In the Kamar-Taj sanctuary—
Banner and Wanda stood somewhat nervously in front of the three Sanctum portals.
Three light screens unfolded before them, displaying the real-time status of Tony and the others.
Meanwhile, in the library—
The mages designated as the emergency support unit had already formed ranks, ready to pick up their wands and head to the battlefield at any moment.
That's right—wands.
All the mages staying in the sanctuary were either wizards who had injected bloodline potions or cultivators who practiced both mystic arts and arcane magic.
Standing together, some had cat ears and tails, while others had skeletal black wings sprouting from their backs.
None of them looked remotely human anymore.
The new magical system had only been publicly taught for just over half a month, and for now, not many mages were willing to study it.
After all, once you drank the bloodline potion, your body would transform into something bizarre.
What normal person would want to turn into a beastkin?
However, the advantage of the new magical system was that casting spells required no cost.
It was believed that more mages would choose to learn it in the future.
As for the mages standing here at this moment—most of them weren't exactly normal people.
When they heard about the side effects of the bloodline potion, not only did they show no disdain, but actually exclaimed that it wasn't a side effect at all—it was a bonus attribute!
Wong and Mordo couldn't understand the thinking of these mages.
It wasn't until Tony explained to them that there was a psychological kink called "furry fetish" that they finally had a sudden realization.
If you had to say who among them was the strangest—
It had to be Lintra, the original minotaur.
Lintra was a minotaur from another planet who had come to Earth and joined Kamar-Taj to become a mage.
He was the very first one to drink a bloodline potion—
And he even chose the potion made from the blood of an invisible beast.
Now, his fur was unnaturally thick, and he could go invisible for short periods. He was becoming more and more like a "minotaur" in another sense.
Of course, Lintra, with his simple and honest mind, didn't understand any of those strange implications.
He simply felt that ever since the new magic system had been introduced, more and more companions in the sanctuary had animal features like him.
That made him happy every single day.
...
Time slowly passed as the mages in the four regions waited tensely.
No one's mind can remain tense for an extended period.
They weren't like Lyon, who was fighting gleefully against Dormammu inside the World Ring.
Maintaining silence and focused attention for a long time was incredibly draining.
Half an hour later—
After some discussion, Tony and the others decided to rotate some of the mages for watch duty.
And at the same time—
Several Hell and dimensional lords finally sensed the abnormality in the Dark Dimension.
Upon the throne of a certain hell, Mephisto—his entire body crimson as though bathed in blood—suddenly opened his eyes.
He stepped down from the throne, gradually transforming into the figure of an elderly white man.
"Dormammu is in a struggle… over a planet called Earth?"
Mephisto curled his lips into a grin, greed gleaming between his teeth. "Such a good opportunity can't be missed."
"Let the demons go probe the situation on that little Earth. As for me—come to think of it, it's been a while since I've visited this old friend of mine… heheheh."
And it wasn't just Mephisto.
Satannish, Chthonos, Marduk, and even the infamous Eye of Agamotto all turned their gazes toward Earth at this very moment.
They all made similar choices in unspoken agreement—
—to send low-level hellspawn or dimensional creatures to Earth to attempt breaching the sanctums.
As for themselves, they headed to the Dark Dimension to see if they could profit while its master was away.
…
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Red warning lights flashed wildly across every projection screen, sirens blaring and bathing the entire sanctum in blood-red light.
Tony's pupils and face reflected the crimson hue: "The enemy's here! All mages prepare to restrict the battlefield! Romanoff, after the first wave of probing attacks, you're with me!"
"No problem!" Natasha gripped a long spear-shaped magical artifact.
She could confidently say that just a few months ago, she never imagined her life would be this wildly colorful—fighting off invaders from other worlds.
The other two sanctums were no different.
The defense systems of the three great sanctums were torn open by immense energy from several hells and dimensional realms, forming thin rifts.
And at that very moment—
Low-level demons and dimensional creatures stepped out from those rifts in all three sanctums.
Dispatched to assault the sanctums, their spatial portals had naturally been anchored inside the sanctum grounds.
The moment Wong and Mordo sensed the demonic aura, they issued the same command as Tony.
The mages responsible for field restriction immediately cast a joint spell, unfolding a Mirror Dimension over the sanctum and containing the incoming interdimensional portals within it.
Tony activated a full-frequency voice broadcast: "Everyone, I've got some weird creatures here—hellhounds and red dragons, like something out of a fairy tale. Anything going on on your end?"
He had intended to play it safe and have everyone regroup to fight together.
But Wong and Mordo's responses made his heart sink.
"It's not looking good here. Some giant-eyed octopus-like things showed up—they should be from the Eye Demon's affiliated dimension," Mordo replied, cold sweat on his forehead.
"There's some activity here as well—low-level demons from Hell, but nothing unmanageable for now," Wong reported from the Hong Kong sanctum, where things seemed relatively better.
"Sounds like everything's going great… Want us to deploy support from the Sacred Ground?" asked Dr. Banner. "I can also—"
"No, keep Hulk waiting a bit longer!" Wong, being the most well-read in magical texts, made the call. "Banner, divide the mages left in the Sacred Ground into three teams. We'll concentrate our fire first, then move in for close combat!"
"Got it! I'm on it!"
Banner rushed out of the library, organizing over a hundred mages into three teams and directing them into the portals to the three great sanctums.
…
The team including the minotaur Lintra arrived at the London Sanctum.
The moment they stepped out of the portal, they were instantly pulled into the Mirror Dimension.
The first scene they saw was Grandmaster Mordo in the lead, struggling alongside other mages to restrain seven or eight massive octopus-like monsters using magical chains.
Each of those monsters had legs over ten meters long, and on top of their bulbous octopus heads sat an enormous eye.
A single glance from that eye was enough to make Lintra and the others feel dizzy and sluggish.
"Not good—it's a spirit-based corrosion attack! Quickly use Vishanti's mental warding!"
Dozens of mages first reached out to the Vishanti Dimension and cast mental protection spells on themselves.
Only then did they turn to the embattled Mordo: "Grandmaster Mordo, what should we do?"
"Use the Unforgivable Curse! Focus fire on a single target!"
Mordo held tightly to one of the magical chains, veins bulging on his forehead. "These things come from a psychic dimension. They're experts in mental corrosion—you have to counter them with psychic spells!"
The mages all responded in unison and immediately pulled out their wands.
"Avada Kedavra!" Dozens of green beams of light converged on a single giant octopus.
Boom!
The Killing Curse requires a firm intent to kill in order to be cast.
As soon as the concentrated killing intent of dozens of people poured into the monster's body, its giant eye rolled back, and it collapsed with a heavy thud.
It wasn't dead—the Killing Curse couldn't deal it substantial physical damage.
But the emotion embedded in the curse had temporarily caused the creature to crash.
Mordo's eyes lit up when he saw this.
He immediately released the chain in his hand.
With enchanted boots underfoot, he dashed several steps through the air and unleashed the Fan of Oshtur.
Descending from the sky, a single slash from the fan split the giant octopus's head clean in two.
"Well done, keep going!" Mordo shouted.
He hadn't expected Hogwarts magic to actually come in handy at a time like this.
When these giant octopi were fully conscious, they would reinforce themselves with dimensional energy, making them virtually bulletproof.
On top of that, their constant mental corrosion made it extremely difficult to take the initiative.
But now, a volley of Avada Kedavra spells had temporarily incapacitated them—it was almost too easy to finish them off.
Within minutes, Mordo and the mages were cutting through the remaining creatures like slicing vegetables.
Mordo smiled, "Looks like we'll be the first to finish off our enemies!"
"Grand… Grandmaster Mordo, look—!!" the minotaur Lintra suddenly pointed behind him.
Mordo turned and saw that even more giant octopi were emerging from the spatial rift—an unending stream.
"Damn it… has the dimensional demon gone mad, sending this many underlings?" Mordo was now drenched in sweat.
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