In the Abyss, sparks flickered, and a golden portal opened. A figure in a black cloak stepped out of the portal.
"This should be the source of that strange power from before, but why has it now become a ruin?" The figure in black muttered to himself.
He was Doctor Strange from the Dead world, whose power had swept across the Multiverse when Lucas was promoted.
In his world, he did not lose his hands in a car accident but lost his beloved Christine. After becoming Sorcerer Supreme, he tried many times to go back in time to save Christine, but each time he failed.
After that, the Ancient One divided him into two personalities.
The personality that couldn't let go of Christine began to devour mystical creatures and absorb dark energy.
Day after day, year after year of accumulation, he became incredibly powerful, successfully merged with the other personality, and saved Christine.
The act of saving Christine broke an absolute fixed point in time, causing the Universe to fall into silence. He neither saved Christine nor preserved the Universe, and could only mourn alone in that dead Universe.
Until that strange energy swept through, his Universe underwent some changes.
To find the cause of this change, and to seek a way to save his Universe, he traced the strange energy upstream, only to find…
"What exactly happened here? That strange power is gone."
Looking at the empty, fragmented Abyss, Strange couldn't help but feel lost.
He had hurried all the way, but he was still one step too late.
Fortunately...
With his hands clasped in front of his chest, he activated the power of the Time Stone.
The Eye of Agamotto on his chest spun rapidly, revealing the green Time Stone, which emitted bursts of light. The green light, symbolizing the power of time, swept through, and everything around was instantly frozen.
But this was not what Strange wanted. He wanted to reverse time and space, to go back to the past to see what had happened. However, the space-time here was a mess, completely chaotic and fragmented, making it impossible to restore.
"Damn it!!!"
Seeing that the time magic had no effect, Strange cursed himself for being a step too slow, missing a possibility to save the Universe, and couldn't help but roar.
With a loud bang, a surge of energy swept out from his body, spreading in a ring.
The debris of the Abyss along the way was shattered into smaller pieces, and the void fissures were temporarily suppressed.
The disheartened Strange didn't want to go back for now, so he randomly chose a direction and began his Multiverse drift.
...
On Earth-404, after Lucas finished the last meal with Knull, he sealed him again.
After checking the time, Lucas found that more than ten days had passed since he left Earth-404 to seek trouble with Knull. Fortunately, although he had been away from the Asgard battlefield for more than ten days, no accidents had occurred during these ten days.
The button he gave Gwen for self-preservation had not made any sound.
"I'll go to Asgard to check. I wonder what stage the war has reached. Malekith is dead, and the Dark Elves are leaderless. I wonder if this war will end early. Perhaps I can even make it to the banquet."
Muttering to himself, Lucas opened a portal and quietly infiltrated Asgard.
In a hidden corner of a street in Asgard, Lucas emerged, dressed as a bard.
Before long, he attracted the attention of many Asgardians. Nothing else, his attire, behavior, and demeanor were out of place with the people on the streets of Asgard.
"Hey, young man."
A shop owner on the street called out to Lucas and whispered a reminder.
"All-Father has decreed that during this period, the entire kingdom is under lockdown and preparing for war, prohibiting all entertainment activities."
"If you go out to tell stories now, not only will no one listen and you won't make money, but you might also be arrested as a spy by the guards. Go back quickly."
"Alright, thank you for the reminder, old man."
Lucas readily accepted and took the opportunity to inquire about the war situation.
The shop owner also briefly introduced the war situation to Lucas, urging him to buy anything he needed quickly. Otherwise, he should hurry back home and hide.
After Malekith's death, the war did not end quickly. Instead, its scale and intensity grew larger and larger. By now, both the Asgardian warriors and the Four Realms allied forces were seeing red.
This was contrary to Lucas's estimation that the war would end quickly.
"Forget it, I'll ask Gwen and the others for the specific situation."
Finding that he couldn't dig up any more information from the shop owner, Lucas simply went directly to Gwen and the others.
"Malekith, the leader of the Dark Elves, died on the Vanaheim battlefield, so it's normal for the Dark Elves to go crazy."
"But Laufey, Surtur, and the Angel Queen are all still alive and well. Why are they going crazy?"
...
In the Asgardian palace, Loki complained, "Yesterday, another Fire Demon squad tried to infiltrate Asgard to commit arson, but fortunately, the guards discovered them in time."
Odin had already started to neglect his duties, and Thor was only responsible for charging into battle.
The heavy burden of coordinating the Asgardian army during this period rested on his shoulders, and he had accumulated who knows how much resentment.
"Loki, we must find a way to end this war as soon as possible. Too much blood has already been shed by the people of the Nine Realms."
On the throne, Odin spoke with dull eyes and trembling voice.
Loki, upon hearing this, rolled his eyes.
His father, being old, was truly becoming more and more muddled.
If there was any way to defeat the Four Realms allied forces as quickly as possible, he would have proposed it long ago, without needing Odin's urging.
"Thor, Loki. The gears of fate have already begun to turn, I see it." Odin seemed not to have noticed Loki's eye-roll, still muttering to himself.
His eyes were dull, yet profound, looking to an unknown place.
"Father, what did you see?"
"I saw the Nine Realms suffering, and gods falling. Heimdall and Malekith are just the first. After them, Laufey, Surtur, the Angel Queen, and I, Thor, and Loki, none of us will escape. We will all meet death, and will not be able to return to Valhalla."
After listening to Odin's cryptic words, Thor gently comforted him, "Father, my brother and I will surely achieve victory. This war will only be a great victory for Asgard."
He also gave Loki a look, signaling him to comfort Odin as well.
"Father, brother is right. He and I will defeat the Dark Elves, Angels, Fire Demons, and Frost Giants, just like you and grandfather did."
"No! Our enemies are not them!" Odin was suddenly invigorated.
"The beings of the Nine Realms are not the enemy, our enemy is… is…"
Before he could finish, Odin stumbled and fell to the side, fainting on the throne.
"Father!"
"Father!"
In a flurry of panic, Thor and Loki took Odin to rest, entrusting him to Frigga's care.