The moment Chthon realized who had arrived, he understood.
This had never been a rescue.
It was a trap.
Without hesitation, Chthon tore himself free from the Dark Dimension and fled toward the deeper reaches of the multiverse.
Eternity and the Vishanti moved at the same instant.
They intercepted him beyond the boundary of the Dark Dimension, and the multiverse itself became their battlefield.
Chaos energy collided with primordial darkness.
Black magic clashed against supreme white sorcery.
The raw divine power of ancient gods met the boundless authority of Eternity.
Even from a distance, Rowan felt like a leaf caught inside a planetary hurricane.
Reality buckled.
Dimensions screamed.
"If this is what peak multiversal combat looks like…" Rowan muttered, forcing himself to maintain control of the Dark Dimension. "That's terrifying."
Chthon was powerful.
But he was facing two forces that stood on equal footing.
Outnumbered, he was driven back almost immediately.
Fighting while retreating, Chthon vanished into the deepest layers of the multiverse, Eternity and the Vishanti pursuing him without pause.
The battlefield vanished from Rowan's sight.
He exhaled slowly.
For someone who had only recently stepped into cosmic territory, being anywhere near that clash was suicide.
One stray shockwave could have erased him.
Not long after, Dormammu made his choice.
He abandoned the Dark Dimension entirely.
Gathering his remaining followers and servants, Dormammu fled in the opposite direction from Chthon, disappearing into the multiverse.
He understood now.
This operation had never been solely about him.
He had been bait.
Chthon was the real target.
And without the Dark Dimension, Dormammu no longer possessed the strength to challenge Rowan, let alone survive the return of Eternity and the Vishanti.
Retreat was the only rational option.
"Smart," Rowan said quietly.
He made no move to pursue.
Dormammu was now a wounded beast with nothing left to stand on.
Chasing him could provoke desperate retaliation.
Rowan's true prize was already in his hands.
The Dark Dimension.
With Dormammu's authority gone, resistance collapsed.
Rowan fully seized control and drew the Dark Dimension into his own world, beginning a slow and careful process of assimilation.
This realm was vastly stronger than any world his avatars had absorbed before.
Compared to it, ordinary worlds were pebbles beside a mountain.
But Rowan had an advantage Dormammu never possessed.
This was his world.
Born from him.
Perfectly obedient.
As his avatars continued consuming other realities, his foundation kept expanding.
Growth fed growth.
Power accelerated power.
A self-reinforcing cycle.
If this continued, crossing from universal to multiversal existence might not be the impossible leap it once seemed.
Perhaps by the time all his avatars reunited…
He would already be there.
Space rippled.
Eternity and the Vishanti returned.
"Did you finish?" Rowan asked.
Chthon was the real threat.
Dormammu, without a realm, no longer mattered.
"He escaped," Oshtur said calmly. "But he is badly wounded. He will not interfere for a long time."
Agamotto's gaze rested on Rowan.
"And he will not seek revenge against you."
Rowan nodded, relieved.
That was enough.
"Thank you."
Eternity offered no response.
The Vishanti inclined their heads once.
Then they were gone.
Rowan stood alone within the vastness, guiding the Dark Dimension's slow merger into his growing world.
The multiverse was still unimaginably large.
Still filled with dangers.
But today—
He had taken a step that would echo forever.