Marvel Cybernetic Girl

With the addition of the YoRHa forces capable of wielding dark dimensional magic, the reality around New York City began to stabilize once more.

The fractured skies, twisted buildings, and broken earth all started to return to normal.

Communications flickered back online. Severed power lines reconnected, humming with energy once again.

The Avengers and Griffin's defensive lines, which had faltered under the chaos, were restored thanks to the spatial reversion.

Forcing the dark dimensional hellhounds, which had nearly breached the Sanctum Sanctorum's defenses, to retreat.

The tide of battle had turned. The advantage was back in the hands of the heroes.

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant, Kagura Hitomi! I knew you were the right choice. But..."

As she spoke, the Ancient One once again drew upon the might of the Dark Dimension, attempting to pull the entire plane of darkness into the physical world.

"The fundamental problem hasn't been solved," she said grimly.

"How do you plan to resist the Dark Dimension itself? How do you fight Dormammu—an eternal, undying being?"

Indeed, the Dark Dimension's power was immense.

Even the counterattack mounted by Kagura's YoRHa troops relied on that same power.

They had used Dormammu's own force to counter the Ancient One's reality-warping spells.

But no matter how many YoRHa soldiers they had, using the Dark Dimension's energy alone could never destroy Dormammu.

Because Dormammu is the Dark Dimension.

Above the split sky of New York, a raging storm of dark dimensional energy surged—thick, ominous fog swirling into a violent tempest, crackling with chaotic green lightning.

Floating high above, the Ancient One's eyes blazed with terrifying green energy, her expression unyielding.

"The great Dormammu will claim this world. There is no escape. No resistance. Your fate... is to be consumed—utterly—by the Dark Dimension"

The dimension of darkness began descending from the heavens.

Even though the magical shields of the Sanctum Sanctorum were still holding, they seemed barely able to keep the Dark Dimension from fully breaching into reality under the Ancient One's relentless pull.

At this rate, if the incursion continued, even those shields would shatter.

And when they did—Earth would be devoured by the Dark Dimension.

But in the face of impending annihilation, Kagura remained perfectly calm.

"So, it's finally come to this…"

She murmured under her breath, "If Dormammu's jaws are already open… then it's time for our final strike."

Everything would be decided—here and now.

"Master…"

Cortana's voice came through the communication link.

"Let me go. You're this world's hope. I'm just a tool. Even if I don't make it back, you can always create another AI to take my place."

"No." Kagura's reply was immediate, firm, and final. "I won't accept that, Cortana. You're one of a kind. I will never allow myself to lose you."

"Besides, if we send someone in who's already accepted their death… the odds of success drop drastically."

She smiled, her silver hair glinting in the light.

"I'll go. And I will come back."

"…Then," Cortana hesitated, "May victory be with you, my Master."

"Mhm! You just sit tight at the Sanctum and wait for the good news!"

With that, Kagura spread her wings of light and launched herself toward the sky, toward the swirling maw of the Dark Dimension.

"Doctor Strange! Time to move! Let's do something insane!"

"Ha! Every time I think about your crazy plan, I get this weird sense of dread."

Hearing her call, Stephen Strange summoned his Cloak of Levitation and flew up after her.

'Fwoosh—!'

In the next instant, the two of them cut through intense enemy fire, blasting past countless obstacles as they surged toward the ever-expanding rift in the sky.

'Buzz—!'

Suddenly, a dense wall of arcane energy blocked their path.

It was a mirror dimension barrier—impossible to break through. And the energy it gave off was far beyond that of any ordinary spellcaster.

There was no mistaking it.

It was the Ancient One herself.

"Kagura, Doctor Strange… I've seen your plan through the Eye of Agamotto."

She hovered calmly before them.

"You want to trap Dormammu using the Time Stone—to force him to retreat from Earth… Kagura, I told you from the very beginning. That plan... will never work."

The moment she finished speaking, countless green energy spears erupted and hurled themselves toward them.

The Ancient One's target was clear: kill Stephen Strange and take the Eye of Agamotto.

That would leave Earth with no method to resist Dormammu.

An intense battle broke out in the sky—a breathtaking, high-stakes dogfight.

Kagura, acting as Strange's shield, desperately intercepted the barrage of spears meant for him.

But the Ancient One wasn't foolish.

She ignored Kagura entirely and focused all her attacks on Strange, pressing her assault without hesitation.

Both sides employed the most precise tactics, fighting with all their might for their respective goals.

However…

Dormammu's weakness lay in his very nature—an eternal, singular existence that transcended time.

Dormammu was almost entirely unfamiliar with the concept of "strategy."

If he could be deceived once, there would be a second time; if he fell for it a second time, a third was inevitable!

'Vmmm—!'

The Ancient One's power far surpassed that of Kagura and Stephen Strange.

With a wave of her hand, she constructed a vast dimensional simulation, harnessing the immense energy of the Dark Dimension to trap Stephen Strange in place.

She approached the immobilized doctor, a blade of dimensional energy—sharp enough to rend space itself—forming in her hand.

She aimed it at his chest.

"The game is over, Doctor Strange. You cannot enter the Dark Dimension. This battle will end in Dormammu's victory"

"Is that so?" Stephen Strange managed a small smile, then tore the Eye of Agamotto from around his neck.

"This is what you're after, right?"

As he spoke, he tossed the Eye of Agamotto toward the Ancient One.

"Here—take it!"

"?!" The Ancient One was stunned by the sudden gesture, hesitating for a moment as she instinctively swung her blade!

'Boom—!'

The Eye of Agamotto was cleaved cleanly in half by the dimensional blade, releasing a surge of searing energy!

But there was no Time Stone inside.

Instead, it contained a miniaturized arc reactor overloaded by 400%!

"You—!" Smoke and dust billowed outward.

The Ancient One re-summoned her vibranium blade and drove it mercilessly toward Strange's heart.

"But what difference does it make? Just die!"

'Clang!'

In that moment, something incredible happened.

Guided by Dormammu's will, the Ancient One had chosen to kill Strange with the vibranium blade rather than the intangible, impossibly sharp dimensional edge—hoping to prolong his suffering.

But she hadn't anticipated that Strange, without using any dimensional sorcery, would block it… with his bare hand!

"Oh, I do like this material," Strange said with a slight smile. "After all… I'm made of vibranium myself!"

As he spoke, his appearance began to change.

His long, narrow face turned red, his hair vanished, and his red cloak shifted to gold.

Indeed—standing before the Ancient One wasn't Stephen Strange at all.

It was Vision!

"You?!" The Ancient One recoiled in shock and spun around.

In the distance, Kagura and the real Stephen Strange smiled and waved at her, holding up the genuine Eye of Agamotto before stepping into the Dark Dimension.

"Clever," the Ancient One said, her voice laced with amusement.

"A fine trick. But do you really think this means you can escape me?"

She turned to give chase, but Vision seized her arm, pulling her from the sky and slamming her back to the ground.

In the next instant, a surge of powerful dimensional energy erupted from Vision's body.

Suspended in the air, he seemed almost like a Marvel Universe Superman—poised, resolute, and radiant.

"Master," he said calmly, "be patient. Kagura is not your opponent. Your battle… is with me."