Time Loop, Explosion

"Doom."

Mordo looked up with some concern. Of the four battles, Doom was the one he worried about most.

Strange had the Time Stone, and the Blood God had the Mind Stone, so there was little need to worry about either of them. As for Satan, ha, why would a Kamar-Taj mage worry about the Demon King of Hell? In his eyes, it would be best if the two achieved mutual destruction.

Only Doom had nothing, yet he had to face an Ancient God’s projection. If his strength had been sufficient, Mordo would definitely have gone to support him.

"My strength is still far from enough."

Mordo clenched his teeth. Given the chance, he would definitely get his hands on a god’s corpse and refine it into the strongest Voodoo Corpse.

Inside the Mind Space formed by the Mind Stone, Astros sat on a sofa, eating chips as she asked Wang Bert, "Blood God, isn’t this a little inappropriate?"

"It is a little inappropriate. How about this? Give me the chips, and you can watch the battle without eating them."

Wang Bert snatched Astros’s chips and said so. Astros flew into a rage, grabbed them back, and said, "Get lost. You have to eat chips when watching a movie. That’s what gives it a sense of ritual."

"What sense of ritual are you talking about as a Demon God?"

Wang Bert mocked. "Don’t worry. This is Mind Space. Unless someone breaks through the outer layer of defenses, no one will know what we’re doing.

"We’ll quietly watch the show. Once all three Ancient God projections fall, you can pretend to kill yourself and keep in sync with them."

"You have that much confidence in your people?"

As she ate chips that would never run out, Astros said, "Leaving Satan aside for now, Strange and Doctor Doom are only ordinary God-Devil Level beings."

"Seth and the Eye Demon are only projections, so it won’t be a problem. Don’t underestimate Strange and Doom. Their future achievements may not lose to Ancient One’s."

Wang Bert said, "This battle is merely training for them."

"Surpass Ancient One? How is that possible? You’re thinking too much, aren’t you?"

Astros was full of disbelief. What kind of figure was Ancient One? A peerless genius who had suppressed Demon Gods for over a thousand years by himself. How could Strange and Doctor Doom possibly compare? "Nothing is impossible. They stand on the shoulders of giants."

Wang Bert did not elaborate. "Just wait and enjoy the show."

"Then I really should watch closely."

Astros clearly still did not believe him. Thinking of something, she asked, "By the way, why do I need to kill myself? If you don’t use Fair Space, I won’t lose to you."

"Pretend to kill yourself, not actually kill yourself."

Wang Bert said, "This is Mind Space. The stronger the mind, the stronger the person. With my state of mind, you can’t possibly be my opponent. Especially since you lost to me once before and have a shadow in your heart."

Astros snorted unhappily but did not refute him, because Wang Bert was right—when it came to a pure battle of minds, she was no match for him.

"Once my main body defeats the Creator God, you’ll be even less of a match for me."

Wang Bert said, "By then, my mind will be completely perfected, because I will be invincible. By the way, I have Gladiator’s bloodline in me. The more confident I am, the stronger I become.

"Right now, I can only defeat Ancient Gods. Once my main body defeats the Creator God, I’ll be able to fight even a Creator God."

"That’s assuming your main body can really defeat Galactus."

Astros said, "Blood God, not a single Ancient God thinks you can win."

"So what? I’m guaranteed to win."

Wang Bert smiled. "This Galactus isn’t that strong."

The Galactus of this universe was weaker than the Galactus from the Zombie Universe. If his guess was correct, it was probably because of Lina—part of Galactus’s power was on Earth, or perhaps on Lina herself.

More importantly, Wang Bert was stronger than the Dragon Soul Clone. He was now an ultimate form, the kind that had undergone several super-evolutions.

Astros mocked, "You even dare say Galactus isn’t strong? Blood God, just how arrogant are you?"

"Many people have called me arrogant, but in the end, they discover that I’m actually very humble. Even a little too humble."

Wang Bert held a Coke in his left hand while his right arm naturally wrapped around Astros’s shoulders, speaking calmly.

Astros rolled her eyes at Wang Bert. Fine, talk all you want, but what was with putting your arm around her? Was she someone he could casually hold?

Astros leaned against Wang Bert and said, "Let’s see whether your judgment is wrong."

Wang Bert smiled. "You’ll know soon enough."

Within the time-space loop, the enormous Serpent God Set looked at Strange and said disdainfully, "You think you can fight me? Do you think you’re Ancient One or the Blood God?"

Strange looked at Seth and said, "I am neither Ancient One nor the Blood God. I am Strange, the current Sorcerer Supreme. Serpent God Set, today, you will die by my hand.

"Also, your death will be meaningful, because you will let the countless worlds know the name of Dr. Strange."

"You seek death."

Seth flew into a rage. His three heads passed through the void and bit down viciously at Strange, making even space tremble before their serpent jaws.

Seth could influence time, and his movements were incredibly fast. Against anyone else, they might have only just reacted before being swallowed whole.

But Strange was not anyone else. With the Time Stone, he immediately unleashed red lightning onto Seth’s faces. Seth cried out in pain, and all three serpent heads recoiled at once.

Strange took the chance to fly up. Then, he cast with both hands, and countless figures emerged from his body. It was the Shape of Isaac—only some of those phantoms were real.

"Ant."

Seeing this, Seth fired devouring Black Light toward the sky from every serpent head. Strange snorted and, together with his clones, cast Hoggoth’s Ancient Body. A solid wall of energy appeared before him and blocked all the Black Light.

"Hoggoth!"

Seth cursed furiously. Strange had clearly received Hoggoth’s blessing. Otherwise, Hoggoth’s Ancient Body would not have been so sturdy.

That was indeed the case. After forming an alliance with Wang Bert, the Vishanti had given Kamar-Taj many benefits. This was also one of the reasons Strange and Doctor Doom dared to fight Ancient God projections.

They had people backing them.

"Cyttorak’s Crimson Bands!"

Immediately afterward, every Strange cast magic at the same time. Countless crimson chains flew out and tightly bound all of Seth’s serpent heads.

"Cyttorak!"

Seth cursed again. The chains clearly contained Cyttorak’s divine power. That bastard had actually sided with the Blood God.

In truth, the Crimson God Cyttorak had not sided with the Blood God. He simply wanted to beat Seth up. How dare that bastard call him an idiot? Hmph, throughout the countless worlds, who did not know that Cyttorak was petty?

A great amount of Black Light erupted from Seth’s body, forcibly devouring the Crimson Bands. Then, he launched attack after attack at Strange. Strange’s clones rapidly disappeared, and even his main body was beaten until he coughed blood.

Five minutes passed like that. Strange drifted like a leaf in the wind, ready to fall at any moment. Then, Time Rewind activated, and everything returned to its original state.

Strange, restored to his peak condition, looked stunned. "I actually survived?"

"A Time Loop?"

Seth was somewhat shocked. He demanded, "Sorcerer Supreme, what did you do?"

"I did what a Sorcerer Supreme should do."

Strange sneered. "Seriously, Seth, you’re so weak."

Seth roared, "You dare say I’m weak?"

"You really are weak."

Strange said, "An Ancient God who couldn’t kill a god-level magician in five minutes—Seth, you’re pathetically weak. No wonder the Blood God couldn’t even be bothered to slap your face. You know, I originally planned to die dozens of times first."

"Go die!"

Seth was on the verge of exploding from rage. Ignoring everything else, he blasted a massive black pillar of light straight at Strange. Strange smiled disdainfully and cast spell after spell to block the attack.

With the Vishanti’s support, Strange’s magic was immensely powerful. Even Seth could not easily defeat him.

To save face, Seth took one of Strange’s attacks head-on during the third minute, then swallowed Strange whole in a single bite.

"You dare be so arrogant before me?"

Seth said disdainfully. Then, he noticed that something was wrong—the Time Loop had not broken. It still existed.

Seth examined Strange’s corpse but found no Time Stone. Then, the fifth minute arrived, and everything returned to how it had been.

This time, the Time Loop point Strange had set was not his death, but five minutes.

Seth asked in shock and anger, "What exactly are you trying to do? You can’t possibly kill me within five minutes."

"Not necessarily."

Strange smiled mysteriously. "Let’s keep fighting, Seth. I’m from Earth. My rate of improvement will be very fast."

"No matter how fast, you can’t defeat me."

Seth roared and attacked again. Thus, Seth and Strange fought again and again within the Time Loop. Most of the time, Strange could last the full five minutes, though in a few instances, he was killed by Seth.

"Don’t rush. Take it slowly."

Strange wore a smile. Compared to the previous Time Loop, this one was nothing at all. He had the patience to wear Seth down for an entire year.

"Trying to imitate Ancient One’s trick? You’re dreaming. I have allies outside. Once they finish dealing with the others, your time of death will come."

Seth made that self-righteous deduction—he thought Strange was trying to force him into negotiations. Even an Ancient God could not endure such an endless cycle.

Strange did not answer, because there was no need. How could Dr. Strange use the same move twice? This move was an upgraded version.

At the same time, dazzling white light kept flashing above. They were Doctor Doom’s nuclear explosions, terrifyingly powerful. Even the Eye Demon did not dare take them head-on and kept intercepting them with rays.

"Your attacks are truly ferocious, but unfortunately, you’re facing an Ancient God."

The Eye Demon said. Doom’s attacks were terrifying enough to blow apart anyone of the same level. The problem was that the Eye Demon was not of the same level. It was an Ancient God capable of influencing time.

To the Eye Demon, all of Doom’s attacks looked like slow motion. Intercepting them could not have been easier.

"You’re not an Ancient God. You’re merely a projection. Killing you may not be impossible."

Doom continued bombarding as he spoke. Opportunities to fire so wildly were rare, after all, since his energy was filled with nuclear radiation.

"I’m being underestimated. It seems I must show some real ability."

The Eye Demon said, "You suit my tastes very well. I will destroy your body and swallow your soul in one bite. Hehehe, it has been a long time since I ate such a perfect soul."

"Should I say thank you?"

Doom snorted. Raising both hands, he used magic to construct a special device. Then, a dazzling orb of energy appeared within it. Though not large, it contained immense power, like a tiny sun radiating endless light and heat.

Magic skill: Artificial Sun.

Doom had bought Dr. Octopus’ Artificial Sun patent and transformed it into a magic skill. Through magic, this Artificial Sun had become controllable rather than uncontrollable.

Seeing the Artificial Sun, the Eye Demon was delighted instead of alarmed. It laughed somewhat crazily. "I like you more and more, Doom. I must eat you. Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle."

After saying that, the Eye Demon vanished directly. When it reappeared, it was already behind Doom. Then, its tentacles came crashing down like heavenly pillars.

This was not spatial Teleportation. It was the Eye Demon’s chaos magic.

Doom immediately unleashed the Hoggoth’s Ancient Body he had prepared beforehand. A thick energy barrier appeared before him and blocked the Eye Demon’s tentacles.

Clearly, Doom’s Hoggoth’s Ancient Body was also blessed by Hoggoth.

"No wonder you’re so confident. The Vishanti are backing you."

The Eye Demon glared forcefully at Doom’s position. The void around Doom became incomparably chaotic, like the inside of a tumbling washing machine.

Doom involuntarily floated into the air and spun violently. Worse still, the Artificial Sun was flying straight toward him.

The Eye Demon’s magic: chaotic void.

Doom removed a strange bomb from his waist and threw it ahead. The bomb exploded, shattering the entire void. Doom and the Artificial Sun both came to a stop.

This was a Nano Space Bomb, specially designed to bombard space. Doom was not only a top-tier magician but also a top-tier scientist.

Before Doom could breathe a sigh of relief, the Eye Demon appeared beside him out of thin air. One tentacle accelerated time and struck Doom. Doom exploded completely, even his flesh and blood turning to dust.

"That’s all? How boring."

The Eye Demon was somewhat displeased. At that moment, the Artificial Sun suddenly expanded wildly and exerted suction like a black hole. The Eye Demon was sucked straight inside, with only its eyeball left outside.

Even an Ancient God like the Eye Demon was scorched until its flesh became a bloody mess by the Artificial Sun’s extreme heat. An ordinary god would likely have turned to ash on the spot.

"Actually, I’ve been waiting for you to walk into my trap."

Doom’s figure appeared in the distance. As he fired nuclear energy into the Artificial Sun, he spoke calmly.

The Doom from before had been a clone, jointly developed by Doom and Lizard Doctor. Its greatest strength was its ability to contain Doom’s nuclear energy.

In other words, as long as Doom transferred his nuclear energy into the clone, the clone would become another him.

However, the clone was imperfect—it had no soul and required Doom to transfer his soul over to personally control it. Moreover, it had a lifespan of only one month and cost several billion dollars to create.

Earlier, when the clone was blown apart, Doom’s soul secretly returned to his main body, where he cast magic to activate the Artificial Sun and trap the Eye Demon.