Reinforcements Arrive!

In a flash of light, Doctor Strange and the Punisher, who had been surrounded by countless deformed monsters, vanished as well.

In the sewers, Doctor Strange and the Punisher appeared out of thin air in midair with a splash, then fell straight into the filthy water.

"Next time you teleport, I’d appreciate some warning!" The Punisher endured the discomfort in his body and turned angrily toward Doctor Strange behind him.

"Keep your voice down, Frank. We’re directly beneath the street where we were fighting. If you get any louder, those deformed monsters will notice us." Doctor Strange struggled out of the sewage, then slumped against the wall. He was exhausted.

"What did you say?!" Frank looked as though he had heard the biggest joke in the world. "Those monsters are right above our heads? You only teleported us thirty feet!?"

"The Amulet of Ammutra can only teleport that far."

Doctor Strange casually tossed the shattered pocket watch into the sewage. He sighed. Though somewhat impatient, he still explained.

"The space here is strange. Teleportation magic isn’t as easy as you think. Not to mention that I’m nowhere near as strong as I once was, even the old me would have been in danger acting rashly. We don’t have Deadpool’s regenerative abilities. If only half our bodies made it through the teleportation, we’d be dead."

".I knew magic was unreliable." After a moment of silence, the Punisher could only mutter that much. After a pause, he asked again, "What are those monsters?"

"I don’t know." This time, Doctor Strange answered quickly.

"You don’t know? What do you mean, you don’t know?" The Punisher froze for a moment.

"I mean I don’t know. I’ve never seen creatures like that before. They’re like nightmares dreamed up by lunatics in an asylum. I have no idea how those deformed, twisted things came to exist."

Doctor Strange shook his head, calming his exhausted body and mind before speaking slowly.

"They’re like something that was designed, with predetermined settings, movements, thoughts, and so on. Whether they were attacking us or breaking through the gates of the Sanctum Sanctorum, they followed different rules, as if…"

"As if someone prepared them specifically for us." The Punisher understood what Doctor Strange meant.

The two exchanged a glance and fell silent.

For Doctor Strange, this was an especially agonizing time.

Before Doctor Strange became a sorcerer, back when he had still been a doctor, he had been an extremely arrogant man. All his confidence had come from his nimble hands and exquisite surgical skill. But then a car accident crippled his hands, and his spirit along with them.

Overnight, the world’s finest surgeon had become a cripple. That sense of loss could not be described in a few words. The crushing frustration made Doctor Strange wish he were dead, until he went to Kamar-Taj and learned the legendary arts of magic.

After becoming the Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange’s arrogance returned. His almost monstrous talent and capacity for magic made him the most outstanding of all sorcerers. Even the Ancient One had praised him without reservation.

Later, when faced with enormous crises that threatened the entire world and even the universe, Doctor Strange had remained calm, relying on his unparalleled magic and intellect to resolve one terrifying event after another.

But then came another blow. Just like that car accident, Doctor Strange was no longer the "walking magic" he had once been. He had lost most of his magical energy, along with the confidence he had painstakingly rebuilt.

Perhaps that was why that thing had been able to corrupt his perception without him noticing. At this moment, Doctor Strange truly was no longer as confident as before. He did not even dare say for certain that he could survive the crisis here.

As for the Punisher beside him, this short month had felt like years.

"I remember you said there was a sorcerer, one who came here from another universe. He was the one who awakened and helped all of you. Where is he now?" Doctor Strange asked.

"I don’t know. I don’t trust him," the Punisher replied coldly.

"If we’re going to resolve this crisis, that sorcerer is crucial. Only he can help us overcome this ordeal, and only he might be able to get us out of here," Doctor Strange said.

"But we’ve been trapped here for a month already!" The Punisher raised his head and stared straight at Doctor Strange. "No reinforcements, no signal, nothing."

With a sigh, the Punisher lowered his head again. "I told them that if I didn’t come looking for them myself, they should assume I was dead. I thought I’d die by your hand, but I never expected…"

As he spoke, the Punisher pulled out his wand again and rose to his feet. His eyes blazed with fighting spirit, with none of his previous desolation remaining. "Whatever. It doesn’t matter who kills me. Hiding here isn’t my style."

"Calm down, Frank. You’re going to your death." Doctor Strange frowned.

"So what? As long as I can take down a few deformed monsters before I die, that’s enough. Killing one means I break even, killing two means I profit. Even dying on the battlefield is better than hiding here."

With that, the Punisher turned and headed deeper into the sewer passage. He intended to climb out through the ladder and return to the battlefield.

"Wait." Doctor Strange called out.

"Don’t bother trying to talk me out of it, Doctor," the Punisher said without looking back.

"Wait, I’m not trying to stop you!" Doctor Strange shouted, pushing himself upright against the wall.

Hearing that, the Punisher stopped with a frown and turned back in confusion. He did not understand why Doctor Strange had called him back. As far as he knew, Doctor Strange prided himself on elegance and would never choose to die on the battlefield of his own accord.

Noticing the Punisher’s puzzled gaze, Doctor Strange supported himself against the wall with one hand and raised the other to his ear.

"What is it?" The Punisher paused.

Doctor Strange smiled. He lifted his head, looked directly at the Punisher, and spoke.

"Listen. The sounds of battle. Our reinforcements are here!"

At those words, the Punisher’s eyes widened. Unable to believe it, he held his breath and heightened his senses as much as possible, listening carefully to the sounds around him.

Soon, intense sounds of fighting and explosions came from above, accompanied by tremors shaking the ground. Dust was shaken loose from the walls and fell into the sewage.

But none of that could hold the Punisher’s attention anymore, because he had faintly heard a voice that was extremely familiar.

It took less than a second for him to recall it, and the Punisher immediately blurted out.

"It’s Moon Knight!"