As night fell, Strange tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
He fantasized about the future, his hands restored to their former state, and becoming the respected Dr. Strange once more.
He recalled the past, every little moment with Christine, and felt guilty about their previous argument.
Just then, Strange's three roommates returned, their voices filled with uncontrollable excitement.
Roommate A: "Tomorrow it's our turn to participate in the Master's prayer ceremony. If we receive God's blessing, will we also awaken superpowers?"
Superpowers?
Strange, who was tossing and turning, perked up his ears.
Roommate B: "What superpowers? There's no such thing."
Roommate A: "But I clearly saw someone jump from the third floor with ease, completely unharmed, just like Ghost-Spider."
Roommate C: "I saw it too."
Roommate B: "That's not a superpower, it's just a bonus from enhanced physical fitness. After receiving God's blessing, one can eliminate illnesses, strengthen the body, live a long life, and even more."
"How old do you think the Master is? Seventy? I saw an old photo, almost a hundred years old, and the Master looked exactly as he does now."
The more Strange listened, the more excited he became. Surprise and doubt prompted him to join the conversation.
The roommates also knew that it was because of Strange's arrival that all of them could participate in the Master's prayer ceremony, so they tried their best to answer his questions.
The next day, led by a devotee, Strange and his three companions arrived at the master's residence.
This was a side hall far from the main church, not usually open to the public.
From the outside, this side hall appeared much smaller than the main hall, but stepping inside, the feeling was completely different.
The side hall was empty, with no superfluous decorations, only four towering pillars standing majestically, giving it a very spacious feel.
Strange and the others walked closer and saw grotesque patterns carved on the pillars, incomprehensible yet inspiring a sense of longing.
Continuing forward, mysterious patterns began to appear on the ground, as if they were part of a magic circle.
At the far end, two portraits hung, one high and one low.
The higher portrait showed a vast expanse of white, with a vague, blurry figure visible.
"This is God, not to be looked at directly, not to be spoken of, not to be understood." The Master's voice suddenly rang out.
It was then that Strange and the others realized that the Master had been sitting in front of the two portraits the entire time.
Slightly lower than the portrait of God was a painting of a young man in a plain white robe, standing amidst the clouds and looking down upon all beings.
At the edge of the portrait was an island plummeting into an abyss.
"Mortals cannot comprehend the Exalted One, and so the Exalted One created the Divine Emissary to shepherd the world."
"People feared the Divine Emissary, and so the Divine Emissary delegated authority, commanding me to educate the world."
The Master's voice continued, echoing in the hall with what seemed to be a power to bewitch people's hearts.
Upon hearing this, Strange's three roommates' gazes gradually became fervent.
Although no official media had reported it directly, various pieces of information about this person who stood in the sky were widely circulated in every corner of the internet.
In Japan, he raised his hand to destroy cities and islands, annihilating a pantheon.
In New York, he took the initiative to attack, bringing back countless alien warships.
In the Norwegian Sea, he fought fiercely against a demonic army, protecting Earth.
This person, who had created one miracle after another, was merely the Exalted One's Divine Emissary.
If they pray devoutly, can they also obtain the power of the Divine Emissary?
Lucas, who had just finished breakfast and was looking back at the screen, grimaced. So, "that person" the Master spoke of was him.
Lucas didn't remember being created by any god, nor did he remember delegating authority to anyone.
His apostles currently consisted of one, and only one, increasingly marginalized Super Skrull, G'iah.
Thinking of this, Lucas took out his phone and called G'iah, "G'iah, I need you to go on an errand for me, to destroy a cult stronghold. The address is the side hall to the left of the Mind Society, on Sixth Avenue in New York."
"Alright, Lucas." G'iah on the other end of the phone didn't mince words and readily agreed.
"Be careful not to let any villain corrupted by demons escape, and do not harm any innocent people." Lucas instructed.
"Understood." G'iah readily agreed again.
Lucas hummed and hung up the phone. Afterwards, he opened his Ultron assistant and asked Ultron to help investigate this Mind Society.
Soon, Ultron compiled information from various sources and sent over the Mind Society's data.
Lucas glanced at it and forwarded it to G'iah and Daniel Drumm, the Guardian of the Kamar-Taj New York Sanctum.
He also added a note for Daniel, asking him to handle the aftermath later.
At the same time, a silver light shot up from New York University, paused in the sky, and then sped towards the address Lucas had provided.
Under the clear sky, a silver light shot up, immediately causing a commotion on campus.
"Superhero!"
The crowd clamored, but without too much panic.
Nothing else, they were used to it.
"G'iah? What is she doing?"
Gwen, Wanda, and the others on campus also noticed G'iah, who was not concealing herself. They were a bit puzzled, but didn't think too much of it.
...
Inside the Mind Society's side hall, Strange and his three companions sat in the center of the magic circle under the Master's guidance, reciting incantations with the Master.
"Supreme Exalted One, we call upon you."
"Supreme Exalted One, we call upon you."
"We serve you."
"We serve you."
"We offer everything to you."
"We offer everything to you."
As the Master spoke a line, Strange and his three companions repeated it, and the patterns on the ground, resembling a magic circle, gradually lit up, emitting bursts of sacred light.
Afterwards, the magic circle patterns connected, and the ground in the center of the magic circle gradually distorted, as if a spatial passage was about to open, and a mysterious object was approaching.
Just then, a silver light descended from the sky, followed by endless rumbling.
Boom!!!
The sound of a sonic boom and the explosion of the silver stream of light hitting the ground came almost simultaneously.
Under this deafening sound, Strange and his three roommates reflexively covered their ears with their hands. As their incantations ceased, the mysterious object moving beneath the ground in the center of the magic circle also slowed its movement.
"Heretic, why do you intrude upon My Mind Society?!" a devotee nearby shouted angrily.
The Master's face turned pale, but he still forced himself to continue chanting the incantation.
However, without Strange and the others' cooperation, the mysterious object's approach beneath the magic circle slowed down considerably.
After landing, G'iah ignored the people inside the hall. Her gaze swept over, taking in the layout of the hall.
A magic circle for sacrificing to infernal beings, and it seemed to be live sacrifices. Indeed, it was a cult.
However, G'iah had a question.
Destroying such a cult should be the responsibility of the U.S. officials and Kamar-Taj, so why did Lucas ask her to come?
It wasn't until she saw the two portraits at the end of the hall that G'iah suddenly understood.
This cult had actually stolen the portrait of her God, and placed it below another god's.
"You have blasphemed my God."
G'iah's face turned cold upon discovering the truth. She raised her hand and drew it across her eyes, activating her True Sight.
Under True Sight, infernal energy had nowhere to hide.
The sacred golden light in Strange and the others' eyes was now evil crimson in G'iah's eyes.
"We blasphemed your God? Who is your God?" the devotee asked.
The reason he didn't directly attack and expel G'iah was simple, and also out of caution.
Could a weakling like him, who was just an ordinary person with slightly better physical fitness, deal with someone who could descend from the sky, breaking through the dome, landing and creating a large crater, yet remain completely unharmed?
He was bad, not stupid.
But in the face of absolute power, whether one was stupid or not was meaningless.
G'iah glanced at the devotee, noticing his body emitting crimson light, and without a word, she punched him through the air. The force of the punch broke the air, causing rumbling.
The devotee had no time to react to this punch, which had no wind-up.
Of course, even if there had been a wind-up, he wouldn't have been able to react, and even if he had, he wouldn't have been able to block it.
Bang!
The devotee's head exploded like a watermelon hitting the ground.
"Murder... murder..."
A terrified murmur arose, coming from Strange's roommate.
Witnessing such a primitive and bloody killing at close range was a first for these people.
After dealing with the devotee, G'iah ignored Strange and the three others, and walked directly towards the Master.
Under her True Sight, Strange and the three others showed no trace of infernal energy, so they must be the innocent people Lucas spoke of.
However, the crimson light on the Master's body was deep red, almost black.
(End of Chapter)
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