Chapter 540
The Ancient One smiled faintly and looked at Stephen with encouragement. The Ancient One then waved her hands, and an irresistible force immediately pulled Stephen out of the place. The Ancient One then looked at Dio as she disappeared after leaving her last words.
“This is the last gift that I would give to you, and I hope that it would be of help to you in the future.”
Dio looked at the Ancient One solemnly without saying anything, but he didn’t really know what gift that the Ancient One had left behind, One thing for sure was he didn’t want to mess up the Ancient One’s last moment. At the same time, the Ancient One appeared on the Dark Battleship at Wakanda and went into a room where a young girl lied unconscious.
The Ancient One gathered her soul and touched Cristal’s head before she dissipated completely. Cristal’s head shone brightly as The Ancient One poured her power into her, but it didn’t last for long as the Ancient One already dissipated from using her last strength.
. . . . . . . . . .
“Who did you talk to just now?” Wanda asked as the time reverted to normal. She felt that Dio was talking to someone, but she didn’t see anyone around them.
“It’s nothing, I think I saw an acquaintance just now, but I was mistaken,” Dio said with a smile on his face. Dio didn’t feel like explaining things to Wanda as it was none of her concern, and thus he immediately changed the subject. Although Wanda had a feeling that Dio was hiding something, she knew that Dio didn’t want to explain it to her and refrain from asking any further.
“Let’s go home. It’s going to rain soon,” Wanda said with a smile on her face.
“Umm, I have somewhere else to go for a moment. Can you go back on your own and wait for me?” Dio asked apologetically.
Looking at Dio’s apologetic look, Wanda just smiled and kissed him gently. “Alright, but remember to bring me something later,” Wanda said as she kissed Dio.
. . . . . . . . . . .
In the hospital, the Ancient One real body completely lost her vital sign. Stephen, who has returned to his body, felt dejected as he looked over to the Ancient One lifeless body. But the Ancient One still showed her smiles, which made everything seemed to be fine.
Nevertheless, Stephen still didn’t understand the Ancient One’s choice. She had the opportunity to keep on living, but she refused it straight up. He doubted the Ancient One’s purpose as the Ancient One didn’t show any clear sign that would allow anyone to figure out her intention, unlike Kaecillus who had a straightforward objective.
Now, Stephen knew that he would have to choose too. Is he going back to his Doctor career or choose the path to become the Sorcerer Supreme? He had to think about it carefully as he knew that he didn’t have the advantages of the Ancient One’s wisdom.
“This is frustrating!” Stephen said as he looked at the doctor, finally gave up on the Ancient One and took off their gloves, patting Stephen’s shoulder as they walked out of the room. The nurse covered the Ancient One’s body with the white cloth as a symbolic sign for the deceased.
Stephen kept thinking inside the room about what he wanted to do next, and as he observed the Ancient One’s body, he finally reached his conclusion. He realised that as the Ancient One was gone, the world was in great danger as there was no one to take the Ancient One’s position to defend the earth from the other dimension. That was when he realised why the Ancient One was so willing to die. It was so that Stephen would finally take the mantle as the new Sorcerer Supreme!
“It seems you have made a choice. I know the Ancient One could rest in peace knowing that the earth is in the right hands.” Dio said suddenly behind Stephen.
“You are late! The Ancient One was gone!” Stephen said with a frown on his face.
“I know, but it is her choice to make. It wouldn’t be good to disrespect her by ignoring her choice like that!” Dio said calmly.
“So, what are you doing here?” Stephen asked curiously.
“I am here to pay my last homage to the Ancient One, and in addition to that, I also heard that Dormammu is coming. If you are unsure whether or not you can handle him by yourself, I will be here to help you. But, if you thought that you are not nearly enough to fight against Dormammu, you’ll have to give me that thing hanging on your neck! Although I have an agreement with the Ancient One to help you, I won’t force you to do something you don’t want to do.” Dio said casually.
Stephen touched the Eye of Agamoto that was hanging on his neck, although Stephen didn’t know that the Eye of Agamoto held the Time Gem that Dio needed to keep away from Thanos.
“No, I have decided that I will become the next Sorcerer Supreme, and thus I will deal with Dormammu on my own without your help!” Stephen said confidently.
Dio was somewhat surprised by Stephen’s answer, but it was expected. Although Dio remembered that Stephen was the man who was willing to do anything to heal his arm again, it wouldn’t really matter as he dedicated himself to magic in the future.
Dio couldn’t help but be amazed at the Ancient One’s parallel thinking as she planned it all so perfectly. If she was still alive to this moment, Stephen might choose to abandon magic to chase after his career as a Doctor again!
Not only that, but the Ancient One also subdued Stephen’s arrogant personality as Stephen has become somewhat tolerable now.
“Great, now that you have decided. Let’s go to Hong Kong Sanctuary. It would be the last stand against Dormammu there. You don’t have to worry. I just want to tag along and observe the situation. I won’t take any enemies from you as you can deal with them any way you want.” Dio said casually.
Stephen frowned as he heard Dio’s word, but he couldn’t help but get nervous as it hasn’t really sunk in, but the enemy was real! He didn’t really want to face Dormammu, so he planned to keep Kaecillus away from the sanctuary to stop the dimension from tearing up because Dormammu later.
“I will go find Mordo first. You can come if you want to!” Stephen said as he began drawing his portal.
“Why would you want to bring him along? He would only become baggage later, now hurry up! We need to get to Hong Kong Sanctuary as soon as we can!” Dio said hurriedly.
Stephen gritted his teeth, but he had no choice as Dio’s word made sense! He redrew his portal, and this time, he went straight to Hong Kong!