Stephen Strange paused after everything settled.
Something still felt… off.
He raised his hand and cast the same spell Rowan had used earlier, but this time directed inward.
Light washed over his consciousness.
Memories resurfaced.
Old ones.
Clear ones.
His brows slowly lifted.
"So I met Rowan years ago… and he once dragged me along to help treat Wolverine and Professor Xavier."
That explained a lot.
No wonder those two had looked at him so strangely the first time he visited the Academy.
Strange rubbed his temple.
"You and the Ancient One really are alike. Both of you can't resist tampering with people's memories."
Despite the complaint, he had no intention of confronting Rowan.
Anyone who could erase Dormammu with a casual snap was not someone you picked fights with.
Besides, with Rowan around, Earth would likely see far fewer cosmic nightmares. Life as Sorcerer Supreme might be… manageable.
Maybe he'd even have time to repair things with Christine.
Beyond reality itself, Rowan followed the faint spiritual thread left behind by Dormammu's projection.
It led him through layers of warped space, past collapsing dimensions, and into a hidden pocket of existence.
The Dark Dimension.
Dormammu's true body resided there.
Rowan didn't give him time to react.
A sword appeared in his hand.
The blade was long, asymmetrical, and carved with ancient runes that distorted space simply by existing.
Rowan drove power into it.
"Ea."
He swung.
The Dark Dimension split open.
Not cracked.
Not fractured.
Split.
A colossal rift tore through the endless black, exposing raw dimensional turbulence.
Rowan stepped through.
A deafening roar shook the void.
"Insect!"
Darkness surged together, condensing into a colossal black titan.
Dormammu.
His true form.
The immobilization of his projection had delayed his awareness by mere seconds, but those seconds were enough.
"You dare invade my realm?" Dormammu thundered. "You will never leave it alive."
The laws of the Dark Dimension descended, crushing toward Rowan from every direction.
Cascading waves of black magic followed.
Dormammu smiled.
Here, he ruled.
Any intruder would be suppressed.
Power diminished.
Movement restricted.
Escape impossible.
Rowan answered by releasing something else.
His own world.
An invisible pressure wrapped around his body, shielding him from the Dark Dimension's authority.
The suppression faltered.
Rowan looked up.
"I'm not here to become part of you."
His eyes glowed faintly.
"I'm here to make you part of me."
Dormammu snarled and unleashed another storm of black sorcery.
Rowan transformed.
Scales rippled across his skin. Horns curved from his skull. His form expanded, draconic and immense.
The first wave of attacks disintegrated against layered defenses.
Some spells slipped through.
Enough to sting.
Not enough to stop him.
Dormammu was ancient.
Veteran.
Near the peak of cosmic existence.
Rowan was newer.
But he possessed something Dormammu did not.
Options.
A massive spectral scabbard manifested before Rowan, intercepting the next barrage of dark magic.
Then Rowan counterattacked.
Blinding radiance erupted.
Columns of white-gold light slammed into Dormammu's face, forcing a furious howl.
"Impossible! That level of light should not harm me!"
Rowan didn't bother explaining.
Not all light obeyed the same laws.
Some of it came from places far older than this universe.
He drew in power again.
Two immense golden trees manifested behind him, their branches stretching across the void, shedding endless luminescence.
Light of the Two Trees.
Their glow washed over the battlefield like a rising sun.
The Dark Dimension screamed.
Dormammu staggered.
For the first time in eons…
He felt pain.