The explosion of Asgard drew the attention of the entire universe.
But what did any of that have to do with Karl?
After watching the whole spectacle, Karl merely let out a sigh, then turned to look at Thor and Loki beside him.
"Where are you two going? I'm not done with that portal work yet."
Thor and Loki exchanged a glance.
"Please trouble Mage Karl to send us to Vanaheim," Thor said in a very restrained tone.
In front of a sorcerer as powerful as Karl, even if he was a prince of Asgard, he didn't dare act high and mighty.
That was the dignity that strength brought.
"Fine. I'll send you on your way while I'm at it."
Karl said this, then drew his hand through the air.
A strand of golden light emerged.
A portal took shape—and the scenery beyond it was Vanaheim.
One of the Nine Realms.
Thor and Loki both looked astonished.
This was too terrifying.
How far was Asgard from Vanaheim?
Even using the Bifrost to cross that distance would take several hours.
Yet Karl had done it with a casual portal?
This power was absurd.
This was crossing an unknown distance through space—thousands upon thousands of star systems.
You could even say it spanned half the universe.
With power like this, there was hardly any difference from Odin's dark magic.
Thor shot Karl a stunned look, then led Loki straight into the portal.
Karl watched them for a moment, then closed it.
After that, he glanced at Asgard, which had already vanished.
That once-great place had now been wiped away, reduced to dust.
Across the span of an entire star system, countless remnants and things were all gone, scattered into nothingness.
In a sense, Asgard's power truly was terrifying.
An explosion that directly cleared out a whole star system… what a waste.
A place that good—falling into Hela's hands could only end in destruction.
If it were in Kamar-Taj's hands instead, how great would that have been?
Karl shook his head in regret.
Then, with a lift of his hand, he released another golden portal.
Karl stepped through.
In the next instant, he appeared inside Kamar-Taj.
The moment he emerged, Karl saw the Ancient One standing before him.
"You've worked hard," the Ancient One said with a gentle nod and a smile.
"The Sorcerer Supreme praises me too highly," Karl replied modestly. "I didn't really do anything."
"Didn't do anything?" The Ancient One couldn't help but shake their head. "Kid, you destroyed all of Asgard."
"Sorcerer Supreme, you can't blame me for that," Karl said, shaking his head helplessly. "Who told Odin he couldn't even control his own children?"
The Ancient One sighed as well.
Odin, King of the Gods—rampaging across the universe for so many years…
In the end, he still failed to raise his children properly.
A bunch of troublemaking children, and they dragged such a huge mess onto everyone—there really was nothing to say.
Odin was, in truth, a pity.
"True. This can't be pinned on you," the Ancient One said. "It's Odin's problem."
"I know him. He and those children alike… in the end, they collapsed under it."
"Asgard… what a pity."
The Ancient One shook their head as they spoke.
Karl nodded in agreement.
"Sorcerer Supreme," Karl asked, "how are things on your side?"
"Didn't you say before that Dormammu's power was surging?"
"I did sense Dormammu's immense power earlier," the Ancient One said. "What's strange is that Dormammu hasn't launched an attack."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Karl asked. "If Dormammu isn't invading, isn't that good news?"
The Ancient One shook their head.
"Dormammu not invading is not necessarily a good thing."
"He has coveted Earth for a long time. He definitely won't do nothing."
"If he's doing nothing, then he must be plotting something bigger."
"You don't understand Dormammu. His greed has no end."
"Is that so?" Karl frowned. "Then what scheme is he planning?"
Karl was also puzzled.
Dormammu was a top-tier headache.
Being powerful was one thing—the key problem was that he also had brains.
Still…
If Dormammu wanted to enter Earth, he had to break through the Three Sanctums.
Whatever he was doing, it could only revolve around that point.
"Sorcerer Supreme, you already have your own judgment," Karl said. "If Dormammu wants to invade Earth, he can't bypass the Three Sanctums."
"Any scheme will have to revolve around the Three Sanctums."
"All we need to do is reinforce the defenses of the Three Sanctums, and nothing will go wrong."
"I'm not worried about Dormammu's tactics," the Ancient One said. "I'm worried about the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj."
"You need to understand: in this world, Kaecilius isn't the only one who pursues power."
"Eternal life. Great power. An undying body. Or other desires."
"Everyone has something they seek."
"And all of it can be used."
The Ancient One shook their head as they said this.
Karl fell silent.
Dormammu was indeed terrifying—an existence with unmatched power.
For ordinary sorcerers, it was difficult to resist that kind of temptation.
Not just ordinary sorcerers.
Even for Karl—if he didn't already know Dormammu's nature…
Could he really resist the temptation of endless life and immense power?
He couldn't.
Much less the average sorcerer.
Besides…
Faced with a dimensional demon, ordinary sorcerers had no strength at all to resist.
Dormammu only needed to reach out with his awareness and forcibly drag you into darkness.
He simply didn't consider it worth doing that to ordinary sorcerers—that was all.
Who knew? If Dormammu went mad, would he really waste power doing exactly that?
"Sorcerer Supreme, you're right," Karl said, shaking his head. "This is a problem we have to take seriously."
"It looks like we're going to be busy for a while."
Being targeted by a powerhouse was never a good thing.
Why had Karl insisted on killing Hela earlier?
Because of this exact issue.
Being targeted by Dormammu was still manageable—he couldn't descend into the real world so easily.
Or rather, descending into the real world would cost him greatly.
But Hela was different.
In this world, she could come and go freely. Once she set her sights on you, you were finished.
Wasn't Dormammu already enough of a headache?
Karl forced a bitter smile.
"Sorcerer Supreme… it's not the thief you fear, it's the thief who keeps thinking about you."
"There are so many sorcerers in Kamar-Taj. How can we possibly handle it?"
"Even if the Master Sorcerers never slept, it'd be impossible to look after every single sorcerer."
"Besides… even Master Sorcerers aren't guaranteed to be safe."
Karl spoke with a headache.
The Ancient One didn't respond, only thinking slowly.
Being targeted by Dormammu…
It really was a nightmare.
Not long ago, when the Ancient One was absent for a short time, a Master Sorcerer was lost.
If not for Karl, Kamar-Taj would have suffered disastrous losses.
So what should they do now?
The Ancient One felt a wave of melancholy.
(End of Chapter)
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