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Chapter 262: Conned to Death
At this moment, Dormammu didn't even know what the heck the Allspark was. He had no idea what it looked like, what it did, how powerful it was, or whether it suited him. The great Dormammu knew none of it.
But these were minor details. Dormammu firmly believed that anything that was unique had to be a good thing, its potential inevitably glorious. At worst, he would just alter the direction of his own power's growth.
"If it's a rule-aligned or mystical artifact, I'm quite proficient. My dark magic is naturally suited for it," Dormammu mused, moving furtively, as cautiously as possible while still maintaining high speed.
"If it's a tech-aligned artifact, although the utility of a tech-aligned unique item is limited, I can still study it. Worst case, I'll just focus on combining technology and magic in the future."
"If it's a gene or life-aligned artifact, that would be quite troublesome..." Dormammu thought contentedly, a delightful dilemma arising.
"When I merged with the dark source, I completely abandoned my physical form, leaving only my soul. If it's a unique item involving the creation of life and the construction of a gene chain, it would be the most troublesome for me; I'd have to start from scratch. But it's fine. I can hide in a secret corner of the Dark Dimension. It would be impossible to find me in less than a few hundred years, so I can leisurely construct a new flesh body."
The more Dormammu thought about it, the more excited he became. He subconsciously glanced down at his soul-form, a smile of arrogant self-mockery on his face. He was so thrilled that even his soul began to tremble slightly.
He was convinced that as long as he could deceive the Ancient One and the others, and find a moment to get Tony one-on-one, he would immediately rush in, torture Tony for information about the Allspark's function, and then crush the worthless Tony to death.
As long as he found a secret place to hunker down, uniqueness would be his, power would be his, and a glorious, brilliant future would also be his.
All he had to do was crush that reptile, Tony.
As it turned out, as long as Dormammu was determined to hide, blending himself with the omnipresent dark power, he would not be discovered by the Ancient One's group.
No matter how much of a weakling he might seem, Dormammu was a Level Seven Archmage specializing in dark magic with a home-field advantage! Take any one of the Ancient One's group of three, and they would be no match for him!
Of course, the great Dormammu never considered that outside the Dark Dimension, he was merely a Level Six Demigod Sorcerer who couldn't even survive a single blow from the Ancient One...
In any case, he would never leave this place, even if it killed him.
Dormammu looked at the Ancient One, who was still battling a swarm of his avatars, and a contemptuous smile formed on his face. He then discreetly slipped into the shattered head of his strongest avatar.
Even though the head had been mostly blown apart, what remained was still far larger than the moon. This was the strongest avatar Dormammu had spent a long time creating, only for it to be blasted apart by the combined efforts of the Ancient One and her allies.
"This is my home turf, my world. You're dead, you lowly reptile."
Dormammu's eyes lit up as he delightedly saw Tony, surrounded by dark power, his face contorted in pain. He rushed forward, swiftly crossing a distance of over ten thousand kilometers, and reached out with a murky black arm to grab Tony.
But in the next second, that arm was struck by cannon fire, knocking it off target. Dormammu turned his head and saw that it was Tony's vast Transformer Legion focusing their fire on him.
There were even high-yield nuclear bombs among them, detonating violently against this clone of his.
"Primitive weapons," Dormammu sneered. "Is this the function of that unique item? To create a massive war legion? If I get my hands on it, I'll create hundreds of millions of single universe level dark avatars... What a lowly reptile, holding the most precious treasure but having no idea how to use it!"
With a backhand slap, he destroyed a million Transformers. With a single breath, another million were pulverized.
Seizing this brief opening, Tony managed to command his legion to crowd the space, attempting to obstruct Dormammu.
Though it was of little use.
With a soft sound, Azazel appeared once again, without any warning, completely violating their prior agreement.
"What are you doing here?"
Tony opened his eyes, staring coldly at Azazel.
He was desperately enduring the dark power washing over his soul, struggling to maintain his sanity and the integrity of his memories. Every single second was immense torment. He was even experiencing vivid hallucinations and had nearly succumbed to them. If not for the Allspark pulsing with light and warmth at a fixed frequency, he would have been in grave danger.
"It's a pity, but I've had a sudden change of heart," Azazel said politely, his every move exuding a gentlemanly grace. "Even with my incomplete soul, perhaps I can still take over the Dark Dimension."
"With just you? A flawed clone? A clone remotely controlled by your main body?" Tony let out a low laugh, a sound mixed with pain and mockery, his voice barely a whisper.
Tony urged in a deep voice, "Listen to me. As per our previous agreement, I will carve out a large territory for you and your people. The Dark Dimension is vast, more than enough for you to survive."
"But I have a chance to seize the entire Dark Dimension. Why should I accept your handouts?" Azazel grinned, revealing a ferocious smile. "If I succeed, I might even be able to turn the tables on my main body in the future, make him my subordinate. I will devour him to make myself whole!"
Tony scoffed, watching Azazel with cold eyes.
Once Azazel's greed took over, he was difficult to persuade. The prize of the Dark Dimension was too great, a chance to ascend in a single step. Anyone would be tempted.
"Then do you even know what it takes to seize the Dark Dimension? Even if you kill Dormammu, without the proper method, you can't become this world's master, let alone control the operation of its rules," Tony sneered.
Azazel fell silent. He indeed did not know.
Azazel's demonic face still held a broad smile. "So, my dear partner, could you tell me the method? Don't worry, I was just joking earlier. I genuinely want to help you. After all, if I took such a risk, I would likely fail. A fragmented soul cannot control an entire world."
When Dormammu sensed another life aura suddenly appear, his entire expression turned incredibly ugly. At this critical juncture, he naturally assumed someone was here to either save Tony or kill him and seize the Allspark!
"You! Die!"
Dormammu roared, opened his massive maw, and swallowed several million Transformers in one gulp. The immense dark fluctuations even rippled out to the outside world. He couldn't afford to care anymore; he had to act first, even at the risk of being discovered by the Ancient One's group.
Another terrifying wave of magic swept over, kicking up colossal waves.
Azazel didn't even turn his head, maintaining his smile. "There's no other way. We have to flee for our lives. I'll grab your hand, and we'll escape first."
Tony was silent for a moment, then nodded grimly. He struggled against the dark power and managed to extend an arm.
Azazel hurriedly reached for it. The threat behind him was too terrifying; he had to escape with Tony immediately. Only from Tony could he possibly obtain the method to seize the Dark Dimension, so Tony could not die.
The instant his hand touched Tony's wrist, Tony erupted. He grabbed Azazel's arm in a reverse grip and, through the blurry veil of dark power, revealed a face filled with viciousness.
"It's a pity, but I've had a sudden change of heart, too. It would be better if you just died." Tony's steel-like hand gripped Azazel's arm tightly, and with a slight exertion of force, he snapped it.
Azazel screamed, cursing as he tried to activate his spatial ability to escape, but he discovered in horror that his power had failed.
"What's happening?!" Azazel lost all his composure, shrieking in terror.
"Did you think Dormammu was an idiot? That he'd know you have a spatial ability and not restrict you in advance? He's an Archmage!"
Tony tore off Azazel's severed arm, his expression indifferent as he watched the dripping blood. He brutally kicked Azazel in the chest. With a loud crack, his ribs shattered, and his flying body was struck dead-on by a wave of magic coming from Dormammu's direction.
In despair, Azazel was torn to pieces.
Azazel, who had schemed on Earth for thousands of years, was now buried, kicked into the abyss by Tony.
"Rest in peace. You're just a clone, anyway. I'll discuss the relevant plans with your main body, then find an opportunity to kill him and completely absorb the Demonic Mutants."
Tony looked at the severed arm in his hand.
"In any case, your ultimate fate was just to meet your main body and be eaten as nourishment. By dying at my hands, you at least had some value."
(end of chapter)
At this moment, Dormammu didn't even know what the heck the Allspark was. He had no idea what it looked like, what it did, how powerful it was, or whether it suited him. The great Dormammu knew none of it.
But these were minor details. Dormammu firmly believed that anything that was unique had to be a good thing, its potential inevitably glorious. At worst, he would just alter the direction of his own power's growth.
"If it's a rule-aligned or mystical artifact, I'm quite proficient. My dark magic is naturally suited for it," Dormammu mused, moving furtively, as cautiously as possible while still maintaining high speed.
"If it's a tech-aligned artifact, although the utility of a tech-aligned unique item is limited, I can still study it. Worst case, I'll just focus on combining technology and magic in the future."
"If it's a gene or life-aligned artifact, that would be quite troublesome..." Dormammu thought contentedly, a delightful dilemma arising.
"When I merged with the dark source, I completely abandoned my physical form, leaving only my soul. If it's a unique item involving the creation of life and the construction of a gene chain, it would be the most troublesome for me; I'd have to start from scratch. But it's fine. I can hide in a secret corner of the Dark Dimension. It would be impossible to find me in less than a few hundred years, so I can leisurely construct a new flesh body."
The more Dormammu thought about it, the more excited he became. He subconsciously glanced down at his soul-form, a smile of arrogant self-mockery on his face. He was so thrilled that even his soul began to tremble slightly.
He was convinced that as long as he could deceive the Ancient One and the others, and find a moment to get Tony one-on-one, he would immediately rush in, torture Tony for information about the Allspark's function, and then crush the worthless Tony to death.
As long as he found a secret place to hunker down, uniqueness would be his, power would be his, and a glorious, brilliant future would also be his.
All he had to do was crush that reptile, Tony.
As it turned out, as long as Dormammu was determined to hide, blending himself with the omnipresent dark power, he would not be discovered by the Ancient One's group.
No matter how much of a weakling he might seem, Dormammu was a Level Seven Archmage specializing in dark magic with a home-field advantage! Take any one of the Ancient One's group of three, and they would be no match for him!
Of course, the great Dormammu never considered that outside the Dark Dimension, he was merely a Level Six Demigod Sorcerer who couldn't even survive a single blow from the Ancient One...
In any case, he would never leave this place, even if it killed him.
Dormammu looked at the Ancient One, who was still battling a swarm of his avatars, and a contemptuous smile formed on his face. He then discreetly slipped into the shattered head of his strongest avatar.
Even though the head had been mostly blown apart, what remained was still far larger than the moon. This was the strongest avatar Dormammu had spent a long time creating, only for it to be blasted apart by the combined efforts of the Ancient One and her allies.
"This is my home turf, my world. You're dead, you lowly reptile."
Dormammu's eyes lit up as he delightedly saw Tony, surrounded by dark power, his face contorted in pain. He rushed forward, swiftly crossing a distance of over ten thousand kilometers, and reached out with a murky black arm to grab Tony.
But in the next second, that arm was struck by cannon fire, knocking it off target. Dormammu turned his head and saw that it was Tony's vast Transformer Legion focusing their fire on him.
There were even high-yield nuclear bombs among them, detonating violently against this clone of his.
"Primitive weapons," Dormammu sneered. "Is this the function of that unique item? To create a massive war legion? If I get my hands on it, I'll create hundreds of millions of single universe level dark avatars... What a lowly reptile, holding the most precious treasure but having no idea how to use it!"
With a backhand slap, he destroyed a million Transformers. With a single breath, another million were pulverized.
Seizing this brief opening, Tony managed to command his legion to crowd the space, attempting to obstruct Dormammu.
Though it was of little use.
With a soft sound, Azazel appeared once again, without any warning, completely violating their prior agreement.
"What are you doing here?"
Tony opened his eyes, staring coldly at Azazel.
He was desperately enduring the dark power washing over his soul, struggling to maintain his sanity and the integrity of his memories. Every single second was immense torment. He was even experiencing vivid hallucinations and had nearly succumbed to them. If not for the Allspark pulsing with light and warmth at a fixed frequency, he would have been in grave danger.
"It's a pity, but I've had a sudden change of heart," Azazel said politely, his every move exuding a gentlemanly grace. "Even with my incomplete soul, perhaps I can still take over the Dark Dimension."
"With just you? A flawed clone? A clone remotely controlled by your main body?" Tony let out a low laugh, a sound mixed with pain and mockery, his voice barely a whisper.
Tony urged in a deep voice, "Listen to me. As per our previous agreement, I will carve out a large territory for you and your people. The Dark Dimension is vast, more than enough for you to survive."
"But I have a chance to seize the entire Dark Dimension. Why should I accept your handouts?" Azazel grinned, revealing a ferocious smile. "If I succeed, I might even be able to turn the tables on my main body in the future, make him my subordinate. I will devour him to make myself whole!"
Tony scoffed, watching Azazel with cold eyes.
Once Azazel's greed took over, he was difficult to persuade. The prize of the Dark Dimension was too great, a chance to ascend in a single step. Anyone would be tempted.
"Then do you even know what it takes to seize the Dark Dimension? Even if you kill Dormammu, without the proper method, you can't become this world's master, let alone control the operation of its rules," Tony sneered.
Azazel fell silent. He indeed did not know.
Azazel's demonic face still held a broad smile. "So, my dear partner, could you tell me the method? Don't worry, I was just joking earlier. I genuinely want to help you. After all, if I took such a risk, I would likely fail. A fragmented soul cannot control an entire world."
When Dormammu sensed another life aura suddenly appear, his entire expression turned incredibly ugly. At this critical juncture, he naturally assumed someone was here to either save Tony or kill him and seize the Allspark!
"You! Die!"
Dormammu roared, opened his massive maw, and swallowed several million Transformers in one gulp. The immense dark fluctuations even rippled out to the outside world. He couldn't afford to care anymore; he had to act first, even at the risk of being discovered by the Ancient One's group.
Another terrifying wave of magic swept over, kicking up colossal waves.
Azazel didn't even turn his head, maintaining his smile. "There's no other way. We have to flee for our lives. I'll grab your hand, and we'll escape first."
Tony was silent for a moment, then nodded grimly. He struggled against the dark power and managed to extend an arm.
Azazel hurriedly reached for it. The threat behind him was too terrifying; he had to escape with Tony immediately. Only from Tony could he possibly obtain the method to seize the Dark Dimension, so Tony could not die.
The instant his hand touched Tony's wrist, Tony erupted. He grabbed Azazel's arm in a reverse grip and, through the blurry veil of dark power, revealed a face filled with viciousness.
"It's a pity, but I've had a sudden change of heart, too. It would be better if you just died." Tony's steel-like hand gripped Azazel's arm tightly, and with a slight exertion of force, he snapped it.
Azazel screamed, cursing as he tried to activate his spatial ability to escape, but he discovered in horror that his power had failed.
"What's happening?!" Azazel lost all his composure, shrieking in terror.
"Did you think Dormammu was an idiot? That he'd know you have a spatial ability and not restrict you in advance? He's an Archmage!"
Tony tore off Azazel's severed arm, his expression indifferent as he watched the dripping blood. He brutally kicked Azazel in the chest. With a loud crack, his ribs shattered, and his flying body was struck dead-on by a wave of magic coming from Dormammu's direction.
In despair, Azazel was torn to pieces.
Azazel, who had schemed on Earth for thousands of years, was now buried, kicked into the abyss by Tony.
"Rest in peace. You're just a clone, anyway. I'll discuss the relevant plans with your main body, then find an opportunity to kill him and completely absorb the Demonic Mutants."
Tony looked at the severed arm in his hand.
"In any case, your ultimate fate was just to meet your main body and be eaten as nourishment. By dying at my hands, you at least had some value."
(end of chapter)
