Out in space, Karl stayed on the battlefield for quite a while, observing the area, but he still could not find any lingering traces.
After Galactus died, an appalling force had erupted.
That entire star system had been swallowed by some unknown power, turning into a blackened domain.
Even Karl could still sense a violent, terrifying aura there.
"Thanos is probably dead, right?"
"There's no way he could withstand that kind of destructive power."
Karl shook his head.
Even if Thanos had somehow survived by sheer luck, after taking a hit like that, he probably would not be able to stir up any trouble.
Surviving such a horrifying attack would not be easy.
Shaking his head again, Karl did not remain there any longer.
A flash of golden light streaked across space, and he vanished from the cosmic battlefield, reappearing directly on Earth.
What he did not know was just how great a shock his actions had brought to the people of Earth.
Starting from Earth, along the direction in which they had fought, everything had been devastated.
Humanity could observe countless planetary fragments and shattered meteors crushed along the way.
That battle, stretching all across that path, left everyone who saw it utterly speechless.
Karl's title as Sorcerer Supreme began to spread through the surrounding realms.
Once, the Ancient One had won the title of Sorcerer Supreme by defeating sorcerers from all the surrounding dimensions in open contest.
She had passed that title on to Karl.
Naturally, a great many people had refused to accept it.
Other than the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj, very few were willing to accept that succession.
But then Karl unleashed his full power and directly killed one of Galactus's avatars in this universe.
At once, all those who had questioned him fell silent.
Some of the forces that had been growing restless also became obedient.
The one hit hardest was Hell, the realm closest to Earth.
Hell was an extradimensional realm attached to Earth.
On the scale of the universe, it might be unimaginably far away from Earth.
But on the scale of space itself, it was extremely close.
Because of the powerful Hell Lords within it, Hell itself counted as a very formidable extradimensional realm.
The Hell Lord Mephisto was one of its most famous beings.
Even back when the Ancient One was still around, he had often appeared on Earth, using contracts to swindle large numbers of souls.
His power was practically in the same league as that planet-devouring monster from before.
Like Dormammu, if he were inside Hell, his strength would probably reach the Single-Universe level.
After the Ancient One left, Mephisto had become extremely restless.
The Ancient One, who had always stood in his way within this universe, was gone. Didn't that mean he could send even more of his underlings to Earth?
After all, human souls were like an incomparably delicious feast to devils. To them, the temptation was fatal.
Once the Ancient One was gone, he should have been able to gorge himself to his heart's content.
But what he had not expected was that Kamar-Taj had produced a freak like Karl.
"Damn it. Where did the Ancient One find a monster like this?"
"He can actually kill one of Galactus's avatars?"
"With power like that, he may well be even stronger than the Sorcerer Supreme."
"That title of Sorcerer Supreme is more than justified."
"How am I supposed to harvest human souls now?"
Mephisto was both furious and alarmed.
He truly had not expected that the Ancient One would leave, only for someone even more terrifying to appear in her place.
He had thought Earth was already his for the taking.
Who could have imagined this?
"Damn it!"
"No. Since you ruined my plans, I'll ruin you."
"The sorcerers of Earth must be wiped out."
That was what Mephisto thought to himself.
During the Ancient One's era, quite a few sorcerers had directly invaded Earth's hell-realms and slaughtered demonic creatures, using them as materials for crafting magical artifacts.
And now the leader of the sorcerers was going to stand against him as well.
Would that not mean Hell would never know peace again?
The key point was that if those sorcerers had gone to other Hell Lords' territories, that would have been one thing.
Those bastards like Lucifer were hardly on good terms with him anyway.
But those sorcerers kept causing trouble specifically in his territory.
And that was because his territory was the largest.
Karl's sudden rise to fame throughout the universe placed enormous pressure on Mephisto.
And in the shadows, figures like Mephisto were far from rare among the extradimensional realms surrounding Earth.
There were many powerful beings coveting Earth.
The number of extradimensional realms connected to Earth was beyond what most people could imagine.
The name Midgard did not merely mean it occupied a vast area.
Once Karl's reputation spread, it intimidated a great many of them.
But at the same time, it also made many of them wary.
Right now, Earth was still on the defensive.
But what if Kamar-Taj became even stronger?
That made many lone powerhouses deeply uneasy.
And among them were no shortage of truly formidable beings.
But beyond those people, there were others as well.
Even more powerful existences.
For example, some ancient gods born on Earth.
They were not interested in Earth itself.
They had set their sights on Karl.
For true powerhouses, there were no secrets in the universe.
Karl had trained at Kamar-Taj for only a few short years.
And now he could kill Galactus?
What exactly was hidden behind that?
Did Karl possess some kind of treasure?
Was there something unusual about his soul?
If they devoured his soul, would they be able to comprehend the Laws?
Many dark beings were extraordinarily obsessed with devouring souls.
And that was not without reason.
The souls of intelligent life contained mysteries of the highest order.
Even gods could not fully understand them.
Take the Ancient One for example. After death, she became a sacred spirit and was even able to remain at Eternity's side.
Did anyone really think Eternity was running a charity?
Did they think just any soul could follow him?
The Ancient One had even helped Eternity shoulder the debts of those gods. Why would that be?
Eternity was no fool. Naturally, there was something to gain from it.
Perhaps it was not as direct as Galactus, perhaps it was simply hidden beneath a layer of civilization.
But there had never been such a thing as love without reason.
And if there was, then there was definitely something else behind it.
If even the Ancient One's soul was so precious, then Karl's soul, with even greater talent, was beyond compare.
In the eyes of many beings, his soul was worth more than countless planets.
There were quite a few dark overlords who thought that way.
For a time, even the sealed source of black magic in this world began to stir and turned its gaze toward Earth.
And another incomparably evil ancient entity, one that had devoured who knew how many worlds, also set its eyes on Earth.
To those evil beings, Karl's valuable soul was an object of extreme greed.
For a time, it directly stirred up a storm.
On Earth, everything remained as calm as ever.
But beyond Earth, in the deeper layers of space, powerful beings of every kind began to grow restless.
For a time, dangerous currents surged in secret.
(End of Chapter)
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