Norway.
Hela paid a price and forcibly tore open a portal to leave.
That genuinely surprised Karl.
He knew Hela definitely possessed spatial teleportation.
Her whole family knew that kind of powerful dark magic.
But tearing space open inside the Mirror Dimension wasn't something an ordinary person could do.
If Odin at his peak could do it, Karl wouldn't be surprised.
But Hela, right now?
"Looks like Hela definitely paid a heavy price to get out of here."
"Otherwise it wouldn't be so easy to tear through my space."
Karl rubbed his chin and muttered to himself.
The Mirror Dimension was an extremely special dimension.
According to Ancient One-sama's theory, if you didn't use "Manwei" and Kamar-Taj magic, you couldn't even open a portal leading outside, to other worlds.
In reality…
That statement wasn't accurate.
If you brought the Vishanti here, even Ancient One-sama's Mirror Dimension couldn't trap them.
Ultimately, it depended on how strong the enemy was.
Once power reached a certain level, you could even tear the Mirror Dimension apart.
If it were in Asgard, Hela might have power that great.
But on Earth…
She definitely relied on some other power.
"Hela is definitely holding a grudge."
"Forget it. Letting her go can count as giving Odin an explanation."
Karl couldn't help sighing.
That was the downside of protecting Earth.
It was easy to offend people.
But since he had learned magic at Kamar-Taj, this responsibility was something he had to bear.
Otherwise, wouldn't he be a complete bastard?
While Karl was thinking, a golden radiance bloomed beside him.
A golden portal opened, and Ancient One-sama stepped out from within.
However, Ancient One-sama looked a bit pale, as if she had expended quite a lot of power.
"Ancient One-sama, you've worked hard," Karl said respectfully.
If Ancient One-sama hadn't suppressed Hel, Hela would definitely be far more terrifying than she was right now.
"I'm fine. I just spent a bit of strength…"
"But you fought Hela—surely that wasn't easy, was it?"
Ancient One-sama lifted her gaze, glanced at Karl, and spoke.
"It was alright."
"Hela in her current state isn't that strong. Her power is still something I can handle," Karl said, extremely modestly.
Hearing that, Ancient One-sama's mouth twitched.
Good grief.
Listen to that—are those even human words?
Hela "isn't that strong"?
If the people Hela had killed heard that, they might get so furious they'd come back to life.
Hela was the Goddess of Death!
She held Asgard's authority over death.
Death itself was an immensely powerful law, and in the hands of an Asgardian powerhouse like Hela, its might was even more shocking.
It could be said—
Hela was absolutely a powerhouse.
Yet in Karl's eyes, she became "not that strong."
This kid…
Thinking of that, Ancient One-sama also became curious.
How exactly had Karl dealt with Hela?
As that thought arose, green light flickered in Ancient One-sama's eyes.
The surrounding scenery seemed to flow backward, as though time were rewinding, and a mirrored replay manifested before her.
Watching the scene play back, Ancient One-sama grew more and more astonished.
What the—
Karl had been completely dominating Hela the entire time?
Was this some kind of international joke?
Even with Hel's power suppressed, Hela was still strong!
And—
What was going on with the spells in this kid's hands? How were they this powerful?
Some of those spells had already surpassed Ancient One-sama!
This kid… was he really that outrageous?
The expression on Ancient One-sama's face changed, revealing unmistakable shock.
Inside her heart, stormy waves surged.
If the earlier spellwork could still be described as merely "high proficiency"…
Then Karl's modification of the Ancient Body of Hoggoth could only be called carving out a new path—turning it into an entirely new spell.
He had distributed that unruly divine power—whatever it truly was—into countless tiny butterflies…
Then triggered violent explosions, creating incomparable destructive force.
It could be said—
Just that one technique alone wasn't something an ordinary Master Sorcerer could accomplish.
With a spell like this, Karl could be recorded in the history books and become one of the Legendary Master Sorcerers.
That kind of talent…
It was simply terrifying to hear about, and tear-inducing to witness.
Calling it heaven-shaking and ghost-crying wouldn't be an exaggeration.
It wasn't that Ancient One-sama hadn't seen the world—
It was that this kid was too absurd.
Only after a long moment did Ancient One-sama manage to rein in her expression, then flip open her own spell records.
She stared deeply at Karl.
She felt…
It might be time to consider passing the position of Sorcerer Supreme to Karl.
As for Doctor Strange—having him serve as Karl's underling would be perfectly fine!
"Ahem… Ancient One-sama, why are you looking at me like that?" Karl asked, his scalp tingling.
"Nothing. Just thinking about some things."
"It's about Hela. We have to handle this properly."
"If you strike a wolf and don't kill it, you'll suffer the consequences. You understand that, don't you?" Ancient One-sama said expressionlessly.
"...You mean?"
"Chase her down and kill her?" Karl asked, full of disbelief.
Ancient One-sama was this fierce? This didn't feel like the Ancient One he had in mind at all.
"Karl, remember this: we must hold a bodhisattva's compassion…"
"…and act with thunderous methods."
"When it comes to figures with enormous danger, we have no other choice."
"Today, we've offended Hela. She definitely won't let this go."
"If the legendary army of the dead were to return, Earth would be destroyed in an instant."
"Kamar-Taj might cease to exist."
"Humanity would fall once more into an age of darkness—those years swallowed by the dark."
Ancient One-sama spoke with a heavy expression.
Hearing her say that, Karl's face also turned solemn.
"Ancient One-sama, I understand."
Karl nodded.
"However, Ancient One-sama… Hela is still Odin's daughter."
"If we make a move, will that be alright?"
"No need to worry about that."
"He, Odin, can't discipline his own daughter—then we'll discipline her for him."
"And he'd still dare to have an opinion?" Ancient One-sama said with overwhelming dominance.
Odin was stronger than her.
But that was on the condition that she didn't use the Time Stone.
If she used the Stone…
She could slaughter Odin.
If Odin dared to say anything unnecessary,
then she would go and "reason" with Odin properly.
When Karl heard Ancient One-sama say that, he was instantly dumbfounded.
No wonder.
No wonder Ancient One-sama's reputation was thunderous across the multiverse.
That domineering aura—
It truly lived up to the title of Ancient One-sama.
Excellent!
Coming to Kamar-Taj really hadn't been the wrong choice.
Karl felt delight bubbling up—
Then he immediately spoke with grave seriousness:
"Ancient One-sama, rest assured. I'll go track Hela right now and see where she went."
"When I return, I'll report to you."
Karl said so.
(End of Chapter)
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