I, Matou Sakura, Third of the Flame-Chasers!

Was that Wong's voice?

Nyarko had left?

Along with The Ancient One?

"I'm fine."

She answered quickly, then nodded.

"I'll continue reading."

As she spoke, she picked up the ninth book, The Use of Magic.

Wong scratched his head. He always felt that something was off.

Right!

This distinguished guest had actually returned safely from the multiverse all by herself. That was truly incredible!

As expected of the Sorcerer Supreme's distinguished guest!

So that was how it was.

Watching Wong leave from the corner of her eye, Matou Sakura sighed inwardly.

Nyarko, Nyarlathotep.

Why had someone like that taken an interest in her?

Come to think of it, hadn't she asked me something?

Why can't I remember it?

Her brows were tightly furrowed, and the open book before her no longer held any appeal.

What exactly had the question been?

Five days later, in the library.

Matou Sakura closed the book in her hands and returned it to its original place.

This was the 272nd book.

Her reading speed had not increased with time. Instead, it had slowed down.

As she got started with magic, the books she read became increasingly profound. Moreover, the books that recorded magic possessed special magical power, making the process of absorbing their knowledge slower.

Still, according to Wong, her speed was already terrifying.

Take the 132nd book she had read, The Connection of Space Gates.

That book documented another way to use Space Gates, as well as how to connect multiple Space Gates. It was considered a relatively difficult book.

When she read it, it took her four hours to finish learning it. Wong, on the other hand, had spent a whole year finishing that book—and he had merely finished reading it, which was completely different from actually learning it as she had.

So, finishing 272 books in five days was already an extremely terrifying pace.

A small Space Gate opened. Matou Sakura directly reached through it and retrieved a book from elsewhere.

She had previously read the first volume on sealing magic, and now she was reading the second volume. Since the two books had not been placed together, she had used a Space Gate to fetch it.

Hopefully, The Ancient One wouldn't mind her casually opening a Space Gate into her room.

Come to think of it, that terrifying being still hadn't made a move.

On the second day after that incident, everything had returned to how it was before, including The Ancient One.

She seemed to know something, but also seemed restricted by something, leaving her only able to act as though she knew nothing.

Sakura could understand that. After all, it was Nyarlathotep. Based on this world's power scale, Nyarlathotep, as one of the Three Great Gods, was undoubtedly a Hyperversal Level existence—perhaps even a Hyper-Multiversal Level powerhouse.

The Vishanti behind The Ancient One were merely Multiversal Level beings. Even if the Vishanti were a trinity of Multiversal Level beings, a Hyperversal Level existence could easily crush Multiversal Level beings, even if there were three of them.

Even Eternity, one of The Ancient One's backers in the comics, was only close to Hyperversal Level and would not be Nyarlathotep's opponent.

Furthermore, she personally leaned toward Nyarlathotep normally being a Hyper-Multiversal Level existence.

In the Marvel Universe, there existed an extradimensional evil god called the Eye Demon. According to the setting, the Eye Demon was an avatar of an Outer God from the Cthulhu Mythos, possibly the work of Yog-Sothoth, the One Who Is All in One. Yet the Eye Demon possessed Hyperversal Level strength!

And it was merely an avatar!

It was clear that Nyarlathotep, also one of the Three Great Gods, was definitely not as simple as merely being Hyperversal Level.

Hyper-Multiversal Level strength was entirely possible.

She closed the open book again and slowly exhaled. She needed to relax, get some sun. As the saying went, balancing work and rest was the best way to grow.

She had been here for quite a while.

She opened another Space Gate, returned the book in her hand, informed Wong, and then left the library.

The air in Kamar-Taj was fresh, and because it was located high in the Himalayas, the sunlight reached it well.

She had noticed it before: the Solar Energy emitted by the sun in the Marvel World was purer and more powerful than that of the sun in the Nasuverse. Absorbing Solar Energy in this world allowed her to evolve much faster than in the Nasuverse.

Standing at a high vantage point, many people saw her, yet no one disturbed her—not even Mordo.

She had not spent all these days in the library. She had also exchanged ideas with the other sorcerers and fought plenty of magical battles.

Only through mutual exchange could one grow. Even Mordo had sparred with her, and most of their matches ended in draws. After all, in magical combat, unless there were special circumstances, there was rarely a clear winner. Such battles were more about exchanging insights and demonstrating one's understanding of magic.

Because of this, she had earned the respect of many people in Kamar-Taj, including Mordo and Wong. It was a respect separate from the regard The Ancient One had instructed them to show her.

Of course, there were exceptions for those destined to do evil.

Forty-Three: Disorderly Death

As the sun gradually set, Matou Sakura planned to return to the library. According to her plan, she intended to read through every book in the library within a month.

Naturally, excluding the forbidden books.

Although The Ancient One had acted as though nothing had happened after the previous incident, she had still removed some books from the library.

Matou Sakura guessed they were books related to the Cthulhu Pantheons.

Eye Demons existed in Marvel, and in Marvel's animated universe, both The Ancient One and Doctor Strange had used magic related to Eye Demons.

This kind of magic was particularly strange and sinister, especially in its powerful effects on the mind.

After all, mental contamination was those beings' specialty.

She remembered that after The Ancient One used the Eye Demon's power, she erased the Side Effect of the magic with her own formidable Magic Power. Doctor Strange, whose strength was insufficient, had been affected instead. His arm turned into black tentacles, and he severed it while enduring the pain. Yet the severed arm still escaped, and in the end, a villain nearly ate it and turned into one of the Eye Demon's avatars.

In short, the Side Effects of Eye Demon magic were all rather horrifying.

Just as Matou Sakura was preparing to leave, she keenly sensed a change in the surrounding space.

It was the fluctuation of a Space Gate. The Ancient One?

"It's me."

The Ancient One appeared before Matou Sakura, smiling.

"Your perception of space has grown stronger and stronger."

"Thanks to the books in your collection."

Matou Sakura smiled faintly. She was still very grateful to The Ancient One.

"Books are merely vessels for knowledge. How one understands them still depends on one's own effort and talent."

The Ancient One paused briefly here.

"If I did not know that you would leave this universe, I truly would have wanted to ask you to stay and succeed me."

The talent of the girl before her was simply too extraordinary.

The miraculous light that contained hope, the magical markings from an unknown hell, that eerie bloodline resembling that of a god, and the spark in her heart that held infinite life and spirit.

So long as this girl did not fall, her name would one day resound throughout this universe—and even grander universes beyond it.

Moreover, the girl bore the blessing of that great existence.

The coexistence of spirit and flesh was something even she had failed to achieve after all these years, yet in the hands of that great existence, it was as simple as breathing.

When she realized this, she had even considered sending the girl to Kunlun.

The fusion of soul and body, along with that special bloodline—such a combination was truly well suited to Kunlun's cultivation of qi.

But Kunlun's qi was merely somewhat superfluous to the girl.

"I'm sorry."

Matou Sakura smiled faintly. She would have agreed if this had been at the very beginning, but now she had an obsession in her heart. It was impossible for her to stay and become the Sorcerer Supreme.

"It's alright."

The Ancient One shook her head and made an inviting gesture.

"Please come with me. That lady has arrived."

Nyarko?

Matou Sakura's expression tightened, and she could not help feeling nervous. Still, she nodded and followed The Ancient One.

The Ancient One did not use a Space Gate, instead leading Matou Sakura on foot.

Nyarko isn't in Kamar-Taj?

Matou Sakura frowned slightly. She had assumed The Ancient One would take her directly to a room, since that would have been suitable for a meeting.

But judging by their direction, they were heading outside Kamar-Taj!

The two walked through the snow, leaving footprints in the thick accumulation.

Matou Sakura noticed the abnormality in the surrounding space. Under such circumstances, it was impossible to use a Space Gate.

Using a Space Gate required spatial stability. If one used it while space was unstable, there was a high chance of ending up in dangerous spatial turbulence. With bad luck, one could die directly within the spatial turbulence. Even if one survived through tremendous luck, one might still be swept away to an unknown planet—or even another universe.

She finally understood why The Ancient One had chosen to walk.

Without asking about Nyarko, she silently followed behind The Ancient One.

The distance was not far. The entrance to a cave, clearly their destination, lay right ahead.

Just as they were about to arrive, The Ancient One stopped.

Her mission had ended here. She could not take even a single step farther!

Vishanti had not been the one to make a move against that great being. If not for the Magic Power granted by Vishanti still remaining, she might even have believed Vishanti had already died at the other's hands.

"You'll have to rely on yourself for the rest of the way."

"I understand."

Matou Sakura nodded. After taking a deep breath, she continued toward the cave entrance ahead.

There was no source of light within the cave, yet it was not dark in the slightest. The surrounding rock walls were clearly black, but they gave off a faint glow, and that light illuminated the cavern.

She stopped and looked at the silver-haired girl standing before her with her back turned.

That familiar feeling told her that this seemingly young girl was Nyarko—Nyarlathotep.

"You came."

The delight in Nyarko's voice revealed her current mood. Her hands clasped behind her back, she spun around, sending her short skirt fluttering above her knees as she revealed her true appearance to Matou Sakura.

That's another me... Matou Sakura's mouth fell slightly open as she stared in shock at the other version of herself before her. Silver hair, red eyes—but that face was identical to her own.

"I really liked how you looked, so I took this form."

Twining a strand of silver hair around her index finger, Nyarlathotep smiled as she walked up to Matou Sakura.

"Not used to it?"

Matou Sakura said nothing. Looking at Nyarlathotep before her, she seemed to be seeing herself—another self.

She clearly knew that this was not her. She was Nyarko, Nyarlathotep, a terrifying existence whose true form defied description. Yet at this moment... she truly saw another herself.

The feeling was strange, but there was one thing she could be certain of: she wanted to hold a knife, cut open this other self's heart, and kill her completely.