Demon King of Time in Marvel

Chapter 23- The Price of Creation

The Sanctum reached a peak of instability, the visions swirling and merging, creating a chaotic tapestry of potential futures. The Ancient One and Devon stood face to face, their wills locked in a silent struggle, the fate of countless realities hanging in the balance.

Finally, the swirling energies subsided, the Sanctum returning to its original form. The Ancient One lowered her hand, her expression grave. "I see your resolve, Devon," she said, her voice echoing through the now-silent chamber. "And I see the depth of your grief. But I also see the immense danger of your path. You wield power that could unravel the very fabric of existence."

She paused, her gaze piercing. "I cannot grant you access to the Time Stone. To do so would be to risk everything. But I will offer you this: I will not stand in your way. If you find another way to achieve your goal, one that does not threaten the stability of time itself, I will not interfere. But if you attempt to use the Time Stone to restore this lost life, I will stop you. No matter the cost."

Devon maintained eye contact, his resolve unwavering. I know that if the present me were to fight her, I would definitely lose. But I have a feeling…I won't have to.

A low hum resonated through the Sanctum, and a massive clockwork indentation materialized on the floor beneath Devon's feet, glowing with intricate golden runes. The air around him thrummed with temporal energy, a subtle display of his immense power. "Just know this," he said, his voice laced with a quiet intensity. "I do not hold back when it comes to her."

The Ancient One's expression remained calm, but her eyes narrowed slightly. The Sanctum's carvings began to glow with a soft, ethereal light, and the air grew heavy with magical energy. The shifting realities that had previously swirled around them now coalesced into a more defined space, a contained arena of temporal energy. The room was no longer just a chamber; it was a battleground of wills.

"I understand your determination, Devon," the Ancient One said, her voice echoing through the charged atmosphere. "But you must understand mine. The preservation of time is my responsibility, and I will not allow anyone, not even one as powerful as you, to jeopardize it."

Before Devon could respond, the Ancient One made a subtle gesture, and the Sanctum dissolved around them. They were no longer in the familiar chamber; they were in the Mirror Dimension. Fractured reflections of the Sanctum, of Bleecker Street, of other times and places, stretched out in every direction, creating an impossible landscape.

"Here, Devon," the Ancient One said, her voice echoing through the fractured space. "We can test the limits of your resolve without jeopardizing the timeline."

But before Devon could act, a rift shimmered open nearby. A figure stepped through – Devon, but older, his eyes hardened, bearing the weight of countless timelines. He held the Eye of Agamotto in his hand, casually tossing it to his younger self. "Only this time," Future Devon said, his voice a low growl, "never ever think of doing such a thing again." He then unleashed a blast of golden temporal energy, sending present Devon tumbling back through a newly created rift, returning him to the Sanctum. Note to self: future me has no chill.

The presence of two versions of Devon in the same time stream caused the Mirror Dimension to convulse violently. Rifts tore open in reality, revealing glimpses of other universes, timelines twisting into impossible knots. The Ancient One gasped, recognizing the catastrophic temporal paradox unfolding before her.

Future Devon, however, remained calm. He raised a hand, and a wave of pure temporal energy washed over the Mirror Dimension. The chaotic distortions subsided, the rifts began to close, and the fragmented reflections began to stabilize. He was using his immense power to contain the paradox, to prevent the timeline from fracturing completely.

As he stabilized reality, the clock indentation pulsed, and the Ohma Zi-O armor erupted around him. The familiar black deepened to an absolute obsidian, while the gold ignited into molten starlight, blindingly bright, shot through with veins of pulsating crimson. The clockwork patterns remained, but now seemed etched in pure light, constantly shifting and reforming like constellations. The armor felt less like metal, more like solidified energy, radiating immense heat and a palpable sense of power. From his back flowed strands of pure, radiant light, like solar flares captured in motion, distorting the air with their intensity. The helmet materialized, its visor no longer just glowing, but a miniature sun, radiating an almost unbearable brilliance. He was Ohma Zi-O in the Chronos Regalia, a form that burned with the power of a star, radiating authority beyond measure.

The Ancient One stared at him, her eyes widening. "A future version… you are destabilizing the timeline. Cease your actions; you might put this whole reality in danger," she said, beginning to chant an intricate incantation, eldritch energy glowing orange around her hands. The very fabric of the Mirror Dimension seemed to respond to her magic, the fractured reflections momentarily aligning, forming a temporary semblance of order.

Future Ohma turned, his masked face impassive, yet the sheer weight of his presence pressed down on the Ancient One like a physical force. He didn't raise his hand, didn't make a grand gesture. He simply met her gaze. And as he did, the Ancient One felt a chilling stillness settle over her. The intricate patterns of her spell didn't freeze; they simply… ceased to be. The orange light faded, not extinguished, but as if it had never existed. The aligning reflections of the Mirror Dimension didn't shatter; they remained in their fractured state, but the potential for them to align had vanished. It was as if Future Ohma had not stopped time, but had erased the very concept of her spell, the very possibility of it affecting him, from the timeline.

A cold dread washed over the Ancient One. She understood, with chilling clarity, the true extent of his power. He wasn't just manipulating time; he was manipulating causality itself. He wasn't just powerful; he was operating on a level of existence beyond her comprehension.

Future Ohma gestured to the stabilized Mirror Dimension with the dissipating spear of temporal energy. "The multiverse itself summoned me to help it; it can repay me by reviving someone for me. If one timeline gets erased, so be it," he countered, his voice resonating not with menace, but with the quiet certainty of a fundamental law of the universe.

"You are not someone who doesn't know what messing with time entails. You have already done it multiple times, so why not stop your younger self?" the Ancient One pressed.

Future Ohma slowly walked towards the throne that materialized behind him, sitting down with a sigh. "I am stubborn," he replied, "to a fault. He doesn't know what is in store for him, but he should experience it. The world expects a lot from me, so it should pay accordingly. He is in his early days, he has grown too powerful, too quickly. Besides," he added, looking directly at the Ancient One, "he needs to learn some lessons for himself. Some lessons can only be learned through experience. And some… he needs your guidance to avoid."

The Ancient One raised an eyebrow, a flicker of surprise crossing her usually composed features. "My guidance?"

Future Ohma nodded, his gaze returning to the scene of his younger self preparing the ritual. "I am fighting a battle," he said, his voice now laced with a deep weariness, "that I have already lost. The timelines are fracturing, realities are collapsing, and I… I am barely holding it together. He," he gestured towards present Devon, "will face similar challenges. Perhaps even the same ones. If he is to stand any chance, he needs to learn from you. He needs to understand the true cost of wielding temporal power." He paused, his gaze hardening. "The cost… is everything. The stability of entire realities. The very fabric of existence. And now," he added, his voice dropping to a near whisper, "the cost is also her." He looked back at the Ancient One, a flicker of something that resembled fear, but was closer to resignation, crossing his masked features. "I have faced cosmic entities, conquered empires, and rewritten history countless times. Yet… I am unsure if I can win the last battle."

The Ancient One's breath caught in her throat, her eyes widening as understanding dawned. It wasn't fear, but a dawning comprehension of the sheer, suffocating weight of the power radiating from him—a power that dwarfed her own, encompassing not just time, but the very fabric of reality. She stared at the armored figure, the familiar features of Devon twisted into an image of terrifying power. A single word escaped her lips, barely a whisper: "The Demon King of Time." The name echoed in the stillness, carrying the weight of countless doomed timelines.

Future Ohma simply looked at her, his masked face impassive. "Some stories," he said, his voice echoing with the weight of countless years, "are warnings. Others… are inevitabilities. But even inevitabilities can be… mitigated. But not without sacrifice." His gaze shifted back to present Devon, whose hands now glowed with the combined power of the Time Stone and the white crystal. The Mirror Dimension around them began to tremble, the fractured reflections becoming even more unstable. The air crackled with so much temporal energy that it felt thick and heavy, like a physical weight pressing down on them.

Present Devon, now back in the Sanctum and realizing his future self's plan, quickly moved to the prepared location where Lily's new body and the white crystal awaited. He knew that the process would work, as he had already run simulations using the Time Stone from the zombieverse.

Future Ohma watched, as if gazing through time itself, a flicker of something akin to sadness crossing his masked features. He watched as Present Ohma, now holding the Time Stone, began channeling its power. He took out the white crystal he found after killing the deviant. The Time Stone and the white crystal, glowing intensely, began to dissolve. Not into dust or energy, but into pure light that flowed into Lily's new body, merging with her very being. The process was slow, agonizing, each second stretching into an eternity. Tendrils of green light reached out from where the Time Stone was, weaving themselves not just into the wounds inflicted on her body, but seemingly into her very essence. The air around them grew heavy with temporal energy. A faint green aura surrounded Lily, pulsing gently in sync with her heartbeat.

Lily's eyes fluttered open, and she gasped, taking a shaky breath. She looked around, disoriented, before her gaze landed on Devon. "Devon...?" she whispered, her voice weak but filled with recognition.

Present Ohma, his focus never wavering from Lily, reached out and gently took her hand. "It's alright, Lily. You're back," he said softly, his voice filled with relief.

Future Ohma watched the reunion for a moment. "And now… I must return," he said, his voice echoing with a hint of finality. He glanced at the Ancient One. "Remember this moment. She now carries a power that could unravel time itself, she has become this universe's time entity. Teach him to control it. Teach him to be better than I was."

He paused, his gaze shifting to his younger self, a flicker of something akin to pity and a hint of warning in his eyes. He lowered his voice, speaking directly to Devon, though only he could hear.

"Time has two faces: one of creation, one of destruction. You have seen the face of creation today, Devon. You have written a new page in the book of time. But remember, every stroke of the pen leaves an indelible mark. The other face is always watching, hungry for balance. And some pages… some stories… are best left unwritten. For once that ink touches the page, the story becomes fixed, and the consequences become inevitable. Choose your words carefully. For they will shape not only your destiny, but the destiny of all that is, was, and will be." With a ripple of temporal energy, he vanished.

The Ancient One's gaze shifted to Lily, a deep sense of foreboding settling in her heart. The Time Stone was gone, absorbed into Lily, making her something… different. The implications were troubling, but for now, there was only the quiet reunion of two souls torn apart by time.

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Overheard in the Sanctum Sanctorum of a different universe:

(Between Two Apprentice Sorcerers):

Apprentice 1: Did you read about the Demon King in the Book of Vishanti?

Apprentice 2: Yeah, but it's just a legend, right?

Apprentice 1: Maybe. But Doctor Strange said that even legends can hold a grain of truth. And some legends… are best left undisturbed."

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