Lyon's expression turned serious.
Doctor Strange and Clea entering the Dark Dimension together to resolve the incursion crisis...
It was a scene that appeared as a post-credits teaser at the end of Doctor Strange 2!
Back when he was just an ordinary person watching the movie, that scene only made him look forward to the next part of the story.
But now, he was actually in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
And his feelings at this moment were anything but anticipation.
What he felt was the urge to curse out loud.
If the so-called incursion was only happening between the main movie universe and one other universe, then he wouldn't really care.
There were so many parallel universes in Marvel, you couldn't even count how many were destroyed every day.
In a year's time, the total might be even more than the number of kangaroos in Australia.
One main universe gets destroyed? Another will just reboot and take its place.
Maybe even the one he was in now—Universe 199999-S, or perhaps mcu616-S—might get slotted in as the new main universe.
But when was the last time the concept of an incursion appeared in the Marvel universe?
—It was in the Secret Wars (2015) arc from the comic universe!
That incursion was triggered by Wolverine repeatedly traveling through time and altering history, setting off a chain reaction that caused incursions between universes across the entire multiverse.
And the result of that incursion crisis?
It was the complete destruction of all universes in the Marvel multiverse.
Only Reed Richards (the god-tier version of him) survived and rebuilt a new universe, the All-New, All-Different universe—only then did the crisis finally end.
In short, that incursion event amounted to a full-scale reboot of the multiverse.
Lyon immediately felt his scalp go numb.
This moment was just like that moment.
If the incursion crisis caused by Doctor Strange turned out to be anything like the one from Secret Wars 2015—Then he might as well start preparing a eulogy for his own universe.
Though the odds weren't necessarily high, it wasn't something he could afford to ignore.
Lyon fell into deep, serious thought for a few seconds—then decided to release Dormammu as soon as possible and stop fussing about compensation.
The crisis happening with Doctor Strange in the main universe needed to be resolved as soon as possible.
However, Lyon had no intention of personally going to the Dark Dimension to help deal with the problem.
If it truly was a multiverse-level incursion crisis, his presence wouldn't change anything.
And if it wasn't, then even without his help, the crisis likely wouldn't affect his own universe.
So rather than worry about the mess Doctor Strange had stirred up, it was better to focus on increasing his own strength.
As long as his power was great enough—Forget the multiverse being destroyed.
Even if the entire omniverse collapsed, he wouldn't need to worry.
The sense of urgency that had disappeared ever since he left the Swallowed Star World now resurfaced in Lyon's heart.
"Dormammu, you may go. But aside from unlimited energy access, I have two more conditions." Lyon raised two fingers.
"I'll consider your terms—but if they're unreasonable, I will absolutely refuse!" Dormammu warned up front.
"First," Lyon began, "I don't want your dimensional authority, but you have to help me find an unclaimed dimension—"
Before Lyon could even finish, Dormammu cut him off: "Impossible! Absolutely not! Do you have any idea how rare unclaimed dimensions are?! Even if one appears, it's immediately seized by a demon god!"
Or rather, even if he did find one, he would immediately merge it into the Dark Dimension himself.
"Then just keep an eye out for any unclaimed dimension. Whether the information is accurate or not, you must inform me—until I find one," Lyon revised the condition.
When he breaks through to the Immortal level, the inner world in his body will evolve into an external divine realm.
But the prerequisite is to find a fragment of space to fuse his inner world into.
And in the Marvel universe, the most fitting approach—stylistically speaking—is of course to merge his world into an unclaimed dimension and become the dimension's ruler himself!
"That I can do. I agree!" Dormammu let out a sigh of relief.
Just passing along some intel didn't cost him anything.
"What's the second condition?" he asked.
"Once you're back, you have to help Doctor Strange and the others get through the crisis. If it fails, you must notify me immediately," Lyon said.
"No problem, that's easy. So that means if things go wrong, you'll step in to help?"
Upon hearing the final condition, Dormammu finally regained a bit of spirit and stood up from the rubble.
"No. I just want to see what it looks like when two universes crash and get destroyed."
At that moment, Lyon was as cold as a Stark who had been gutting fish for nineteen years.
Even Dormammu found him a bit heartless. "Are you really the Sorcerer Supreme? I've seen the darkest versions of Strange, and even they would fake a few words of sympathy at a time like this."
"You really like bringing up Strange, huh… Enough. Sign this contract and you can go back to the Dark Dimension and find him."
Lyon reached out his hand.
A golden contract formed entirely from energy appeared, rapidly expanding to several meters in length.
It was covered in densely packed magical runes that documented the three conditions they had agreed upon.
At the very bottom of the contract, a unilateral penalty clause was written—
If Dormammu broke the agreement, he would have to surrender ninety percent of his dimensional authority to the contract's witness: the Vishanti.
All three conditions had been agreed upon by Dormammu himself.
He had no intention of breaking the contract, and he didn't detect any traps hidden in it, so he didn't care much about the penalty.
Still, he couldn't help but grumble: "With a breach penalty that high, even the Vishanti would be tempted. Sorcerer Supreme, you really are quite dark."
"If it weren't that high, they wouldn't intervene. And without their backing, this kind of magical contract would be meaningless to you," Lyon replied with a smile.
"Hmph, whatever." Dormammu signed his name on the contract using his dimensional energy.
The golden contract instantly radiated a blinding light and vanished on the spot.
"Very good, the contract is sealed!" Lyon waved his hand and withdrew all the Space Stone energy that had been enveloping the miniature universe.
"You may go."
Azure energy surged like a tide back into Lyon's body.
Dormammu once again felt the connection to the Dark Dimension.
He gave Lyon a long, deep look, then tore open space and stepped through into the strange, chaotic world on the other side.
"Sorcerer Supreme, tell me your name," he said, standing within the Dark Dimension.
"Wasn't it written on the contract just now? What, still planning to throw out a threat?" Lyon raised an eyebrow.
Dormammu gave a cold sneer, saying nothing.
He resumed his lofty, superior attitude. "Lyon Stark. I'll be waiting for the day you come to the Dark Dimension. Then… we'll have more to talk about."
"Thanks for the warm invitation. But before that, don't forget to uphold the contract. That's part of your defeat terms, remember?" Lyon retorted.
He wasn't surprised by Dormammu's sudden change in demeanor.
These dimensional demon gods had dwelled in cold, dark planes for far too long.
All they thought about every day was devouring Earth or a few more followers—they had long since transcended any moral restraints.
Just pulling a change of face like that—by dimensional demon god standards, Dormammu was already one of the nicer ones.
"Hmph, I don't need your reminder!" Dormammu turned and left.
"Hey, if you ever miss me, feel free to visit Earth again. Remember, our universe's designation is 199999-S!" Lyon shouted after him.
Upon hearing that, Dormammu's head dipped slightly, and he moved even faster as he departed.
As the torn space mended itself, the Dark Dimension was completely cut off from the small inner world.
"Looks like Dormammu won't be coming back again anytime soon."
Lyon glanced around at the wreckage of the ruined continent before him. "What a mess... Time to head back!"
With a single thought, he exited the Inner World Ring.
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