Shadow of the Beautiful World

Again that narrow canyon, and this strange hell again.

This is already the second time Master Wang has come to this place, and this time he also came here as the envoy of the Supreme Being.

Although it is considered a sacrilegious act in Kama Taj to speculate on the mind of the Supreme Being at will, but at this moment, Master Wang, who is full of flesh and has a very good temper, still can't help but raise a wave of suspicion again. .

The relationship between the Supreme Mage and Raven Lord is definitely not ordinary.

There are secrets between them.

But the age and experience of the two are too different...

Could it be that those nonsensical gossips circulating among high-ranking mages are true?

This raven lord who rules hell is actually a descendant of the Supreme Being who stayed in the human world?

Or to be more horrifying, that Maharaja who looks very young is actually the biological son of the Supreme Being?

this...

No way?

I feel that you are thinking of something extremely rude, Master Wang.

The elusive voice of the Raven Lord awakened the king who was thinking, and he immediately put away his thoughts.

But it's too late.

Facing the king of vanity who can listen to the soul, Merlin already knew some thoughts in the heart of this fat mage at the moment of meeting.

He hovered in the canyon behind the king, and under the haze of the wasteland hell, he explained in a gentle tone:

There is no special relationship between me and the Supreme Being. She does have a 'son', but I don't have that honor. And that Supreme Being is a respectable person, and she has given me a lot of help... .”

Merlin looked at Wang who turned around and bowed his head, and said:

I don't want to hear any more slanderous speculation like this...

Um.

Wang said softly:

Soon, this nonsense gossip will die down, I promise.

I trust your pledge.

Maharaja Raven observed Master Karma Taj in front of him, a trace of surprise flashed in his blue eyes, and he said:

It's just a few days, Wang, your magical power has entered a new level, so, are you also one of the candidates for Karma Taj?

Yes, I got the second coat of arms two days ago.

Wang was very humble and said with great grace:

But my brothers and sisters are much better than me, I'm just a little bit luckier.

I just like people like you who are not arrogant or rash.

Merlin replied in a gentle tone:

It seems that my previous judgment was wrong. The Supreme Master is very good at educating disciples. She has taught you well.

If that mage Modu is as talented and persevering as you are, maybe the next supreme mage will still be born in the inheritance of Kama Taj.

Junior Brother Modu is much better than me.

Wang replied softly:

He is the most outstanding disciple of the Supreme Being, at least for now. Your Majesty, I send you this under the order of the Supreme Being.

The fat mage raised his hand and handed the last three-eyed emblem to Merlin.

He explained:

The Supreme One said that the last candidate has been born, and he is in New York, in Manhattan, and his name is...

Stephen Strange.

Merlin took the badge, and before the king could say the name, he revealed the answer.

This made Wang look up at Lord Merlin in surprise.

Wang can guarantee that at that moment just now, his mind was protected by magic. Even Lord Raven couldn't hear his inner thoughts, but why did he know this name?

Can he predict the future?

Or, he has been paying attention to that worldly person?

Don't be surprised, king.

Merlin rubbed the emblem in his hand, he said:

I can't see through the future either. I just have more channels to obtain information recently.

Please go back and tell the Supreme Being that I will investigate Stephen Strange. If he is indeed qualified to be the last candidate, then I will give him the badge.

But I have a question.

Merlin looked at Wang, and he said:

As for Strange's education, he is a mortal who has never been exposed to magic. At this time, it is only half a year before the opening of the battle for the Supreme Mage. In this half year, he will be trained at Karma Taj. ?still...

It's up to you.

Wang replied:

The Supreme Being has specifically told her that she may not have time to accept a new disciple in the past six months.

In addition, the Supreme asked me to tell you that in the coming time, she will do her best to maintain the order of the earth until the next Supreme Master is born.

Merlin nodded.

He knew what the Supreme Mage meant with this sentence.

Now that the battle for the supreme mage has entered the final preparations, the next supreme mage is about to be born.

Then Gu Yi's phantom doesn't need to retain any more power, as long as Merlin needs it, she can participate in Merlin's next actions as a combat force at any time.

But... please reply to Supreme Being for me.

Merlin said to the king:

Please make sure she doesn't interfere with the order of the world. In the next period of time, there will be some 'changes' in this world that I would like to see.

If I really need help, I will contact her.

Wang didn't understand the hidden meaning in Merlin's words. In his opinion, it was a sentence without beginning and end.

But given the odd relationship between the Raven and the Supreme, it's probably another charade that only the two of them know.

Wang didn't ask any more, he nodded, took a step back, and said again:

The supreme also asked me to inform you that the rules of the supreme mage battle will be slightly 'changed', but this has nothing to do with you, she will handle it.

After finishing speaking, he disappeared into this dimension of hell as the shining golden portal emerged.

After watching the king disappear, Merlin glanced at the badge in his hand.

He shook his head, and while waving his fingers, a comic appeared in his hand. The pages of the comic were windless and automatic. After turning over a few pages, Merlin stared at the picture of the comic, and said softly:

Stephen Strange... In six months, can you really grow to the point where you can fight Doom?

Are you really qualified for this?

And so-called rule changes, what does that mean?

———————————

The world in front of Strange is very chaotic.

A second ago, he was still in the speeding sports car, facing the frenzied frost beast, the shadow of death enveloped him, and his heart was full of despair.

But the next second, he appeared in a strange desert. During the torrential rain, he saw a war hammer falling from the sky, wrapped in endless blue arcs.

Donald, who had lost his breath, was lying in the icy muddy water, and the war hammer, which was flickering with thunder, was suspended on Donald... no, it was suspended on Thor's chest.

The neighing of birds rang in his ears, if there was nothing, it was like an illusory shadow.

He ran as hard as he could in the constantly changing images, but no matter where he went, the shadows of the birds flying in the sky were always tightly shrouded around his body.

ah!

Doctor Strange let out a scream.

He opened his eyes.

He was sitting in a white wooden chair in a daze in a quiet garden. Before his eyes was a prototype small table with fragrant teacups placed on it.

The lawn under his feet was covered with strange withered yellow leaves, and the warm sunlight fell on him from the sky obliquely above.

And behind him is the weird, black, scorched, weird big tree covered with dark red vines, with intertwined branches forming a canopy.

In the twisted and hideous shadow of the tree, Doctor Strange raised his head.

He saw the man sitting across from him.

A man exuding a quiet and mysterious atmosphere, with black hair hanging over his shoulders and wearing a strange black robe, sat on another chair, holding a teacup in his left hand and a book in his right...

comic book?

And it's the kind of comic book kids like to read.

This style of painting...

It's a bit weird.

Strange felt that the man in front of him looked familiar. He frowned and stared at his face. After a while, he recognized the man's identity.

Merlin Riley, the deputy director of the extinct S.H.I.E.L.D., was said to be the one who saved New York in the chaos and tens of millions of people on the entire east coast a year ago.

No...

wrong!

He's not just an agent!

Those weird memories floated in Doctor Strange's mind. He remembered the scene of Merlin appearing beside him on that cold rainy night, and the wand, and the shining white light.

He's still a wizard!

A powerful wizard who stood side by side with Thor and easily defeated Ghost Rider.

Yes, I am a wizard.

Merlin put the teacup in his hand on the table, and he flipped through the comics in his hand without raising his head, almost suppressing the questions emerging in Strange's heart.

He replied softly:

I sealed that memory of yours. Ordinary people should not get too involved in the magical world. I asked your opinion, and you are willing to let me seal the memory.

Because you were an incurable materialist at the time, and you didn't believe in the existence of any magical power.

You use the meager knowledge you have learned to build a high wall for your life, trying to explain and understand the real world...

But after you see flaming skeletons and gods with hammers, you can't take it.

Your world is about to collapse, so you are eager to forget those 'unscientific' pictures, so as to retain your normal will and save your normal life.

Having said that, Merlin raised his head.

His blue eyes fixed on the bewildered soul before him, and he said:

You are eager to see the truth, and you have been chasing higher medical technology all your life. You have opened a hole in the wall of reality, trying to touch the future.

You once had the opportunity to turn that hole into a real door, but unfortunately, the opportunity was right in front of you, facing the door leading to the new world, but you chose to give up and turned back to the world of normal people.

But the world is always so generous to the gifted, you get a second chance.

Stephen Strange...

Merlin closed the comic book in his hands, and he asked seriously:

Let me ask you, in your eyes, what is true?

where am I?

Doctor Strange didn't understand Merlin's question at all, and he didn't follow Merlin's question to give the answer.

Instead, he looked left and right, his eyes stayed for a few seconds on the gorgeous and somewhat unbelievable golden castle beside the two, and then looked at the streamer wall at the end of the garden.

He said:

This isn't the real world, is it? Am I in some weird magical enchantment, or a fantasy story? Is this an adventure? Wait, I remember...my car crashed, did I die?

Is this hell? How's Palmer? Is she all right?

Strange asked many, many questions like a cannonball.

Merlin was a little disappointed.

The answer he wants to get is not this series of rhetorical questions.

Um...

In the face of unexpected situations, this guy is not calm, just like the thinking of ordinary people, unable to control his excess curiosity, and completely unable to pay attention to the key points of the problem.

It was even more impossible to directly extract useful information from Merlin's series of prompts.

He doesn't meet the basics of being a good spellcaster, and doesn't show much desire for magic.

Even though the sealed memory has been restored, he is obviously still immersed in his past life. If he can, this guy will definitely turn around and leave.

But the magic affinity is really good...

Compared with Billy Batson, he doesn't show much. He is a rare magic-rich physique among human beings, but that's it.

He has lived as an ordinary person for more than 30 years. Even a piece of uncut jade has exhausted all possibilities in his ordinary life and turned into a stubborn stone.

However, Merlin did not deny Strange's future because of this.

Because he himself had only been exposed to magic since he was an adult, if he could become a great wizard, then Strange would also be able to regain his lost talent.

But the problem is that there is not much time left for him.

This is the dream world.

Merlin answered Strange's questions softly, and he said in the order of his questions:

This is not a fortuitous encounter. A lady I respect is willing to give you a chance to become a saint. I am here for this.

And, you haven't died yet, but you did encounter an unexpected disaster.

Your body is lying in the treatment cabin of the Baxter Building in a state of serious injuries. The ribs are almost comminuted, the internal organs are bleeding, accompanied by a strong concussion, and the left eye is almost blind, but there is still the possibility of recovery.

Merlin said slowly:

But for your career, the worst thing is that your hands and fingers and hand bones are injured. Judging from my shallow medical knowledge, even if you finally recover from your injuries, don't even think about picking up a scalpel.

In the end, Dr. Palmer Christine was standing 3.7 meters away from your treatment cabin. She just received simple trauma treatment and woke up from a coma.

But she doesn't care about her pain, she is praying for you.

Is that so?

Strange seemed to have mentally prepared himself for the situation.

He didn't show an overly shocked gesture, he was just very sad, with despair growing in his heart.

He trusted Merlin's judgment.

He can no longer be a doctor, all his past has been separated from him in the disaster, his honor, his proud hands, his future, everything has become bleak.

Despair is followed by panic, panic is accompanied by anger, hysteria, and a touch of confusion about the future.

He is being consumed by his own negativity.

Snapped

The sound of fingers tapping on the table jolted Strange out of his reverie.

He looked up and looked into Merlin's eyes.

The latter put something on the table and pushed it towards Strange.

Maharaja said softly:

About your career planning, I have a little suggestion, Stephen Strange.

Stop being a doctor...

Change careers and become a mage.