Chapter 119: Stripping Away the Dark Dimension
The blade descended.
Strictly speaking, it did not pierce the Ancient One's wound.
Instead, it entered the black corruption flowing from it.
The distinction was important.
Lynn wasn't operating on flesh.
He wasn't operating on nerves.
He wasn't even operating on energy in the conventional sense.
He was operating on a soul.
The All-Seeing Eye unfolded completely.
A vast three-dimensional projection filled his vision.
The Ancient One's spiritual architecture revealed itself in unprecedented detail.
Countless magical pathways intertwined throughout her body.
Thousands of luminous soul circuits formed an elegant geometric lattice.
For centuries, those pathways had connected her to mystical dimensions, allowing her to channel energies beyond the physical universe.
Normally, the network glowed with pale golden light.
Now, much of it had been consumed.
Dark Dimension corruption clung to the pathways like parasitic roots.
It wasn't merely black.
It was something deeper.
An absence.
A darkness that seemed to devour light itself.
The instant the plasma-frequency blade touched the corruption, resistance appeared.
The Dark Dimension energy reacted.
Immediately.
Violently.
The black mist exploded outward.
Dozens of tendrils surged from the Ancient One's chest and wrapped themselves around the blade.
Then around Lynn's wrist.
The Ancient One's eyes snapped open.
For the first time during the procedure, genuine alarm appeared on her face.
"Let go!"
Her weakened voice echoed through the laboratory.
"It will drag your soul into endless torment!"
Lynn didn't even look at her.
"Stop talking."
"You're interfering with the procedure."
The tendrils reached his skin.
Contact.
A sensation rushed through his nervous system.
Not cold.
Not pain.
Not fear.
Something stranger.
Emptiness.
A force attempting to erase meaning itself.
As though reality had decided he no longer belonged within it.
The contamination surged upward.
Past the wrist.
Past the arm.
Toward the brain.
Toward consciousness.
Dormammu's lingering influence.
A fragment of the Dark Dimension's primordial will.
Ancient corruption.
Ancient hatred.
Ancient hunger.
It crashed directly into Lynn's mind.
And hit a wall.
An immovable wall.
Iron Will.
Fear Immunity.
Mental defenses refined through countless trials.
The psychological fortress constructed from abilities originally derived from Bruce Wayne and reinforced by Lynn's own growth.
Mental domination had failed.
Psychic intrusion had failed.
Illusion-based attacks had failed.
This fragment of Dormammu's influence fared no better.
The impact resembled a rifle bullet striking a fortress wall.
The corruption rebounded instantly.
It couldn't penetrate.
It couldn't attach.
It couldn't even leave a mark.
Lynn's expression remained unchanged.
"Get out of my operating room."
Then he stopped defending.
And started attacking.
The three super-intelligence systems activated simultaneously.
The All-Seeing Eye analyzed every wavelength and fluctuation within the corruption.
Lex Luthor's strategic cognition isolated structural weaknesses.
Batman's analytical reasoning identified the most efficient method of neutralization.
Within moments, a complete solution emerged.
Lynn focused.
His will became a weapon.
Not metaphorically.
Literally.
Mental force condensed into a hammer.
A precise frequency became the striking surface.
Then he smashed it directly into the invading corruption.
No purification ritual.
No exorcism.
No elegant spell.
Pure demolition.
The Dark Dimension energy shattered under the assault.
Every contaminated section of the Ancient One's spiritual network was systematically dismantled.
The procedure now operated across two fronts simultaneously.
The plasma-frequency blade cut through corrupted spiritual pathways.
The Iron Will crushed resistance at the mental level.
Matter and spirit.
Physical and metaphysical.
Working together.
Lynn guided the blade with absolute precision.
Each contaminated node was isolated.
Suppressed.
Separated.
Removed.
Whenever he encountered stubborn corruption, he paused.
Waited for the mental suppression to break its resistance.
Then carefully scraped the contamination away from the soul circuit beneath.
The extracted corruption could not simply be released.
That would be irresponsible.
Instead, it was guided elsewhere.
To Lynn's right stood a specially prepared containment vessel.
A reinforced glass jar sealed within multiple electromagnetic layers.
The container had been designed specifically to store exotic energy forms.
Each fragment of extracted corruption flowed into the vessel.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Nothing escaped.
The process demanded extraordinary concentration.
Lynn had to maintain three operations simultaneously.
Microscopic physical precision.
Spiritual suppression.
Energy containment.
Each required total focus.
Each carried catastrophic consequences if performed incorrectly.
One mistake.
One moment of lost concentration.
And the corruption could surge back into the Ancient One's soul.
The operation continued.
Minute after minute.
The Ancient One never cried out.
Not once.
Her body trembled occasionally.
Sweat appeared across her forehead.
Yet she remained still.
Lynn understood why.
The corruption had been intertwined with her soul for over two centuries.
Removing it was not unlike stripping flesh from bone.
Or tearing nerves from a living body.
Every second of the procedure was agony.
Yet she endured it silently.
Lynn respected that.
At least this patient wasn't attempting to interfere with her own treatment.
Forty-five minutes later.
Only one fragment remained.
The final contamination sat near the outer layer of the Ancient One's soul core.
Larger than the others.
More aggressive.
More deeply rooted.
It clung stubbornly to a primary spiritual pathway.
Like a parasite refusing to release its host.
Lynn increased the pressure.
The mental fortress shifted.
An invisible fist formed.
Then descended.
The impact struck the corruption directly.
For the first time, something emerged.
A scream.
Not sound.
Something beyond sound.
A shriek existing across dimensional layers.
The laboratory itself remained silent.
Yet the sensation echoed through consciousness.
Then the resistance broke.
The corruption released its grip.
Lynn moved immediately.
The blade swept downward.
Clean.
Precise.
Final.
The last fragment separated completely.
A fist-sized mass of absolute darkness floated briefly in the air.
Then dropped into the containment vessel.
The lid closed.
The seal engaged.
Silence returned.
Lynn finally lowered the blade.
The plasma-frequency state dissipated.
The Extremis heat vanished.
The vibranium resonance ceased.
The bluish-white glow faded.
Once again, it appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary scalpel.
The All-Seeing Eye performed a final scan.
Soul Circuit Corruption Rate
Before Treatment: 70%
Current Status: 0%
Dark Dimension Contamination: Completely Removed
The corruption was gone.
But the damage remained.
The wound across the Ancient One's chest still required repair.
Lynn opened a nearby cabinet.
From within, he removed a specially formulated regenerative compound.
One designed specifically for repairing severe energetic damage.
The injector pressed against the wound.
The serum entered.
Immediately, the effect became visible.
The damaged tissue began restoring itself.
Energy pathways reconnected.
Spiritual circuits repaired.
The soul-level rupture gradually narrowed.
Then disappeared.
Three minutes later, nothing remained.
The wound was gone.
The Ancient One's breathing stabilized.
Color returned to her face.
The deathly pallor faded.
Even her lips regained a healthy shade.
For the first time since arriving, she looked alive.
Truly alive.
Lynn removed his gloves.
Dropped them into a disposal bin.
Then walked to the sink.
He turned on the water and calmly washed his hands.
A familiar notification appeared.
[Ding!]
[Successfully removed higher-dimensional soul contamination!]
[Successfully reversed the destined death of the Sorcerer Supreme!]
[Treatment Evaluation: SSS — Divine Intervention!]
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