Chapter 167: Phase Two
Dr. Doom hovered silently in front of Gene, now cloaked entirely in a shroud of black energy. Crimson lightning crackled within the inky darkness, weaving through his aura like veins of power.
His eyes, now glowing a blood-red hue, glared through the shadows with a demonic intensity.
"Well done, Victor," Gene said, nodding in faint approval. "You truly are a natural-born black mage. Your talent is remarkable."
Even someone like Dormammu wouldn’t be able to bestow this level of dark energy on another being—not without them instantly exploding from the overload. No, this wasn’t a gift. This was something Doom seized through his own formidable will. He had forcibly pried open a gateway to the Dark Dimension and was now siphoning energy directly from it.
The excitement from his recent breakthrough, combined with his unnatural affinity for the arcane, had shattered the limits of his physical vessel, allowing him to tap into a reservoir of power few could even dream of.
Now, Doom stood among the strongest spellcasters on Earth. In fact, the newly anointed Sorcerer Supreme—Stephen Strange—wasn’t even worthy of shining his boots.
But in front of his former mentor, Gene Mason, even this newfound might still fell short.
Doom roared, a jagged bolt of blood-red lightning surging from his body. It morphed into a javelin, streaking through the sky toward Gene like a thunderbolt hurled by an angry god.
A golden magical shield shimmered into existence before Gene, instantly transforming into a massive hand of pure energy. He casually caught the javelin mid-air.
The javelin writhed and pulsed in his grip, discharging waves of volatile power, as if in disbelief that a single person could stop its rampage.
Gene, unphased, drew his arm back like a seasoned Olympian, then hurled the javelin back into the sky with tremendous force. The spiraling projectile ignited the air around it, creating a miniature vortex that sucked in debris and energy, forming a tornado around its path.