Marvel's master of cosmic magic-Chapter 814

"Master. The seal has been applied."

In the endless void beyond all universes, the Living Tribunal knelt before a vast, indistinct silhouette and delivered its report with absolute reverence.

The shadow gave a satisfied nod.

"Well done. Aethernox thought he could outplay me."

A second presence manifested nearby, vast and immeasurable. The Living Tribunal lowered its head even further.

These two were the supreme authorities of their respective cosmologies.

The One Above All spoke first, voice calm but edged with irritation.

"We agreed. One ordinary human each. No divine bloodlines. No hidden advantages."

Aethernox’s answer came with a faint, amused warmth.

"I sent an ordinary human."

"And you sent Stark."

The One Above All replied evenly, "Stark is human."

"And you granted yours the ability to create independent incarnations from the beginning," Aethernox countered. "That is hardly ’ordinary.’"

Silence lingered for a moment.

Then Aethernox continued, unbothered.

"You sealed him. I did not interfere."

"But you cannot sever the deeper mechanism. His incarnations still share power."

"As long as they grow, his sealed body grows."

The One Above All’s presence tightened slightly.

"He can no longer generate new incarnations. With only the existing ones, his growth rate will slow."

"By the time he can challenge the seal, Stark will have surpassed him."

"More likely," he added, "he will never break it."

Aethernox simply smiled.

"We shall see."

The One Above All’s voice sharpened.

"From this moment forward, neither of us interferes with either candidate. If either of us acts, the wager is void."

"Agreed."

The void fell silent.

"Played."

The realization spread across Rowan Mercer’s incarnations simultaneously.

Though the direct soul-link had been severed, the underlying structure of their existence remained the same.

And one crucial function still operated.

Power synchronization.

The instant the connection vanished, every incarnation stopped active cultivation and stabilized their internal energy.

Meanwhile, Rowan’s sealed prime body entered deep meditation, pushing its output to maximum efficiency.

Within seconds, every incarnation sensed the rise.

Energy increasing.

Steadily.

That confirmed it.

Though communication was gone, growth still translated across them.

If any incarnation became strong enough to break the Living Tribunal’s seal, the prime body would inherit the same threshold.

Good.

That was enough.

Objectively, the situation was not catastrophic.

The prime body was sealed inside its original parallel universe.

Alive.

Free to live normally.

Family.

Friends.

Time.

Even permanent confinement would not be the worst fate.

But Rowan had crossed too many worlds to rely on mercy.

The Living Tribunal might change its mind.

The One Above All might reconsider.

Aethernox might decide the game had grown dull.

Entrusting survival to higher beings was not Rowan’s style.

Freedom was not requested.

It was secured.

So the plan began.

Step One. Accelerate world assimilation.

Any incarnation currently absorbing a world would push the process to completion as fast as possible.

Each completed world represented a dramatic increase in structural authority and raw power.

Step Two. Seek out untouched creators.

Now that Rowan stood at multiversal scale, he could approach the creators of worlds he had not yet confronted.

If a world lacked a creator, he would claim it.

If it had one—

Friendly creators would be engaged through dialogue, knowledge exchange, cooperative evolution.

Hostile ones would be eliminated and absorbed.

If an opponent proved too strong, withdrawal was acceptable. Growth could resume elsewhere before returning.

At his current level, truly insurmountable creators were rare.

One cosmology tied to Aethernox’s influence remained an exception.

That domain required caution.

Step Three. Begin incarnation fusion.

Some incarnations had already reached their growth ceiling.

The Mage-Apprentice incarnation, for example, ruled a fully assimilated world with limited expansion potential remaining.

Maintaining separation was inefficient.

If eleven incarnations, each holding six internalized worlds, fused—

The result would not be additive.

It would be multiplicative.

Sixty-six internal worlds in a single structure.

An elevenfold leap in individual strength.

The prime body would mirror that increase instantly.

At that tier, breaking the Living Tribunal’s seal would become realistic.

Of course, the void between cosmologies was lethal.

Creators had perished wandering it.

Fusion would require calculation, not recklessness.

Rowan already had frameworks in mind.

One more detail mattered.

Though the prime body could no longer generate incarnations through its original ability, Rowan still possessed duplication and partitioning techniques.

And once he acquired the authority tied to Error, those techniques would evolve significantly.

This was not defeat.

It was a delay.

Rowan’s incarnations did not feel fear.

They felt direction.

Operation: Save the Prime Self had begun.