Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 682 The Suffering of Prophecy (First Update)

Even though his spellcasting skills far surpassed those of some high-ranking deacons, Salomon still humbly bowed to the arcane mage, whose age was many times his own, to show his respect. The mage Hamil had not only watched him grow up but was also an indispensable part of the Kamar-Taj organization; in terms of both merit and seniority, Salomon had to show respect to this elderly arcane mage. He intended to re-enact the prophecy provided by the madwoman who called herself the Eye of Calamity, a task requiring extremely powerful divination skills.

The Sorcerer Hamil was the best interpreter of prophecies besides His Holiness and Salomon himself, which is why he requested Hamil's assistance. It wasn't that he didn't want to seek His Holiness's help, but the Sorcerer Supreme's power had to be reserved for crucial moments. Those ascetics living on Mount Kamar-Taj had dedicated their entire lives to sacrificing themselves at a critical juncture, bearing the cost of great magic for the Sorcerer Supreme. Just the last time His Holiness enveloped Earth with the Mirror Dimension, most of those acolytes had perished; now that the ranks had finally been replenished, Salomon had no right to waste their sacrifices.

The faint sunlight, reflected by the thick snow, stumbled and swayed through the windowpane. Cold but fresh air rushed in through the newly opened window, sweeping up the tiny burning particles that had been floating in the air year-round. The room was simply decorated, but to someone with supernatural vision, every inch of space was filled with golden lines, which in turn formed an unimaginably complex high-dimensional geometric mapping. Salomon had spent countless nights studying here, burning incense thousands of times to enhance his mental power. The groaning dark brown wooden floor beneath his feet was permeated with a cloyingly pungent fragrance that even the biting wind couldn't dispel.

He could draw the structure of every magic circle in the room with his eyes closed, as if the golden threads had burned permanent scorch marks onto his retina. This was a special room in Kamar-Taj, used to enhance the arcane connection between sorcerers and the astral plane, a good place for contemplation and meditation. It was also the place one had to stay when reading dangerous spellbooks and scrolls. These magic circles not only protected the user's mental power, but also served as a last resort to prevent betrayal when things inevitably went wrong—although this was a well-known secret, so historically traitorous sorcerers rarely came here. The last function had only been used on those with weak wills, but such people were rare in Kamar-Taj.

The monk Hamil was willing to help.

It was not only because of Master Wang's request, but also because he trusted Salomon's wisdom.

Salomon remained convinced that James Boone's gang of vampires were not the mastermind. He wrote a very complete and detailed mission report, fully explaining the clues and doubts he had found, including spells that the vampires simply could not cast. He even drew fragments of the basic incantation for summoning worms in the report, so much so that the report had to be sealed by the Vishanti and could only be read by a select few.

The monk Hamil was one of them.

"You already have a suspect?" the old mage asked. He sat upright on the futon, his eyes fixed on the cosmic cauldron before him, watching as starlight-like fragments of information slowly drifted out and vanished. They were products of the past, future, and present intertwined, requiring focused concentration to decipher. "I've read your report; you've pointed the finger at the Eye Demon, but the evidence isn't quite sufficient."

"So I want to find evidence." Salomon was somewhat anxious, a bitter taste rising in his mouth. Because the first part of that madwoman's prophecy was about the giant worm. Although the earthquake on the East Coast had stopped, no one knew how many monsters those vampires, or rather, the henchmen of the mastermind, had summoned, and he certainly couldn't go to the edge of the galaxy to ask Mother Earth how many parasites were on her.

"It could be the Green Flame Cult, or the Eye Demon, or even the Protocore Messenger. The details point to a scattered source, and I strongly suspect this is part of some terrible plan, a plan from a future timeline. The only thing I'm certain of is that it's a terrifying monster from the Cancer Universe. What's worse, we know nothing about it. We need to peer into the Akasha Records and look for clues within them."

"His Holiness is very satisfied with your subordinates. In the past, there have been many who have tried to build up the secular power of Kamar-Taj, but most have failed or simply lost control, such as some secret knightly orders and witch hunters. You are the only arcane mage in history to have developed and expanded secular power, and it seems that your control over it is far more powerful than those of the past. His Holiness is very satisfied, after all, a cannon can do a lot and saves a lot of unnecessary mana expenditure."

The monk Hamil briefly mentioned the Venerable's reaction to the report, his wrinkles making his expression even more serious.

“I don’t think that crazy woman’s prediction was inaccurate, and you don’t need to worry about it,” he said. “The Diamond Sutra says: the past mind is unattainable, the present mind is unattainable, and the future mind is unattainable. I hope you don’t worry too much about this. We’ve faced threats far worse than this, and humanity has continued to this day, as has Kamar-Taj. But if you insist, let’s begin.”

This was an extremely agonizing journey. Information scattered across the timeline came and went, and Salomon and the mage Hamil had to read thousands upon thousands of fleeting messages every second, some dating back millions of years, others predating the birth of the universe. Even the madwoman's prophecies couldn't lessen the immense workload; even finding fragments of information meant enduring malicious contamination. Working in a raging inferno would have been far easier and more pleasant than this task, even for someone as physically robust as Salomon, it was a headache.

"I've already released them." Salomon looked somewhat tired.

"I know," Natasha sighed softly. "I never imagined a magician would research this kind of magic. Why didn't you use it before I took a bath? I thought you were already tired. Now I need to take another bath, and I need you to dry my hair!" She blinked her wet eyes, her cheeks flushed, and her breath was frighteningly hot due to her rising body temperature. The air was filled with the scent of a special magic, which, on a spiritual level, smelled like slightly sour rose soap.

"I suspect you've used human enhancement technology; your strength far surpasses that of ordinary people. How many secrets do you still hold, Salomon? Are you going to hide something from a poor woman with whom you have a real relationship?"

"You're so rude, Natasha! We're still together, and you're already asking for information!"

"This is business. Besides, I just swore a few minutes ago, in both English and Russian, and you expect me to be polite? That's asking too much!" She looked down at the sorcerer sitting on the sofa, Salomon could feel her breath hitting his hair. She always complained about wanting a new sofa, but she'd never even been to IKEA. "When you first turned 18, I wondered how long it would take me to get you into my bed, but I didn't expect it to take this long. Adding your two girlfriends, where do I come from?"

"I didn't expect women to care about this kind of issue."

"Answer quickly!"

Salomon looked as if he had just eaten a whole plate of Hawaiian food, the kind of awful dish a chef tried to imitate after eating a terrible airplane meal, and he didn't want to eat it a second time.

"The second one."

"You didn't lie? Then why... Oh! So this wasn't a math problem, but a family issue?"

"That's none of your business. I've done what I was supposed to do, so what about yours?"

She crouched down, blinked, and said, "So this is my thanks."

Please vote for me!

(End of this chapter)