On the border of Deo not far from the small town, a light drizzle still fell, the rain not intense enough to wash away the smell of blood in the air. This scent reminded Stark of the days when he was kidnapped to Afghanistan.
On his first day there, the group of terrorists had decapitated someone, and the scene was a river of blood, just like it is now.
But for Steve, the smell of blood was familiar, so he snapped out of that daze first. He raised his shield and looked at Schiller, seeing that unfamiliar cold indifference in his eye contact. Steve incredulously asked, "Who are you?"
Schiller, holding the umbrella knife stained with blood, didn't answer. The sound of mechanical components moving filled the air as the face mask of the steel combat suit lifted. Stark stared at Schiller with his eyes and asked, "Are you his alter ego? Or..."
Steve wanted to step forward, but Stark extended his arm to stop him. Schiller didn't look at the corpse of Baron Zemo lying on the ground. Rainwater washed away the blood, flowing along the grooves on the ground near Schiller's feet. He simply turned around to look at the Egyptian gods who were in a standoff.
Schiller's sudden act of killing also drew the attention of these gods. Various colors of flashes appeared in their eyes as they stared intensely, like ghostly shadows floating in a dark rainy night.
Without the sunny weather backdrop of Egypt, these gods no longer seemed as radiant. The leader, a woman, spoke up:
"Khonshu, it seems Ammit was right. You've fallen into league with these criminals!"
Another man's voice was filled with anger as he said, "You grant such power to these villains, letting them commit slaughter. Khonshu, you're mad!"
"Enough!" Khonshu spoke through Marc's mouth, "I won't argue. I'll do everything in my power to ensure Ammit doesn't bring harm to the mortal realm...""But you're the one causing harm in the mortal realm!"
A black-haired woman stepped forward, a gentle breeze always surrounding her, forming small storms along the rain lines. These storms were highly unstable, reflecting her anger. She said:
"Khonshu, you're one of the triad gods of Thebes, just as ancient as we are. You shouldn't bring your grudges with Ammit into the human world, and you definitely shouldn't be inciting your followers to kill!"
"You should've known these evildoers have no honor. They only desire power. You're undermining the foundation of the gods!"
Marc, possessed by Khonshu, took a deep breath. The light in his eyes dimmed slightly, and he started blinking rapidly. Clearly, his emotions were anything but calm. After he fell silent, others began to berate:
"Feeling guilty, are you?!"
"The crimes of your followers are undeniable!"
"Come back with us and face judgment!"
"You'll become a god of sin! Sealed just like Ammit..."
"That's enough!" Khonshu roared, manipulating Marc. He turned his head to look at Schiller and said, "...I'm saving you all."
At this moment, Schiller holding the umbrella knife had already walked to Marc's side. The black-haired woman stepped forward again. She extended her hand, and a gentle breeze floated around her fingertips. She said, "Khonshu, if you don't want to judge this evildoer, then allow me!"
As soon as her voice fell, brilliance shone in the woman's eyes. The calm and gentle breeze transformed into blades in an instant.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The umbrella knife swung, and the hidden blades in the air were each shattered one by one. Schiller advanced, and as the sharp blades neared, the black-haired woman floated into the air and rapidly retreated. Schiller leaped, and a silver light spread from his pants to his whole body.
Between the flashes of blades, the sound of collisions was unceasing, the sharp noises cutting through the air like wails and cries. The umbrella was unfurled, the strange patterns blinked, and all the wind blades were deflected. Schiller thrust upwards, a "swish" sound, and blood splattered.
The black-haired woman's side and abdomen were slashed open, but they healed in an instant. However, in the brief moment while she clutched her wound and screamed in agony, Schiller floated upwards, positioning himself above her. He gripped the umbrella handle and thrust straight down.
Both of them rapidly descended. The shield formed by wind couldn't block the intense blade light. In the instant the black-haired woman's back touched the ground, the shield shattered, its force carrying through and lifting a cloud of dust high into the air. Blood sprayed out like a fountain.
Schiller stood up from a semi-kneeling position, and after withdrawing the umbrella knife, the woman's entire abdominal and half of her chest cavity were missing.
A strong light emitted from the wound, this self-healing ability not only allowed wounds to close but also brought extreme agony to the one being treated. The pain brought by wounds that should have been instantly fatal was beyond anyone's ability to endure in consciousness.
Amidst the excruciating pain, there was a momentary change in the woman's eye contact. The light emanating from her eyes dimmed briefly. Seizing this moment, Schiller pressed his hand to her chest.
Magic energy stored in the Grey Mist poured out, clashing with the energy already within her body. Schiller looked into the woman's eyes and said, "Don't let him control you..."
The black-haired woman continued to scream in agony, her piercing cries sending shivers down everyone's spines. But after just two short seconds, amidst the screams, a faint, unclear voice interjected: "Get out! Leave my body!"
"Aaah! Ah! Ah!"
After the final dying scream, an unclear shadow flew out of the woman's body. Under the gleaming magic light of the blade, it was shredded into fragments.
Most of the wounds on the woman's body had already healed, leaving only shallow marks oozing blood. Without divine power to support her, she eventually lost consciousness. But before succumbing, she looked at Schiller and said, "Thank you..."
Schiller stood up, turned his head, and looked at the proxies who remained in their spots. All of them took a collective step back.
One of the men turned his head and addressed Marc, who was possessed by Khonshu, "Khonshu, retract your power, or you're aiding and abetting tyranny!"
"Ugh..." Suddenly, another younger man in athletic attire bent over in pain, his face contorted. He cried out, "No, I can't do this anymore, let me leave!"
His trembling cries echoed, "I don't want to die! Let me go! Otherwise, he'll kill me. Help..."
The light in his eyes kept blinking, clearly indicating that the deity behind him was projecting more power to control him. But just then, a shield with a cracking sound struck his neck from behind...
The man was sent flying forward, then fell to the ground. A voice shouted, "Iron Man!"
Even before the shout, Iron Man had already flown out. The man hadn't even gotten up from the ground before Iron Man had him in a grip. Divine power was indeed formidable; with mere physical struggles, he made Stark's prideful combat suit creak.
With a swoosh, Cloak carrying Strange flew over. He extended a hand and slapped the man's back with a clap. A burst of magic light flashed, and a phantom was ejected, shattered under the radiant magic light. A deep red ribbon agilely shot out from it and coiled around the phantom.
Amidst the agonized screams of the god's phantom, Strange snapped Cloak, turned around, and looked at all the god proxies, saying:
"Egyptian gods, you've violated the rules."
The leader, a man in a suit, took a step forward, bowing to Strange. He said, "Supreme sorcerer, our dispute with Khonshu is an internal matter of the divine realm. We have no intention of intervening in the mortal world."
"But you've already intervened in the mortal world." Strange said bluntly, "The followers you've chosen are humanity, and now, you've forcibly taken control of them..."
"That's because Khonshu first controlled his followers to commit slaughter!" Another god raised his voice.
Strange noticed something odd about Schiller; he also began to suspect whether Khonshu truly controlled Schiller, or perhaps one of his personalities.
This is possible, for Strange, the seemingly endless array of demon gods each had their unique abilities. Even though he knew Schiller's strength, he couldn't guarantee that Schiller wouldn't fall into difficulties.
So, he turned his head and looked at Khonshu, who was now in a difficult position.
In Schiller's temple of thought, within that dilapidated mental hospital room, the tall Khonshu and the slender young Schiller sat shoulder to shoulder on the hospital bed near the window. Khonshu earnestly advised:
"They're strangers to you, why do you want to exterminate them all? They have enmity with me, not with you. Listen to me, put down the blade..."
The young Schiller remained silent, gazing at his own fingers. Khonshu laid his staff across his legs, took a deep breath, and continued:
"The ones who came here today are just projections of a part of their power. Even if you manage to eliminate all these people, when their true selves come, you won't be able to deal with them..."
Suddenly, Schiller's eyes widened. He turned his head to look at Khonshu, whose face showed a headache in response to the hope in Schiller's eyes.
Khonshu shook his massive falcon head forcefully and said, "No, you can't kill their true selves. The heavenly realm still needs these people to maintain balance."
"Twelve pillar gods, nine pillar gods, various triad god combinations, and the animal gods who don't reside in the heavenly realm. Together, they form the Egyptian god system. These various god organizations counterbalance each other to maintain equilibrium. If a particular group were wiped out, the balance of the heavenly realm would be shattered, and the mortal world would also be in danger."
Schiller continued to gaze intently at Khonshu. After a while, he asked in that peculiar and hoarse tone, "Will they come to the mortal realm?"
Khonshu didn't turn his head, because even without looking at Schiller, he could hear from his tone full of anticipation what Schiller intended to do. Suddenly, his expression changed slightly, and he said to Schiller...
"No! Don't use that terrifying gray energy of yours! Stop! Stop it quickly, you can't kill them..."
Meanwhile, all the people in the real world could see Grey Mist emanating from Schiller one moment and silver light blinking the next. After a few seconds, the silver light intensified. Behind Schiller, the phantom of Khonshu appeared.
The Egyptian gods shouted in anger, "Khonshu, you're actually giving him more power! Are you trying to kill all of us?!"
"Supreme sorcerer, you've seen it!" One of the proxies pointed at Schiller and said, "It's Khonshu who wants to kill us. He's manipulating that damned criminal..."
"Shut up!" Khonshu roared, "If I don't exert my power on him, all of you will die!"
"Khonshu, stop it!" Strange also yelled, "You can't control Schiller. Let him go!"
"I've told you, if I release him, you'll all die!"
Both sides were completely incapable of understanding each other's current situation. The Egyptian gods and Strange both believed that Khonshu was using his powerful force to control Schiller. Only Khonshu knew that he was actually controlling Schiller to prevent him from using that terrifying Grey Mist to annihilate everyone here.
The more both sides shouted, the angrier they got, each thinking the other was insane. The one to break this standoff was Marc, or rather, the other personality within Marc, Jack.
Khonshu exerted all his power on Schiller, and although he hadn't retrieved the power from Marc, he didn't control his personality. Thus, the Jack personality surfaced and directly used Khonshu's power to summon his battle suit, forming a curved blade. With a flash of the blade, the man who had been shouting was sent flying.
"Khonshu!"
With the angry roars of the gods, the battle officially began.
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