"Interesting."
Doctor Strange chuckled.
"Unfortunately, I don't have time to keep tangling with you."
As he spoke, he stretched out both hands and brought them together.
For a moment, it was as if the sky collapsed and the earth split apart.
The entire Mirror Dimension seemed to become a folded scroll. The left and right sides lifted up and pressed toward the center where Peter stood.
Boulders rained down from the sky like the end of the world.
However, Peter, who was releasing dark magic, did not panic at all. He formed a spell sign, and as dark magical energy fully surged out, the sky of the Mirror Dimension seemed to be covered by dark clouds and swallowed by darkness. Then, the Mirror Dimension that had begun folding in on itself stopped.
"You can stop my magic?"
Doctor Strange's eyes widened.
He had truly never seen such a strange case before. This guy used dark magic the moment they disagreed, and the quality of that magic was extremely high. Even as Sorcerer Supreme, Strange could not help feeling a little envious.
"Who knows?"
Peter opened a portal with dark magic and appeared in front of Doctor Strange. Then he swung his enchanted fist and hammered him hard.
Doctor Strange, who was struck so hard that his head spun, fell from the sky. If not for his cloak catching him, he definitely would have slammed into the ground from high above.
"You use fists when you fight with magic?"
Doctor Strange had the urge to curse. That punch had left him dizzy. He simply could not believe magic could be used like this.
"I'm a close-combat mage. Basic operation, no need to praise me."
"After all, I'm not like you, a professional mage. Isn't that right, Bowl-Cut Stephen?"
"Bowl... Cut Stephen? That sounds like some kind of Chinese name."
"Yellow boots, cropped pants, professional mage, Bowl-Cut Stephen. It suits you pretty well."
"I don't have the energy to keep talking nonsense with you. Whether you have magic or not has nothing to do with me. But until this matter is over, you can stay here quietly. Once I catch this world's Peter, I'll send him in here to keep you company."
Doctor Strange only shook his head slightly. He could not understand what Peter was talking about at all.
As he spoke, an exit appeared behind him, and he prepared to leave.
"Come on, Bowl-Cut Stephen. No matter what, I'm still a guest from another universe. You're not being very fair as Sorcerer Supreme, are you?"
A voice suddenly rang out beside him, startling Doctor Strange.
He suddenly turned around, only to see an arm reach out, grab his clothes, and violently throw him downward.
"I hate Spider-Man!"
Doctor Strange left behind a short cry of shock as Peter hurled him several hundred meters away in an instant, making him disappear from sight.
But in the next moment, a portal opened in the same spot, and Doctor Strange walked out again. Only this time, his face was bruised and swollen.
Because more than twenty shadow soldiers had been waiting for him below. The moment he landed, more than twenty shadow soldiers kicked him in a circle. Every time he used magic to destroy one, another would regenerate, as if they were endless.
Using magic to restore his face, Doctor Strange sighed and said, "I know you don't mean any harm, so I don't intend to keep fighting you. I just want to fix the universe. Is that wrong? You're not from this universe. You don't have to worry about the safety of this world, but I do."
Judging from his meaning, he planned to temporarily make peace with Peter.
Of course, Peter also could not keep fighting.
Although they had only exchanged a few moves just now, and Doctor Strange had not used any especially absurd magic, Peter had already gained some understanding of just how troublesome Doctor Strange was.
To put it simply, mages were just too good at countering warriors.
Fortunately, Peter had magic in addition to close combat. Otherwise, he would definitely have been beaten so badly he would not know which way was north.
Peter had a feeling that even if both of them went all out, he would not gain any advantage. A mutual defeat would already be the best result he could force.
"There's something we can talk about back there."
Peter casually opened a spatial portal, and the two returned to the basement of the Sanctum Sanctorum.
"Oh, you're back so soon."
Otto Parker, who had been looking at the strange items in the basement, suddenly noticed two more people beside him and felt somewhat surprised.
He had thought the two of them would fight for quite a while before things ended. He had not expected them to return so quickly.
Doctor Octopus Otto was also curiously studying the surrounding environment.
As for Gwen, she was quietly sitting on a chair, showing no signs of worrying about Peter at all.
That guy was becoming more and more abnormal. Usually, nothing unexpected would happen to him.
Peter took two chairs, sat down on one of them, and said, "When it comes to parallel universes, I think I can offer a few rough opinions."
Doctor Strange did not speak. He only nodded, signaling Peter to continue.
"I once crossed into her universe and met several Spider-Men from different parallel universes, including myself. In that world, there was a guy named Kingpin."
As Peter spoke at length, Ultimate Gwen also explained and added details from the side. Together, the two recounted the events they had experienced in the Ultimate Universe.
Of course, most of it was Peter's explanation. After all, Ultimate Gwen had not yet become Spider-Woman at the time, so she had not personally experienced that incident.
"I understand what you mean, but the situation back then was different from the situation here. The Spider-Men who appeared in that world were all law-abiding people. They wouldn't cause reckless destruction like the villains appearing in this world."
After silently listening to Peter's story, Doctor Strange spoke.
Peter shook his head slightly, but he did not immediately refute Doctor Strange's words. Instead, he used himself as an example, then had Strange look at Otto Parker and Otto, hoping he would understand.
"What are you trying to say?" Doctor Strange asked in confusion.
He had thought he already understood Peter's meaning, but now it seemed that he had not fully understood it after all.
Peter smiled faintly and said, "If you treat every parallel universe as an independent individual, then your view is indeed correct. Something that shouldn't appear here suddenly appears here, and that will inevitably cause an impact and create unnecessary fluctuations."
Doctor Strange nodded slightly. That had always been his understanding.
But that was precisely the narrowness of his perspective.
Peter continued, "But why not look at it another way?"
"Another way?"
Doctor Strange asked in confusion.
Peter said, "What if every parallel universe is placed together, and the multiverse is treated as one whole?"
"This..."
Doctor Strange was startled. This was a path he had never considered before.
"When your spell failed and pulled us into this world, all of this had already become a historical inevitability. Even if you send us back now, you cannot change the fact that we came from another parallel universe into this world. And for the multiverse as a whole, whether a person or a certain role shifts from one universe to another for one minute, one hour, or one day, it has no effect. Because they are still within the scope of the multiverse."
"Or to put it another way, since we can exist for this long, it proves that the multiverse allows our existence. Take me, for example. You should have calculated that my original fate was not to become Spider-Man, but to become that scaly monster and die in the end, right?"
As Peter spoke, he pointed at the Lizard, who was eavesdropping nearby.
"That is indeed correct."
"But aren't I alive and well?"
"That is how the multiverse works. Once a different choice is made, another timeline splits off. If the original timeline is A, then the new timeline that branches out is B. Both timelines exist at the same time. If it exists, then it is reasonable, isn't it?"
"So from the very beginning, your concern was invalid."
Peter stared straight at Doctor Strange and spoke decisively.
"What do you think, Bowl-Cut Stephen?"
"I think... I don't like that nickname."
(End of Chapter)
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