Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1427 Power Shift (First Update)

The changes in the power center of Kamar-Taj were hardly a secret. Even apprentices resting in their beds were awakened by the noise of engineering mechs moving heavy objects. However, because there were very few witnesses and they all kept their mouths shut, no one really knew what was happening. Most arcane mages simply assumed that these tireless machines were carrying out engineering tasks. Perhaps when they opened their eyes tomorrow morning, they would see a new training ground or a new waterworks.

They had grown accustomed to the ever-changing Kamar-Taj, both its civilian and military facilities. For certain sorcerer families who knew some of the secrets, they had to keep them to themselves, afraid to confide in others. Currently, it was merely a house arrest with a stated cause, and both sides tacitly maintained silence. If the reason for the punishment were revealed, then this would no longer be a political game but a full-blown confrontation, because it would demonstrate that the Emperor was truly determined to seize all power. *The Prince* was certainly not a required course for sorcerers, but that didn't mean some sorcerers were naive enough not to realize the Emperor's apparent leniency and the sheer gravity of the crimes committed by those aged, desiccated sorcerer families.

That was a corrupt tendency that Kamar-Taj absolutely forbade, and it's hard to say that the ritual to disarm the library wasn't an act of corruption. Even if the death penalty didn't come immediately, the subsequent purification examination would be enough to cost those old guys half their lives, provided they weren't truly corrupt—Kamar-Taj's rules weren't as detailed as secular laws; all the measures of punishment were in the hands of the Temple Deacons and the Sorcerer Supreme, and lawyers who could scrutinize the text and find loopholes were useless here—but for the corrupt, Kamar-Taj had its own set of methods that had continued for thousands of years, and almost all the rogue sorcerers who were captured had been subjected to this punishment.

"Burn their bodies, shatter their souls," Mordo blurted out immediately after hearing the mage Hamil's account. Although he had calmed down after a period of asceticism, his violent nature remained unchanged. "We will go in and punish them in the name of the Sorcerer Supreme. No purification vetting is needed; doing this already shows they are utterly corrupted."

“If you’re still this stupid, Mordo, I’m worried about you.” Cassirios sighed. “You don’t understand why he’s putting this on hold for now. I believe he wants to punish you, but now is definitely not the time. He must have some concerns.”

"When he represents the Sorcerer Supreme, backing down is weakness," Mordo retorted without hesitation. "There is no room for negotiation on this matter; he must issue the sanctions to uphold the authority of the Sorcerer Supreme."

"You have no right, Mordo. You are the apprentice instructor; you can offer suggestions, but you can't make decisions for him."

Venerable Wu Guiyue pointed to Hammurabi not far away.

"If you have any objections, you can speak to his guards." She then twirled her finger, pointing to the automatic sentry gun emplacements mounted on the nearby city walls and in the portico. Master Wu Guiyue knew perfectly well why Master Hamil had invited her. The Emperor had eaten at her home in his childhood and had a pleasant conversation with her daughter, Alice. Aside from the senile Master Daniel, she was another Temple Guardian who would steadfastly support the Emperor. "And those machines. They could blast you to smithereens before you even utter your first incantation. Don't doubt him; it has been proven time and again that he possesses wisdom, vision, and power far surpassing ours. Like the Sorcerer Supreme… you must treat him as the Sorcerer Supreme. We all know his talent, and if you belittle him because of your age, then I will question your qualifications as an apprentice mentor."

"He's not the same person he used to be, Mordo, my brother." Compared to Wu Guiyue's accusatory tone, Kasirius was much gentler, though not exactly friendly. "I love him, as a father loves his children. But his responsibilities, talents, and mission don't allow him to have the emotions of an ordinary person. He will lead us through the end times, and those who bear such a burden are not allowed to have emotions. We are merely the family he grew up in, not the destination. We've done well, and the Sorcerer Supreme has done his job. There's no need to dwell on it... Do you know why he relieved you of your duties and then had me temporarily take your place? Because you didn't recognize your place. We are all just cogs in a great cause, and you always thought you had the ability to manipulate him, simply because you watched him grow up."

"I didn't think that way!" Mordo lowered his voice. "I was only trying to protect Kamar-Taj!"

"We'll form a small cabinet. This is his suggestion, not mine. I'm not interested in politics. Mordo, if you want to speak, you can say so over there. I believe he'll listen." Master Hamil raised his hand, quickly interrupting the conversation to prevent the powder keg from igniting. Frankly, if he hadn't lost both hands on the front lines of the anti-Japanese war in his youth, leading to his disillusionment and detachment from worldly affairs, Master Hamil believed he wouldn't have achieved what he had. No matter how successful the prosthetic surgery was, no matter how light and flexible the prosthetics were, he would never get used to the weight of these mechanical hands. "Now our job is to carry out the mission." He forced their attention back to work. "Solving the ritual problem at the library is what we need to do. Now shut up; our work needs to be finished before sunrise."

Laura Crawford spoke about how she felt after being shot.

Since everyone present was female, she unabashedly lifted her sports bra, revealing the wound on her left rib—a fist-sized, bluish-purple frostbite—the illusory bullet wasn't a physical bullet. While it exhibited the physical characteristics of a physical bullet, such as deformation and fragmentation, it wasn't propelled by gunpowder combustion, but by thoughts, emotions, and spirit. She claimed her heart stopped beating when she was shot; she didn't even see who fired the shot, and after a few steps, she collapsed to the ground. The bone-chilling cold froze her heart and lungs, causing ice crystals to condense in her blood vessels, damaging every organ and cell as they flowed through her bloodstream. This was the description in the text and images she saw in her medical report; no matter what, she felt the fact that she was still alive was incredibly unreal.

"Then it was like soaking in a hot spring, I felt so warm. When I woke up, he was standing by my bed." Laura Crawford undoubtedly skipped over some less-than-ideal details, but the others didn't seem to care. They preferred hearing about her battles and exclaiming "Wow!"—especially the eccentric woman who'd been brought out of the library with her. She'd sat beside Laura the whole time, sipping her hot cocoa with roasted marshmallows, and whenever Laura described shooting an enemy or jumping onto the top of a bookshelf, she'd playfully chime in with silly noises.

To be honest, Laura Crawford had no idea who she was. She still didn't know the woman's name, why she was in the library, or why she was at the manor, but that didn't stop Laura from requesting that the woman remain at the manor during her convalescence. "I know it's rude of me to say this," Laura Crawford said, blushing before she could even speak, "but I'm worried about her survival skills."

"Don't be nervous. He thinks the same way you do, that's why this woman is here." Bayonetta smiled happily. "He's a sweet little man who thinks of everyone and everything, so you don't need to worry about any inconveniences you might experience at the manor."

"I believe that anyone who has met him would not say that."

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(End of this chapter)