High above the battlefield, Doctor Strange stood alone against the backdrop of a darkening sky, clashing head-on with an unending swarm of antimatter shadow demons. All eyes below were drawn to his lone silhouette as he launched into the chaos.
In his hand, he wielded a golden magic sigil—pure arcane energy, forged specifically for banishing entities from realms like Hell. But against these twisted beings from the antimatter dimension, even Strange wasn't sure if it would work.
His Cloak of Levitation flared behind him, allowing him to weave and dart through the swarming spirits, dodging clawed strikes and searching for a counterattack opportunity.
Unlike traditional warriors, sorcerers had far more to manage in combat. They needed to calculate spell matrices on the fly, constantly adapt their enchantments, and analyze threats all at once—an overload that pushed their minds to the brink.
It was for this very reason that Tony Stark had once modified J.A.R.V.I.S. into a magical battle-suit AI—to calculate spell structures and auto-deploy countermeasures. It dramatically reduced tactical errors for mages during high-pressure combat.
But Strange had no such assistance now. Everything he did came from years of battle-hardened instinct and raw magical mastery.
He moved through the sky like a streak of golden lightning. Each time he made contact, a shadow demon was cleaved apart, disintegrating into raw, shimmering energy. But the exertion was starting to take its toll.
Skimming past another creature, one of Strange's magic rings suddenly sputtered with flickering blue smoke—then dissolved completely in his hand.
"What bizarre energy... Does this kind of thing even belong in this universe?"
Frowning, Strange ceased holding back. With a sharp motion, his hands flared, releasing a vibrant beam of radiant energy—rainbow-hued and blinding.
The moment the antimatter shadow demons were struck by the light, they shrieked in agony. It was pure life essence, the very antithesis of their existence—like venom to their kind.
"It's working!" the Punisher shouted, fist pumping.
But then, something else drew Punisher's attention—Sentry's face.
"Wait… something's wrong."
Sentry narrowed his eyes, his gaze piercing the cloud canopy above. Somewhere beyond the swirling storm, a massive shadow was forming—so vast, it distorted the very sky. His expression turned grim.
"The real one's about to arrive."
"The real one?" Punisher held his breath. He'd survived world-ending crises before, but never had he felt such suffocating dread. Even Galactus' presence hadn't felt like this.
He turned to Sentry, voice hoarse.
"What do you think? Can you take him?"
Sentry didn't boast. He simply shook his head.
"This isn't my universe. I can feel something... something here is suppressing my power."
As he spoke, the swirling clouds churned again—massive arcs of energy spinning into a colossal vortex. The entire storm was being sucked into a single spiral, rotating with cosmic force.
All three on the ground tensed. Sentry stepped forward, placing himself protectively in front of Punisher. Then, at the very center of the maelstrom, the clouds tore open—revealing the true form of their enemy.
It was a titan, clad head-to-toe in strange, heavy armor. Tubes protruded from its body, and the exposed skin beneath its armor rejected the world around it. It was not a being of this reality—every fiber of its existence repelled the energies of Earth.
"That's..." Punisher's voice faltered.
"...The Anti-Monitor." Sentry finished, his tone grave.
Like a cosmic beast awakening, the Anti-Monitor's pressure burst forth across the entire Earth. Caught directly below, Punisher was crushed by the sheer weight of its aura. He struggled even to breathe, buckling under the invisible pressure like a man buried beneath a mountain.
"This energy…"
Doctor Strange clenched his jaw, his expression grim as he stared at the terrifying entity before him. It was a kind of power he had never even felt from Thanos.
It was like wrestling with the force of an entire universe—completely overwhelming, giving no room to resist.
If he had to compare it to anything, Doctor Strange was certain: even Galactus himself wouldn't stand much of a chance against this being.
Compared to the ever-hungry World Devourer, this entity's energy output and sheer physical presence were both on a far higher scale—true apex-tier multiversal power.
In fact, in some way, its mere existence threatened the foundation of this very reality.
"He came prepared," Strange muttered under his breath, frowning. Even the magic in his hands seemed to falter under the pressure of the being's presence.
High in the sky, the Anti-Monitor stood still, calm and silent. It inhaled deeply, as if savoring the thin strands of ambient energy floating in the air of this world.
"Finally…"
That voice—it didn't echo through the air, but instead resonated directly within everyone's mind, vibrating their very hearts.
"All cycles… shall end in this moment."
The Anti-Monitor slowly shook its head, whispering like a god murmuring prophecy. And then—without warning—it moved.
A violent surge of purple energy condensed into its palm, and in the next instant, the blast hurtled straight toward Doctor Strange with unimaginable speed.
Doctor Strange's pupils shrank. He hadn't expected the attack to come so suddenly—there wasn't even time to chant a spell. The purple energy beam was already upon him.
BOOM!!!
The impact thundered like divine judgment, unleashing a shockwave that shook the sky itself. Even the antimatter shadow demons were blown back, their flight momentarily destabilized by the sheer force.
"Stephen!!"
Punisher's eyes went wide in horror.
He couldn't believe it—Doctor Strange, the man who had saved the world countless times, hadn't even lasted a single blow. But then he realized—Sentry was gone. The man who'd been standing in front of him had vanished without a sound.
As the smoke cleared, Sentry stood firm before Doctor Strange, his muscular figure bracing against the massive energy surge. Despite taking the full brunt of the Anti-Monitor's devastating strike, not a single mark was left on him.
"Thanks," Strange panted. His condition was rough—though Sentry had absorbed most of the blast, the residual energy had shredded his magical wards, leaving him with significant injuries.
"Don't mention it."
Sentry tightened his fists, eyes locked on the Anti-Monitor hovering above them.
He hadn't even clashed head-on with it yet, but already, an uneasy feeling gnawed at the back of his mind.
"You're… different from the others."
The Anti-Monitor's gaze fell on Sentry, amusement flickering in its otherworldly eyes.
It could feel it—this seemingly ordinary blond man radiated a power that was actually enough to threaten it.
A force above the multiverse—mysterious, absolute, and impossible to look at directly. It was like staring into the heart of a burning sun.
"But I can feel it… this universe is suppressing you. And deep within your heart… there's something else. Interesting."
The Anti-Monitor locked eyes with Sentry, as if peering past his radiant light to something hidden beneath—a shadow mirroring the very force the Anti-Monitor wielded. A creature… born from within the soul of every being.
Light, taken to its extreme, always births shadow.
"Show me... the darkness buried deep inside you."
"What?!"
Sentry's face changed instantly. In that moment, he heard it—a haunting whisper in his ears. Something ancient. Something sinister. A chant, like the murmuring of death itself, trying to stir the one thing he had buried deepest.
"No—!"
A glint of pure darkness flashed in his pupils. From within Sentry's glowing frame, a thick, tar-like substance began unraveling, strand by strand, seeping out of his body.
Doctor Strange felt a chill crawl down his spine.
Others might not realize what was happening, but Stephen Strange—who had long helped Sentry suppress what was locked inside him—knew all too well. He had helped contain The Void before. He knew just how apocalyptic it could be.
If that thing escaped now… no one could predict what it would do. And this universe wouldn't survive.
"Robert! You have to fight it! It's the Anti-Monitor—he's influencing you! Don't let his energy breach your mind!"
"No one can resist the power of the Anti-Life Equation."
The Anti-Monitor grinned coldly. Unlike the incomplete version once wielded by Darkseid or the imposter version used by a false Alex, the formula he now unleashed was the real thing—fully awakened and wholly destructive.
And after devouring several realities, the Anti-Monitor's power had reached its absolute peak.
Sentry roared in agony, clutching his head. His skin flushed red, and from behind him, dark, sentient shadows began to twist and form—shaping themselves into a humanoid figure, as if some primordial nightmare was trying to claw its way out of his body.
He knew it.
If he stayed there any longer, under the Anti-Monitor's influence… The Void would escape.
"No! No!"
With a defiant cry that echoed like thunder, Sentry exploded into motion.
"NO!!"
He rocketed into the sky, his body transforming into a golden beam of light that tore straight through the cloud layer, punching a massive crater through the swirling black clouds overhead.
Within seconds, he vanished—out of sight.
....
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