◉◉◉◉◉

At the Hellmouth, the battlefield had suddenly gone quiet.

The dark sorcerers who only moments before had been hurling cursed fire and shadow bolts found their spells sputtering, fading into nothing.

The warped "Mindless Ones" that had poured endlessly from the rift shrieked in pain, collapsing as if their very existence had been ripped away.

"…It's over."

Tony Stark landed beside a battered Steve Rogers, his armor scorched and sparking.

Steve let out a long breath, raising his shield to finish off one last thrashing Mindless One. "Feels like it. The projections we were fighting are gone too. If Nolan went all in… then Dormammu's finished."

Across the battlefield, Baron Mordo stared as Kaecilius staggered. The traitor sorcerer's dark energy was bleeding away, vanishing like water down a drain.

"This—this can't be happening," Kaecilius gasped, panic in his eyes. "That was Lord Dormammu's gift. It cannot… it cannot just disappear unless…"

His voice trailed off, realization crashing into him like a hammer. Dormammu was dead.

"No…"

Before he could flee, Nolan appeared, his hand outstretched. Scarlet strands from Wanda bound Kaecilius in place as Nolan stripped the corrupted energy from him.

The false body that Dormammu had reforged him into cracked apart, turning to ash.

The once-great prodigy of Kamar-Taj was gone.

Mordo watched silently. Once, Kaecilius had overshadowed him, the favored heir to the Ancient One. Now, his ambition had consumed him completely.

But Mordo's thoughts were troubled.

He had seen the black sigils flaring on the Ancient One's forehead during the battle. Kaecilius' accusations hadn't been lies. She had drawn from the Dark Dimension to prolong her life, even while forbidding it to her students.

The hypocrisy burned in Mordo's chest. But Nolan's words returned to him:

"Magic isn't good or evil. Light or dark it's the heart of the wielder that matters. If a sorcerer cannot resist temptation, then corruption is a choice, not an inevitability."

The words echoed in Mordo's mind as the battlefield stilled.

---

From the great rift, two figures emerged. Nolan and Wanda stepped forward, the portal crackling shut behind them.

"The war is over," Nolan announced.

All around them, the Hellmouth was nothing but ruin collapsed mountains, shattered stone, molten rivers. The fragile pocket dimension had barely withstood the clash of four Skyfathers. Sacrificing it to eliminate Dormammu was a price worth paying.

Logan grimaced, clutching his side where even his healing factor struggled against the magic-infused wounds. "' Bout damn time."

Charles Xavier rubbed his temples, sweat beading on his forehead. "So this is what it means to protect Earth…" He finally understood why Nolan dismissed government oversight and politics so easily.

What they had faced here dwarfed any "mutant threat" the world had ever known.

---

Days later, the weight of victory settled in.

Within Kamar-Taj, Nolan sat in the modest wooden chamber where the Ancient One had ruled for centuries.

Reports streamed in from the three Sanctums, detailing dimensional anomalies and incursions.

"Dimensional breach detected at Portal 173. Possible interlopers from a minor realm."

"Capture them. Interrogate. If hostile, eliminate. Send the remains to Oscorp for containment."

"Portal 468. Traces of extraterrestrial activity."

"Same procedure. Detain, question, terminate if necessary. Specimens go to Oscorp."

His commands were cold, decisive.

Mordo shifted uneasily. "Your methods… they seem excessively brutal. Capture, dissect, destroy. Are you not worried you're crossing a line?"

Nolan didn't even look up from the tome in his hands. "You think I don't see their motives? These aren't lost travelers. They're spies. Soldiers. Followers of dimensional tyrants my master already killed, or scavengers circling now that the Ancient One is gone. Do you think any of them came here with good intentions?"

He snapped the book shut, his eyes glowing faintly with dimensional power.

"Mercy is wasted on wolves. I protect this world. That means being ruthless when I must."

Mordo fell silent, conflicted.

Meanwhile, Nolan continued his work. He had already unraveled the secrets of the Heart-Shaped Herb and the Eye of Agamotto's spellwork, dissecting their core energies. Every puzzle brought him closer to the source of magic itself.

And now, the title of Sorcerer Supreme was his.

The Ancient One's age was over.

A new era had begun.

◉◉◉◉◉

~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter

◉◉◉◉◉

For early access to advanced chapters on P-atreon:

P-atreon/iamxeno

(Just remove the - hyphen to access Patreon normally)

Thank you so much for your support and for reading!