"Where did you think anything was normal?" Leon could not help asking.
"Your Majesty, could it be... that something was wrong?"
"Devouring the Eye Demon's power was something bound to succeed, provided I had made sufficient preparations."
"Because I could precisely control the formation used to summon the Eye Demon, ensuring that only its tentacles could be summoned."
As Dark Strange spoke of his glorious past, he immediately became animated.
"And the instant the tentacles appeared, I could use the formation to sever them, then swiftly devour them."
"The entire process was rigorous and without a single flaw, which was why I could devour the Eye Demon. Everything was perfectly normal."
Dark Strange smiled faintly, looking confident and nonchalant.
Leon fell silent for a moment. "What you said... does make some sense."
What nonsense.
"But have you considered that perhaps the Eye Demon simply could not be bothered with a weak mage?" Leon added.
Dark Strange paused, then frowned and considered it. "That is possible, but before taking its power, I truly made thorough preparations. I would not have failed."
"...All right."
Leon had truly not expected his subordinate to be so confident.
It reminded him of a certain mutant covered in spikes.
Still, he had no intention of undermining Doctor Strange's confidence.
Leon turned the conversation back to God Loki.
"Doctor Doom's situation is different from yours."
"The Eye Demon would never willingly allow someone else to take its power."
"But God Loki might not regard his throne of time as some precious treasure."
"Becoming the supreme deity who governed the timelines was, in truth, a sacrifice he had been forced to make."
"The sacred mission the other Lokis always spoke of had already been fulfilled the moment he made that sacrifice."
"But sitting on that throne and watching