I waited anxiously, my eyes fixed on Felix Faust as he studied the message that had emerged from the rift. I still believed that even though I was disconnected from my magic, it was a temporary effect.

What concerned me was how the Book of the Vishanti would come to me. For Wong to send it, my magic had to cause another rift into Marvel. The recent rift was probably the effect of me losing my magic.

I could see the flicker of uncertainty in Felix's eyes. He seemed to be pondering the implications of the message I had received, and I couldn't help but hope that it would buy me more time, before the future I had glimpsed happened.

As the moments stretched on, my heartbeat quickened. It was as though time itself had slowed down, and the weight of the situation pressed heavily on my shoulders. I had taken a significant risk, and now I had to hope that it would pay off.

Felix Faust redirected the question back to me, "What does this mean?"

I met his gaze, maintaining my confidence, "It means, Felix, that you're not the only one who can play this game. You see, I have allies in places you can't even begin to comprehend."

"I told you, I am yet to be undefeated." I chuckled as I added. "Prepare for your doom Faust."

Felix seemed to be infuriated by this. He made another move in the chess board, moving his pawn to a significant position. "Abnegazar, go and retrieve the Flame of Life. If his magic had concealed it, it's now visible."

That didn't worry me. The scroll of dimensions was in the astral plane, and even I couldn't retrieve it without the Book of Thoth. There was no way a demon could retrieve it.

"As for you sorcerer," he started, "you'll be the one to meet your doom first. You might have not lost your magic, but right now you are vulnerable. And that gives me the best opening there can ever be."

"Now, Dieeeee." He shouted as he cast a spell towards me.

The dark spell hurtled towards me, hitting me close to the chest. The pain it brought with it was unbearable.

"Nooo." Natasha and Itadori both gasped. "Master, do something."

"Aaaaahhhh!" I screamed in a mixture of agony and anger.

Rath, unable to maintain his grip on me, let go and stepped back, for me to experience the full effects of the spell. This gave Felix more room, allowing him to stop holding back, and he increased the effects of his power.

"Why won't you die!" Felix yelled as he increased his power. He clearly expected me to die immediately.

The force of the spell is what made me feel the pain. But as for what the spell was actually meant to do, it didn't seem to work. Spells of this magnitude and with a clear goal like this always worked in an instant.

But that was not the case in this situation. But I couldn't beat the pain any longer, and I had to do something. I fell down to the ground, hitting it with my head and kept my body as still as I could.

"Nooooooooo." My apprentices, who had been struggling to get free from Ghast's grip cried out. They pushed hard and were finally free, rushing towards me.

"Master." Natasha said. "Wake up. Wake up Doctor Strange."

"It's not over Doctor Strange." Itadori said desperately, tears trickling down his cheeks. "We can still defeat him. Just wake up."

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But I didn't move a muscle. I had to play dead until one of two things happened. One, I either got my magic back, or two, Wong managed to pass the Book of the Vishanti to me.

"Oh, but it is." Felix Faust said pridefully. "His arrogance is good riddance from this world."

"You monster!" Natasha shouted as she stood up, her face gleaming with tears. "I shall kill you myself."

"You should know better than to defy me, young apprentice." Felix warned. "I just killed your master. A had man to kill though, but he's dead. And you shall follow the same route if you dare to go against me."

"In fact, I will tie lose ends by killing the both of you." Felix added. "But I can consider sparing your lives, if you help me find the Flame of Life."

"Aaargh!" Itadori snapped as he sent a feeble bolt of Balthakk towards Felix, which he easily absorbed using the anti-magic crystal. "You speak too much."

"Well now, don't say I didn't warn you." Felix said as he ensnared Itadori with his shadowy tendrils from the ground.

Natasha tried to hurriedly cast a spell, but Felix restricted her movements immediately too.

"A portal is what you go for. Always recognize when you have lost." I wished I could reaffirm that knowledge to them. "But your fates are already sealed. I tried to avoid them, but there's nothing I can do. Let's hope that it all works out in the end. The bad guy always loses."

"Okay. Now what shall I do to you?" Felix pondered, and then directed his attention to Natasha. "Tell me where the Flame is, or I will torture him and kill him."

"I don't know what you are talking about." Natasha replied. "Let us go."

"Let me jog your memories." Felix said in a sinister tone.

He raised the Nthirium crystal, surrounded by the dark magic he had cast to prevent it from affecting it, and glided it towards Itadori.

"Do you know what this does?" He asked. "It takes away somebody's magic forever, just like it did to your master, who shouldn't have been messing with it in the first place. That's the same case for the Flame."

"Tell me where it is, or I make sure that he loses his magic." Felix said.

"Please. Stop." Natasha begged. "We don't know what you are talking about. We have never seen a Flame in the Sanctum."

"Then you are both useless to me." Felix grumped and controlled the movement of the aerial bound crystal, causing it to pass through Itadori's body.

He yelled and screamed in pain as the Nthirium took away his magic in an instant.

"Wait!" Natasha pleaded, fearing to go through the same fate.

"That jog your memory yet?" Felix asked.

"Yes." Natasha lied, in a defeated tone.

I still lay on the ground, contemplating what was about to happen to her. I had done a fatal mistake. I had sabotaged myself in the hopes of delaying the inevitable, thinking that I could have changed the future. And now here we were. My apprentices would still meet their fate, and now Felix knew about the Flame of Life (scroll of dimensions). Although he didn't know what form it took.

"Where is it?" Felix asked.

"It's in a secret chamber, somewhere the master never let us go in." Natasha said.

"Where is this chamber?" Felix asked.

"It's the fourth chamber from the foyer." Natasha explained, referring to the chamber where I had kept the Nthirium.

"Very well then." Felix said. "If what you say is true, I will spare both of your lives. But just to be safe."

He summoned the Nthirium crystal and a weird, draining feeling surrounded everyone who was within it's range. It seemed as though he was amplifying it's effects through a spell.

"No. My magic." Natasha gasped as Felix he brought her closer to him.

"Let's hope you are telling the truth." Felix said as he turned to leave with her. "Ghast will keep watch over the other one until I find the Flame."

Felix turned to leave, heading for the Sanctum, taking the draining feeling of the crystal away with him.

Not a lot of time had passed, and as Felix left, I felt a familiar energy in the atmosphere. The Cloak of Levitation seemed to recognize the energy too, and flapped one of it's collars excitedly.

Itadori saw this as he writhed in pain on the ground. The crystal had done a number on him as it passed through his body.

They had come to me, seeking a fresh start in their lives, and I knew that I had led them to this moment. I could have saved them, but my mind had been too consumed to think clearly.

He took believed that I was dead.

In my feigned unconsciousness, I was thinking about anti-magic, and why Felix was able to stay around it for so long without feeling it's effects. What was that spell he had cast? And, how could he amplify it's effects?

What were the limits of anti-magic, and where did it take the magic it siphoned away? Did it hold my magic within itself? Were it's effects on me temporary?

I could still feel the will of Razake within me.

The atmosphere around us had changed when he had used the crystal and then left. The feeling of my familiar magic hung in the air, and I hoped that it would be what I was expecting.

My life as the Prime Sorcerer was far from over. I still had a destiny to fullfil, and, goals I desired to accomplish. I had to make things right.