Chapter 354

A deafening boom echoed as countless magical meteorites, woven from radiant spells, pierced through layers of shattered dimensional space; in an instant, they rained down like a comb, filling the air with countless screams and wails, and Dormammu's furious voice reverberated across the universe:

"Kaecilius!! It's you again!!!"

But faster than him came the blazing flames rising from Hell; Mephisto's colossal form descended upon the battlefield's center, facing Kaecilius directly, flames and magic intertwining; his voice, hoarse and low, carried the evil inherent to the Lord of Hell:

"Leave this place, Kaecilius. This is no place for you. Our feud has nothing to do with you!"

"You're wrong, Mephisto. There is no place in this universe I am not meant to go." Kaecilius's voice rang like a bell, calm and icy, carrying an aura that chilled the soul.

Her yellow robe flared as countless brilliant magical crystals shot forth like a storm of swords toward Mephisto; Dormammu growled, "Will the Sorcerer Supreme join this war? If you're determined to do so, beware—the disaster you bring may be irreversible for you and your kind!"

Kaecilius's reply was as blunt as ever: "If all of you die, there will be no disaster left in the universe. Lei Ting!"

Many demons who had never seen Kaecilius involuntarily stepped back two paces; though they didn't know what had driven her mad, it was clear—the Sorcerer Supreme intended to fight two at once.

At that moment, a beam of radiant light enveloped Kaecilius's back; the figures of the Vishanti appeared in the cosmos, radiating unmatched power; one of the three demon lords spoke: "All of you, leave this place. Do not let the conflict escalate further."

"The Vishanti…" Mephisto regarded the Vishanti with deep wariness; seeing him openly stand by Kaecilius, many demons began to retreat. The guardian of the multiverse was not to be trifled with—and even stronger demons knew the Vishanti stood behind Eternity.

But then Kaecilius struck. Dormammu and Mephisto responded in kind; magical radiance, dark energy, and hellfire erupted together, instantly spreading across several surrounding dimensions.

Weishan wanted to call Kaecilius off, but he didn't know why she insisted on waging war against the dimensional demons. Then, a blood-red moon descended from the heavens, its crimson light bathing the world—and time froze.

The Vishanti looked upward; Surtur's form did not appear, but the silhouettes of Surtur's colossal cities were now faintly visible on the horizon.

Simultaneously, the light grew fiercer; white and red energies clashed violently across the dimensions, and countless demons were utterly shattered before they even laid eyes on the light.

In deeper layers of space, Kaecilius, Mephisto, and Dormammu exchanged blows with fierce intensity; in more remote battlefields, Hela and Balder continued their relentless fight.

At that moment, a golden lightning bolt split the battlefield; Odin, Father of the Gods, stood atop the prow of a massive warship and declared: "Hela, cease your destruction. It will lead to nothing!"

"Hypocrite." Hela gave Odin only two words, then pressed forward with endless undead power.

With Odin's entry, this half of the battlefield grew even fiercer; the once-targeted lightning had become full-scale thunderstorms; Odin's unmatched strength and ferocious assault shattered everything around him into fragments.

In this epic battle scene, colors of energy interwove, weapons and armor clashed, thunder and fire danced together, war cries and wails harmonized, celestial bodies screamed, and the universe boiled.

But soon, the battlefield began to drift.

Though battlefield shifts were normal in war, the speed of this drift was beyond imagination.

Among the trio of Kaecilius, Mephisto, and Dormammu, Kaecilius was utterly justified—she was a sorcerer; how could she possibly engage in melee? She naturally kept distance from enemies; if Mephisto tried to close in, she retreated, then unleashed her spells.

As Kaecilius retreated, Mephisto and Dormammu chased; as they chased, the entire three-way battle surged forward like a runaway train.

When Kaecilius moved, the Vishanti—who stood by her—had to follow; when the Vishanti moved, Surtur had to move too…

On another battlefield, Hela was equally reasonable: Odin's lightning was too powerful; she couldn't just stand there and let him strike. Evading the offensive was basic tactical wisdom—wasn't it natural to flee beyond the range of his bolts?

The Marvelous Wood

When Hela dodged, Odin—who had come solely to strike her—had to follow; once both were gone, Balder naturally had to chase after them…

Thus, this positional war rapidly transformed into a mobile war: she fled, he chased; she fled again, he chased again; she fled with all her might, he pursued with all his life.

Then, after drifting dozens of dimensions and hundreds of billions of light-years, they arrived—by sheer coincidence—at the Andromeda Galaxy.

Many reasons could explain this: perhaps the demon lords had no sense of distance; perhaps the Sorcerer Supreme and the dimensional demons bore deep, ancient grudges…

But certainly not because Strange had called Kaecilius to pull aggro.

In the Andromeda Galaxy, the scene grew even more chaotic. Don't forget: within the Andromeda Galaxy lurked Surtur, a great demon who had just discovered his prison broken and now intended to punish the culprit.

At this moment, Surtur hovered above the planet Klinta, staring at it, growing increasingly suspicious: Was this… a shell the bastard had built to hide from him?

Surtur found his theory plausible: steal something, and the first instinct is always to hide somewhere safe.

So Surtur never considered this a prison holding N'Gon; he believed it was N'Gon's own safehouse, built specifically to evade the aggrieved.

If so, Surtur would not let him succeed—he began channeling chaos energy to attack the prison.

Though the prison held N'Gon inside, its surface was entirely covered in symbiotes; the symbiotes frantically sent out distress signals, their cries and pleas nearly bursting the heads of the Cosmic Agents.

The Cosmic Agents desperately did not want N'Gon to escape; since they themselves could not return, they had to mobilize other forces to defend the planet.

The nearest force was the Andromeda Consortium.

Upon hearing the symbiotes refused to send reinforcements and instead planned to withdraw personnel, the Consortium's council erupted; to them, this was an act of treachery and ungrateful betrayal.

But the symbiotes had their own logic: you can hold off the sulfur dwarves for a while, but if N'Gon escapes, the entire universe is doomed—which matters more?

Neither side could reach an agreement; the Consortium fought for survival, the symbiotes for cosmic justice; both believed they were right, and both deemed the other shortsighted.

As the crisis deepened, conflict became irreconcilable; in desperation, the symbiotes forcibly took control of their hosts' bodies and rushed toward Klinta.

This stirred a hornet's nest. Among the Consortium, there were races akin to humans who deeply despised parasitic lifeforms; they had long viewed symbiotes as dangerous and constantly warned of their threat.

Previously, under Cosmic Agents' restraint, symbiotes had never forcibly controlled hosts; many species had grown complacent, lacking any countermeasures. But it was precisely those symbiote-hating races who had learned the symbiotes' weaknesses from the sulfur dwarves.

As the symbiotes forcibly seized their hosts to urgently reinforce their homeworld, these races killed two symbiotes with fire and sonic waves—among them, one was a newborn, barely born.

The symbiotes erupted in rage; they waged war within that civilization's territory, seeking vengeance for their kin.

Eventually, the symbiote civilization and the Consortium civilization broke apart completely; symbiotes within the Consortium's realm faced endless pursuit.

Symbiotes who had lived among the Consortium were forced to shed most of their biomass, clinging to animals, wounded and broken, as they returned to their homeworld.

Cosmic Agents on Earth learned of this news—furious, sorrowful, but mostly desperate. If N'Gon escaped after such a cost, both the symbiote race and the Cosmic Agents were finished.

"N'Gon won't give us another chance. We're merely a race he casually created—and we betrayed him. He's no loving creator god—he's a cruel, evil destroyer."

Blue Spirit's voice carried exhaustion; Strange patted his shoulder and said: "The Sorcerer Supreme hasn't replied to my message…"

Blue Spirit drew a deep breath, about to speak—when Strange continued: "But the sorcerers have decided to build you a galactic teleportation gate right now."

Blue Spirit's eyes widened; Strange patted his shoulder again: "After living among humans for so long, you must understand—we're emotional beings, not cold logic machines. We don't abandon friends in need."

He looked into Blue Spirit's eyes: "This isn't just about human-symbiote friendship. We, too, are part of the universe, bearing the duty to uphold its peace and stability."

"I know. In this dark void, Cosmic Agents sail silently, aiding every civilization they can—like lighthouses in the cosmos."

"Humans are still weak. We cannot walk beside you on your radiant path. But at least, in this moment when the flame is faint, we are willing to add a log—to keep this rare light from ever going out…"

Blue Spirit stared into Strange's eyes; they seemed to shimmer with light.

Before hearing these words, he had believed symbiotes could not cry. He stood, then, in the human way, extended his hand to shake Strange's.

As their palms touched, light flared directly from their fingers; Strange said: "You'll need this energy. It's humanity's farewell gift to you…"

Blue Spirit gripped Strange's hand tightly; when they finally parted, the magical light had transferred from Strange's fingertip to Blue Spirit's palm.

Blue Spirit felt the abundant power within him; Strange smiled and said: "Long live friendship, Shentar."

Blue Spirit's fingertips twitched; his voice trembled as he clasped Strange's hand again, like a human's dream of third-kind contact.

"…Long live friendship… humanity."