American comics: From Hogwarts to God on Earth

Chapter 171 The Real Doctor Strange

Phantom Cat took a deep breath, her fingers lightly touching Wolverine and Rune's temples, and her powers began to surge. In Rune's eyes, the surrounding reality was like a torn curtain, space distorted, folded, and finally shattered into countless shimmering fragments.

"Hold on tight, everyone!" Her voice echoed through the dimensional rift. "This isn't just a simple wall-passing exercise; we're crossing dimensions. Promise me you won't throw up on me, okay?!"

In an instant, they were thrown into the border of hell, an alternate dimension dominated by chaotic magic and dark energy.

The sky burned with an eerie crimson, twisted spires pierced the heavens like demonic fangs, and the ground was covered with writhing shadows and whispering ghosts. Wolverine's claws instinctively extended, his nostrils twitching—he smelled the scent of sulfur and decay.

"This place is even worse than I imagined," he muttered, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

Rune remained noncommittal, saying that this place was actually better than Hell in the DC Universe, at least there were no souls constantly experiencing the most painful moments of their lives, nor their heart-wrenching cries of despair.

Phantom Cat's self-light swept around. Here, she had to maintain her abilities to a certain extent at all times. The laws of the Hell's Border would erode the minds of ordinary people, but her abilities allowed her to resist some of the corruption.

Suddenly, a soft laugh came from the shadows, accompanied by the crisp sound of metal boots stepping on the bone floor.

"Katie Pride, and Wolverine?" A cold yet familiar voice rang out. The person who emerged from the darkness was Magik. Her silver hair gleamed like a blade against the crimson sky, her entire body was covered in black and red armor, and she held a massive sword in her hand.

Rune guessed the sword probably wouldn't be very heavy, since it was a greatsword conjured from her own soul, possessing a special effect against mystical creatures, but only capable of rendering non-magical beings unconscious. This was one of the reasons Rune sought her out; without her, Dormammu would likely be difficult to deal with.

Snapped.

Magik snapped his fingers, and Phantom Cat immediately felt much more relaxed.

"You shouldn't have come here." Magik's voice was calm but full of warning. "Land of Hell is not a tourist attraction."

"We didn't want to be here either, but Earth is in grave danger—" Shadowcat stepped forward, looked directly at her, and recounted what had happened recently, concluding, "We need your help, Liana. Under Red Skull's oppression, the fates of ordinary people and mutants are intertwined—"

Logan took a puff of his cigar. "Enough talk, girl. Magik, the outside world is doomed. We need you."

Rune also spoke up: "Miracle, you should know that if Earth falls, Mephisto and the other dimensional demons will become even stronger, right? At that time, your Hell Frontier will not be spared either. They will rely on the souls of the dead to strengthen themselves and then devour those weaker dimensional demons."

"That includes me, right?" Magik nodded. "Even if you hadn't said that, I would have helped. After all, I'm an X-Men member too."

"Logan, you and Phantom Cat go back and call all the other heroes you can contact to my cabin. You don't need to worry about things here," Rune instructed.

"You've already said it, no need to repeat yourself." Logan snorted coldly; this wolf had a terrible temper.

The cryptid raised her hand, and a dark blue portal opened behind her.

"Let's go."

The skies of the Dark Dimension are forever ablaze with eerie purple flames, and the scenery here is far more magnificent than on Earth, especially when a Sorcerer Supreme and a Dimensional Lord are locked in battle.

The Strange Bottom hovered in mid-air, his crimson cloak of levitation fluttering in the wind. His hands weaved intricate magic circles, and the golden Seraphim Shield trembled violently under the impact of Dormammu's dark energy. Beside him, the silver-haired Cly wielded a silver-white magical whip, each strike tearing a gash in Dormammu's body, only to heal itself in an instant.

Dormammu's maniacal laughter shook the entire dimension. His body, composed of pure dark energy, resembled a moving mountain. With a wave of his hand, countless shadow creatures surged from the void, rushing towards the two, only to be instantly pulverized into pure energy by lightning.

"Look, you merely think you've become the rulers of this dimension, but you haven't earned its recognition. As for me—" Dormammu mocked the two, "I am the true ruler of the Dark Realm, I am the Dark Dimension itself! Cly, you traitor, you'll be devoured by me sooner or later. As for you—"

The enormous dark giant glared at his nemesis, who had repeatedly thwarted his plans, and roared, "I will tear your face off and present it to that Hydra as a gift!"

"I never imagined anyone would be jealous of my face," the Strange Doctor said with a self-deprecating laugh. "I thought my face was ugly enough..."

But Chris, standing beside him, clearly disagreed. Her gestures continued, yet she still had the energy to speak: "In my heart, no one's face can compare to yours. You're the most handsome!"

Just then, a blue portal appeared before them, and Clyde and Doctor Strange immediately became alert. A man and a woman emerged from the portal. Clyde and Strange were familiar with women, but unfamiliar with boys; even so,

That should put the couple at ease.

However, after seeing the boy's face, Doctor Strange joked with Clarence, "Even after seeing this little boy..."

Do you still think no one is more handsome than me?

Cly glanced at him; indeed, he was as handsome as the readers were. But she still said, "Of course, I still think no one is more handsome than you. Otherwise, why would Dormammu want to tear your face off?"

Miguel glanced at the two of them speechlessly, while Rune scoffed, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, isn't it?"

However, after seeing Doctor Strange, Rune did feel relieved.

Dormammu was even more exasperated when he saw two more people arrive. Red Skull had initially told him to just hold off these two.

Then two more arrived. What should he do? Should he run away? Then he glanced at them and saw that one of them was the Sorcerer Supreme from the Hell's Frontier Dimension, and the other one who dared to come over was probably no pushover either.

As Dormammu hesitated about whether to retreat, Magik didn't waste any words. She raised her Soulblade, and the energy of the Hell's Frontier surged into her body like a tide. Her armor emitted a blinding red light, and horns, hooves, tails, and scales—the unique features of demons—grew on her body. This magical armor could deflect or weaken physical and magical attacks.

Although Magik has learned a great deal of dark magic and her energy release ability is definitely not low, she still prefers to tear her enemies apart in close combat, which may be related to her warrior heritage.

As expected, she didn't cast a spell; instead, she teleported directly to the other person's face and slashed down with her sword. Before Doctor Strange's face was even torn off, Dormammu's face was disfigured first.

Rune placed his hands on Doctor Strange and Cly, and then the two felt a surge of magical energy flow into them.

"Thank you." Strange's horse-like face wore a mixture of pain and pleasure. "But it would have been better if it had been white magic."

Klee was clearly more comfortable; being from the Dark Dimension, she naturally wouldn't resist dark magic.

"Come on, Strange, don't think I don't know, your black magic skills are just as good as your white magic skills." Rune snorted.

In the movie, when Strange was learning magic, he would secretly look into the forbidden library guarded by the King with the Ancient One's tacit permission. The contents of the library were not some gentle white magic. This is why he was able to control the zombie Strange from another dimension in his duel with Scarlet Witch. Scarlet Witch then called him a hypocrite.

As for the comics, it goes without saying that Doctor Strange here studied the Book of Cagliostro, a book that contains parts of the Dark Book, methods for summoning Dormammu, and some of Sethnig's notes. Doctor Strange is not a pure user of dark magic, but he does study and occasionally use dark magic, especially in extreme circumstances.

Strange was somewhat surprised by how well Rune knew him, considering that many people were unaware that he practiced dark magic. He continued, "Yes, but because of the dark magic you've transmitted, I feel like I'm going to lose my hand again—"

Pfft!

Magik, blasted to the ground by powerful dark magic, coughed twice: "Gentlemen, shouldn't we defeat Dormammu together first, and then chat?"