Ancient One Wanted to Retire Early

Nick Fury's arrogance backfired; his plan to suppress Captain America instead provoked the Superstar ' anger.

Nick Fury's forceful intervention and Tony Stark's ill-timed push ultimately escalated the conflict, leading to the disintegration of the Avengers.

Nick Fury suddenly realized his mistake and used S.H.I.E.L.D..'s power to cover for the Superstar, managing to prevent Captain America and the others from being wanted by the authorities. He even became a regular S.H.I.E.L.D.. agent.

Shazo learned that this was just Nick Fury's publicity stunt to glorify himself.

In reality, if he hadn't done that, Vision would have run away with Scarlet Witch.

Thus, the once invincible Avengers, who had interfered with global security after the Battle of New York, split in two.

Stark leads one group, Steve leads another, and the two sides are fraught with conflict, causing the Avengers to lose their former glory.

Nick Fury was unaware that this was not his achievement alone, but rather the result of the will of the Five Great Nations.

Okay, United States don't count.

Because the Avengers are controlled by Captain America, they inevitably serve United States interests.

No matter how upright Captain America is, he can be controlled by carefully selected intelligence and be forced to serve the United States family against his will.

As time went on and the incidents occurred more frequently, Captain America didn't realize he was being used, but how could the other four major powers not realize it?

They're all thousand-year-old fox spirits, what are they trying to pull off with their ghost stories?

However, Captain America was too appealing, and none of the Five Great Nations would back down, making it impossible to distribute the benefits. The only solution was to break them up.

As a whole, the Avengers established tremendous prestige during the Battle of New York, possessing an irresistible appeal to other superhumans and capable of making even the most arrogant individuals submit.

This unparalleled influence is what makes the Five Great Nations so deeply wary.

However, a disbanded and diminished Avengers is not so intimidating.

Captain America, despite his title as a Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., has lost that irresistible appeal.

The power of just a few Superhero, even a monster like the Hulk, wouldn't pose much of a threat to a major power.

Skye found it strange. "Boss, why don't you recruit a few people?"

Shazo shrugged and replied, "The Avengers are too conspicuous, and they've all been corrupted by Steve and Stark; they all have such bad tempers."

"I don't want to serve this old man—"

Skye was amused and laughed heartily; the stunningly beautiful girl aroused Shazo's desire.

Unfortunately, just as Shazo was about to make a rash move, a "ding" notification sound rang out, disrupting his mood and interrupting the girl's Ginrei Kuchiki laughter.

The girl said regretfully, "What a pity."

Shazo asked with a look of regret, "What kind of alarm is it this time?"

Skye activated the AI assistant, and after checking the alert's contents, her smile vanished, and she frowned, saying, "Dark energy erupted, the eruption point is located in Hong Kong. It should be a large extradimensional monster approaching Earth from another dimension."

Shazo Zuo nodded. "Hong Kong? That must be Dormammu, the Dark Lord. It's alright, it's not his first time on Earth. The Ancient One will handle him."

"The Ancient One?" Skye summoned a surveillance camera. "If the sorcerer you're referring to is her, then I think you're mistaken, boss—"

After seeing this, Shazo couldn't help but scratch his head. "Oh ho, this is really a big shock."

He was very puzzled. Was the timing a bit off? Dormammu, as a god of the Dark Dimension, could also be affected by his own butterfly effect?

But it's clear that the Ancient One really did quit before the time was right, and Doctor Strange obviously didn't receive enough magical education; he not only didn't have a cloak, but he was also very clumsy at opening portals.

So the question arises: why did the Ancient One use her disciple to escape beforehand? What kind of future did she foresee?

It was obvious that the future reassured the Ancient One so much that she was unwilling to wait even a year, or even for Strange to grow up, and rushed off in such a hurry.

No, this woman was absolutely certain that even if Strange turned out badly and never became the Sorcerer Supreme, Earth would be safe.

So what happened in the past few months?

"Holy crap!"

Shazo Zuoteng jumped up, cursing, "Damn it, Ancient One! You're trying to pin this on me!"

Yes, there have been some changes in the past few months, but not many, and they are not important; at least they won't affect the overall trend of the world.

In addition to finally merging with the position of the God of Wealth Shazo, Shazo also boosted the Saiyan Shazo's aura, causing his own combat power and life position to leap to the level of "god".

With a god among mortals present, what did the Ancient One have to fear?

She is a great mage who can see the future. Even if she can't see Shazo himself, the Abomination, Green Goblin, Skye, and others surrounding him can't escape her eyes.

Even through indirect observation, the Ancient One could determine Shazo's power, character, and attitude towards Earth.

In recent months, she suddenly discovered that Shazo's future power had increased dramatically, an earth-shattering increase.

Based on her observations of Shazo's power, he might not be able to defeat Dormammu in the Dark Dimension, but if Dormammu dared to descend directly to Earth, Shazo would definitely pin him down and beat him mercilessly.

What incredible power this is! This is practically a living god in the World of the Living!!

Since you, Shazo, are a responsible Gods of this World of the Living, then I'll trouble you to take over my responsibilities.

Therefore, the Ancient One decisively destroyed her fallen disciple Kaecilius, using him to lure Dormammu into unleashing his power.

Then, with the help of Kaecilius, who was imbued with Dormammu's power, he happily began the process of returning to Bright Mountain.

When the Ancient One appeared in Kamar-Taj covered in blood, Doctor Strange, whose hands had just been healed, was completely numb.

After examining the Ancient One, the Master Wong confirmed that magic could not save her life, Strange could only use teleportation.

The Ancient One was taken to New York Central Hospital.

He can only try his luck with modern medicine.

Strange wasn't well-liked when he was sent there, and things got even worse after he lost the use of his hands. But it didn't matter, he had a little fangirl who arranged for the Ancient One to receive emergency treatment through her.

Well, the medical expenses might be high, but for Strange, a former top neurosurgeon, that amount of money is nothing.

But what he didn't expect was that the Ancient One herself wanted to retire; how could a few machines possibly prevent the death of her physical body?

Chaos erupted in the emergency room, with doctors and nurses in disarray.

"Her vital signs are continuing to deteriorate; she's nearing her end!"

"Adrenaline injection! Quickly!!"

"Blood glucose levels continue to drop!"

"Increase the pressure! Improve the purity of the oxygen supply!"

"Her pupils are dilated! I need a defibrillator, quick!!"

"No response, no brain activity detected----"

"It's hopeless----"

"Strange is still unwilling to give up. Perhaps we could try craniotomy to relieve the pressure on her brain?"

"Okay, this is the last try anyway."

Inside the emergency room, the Ancient One was covered in tubes, her dignity completely gone. Her eyes were wide open in anger, her pupils dilated. The monitors were flashing red lights, and various alarms were blaring. The three straight lines on the monitor only added to the despair.

Her disciple, Stephen Strange, who would later become the Master Strange, was unwilling to accept reality, but as a top-notch doctor, he knew that everything was beyond redemption.

His magical guide, the Ancient One, is dead.

Strange cried his heart out, like a 150-pound child, which broke the heart of his little fangirl, who hugged him and cried along with him.

Seeing this, the other doctors and anesthesiologists silently left the operating room, leaving behind a man and a woman crying together, and a still-warm body.

Such a waste of an operating room could only happen in United States, since the doctors here have a very small workload, and an empty operating room is not a big deal.

That would be impossible at the East University. With so many patients needing to be saved, the utilization rate of operating rooms and examination rooms would never be less than 70%.

Strange was crying hysterically, while on the hospital rooftop, Shazo and the Ancient One stared at each other wide-eyed.

The Ancient One is now merely a soul, and should have returned directly to her divine throne to enjoy Eternity light and completely rid herself of the magical debtors she can no longer even remember.

She had calculated everything, except for Shazo.

As a result, the Ancient One's soul was intercepted by Shazo, who stepped on her soul's shadow, forcefully suppressing her ascension momentum.

Shazo sneered, "Ancient One, if you're going to abandon your responsibilities, shouldn't you at least train the new Sorcerer Supreme? How can you just wash your hands of it and dump the responsibility of protecting Earth on my shoulders?"

"If you don't give me an explanation today, you can forget about returning to Vishanti, let alone following the Eternity and becoming a Holy Spirit."

The Ancient One was already numb, so how could she be caught by Shazo after dying?

She asked in surprise, "Shazo, how... how did you manage to catch me?"

Shazo laughed, "You'd never guess, but I really do possess divine power, and it's divine power that's linked to death!"

Shinigami Xiazhuo said: It's not that exaggerated. I'm still exploring the possibility of becoming the Yama or the Death God.

After repeated attempts and all efforts failed, the Ancient One finally gave in. "Alright, Lord Shazo, what explanation do you want?"

Shazo said, "Magic."

Ancient One nodded. "No problem."

After saying that, she gathered her soul power and imprinted a small magic emblem, which she then handed to Shazo.

Shazo took the insignia and placed it directly on his forehead to confirm that it contained the complete set of basic magic knowledge before releasing his foot and letting the Ancient One regain her freedom.

However, her ascension momentum has completely vanished, and she can only await the summons of Vishanti, or the sacrifice of another being to re-energize the Ancient One's soul.

The Vishanti's concept of time is far different from that of humans. By the time the Trinity remembered, the Ancient One would have long since turned to ashes.

The only solution is to find a suitable offering.

It was fortunate that Ancient One was not destined to die. Just then, the New York Sanctum was suddenly destroyed, and a powerful dark force was leaked out.

The Ancient One's spirit reached out and controlled the dark power in her palm, proposing, "Shazo, I want the fragment of the Dimensional Demons's body you obtained when you defeated Dormammu."

Shazo smiled and said, "Sure, but—it'll cost extra."

The Ancient One breathed a sigh of relief, "No problem, I'll trade you the Kamar-Taj library space wandering password."

Shazo's eyes lit up. "Deal!"

Hong Kong Sanctum.

Kaecilius came from the New York Sanctum. He pushed open the temple Main Gate and prepared to leave with a large number of his men.

He was one of the most skilled sorcerers in Kamar-Taj, possessing knowledge of all the secrets of the Three Sanctums. Therefore, the temples' magical traps were useless to him, and he encountered no significant resistance from the start to the end of the invasion.

Boom!

Kaecilius destroyed the last magical node, triggering a massive magical explosion.

Having confirmed that the magical protection enveloping the Earth had vanished, Kaecilius knelt on one knee and then devoutly called upon Dormammu's name.

His voice sounded like a whispered murmur in your ear, but it actually pierced through the barriers of the world and resounded throughout the entire Dark Dimension.

Kaecilius proclaimed loudly, "The great, immortal Lord of Darkness— Dormammu!"

"I sing your praises, I admire you, I yearn for you; please descend upon this world with me at its center."

Dark forces, using Kaecilius as a coordinate, relentlessly surged into Earth, plunging Hong Kong into chaos. Kaecilius, too, was corroded by the high concentration of Dark Dimension energy, his flesh gradually decaying, and black mist emanated from him.

The flow of space entered his body, reorganizing his black muscles and blood vessels.

The immense energy was far beyond Kaecilius's capacity to withstand; after all, in thousands of years, Earth had only produced one Ancient One.

As darkness poured in, Kaecilius let out a painful roar, frantically tearing at his flesh, only to have more darkness replenish his body.

The poor fellow thought Dormammu was the hope of immortality, but he didn't know that the Demon God couldn't grant immortality at all. He only wanted to descend upon Earth and then devour this strange and vibrant world.

The first step in the devouring was to eat Kaecilius.

The sky was suddenly torn apart, and a dark, ancient, and decaying aura flowed out from the crack, spreading rapidly and corroding everything in its path into a state of decay.

As the rules of corrosion and devouring spread, a world that was previously invisible and imperceptible appeared.

It was Dark Dimension that was far more expansive and desolate than the real world.

All the worlds corrupted and devoured by Dormammu are forever rotting in the Dark Dimension.

In the deepest part of the darkness, two star-like cores slowly lit up, like the eyes of a demon from the Abyssal One, looking down on everything on Earth with a haughty and triumphant air.

The joy in his eyes was completely undisguised, leaving Kaecilius speechless.