Marvel Magic Case Files.

Chapter 36 A Dilemma (Seeking Investment!)

P.S.: This chapter contains morally questionable content; please read with caution.

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Salomon's wound gradually healed under the dim white light. Positive energy has an excellent effect on external injuries. Within a few seconds, his wound stopped bleeding, and new flesh and blood gradually grew out, forming new muscles and skin.

"I think I may not be able to keep my promise, Mr. Barnabas." Ignoring Elizabeth's gun and Victoria's threats, Salomon remained kneeling and said to himself, "Unless they leave now, I can spare them. Aren't you coming out, Mr. Vampire?"

He has kept his trump card well hidden until now, so he is confident that he can pose a threat to the vampire.

That was a game that could be decided quickly, but because the area of ​​damage was too large, he really didn't want to involve the living members of the Collins family—they were just trying to help their families, and Salomon could completely understand their thoughts.

If he were in their situation, he might have gone even further. Elizabeth's restraint in merely pointing a gun at him instead of immediately shooting him in the head was already quite remarkable.

Elizabeth was able to hit him before only because of a sneak attack, but now that she's in the open, Salomon is confident that he won't be hit again even if he doesn't use defensive spells.

"Shut up!" Victoria was furious at Salomon's threat. "You hurt him so badly..."

"Okay, I understand." Salomon opened his eyes, uttered a syllable, and the next moment, he was once again surrounded by silver mist.

"Bang!" Elizabeth fired immediately, but only a large amount of dirt and grass splattered up; Salomon had already disappeared.

"Where is he?!" Caroline yelled. Victoria and Elizabeth looked around nervously, while David held up his pistol and pointed it at the dark bushes—a place that terrified him; he had a feeling something might jump out from there.

He was now glad that he had sent Willie away from the manor to the gate to greet the fire brigade.

A drunken old man is really not suitable to be in such a dangerous situation; no one would be stupid enough to let him carry a gun.

After a while, just when they thought Salomon had left, a circle of orange-red sparks appeared out of thin air on the gray stone path behind them, and Salomon walked out of the circle.

Perhaps those with a sensitive heart have a slightly more accurate intuition. David's intuition was not wrong. Salomon was indeed in that bush earlier. He opened a portal there and took out something, which he was now holding in his hand.

It was a bronze round shield with a slight golden hue. The bronze surface had faint patterns like snake scales. There was a diamond pattern on each of the four sides of the shield, and in the center of the shield was a bronze female head. Snake hair grew from the head with an extremely painful expression and extended outwards from the shield.

Elizabeth fired without hesitation. The rapidly scattering metal pellets were all stopped by the shield held in front of Salomon. The deformed bullets, sparks flying everywhere, failed to leave any dent in the bronze shield. She fired again, with the same result; even the kinetic energy of the shotgun pellets couldn't make Salomon take a single step back.

This is the Aegis (Αιγ), the shield of Zeus, the sheepskin shield, the shield of Medusa. Regardless of its other names or legends, its greatest strength lies in Medusa's head—ever since it was severed by Perseus and then embedded in the shield by Athena, this shield has possessed immense power; anyone who sees it will turn to fossil.

Salomon snapped his fingers, and four bright white orbs of light surrounded the shield. He lowered his head and silently recited the spell Athena had taught him.

Where he couldn't see, Medusa's head, with its pained expression, suddenly opened its previously tightly closed eyes. Those eyes seemed to be still fresh flesh and blood, moving around everywhere. With a few soft clanging sounds of bronze instruments, the snake's hair also broke free from the bronze shield's restraints, spreading wildly and spitting venom.

He heard screams and calls of names: Victoria calling Barnabas, Elizabeth calling Caroline, Caroline calling David—a cacophony of voices. But the screams soon ceased. Salomon remained unmoved, head bowed, and only after a long while did he lower his shield.

Four exquisitely crafted stone statues stood in the darkness, their faces bearing lifelike expressions of terror and disbelief. Victoria lunged at Salomon, but Elizabeth shielded her daughter Caroline, who in turn pushed David aside, trying to get him away from the scene.

But no matter what they do, as soon as they see Medusa's head on the shield, they will be irreversibly petrified, including their clothes and even their weapons.

This is a process that is almost irreversible.

Unlike petrification, even using the "Dispel Magic" spell is unlikely to remove their state unless the Sorcerer Supreme or Athena casts the spell; otherwise, they will remain stone statues forever.

It's less a matter of petrification and more a matter of curse.

When Salomon took out the shield, he hesitated for a moment—the Collins family hadn't done anything wrong; they were just protecting their family. Was this really the right thing to do? But in the end, he made up his mind and raised the shield in front of the Collins family, because they were now the ones blocking his path.

It's hard to say that Salomon's thoughts weren't influenced by the memories within the Stigmata. While accepting those memories, those cold thoughts were also constantly influencing and changing him, prompting him to make certain decisions and pulling him from the greenhouse into the bloody battlefield.

For example, now that he is being attacked by other members of the Collins family, he has abandoned the idea of ​​not involving them and will take the same hostile attitude as anyone who stands in his way to his goals.

In the past, the Venerable had told him that there was a price to pay for taking this path. At the time, he thought these prices could be avoided with spellcasting materials, but now he understood that the so-called price did not refer to material things, just like the old wizard the Venerable mentioned who saved the girl, using his life to save another.

This is just the simplest and most brutal price to pay. As the person His Holiness is focusing on educating, Salomon will have to give up much more.

So, what price did I pay? Salomon wondered. Was it my conscience? Or my empathy?

When he tried to explain himself, he found that no matter how he tried to articulate it, it was extremely weak and ineffective.

It's worth noting that his actions could, in certain contexts, be interpreted as a magician battling an evil vampire.

After all, Barnabas did indeed kill innocent people for blood, and the Collins family was the one who aided and abetted him. But even he himself didn't believe this—vampires certainly deserved punishment, that was his stance from Kamar-Taj's perspective, but the other members of the Collins family were innocent.

For example, David is still just a shy big kid.

This is a classic moral dilemma.

Salomon used to be able to stand on the dry bank with his phone, pointing and gesturing, but when he actually faced this situation, he found it to be the hardest thing in the world, because no matter what choice he made, it was wrong.

To eliminate vampires, one must target the Collins family; abandoning the fight against vampires would contradict his principles.

But now that the decision had been made, there was no going back. He only wanted to hear the Venerable One's opinion on the matter. Having lived for a thousand years, the Venerable One had undoubtedly encountered similar situations more than once; she was sure to provide a perfect answer and dispel his doubts.

"You did this." A cold voice rang out beside Salomon. "They're dead?"

Salomon quickly cleared his mind of these chaotic thoughts and turned to the source of the voice. "Yes," he nodded expressionlessly, "I did it all."

"Why!" The vampire, who always tried to maintain his composure, finally lost control of his rage. Barnabas's face had only partially recovered; his cheeks were still a bloody mess, with scorch marks on the cold flesh. The immense damage caused by Salomon's punch, imbued with positive energy, had also burned away Barnabas's eyeballs.

Before this, Barnabas had almost lost consciousness. It wasn't until his eyes had fully regenerated and he heard Victoria's shouts that he managed to run out of the house, which hadn't yet been affected by the fire, and appeared here.

Salomon did not answer. But after a few deep breaths, the vampire regained his composure.

"Everything I did was for the Collins family, but you destroyed it." The vampire spread his arms and said, "Now you can destroy me. Raise your shield! Consider this your glorious achievement! Wear this medal on your chest! I will laugh at you, Salomon, and you will never forget it! You faithless one!"

When the firefighters followed old Willie into the estate, all that remained was the burning villa; nothing else was left.

The main concern with this chapter is that it might not align with the readers' values. But that's okay, you'll see my explanation in Chapter Two.

P.S.: The shield is a round shield, about as tall as a leg, and a bit bigger than Wonder Woman's shield, roughly the size of the shield from Spartacus.

(End of this chapter)