Venom Delivers Himself to the Door!

Hydra's new secret base, conference room.

Kaecilius had been in an especially bad mood lately. It was terrible.

First, he had actually been defeated by a Mage Apprentice he had always looked down on—and instantly at that. He could not understand it, and it made him miserable.

Second, his mission had recently run into obstacles.

Not only had John Constantine and Lucifer, those two clingy pests, constantly interfered with his operations, but Zhang Yang, that bastard, somehow kept finding his location. Even shielding himself with dark power did not work.

Every time that bastard found him, Kaecilius got beaten up, sometimes even coming close to losing his life.

Yet amid those near-death attacks, relying on his many years of combat experience, he could always seize that sliver of survival and escape the scene.

That bastard never pursued him, as if he were just playing around—beating him up and then leaving.

Now, Kaecilius spent every day on his way to a new Hydra base.

Even Hydra, with all its wealth and resources, could not afford to lose a secret base every single day. So they sent Garrett to persuade Kaecilius, this walking disaster, to stay farther away from their secret bases.

Looking at the deeply unhappy Kaecilius, Garrett carefully voiced Hydra's request.

He had expected to be severely beaten, perhaps even killed. Yet after waiting for a long time, no attack came.

He opened his eyes and saw a thoughtful look on Kaecilius's face.

"I agree to leave your secret base."

Before Garrett could speak, Kaecilius said, "Prepare a villa or apartment for me in the city center. That's all I want."

"No problem."

Garrett let out a sigh of relief. From Kaecilius's condition, he could tell what the other man was thinking.

That was right. They were not good people, so why should they keep hiding in their secret bases?

Wasn't the city center better?

Didn't Kamar-Taj pride itself on being a sacred land of protectors? Would they really dare attack with all those innocent civilians around?

Even if they dared, once the aftermath of battle destroyed everything, Kaecilius and the others could simply walk away. But what about Kamar-Taj?

Could they?

They could not.

Ordinary people might not know what Kamar-Taj did or what kind of organization it was, but as participants in the battle, once Kaecilius and his people vanished, what would those ordinary people do when their property and lives had been threatened?

At that thought, Kaecilius's eyes lit up.

So did Garrett's. The two looked at each other.

Though neither spoke, they had already reached an agreement.

"I'll go make the arrangements."

With a solution in hand, Garrett did not linger. He rose immediately. "I'll send the location straight to your phone when it's ready. Is that alright?"

"Of course."

Kaecilius nodded. He was a mage, not some antique. Naturally, he understood these things.

After Garrett left, a long-lost smile appeared on Kaecilius's face.

"Zhang Yang, let's see what you do this time!"

Kamar-Taj, Zhang Yang's Sanctum.

Zhang Yang looked at the image projected within the water-viewing orb and stroked his chin.

He had to admit, Kaecilius's move was indeed ruthless.

As long as Zhang Yang and Kamar-Taj still cared about their reputation, they absolutely could not allow the aftermath of battle to spread outward.

It was like putting shackles on Kamar-Taj's people, restraining their ability to attack.

Kaecilius and his people, however, had no such concerns. They could ignore everything, as long as they achieved their goals.

But they had overlooked one thing.

New York, Washington, D.C., Chinatown.

"Ha..."

Looking at this tiny studio apartment, which he normally would not even spare a glance, Kaecilius found it unexpectedly pleasing.

He opened the refrigerator, which was already stuffed with all kinds of alcohol. After taking out a bottle of chilled beer, he grabbed a bag of chips from the snack table beside it, lay back on the comfortable leather sofa, and turned on the television.

Anyone who did not know better might have thought he was just some fat shut-in.

But in reality, he was a powerful mage on the verge of entering the ranks of the Supreme One, favored by Dormammu and granted dark energy.

"Here, let's see you..."

Kaecilius felt as though he could already see the future. In this place, that bastard would be constrained at every turn, beaten senseless by him, then sent into the Dark Space. With the great Dormammu's help, he would take over the other's body.

As for the other's soul?

That was Dormammu's spoils of war. What did it have to do with Kaecilius?

Outside the studio apartment's wall.

Kaecilius had not noticed at all that outside his room, a pitch-black monster resembling a humanoid spider was clinging to the wall.

The creature lurked furtively, watching Kaecilius foolishly snicker inside the room, when a voice suddenly rang out.

"Venom, we had an agreement!"

That was right. This monster was the alien symbiote—Venom—and his host was Eddie Brock.

Just moments ago, Eddie had heard Venom say that he was hungry. Before he could react, Venom had covered his body and brought him here.

Venom said that the person inside smelled delicious, but was very dangerous.

Even more dangerous than Riot.

Eddie did not want to fight. He wanted to leave, but Venom seemed possessed, constantly drooling at the person inside.

"Venom, I can't hold back anymore!"

In the end, Venom still could not resist. He made his move.

Eddie wanted to stop him, but he had no way of controlling his body. He could only watch helplessly as Venom took control of him and charged toward the middle-aged man.

"?"

The daydreaming Kaecilius sensed danger. Before he even opened his eyes, the void around him began to tremble.

Countless Spatial Blades appeared, stabbing toward the direction from which the danger came.

"Splurt, splurt..."

The sound of Spatial Blades cutting through flesh rang out. Only then did Kaecilius open his eyes and see the monster before him.

"Hello."

Because he had been pierced by the Spatial Blades, Eddie's face emerged from within Venom's body. He gave Kaecilius an apologetic, wry smile.

"It looks like you need a little help?"

As a Temple Mage, Kaecilius had fought who knew how many monsters from other dimensions, but he had rarely seen anything like Venom.

"If possible."

Before Eddie could finish speaking, Venom had already recovered and opened his bloody maw at Kaecilius.

"Too noisy."

Kaecilius frowned. What he hated most were noisy monsters.

With a raised hand, several more Spatial Blades appeared, glaring menacingly at Venom.

"Die!"