In the Holy Sanctuary, Strange quickly walked through the brightly lit corridor. After entering the reception room, Loki was sitting on the sofa drinking tea. Seeing Strange coming in, he stood up and then asked:
"What on earth is going on? What on Earth is Shiller up to?"
"Who knows." Strange ditched his previous expression of panic and sadness, he said: "If I guess correctly, he has probably become a follower of the Egyptian Pantheon and had his soul escorted to the Netherworld by some Egyptian God. Currently, he might be rampaging in the Netherworld or even the Celestial Realm of the Egyptian Pantheon."
He sighed and sat opposite, on the sofa, he said: "For beings like us, physical death has never been the end. A soul that disappears entirely just five minutes after death? What a joke!"
With tea standing in for wine, the two started to speculate about Shiller's latest move.
Strange had more information, so he spoke first:
"I have no idea how Shiller got in touch with Moon God Kong Su, but clearly, that bird-headed deity has been hoodwinked by him. I haven't been the Supreme Magician for long and haven't had time to review all the case files. What's the deal with this Egyptian Pantheon?"
Loki pondered for a moment and then said: "When the Egyptian Pantheon was active, I should have not been born, but afterwards, I've had interactions with several gods from the Egyptian Pantheon. However, they were all Animal Gods, and none of them resided in the Celestial Realm."
"To my knowledge, there was once a war in the Celestial Realm where the Egyptian Pantheon stays. After that war, the majority of the Animal Gods and some weaker, peripheral deities were all banished," Loki recalled, stroking his chin.
"Does that mean the gods currently in the Celestial Realm aren't on good terms with the familiar Animal Gods?" Strange asked.
"Exactly. Didn't you know this before? The Panther God, Lion God, Vulture God, and Eagle God don't reside in the Celestial Realm. They all have their individual fragment dimensions. However, they used to live in the Celestial Realm but were ousted."
"The Egyptian Pantheon is inherently weak, and they even have internal strife?" Strange shook his head: "From what I understand, even their relatively strong Sun God and Underworld God can't compare to the principal god of Asgard, let alone Odin and the new God King Thor."
"In fact, no Pantheon could surpass Asgard. After all, we control the World Tree and truly rule the Nine Major Kingdoms." Loki took a sip of the hot tea and sighed, he continued: "After Thor purged those warmongers who were lost in slaughter and destruction, Asgard is like reborn and will only become stronger."
"Getting back to it, to which types of gods does Kong Su belong?" Strange asked.
"Kong Su? I remember he seems to be the Moon God representing lunar phases, isn't he?" Loki, worthy of his reputation as the universal polymath, had knowledge about all sorts of deities, major and minor, he said: "Being a Moon God, he should be a Natural Deity, right?"
"But he has the head of a falcon, and it is a Skeleton Falcon's head, which doesn't seem quite like the humanoid Natural Deities I've encountered." Then Loki negated his own statement.
At this point, Strange and Loki looked at each other, clearly having come to the same conclusion. Strange tapped on the table with his fingertip, saying:
"Moon God Kong Su belongs to the Thebes Triune, but the current leaders of the Celestial Realm are the Nine Pillar Gods. On top of that, Kong Su has an animal-like appearance, and based on what I've seen, the Gods in the Celestial Realm are extremely hostile towards him, constantly claiming they need to capture him for trial."
"Deities don't know how to bear insult in silence. I guess Shiller must have had a heart-to-heart with Kong Su and successfully swindled him." Following this chain of logic, Strange continued his speculation, saying:
"The Egyptian Pantheon should have a place like Asgard's Hall of Valor where the souls of their followers go after death. This could explain why Shiller's soul disappeared immediately after his physical death…"
"Once Shiller's soul was taken to the Netherworld of the Egyptian Pantheon, the Gods there are certainly going to get into great trouble. Kong Su probably wants to use Shiller's power to get his revenge on the Natural Deities."
"What Kong Su aims to do is not crucial." Loki shook his head and continued: "What's important is Shiller's goal. What does he want to do?"
"I heard that the Egyptian Pantheon possesses the ability to resurrect their followers. What's that about?" Strange asked Loki again.
"All abilities related to resurrection must have the approval of a mysterious existence, this includes the Hall of Valor owned by Asgard as well." Loki hesitated a little, then added: "This is a secret even in Asgard, even Thor isn't aware of the specific details."
"Alright, let's put this question aside for now." Strange said while pondering: "After I detected Shiller's physical and soul condition, I knew that Stark would certainly believe that he really died. Because his Mecha can't detect the soul, do you think Iron Man's outburst is within Shiller's expectation?"
"Of course, it is. Otherwise, why would he fake his own death? He could have simply asked Kong Su to take him to the Netherworld. If he stages his own death scene, he must want to provoke someone." Loki shook his head and said: "However, from what I know of him, if he truly wants to purge the sealed Demon Gods on Earth, there's actually no need to tamper with Stark's emotions."