Peter listened quietly as Clea finished the complete oath process. This time, he smiled and pulled her up from the ground, carefully tucking the stray hair from her forehead behind her ears, his eyes filled with a gentle smile:
"From now on, the Dark Dimension is in your hands. If you run into any trouble, you can notify me at any time, and I will come here to assist you immediately."
"And what about when there isn't any trouble?" Clea raised her little face to look at him, her eyes filled with deep reliance.
Having grown up witnessing the schemes and deceit between her uncle and her mother, she naturally possessed a strong inclination to admire the strong. Last night, Peter had given her the gentle care she had long lacked, which made her even more unable to extricate herself from her feelings for Peter.
If it weren't for the fact that she knew Peter also had his own dimension to govern, she truly would not want to be separated from him.
Seeing her clingy demeanor, Peter naturally didn't want to dampen her spirits. So, with a wave of his hand, he condensed a soul incantation on both of their foreheads, similar to the one between Kaecilius and Dormammu previously:
"If I have time, I will of course come here to see you. If you truly miss me, you can also contact me through this incantation, and I will come to see you as soon as I receive the message."
Clea was generally satisfied with Peter's answer, but she still couldn't help asking curiously:
"When I miss you, can I also go to your dimension to see you? I also want to see what the dimension you live in is like."
Facing Clea's expectant gaze, Peter ultimately shook his head gently.
If Clea had not inherited the Flames of Regency and had not succeeded Dormammu as the new ruler of the Dark Dimension, then there would naturally be no problem with her coming to live on Earth.
But right now, Clea is deeply bound to the Dark Dimension. Once she appears on Earth, it will inevitably cause a large amount of Dark Energy to leak, which is not a good thing for Earth.
The reason Peter came to the Dark Dimension to eliminate Dormammu was precisely to prevent Dark Energy from invading Earth and affecting the living beings there.
If he were to break this rule just for the sake of his personal affection for Clea, wouldn't that be putting the cart before the horse?
After some earnest persuasion, Clea finally understood Peter's good intentions and completely let go of those willful little thoughts in her heart.
After lingering affectionately for a while longer, Peter finally found Gwen and Hela.
When the two women saw him coming, they both rolled their eyes simultaneously, then turned and walked away with their arms crossed, wishing they could write lyrics like "You have her perfume on you" on their faces.
Since he was the one who had invited this romantic debt, Peter naturally had to coax them carefully in this situation.
Forcibly ignoring the Ancient One, who was wearing an auntie-like smile on the side, Peter first signaled to Hela with his eyes that they would have a battle for at least three days and three nights after returning, guaranteeing that she would enjoy the fun of combat to the fullest, before turning to put his arm around Gwen and walking aside to comfort her in a low voice.
In fact, Gwen wasn't really angry or jealous. If she were truly that possessive, she would have already died of frustration when her good friend Felicia had intervened.
The attitude she was putting on right now was just to make a statement.
She couldn't possibly be expected to act as the head wife and still show an indifferent attitude toward such matters, could she?
Therefore, after letting Peter coax her for a while, Gwen took the opportunity to give Peter a way out, and the matter concerning Clea was naturally laid to rest.
Because he was already deeply bound to the Dark Energy, it was quite easy for Peter to take people back to Earth.
Just like when he banished Umar previously, he only needed to make a casual swipe, and a portal to Earth would appear in the void.
The group of five, led by Peter, passed through the portal and returned to Earth. The moment the portal behind them closed, the Ancient One collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Her skin, which had been as fair as a middle-aged person's, withered rapidly, and fine wrinkles instantly crawled all over her body, as if she had suddenly aged by more than several decades.
She had forcibly extended her life for a thousand years through Dark Energy. Now, as the Dark Dimension was completely closed, she immediately suffered the backlash from losing the replenishment of Dark Energy.
Her life force plummeted rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, she entered a state where her breath was as thin as a gossamer thread.
Seeing this, Peter subconsciously wanted to use the power of the dog talisman to extend the Ancient One's life, but the Ancient One gently waved her hand, refusing Peter's kindness:
"Being able to see the Dark Dimension completely closed, I have no regrets in death. Why should I continue to cling to the vanities of this world?"
She said, turning her gaze to Gwen, reaching out with a trembling hand to gently stroke Gwen's hair:
"Good child, do not be sad. I have already prevented countless terrible events; for me, it is long past time to rest. But unfortunately, bad things always follow one after another, and after I die, you and Peter are the only two people who can resolve all of this. So, take my share and keep moving forward..."
As her voice faded, the hand resting on Gwen's hair fell limply. A generation of the Sorcerer Supreme had fallen.
Unlike Spider-Man from other Universes, this was Gwen's first time experiencing the life-and-death parting of someone important, and this experience was naturally deeply engraved in her heart.
Fortunately, compared to other Spider-Men, Gwen still had Peter by her side, which destined her to emerge from the sorrow a step earlier and protect the duties entrusted to her by the Ancient One with an even firmer conviction.
With Peter's help, the two worked together to bring the Ancient One's remains back to Kamar-Taj. Wong, Mordo—who had not been corrupted—and Gwen held a simple funeral for the Ancient One together.
They made a small bamboo raft covered in flowers, placed the Ancient One's remains on it, and watched as the raft drifted away with the current.
It was as if, one day in the future, they would meet again at the end of time.
The Ancient One had departed, but life had to go on.
With Peter's company, Gwen gradually recovered from the blow of her mentor's passing, and then erupted with an even firmer will called protection.
She did not give up either identity, whether as Spider-Man or as the Sorcerer Supreme; instead, she approached her duties with an even more proactive attitude.
Gwen began to devote more energy to her career as a superhero.
Not limited to New York alone, whenever a crisis occurred in any region that she could reach in time, she would use the Sling Ring to appear at the scene and resolve the crisis immediately.
This Superman-like life was undoubtedly a form of self-torture for Peter, but for Gwen, who possessed a saintly heart in the true sense, it was indeed her form of cultivation.
Peter could feel that Gwen did not feel pain from performing such work, and was even still enjoying it.
So, he let Gwen continue to be busy like this, quietly serving as Gwen's spiritual harbor.
Peaceful and happy times passed day by day, until this day, when a young Black girl tore through space and suddenly arrived at Parker Manor...
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