Reading settings
Chapter 269: Earth's New Sorcerer Supreme
"Dimensional Passage Number 144 is experiencing abnormal spatial fluctuations. Suspected Interdimensional Being attempting to cross into Earth."
"Capture it. If it resists, kill it on sight!"
"And after we capture it?"
"Interrogate it, then kill it on sight!"
…
"There's an Alien Visitor at Space Portal Number 37. The being says it wants to find the Sorcerer Supreme of Kamar-Taj to become an apprentice and learn Magic."
"Apprentice my ass. Ever heard of Earth-Centrism? Tell him to get lost. If he doesn't, kill him."
"He brought rare magical materials..."
"Oh? Confiscate the materials, and tell the person to get lost."
…
Ever since returning from the Dark Dimension, Tony had a get-together with Professor X and the others to catch up, then he immediately rushed to Kamar-Taj to take over the Ancient One's position.
Earth's new Sorcerer Supreme, Tony, after an initial period of being overwhelmed, had finally managed to adapt to this completely different domain.
Earth has many dimensional passages, each monitored and sealed by Kamar-Taj's powerful Magic. The slightest disturbance was now Tony's problem.
Tony didn't know how the Ancient One usually handled these messy affairs. His own method was simple and crude: if you want to enter Earth, you can just die.
He had perfectly inherited the Ancient One's style, and in some details, he was even more fierce and unyielding.
"Classifying all visitors from other dimensions as enemies could cause a lot of trouble and negatively affect your reputation," Mordo said, dropping a pile of books onto Tony's desk with a thud.
"Of all the ones who would come to Earth at a time like this, how many don't have ulterior motives?" Tony took a gulp of tea and sneered. "News of the Ancient One's departure must have spread throughout the Universe by now. And her successor is a complete nobody, a rookie forced into the position. It's only natural they'd send someone to test the waters."
"I don't have the Ancient One's power, nor her prestige. I can only use the cruelest methods to stabilize the situation. Diplomacy is something that simply doesn't exist in the Universe. Whoever dares to come, I'll kill them directly."
"I'm in charge of Kamar-Taj now. I have to bear this responsibility until the Ancient One returns."
Tony sighed deeply. Annoyed, he poured himself another cup of tea and downed it in one go. The tea, brewed from rare leaves cultivated with the Arcane Arts, was being drunk by Tony as if it were plain water.
He couldn't help but be frustrated. The pressure of this position was immense. Confidence comes from strength, and the Ancient One had the power to kill anyone who defied her, but he didn't.
In a Universe that eats people and spits out their bones, compromise would only expose his own weakness and incompetence. He didn't dare to take that gamble. This was a clash on the level of planets and civilizations; he couldn't back down even an inch.
A slight smile appeared on Mordo's dark face as he quietly watched the unbelievably young man before him. "Your prestige is actually far greater than you imagine. Your name is already starting to spread throughout the Universe."
"Oh?"
"Putting everything else aside, the title of 'new Sorcerer Supreme' is intimidating enough. Those who know of the Ancient One are aware of how ruthless she is. How could the successor she chose be a good-for-nothing? More importantly, you've also enslaved Dormammu, who is feared by countless civilizations."
Mordo paused, then said with a smile, "Dormammu has run rampant across the Universe for so many years. It's not that he's never been defeated, but this time, he lost his very self and became your servant. That one feat alone is enough to ensure Earth's safety."
"No need to console me, Mordo. They might be shocked and unable to gauge my strength for now, but it wouldn't be hard for them to figure it out with a little time. My growth trajectory on Earth can be found with a simple investigation." Tony smiled. "What they're truly wary of is the Ancient One, whose whereabouts are unknown."
"Two Sorcerer Supremes, both alive and possessing great power. That's more than enough to guarantee Earth's peace," Mordo said.
Tony's mood improved slightly. He asked, "What about Asgard? And the other surviving World Tree Pantheons, have there been any unusual movements?"
Mordo's expression grew serious. "Wong is monitoring them. Asgard has made no moves for now, the whereabouts of Olympus are still unknown, and the Heavenly Court is still wandering the Universe."
"Hmph, it's not like they'd dare to act rashly," Tony snorted coldly, tapping his fingers on the tabletop, one by one.
Despite his words, he and Mordo both knew very well that dealing with these Pantheons was truly difficult.
Odin, Zeus, Jade Emperor—the three Universe-Level God-Kings. None of them were to be trifled with.
Don't be fooled by how the Ancient One forced them into that state back then. That was only possible because of the Ancient One's own immense power, a pile of divine artifacts including the Time Stone, and... an assist from the Celestials.
A thousand years ago, the Celestials descended upon Earth to inspect their experiment—Humanity—only to run head-on into several God-Kings.
The Deities had been raising Humans like sheep, accepting their offerings and faith. Naturally, they couldn't tolerate a group of Celestials suddenly appearing and meddling in their affairs.
The Celestials, in turn, could not tolerate their experiment being treated as playthings by other beings.
What happened next was simple. All the World Tree Pantheons gathered, including some second and third-rate minor Pantheons, and had a massive brawl with the Celestials. The result was a disastrous defeat.
Many of the weaker Pantheons were wiped from existence.
After the ancient Celestials effortlessly crushed the World Tree Pantheon, they dusted off their hands and left in high spirits, leaving behind a field of divine corpses.
The situation around Yggdrasil underwent a massive change. It was then that the Ancient One rose to power, using brutal and bloody slaughter to annihilate and drive out the various Pantheons.
After two consecutive hard-fought wars, the various Pantheons simply couldn't hold on any longer and had no choice but to withdraw from Earth one after another.
But with the Ancient One's whereabouts unknown, it was only natural for them to start getting ideas.
"I'm not worried about Odin. He has to rely on sleep to suppress the Odinforce right now, so he has no time to come to Earth," Tony said. He also knew that it probably wouldn't be long before Odin's son, Thor, would be exiled to Earth, and Thor's great Earth adventure would begin.
"The most troublesome ones are Zeus and the Jade Emperor. Who knows when those two might suddenly show up and stab me in the back." Tony's expression turned ugly. "Especially the Heavenly Court. Back then, the Ancient One slaughtered them right at their gates. The number of Deities who died was countless. It'd be a miracle if the Jade Emperor didn't hold a grudge."
"Even if Ancient One isn't here, with our current strength, we can still make them lose a tooth!" Mordo said in a deep voice, a vicious glint in his eyes.
Tony nodded. "I just don't want to do that unless it's absolutely necessary. Against ordinary enemies, if I can't beat them, I can still use the Time Stone to eventually kill them. But if that bunch of Deities dares to come, and they push me too far, I'll risk fusing with the Dark Core to forcibly ascend to the Universe Level."
(end of chapter)
"Dimensional Passage Number 144 is experiencing abnormal spatial fluctuations. Suspected Interdimensional Being attempting to cross into Earth."
"Capture it. If it resists, kill it on sight!"
"And after we capture it?"
"Interrogate it, then kill it on sight!"
…
"There's an Alien Visitor at Space Portal Number 37. The being says it wants to find the Sorcerer Supreme of Kamar-Taj to become an apprentice and learn Magic."
"Apprentice my ass. Ever heard of Earth-Centrism? Tell him to get lost. If he doesn't, kill him."
"He brought rare magical materials..."
"Oh? Confiscate the materials, and tell the person to get lost."
…
Ever since returning from the Dark Dimension, Tony had a get-together with Professor X and the others to catch up, then he immediately rushed to Kamar-Taj to take over the Ancient One's position.
Earth's new Sorcerer Supreme, Tony, after an initial period of being overwhelmed, had finally managed to adapt to this completely different domain.
Earth has many dimensional passages, each monitored and sealed by Kamar-Taj's powerful Magic. The slightest disturbance was now Tony's problem.
Tony didn't know how the Ancient One usually handled these messy affairs. His own method was simple and crude: if you want to enter Earth, you can just die.
He had perfectly inherited the Ancient One's style, and in some details, he was even more fierce and unyielding.
"Classifying all visitors from other dimensions as enemies could cause a lot of trouble and negatively affect your reputation," Mordo said, dropping a pile of books onto Tony's desk with a thud.
"Of all the ones who would come to Earth at a time like this, how many don't have ulterior motives?" Tony took a gulp of tea and sneered. "News of the Ancient One's departure must have spread throughout the Universe by now. And her successor is a complete nobody, a rookie forced into the position. It's only natural they'd send someone to test the waters."
"I don't have the Ancient One's power, nor her prestige. I can only use the cruelest methods to stabilize the situation. Diplomacy is something that simply doesn't exist in the Universe. Whoever dares to come, I'll kill them directly."
"I'm in charge of Kamar-Taj now. I have to bear this responsibility until the Ancient One returns."
Tony sighed deeply. Annoyed, he poured himself another cup of tea and downed it in one go. The tea, brewed from rare leaves cultivated with the Arcane Arts, was being drunk by Tony as if it were plain water.
He couldn't help but be frustrated. The pressure of this position was immense. Confidence comes from strength, and the Ancient One had the power to kill anyone who defied her, but he didn't.
In a Universe that eats people and spits out their bones, compromise would only expose his own weakness and incompetence. He didn't dare to take that gamble. This was a clash on the level of planets and civilizations; he couldn't back down even an inch.
A slight smile appeared on Mordo's dark face as he quietly watched the unbelievably young man before him. "Your prestige is actually far greater than you imagine. Your name is already starting to spread throughout the Universe."
"Oh?"
"Putting everything else aside, the title of 'new Sorcerer Supreme' is intimidating enough. Those who know of the Ancient One are aware of how ruthless she is. How could the successor she chose be a good-for-nothing? More importantly, you've also enslaved Dormammu, who is feared by countless civilizations."
Mordo paused, then said with a smile, "Dormammu has run rampant across the Universe for so many years. It's not that he's never been defeated, but this time, he lost his very self and became your servant. That one feat alone is enough to ensure Earth's safety."
"No need to console me, Mordo. They might be shocked and unable to gauge my strength for now, but it wouldn't be hard for them to figure it out with a little time. My growth trajectory on Earth can be found with a simple investigation." Tony smiled. "What they're truly wary of is the Ancient One, whose whereabouts are unknown."
"Two Sorcerer Supremes, both alive and possessing great power. That's more than enough to guarantee Earth's peace," Mordo said.
Tony's mood improved slightly. He asked, "What about Asgard? And the other surviving World Tree Pantheons, have there been any unusual movements?"
Mordo's expression grew serious. "Wong is monitoring them. Asgard has made no moves for now, the whereabouts of Olympus are still unknown, and the Heavenly Court is still wandering the Universe."
"Hmph, it's not like they'd dare to act rashly," Tony snorted coldly, tapping his fingers on the tabletop, one by one.
Despite his words, he and Mordo both knew very well that dealing with these Pantheons was truly difficult.
Odin, Zeus, Jade Emperor—the three Universe-Level God-Kings. None of them were to be trifled with.
Don't be fooled by how the Ancient One forced them into that state back then. That was only possible because of the Ancient One's own immense power, a pile of divine artifacts including the Time Stone, and... an assist from the Celestials.
A thousand years ago, the Celestials descended upon Earth to inspect their experiment—Humanity—only to run head-on into several God-Kings.
The Deities had been raising Humans like sheep, accepting their offerings and faith. Naturally, they couldn't tolerate a group of Celestials suddenly appearing and meddling in their affairs.
The Celestials, in turn, could not tolerate their experiment being treated as playthings by other beings.
What happened next was simple. All the World Tree Pantheons gathered, including some second and third-rate minor Pantheons, and had a massive brawl with the Celestials. The result was a disastrous defeat.
Many of the weaker Pantheons were wiped from existence.
After the ancient Celestials effortlessly crushed the World Tree Pantheon, they dusted off their hands and left in high spirits, leaving behind a field of divine corpses.
The situation around Yggdrasil underwent a massive change. It was then that the Ancient One rose to power, using brutal and bloody slaughter to annihilate and drive out the various Pantheons.
After two consecutive hard-fought wars, the various Pantheons simply couldn't hold on any longer and had no choice but to withdraw from Earth one after another.
But with the Ancient One's whereabouts unknown, it was only natural for them to start getting ideas.
"I'm not worried about Odin. He has to rely on sleep to suppress the Odinforce right now, so he has no time to come to Earth," Tony said. He also knew that it probably wouldn't be long before Odin's son, Thor, would be exiled to Earth, and Thor's great Earth adventure would begin.
"The most troublesome ones are Zeus and the Jade Emperor. Who knows when those two might suddenly show up and stab me in the back." Tony's expression turned ugly. "Especially the Heavenly Court. Back then, the Ancient One slaughtered them right at their gates. The number of Deities who died was countless. It'd be a miracle if the Jade Emperor didn't hold a grudge."
"Even if Ancient One isn't here, with our current strength, we can still make them lose a tooth!" Mordo said in a deep voice, a vicious glint in his eyes.
Tony nodded. "I just don't want to do that unless it's absolutely necessary. Against ordinary enemies, if I can't beat them, I can still use the Time Stone to eventually kill them. But if that bunch of Deities dares to come, and they push me too far, I'll risk fusing with the Dark Core to forcibly ascend to the Universe Level."
(end of chapter)
