"Spatial rift in New York?" William chuckled coldly. "So the good ol' USA just finished dealing with a Decepticon invasion, and now they've got interdimensional creatures knocking at their door? Classic."
As for Wang Fatty pinning all the blame on him—William didn't care in the slightest.
That kind of hindsight finger-pointing depended entirely on who it came from.
And besides, the one who deserved the most credit for resolving the Decepticon crisis was him.
If it came down to a war of words, William could easily fire back: "If the Ancient One knew everything in advance, why didn't she step in and stop it herself?"
Now that something had gone wrong, suddenly he was the scapegoat? No way.
And whether intentionally or not, the Ancient One always seemed to be conveniently absent during crises on American soil.
It made one wonder—was it because she was Celtic and had a serious bone to pick with Americans?
"Let's go," William said, waving dismissively. "The sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can make it home for dinner."
177A Bleecker Street, New York City.
As soon as William stepped out of the portal, he saw the Ancient One waiting—robe-clad and holding a folding fan.
"Welcome back to Earth, William."
"You spying on me now?" William frowned.
The Ancient One just smiled. "Relax. If I had the time and energy to constantly monitor you, I'd rather spend it drinking tea or taking a nap."
She motioned for him to follow her. After a few seconds' hesitation, William began walking.
Realistically, the Ancient One couldn't monitor him around the clock—her main priority was preventing interdimensional incursions.
"One month ago, the massive battle with the Cybertronians caused widespread damage across the physical plane. More critically, their Space Bridge tore a rift in the fabric of space, giving certain otherworldly creatures a chance to breach our world."
She turned to glance back at William, her expression regretful. "I thought you'd sense the disruption in the dimensional barrier. I didn't expect you to just leave Earth and dump the whole mess on us mystic sorcerers."
William shrugged, brushing it off. "Then go blame Odin. He's the one who couldn't keep his daughter under control."
"Forget it," the Ancient One sighed. "I've never been to Asgard, and I don't know how to open a portal there. But since you're practically a regular, next time you go, do me a favor—bring up the matter of compensation with Odin.
Whatever you can get out of him—consider that my payment for saving Dalton."
Seeing William roll his eyes, the Ancient One chuckled. "About ten days ago, the New York Sanctum detected a surge of dark energy in Mexico.
Sanctum master Dalton reported the anomaly to me, tracked down the intruder, and spent the next nine days pursuing it across several states.
He finally caught up with the entity in Clark County—but he was grievously wounded and barely escaped back to the Sanctum. He's now in a coma with a deep wound in his chest, and his spiritual core has been damaged."
They entered the Sanctum's infirmary, where Dalton lay unconscious.
The Ancient One gestured toward the gaping wound on Dalton's chest, and William immediately sensed the lingering dark magic festering at the injury site—its corruptive force slowly inching toward Dalton's mind.
The only silver lining was that this same energy had halted the bleeding, preventing Dalton from dying outright.
To William, though, this wasn't much of a challenge.
Ever since he'd deciphered the light magic woven into the holy necklace once blessed by the archangels and worn by Odin's daughter Angela, he had gained a far deeper understanding of the Light Domain.
When it came to purging darkness, nothing was more effective than holy light.
The Ancient One saw William's brows furrow, then relax. That was all she needed to know—he could save Dalton.
Her tension eased immediately. "Though I could try purging the darkness myself," she said with a smile, "we mystic sorcerers specialize more in battle than healing.
So when I realized the risk, I immediately thought of you—only to find that you'd left Earth altogether. Not just Earth, even the Milky Way."
She peered at him. "You can teleport across galaxies now? What exactly are you and Odin planning?"
William shrugged and told a nine-truths-one-lie version of the story. "Odin's dying. I'm just a cautious guy, so I've been helping him find ways to prolong his life.
As long as Asgard remains stable, and Odin's still standing to take the brunt of any catastrophe, guys like me can live comfortably and enjoy the rich life."
"Enjoy life?" The Ancient One gave him a meaningful look and tapped her folding fan against her palm. "You call your current situation 'enjoyment'?"
William blinked. Okay—granted, he had been busier than usual lately.
But he quickly brushed it off. Everyone was busy nowadays—so long as he wasn't in mortal danger, he had nothing to complain about.
The woman in front of him had worked tirelessly for centuries—yet still found time for tea, mentoring, and swatting down demonic entities. Hell, she even flirted with Dormammu on occasion.
"Eh, who cares," William shrugged again. "As long as I'm not in any real danger, I can always find ways to enjoy myself.
And let's be real—when even you, the Sorcerer Supreme, have to come ask me for help... when even Odin's careful not to offend me...
That's more than enough for me to be satisfied with how far I've come."
"Excellent. Truly excellent." The Ancient One nodded approvingly.
"When it comes to dark entities, the most important thing is to keep your desires in check. Remember that, William.
As long as you don't go begging devils for favors, they'll never be a threat to you."
A soft glow appeared in her palm. A finger-length piece of golden metal floated into view.
"This is Adamantium—one of the divine metals from the Olympian pantheon.
You can take it to Asgard, have it forged into a piece of jewelry for your mother. It will shield her from all forms of mental magic."
William took the gleaming metal, surprised by how light it felt. "Thanks," he said, though he couldn't help but grumble, "You're just like Odin. One of you keeps warning me to avoid demons at all costs. The other just hands me divine relics to plug my weaknesses.
Would it kill either of you to have a little more faith in me?"
"If you're confident in yourself, that's what matters," the Ancient One replied. Her gaze shimmered faintly. She hadn't expected Odin to think the same way she had.
Her smile turned a little forced. "You are the wielder of the Space Stone. Your growth rate is already unprecedented.
But you're still only in your twenties. That forces us to prepare for the worst."
Her voice turned solemn. "Dark entities are already descending because of you.
Based on my experience, no matter how hard you try to avoid them, you'll eventually encounter them.
And if one day, you're truly seduced—if you fall and join the side of Hell…"
Her tone dropped to a whisper. "Then no one on Earth will be able to stop the infernal invasion."
She paused—then corrected herself.
"No. With your ability to tear through the barriers between dimensions at will…
You would become a nightmare for the entire universe."
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