Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 137 Execution (First Update!)

Although separated by the crowd, Salomon and Coulson could still clearly see the horrific state of the corpse.

The corpse's face and throat were completely mangled, as if ripped apart by some animal. Anyone could see the stark white cervical vertebrae through the bloody hole in its neck. The limbs were also torn apart, and as the royal army carried it over, fragments of flesh lay scattered on the black mud. Perhaps due to the tightly fastened bulletproof vest, the torso wasn't severely damaged, but the magazines and other emergency supplies attached to the vest were missing. It seemed the hungry killer, in his eagerness to peel the corpse apart like an onion, had encountered these fragments, nearly ripping open the sturdy nylon bag. Broken black threads, like buds sprouting from the corpse, stretched forlornly towards the sky.

If Salomon hadn't spotted the tattered S.H.I.E.L.D. insignia obscured by blood on the corpse's arm, he wouldn't have been able to identify which combat unit it belonged to. Coulson remained calm, instantly concluding several possibilities. "He also came from the cave," he said. "He probably followed us. Time is different here, so he might just have been a step too late."

“That cave won’t just swallow us; others can come in through it too. It might be like a drain in a sink, gurgling and swallowing people up. Actually, I’m more worried that this drain will spew out some stuff from this world, like in It. If that happens, we’re in trouble,” Salomon said. “How many people did you bring?”

"Not many, just four team members."

“There are three left. We’d better assume they’re all in.” Salomon sighed. “Get Natasha ready. Her combat suit has the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo on it. We can only hope the girls didn’t see the logo clearly, otherwise we don’t have much time left. Coulson, if things don’t look right, you and Natasha move out as quickly as possible. Remember those four girls; that’s your and Natasha’s mission.”

"So what are you going to do now?"

"Go and identify if the suspect is the witch, then go find the remaining three—we'll need manpower if they do come," Salomon said. "I'm going deep into the forest this time. If I'm not back by nightfall, don't wait for me; you're on your own."

Salomon told Coulson that the four names did indeed belong to the local witch coven, but in fact they had not been members of the coven for long. Unlike Ann Putman and Elizabeth Paris, they were not invited by Katzia Mason, but were chosen by the Dark Ones and joined the coven by accident.

After they finished their work on the farm, Mary Plessy gave them stew and bread. In those days, farmers couldn't easily remove ergot from wheat, and with Salem's previous winter being extremely damp, mold had grown rampant. Some of the bread Mary Plessy gave them had gone bad, and the four girls ended up eating bread containing lysergic acid diacetamide.

After that, they saw the truth of this world.

Mary Price, hearing that Alice Parker was very knowledgeable about the Bible, asked Alice to read a passage or two to the illiterate Price couple. However, when Alice opened her New Testament, she found the pages blank. But when she rubbed her eyes and looked at the book again, she saw her name written in blood. The hallucinations didn't end there. While Bridget Bishop took a break to mend her doll, another girl, Margaret Scott, began experiencing stomach cramps or similar pain, which gradually intensified, and she developed several bleeding wounds on her lower back. Margaret noticed a striking resemblance between the doll Bridget was sewing and herself, and with Bridget's movements, unexplained bleeding began to appear all over her body.

When Susanna Martin was sent to milk the cows, she saw a small mouse climb down from a branch, something in its mouth. No matter how much she pointed at the mouse and shouted for others to see, no matter how hard she described it, no one but her could see the mouse. Tired of her efforts, Susanna Martin gave up on her futile descriptions and stared intently at the mouse. She saw that where its paws were, there were human hands and feet, a human face, and a chicken it had just killed in its mouth. The creature hissed and spat, and as it jumped past Susanna, it spilled milk all over her before disappearing into the tool shed with its prey.

John Price sent Bridget to find a calf named Meez, who had wandered into the wheat field a few days earlier and hadn't returned. The grass was taller than Bridget's head, obscuring the little girl's view, but she could still hear Meez calling for her mother, so she used the sound to orient herself. Through the wheat stalks, she saw a scarecrow in the distance, its tattered clothes stuffed with black straw.

As she drew closer, she looked at the scarecrow again and felt as if it were looking at her too, a wave of fear washing over her. Then she heard the calf scream, as if attacked by something. Bridget momentarily suppressed her fear and ran over. She quickly found the dead calf, its throat and belly ripped open—and the black scarecrow stood motionless above the corpse, silently, at least that's what the girl thought, until the scarecrow suddenly vomited blood, soaking Bridget. The girl screamed loudly, and only after John Price arrived and took the dead calf away did Bridget slowly calm down.

That night, they worked late, and as they crossed the dark forest between Salem village and town, they stumbled upon the Dark Ones feasting on the offerings Katzia Mason had made. They fled in terror, but the Dark Ones had already chosen them; their names had appeared in the Book of Azathoth. However, until Ann Puttman began to denounce the townspeople, the four girls hadn't acquired much magic; they could only unconsciously curse others—for example, the priest Paris's broken leg from falling down the stairs was the result of their unconscious curse—and they also discovered this, which both excited and terrified them.

The large-scale witch hunt in Salem had terrified them; they hid in their homes without even informing John Price, refusing to go anywhere. This was why John Price had asked Salomon to question the girls—it was springtime, and the farm desperately needed help; the Price couple alone couldn't manage it all. But now the Price couple didn't have to worry about that, because if they were arrested, their property would be confiscated, and even if they proved their innocence, it wouldn't be returned to them but would be distributed among the judge, interrogator, and clerk.

Just as Salomon was carrying his equipment deep into the Dark Forest, Coulson also learned of the four girls. Remembering Salomon's instructions, he didn't confront the girls alone, but instead kept watch on them from a distance. Fortunately, the four girls stayed together, so Coulson only needed to focus on one to find them all. Natasha also joined the tracking. She changed into local clothing, padded her figure with extra garments, wore a headscarf to cover her hair, and used a thin layer of soot to conceal her face, making her appear completely inconspicuous.

Neither Coulson nor Natasha let their guard down. They carried pistols, for in this lawless era, danger lurked everywhere. They took turns keeping watch, as Titusa, who was being cared for at the hotel, couldn't show herself; they needed to return to look after her. This surveillance continued all day, until late into the night, but Coulson, still at the hotel, hadn't seen Salomon return. When Natasha finally returned to the hotel, a worried Coulson told her what had happened.

But Natasha was helpless, as Salomon had forbidden them from entering the forest, and Coulson and Natasha also had to go to the prison to rescue the innocent people Salomon had identified—a thankless and arduous task, and the inn couldn't accommodate so many people. To Coulson's surprise, the town's courthouse remained brightly lit late into the night, with many townspeople gathered inside, shouting for the witch to be hanged.

Judge Cotton Mather and interrogator Matthew Hopkins no longer intended to keep the suspects in prison, fearing they would vanish like Titus during the night. The loss of even one prisoner had already brought Governor William into question, so Cotton Mather was determined to resolve the matter quickly.

They concluded their interrogations in the morning and at noon, delivered their verdicts in the afternoon, and carried out the executions immediately that evening. In their courts, suspects were not allowed to defend themselves, as that was considered a lie spoken by the devil through their mouths. Without exception, the verdict was death, the only difference being that men were stoned to death while women were hanged. The fanatical Salem residents seemed to be at Tyburn's execution ground in London, their obsession with displaying power and "justice" immensely satisfied. When naked, wounded women struggled and lost control of their bowels on the gallows, they cheered loudly, venting their fear as if their cries had hanged witches.

This scene deeply shocked Coulson, for he witnessed the ugliest side of humanity. Before joining S.H.I.E.L.D., he was merely a history student who joined the agency after graduating high school. He had only read about such tragedies in books and had always firmly believed in the law and humanity. But when he personally witnessed this fanatical scene, he felt as if he were in hell.

"I am……"

"Coulson, are you alright?" Natasha looked at Coulson with concern. She was used to this kind of scene; she'd seen plenty of mass hysterias, even far more horrific ones. But for Coulson, one of the more "positive" members of S.H.I.E.L.D., this was nothing short of a devastating blow to his convictions about humanity. (Let's be rational.)

Coulson and Natasha weren't the only ones who didn't join the frenzied crowd; Randolph Carter, and Abigail Williams, hiding behind him, were also absent. Abigail clung tightly to Randolph's clothes, her face filled with fear and worry, concerned for the missing Titusa. Randolph Carter, meanwhile, gazed gravely into the dark forest to the west, hoping to find something he desired there.

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(End of this chapter)