For both Rick and David, Mirage Knight was already familiar to them. Ancient One had previously instructed their disciple, Yun Lan, to investigate Mirage Knight’s true ident.i.ty, so Rick and his team had long known the real ident.i.ties of Mirage Knight and the guardians of the League of Defenders.
Upon learning the true ident.i.ties of Lin Rui and his comrades, they greatly admired the actions of these young individuals. Moreover, the relationship between Ancient One and Mirage Knight had always been ambiguous, with Ancient One implicitly supporting the League of Defenders and their alliance.
Initially, when Lin Rui voluntarily offered to help the sorcerers against the renegade sorcerers, Rick and his team thought it was a great idea.
At least, if the Sorcerers and the new guardians of Earth could join forces, it would send a discouraging message to those on Earth and in the universe who harbored ill intentions.
However, they never expected that the first attack by the renegades would result in such a situation, leaving Mirage Knight severely injured in the hands of Kaecilius. The connection between the Sorcerer and the “ordinary people” who had become Sorcerers, like Mirage Knight, was crucial.
If Mirage Knight had truly been injured because of his a.s.sociation with the Sorcerers then it would be unacceptable to everyone.
If Mirage Knight had been injured during a normal battle, it would be a different story. But this time, it was clear that the response from the Sorcerers was excessively delayed.
Rick was well aware that their information had already been relayed back even before Kaecilius and his cohorts created the Mirror Dimension. Yet, support arrived only when Mirage Knight was on the verge of death. This was clearly abnormal.
Therefore, both Rick and David felt particularly helpless and puzzled. Mirage Knight’s severe injury directly led to Jack, who was selected as one of the Five Young Star Sorcerers, giving up his chances in the upcoming Sorcerer Supreme selection.
This was a significant blow to David and Rick. Although Jack had a low chance of being chosen as the Sorcerer Supreme even if he continued to partic.i.p.ate, by quitting now, he had no opportunity at all.
“Well, there’s nothing we can do to change these things. Besides, I have a feeling that Ancient One has a special purpose behind all this,” Rick said helplessly in the end.
“Ah!… It’s just a waste of such a promising talent like Jack…” David sighed upon hearing Rick’s words.
Afterward, silence fell over the interior of New York Sanctum. The attack by the renegade sorcerers on New York Sanctum had ultimately been repelled with Rick’s early preparations.
The Sorcerers were unable to breach the Sanctum’s defenses, and thus, the immense magical array that protected the entire Earth remained undamaged.
…
Meanwhile, after the failed attack on New York Sanctum, Kaecilius, who had quickly fled the scene, found himself hiding in a secluded location, deep in contemplation.
Hummm…
Sitting cross-legged in a dimly lit room, Kaecilius emitted occasional bursts of magical fluctuations. His eyes, tainted with eerie black patterns, remained tightly shut, occasionally moving beneath his eyelids. Kaecilius wore a tattered, dark brown standard sorcerer waistcoat that had suffered damage during his battle with Lin Rui.
Of course, in addition to the torn sorcerer waistcoat, Kaecilius also had some injuries on his face. However, they had been rudimentarily treated and only faint scars remained, far less significant than the injuries he had inflicted upon Lin Rui.
Hummm!
After meditating for a while, the magical fluctuations emanating from Kaecilius suddenly became unstable. Then, strange energies, distinctly different from regular magical power, slowly surged from various parts of his body.
It seemed that Kaecilius couldn’t control the black energy. His tightly shut eyes began to rapidly move. Just as the black energy had drifted several meters away from Kaecilius, he suddenly opened his eyes.
Swish!
In the next moment, the black energy that had surged out of Kaecilius quickly retracted, disappearing within his body.
“Dormammu, we have a deal! I helped you invade Earth just to have you deal with that hypocrite Ancient One. If you want to eliminate some of the equally hypocritical sorcerers on Earth, I won’t mind. But… I won’t allow you to devour the entire Earth!” As Kaecilius opened his eyes and drew the black energy back into his body, he spoke with a serious and deep voice.
From Kaecilius’ soliloquy, it was evident that he was conversing with Dormammu, the evil ent.i.ty from the Dark Dimension. Moreover, from Kaecilius’ words, it was clear that he had indeed made a deal with Dormammu.
However, he would not let Dormammu consume the entire Earth. He only sought Dormammu’s a.s.sistance to eliminate Ancient One using Dormammu’s power.
After all, while Kaecilius had become disillusioned with this world, he still intended to survive in it. At this stage, Kaecilius had no plans to leave Earth and live among other civilizations in the universe.
Huff… Huff…
Following Kaecilius’ somber soliloquy, the dark aura within him continued to surge irregularly. While the dark energy flowed, Kaecilius seemed to be attentively listening to something, and gradually, his gloomy gaze softened. Perhaps he had received the answer he desired from Dormammu.
“Now that we have a deal, I will choose to trust you. I hope you won’t disappoint me. After all, without me, you wouldn’t have been able to invade Earth,” Kaecilius continued, as the dark aura around him calmed down.
Huff… Huff…
“Alright, rest a.s.sured. The plan won’t fail. Just wait patiently. Soon… you will have the opportunity to personally eliminate that hypocrite Ancient One,” Kaecilius concluded.
After Kaecilius finished speaking, the surging dark aura within him gradually subsided. Then, the prominent “dark circles” around Kaecilius’ eyes, resembling panda eyes, quickly disappeared, as if the dark energy had completely vanished from within Kaecilius.
……
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