Chapter 453: Familiar Mage

Left the Bloodstained Shack.

Helusi transmitted to the vicinity of dusk, this side of Blick Street in New York's western district.

Looking around, Helusi found this was just an ordinary old city alley; the road had become desolate and quiet due to the man-eating shark's control policies.

Moreover, a patrol's auxiliary troops happened to pass by a nearby intersection; everything looked quite ordinary, with nothing noteworthy about the location or buildings.

However, looking to his right, Helusi saw that apartment 177A was the one his father mentioned, where a powerful mage was stationed, and it was also related to the reality dimension of 05 Earth and even 05 Universe, one of the three sanctuaries that would not be destroyed—New York Sanctuary.

Fortunately, Helusi was not one to judge by appearances; after a brief hesitation he stepped forward, and since the apartment door was too narrow, he had to break down the door and wall to enter the so-called sanctuary's interior.

Upon entering, Helusi saw not far beyond the door a large opening in the floor and the ceiling above it; the slanting sunset poured down from above, illuminating the entire sanctuary hall.

No need to guess; Helusi knew it was Taibelos descending from the sky, entering the sanctuary with a more violent approach, so the first encounter didn't turn out well.

Moreover, Helusi needed to activate the floating device of the Giant Python Scale to avoid substantive contact with the sanctuary's floor and stairs.

Otherwise, with his weight in ton units, just a few steps would collapse the entire sanctuary into ruins.

Going up the stairs to the second floor, Helusi found no signs of combat; it seemed Taibelos had not yet formally engaged, and that mage had already gone to another space or dimension.

Seeing that inside the sanctuary there seemed to be no more noteworthy details or clues, Helusi half-closed his eyes, slowly releasing Spiritual Energy to try to sense the emotions left by that mage, to discern where he had fled.

Soon he received a series of feedback: surprise, confusion, helplessness, etc., but uniquely no fear.

This indicates that the mage was not at all wary or fearful of Taibelos's strength, choosing not to fight and flee; rather, he deliberately avoided direct confrontation by going to other dimensions.

He opened his eyes.

Boom~~!!

Helusi instantly released a visible golden Spiritual Energy wave, quickly enveloping the entire sanctuary.

Moreover, this Spiritual Energy wave was still influencing, even rewriting the space, order, and even time flow within its range.

Goo~~goo~~!!

Outside the sanctuary at this moment, a flock of pigeons unbothered by the man-eating shark's control policies were happily flying low, just passing over Blick Street.

But if one were by the second-floor window inside the sanctuary, one could only see those pigeons appearing dazed in midair, their wing beats extremely slow, almost akin to a stalled state.

However, at this point the sanctuary's interior had lost any distinction between first and second floor; walls and floor were like shattered mirrors, fragmented, with no semblance of the physical universe's order remaining.

Meanwhile, Helusi, who was breaking rules by releasing Spiritual Energy, stood on an irregular rectangular piece of mirror-like flooring.

He looked around.

Helusi seemed to sense something, his brow slightly furrowed, but soon relaxed back to normal as he walked toward the 'second-floor' door that floated nearby, its size enlarged about threefold.

He turned the handle.

He pushed it outward.

Outside the door, too, had become a mirror-world semblance of Blick Street, with buildings and flora left-right symmetrical, and above the horizon another Manhattan Island existed.

The fact that the street was empty actually matched the current state of New York quite well.

Helusi stepped steadily on the undulating ground, and the ground, as he advanced, also uncontrollably sank and fell downward.

Looking down, he could see only an endless black abyss, nothing else.

But from Helusi's calm, cold expression, one could tell that this Original Body was not afraid at all.

Just now he sensed the dimension of this mirror world, and thus used pure Spiritual Energy to break the shackles between reality and the mirror, stepping alone into this extremely bizarre, reasonless zone.

And the target he sensed was precisely the one his father had mentioned—a mage with stronger magic, tasked with guarding and protecting the Time Gem, the Supreme Mage, who stood on the sloping plaza above…

To be precise, it was diagonally upward from Helusi's viewpoint, but for the Supreme Mage it was a flat plane.

Looking closely, the Supreme Mage wore a yellowish-orange mage's robe, had a bald look, a slender build, and a sufficiently neutral face; judging by appearance alone, one could not tell male from female.

And that Supreme Mage was precisely the 'Gu Yi' mage his father had warned him to watch for.

Sensing the other's tranquil state of mind, Helusi did not hastily employ his Spiritual Energy claw; he continued forward, taking a step, turning about eighty degrees, and arrived at the plaza where Gu Yi was.

He approached and stopped.

Helusi lowered his head to look down.

Gu Yi, however, raised his head to look up.

After a moment of silence, Helusi fixed his gaze on the necklace before Gu Yi's chest and spoke first: 'Please hand over the Time Gem.'

"You, and those giants on the street, do not belong to our universe." But Gu Yi, not answering the question, instead turned the question on Helusi, saying: "Then child, please tell me why I should hand over an artifact that can control the past, present, and future of our universe to an outsider?"

"If it were you, wouldn't you find it strange? Wouldn't you consider it a kind of robbery?"

"Heh." Helusi gave a scornful laugh and replied: "No mistake, our main universe's actions are indeed overly domineering, but ultimately it is for the prosperity of all humanity."

Moreover, Helusi, too lazy to hide his purpose, spoke bluntly: "To you, the Time Gem hanging from your neck is a divine artifact; in my eyes, it is merely a thing that can earn me enough merits to stand out among my brothers—never a divine artifact at all."

"If I wanted to affect time, I could do it myself alone." Having said that, Helusi released his overbearing Spiritual Energy.

"Splash! Splash!"

Golden radiance swept across the mirror space in an instant, and with a world-destroying 'air wave' it shattered all falseness; accompanied by the sound of breaking mirror pieces, everything collapsed and sank.

In less than the blink of an eye, as the mirror world was destroyed, Helusi and Gu Yi returned to the physical universe—namely, the first-floor hall of the New York Sanctuary.

"Oh?"

Discovering that Helusi could actually pull her out of the mirror world, Gu Yi couldn't help but stare for a moment, then regained composure, clapped his hands, and his expression and demeanor revealed unreserved praise, evaluating:

"Not bad; in some… no, actually in many aspects you surpass my existence; speaking only of the flesh, I cannot match you."

"But child, no matter how mature and steady you appear, you cannot hide the inexperience of a novice, such as…"

Gu Yi said, preparing to lift his left hand to snap his fingers.

"..."

"Roo~!" The tearing of air produced by the claw's swing.

"Shrip!!" A human limb was easily severed by a claw lacking Spiritual Energy.

As it turned out, Gu Yi had the idea to snap his fingers, intending to use his left hand to enact it, but the moment his left hand moved, Helusi noticed it and his claw swing cut off Gu Yi's left arm.

"Pfft!"

The cut surface was exceptionally smooth, and blood gushed out uncontrollably.

!!!

And Gu Yi looked shocked, clearly not having 'seen' it, nor expecting Helusi to act so swiftly and decisively, moving without the slightest hesitation.

In fact, Gu Yi was also betting, betting that Helusi would play a word game with her; unfortunately, the Original Body, deeply influenced by Sui Bian and Alekxia, how could it possibly waste time arguing with a mage?

Being able to calmly 'ask' for the Time Stone shows that Helusi already has enough patience.

As for 'seeing' and anticipating, Gu Yi cannot use the Time Stone to predict or 'watch' Helusi's actions.

Helusi not being a member of their universe is one aspect; mainly, she used the Time Stone while in the Mirror World to try to observe all of Helusi's possibilities.

But!

Gu Yi only saw the pair of eyes emitting golden light from their pupils, staring at her coldly and ruthlessly, making it impossible to discern Helusi in the slightest.

"Don't make small moves in front of me." Helusi uttered another disdainful remark, looking down as Gu Yi kept retreating, blood splashing like a waterfall onto the floor, he warned:

"I could kill you the moment you finish your thoughts and translate them into action with your body; I'm too lazy to play word games. The reason I haven't killed you is that I sense you harbor no malice, but that doesn't mean I have extra patience."

"Moreover, I suppose you could use the Time Stone to restore your body to its original state; tell me, what kind of existence are you, that makes you worry that Earth and humanity will be devoured by the other side?"

In his private email to him, his father said that Gu Yi was Earth's protector, worthy of respect, and likewise had a lifespan calculable in centuries.

If possible, avoid killing; best to strip Gu Yi of her magic, erase her memories, and let her enjoy a peaceful twilight.

Thus, following his father's advice, Helusi refrained from directly striking down Gu Yi.

But his father also said that Gu Yi had always been guarding against something that transcends dimensions, space, and time.

So he wanted first to identify what that thing was, then personally resolve it to eliminate future trouble.

Meanwhile, Gu Yi, right hand covering her wound, upon hearing Helusi's words, no longer dared to act enigmatic; she immediately placed her remaining right hand over her chest…

Ri～-——!

Green light suddenly appeared.

Immediately, the container protecting the Time Stone automatically unfolded, releasing numerous thin, soft green beams that formed ring after ring, or rather gear-like shapes, rotating.

Soon, the blood and severed arm began to defy gravity and order, returning to Gu Yi's body, restoring her left arm and even the left sleeve of her robe to their original state.

"Hah…" Gu Yi drew a deep breath, looked up again at Helusi, and said in a low voice: "Our world is the reality dimension, yet there is also a dark dimension."

It is filled with dark energy, lacking the concepts of time, space, and order; for humanity and all life, it is an existence of extreme malice.

The ruler of the dark dimension, Dormammu, who can arbitrarily control dark power and even bestow life and strength, has discarded his flesh, becoming an incorporeal concept.

Any sentient being aware of Dormammu who becomes his faithful follower makes him impossible to truly annihilate or kill; and he intensely craves our Earth, intending to devour us.

"I, along with our mages, guard the Time Stone and all sanctums precisely to prevent Dormammu's invasion of the reality dimension."

"Hmm…"

Upon hearing Gu Yi say that, together with the various hints from his father, Helusi kept feeling that Dormammu resembled the eldritch gods of alien spaces he had known since childhood.

After pondering for a moment, Helusi opened the right-side built-in compartment of the Serpent Scale, took out the Space and Mind Stones, then used Spiritual Energy to have the two Infinity Stones autonomously 'adhere' and 'embed' onto his Helusi's Claw.

"..."

Throughout, Gu Yi, who had been watching Helusi's actions, felt much surprise inwardly, yet her composure remained unchanged and her face showed little variation.

However, when Gu Yi saw Helusi extend his left hand, placing his claw before her, and then heard this Original Body say: "Please hand over the Time Stone; I will deal with that so-called ruler of the dark dimension."

"Moreover, my words are not a request or solicitation of opinion; do not make me repeat myself a second time."

"..."

Faced with such an overbearing demand, Gu Yi instinctively felt disgust.

But she had long wished not to live; as for humanity and Earth's fate, she actually wanted to entrust it to others, and her successor ought to have been a doctor—yet with Helusi's emergence, and the influx of humanity from the main universe, especially that pair of eyes radiating golden light that made her heart grow cold and tremble…

Did she seem able to enjoy freedom in advance?

Thus, Gu Yi said nothing more, hesitated for less than a second, and proactively handed over the flashing green Time Stone.

Afterward, she turned, circumvented the crater Taibelos had blasted, turned again to face Helusi, and sat calmly on the stair steps, smiling lightly:

"Then I shall wait here for your good news, offspring of the Master of Humanity."

"..."

Helusi, without replying, also 'embedded' the Time Stone onto his Spiritual Energy Claw, then raised his left hand to use the Space Stone according to his will.

Whoosh~!!

Blue ethereal light filled the entire Sanctum Hall; simultaneously, Helusi opened a small vortex portal before him, and he stepped in without hesitation.

A 4.55-meter-tall figure vanished together with the portal, leaving the Sanctum Hall tranquil once more, with Gu Yi, who had begun to ponder how to enjoy a free life, remaining behind.

On Helusi's side,

After passing through the portal, he stepped into a realm suffused with red and pink clouds, drifting aimless rocks and asteroids around—essentially a 'low‑spec' dimension of alien space.

Moreover, what made Helusi slightly frown was that he also sensed something extremely familiar…

Void and Chaos.

(End of Chapter)