Inside the vault, cracks began spreading across the surface of the Tesseract.
With a sharp snap, the crystalline cube shattered completely.
From its broken shell erged the Space Stone, glowing with an even more intense blue radiance.
An invisible wave of energy surged outward—but before it could spread, Malrick reacted swiftly. With no hesitation, he snatched the Stone and tucked it into his Inner World.
The chaotic energy instantly cald.
The spatial forces that had wrapped around him faded away.
But within his Inner World, the Space Stone reacted like a fish tossed back into the ocean after suffocating on land. It surged with power, releasing spatial energy at an unrestrained pace. That energy flooded through his Inner World like a tide.
The effect was imdiate.
His domain—previously sixty thousand kiloters in diater—began to expand. Slowly, steadily, but undeniably.
Malrick observed it with a raised brow, deep in thought.
The Space Stone's energy ca from this universe—the Marvel Universe. And now, that energy was flowing freely into his Inner World. That shouldn't have been possible under normal rules.
He was sure that cosmic beings like Eternity and Infinity, who were always watching, would've noticed by now. And yet… they hadn't intervened.
Their silence ant only one thing: they were allowing it.
That realization sparked an idea in Malrick's mind—one that revolved around broader uses for the Infinity Stones.
In a hidden part of his Inner World, a Blood Sea Clone was still incubating. Though his promotion to Domain Lord had reduced the incubation ti from six thousand years to sixty, it was still far too long.
"If the Space Stone can influence the World like this," Malrick mused, "then why not the Ti Stone?"
Without delay, he placed the Eye of Agamotto—housing the Ti Stone—into his Inner World as well. Forming a series of intricate hand seals, he began casting spells to manipulate the Ti Stone and speed up ti's flow.
Seconds in, he stopped.
"No. Accelerating ti helps the incubation process, but it doesn't provide the energy the clone needs."
"That energy is World Power," he muttered. "But maybe… maybe I can convert the Space Stone's energy into that."
Focusing on the Space Stone, he attempted the conversion.
Monts later, the atmosphere within his Inner World shifted. Dense, powerful energy gathered around him.
"It works!" Malrick's eyes lit up.
He began operating both Stones at once—ti accelerated, and spatial energy poured in to sustain the growth. The massive sphere in the center of his World—the clone's cocoon—grew rapidly.
One kiloter, then two... It expanded until it reached a hundred kiloters in diater.
"The incubation has officially begun," he noted, satisfied.
"Unfortunately, 1000x acceleration is the limit. Any more, and the space's structure becos unstable."
Still, shortening the process from sixty years to twenty-one days was a monuntal improvent.
Malrick looked at the colossal sphere floating in his World, envisioning the mont his Blood Sea Clone would awaken. With a single thought, he left the Inner World, letting the process continue uninterrupted.
---
Back in the vault, Malrick opened his eyes and imdiately cast a Mystic Portal, stepping into the adjacent room.
As he crossed the threshold, he saw Tony Stark and several agents facing off against two unexpected guests—Wong and Karl Mordo—who stood calmly with a portal to Kamar-Taj open behind them.
Tony and the agents were clearly tense.
Malrick quickly closed the door behind him and stepped forward.
"Hold up!" he called. "They're with !"
"You sure?" Tony asked without turning around. "They showed up right after you blacked out. How do we know they weren't sent by that Kamar-Taj place to finish you off?"
"Kamar-Taj? Deal with ?" Malrick blinked in disbelief.
Across the room, Wong and Mordo looked equally confused.
"Malrick is our Sorcerer Supre," Mordo said calmly, arms crossed. "Why would we want to hurt him?"
They remained completely non-hostile, knowing how close Malrick was to Tony. If they'd co in aggressive, the situation could've escalated quickly.
"Sorcerer Supre? That sounds intense," Tony replied, finally beginning to understand the misunderstanding.
Wong explained further, "The Sorcerer Supre is the most powerful sorcerer in this dinsion. The title also cos with the duty of protecting Earth from mystical threats—and leading Kamar-Taj."
Tony looked baffled. "Wait, are you telling Malrick is like the head of your... what, magic monastery?"
"It's not a monastery," Malrick sighed, rubbing his temples. "They're a secret order that's been defending Earth since ancient tis. The previous Sorcerer Supre passed the mantle to before she died."
"You've been gone for a month, and now you're their leader?" Tony said, stunned. "You don't waste ti."
"A month is plenty," Malrick said, patting his shoulder.
In Earth's tiline, he had only been active for less than a year. So to him, a month was a significant stretch.
He turned toward Wong and Mordo.
"It's only been a few hours. How did you even find ?"
"Did sothing happen back at Kamar-Taj?" he asked, suddenly concerned. "Was one of the Sanctums attacked by a dinsional threat?"
Mordo's lips twitched. "You sound almost disappointed."
Wong replied with a chuckle, "No, Kamar-Taj is fine. We sensed a massive burst of energy coming from here. We ca to offer backup."
Mordo's expression grew serious. "Was it a demon from Hell? That energy spike was enormous. Every major magic user on Earth must've felt it. If you need reinforcents, we can call everyone."
"No need," Malrick said, shaking his head. "It was just... an accident."
The Space Stone's residual energy had spilled out. Even a tiny leak was enough to trigger alarms all across the world.
Using his enhanced senses, he noticed a few Eternals already flying toward the site.
"Let's head back to Kamar-Taj. Since you're both here, it's a perfect opportunity to start training in so new spells."
His plan was simple: cause another energy burst from Kamar-Taj—this ti on purpose—to draw the world's attention there instead.
"Start now? We haven't even arranged our schedules!" Wong said, caught off guard.
"No need to prepare. We'll make it quick."
Ti was running short. The burst had already set off cosmic alerts. Soon, more parties—both helpful and hostile—would co knocking.
Malrick decided to use ti acceleration to fast-track Wong and Mordo's studies.
He turned to Bruce Banner.
"Banner, you're coming too. Let your girlfriend stay with the Avengers for now. Once you've mastered soul magic, you can go back to her."
"Huh? Oh—alright!" Banner stamred, caught by surprise. He leaned toward Betty, whispered sothing softly, then reluctantly stepped through the portal.
"Wait! What about ?!" Tony shouted, realizing the portal was closing.
He activated his suit and dove in after them.
---
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