos was a developing BOSS, then Dormammu appeared fully equipped and ready for battle.
In terms of strength, Dormammu was arguably no weaker than Thanos, and perhaps even stronger.
Dormammu was a demon god of the Dark Dimension, and his goal was simple: to devour Earth, although Finney wasn't sure if his obsession with Earth stemmed from the Ancient One.
For Finney, the most difficult aspect of dealing with Dormammu was that as long as the Dark Dimension existed, Dormammu was immortal. Unlike Thanos, who could be easily defeated even with the Infinity Gauntlet, Dormammu wouldn't perish even if he were cut to pieces, as long as the Dark Dimension's energy remained.
This was why Dormammu so vehemently hated the Ancient One for stealing his dark energy. "
Are you playing with my life?!"
As his strength gradually increased, Finney no longer placed all his hopes on the Ancient One. He began to carefully consider how he could fight Dormammu on his own.
Ultimately, he decided that he could either try to prevent Dormammu from coming to Earth and slowly develop his abilities, or obtain the Reality Stone and see if he could use the 'Golden Grand Technique' to fight the Dark Dimension.
These two methods were not mutually exclusive, so Finney felt it was time to contact Kaecilius to understand his situation while waiting for the celestial convergence that occurred once every five thousand years to bring the Reality Stone into existence.
Kaecilius, unaware of the reasons behind this, was completely baffled by Finney's sudden change in attitude.
Contacting him wasn't something that could be done overnight, so Finney didn't act too strangely. After exchanging a few words with Kaecilius, he mainly talked to Mordo, inquiring about his situation in Kamar-Taj over the past six months.
After spending most of the day in Kamar-Taj, Finney returned to New York late at night.
In his room, the Cosmic Cube and the Mind Scepter were casually placed on his desk, very close together; it was unclear if they had been secretly communicating.
Finney was actually a little troubled about where to put these two items.
Neither was easy to carry around. The Cosmic Cube was slightly better, being only palm-sized, and could fit in a bag, but the Mind Scepter was too long and cumbersome to carry.
Kamar-Taj didn't have any spells for hiding or storing them, and he had no intention of removing the gems inside, so he was somewhat conflicted.
"Oh well, I'll just leave them at home for now!"
After thinking for a while, Finney decided to leave them at home for the time being. He actually had a solution in mind, but it was a bit complicated, and he planned to try it out when he had more free time. The next day, Finney returned to school after a long absence.
At school, he wasn't as well-known as he was in Kamar-Taj. Although many cheerful girls greeted him with smiles on the street, no one seemed to realize he hadn't returned for six months.
Because he had asked Skye to help him with a leave of absence, Finney faced no trouble upon his return and quickly resolved the issues.
The students on campus didn't seem to notice Finney's return, but his classmates were different, especially Billy, who was close to him.
"Finney, you're back!"
Looking at Billy's surprised and delighted expression, Finney glanced at his face with a touch of nostalgia. Compared to Red Skull, Billy was definitely more handsome.
"Long time no see, Billy!"
"Where have you been?"
Billy sat down next to Finney and asked curiously, "I went to ask the professors, and they said you've temporarily suspended your studies."
"I went on a trip and just got back a few days ago!"
Finney explained casually, then changed the subject, asking, "How are you? It's been more than half a year. Have you found a girlfriend yet?"
"Girls are nothing compared to games!"
Billy curled his lip in disdain. If it weren't for the sadness in his eyes, Finney would have almost believed him.
"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you, I was so bored while you were gone, so I developed a game about the Divine Punishment Knight. It's almost finished. And, the Divine Punishment Knight appeared again yesterday, you know? He has..."
Seeing Billy excitedly telling him all this, Finney was a little stunned and interrupted him, "Wait, wait, I remember we're in the language major, right?"
"Yes!"
Billy nodded with a puzzled look, seemingly wondering why Finney was asking this.
"So, if you're bored, how did you come up with the idea of developing a game?"
Finney was even more puzzled.
"Do I need a reason?"
"Don't you?"
Fortunately, Billy didn't dwell on this question. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Maybe it's because the girl I used to chase liked games!"
"..."
Finney was speechless.
"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Anyway, the game is almost finished. You can try it out and give me some feedback!"
"No problem!"
Finney didn't refuse. He was also curious about what kind of game Billy, a language student, could develop. "By the way, did you see the news in New York yesterday? Aliens appeared in Manhattan. There was a person wearing a red cape, holding a hammer, and flying, and a big green guy. I showed it to you before, do you remember?"
Billy excitedly told Finney about the Battle of New York, but as he spoke, he seemed to remember something, and his expression became suspicious: "By the way, you left half a year ago, right?"
"Yeah, why?"
Finney nodded.
"The Divine Punishment Knight seems to have disappeared about half a year ago."
Finney shrugged, looking completely unconcerned.
"Yesterday, the Divine Punishment Knight suddenly reappeared."
Billy still stared at Finney suspiciously: "And then you came back!"
"So what!?"
Finney said nonchalantly. Actually, he didn't really care whether Billy knew his identity or not.
After all, more and more people knew of his existence, and now that he had the Mind Stone in his hand, anyone who dared to mess around would be shown the power of the Infinity Stones' brainwashing.
"You wouldn't actually be the Divine Punishment Knight, would you?"
Billy asked Finney in a low voice, his guilty tone suggesting he couldn't believe it was really possible.
"So, do you still want to eat at this table?"
Finney didn't deny it, but smiled at Billy and said.
"You really are the Divine Punishment Knight!?"
Billy's face was filled with disbelief. If it happened once, it might be a coincidence, but two or three times, it was too much of a coincidence.
"I don't believe it!"
Billy didn't want to believe that his best friend was actually his most admired idol; the disparity was hard for him to accept.
"Believe it or not!"
Finney rolled her eyes, then added, "Also, I don't like the nickname 'Divine Punishment Knight' because I'm a magician!"
**Need support**
Read 15+ Chapters Advanced chapters ahead at Patreon.
[email protected]/Horizons685
(End of Chapter)