Marvel Cybernetic Girl

In war, one of the most critical elements is the battle of information and psychological warfare.

And in this war between Earth's civilization and the Dark Dimension, Dormammu miscalculated.

Kagura and Stephen Strange had successfully predicted Dormammu's next move.

Dormammu, being the sole consciousness within the Dark Dimension, had a solitary way of thinking.

That made it nearly impossible for him to employ the kind of bizarre, unpredictable strategies that humans often use.

In this conflict, Dormammu was still likely to send Kaecilius to attack Kamar-Taj rather than switching targets like the New York Sanctum.

Though he ruled the entire Dark Dimension and existed outside of time, Dormammu couldn't perceive Earth directly and had no understanding of human psychology or intelligence warfare.

What he didn't know was that within just a few short days, two individuals who had only recently begun studying dimensional mysticism had already mastered the use of the Eye of Agamotto—and were now wielding time itself as a weapon against his followers.

So when Dormammu, acting like a diligent but predictable villain, once again dispatched Kaecilius in his usual fashion, his move had already been completely anticipated by Kagura and Stephen Strange.

His continued deployment of Kaecilius against Kamar-Taj, rather than directing him toward another target, proved that Dormammu feared the Time Stone far more than the mystical shield protecting Earth.

Sometimes, having spoilers can backfire—it makes the person who's been spoiled even more obsessed.

Kagura had picked up on Dormammu's thought process and used it to precisely predict the enemy Kamar-Taj would face.

After all, even with the Time Stone in hand, it would've been a disaster if someone other than Kaecilius had shown up.

If Kaecilius had gone to attack the New York Sanctum instead—it would've been even worse.

That's right—the Time Stone was actually a sweet little bait.

It was designed to lure Dormammu into sending his most dangerous pawn to attack Kamar-Taj, just as planned.

Dormammu's obsession with the Time Stone was exactly why Kagura and Stephen Strange were able to seize the opportunity to take Kaecilius down.

That's the essence of psychological warfare.

That's what we call strategy.

Even if you're the ruler of the Dark Dimension—even if your entire universe only has a single consciousness—psychological warfare can't exist in a vacuum.

No matter how cunning you are, you can't outwit humans who've been deceiving and outmaneuvering each other for thousands of years.

———————————————————————

— Kamar-Taj

The battle had calmed down for now.

After dealing with the demonic hounds Kaecilius had summoned from the Dark Dimension.

The dimensional sorcerers gathered around his unconscious body, debating what to do with the traitor who had once been one of their own.

One of the younger apprentices clenched his fists and said angrily, "What are we even hesitating for? Hesitation leads to defeat—just chop off his head!"

Another mage replied, "That won't work. Word is, even if you kill him, he'll just be revived by Dormammu in the Dark Dimension, stronger than ever, and come back again."

"Then what are we supposed to do?"

"Maybe… beheading will work? Surely he can't survive that?"

Just then, the librarian Wong approached them. "Even beheading probably won't help. Dormammu likely resurrects him on a molecular level."

"As long as Kaecilius' soul returns to the Dark Dimension, Dormammu can reconstruct his body from scratch. Doesn't matter what part you cut off."

"Hmm... definitely a tricky situation."

Master Mordo stroked his chin thoughtfully. "So, if we kill him, his soul just returns to Dormammu, and he rebuilds Kaecilius again from the ground up to attack us once more. Is that right?"

Wong nodded grimly. "Exactly. It's like an assembly line—an endless loop. Even if we defeat him once or twice, we can't keep repelling his attacks forever."

"That's why we need to break this cycle now," Kagura interjected. "We need to destroy Kaecilius' soul completely—right here, right now."

Stephen Strange stepped forward. "And I already have a plan for that."

"You're going to use Astral Projection to extract and kill his soul?" Wong asked, showing his deep knowledge as the library's custodian.

He'd clearly read his fair share of mystical tomes.

"No," Kagura shook her head. "That might work on an ordinary person, but not Kaecilius."

"Why not?"

"Because Kaecilius' soul is connected to Dormammu. If we drag his soul out and fight him in the astral plane, we'd essentially be fighting Dormammu himself. And let's be honest—we wouldn't stand a chance."

Mordo snorted. "He's that powerful? I don't buy it. I'll smash his head in with the Staff of the Living Tribunal if I have to"

Stephen Strange placed a hand on Mordo's shoulder. "Kaecilius' soul no longer belongs to him."

"Fighting him in the soul dimension is far too dangerous. But I've got a better idea."

Mordo raised an eyebrow. "Better idea?"

Kagura nodded. "Yes. We'll use time again as a weapon. In other words—we'll break the taboo."

Mordo groaned, pressing a hand to his forehead. "Seriously?! If no one respects the rules, what's the point of having them?"

"I can't keep watching you two trample over the sacred laws of sorcery like this."

"Mordo, we can argue about that later," Wong cut in. "Right now, our priority is stopping Dormammu from invading reality."

He glanced at Kagura. "And she's right. Rules are made by people. How we apply or change them should be up to us."

"Taboos are fixed—people are flexible. If we can't adapt, we have no future."

"Hmm…" Master Mordo frowned deeply, clearly locked in a fierce inner conflict.

"I'll… give this matter some serious thought."

"Good," said Kagura. "Then let's begin."

She turned to Stephen Strange. "Let's go with the plan we discussed."

Stephen nodded. "Let's hope this actually works."

"Don't worry." Kagura smiled with calm confidence. "I believe we're going to succeed."

At that moment, Wong interjected again. "So… what exactly are you two planning to do?"

"It's simple," Kagura said. "We're going to use nearly infinite time to corrode Kaecilius's soul into dust."

"…Huh?"

As they spoke, Stephen Strange activated the Eye of Agamotto once more.

Brilliant green energy burst forth and bathed Kaecilius's body.

In an instant, his physical form began to rapidly decay and then crumbled into dust.

But rather than being released back into the Dark Dimension, Kaecilius's soul remained—trapped, subjected to the unrelenting power of the Time Stone.

Kagura continued calmly, "Dormammu exists beyond time. But Kaecilius doesn't. His soul, just like any human's, is still bound by time—it can be worn down, eroded."

"Dormammu's promise of immortality was just an illusion."

"After discussing it, Strange and I realized: instead of battling Kaecilius head-on, we could fast-forward time for him."

"Make his soul experience millions of years in just a brief moment. Even so-called immortals would rot away under the weight of endless time."

She smiled slightly and asked, "Doctor Strange, what time acceleration did we set for him?"

"In the real world, every second that passes equals ninety million years for Kaecilius," Stephen replied.

"And how long has it been now?"

"Twenty-three seconds."

"And the current state of his soul?"

Stephen grinned. "Completely disintegrated."

———————————————————————

Kamar-Taj – Recovery Room

"Master Ancient One? You're awake?"

"Master?"

"What are you doing? Wait… hold on…"

"Ahhh—!"