Chapter 198

The Ancient One's POV

The plan went better than I could've expected. The combined forces of the Widows and elite sorcerers culled the Cambion like wheat.

A twenty-year cold war came to a graceless and unceremonious end in minutes. They fought back, of course, and we lost a few widows, but only a handful of them escaped.

I used the distraction to put the finishing touch on the counter array we've worked on for weeks. Sorcerers appeared all around the globe and altered glyphs that would have undone Agamotto's work.

The other battles also proceeded well enough. The relay stations were falling like dominoes. Domina and her brother were dead, and the Battle of New York was swinging in our direction as well.

Only the prison break remained a mystery. Yet, I had an inkling that the X-Men wouldn't have much trouble quelling the unrest.

No. What concerned me was the safety of the Sanctum. If it fell, the relay stations wouldn't matter. Neither would the glyphs. If I were Corvus and desperate, it would be my clear target, and it would seem I was right.

I'd prepared the Sanctums to fight him—blood purification sigils, wards, and bombardment arrays. Even his Pseudo-domain wouldn't be able to penetrate our defenses.

The last thing I anticipated was her. Storm clouds rapidly gathered on top of Kama-Taj, and rain poured by the bucketfuls, accompanied by lightning strikes that splashed against our shields.

Ororo Monroe.

She looked much different than her pictures. She was taller and well-muscled in her black, flowy Cloak and breastplate. Her hair danced wildly in the wind, and she snapped her fingers and opened a fracture in reality. It was an endless maw that led to the darkest depths of Limbo. Several atrocities climbed out. Hydras with malformed heads and Vibranium scales. Mutated Garoks over twenty feet, all with shrunken heads. Dragons with so much bulk they could barely hold themselves up.

Kaecilius, who stood beside me, gasped in horror.

"Vishanti's beard," another master whispered.

"Is she—" A female master started beside me.

"An Ascendant? Yes. The demons claim she'll have power and techniques on a scale we've never seen before, and I'm inclined to believe them."

"What should we do?" Kaecilius asked.

"Prepare," I said. "There's a chance she can still be reasoned with, but in case she can't. Call Logan and his team. They might be our only shot at diffusing the situation."

I stepped into the air, levitating to the very edge of the barrier protecting Kamar-Taj. "Ororo Monroe."

"Sorcerer Supreme," she said. Her voice was surprisingly soft. "My Maker spoke highly of you. I thought it was only right that I used my most potent helpers."

"I hadn't expected Corvus's hold on you to be so complete," I said. "Your team was days out from raiding Limbo. Jean has been working tirelessly with Dante to retrieve you and Ilyana."

"It's been seven long years to me," she said. "They'd have been four years too late." She swished her hands, and the demons attacked as one. The Hydras spat blood-tinted elemental beams that crackled off our shields, and the Garoks shook the mountainside with titanic punches. The Dragons clawed at our protection spells, and all manner of monsters joined in, unleashing their attacks.

The dome surrounding Kamar-Taj shone with a golden-orange Eldritch light before massive energy spears poured out like rain, spearing our attackers. Some shattered on their reinforced skins, others were torn apart but recovered almost as quickly.

Flesh, bone, sinew, and blood reformed healthy bodies, and the onslaught continued.

I set my jaw. These monsters were a level above anything I've ever seen. It was like the restrictions that shackled their kind were completely absent. That was concerning, to say the least.

"What does your master want?" I asked.

"He wants your order gone," she said. "Kamar-Taj is its seat of power, and you're the Sorcerer Supreme."

"I could just leave," I pointed out. "Disappear. Foil your plan."

"Then I'll shift my focus to the other Sanctums in human settlements," she said automatically.

"What happened to you down there?"

There was a moment of hesitation before she spoke. "Salvation."

The monsters pounced on the Sanctum once more, and lightning descended from the sky, pounding into our shields. The sky was bathed in light before she abruptly vanished.

--

Dante

Rain and lightning welcomed us to Seattle. We were up to our knees in water, and traffic was gridlocked. The rain came hard enough to leave welts on those stuck outside, and the storm clouds overhead turned day to night.

The air was thick with demonic energy that I partially recognized. It had a flavor to it like Rin's and reminded me of someone I hadn't talked to in a long while.

Storm.

"Dante…" Jean called me, and I looked up into the cloud at a pinprick at the center of it all.

Shit. "I see her. How do you want to play this?"

Jean looked around the city. People were fleeing for their lives, and emergency services were trying and failing to coordinate. Some people noticed us immediately, and a few called for our help. I finally moved when the kid went underwater, swept up by a strong current. I plucked her out, placing her on the hood of a car.

With a wave of Telekinesis, I emptied a street of cars and opened up a portal to my realm just above the endless sea. The water cascaded into it. I also lifted and repositioned hundreds of civilians, placing them on roofs while I tried to maintain the portal.

As I evacuated more civilians, I made the portal even larger, but I recognized this was a band-aid at best. Storm needed to be reasoned with or stopped, and Jean needed to be the one to do it.

"I got it," Jean sent and shot into the sky with a sonic boom, shattering the windows of nearby buildings while I switched from Angel Ascension to Devil Trigger. The blue aura flickering around me turned dark as my physical stats and affinities spiked. Telekinesis became as easy as breathing, as did Telepathy.

Pretty soon, a portion of the city was under my control. People were floated out of danger, lives were saved, and hundreds of thousands were struck in awe. At some point, people started recording, and theories came about. Some thought I was an angel because of the Wings. Others were certain that I was the devil. A few even claimed I was some alien-like Superman. Thankfully, the emotional tone remained positive.

I hoped some of that positivity rubbed off on Storm, for Seattle's sake.

Thanks to my mental link with Jean, I had a front-row seat to Jean and Storm's conversation.

She looked different but the same in certain ways. She had an ageless sort of beauty about her and was more physically well-defined and regal.

"Ororo," Jean said softly, voice choked with emotion. "Is that really you?"

"It's been some time, Jean," she said softly. A few months in your eyes, but nearly a decade in mine."

Jean's eyes misted. "I-I'm so sorry, I should've pushed the team harder. We could've gotten to you sooner."

"You would've all died," she said. "And it would've been for nothing. Their mind mage wore us down in days. By the end of the first year, I was barely holding on. I had to adapt or die."

Jean's jaw worked silently, searching for the right word, but she could only conjure another apology. "I'm so sorry. If I hadn't lost control that night…"

Storm waved her hand. "I don't blame you. In fact, I'm grateful in retrospect. All you've seen is the darkness of Limbo. In time, you will see its light. Our kind are not hated or feared there. We are its future."

Jean's face twisted in disgust. "How can you say that? They've hurt us more than humans ever have. The kidnappings, the experimenting, breeding us like cattle!"

"All necessary sacrifices to advance our species," Storm said, her voice fraying with mad joy. "Can't you sense it? Jean, the Ascendant process has been perfected. The mutants of Earth can now enjoy the benefits that thousands have bled for. No one will be above the Ascendants but Corvus and Belasco himself." She spread her arms. "We will rule both worlds. No more pain, persecution, or strife. We make the rules now, and the humans will have no choice but to fall in line."

My jaw fell open. Storm going psycho wasn't on my bingo card this year, nor was Corvus hitting us with the Uno reverse. He used us to eliminate a significant chunk of the demon world's top brass while softening us up for the inevitable invasion.

I would've been impressed if I weren't so mad.

"I can't let you do that," Jean said firmly, her thoughts mirroring mine. "You can't enslave an entire race of people just because a few of them have been terrible to us."

"You speak as if you wouldn't wipe out the demons if you could." Jean looked offended.

"Perhaps you wouldn't," she acknowledged, then pointed at me. "But he would."

"That's only because he thinks closing the gates between the worlds won't be enough," Jean said. "They want to rule us, and we'd like to be done with them."

"You're as headstrong as I remember," she said with a small smile, "but your mind will change with time. Mine did."

The demonic energy permeating the air above the city suddenly thickened, and the clouds roiled. Shit. I teleported in front of Storm and brought down the full weight of my Telekinesis, but it was too late.

The world turned white, and lightning descended.

Jean and I acted quickly.

I teleported behind Storm and grabbed her, sending her to the Arctic with my teleportation magic. I also switched to Angel Ascension, but I had a feeling it wouldn't be enough. She was emptying the clouds, bringing down a cultivation novel-style tribulation on Seattle.

Drawing air deep into my lungs, I forcefully activated Moment of the Time Sage with my Time affinity. It stressed my mind, but I soldiered on. Meanwhile, Jean transformed into the Phoenix Avatar and marshaled as much fire as possible.

Around me, a cage of spears appeared, transforming me into a floating lightning rod and pulling most of the descending lightning strikes toward me. My core spun faster than ever, setting off a wave of desolation enhanced by half of my runes and Eryx. The lightning melted away when they touched the expanding fire, while Jean erased the rest of the lightning with Phoenix fire.

The assault continued for nearly an entire minute, pushing me so hard I bled from my nose and eyes. By the end, I was slightly winded, and Jean and I had a quick conversation.

"Someone has to go after her and stop her," I said. "No offense, Jean, but I think it should be me."