[Noticing that something was wrong, Dormammu growled in disbelief:]
["Is this an illusion? Was what I just killed only a projection?"]
[Strange stood before Dormammu and calmly said: "No. This is reality."]
["Very well!"]
[Dormammu angrily unleashed his power, and countless spikes attacked Strange from all directions and pinned him to the ground.]
[But only a few seconds later, Strange, with the Eye of Agamotto around his neck, appeared before Dormammu again.]
[He looked at the green magical ring around his wrist, then raised his head again.]
["Dormammu, I have come to bargain."]
Looking at Strange, who had appeared before him again completely unharmed, Dormammu was so surprised that the purple flames in his eyes flickered.
["What have you done?"]
[Strange raised his head and calmly said:]
["Just as you gave Kaecilius power from your world, I brought something from mine."]
[He raised his left hand and showed Dormammu the green magical ring surrounding his wrist.]
["Time."]
["An infinite time loop."]
In the live broadcast room of another world, everyone was shocked by Strange's incredible ingenuity and determination.
"An infinite time loop?"
Little Wanda opened her mouth in surprise.
"Is that not the same trick Mobius used against Loki?"
Tony thoughtfully said:
"Except this time, 'Loki' has become Dormammu, and 'Sif' has become Strange."
The moment his dark past was mentioned again, Loki's face immediately darkened.
Strange only nodded slightly.
"Yes. The principle is the same. The only difference is that my strength before Dormammu is practically equal to that of an ant, and I cannot hurt him at all."
"Fortunately, the time loop created by the Time Stone can last infinitely."
"As long as I do not end it, Dormammu and my version from that world will be trapped in that loop forever, endlessly repeating the same period."
Peter felt his heart beating rapidly and quietly asked:
"But then... will you not have to go through countless deaths?"
Strange shrugged.
"If that allows me to successfully stop Dormammu, the price is almost negligible."
"Negligible?"
Those words made Loki's scalp go numb, and even the corner of his eye twitched.
Just that "infinite loop" he had previously seen on the screen had already been terrifying enough to give him nightmares.
And at least Sif had not killed him when she struck him.
But Strange was now facing the ruler of the Dark Dimension, who had become completely enraged!
In such a situation, how much torture would he have to endure?
How many painful deaths?
Just thinking about it, Loki felt the hairs on his body stand up and a cold breeze run down his back.
"Alright, man. It looks like I really underestimated you before."
Tony Stark's gaze toward Strange completely changed.
"I have met many people in the military who claim they are not afraid of death, but they are only not afraid of one moment of death."
"I have never even heard of someone like you, who is willing to voluntarily endure endless suffering."
Feeling everyone's surprised and complicated gazes around him, Strange smiled somewhat awkwardly.
"Actually, it is not that terrible. While trying to heal my hands, I probably already experienced almost every kind of pain a person can imagine."
"Maybe I have already become somewhat numb to pain."
Hearing this, even Magneto, who was still depressed over losing part of his powers, could not resist raising his head, his eyes full of surprise.
How could this middle-aged man with graying temples possess such an unshakable will?
In the bar, the corner of Wolverine's mouth gradually rose.
"Numb to pain? Haha, sounds a little like me."
He raised his glass, took a sip, and then suddenly laughed loudly.
[Wolverine: Strange, maybe I do not have many special talents, but when it comes to enduring pain, I am definitely among the best in the world.]
[Wolverine: If that Dormammu really dares come to Earth, feel free to use your magic on me and let me deal with him!]
[Wolverine: Even if he kills me a hundred times! A thousand times! I guarantee you I will not even blink! Hahaha!]
[Stephen Strange: I appreciate your intention. But dealing with beings from other dimensions is still the responsibility of us sorcerers.]
[Wolverine: If you lose, Earth will disappear. In that situation, it no longer matters who is a sorcerer and who is not.]
[Wolverine: Or perhaps you look down on us Mutants?]
[Stephen Strange: Uh... no. Fine, if such an opportunity ever arises, I will definitely let you know.]
[Wolverine: Hahaha! That is more like it!]
Although he managed to calm Wolverine down, Strange quietly muttered inwardly:
"Mutants? What the hell are they? Why do almost all the newcomers we got this time keep mentioning that word?"
"Fighting side by side with humans?"
Watching Wolverine and Strange's interaction in the chat group, Magneto Erik frowned slightly, but in the end said nothing.
The crisis shown on the screen before them truly completely surpassed the boundaries between humans and Mutants.
This battle... concerned the survival of the entire Earth!
[The image continues.]
[Realizing that he had fallen into the trap of the tiny human before him and was trapped in an infinite time loop, Dormammu became so furious that his enormous face distorted.]
["How dare you!"]
[Dormammu raised his right hand, larger than a mountain, and slammed it down with great force. A trace of helplessness appeared in Strange's eyes, but he still did not attempt to avoid the attack.]
["Boom!"]
[Dormammu's gigantic palm struck the ground. Rocks flew in every direction, and Strange was instantly crushed beneath the enormous palm.]
[But then everything returned to the beginning again.]
["Dormammu, I have come to bargain."]
[Now that he already understood what was happening, dazzling purple light erupted from Dormammu's wild eyes, but this time he did not attack immediately. He coldly said:]
["Human! You cannot keep repeating time like this forever."]
[There was not even a trace of fear in Strange's voice.]
["Actually, I can."]
["That is the situation now."]
[Strange fearlessly spread his arms, completely indifferent to the countless deaths waiting for him.]
["You and I are trapped in this moment, and we will only repeat it infinitely."]
[Dormammu growled: "Then you will have to die infinitely many times!"]
["Yes. But the people on Earth will survive!"]
[Strange's expression was serious, as though he had already completely accepted his choice.]
["You are willing to endure endless suffering?" Dormammu's voice became even more furious, as though he would explode in the very next moment.]
[A trace of self-mockery appeared in Strange's voice: "It does not matter. I have been accustomed to pain for a long time."]
[The moment he finished speaking, Dormammu opened his mouth and released a powerful wave of purple energy that instantly broke Strange down into elementary particles.]
[However, for Strange trapped in an infinite loop, such an attack had no meaning at all.]
[He was killed again and again, but each time he appeared once more.]
["Dormammu, I have come!!!"]
["I have come to bargain!!!"]
[Faced with the seemingly infinite time loop, even Dormammu, ruler of the Dark Dimension, began slowly losing his mind.]
["Stop!!!"]
["Dormammu! I have come—"]
["Dormammu! I—"]
["Dormammu—"]
Watching Strange fearlessly and without hesitation meet one endless death after another, everyone in front of the large screen felt chills pass through their bodies and an instinctive sense of horror arise.
Terrifying.
Was this man's will made of steel?
"Ancient One!"
In Kamar-Taj, Mordo quietly sighed, and respect appeared in his eyes.
"Now I finally understand why you trust Strange so much."
The Ancient One stopped waving her fan and nodded slightly.
"The wisdom and courage Strange is showing now are even beyond my expectations."
"This man truly belongs to Kamar-Taj."
"Gulp..."
Little Wanda swallowed hard, turned toward Strange, and carefully asked:
"Are you really willing to use infinite deaths to hold Dormammu back?"
"That is madness."
Natasha beside her shook her head, obviously not optimistic about that plan.
"Just like the Ancient One and Kang, even if your body is restored every time, your soul and will have a limit."
"If such deaths continue for too long, eventually you will break!"
Hearing this, Peter could not resist joining in:
"Mr. Strange, since you control the Time Stone, why not simply reverse Dormammu's time like you did with the apple earlier?"
"You mean, send him back into the Dark Dimension?"
Strange spread his hands and smiled bitterly.
"My version from the other world would probably like to do exactly that, but unfortunately it is not that simple."
"You already saw it. I tried to reverse the time of the Hong Kong Sanctum, but one attack from Kaecilius interrupted the spell."
"Dormammu is who knows how many times stronger than Kaecilius. Against such a lord of darkness, the only way to completely trap him is a time loop set up in advance."
Peter asked in disbelief:
"But then do you have to die infinitely?"
"Trading your own endless deaths for the peace of everyone on Earth? Is that price not too high?"
At that moment, a smile suddenly appeared on Strange's face.
"We have not reached that point yet."
"Peter, do you remember what I kept saying to Dormammu?"
Tony Stark beside them thoughtfully said:
"'I have come to bargain.' So that is how it is."
As though his business instincts had suddenly awakened, Tony clapped his hands and laughed loudly:
"This infinite loop is your bargaining chip!"
"Just as Mobius previously used a time loop to break Loki, your version from the other world wants to use the same method to force Dormammu to give in!"
"Hey! How can you talk like that?"
Loki objected unhappily:
"Why do you people always use me as an example for humiliating things like this?"
[The image continues.]
[Faced with the furious Dormammu, Strange went through terrible and painful deaths again and again.]
[It had to be admitted that the ways in which the ruler of the Dark Dimension could kill someone were incredibly varied, and almost none of them repeated.]
[In the end, Dormammu no longer even tried to immediately kill Strange, but deliberately reduced the strength of his attacks and slowly tortured him, trying to break his will.]
["In the end, you will lose!" Dormammu's terrifying roar echoed throughout the entire Dark Dimension.]
["Yes, I will lose!"]
[The severely injured Strange barely raised his head and slowly stood up from the ground.]
["And then I can lose again!"]
["And again!"]
["Forever!"]
["That way, you will become my prisoner!"]
["No! Impossible!"]
[Realizing that he had truly been trapped by the trap set by this tiny human, Dormammu finally completely lost his mind.]
["Stop! Let me out of here!!!"]
["No!"]
[The time loop returned to the beginning once again. Strange approached Dormammu with a victorious smile on his face and once again spoke the same sentence.]
["I have come to bargain."]
[Faced with this man whom he seemed completely unable to finally defeat, Dormammu finally gave in.]
[Terrifying.]
[He had traveled through the universe and devoured who knew how many planets and civilizations, but he had never encountered anything like this before.]
[He, the ruler of the Dark Dimension, had actually become the prisoner of one tiny human!]
[Dormammu tried everything he could, but still could not break this prison of time!]
["What exactly do you want?" Dormammu bitterly asked.]
["Withdraw your followers from Earth. Never attack my world again and never return."]
[Strange stated his conditions with a serious expression.]
["If you accept that, I will end this time loop."]
[The image changed and once again showed Hong Kong.]
[Kaecilius thought he had won and began confidently speaking in front of Mordo.]
["This is a world beyond time, beyond death. It is so beautiful..."]
[At that moment, Strange slowly landed behind him.]
[Sensing that something was wrong, Kaecilius turned around and asked in a deep voice:]
["What did you do?"]
[Strange casually said: "I made a deal."]
[The moment he finished speaking, purple mist began appearing around Kaecilius's body.]
["What is this?"]
[Kaecilius shouted in horror.]
[Strange slightly shrugged.]
["This is exactly what you wanted."]
["To become part of Dormammu's life and live forever."]
["But I do not think you are going to like what that looks like."]
[Expressions of horror appeared simultaneously on the faces of Kaecilius and his two followers.]
[Immediately afterward, the surfaces of their bodies began breaking apart. Purple magic swallowed their bodies and eventually transformed them into strange one-eyed creatures.]
["Aaaaaahhh!"]
[Some invisible force dragged the three one-eyed monsters toward the spatial crack in the sky.]
[Afterward, the crack slowly closed, and the Dark Dimension completely withdrew from Earth.]
[Dormammu, ruler of the Dark Dimension, retreated!]
["You know something?"]
[Looking at the fate of Kaecilius and his followers, Doctor Strange casually said:]
["You really should have stolen the whole book, because the warnings usually come after the spell."]