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Chapter 337: The Sudden Disappearance of Stephen and the Book of the Vishanti
Author: Great Demon Spirit
The Avengers initiative was indeed necessary. It was about creating a super-team managed by The Authorities.
It could both restrain some dangerous individuals within the system, greatly reducing the threat they pose, and use this power to combat other dangerous threats.
Not to mention fighting the Asgardians.
An ordinary Asgardian coming to Earth is practically a Superman-like being. With muscle, blood, and bone density three times that of an Earthling, the power they can unleash results in a completely overwhelming advantage.
They can easily jump over ten meters from a standstill, run a hundred meters in under five seconds, and a single ordinary punch could shatter an Earthling's chest.
To fight such an enemy, forming a special team is the most logical course of action.
"It's finally starting. It's about time Earthlings opened their eyes to the world." Tony narrowed his eyes, stroking the Eye of Agamotto and silently sensing the power within.
"Why not stop it beforehand? If we had found Loki earlier, we could have completely avoided the war. Is it necessary to do it this way?" Mordo asked in confusion as he placed a book on the shelf.
"Because I've run out of patience with certain politicians." Tony sneered. "I originally thought that after all I've done, they would come to their senses, release information step by step, and completely wake the Earthlings from their pleasant dreams."
"But I was wrong. I overestimated them, and I especially overestimated the integrity of politicians."
"After the Dormammu incident, and with the information I gave them, the best course of action would have been to let events unfold, and once things calmed down, to gradually guide academia and public opinion, informing all citizens that Earth is not special and that Earthlings are not the only intelligent life."
"They had a good start, but they played a strong hand horribly."
Tony stood up, placed his hand on an ancient book, then immediately let it go.
Mordo nodded silently. He was no bleeding heart; on the contrary, his experiences following the Ancient One and Tony had given him extraordinary decisiveness.
The reason politicians didn't publicize the danger was simple: they were worried about incidents, worried the public wouldn't be able to accept it and would cause trouble, leading to social unrest, chaos in public opinion, and affecting the reputation and political achievements of those in office.
Whoever actually did it would have to take all the blame. For politicians, who would be willing to do that? Besides, it didn't seem necessary. Who knew how many years it would be before the next alien invasion?
After they left office or got promoted, they could just leave it for the next guy to publicize.
But Tony didn't have that kind of patience. After the Chitauri incident, he would, in all likelihood, step down as the Sorcerer Supreme. Before that, he first had to wake up the idiots living in their pleasant dreams.
The Chitauri's brainless brand of 'aggression' was exactly to Tony's liking.
No diplomacy, no talk of peace. They just open a portal and attack, without even a single word to announce their presence. No wonder Thanos likes to use the Chitauri to get things done.
Mordo fell silent, and Tony had no interest in starting a conversation either. The two remained quiet like that, each studying a magic book, maintaining a placid silence.
After Mordo returned to Kamar-Taj once more, it took him a long time to recover from his guilt, even though no third person knew about the Mephisto affair besides Tony and himself—not even the trustworthy Wong.
"That guy, Stephen..."
A few hours later, Tony's expression suddenly changed, and he snapped the book in his hands shut.
He felt a fluctuation in mystic energy.
Each person's mystic energy possesses a unique vibrational frequency, collectively constrained within the framework of 'magic' through its manifest form. Stephen's mystic energy, however, had been favored by the Vishanti from the very beginning, making it distinctly different.
Disappearing at the same time was his loyal assistant, Nicodemus.
Nicodemus had approached Tony more than once, hoping to use what he had learned to leave Kamar-Taj and cure his illness, but Tony refused him without hesitation.
This truly made Nicodemus, an honest man, uncomfortable.
Tony couldn't be bothered to explain.
Was he supposed to tell Nicodemus, "You must never use magic to heal your illness, otherwise, with talent no less than Stephen's, you will likely go to extremes and then be killed by Stephen"?
Rather than do that, it was better to forcibly keep Nicodemus here, dismissing him with a simple "You haven't mastered it yet."
The rest could be left for Stephen to handle in the future. Tony was also more than happy to keep another genius at Kamar-Taj.
Nicodemus's talent for magic was in no way inferior to Stephen's. It was such a shame how he died in the original story.
"Those two, it seems they're getting restless again." Tony smiled and shook his head, but had no intention of stopping them.
Nicodemus had a more straightforward personality, while Stephen was more calculating, but he wasn't an ungrateful person. Although they kept this trip a secret from them, Tony didn't mind.
But someone else did mind.
Wong came running over, panting. His chubby face was covered in beads of sweat. He pushed open the door and his first act was to roar, "The Book of the Vishanti has been taken!"
Mordo's expression changed drastically. His dark cheeks twitched, and a fierce look appeared in his eyes. He said, "They actually undid the magical Seal on the Book of the Vishanti without my permission? Are those two bastards trying to betray Kamar-Taj?! I'll go drag them back!"
Wong said angrily, "You actually taught them how to undo the magical Seal on the Book of the Vishanti too?"
"How could I have taught them something like that?" Mordo grew anxious as well. He immediately used magic to open a Portal, about to go and chase those two bastards down.
"There's no need. Just let them go. They know perfectly well that I would never have agreed to them taking the Book of the Vishanti without permission. Besides, with their talent and hard work, it's not difficult for them to break a Seal. It would be normal for them to perform even more astonishing feats of magic." Tony said suddenly, waving his hand dismissively.
The Book of the Vishanti grants the user a powerful mystic energy boost and also contains records of many dangerous spells.
Mordo and Wong stared at the calm-faced Tony in astonishment.
"But that's the Book of the Vishanti..." Wong's voice was practically fuming.
That's one of Kamar-Taj's sacred Artifacts!
A powerful artifact on par with the Eye of Agamotto and the Cloak of Levitation!
"The mystic energy fluctuations of the Book of the Vishanti come from the Legacy of the Vishanti lineage. A Sorcerer from the Outside World would have a hard time using it even if they obtained it. And Stephen and Nicodemus aren't fools; they know how to weigh the pros and cons."
Tony slowly walked to the window, opening the pane imbued with a historical aura and subtle mystic energy fluctuations, and quietly gazed at the scenery outside.
Stephen will be the next Sorcerer Supreme. Even if something does go wrong, Tony can afford the price of one Book of the Vishanti to teach him a lesson. At worst, he'll just have to spend some time to get it back.
In any case, things are very calm on Earth right now.
He was actually more concerned about the arrival of the Chitauri and the two Infinity Stones in Loki's possession.
(end of chapter)
Author: Great Demon Spirit
The Avengers initiative was indeed necessary. It was about creating a super-team managed by The Authorities.
It could both restrain some dangerous individuals within the system, greatly reducing the threat they pose, and use this power to combat other dangerous threats.
Not to mention fighting the Asgardians.
An ordinary Asgardian coming to Earth is practically a Superman-like being. With muscle, blood, and bone density three times that of an Earthling, the power they can unleash results in a completely overwhelming advantage.
They can easily jump over ten meters from a standstill, run a hundred meters in under five seconds, and a single ordinary punch could shatter an Earthling's chest.
To fight such an enemy, forming a special team is the most logical course of action.
"It's finally starting. It's about time Earthlings opened their eyes to the world." Tony narrowed his eyes, stroking the Eye of Agamotto and silently sensing the power within.
"Why not stop it beforehand? If we had found Loki earlier, we could have completely avoided the war. Is it necessary to do it this way?" Mordo asked in confusion as he placed a book on the shelf.
"Because I've run out of patience with certain politicians." Tony sneered. "I originally thought that after all I've done, they would come to their senses, release information step by step, and completely wake the Earthlings from their pleasant dreams."
"But I was wrong. I overestimated them, and I especially overestimated the integrity of politicians."
"After the Dormammu incident, and with the information I gave them, the best course of action would have been to let events unfold, and once things calmed down, to gradually guide academia and public opinion, informing all citizens that Earth is not special and that Earthlings are not the only intelligent life."
"They had a good start, but they played a strong hand horribly."
Tony stood up, placed his hand on an ancient book, then immediately let it go.
Mordo nodded silently. He was no bleeding heart; on the contrary, his experiences following the Ancient One and Tony had given him extraordinary decisiveness.
The reason politicians didn't publicize the danger was simple: they were worried about incidents, worried the public wouldn't be able to accept it and would cause trouble, leading to social unrest, chaos in public opinion, and affecting the reputation and political achievements of those in office.
Whoever actually did it would have to take all the blame. For politicians, who would be willing to do that? Besides, it didn't seem necessary. Who knew how many years it would be before the next alien invasion?
After they left office or got promoted, they could just leave it for the next guy to publicize.
But Tony didn't have that kind of patience. After the Chitauri incident, he would, in all likelihood, step down as the Sorcerer Supreme. Before that, he first had to wake up the idiots living in their pleasant dreams.
The Chitauri's brainless brand of 'aggression' was exactly to Tony's liking.
No diplomacy, no talk of peace. They just open a portal and attack, without even a single word to announce their presence. No wonder Thanos likes to use the Chitauri to get things done.
Mordo fell silent, and Tony had no interest in starting a conversation either. The two remained quiet like that, each studying a magic book, maintaining a placid silence.
After Mordo returned to Kamar-Taj once more, it took him a long time to recover from his guilt, even though no third person knew about the Mephisto affair besides Tony and himself—not even the trustworthy Wong.
"That guy, Stephen..."
A few hours later, Tony's expression suddenly changed, and he snapped the book in his hands shut.
He felt a fluctuation in mystic energy.
Each person's mystic energy possesses a unique vibrational frequency, collectively constrained within the framework of 'magic' through its manifest form. Stephen's mystic energy, however, had been favored by the Vishanti from the very beginning, making it distinctly different.
Disappearing at the same time was his loyal assistant, Nicodemus.
Nicodemus had approached Tony more than once, hoping to use what he had learned to leave Kamar-Taj and cure his illness, but Tony refused him without hesitation.
This truly made Nicodemus, an honest man, uncomfortable.
Tony couldn't be bothered to explain.
Was he supposed to tell Nicodemus, "You must never use magic to heal your illness, otherwise, with talent no less than Stephen's, you will likely go to extremes and then be killed by Stephen"?
Rather than do that, it was better to forcibly keep Nicodemus here, dismissing him with a simple "You haven't mastered it yet."
The rest could be left for Stephen to handle in the future. Tony was also more than happy to keep another genius at Kamar-Taj.
Nicodemus's talent for magic was in no way inferior to Stephen's. It was such a shame how he died in the original story.
"Those two, it seems they're getting restless again." Tony smiled and shook his head, but had no intention of stopping them.
Nicodemus had a more straightforward personality, while Stephen was more calculating, but he wasn't an ungrateful person. Although they kept this trip a secret from them, Tony didn't mind.
But someone else did mind.
Wong came running over, panting. His chubby face was covered in beads of sweat. He pushed open the door and his first act was to roar, "The Book of the Vishanti has been taken!"
Mordo's expression changed drastically. His dark cheeks twitched, and a fierce look appeared in his eyes. He said, "They actually undid the magical Seal on the Book of the Vishanti without my permission? Are those two bastards trying to betray Kamar-Taj?! I'll go drag them back!"
Wong said angrily, "You actually taught them how to undo the magical Seal on the Book of the Vishanti too?"
"How could I have taught them something like that?" Mordo grew anxious as well. He immediately used magic to open a Portal, about to go and chase those two bastards down.
"There's no need. Just let them go. They know perfectly well that I would never have agreed to them taking the Book of the Vishanti without permission. Besides, with their talent and hard work, it's not difficult for them to break a Seal. It would be normal for them to perform even more astonishing feats of magic." Tony said suddenly, waving his hand dismissively.
The Book of the Vishanti grants the user a powerful mystic energy boost and also contains records of many dangerous spells.
Mordo and Wong stared at the calm-faced Tony in astonishment.
"But that's the Book of the Vishanti..." Wong's voice was practically fuming.
That's one of Kamar-Taj's sacred Artifacts!
A powerful artifact on par with the Eye of Agamotto and the Cloak of Levitation!
"The mystic energy fluctuations of the Book of the Vishanti come from the Legacy of the Vishanti lineage. A Sorcerer from the Outside World would have a hard time using it even if they obtained it. And Stephen and Nicodemus aren't fools; they know how to weigh the pros and cons."
Tony slowly walked to the window, opening the pane imbued with a historical aura and subtle mystic energy fluctuations, and quietly gazed at the scenery outside.
Stephen will be the next Sorcerer Supreme. Even if something does go wrong, Tony can afford the price of one Book of the Vishanti to teach him a lesson. At worst, he'll just have to spend some time to get it back.
In any case, things are very calm on Earth right now.
He was actually more concerned about the arrival of the Chitauri and the two Infinity Stones in Loki's possession.
(end of chapter)
