The tragic death of the Octopus quickly spread throughout the many dimensions near Earth-404.
Earth-404's neighbors, upon learning that another cruel sorcerer named Strange had appeared on Earth-404, felt a sense of trepidation.
The one who emerged two years prior only liked to spout twisted logic and extort energy. This one, however, dismembered and hung bodies at the slightest disagreement.
For a time, these neighbors of Earth-404 even considered relocating, like Mephisto, away from Earth-404.
Of course, this was only a thought.
The current situation in the Hell of the Multiverse was chaotic, with countless Hells not even getting a drop of soup.
Staying here, while requiring caution, at least offered them a piece of meat.
Furthermore, a strong Guardian of Earth-404 might not be a bad thing for them, as it could help deter their peers fleeing from other dimensions.
Some Dimensional Lords realized this and immediately began to build up Strange's reputation.
Suddenly, Strange's reputation became increasingly exaggerated.
Things like 'Dimensional Lord Killer,' or 'Evil Sorcerer who revels in torturing magical life forms.'
In short, whatever title sounded intimidating, they attributed it to Strange.
This indeed led to a significant decrease in extradimensional creatures fleeing towards Earth-404.
Kamar-Taj, The Ancient One's temple.
Upon learning that Asgardian reinforcements had arrived, and the harassment from extradimensional life forms had decreased, allowing Kamar-Taj sorcerers' workload to return to normal, a certain Ancient One finally deigned to return from New York.
So, Lucas said, "Master, thank you for secretly guarding the New York Sanctum during this time."
The female Ancient One replied meaningfully, "Lucas, you've also worked hard. You've been busy and toiling during this period, haven't you?"
Lucas smiled and said earnestly, "This is the duty of the Sorcerer Supreme."
Watching Lucas and the female Ancient One politely flattering each other, Strange's eyelids twitched.
Wasn't he the one who was most exhausted during this time?
Look, this bottle of wine, opened for so many days, was only half-finished.
Thinking of this, Strange took out a glass and poured himself a drink.
With the pressure on the Kamar-Taj defense line greatly reduced, he could finally drink openly, without worrying about other sorcerers seeing and imitating him.
"Strange, where did you get this wine?" Mordo's voice rang out.
He looked at the red wine in Strange's hand, and the more he looked, the more familiar it seemed, the more it resembled his beloved treasure that had been missing for many days.
Lucas let out a surprised 'Hmm' and said, "I gave this to Strange. What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
Mordo said nothing, only nodded, then stood up and left.
Lucas had a guess in his heart but still asked Wong with a glimmer of hope, "What's wrong with Mordo?"
"Those bottles of wine are Mordo's cherished treasures. He usually can't bear to drink them, so he keeps them in the dining hall's wine cabinet and looks at them every day when he goes to eat."
"Oh."
Lucas scratched his head a little awkwardly. He remembered he had instructed that everything in the dining hall was free to take. He hadn't expected Mordo to put his wine there.
Strange lowered his head and took a sip, hiding his embarrassment.
"It's fine, it's just a bottle of wine."
At this moment, Mordo's voice rang out. He had walked back, holding several wine glasses.
The glass bodies were crystal clear, and the finely cut facets on the walls shimmered like stars. This was not just a cup, but a work of art.
Distributing the wine glasses to the others, Mordo said, "Since it's already opened, let's all drink it together. Consider it a welcome to the Asgardians for coming to assist."
Upon hearing this, Strange quickly stood up to pour wine for everyone.
Thor couldn't refuse the wine offered to him. He took the glass and heartily gulped it down.
Clink!
"Good wine!"
Mordo's expression instantly froze. He looked at the shattered wine glass on the ground, his mouth opening and closing, but no sound came out.
Loki poked Thor and said, "Brother, didn't you notice that this cup isn't an ordinary craft?"
"Huh?"
"It has the aura of age on it. It was probably made hundreds of years ago. On Midgard, it's more or less an antique."
A centuries-old antique?
Thor didn't understand, but he still looked at Mordo apologetically. "I'm very sorry, Sorcerer Mordo."
"It's fine."
Mordo said almost through gritted teeth, "Everything has an end."
Though he said that, when Mordo went to get another cup for Thor, he brought a paper cup instead.
And when he handed the cups to the others, though he didn't say it directly, his eyes clearly instructed everyone to be extremely careful.
After the interlude, everyone began to discuss serious matters.
Since Strange had slain the Octopus outside reality, the pressure on the Kamar-Taj magic array defense line had reached a peak in a short time, then quickly receded.
After that, nothing major happened, so the few of them quickly glossed over it in a few words.
Mephisto, however, brought a piece of news.
Regarding the previous news about the Octopus, according to Mephisto's inquiries, this Octopus was fleeing the pursuit of a certain ruler from the Dark Dimension, which is why he ran wildly, escaping to Earth-404, and in his panic, wanted to plunge headfirst into Earth-404's reality.
Lucas asked leisurely, "So, who was pursuing this Octopus?"
Mephisto smiled and said, "Dormammu, an extradimensional being from Faltine, an old friend."
Mephisto's voice held a hint of amusement, as if there was some past grievance between him and Dormammu. However, judging from his tone, he was most likely the one who came out on top.
"Dormammu, the ruler of the Dark Dimension?"
Hearing the name Dormammu, the female Ancient One's brow furrowed.
One of her former star disciples, Kaecilius, in pursuit of power to resurrect his wife and daughter, was drawn to the dark magic in an ancient book and threw himself into Dormammu's embrace.
Even more ironically, for some unknown reason, Dormammu did not respond to Kaecilius's summons. Ultimately, Kaecilius became a follower of the god of fear, Cul.
When Cul needed the essence of fear to restore his strength, Kaecilius became nourishment for the god of fear, Cul.
"That's right, Dormammu, but not the ruler of the Dark Dimension."
Mephisto's smirk deepened as he explained, "It is said that Dormammu invaded the Octopus's dimension and expelled the Octopus."
"A battle between dimensions, is there a problem with that?" The others asked, puzzled.
"Of course there is."
Mephisto sneered, explaining, "In battles between Dimensional Lords, if the purpose is invasion, then after victory, they will most likely choose to devour the opponent's dimension to strengthen their own. But this time, Dormammu didn't do that, which is very unusual."
"Furthermore, I also heard that this time Dormammu infiltrated the Octopus's dimension alone to attack the Octopus, and didn't bring his Dark Dimension with him."
"What does that mean?"
Mephisto answered his own question, "This means that Dormammu very likely lost control of the Dark Dimension, he was driven out."
"Hahahahaha! Uh..."
With that, Mephisto laughed gleefully for a few moments, then awkwardly stopped when he noticed no one was joining in.
"If there's nothing else, let's conclude this meeting here." Lucas glanced at the sky and said.
The others shook their heads, indicating there were no other matters.
After bidding farewell to the others, Lucas stepped forward.
Accompanied by falling golden sparks, Lucas vanished from the spot.
The meeting started around 2 PM and lasted for nearly an hour. It was now approximately 3 PM, the perfect time for afternoon tea.
Of course, Lucas's urgency to end the meeting and leave wasn't to go for afternoon tea.
In New York, it was currently around 3 AM, and he needed to rush to the second half of the battle. If he arrived too late, time would be a bit tight.
Although the Sorcerer Supremes were all Time Management Masters, Lucas still felt a bit bad about constantly disturbing spacetime.
At 4 AM in New York, the streets were filled with few pedestrians. But because of this, the pedestrians out at this hour were in more danger.
Fortunately, New York's friendly neighborhood Ghost-Spider and Sorcerer Spider-Man were always present, everywhere.
Here, Gwen, after preventing another spur-of-the-moment robbery, couldn't help but stretch.
She had been working longer and longer nights lately.
It wasn't that New York's crime rate had worsened, New York's crime rate had always been bad.
It was that if she went back early, she would be put through the wringer again.
If she wasn't careful, she'd miss class again and Connors would nag her, so it was better to wait until it was almost dawn before returning.
But Connors seemed to have taken a leave of absence these past few days?
Thinking of this, Gwen's eyes narrowed, and a smile appeared beneath her mask.
She raised her hand, shot a web, and swung towards the bookstore.
Tonight, Ghost-Spider was getting off early—no, that's not right, she was getting off at her normal time.
Whoosh!