Not far from the small town, on the German-Austrian border, a drizzle still lingered, the intensity of the rain insufficient to wash away the smell of blood in the air. This scent reminded Stark of the time he was kidnapped in Afghanistan.
On his first day there, the terrorists beheaded a man, the scene of blood flowing just like now.
For Steve, however, the smell of blood was all too familiar. Thus, he was the first to snap out of his stunned state. He raised his shield, looked at Shiller and, seeing the unfamiliar cold indifference in his eyes, incredulously asked, "Who are you exactly?"
Shiller, retrieving his blood-stained umbrella knife, did not answer. The sound of mechanical parts rubbing against each other rang out, and the face guard of his Iron Armor was raised. Stark stared intently at Shiller and questioned, "Are you another persona of his? Or are you..."
As Steve tried to step forward, Stark reached out his arm to stop him. Shiller, without even looking at Baron Zemo's lifeless body on the ground, instead turned and looked at the contending Egyptian gods. The blood, washed away by the rain, flowed along the grooves on the ground, passing by Shiller's feet.
Shiller's sudden act of murder also attracted the attention of these gods. Various colors of light flickered in their eyes as they stared intently at him, like ghostly shadows floating in the dark rainy night.
Without the backdrop of the radiant sunlight of Egypt, these gods no longer seemed so brilliant. A woman leading the group spoke first:
"Khonsu, it seems that what Amit has said is true. You have become one with these sinners!"
Another man's voice sounded even more furious, "You grant such power to murderers, and then let them instigate carnage. Khonsu, you've lost your mind!"
"Enough!" Khonsu, speaking through Mark's mouth, retorted, "I don't want to argue. I'll do everything in my power to make sure Amit doesn't harm the human world..."
"But you ARE causing harm to the human world!"
A black-haired woman stepped forward, with an ever-present breeze surrounding her, altering the course of the rain into several small storms. These storms were highly unstable, demonstrating her anger. She proclaimed
"Khonsu, you are one of the Thebes Triune, just as ancient as we are. You shouldn't bring your personal grudges against Amit into the human world, and even less should you encourage your followers to kill!"
"You should already know that these evil men have no credibility. Their sole desire is power. You are destroying the very foundation of gods!"
Mark, possessed by Khonsu, took a deep breath. The light in his eyes dimmed for a moment and began to flicker, showing his emotional agitation as well. After his silence, others began to chastise:
"Are you feeling guilty?!"
"The crimes of your followers are indisputable!"
"Return with us to face judgement!"
"You will become a sin god! To be sealed as Amit …"
"Enough!" Khonsu growled, manipulating Mark to turn his head to look at Shiller. He then said, "…I am trying to save you all."
By this time, Shiller, with his umbrella knife in hand, had come beside Mark. The previous black-haired woman stepped out again. She stretched out her hand, the tips of her fingers fluttering with the breeze. She said, "Khonsu, if you don't want to judge this evildoer, then I'll do it on your behalf!"
As soon as her voice fell, the irises of the black-haired woman flared up, and the calm delicate breeze transformed into sharp blades in an instant.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The umbrella knife swung, shattering the blades hidden in the air one after another. With another quick forward motion, as the tip of the knife neared, the black-haired woman hovered up into the air, backing away swiftly. Shiller jumped up, a silver light spreading from the hem of his pants to his entire body.
In the blink of an eye, amidst the flickering knife light, the sharp screech of blades cutting through the air echoed mournfully. The umbrella opened, its eerie patterns flickering, deflecting all the wind blades and then flicking upwards. With a swift "rip" sound, blood splattered.
A gaping hole had been slashed open on the black-haired woman's side and abdomen, but it healed almost instantly. However, while she was clutching her wound, crying out in pain, Shiller moved upwards, coming right above her head. Both hands gripping the umbrella handle, he plunged straight down.
The two of them fell rapidly, the shield made of wind failed to withstand the concentrated knife light. The moment the black-haired woman's back touched the ground, the shield shattered with a bang. The force, following its momentum downwards, stirred up a cloud of dust, blood sprayed out enormously like a fount.
Shiller stood up from his half-kneeling position. Once he withdrew his umbrella knife, the entire abdomen and half the chest of the woman seemed to have vanished into thin air.
A dense light leaked from the wound. This self-healing ability, despite being able to heal wounds, also brought about extreme pain to the woman receiving treatment. The pain brought about by a wound that should've been fatal was something no one could bear while conscious.
In severe pain, there was a fleeting change in the woman's eyes. The brightness of the light emerging from her eyes dimmed for a moment. Seizing this moment, Shiller placed his hand on her chest.
The magical energy stored within the gray mist poured out, beginning to contend with the energy originally within her. Shiller looked into her eyes and said, "Don't let it control you..."
The black-haired woman continued to scream in pain. Her shrill cries were chilling to everyone, but barely two seconds later, mixed in the screams was a faint, "Get out! Get out of my body!"
"Ahhh!!!!!"
After the last scream that preceded her death, a blurred phantom flew out of the woman's body. It was cut to pieces under Shiller's knife, which was flickering with magical brilliance.
Most of the wounds on the woman's body had already healed, only shallow scars that seeped blood remained. Devoid of divine power to support her, the woman ultimately fell unconscious. However, just before she fainted, she looked into Shiller's eyes and said, "Thank you…"
Shiller stood up and turned around to look at the agents who were still standing there. They all collectively took a step back.
One of the men turned his head and looked at Mark, who was possessed by Khonsu, and said: "Khonsu, withdraw your power. Otherwise, you are only aiding and abetting tyranny!"
"Ugh..." Suddenly, a younger male in a tracksuit bent over, his face contorting in pain. He mumbled, "No, I can't do it anymore, I want to leave!"
He screamed in trembling terror: "I don't want to die! Let me go! Otherwise he will kill me, save me…"
The light in his eyes flickered continuously, clearly, the deity behind him was projecting more power to control him. Just then, a shield with a whistling sound struck him on the back of his neck with a "bang".
The man flew forward and landed on the ground, a voice shouted loudly, "Iron Man!"
Even without the call, Iron Man had already flown out, and the man could hardly get up from the ground when Iron Man gripped him. Divine power was indeed mighty. His physical struggles alone were enough to make Stark's prized battlesuit creak.
With a soft swoosh, the cloak carried Strange and flew over. He stretched out one hand, slapped the man's back, and the magical brilliance flashed. A phantom was struck out, and a deep red ribbon flew out flexibly and wrapped around the phantom.
Amidst the screams of the phantom, Strange shook his cloak, turned around, and looked at all the representatives of the gods and said:
"Egyptian gods, you have broken the rules."
A suited man who was the leader earlier stepped forward, bowed to Strange and then said: "Supreme Magician, our dispute with Khonsu is an internal matter of the divine realm, we have no intention to interfere with the human world."
"But you have already intervened in the human world." Strange responded mercilessly, "The believers you chose are human, and now you force them into your control..."
"That's because Khonsu started it! He was controlling his believers to commit carnage!" Another god retorts with increased fervor.
Strange noticed something was off with Shiller. He was also suspecting whether Khonsu had really taken control of Shiller, or of one of his personalities.
It's a possibility. To Strange, constantly emerging Demon Gods each had their own special skills. Even if he knew about Shiller's strength, he couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't capsize in the drain.
So, he turned to look at Khonsu. At the moment, Khonsu was in an unspeakable plight.
Inside Shiller's Thought Palace, in that rundown mental hospital room, the towering Khonsu and the skinny teenage Shiller were sitting shoulder to shoulder on the bed by the window. Khonsu was advising earnestly:
"They are strangers to you, why do you wish to kill all these strangers? They hold a grudge against me, not you. Listen to me, put down the knife …"
The teenage Shiller silently looked at his fingers, while Khonsu rested his scepter on his lap and took a deep breath before saying:
"Only part of their power is projected here today. Even if you can kill all these people, you won't be able to handle it when their main bodies come looking…"
Shiller suddenly widened his eyes and turned to look at Khonsu. Khonsu looked at the anticipation in his eyes and felt an immense headache.
He shook his giant Skull Falcon's head forcefully, then said: "No, you can't kill their main bodies, the celestial realm still needs these people to maintain balance."
"The Twelve Pillar Gods, The Nine Pillar Gods, many triune combinations, along with the Animal Gods who don't reside in the celestial realm. They form the Egyptian Pantheon together. All these god organizations keep each other in check, maintaining balance. If any system gets wiped out, the balance in the celestial realm will be thoroughly disrupted, creating danger for the human world."
Shiller continued to stare intently at Khonsu. After a while, he finally asked in his strange and hoarse voice, "Will they come to the human world?"
Khonsu did not turn his head, because even without looking at Shiller, he could tell from his hopeful tone what he wanted to do. Suddenly, his face turned pale, and he said to Shiller:
"No! Don't unleash that terrifying gray energy! Stop! Quickly stop, you can't kill them…"
The spectators standing in reality at that moment saw Shiller's body alternately diffusing gray mist and blinking silver light. A few seconds later, the silver light became intense, and Khonsu's phantom appeared behind Shiller.
The Egyptian gods shouted in fury, "Khonsu, you actually gave him more power! Are you trying to kill us all..."
"Supreme Magician, you've seen it too!" One of the representatives pointed at Shiller and said, "It's Khonsu who wants to kill us, he's manipulating that damned sinner..."
"Shut up!" Khonsu roared in fury, "If I don't exert power over him, you all would die!"
"Khonsu, stop!" Strange shouted too, "You can't control Shiller, let him go!"
"I've said it before, if I let him go, you all will die!"
The two sides simply could not comprehend each other's plights at the moment. The Egyptian gods and Strange all thought that Khonsu was controlling Shiller with massive power, while only Khonsu knew that he was controlling Shiller just to stop him from using the terrifying gray mist to kill everyone here.
The more both sides argued and expressed fury, the more they seemed to believe the other side had gone mad. The one to break this deadlock was Mark or rather the other personality within Mark's body, Jack.
As Khonsu strained to focus his power on Shiller, he did not withdraw the power from Mark, but neither did he control his personality. Thus, the personality of Jack surfaced, directly utilizing Khonsu's power to manifest the battlesuit, forming a crescent blade. A flash of the blade, and the man who was shouting earlier was hacked and sent flying.
"Khonsu!!!!!"
Along with the furious roar of the gods, the battle officially commenced.