Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 148 Expulsion (Second Update!)

Nyarlathotep can be killed physically in human form. After dying in human form, his corpse will fall and begin to vibrate and expand, eventually exploding and emerging as a gigantic, clawed monster. This repulsive behemoth will fly into the sky from its shattered body and disappear without further harming its killer.

Just like the Chaos Core Messenger's own duty, this monster's purpose was to inform Nyarlathotep's true form of the situation. Even in human form, very few of Nyarlathotep's avatars had ever been killed, and once the true form learned of this, it would most likely send out other avatars to continue its game. However, Salomon didn't want the situation here, or even himself, to arouse Nyarlathotep's true form's interest, so he had to stop the monster.

"Huh? Cough cough!" The figure of darkness raised his head, straining to look at Salomon. Even in his dying state, the mocking smile on his lips remained. "It's useless. 'I' already know. You don't know how many avatars I have... In fact, no avatar knows except my true self. Hahahaha, don't even think about escaping the Chaos Protocore Messenger's game. There's no quit button in this game. Salomon Damonette, I'm quite satisfied with your cold-bloodedness, but I'm not some cruel guy. You understand me; I just enjoy having fun. That woman's soul was in Coulson's body. I swapped their souls! How interesting, isn't it? The only way you can resolve this is to cast the spell yourself and switch them back. I believe Randolph Carter definitely gave you that magic, didn't he?"

Salomon frowned. Randolph Carter had indeed copied a spell called "Soul Transference" into his spellbook, a wicked spell that could extract a soul from a living body and place it into another. But learning and using such magic would permanently weaken his sanity and willpower, a price he couldn't afford to pay, and Randolph Carter had advised Salomon against casting too many similar spells in a short period.

There are other options, but we'll have to wait until we get back to Kamar-Taj.

"Perhaps." Salomon twisted the hilt of his sword. "And who betrayed you? Do you have accomplices? Tell me!"

"I refuse!" The figure of darkness seemed oblivious to the pain; all he could do now was mock Salomon. "You think you've won? You haven't, sweetheart. You've already fallen into my trap, you just haven't realized it yet."

"What do you mean?"

"You think I'd tell you?" The figure in darkness slowly extended his blood-stained hand. "We'll meet again. Ah, I hate this magic, annoying Cthugha."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the figure in darkness was enveloped by several shimmering points of light, as if draped in a dazzling starlight cloak. These points of light, like real stars, radiated an invisible heat that instantly ignited all the fallen leaves on the ground. The expanding hot air swept through the entire forest like a whirlwind, forcing Salomon and Coulson to retreat to avoid being burned by the intense heat. The arcane mage, after drawing his longsword, didn't forget to take Coulson with him, and Coulson, clutching the stray dog ​​that had performed the great service, quickly ran away.

The Dark Ones rose higher and higher, like stars rising in the east, bringing a long-lost light to the dark forest. But this light represented not hope, but the cruelest death. Salomon and Coulson ran for their lives, the intense heat chasing after them, instantly igniting every elm tree in their path. The magic cast by Nyarlathotep himself possessed power far beyond mortal comprehension. If Salomon had wielded ordinary metal weapons instead of Excalibur, they would have been melted into molten iron.

Immediately following, a massive explosion erupted from the sky, the starlight vanished, and a monster appeared. By the orange-red glow of the burning forest below, Salomon could make out its appearance. It was a monster with black, fleshy wings. This monster lacked a typical head and body; it seemed to be merely limbs formed by several enormous black tentacles. Its lower body consisted of several arthropod-like claws of varying lengths, covered with dark, fish-scale-like patterns. These incongruous limbs grew around the head, and directly beneath the head were several constantly writhing, deep black tentacles that faintly glowed red.

When Salomon saw the monster, he seemed to see a gigantic mass of flesh writhing in the void, the ultimate form of the deepest chaos, accompanied by echoing low, thumping sounds and hollow, hoarse flute music. Several invisible, terrifying beings danced wildly to the monotonous flute melody. Then he heard a mocking laugh, followed by a series of loud laughs. Salomon completely forgot where he was and what he was supposed to do; his mind was a blank, as if the scene he witnessed was beyond his comprehension.

Suddenly, he felt a hand pat his shoulder. It was a human hand. Salomon felt a surge of joy well up inside him; all the hallucinations vanished completely, and he returned to reality. "Mr. Carter, thank you so much for your help." Salomon struggled to stay conscious. "Where's Coulson?"

"Don't worry," Randolph Carter said softly. "You need to rest. As for Agents Romanoff and Coulson, I'll take care of them."

"Nyarlathotep..."

"He has left," Randolph said, "gone forever. You need to rest. The rites that follow will be performed by us together."

------------

When Salomon awoke, he found himself in a guest room at Randolph Carter's residence. It was early morning, but instead of birdsong, the air outside was filled with a cacophony of curses. The sorcerer rubbed his eyes, got out of bed, and picked up the Sword of Excalibur beside him. He quietly parted the thin curtains and saw the royal army escorting batches of prisoners through the streets, the curses coming from the ordinary onlookers.

The visions that appeared when the Man of Darkness died last night attracted the attention of many. Under the illumination of the fire that lit up half the sky, many people saw the enormous monster. But not everyone was able to escape madness and regain their sanity with the help of others, like Salomon.

The Puritans' already dwindling sanity was further exhausted after witnessing the monster. From last night until this morning, the town was in constant turmoil, with many utterly driven to madness. The symptoms of madness varied: some became increasingly fanatical in their faith, believing everyone was connected to the devil and praying to God for salvation; others became lost in fantasy, detached from their miserable and painful reality; still others were worse off, beginning to fear and hallucinate, seeing not living people walking the streets, but mutilated corpses.

Countless murders occurred in a single night, and with the interrogator killed, Judge Cotton Mather recklessly dispatched all of the King's Army to arrest criminals in the town. However, this did not stop the spread of madness. In the chaos, most people became even more superstitious, believing it to be the witch's revenge, that the criminals were manipulated by the witch through witchcraft, or that these criminals had always been associated with the witch but had simply fallen into depravity yesterday.

Now, there's nowhere quiet left in the entire town of Salem; this mansion is currently the only place that's somewhat safe. After washing up, the sorcerer took his sword and went downstairs, where Randolph Carter had been waiting for quite some time in the living room. "You're awake," he said, putting down his newspaper and gesturing for Tituba to bring Salomon breakfast. "The situation is bad right now, please forgive me."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Carter. I'd also like to know..."

"Agent Coulson and Agent Romanov are fine; they're still in a deep sleep. The Chaos Core Messenger swapped their souls, and after returning here, I switched them back. They need rest and to recover. As for your dog… I imagine it's munching on a bone in the garden right now," Randolph said. "I heard you've found the Stone Tower—actually, I've been there before, but the altar I built disappeared after the reality reset. It's a good place to perform rituals. You can spend the day here, waiting for Agent Coulson and Agent Romanov to wake up, and then we can perform the ritual."

“Actually, I have a few other questions, Mr. Carter.” Salomon hesitated for a moment before deciding to ask. “What about Abigail?” he asked. “I still have some questions about her. Why did she become corrupted?”

Randolph glanced at Salomon. "She's just a twelve-year-old girl," he said. "What you read in history books about Abigail doing, she really did. You can't imagine how much mental stress she endured afterward, and you know what happens when someone is completely crushed. Besides, Abigail was imprisoned by that sorcerer for over three hundred years, in that dark and silent environment for over three hundred years. It's hard to say that no one's mind wouldn't be affected."

"What I mean is... why would the Lord of the Gate leave offspring in this world?" Salomon shook his head. "It just doesn't make sense."

"That's because you can still understand these issues. In fact, the great ancient immortals did not leave offspring in this world; the Abigail in this world is just one of her possibilities," Randolph Carter said. "And the Abigail who should have been born isn't in this world; that Abigail hasn't been born yet. What we need to do is return her to her father; only then can the Abigail of another world possibly appear."

"This is hard to understand; it's a reversal of cause and effect."

“It is indeed difficult for you to understand right now,” Randolph said. “But you are special. Your future begins now, and every action you take creates an uncertain future, with infinite possibilities, far more than the possibilities of the universe. That’s why you need to go through that door to witness all your possibilities, to elevate yourself spiritually, and to understand the question of ultimate time. This is one possible ending for you.”

Please vote for me!!

(End of this chapter)