Chapter 86: Master Ancient One

On the desolate, silent streets of New York, two figures stood about ten meters apart, each scrutinizing the other with guarded eyes.

Ancient One?

After hearing the young woman's self-introduction, Kyle maintained his cold, expressionless demeanor, yet inwardly, a storm raged. His muscles tensed involuntarily, entering a state of unprecedented alert.

The Sorcerer Supreme—currently the most powerful being on Marvel’s Earth. An old woman who had lived for centuries, peering into the truths of cosmic magic!

Almost instinctively, the symbiote venom within Kyle recoiled in fear as well. His suit, hat, and sunglasses twisted and morphed, transformed by black silk-like fluid into a full-body night combat attire, radiating an aura of bloodthirst and primal ferocity.

The Ancient One smiled gently, watching Kyle shift into battle mode, her voice calming as she said, "General Kyle, I mean you no harm."

"What have you done? Where is this place?" Kyle asked coolly, surveying the eerily real yet unreal street and buildings around them.

"This is merely the mirror dimension of Earth's space," the Ancient One explained. "Like a reflection in a mirror—a world within the glass."

"Spatial dimension shifting, this..." Kyle frowned. Though he had long known the Ancient One could wield magic to manipulate time and space, only by experiencing it firsthand could he grasp how terrifying it truly was.

For the first time, he found himself stripped of control—unable to fight, unable to flee, left with no choice but to await her intentions.

After all, without the requisite magical abilities, even if one fled to the edge of the mirror world, there would be no escape back to reality.

As for confronting the Ancient One—Kyle was certain that even gods from higher dimensions would be flattened in an instant by this woman before him.

Earth’s strongest native guardian—did you think that was a joke?

"I wonder why the Sorcerer Supreme sought me out," Kyle drew a deep breath, suppressing the intense unease that felt like facing a formidable enemy.

"I’ve wanted to meet you for some time. Knowing you were free today, I came directly," the Ancient One replied, her gentle words carrying a subtle magic that inexplicably eased the wariness and anxiety in others' hearts.

"Meet me?" Kyle was momentarily surprised. When had he drawn this old woman's attention?

The Ancient One gazed at him, smiling as she asked, "What did you do with the Cosmic Cube?"

"The Cosmic Cube?" Kyle was taken aback, pondering how to answer. "I’m not sure if you mean the artifact Hydra used to generate unlimited energy. After retrieving it from the battlefield’s seabed, I handed it over to the military. It should be in an American base laboratory now."

"Have you ever seen something similar—particularly a gemstone embedded within?" As she spoke, her left hand remained behind her back, while her right palm turned upward. Suddenly, a jeweled necklace appeared in her hand.

The necklace dropped from her delicate palm, its lowest point a metallic eye-shaped pendant. The pupil was a green gem, radiating a mysterious emerald light.

"What’s this, a magical artifact? It even glows," Kyle retorted, his face impassive.

In truth, the moment he saw the eye-shaped necklace, he knew it was no ordinary item—the Eye of Agamotto, the Time Stone!

One of the six original stones of the cosmos, just like the Space Stone drawn from the Cosmic Cube’s core!

"You've never seen a gemstone glowing like this?"

The Ancient One pressed further. This time, Kyle was growing impatient, shaking his head. "I said I haven’t. In Germany’s military vaults, I did see piles of gemstones, but none that glowed on their own like this."

He spoke truthfully—he had never seen the Space Stone itself, for after extracting it as a card, it had always remained in card form, never materialized.

"I see," the Ancient One said, giving Kyle a deep look. With a twist of her hand, the eye-shaped pendant vanished as suddenly as it appeared.

Kyle watched her empty palm with a hint of regret and said, "I wonder if you’d name a price for that magical artifact. I have a friend who loves collecting rare treasures."

This time, the Ancient One seemed taken aback, shaking her head. "It is priceless, and belongs only to a destined owner."

"Am I not a destined owner? Why not gift me that artifact..." Kyle pressed his luck.

He understood now—the Ancient One had sensed the disappearance of the Space Stone from the Cosmic Cube and came specifically to investigate.

It made sense; as Earth’s guardian, she acted only against threats to the planet’s core, not against some ‘defender of home’ nor a ‘weak and ignorant’ war hero like himself.

"Your nature is too bloodthirsty; you are definitely not destined," the Ancient One refused, turning as if to leave.

Kyle grew anxious, quickly stepping forward to intercept her. "Wait! Sorcerer Supreme, never mind the artifact—how about teaching me magic? Or, let me buy you some tea on behalf of my country?"

As Kyle was about to enter within three meters of her—close enough for card-based investigation—the Ancient One simply waved her hand. Shimmering sparks spun into a wheel, tearing open a portal in the space before her.

She stepped through the dazzling spark wheel, her white-robed figure vanishing swiftly.

"Wait!" Kyle narrowed his eyes, lunged forward, and followed her through the fiery portal...

On the bustling streets of New York—

"Damn!" A businessman carrying a briefcase and newspaper hurried along, glancing at his watch, when suddenly a dark figure leapt in front of him, causing him to fall backward, scattering his belongings.

"Who are you?" The suited man cursed, looking up—only to see a mysterious figure clad in a distinctive black night combat suit, glancing left and right. Instinctively, his eyes fell on the New York Times spread on the ground.

The front page featured a cold, youthful figure standing at the gates of the German presidential palace, his muscular frame in black battle attire identical to the man who had just appeared on the street.

After a moment of stunned silence, the businessman erupted in a pig-like squeal of excitement. "It’s Major Kyle! In person!!"

"Hmm?" Fresh from the mirror dimension, Kyle hadn’t yet processed the situation. After the brief electric sensation of traversing space, he realized he was back on the bustling streets of New York, surrounded by throngs of pedestrians.

As the businessman shouted, the noise on the entire street died down. Countless astonished, eager eyes fixed upon Kyle at the intersection.

"Trouble!" was Kyle’s first thought, quickly realizing he was still in full venom battle attire...

His second thought—

"Sorcerer Supreme, I won’t forget this!"