"Strange… since Gu Yi trusted you, you must have a way to deal with Dormammu. I'll leave this matter to you—I can help destroy the formation."
Carl pointed toward the dark dimension above the Hong Kong Sanctum and gestured to Strange.
Strange gazed into the dark cosmos, deep in thought. He lowered his head and glanced at the Eye of Agamotto, made up his mind, nodded to Carl, and then flew into the darkness in the sky.
As for Kaecilius, who lay on the ground, Diwu didn't attack him—she simply lifted her foot.
After kicking Kaecilius in the face seven or eight times, she finally let out a breath, feeling a bit relieved.
In truth, she wasn't that upset. It was just that some of her earlier thoughts made it hard for her to accept the fact that Gu Yi was truly dead.
Among the entire Mystic Arts community, Diwu was the closest to Gu Yi in strength. She understood that for mages of a certain level, the physical body no longer held much meaning. Moreover, she had sensed the will of Oshtur, one of the founders of the Vishanti—whose physical body had been gone for tens of thousands of years.
"Why aren't you continuing the fight?" Carl asked Diwan, who was mourning alone.
Diwan shook her head and said softly, "He's pitiful too… and he couldn't have killed Gu Yi."
Carl said nothing more. In Diwu's mind, only a single thought remained.
Nearby, Wong and Mordo had begun arguing. The reason was a difference in philosophical beliefs, as well as the issue of the Ancient One drawing power from the Dark Dimension.
Mordo was a man who strictly followed rules. He despised anything that broke them. It was difficult for him to accept that the person he had once admired most—the Ancient One—had used the power of the Dark Dimension to sustain her life, even becoming somewhat distorted because of it. He began to doubt everything he had once believed in.
Carl didn't care, nor did he intend to interfere. Strictly speaking, they were just guests—this was someone else's internal matter.
Since the title of Sorcerer Supreme had been passed on to Strange, then sooner or later, he would have to face these issues himself. This was part of what Gu Yi had left behind for him.
If it were just a single argument, it would've been fine—but in Carl and Diwan's eyes, Mordo and Wong had already argued more than a dozen times, repeating the same points over and over.
"You stay here. I'll go take a look."
Carl kissed Diwan on the forehead and flew into the dark dimension.
They both knew that Strange was using time magic to loop through time again and again. Carl wanted to see exactly what was happening.
The purple-black void was filled with planets corrupted by Dormammu, each one covered in dark, twisted matter.
As soon as Carl entered, he saw a massive head firing a beam of energy from its mouth, killing Strange—only for Strange to reappear elsewhere, die again, and return once more… over and over.
Dormammu had reacted, but unwillingly. He kept killing Strange, trying to force him to submit.
Time magic was extremely difficult to break—especially when cast using the Eye of Agamotto. At present, only Carl was unaffected by it. As for Diwu, she could avoid its effects only because of Carl's protection—but that meant if Carl left, she would also fall into the loop.
Watching Strange die again and again, Carl was speechless.
At this rate, Strange would definitely succeed—there was no doubt.
This spell also affected the caster. After each loop, the caster became a "new" version of themselves, with no memory of their previous deaths.
Under these circumstances, every time Strange appeared, it was like his first time—while Dormammu remembered everything. Yet he couldn't escape. After countless failed attempts, he would inevitably compromise.
Strange appeared once more. Carl stepped forward and stopped him.
"Leave it to me. It all depends on how many times you've died."
Strange thought to himself, Has this happened many times already?
"I don't know the exact number," he said, "but I've died a hundred times."
He was about to remove the time loop spell from his wrist, but Carl stopped him.
"Don't remove it. When you die, you still have a chance to come back."
Strange nodded. Together, they approached Dormammu.
"LET ME OUT!!"
Dormammu roared. His massive body leaned forward as a dense purple beam erupted from his mouth.
Carl thrust his palm forward. A crack appeared where his hand touched, spreading rapidly as the entire dark dimension trembled. The purple beam shot into the crack—and was completely absorbed.
"Who are you?" Dormammu halted his attack.
Carl ignored him and struck the crack again.
"What have you done?!"
Dormammu felt fear. He could sense the entire dark dimension shrinking—and his own power weakening.
"No!! You bastard!!"
Countless spikes shot toward Carl. He waved his hand, summoning a hurricane that blew them all away. As for the spikes rising from below, Carl simply stomped his foot.
"Boom—"
The entire planet beneath them exploded.
Strange was lifted into the air by the Cloak of Levitation, completely unharmed.
"Who the hell are you?!"
Dormammu roared again, a trace of fear now evident in his voice—an emotion he hadn't felt in ages.
Carl's power was weakening him rapidly. The dark dimension itself was being diminished. If this continued, he would eventually become weaker than an ordinary human.
Strange spoke up, "You don't need to know who he is. Let's talk terms."
He didn't fully understand what Carl had done. All he saw was Carl strike forward twice and stomp once—yet the beam vanished, the spikes were blown away (along with several planets), and the planet beneath them had exploded.
He knew Carl was strong—but not this strong.
The sheer force of Dormammu's attacks was terrifying… and yet Carl neutralized everything as casually as if he were stretching at home.
With such backing, Strange felt far more confident negotiating.
Dormammu roared, "Make him remove that rift first—otherwise, no deal matters!"
Strange glanced at Carl. Seeing no reaction, he continued:
"That's one of our conditions. You will withdraw all Dark Dimension power from Earth—and swear never to step foot on this planet again."
Dormammu fell silent.
If this condition had been proposed before Carl acted, he would never have agreed. But now things were different. His power was weakening quickly. The condition only required retreat—not destruction. Compared to his current situation, it wasn't harsh.
"Once the rift is gone, I will do it. I swear—I will never set foot on that planet again."
Dormammu quickly agreed.
Strange looked at Carl again. Carl returned his gaze.
"Is that all you want? Honestly… killing him would be easy. This is a debt Gu Yi left behind."
Strange hesitated, then raised his head and said firmly:
"Everything has cause and effect. Even without Dormammu, someone else would take his place. I only need to stop him from entering here—then that's one less enemy."
Carl looked at him seriously, sensing his growth.
As expected—only those who walk the line between life and death can truly understand themselves.
He reached out and pressed against the rift.
The crack vanished.
Dormammu felt his power stabilizing again, but he honored his promise and began withdrawing all his power from Earth.
"Ahhh—!"
A scream echoed. They saw several dark figures flying from Earth into the depths of the dimension.
"I will keep my promise. Now leave my world."
Dormammu was wary of Carl. He had thought that after the Ancient One's death, conquering Earth would be easy—but now he realized eliminating Carl would be far from simple. Even if he could eventually revive, it would take a very long time.
Carl and Strange didn't linger. They left immediately.
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