"Alaric! Give me your power, completely!"
Dormammu's voice thundered through the void. His energy suddenly surged, and the space trembled and darkened. The entire dimension was engulfed in his shadow, thick waves of dark energy swirling around them, threatening to consume everything.
From the darkness, a massive creature began to form, a beast made of pure shadow, opening its jaws wide toward Alaric.
"What are you trying to do?!" shouted Alaric, stepping back as his pulse quickened.
Even with the Time Stone in his possession, he felt a cold shiver of panic run through his body.
"Damn it…" he muttered, clenching his fists. "Dormammu, let's end this. I'm leaving, now!"
"Running away? Are you afraid?" Dormammu sneered maliciously.
"Unfortunately, you cannot leave."
Alaric answered with a defiant smile. "Don't be so sure. If I decide to leave, nothing can stop me."
He focused, raised his hands, and activated teleportation magic. All he needed was a bit of space, just enough to open a portal and escape this dimension.
But the magic didn't respond.
The space suddenly stiffened. Energy stopped flowing. Even light seemed trapped.
"Spatial lock…?!" he muttered in shock.
Dormammu slowly laughed. "Correct. I've completely frozen this space. There is no escape here."
Alaric tried to cast another spell, then another, none of them worked.
"What do you plan to do?" he asked through gritted teeth. "If you kill me, time will reset again into the loop!"
"Yes," Dormammu said coldly, raising his hand. "But you forget who I am."
At that moment, Alaric felt the energy in his body begin to drain, his magic was vanishing, as if being siphoned away.
"What…? You're… absorbing my power?!"
"Exactly." Dormammu laughed, his voice deep and demonic. "Even if time resets, I exist beyond it. I am eternal. And what I take now, will forever remain mine."
Alaric struggled, trying to break free, but couldn't even move. The magic within him was being violently drawn out as dark tendrils of energy wrapped around his body.
"You can kill me as many times as you want," he said tensely, "but each time, you'll return to the beginning. Everything will reset."
"Oh yes," Dormammu replied, "but not my memory. Your energy, your power, everything I absorb now will stay within me. You'll be my endless battery."
The Dark Dimension quaked as Dormammu's figure blazed brighter, as though absorbing the light and life of the universe itself.
"Each cycle, you'll appear again," he continued, savoring every word, "and I will find you again, trap you again, and drain your power again. Forever."
Alaric said nothing, fighting to stay conscious. Even though he knew time would reset, the pain he felt was real. Unbearably real.
"Let me show you," Dormammu said, "what the true terror of a Dimensional Demon means!"
His voice became a roar, and the dark flames raged around them.
"I exist beyond time. Beyond death. I am eternal!"
Alaric tried to speak, but his strength was leaking from every part of his body. The light of his magical aura began to dim, as black spirals of energy devoured him like an abyss.
"Come, Alaric!" Dormammu shouted, laughing. "Feel despair! Feel my infinite power!"
"The last time I was here… why didn't you do this?"
Alaric's breathing was ragged. His power was being violently stripped away, and the pain coursing through him was almost unbearable. His face had gone pale, and the light behind him, the light of the God of Magic, began to fade and die out.
If this continued, the only sources of energy he would have left were his inner microcosmos and the Eternal Night World he himself had created. But even those worlds would last only a moment in Dormammu's hands.
"You weren't strong enough last time," Dormammu said, his voice echoing like the rumble of the cosmos.
Yes, last time, Alaric had been nothing but a speck in his eyes, an insect he could crush effortlessly. But now… now that "speck" possessed a power that intrigued even the Lord of Darkness himself.
Dormammu had initially wanted only to display his might. But when Alaric summoned the God of Magic, that manifestation stirred something within him, a realization that he could absorb that power. And if doing so caused Alaric pain… all the better.
Two problems, one solution.
"Let's see," he said with a wicked grin, "how long you can last."
"Dormammu," Alaric gritted through the pain, "can't you, just once, be… friendly?"
"Friendly?" Dormammu's laughter was guttural. "This is how I treat my friends."
"Then you're the worst friend in history," Alaric said, forcing himself to stay conscious.
"You're special," said Dormammu, as the dark energy around him pulsed. "Your power… exceeds all expectations. The Gods of Magic have vanished, yet you have your own source of power?"
His gaze sharpened. As he drained Alaric's energy, he sensed something strange.
"Wait… this isn't just magical essence. This… this is a universe. You have a pocket universe inside your body?!"
Alaric didn't answer. He simply clenched his teeth and resisted, golden light flickering through his veins.
Dormammu was truly astonished. Never in all the dimensions had he seen such a being.
"You… you carry a universe within you," he said slowly, almost in disbelief. "No wonder your power grows beyond all logic. What the Ancient One could not do, you have achieved. What are you, Alaric?!"
"You… are something far worse… you black abomination," Alaric said weakly, struggling to breathe.
Dormammu didn't get angry. Instead, he intensified the process. His power began to flow deeper, pulling from Alaric's microcosmic universe.
In his mind, Alaric felt the collapse. The stars of his inner cosmos began to crumble. The solar systems within him disintegrated. Planets vanished in explosions of energy.
"Incredible," said Dormammu, ecstatic. "Never have I seen a mortal with such power. Too bad you refused my offer."
"But…" his voice turned poisonously soft, "it's not too late. You can still change your mind. An infinite loop means infinite chances, doesn't it?"
His laughter echoed through the darkness, the laughter of a being who delighted in despair.
"We'll see," thought Alaric. In his mind, a realization struck: If the microcosmos was destroyed, only the Eternal Night World would remain. Dormammu would surely notice that he was drawing energy from his own dimension. And then…
He paused. A thought surfaced, faint but brilliant amid the agony.
Source of Magical Power!
How could he have forgotten? There was a spell that could save his life, forcibly linking with a known magical entity to establish an energy flow.
And right in front of him… was the perfect candidate.
"Dormammu…" he said through gritted teeth, his eyes flashing with golden light.
"You're going to regret this."