Loki fell to the ground, his palms and bones aching as they were trampled by the heavy metal soles. He struggled to look up, only to see the five fingers of his pitch-black palm spread almost to the tip of his nose. Countless particles of light swirled into swirls in the center of the palm, and a deep blue light enveloped his face.

Cold sweat began to ooze from the forehead of the god of trickery, and at this moment, he really had a strong premonition from the deepest part of his heart, "I will definitely die now". The conceit and arrogance of being an Asgardian Protoss were instantly thrown out of the clouds, and he felt that he was unprecedentedly small and helpless, while the dark steel figure in front of him was as mad as death in the dark blue light.

It was a long moment for Loki, but it was only half a second. The black armor's palm cannon quickly finished charging, and the beam of light shot out, locking onto Loki's face door.

But this evil god seems to be quite fateful, and the overbearing energy impact failed to blow up his head after all. Flame-colored sparks burst out of thin air in the air, and the flames led to a trajectory that cut out a ring, forming a circular circle like a shield in front of Loki. The energy projectile exploded on the spell shield, but it failed to shake the shield at all.

The helmet of the black armor tilted sideways, and the fluorescence in the V-shaped eyepiece seemed to flicker.

Nosy guys. He muttered inwardly.

Loki was still stunned, completely unable to understand the reason for his escape. However, without giving him time to think, another burst of sparks splashed and drew a circle under him—this time it seemed to be a magic circle for spatial teleportation. Loki let out an abrupt "ah" and fell in, and the long shout came to an abrupt end as the circle disappeared.

The yellow-robed mage walked out of the laboratory from somewhere. She wears a hood, and most of her face is hidden in the shadow of the brim, but it is not difficult to tell that this is a woman from her size. The arms under the wide sleeved robe are white and slender, which is slightly discordant with this simple robe.

"Ancient One Mage." The man in the black armor folded his arms, "I can't say how surprised I was to see you here, but I'm definitely not happy at all. ”

"After seeing you for so long, aren't you going to take the time to talk to me?" The mage said calmly.

The man shrugged: "Feel free." ”

The yellow-robed mage gestured, and the figures of the two people suddenly seemed to be distorted, or rather it looked like the space itself had been distorted and folded. Their figures spun around and were sucked into the space, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Agent Patton half-crouched behind the bunker, staring at the direction where the three guys of unknown origin had disappeared, feeling as if his side had suddenly become an irrelevant crowd watching the show. He turned to Director Fury.

"So," he asked, "what do we do now?" ”

Nick Fury's expression was pale, and his lips were almost pursed.

"I don't know."

***

The black-armored and yellow-robed mage stood in a very anti-physical state on the side of a twenty-story building, his body completely parallel to the ground, and the traffic flowed through the bustling streets dozens of meters away from them.

Of course, no one will notice them, because this is the "mirror space", which is equivalent to the mirror image of the real space, although it has always existed, it is difficult for people to detect, and only with the corresponding spell can you step into it. Nothing that happens here affects reality.

The mage's hands were tucked into the wide sleeves of his robe, staggered behind his back.

"In front of me, there is no need for a mask." She spoke, pausing, and calling out the name of the armor-dresser, "Michael Paso." ”

The armor-wearer did not respond. He gestured, and sparks erupted, cutting through a circular spell portal in the space behind him. The armor that covered his entire body disintegrated piece by piece, and hundreds of parts peeled off his body and flew into the portal piece by piece.

Beneath the armor turned out to be a young man, who looked no more than twenty years old, but with eyes as sharp as an eagle. He was thin and had untamed black hair, which gave the impression of a sharp arrow that could not be triggered.

The mage removed his hood, revealing the bare-revealing head beneath the hood.

"Why does the Supreme Mage who guards the dimension have the time to come and talk to me?" Michael looked at the busy street below, "Don't you have a whole plane to care about?" ”

Gu Yi looked at him for a moment, and did not answer his question directly: "It seems that you still didn't listen to me in the end." ”

Michael tilted his head, "You mean trying to kill Loki?" Trust me, I'm contributing to the world. This guy died here, and we'll save a lot of trouble in the future. ”

"You don't belong in this world. You have traveled from a higher dimension that is incredibly far away from us, so you may have a certain understanding of the future of this world. But we talked about it when you were still in Kama Taj. Gu Yi said.

"Of course, I didn't forget." Michael said lightly, "You said that I should not interfere in major events that affect the direction of world history, because you believe that fate should not be changed easily." You were my master, and you taught me magic and led me through the doors of mysteries. I have a lot of respect for you in most ways, from the bottom of my heart. But what I still don't understand is why people with such all-round abilities as you should still be trapped by the so-called fate. ”

The Ancient One mage shook his head slightly: "It is precisely that the more you know, the more you can understand." You revise history to erase a disaster, and the world can always find other ways to fill that hole. Loki may incur some calamity, but his fate is not over yet, and he will still have a pivotal role in future history. Wantonly disturbing the law and the fixed number according to one's own preferences will only invite even more unimaginable disasters. ”

"I'm not going to eat it." "I just believe I'm in control of my own destiny," Michael said. The road ahead is to be carved out by oneself, and the so-called fate is just an excuse to escape. At the beginning, I chose to leave Kama Taj because of the disagreement with the basic concept. ”

After a pause, he glanced sideways at the Supreme Mage.

"You should have known that I wasn't going to go down your path in the end." He whispered, "But in spite of this, you have taught me everything. ”

Gu Yi looked at him meaningfully for a moment, his eyes flickering for a moment, and then his gaze turned back to the mirror. People on the other side of the mirror are in a hurry, and vehicles are flowing like a constant stream of water through the artificially carved streets.

"You're different." After a while, she said, "You have a great knowledge of science and technology, and your understanding of magic spells is just as rare. What's more, you have a gift for combining the two, which I've never seen in anyone before. ”

It's a fact. About three years ago, Michael appeared at Kama Taj's door and asked her to teach her magic. In the afternoon of the same day, the Ancient One taught him how to start building basic spells, and told him that the only way to master spells was to practice them diligently.

According to the experience of the Ancient One, most people may need to practice for a month to complete the initial construction of the basic circle, and some geniuses may be able to reduce this time to one or two weeks. But what even she didn't expect was that the young man gave her a perfect demonstration of the process of building the circle early the next morning—and even made a little rough and personalized modification of the seal she taught.

Michael didn't sleep all night. Instead of mechanically repeating the exercises again and again, as the Supreme Mage taught, he tried to interpret the spell from a scientific perspective by recording the various energy fluctuations when casting the spell, drawing curves, and building models. For him, every exercise is like an experimental debugging, and recording the results of each experiment will help him do better next time.

Whether science or magic, it is a way of understanding and applying the laws of the world, but from different angles, and the two are interdependent and interconnected.

From then on, the Ancient One noticed that this young man was different. At that time, she may have had the idea of training Michael to become the next generation of Supreme Mage, but she dispelled that after she was convinced that the young man would not obediently follow the teachings.

"But after you know that I may interfere with the original trajectory of this world in the future, you still teach me knowledge without reservation." Michael squinted at her and said, "Maybe it's just that you don't want to admit it, but deep down, you want to make a change, don't you?" You also foresee that the world will usher in a series of disasters in the future, and you say that your fate cannot be violated, but deep down you still hope that someone will try to turn things around. ”

Gu Yi shook his head: "I taught you the spell, just because your nature is not bad, I believe you will use it in the right place." ”

Michael shrugged: "Say whatever you want." But I've long made my position clear – I'm just a man of thirst for knowledge, not a hero of high moral character. ”

Gu Yi smiled slightly: "It's just that you haven't realized it yet." But one day, when the time comes, I know you'll make the right choice. ”

The two were silent for a moment. A loud whistle sounded from the street outside the mirror, and a biting cold wind blew along the surface of the building, stirring the mage's thin robes.

"So," Michael said after a moment, still staring through the mirror at the brightly lit neighborhood, "what are you going to do with Loki?" You're not going to let him come back and do what he's going to do, are you? ”

Gu Yi shook his head: "I also have some friendship with Odin of the Asgardian Protoss, and Loki will be transferred back to the Asgardian Protoss." ”

"Okay, now that it's all in your hands, I don't think I will have another chance." Michael waved his hand, turned around and gestured. The mirror, which was cut across the side of the building, seemed to sense the command he had given through this gesture, and quickly changed and cut a gap, like an open door.

Michael walked perpendicular to the wall towards the door, pausing before leaving, and turned half to the side.

"You know," he said, "what I mentioned to you before is still valid. ”

The Ancient One Mage looked indifferent: "If you mean my death date, I know. ”

Michael frowned: "Are you sure you don't want to know the details?" ”

Master Gu Yi smiled: "People will die eventually, and I have lived long enough. I can feel that my deadline is approaching, but it is also a predestined arrangement. So don't worry about it. ”

Michael shook his head, still unable to understand her point. But he finally didn't say anything more, turned and walked into the gap in the mirror, and left this magical space. The mirror closed right behind him, smooth as if there had never been a crack.