"What's the point of an eternally static universe with no past, no future?"
Ragna 's voice resonated through the void of the Dark Dimension, his gaze sweeping over the dead stillness that surrounded him. The entire realm, a twisted plane of ever-shifting colors and eldritch energy, was frozen in a paradoxical state—both chaotic and unchanging.
Dormammu remained silent, his colossal flaming visage expressionless. His burning eyes, which had once reflected the raw fury of the cosmos, now held only the cold detachment of an eternal being. He had dwelled in the Dark Dimension for eons, long enough that his emotions had been burned away, leaving only obsession.
The salvation of the universe—this was the purpose that consumed Dormammu. The future he had glimpsed through the warnings of the Ancient One, a universe doomed to collapse, was something he would never allow. If the only way to save reality was to consume it, to bring it into his domain and halt its decay, then so be it.
And Ragna , who stood in defiance of that goal, was now the greatest obstacle to his plan.
With an unnatural roar that rippled through the very fabric of space, Dormammu opened his vast maw, unleashing a cascade of solidified dark energy. A multicolored shockwave, a fusion of dimensional corruption and eldritch magic, shot toward Ragna with the force to unravel existence itself.
But Ragna did not flinch.
With a mere flick of the Sun Scepter, the Reality Gem shimmered, twisting the nature of Dormammu's assault. The corrupt energy splintered midair, dissolving into harmless motes of light before it could reach him. The collision of Dormammu's infinite energy and the Infinity Gems' limitless power did not create an explosion—there was no sound, no impact. Just silent annihilation.
Raw power alone would not decide this battle.
Realizing this, Dormammu shifted tactics. His essence merged into the Dark Dimension itself, his presence swelling as the space around them warped and convulsed like a living entity. The battlefield itself became his weapon—serrated spikes of obsidian erupted from the void, jagged tendrils of darkness lashed out from every direction, and the very fabric of reality twisted into an abyssal storm.
Ragna countered instantly, the Reality Gem weaving a crimson-hued barrier around him. At the same time, the Mind Gem pulsed, sending waves of psychic energy that illuminated the darkness with golden brilliance. Even as the Dark Dimension coiled around him, trying to smother him in its endless folds, Ragna remained untouchable.
But the battle was not his alone.
Holy Keisha, wielding the Space Gem, darted between ruptures in space-time, folding reality to slip through Dormammu's grasp. She was untouchable for now. However, Angel Yan, despite holding the Power Gem, was beginning to struggle.
The Power Gem granted unlimited energy, but Angel Yan herself was not infinite. Every strike she unleashed shattered Dormammu's dark constructs, but they regenerated just as quickly. The Dark Dimension was boundless, and Dormammu could attack endlessly without tiring. Angel Yan, however, could not.
Dormammu saw his opportunity. If he could wear down Yan, consume her, and claim the Power Gem, his dominion over reality would become unstoppable. With power and space under his control, even Ragna would eventually fall.
This was his strategy: divide and consume.
Even if Ragna attempted to trap him in a time loop, as the Ancient One once did, Dormammu would not care. Time was meaningless in the Dark Dimension. His consciousness had long since transcended the shackles of linear existence.
But Dormammu had underestimated his opponent.
Ragna had already unraveled the secret of Dormammu's existence. The Dark Dimension was his power source, an endless reservoir of energy that granted him near-omnipotence. So long as it remained intact, Dormammu would never die. No force in the universe—save the combined might of all six Infinity Gems—could destroy this realm.
But destruction wasn't the only path to victory.
Dormammu's strength did not come solely from the Dark Dimension's energy—it came from belief. The countless beings he had absorbed over the millennia had fed him with their fear of death, their desperate longing for eternity. That collective belief was his true fuel.
And what could manipulate belief better than the Mind Gem?
Ragna 's grip tightened around the Sun Scepter, and with a single gesture, he unleashed the full force of the Mind Gem.
A tsunami of psychic energy erupted into the Dark Dimension. It was not an attack in the conventional sense—there was no explosion, no flash of destruction. Instead, an intangible wave rippled through Dormammu's very essence, injecting thoughts, ideas, and emotions into the eldritch titan.
Beliefs of self-destruction.
Concepts of mortality.
The temptation of sleep.
For the first time in eons, Dormammu felt something foreign creeping into his mind.
Doubt.
It was minuscule, an imperceptible ripple in the ocean of his being. But Ragna wasn't finished.
He struck again. And again.
Like raindrops falling upon the sea, each strike was insignificant on its own. But together, they formed a tide.
Dormammu remained silent, unwilling to acknowledge the creeping instability within his core. But elsewhere, Angel Yan's situation was worsening. Though she continued to fight valiantly, exhaustion was setting in.
Yet, in that moment, Holy Keisha made her move.
She did not come to Yan's aid. Instead, she continued to dart through the Dark Dimension, seemingly at random, warping from one point to another.
But then, in a flash of blue light, Keisha materialized beside Ragna . With a single swipe of her hand, she cut through the space behind him, deflecting a darkened spike that had been aimed at his back.
She turned to Ragna and nodded.
Ragna met her gaze and smiled.
Then, his voice rang through the void.
"Dormammu… I'm here."
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