Strange breathed a secret sigh of relief and smiled happily, just like a gratified mentor.
"Thank you, America. Your bravery will save a life."
"Step into the exact center of the array."
Strange pointed at the red pattern on the ground, "No matter what happens next, do not leave that circle. The process might be a little uncomfortable, but to save someone, this is necessary."
America obediently walked to the center of the red array and stood still.
Looking at the distorted runes beneath her feet, she felt an inexplicable palpitation, but out of trust in Homelander, she forced herself to stay in place.
Strange retreated to the outer edge of the array.
He raised his hands, his ten fingers curved into a bizarre spell-casting posture.
With his movement, gushes of dark magic surged from his palms.
"Hum..."
The array was completely lit up by the magic.
magic chains condensed from red energy suddenly burst from the ground, crawling up America's ankles like venomous snakes, tightly wrapping around her wrists, waist, and legs.
"Ah!"
America let out a gasp of surprise. She instinctively wanted to break free, only to find that these chains were incomparably sturdy and continuously tightening.
"Master Strange, you're hurting me?" America looked at Strange with some panic.
"Bear with it, child. This is part of the traction ritual."
Strange replied expressionlessly, his eyes already glowing with an eerie red light.
His ten fingers curled into claws, aiming at America.
With just one final step, this girl's ability to traverse the Universe would completely belong to him.
As for the girl's life or death, he no longer had the capacity to consider it.
"Good job, Stephen."
A familiar voice abruptly rang in Strange's ears.
Strange's heart seemed to stop beating at that moment.
He shivered uncontrollably all over, and the dark magic originally condensed at his fingertips almost went out of control on the spot.
He swallowed hard, his neck turning bit by bit like a rusted gear.
Homelander had somehow already stood behind him.
Strange's heart began to beat wildly, like rolling drums.
He had no idea when Homelander had appeared here.
With his sensory ability, even if a fly flew into the entire New York Sanctum, he would be able to detect it.
Yet Homelander stood there so silently, as if he had been there from the very beginning, witnessing the whole process.
"T...Teacher." Strange's voice trembled uncontrollably, and he forced out a difficult smile, "Y...When did you come here? I didn't notice at all."
"Just arrived not long ago."
Homelander chuckled softly and stepped in front of him.
"Just a little trick, don't worry about it too much. What? Did I scare you? You look very nervous, Stephen. Your forehead is sweating."
Strange wiped the cold sweat on his forehead indiscriminately with the sleeve of his robe, forcing himself to calm down.
"N...No." Strange quickly explained, "It's just that this magic... consumes a tremendous amount of energy. Searching for souls across the Universe requires extremely precise magic control. I'm just a little tired."
Homelander walked to the edge of the array, looking with keen interest at the dark runes on the ground, as well as America, who was bound by magic chains and wore an innocent look on her face.
When America saw Homelander appear, the panic in her eyes immediately receded by more than half, and a sense of security welled up in her heart.
"I must say, I am impressed by you, Stephen." Homelander nodded approvingly and said, "To save Wanda, you have prepared very thoroughly. You are a person who keeps promises, and that's good."
Hearing Homelander's praise, Strange breathed a slight sigh of relief. It seemed that his previous attempt to extract power had not been seen through.
"But..."
Homelander changed the subject at this point, putting on the posture of a strict mentor.
He stretched out a finger and shook it gently.
"You missed a crucial detail, Stephen."
"As a spellcaster, you should be very clear. For any astral traction magic, the physical body cannot be too far away from the astral body. Otherwise, the failure rate when the soul returns will greatly increase. You are casting magic directly here right now, while Wanda's body is in Kamar-Taj. This is too rash."
Strange smiled bitterly in his heart.
Of course not, because this wasn't casting any astral traction magic at all; he was preparing to kill someone and loot their belongings.
But at this moment, he didn't dare to retort at all.
"Y...Yes, yes!" Strange immediately took the opportunity to back down, pretending to have a sudden realization and look of annoyance, "I was eager to save someone and only thought of opening the Portal quickly, actually overlooking such an important point. Thank you for your guidance, Teacher. If you hadn't appeared in time, I might have made a major mistake."
"I will dismantle the array right now and take America to Kamar-Taj."
With that, he raised his hand, making a gesture to revoke the magic on the ground.
Right now, he just wanted to quickly leave this oppressive secret room and get as far away from Homelander as possible.
Once they reached Kamar-Taj, he could always find an opportunity to send others away and strike at this girl again.
"No need to go to such trouble."
Homelander directly interrupted him, casually raising his right hand and drawing a circle in mid-air at will.
A golden Portal with a diameter of two meters appeared out of thin air in the middle of the secret room.
Through the Portal, one could clearly see that quiet, antique room, as well as Wanda lying on the bed like a sleeping beauty.
Invisible The Force surged out, Wanda's sleeping body slowly levitated from the bed, steadily passed through the spatial passage, and flew into this dim secret room.
Homelander reached out his hands, gently caught Wanda, and then placed her steadily on a long wooden table against the wall in the secret room.
"Alright, now Wanda is here. Continue, Stephen."
Strange stood frozen in place, feeling his scalp tingle.
Continue? Continue what?
How would he know any method to recall Wanda's soul?
All the preparations he made just now, including this array, were entirely a sacrificial ritual from the darkhold used to extract other people's abilities.
Now, the lie was driven into a dead end.
Strange's hands hung limply at his sides, his palms full of cold sweat.
He felt Homelander's gaze falling upon him, like a cold scalpel bit by bit scraping away his disguise.
If he confessed now that he couldn't do it, admitting that he was lying just now...
He would definitely be killed, without a doubt.
"What's wrong?" Homelander tilted his head slightly, looking at Strange who was frozen in place and asked in puzzlement, "Is anything still missing, Stephen?"
"N...No." Hearing Homelander's urging, Strange could only bite the bullet and reply.
There was no way out.
They could only treat a dead horse like a live horse.
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