Clockwork Ages the Darkhold
Wundagore Mountain, ancient temple.
This is the birthplace of dark magic in the entire Marvel Universe. The sky is shrouded in thick, dark clouds, and crimson Chaos Magic runes flicker on the stone walls of the temple, exuding a suffocating aura of evil.
In the center of the temple's main hall.
Wanda, the Scarlet Witch, hovered in mid-air. Her eyes were jet black, with dark marks at the corners of them from the corruption caused by her practice of dark magic.
Floating before her was the Darkhold, the source of all evil, written by Chthon (the god of the underworld).
Wanda's hands burned with crimson Chaos Magic as she forcibly cast "Dreamwalking," attempting to project her consciousness into another version of herself in a parallel universe in order to steal her twin sons who did not exist in the Main Universe.
"Tap, tap, tap."
A series of extremely casual footsteps broke the deathly silence of the temple.
Wanda suddenly opened her eyes, waved her hands, and crimson magical energy instantly surged within the hall, transforming into more than a dozen extremely sharp magical spears aimed at the entrance.
"I warned Doctor Strange not to interfere with me."
Wanda's voice carried an icy, obsessive chill. "Whoever sent you, get out of here. Otherwise, I will erase you from this world."
At the entrance, Jiang Li walked in alone, his hands in his trench coat pockets.
He glanced at the Chaos Magic emanating a dangerous aura around him, then at Wanda in mid-air.
"For the sake of two children created through magic, you are willing to tear apart the Multiverse and even prepare to kill yourself in another universe."
Jiang Li shook his head, his tone calm, "Wanda, you look like a madwoman right now."
"They are real! They are calling to me from another universe!"
Wanda was furious. She slammed her hands down.
Boom--!
An immensely powerful crimson Chaos Magic swept towards Jiang Li like a tsunami!
As long as Jiang Li's body is touched by this red light, it will be kneaded and modified at will!
However.
Jiang Li stood still, without even trying to dodge.
Just as the crimson magical tsunami was about to engulf him, a deep green data stream suddenly lit up on the [Omnitrix] on Jiang Li's left wrist— Omniverse Administrator Authority.
Buzz!
An invisible dimensional barrier unfolded in front of Jiang Li.
The Chaos Magic that was powerful enough to distort reality was like water hitting a reef the moment it hit this barrier. It was abruptly diverted and bounced off Jiang Li 'Jiang Li sides, without even touching a single hem of his clothes!
"How is this possible? You're actually immune to Chaos Magic?!" A look of shock flashed in Wanda's dark eyes.
"Your magic can alter reality."
Jiang Li slowly withdrew his left hand and pressed his thumb onto the watch face.
"But in the face of the fundamental laws of the universe, so-called modifications to reality are nothing more than drawing on the beach. Once the tide goes out, nothing is left."
Buzz!
With a flash of green light, Jiang Li transformed into a mechanical alien made of brass gears and springs, with a green hourglass embedded in its chest.
Galvan System, Chronosapien.
Clockwork!
Wanda aimed her hands at Jiang Li from a distance. She was prepared to crush the core of this mechanical alien directly with her mind.
But Jiang Li completely ignored Wanda's attack.
Jiang Li, now transformed into the Clockwork, wound up the clockwork on his head, producing a clicking sound like mechanical gears meshing. The green hourglass on his chest began to reverse.
"Your greatest reliance is that tattered book that teaches you forbidden techniques."
Jiang Li raised his right arm, directly past Wanda, and pointed towards the <Darkhold> floating in the center of the temple.
"Time Ray. Million Years' Passage."
Buzz--!!!
A dazzling green beam of light shot out from the Clockwork's palm, ignoring all the magical defenses in the temple, and struck the Darkhold with extreme precision!
"No!! What are you doing?!" Wanda sensed the violent fluctuations from the source of the magic and turned around in horror.
An astonishing scene unfolded.
The Darkhold, written by the Chthon, and touted as indestructible, began to yellow, dry, and become brittle rapidly under the influence of the green Time Ray.
Thousands of years, tens of thousands of years, hundreds of thousands of years...
No matter how powerful magic is, as long as it exists in a three-dimensional universe, it cannot escape the erosion of time!
"Click... click..."
In just three seconds.
That forbidden book, which recorded countless dark magic spells and caused countless dimensional crises, reached the end of its material lifespan after experiencing a time acceleration equivalent to millions of years.
It turned into a handful of extremely fine gray powder in mid-air, which was blown away by the cold wind from the temple.
Completely vanished. Not even a single letter remained!
Clang.
As the Darkhold vanished completely, the dark magic that had been maintaining Wanda was instantly severed. The dark marks around her eyes faded rapidly, and she fell helplessly from mid-air, like a puppet that had lost its strings, crashing heavily onto the cold stone slab.
Jiang Li deactivated his transformation, reverting to his black trench coat form, and slowly walked up to Wanda.
"My books... my children..."
Wanda lay on the ground, desperately trying to grab the scattered ashes with her hands, tears streaming down her face. Even without the allure of the sacred book, she remained immersed in the immense grief of being a mother.
"Kill me... What's the point of my life without them..." Wanda closed her eyes in despair.
"Do you really want to know what would happen if you forcibly went to another universe?"
Jiang Li extended his left hand, Omnitrix emitted a green holographic projection.
The projection was showing events that occurred in another timeline:
The corrupted Wanda, covered in blood, bursts into her home in another universe. Her two beloved twin sons, seeing her murderous expression, not only fail to call her "Mom," but instead cower in a corner, staring at her as if she were a monster, and even throwing things at her.
"No... don't come any closer! You monster! Don't hurt our mother!" The child's terrified cries echoed through the temple in the projection.
Wanda stared blankly at the image projected on the screen.
Those two cries of "monster" were like an invisible, sharp blade, piercing her heart.
She finally realized that if she really crossed dimensions to snatch the child, what she would bring to the child would not be love, but eternal fear and shadow.
Holographic projection is off.
Wanda knelt on the ground, covered her face, and let out an extremely suppressed and painful sob.
This time, it wasn't out of anger, but out of utter regret and relief.
Jiang Li looked at Wanda, who had completely let go of her obsession, and knew that the dimensional crisis had been resolved.
"Your abilities should have been used to protect, not destroy."
Jiang Li turned around and walked out of the temple.
As we stepped out of the temple, the heavy clouds began to disperse. A long-awaited ray of sunlight shone on the ruins of Wundagore Mountain.
Jiang Li raised his wrist and checked the time.
"Alright. Now that all these messy bugs have been cleaned up, no one can bother me on my long vacation."
Jiang Li pressed the dimensional jump button on the watch face, aiming directly at the Daily Universe he had set up beforehand.