Agamotto

Deep in an endless forest, a battered pickup truck was driving along a weed-choked road.

A figure fell from the sky, landing heavily right in the middle of the road!

The old man driving the pickup slammed on the brakes and said to his wife in the passenger seat, "Stay in the truck. I'll get out and take a look!"

The little old lady was clearly shaken. "Sam!"

The old man called Sam gently stroked the back of her hand and reassured her, "It's all right!"

Old Sam then pulled a shotgun from beneath his seat and carefully got out of the truck.

An Asian man in religious-style robes lay motionless in the middle of the road, a fan clutched tightly in his hand. A strange pendant that looked like miniature armor hung around his neck. There was no blood and no wound!

"Hey, wake up!" Sam prodded the man on the ground with his gun barrel.

There was no response.

He braced the gunstock against his chest with one hand, freeing the other to check him. A moment later, Old Sam looked up at the towering trees on either side of the road and sighed.

"Sam?"

"He's still warm, but he's got no breath or pulse."

"Then he..."

"Let's bury him. I don't know why he climbed a tree, but we should show the dead respect."

Sam put away the shotgun and took a shovel from the truck bed. Then he said in a voice only he could hear, "He looks like a clergyman. I hope the god he worships will bless my son!"

One minute earlier.

To avoid being swept up in the Quantum Storm, Lin Xu had had no choice but to activate Gungnir once again. He had then arrived in this world, which was unknown to him for the time being.

He had then tried using a levitation spell, intending to see where he was.

And that was as far as he got.

He had barely risen twenty meters off the ground when he felt a tug on his soul. Even drawing on all the divine power in his sub-dimension did no good!

As his soul left his body, his body plunged from the sky. Fortunately, Hoggoth had given him bone armor, or he might have followed in the Ancient One's footsteps...

Becoming a powerful mage who fell to his death...

A moment later, Lin Xu's soul followed the pull to a group of ancient buildings. Two enormous statues towered at the center of the complex.

Looking at the two statues, Lin Xu was utterly speechless.

Oshtur and Hoggoth...

"Is anyone there?"

There was no response.

"Hello?"

Everything was unusually quiet.

"Ancient One?"

"The Ancient One isn't here."

A resonant voice sounded behind Lin Xu, startling him into turning around.

Before him was a soul, in the same state he was in. He couldn't tell the figure's race, but he was a very beautiful... man. Although he had a pipe in his mouth, Lin Xu couldn't sense the slightest trace of manliness about him.

"Who are you?" Lin Xu warily stepped... floated back two paces.

"Greetings, visitor from the Multiverse. You may call me... the Sorcerer Supreme." The beautiful man spoke in a lilting London accent at an unhurried pace and gave an extremely gentlemanly bow for good measure.

"What you did wasn't very gentlemanly."

"My apologies, but the way you entered this universe wasn't particularly polite either."

"..."

All Lin Xu wanted to say was, That damned London accent, that damned gentleman act. Who the *** is he trying to fool?!

As Lin Xu thought this, he watched the man's expression. After ten seconds, seeing no reaction from him, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Good. Although he didn't know what this Sorcerer Supreme was called and the man was very powerful, he apparently couldn't read minds.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"The place where you appeared is a very important point in this world's timeline. I didn't want you to disrupt it."

"Is it that serious?"

"Very serious. For some reason, time and space are too tightly entangled in this universe. Twenty thousand years ago, someone tried to change their predestined fate, causing space to rupture. Then He came, bearing flames that burned everything to ashes... So this universe is too fragile. Only by following time can it endure!"

Who was He?

Although Lin Xu really wanted to ask, the man clearly didn't seem inclined to say.

After a long silence, Lin Xu suddenly looked up and asked, "What if my existence is what was predestined? By forcibly intervening, wouldn't you be upsetting the balance?"

He received a look reserved for idiots.

"...I said, what if!"

"Assuming your 'what if' were true, my intervention still wouldn't upset the balance. It would only create a branch in time."

"Why?"

"Because I placed myself outside time!"

Hearing this, Lin Xu was shaken. Beyond time? He was that powerful?

Then, as though he had thought of something, he suddenly turned his gaze toward the two statues.

Oshtur, Hoggoth. The only one missing was... Agamotto!!

So this man might be Agamotto himself!

Having made the connection, Lin Xu didn't relax. If anything, he grew even more nervous.

If he remembered correctly, in one version of the comics, Agamotto had turned evil. The reason was that he thought the previous Sorcerer Supreme, Strange, had done a terrible job, while the new Sorcerer Supreme lacked experience, so he had orchestrated a demonic invasion...

In the end, the new Sorcerer Supreme could only take down Agamotto at the cost of his own life...

Agamotto seemed to have noticed something. Somewhat helplessly, he asked, "What earth-shattering thing did I do in another universe?"

"Don't you know? For someone who's transcended time, traveling the Multiverse shouldn't be difficult, should it?"

"I can, but I don't dare. Mother and Big Cat risked their lives to protect this universe. I don't want to bring about its destruction through some action of my own."

"Big... Cat?" Does Hoggoth know you call him that?

"Hahaha, I've always called him that. Speaking of him, you should thank him. If you didn't have his rib on you, you would have died the moment you entered this universe!"

Praise the god of white magic! Praise the venerable Hoggoth!

This time, Lin Xu was genuinely glad. It seemed that kissing up really did work. That flattery had been worth it.

"Since I can't change the timeline, can you send me back?"

"No!"

"Then, can I leave on my own?"

"No!"

"Why?"

"Your arrival was just an accident. You're here now, so be it. But to leave, you'd have to break through the fabric of the universe. As I said, for some reason, time and space are too tightly entangled in this universe. When you break through space, time will be indirectly damaged as well. I can't let you do that!"

Lin Xu was utterly speechless. He couldn't leave, and he couldn't interfere in worldly affairs. Did that mean he could only live in seclusion with this old geezer?

"Isn't there any other way?"

Agamotto fell silent.

A spark of hope instantly ignited in Lin Xu's eyes!

After a long silence, Agamotto finally spoke. "Perhaps I could try to place you outside time as well..."

—Can you guess which universe this is?