Chương 145: Chapter 145: The Ancient One, Empowered by Time 

Completely ignoring Luke pursuing him from behind, Dormammu furiously channeled his internal Origin reserves, violently expanding his physical avatar! Within seconds, he had transformed into a colossal, towering, hundred-meter-tall giant of pure cosmic magma, and he was still aggressively growing! 

Dormammu took a single, massive, ground-shaking stride across the Dark Dimension, arriving directly in front of the shrinking, highly stabilized Dimensional Gate. With a terrifying roar, he violently swung his colossal, burning fist downward, aiming to completely shatter Galacta's isolation array and reopen the portal to Earth! 

"Get out of the way!" Luke yelled urgently, aggressively launching himself forward! He swung his massive, combined Death Scythe with absolute, maximum force, violently hacking directly into Dormammu's thick neck! A massive, burning trench was carved into the magma flesh, but given Dormammu's current, unfathomable size, the grievous injury was practically superficial. 

Dormammu completely ignored Luke's attack. His colossal fist accelerated downward, carrying absolute, apocalyptic kinetic force! 

Galacta and Megatron, currently positioned directly in front of the gate to defend the array, stared up at the descending, hundred-meter-wide fist in absolute horror. 

Just as the colossal fist was about to completely crush them, the terrifyingly massive, fifteen-meter-tall Shadow-Eater violently leapt directly from the shadows beside them! It aggressively threw its massive bulk directly into the path of the descending strike! 

Even with its massively augmented size, the Shadow-Eater was completely dwarfed by Dormammu's colossal avatar. The apocalyptic punch violently slammed into the Shadow-Eater, instantly, brutally shattering the massive entity into millions of tiny, dissipating shadow fragments! 

However, the Shadow-Eater's heroic, sacrificial block successfully managed to slightly, critically deflect the trajectory of the colossal fist! The punch violently slammed into the ground mere inches away from Galacta and Megatron, instantly generating a massive, localized earthquake that aggressively threw them both off their feet. 

Realizing they had barely survived total obliteration, the two of them stared in profound terror at the towering Dimensional Lord. 

Seeing Dormammu aggressively raise his fist for a second, guaranteed-lethal strike, Luke violently pounced! He aggressively wrapped his massive serpentine tail completely around Dormammu's neck, desperately attempting to violently drag the colossal giant backward! 

Dormammu merely scoffed. He casually reached back with his uninjured hand, effortlessly, violently grabbing Luke completely off his back. The massive, burning hand aggressively squeezed Luke's neck, lifting him helplessly into the air. 

"Did you honestly, arrogantly believe you were actually fighting me to a standstill?" Dormammu sneered mockingly, his voice vibrating with absolute, cosmic superiority. "If I wasn't specifically attempting to stall you and the Ancient One, do you genuinely think you could have survived this long?!" 

Luke felt the terrifying, absolute crushing pressure of Dormammu's grip rapidly increasing. Recognizing the futility of physically wrestling a hundred-meter giant, Luke instantly, seamlessly deactivated his massive 'Dimensional Lord' true form! 

The colossal, armored giant instantly violently dissipated into chaotic dark energy. In his significantly smaller, baseline human form, Luke smoothly slipped right through Dormammu's massive, tightening fingers! 

"Retreat! Now!" Luke yelled urgently, re-engaging his flight capability. He aggressively swept his hand, directing the dissipating cloud of chaotic dark energy from his transformation to violently temporarily blind Dormammu's colossal, burning eyes! Simultaneously, he summoned two highly aggressive, secondary Shadow-Eaters directly onto Dormammu's face, commanding them to violently bite and claw at his sensory nodes! 

Knowing the pathetic distraction wouldn't stall the enraged Dimensional Lord for more than a fraction of a second, Luke aggressively grabbed Galacta and Megatron and violently dragged them directly backward through the shrinking Dimensional Gate, instantly returning to the material plane! 

Back in the Dark Dimension, the two massive Shadow-Eaters were instantly, violently crushed into oblivion by Dormammu. He aggressively rubbed the chaotic dark energy from his eyes, glaring furiously at the portal. 

With a devastating, full-force punch, he completely shattered Galacta's highly advanced isolation array! 

The absolute microsecond Luke crashed back onto the street outside the Hong Kong Sanctum, he aggressively severed the localized spatial tether connecting his dimension to the portal, successfully trapping Dormammu in the Dark Dimension. He also casually yanked the Ancient One through the portal with him. 

"What exactly happened?!" Luke asked, quickly checking the perimeter. He turned to Galacta, seeking an urgent tactical update. 

Galacta rapidly, enthusiastically recounted exactly how she had violently, effortlessly inhaled over two billion points of highly concentrated dimensional energy while deploying the array. 

Luke stared at her, completely dumbfounded. 

Well... no wonder Dormammu suddenly completely lost his mind and went absolutely berserk. He specifically baited us into his dimension to stall us, completely assuming his vanguard would easily conquer Earth. Instead, he not only lost his entire vanguard, but someone literally snuck into his house and drank his most expensive, irreplaceable wine! 

Honestly, I'd probably go on a homicidal rampage too. 

Luke sighed in profound relief. At least we successfully secured the portal and returned to the material plane. Given the Ancient One's presence and the planetary defense grid, Dormammu absolutely won't risk physically manifesting here. 

Just as that highly comforting thought crossed his mind, the shrinking Dimensional Gate violently sputtered and flared! 

A colossal, terrifyingly dense humanoid figure composed entirely of highly volatile cosmic magma violently, aggressively stepped directly out of the portal! 

Dormammu had physically entered the material plane! 

The absolute microsecond he appeared, Dormammu violently unleashed a devastating, highly concentrated energy blast directly at Luke! 

"DORMAMMU?!" Luke yelled in absolute panic. He instantly executed a flawless somatic gesture, rapidly conjuring a highly dense, multi-layered defensive mandala to block the incoming attack! He frantically glanced sideways at the Ancient One. Use the damn Time Stone! Now! 

However, Dormammu absolutely refused to give them a single microsecond to coordinate! He violently, aggressively burned a massive chunk of his absolute, core Origin Essence! A terrifying, apocalyptic energy beam violently erupted from his hand, screaming directly toward Luke! 

Sensing the devastating, lethal intensity of the incoming attack, Luke instantly recognized his basic shield would fail. He aggressively rapidly shifted the magical matrix, seamlessly transforming his basic shield into the absolute, pinnacle Kamar-Taj defensive spell: The Shield of the Seraphim! A massive, incredibly complex, heavily reinforced dark energy mandala materialized directly in front of him! 

The apocalyptic energy beam violently slammed into the shield! 

Despite its legendary durability, the Shield of the Seraphim violently shuddered and cracked under the absolute, unmitigated fury of Dormammu's Origin Essence! Realizing the shield was failing, Luke forcefully unleashed a massive burst of kinetic dark energy, violently blasting Galacta, Megatron, and the S.P.E.A.R. operatives safely out of the immediate blast radius, before instantly dissolving into shadows and retreating into the Dark Dimension! 

The absolute microsecond Luke vanished, the Shield of the Seraphim violently shattered into glowing dust! 

The devastating, apocalyptic energy beam continued its lethal trajectory unobstructed, violently tearing completely through the center of the street! It systematically, violently pulverized everything in its path, before finally violently slamming directly into the Hong Kong Sanctum located at the end of the block! 

BOOM! 

The massive, ancient Sanctum violently detonated, completely crumbling into absolute ruin! 

"Coward!" Dormammu roared furiously, glaring at the exact spot where Luke had vanished. However, feeling the massive, satisfying destruction of the final Sanctum, Dormammu exhaled a breath of cosmic relief. 

With the final anchor destroyed, the planetary defense grid was officially, completely disabled! He could finally begin the glorious process of aggressively dragging Earth into the Dark Dimension! 

Just as Dormammu began actively channeling the massive, apocalyptic spell to consume the planet, a highly concentrated, localized repulsor blast violently slammed into his side. 

While the attack inflicted absolutely zero structural damage, it successfully diverted Dormammu's attention. He turned his burning gaze and spotted Galacta slowly picking herself up off the ground. 

Seeing the specific purple entity responsible for literally eating his dimension, absolute, unfettered cosmic fury violently erupted within Dormammu! 

Since I failed to instantly kill the novice Lord, I will forcefully extract my vengeance by slaughtering this pathetic thief! 

Dormammu offered a highly sadistic, cruel smile and began aggressively striding toward Galacta. 

Unbeknownst to Dormammu, he was currently actively, aggressively targeting the beloved, cherished daughter of the absolute, supreme cosmic apex predator. Countless lightyears away, floating in the deep void of space, Galactus slowly opened his massive, terrifying eyes. His cold, absolute gaze effortlessly pierced through the cosmos, locking directly onto Dormammu. He silently, aggressively engaged his colossal world-ship's hyper-drives, violently tearing a massive hole through space-time as he accelerated directly toward Earth. 

Floating nearby, the Silver Surfer stared at the empty space where his master had just vanished. 

Uh... Boss? Where did you go?! 

Back on Earth, as Dormammu aggressively approached Galacta, the Ancient One calmly stepped out of the shadows. She smoothly leaned down and picked up the glowing, emerald Time Stone Luke had carelessly dropped during his frantic retreat. 

As the absolute, supreme temporal energy of the Infinity Stone flowed smoothly into her hands, the Ancient One felt a profound, overwhelming surge of absolute, unparalleled confidence instantly return! 

My ultimate, localized admin privileges have been restored! You seriously think you can casually destroy my planet now?! 

Gripping the Time Stone tightly, the Ancient One smoothly executed a complex somatic gesture, instantly conjuring multiple, highly complex, glowing magical arrays around her. 

"Are you absolutely certain you wish to engage me here?" Dormammu paused, his burning brow furrowing. He knew perfectly well that the Ancient One, having successfully defended Earth for centuries, possessed terrifying combat capability even without the stone. Now that she possessed her ultimate weapon, she posed a massive, highly lethal threat. 

The Ancient One stared directly at Dormammu, her expression completely calm and resolute. A highly concentrated, offensive Eldritch mandala materialized in her hand. "Given that Lord Luke has effectively, completely neutralized your ability to actively utilize external dark energy... why exactly should I fear you?" 

Dormammu angrily clenched his burning fists. If the pathetic novice Lord hadn't actively utilizing his highly localized, absolute dimensional authority to lock him out of the ambient dark energy, Dormammu wouldn't be wasting time verbally sparring with her; he would have simply instantly annihilated her with a massive, localized dark energy storm! 

Focusing his attention entirely on the Ancient One, Dormammu assumed a highly aggressive, focused combat stance. He couldn't afford to underestimate her while she wielded the Time Stone; a single, catastrophic tactical error could result in his permanent defeat. 

"Then allow me to demonstrate exactly how entirely futile your pathetic, localized resistance truly is!" 

In a highly coordinated, unspoken challenge, both combatants aggressively lunged forward simultaneously! 

The Ancient One instantly conjured a massive, highly complex offensive array directly in front of her. A devastating, continuous barrage of highly concentrated, lethal magical projectiles violently erupted toward Dormammu! 

Dormammu aggressively attempted to leap into the air to dodge the incoming barrage. However, the absolute microsecond he moved, the magical projectiles suddenly violently accelerated mid-air, aggressively altering their trajectories and violently slamming directly into him! 

"TEMPORAL MANIPULATION!" Dormammu roared furiously! Recognizing that dodging was impossible against localized time acceleration, he completely abandoned defense. He aggressively channeled his highly valuable Origin Essence, unleashing a devastating, continuous energy beam directly at the Ancient One! 

Anticipating the lethal retaliation, the Ancient One absolutely refused to attempt a block. Utilizing the Time Stone, she executed a localized, flawless 'Flash Step,' instantly violently accelerating her localized timeline and completely vanishing from her position! 

The apocalyptic energy beam effortlessly, violently tore completely through the empty space she had just occupied, continuing its devastating trajectory and violently obliterating several skyscrapers in the distance. 

Hovering nearby, Tony stared at the apocalyptic destruction in absolute, mind-boggling awe. That localized energy beam is arguably vastly more destructive than Superman's heat vision! How can the Captain logically claim that magic and technology are entirely equal?! My repulsors are practically water guns compared to this! 

The Ancient One reappeared nearby. She frowned deeply, glancing at the scattered group of heroes and operatives. Dormammu was simply too powerful. Even severely weakened, his area-of-effect attacks were terrifyingly lethal. The un-augmented humans were completely incapable of participating in this tier of combat and were in imminent danger of being violently caught in the crossfire. 

She immediately ordered Stephen to actively draw a massive portal and aggressively evacuate everyone to a safe distance! 

"Pathetic!" Dormammu roared, noticing her actively prioritizing the lives of the insignificant insects. He aggressively unleashed a secondary, highly concentrated energy beam directly at the evacuating group! 

The Ancient One's expression instantly hardened into absolute fury. Stephen is currently managing the evacuation! If you kill him, I literally cannot retire! 

She utilized another flawless Flash Step, instantly appearing directly in the path of the incoming apocalyptic beam! Her hands blurred as she executed an incredibly rapid, highly complex somatic gesture. She violently thrust her palms forward! 

A tiny, incredibly complex, highly specialized magical array materialized directly in front of her! 

The massive, apocalyptic energy beam violently slammed into the tiny array... and was instantly, flawlessly absorbed completely! The highly complex array rapidly, efficiently processed and completely converted the raw, destructive energy, instantly fragmenting it into thousands of tiny, glowing, highly harmless 'energy butterflies' that harmlessly fluttered away! 

While Dormammu's vision was temporarily obscured by the swarm of glowing butterflies, the Ancient One utilized another Flash Step, instantly appearing directly above his head! 

She violently hurled dozens of highly complex magical arrays, completely surrounding the colossal Dimensional Lord! Massive, highly enchanted, glowing magical chains violently erupted from the arrays, aggressively wrapping around Dormammu and completely immobilizing him! 

"Do you honestly believe these pathetic, localized bindings can hold me?!" Dormammu roared furiously. He aggressively, violently flared his internal Origin Essence, instantly shattering the magical chains and violently obliterating the surrounding arrays! He aggressively looked up, preparing to incinerate the Ancient One. 

However, he found her staring down at him, an incredibly calm, highly satisfied smile on her face. Surrounding her were dozens of massive, highly complex, brightly glowing offensive mandalas! 

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! 

Dozens of devastating, hyper-concentrated 'Bolts of Balthakk' violently erupted from the arrays! The apocalyptic, continuous lightning barrage violently slammed directly into Dormammu, forcefully launching him completely through a nearby concrete building! 

Fortunately, S.P.E.A.R. had highly efficiently evacuated the entire district; the Ancient One didn't have to restrain her localized destructive output. 

She aggressively materialized a magical platform beneath her feet, gracefully floating higher above the ruined street. Dozens more glowing arrays materialized around her, and she unleashed another devastating, continuous barrage of high-tier magical artillery directly into the collapsed rubble where Dormammu had fallen. 

She didn't stop preparing spells. She meticulously, rapidly conjured highly complex arrays, waiting to unleash a massive 'greeting gift' the absolute microsecond he emerged. 

The massive pile of rubble violently shifted. Dormammu aggressively stood up, instantly facing another apocalyptic barrage of spells. 

"ENOUGH!" Dormammu roared with absolute, cosmic fury! 

He violently unleashed a massive, localized hurricane of pure, unadulterated Origin Essence! The devastating energy storm violently obliterated all incoming spells and violently shook the Ancient One's magical platform, nearly shattering it! 

"I AM DONE ENTERTAINING YOU!" Dormammu roared. His physical avatar rapidly, violently expanded, instantly returning to his colossal, terrifying hundred-meter-tall true form! He glared down at the minuscule Sorcerer Supreme with absolute, murderous hatred. 

The Ancient One's expression remained perfectly, absolutely calm. However, internally, she was intensely regretting her decision to never formally master localized gigantification magic. 

As Dormammu violently swung his colossal, flaming fist downward to completely crush her, she smoothly, instantly conjured a massive, highly stable Sling Ring portal directly in the path of the descending punch! 

Dormammu's colossal fist violently plunged through the portal! 

Simultaneously, a secondary exit portal instantly opened directly behind his own head! His massive fist violently exited the portal and brutally, devastatingly slammed directly into the back of his own skull! 

Watching Dormammu violently punch himself in the face and stumble forward, the Ancient One smoothly, effortlessly closed the primary portal! 

The localized spatial collapse cleanly, effortlessly severed Dormammu's arm completely at the bicep! 

However, Dormammu rapidly regained his balance. He casually waved his severed stump, and the severed arm instantly dissolved into pure energy, rapidly returning to his body and fully regenerating the limb with zero noticeable energy loss. 

Watching his effortless regeneration, the Ancient One frowned. She smoothly conjured a massive, highly complex magical array in front of her. 

A colossal, glowing, terrifyingly sharp magical broadsword materialized! 

This was one of Kamar-Taj's absolute highest-tier offensive spells: The Sacred Sword of the Vishanti! Originally, the spell manifested as a brilliant, golden blade wreathed in holy fire. However, because she was currently actively drawing her foundational energy from Luke's dark energy tether, the blade manifested as a terrifying, jagged, pitch-black broadsword wreathed in highly corrosive black flames! 

Controlling the colossal, black-flame sword via the magical array, she aggressively swung the weapon, aiming a devastating, horizontal slash directly at Dormammu's torso! 

Dormammu casually raised his massive arm, effortlessly blocking the colossal blade. He opened his massive, burning maw and unleashed a devastating, highly concentrated 'Roar Cannon' directly at her! 

The Ancient One smoothly released the array, seamlessly abandoning the sword, and executed a flawless Flash Step to effortlessly dodge the incoming blast. Empowered by the absolute temporal acceleration of the Time Stone, she moved with impossible, blinding speed, rapidly circling Dormammu and continuously unleashing a massive, relentless barrage of high-tier spells. 

Highly irritated by her impossible agility, Dormammu violently slammed his massive fist directly into the ground! A massive, localized, highly concentrated shockwave of pure Origin Essence violently rippled outward in all directions! 

Seeing the unavoidable, omnidirectional shockwave approaching, the Ancient One instantly conjured a massive, maximum-density Shield of the Seraphim, successfully absorbing the devastating kinetic impact! 

However, Dormammu wasn't finished! He continuously, aggressively burned massive quantities of his Origin Essence, rapidly conjuring multiple, localized energy barriers that aggressively locked down the surrounding spatial coordinates, effectively completely sealing the airspace around her! 

"Let's see exactly how well you evade now!" Dormammu sneered sadistically. 

Trapped within the localized spatial lockdown, the Ancient One's expression finally tightened. She rapidly established a localized mental tether to Luke. 

After receiving his rapid, highly enthusiastic confirmation, the Ancient One slowly closed her eyes. 

Suddenly, a massive, utterly terrifying, apocalyptic surge of pure, unadulterated dark energy violently erupted from her body! 

Over one hundred million Dark Energy Points aggressively violently flooded into the localized spatial lockdown, instantly, violently shattering Dormammu's barriers through sheer, overwhelming absolute force! 

Wielding the unimaginable, apocalyptic quantity of dark energy, the Ancient One's hands moved with terrifying, blinding speed! She rapidly executed dozens of incredibly complex somatic gestures, effortlessly conjuring multiple, highly complex magical arrays that rapidly seamlessly integrated into a single, massive, geometrically impossible master-array! 

"Phew," the Ancient One exhaled, a highly satisfied, confident smile spreading across her face as she admired the glowing master-array. 

"What exactly are you attempting to cast?!" Dormammu frowned deeply, highly suspicious of the unknown, highly complex spell. He could clearly sense the profound, localized manipulation of temporal energy within the array, but couldn't deduce its specific function. 

"Well, an individual sorcerer fundamentally possesses limited localized combat output," the Ancient One smiled enigmatically. "Therefore... it is highly logical to significantly multiply the available workforce!" 

As Dormammu violently swung another devastating punch, she fully activated the master-array! 

Instantly, dozens of glowing Sling Ring portals violently materialized in the sky surrounding Dormammu! 

From every single portal, an exact, perfect duplicate of the Ancient One confidently stepped out! 

These weren't simple, fragile, localized magical illusions (like the basic 'Images of Ikonn' spell Stephen would later utilize, which could be instantly shattered by a localized AoE attack). Utilizing the absolute, supreme temporal authority of the Time Stone, she had explicitly reached into her own localized timeline, aggressively severed exact 'Temporal Snapshots' of herself from the past, and aggressively pulled them entirely into the present! 

Every single duplicate was a fully independent, highly lethal, fully powered Sorcerer Supreme! 

(Naturally, none of the temporal duplicates possessed their own localized Time Stone, as that would trigger an instant, catastrophic universal paradox). 

As Dormammu's colossal punch missed the original Ancient One, the highly synchronized, absolutely terrifying spell officially commenced! 

Empowered by the practically limitless, infinite dark energy reserves currently being aggressively supplied by Luke, over a hundred independent Sorcerer Supremes simultaneously began launching an absolutely devastating, continuous, apocalyptic magical bombardment directly at Dormammu! 

The sheer, overwhelming volume of high-tier, highly destructive magical artillery instantly completely suppressed the colossal Dimensional Lord! He was violently battered from every conceivable angle, completely unable to advance or retaliate, reduced to frantically, helplessly waving his massive arms to desperately block the endless barrage! 

Watching the highly satisfying suppression, the original Ancient One, firmly clutching the Time Stone, exhaled a sigh of relief. 

However, she quickly frowned. Despite the absolute, overwhelming suppression, Dormammu wasn't actually sustaining catastrophic structural damage, and his massive Origin reserves weren't significantly depleted. To permanently, truly defeat him, she ultimately relied entirely on Luke. 

Meanwhile, completely safe inside Kamar-Taj... 

Luke suddenly violently sneezed. He rubbed his nose, frowning deeply. 

The Ancient One is definitely actively complaining about me. Well, whatever. I literally just aggressively pumped hundreds of millions of dark energy points directly into her tether the absolute microsecond she asked! What more does she want?! 

Luke was currently standing inside the massive, highly secure Kamar-Taj primary storage vault. He watched highly disciplined Shadow Ninjas rapidly, efficiently physically transporting massive, towering crates of highly compressed Dark Energy Crystals directly into a localized dimensional rift. 

Luke's confidence was currently aggressively, exponentially expanding. He smiled a terrifying, highly aggressive smile. 

His specific, highly specialized 'Dimensional Lord' combat archetype fundamentally relied entirely on overwhelming, absolute magical superiority through sheer, infinite energy expenditure. He was essentially a localized, magical artillery platform. Therefore, whenever he experienced periods of downtime, he obsessively, proactively converted massive quantities of his ambient dark energy into highly compressed, easily accessible storage crystals. 

Currently, the total, localized energy volume stored within the crystals in this specific vault exceeded an absolutely mind-boggling One Hundred Billion Dark Energy Points! 

I absolutely refuse to believe that possessing enough localized, raw energy to literally vaporize a small planet isn't completely sufficient to beat a single, arrogant Dimensional Lord into absolute submission! 

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