His magic was that powerful.
Jupiter had been vaporized on the spot.
One had to know that Jupiter was the largest planet in the solar system.
Its mass was more than double the combined total of the other planets in the Solar System.
It was an enormous world.
And yet—
it had taken only a single spell.
That gigantic planet had been destroyed by one spell.
Fortunately,
Kamar-Taj had the Eye of Agamotto.
With the power of the Eye of Agamotto, Karl exhausted all of his mental strength before he finally restored Jupiter.
Even so,
Karl was still extremely excited.
A month later,
Karl returned to Earth.
He had no idea
just how enormous a shock his actions had brought Nick Fury at the S.W.O.R.D. base.
When Nick Fury heard that Jupiter had "disappeared for a few seconds,"
he completely lost it.
"You're messing with me?"
"One person destroyed Jupiter?"
Nick Fury roared on the spot.
"Sir, although I don't want to say this,"
"I think you need to accept reality."
"Scientific instruments do not make mistakes."
The agent answered without the slightest hesitation.
If something like this had happened in the past, his emotions might still have fluctuated.
But now,
he no longer felt anything at all.
Nick Fury, on the other hand, was feeling miserable.
Things were starting to slip beyond his control.
Ever since the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj had appeared,
everything had gone charging down the road of losing control, never to return.
And now they were telling him
that a single sorcerer could instantly destroy a planet as huge as Jupiter?
Was this some kind of joke?
Even now,
even if humanity pooled the strength of the entire world together, it still could not blast a proper crater into Earth's surface.
But Karl, this sorcerer, had destroyed Jupiter by himself?
That was a planet several times larger than Earth.
What if he wanted to destroy Earth too?
Wouldn't humanity have absolutely no way to stop him?
With power like that, if Karl wanted to do something to humanity, then humanity would have no choice but to submit.
Nick Fury was deeply worried.
That guy was just too terrifying.
Nick Fury was deeply worried.
If he had still had any hair, it probably would have stood straight up already.
Even so, he felt awful.
In front of a powerhouse like this, let alone the newly established S.W.O.R.D.,
what did the Avengers even count for?
Nick Fury was in such distress that he could barely sleep at night.
He was shocked, worried, and uneasy all at once.
With a powerhouse like this appearing among humanity, was that a good thing or a bad thing in the end?
…
Nick Fury was full of worry.
Karl, meanwhile, had no time to care about Nick Fury.
After testing his magic, Karl immediately began planning his return to Kamar-Taj.
Lately, he had been considering writing down his own magic and recording his own insights as well.
The stronger Kamar-Taj's sorcerers became,
the deeper his own foundation would grow.
As long as the sorcerers created something new, he could master it at a glance.
That was a virtuous cycle.
There had been many sorcerous forces on Earth, but in the end, Kamar-Taj was the only one that had survived.
You could say that was because the Sorcerer Supreme was powerful.
But its openness, and its refusal to hoard knowledge for itself, were just as important.
Clinging jealously to one's secrets would only lead to being discarded by time.
As a modern man, Karl naturally would not do something so foolish.
Time passed just like that.
Very quickly,
almost another month had gone by.
On this day,
Karl was in his room writing a magical treatise, and at the same time, he was also laying out his own theories for creating new spells.
Then Mordo suddenly came looking for him.
That took Karl by surprise.
Mordo was an extremely busy man, responsible for many matters at Kamar-Taj.
Why had someone that busy come to see him?
Karl spoke up. After staying in his room for so long, his face was a little pale.
"It's like this."
"The person the Ancient One mentioned has arrived."
Mordo said.
Karl froze.
"A man named Strange."
Mordo said.
"Strange?"
Karl was stunned.
Doctor Strange had actually arrived.
This was a legendary figure, someone even more outstanding than the Ancient One.
In a certain sense,
if Karl had not suddenly risen to prominence,
then Strange should have been the true master of Kamar-Taj.
And in terms of willpower,
Strange had already reached the peak of what a mortal could achieve.
Relying on sheer will, he had pushed Dormammu—a being who had lived for who knew how many billions of years—to the point of collapse.
Relying on sheer will, he could even become a vessel for time itself, bearing possibilities from future and past across untold years.
If it had been an ordinary person, they would have gone insane long ago, or simply broken apart altogether.
But for Strange,
that was merely ordinary.
Even Karl felt some admiration for that kind of willpower.
A strong will required unimaginably harsh tempering.
Unfortunately,
with Karl's talent, he would never experience that feeling in this lifetime.
Sigh.
Invincibility really was a lonely thing…
Karl let out a long sigh in his heart.
"Let's go. We'll meet this Doctor Strange."
Karl said,
then followed Mordo inside.
Strange had already been brought in by Mordo.
He was waiting in the reception room, and then he saw Master Hamir sitting there reading.
Truth be told,
in all of Kamar-Taj, the one who looked most like an actual sorcerer was Hamir.
As for the other sorcerers, they were either men like Wong, with fierce, thick-featured faces, or muscular types like Mordo.
At first glance, the place looked less like a sanctuary of mages and more like a hangout for street toughs.
Hamir was different. With his goat beard and hair tied up in a topknot, he looked exactly like a realized master.
No wonder Strange misunderstood.
Strange walked up to Hamir and asked somewhat respectfully,
"Are you the Sorcerer Supreme?"
Hamir lifted his head, glanced at him, and said nothing.
Strange was a little dumbfounded.
What was going on here?
Just as he was still thoroughly bewildered,
Karl came in with Mordo.
"Strange, this is the Sorcerer Supreme."
Mordo immediately introduced him to Strange.
Strange became even more stunned.
Looking at the young man in front of him, who was even younger and more handsome than himself—
this was the Sorcerer Supreme?
Strange suddenly had the urge to turn around and leave.
Was this a joke?
The so-called Sorcerer Supreme did not look the part at all.
Did he really have the ability to help?
But—
Strange no longer had the luxury of gambling.
He had nothing left to wager.
Born in the United States, either you never fail, or you had better be prepared to lose everything.
Even though he had once been New York's finest neurosurgeon,
after the car accident, the treatment,
and all the expenses piled on top,
he had rapidly approached bankruptcy.
His car and his house had both been mortgaged away.
High income, high spending—normally that was no problem, but the moment disaster struck, everything could collapse in one go.
At this moment,
Kamar-Taj was his final hope.
Strange lifted his head.
His eyes were full of hope.
(End of Chapter)
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