Wanda had already learned a multitude of spells and sorcery from the Darkhold. She was no longer the rookie who once relied solely on instinct to wield her powers.
Kamar-Taj had become a heap of rubble. Stephen led the other sorcerers in retreating to the rear. Wanda closed her eyes to sense their presence and quickly locked onto their location.
But at that moment, Stephen stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "If you want to take that girl, you'll have to go through me!"
"Of course," Wanda tilted her head slightly and walked toward him without hesitation.
However, after only a few steps, she triggered a trap hidden beneath the tiles!
In an instant, the world around her shifted. She found herself inside a realm made entirely of mirrors—the Mirror Dimension!
Wanda quickly realized that in this space, any magic she cast would be reflected back at her. Worse yet, the mirrors would occasionally protrude with spikes. For the moment, she couldn't find a way to break out.
Meanwhile, Stephen rushed to find the mysterious girl, America, intending to take her away from Kamar-Taj. But suddenly, a chilling wind swept into the hall. The doors slammed shut from both sides, and the sorcerers stationed around them vanished without a trace!
"Mirror reflection! She's using the mirrors!" Stephen shouted a warning.
Wong and America quickly noticed that all the missing sorcerers had puddles of water beneath their feet.
Clearly, the Scarlet Witch, trapped in the Mirror Dimension, had launched her attack through those water puddles.
The trio quickly scrambled to cover the puddles. America, driven by curiosity, glanced into one of them—only to lock eyes with Wanda! Startled, she instantly shattered the puddle.
Behind her was a bronze gong. When America collapsed in panic, ripples suddenly spread across the gong's surface. A blood-streaked, wounded hand reached out, followed by a distorted female figure...
The viewers watching the projection screamed in horror. What had started as a magical showdown had suddenly turned into a horror film!
Wanda, hair disheveled and body covered in blood and bruises, had a twisted, unnatural posture. She looked just like Sadako crawling out of a television screen.
Offscreen, young Peter cried out in fear. "Oh my god, that's terrifying!"
Even Stephen couldn't help but take a sharp breath—he hadn't expected Wanda to break free of the Mirror Dimension in such a way. This woman, driven mad by her obsession to find her children, had truly gone off the deep end.
As for Pietro, he felt nothing but heartache. Seeing the wounds and blood on his sister's body, he clenched his fists tightly.
Yet in the video, Wanda's injuries healed in the blink of an eye. With an overwhelming aura, she slowly walked toward the three. Stephen looked at her in pain and said, "You killed innocent people, you are a monster!"
"I'm not a monster, Stephen," Wanda replied calmly. "I'm a mother."
Faced with Wanda's unwavering obsession, Stephen had little choice but to reason with her. He insisted her children were magical constructs, not real beings.
But Wanda showed him her proof. She summoned the cursed Darkhold, which seemed to connect to the multiverse itself. As the book opened, red orbs floated out—each representing a parallel universe. Within each, she could see her children playing and laughing.
She told them that every night she dreamed of happy times with her children, and every morning she woke up alone.
She was convinced that somewhere in the multiverse, her children were alive—waiting for their mother.
Stephen had no choice but to believe her. Still, he raised a critical point: "Even if you find them, what about their real mother—another version of you?"
Wanda's face darkened instantly, her eyes filled with ruthless determination.
To her, nothing mattered more than reuniting with her children. Anyone who stood in her way, even another version of herself, was the enemy.
They locked eyes for a moment—then clashed.
Stephen summoned several serpentine creatures to attack Wanda. She battled them briefly before unleashing a blast of scarlet energy that obliterated them instantly.
She rose into the air, looming over Stephen, her magical power clearly superior. With a wave of her hand, she sent him flying into a nearby pillar.
Wong tried to resist but was also defeated and knocked unconscious.
Now, no one could stop her.
Wanda used her magic to bind the terrified America, beginning to absorb her multiverse-traveling powers. Wisps of white light, like smoke or mist, flowed from America into Wanda.
This scene reminded viewers of a moment in Wanda's future video, when Agatha had tried to drain her powers. It brought to mind the saying, "He who fights monsters must take care not to become one."
Outside the screen, Stephen sighed deeply. "The Darkhold is nothing but trouble. That cursed book needs to be destroyed."
Pietro glanced at him without a word, but silently agreed.
No matter what Wanda did, he would support her. But deep down, he didn't want to see his sister consumed by obsession—let alone become a puppet to the cursed book.
Young Peter clenched his fists nervously. "Is she going to get away? That poor girl!"
Stephen nodded. "She still can't fully control her powers. But in moments of crisis, she instinctively opens a portal."
Just as he finished speaking, a five-pointed star-shaped portal opened behind America. But she remained bound by Wanda's magic.
Stephen, seeing this, lunged forward. He took a blast of Wanda's magic to the chest, but managed to grab America and fall into the portal with her.
This recreated a scene from another multiverse, when another Stephen had saved someone in the same way.
As they tumbled through the portal, it felt like they were falling endlessly through a starless void, piercing through layer after layer of glass-like barriers. Each layer marked the entrance to another universe.
As the two plummeted downward, countless dazzling and diverse parallel worlds flashed past them.
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Translator's Note:
Power Stones = Translator's Motivation™
No Power Stones = Translator's curled up crying in a corner 😢
Don't let me turn into a filler villain – feed me those shiny stones!