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Chapter 257: Purging the Malignancy
"Are those the Sorcerers from Kamar-Taj?" a young sorcerer asked in surprise, watching his suddenly rampaging allies. "Is their fighting style... so over-the-top? Shouldn't sorcerers be ranged attackers?"
He stared intently at the rampaging Diana, almost mesmerized.
"So beautiful, yet so ferocious. I've fallen for her..." the smitten young sorcerer said, his face full of infatuation.
He had assumed that everyone on Tony's side was a sorcerer. As for the Transformers, he had preconceived them as magical puppets.
"These puppets are very powerful, and their numbers are terrifying. They're the best cannon fodder," the young man commented.
"Don't you have a crush on Raven?" an Elder asked, looking at his junior with a strange expression.
"Who... who said that? I don't like her! I'm just... concerned..." The young man became flustered, and even his well-practiced spellcasting faltered for a moment.
Many people around him had odd expressions, but they just shook their heads with a smile and refocused their attention on their spellcasting.
Raven, a demon who had sought refuge with them in a time of crisis, was a rare case. She was kind by nature, and her character was impeccable. It wasn't unacceptable for the young man to like her.
As long as they returned and completely purged all of the demonic bloodline from Raven's body, everything would be safe.
Unfortunately, they didn't know this was impossible. The pure demonic bloodline in Raven couldn't be purged by any artificial means.
Everyone on Tony's side had entered a frenzied state.
The might of the Agalas Sanctuary had given them a huge shock. Even though they were allies, it didn't mean there wasn't a competitive spirit between them.
Magneto was truly going all out this time, manipulating the magnetic field over a wide area and effortlessly disabling large groups of Mindless Ones. Professor X was the same. Although he was in the rear, his terrifying psychic abilities directly destroyed the less-than-intelligent Mindless Ones on the mental plane, and his efficiency was also astonishing.
The most efficient, of course, was Magik. She wielded the power of Hell's Border, coupled with her demigod-level magical strength. Not to mention, she was using dark magic, drawing upon the dark power on the spot. She was the most dazzling, desperately flinging out all sorts of super spells as if they were free.
To be honest, if it weren't for the terrifying number of Mindless Ones, their actual combat power wasn't very high.
"Kaecilius!" Tony said with a cold expression. "You can't escape!"
"He's not even trying to run, you know..." Wanda muttered. "Is that the catchphrase you shout at your enemies? I hear all superheroes have one."
"The last time I shouted that catchphrase, the guy got away. I still haven't caught him, and I don't even know who he was."
Tony remembered the guy who tried to interfere when he was killing the Hulk. He had been screwed over by Tony's time manipulation, cursed once, and then disappeared without a trace.
"What a lousy man..." the Scarlet Witch said, disappointed and with a look of disgust.
Tony: "..."
Stony-faced, he couldn't be bothered to deal with Wanda on the chaotic battlefield.
Kaecilius's face was filled with despair and madness. He continuously cast summoning spells, but they were successively blocked. The number of Mindless Ones was decreasing rapidly, soon to be less than a million.
Yet Tony's Transformers still numbered twenty million.
Unless Kaecilius opened a portal to escape, he was a dead man. The introductory spell of Kamar-Taj was practically a cheat; never mind its use for killing enemies, its efficiency for escaping was top-notch.
Theoretically, it was very difficult to kill a novice sorcerer from Kamar-Taj.
Mordo would shout loudly from time to time, trying to provoke Kaecilius into staying.
But Kaecilius had no intention of escaping at all. He just gave a bitter smile and looked around helplessly.
His space for survival was shrinking bit by bit, and the time he had left was dwindling.
It was like a large net, trapping him tightly.
"Traitor, you will pay the price for what you've done! Your sin must be purged with blood!" Mordo snarled, gnashing his teeth. He then killed a few Mindless Ones, his face grim.
Any act of betraying the Ancient One and Kamar-Taj was unforgivable.
"Traitor? Ha!" Kaecilius slowly let his arms hang limply, completely giving up all resistance. His face was filled with a sneer and mockery.
"I'm the traitor? Then what about the one who stole from the Dark..."
Before Kaecilius could finish his sentence, the arm of the Combiner, Bruticus, suddenly extended tens of meters, grabbed his head, and crushed it.
Splat.
Red and white brain matter splattered everywhere, causing Wanda and the others to scream. Some of them even threw up on the spot.
Tony quickly flew over, looking down at Kaecilius's corpse with a grim expression.
"He's a traitor to Earth. There's no need to waste our breath on him! We still need to help the Ancient One. Who has time to dawdle with him!" Tony said in a deep voice.
"But it looked like he was trying to say something..." Wong said with a hesitant expression. He knew Kaecilius. It was clear he had given up on escaping and had resigned himself to his fate...
"No matter what he was going to say, it doesn't change the fact that he's a traitor! He was just trying to stall for time!" Tony said coldly.
Inwardly, however, he breathed a sigh of relief.
At this critical juncture, the news that the Sorcerer Supreme was stealing dark power would be a devastating blow to morale. And the people from the Agalas Sanctuary, what would they think?
If the great Sorcerer Supreme herself was stealing dark power to strengthen herself, then what was the point of this risky endeavor to destroy Dormammu?! Was it to kill Dormammu just so you, Ancient One, could conveniently occupy the Dark Dimension?
"This young man..." The Elder from the Agalas Sanctuary looked thoughtful. After sizing Tony up, he smiled and shook his head.
He was all too familiar with the Ancient One's little secret. The Ancient One had visited their Agalas Sanctuary back in the day, and they had formed a friendship then.
They could even accept Raven, so how could they not tolerate the great Sorcerer, the Ancient One?
Seeing Tony's wary gaze on him, he paid it no mind. He just waved his hand and pointed to a distant area where piercing sounds frequently erupted. "Agalas Mage Corps, follow me to that place and eradicate the evil!"
The place he pointed to was precisely where three Level Seven Archmages were engaged in a brutal battle. Most of the space-time there had already been annihilated, and even planet-destroying level spells couldn't make a single ripple.
Tony silently watched that area, not even sparing a glance at Kaecilius's corpse.
"Tsk tsk, what a ruthless character. But I like it," Magik said in admiration.
Wanda, who had just recovered a little, let out a "blegh" and threw up again.
"You guys go and guard the entrance. I'm going to check on the Ancient One..." Tony said with a serious expression.
"If you're going, we'll go together. It's dangerous there. If we're all together, we can help each other..." Professor X said in a grave voice.
Many people nodded in agreement.
"Then Azazel will go with me!" Tony said, pointing at the astonished Azazel. "His teleportation ability can get me out of there."
In his seemingly ordinary tone was a resolve that only Tony himself understood.
Tony had publicly stated long ago that the purpose of this mission was to purge the malignancy to buy time for Earth. But this malignancy was not Dormammu from the Outer Dimension, nor was it Kaecilius. It was... Azazel, who had kept a low profile for thousands of years.
Azazel was the true malignancy within Earth.
(end of chapter)
"Are those the Sorcerers from Kamar-Taj?" a young sorcerer asked in surprise, watching his suddenly rampaging allies. "Is their fighting style... so over-the-top? Shouldn't sorcerers be ranged attackers?"
He stared intently at the rampaging Diana, almost mesmerized.
"So beautiful, yet so ferocious. I've fallen for her..." the smitten young sorcerer said, his face full of infatuation.
He had assumed that everyone on Tony's side was a sorcerer. As for the Transformers, he had preconceived them as magical puppets.
"These puppets are very powerful, and their numbers are terrifying. They're the best cannon fodder," the young man commented.
"Don't you have a crush on Raven?" an Elder asked, looking at his junior with a strange expression.
"Who... who said that? I don't like her! I'm just... concerned..." The young man became flustered, and even his well-practiced spellcasting faltered for a moment.
Many people around him had odd expressions, but they just shook their heads with a smile and refocused their attention on their spellcasting.
Raven, a demon who had sought refuge with them in a time of crisis, was a rare case. She was kind by nature, and her character was impeccable. It wasn't unacceptable for the young man to like her.
As long as they returned and completely purged all of the demonic bloodline from Raven's body, everything would be safe.
Unfortunately, they didn't know this was impossible. The pure demonic bloodline in Raven couldn't be purged by any artificial means.
Everyone on Tony's side had entered a frenzied state.
The might of the Agalas Sanctuary had given them a huge shock. Even though they were allies, it didn't mean there wasn't a competitive spirit between them.
Magneto was truly going all out this time, manipulating the magnetic field over a wide area and effortlessly disabling large groups of Mindless Ones. Professor X was the same. Although he was in the rear, his terrifying psychic abilities directly destroyed the less-than-intelligent Mindless Ones on the mental plane, and his efficiency was also astonishing.
The most efficient, of course, was Magik. She wielded the power of Hell's Border, coupled with her demigod-level magical strength. Not to mention, she was using dark magic, drawing upon the dark power on the spot. She was the most dazzling, desperately flinging out all sorts of super spells as if they were free.
To be honest, if it weren't for the terrifying number of Mindless Ones, their actual combat power wasn't very high.
"Kaecilius!" Tony said with a cold expression. "You can't escape!"
"He's not even trying to run, you know..." Wanda muttered. "Is that the catchphrase you shout at your enemies? I hear all superheroes have one."
"The last time I shouted that catchphrase, the guy got away. I still haven't caught him, and I don't even know who he was."
Tony remembered the guy who tried to interfere when he was killing the Hulk. He had been screwed over by Tony's time manipulation, cursed once, and then disappeared without a trace.
"What a lousy man..." the Scarlet Witch said, disappointed and with a look of disgust.
Tony: "..."
Stony-faced, he couldn't be bothered to deal with Wanda on the chaotic battlefield.
Kaecilius's face was filled with despair and madness. He continuously cast summoning spells, but they were successively blocked. The number of Mindless Ones was decreasing rapidly, soon to be less than a million.
Yet Tony's Transformers still numbered twenty million.
Unless Kaecilius opened a portal to escape, he was a dead man. The introductory spell of Kamar-Taj was practically a cheat; never mind its use for killing enemies, its efficiency for escaping was top-notch.
Theoretically, it was very difficult to kill a novice sorcerer from Kamar-Taj.
Mordo would shout loudly from time to time, trying to provoke Kaecilius into staying.
But Kaecilius had no intention of escaping at all. He just gave a bitter smile and looked around helplessly.
His space for survival was shrinking bit by bit, and the time he had left was dwindling.
It was like a large net, trapping him tightly.
"Traitor, you will pay the price for what you've done! Your sin must be purged with blood!" Mordo snarled, gnashing his teeth. He then killed a few Mindless Ones, his face grim.
Any act of betraying the Ancient One and Kamar-Taj was unforgivable.
"Traitor? Ha!" Kaecilius slowly let his arms hang limply, completely giving up all resistance. His face was filled with a sneer and mockery.
"I'm the traitor? Then what about the one who stole from the Dark..."
Before Kaecilius could finish his sentence, the arm of the Combiner, Bruticus, suddenly extended tens of meters, grabbed his head, and crushed it.
Splat.
Red and white brain matter splattered everywhere, causing Wanda and the others to scream. Some of them even threw up on the spot.
Tony quickly flew over, looking down at Kaecilius's corpse with a grim expression.
"He's a traitor to Earth. There's no need to waste our breath on him! We still need to help the Ancient One. Who has time to dawdle with him!" Tony said in a deep voice.
"But it looked like he was trying to say something..." Wong said with a hesitant expression. He knew Kaecilius. It was clear he had given up on escaping and had resigned himself to his fate...
"No matter what he was going to say, it doesn't change the fact that he's a traitor! He was just trying to stall for time!" Tony said coldly.
Inwardly, however, he breathed a sigh of relief.
At this critical juncture, the news that the Sorcerer Supreme was stealing dark power would be a devastating blow to morale. And the people from the Agalas Sanctuary, what would they think?
If the great Sorcerer Supreme herself was stealing dark power to strengthen herself, then what was the point of this risky endeavor to destroy Dormammu?! Was it to kill Dormammu just so you, Ancient One, could conveniently occupy the Dark Dimension?
"This young man..." The Elder from the Agalas Sanctuary looked thoughtful. After sizing Tony up, he smiled and shook his head.
He was all too familiar with the Ancient One's little secret. The Ancient One had visited their Agalas Sanctuary back in the day, and they had formed a friendship then.
They could even accept Raven, so how could they not tolerate the great Sorcerer, the Ancient One?
Seeing Tony's wary gaze on him, he paid it no mind. He just waved his hand and pointed to a distant area where piercing sounds frequently erupted. "Agalas Mage Corps, follow me to that place and eradicate the evil!"
The place he pointed to was precisely where three Level Seven Archmages were engaged in a brutal battle. Most of the space-time there had already been annihilated, and even planet-destroying level spells couldn't make a single ripple.
Tony silently watched that area, not even sparing a glance at Kaecilius's corpse.
"Tsk tsk, what a ruthless character. But I like it," Magik said in admiration.
Wanda, who had just recovered a little, let out a "blegh" and threw up again.
"You guys go and guard the entrance. I'm going to check on the Ancient One..." Tony said with a serious expression.
"If you're going, we'll go together. It's dangerous there. If we're all together, we can help each other..." Professor X said in a grave voice.
Many people nodded in agreement.
"Then Azazel will go with me!" Tony said, pointing at the astonished Azazel. "His teleportation ability can get me out of there."
In his seemingly ordinary tone was a resolve that only Tony himself understood.
Tony had publicly stated long ago that the purpose of this mission was to purge the malignancy to buy time for Earth. But this malignancy was not Dormammu from the Outer Dimension, nor was it Kaecilius. It was... Azazel, who had kept a low profile for thousands of years.
Azazel was the true malignancy within Earth.
(end of chapter)
