Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 217 S.H.I.E.L.D. Judgment (First Update)

"Calm down, calm down." Nick Fury covered his face, his muffled voice coming from behind his hands. Anyone who could hear his helpless voice could imagine his expression.

"Your stress reaction is too severe, Salomon, or you really need a therapist." He took a deep breath and lowered his hands. "This is politics, a process of constant compromise and probing. You can gradually reveal your thoughts during discussions, but you can't directly state your bottom line; that's not the rule of the game. Don't look at me like that; I'm not a skilled political player either. I'm just relaying my boss's words, but I do think your reaction is a bit too sensitive."

You should go to Stark's farewell party now. S.H.I.E.L.D. has handed the Tesseract over to Thor—I told Thor to return to Asgard before the World Security Council reacts, otherwise we'll get into endless wrangling again. You should go too. Don't worry, I haven't revealed your information. It's clearly stated in the contract: you can't reveal magical information and information at the same time.

"This has nothing to do with revealing my information, Nick Fury. I just hate the greed of politicians." Salomon, fully armed, sat down in the chair in front of the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s desk. This "fully armed" didn't refer to wearing the armor; that armor had been entrusted to Balthazar and Dave of the Merlin School for maintenance after the Battle of New York. They were not only the custodians of the sword but also the armor; the Sorcerer Supreme only retrieved the armor after contacting them. Now that Salomon had reclaimed his throne, they naturally pledged their loyalty to him.

During the armor's maintenance, Salomon wore his old combat gear: a black occult robe, a red shroud, twin leaf blades, Faldo's boots, vampire gloves, a dimensional bag, a scroll case, and a wand. Even without the holy sword, Nick Fury dared not underestimate the current arcane mage. He had witnessed Salomon's combination of magic and close combat techniques. Moreover, no one knew if the phoenix was still lurking in the shadows. Nick Fury considered it quite generous of Salomon not to transform into a dragon and fly into the Trisolaran headquarters under such circumstances.

"Magic." The sorcerer propped his feet up on the table and said, "Magic is an extremely private thing. Only the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj have the habit of exchanging magical knowledge. Members of other schools don't even know what magic the other has learned. Moreover, magic is a talent; you either have it or you don't. I told you a long time ago that if someone is truly suited for Kamar-Taj, then they will be destined to learn arcane arts. That's how members of Kamar-Taj are formed; it's absolutely impossible to force them."

"This is just a politician's inevitable reaction, Salomon. Pierce is just seeking cooperation; he has no ill intentions. We at S.H.I.E.L.D. also want to ensure the safety of the wizarding world; we are all doing this for humanity."

"One day, you were wearing a leaf dress, carrying a spear, running happily through the forest, searching for lunch and dinner so you wouldn't starve tonight." Salomon put his feet down and sat up straight. Instead of answering Nick Fury's question directly, he stood up, placed his hands on the table, and leaned forward. "You spotted a rabbit, and in the blink of an eye, it was gone. You chased after it, enduring hunger, chasing and chasing, stepping over thorns that scratched your skin, ignoring apples that were almost falling off their ripe branches, not even burrs could cling to you. You ran forward with unparalleled enthusiasm, imagining the aroma of roasted rabbit—perhaps roasted with the onions you dug up that day, you thought."

"Why are you telling stories?" Nick Fury didn't understand what Salomon was talking about.

"However, the rabbit ran into a deep cave, and the thought of roasted rabbit meat clouded your judgment. You ran into the cave with hope, only to find a bear inside that had just woken up from hibernation. It was even hungrier than you, and now it had its lunch and dinner sorted."

"Are you trying to say that S.H.I.E.L.D. is like a barbarian when it comes to magic? That's a vicious cycle. If Kamar-Taj doesn't teach magic, S.H.I.E.L.D. won't have any understanding of the dangers of magic."

"You do understand part of what I mean, but not entirely." The sorcerer slammed his hand on the table, causing the metal surface to dent slightly. Salomon suppressed his anger. "What I mean is, this forest has an owner! This is the Sorcerer Supreme's territory. Every rabbit, every apple, every stream, every tree, even every fucking pile of shit has an owner! Only savages wouldn't know who owns this land! Only you savages would wander into the forest and wake the hibernating bears! Even if you escape, what about the hunters? What about the woodcutters? What about the inhabitants living on the edge of the forest? What will the lord do? The lord will, of course, send troops to hunt the beasts. As for how many soldiers die, how could you stupid savages know? Even if the savages escape the cave, you'll still be happily naked the next day! Do you understand?"

"I understand what you mean." Nick Fury wasn't offended by Salomon's crude analogy. "You mean, S.H.I.E.L.D. will cause trouble in the wizarding world."

"That's right! I think this isn't the first time I've brought this up with you. I warned you when Agent Coulson stole the book. I know you scanned the fragments of the Book of Ebony and saved them as an electronic document. Now, tell me, how many people have gone mad? You think you didn't know? I did it on purpose, Nick Fury!" Salomon said viciously. "You think your base was attacked by an outside force? No, it was me. I killed everyone in that base, but it seems those lives weren't enough to teach you a lesson, because now you've asked this fucking stupid question! So, the question is, whose life will be used to warn you this time?"

Nick Fury closed his eyes, recalling the horrific scene at the base. Blood, rotting flesh everywhere—he wasn't unfamiliar with the dead, but such gruesome deaths were rare. He vividly remembered the researchers tearing each other apart, the soldiers ripping off their own skin and limbs to create nauseating, blackened, viscous images on the concrete walls.

He witnessed these horrific scenes through surveillance footage. He saw the frenzied symptoms spreading rapidly throughout the base like an infectious disease. Through the researchers' diaries, he clearly understood what had happened, as well as the symptoms of those who went mad and the hallucinations they witnessed. When he lost contact with the military base located on the US-Canada border and realized something was wrong, the agents he brought with him found no survivors. The power to the surveillance system was cut off, and the heads of all the madmen were cleanly and neatly severed.

Apart from the separately stored surveillance data, all other data stored at this base has disappeared—physically disappeared. All the hard drives were burned, and no one was able to recover the data.

At the time, Nick Fury believed that a well-informed hostile force or terrorist organization had attacked the S.H.I.E.L.D. base, but after hearing Salomon's words, he realized that Salomon was the one who had done it. He covered his face again, unwilling to speak, remaining silent; the screams from the surveillance footage seemed to still echo in his ears.

He is taking responsibility for his choices.

"We are all responsible for our own actions, not for the gods. The gods don't have time to care about us." Salomon's tone gradually lowered, and the anger seemed to have disappeared. "I warned you about the Book of Ebony, and I warned you about the Tesseract. How many more times are you going to try dangerous magic, Nick Fury? You should know that I understand you. It's normal that you don't trust me because you're an agent. But this isn't the first time you've repeatedly made reckless attempts in areas where you're not qualified, and I don't think the Tesseract will be the last. Faced with an alien threat, S.H.I.E.L.D. will be even more aggressive. I originally thought your job was irreplaceable, but now I find that you've caused far more trouble than you've solved... Perhaps I shouldn't have said so much to you."

The sorcerer stood up and slowly drew his long sword with his right hand. "I'm here to deliver your judgment."

P.S.: Requesting votes on Monday!

It is recommended not to read this chapter during your commute.

(End of this chapter)