Chapter 78: The Two Mighty Guardians

A man who should have died from a fall, as if a bungee cord were tied around his ankle, was yanked skyward by the power of time’s reversal. Even the shattered glass and broken wall fragments that had fallen with him returned to their original places, rewinding in a bizarre spectacle.

Everything within sight was exaggerated to the extreme.

“Either my eyes are deceiving me,” he thought, “or this world is deceiving me.”

These two phrases have become classics because there is always some miracle in this world that makes people doubt their own senses.

Mordo and Fat Wong were utterly astonished; for the first time, they understood just how peerless and otherworldly the Eye of Agamotto truly was. But it wasn’t just that—the magical radiance emanating from Merlin was equally striking. Having spent years at the Ancient One’s side, the two were familiar with this glow; it was the brilliance of her magical circuits. Now, the Ancient One had passed the majority of her magical legacy to Merlin.

The artifact had chosen Merlin, and in order for him to wield it to save the Earth, the Ancient One had bestowed upon him the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme.

On any other day, if Merlin received such favor, the two might have felt envy, jealousy, or at least some discomfort. But now, there was no room for envy. For Merlin was about to bear the weighty responsibility of facing the Dark Lord Dormammu.

It was like the detectives in the Heavenly Empire’s police squads who, due to budget constraints, might have only two or three bulletproof vests to share among a dozen men—even when tasked with apprehending armed and desperate criminals.

The rule was simple: whoever wore the vest went to the front line.

It was both protection and honor, but also the gravest risk.

Perhaps it is precisely because heroes must risk such terrible dangers that the word “hero” is so precious.

In the field of vision, nearly all movement was playing in reverse—save for a select few.

Vision—the bearer of the Mind Stone. As a fellow holder of an Infinity Stone, Vision could transcend the reversal of time. He turned in utter shock, looking toward Merlin’s position. With his non-human vision, he instantly discerned who was behind this anomaly. His perpetually stoic red face murmured softly, “So it’s you… old friend.”

Watching Tony and Peter shooting backward through the air beside him, Vision gritted his teeth and, without another glance, plunged headlong into the Dark Dimension.

Meanwhile, another formidable presence could barely resist the pull of time with the power granted by his master: Kaecilius.

“No! The arrival of the Great Lord must not be delayed!” Forgetting Vision, Kaecilius shot toward Merlin like a missile.

To break through the Time Stone’s shackles with sheer dark energy—Kaecilius’s strength was beyond question.

Seeing Kaecilius, wreathed in black smoke and hurtling like a warhead, Merlin bared his teeth. “Here he comes!”

The two guardians at his side immediately braced themselves for battle.

“Ha!” Fat Wong’s Staff of the Living Tribunal flashed with light in his hands. Originally meant to transform into a nine-section whip, the staff further segmented itself, as if split by a laser cutter into over a hundred pieces, then fused into a giant golden staff.

It was akin to firing a beam cannon—the golden rod, over a meter in diameter, slashed through the night sky, spanning two hundred meters straight toward Kaecilius’s face.

“Hmm?” Kaecilius frowned. This move was undoubtedly Wong’s own innovation; at least, no one in Kamar-Taj had ever taught such a technique.

Unexpected as it was, it was still too far to strike home.

After all, it wasn’t a true energy blast.

With a swift, zigzag maneuver, Kaecilius evaded the attack.

Wong, now transformed into a staff-wielding monk, swung the massive rod horizontally for a crushing blow.

It still missed!

By now, Kaecilius was less than a hundred meters from the group.

Mordo made his move.

His spellcasting gestures looked for all the world like someone shuffling mahjong tiles, but powerful magical ripples surged around Kaecilius’s path.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

In the next instant, lightning, hail, fireballs, and semi-transparent magical blades—every ranged attack spell ever taught at Kamar-Taj—filled a cylindrical tunnel less than ten meters wide.

If Kaecilius didn’t alter his course, he would face hundreds of elemental spells.

“Interesting!” he sneered.

Missed! Missed! Still missed!

With his hands and feet now manifested as pure darkness, Kaecilius was like a specter. One moment it seemed a dozen spells would strike him; the next, his body twisted with a flexibility surpassing that of a snake, dodging in ways that defied belief.

From start to finish, he never spared Mordo a glance; his eyes remained fixed on Merlin.

This scene left Mordo both hurt and helpless—he had actually been dismissed as irrelevant.

The guardians’ impotence left Merlin exasperated, and he was reminded once again of how unreliable the original film’s script was. By now, most of his attention was devoted to the Eye of Agamotto; just maintaining this vast area-of-effect spell consumed eighty percent of his magical circuits.

And that was only possible because the Ancient One had granted him her magical legacy and permission to draw power from Kamar-Taj.

If he had relied solely on his own abilities, he would have been drained dry in moments.

The scant magical energy he had left might suffice against a normal powerhouse, but it was useless against Kaecilius.

With the boost of the Dark Dimension, Kaecilius was absurdly strong. His wild array of moves made Merlin’s scalp prickle with anxiety.

He genuinely wondered if it was possible to defeat this man.

Did fighting a devotee of darkness always require shouting, “Let the Holy Light guide you!” and then summoning divine power to smite them to dust?

Just as Merlin braced himself to confront Kaecilius head-on, reinforcements arrived.

“Pew pew pew!” came the rapid-fire sound of lasers.

Accompanied by the swift barrage, Iron Man’s red-and-gold form appeared. Several shots struck Kaecilius, finally making him howl in pain.

Before Kaecilius could react, Spider-Man, seizing the distraction, shot several white webs at his face, anchoring the other ends to a lamppost and yanking hard.

Kaecilius, flying at high speed, was jerked off course and slammed into the street, carving a stone trench at least twenty meters long.

“Merlin—uh, whatever you’re calling yourself this time—go! Vision says only you can handle this!” Tony’s voice rang out. “We’ll take care of this guy!”

“But—”

“Wow! Time reversal! That’s so cool! Merlin, are you really the legendary wizard Merlin?” Spider-Man chattered nonstop as he continued to web Kaecilius into an early grave.