As the king of Asgard and the third ruler of the Aesir gods, Odin, like the rest of his kin, saw his power increase with age—the older he got, the stronger he became.
However, this growth was not limitless.
When life approached its end, his power would inevitably begin to decline, and his body would rapidly age.
Without relying on "the Odinsleep" to maintain balance, this decline and aging process would accelerate even further.
And that was exactly what Odin was experiencing now.
Both his power and his body were on a downward slope, steadily approaching twilight…
Even though he could no longer suppress Dormammu, the same was true in reverse—Dormammu could not defeat him either.
If things truly went south, he could always retreat. Besides, Dormammu wasn't just up against him alone.
Because the true guardian of Earth… was not Odin.
The Ancient One, dressed in simple robes, was guiding a group of young sorcerers when her brow suddenly twitched.
"Mordo, you take over their training—"
She called over Mordo, who was resting nearby, instructing him to continue overseeing the young disciples' practice. Then, she casually opened a portal and stepped through.
Not far away, another of her disciples—Kaecilius—was also instructing a group of trainees.
What she didn't notice was the flash of sinister intent in Kaecilius's eyes as he watched her walk away through the portal…
On the other side, the Ancient One reappeared outside a hidden chamber deep within Kamar-Taj.
This secret room was connected to the magical sanctums of New York, London, and Hong Kong—the three keystones of the "Supreme Guardian Spell Array" that she had once established.
As long as those three sanctums remained standing, the Supreme Guardian Array would not fail.
With this massive magical formation shielding Earth, no force at or above the sub-Celestial level could act upon the planet directly.
Moreover, with the array's power bolstering her, even a full-fledged Celestial descending upon Earth could be repelled—just as she had once driven Dormammu away.
Entering the chamber, she snapped her fingers lightly.
In the center of the room, a three-dimensional projection of Earth slowly materialized.
Surrounding the Earth projection was a glowing golden shield, enveloping the entire globe.
This was the visible form of the Supreme Guardian Array.
As she gazed upward, her expression grew grave.
A massive black shadow—many times larger than the Earth projection—was slowly creeping toward it.
Naturally, Raymond was unaware of Dormammu's response. But even if he had known, he wouldn't have been all that surprised.
Because that's just who Dormammu was—an egomaniac who couldn't stand even the smallest insult.
Truthfully, if it hadn't been for the Exorcist Sub-Personality acting so fiercely and decisively, Raymond would never have wanted to provoke such an unfathomably powerful Dimensional Lord.
Even if Dormammu couldn't descend upon Earth in the short term and wasn't an immediate threat to Raymond's life—it didn't mean the situation was without danger.
"Sorry, Boss Raymond…" The Exorcist Sub-Personality wasn't stupid. By now, he'd realized he might have caused a huge mess, and he offered a sheepish apology.
"It's not your fault. I was careless too—I didn't expect something ," Raymond shook his head, not blaming him.
What's done is done. They'd already provoked Dormammu. Pointing fingers now wouldn't help anything.
Besides, this whole thing had happened so suddenly—who could've imagined that a seemingly ordinary cultist incident would somehow end up involving Dormammu, a dark lord who roamed the multiverse?
"Raymond, are you sure Dormammu won't come for us?" the Sub-Personality John Constantine asked nervously.
Ever since Raymond mentioned that Dormammu was on the level of "Triumvirate of Hell", he'd been visibly uneasy.
For someone who relied on brains over brawn, it made no sense to antagonize a terrifying entity that could squash him like an insect—not without preparation. That just wasn't his style.
And Dormammu was definitely that kind of terrifying entity.
John Constantine wasn't a coward, and when it came to facing death, he could be crazier than most.
But getting killed for no reason ? That was just plain humiliating.
"Don't worry," Raymond said with a smile. "Even if Dormammu wants revenge, coming to Earth won't be that easy—there are people who will stop him."
"There are people on Earth that powerful?" John Constantine asked, clearly surprised.
In his world, even someone as overpowered as Superman wasn't a match for the Triumvirate of Hell. It had taken the intervention of fifth-dimensional beings—those so-called "Imps"—to put them down.
And based on everything he'd observed so far, he hadn't seen any hero or villain on this Earth who could even compare to Superman.
Whether it was the Shadow King or the Juggernaut, if they ever faced Superman, they'd get crushed in seconds.
So he really couldn't picture anyone here being able to challenge a being like Dormammu.
"Funny thing is, she's kind of your colleague… She's a sorcerer too," Raymond said, glancing at John Constantine.
"She's a sorcerer too?" John Constantine perked up, clearly intrigued.
"You might get to meet her one day. But right now, we've got more important matters," Raymond cut off his train of thought and asked, "Can you guys track down those cultists?"
"I should've been able to," John Constantine replied, looking a bit awkward. "As long as there's lingering aura from the evil god, I can trace the location of the worshippers. But now…"
He trailed off, visibly embarrassed.
Truth be told, it was his messing around with those remnants of energy that had drawn Dormammu's attention in the first place.
If not for that, Dormammu wouldn't have projected a piece of his will here, and none of the subsequent chaos would've happened.
It had been an honest mistake, but bringing it up again made him feel a little awkward.
The Exorcist Sub-Personality seized this chance to redeem himself and stepped forward without hesitation.
"Then I'll leave it to you," Raymond nodded at him.
"No trouble at all, no trouble at all."
The Exorcist waved it off and lifted his right hand, beginning a new round of divination.
Seeing that he was no longer needed, John Constantine slapped his own face, dispelling his shadow clone and returning to Raymond's body.
Raymond noticed the gesture but didn't stop him—he just let him be.
A few moments later, the Exorcist suddenly broke into a grin and looked at Raymond. "Found 'em!"
"Good. Lead the way—"
A/N: The depiction of the Ancient One is primarily based on the MCU version, but the lore draws from both the films and the comics—just for clarification.
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