Chapter 347: 347 Hold the Line, Wong!
"Kaecilius is after the Eye of Agamotto. That puts Wong in serious danger right now!" Mordo said urgently.
"We can't just keep hiding here. We have to go to the Sanctum Library! Both Wong and the Eye of Agamotto are irreplaceable—we can't afford to lose either!"
"Hey, hold on a second!" Stephen Strange protested. "Are we really in any shape to fight Kaecilius right now? You saw what he did—he bent reality like it was nothing! We're way out of our league here!"
"Tch..." Kagura frowned. "As much as I hate to admit it, Stephen's not wrong."
Kaecilius wielded the power granted to him by Dormammu, making him an opponent on par with the Ancient One.
Even though both Kagura and Strange had learned to wield dimensional magic to a decent degree, facing someone like Kaecilius head-on was a daunting task.
"But time is not on our side. If anything happens to the Eye of Agamotto, we're looking at true despair!" Kagura raised her head, her voice resolute.
"Let's go! Use dimensional magic to stabilize the space around you, then head for the Sanctum Library! If we hesitate any longer, it might be too late!"
"I agree with Miss Kagura. This is a matter of utmost urgency—there's no time for second thoughts!" Mordo declared as he charged forward, stepping out of the mirror dimension.
He cast his dimensional spells and tore through the distorted fabric of reality, making a beeline for the Sanctum Library.
"Doctor Strange, let's move." Kagura didn't immediately follow Mordo.
Instead, she turned to Stephen and spoke with a calm intensity. "Are you ready for this? Once we take this step, your life might never be the same again."
"Heh! Are you giving me another lecture?" Strange chuckled.
"My life already changed the moment I accepted my destiny as the Sorcerer Supreme. I've been preparing for moments like this ever since."
"I might be an ordinary man... but at the same time, I'm not. As long as it's something I can do—then as a man, I must do it, and do it right."
"I'm glad to hear that," Kagura said with a smile. "Sounds like you're becoming a real superhero."
"Superhero? You mean like Captain America and Iron Man?"
"Hahaha! We can talk about that later! For now, there's a certain adorable chubby guy waiting for us to save him!" Kagura clapped him on the shoulder.
"Let's go—fight, resist, and protect the hope we call the future!"
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Kamar-Taj – Sanctum Library
Wong, the guardian and librarian of the Sanctum Library, stood solemnly at the entrance, ready for battle.
Though solidly built—some might even call him a little chubby—Wong was one of the most formidable mystic arts users in Kamar-Taj.
And he knew full well that even with his skills, he'd be hard-pressed to face the threat approaching him.
Kaecilius, disciple of Dormammu, was slowly advancing toward the library.
"Hello, Wong," Kaecilius said with a smirk as he came into view. "Long time no see. How's the library? Still keeping all the books in order? No more stolen tomes, I hope?"
"This place was safe in the past, it's safe now, and it'll stay safe in the future!" Wong growled defiantly.
"Kaecilius, you traitor! If you surrender now, maybe the Ancient One will show you mercy!"
"No need to get so worked up." Kaecilius chuckled. "Did you know the last time I came here, you weren't the librarian? But your predecessor… let's just say, he didn't do such a great job."
"Hmph!" Wong shot back. "You mean the predecessor you decapitated?"
Kaecilius had killed the former librarian when he broke into the Sanctum Library and stole forbidden spells.
"You're not wrong," Kaecilius admitted. "But honestly, even if I hadn't killed him, he would've fought to the death anyway. I just saved him the trouble and made it quick."
"Murdering a fellow sorcerer, stealing forbidden magic—and you still dare to return here?" Wong snapped, taking a battle stance.
Orange sigils of dimensional energy flared to life in both hands, forming twin mystic shields.
"You think this is some kind of convenience store? Come and go as you please, take whatever you like? Kaecilius, your end is now!"
"HAHAHAHAHA!" Kaecilius threw his head back and laughed. "You've got guts, Wong, I'll give you that!"
Around them, the space itself began to warp.
Kaecilius raised his hand, conjuring a dimensional blade sharp enough to cut through reality itself.
"Looks like you still don't understand the situation you're in!"
In the very next instant, the two clashed with explosive force.
Wong was a formidable sorcerer.
As the guardian of the Sanctum's mystical library, he had mastered countless dimensional spells.
But Kaecilius, wielding the forbidden power of the Dark Dimension, held a clear advantage in combat.
His fighting style was nothing like the disciplined techniques of Kamar-Taj.
Instead, it was a brutal, unrelenting assault—chaotic yet flawless in execution.
The raw strength of his dimensional sorcery overwhelmed Wong's defenses.
Blades of light slashed through the air.
Magical sparks scattered like fireflies.
With his dimensional blade—an ethereal weapon forged from space itself—Kaecilius pressed his attack.
Within minutes, he had driven Wong to the ground.
"Hmph. So this is all you've got?" Kaecilius sneered, his translucent blade hovering inches from Wong's throat—a weapon unlike anything the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj had ever seen.
This blade, taught to Kaecilius by Dormammu, was crafted from the very fabric of dimensions.
It wasn't composed of matter or energy in any traditional sense, and in theory, it could cut through anything—even the laws of physics themselves.
"You were right about one thing, Wong," Kaecilius said, baring his teeth in a vicious grin. "Your predecessor? Yeah, I was the one who took his head."
His eyes gleamed with cruel satisfaction. "Now it's your turn to die the same way."
"Stop right there, Kaecilius!"
A voice rang out—familiar, commanding.
Kaecilius looked up and saw her. Standing across from him, robed in gold, was the Ancient One.
"Hmph! Too late," Kaecilius growled. He made no move to hesitate.
With a roar, he drove the blade downward.
'Whoooosh—!'
Reality itself twisted.
In an instant, the walls, bookshelves, and even the floor began to multiply—splitting and blossoming like warped flowers under mystical influence.
Everything around them bent and folded in impossible ways.
The floor stretched and expanded like sheets from a printing press, rolling outward in a wave.
Though Kaecilius and Wong had been only inches apart, the shifting space suddenly placed several meters between them.
'Clang!'
Kaecilius's dimensional blade missed its mark, stabbing into the endlessly unfolding floor.
"Ancient One!" Kaecilius snarled as he rose to his feet, frustration burning in his eyes. "So you dare show yourself? Looks like you're ready to be devoured by my master!"
"No one will be devoured by Dormammu," the Ancient One said calmly. "The only one ensnared by his lies... is you, Kaecilius."
"Lies?" he spat. "The one who deceived me was you!"
His voice rose, seething with bitterness. "But it doesn't matter. I have the power now. I've achieved what I sought—eternal life!"
"Good," he added with venom, "then I can settle all scores—past and present. It's time for the liar to disappear!"
Dark energy surged from his hands as Kaecilius launched his attack on the Ancient One, showing no fear, no hesitation—only rage.
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