#75

Jarrett sighed, rubbing his temples. 

"Alright, I admit that the Sanctum's understanding of the secular world is... flawed. But are you sure you want to rely on them? Do you really think they can handle this?"

Although he couldn't completely dismiss Ethan's words, centuries of tradition and deeply ingrained prejudice weren't so easy to overturn. 

The magical world had flourished for thousands of years, separate from the mundane conflicts of humankind. 

Could they really start changing now?

"If that's the case, let's bring in some mutants," Ethan said casually, spreading his hands.

Jarrett's brow shot up. 

"Mutants?" he repeated, his tone filled with skepticism.

Of all the forces in the world, none drew more attention from practitioners of magic than mutants. 

Any sorcerer with a shred of knowledge knew about the history between mutantkind and the origins of magic.

Many practitioners of magic despised mutants, refusing to acknowledge any connection between them. 

Others were awed, even jealous. After all, a young sorcerer might spend a decade training just to master a single spell

—only to find that a mutant could awaken overnight and wield supernatural power effortlessly.

It was infuriating. It was unfair.

A practitioner of magic might spend years learning to control fire, while a mutant with pyrokinesis could incinerate a building on instinct. 

It was as if they had been born with a cheat code for reality itself.

"Can you actually recruit strong mutants?" Jarrett asked, eyes narrowing as he studied Ethan.

"Of course," Ethan replied with a smirk. 

"Because I'm a mutant."

Jarrett blinked, stunned into silence. 

He had assumed Ethan was simply suppressing his magical signature, but now he realized—this man wasn't a sorcerer at all.

"There aren't any rules against mutants joining the cause, right?" Ethan continued, his tone playful.

"No… no, there aren't," Jarrett muttered, still processing the revelation.

Ethan turned to Katie. 

"Tell John and the others that we're forming a strike team. Anyone who wants to rack up some battle points should get ready."

Without waiting for a response, he pulled out his phone and dialed. 

Fury had been watching this situation carefully, viewing it as a test case for integrating Earth's supernatural forces under a single command.

 Since Ethan was one of his key players, he had a lot of freedom in how he assembled his team.

Above the skies of Nepal, an invisible Quinjet sliced through the clouds at high speed. 

Inside, the atmosphere was tense. 

Across from a row of robed sorcerers, a group of young mutants sat with varying expressions of curiosity and excitement. 

Katie's call had successfully rallied John, Bobby, and Pete, along with a few others.

Not everyone who wanted to come had been allowed, of course. 

In Ethan's view, only those strong enough to survive the upcoming fight had been chosen. 

This wasn't a field trip—it was war.

John, never one to sit still, leaned over and nodded toward the practitioners of magic. "Boss, are these guys really that strong?"

He grinned and casually summoned a baseball-sized fireball in his palm. 

"I mean, sure, they can throw fireballs, but can they outmatch me?"

Coulson, who had been quietly observing from the side, leaned in slightly. 

He, too, was curious about these enigmatic sorcerers.

Ethan glanced at Jarrett, who had kept his eyes closed throughout the flight. 

Then, he smirked. "Fireballs? That's nothing. These guys are better at summoning weapons the size of skyscrapers."

John's grin faltered. "Wait… Practitioners of magic… summoning swords? Are we talking like, anime-level sword rain?"

Ethan patted him on the shoulder. "Let's just say what you've read in books and seen in anime barely scratches the surface."

They kept their voices low out of respect for the meditating sorcerers, but their concern was unnecessary. 

The sorcerers were deep in concentration, mentally preparing for the upcoming battle.

After a long stretch of silence, Jarrett finally opened his eyes and turned to Coulson. 

"How long until we arrive?"

"According to the coordinates you provided and our current speed, we should arrive in about ten minutes," Coulson announced as he stood up, glancing around the cabin.

He cleared his throat. "Let me introduce myself. Name's Coulson. To be honest, this is my first time having such close contact with a sorcerer. 

You see, we've known about Kamar Taj, but S.H.I.E.L.D.'s satellite scans have always shown it as an uninhabited wilderness. So, either we've been blind, or you guys are really good at keeping secrets."

Coulson's attempt at small talk was met with silence. Jarrett barely acknowledged him, his gaze locked on the distant horizon where Kamar Taj was hidden. 

The senior agent had hoped to build some rapport—after all, knowing how to get on someone's good side was a crucial skill in his line of work. 

But Jarrett wasn't interested in pleasantries. 

His mind was elsewhere.

The only reason he had agreed to travel by Quinjet in the first place was because Kama Taj had been sealed off. 

Any attempt to open a portal nearby would likely trigger a trap set by Mordo. 

Taking the stealth Quinjet was the safest option, albeit not his first choice.

Suddenly, Johnny stood up. 

His body ignited as he involuntarily transformed into Ghost Rider. "I feel a dark presence. Something massive... and disturbing."

"Unknown magnetic field detected! Radar systems are being disrupted!" Melinda May, at the controls, shouted back. 

"I can see the city, but... there's something strange happening."

Everyone turned toward her, expressions tense. 

"What do you see?" Ethan asked, stepping forward.

Coulson's eyes widened as the Quinjet drew closer. "Oh my god..."

Before them lay an ancient city, carved into the mountainside. 

The towering structures, built of stone and reinforced with thick wooden beams, exuded an aura of both ancient and power. 

But what truly stood out were the golden sigils etched into the massive stone walls surrounding the city. 

They glowed with an eerie brilliance, forming a colossal protective barrier that shimmered like a dome over Kama Taj.

Yet, the true threat lay beyond those walls.

Dark, swirling masses of cloud-like creatures clung to the outer defenses, pulsating ominously as they pressed against the magical shield. 

Occasionally, flashes of golden energy crackled through the mist, struggling to keep them at bay.

Coulson frowned. "What is that? Some kind of... acid rain cloud?"

"No," Jarrett said grimly. 

"It's far worse. Everyone, suppress your magic signatures immediately!" he shouted at the sorcerers behind him.

As the Quinjet edged closer, the group finally saw the creatures for what they really were—horrifying, bat-like entities, each no larger than a human palm. 

They had no eyes, no heads—just massive, gaping mouths filled with razor-sharp teeth. 

Their wings flapped erratically as they latched onto the shield, gnawing away at the magical defenses of the city.

"These are Wing Marks—dark creatures born from Dormammu's power," Jarrett explained, wiping cold sweat from his brow. 

"They feed on magic and can detect the slightest energy fluctuations. If they consume enough power, they multiply endlessly. 

And once they do, their numbers become overwhelming. Their teeth are sharp enough to tear through anything."

A grim silence settled over the team as they processed his words.

Ethan exhaled sharply, suddenly grateful that they had chosen the stealth approach. 

Had they attempted to open a portal directly into Kama Taj, they would have been swarmed in an instant.

He narrowed his eyes. 'So Mordo's been using the Book of Cagliostro to siphon Dormammu's power. Figures.'

The invisible Quinjet slowed to a crawl, carefully maneuvering around the massive swarm of Wing Mark creatures as it approached Kamar Taj. 

From this vantage point, the devastation on the ground was undeniable.

Beyond the Wing Mark swarm, twisted monstrosities roamed the ruined terrain. 

They defied every principle of evolution—grotesque creatures covered in gnarled bone spurs, pulsating tumors, or jagged carapaces. 

Some were as small as household pets, while others towered over thirty meters high, their distorted bodies a horrifying testament to Dormammu's corruption.

Unlike the Wing Marks, which fed solely on magic, these creatures devoured everything—including their own kind. 

Their insatiable hunger drove them to constantly consume, mate, and spawn even more abominations, turning the land into a grotesque, ever-growing nightmare.

Jarrett's expression darkened. "These are Mindless Ones—once-living beings, now warped and mutated by Dormammu's influence. They're relentless. They spread like a plague, turning everything they touch into a living hell."

May tightened her grip on the controls. "We can't go any further. There are too many of them. If we get any closer, they'll detect us."

Coulson exhaled sharply, his gaze flicking between his teammates. "So what's the play? We can't just sit here."

No one had an immediate answer. 

Even with all their experience, none of them had faced anything quite like this. 

Then, before anyone could decide, something unexpected happened.

The massive gates of Kamar Taj creaked open.

A shimmering gap formed in the city's magical barrier, and from within, a group of sorcerers charged forward—led by a middle-aged man in a crimson cloak.

Jarrett's eyes widened. "That's Strange."

The effect was immediate. 

The Wing Mark creatures circling above shrieked in unison, their eerie cries piercing the air as they swarmed toward the opening. 

On the ground, the Kino hordes froze for a split second before turning as one toward the breach.

Then, chaos erupted.

With a thunderous roar, the Mindless Ones charged like a stampede of nightmares, the ground trembling beneath their sheer numbers. 

The sky darkened as a torrent of Wing Marks dove from above, their razor-toothed maws snapping hungrily.

At the front of the sorcerers, Doctor Strange barely hesitated. 

He raised his hands, and in an instant, a colossal magical shield sprang up, glowing with eldritch energy. 

The first wave of Wing Marks slammed into it with a deafening impact, but the barrier held.

The other sorcerers moved in sync, summoning magical weapons and launching arcane attacks that tore through the monstrous tide. 

Explosions of mystical energy rippled across the battlefield, incinerating dozens of creatures in an instant.

From within the Quinjet, Ethan studied the battle. "Strange isn't just fighting. He's looking at us. He knows we're here."

Jarrett clenched his fists. "Then we'd better be ready to meet him."

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Word count: 1700

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