"Come on! Let me see how much combat power Kamar-Taj has left after the Ancient One's Death."
At this moment, on a rooftop, Mephisto stood quietly on a chimney, watching the scene of the mage fighting the demon below. He had done all these things just to test the strength of Kamar-Taj. If Kamar-Taj only had this much strength, then he could safely launch a large-scale invasion of the human world.
Meanwhile, back at the training complex, Artoria Stark was adjusting to her explosive new parameters.
"The speed of power growth is very fast, making one a bit unaccustomed to it."
Feeling like she hadn't even used any strength, her hand felt like it was gripping air, and she crushed the alloy grip strength tester. This dynamometer was specially made by Helen Cho, with an upper limit of three hundred tons. Artoria's grip strength had already exceeded this value. Now, Artoria felt she could even arm-wrestle Superman from the neighboring world to see whose 'Kirin Arm' was more powerful. Of course, this wonderful idea could not be realized at all now. Artoria did not have the ability to travel through time and space, so she couldn't go to the DC world to fool around. The crisis in this timeline had not yet been resolved, and Artoria was not at ease leaving.
"I always feel like you're a bit different, Artoria." Galacta, preparing for her daily 'meal', leaned in front of Artoria. For some reason, she felt that the scent on Artoria seemed even more delicious than before. Although she didn't know why, Galacta was very happy. Such a delicious Artoria really made her unable to help swallowing her saliva. She was somewhat unable to resist wanting to 'eat' Artoria, but Galacta still suppressed the suddenly surging appetite.
"Hmm~!" Suddenly having the feeling of being stared at by a carnivore, Artoria shivered all over, and the ahoge on her head kept shaking, as if it had sensed something terrible. Artoria turned her head and took a look at Galacta who was wiping her saliva, instantly understanding where this chill was coming from. This appearance of Galacta was not the first or second time; she was long used to it. This silly, sweet girl's appetite problem was simply unsolvable because of the cosmic entity bug residing inside her.
"Don't suck me dry, otherwise, you won't have anything to eat in the future." Facing Galacta's appearance of enduring hunger, Artoria couldn't bear it.
"Rest assured! Artoria, I still have self-control," Galacta said, before quickly taking a delicate, sharp bite out of the back of Artoria's hand to drain the excess mana. Thanks to Avalon now being fused into Artoria's body, the puncture wounds healed almost instantaneously.
"Get some good rest, let's go out and play another day!" After finishing her meal, Galacta left the room contentedly.
Far away, across the desolate, windswept plains of the American southwest, the true mastermind behind the sudden demonic surge kept watch.
"This world will eventually belong to me, Sorcerer Ancient One."
An old man, standing with his back very straight yet leaning on a cane, stood on the hilltop, quietly watching a red line extending across the desolate land. As the camera zoomed in, a flaming skull could be seen riding a very cool motorcycle. The bike's two wheels constantly spewed flames, burning everything around it. This old man was none other than Mephisto, who had once been scared witless by the Ancient One. His eyes were fixed on the Ghost Rider. Now that he had received news of the Ancient One's Death, he no longer needed to care about how many factions there were on Earth. As long as he could bring the power of Hell to the human world, the massive demon legions from Hell would be able to emerge onto the surface. He could then slowly beat down those who were eyeing the human realm, and the human realm would fall directly into his hands.
"Kamar-Taj remains a threat; it must be eradicated after all."
After withdrawing his gaze from the Ghost Rider, Mephisto thought about it and was still somewhat worried that the Ancient One might have left behind some contingency plans. Kamar-Taj was the Ancient One's base of operations. If she had left anything behind, it would surely be there. Thus, he needed to test how much combat power Kamar-Taj still possessed now that the Ancient One was gone, and whether they had any secret weapons. It was better to be cautious; he had survived for so many years, he didn't want to capsize in the gutter now.
"Hurry up and grow! My Rider."
Thinking of this, Mephisto felt he should go do something big. He acted on his thoughts, and Mephisto's figure slowly dissolved into nothingness, leaving only that sentence behind. It seemed he was very much looking forward to the Ghost Rider's growth and wasn't worried at all that the Ghost Rider would be killed by his own son. Just kidding—this flame was created by God. Apart from God, no one could extinguish the Ghost Rider's fire, nor could anyone destroy it, so Mephisto was not worried in the least.
"Is something about to happen?"
Although he didn't know about Mephisto's actions, Steve was capable enough to have been chosen by the Ancient One as her successor. With his in-depth study of magic, coupled with his recent learning of white magic from the Book of the Vishanti, the Steve of now was no longer the minor bystander he was when fighting Dormammu. Combined with the Time Stone, he hadn't spent much time learning any magic, and his strength had skyrocketed like a Rocket. Today, while meditating as usual, he suddenly felt that something was off. Mages had a very high intuitive sense for certain things. Although it didn't reach the level of an instinctive skill like Artoria's, it was still enough to turn bad luck into good.
"What exactly is it that makes you take it so seriously?"
Since he sensed something was wrong, Steve didn't hesitate too much and directly utilized the Eye of Agamotto crystal ball kept in the vault. Usually, the crystal ball was placed in a box in the Sanctum Sanctorum. When it detected strange magical events anywhere in the world, it would automatically levitate and display the location where the event was happening, much like a radar. When Steve first learned of this magical object's existence, he had truly thought it was like a magic mirror where he could see whatever he wanted, until he used it a few times and discovered that it wasn't actually that miraculous.
Now, Steve wanted to use this object to investigate whether some mystical magical event had occurred. Steve directly ordered Wong to take out the crystal ball. After hearing Steve's order, Wong was a bit puzzled but still brought the crystal ball that Steve needed. After bringing it over, Wong couldn't help but ask.
"I hope my intuition is wrong."
Steve didn't tell Wong directly about what he felt. He was very worried about the occurrence of this situation because such phenomena wouldn't happen over trivial matters. In other words, this concerned something major. Once major matters were involved, it meant the Death of a large number of living beings, which was something Steve was unwilling to see. Sometimes he wondered if he should ask his senior sister Artoria for help, but in the end, he abandoned this plan. For the sake of the posturing he did back then... cough! For the sake of the promise he made before the Ancient One, how could he disturb his senior sister's life?
"Something really happened. These damned demons."
Soon, Steve knew the location of the incident through the crystal ball. Steve quickly opened a portal with Wong and arrived at the address rapidly. Upon arriving, Steve found the ground covered with corpses and remains, and one or two ghouls from Hell were gnawing on the bodies on the ground. A small town near the sea had been completely wiped out. Steve and Wong's expressions were not good. Needless to say, this was entirely the work of the underground forces. Casually wiping out the ghouls that were preparing to attack them, Steve took Wong and began to advance towards the place where the scent of demons was strongest.
"Who on Earth opened the gate of Hell?"
When he walked with Wong to the center of the town, Steve saw a huge pentagram magic circle, all drawn with human blood. A corpse lay at each of the five corners of the magic circle, and the blood seemed to have come from these five people. Judging by the knives and guns in their hands, these five must have been bewitched by demons to stand here and commit suicide, and then their blood was used by the demons to open the gate of Hell.
"Wong, you go back first and gather the mages to help catch or eliminate the demons that have escaped. I will hurry and close the gate here. Based on the coagulation of the blood here, the incident must have happened about ten hours ago. There is a hidden barrier around here. Whoever came might be a lord of Hell. Call the high-level mages over; the others should stay quietly in Kamar-Taj."
Steve told Wong to hurry back. Understanding the severity of the situation, Wong did not hesitate at all, directly opened a portal, and went back to call for help. After Wong left, Steve cautiously observed his surroundings. If it was an entity capable of using magic, then according to ancient books, this guy was at least at the lord level. Of course, the actions of an evil mage could not be ruled out. Since arriving here, Steve had had a strong premonition that a very powerful guy was right here, and hadn't left yet.
"Come out! I see you."
Feeling that things were getting more and more wrong, Steve shouted at the surroundings. He had initially hoped the other party would come out, but it was just a bluff. Unexpectedly, less than five seconds after he said those words, a demon with a pair of giant horns slowly walked towards Steve. This guy's lower body was that of a goat, its upper body was that of a burly man, and it had a pair of pitch-black bat wings on its back. Its face was extremely ugly, looking as if it had been forcefully pieced together from a smashed statue.
"A mage of Kamar-Taj, not bad. Today, let me play with you."
Facing Steve's look of being on high alert, it said very calmly. Unlike its strange appearance, its voice was very magnetic, just like a middle-aged uncle. Its words caused a flash of caution to appear in Steve's eyes. A guy like this who could speak was definitely a high-level demon. That such a guy could actually cross the two realms and come to the human world meant that either there was a problem with the barrier, or someone had already figured out another method.
"Demon, tell me, who exactly summoned you?"
His hands moved rapidly, and two circular magic circles appeared on Steve's hands. He looked cautiously at the high-level demon in front of him. He had to ask about this matter; it concerned what kind of attacks humanity would face in the future. Steve decided he must capture this demon to ask more things.
"Stop talking nonsense, human. Let's fight!"
Facing Steve's inquiry, it had no intention of answering. Its goat hooves began to scrape the ground, a long spear appeared in its hand, and with a voice inconsistent with its image, it launched an attack, charging towards Steve.
"Come on! Let me see how much combat power Kamar-Taj has left after the Ancient One's Death."
At this moment, on a rooftop, Mephisto stood quietly on a chimney, watching the scene of the mage fighting the demon below. He had done all these things just to test the strength of Kamar-Taj. If Kamar-Taj only had this much strength, then he could safely launch a large-scale invasion of the human world.
PS: Having a lot of fun! Sorry for the late update. Don't guess wildly; am I the kind of person who acts so recklessly? ╭(╯^╰)╮ I am male.
"The speed of power growth is very fast, making one a bit unaccustomed to it."
Feeling like she hadn't even used any strength, her hand felt like it was gripping air, and she crushed the alloy grip strength tester. This dynamometer was specially made by Helen Cho, with an upper limit of three hundred tons. Artoria's grip strength had already exceeded this value. Now, Artoria felt she could even arm-wrestle Superman from the neighboring world to see whose 'Kirin Arm' was more powerful. Of course, this wonderful idea could not be realized at all now. Artoria did not have the ability to travel through time and space, so she couldn't go to the DC world to fool around. The crisis in this timeline had not yet been resolved, and Artoria was not at ease leaving.
"I always feel like you're a bit different, Artoria."
Galacta, preparing for her daily 'meal', leaned in front of Artoria. For some reason, she felt that the scent on Artoria seemed even more delicious than before. Although she didn't know why, Galacta was very happy. Such a delicious Artoria really made her unable to help swallowing her saliva. She was somewhat unable to resist wanting to 'eat' Artoria, but Galacta still suppressed the suddenly surging appetite.
"Hmm~!"
Suddenly having the feeling of being stared at by a carnivore, Artoria shivered all over, and the ahoge on her head kept shaking, as if it had sensed something terrible. Artoria turned her head and took a look at Galacta who was wiping her saliva, instantly understanding where this chill was coming from. This appearance of Galacta was not the first or second time; she was long used to it. This silly, sweet girl's appetite problem was simply unsolvable. That was because there was a bug in this girl's body that could eat the Universe. Because of the existence of this bug, Galactus was driven somewhat insane by appetite. When Galactus asexually reproduced the Star-Devouring Woman Galacta, this bug transferred from his body to Galacta's body. She didn't know if Galacta was that bug transformed, but from the perspective of comics, Artoria was more inclined to the idea of a transferred host.
"Don't suck me dry, otherwise, you won't have anything to eat in the future."
Facing Galacta's appearance of enduring hunger, Artoria couldn't bear it. Anyway, she had been feeding this big-appetite Star-Devouring Woman for such a long time, and she didn't care about this bit. But this time, Artoria really felt a bit terrified. What if Galacta accidentally became greedy and sucked her dry? If that happened, Artoria would absolutely not be able to accept it. Experiencing the state of magic depletion once was enough; Artoria didn't want to do it again.
"Rest assured! Artoria, I still have self-control."
Artoria's words brought Galacta back to her senses from her appetite. She said cautiously to Artoria that no matter how hungry she was, she would not harm the life of her friend. This was the bottom line she held on to. If she were to break this bottom line, it would be even more difficult than killing her. This point could be seen from her self-control ability; having eaten Artoria's magic for so long, even though she was almost unable to resist eating a few more bites, she still held back.
"Be gentle when you bite, althou... Ah~!"
After hearing Galacta's words, Artoria felt there was no problem, and even had a sense of guilt for misjudging Galacta. Artoria couldn't help but say that sentence, but before she finished speaking, Galacta hugged Artoria's arm, opened her little mouth, and quickly bit onto Artoria's fair and tender back of her hand. Artoria didn't know what substance Galacta's teeth were made of; Artoria's hard dragon scales didn't even block it for a moment and were instantly pierced through by Galacta's teeth. The pale golden blood on the surface flowed down along Galacta's little mouth, dripped onto the sofa, and directly burned a hole in the sofa.
Why did she suddenly use this method to gnaw on the magic in Artoria's body? This had to do with Gaea. The source of magic was the heart, and the pores used for magic in daily life could actually flow out. If Artoria didn't want Galacta to kiss, she could also choose to let Galacta lick, but this was just like licking candy and was completely unsatisfying. The exits for magic were only the mouth and the two holes below. Artoria wouldn't let Galacta do that, and even if Galacta was willing, Artoria would absolutely not allow it.
Actually, the method of sucking mouth-to-mouth was quite good, but the 'Death' glare Gaea sent over, along with the kitchen knife in her hand, made Galacta and Artoria shudder. They were terrified that one day Gaea might suddenly 'chop' them up, so they adopted this method, which made Artoria feel a deep ache. Having never been injured or beaten since she was a child, Artoria still found it hard to accept this kind of pain, even if it wasn't very painful.
"It's fine, it's already healed."
After consuming most of Artoria's magic power, Galacta let go. The wounds on Artoria's body healed rapidly, disappearing in the blink of an eye. The scabbard hidden within Artoria exerted its healing effect, and Artoria's injuries recovered in less than a second. Seeing Artoria recover so quickly, Galacta felt relieved but also puzzled. Previously, it had recovered much slower, and it took Gaea's help to recover that fast. This time, Artoria didn't even ask Gaea for help, yet she recovered so quickly. Something must have happened to Artoria.
Although she had doubts, the good girl Galacta did not pursue the matter with Artoria. After all, there should be a limit to curiosity, otherwise, it would annoy others. This was a principle Galacta learned on Earth, and she felt it was very correct. It seemed she had asked her dad too many questions, which was why he was so withdrawn. She needed to find a time to have a good talk with her dad and show him some care.
"Get some good rest, let's go out and play another day!"
After finishing her meal, Galacta didn't even offer Artoria any comfort and turned to leave immediately, perfectly mimicking the 'post-coital' callous behavior of some guys. Artoria watched the spot where Galacta had quickly departed, her eyes twitching. She now felt like a girl who had been abandoned by a scumbag... a scumbag girl after losing her way. The goal had been achieved, so she was no longer needed? Just leaving like this? Not even staying to play with me for a while, jerk.
"Did you get it?"
No matter what Artoria thought, Galacta couldn't concern herself with her thoughts at the moment. Using telepathy, Galacta arrived in an Underground Room. Even Gaea didn't know about this place; it was beneath the surface of Mars. She had followed Morgan's advice, using the technology her dad had taught her, combined with technology from some high-tech races in the Universe she had collected, and had easily finished the creation. Galacta looked around and found no one else present. She scratched her long hair in confusion. Where did everyone go? After walking forward two steps, Galacta heard a woman's voice—it was Morgan.
"You've already got it?"
Facing Morgan's inquiry, Galacta placed her hand into the cleavage of her breasts and took out a transparent tube. The liquid inside was Artoria's blood. The moment she saw the blood, Morgan's eyes lit up. With this, she could create Artoria's bloodline. Unlike her previous ideas—when she created Mordred, she only wanted to destroy Great Britain and wanted 'Father and son' to turn against each other—her goal now was to have someone who could protect Artoria.
"Don't forget, there's also my baby; I want a cute little baby too."
Seeing Morgan staring blankly at Artoria's blood, Galacta worried that this woman would swallow her things and not help her, which would mean all her hard work was for nothing. Thinking of this, Galacta reminded Morgan. Although the words were childish, Morgan decided to grant Galacta's request; after all, having one more person in the future meant one more source of power.
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