Marvel: Cultured Reader System

Even with Doom's aura spreading chaos and corruption around her, the old woman remained calm. Keeping a little distance away, her eyes fixed on Strange, completely ignoring one of the most feared villains in the Marvel universe. Her calm, calculated posture contrasted with the restrained fury emanating from Doom.

Doom rose into the air, propelled by his armor and two purple flames that shot out from his feet. With his gaze fixed on the old woman, he shot towards her, his arm outstretched and his fingers ready to grab the necklace that glittered around her neck. However, before he could reach her, the old woman snapped her fingers with supernatural precision. In the blink of an eye, she and Strange swapped places. Doom now found himself face-to-face with the sorcerer who firmly held the book capable of imprisoning him.

Meanwhile, Illyana and I were transported to the top of the mountain, appearing in mid-air as if pulled by an invisible vortex. Before I could process the situation, Illyana was already on the move. Her sword, glowing with cutting energy, increased in size as it pierced through the withering aura that Doom was emanating. The impact of the blow was brutal: the cut not only pierced Doom's demonic armor, but also sent shockwaves through the room. Doom turned for a second, looking angrily in our direction.

Strange was in the center of that demonic aura, holding the book that was sucking all of Doom's energy. Blood began to drip down the sorcerer's forehead, which was in unimaginable pain.

At the same time, the old woman activated the Eye of Agamotto, whose temporal powers began to reverse the devastating effects affecting Strange. The sorcerer's skin peeled, rotted and regenerated in a torturous cycle.

Each scream of pain was a reminder of just how strong that magical iron man really was. For thirty endless seconds, Strange endured the torment as his body restored itself, every fiber of his existence being forged anew in the heat of battle.

Illyana, taking advantage of the opening created by her initial blow, continued to attack Doom with relentless precision. Her successive slashes weakened the demonic armor, cracking it like glass under pressure. Meanwhile, Strange, Doom's aura was increasing as Strange approached. Illyana's cuts also affected Strange, who had his arms scratched by the Soul Sword's energy. Doom's aura was even more intense, but little by little, that energy seemed to be being pulled into the book.

Finally, with one last devastating blow from Illyana, Doom's armor was destroyed, exposing his corrupted essence. The invisible force began to pull him into the book, his resistance to the spell being in vain. His screams of fury echoed across the battlefield, but were soon silenced when the book closed with a definitive bang.

The temporal vacuum would serve as a prison for Victor Von Doom, at least for the time being. Strange fell to his knees, panting, while Illyana reduced the size of her sword. The old woman watched in silence, as if the outcome had never been in doubt.

The confrontation lasted seconds, which reminded me of ancient samurai battles. There was no point in holding a fight full of choreography like in the movies now, this was the real world. Those people's lives were at stake, so everything was planned to the millimeter so that more lives wouldn't be lost.

The Doombots shut down in the absence of their master, apparently they weren't as autonomous as we thought. Strange collected the armor fragments by hand, one by one, while I helped carry the wounded.

It took about forty minutes for Strange to finish picking up each piece of Dr. Doom's armor. The pieces still had a kind of black energy around them, but they didn't seem to be harmful.

Strange then placed them all inside a red wooden box. With a spell spoken in ancient languages, the box was sealed by a serpent of fire. The serpent's head then swallowed its own body, like an Ouroboros.

The serpent disappeared in an explosion of flames.

The wizards who weren't injured helped Illyana with the Doombots, dismembering those robots and piling them up at the top of the mountain, in the middle of that gigantic void of snow. All this time, the old woman kept watching our movements.

She was sitting on top of Kamar-Taj's main building, with her knees resting on a red cushion, meditating in silence. Even Strange couldn't talk to the old woman, she simply remained silent.

At first, I didn't understand what this meant. But since neither Strange nor the rest of the wizards cared, I figured she was just meditating to regain her energy.

When the sun finally touched the peak of the mountains surrounding Kamar-Taj, hundreds of lights began to appear. Like little fireflies, the wisps went up into the sky, as if a sparkling snow was returning to the clouds.

The Sorcerers who looked after the other shrines went through the portals, arriving at the start of the mountain. Wong was leading them, bandaged up, he guided the visitors into Kamar-Taj. It was a moment of celebration for everyone, who were happy to have won such a complex battle.

In the other shrines, there were many casualties. Especially in the China branch, where two-thirds of the wizards were killed by Victor Von Doom's killer robots. Even so, no one seemed to mourn the death of their comrades. This was not yet the time to hold a funeral for our departed colleagues.

Looking out of one of the Kamar-Taj's windows, I paid attention to the dozens of people climbing the stairs. The sensation of a hand touching my shoulder caught my attention; turning around, I found no one.

The old woman's voice echoed through my head, like a whisper in the middle of an empty hall "meet me at the top of the monastery"

Is my mind that empty? For a voice to echo inside my head.

...

When I reached the old woman's room, she was still sitting in front of the moon. Her orange robe contrasted with the red cushion she was sitting on. Without turning around, she asked me in a visibly weakened voice, "What took you so long?"

"The stairs were full of visitors, I thought it would be bad to come through the window. Besides, I can't use spells freely through Kamar-Taj, so you can't use a portal."

The old woman started to laugh, losing the meditation posture she was in. The projection of her body came out of her back, standing up and approaching me.

"Why are you in your spirit form?" I asked, still not understanding what it was all about.

The old woman put her hand on my shoulder and, with a serene smile, wrapped her arms around me. "I just wanted to say goodbye, Dante"

I felt a strong tightening in my chest, along with the urge to cry. Taking a deep breath, I didn't let my tears run down my face.

"But we won that fight! What happened?" I asked, my voice a little shaky.

My throat was boiling, and the cold began to freeze my nose, which was running with the desire to cry.

Looking at the old woman, I used my spectral vision. At that moment, she no longer had a heart.

"How did that happen?" I said, looking at the old woman's projection.

She laughed, "Doom killed me in the first attack, he exploded my organs with the aura of rot. It doesn't matter now, that's not why I called you here."

"We can still do something. The eye of Agamotto can reverse your injuries. We can do something about that"

The old woman nodded, rendering me speechless. Taking a deep breath, I accepted that this was the time to listen, not talk.

Sitting down on the concrete wall of the balcony, the old woman looked at the moon again. It was transparent, shining brightly as the fireflies rose. "Strange is going to become the next Sorcerer Supreme, and for a moment we thought we'd put you up to it. But that wouldn't be fair to you, my dear"

Swallowing my saliva, I was incredulous at what I'd heard.

How could someone as stupid as me even be an option? It didn't make sense to me.

Looking at me with a smile, she continued: "Your magical ability and talent could make you the greatest sorcerer Kamar-Taj has ever had. But that would be like putting a stake in your future, trapping you in these icy lands forever"

Holding out her hand, the old woman blew a golden particle towards me. That sphere of light flew up to my neck, wrapping me in a small golden cord.

"I want to see you flourish, prosper and discover the world. When I saw you for the first time, I was amazed at how you had a gigantic energy, a gigantic will to live. I don't want you to lose that will, like I did myself"

Slowly, the old woman's physical body transformed into small spheres of light, while her astral projection became more and more opaque. "As long as you're wearing this necklace, I'll always be with you. Long live Dante! Live and be happy, don't be afraid to make mistakes, to suffer, to get hurt"

With a smile, while crying, the old woman took her last breath "Please, take your second chance"

When I blinked, both the astral projection and the old woman's body had disappeared. However, I could feel a warmth enveloping my chest. Looking at my gold cord, I noticed that it was glowing a little.

Wrapping my hands around it, I felt a warm sensation, like the affection I had received from the old woman. Unable to hold back my tears, I knelt down and wept.

My first teacher, the woman who had given me the opportunity to fight in this world. The elder of Kamar-Taj was gone.

A person dear to me, but whose real name I will never know.