Chương 21: Ch.21 The Ancient One, Back from the Dead?
Holy crap!
Ronan couldn't help but mentally curse.
You can even see that?
I guess there's no underestimating you!
"You mean this?" Ronan asked, showing the palm of his left hand.
The golden hexagram symbol there began to faintly glow.
Upon seeing the symbol, a knowing look crossed the Ancient One's face.
It seemed she had some understanding of the situation.
"It looks like you know about this, but perhaps you don't fully understand it," she said softly. "I never told you, did I?"
The Ancient One slowly stepped closer, gently brushing Ronan's right cheek with her hand. The gesture was strikingly similar to how she used to touch his face when he was younger.
Wait a minute!
Suddenly, Ronan's eyes widened.
A thought crossed his mind—if he could travel between parallel worlds, could the former Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One, do the same?
No, there was another possibility.
It was said that after death, the souls of Kamar-Taj's sorcerers return to the Vishanti, as a price for borrowing their magic.
The Ancient One, as Sorcerer Supreme, couldn't escape that fate, right? After all, the Vishanti were incredibly powerful.
But why was the Ancient One standing before him now, seemingly "resurrected"?
Could it be that... the Ancient One was the Vishanti's representative on Earth?
Ronan immediately rejected that idea.
It was just a theory. In his past life, he was merely a fan of the movies, with only a surface-level understanding of the comics.
Besides, the comics themselves often contradicted their own rules.
So all he could do was guess.
"My child, I know you have many questions," the Ancient One said gently, her voice filled with warmth. "But knowing too much right now won't do you any good."
"If I haven't told you, there's a reason for it."
She softly patted Ronan's head, her gaze radiating a maternal kindness that Ronan hadn't seen since he turned ten.
From then on, he had only seen approval in her eyes—or expressions he couldn't decipher.
"Master Ancient One, I'm just a high school student who still has homework to do. Saving the world is more of a job for Strange. You wouldn't want to trouble a mere high school kid, right?"
Ronan tried to test the waters by subtly changing how he addressed her.
Naturally, the Ancient One saw through his little trick, but she didn't call him out on it.
Instead, she smiled and said, "Clever boy. You truly are the most unique among the infinite universes."
That almost broke Ronan's composure.
Seriously?!
Are we doing this again?
Conqueror Kang already messed with my head. Now both versions of the Ancient One are at it too?
I'm just a kid! A sixteen-year-old kid!
Ronan felt an overwhelming urge to cry.
"Haha! You're far more amusing than Strange," the Ancient One laughed heartily, clearly enjoying herself.
It was rare for her to express emotions so openly. Ronan had spent so much time with her, and he had rarely seen her like this.
But today, here it was.
"Alright, I know there's no point in trying to avoid this," Ronan sighed. "Master, what do you want me to do?"
"You brought me to this universe for a reason, and now you've found me."
He knew there were some things he couldn't run away from.
That was life. If you couldn't escape, you might as well embrace the moment.
"It seems you've misunderstood my intentions," the Ancient One said with a smile, taking Ronan by the wrist. With a slight push of her feet, both of their astral forms floated up, passing through the walls of the Sanctum Sanctorum until they were standing on the roof, overlooking Kamar-Taj.
As a child, Ronan had loved sitting there, looking out at Kamar-Taj, wondering if it was all a dream. He was always afraid that when he woke up, everything would return to normal.
"Kamar-Taj, as the protector of Earth, has faced many external threats over the years," the Ancient One said as she looked out at the sunset.
"But I rarely intervened. Because I understood that many things are destined."
With a gentle twist of her hand, the sky began to change.
In an instant, the balance of heaven and earth shifted. The setting sun reversed its course, rising again from the west, while the moon and stars vanished from the sky.
Kamar-Taj itself began to transform. Buildings unraveled piece by piece, and the smooth, well-maintained ground became rough and uneven.
Even the surrounding mountains shifted—some rising slowly, others sinking.
Time was flowing in reverse!
But to Ronan, the vision was something entirely different.
He saw Thanos arriving on Earth with the Infinity Gauntlet. He heard the snap and watched as countless people disintegrated into ash.
Then he saw Odin, as an elderly man, arriving on Earth, followed by his two sons.
After that, a scene Ronan knew all too well—the invasion of the Chitauri.
But the vision didn't stop there. What happened next stunned Ronan beyond words.
The dark energy of Dormammu invaded the entire sky, and Dormammu's face appeared above them.
A burning pain surged through Ronan's left palm. He looked down to see the hexagram symbol glowing brightly.
"What is this…?"
Ronan was at a loss. He hadn't processed what was happening yet.
How had Dormammu's face suddenly appeared over Earth?
Before he could ask the Ancient One for an explanation, a familiar figure appeared behind him.
The Ancient One.
Yes, a younger version of the Ancient One.
Hundreds of Kamar-Taj disciples poured out of the Sanctum, wielding red and yellow Raggador Rings. These rings merged into a massive shield, soaring into the sky above Kamar-Taj.
It was only then that Ronan realized.
These were all memories from the Ancient One's past.
Her voice slowly echoed in his ears.
"I've always adhered to the rules of the Sorcerer Supreme. Unless Earth faced total annihilation, Kamar-Taj remained hidden from the world."
"I did well. Few knew we existed."
The Ancient One took a few steps forward, gazing at her younger self battling Dormammu, her expression serene.
Her tone resembled someone reflecting on their life in their final moments.
Most people only got to offer such reflections before moving on to the next world.
"You truly did well… Master," Ronan muttered, watching the battle play out in the sky.
He wasn't sure how to respond.
Even witnessing a vision of that past made Ronan tremble uncontrollably.
He couldn't imagine if he could face Dormammu as bravely as the Ancient One had.
"No, child," the Ancient One said, stepping beside him and placing a hand on his shoulder.
"You can do everything I've done. You can even surpass me."
"Though some things may have changed unexpectedly, from the moment I first saw you, my worries vanished."
"You will do everything I could, and more."
"And all we ask of you… is one thing."
"Follow your heart."
"Rules never had the abiltiy to bind you."
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