Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1615 The Lunar War (127)

"Alien? Is that what you call my kind?"

The behemoth's head still retained a trace of activity, its eyes, struggling to break free from its charred shell, fixed intently on the First Lord. Aparishia felt the voice was trying to penetrate his brain, but an invisible barrier blocked it—in the knights' psychological indoctrination and teaching machines, this psionic barrier was called "the Emperor's Barrier," a psionic defense barrier personally designed and constructed by the Emperor to resist psionic interference on a mental level—Aparishia remained unmoved, continuing to swing his axe at the behemoth's neck, silencing its noise.

"Why not use the name you humans give to my kind? Why are you afraid of that word?"

Aparishia seized the beast's horn, lifting its massive, hyena-like head and placing it before Regent Victor von Doom, clad in a dark green robe. The latter, supporting himself with his staff, drenched in cold sweat, stood before him. The beast tried to utter a word, but Victor von Doom gave it no chance—he pointed his golden eagle-shaped staff, burning with flames, at the beast's head, which rapidly shrank until it could be lifted with a single hand. Flames erupted beneath the flesh, bright tongues of fire gushing from its eye sockets. Supernatural organic matter charred and crumbled, revealing jagged, sharp teeth. Victor von Doom unfastened a black alloy chain from his waist, gesturing for Aparishia to chain the horned skull.

"A demon, is that it?"

Regent Victor von Doom took the thick iron chain, the skull swaying precariously at its end. He could hear the demon cursing in the fire; the bright flames in the skull's eye sockets gradually subsided, the interior charred black as if the heaviest shadows in the universe had accumulated there, with only a few embers still slowly smoldering. The symbols on the skull's forehead, extending from the axe marks, still emitted faint embers. A long, distant, grinding-teeth-like whisper echoed in the flames, then vanished.

"I have submitted to fate, I have kept my promise. You will witness the heat death of the universe in the Sea of ​​Souls, but you will never be able to interfere with the material universe." Aparisha watched as the Regent reattached the chains to his waist, the smoldering skull emitting wisps of intangible smoke, like an incense burner used in a religious ceremony. Victor von Doom's tone was slightly mocking. "Your concept of existence is no longer complete. Even your master cannot piece you back together. You will forever drift in the Sea of ​​Souls as ethereal energy, and this will be your future destiny. I know you can hear me. No matter what you want us to call you, you will eventually tell us information of sufficient value."

“If you ask me… though I know you didn’t ask, even my grandmother knew this thing only lies. Was it wise to ask it for information?” Aparishia cracked his knuckles, the servers beneath the armor plates whirring. Seemingly satisfied with beheading the instigator, he glanced at the other knights’ scattered corpses before silently returning his gaze to the Regent. Later, they would take these bodies back to the upper deck and bury them in the Immortal City’s catacombs, where all the heroes who had sacrificed themselves for the Emperor’s cause lay. “Wouldn’t it be better to throw it in the sewers or the reactor cooling ducts, so it can’t harm anyone?”

"When we understand the enemy's intentions, we must seize the opportunity," Regent Victor von Doom said calmly. "The Emperor will personally preside over its interrogation."

“I have no objections. I believe the Emperor is capable of handling this.” Aparishia then looked at Constantine. He noticed the Imperial Guards huddled together whispering after the battle, and he utterly disdained this secrecy. “According to procedure, should I be subject to information blackout?” He no longer focused on the Imperial Guards, but instead uttered the deeply humiliating question in a flat tone, “Will this battle leave no record?”

"The Royal Guard will preserve all information regarding this operation," Regent Victor von Doom stated. Those standing here are the Emperor's confidants, his most efficient tools, his sharpest blades; there are some things that need not be hidden from them. "You will also have a record, but only from your memory, Aparisha. The secret of the Aether's appearance must be altered. We cannot let ordinary people know that their nightmares truly exist. Their minds are too weak to bear such a fact, even those selected elite mortal soldiers. Our greatest enemy is not a physical entity that can be dealt with by weapons, but the invisible and intangible mind, the fear deeply ingrained in humanity's genes. Those minds await the Emperor's armament; now is not the time to tell them the truth."

"This isn't my job." Aparishia shrugged, the self-repairing adhesive in the power armor lining making the movement of several deformed small armor plates less smooth than before. "I'm only responsible for slaughter and protecting what's in sight."

Don't pretend you don't understand, Aparishia. I know your views on *Unified Truth*. You used to be an American, became religious after suffering from PTSD, and you've stopped now. While the rehabilitation surgery played a part, I think that can also be considered progress.

Constantine finished his conversation with the other Guards, whispered a few words in the Regent's ear, and then Victor von Doom issued his orders. Clearly, the Guards had brought new information. "The servants and the rest of the First Army's knights will arrive shortly to carry out the transport work. We can stay here for a while. The situation above has eased; the Inhuman civilians are no longer resisting, and the Battle of Attilan can be declared over. What follows will be a long restoration process. We will attempt to restore all the functions of this starcaster and send troops to garrison it." The Regent winked at Aparishia. "It's time to increase the intensity and frequency of our boarding training, Lord of the First Army."

"Yes, Your Excellency," Aparisha said dryly. "You must have seen my brain to know that I really enjoy sleeping in places littered with alien corpses."

"Don't worry, we have very high battlefield hygiene standards," Constantine replied. "You will stand before the gates of Constantinople, and glory will not pass you by."

"Are you sure you're not joking, Constantine?"

In response, Aparisha received a puzzled look from the commander of the Royal Guard.

On a snow-capped peak in the Northern Hemisphere summer, you can see more than just white snow and black rocks reflecting the sunlight.

The winter blizzards and leaden cumulonimbus clouds had receded, and sunlight pierced the bright blue sky, relentlessly illuminating the snow-covered slopes and creating dazzling reflections. The observatory atop the peaks still bore a sliver of snow, but the path from the small landing airfield to the hidden base had been cleared. Assault transport ships circled, separating from their escort fighters, their thrusters radiating heat that evaporated the fine snowflakes in the air—the airtightness protocol was released, the temperature control protocol was released, the artificial gravity protocol was released, the cargo hold locking protocol was released—the hydraulic system slowly lowered the ramp, and Amon, carrying the military flag, emerged first, facing another guard who had been waiting for some time. The Emperor and the two witches boarded the anti-gravity armored personnel carrier that the guard had prepared. Because this was a military vehicle, not the Emperor's private jet, the interior was not as luxurious as the Pegasus command assault transport ship; it was simple, filled with military equipment, devoid of any unnecessary decorations.

Through telepathic communication, the two witches have already learned their destination.

They wouldn't head directly to Kamar-Taj headquarters, but instead to an astronomical tower that had been transformed into a stronghold of the Immortal City. It had once been Kamar-Taj's celestial observation post, built on a mountain peak that no one had climbed to this day, hidden on cliff face, camouflaged with snow and rock. Upon entering, the witches saw anti-aircraft radars on both sides of the nearby mountainside, and anti-aircraft missiles perpetually ready to fire.

After taking control of the stronghold, the emperor immediately repaired the astronomical tower, which had been abandoned for many years, and improved it using military and psionic technology, making it a stronghold and logistical reserve base capable of withstanding radar detection, missile attacks, and psionic attacks.

At the same time, this astronomical tower was also the site where the emperor established the Academy of Psionic Powers.

All schools of magic on Earth had to come together for unified supervision and training to prevent dangerous psychic events from jeopardizing human safety. To achieve this, the Emperor's army massacred all members of any rebellious school of magic at the Temple of Watum, and subsequently dispatched Kamar-Taj sorcerers and knights to carry out missions of inviting, confiscating, and imprisoning them. Since the nascent psychic academy was less than two hundred kilometers away from Kamar-Taj, it shared a dungeon with the academy, facilitating Kamar-Taj's oversight of it.

Before heading to Kamar-Taj, they needed to rest here, and the Emperor advised the Witch to observe the situation from here. If he couldn't resolve the Kamar-Taj problem, then everyone in this stronghold would have to evacuate. Currently, all the personnel the Emperor could command within Kamar-Taj had arrived at Fort Attilan on the moon. If things went astray, the Emperor's army could act without restraint, without worrying about harming those crucial to the plan. Even the sorcerers Hamil, Wu Guiyue, Kasirius, and Mordo were unaware that while the Emperor claimed he was merely repairing the Astronomical Tower and using it as a base for the Psionic Academy, he had secretly transported several thermonuclear warheads to this stronghold.

Another member of the Imperial Guard has already installed the fusion warhead onto the rocket, ready to launch at any time.

"Replenish ammunition and fuel, and we will depart for Kamar-Taj with the escort fighters," Amon told the base's logistics and readiness chiefs. "Order the soldiers of the First Classified Regiment to complete final preparations, equip themselves with anti-gravity parachutes, and be ready to board at any time. We will conduct a direct airborne operation, reaching the tactical objectives as quickly as possible. I will send the tactical objectives to the command terminal: at least five Falling Hammer drop bunkers, fifty V-2 automatic laser sentry guns, twenty thousand explosive rounds..."

While the Royal Guard, led by Amon, was issuing orders to military officials, the Emperor invited the two witches to take the elevator to the upper levels of the Astronomical Tower. The two fully armed combat sisters waited before the largest door in the circular corridor, only opening it with the security keys on their power armor after seeing the Emperor. "I've set up a library here, containing books from various schools of magic on Earth," he said. "According to the laws decreed by the Sorcerer Supreme, every school of magic on Earth must provide at least one copy of their heritage to Kamar-Taj. However, this law was often deliberately ignored until the Psionic Academy was established, and the heritages of those schools were forcibly confiscated by the knights. Only then was the will of the Sorcerer Supreme and me fully implemented."

"Was that old guy dressed like a cowboy who kept staring at us while we were in the elevator the wizard named Monak?" Joan asked. "He's famous in the underground magic market and dimensional rifts. I've heard he's very skilled in using magic based on Hindu mythology."

"The old man is quite aware of the costs of using etheric power. Although he has temporarily submitted, I know he has always intended to leave this place."

(End of this chapter)