Early the next morning—
Damon groggily dragged himself out of bed, left hand still on E, right hand still on C.
As he yawned, he snapped his fingers.
At once, the broom, mop, and laundry sprang to life—dutifully sweeping, mopping, and tidying up the chaotic bedroom.
These were spell templates he'd copied from Veronica and Morgana.
After last night's… thorough study session, Veronica had finally been persuaded—successfully recorded into the Map Editor System.
Not only did Damon claim his "first blood," but the system also rewarded him with 1,000 anomaly points, upgrading his Map Editor to Version 2.6.
In addition, he'd now mastered several kinds of magic from both Veronica and Morgana:
Particle Sphere
Water Flow Manipulation
Energy Shield
Astral Projection
Elementalization
Necromantic Resurrection
Some of these overlapped with the Kamar-Taj school of sorcery—but in essence, the two magical systems were vastly different.
Two Magical Schools
The Merlin System (from Morgana and Veronica's lineage) was elemental magic—channeling the forces of water, fire, lightning, and earth as pure energy-based attacks.
They also developed specialized magic schools: Transformation, Animation, Necromancy, Resurrection, Life, and Soul magic.
In contrast, the Kamar-Taj System (Doctor Strange's line) drew its power from other-dimensional beings.
Their sorcerers possessed no innate magic; they borrowed energy from dimensional gods.
But borrowed power always carries a price.
Every spell cast required a sacrifice.
Most Kamar-Taj mages drew from the Vishanti—the triad of benevolent deities—but even they sometimes had to strike deals with darker entities.
That's why few Kamar-Taj masters ever died peacefully.
By the time their "payment plan" came due, their souls were long gone.
The Merlin System, by comparison, had no such side effects.
It relied on the user's magic rings to command elements directly—magic backed by logic and science.
Merlin-style sorcery was practical, balanced, and safe...
But its ceiling was low.
Even Merlin himself had never reached the power of a planetary god.
Meanwhile, a high-level Kamar-Taj sorcerer could annihilate dimensions—or even slay demons.
Damon thought it over.
In this messed-up universe, the Merlin System wasn't half bad—but Kamar-Taj magic was clearly more combat-effective.
This world was crawling with things that ate stars for breakfast.
Maybe that was why Kamar-Taj even existed in the first place—
born from the need to fight fire with hellfire.
Still…
He couldn't deny that Merlin-style magic was a blessing in everyday life.
Watching his floating broom and self-folding laundry, Damon chuckled.
For a second, he felt like he'd woken up in Harry Potter.
Come to think of it, the resemblance wasn't far off—
Magic rings, magic wands… same thing, different accessory.
"Who knows," Damon mused, brushing his teeth,
"Maybe Hogwarts really exists in this world too.
I should visit England someday."
Morning News
After washing up, Damon headed to the living room.
Jenny had breakfast ready and was lazily watching TV, hair tousled, one leg crossed over the other.
The morning news ran a string of bizarre headlines:
"Umbrella Corporation announces a breakthrough in life-engineering technology—now recruiting national volunteers and top researchers for its Raccoon City Biotech Institute!"
"A mysterious vortex has appeared in the Pacific Ocean—eyewitnesses claim to have spotted a UFO emerging from the site!"
"Stark Expo ends with major energy research announcements by Iron Man himself!"
"Thousands across New York report seeing a colossal, thunderous deity—hundreds of meters tall—accompanied by a giant lightning beast!"
Damon froze mid-bite.
"Umbrella Corporation? Pacific Ocean?"
His grogginess vanished.
Was that—Resident Evil?
Had the Biohazard Universe just merged in too?!
He frowned, thinking it through.
He wasn't sure if it was the game version of Resident Evil or the movie continuity…
but either way, it shouldn't pose much threat in a Marvel-tier world.
Still—something felt off.
"What if it's not just Resident Evil?"
His mind jumped to one of the darkest Marvel timelines:
the Marvel Zombies Universe.
A plague that infected superheroes and villains alike—
turning gods and mutants into flesh-eating undead.
They devoured the human race…
then the Silver Surfer,
then even Galactus the Devourer himself.
After that, they took their hunger to the stars, consuming the entire universe.
That world was pure despair.
Damon's expression grew grim.
"Let's hope it doesn't get that bad."
Normal zombies were one thing.
The Umbrella Corporation's T-virus and G-virus were powerful, but not apocalyptic on that scale.
But… just in case.
If someone tinkered too far and birthed a multiversal zombie strain—
then everyone might as well type GG and log out.
And that vortex in the Pacific?
He glanced at the date.
June 1st, 2010.
"Wait… in Pacific Rim, the first Kaiju breach happened in 2013."
He frowned.
"So this vortex… could it be the wormhole they use for invasion?"
The Precursors, he recalled, were a hyper-advanced alien species with mastery over biotechnology and space-folding.
Their home planet had been ruined by over-extraction—so they colonized other worlds.
They created Kaiju—bioengineered monsters fused with toxic DNA—to invade and terraform planets into poisonous wastelands suitable for their kind.
The first wave of Kaiju appeared in the Triassic Era, but the invasion failed due to Earth's environment.
Fast forward to August 11, 2013,
they sent the first Kaiju through the Breach—landing in San Francisco.
Thus began the Kaiju War.
"But this Earth isn't that Earth," Damon muttered.
"This is Marvel's dark remix of Earth."
Slasher demons, cosmic entities, and horror anomalies lurked in every corner.
If the Precursors really tried invading this planet…
"They're the ones in trouble."
He smirked.
"Trying to colonize this cursed planet? That's not colonization—that's assisted suicide."
He pictured Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, and Venom tag-teaming a Kaiju, and nearly laughed.
"Earth's basically a siege city.
The people inside can't escape…
and the ones outside can't wait to get in and die trying."
He shook his head.
"Well, come on in. Once you're here, you're not leaving.
Welcome to the Dark Forest Era."
Then, another thought struck him.
"Wait… this is around the time Thor gets banished to Earth, right?"
He grinned.
"Looks like another wave of anomaly points is about to come in."
~~----------------------
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