Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1553 The Lunar War (Sixty-Five)

The monk Hamil arrived in Attila, but did not greet the monks Xiao Wang and Wu Guiyue.

He was transported directly to the war headquarters in Attiland via a portal, rather than departing from Earth orbit by ship. The reason for this was that, as the Emperor's and the Sorcerer Supreme's representative, the Mage Hamil had spent a considerable amount of time dealing with the internal affairs of Kamar-Taj and had no time to waste on travel. The Emperor believed that the magical power He had expended for this was well worth it.

If Master Wang knew how his father was treated, he would definitely complain loudly.

To conserve precious space, there are no freshly prepared meals on the Sky Carrier; all food is pre-made. In short, it's industrially produced ready-to-eat meals that can be eaten after heating. This type of food is now also used for logistical support; even the Emperor hasn't escaped the fate of eating industrially produced ready-to-eat meals. Besides the caviar, Iberian ham, champagne, and bread that Dina specially brought from Earth, as the Emperor's personal servant, she has a separate warehouse specifically for storing anything the Emperor needs.

"I'm sorry, Master Hamil, we don't have anything to offer our guests right now."

The Emperor extended his hand, inviting the mage Hamil into the command vehicle's crew compartment. As Hamil raised his champagne, the Emperor began issuing orders via a holographic projection of the command table. If Malcolm were there, he would have seen a map entirely different from the one used in the Battle of Attilan. More accurately, it wasn't a map at all, but a spiritual guide composed of geometric shapes, coded symbols, and prayer rituals, used to guide spellcasters in their arcane arts.

"This is a ritual I devised on the spot based on the situation in Attilan. I need a group of veterans from the dimensional gaps to help me capture and contain a specific spiritual entity in the Ether Sea. I know they don't have time to manage the affairs of the material universe, Mage Hamil, but now I have the right to call upon them." The Emperor did not adopt a negotiating stance. "If that doesn't work, I'll go to the Wangada Mountains and bring over the Merlin School mages from the En-Gala Fortress. I want to break the prophecy no matter what."

"This is dangerous," said the mage Hamil, frowning. "The Cosmic Cauldron has captured fragments of that spiritual entity's thoughts, but an ascetic was burned to ashes while pursuing them. Dark forces are awakening, and destiny remains unpredictable. I believe that terrifying entity is merely a pebble and bait thrown by the dark gods to create ripples and startle the fish. You are that fish; they want you. This Attilan is very likely a ritual we cannot comprehend."

"If fate claims that an entity can exist until the heat death of the universe, then destroying it now would be tantamount to denying those entities' control over fate," the Emperor said calmly. "Chaos, evil gods—whatever they may be, I know their true purpose. I rejected them, Mage Hamil. The human race will never be their plaything, and humanity, including myself, has the freedom to reject them. As we have always done, we must protect them from chaos, extraterrestrials, and humanity itself—we must protect humanity's free will."

"The price to pay is high," the mage Hamil did not object. The concept of self-fulfilling prophecies, as taught in ancient Greece, was already a mandatory course of study; if the emperor wanted to do it, he could only obey. "The density of psionic beings here is extremely high. Every killing you commit here strengthens their power. If you want to fight that spiritual entity, it's tantamount to fighting yourself. The gods have calculated everything possible. In my view, you are now struggling in a trap. Regardless of whether you achieve final victory, you will always have to pay a price you shouldn't have to lose."

"I have already paid the price, Mage Hamil."

The Emperor removed the arm guard from his left arm, revealing the iron-gray ring on the little finger of his left hand to the Sorcerer Hamil. The ring was oxidized, but beneath the oxide layer lay a smooth, brass-like luster. He soothed Hamil's worries with a warm smile—since He began acting independently, the Sorcerer Supreme had rarely offered advice, and Hamil had become His agent, objecting to His every dangerous act—He was grateful for such concern, yet some things only He could accomplish.

"I paid the bill for this many years ago. It was an equivalent exchange, only the two sides had slightly different concepts of equivalents," the Emperor said. "The whole of Attilan is like a train loaded with dangerous chemicals, speeding wildly and finally derailing. These Inhumans will kill all humanity sooner or later, even little Jimmy Lian."

Who is Little Jimmy?

The emperor rolled his eyes in an extremely human way.

"Okay, it's not like I don't have a sense of humor."

When Black Bolt saw the crystal again, several hours had passed.

The human army slowed its advance, constructing a defensive network of mines, barbed wire, fortifications, machine gun turrets, and missile turrets, effectively locking the Inhumans within their settlements. After arranging everything, Black Bolt, accompanied by Genesis Council guards and the royal medical staff, finally saw Crystal lying in her hospital bed. Black Bolt noticed that Crystal's hands, feet, and even fingers were softly restrained; she was drowsy and disoriented under the influence of sedatives. "This is to protect her mind, and the minds of others," Richard said. "None of us know what kind of psychological suggestion Maximus has given her; we can't even probe her mind because it's completely chaotic. She keeps saying she wants to see you, Your Majesty, but I think…"

Black Bolt shook his head, indicating that there was no need to adopt these soft restraints.

Under Dr. Richard's disapproving gaze, Black Bolt ordered the medical staff to inject Crystal with a drug to wake her up. About twenty minutes later, Crystal's body awoke from the chemically induced sleep of the sedative. At first, she was unaware of her situation until Black Bolt walked to her bedside and looked at her with concern, at which point those terrifying memories began to surface.

She started crying again.

Black Bolt did not urge her.

When the Gene Council soldiers arrived at the prison for their routine handover, they discovered Crystal in the deepest cell. The cell where Maximus, the infamous rebel and once-glorious prince, was imprisoned was completely empty. Apart from Crystal, there was no other living thing in the entire prison—all the guards were dead. Half of them died in Maximus's cell, and the other half died in front of the other prisoners' cells. It seemed the former had instigated a massive prison riot, killing all the guards and taking all the prisoners with them—a possibility that couldn't be ignored, given that the prison was hidden several decks below, like an ugly scar unwilling to be shown. Crystal recounted what she could still remember, but she didn't know where the other prisoners had gone, or whether they had joined Maximus.

The only certainty is that Maximus released all the prisoners.

"Could anything be worse than this?" Black Bolt wondered. The human army was slowly and methodically killing every Inhuman, while internally there was the assassin who had tried to kill Medusa, Maximus who had escaped his prison and might lead a large group of dangerous prisoners, the disorganized army, and the constant crime and riots fueled by despair… Black Bolt closed his eyes and took a deep breath… He didn't want to be crushed by this pressure. The truth was, he had no one to share the burden; only a few members of the clan alliance had returned to the royal court. Some of them had lost faith in the human army, while others hadn't even seen the battlefield before being killed by human artillery.

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(End of this chapter)