Chapter 116: The Sorceress and the Secret Book
[Constanta, Romania]
Morgan le Fay, the fabled sorceress from the Arthurian legend.
That was the woman I was searching for, but unfortunately, it was not possible to meet her directly.
Centuries ago she was sealed inside the Dark Dimension to put a stop to her tyrannical conquest of world domination. Since then she has been stuck in that place.
And I am not foolish enough to barge into the Dark Dimension which inhabitants some of the most terrifying beings in existence, namely Dormammu.
And Dormammu is a being that I can't defeat on Earth... much less in his home ground. So, going to the Dark Dimension was not a choice until I was stronger than now.
But there was a way… And that way was in Romania.
Morgan has a cult that is active to this day. The cult can contact her and that's exactly what I need— a way to contact her.
After days of searching through the libraries about the clues of her cult and then proceeding to read the minds of every being in Romania— I had finally found their location.
For over a century they have been living here because of the rich magical energy in the surroundings.
And now for the past two hours, I have been flying over their ritual site in my invisible form.
As time passed, I saw the cultists arriving on the site one by one. Each dressed in a different coloured robe… They are definitely going all out with the stereotypes.
As I watched the ritual beginning with a woman jumping in fire it made me question if that was a requirement or they are just too much into the sorcery bullshit. Because other than the sadistic demon summonings, I have never heard of any magic that requires human sacrifices. And I know about that because I have spent years with Selene and now Dr. Strange.
"Thy who lives in thee realm of demons, heed my call and grace us with thee presence!"
The fire that the cultists were surrounding grew massive as a flaming figure manifested from it.
That's interesting.
"Your Majesty."
The cultists bowed on the ground as the woman slowly opened her eyes. She was merely a manifestation but I could feel her energy even from such a distance.
"I hope you haven't called me again to inform me about your failure." She said in a cold yet seductive tone.
Are all dark sorceresses seductive? First Selene and now Morgan.
And she wasn't any less beautiful. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Selene and Morgan said they were sisters. From their appearance to the way they talked— everything was so… similar.
"No, Your Majesty." One of the robed women said. "We finally figured out 'its' location."
Of course, she has a superiority complex as well.
But…
I might have just heard something that I shouldn't have…
What did she mean by 'it'?
"It was last possessed by Mordo but had been stolen by Agatha Harkness. However, it was stolen again by… someone worse." The cultist continued which made Morgan frown.
"Continue."
"It's with… Blackheart."
The revelation made both me and Morgan shocked to the core.
"Blackheart? Mephisto's son?" Morgan asked. "That makes the issue ten times more complex."
Meanwhile, I was stuck between confusion and worry.
What did Blackheart steal from them?
"We know where the book is but Blackheart used his mind control powers to make a human steal it from Agatha. And since he is sealed, we know his location but we have no means to get back the Darkhold."
I felt myself getting struck by lightning as I heard the item's name.
The Darkhold.
The Book of Sins, The Book of Evil, The Elder God's book… And the Book of Chaos and Darkness.
It was a book written by the Elder God Chthon, a being that ruled this world for thousands of years before getting banished. One of the strongest magical beings in existence and the progenitor of Chaos Magic.
The same magic that Scarlet Witch used to rewrite reality.
Chthon wrote his magical knowledge in a book and that book is the Darkhold. It contains knowledge about Dark and Chaos magic. Two of existence's strongest magic.
And if Blackheart possesses it… It's a big problem.
Most beings cannot use the book as it eats their sanity and by the time they make their way through the first few pages of the book, they are already long gone.
However, I don't see Blackheart having that issue so I have to find a way to get the Darkhold before he breaks free and starts using it.
But now I had to deal with Morgan.
As she was discussing about the Darkhold with the cultists, I used my powers to make everyone lose consciousness. And that alerted Morgan.
"Who's there!"
.
.
.
"Forgive me for surprising you, Lady Morgan."
I cancelled my invisibility and descended on the ground.
She stared at me in anger, suspicion and worry.
"Who are you? And what brings you here?"
Giving her a slight bow, I gave her a little introduction.
"My name is Markus Hanley, a mutant."
Her frown deepened at my introduction.
"A mutant… What does a mutant want from me?"
She was surprisingly calm. If it was someone like Mordo, he would have started cursing at me and would have definitely started throwing hexes.
"You do not have to worry, Lady Morgan. I am merely here to make a deal."
She frowned. "Elaborate before I banish you."
Nodding, I explained. "I have a little something that needs to be enchanted… and that's why I am here."
She seemed confused at the revelation.
"If it's an enchantment then there are countless sorcerers and sorceresses that could do it. There is no reason for you to be here."
I nodded. "That's true… if the item was simple. But it's not." I stared at her flaming figure. "It's something that I cannot disclose yet... but to put it simply, it requires someone of your calibre to enchant it."
"That item… sounds interesting." She mumbled. "But what's there for me? I can temporarily take over the body of a human to enchant the item. But… What will I gain from it? As the body takeover lasts only for a day and after that, I cannot use the spell for a century. That's quite a hefty sacrifice."
She is either lying or the cooldown truly is that absurdly long?
"Of course, I will make an acceptable offer."
She seemed interested.
"And that is?"
"The offer is simple. You will enchant my item and in return… I will free you from the dark dimension."
She froze but within seconds her frown returned.
"I hate liars and you sound like one." She increased her aura immensely and honestly, it was surprising that she had so much influence in this world despite being trapped in the Dark Dimension.
However, I can take her. She is strong but Dr. Strange is stronger.
And I am stronger than Strange.
"I swear on my life, that if you agree to help me with the enchantment, I will break you free."
She paused and stared at me.
"You know how dangerous it is to make a promise… especially on one's life in front of a sorceress right?" She was shocked. "No matter how strong you are, a life pact is unbreakable."
"I know." I said. "But I still promise… as long as you swear on your magic to help me."
"You are asking for too much, boy."
I laughed. "You know that if I fail, I will die and the pact will be cancelled. So, you are not in danger in any way."
A smile appeared on my face. "Swear on your magic and I will free you."
She kept staring at me.
Making a magical promise on one's life meant the person would die if he or she breaks that promise. And similarly breaking a promise made on magic means that if the person breaks that promise, his or her magic would be lost forever.
And only universal level reality manipulation could negate that effect.
"If you are willing to make a promise on your life… Then I accept."
Perfect, all according to the plan.
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[[A/N: The more items, the better... Aye?
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