"This is your stuff." Strange took out a thick book from behind him, walked to Luke and handed it to him.
"Let's keep it in Kamar-Taj, as per the rules." Luke looked at the recovered [Book of Energy] and made no move to take it. To him, it didn't matter where the Book of Energy was, or who had it. It was better anywhere or in anyone's hands than in his.
"Can you help solve the abyss?" The girl who came back with Strange stepped forward and asked.
"Daughter of Dormammu," Strange repeated.
"Of course we can't solve the abyss." Luke spread his hands and said under the girl's disappointed gaze, "We can only temporarily control its spread."
Luke's unexpected turn of events sent the girl's emotions surging. She subconsciously glanced at Strange, her eyes filled with questions.
"I can testify to that. He can do it," Strange testified.
"If he can control the spread of the Abyss, then Dormammu is willing to negotiate the conditions you mentioned," the girl, Clee, said without hesitation. The Abyss was expanding too rapidly. Her father, the Lord of the Dark Dimension, had previously conducted research on it, which had caused the Abyssal energy to grow rapidly. Like a cancer, it greedily absorbed the power of the Dark Dimension and continued to grow stronger.
Even though Dormammu had thought of various methods, even resorting to sacrificing a large number of lives in other dimensions, it was of no avail to get rid of the abyss energy bit by bit.
Actually, this method was quite effective at first. However, the Abyssal Energy seemed to have a consciousness, constantly evolving and activating and assimilating everything around it. Even Dormammu was deceived.
By the time Dormammu realized something was wrong, the abyss energy had unknowingly expanded to a terrifying extent and had become a deadly threat.
The method of sacrificing lives is no longer very useful in the face of the explosive growth of abyssal energy. Using a large amount of dark dimension energy to offset and annihilate the abyssal energy is extremely ineffective, and may even add fuel to the fire and inject energy into the abyssal energy.
As for the magic seal, Dormammu, as a master of magic, immediately used all his magical means, but he could only barely control the disorderly expansion of the abyss dimension and slow down its expansion speed.
Cure and control?
That's impossible!
Dormammu now hates Kaecilius and others who brought in the abyss energy, and even the new Sorcerer Supreme Strange has taken note of it, believing that it was his deception that caused all this, and that he is an opponent more hateful than Ancient One.
At least, although the Ancient One was annoying, she was just stealing some energy without asking, quietly giving herself dimensional authority, and generally speaking, she was stealing food. But Strange was directly destroying the rice bowl!
If the atrium barrier had not been reinforced once more, Dormammu would have rushed over and tortured Strange again.
So when Strange boldly reappeared in the Dark Dimension and in front of him, he really wanted to kill him. After all, the culprit had come to him on his own initiative, so he had no need to be lenient.
However, Strange seemed to have anticipated this scene, and after being killed many times, he still made his intentions clear.
Dormammu was not sure whether what Strange said about having a way to help him solve the problem of the abyss was true or not, but what he knew was that even if he killed Strange a thousand times here, the threat of the abyss would not be lifted.
"Is he coming in person?" Luke heard some meaning in the girl's words.
"No, he can only send an incarnation." Clea sighed. She was not sighing for her father Dormammu. She didn't have a good relationship with him anyway. She just didn't want the life in the dark dimension to be threatened by the abyss.
Claire paused and added, "He can't leave the Dark Dimension anymore, because only he can control the massive expansion of the Abyss. As for me? I'm just a location coordinate."
Luke nodded.
After a moment's silence, Clea looked at the silent Luke, and Strange, who was watching his cloak and Luke's ribbon fight in mid-air, with a somewhat bewildered look. She asked tentatively, "When will we begin negotiations? As much as I hate to say it, the abyss of the Dark Dimension has become a threat that cannot be ignored. If left unchecked, one day the entire Dark Dimension will be swallowed by the abyss, and all the other dimensional worlds connected to it will also be unable to escape the abyss's erosion."
"Don't worry, we need to discuss things internally, and notifying them will take time." Luke calmly soothed the anxious Clea and winked at Strange. "Let Master Strange stay with you for the time being. You can rest here for a while."
Watching Strange persuade the girl to leave, Luke immediately sent a message to the God King Odin and others that the fish had taken the bait.
…
Asgard.
Fairy Palace.
Familiar conference table.
Odin and others, who had been meeting frequently in recent times, sat down in their respective seats.
Among the crowd, Mephisto was particularly excited. As soon as he appeared at his seat, he couldn't wait to ask Luke: "Did Dormammu take the bait?"
"He wants to talk to us and determine the terms." Luke repeated in detail the information he had asked from Kelly in the past few days.
"Looks like he's in real trouble." Mephisto's face was filled with gloating. Seeing the other demons in trouble, and his own side about to usher in a wave of great harvests, Mephisto's inner excitement was almost uncontrollable.
"Strange is coming soon." Ancient One said softly.
Now that she has relieved herself of her responsibilities, she has devoted all her energy to researching new energy, and monitoring Mephisto has become a piece of cake for her.
With the authority Luke granted her, she was poised to become a source of power for the Sorcerer Supreme. Anyone among the mages who harnessed this new energy would be keenly perceived by the Ancient One, who would decide whether to distribute the power or reject it.
So when Strange borrowed the new energy, as the focus of attention, Ancient One almost immediately realized what magic Strange used, how much energy he used, where the energy was transmitted, and other information.
After Ancient One finished speaking, Mephisto sensed the spatial fluctuations around him, as well as the portal that suddenly opened in the air, emitting sparks of energy particles.
After the portal was fixed, Strange walked out of the portal with a girl and appeared in front of everyone.
"Is this Dormammu's daughter?" Mephisto looked at the girl. Many dimensional demons had heirs in various senses, including him. But the awkward part was that the heirs' relationships with them were often not very good.
[A loving father and a filial son], [Sacrificing one's own relatives for the sake of justice], [Being traitorous], these are all common practices of the heirs. There are cases where the little ones who know the information and weaknesses of their parents bring outsiders to beat up their own demon fathers, which happens from time to time in the multiverse.
As a master at manipulating minds and emotions, Mephisto immediately sensed some of Clee's inner thoughts and emotions. She was too immature, so immature that she didn't even know how to protect her mind from being invaded.
After a flash of energy wave passed through Kelly's body, a dark energy was connected to the conference room with Odin's permission.
A huge face made of energy was abruptly suspended on an empty seat, and then the dark energy that continued to pour in from the void built bones and muscles under the neck. Finally, a little giant three meters tall sat on the seat that adapted to his body size.
"You're not dead after all, Ancient One! Are you the one behind all this? Damn, is this a trap?"
Dormammu's eyes, glowing with brilliant energy, swept across the people present one by one. After seeing Ancient One's face, which was so familiar that it made his teeth itch, he gritted his teeth and roared with a hint of sudden enlightenment.
Dormammu instinctively thought that the dead Ancient One was the mastermind behind the incident.
"Has this brain been corroded by the energy of the abyss?" A mocking energy frequency transformed into language rushed into Dormammu's ears. The speaker was Mephisto.
"You are the ones who released the Abyss!" Dormammu's gaze fell on Mephisto, and his unstable energy raged around him. He rumbled and said, "You have set your sights on my dark dimension. Do you want to go to war with me?"
"We're here to help you solve your problem, Mr. Dormammu." Luke had to interrupt. If Mephisto continued to tease him, the unstable Dormammu would probably explode on the spot. It was obvious that the Abyss had tortured him greatly during this period.
"I can't believe you! It was you who released the Abyss! I must declare your despicableness throughout the multiverse!" Dormammu looked at Ancient One and Mephisto viciously and roared.
"Everyone here is a victim of Abyssal energy," Luke explained. "We experienced the threat of the Abyss before you did. In fact, if you hadn't invaded the atrium, you wouldn't have been entangled by Abyssal energy. Ultimately, this is trouble you brought upon yourself. We are willing to help you because we are also victims of the Abyssal erosion."
"Ha, do you think I believe that?" Dormammu, after hearing Luke's words, though his face still held an angry expression, his tone softened unconsciously. After all, he had come here to find a solution to the Abyss, not to engage in a violent battle with Luke and his companions. He was already exhausted by the Abyss, and he had no intention of engaging in a meaningless battle.
"In reality, the Abyss was summoned by a man named Malekith. He is the king of Watalheim, one of the Nine Realms. He is an ancient Dark Elf who is bent on returning the Nine Realms and the universe to eternal darkness. He wields the Dark Elf's sacred artifact, the Aether Particles.
During the battle with Odin, the King of the Nine Realms, he summoned his minions from a different dimension, who brought the Abyss into the universe. All the Nine Realms races present at the time, including some demons who assisted in the predation, were tainted by the Abyss.
Nidavellir, one of the Nine Realms, was deeply eroded by the energy of the Abyss, animated by it and developing self-awareness, establishing an unbreakable bond with it. Consequently, the God-King Odin was forced to exile Nidavellir from the Nine Realms after some deliberate action.
After accepting the return of the polluted demons, the Hell dimension was also eroded by the energy of the Abyss. However, Mephisto discovered it early and tried his best to control the situation before it got completely out of control.
The Atrium was least affected, but some mages may have been affected, their minds becoming somewhat abnormal after being contaminated. And after you established contact with those mages, it was obvious that you had already been infected by the Abyss, but it was just in the incubation period, so you didn't notice it."
Luke spoke calmly and put the blame on a certain dark elf king who had fled across the universe and tried his best to stay away from the Nidavellir abyss.
Mephisto admired Luke's shameless behavior and added, "If we were the ones who released the Abyss, would we use it to blow up our own homes first? We are the first direct victims! So far, we have united, but we have only found a way to control the expansion of the Abyss, but we cannot solve it completely without hidden dangers. You have seriously hurt my dignity, Dormammu! I demand compensation!"
Dormammu's eyes were almost filled with energy. He could believe that the Abyss might not have been released by them, but dignity? They didn't have such a thing.
"I need you to help me solve the problem of the Abyss in the Dark Dimension. Please state your conditions." Dormammu was too lazy to argue with Mephisto anymore. He just wanted to quickly solve the big problem of the Abyss and restore the Dark Dimension to normal!
"You need..." Mephisto coughed twice, took out a piece of parchment from his clothes, and pulled it out while reading.
One minute.
Two minutes.
Ten minutes.
The length of the parchment had piled up on the table into a thick stack, and Dormammu's expression became increasingly grim as the length of the parchment increased. Finally, looking at the endless parchment, Dormammu roared in frustration.
"That's enough! Don't go too far!"
Mephisto glared at Dormammu who stood up with dissatisfaction, looked around at Luke and Odin who were staring at him, coughed twice with an embarrassed expression, broke the parchment and rolled it up.
"That's all." Mephisto threw a thick roll of parchment to Dormammu, and then took out another parchment contract that made Dormammu's eyelids twitch.
"Also, this is a contract. Once you sign it, we'll immediately go help you solve the problem of the spread of the Abyss." Mephisto promised sincerely, "I'll personally bring people over to solve it for you!"