Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1717: Vision Across Time and Space

This is a tortuous and dark tunnel, dug by humans holding steel tools. The rough rock walls are as cold as the blizzard outside. The night in the Himalayas is extremely cold. The cold claws tightly grasp the air, slowly diving into the cave with each breath. Agamotto walked in front with a torch. The gravel rubbed against each other under his feet, rolled down, and slid deeper into the tunnel. The resin torches embedded in the cracks of the rock released the smell of burning resin and coke. The thin light gray smoke rose lightly and gathered on the rock wall above, swaying towards the direction of the cave entrance, and finally wrapped in dense pure white snowflakes and disappeared.

As the fire gradually spread forward, thousands of bones decorated with rough gems and precious metals on both sides of the tunnel gradually came into their sight. The rust left on the rock wall fell off in the flowing air brought by the visitors, adding a little bit of imperceptible bloody smell to the already bad air, but Inanna insisted that the bloody smell should come from the bones placed on both sides of the tunnel, although these bones were quite clean - these bones once belonged to the workers who dug this tunnel, and the descendants of the workers were the indigenous people of the low-altitude areas hundreds of kilometers away. The temperature here is too low, which is not conducive to the rotting and decomposition of corpses. If it were in an area with lower altitudes, the corpses could be given to falcons and wild wolves to re-enter the ecological cycle - but here, Agamotto could only put the corpses in boiling snow water, peel off the flesh, apply grease, and inlay gems to make them similar to the future Catholic relics, in order to commemorate the contributions made by these people to this planet, even though they knew nothing about it, and they didn't know what was sealed here.

The descendants of these pioneers have long lost the knowledge that Agamotto once bestowed upon their people. They no longer know how to smelt metals or dig for minerals, but they know how to survive in this place with only ice, snow and rocks. The power that their master once demonstrated to them has also become a myth and legend. In the future, a certain religious culture and ethnic customs will be formed, until the final truth also disappears.

The Supreme Sorcerer did not follow Agamotto here because she already knew the secrets here. The Emperor also knew that he had followed the Supreme Sorcerer to explore here. Hidden in the deepest part of the dungeon was the reason why Agamotto interrupted his hundreds of thousands of years of cosmic wandering and stayed on Earth. In the future, this place will become the dungeon of Kamar-Taj, where sinners with blinded eyes and cut tongues will guard the entrances and exits, and imprison many enemies that cannot be accepted and confronted by the rationality of intelligent creatures.

He once stood in the deepest part of the dungeon, facing the huge empty dark cave and the giant obelisk erected in the cave. The three most powerful extradimensional spiritual entities belonging to different crazy gods that appeared in the physical universe in the past one million years were bound to this obelisk. Each of these spiritual entities had ten million names, and each name symbolized the civilization that was destroyed by them and now only left ruins.

Even though the marble obelisk is engraved with countless psychic runes, standing in front of it, one can still feel the vague whispers of madness seeping out from the stone, the unclean frenzy rubbing against the edge of the mind, and the smell of corruption and burnt flesh in the air. Every heartbeat approaching here is a test, and only the most rational, the most stupid and the most stubborn people can remain calm in the face of such crazy and twisted intellect.

He didn't want to come here, as there was no secret here for him, but Agamotto insisted.

"For us, death is not stopping the heartbeat, but stopping thinking. Your teacher gained true freedom from death, which is a treasure that I can never get." Envy was revealed in Agamotto's tone. "I am destined to become Visshanti and try to fight against the ultimate enemy of intelligent creatures from the beginning of the universe. Becoming Visshanti means losing myself. The individual named Agamotto no longer has the freedom of soul and thinking. Compared with your teacher, I am closer to death. This is not to gain your sympathy. You are just my product, my desperate act. I don't ask for your forgiveness."

Inanna blinked quickly and turned to look at the emperor, her eyes revealing dissatisfaction with the emperor's attitude. She seemed to think that the emperor's indifference to Agamotto was a bit too much - the emperor rolled his eyes at her. He didn't expect Inanna to be so soft-hearted. When she first arrived in the Himalayas, she was still terrified by Agamotto's power. Now this emotional goddess wants to persuade the emperor to accept this "kinship" - this is certainly not because she is gullible, at least not entirely. As a demigod of the wilderness who has transformed into a god of human civilization, Inanna knows what it means to accept prayers and change herself. She used to use stags and birds as symbols. Now she wears lion skins, holds spears and venomous snakes, and draws strength from human civilization, war, and reproduction.

As a result, she became powerful, but also lost a lot of the power she once possessed. If the timing of her incarnation was not right, her ending would have been the same as the other gods of the wilderness, becoming the purest psychic energy and completely dissipating, or returning to the great consciousness of this planet and completely losing herself.

  What price will the powerful demigod Agamotto pay to become Vishanti?

"I only have one question." The emperor remained expressionless, "What are the selection criteria for the mother who will receive the soul?"

"It's completely random. I don't even know in which era your soul will appear. I can only rely on Vishanti's hint. This is also the purpose of my design of the Tianyuan Head Ring." Agamotto smiled meaningfully, "Do you have any feelings for the mortal mother who gave birth to your body? I assure you that I have paid her. Her soul is affected by your power, and the Sea of ​​Souls cannot disturb her peace. She has entered the natural cycle of the Sea of ​​Souls."

The Emperor knew that Agamotto was lying, or at least concealing part of the truth.

Agamotto stared into his eyes and sighed. The emperor was too smart to guess part of the truth just by relying on his hesitation. It was not Agamotto who chose the mother of conception, but the emperor's soul. Jezebel was chosen because she was fanatical enough. She sacrificed her soul to the outer dimension. The emperor's soul, the product of Agamotto, accepted the sacrifice. Jezebel thus became the bridge for the emperor's soul to deeply combine with the material universe. However, mortals are fragile and she cannot withstand such power.

"This is not your fault," Agamotto said. "You had no choice."

"I'm not as fragile as you think, Agamotto." The emperor waved his hand impatiently. Inanna had never seen him so emotional. The emperor took a deep breath, then raised his head and looked at the black obelisk in front of him, putting the news he had just learned behind his mind - since the destined sacrifice could not be changed, he would do better - at least he should be worthy of Jezebel's sacrifice.

Inanna breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at the obelisk and abruptly changed the subject, "What is this?"

"Magic." Agamotto gave the emperor one last glance. "Not the power of gods, but magic."

In a time when superstition and gods still roamed the land, there was no difference between so-called magic and the power of the gods. Inanna could fly without spells and rituals, create love and sexual desire between two individuals, and ensure the smooth delivery of a pregnant woman, but she did not know how to teach others to have her power. Inanna did not know what magic was. To her, it was instinctive, something she was born with, as simple as bending a finger. For Agamotto, the same is true of magic. What is unimaginable to humans is just instinct for Agamotto.

Magic is not science. It is not a power that can be understood by reason. The logic of human cognition cannot be used to understand the sea of ​​souls. The priestesses of the temple can only clumsily imitate her power with aphrodisiacs, copper forceps and rituals, and call this imitation magic. This is the initial attempt of humans (especially those without talent) to master magic. This idea even affects the etymology of the word magic.

Kamar-Taj is built on a system of psychic knowledge that can be learned by gifted mortals. Much of this knowledge comes from the knowledge collected from different psychic races by Agamotto, Oshtu, and Hogoth when they roamed the universe. Part of the knowledge about protection and binding is engraved on this obelisk, which is used to forever imprison the extradimensional spiritual entities arrested by them. But whether it is the poor imitation of the priests of Inanna or the asceticism that Kamar-Taj uses that humans can understand, it is like dipping a drop of water from the surface of the vast sea of ​​souls. Although this method is relatively safe, even if the power of the sea of ​​souls is used sparingly, corruption and madness are still everywhere-a drop of sea water can never be used to quench thirst, but will poison the drinker because of its bitterness-there is no shortage of corrupted people who are crazy about pursuing power in the history of Kamar-Taj, which is why the first lesson of Kamar-Taj is always self-control rather than knowledge.

"I heard that you have improved my knowledge." Agamotto stuck the torch into the rock wall. Under his power, the obelisk became completely silent. He pointed to several rocks with straw mats and motioned the emperor and Inanna to sit down. "Protection and prophecy, your knowledge of protective magic satisfies me very much, and what about prophecy?"

"What do you mean?"

"I heard that before the time jump, you started a war at the edge of the solar system."

"Raid warfare. I must get the troops used to off-world warfare."

The Emperor was not surprised that Agamotto knew this information. Although Agamotto could not interfere with reality after becoming Visanti, he was one of the few spiritual entities in the Ocean of Souls that could be omniscient. Before he became Visanti, he had written all the knowledge about prophecy in a book for people to learn.

"In my time, the scale of psychic events was still controllable, and humans' enemies were mostly aliens."

"Just like what the army you are forming now is doing. You can control the army of this era, but what about the future? Do you want to know the situation of the army sent to attack the space station at the edge of the solar system?" Agamotto kneaded the dried herbs into a ball, put it into the ceramic bowl in front of him, and then picked up the fire next to it and lit it. The choking smoke immediately rose, and the sweet fragrance that made people sleepy enveloped the entire cave. "This medicine can allow the mortal body to slightly release our soul and bring us closer to the sea of ​​souls. I don't need this medicine, but I can't use too much power now, otherwise Vishanti will get closer and closer, and I will have less and less time to carry out my plan."

The emperor suspected that this was some kind of hallucinogenic herb.

"I will guide your gaze through the sea of ​​souls and focus your sight on the right point in time. I will guide you to witness the battle that you should not have witnessed, and even take the initiative to travel through time and space to interfere. But I need you to remember that when you immerse your mind in the sea of ​​souls, the most important thing is-"

“—distinguishing lies.”

"The sea of ​​souls is a collection of all possibilities, no matter how absurd it is. You must protect your mind from endless lies. I believe you have had similar experiences. But this time you will go a step further. You will sort out these possibilities yourself instead of relying on the cauldron of the universe to filter them."

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"Seek cover!" Tita yelled, dropping the shield full of craters. The electromagnetic deflection shield generator behind the shield was completely damaged. In the dark passage with power cut off, apart from the emergency lights, there was only the strong electric light released by the weapon force field.

It is now the 76th minute of the attack.

As the advantage caused by the surprise attack continued to weaken, the aliens in the space station began to organize effective defense. Many alien defense teams tried to retake important logistical channels, especially in the core area of ​​​​the space station. There were no defense measures here, but almost all the troops of the alien alliance were concentrated here.

In order to stop the boarding team, the alien army did not hesitate to use all means, lasers, plasma and physical ammunition to attack the boarding team at an unprecedented density. They were so crazy that they directly used individual anti-vehicle heavy firepower without any scruples about the damage to the space station. The artificial gravity field of the space station could still be barely maintained, but the damaged pipes and protective layers caused the temperature here to drop sharply, and the gas that could be used for survival was leaking. The warnings broadcast in the alien language were sharp and harsh.

Tita saw a blue-skinned Kree in ornate robes standing behind a man-made shelter, yelling.

  He is a Kree noble, maybe the owner of this space station!

As time went by, she was losing her tactical advantage, which meant that her casualties were increasing. What was worse, she might face a humiliating defeat. She couldn't imagine how she would face the emperor's disappointed eyes. Death was easier for her to accept. Now that the hope of a quick victory was right in front of her, she couldn't restrain her desire to end the battle quickly. She didn't hesitate and immediately fired in that direction, but the shield flashing with the greasy luster of the non-material suddenly appeared to swallow the bomb. The flashing light in front of her also made the Kree nobles notice her. The alien released a mocking smile at her. It said something to the guard beside it, who half-knelt down and swallowed the black greasy liquid in the glass bottle in one breath. The Kree noble patted the guard's shoulder, then ordered the other guards to evacuate and close the airtight door. The Kree who swallowed the drug raised his shield and shouted a few words to dozens of other Kree soldiers who were also abandoned. In response, these Kree soldiers also swallowed similar drugs and burst into amazing morale. They all raised their shields and attacked the android team at the end of the passage.

The Kree noble guards rushed towards the angry Tita.

This heavily armored alien was obviously larger than the Kree. Tita believed that it had undergone biochemical transformation, or at least had artificial muscle fibers implanted, because it was at least three times larger than an ordinary Kree. There were no weapons on its black armor, but it was painted with some kind of emblem. It held a hammer full of electricity and a shield, and led the guards of the alien nobles, squeezing through the hail of bullets in the passage and rushing to Tita. The individual laser that was powerful enough to cut the outer protective metal of the space station could only leave red hot spots on the soldier's shield, and the blocking force of the explosive bomb could only make it stop for a short time.

Tita walked towards the Kree guard, raised her sword and pushed away the enemy.

The accurate shot from behind hit the shield-bearing hand of the Kree guard. While Tita was guessing who fired the crucial shot, she positioned herself with the tip of her sword facing forward. In a real close combat, only a few seconds were needed to decide the outcome.

【Only victory on the battlefield】

This thought suddenly came to him, like the Emperor's motto when he was training the android team.

"I have killed a hundred disgusting aliens today." She blinked, sweat dripping down her eyelids. The non-stop fighting caused her body temperature to rise, and the constant temperature system of the power armor could not completely relieve her fatigue. Her armor was full of craters and scorch marks - compared to the assault team composed of mortals, the android team was faster and therefore took on more combat missions - even though she was a android created by the emperor, and even though the alchemical heart continuously provided her with power, she still felt tired. "After killing you, your master's head will be placed in the emperor's warehouse. This is the most glorious moment for your pathetic race."

She was sure the Kree understood human language, but it showed no reaction to her advances.

The silent beast growled.

Aliens have no honor

Tita took a deep breath and prepared herself for the challenge.

The enemy took the lead in swinging the warhammer, and the heavy metal filled with electricity fell from less than ten centimeters in front of her. She nimbly stood on tiptoe and turned half her body with a sense of balance and speed far beyond that of ordinary people, swinging the sword forward to stab forward - in the eyes of others, her movements were fast and as graceful as ballet. But Tita knew that her physical strength was almost at its limit. She couldn't even stay stable after the sideways forward step, and needed to rely on the gyroscope of the power armor to maintain balance - this was an extremely dangerous skill, and the benefits were also considerable. The long sword forged by the emperor easily pierced the thigh armor of the alien warrior. The pain seemed to stimulate the captain of the Kree Guard. It roared furiously and rushed towards Tita under the stimulation of some kind of combat potion.

Tita was sure that the sword had pierced the femur of the Kree guard, but it remained balanced, as if the huge wound that cut through the armor and bones and emitted blood steam did not cause it any trouble. She immediately drew back the sword to avoid the impact, but the heavy hammer that followed could not be avoided, so she could only hold up the sword to try to block the attack.

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Agamotto did not speak, but expressed his thoughts in metaphors that were difficult for ordinary people to understand, like a cloud of high-temperature radiation dust burning violently in the universe. The Sea of ​​Souls cannot be expressed in words that any intelligent creature can understand. The way of transmitting information through sound, text, and pictures is not enough to accurately describe this dimension. Anything that can be understood does not exist here.

The emperor knew this place well. He had immersed his mind into this dimension more than once under the guidance of the Supreme Mage, digging out all knowledge from the past and the future. Only here could his powerful power be fully exerted. The power he displayed in the real plane was like the projection of a four-dimensional object in the three-dimensional world. It was a cross-section limited by the flesh. He had witnessed the burning embers after the collapse of the most glorious civilization in the universe, and countless powerful souls fell into the hands of the indescribable god and suffered. But there were still many secrets of this dimension that he could not understand, unless he was willing to abandon his physical body and deeply integrate with this dimension, just like the path that Agamotto was about to embark on.

No predators from the Soul Sea were approaching here. The souls that released scorching spiritual heat like stars were enough to evaporate any weak thoughts in the Soul Sea. Agamotto floated in front. Strictly speaking, this word to describe the direction was not accurate enough. At this moment, they cast their eyes on the long and tortuous river of time. Agamotto's thoughts were ahead of the emperor.

[I have never taught the Kamar-Taj mystics how to do this. For mortal souls, this is a suicidal act. This is the privilege of demigods and gods. You will learn how to respond to the call from the sea of ​​souls.]

It floats on the endless waves of the sea of ​​souls, radiating pure, uncontaminated psychic energy outward.

[You chose a good anchor point. The girl is very pious.]

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The loud explosion-like sound hit her helmet, and the violent impact caused Tita to go black in an instant.

The drug automatically injected by the power armor woke her up from the trance caused by the collision. The severe pain in her forehead and shoulders almost made her groan. She blinked hard, squeezed out the tears that oozed out due to physiological reactions, and instinctively tried to stand up straight by holding the wall. When she understood what had just happened, the humiliation of losing the first confrontation made her furious. She breathed in the circulating air with the smell of cleaning disinfectant. Without the need for additional combat stimulants, Tita almost jumped up and left the wall of the passage that she had leaned on a few seconds ago. Before she could change her hand to hold the sword, the war hammer appeared in front of her again with a whistle. She could almost smell the ozone released by the weapon.

This is simply impossible!

She was breathing the recycled air of the power armor, and it was impossible for her to smell any outside smell! The electric current passed in front of her, and time began to slow down. She even had time to wonder why she could think. She felt that she was in a strange state. She could not feel the fatigue and soreness of her muscles. The power from her heart continued to extend to her fingertips, and even her breath became hot.

Kill it and give this beast the death it deserves.

She was surprised to find that the burnt and smelly black blood that the Kree guards had splashed on the ground of the passage when she drew out her sword was now wriggling at a speed visible to the naked eye. She remembered the drugs that the Kree guards and other Kree guards had taken. They were definitely not simple combat potions! She didn't think that the Kree's inferior biochemical skills could be compared with the artificial people created by the emperor himself. That speed and strength must come from that black and greasy drug. The information about the Kree nobles mentioned that if failure was inevitable, the traditional Kree would take a combat potion called the decisive wine and burst out with amazing power. As a price, the nobles who took the decisive wine after the battle would die. Tita didn't know how long the decisive wine would last, and she didn't intend to waste time.

"May the Emperor guide my sword." Tita panted and prayed in a low voice.

She saw her sword lifted up and pushed the hammer away. The tip of the sword pierced the hammer, and the force fields of the two weapons collided and rubbed against each other, emitting dazzling arcs of electricity. The long sword pressed down and pierced the Kree warrior's chest, while the hammer also shattered her knees - no, it shouldn't be like this - Tita gasped and blinked her eyes. Everything just now seemed to be just a fantasy in her mind, a manifestation of her unwillingness to admit the fear of failure. The burst of adrenaline made her temporarily ignore the pain, fatigue and unwillingness to admit the fear. The long sword flashing with electricity turned in Tita's hand. She didn't see the trajectory of this attack at all, as if a big hand was holding her palm and guiding her body to attack.

She saw the tip of the sword deftly pierce the top of the hammer and squeeze it down slightly, just as she had seen in a trance.

The sword and the hammer rubbed against each other, and the dazzling arc of fire that broke out activated the grating mode of the helmet eyepiece automatically. The instantaneous flash made it impossible for Tita to fully see the weapons colliding in front of her. She could only feel that her other hand seemed to be raised uncontrollably.

Suddenly she was pushed forward.

When the Kree guard's visor exploded, she realized that she had pulled the trigger.

Her sword had pierced the alien's face, the tip of the sword poking out from behind the alien's helmet, and steam from boiling blood emerged from the gap between the skull and the helmet. The hammer that had smashed down towards her knees was now close to her boots, burning through the ablative coating on the outermost layer of armor. Tita subconsciously twisted the blade to cause more damage. The blade, flashing with electric light, could no longer support the weight of this biochemically modified body, and the body of the Kree guard fell backwards and hit the ground.

"Your Majesty, please keep an eye on this place!" She conveyed this message to other androids in the communication channel. Tita did not intend to let other teams besides the androids know about this, as it was a secret of the androids. "I can feel it, He is right beside us!"

I've been a bit crazy lately, always writing and deleting, deleting and writing, but I'm never satisfied no matter what