Strange and Stark both froze on the spot.
Strange opened his mouth wide and stepped forward, asking, "How...how can it be detached? Is it a physical entity? Isn't it an energy-made halo?"
Shiller casually passed the circle of light to Strange who hesitated to receive it. Taking a closer look, he discovered that the circle was indeed substantial. The light surrounding the circle was quite intense, but at the center, the light was actually weaker, like a ring-shaped light strip.
Stark took the glowing circle from Shiller and weighed it in his hand. It wasn't heavy, with a weight similar to an equally-sized piece of Vibranium.
It had no perceivable texture, as if the temperature and roughness were completely consistent with the finger's surface. It felt like he held nothing, even though he had something in his hand.
"What is this? What did you use to make it?" Stark asked, as he scrutinized the glowing circle, "Its properties are quite magical, and its material does not resemble any known metal..."
Shiller cleared his throat and said,
"Just a few days ago, I offered a sacrifice to God that he was highly pleased with, and proposed that I would like to visit Heaven. Unfortunately, he denied my request."
"At this moment, I had to compromise, hoping to get God's blessing. But he refused me again. Of course, I didn't have the audacity to ask our greatest and most magnanimous Savior for more, so I obtained the identity of an Angel."
Shiller then snapped his fingers, and the halo returned back to his head. Stark could not figure out how it moved nor when it disappeared from his hands.
Again, Shiller removed the halo from his head and said, "Obviously, I am now a proud angel of God, and my status is not low, close to that of the seven archangels. God highly appreciates me, thus, this halo is special..."
Strange and Stark stood in the same spot, scrutinizing Shiller with matching disbelieving expressions. Both men had their arms crossed, leaning back slightly, their faces mirroring the sentiment, "Did he forget to take his medicine this morning?"
"If you don't want to tell the truth, you can keep your mouth shut. No need to make up stories." Strange shook his head and said," If you, a person like you could ascend to Heaven, I would burn my Bible."
"I didn't ascend to Heaven." Shiller said, playing with the halo in his hand, "I only obtained a residency in Heaven and this halo."
Stark was more practical. Looking at Shiller he said, "Okay, forgetting your absurd story for a moment, what can this halo do?"
"It can glow!"
Upon finishing, Shiller demonstrated to Stark and Strange.
He held the halo in his hands and after a brief pause, a soft light engulfed the entire laboratory, illuminating the room.
The halo wasn't a light source per say; the light didn't emanate from it, but rather appeared uniformly throughout the whole room, making it brilliantly illuminated.
"Anything else?" Stark proceeded to ask.
"Uh… It can enlarge and shrink." After Shiller finished speaking, he demonstrated again. Holding the halo, it instantly turned into the size of a hula hoop, followed by it enlarging to half the size of the room.
Then, the halo started to shrink until it was invisible. Shiller continued, "Furthermore, I can retrieve it from anywhere. With a single thought, it ends up back on my head."
"Good, anything else?" Strange then asked.
"Hmm..." Shiller took a few seconds before responding, "Probably, it's very tough."
"Please, are you saying this is the Angel Halo blessed by God? Other than illuminating, enlarging and shrinking, having anti-theft features, and being extremely tough, does it have any other useful features?" Stark asked, staring wide-eyed at Shiller.
"Really? Don't tell me you put a lot of effort into getting this? Typically, shouldn't something like this have abilities such as Holy Light, granting blessings and such?"
After Strange finished speaking, he approached and took the halo from Shiller.
After examining it, Strange discovered that other than the basic abilities, the halo seemed to have no other functions. He used magic to activate it, but it devoured all the energy he put into it without producing any response. Draining any energy he tried to retrieve.
As for holy light, healing, granting blessings, and other such attributes, it had none. No matter how he tried, it just lay dormant.
Both Strange and Stark looked at the halo in a speechless state. Stark shook his head and said, "This is by far the most useless object on you. Seriously."
Strange nodded in deep agreement.
From their perspective, each item that appeared on Shiller had a purpose. The Symbiotic Gray Fog provided him with impressive mobility and served as a precaution against many dangers. Then there was the umbrella made of exceptional material that acted as a weapon and shield against long-range attacks.
Only the Halo, beyond its basic capabilities, had no other use. It seemed out of place.
But, for some reason, Shiller seemed to be fond of the halo.
Unable to understand, Strange just shook his head. As for the story told by Shiller, neither Strange nor Stark took it seriously as they knew when Shiller didn't want to tell the truth, he would create outrageous tales. This was their common understanding.