Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 259 Hell March (Second Update)

"Phoenix, how many demons do you think there are?" Salomon rode Pegasus, looking down at the dense hordes of monsters below the cliff. He wore full silver armor, his holy sword and sheath strapped to his back. Phoenix perched on Pegasus's head, one of its favorite spots. Pegasus didn't mind Phoenix's behavior at all; it would even share whiskey with Phoenix.

“My Lord, there are many. I suggest we go around them.” Phoenix tilted his head, looking down with Salomon. “We’d better get out before we’re discovered.”

This was Salomon's second day deep inside Hell, and also his second day entering the Gates of Hell from Europe. He desperately didn't want to recall what had happened that day. Just thinking about the witch's eyes told him that going home that day would definitely not end well. Therefore, despite not yet fully mastering the Holy Lance, he hastily signed up for the first conflict between Kamar-Taj and Hell—he was going to go sooner or later anyway, so it didn't matter whether he went early or late, and going now would at least allow him to avoid family conflicts. In any case, he didn't want to go back now; the witch really could hit people, and it hurt a lot, and he couldn't fight back. He could only wait for the witch to calm down.

The team that ventured deep into Hell was led by those old mages. Without the Sorcerer Supreme joining them, these mages wouldn't have been of much use. At most, they could have killed some mid-level demons under Mephisto's command and disrupted the normal operation of the demon society. The one who truly made the final decision was Salomon, who wielded the holy sword and the holy spear.

Because the core territories of the Hell Lords are protected by magic that protects against teleportation spells, only sufficiently powerful spellcasters can forcefully open portals to enter—something the Elder Deacons cannot do. The arcane mages can only reach them on foot. As a deterrent, the Sorcerer Supreme, who had only briefly appeared once, instructed Salomon to act alone, to lie in wait, and to take a detour to rendezvous with the arcane mages of Kamar-Taj, thus creating a safe marching environment for the Kamar-Taj forces.

As for S.H.I.E.L.D., their mission was over. Danny and his mother would live under the guardianship of Kamar-Taj to ensure Danny wouldn't draw power from demon blood. Nick Fury, at that time, made an incredibly audacious proposal—he wanted to go to Hell with the arcane sorcerers, regardless of whether they returned. All the sorcerers thought this mortal had gone mad, but Salomon knew Nick Fury genuinely wanted to understand Hell, to understand the place where humanity posed a great threat to humankind. Therefore, the old deacons agreed to let Nick Fury go, but they wouldn't guarantee his safety.

Salomon's guide in Hell was the thirty-seventh demon god, Phoenix; otherwise, he, being unfamiliar with the area, would never have been able to find the main force of Kamar-Taj.

Because this operation was specifically against Mephisto, Phoenix couldn't bring his ten legions; otherwise, Kamar-Taj's actions would be perceived as targeting the entire Hell, causing other Hell lords to unite with Mephisto. The demons' unity was a joke; if Kamar-Taj's sorcerers passed through the territories of other Hell lords, these lords would turn a blind eye, even delighted to see Mephisto suffer a setback, and might even encourage it from behind. But no matter how much the demons schemed against each other, they would retaliate whenever a demon invaded their territory. To isolate Mephisto, Salomon had no choice but to venture deep into Hell with only a horse and a bird.

Pegasus snorted, nearly throwing Phoenix off. Pegasus loathed the terrible air in Hell.

The air here smells of sulfur, as if it could be ignited by a single spark. When a gale suddenly rises, you can also smell the pungent volcanic ash and hear the mournful howls carried by the wind.

People are easily poisoned or sick if they breathe this kind of bad air for a long time. Salomon doesn't even dare to take off his helmet here. Only when he goes to the territory of those hell lords will the environment be slightly better and it won't be so hot there. Only then can he take off his helmet and clean off the sweat and dust.

He felt he must be covered in sweat and stench. The environmental endurance spell worked at first, but after they passed through some extremely harsh environments (such as lava pools), it became ineffective, and Salomon had to wear a helmet to protect himself from the terrible air.

The space of Hell is infinite, so Phoenix could only find a suitable location that would avoid detection by all the Hell Lords before Salomon could teleport there. This place was still some distance from Mephisto's territory. They also needed to avoid various infernal creatures to preserve their strength.

It was a tough march, and Salomon could only hope that he would arrive before he ran out of food, otherwise he would have to slink back to the Prime Material Plane and then go directly to rejoin the army.

This isn't a question of whether it's shameful or not, but whether it will hurt. The former doesn't involve any loss, while the latter is just the witch's wicked sense of humor. He wasn't sure if the safe word would work on the witch.

Atop Avalon, amidst endless fields of flowers, stood a towering structure. At its summit was a vast balcony, upon which sat two figures. One of them was intently observing Salomon's march. "Are you really sending your heir to hell like this? You should know how alluring the Seventh Throne is to your heir. What if he actually sits on it?" one of the men, a white-bearded man, chuckled. "If he does take that position, the Battle of Camlann will be repeated."

"I've learned my lesson. How many times are you going to bring this up?" The Sorcerer Supreme glared impatiently at Merlin, who was sitting to the side with a smile. It seemed that even the honey cake baked by the fairies on the table couldn't soften her attitude towards Merlin. As one of the main instigators of the Camelot tragedy, Merlin had been resented to this day.

"He won't sit on that throne, at least not now. Salomon is an obedient boy, though his interests are a bit strange," the Venerable said. "For him, sitting on the Satanic throne means he can never step down unless those hell lords sit on it. Salomon will only fight for the seventh throne to protect the Prime Material Plane."

"Don't you think your disciple is a lot like you?" Merlin ignored the Sorcerer Supreme's excuses, his face still beaming. "Both bear great ideals, both possess extraordinary talent and power, and even share the same stubbornness in character. I always feel that your disciple is imitating you, and he is very likely to repeat your mistakes. Humans never learn from their mistakes; there's nothing new under the sun. I always feel that your disciple is practically molded from clay by you; he seems too perfect, too perfectly aligned with your ideals in every way."

The Sorcerer Supreme knew Merlin was right. While Salomon's personality wasn't entirely her doing, it was still influenced by Kamar-Taj and by her. The current Salomon was practically identical to the former King Arthur. This was exactly the Sorcerer Supreme's original intention in adopting him. In fact, everything he displayed now perfectly matched the Sorcerer Supreme's original plan. He was indeed someone capable of taking over her work and protecting the Earth.

However, halfway through the plan, the Sorcerer Supreme found himself increasingly unable to tolerate his own actions, to the point that he allowed Salomon to come into contact with witches and secular society, wanting Salomon to maintain his ideals while becoming something that could be called "human" rather than a tool like King Arthur.

The experienced Merlin immediately spotted Salomon's problem. He was the one who created King Arthur as a tool, and he was intimately familiar with the same process—instilling ideals, training skills, and disregarding circumstances to make the person wholeheartedly dedicate themselves to fulfilling the vision. The result was that this filled the man with obsession. Currently, Salomon's psychological problems weren't as severe due to the Sorcerer Supreme's leniency, and the witch's appearance further softened his resolve.

"My king, you are so conflicted. What kind of person do you want him to become?"

Update after finishing overtime.

(End of this chapter)