Chapter 156 : Guardian, sign the contract!
"The Soul Stone?"
Hearing Li Yu directly state his purpose, Strange's brows furrowed slightly, a hint of surprise appearing on his pale face, followed by an unconcealable look of disappointment in his eyes.
It was a deep-seated sense of powerlessness, ingrained after numerous failures.
"Powerful one from another World, if your goal is to resurrect a loved one with the Soul Stone, I must warn you before you act: this Stone can kill, it can destroy souls, but it can never bring back the dead."
The black demoniclines on his neck deepened, and his voice was hoarse with fatigue.
"Departed souls belong to Death, one of the five Eternities. To think of defying Death's divine power with just one Infinity Stone is far too naive."
Li Yu looked at the hidden pain in his eyes and instantly understood that the Dark Strange before him must have experimented many times with the Soul Stone to resurrect his beloved, only to fail in the end.
"I need the Soul Stone to eliminate a hidden danger within myself."
Li Yu's tone was calm, yet carried an undeniable sincerity.
"I can swear that I will not use it for any evil or to harm the interests of others."
"If you are willing to help, as a reward, you can name your conditions."
"Oh?"
A flicker of interest reignited in Strange's eyes.
"Could you elaborate on your predicament? If there's anything I can help with, perhaps I can offer some advice."
Li Yu scrutinized Strange, his gaze sharp.
The normal Doctor Strange was upright and trustworthy, but this one had been corrupted by dark magic, and no one knew where his bottom line lay.
A sorcerer's methods were bizarre and unpredictable; a slight misstep could lead to mind control and becoming a puppet. He had just found hope in shedding Athena's True Spirit imprint and absolutely could not fall into new control.
Wang noticed Li Yu's hesitation. He waved his hand and said to Miles, who was still standing by, "You go out first and guard the door. No one is allowed to approach."
Miles nodded, quickly exited the stone chamber, and the heavy stone door clanged shut, completely isolating the outside sounds.
"I don't know what to call you yet?"
Wang's expression became serious, his hands clasped in front of him, a posture of solemnity.
"Li Yu."
"Mr. Li Yu."
Wang nodded, his tone sincere.
"I swear on the honor of Kamar-Taj that Strange will never harm you. Let's be frank; in fact, we do have something we'd like to ask for your help with."
"Oh? What is it?"
Li Yu raised an eyebrow. He didn't have time to linger here; the final Holy War in the Saint Seiya World was about to begin, and he had to resolve the True Spirit issue as quickly as possible.
Wang and Strange exchanged glances, nodding slightly, as if reaching a mutual understanding.
The next second, Strange unfastened his blue Cloak of Levitation, and his body suddenly expanded violently. Black scales emerged from beneath his skin, two curved horns grew from his head, and his eyes burned with raging Fire, instantly transforming him into a three-meter-tall hell demon!
"Boom!"
The temperature in the secret room suddenly soared, and the demon's aura collided with Kamar-Taj's magic energy, emitting a faint hum.
Strange's voice, like muffled thunder, echoed in the stone chamber.
"Li Yu, as you can see, in my quest for the power to reverse life and death, I absorbed too many hell demons. In this form, I am no longer suitable to remain openly in Kamar-Taj."
"I promised Ancient One that I would pass on Kamar-Taj, so now Kamar-Taj needs a new Protector to take my place."
"Protector?"
Li Yu frowned slightly. He had only heard of the Sorcerer Supreme in Kamar-Taj, never this position of Protector.
Wang raised his hand, and an ancient scroll emerged from the void, slowly unfurling.
The painting depicted two young men, one in yellow robes and the other in gray cloth, studying magic runes side by side.
"Kamar-Taj was jointly founded by Ancient One and Karu a thousand years ago…"
Wang explained, pointing at the painting.
"Ancient One, as the Sorcerer Supreme, guided Kamar-Taj openly, while the Karu lineage secretly guarded the magicinheritance, preventing the arcane arts from dying out."
"By the generation of my father, Hamir, he was the thirteenth Protector."
He paused, his voice tinged with helplessness.
"In my generation, Strange fell to darkness by borrowing the power of the Darkhold, making him unable to continue as Sorcerer Supreme. I then temporarily assumed the position of Sorcerer Supreme from Protector, while he went into seclusion, becoming the new Protector."
"Recently, I can clearly feel that dark power is eroding my soul."
Strange returned to human form, but the demoniclines on his face were clearer than before.
"If I unfortunately fall completely into darkness, someone needs to continue guarding Kamar-Taj's arcane legacy after me."
"I don't have time to systematically learn your arcane arts,"
Li Yu stated frankly.
"With the power I currently wield, there's no need for me to learn magic."
Wang suddenly laughed, patted his chest, his tone carrying a hint of pride.
"You don't need to learn too much! Look, I used to be a Protector, now I'm the Sorcerer Supreme. Kamar-Taj has countless arcane arts, and I only know portal and rune weapons, but don't I still oversee everything and command respect from thousands?"
He took two steps closer, lowering his voice.
"Actually, the core duty of a Protector is to step forward and select a new Sorcerer Supreme, or take over themselves, when the position of Sorcerer Supreme is vacant and no one is leading Kamar-Taj."
"As for the arcane legacy? It doesn't matter! No matter how many arcane arts Kamar-Taj has, how many are truly useful? You just need to learn the most basic rune construction and spatial arcane arts to handle daily affairs; let the young sorcerers figure out and create the rest themselves!"
In the dim stone room, Li Yu clearly saw Strange's eye twitch violently. He raised a hand to his forehead, his face full of helplessness.
Clearly, Wang's perfunctory remarks were something he strongly disagreed with.
Throughout history, probably no Sorcerer Supreme would speak so dismissively of arcane arts passed down for a millennium.
Kamar-Taj, with its thousand-year legacy, had only produced two official Sorcerer Supremes.
The first was Ancient One, and the second should have been Strange, but due to his fall into darkness, Wang temporarily took over.
Li Yu patted Wang's shoulder, agreeing wholeheartedly.
Who stipulated that a Sorcerer Supreme must master all arcane arts?
Li Yu looked at Strange's helpless expression and couldn't help but find it amusing.
It was rare to see such an expression on Strange's face.
But if it was just learning the most basic runes and spatial arcane arts, for him, it would only take a few days to completely master them.
Unconsciously, the tense atmosphere in the stone chamber dissipated significantly, replaced by a more relaxed one.
Li Yu's lips curved slightly, and his tone became solemn.
"Swear an oath, in the name of Ancient One and Vishanti."