Kamar-Taj was as peaceful as ever.
But elsewhere on Earth, that was not the case.
Aliens had indeed not invaded Earth.
But the forces already on Earth had no intention of settling down in the slightest.
Even though HYDRA had been wiped out long ago,
there were still remnants of HYDRA in other parts of the world.
However,
under the threat of the sorcerers' overwhelming power,
they had hidden themselves extremely well.
Even so, they were still dug out by the Avengers led by Tony Stark.
And then they were crushed outright.
The two Infinity Stones that had twice fallen into HYDRA's hands were also seized back.
After obtaining the Mind Stone, the restless part of Tony Stark's heart began stirring again.
Thanks to Kamar-Taj's cooperation,
Tony Stark had acquired many rare materials from other worlds.
Stark might not know magic,
but once technology develops to a certain level, it can work wonders.
When magical items were combined with the armor in his hands, the result was something extraordinary.
The new nanotech suit Tony Stark built was vastly stronger than the original.
It even gained many new forms of energy-based attacks.
Their power was nearly on par with Kamar-Taj's magic.
Under those circumstances,
Tony Stark once again began thinking about his plan to protect Earth with artificial intelligence.
Strictly speaking,
Tony Stark's idea was not wrong.
Artificial intelligence was more loyal than humans, lived longer, and had no private agendas.
It was an absolutely impartial existence.
The Kree's Supreme Intelligence was artificial intelligence, and it had governed the Kree Empire for thousands of years.
It had forcibly turned the Kree Empire from a primitive empire into one of the three great empires of the universe.
That alone was enough to show how formidable artificial intelligence could be.
The key problem was this:
Tony Stark wanted to do everything in one step.
He wanted to create an artificial intelligence by imitating the Mind Stone.
He even triggered the power of the Mind Stone during the experiment.
That in itself was nothing.
It was only an experiment.
But what he did not know was just how much of a stir Karl had caused in the universe not long ago.
Powerful beings across the Multiverse had all been watching this side.
Figures like Mephisto, Shuma-Gorath, and Kaluu had been keeping an eye on Earth the whole time.
Naturally, Tony Stark's experimental fluctuations were noticed by them.
The wills of several powerful beings converged at the same point in the space outside Earth.
Mephisto and Shuma-Gorath were both powerful demons, and they knew a little about each other.
But they did not know much about Kaluu.
What truly shocked them was the sheer strength of his power.
"Who are you?"
Shuma-Gorath directly lashed out at Kaluu with his immense psychic power.
Kaluu's spiritual form immediately erupted with powerful magical fluctuations, and his appearance was practically identical to that of Kamar-Taj's sorcerers.
"One of the Ancient One's subordinates?"
Mephisto's psychic force suddenly trembled.
"The Ancient One?"
"That hypocrite! That liar! That vicious wretch!"
"I came here to take revenge on her!"
"You two demons are here because Kamar-Taj's spell arrays are blocking you from descending, aren't you?"
"I can help you break through those powerful spell arrays!"
Kaluu sent out a wave of psychic intent.
"Heh, how do we know you truly mean to cooperate with us?"
"You look like one of Kamar-Taj's people."
Shuma-Gorath sent back a wave of psychic intent.
"I am one of Kamar-Taj's people."
"I am Kamar-Taj's true master."
"I spent centuries returning from the Deep-Layer Dimension, enduring round after round of torment along the way!"
Kaluu's psychic fluctuations shook violently.
It was obvious how intense his emotions were.
"So you're that old friend who was exiled into the Deep-Layer Dimension back then."
Mephisto suddenly understood.
The Ancient One's power had not been cultivated entirely by herself.
She had discovered a certain secret of magic, then risen abruptly during a dark age.
But in truth,
the first person to discover that secret of magic had not been the Ancient One, but one of her friends.
That friend's name was Kaluu.
He discovered the secret of magic and ascended alone.
Later, the two of them came into conflict.
Kaluu was no match for the Ancient One and was directly exiled into the Deep-Layer Dimension.
Who would have thought that this fellow could actually return from the endless Deep-Layer Dimension? Truly unbelievable.
Even Mephisto could not help clicking his tongue in amazement.
"In that case, we can cooperate."
"We want a portion of the souls of sorcerers and humans. Kamar-Taj can be yours."
Shuma-Gorath spoke greedily.
"Good."
"That is a very fair trade."
Kaluu agreed.
"However, Kamar-Taj has undergone tremendous changes while you were gone."
"A still more powerful sorcerer has appeared."
"If you go now, you'll only be going there to die."
Mephisto spoke through psychic force.
"Then what do you think we should do?"
Kaluu asked.
"Simple. Give this mortal a little help."
"I think his research is quite promising."
Mephisto let out a sinister chuckle.
"You mean to let this mortal draw the attention?"
"As expected of a Hell Lord. Truly devious."
Shuma-Gorath said in agreement.
They had been watching Earth for a long time.
That Karl fellow had been terrifyingly fierce every single time he made a move.
He had even killed one of Galactus's avatars.
…
Even they felt uneasy about going up against him alone.
They were not Galactus. They only had one life.
If they went up carelessly, they might lose their heads.
Naturally, they needed a little strategy.
First, let these mortals attract the attention. Then they would sabotage the Sanctums from the shadows and have their true bodies descend directly.
That would catch those sorcerers completely off guard.
"Excellent."
"And Kamar-Taj's Sanctums are already tainted."
"I was the one who discovered those three Sanctums."
"The Ancient One was nothing but a thief."
Kaluu said, extremely pleased.
"Mephisto, what do you plan to do?"
Shuma-Gorath sent out a pulse of psychic intent.
"Naturally, I'm going to add a little something to this mortal's work."
"Didn't you know? I've done quite a bit of research into puppet minds as well."
"Human artificial intelligence is nothing more than a crude imitation."
A strange smile appeared on Mephisto's face.
"I can contribute something too."
"I have devoured many worlds. I still possess many scraps of wicked souls."
"We can use those things to make this trash far more useful."
Shuma-Gorath spoke wickedly.
"With the two of you making your move, Earth is definitely going to be lively for a while."
"I'll take that opportunity to find the Sanctums' weak points, then break straight through."
Kaluu said.
"A pleasure working with you."
Mephisto smiled slyly.
The other two also wore crafty smiles.
All three of them harbored their own schemes.
Then they turned and left.
(End of Chapter)
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