Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1634, the Eye of Kamar-Taj

"You are no less capable than my father's guards."

This is Athena's assessment of Amon.

As part of her preliminary plan, she had reviewed Amun's records from his secret missions with the Emperor on other planets, including the true identity and secrets of Constantine, the commander of the Praetorian Guard. Amun was an exceptional warrior, an ever-focused protector, a master of group warfare, and a watchdog secretly observing the social system created by the Regent—all genetic talents bestowed upon him by the Emperor based on his abilities. In fact, Athena greatly desired a duel between the Praetorian Guard and Zeus's warriors, even though she knew that the pleasure-seeking Olympian Praetorian Guard was no match for the Emperor's Praetorian Guard, whose constant focus, composure, and precision would only result in them being slaughtered like livestock. The thought of this scene filled Athena with excitement; Zeus's era had lasted too long, it was time for the pocket dimension known as Olympus to enter the next era.

The Greek pantheon, claiming to be the legitimate successor to Earth, derives its social concepts from the diverse cultures and social environments of Mesopotamia, Crete, ancient Egypt, and ancient Greece, combined with the spiritual nature of its ancient divine lineage. Athena believes the Emperor is of ancient divine lineage, and the Praetorian Guard is under his command; therefore, the Praetorian Guard is also a member of the ancient divine lineage and should rightfully be used as pawns in her planned war. At least, that's what she believes, because she sees her plan as merely an insignificant episode in the Emperor's grand scheme. Regardless, the Emperor will be happy to see her ascend Mount Olympus. Mount Olympus has been peaceful for too long; it's time for a change, just like the Milky Way.

The ancient gods are purely philosophical concepts; even Zeus cannot be called an ancient god. But now, the ancient gods have completely vanished. The new gods, possessing both material cosmic forms and moral principles, extending from the dialectical unity of philosophical concepts to natural phenomena and social culture—a "spiritual material cosmic entity"—this is the Emperor's rough overview of the Olympian gods in his book; Athena doesn't mind borrowing this more accurate concept—are the future rulers of this universe. However, this plan has not yet received the Emperor's approval, and Athena knows that the Emperor is incorporating her plan into his overall strategy. Even she finds it difficult to understand every step of the Emperor's deductions, but she believes that the being that created the Emperor will not hesitate to bestow upon him the most powerful spiritual energy of the material universe.

Amon made no response to the praise from the wise goddess of war. He completely ignored Athena's thoughts and was unaware of the changes and shifts in the goddess's grand plan that had occurred within those few seconds. He was only concerned with when the courtyard gates would open. Even a sorcerer who knew nothing about the Praetorian Guard could sense the absolute coldness and focus emanating from Amon, but Athena could detect a restless anxiety beneath his calm exterior. If he could, a member of the Praetorian Guard would never leave the Emperor's side, allowing his master to enter a high-risk area.

"You are his loyal servant; you should know that his orders are absolute. No one is allowed to enter this courtyard before he leaves," Athena asked pointedly. "Or are you suggesting that you can disobey his orders? Isn't obedience a rule written in our genes?"

Amon's expression remained calm, and he still did not respond.

"That lighthouse, I see that lighthouse!" Sherlock Holmes suddenly exclaimed.

His gaze seemed to pierce through the thick clouds and dense lightning, revealing a beam of light that pierced the etheric energy cloud. In reality, this wasn't an atmospheric phenomenon occurring on Earth, but rather an etheric phenomenon occurring in the atmosphere above a planet. To ordinary humans, it was merely an electromagnetic wave that interfered with astronomical telescopes—perhaps a trace left by high-speed particles of solar wind or gamma radiation in a vacuum. But to a psionicist with a second vision, this etheric storm was presented in the most direct way. However, after a while, he had to close his eyes, a stinging pain filling his entire eyeball. When he finally managed to open them, his tear ducts secreting copious amounts of fluid, a purplish-red light flashed across his eyes and then vanished.

“Don’t stare at that thing. Your intuition is stronger than all of ours; looking at it without protection will only hurt you.” A middle-aged sorcerer patted him on the shoulder. Judging from the hem of his robe, he belonged to a family of sorcerers. Sherlock Holmes didn’t respond; he just kept rubbing his eyes, as if trying to pop them out. “Mutter a calming incantation; it will make you feel better. Stay focused and don’t let your chaotic thoughts and emotions distract you.”

Tatiana charged at the arcane mage, her arm gripping the bombshot gun pierced by a smoke beast's bite, revealing a row of bleeding teeth marks above her biceps. Blood poured into the smoke beast's canines and mouth; Tatiana could even vaguely see her own blood seeping into the beast's belly. Adrenaline numbed her to pain; she attacked the arcane mage before her like a madwoman, smashing through walls as if hacking through a barrier. The bombshot gun's muzzle pierced the shield's electrical layer in the air. The bombshot gun's characteristic deafening roar exploded beside the arcane mage's ear, the bomb whistling past, the rocket's exhaust scorching the skin near her ear.

The sorcerer closed his eyes, and the shield dissipated into static electricity in the air.

A weightless, smoky beast tore at her arm, forcibly deflecting the downward-slashing chainsword, which then clattered through the air like glass. The arcane mage vanished into a cloud of smoke in the blink of an eye, and just then, another chainsword whistled into it. The smoke burst forth from the meditation hall's doors, knocking down the soldiers guarding the entrance. The combat sisters, without hesitation, opened fire on the weapon attempting to leap onto the roof, their shots piercing through the smoke along with several lasers powerful enough to penetrate light armor, creating several large holes.

"That thing flew into the sky!"

Tatiana heard the soldier's shout.

She immediately rushed out of the meditation hall, pulled out her plasma pistol, and fired three shots at the plume of smoke soaring into the sky. A massive amount of waste heat was released from the exhaust vents, and the smoke hounds hanging from her arms were instantly burned away by the distorted air—luckily, the seal on her hand armor remained intact, the heat insulation layer was still functioning, and she was also wearing a helmet; otherwise, the overheated air from the exhaust valve would have scalded her skin. The smoke, pierced by the plasma, was completely shattered; several scattered, irregular pieces of flesh fell from the smoke and landed on the plaza, while the remaining smoke vanished completely into the air. After the arcane mage died, the carefully constructed temporary spirit lost its ability to maintain its form, and the soldiers who were fighting the smoke spirit with automatic turrets, laser rifles, and plasma rifles breathed a sigh of relief.

This is the worst they have suffered since the attack on Kamar-Taj.

Even though the combat manual explained the vast differences between psychics, the previous apprentice mages had lowered the warriors' guard. Even the combat sisters, having rarely encountered human psychics, underestimated their potential. Some psychics were powerful enough to move mountains and fill seas, while others, with limited talent, spent their lives studying books during their apprenticeship at Kamar-Taj. The weakest were relegated to the common people, occasionally encountering inexplicable things around them—such as prophetic dreams, intuition, high intelligence, and devout faith. Many certified exorcists in the Roman Catholic Church possessed latent psychic talent. Although not powerful, they could exorcise possessing spirits—even the highest institution like Kamar-Taj couldn't make most psychics surpass their natural abilities through conventional means. Fortunately, most of the former had been transferred to the moon by the Emperor to participate in the purification phase of the Attilan campaign, while the truly powerful mages had all been sent to the moon.

Wanda Maximoff raised her arms, the blazing sun pouring down, the suffocating, orange-red dust-filled air making her sweat profusely. Her crimson energy shield vibrated incessantly, and numerous bullets veered past her. She had no idea why she was here; the last thing she could recall was that she hadn't followed Master Daniel's instructions to walk on the carpet exactly. In those few seconds of worry, the bullets aimed at her thinned out, followed by the roar of a truck engine, and then a few incomprehensible, terrified words. More bullets came hurtling towards her, yet many more whizzed past, posing no threat other than increasing the metal content of the ground.

An aged hand pulled her back, and the cool, clean air of the inner sanctuary made her breathe a sigh of relief. She looked down and found herself on the carpet in the semi-circular hall. In just a few seconds, the dust that had settled on her clothes was now falling off and disappearing into the fibers of the carpet.

"You should be listening to me, not dirtying the carpet," Master Daniel said irritably. "That's a random teleportation trap. Even if you were teleported to the battlefield of an African warlord's civil war, you should be glad you're still on the ground, not underground or in space. I believe you understand teleportation, don't you?"

"Ms. Maximov failed her courses in directional teleportation and individual teleportation."

"I am the guard," said Amphitrite, earning a resentful glare from Wanda Maximov.

"Let's get to work." The sorcerer Daniel shook his head dismissively, further fueling Wanda Maximoff's dissatisfaction. He first raised his hand and tapped a small bronze bell. Wanda Maximoff felt the magical aura of the entire hall begin to shift; the objects that had previously been filled with magical light began to lose their luster, becoming ordinary. Then, the sorcerer Daniel struck the bell in a specific rhythm, and the stone platform in front of the brass globe began to rotate and deform. A shelf rose from within the platform, and a brass-colored, eyeball-like magical artifact sat atop the shelf.

"This is the Eye of Agamotto, Kamar-Taj's most important artifact, and also the key to the planetary defense system." Wizard Daniel shook his head helplessly. "However, the most important component is not here. Even so, the Eye of Agamotto can still operate the planetary defense system, and its power will not be affected in any way."

(End of this chapter)