Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1727 The End of Royal Power

Icarus made his choice, and the emperor granted him the mercy he deserved.

Inanna, who had transformed back into human form, watched as the emperor emerged from the cave carrying a severed head. The blazing holy sword was sheathed in its golden sheath, no longer radiating heat. The scorching air no longer billowed from the cave, and the evening breeze, still warm, swept across the charred desert, bringing with it a lingering stench of burning.

The goddess of Venus tilted her head, her long hair, wrapped in crimson silk and resembling raven wings, cascading down with gravity. She felt nothing upon seeing Icarus's head. In her view, the death of the Eternals was inevitable, and there was no need to feel any emotion over the death of an Inhuman.

"Have you found the location of the Earth machine?" she asked curiously. "How many more people do we need to kill?"

"Icarus begged me to show mercy to the Eternals, and I promised him I would try my best to avoid spilling blood on the land." The Emperor's voice was filled with weariness. "Most importantly, it is Cronus. Once we kill him, our goal will be achieved. He does not possess a physical body in the physical universe, but has become the soul of the Earth's machines, so I must kill him in the outer dimension. With the Earth's machines, we can cultivate our legions and launch our most important expedition."

Icarus's soul was utterly destroyed by the Holy Sword. The Eternals' Earth machines could not capture his soul, and the body cloned from Icarus in the associated activation chamber could no longer possess a soul. Before heading towards eternal peace, he told the Emperor everything he knew.

After the Eternals split, they each made their own decisions. One group of Eternals, led by Zuras, made a deal with the extradimensional entities worshipped by the primitive human civilization near the Mediterranean. They became containers for extradimensional entities that were relatively friendly to the human race (the so-called friendliness was not human friendliness), allowing those extradimensional entities to come to this world through physical bodies in the physical universe.

This ritual of deep integration between an outer-dimensional entity and the physical universe is called "incarnation".

There are two ways of receiving flesh: "possession" and "conception".

Inanna and the Eternals used "possession," which means possessing a body in a physical universe, where the outer-dimensional entity and the soul of the body merge and influence each other.

The Olympian pantheon grants power, and the Eternals offer their bodies; their destinies are deeply intertwined. Upon successful possession, the outer-dimensional entity will possess a physical body from the real universe, immediately gaining the power that body can contain. If the Olympian gods choose a mortal as their vessel, they cannot exert much power; Inanna rarely unleashes her full power, as this would only result in the powerful psychic energy burning away the mortal body. If the possessed Eternal dies, the soul of the merged Olympian pantheon will be reborn, freeing itself from the destiny bestowed upon the Eternals by the gods.

This influence is bidirectional; not only does the physical body change due to the power of the outer dimension, but the soul of the outer-dimensional entity also changes due to the fused soul. Such an Eternal being is no longer truly Eternal, because the body of an Eternal contains a completely new soul. Athena will strive for the continuation of the Olympian pantheon and will feel a sense of belonging to the Eternals, but whether she is an Eternal or an Olympian deity is no longer clear.

Among the list provided by Icarus was Athena, the emperor's future mentor.

Another form of physical incarnation is "conception." Kamar-Taj believes that "conception" is when an outer-dimensional entity erases all memories and thoughts and undergoes a deep union through birth in the physical universe—the Emperor, or Salomon, came into this world in this way [Note 1]—this form of physical incarnation cannot immediately interfere with reality, but given enough time, the born child can gradually reclaim the wisdom from the outer dimension and gain the power and mission that he already possessed.

For example, the Emperor himself, the soul of this planet fused with the soul of the Creator, was destined to bear responsibilities and tasks that humans could not. He was now an Emperor corrupted by power and strength, not "Salomone" from Kamar-Taj. This simple name, which had accompanied his growing power, had not flowed between the tongues and lips of others for a long time; even Victor von Doom would not utter his name, instead using his code name, for the Emperor's name possessed the power to kill mortals and extradimensional entities.

Exhaustion is fleeting.

The emperor's body no longer felt fatigued; he could work tirelessly without sleep. This information shock was nothing to him, and the news that Athena was an immortal had no effect on him. He didn't care at all; Athena was Athena. In all their years of interaction, he had long known that Athena, like Bayonetta, wholeheartedly supported him. He also planned to recruit other immortals to join his project, and Athena was one of them. These immortals possessed knowledge bestowed by the gods, which could significantly reduce necessary working hours.

The emperor decided to find an opportunity to tell Athena the truth, as she would know more than Inanna. This wasn't out of favoritism, nor was it because he trusted Athena more than Inanna, who might be the founder of the Witch School; it was simply that each person only needed to know the part of the secret they needed to know.

Only Athena knew the truth about time travel, which is why she was able to guide the then-young Salomon to the British Museum until he embarked on his expedition to the edge of the solar system in the future, thus completing this time loop.

He took a deep breath, because things were really complicated.

That damned Cronus has now become an extradimensional entity fused with Earth's machines.

Although he lost the essence of immortality, Cronus was also unable to die in the physical universe. To completely kill him without damaging Earth's machinery, he could only be killed in an outer dimension, or his soul could be pulled out of Earth's machinery. The latter method had a very high probability of damaging Earth's machinery. In order to ensure that he could obtain all the knowledge given to the Eternals by the gods, the Emperor preferred to use the first method, that is, to kill Cronus in an outer dimension.

This was an extremely troublesome matter, one that even Agamotto was reluctant to undertake. Searching for a specific soul unrelated to the spellcaster in an outer dimension devoid of space and time was virtually impossible. If he hadn't carefully manipulated fate, creating a series of fragile coincidences, this matter wouldn't have been so easily resolved.

"First, board the warships," the Emperor said. "Everything in Eridu must end, and the monarchy must cease. Eridu has too many dependent rentiers. If they refuse to obey orders to migrate eastward, then let them bear the consequences of our war with the Eternals."

The emperor's decree meant that those privileged classes who had benefited from commerce and the well-field system would die during the relocation from Eridu. To produce and mobilize enough resources for the expedition, the emperor had tolerated these individuals profiting within the administrative system he had established.

Now that the Egyptian expedition has ended and a new one is about to begin, nothing will remain on this land except the culture and wisdom of Eridu. For the next month, the inhabitants of Eridu will be able to see the giant warships hanging overhead, and many will anxiously look towards the temples that emit a soft glow, trying to find some solace in the gods who dwell there.

Especially the farmers who lived outside the city and supplied agricultural products to Elidu, would come to the temple almost every day to pray and leave behind cakes made of clay. The people of Elidu were spreading the word that the gods would soon be leaving the city. Every day they saw people riding on "burning eagles" into the sky and disappearing into the steel city in the heavens; many said that the gods would lead His priests and most devout believers to live in that steel city.

Not everyone was willing to leave, except for the emperor's most steadfast supporters.

Those generations of educated students and their families were undoubtedly supporters of the emperor's decision, especially those from peasant and artisan families. As for the officials in the administrative system, some of whom were taken away by the Guardian Order, these were also supporters of the emperor.

For the remaining merchant families, the emperor's order was nothing short of the end of the world.

Due to the sharp decline in the wealthy and educated classes, the total value of high-value goods imported and exported from Elidu continued to decrease. Gems from the turquoise staircase and Egypt were no longer in demand, and deep-sea pearls were even in surplus. However, some of these merchants had received basic education and were willing to accompany the emperor on his warships, firmly believing that the emperor could provide them with a better life.

The most devout inhabitants of Elidu, the farmers living around the city, held completely different opinions. If it weren't for the emperor's order to hoard food, even the farmers who supplied the city with agricultural products would have risen up against him. These small-scale farmers, no matter how devout, would not abandon their land for the emperor and follow him onto warships, because their livelihood depended on the land beneath their feet and the irrigation systems the emperor had built over the past thirty years.

As for the slaves, they had absolutely no choice but to follow the Eliduans onto the spaceship. After all, before becoming slaves, these slaves were savages without a complete language or writing system. In the eyes of the proud inhabitants of Elidu, these slaves needed to be educated to become human; otherwise, they wouldn't even be qualified to be sacrifices.

According to the Guardian Order's statistics, only about ten thousand mortals were willing to leave Elidu, which is a quarter of Elidu's population, and most of them were educated. If the emperor hadn't intentionally controlled the scope of education (mainly because the productivity of this era couldn't support such a large educated population), there would have been many more mortals on the warship—but ten thousand is still too few for such a warship. Many functions would be unusable, let alone used for interstellar warfare—even to enable the warship to sail above the atmosphere or within the solar system, it would require much longer, larger-scale, and more specialized training for the mortals.

This means a larger-scale investment of resources, and the Secret Guard must continue to be meticulous in its calculations beyond its stockpiled supplies.

"We must get the warships into orbit first." Constantine picked up the data panel, frowning as he spoke to the Emperor. "I believe the Eternals certainly have a few more ships. At the rate of human reproduction and with our current population policies, our population will double in less than ten years. Unless you agree to cut the learning cycle for minors, by then, the percentage of unemployed negative assets on the ships will exceed fifty percent."

"Slaves cannot pilot spaceships, nor can they become soldiers, much less genetically modified warriors." The Emperor accepted the Excalibur and Storm Lance from the priest, then bent down to let Inanna fasten her cloak to her armor. "Continue your work; it's time to resolve the Eternals' final problem."

"My lord——"

The emperor descended the steps of the throne and stood before the grand staircase of the temple.

As far as the eye could see, the shepherd, before the sun was swallowed by the earth, drove his dense flock through the city gates and into the city. He stood there, watching as the orderly houses below the temple would light up, and the nightlife of the Eriduians would officially begin, with countless wisps of smoke rising from the city.

The priestesses wore semi-transparent veils, their perfumed skin shimmering in the firelight and sweat. Each priestess belonged to the temple, and these beautiful girls would relinquish all their temple duties at the age of thirty to train new girls in the academy, ensuring that every girl appearing before the emperor was young and beautiful enough.

The brides of these gods would burn expensive blends of spices in several large bronze cauldrons in the temple, something they had done every day for the past thirty years. Inanna had trained them well enough, including the young girls captured from the savage tribes, who were now competent life assistants.

The emperor was pleased with their medical knowledge and accounting skills.

They can also take up arms when needed.

"Hammurabi has found his target." The Emperor lowered his eyes, referring to the only Janissary missing from this expedition. Constantine's face remained expressionless. He knew the Emperor had orchestrated everything, including Hammurabi's disappearance. He knew the Emperor was manipulating unseen destiny, and everything was leading the human race toward the Manifest Destiny that would rule the galaxy.

The age of humanity is about to begin, and the gods are gradually retreating into the background until they lose all faith. Human glory will come, but even so, the inhabitants of Elidu still believe they need this temple.

As long as the temple shines at night, the city walls will not collapse, wild beasts will not break down the gates and devour their own families, and fresh water can be drawn from the wells. If one day the temple's light disappears, then Elidu will have no guardian, the well water will turn saltwater, floods will inundate the farmland, and savages will conquer the city with crude bronze weapons.

The people of Elidu believe that as long as the gods remain in the temple, but everyone knows that the temple will "ascend" to heaven, and the gods do not wish to remain on earth, the temple's glory will eventually fade, leaving only believers and priests on earth. Now, every Elidu resident who is unwilling to leave looks longingly at the temple's glory, praying that the glory can continue for one more day, so that they and their families can live safely for one more day.

The emperor took one last look at the city as it gradually lit up, then turned and walked into the temple.

He has done enough; now it remains to be seen how long Hammurabi can hold out.

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Operation Hunting Hydra: Day 315.

Hammurabi glanced at the date on the holographic screen, his face expressionless, and continued to gaze at the vast wilderness before him. Behind him, the tracks of his boots stretched all the way to the flat horizon, and grotesque, deformed corpses covered in lumps of invasive organs lay scattered on either side of the road.

He doesn't care about time; in this place, the concept of time in the physical universe loses its meaning.

A day before his heartbeat count began, the date displayed on the screen was the twenty-seventh day since the start of the operation. After the heartbeat count exceeded one day, this time might become the first day. Time was chaotic; the only reliable thing was himself, and the power armor's reliance on stellar coordinates had become utterly meaningless. Space was chaotic; Hammurabi felt he had traveled more than the Earth's equatorial circumference, but here, he saw his footprints stretching from the horizon to the sky, and the orientation support system had completely failed.

He didn't know what time he was in, let alone whether he was still on Earth.

But he knew that the emperor was watching him.

Before the hunt for Hydra, the Emperor gave him a bomb pistol.

Each bullet in this pistol's magazine was engraved with dense prayers on its tip. Instead of the nuclear fusion explosives unique to the Royal Guard, the bullets were filled with conventional explosives, the ashes of incense burned before the temple, and the bone dust of executed psionicists. To beings of the physical universe, these bullets were merely large-caliber ammunition, but to extradimensional beasts, the Royal Guard was always accompanied by a blinding, terrifying light.

Extradimensional entities kept appearing in his path, and without exception, they all fell before his defensive spear and explosive gun.

Although the reactor core behind the power armor provides a continuous supply of energy, the combat drugs inside the power armor have been exhausted, and there is only one spare magazine left in the explosive pistol. A total of thirteen rounds of ammunition are his last weapon to completely kill the extradimensional creatures—extradimensional creatures are immortal, but there are always exceptions in this world—the moment when all ammunition is exhausted will be the moment when the extradimensional creatures launch their all-out attack.

No matter how powerful the Royal Guard created by genetic alchemy may be, it is impossible for them to defeat the endless number of Unborn.

"My lord," Hammurabi murmured to himself, "how should I proceed?"

Continue, find the enemy, and I will come to your side.