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Chapter 6 – The One Who Comes with Shadows

The sky seemed stuck in the gray line between morning and evening—not quite daylight, yet not true darkness either. But within that uncertainty, something drifted through time itself. Silent, but resonant. Light withdrew from its path, colors faded, and the air filled with a regret that seemed to precede every breath. When V sensed the ancient and familiar vibration emanating from the Time Stone, an almost imperceptible curl appeared on his lips—not a smile, not rage. It was the quiet assent of one who already knew the outcome.

Kamar-Taj stood between the wisdom of the past and the dangers of the future, a place more patient than time itself. But that patience now was being tested by hairline fractures. The ancient inscriptions on the walls trembled; the wind carried prayers of forgotten gods through the courtyards. And suddenly… the shadows fell.

The sun doesn’t dim in an instant. But in Kamar-Taj, the light began to fade several heartbeats before V arrived. The sky seemed folded into another dimension. It wasn’t darkness that consumed the light—but fear. As though the world itself knew V was approaching and held its breath.

Wong was deep in meditation, but the first thing he felt when he opened his eyes was a shadow coiling through his mind. The magical glow in Wanda’s palms flickered hesitantly. Stephen felt the Time Stone still vibrating between his fingers—and the gloom inside him surged.

And the Ancient One… simply closed her eyes. A darkness she had not seen even in dreams for centuries was now becoming real.

“He is coming,” she said, her voice whispering from a place deeper than memory. “And this time, we will not only see him.”

There was a blinding silence.

And then, even the silence shattered.

The doors opened by themselves. But there was no wind, no footsteps. V drifted in like a shadowy vapor. In his eyes echoed eternity; on his face, all the curses of the past. His arrival was not that of a being—but a decision, a definitive sign that the universe had reached a turning point.

Wanda instinctively stepped back. Magic shimmered at her fingertips, but more than power, there was an undefinable pain in her heart. “V…”

Stephen immediately stepped in front of her. “We knew you’d find us here.”

V stopped. He didn’t look around. The seals on the walls, the ancient inscriptions, the protective symbols—all held no interest. His eyes saw only what lay within them: the sediment of despair, belief, and resistance all muddled together.

“You were the ones who called me,” he finally said. His voice wasn’t loud, wasn’t deep… but it carried an echo powerful enough to disturb the void itself.

“Those who tamper with time… always face the wrath of it.”

The Ancient One stepped forward. Her eyes bore wisdom that surpassed even age itself.

“You are not wrath. You are only its echo. We are here to preserve the balance.”

V tilted his head slightly.

“Balance… died the moment I was born.”

Wong raised his hands instantly, magical rings spinning at his fingertips.

“You will not bring threat here!”

When V’s gaze turned to Wong, the air turned ice cold.

“I am not a threat. I am… the consequence.”

And in that moment, the Ancient One raised her hands to the sky. The Mirror Dimension gateway opened—a shimmering surface, a window flowing from the edge of reality. The world froze, and in an instant, the environment transformed into a gleaming infinity of reflections.

But it wasn’t to stop V; it was to protect Kamar-Taj.

As V stepped inside, his eyes shifted for the first time. The mirrored beauty of the dimension, the balance and fragile chaos in infinite repetition—it moved him, if only for a fleeting moment. He tilted his head slightly.

“Interesting… In a place where reality itself can be broken, you still try to remain whole.”

Stephen unleashed his magic. Wanda joined in perfect rhythm. Wong supported from behind. The three moved like a synchronized circle within sacred geometry. Runes glowed, energy trembled, and the roar of magic echoed like thunder.

But V… took a single step.

And the world fractured.

The Mirror Dimension shook. Stephen’s spell melted before touching V. Wong’s chains unraveled before reaching him. The light in Wanda’s hands only flickered for a moment before fading into the dark.

“This is it?” V said, a trace of disappointment in his voice.

“Those who peer into the future, who guard sacred tomes, remnants of an ancient order that mastered the past… Is this all you have?”

Wanda dropped to her knees. Her breath was gone, but her will still resisted.

“What’s inside you… doesn’t belong to this world.”

V turned to her. In his eyes, for a brief second, something glimmered—a shadow of an emotion, perhaps a forgotten memory.

“Maybe… I don’t belong to any world.”

Then he reached out like a hand of darkness. The shadows enveloped them. Magic made no sound. The grandeur of the Mirror Dimension began to fade. When V released only a spark of his power, the sacred seals in the sorcerers’ hands shattered.

And before the battle even truly began… it felt already lost.

The crystalline structure of the Mirror Dimension cracked with each of V’s steps. Even here, time grew heavy, bending as though sliced by a blade. The Ancient One narrowed her eyes at V. In those eyes, there was neither fear nor anger. Only a burden that had survived centuries of fatigue—and the wisdom of a final sacrifice.

“Take them,” she told Wong, her voice not an order, but a will.

Wong hesitated. “But you—”

“I had already left long ago,” the Ancient One interrupted. Her eyes were still fixed on V.

“This body was only an echo.”

Wanda tried to lunge forward, but Stephen held her back.

“No,” he said firmly. “This is why she brought us here.”

The Ancient One traced one last ring with her fingers; the symbol of infinity hung in the sky for a moment. Then, a portal opened from it—a narrow, unstable path back to reality. But V didn’t even glance at it.

“You think this will work?” V asked, his voice like a prophecy tearing the sky.

The Ancient One only bowed her head.

“If there’s still a trace of who you once were… if you remember… maybe one day, that path will open for you too.”

“I killed my past,” V said. “And I didn’t bury it. I hung it in front of me. I watch it every day.”

He stepped forward. As Wanda, Wong, and Stephen retreated, the Ancient One stood before the portal. At that moment, V hesitated. The Ancient One raised her head.

“Would you show me what I’m meant to see?” she asked, as if her voice echoed beyond time itself.

A faint movement passed over V’s face. His eyes wandered into the void, then he stepped closer.

“You’ve already seen it. You just didn’t understand.”

He raised his hand—his fingers were only a breath away. But he didn’t touch. He only whispered one word:

“Oblivion.”

And in that moment, the Ancient One was surrounded not by light, but by absolute nothingness. Her existence blinked out for a second, then extinguished like a spark. No scream, no trace… only silence. She was buried within another layer of infinity.

The ones left behind did not look away. Wanda’s eyes welled up, but no tears fell. Wong knelt. Strange clenched the Time Stone tightly in his palm. They all shared the same feeling: helplessness.

V simply looked up. The mirrored crystalline structures of the dimension, like stalactites hanging from the sky, cracked under his energy, slowly fading away.

“How pointless it is to fight the rules of this universe,” he said. His voice echoed through every corner of the dimension.

“You are still trapped between cause and effect. But I… I am beyond both.”

Wanda dared to meet his eyes.

“Why? Why do you choose this much pain?”

V slowly turned to her. His eyes, like bottomless wells, carried more than one voice. This time, the second voice within him was clearer—not an echo, not a whisper… almost an equal.

“Because pain… reminds me who I am.”

Then, with a gesture, he hurled them toward the portal. Stephen tried to resist, but the portal obeyed no will. It pulled them—along with their beings, time, and thoughts.

With one final flash of light, the Mirror Dimension cracked. V was alone. And as he stepped once more, he looked at where the Ancient One had vanished. Then at his own shadow.

“Weakness… is suicide disguised as sacrifice.”

The Mirror Dimension collapsed with those words. And V, hands clasped behind his back, stared into the void he had left behind.

⸻

Back in Reality, at Kamar-Taj…

Stephen gasped as breath returned to his lungs. He was drenched in sweat. The glow of the Time Stone had faded. Wanda still stood across from him in silence. Wong was on his knees, whispering prayers. And the Ancient One… was gone.

Stephen looked at Wanda. Her eyes were empty. For several seconds, he couldn’t speak. Then he found his voice.

“We… meddled with something far beyond us.”

No one disagreed.

Because words… no longer sufficed.