"About that…"
Rowan had just opened his mouth to explain his plan when a voice thundered inside his mind.
Approved.
Before he could react, Eternity and the Ancient One's soul vanished together.
Rowan blinked.
"Well. That saves time."
Eternity's single word was enough. It meant the proposal Rowan and the Ancient One had discussed earlier had been accepted. At some point after Rowan's visit two days ago, she had already relayed everything to Eternity and the Vishanti.
The path forward was clear.
A surge of suffocating darkness rolled across the planet.
Rowan's expression sharpened.
"Dormammu's here."
Kaecilius had succeeded. The Hong Kong Sanctum had fallen.
Rowan vanished from the hospital rooftop and reappeared high above Hong Kong's skies, suppressing his presence completely.
Dormammu was cautious by nature.
If Rowan intervened too early, Dormammu might sense the danger and withdraw.
Better to wait.
Better to let Stephen Strange exhaust him first.
Better to let events unfold exactly as intended.
Strange still lacked experience. Power alone didn't make a Sorcerer Supreme.
But surviving tens of thousands of deaths would.
Soon, Rowan watched Stephen Strange and Mordo arrive through portals, engaging Kaecilius' forces before confronting Dormammu directly.
Time folded in on itself.
A loop.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Rowan observed in silence as Strange died in more ways than could be counted.
Yet his resolve never broke.
"Peak Skyfather-tier," Rowan murmured. "Manageable."
The Time Stone did not affect Rowan.
He had mastered temporal magic long before.
And Dormammu's projection wasn't immune either.
One Infinity Stone alone could stall beings of Dormammu's caliber.
Six together could erase them.
Eventually, Dormammu snapped.
"Stop!"
The Dark Dimension trembled.
"What do you want?"
Strange held his hands in a binding sigil.
"Take your followers and leave Earth. Never return."
The contract Strange invoked drew power from the Vishanti themselves.
Breaking it would mean annihilation.
Dormammu weighed his options.
Endless universes existed beyond this one.
He nodded.
"Agreed."
Strange released the loop and dropped back toward Earth, barely standing.
Behind him, Kaecilius and his remaining zealots suddenly dissolved into black mist and were dragged screaming into Dormammu's form.
Strange forced a tired smile.
"You really should've read the whole book."
Then—
The Eye of Agamotto opened on its own.
The Time Stone floated free.
It landed in Rowan's waiting hand.
Strange's exhaustion vanished, replaced by alarm.
"Rowan? What are you doing?"
Rowan pressed the Time Stone into the Infinity Gauntlet.
"Finishing it."
He snapped his fingers.
Reality froze around Dormammu.
Space.
Time.
Soul.
Causality.
All locked.
Dormammu's departing form was pinned in place, utterly helpless.
Rowan removed the Time Stone and returned it to Strange.
"Hold onto that."
He appeared in front of Dormammu's immobilized projection.
"Let's find where you're really hiding."
Rowan placed his palm against Dormammu's head.
Following a thin strand of corrupted soul-energy, Rowan traced the connection across dimensions.
A location resolved.
"So that's your true body."
Rowan opened his inner world and swallowed Dormammu's projection whole, refining it into pure energy.
Then he tore open the boundary of space itself.
And stepped beyond.
Below, Strange, Mordo, and Wong stood in stunned silence.
A being who had terrorized entire dimensions…
Erased in seconds.
Strange finally spoke.
"If he's the Ancient One's friend… why didn't anyone think to call him when Kaecilius betrayed us?"
Mordo frowned.
Wong looked equally confused.
"It's strange. I honestly don't remember thinking about Rowan at all."
A cold realization crept over Strange.
He raised a hand and cast a revealing spell over both of them.
Light passed through their bodies.
They stiffened.
"Our memories were altered," Mordo said quietly.
"By the Ancient One."
Strange exhaled slowly.
"She planned everything."
The sacrifices.
Her own death.
His rise.
He looked up at the sky.
Even without her, he could never return to being just a surgeon.
And perhaps…
That was exactly what she wanted.