Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1271 The Watchers (First Update)

Mordo waited outside the dungeon for several hours but neither the emperor nor the royal guards emerged. As the temperature dropped and the sky grew darker, and the snowstorm intensified on the mountains, he had no choice but to turn back and follow the snow-covered stone path he had taken to reach the lower-altitude transit station.

Teleportation spells were strictly forbidden in this area, and Mordo preferred to endure the snowstorm rather than test the effectiveness of the seal. He greeted the family who had guarded the transit station there for generations, then pulled an XZ horse from the warm stable, harnessed it to a sled, and slowly made his way back to the Kamar-Taj headquarters, dozens of kilometers away. These horses were extremely adaptable to the high altitudes; the snow couldn't stop these resilient beasts. It wouldn't be long before he was back in warm Kamar-Taj, keeping the frigid air outside the shield.

The horse that brought him here is resting in the rancher's stable, and this time he took a different brown horse with white spots on its forehead. This family has received patronage from Kamar-Taj for generations, and a hundred years ago, some of their ancestors were sorcerers who studied at Kamar-Taj. Because of their loyalty, they took on the responsibility of guarding the transit station to the dungeons and other tasks given to them by the Sorcerer Supreme.

Mordo, as an apprentice instructor and the steward of Kamar-Taj, was far less familiar with this family than the Emperor. When he returned, the log cabin of his memory had transformed into a small fortress and permanent fortification hidden within stone walls and reinforced concrete—the family's treatment had improved significantly since the Emperor gained more power. The Emperor had equipped the place with a large amount of weaponry, including man-portable anti-tank missiles, explosive cannon platforms, and anti-aircraft armored vehicles, as well as independent generators and ample fuel. If necessary, the family could launch a mountain guerrilla war from their sleds, shooting down any armed helicopters attempting to fly at this altitude.

However, Mordo, as an instructor at Kamar-Taj, had no access to gasoline or snowmobiles, so he had to resort to the more ancient animal-powered mode of transport to return to Kamar-Taj. While Mordo didn't entirely approve of his comrades' methods, he had to admit that sometimes 20mm cannons, anti-tank missiles, and armored vehicles were indeed more effective in the hands of mortals than some of the talismans issued to them. In terms of both stability and security, firearms technology was superior to talismans in every aspect, and the Emperor preferred to allow mortals access to firearms rather than reduce their reliance on magic.

Some might argue that ordinary people could accompany the emperor throughout his life.

The guardians, who resembled zombies, had to stop when they entered the underground passage at a depth of about four thousand meters.

The deeper they ventured into the mountains, the more bizarre sights they encountered. The swirling winds from the earth lifted the fabric covering the guards' faces, revealing their shriveled eyes—eyeballs gouged out and eyelids sewn back on. The guards were blind, deaf, and incapable of conventional communication. Even the emperor and the imperial guards could only communicate with them through a code formed by the frequency and amplitude of the bells they held.

The first Sorcerer Supreme, Agamotto, established Kamar-Taj to guard this ruin. Even Agamotto and his followers spent a considerable amount of time gradually figuring out its scale and eliminating the threats it once posed. It is an incredibly magnificent underground space, where inhuman beings have carved colossal palaces deep within the earth to house powerful creatures. The towering pillars, tens of meters high, bear the remnants of terrifying reliefs, and the incredibly spacious halls could even accommodate a company of genetically modified armored warriors on the ground. Although deep underground, the oxygen content remains abundant. The ventilation system, constructed with inhuman intelligence and engineering capabilities by the extradimensional beings, was originally intended to ensure the survival of their followers, but now these structures have become essential for the guardians living here.

The extraordinary genius Agamotto used the limited resources he had at the time to upgrade and transform this place.

He commanded his followers to build massive mechanisms and stone gates, and to construct an eternal fire, visible even to the blind, using secret methods to permeate the halls and dispel the darkness. He gradually expanded the original ruins, transforming them into a sanctuary and military camp, and carved countless runes into the stone walls to control supernatural energy. But now, as the seal of Agamotto gradually faded, supernatural forces and phenomena inevitably eroded the previously stable area of ​​control—until the Emperor's arrival, when those supernatural forces began to recede. Though not clad in armor, the Emperor's radiance, like the eternal fire, reflected into the minds of the guardians. The veins and muscles clinging to the stone bricks atrophied and turned to smoke, annoying whispers vanished from the air, and malicious phantoms were crushed by the Emperor's presence. Passing through the dimly lit hall with its eternal fire and incense burners for concentration, the guardians stop before a massive stone gate, which, according to the tribe's legend, is the tribe's final destination.

"My lord, that relief," Hammurabi said in a low voice, instructing the drones to raise their powerful spotlights to illuminate the massive stone gate. The basalt relief depicted a man in armor, wielding a longsword and surrounded by lightning. Beneath his boots rested a winged beast, his sword embedded in its body, while radiating stars dotted the background. The Royal Guard instantly recognized the scene depicted in the relief, and even the well-traveled Hammurabi gasped. "This is not a good sign."

"I know." The Emperor looked at the face on the relief that resembled his own so closely; he knew it was Agamotto's work. Legend had it that Agamotto was skilled in prophecy and the pursuit of truth. He was so wise that he was almost omniscient. Perhaps, in an era before human civilization had even begun, the First Sorcerer Supreme had foreseen his successor's arrival here. Every ruler of Kamar-Taj was adept at prophecy, and even the Emperor who was about to become the next ruler of Kamar-Taj was no exception; drawing wisdom from prophecies was also one of their specialties. "Perhaps this is a joke by Agamotto. I certainly didn't expect the First Sorcerer to have such a sense of humor." The Emperor raised his hand, looking thoughtfully at the Heavenly Ring on his finger. "It seems he foresaw some of the actions I would take in the future and had already made preparations for me."

Gender no longer matters; all the guards are equally withered and dull.

A captivating beauty and melodious voice mean nothing to the Keepers; they don't even have the pleasure of tasting delicious food. The reproduction of this race is entirely based on a predetermined procedure, devoid of any of the joys that ordinary people should experience—references on the pleasures of human reproduction are cited from video materials and books, sources [Note 1], [Note 2], [Note 3], [Note 4], [Note 5]—Even though the Sorcerer Supreme occasionally bestows slaves from the outside world upon the Keepers for breeding purposes, the small number of slaves cannot provide much genetic diversity, allowing the sparsely populated Keepers to avoid the predicament of inbreeding.

Through genetic testing and tracing, we have repeatedly discovered the chaotic blood relationship network of the Watchers. However, the Watchers do not have any genetic diseases such as intellectual disability or physical deformities that are common in inbreeding. Genetic testing has revealed that there are often benign gene mutations in the Watchers, and all Watchers are very healthy.

This is completely illogical.

—From *The Watchman's Observations, Volume One*, by Hammurabi, Tribunal for the Pleistocene of the Praetorian Guard.

The latest discovery is that the guardians reproduce in fixed locations.

By interpreting the myths and legends of the Watchers, the place where reproduction and interaction took place appears to be a religious sanctuary, complete with massive stone platforms, braziers, and numerous profound extradimensional symbols. Combined with the monarch's assessment of the sanctuary, it seems that the genetic mutation induced by magic within that room allowed the Watchers to avoid most of the drawbacks of inbreeding and continuously produce humans with powerful minds.

This is a very interesting discovery. It is knowledge about reproduction and mutation, which is quite different from the "stability" that created us, the Royal Guard. However, the monarch believes that this knowledge may be helpful for future projects, because no one in the Watchers has yet possessed the talent of a spellcaster. This means that this is a technical route that is completely different from, yet ultimately the same as, the genetic alchemy created by the monarch.

However, compared to the work of organizing the Kamar-Taj dungeons, this knowledge can be studied in the future; the monarch believes we still have time.

—From *The Watchman's Observations, Volume Two*, by Hammurabi, Tribunal for the Protection of the People of the Praetorian Order.

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(End of this chapter)