Di Wan and Karl had been in this world for two years.
Aside from the first three months in Los Angeles, they had spent most of their time at Kamar-Taj. Occasionally, Karl and Di Wan would use the library's portals to travel to the outside world. After all, staying in one place forever wasn't possible—especially for Di Wu, whose soul had already recovered.
Yes, six months ago, Di Wan began observing the world with her own soul. From that time on, she used it to gather energy from the multiverse to repair herself. Her injuries had never been severe to begin with, so in less than a month her soul had fully healed—and even grown significantly stronger.
With her personality restored—bright and lively once more—Di Wan was no longer so restrained. After nearly two years in the same place, everyone had become familiar to her, and she was no longer afraid of others approaching.
Half a year ago, Di Wan became the little princess of all Kamar-Taj. After learning white magic, she had grown even more radiant. Her eyes were clearer and brighter than ever, and her smile made anyone who saw it feel as though their spirit had been lifted.
Everyone adored her hopelessly.
The trouble was that after recovering, Di Wan became mischievous. She often used magic to trick others—nothing malicious, just opening portals to sneak bites of other people's food and similar pranks. As a result, everyone at Kamar-Taj now ate cautiously, afraid their meal might vanish the moment they looked away.
During their time at Kamar-Taj, Karl had also tried to learn magic. Unfortunately, he was completely unable to communicate with the multiverse. So he sought advice from Gu Yi.
"Your energy belongs to reality itself," Gu Yi had said. "You cannot communicate with the energy on the other side of the multiverse. Think of your energy as light, and the multiverse's energy as darkness. If one contains only light, how can one wield darkness?"
Those were his exact words.
Karl gave up trying to communicate with the multiverse and instead attempted to use incantations to manipulate the energy within his body. Unfortunately, that failed as well—worse, it even reduced the upper limit of his internal energy because of the strain.
From then on, Karl completely abandoned magic. After all, if someone used a teleportation array, he could cross space at faster-than-light speed. If someone manipulated space to trap him, he could simply destroy the target with overwhelming force.
Even time magic required caution around him. While he could break through temporal barriers, doing so required constant acceleration to the extreme. Of course, simple time-freezing or slowing techniques were meaningless to a mind that processed faster than light.
"Karl, let's go to Washington—and maybe stroll around Chinatown while we're there."
Karl had been chatting with Wang when Di Wu suddenly leapt onto his back, wrapped her arms around his neck, and whispered into his ear.
Wang primarily guarded the Asian region and occasionally returned to Kamar-Taj. He was extremely serious about his duties and knew little about the mundane world, spending most of his free time in the library studying spells.
Karl and Wang hadn't been close at first, but over time they had grown familiar enough to talk. Karl's body was incredibly powerful—virtually indestructible—and Wang had always wanted to test whether his magic could harm him.
They had just been discussing that very topic. Wang had grasped a new spell concept and wanted to try it out in the training grounds, but Di Wan had interrupted them.
Karl steadied her to keep her from falling and waved apologetically at Wang.
"Sorry. I have to accompany her. I can't help you right now. When I get back, you're free to test it at the dojo."
Two years had changed Karl's appearance. He looked far more human now. Back then, though he understood human emotions, he couldn't respond appropriately. He had seemed more like a god. Now, through the trials of the mortal world, he was slowly becoming human—learning the diversity and complexity of emotion.
"Oh dear, our mischievous little princess is going out to cause trouble again. Keep an eye on her. Don't let her fool around in front of ordinary people."
If it had been any other mage, Wang would have turned stern and delivered a harsh reprimand. But when it came to Di Wan, he simply couldn't stay serious. He even occasionally brought her strange little gifts.
"Uncle Wang is so nice. Don't worry—I won't cause trouble."
Lying on Karl's back, she smiled sweetly as she made her promise.
Wang smiled as well, then bade them farewell and left.
After Wang departed, Karl turned to the small head close to his own.
"Why do you suddenly want to go to Washington?"
"I just saw the news. Captain America's been put on the wanted list. And I've been relaxing lately. You can't expect me to lock myself in a room practicing magic every day—work and rest have to balance."
They were so close that from a distance it looked like they were kissing. As she spoke, her lips occasionally brushed against his.
Their relationship had been confirmed over a year ago. Unfortunately, Karl had known nothing about love at the time. Even now, with a mind faster than light, he only half understood emotions.
You could say they were each other's first love. They weren't even sure when their bond had crossed into something biological—but spiritually, they had long since merged, making their connection even deeper.
"Didn't you say we should stay away from them? Why go there now? Aren't you afraid of danger?"
When Di Wan first arrived in this world, she had warned Karl not to get too close to the Avengers. Back when he ran a flower shop in Los Angeles, Tony and Fury had visited several times. Each time, Di Wan had dragged Karl inside to hide. After a few attempts, they stopped coming. Later, when Karl moved to Kamar-Taj, they couldn't find him at all.
"Because I've learned soul projection. My speed is faster than lightning—faster even than you."
Soul projection was a spell that nearly separated the soul from the body. The soul could communicate directly with the multiverse in the realm of thought without fully leaving the body. In that state, half an hour could pass in the mind while only a second passed outside. Multiple tasks could be handled simultaneously.
"Open a portal, or take a plane?" Karl asked.
Now that he knew she had mastered soul casting—and with him at her side—he wasn't too worried. Di Wan would rather get hurt than let him worry excessively.
"Let's go to the New York Sanctum first. Then we'll drive."
She hadn't driven in a long time. She had almost forgotten cars even existed.
"We don't have a car."
"Let's borrow Braden's. He guards the Sanctum and hardly ever drives. We won't need it long."
"Braden worries too much."
"No, the people around Braden are all very kind."
…
Without another word, the two walked into the library, greeted the current administrator, Haydn, and pushed open the door leading to the New York Sanctum.
When they arrived, Braden was sitting in a chair reading.
"Mr. Braden, hello. We'd like to borrow your car for a few days."
Braden was a typical American. He had once nearly been killed by criminals before Mordo saved him and brought him to Kamar-Taj to train. Because of his upbringing and that near-death experience, he was extremely cautious—a trait Gu Yi valued when assigning him to guard the New York Sanctum.
"Hey! Isn't this our Princess Di Wan? The car keys are in the second drawer beside the desk. Just remember to fill up the tank when you bring it back."
Seeing her, Braden grinned broadly and immediately told them where the keys were.
"Karl, you take good care of our little princess. If she gets hurt, I'll dig out your eyeballs and use them as marbles."
Though he didn't know why they had suddenly come to America, Braden's cautious nature made him wary. His tone wasn't exactly gentle.
"Even if the Earth were destroyed, I would never let her be harmed."
Karl understood Braden's concern and paid no mind to the threat.
"Good."
Braden wasn't fond of talking with Karl. In his view, Karl was wooden and didn't understand jokes—hardly interesting company.
Seeing Braden return to his book, Karl didn't disturb him further. He stood by the door, waiting for Di Wan to come back down with the keys.
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