Start in Terra, immortal

Within a spherical black space, the previously deathly silent void suddenly rippled. Then, a portal with golden light flowing around its edges silently opened. Rosso and Strange emerged from it, stepping into this last remaining remnant of the universe.

This is the last fragment of Strange's original universe, a cage forcibly maintained by magic, barely preserving the concept of "existence".

The laws of time and space become blurred and fragile here, as if they might dissipate completely at any moment. Only in the central area, a faint force field constructed by Strange's own magic maintains the stability of this spherical space like a candle flickering in the wind.

"My universe..." Strange's voice was low and hoarse as he looked around.

"It has almost completely disappeared. Now, only this little bit remains... just enough to become the 'cage' that imprisons me."

He raised his hand, his fingertips lightly touching the Eye of Agamotto hanging on his chest.

"It was by using the power of the Time Stone to try and forcibly reverse that point in time that could never be changed that led to this result. I saved a moment, but destroyed the entire future."

Rosso stood quietly to the side, not immediately responding to Strange's sentimentality, but instead focusing his gaze on the gem that contained the immense power of time within the entire universe. "Guess why I insisted on coming here?"

Strange gave a wry smile and shook his head. As the Sorcerer Supreme of Kamar-Taj and the protégé of all the Guardians, he knew better than anyone the power and taboos of the Time Stone.

"With my current power... even if I devour and merge the power of beings from many dimensions, it is still far from enough to drive the Time Stone to rewind and reshape a universe that has already perished to such an extent."

His voice was filled with helplessness. "That would require the power of time to evenly cover every fundamental particle of the universe, every fold of spacetime. That's a force on the scale of a complete universe, and I... am just a 'monster' who stole a portion of dimensional authority. Moreover..."

He looked at Rosso with a complex emotion in his eyes, "When the power of the Time Stone truly begins to fully trace back the universe, the resulting ripples in spacetime and the repulsion of rules will reach unimaginable levels."

At that time, any higher-dimensional being that does not belong to this original system of the universe, even one as powerful as you, if located within the universe, will likely be forcibly expelled by the universe's own repair mechanisms and causality, and may even trigger a more violent spacetime storm.

Rosso did not offer a lengthy response to Strange's concerns and explanations. He simply nodded slightly, as if he had already taken those factors into account, and then said in an unquestionable, calm tone, "Let's begin."

Seeing Rosso's composed expression and the absence of any hint of joking or probing in his tone, Strange took a deep breath.

He knew that the being before him often acted beyond reason, and that its methods and purposes were unfathomable. But at this moment, this was his only hope, the only possible path to save Christine and to atone for his sins.

Without further hesitation, a resolute glint flashed in his eyes, and his hands swiftly formed complex and ancient hand seals in front of his chest. Each gesture drew upon the vast and turbulent dimensional energy within him, painstakingly guiding it towards the Eye of Agamotto on his chest.

Strange chanted the incantation softly, his voice echoing in the silent space. His distorted true appearance gradually revealed itself, as if countless shadows were writhing beneath his skin. But at this moment, he forcefully suppressed the restlessness within him, focusing all his attention on the resonance between the sign and the gem.

hum-

With a slight tremor, the outer shell of the Eye of Agamotto slowly opened, revealing the Time Gem within, radiating a green glow.

In an instant, the pure and vast power of time surged forth like a torrent from the gem, rapidly covering the entire broken universe.

The once desolate and broken remnants of the universe began to "grow" visibly under the light of time.

Tiny specks of matter begin to coalesce, following the laws of physics and propelled by the force of time, reforming into nebulae, galaxies, and stars.

As the planet gradually cools and solidifies from its scorching gaseous state, the rudiments of mountains and rivers emerge under the sculpting of gravity and time.

The entire universe is like a giant painting that has been completely torn apart and then pieced back together in reverse, and it is restoring its original magnificent appearance at an astonishing speed.

As the process continued, Strange's body began to tremble violently. Maintaining such a large-scale, long-term rewind of the Time Stone was consuming far more energy than he had anticipated.

The forces within him, originating from different dimensions, were already in conflict and extremely unstable. Now, under the high pressure of the power of time, they were like a powder keg that had been ignited.

"Uh... Ah~!"

Strange finally couldn't hold back and let out a bloodcurdling roar, revealing his terrifying true form, distorted by devouring creatures from multiple dimensions.

Countless phantoms of dimensional beings, once considered nourishment by him, struggled to emerge from his body, emitting frantic howls, attempting to disrupt the flow of his magic, tear at his soul, and drag him into endless dimensional chaos.

The situation was as he had predicted, or even worse.

His own power alone is simply insufficient to support such a large-scale cosmic backtracking, let alone back thousands of years.

His body began to crack extensively, and blood seeped from the cracks, evaporating continuously under the influence of time.

His aura rapidly declined, his soul fire flickered erratically, and he appeared to be on the verge of exhausting his magical power, dying, and even having his soul devoured by the dimensional creatures within his body.

Even so, Strange did not stop casting the spell. He knew that Rosso must have had a deeper meaning in asking him to do so.

This mysterious being wouldn't speak without reason, nor would he stand idly by and watch him truly head towards destruction. He was gambling, gambling on Rosso's backup plan, gambling on that only hope.

Just as Strange's consciousness was about to be completely consumed by the pain and the rampaging power within him, and his body was on the verge of total collapse—

A surge of golden energy unexpectedly flowed into Strange's collapsing body.

In an instant, the restless dimensional creatures within him quieted down. At the same time, Strange's cracked and crumbling body was repaired at a visible speed.

The cracks healed, the damaged tissue regenerated, and the decaying aura quickly returned, becoming even more stable than before.

What shocked him even more was the feeling from the soul level: this golden energy was warm and vast, carrying a vibrant vitality that embraced and nourished all things. Its peace and purity far exceeded any dimensional energy he had ever encountered, and was even more primal than the power of Vishanti, which he had borrowed before and which represented the highest source of white magic.

Supported by this energy, the enormous burden of the Time Stone's ability to travel back in time seemed to be reduced a hundredfold.

What was originally a difficult operation that required everything to succeed became smooth and stable, as if all that was needed was to provide energy and the Time Stone would automatically guide the river of time in the universe, flowing safely back to the past.

As time passed and the universe was constantly rebuilt, life that had perished along with the universe reappeared. Until—the moment Christine was in a car accident, time suddenly stood still.

Strange stopped casting his spell and looked at Rosso, who was still standing quietly to the side, with horror in his eyes.

"He truly transcends time!"

He had encountered such a being before he became the Sorcerer Supreme—Dormamu, the ruler of the Dark Dimension. The dimensional daemon whom he had to sacrifice countless lives to earn the right to negotiate.