Thor rejected Mario's proposal.
"No. Loki is my brother. Not by blood, but in my heart he's no different from family."
The room fell so silent you could hear a pin drop. Sivir flushed with emotion and quickly asked, "You really mean that?"
Since becoming female, her personality had shifted from rational to emotional. It was fascinating to watch, like the same person viewed through a completely different lens.
Thor nodded without hesitation.
Satisfied, Sivir gave him a genuine smile, then turned to Mario. "I want to go back to my universe."
Mario snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Thor suspiciously. Something about this whole situation felt too convenient.
"Sure. I'll send you back shortly."
He'd made the promise earlier, and he kept his word. That was just how he operated.
He turned to Thor. "Take Loki with you. I'll send you both home first."
The Loki from this universe had barely made it through the portal before being subdued by Erik and Hulk. He hadn't caused any damage or harm.
Being locked up for a few days counted as a lesson learned.
Whether Loki would change afterward? That wasn't Mario's problem. At the very least, the trickster shouldn't be looking to cause trouble for him again.
The three of them left the room. Mario led Thor toward the waystone.
Loki remained extremely downcast, not speaking at all, as if he'd suffered some great shock to his psyche.
"Wait—"
Thor suddenly shouted, stopping in his tracks. A flash of panic crossed his face. "I left my hammer inside. Wait for me, I'll be right back."
Mario watched Thor's retreating figure, and in that moment, he finally understood what was really happening.
That's the lamest excuse I've ever heard. Looks like he really does care about his brother.
A few minutes later, Thor came running back with a satisfied smile, but no hammer in sight.
"Sorry, I forgot. When I fought Hulk earlier, I left Mjolnir with the Grandmaster for safekeeping."
As he spoke, he slapped his palm onto Loki's shoulder. A semi-transparent sphere of light merged into Loki's body.
Mario didn't expose the lie. Instead, he said meaningfully, "Let's go. I still need to send Sivir back to her universe."
---
After sending Sivir home, Mario contacted Kaecilius.
A spark-filled portal opened, and the somber sorcerer stepped through.
"Mario."
Mario nodded slightly. "How's it going? Have you found a way to open the Hell Gate?"
Kaecilius' normally expressionless face flickered with hesitation before quickly masking it.
"I can open the teleportation array to Hell now, but it comes with significant risks. If a Hell Lord discovers it, they might use the array we leave behind to invade our world."
Mario frowned and tapped his fingers on the table. He wasn't worried about a Hell Lord invading, he was confident in his ability to handle threats. But he had no idea what level of power these Hell Lords possessed. And there was another crucial question: the fate of Kaecilius' family's souls. That was the real issue.
To be honest, he wasn't optimistic about finding Kaecilius' family at all. But he'd made a promise. And promises mattered.
"Go find the Ancient One. She has far more experience with alternate dimensions than we do."
When it came to dealing with other realms, the Ancient One was still the best resource available. Kaecilius nodded. His fate had changed, he hadn't fallen into darkness as he had in the original timeline. The stronger he became, the more respect he held for the Ancient One. What he still couldn't understand was how she managed to borrow power from her enemies and yet avoid being killed by them. That was a trick he desperately wanted to learn.
Through a portal, Mario and Kaecilius transported directly to Kamar-Taj, though out of respect, they materialized only at the entrance plaza rather than directly inside. Mario took a deep breath of the crisp mountain air.
"Ah, this is what air should smell like. No pollution."
Oink oink...
He faintly heard pig-like grunts and startled cries from several people nearby.
"Watch out! This pig-man can blind you with its dark attribute!"
"Don't aggro yet, everyone get your defenses ready..."
Curious, he walked toward the sounds. A health bar appeared in his vision, indicating an elite monster nearby.
He arrived at the place where he'd previously set up his portal. Sure enough, an elite zombified piglin with three elemental attributes was wandering around. A group of wary sorcerers surrounded it, most of them looking confused and disoriented.
Judging from their expressions, they were clearly affected by the darkness attribute and couldn't see their surroundings properly.
"Well, this is interesting."
He watched as the sorcerers finished preparing, then swarmed the poor elite piglin in a coordinated assault. Even an elite mob couldn't withstand concentrated attacks from over a dozen trained sorcerers. The piglin collapsed, turning into smoke and disappearing. He immediately spun on his heel and headed toward the Ancient One's residence.
"No way. Monsters from Minecraft can't be farmed for free. I'm definitely taking that last chair today."
Walking behind him, Kaecilius almost choked when he heard Mario's words.
After all this time, you're still coveting the Ancient One's furniture? I cannot bring him to my training grounds.
Unaware of Kaecilius' internal crisis, Mario arrived at the Ancient One's door. He raised his hand and knocked politely.
"I've come to visit."
The door opened automatically. He stepped inside and immediately saw the Ancient One kneeling behind a small tea table. His gaze swept the room and he frowned. The chamber, once elegant and richly decorated with beautiful wooden furniture, now looked like a bare training arena, completely empty except for that lone table in front of her. And it wasn't even a nice table. It was a cheap modern industrial product, probably twenty-five dollars at most.
"Did you get robbed?"
He sat cross-legged on the straw cushion opposite her.
The Ancient One took out two glass cups and filled them with tea for Mario and Kaecilius. "A thief takes without asking. You take things openly while maintaining eye contact."
Mario gave an awkward laugh. "That's harsh. Am I really that kind of person? By the way, I'm out of that tea you gave me last time..."
She pointed at a tin of tea on the table. "The believers at the foot of the mountain sent it as heat-relief welfare. I'll give you some when you leave."
The Ancient One had learned to be cunning.
It seemed he would no longer be able to take advantage of her generosity. If he really wanted more furniture, the only option left would be to literally dismantle her house, but she wasn't some simple village NPC. He definitely couldn't pull that off.
"We want to ask you about Hell. What should we be aware of?"
The Ancient One's expression turned serious. "With your current strength, you still can't contend with any of the Hell dimensions. Even I can only rely on the Three Sanctums and the power borrowed from the Vishanti to resist an invasion from Hell."
The Vishanti were the collective name for three beings in the Marvel universe: the omnipotent Oshtur, the all-seeing Agamotto, and the ancient Hoggoth. They were also one of the primary sources backing the Ancient One's power. Of course, only she knew exactly how many beings she'd borrowed power from over the centuries.
But something about her warning bothered him.
"Can you see through my strength now?" he asked curiously.
The Ancient One shook her head. "I don't know your true capabilities. But I can see Kaecilius'. He's still not ready for what lies ahead. I believe you could cause great chaos in a Hell dimension, but if those malevolent creatures break into Earth, the consequences would be catastrophic."
She lifted her wooden teacup and took a gentle sip. "Most importantly, the chance that Kaecilius' family is in a Hell dimension is very low."
Kaecilius' face changed. After reading the Darkhold, he'd prepared himself mentally for bad news, but his family was his emotional anchor, his reason to live, the motivation driving him to grow stronger. The atmosphere in the room immediately grew heavy, broken only by the sound of the Ancient One sipping her tea.
Several minutes passed in silence.
Finally, Mario spoke. "Where would the souls of Kaecilius' family be?"
The Ancient One shook her head. "If they had faith, then after death their souls would be drawn to the corresponding dimension, to a Hell dimension or a Heaven dimension. And different Hells are not the same. Each Hell Lord has their own domain. Strictly speaking, Dormammu also calls himself a Hell Lord. He too can draw in the souls of believers. But most souls simply fall into eternal death and cease to exist."
Mario nodded in understanding. After all, in Marvel, Death was one of the Five Cosmic Entities, an existence that governed the rule of death over all things. In theory, all souls should go to Death's realm. Those so-called Hell Lords and underworld goddesses were nothing compared to Death itself.
Kaecilius knew little about the cosmic entities. He only understood the basic concept that after dying, people went to Heaven or Hell. Hearing the Ancient One's explanation made his heart sink.
Seeing his distress, Mario patted his shoulder comfortingly. "Don't lose heart. No matter what, I'll help you."
As long as there was a path to becoming stronger, there was hope. He now believed that human will could triumph over fate. It was hardwired into his worldview. Even lofty gods and cosmic entities had started from somewhere. He and Kaecilius both had ways to grow stronger. Besides, the rules of the Marvel universe were chaotic enough that maybe one day you could pick up some random artifact and suddenly be capable of fighting the Five Cosmic Entities. Stranger things had happened. But for now, it was better to ask if the Ancient One had any solutions.
"Is there any way to locate the souls of Kaecilius' loved ones?"
The Ancient One shook her head. "Too much time has passed. Any lingering traces of their souls have long faded."
"Not even with the Time Stone?"
"No. Even the Stone's power has limits. It isn't truly omnipotent."
"Then... is there any other way?"
This time, the Ancient One nodded, much to Mario's delight and suspicion.
"How do we do it? Please don't keep me in suspense."
A smile appeared on the Ancient One's face. The moment Mario saw it, his sixth sense started blaring alarms. That smile was exactly the same as when he was plotting something against others.
"I just remembered I have something urgent to handle—"
Whatever the Ancient One was planning, he intended to leave immediately. If he wasn't even here, she couldn't do anything to him, right?
Thinking back to when the Ancient One had "gifted" him that cursed hammer, he understood all too well that this woman was just as screwed as he was, if not worse.
"Don't rush off."
The Ancient One took another sip of tea, still smiling. "I said earlier: Kaecilius' strength isn't sufficient for what needs to be done. But you are different. I sense you would have absolutely no problem entering a Hell dimension."
Mario froze mid-step and turned back. "You mean... you want me to go to a Hell dimension?"
The Ancient One nodded. "You can take the opportunity to enjoy Hell's scenery. I visited once, decades ago. Mephisto gave me an enthusiastic welcome."
A memory flashed through Mario's mind. Mephisto had once created the first Ghost Rider using the Spirit of Vengeance. The Ancient One had definitely been unhappy about Mephisto crossing boundaries into Earth's affairs. She'd probably gone to his Hell dimension and caused chaos. In the movies, the Ancient One had too little screen time for him to judge her fully, but the real Ancient One absolutely seemed capable of doing something like that. And now, after all these decades, she wanted him to go to Hell and cause trouble for Mephisto. Otherwise, with so many Hell dimensions out there, why insist he go specifically to Mephisto's territory?
For a moment, he felt uneasy. Was taking all that furniture from her really worth this?
But the thought passed quickly. Of course it was worth it. Besides, he was curious about Marvel's Hell dimensions. He nodded. "I don't mind taking a look."
Going wasn't the issue. Coming back, however, was an unknown variable.
Seeing Mario agree, the Ancient One put down her teacup and stood up.
"I've already prepared a portal array leading to a Hell dimension. Follow me."
She walked ahead. Mario looked at her back, then at the glass cup in his hand.
Damn. I've been played.
He did not believe she'd prepared that cup for no reason, and he believed even less that she just happened to have a permanent teleportation array to Hell ready to go. The Time Stone might not be useful for locating souls, but the Ancient One's centuries of experience were definitely not wasted.
The Ancient One led him into a basement where countless golden runes were carved across the floor in intricate patterns that hurt to look at directly.
"If you're ready, I'll activate the magic circle."
"Go ahead."
Mario had nothing special to prepare. He simply stepped into the formation as instructed, checking his inventory one last time to make sure he had his emergency items ready.
A flash of light, his figure vanished from the basement.
The Ancient One looked at the now-dimmed magic circle and suddenly spoke to Kaecilius, who'd been standing silently.
"Regarding your family, I am unable to help directly. Perhaps he can help you. But I hope you rely on your own strength to find them. As for why... I believe you've already understood over these past days."
Too many people depended on Mario. If everyone wanted to resurrect their loved ones, then the world's natural laws would collapse.
And in the end, everything would fall into nothingness.
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50 Advance Chapters!
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