novelhk Chapter 70 Even the Holy Lord Did Not Sleep
Chapter 70 Even the Holy Lord Did Not Sleep
Thor looked at his hammer, then at Mordo, and finally put the hammer down.
"I need to rethink some things," Saul said.
Seeing Thor's distraught expression, no one stepped forward to comfort him.
Thor turned and walked toward the room the king had arranged. As he passed the Holy Lord, he stopped and stood beside him, whispering, "Don't tell anyone about the artifact fragments."
After Thor left, only the King, Mordo, the Holy Lord, and Wanda remained in the courtyard.
Wang looked in the direction Thor had left, remained silent for a long time, and finally sighed: "He won't give up so easily. That's how the people of Asgard are; once they've set their minds on something, they won't turn back."
"So?" the Holy Lord asked, "You want to get rid of him?"
"I don't have that authority." The king shook his head. "He is a prince of Asgard, one of the protectors of the Nine Realms. If he wants to stay here, I have no reason to expel him."
Mordo stood to the side, the dark energy at his fingertips dissipating. His gaze lingered on the Holy Lord for a moment before turning to the King: "I need to go back and continue my studies. The defense just now consumed a lot of my energy, and I need time to recover."
Wang glanced at him, hesitated, and finally just nodded.
"What did you do to him?" the king asked the Holy Lord suddenly after Mordo's figure had completely disappeared.
The Holy Lord chuckled softly: "I gave him a choice."
"What to choose?"
"Choose to accept power, or continue to be a weakling bound by rules."
Wang turned to face the Holy Lord: "Modu is an excellent mage, but he has always had a certain obsession in his heart, an obsession that is easily exploited."
"use?"
The Holy Lord repeated the word, his smile unchanged. "Your Majesty, you are too sensitive. I merely showed him the truth; how he chooses to proceed is his own business."
"the truth?"
Wang's voice rose a few decibels: "You did it very discreetly, but anyone who thinks about it for a moment will know that to fully control dark magic, you need the power of the Mind Stone, and the Mind Stone is now in your hands."
Wanda stood behind Shendu, her eyes narrowed, and chaos magic was already appearing in her palm. She could sense that the King had become hostile towards Shendu.
"Young King," the Holy Lord said calmly, "I have a question for you: how many years have you been guarding the Sanctuary?"
Wang frowned: "This has nothing to do with what's happening now."
"It's related."
The Holy Lord continued, "In all these years you've guarded the Sanctuary, how many sorcerers have you seen leave because they couldn't break through their limitations? How many exceptionally talented apprentices have you seen expelled for breaking taboos? Have the rules of Kamar-Taj truly protected these people?"
Wang squinted, staring intently at the Holy Lord.
"The purpose of rules is not to restrict people, but to protect them," Wang finally said.
"Protect?"
The Holy Lord chuckled softly: "Those mages who were consumed by dark magic, they initially only wanted to explore the boundaries of power. Your rules did not protect them, but only pushed them into more dangerous situations, leaving them to face things they could not understand alone."
Wang remained silent.
"You've spent so many years in the library of Kamar-Taj, you must have read many ancient books," the Holy Lord continued. "You should know that the development of magic has never relied on following the rules, but on breaking them. Every leap in magic is accompanied by the breaking of taboos."
"That was before," Wang's voice was somewhat hoarse. "We can't afford to fail a second time now."
"So you've chosen to stagnate?"
The Holy Lord shook his head: "Your Majesty, you are a wise man. You should know that in this era of crisis-ridden multiverse, stagnation means annihilation. The threats you face are far more terrifying than you imagine."
Wang remained silent.
The Holy Lord took a step forward, his tone becoming gentler: "You just said that the destroyed timeline you detected is expanding and the rate of erosion is accelerating. You know better than I what will happen then."
"What do you want to say?" Wang asked.
"What I want to say is that you need strength now."
Shendu stated bluntly, "What we need is something truly capable of countering that corrosive power, and the magic you currently possess, whether traditional white magic or those forbidden spells, is insufficient. Isn't that why you agreed to cooperate with me to deal with Captain Marvel?"
The king's eyes flickered, but he remained silent.
Saint looked at the king and smiled, "You know very well that this is your purpose."
Wang remained silent for a long time, then finally sighed: "What do you want me to do?"
"It's very simple," the Holy Lord said. "Give me the Book of Darkness."
Wang's expression changed: "Impossible. It was already an exception that I let you look through that book before. I can't possibly give it to you now."
The Holy Lord laughed at the King's reasoning, saying, "That book has already been read by Mordo, and I have memorized its contents. Locking it in a secret room is just deceiving yourself."
"I need that book," the Holy Lord continued. "You know I have the Mind Stone. Giving me the Book of Darkness will only make your plans more secure. I need to use it to help Wanda awaken."
Wang's gaze shifted to Wanda, his brow furrowing. "Her? What does she need the Book of Darkness for?"
Shendu continued, "The power within her far exceeds your imagination, but that power is dormant and needs some kind of guidance to be fully released. The Book of Darkness is that key." Shendu thought of the scene when Wanda awakened her dark power and easily swept through parallel universes.
"Are you sure she can control it?" Wang asked.
The Holy Lord said, "With me here, I will not let anything happen to my people."
Wanda stood to the side, head bowed, blushing.
"I need time to think about it," Wang finally said.
"You don't have time," the Holy Lord said. "The rate of erosion is accelerating. With each passing day, we are one step closer to disaster."
"One day," Wang said, taking a deep breath. "Give me one day."
"Alright, one day," the Holy Lord said with a smile.
Watching Wang's departing figure, Wanda walked to Shendu's side and whispered, "Will he agree?"
"Yes." The Holy Lord looked in the direction the King had left. "He has no other choice."
Kamar-Taj at night.
Thor sat on the windowsill of the room, Mjolnir resting on his lap, his fingers stroking the inconspicuous stone on the hammerhead.
Charms and spells.
It turns out it's called a talisman.
He recalled the expression on Odin's face when he handed him the stone, his eyes, which had seen countless years, held a solemnity he had never witnessed before.
"The power of this item is beyond Asgard's comprehension; use it with caution."
Odin's voice echoed in Thor's mind again, and Thor looked up at the window.
The figure appeared in the courtyard, as if waiting for someone.
Thor gripped his hammer, jumped off the windowsill, and went outside.
"You're not asleep," the Holy Lord said without turning his head.
"You didn't sleep either." Thor walked over to him and stood beside him.