"I'm not entirely sure if it's safe for you to be here. Have you dealt with the tracking issue?"
At the entrance of the Sanctum Sanctorum, Peter greeted Logan and Cindy. The former looked at Peter, who was clad in the Anti-Venom suit, but said nothing, merely glancing at the Sanctum beside them. "Don't worry. Hank (Beast) handled the mechanical side of things. As for manual surveillance, Charles will take care of it."
To be honest, Peter didn't know how Kang had pulled this off—actually resurrecting the Professor. Although according to Logan, the Professor's living corpse had been kept at the academy all along, for him to be revived just like this was a bit... abstract.
Peter didn't know what to say, so he simply opened the door—he had studied magic at the Sanctum, so he could open it directly.
"I'm not sure if Strange still remembers me..." Peter fell silent after opening the door, staring into the pitch-black Sanctum. He asked uncertainly, "I'm not even sure... if Strange is still in the Sanctum, or if Wong is here."
The Sanctum was unexpectedly dark. Not only that, but it was also quite dilapidated. If Strange were away on business or missing for some reason, it would be understandable, but why had Wong and the other Kamar-Taj NPCs vanished as well?
Logan gave a careful sniff, then furrowed his brow.
"I smell... sulfur."
"Sulfur?" Peter asked tentatively. "Is it the scent of Belasco and Limbo?"
Peter asked this because Belasco was undoubtedly linked to Kang, and Belasco had used unknown means to augment the Sandman. Combined with the sulfurous scent unique to Hell and the fact that Illyana had vanished along with the X-Men, this was the figure that came to his mind.
But Logan shook his head and said with uncertainty, "I don't think so. The scents are different, and it's not like the sulfur smell Kurt (Nightcrawler) carries..."
Peter frowned. Putting aside the matter of the Sanctum for a moment, he led the two of them to the door connecting the three Great Sanctums. He opened the gateway to Kamar-Taj and stepped inside, only to find... everything was as usual.
A fully armed Wong emerged, leading a group of Kamar-Taj disciples. He froze for a moment upon seeing Spider-Man and the others, then signaled his followers to put away their weapons before approaching. "Spider-Man?"
"Uh, wait, you remember me?"
"No. A few minutes ago, I didn't. But I know what you did. Making the whole world forget you was clever, but the more you appear, the weaker that effect becomes."
Wong spoke to Peter with a serious expression before looking toward the New York Sanctum. "It seems things are fine over in New York now. I'll arrange for disciples to go and clean it up immediately."
"What happened in New York?"
"The Cosmic Cube. You're asking what you already know. The Sanctum couldn't protect us from the power of the Cosmic Cube. We were forced to consolidate all disciples at Kamar-Taj, relying on the ancient protections here to avoid losing personnel. Since you've arrived, it means things have mostly stabilized."
So that's why the New York Sanctum was empty... Peter nodded, then followed up with a question: "Then what about Strange?"
At this, Wong looked at Peter with an even stranger gaze.
"He's trapped outside the universe."
"Huh?"
"I said, he's trapped outside the universe. Didn't you create a massive rift in reality in Paris and take responsibility for mending it? Though the repairs were completed, it was still fragile. Strange went beyond reality to intercept those monsters and demons, but when the Cosmic Cube modified reality, he was locked out."
Peter rubbed his head. He remembered Madame Web's words—do not think of hiding in other universes to escape the Cosmic Cube, as you will be unable to return. It seemed this effect had been realized in Strange. He sighed helplessly, then told them to wait a moment. Activating his abilities, he tore a rift in reality within Kamar-Taj. A second later, a soot-covered Strange finally returned to Earth-616.
"Next time, remind me to check the news before I head out. If I'd known the Avengers couldn't handle Kang, I wouldn't have left."
Strange shook his head helplessly, then looked at Peter. "Good job, Spider-Man. I thought Kang would have erased you directly. It seems you found a way to avoid reality erasure after all."
"Yeah, it took about half a month and Cindy's help to remember." After Peter finished, he recalled something. "Oh, right. When we came in just now, Logan said there was a scent of sulfur in the New York Sanctum that doesn't belong to Limbo."
In the next instant, both Strange and Wong's expressions changed abruptly. They immediately opened portals with their Sling Rings and dove into the New York Sanctum. The other three, confused, hurried after them. Strange snapped his fingers to restore the lighting in the Sanctum and quickly inspected the premises.
"All magical artifacts have already been moved to Kamar-Taj for storage. This place should be empty," Wong reminded him. "If an intruder intended to find something, they would find nothing."
"It's not necessarily about finding something, Wong. They might have come to leave something behind."
Strange stopped in front of a picture frame. The original contents had long since been moved to Kamar-Taj for safekeeping, but now, there was a portrait inside the frame. It depicted a handsome, sharp-featured white man who seemed to be staring at everyone present.
Peter didn't recognize him, but that didn't stop his Spider-Sense from ringing violently. He was unable to see anything regarding this man through precognition, so he asked Strange curiously, "Who is he?"
"An utterly terrifying existence. We didn't stop everyone from coming through the rift you opened in Paris. He got in."
Texas, a certain tavern.
Conqueror Kang had conquered the entire world overnight, changing the fates of many. However, there were some individuals who, while important, existed outside the fringes of the world, and thus Kang had not modified their destinies.
For instance, Johnny Blaze—or perhaps he had another name: Ghost Rider.
He sat at the bar drinking. A man walked up beside him and ordered a whiskey.
"I still prefer casinos, Johnny. People are willing to bet everything there, even their own souls, as long as the reward is rich enough."
The man looked at Johnny Blaze, revealing a satisfied smile.
"We finally meet. For the first time, I am your long-time and friendly companion, Mephisto."
"Do you remember our deal? In the dark of night, you would ride across the mortal realm as my herald. Now, your employer has come in person to assign your task."
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