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Chapter 408: The Death of Orm
Inside Kamar-Taj, Mordo and Wong were using the Cauldron of the Cosmos to monitor Earth, watching with grave concern as a powerful and bizarrely-acting Wanda went on a rampage.
"Her magic is fluctuating wildly, and it's incredibly chaotic, as if it was forcefully stuffed into her," Wong said, his face grim as he stared at the image in the cauldron.
"The source of Chaos, an ancient deity... Tony mentioned it to me once." Mordo rubbed his forehead, his already dark complexion turning as black as the bottom of a pot.
All of the famous and powerful magic legacies on Earth had their own sources, differing only in strength.
To be precise, it was the power of these sources that determined the richness and strength of the magic, spells, and knowledge they inherited.
Kamar-Taj's source of magic was the Trinity of the Vishanti.
The lineage of Wizard Shazam drew its source from the combined power of six deities.
The source of magic for some dark magic practitioners was Dormammu.
And Wanda's Chaos Magic came from an incredibly terrifying Ancient God from the Sphere of the Gods: Korsen.
The actual combat power of Chaos Magic far exceeded others of the same level. This was not only due to Wanda's outstanding talent, but also because Chaos Magic itself was absurdly strong, arguably the strongest of all.
The ability of reality-warping alone, turning illusion into reality, already placed Chaos Magic dozens of leagues ahead of other legacies.
Moreover, Wanda had a powerhouse like Korsen backing her.
But based on the current situation... things were not looking good.
Having been provoked, Wanda was on the verge of a berserk rage.
They had originally planned to activate Earth's global magic array to suppress Orm when the situation became untenable, but now it seemed that would no longer be necessary.
Mordo felt that not even Tony would be a match for Wanda at this moment.
The Chaos Magic surging from Wanda was simply too terrifying. Even from halfway across the Earth and through a thin spatial barrier, they could feel the horrifying pressure emanating from the Atlantic Ocean while in Kamar-Taj.
It was a pressure filled with chaos and distortion.
Wong shot to his feet. "I'll go. I'll take this chance to bring her back. I'd rather not have the magic array we prepared be used to suppress one of our own."
Mordo frowned but didn't stop him, watching as Wong disappeared through a portal. To be honest, he had a bit of a headache. No matter how you looked at it, this battle was Earth's civil war. Kamar-Taj's position was that of Earth's guardians, so it was inappropriate for them to take sides.
He was a man who followed the rules, to the point of being rigid. Faced with this situation, he chose to simply wait in silence. Life on Earth needed to grow through bloodshed; it couldn't remain peaceful forever. It was the same reason they at Kamar-Taj didn't immediately intercept the Chitauri when they invaded Earth.
They were guardians, not babysitters. As long as it was beneficial for Earth's growth, they would choose to observe quietly, only stepping in to intervene when the situation deteriorated completely.
Mordo pondered for a moment, then tapped the Cauldron of the Cosmos. Half of the image within switched to Gotham City, where a picture of Stephen frantically saving people in the raging seawater appeared.
"Stephen, you're the one Tony has his eye on..." Mordo murmured.
He knew Tony had thoughts of stepping down, and his successor would be Stephen.
So far, Stephen had not disappointed. Although he had done some foolish things at times, his exceptionally high intellect ensured that a mistake, or a similar mistake, would never happen a second time.
In the image, Stephen was shouting himself hoarse, rescuing one civilian after another, but there were too many victims—so many that it drove him to despair.
But Stephen stubbornly continued to do what he had to do. He had been a doctor, after all; now, he was just "returning to his old profession."
There were many others like Stephen, such as the Avengers and the X-Men, all struggling in the sea to save civilians.
...
Over the Atlantic Ocean, the horrifying scene seemed to freeze in time.
Even Orm himself was stunned for a moment, a look of horror appearing in his bloodshot eyes.
"Could you be the Sorcerer Supreme that the surface-dwellers talk about?"
Orm asked in a cold voice. The omnipresent Chaos Magic made the scales on his skin bristle. That feeling of absolute suppression, that sense of helpless dread welling up from his heart, twisted Orm's mind even further.
"I am not." Wanda's voice was slightly strange, as if it carried a barely perceptible echo. But on closer listening, it seemed perfectly normal.
Diana cocked her ear, keenly aware that something was wrong. It was as if the one speaking wasn't just Wanda, but also some unknown being.
"To kill you, the Sorcerer Supreme isn't needed. I am enough."
Wanda's hair danced in the air, her eyes filled with blackness. The power of Chaos rose in her hands, and the potent magic manifested into reality. With her at the center, billions of tons of seawater in the vicinity instantly vanished, leaving a vast, empty cavity as the surrounding ocean rushed in to fill it.
This bizarre scene made everyone present's heart pound with fear.
Diana's eyelids twitched violently. An immense sense of crisis made her face change drastically. Without a word, she hoisted the burly Clark onto her shoulder and immediately retreated over a thousand meters, watching the battlefield from a distance.
"...I'm actually fine now, you don't have to carry me..." Clark coughed dryly. The moment the words left his mouth, Diana tossed him into the sea.
Clark flew back into the air, feeling the subtle suppression the Chaos Magic had on his body. It was a very unpleasant sensation that made him extremely uncomfortable.
The Codex of Life within him had completed his genes—though of course, Clark didn't know this. Ordinary magic couldn't affect him significantly, but the level of Chaos Magic was so high that it still caused him slight discomfort.
"Who is that person?" Clark asked with a serious expression, looking at the berserk Wanda.
"The Sorcerer Supreme's woman."
"Oh... As expected of family. They're both hot-tempered..." Clark replied.
Diana was speechless but didn't bother to explain. She knew that Wanda was normally a very easygoing and gentle person. But this current version...
"Surface-dwellers, you will all die!"
Orm, his mind descending into madness, roared and charged at Wanda with his trident raised.
The tragic state of Atlantis had deeply scarred him. He yearned to become the greatest king of Atlantis, but he never imagined he would become its sinner.
Wanda's indifferent expression twitched unnaturally. As the Chaos Magic began to brew, the seawater beneath Orm's feet vanished into thin air.
"Your source of magic is the entire ocean... Without the ocean, you are nothing," Wanda's cold voice rang out. Orm's entire body abruptly froze in place. The expression on his face shifted continuously; he wanted to say something, but he was powerless.
He shook his trident, trying to gather the seawater again, but he discovered with terror that the connection between him and the trident... was severed.
Orm's right arm simply broke off, detaching as if it weighed nothing.
The trident drifted away, eventually landing in Wanda's hand.
"This thing is mine now. Leaving it in your hands is a disgrace to it."
Wanda said in a low voice, her black eyes devoid of any white. With a turn of her hand, she suppressed the world's oceans, calming the raging seas once more.
Nearby, Arthur's eyes widened. He wanted to rush over and stop her. Just as he opened his mouth, a flash of Chaos Magic streaked past. Orm's head was already separated from his body.
The severed head, its expression still frozen in confusion and terror, twisted in the air a few times before vanishing completely, erased by Wanda.
His body fell limply, plunging into the deep sea. The once-invincible Ocean Master Orm was dead, his death utterly humiliating and pathetic.
"How could this be, how..." Arthur stared blankly, muttering to himself.
From a distance, Diana and Clark watched the scene. After a moment of silence, they gave Wanda a long, deep look.
The Chaos Magic gradually receded. The blackness in Wanda's eyes shrank as the white returned. Her eyes went back to normal, but her face was deathly pale without a trace of color. She swayed a few times and fell directly toward the ocean.
A glowing portal appeared. It was Wong, who teleported Wanda directly back to Kamar-Taj.
The fierce battlefield returned to tranquility. The floodwaters gradually receded back into the ocean, returning the proper space to the land.
But the dead could never be brought back to life, a fact destined to cause immense turmoil for a long time to come.
(end of chapter)
Inside Kamar-Taj, Mordo and Wong were using the Cauldron of the Cosmos to monitor Earth, watching with grave concern as a powerful and bizarrely-acting Wanda went on a rampage.
"Her magic is fluctuating wildly, and it's incredibly chaotic, as if it was forcefully stuffed into her," Wong said, his face grim as he stared at the image in the cauldron.
"The source of Chaos, an ancient deity... Tony mentioned it to me once." Mordo rubbed his forehead, his already dark complexion turning as black as the bottom of a pot.
All of the famous and powerful magic legacies on Earth had their own sources, differing only in strength.
To be precise, it was the power of these sources that determined the richness and strength of the magic, spells, and knowledge they inherited.
Kamar-Taj's source of magic was the Trinity of the Vishanti.
The lineage of Wizard Shazam drew its source from the combined power of six deities.
The source of magic for some dark magic practitioners was Dormammu.
And Wanda's Chaos Magic came from an incredibly terrifying Ancient God from the Sphere of the Gods: Korsen.
The actual combat power of Chaos Magic far exceeded others of the same level. This was not only due to Wanda's outstanding talent, but also because Chaos Magic itself was absurdly strong, arguably the strongest of all.
The ability of reality-warping alone, turning illusion into reality, already placed Chaos Magic dozens of leagues ahead of other legacies.
Moreover, Wanda had a powerhouse like Korsen backing her.
But based on the current situation... things were not looking good.
Having been provoked, Wanda was on the verge of a berserk rage.
They had originally planned to activate Earth's global magic array to suppress Orm when the situation became untenable, but now it seemed that would no longer be necessary.
Mordo felt that not even Tony would be a match for Wanda at this moment.
The Chaos Magic surging from Wanda was simply too terrifying. Even from halfway across the Earth and through a thin spatial barrier, they could feel the horrifying pressure emanating from the Atlantic Ocean while in Kamar-Taj.
It was a pressure filled with chaos and distortion.
Wong shot to his feet. "I'll go. I'll take this chance to bring her back. I'd rather not have the magic array we prepared be used to suppress one of our own."
Mordo frowned but didn't stop him, watching as Wong disappeared through a portal. To be honest, he had a bit of a headache. No matter how you looked at it, this battle was Earth's civil war. Kamar-Taj's position was that of Earth's guardians, so it was inappropriate for them to take sides.
He was a man who followed the rules, to the point of being rigid. Faced with this situation, he chose to simply wait in silence. Life on Earth needed to grow through bloodshed; it couldn't remain peaceful forever. It was the same reason they at Kamar-Taj didn't immediately intercept the Chitauri when they invaded Earth.
They were guardians, not babysitters. As long as it was beneficial for Earth's growth, they would choose to observe quietly, only stepping in to intervene when the situation deteriorated completely.
Mordo pondered for a moment, then tapped the Cauldron of the Cosmos. Half of the image within switched to Gotham City, where a picture of Stephen frantically saving people in the raging seawater appeared.
"Stephen, you're the one Tony has his eye on..." Mordo murmured.
He knew Tony had thoughts of stepping down, and his successor would be Stephen.
So far, Stephen had not disappointed. Although he had done some foolish things at times, his exceptionally high intellect ensured that a mistake, or a similar mistake, would never happen a second time.
In the image, Stephen was shouting himself hoarse, rescuing one civilian after another, but there were too many victims—so many that it drove him to despair.
But Stephen stubbornly continued to do what he had to do. He had been a doctor, after all; now, he was just "returning to his old profession."
There were many others like Stephen, such as the Avengers and the X-Men, all struggling in the sea to save civilians.
...
Over the Atlantic Ocean, the horrifying scene seemed to freeze in time.
Even Orm himself was stunned for a moment, a look of horror appearing in his bloodshot eyes.
"Could you be the Sorcerer Supreme that the surface-dwellers talk about?"
Orm asked in a cold voice. The omnipresent Chaos Magic made the scales on his skin bristle. That feeling of absolute suppression, that sense of helpless dread welling up from his heart, twisted Orm's mind even further.
"I am not." Wanda's voice was slightly strange, as if it carried a barely perceptible echo. But on closer listening, it seemed perfectly normal.
Diana cocked her ear, keenly aware that something was wrong. It was as if the one speaking wasn't just Wanda, but also some unknown being.
"To kill you, the Sorcerer Supreme isn't needed. I am enough."
Wanda's hair danced in the air, her eyes filled with blackness. The power of Chaos rose in her hands, and the potent magic manifested into reality. With her at the center, billions of tons of seawater in the vicinity instantly vanished, leaving a vast, empty cavity as the surrounding ocean rushed in to fill it.
This bizarre scene made everyone present's heart pound with fear.
Diana's eyelids twitched violently. An immense sense of crisis made her face change drastically. Without a word, she hoisted the burly Clark onto her shoulder and immediately retreated over a thousand meters, watching the battlefield from a distance.
"...I'm actually fine now, you don't have to carry me..." Clark coughed dryly. The moment the words left his mouth, Diana tossed him into the sea.
Clark flew back into the air, feeling the subtle suppression the Chaos Magic had on his body. It was a very unpleasant sensation that made him extremely uncomfortable.
The Codex of Life within him had completed his genes—though of course, Clark didn't know this. Ordinary magic couldn't affect him significantly, but the level of Chaos Magic was so high that it still caused him slight discomfort.
"Who is that person?" Clark asked with a serious expression, looking at the berserk Wanda.
"The Sorcerer Supreme's woman."
"Oh... As expected of family. They're both hot-tempered..." Clark replied.
Diana was speechless but didn't bother to explain. She knew that Wanda was normally a very easygoing and gentle person. But this current version...
"Surface-dwellers, you will all die!"
Orm, his mind descending into madness, roared and charged at Wanda with his trident raised.
The tragic state of Atlantis had deeply scarred him. He yearned to become the greatest king of Atlantis, but he never imagined he would become its sinner.
Wanda's indifferent expression twitched unnaturally. As the Chaos Magic began to brew, the seawater beneath Orm's feet vanished into thin air.
"Your source of magic is the entire ocean... Without the ocean, you are nothing," Wanda's cold voice rang out. Orm's entire body abruptly froze in place. The expression on his face shifted continuously; he wanted to say something, but he was powerless.
He shook his trident, trying to gather the seawater again, but he discovered with terror that the connection between him and the trident... was severed.
Orm's right arm simply broke off, detaching as if it weighed nothing.
The trident drifted away, eventually landing in Wanda's hand.
"This thing is mine now. Leaving it in your hands is a disgrace to it."
Wanda said in a low voice, her black eyes devoid of any white. With a turn of her hand, she suppressed the world's oceans, calming the raging seas once more.
Nearby, Arthur's eyes widened. He wanted to rush over and stop her. Just as he opened his mouth, a flash of Chaos Magic streaked past. Orm's head was already separated from his body.
The severed head, its expression still frozen in confusion and terror, twisted in the air a few times before vanishing completely, erased by Wanda.
His body fell limply, plunging into the deep sea. The once-invincible Ocean Master Orm was dead, his death utterly humiliating and pathetic.
"How could this be, how..." Arthur stared blankly, muttering to himself.
From a distance, Diana and Clark watched the scene. After a moment of silence, they gave Wanda a long, deep look.
The Chaos Magic gradually receded. The blackness in Wanda's eyes shrank as the white returned. Her eyes went back to normal, but her face was deathly pale without a trace of color. She swayed a few times and fell directly toward the ocean.
A glowing portal appeared. It was Wong, who teleported Wanda directly back to Kamar-Taj.
The fierce battlefield returned to tranquility. The floodwaters gradually receded back into the ocean, returning the proper space to the land.
But the dead could never be brought back to life, a fact destined to cause immense turmoil for a long time to come.
(end of chapter)
