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"I can sense that your strength has increased significantly once again; perhaps you are no longer inferior to Dormammu.
"However, if you fight him within the Dark Dimension, you will inevitably be suppressed. Even if you were to actually defeat him, standing behind Dormammu is Chthon.
"If Dormammu senses the danger of death, he can pray for Chthon to intervene and save him. That is the reason he has survived until now."
Seeing that George showed no intention of giving up, the Ancient One explained further.
Upon hearing this, a look of astonishment immediately appeared on George's face.
"Chthon would actually step in to save him?"
He had previously only known that Dormammu frequently borrowed Chthon's dark magic when acquiring the Dark Dimension; he hadn't expected their connection to run so deep.
If this were the case, things would be troublesome.
He had a certain degree of confidence in dealing with Dormammu, but trying to take on Chthon? That was a death wish.
The Dark Dimension was not created by Dormammu himself, so he certainly couldn't utilize it to perfection. As long as George expanded his own internal world within the Dark Dimension, he could effectively negate the buffs the Dark Dimension provided to Dormammu.
George himself was a Single Universe level entity in terms of individual power and possessed magic from many worlds. In a one-on-one duel, he had at least a fifty-fifty chance against Dormammu.
If he really couldn't win, he could simply flee back. He wagered Dormammu wouldn't dare leave his Dark Dimension to chase him down.
But Chthon was different.
He was the most ancient of the Elder Gods, having devoured many of his kin. He was the origin of Marvel's dark magic and the true wielder of Chaos Magic.
Even among Multiverse level entities, he was a top-tier existence.
He frequently orchestrated various major events to devour parallel universes one by one to strengthen himself. Even Eternity, a Multiverse level entity, couldn't do anything about him.
If he hadn't been terrified by the pursuit of Atum the God Eater back in the day, he wouldn't be subtly using the Scarlet Witch and the Darkhold to cause trouble now; instead, he would be blatantly devouring parallel universes.
"Why do you think Dormammu constantly invades various worlds yet has never been eliminated?"
The Ancient One smiled as she explained, "It is because once he successfully devours a world, the majority of that world's power is shared with Chthon. And with Chthon there to save his life at critical moments, even Eternity finds it difficult to kill him."
After listening to the Ancient One, realization dawned on George.
It made sense. Marvel had so many dimensional demon gods, but basically, all of them stayed in their own dimensions, amusing themselves. At most, they would lend out some of their power and then collect some interest.
Even the infamous Hell Lord Mephisto, who loved causing trouble, did nothing more than tempt the souls of mortals to bring them to Hell.
But Dormammu was different; at the drop of a hat, he wanted to devour the entire Earth, and then the entire universe. The severity of his malice was simply on a different level.
Even if the Ancient One couldn't completely eliminate Dormammu within the Dark Dimension due to limitations in her strength, weren't there still the Vishanti and Eternity?
The Trinity of the Vishanti were absolutely top-tier Multiverse level entities, not much weaker than Chthon.
Eternity was the very embodiment of the Marvel Multiverse, the most powerful existence within the Multiverse level.
Dealing with a Single Universe level Dormammu should be a matter of minutes. Why had they allowed him to run wild for so long?
It turned out Chthon was standing behind Dormammu. That explained it.
With Chthon protecting him, the hope of killing Dormammu was slim, and attempting it would be a waste of time.
It was better to simply let the Ancient One of each parallel universe use the Three Sanctuaries to continuously block Dormammu's invasions—a stopgap solution, but a solution nonetheless.
"Must I give up just like this?"
George was somewhat unwilling to accept it. This was a rare opportunity to use Dormammu's invasion to lock onto the location of the Dark Dimension; who knew how long it would be until the next chance?
"Perhaps..."
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck his mind.
Indeed, relying on himself alone, it was naturally impossible to kill Dormammu under Chthon's protection.
However, since both Eternity and the Vishanti wanted to eliminate Dormammu, couldn't they cooperate?
Eternity and the Vishanti could hold Chthon in check, while George took care of Dormammu and swallowed the Dark Dimension.
"Ancient One, I have a plan..."
George wasted no time and quickly explained his idea to her.
After listening, the Ancient One pondered for a moment before replying, "I cannot make the decision on such a matter. Why don't you wait two days? When the time comes..."
In two days, she would use Kaecilius's hand to feign death and escape her mortal coil, passing the position of Sorcerer Supreme to Stephen Strange.
At that time, Eternity would personally descend to take her away.
If George wanted to collaborate, he could speak with Eternity directly.
If Eternity agreed, he would notify the Vishanti to join forces and prevent Chthon's interference, allowing George to deal with Dormammu one-on-one.
If he disagreed, then George would have to rely on himself.
"Alright, I will return in two days then."
George had no objections to the Ancient One's proposal.
If Eternity refused, he would abandon the hunt for Dormammu and find other ways to continue improving his strength.
If Eternity agreed, he also needed to make some preparations. The Dark Lord Dormammu was not so easily dealt with.
To use Dormammu's clone to pinpoint the location of his main body and the Dark Dimension, it would be best if he could find the Infinity Stones.
A single snap of the fingers could wipe out half the life in the universe; the power of the Infinity Stones was actually quite formidable.
Their only drawback was that they could only be used in their native universe. Once removed from their original reality, they became nothing more than powerless stones.
He couldn't take the Infinity Stones into the Dark Dimension, but he could use them when Dormammu's clone invaded Earth.
The Time Stone alone could affect the clone; if he gathered all six Infinity Stones, he could naturally handle the clone with ease.
In truth, with his current strength, defeating Dormammu's clone would not be difficult.
The difficulty lay in the fact that his goal was not merely to devour the clone, but to use it as a medium to locate Dormammu's main body and the Dark Dimension.
This required the clone to be rendered completely incapable of resistance, to the point where the main body wouldn't even realize its clone was under attack or have time to shift locations.
Therefore, utilizing the Infinity Stones for assistance would make things much easier.
Leaving Kamar-Taj, George went directly to the Earth Super Guard base, found Gamora, and obtained the cosmic coordinates for Vormir.
Thanos had once tasked Gamora with gathering intelligence on the Soul Stone, and Gamora had indeed found its specific coordinates.
However, she had not told Thanos. Instead, she had destroyed the relevant intelligence, making it impossible for Thanos to find the Soul Stone.
Only she knew its location.
Now that Thanos had long been killed by George and she had become a member of the Super Guard, there was no longer any need for secrecy.
Upon George's inquiry, Gamora immediately revealed the coordinates of Vormir, where the Soul Stone was hidden.
(End of Chapter)