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Of course, there is another possible speculation that the Mage King did not say.
That is, the name of Ancient One was replaced by someone from another universe. Apart from being an important role at the time node, it is most likely a scapegoat.
Kamar-Taj's original magic was a type of loan magic, the power of which depended entirely on the total amount and properties of the dimensional power borrowed. Since it was loan magic, there was inevitably a repayment period.
Dimensional powers that lean toward chaos and darkness are likely to demand repayment, principal and interest, the moment you borrow them. Dimensional powers that lean toward neutrality and order typically have repayment periods extending to the end of a mage's lifespan. After all, the lifespan of a human mage on Kamar-Taj is insignificant in the eyes of those dimensional demons, who have the patience to wait.
But regardless of the dimensional power, the repayment cost is the same for the mages of Kamar-Taj, except for the different repayment dates. Because whether you have more or less, everything you have will be returned to the dimensional demon who borrowed the power.
But Ancient One's situation is different. She wanders among the demons of various dimensions. In addition to the white magic trinity Vishanti bound to Kamar-Taj itself, she has also borrowed power from various super-large dimensions.
To put it bluntly, even if Ancient One did nothing, her death would leave the complex debt structure a daunting prospect for anyone. Barring a powerful opponent, all eligible creditors would vie for her soul, knowledge, and the value she represents. A violent fight would likely ensue. Ultimately, even if they couldn't obtain it themselves, they wouldn't want anyone else to.
According to the contract between Kamar-Taj and Visanti, Visanti will not restrict Kamar-Taj mages from borrowing the power of white magic if they so desire. However, as a price to pay, upon death, the mages' souls and knowledge will all belong to Visanti. Under this contract, Visanti naturally does not offer life extension services.
What about the Ancient One? Having exploited a loophole within Vishanti, and when Vishanti refused to extend her lifespan according to the terms, she forcibly extended her lifespan by borrowing the power of Dark Dimensional demons like Dormammu, perfectly achieving an incredibly long lifespan extension. As long as I'm not dead, my soul and everything I own is mine. However, her long lifespan only made the Ancient One bear more and more grievances, and the number of dimensional demons waiting for her death increased.
Ancient One knew exactly what she had done and what would happen to her after death. So she sought a new supporter, a better path. She secured the approval and protection of a powerful deity, who promised her that if she chose, she could follow him after death. This came with a price, but it was undoubtedly far less than the others.
If Luke hadn't appeared, if a new, better path than the one she'd chosen hadn't emerged, the Ancient One would most likely have given up on the world, transferred her responsibilities and contract to her heir, and followed the great god through the multiverse. But Luke did surprise her greatly, and allowed her to see a broader, better future.
The mess of debt she had was indeed a huge mess, so bad that it would explode if she dared to dig it out. But after her life status was elevated, she had many ways to settle the debt.
After all, just because the Ancient One was unable to resolve a problem and could only suppress and let it run its course, that didn't mean the Ancient One had no means of settling the debt. The fact that the two unjust creditors of the Energy Bank, Mephisto and Dormammu, never mentioned the Ancient One's debt suggests a certain understanding among the three parties.
Anyway, the Ancient One of this universe is transcendent, and even affects the Ancient Ones of other multiverses, causing them to gather, merge, and even modify reality.
So, strictly speaking, while the Ancient One in the other universes is still the Ancient One, it's no longer the true Ancient One. It's merely a replacement, one who hasn't embarked on the path to godhood, but possesses all the knowledge and experience from before her death and escape. Of course, the people within this universe wouldn't notice anything unusual, but the dimensional demons, with their higher-dimensional perspectives, couldn't. They were well aware that the Ancient One that emerged from the rebooted multiverse at this time was different from the one they knew.
But they wouldn't pursue the matter. The Ancient One, reborn after the reboot, still possessed the Ancient One's experience and knowledge, as well as their debts. Meanwhile, the God Ancient One had escaped with ease, cleanly disposing of the name, even ditching it. When they sought to collect debts, they could only turn to the Ancient Ones they owed debts to, not the current God of Energy, Elemental Magic. This was despite them knowing that the one who had returned to the shore had once forcibly borrowed their power.
As one of the most learned people in Kamar-Taj, the Mage King knows no fewer secrets than Stephen, the Supreme Mage. He may not be as talented as Stephen, but he can understand many secrets.
It's like this universe's Kamar-Taj, the most unique Kamar-Taj in the entire multiverse, a claim even Vishanti couldn't refute. This is because the Kamar-Taj here has long since been unbound from Vishanti, now bound to the Ancient One. All their debts and burdens, including the automatic contracts with the demons behind their magic, have been erased and settled. In other words, even if they died here right now, their souls wouldn't be collected by Vishanti, but would instead return to the energy dimension created by the Ancient One. And once there, they would likely be thrown out by the Ancient One and assigned to work diligently at the Energy Bank.
There is an example of this!
The Ancient One left the rest of the multiverse's Vishanti base untouched, so even after multiple expansions and the acceptance of numerous foreign wizards, Kamar-Taj remains short of wizards. Faced with the diverse needs for wizards, Kamar-Taj, which adheres to formal wizard training rules, still struggles to meet its current wizard capacity. Didn't you see how Doctor Strange, in order to free himself and reduce his travels, had to trick others from the multiverse into joining his team?
This special Strange had clearly caught the eye of the Sorcerer Supreme, Stephen. Given Stephen's personality, he wouldn't waste his rare leisure time on an outsider. He even offered to help him solve his problems and even issued him a library card, allowing him to receive him and take him on a tour of the library at Kamar-Taj.
As Kamar-Taj's chief steward, the Mage King knows Stephen's every move too well.
"Are there no other areas?" After visiting Ancient One's library, Strange looked at the Mage King eagerly, and his eyes suggested that the Mage King take him to the next area he was looking forward to.
"The only thing left is the Restricted Section. But it's not open to the public." The Mage King understood Strange's gaze, but firmly shook his head and refused. He knew Strange's insatiable curiosity and uninhibited nature all too well. When he first came to Kamar-Taj to study magic, he had the audacity to secretly browse the forbidden books in the library shortly after his inception. It must be that he was gifted with magical talent; otherwise, he would have been in trouble long ago.
But the Restricted Section here was different from the previous Restricted Section. It contained a vast amount of forbidden knowledge, such as the Darkhold. Compared to it, the Book of Cagliostro that Strange had read before was considered mild.
"I advise you not to have any other thoughts. There are more people in Kamar-Taj now, and there are more rules. The library has been monitored and protected by the Ancient One. Your previous methods will not work here except to activate the alarm." The Wizard King was worried that Strange would return to his old ways and was unwilling to give up, so he added another sentence.
"You may have misunderstood me a little." Strange smiled awkwardly.
"There is no misunderstanding, Master Strange. I don't want to bring people to throw you into the confinement room when the alarm sounds. It's not a good place." The Master King said with a smile.
"Okay, let's get this out of the way! Since there's a Restricted Section, there must be conditions for access, right? Otherwise, wouldn't it be better to just make it non-existent? Don't tell me you can't do that. You've laid all this groundwork for so long, so you should probably set some conditions next, right? What do I have to do to gain access?" Strange loved the novel magic in the Ancient One's library, which only made him even more interested in the final Restricted Section. After all, the best stuff is at the end!
If the other party truly understood Strange's character, and if they truly didn't want him to access the Restricted Section, they could have kept it a secret, as he'd said. But since they'd let him know and then failed at the crucial moment, it was clear that the other party had some plans for this step, and would only proceed if he won.
"As sensitive as ever." The Mage King was not surprised by Strange's sharpness. He had done this on purpose to let the other party notice and discover it.
"Let's take a look at the terms." The Mage King stretched out his hand and created a portal in the air. With a serious expression, he carefully pulled out a parchment contract. It felt almost like it was burning his hands, and he tossed it to Strange beside him.
Strange sensed the ominous, terrifying power lurking within the parchment, and he looked at the Sorcerer King with suspicion. As the former Sorcerer Supreme, he wondered if he had ever offended the Sorcerer King before him. Otherwise, why would he offer such a contract for him to sign? The power lingering within made him reluctant to even take the parchment. The moment he grasped it, he felt as if the parchment were a living thing! It possessed a will of its own! Its own thoughts!
"Don't look at me. This is the Energy Bank's standard Abyssal Contract, usually used against dimensional demons." The Mage King noticed Strange's suspicious look and took the initiative to pass the buck: "Only Energy Bank shareholders and a few qualified applicants can issue such a contract. This is the Supreme Sorcerer's instruction. I am only responsible for delivering it to you."
"Stephen?" Strange thought of himself in this universe.
"It's obvious." The Mage King decisively chose to sell people.
"If I sign this, what will be the consequences if I violate it? I don't see any relevant clauses here." Strange suppressed his inner trembling and opened the parchment contract. The contents automatically flowed through his mind. With his intelligence and knowledge, it was not difficult to decipher whether there were any traps. He could also see that his self in this universe was not playing any word games. What he was unsure of was the consequences of violating the contract.
Contracts usually have clauses about breach of contract compensation, but there were no such instructions or information here. But holding the contract in his hand, feeling the deadly malice emanating from it like a lightbulb, for the sake of his own life and safety, he had to ask carefully and thoroughly.
"This type of contract generally doesn't have a breach of contract clause, as it only has one clause: establishing a connection with the Abyss, allowing it to focus and lock onto you," the Mage King explained. "But rest assured, generally speaking, as long as you fulfill the contract's requirements, its power won't unleash."
"What is the abyss?" When Strange mentioned this word, which he had never felt strange about saying before, he suddenly felt a chill like a thorn in his back.
"It's better for you not to know what it is. What I can tell you is that the binding force of this contract will be effective for all dimensional demons. At least they don't want to see any power related to the abyss appear in their own dimension. You can think about it more and then decide whether to sign this contract." The Mage King did not give a corresponding answer this time. He replied evasively, and indirectly hinted at the power attached to this contract.
"Alright, I'll give it some careful consideration before signing." Strange focused his attention on the parchment in his hand. He was a little interested in the contract. "This shouldn't be a creation of Kamar-Taj, right? Is it related to the energy bank you mentioned?"
"To be precise, it's related to President Mephisto of the Energy Bank. This is his masterpiece." The Mage King replied as he walked out with Strange.
"Mephisto?" The corner of Strange's mouth twitched. This familiar name gave him a bad feeling.
"It's the one you're thinking of, Mephisto, the High Lord of the Hell Dimension." The Mage King confirmed Strange's suspicions. Mephisto had invested all his resources in creating the Origin Contract, making exploiting its vulnerabilities nearly impossible. Furthermore, Mephisto was constantly patching it. With the various patches and additions from Mephisto and his shareholder banks, the Origin Contract's status had far surpassed its original design, becoming a manifestation of laws akin to the Infinity Stones or the Heart of the Universe.
The one in Strange's hand is a reflection of the Origin Contract. All signed contracts will appear on the Origin Contract. The stronger the signer's strength and the more unique their attributes, the more benefits the Origin Contract will receive.