Another mysterious palace.
After Kaecilius obtained the parchment and checked it for any issues, he decisively held a summoning ritual with the other rogue sorcerers.
These sorcerers, corrupted by dark energy, only wanted power and to destroy the world. As for from whom they gained power, or who would destroy the world, that was not important.
Unlike Dormammu, the Serpent responded to them. Moreover, he was extremely generous.
"My apostle, take up my weapon and spread fear for me. When fear blankets this planet, I shall descend."
A green portal opened, and a long-handled hammer exuding a cold aura passed through the portal, landing in front of Kaecilius.
Just by looking at the hammer, Kaecilius felt a chill run through his body. Undoubtedly, this was a divine artifact. It could provide immense power to its user.
With fanaticism, Kaecilius humbly picked up the hammer before him.
A name appeared in his mind.
Skadi's Hammer, also known as the winter god's hammer.
Holding it granted the power of Skadi, the winter god.
Just as Kaecilius picked up the hammer, seven hammers descended from the sky like meteors, scattering across various parts of the world.
Although these seven hammers were not as powerful as the Hammer of Skadi, they were all potent magical artifacts that could bestow extraordinary power upon their holders.
More importantly, they could control their holders, turning them into apostles of the Serpent, to spread fear for him.
...
In the night sky, Tony, who had just dealt with Killian, was flying in his armor towards a newly built mansion in the suburbs of New York, taking a detour to enjoy the ride.
Although he couldn't feel the wind, he could feel the exhilaration of flight brought by the thrusters. This was something portal magic couldn't compare to.
"Hmm? Jarvis, is that a meteor up ahead?"
"Sir, according to the high-definition camera footage, that is a hammer."
"A hammer? Thor's hammer?"
"No, it's not Thor's hammer." Jarvis denied, and after restoring the image, projected it before Tony's eyes.
"Oh, how interesting, a hammer falling from the sky. Let's go, Jarvis, we'll go check it out."
Tony changed direction, flying towards where the hammer had fallen.
And Tony wasn't the only one who noticed these abnormal meteors.
— — —
"Director Coulson, abnormal energy fluctuations detected."
At S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, a young Agent knocked on Coulson's office door to report.
"Report the news to the World Security Council." Coulson said weakly.
"Director Coulson, don't we need to send someone to investigate?" The young Agent asked, puzzled.
"No need. S.H.I.E.L.D. is about to be disbanded."
After a brief silence, the young Agent replied reluctantly, "Yes, Director Coulson."
Watching the young Agent's retreating back, a flicker of confusion passed through Coulson's eyes.
Once upon a time, he too was a young agent with full work enthusiasm, a positive work attitude, and a proactive sense of responsibility. He was very dissatisfied with those leaders who occupied positions without doing any work, but...
Now, he had become the very thing he disliked in his youth.
"Agent Skye, come back."
After hesitating, Coulson called out to the young agent who had just left.
"Have a plane prepared. We'll go check the abnormal energy reaction point in the New York suburbs first."
"But Director Coulson, isn't S.H.I.E.L.D. going to be disbanded?" Skye asked.
Her previous silence wasn't due to unwillingness to give up this mission, but rather unwillingness for S.H.I.E.L.D. to be disbanded.
Joining S.H.I.E.L.D. as an internal agent meant access to more databases, which was very important to her. She needed to use the information in these databases to uncover the truth about her past.
Everything she had previously known about her background was merely a file edited by S.H.I.E.L.D..
Coulson didn't know Skye's inner thoughts, he still thought the young Agent before him was like himself in his youth.
So, Coulson smiled, and said gently yet dominantly, "S.H.I.E.L.D. is only about to be disbanded, it hasn't been disbanded yet. As long as S.H.I.E.L.D. is not disbanded for a single day, it will continue to fulfill its duty to protect the people of Earth from supernatural forces. This is the duty and power bestowed upon us by the World Security Council."
Skye was silent.
She didn't care about these duties or powers. She only knew that dealing with these supernatural events must be very dangerous.
And she was just an internal agent, she absolutely did not want to go on field missions.
"Alright, Director Coulson. I'll go contact the action team for you now."
New York suburbs.
Tony was standing at the center of a crater, dozens of meters in diameter, looking at the hammer at his feet, his expression not looking too good.
He was guarding the area, preventing others from touching the hammer.
Just moments ago, when he tried to pick up the hammer, his mind was strongly corroded. Fortunately, his mind, strengthened by day-after-day of diligent magic practice, was much more powerful than that of ordinary people.
Coupled with the enhancement from the white energy given by Lucas, he wasn't directly controlled by the hammer.
Realizing something was wrong, Tony immediately dropped the hammer. But his mental world was still slightly infected.
At this moment, in Tony's mental world, the white energy was currently strangling the green energy.
A moment later, a fighter jet arrived.
But the insignia on the jet was not S.H.I.E.L.D.'s.
As soon as several agents got off the jet, they spoke to Tony, "Hello, Mr. Stark. We are taking over the scene, please leave."
Tony asked, "Who are you?"
"S.W.O.R.D.." The agent replied.
"Jarvis, has this organization been registered with Congress?" Tony ignored the Agent and asked Jarvis instead.
"Sir. The name of this organization was not found in publicly available Congressional records."
"Which means, this is an illegal organization."
As Jarvis's voice sounded, the expressions of the agents on site turned ugly.
To put it on the table, a secret organization like theirs, which wasn't registered, was indeed an illegal organization. It's just that normally no one dared to bring it up to them.
An illegal organization naturally had no law enforcement authority, let alone the right to take over the scene and tell Tony to leave.
Just as the two sides were at a stalemate, another fighter jet arrived—Quinjet.
However, strictly speaking, S.H.I.E.L.D. was also an illegal organization.
Getting out of the Quinjet, Coulson ignored the S.W.O.R.D. Agents and greeted Tony first.
"Tony, what are you doing here? Did you find anything?"
"I have the right to appear in any non-private area of this world."
Tony first made a sarcastic remark to the S.W.O.R.D. Agents, then explained, "What fell was a hammer. This hammer is very dangerous, it can control the mind of its wielder."
"I suggest that if you want to take it away, it's best to use mechanical transport and not let anyone get close."
"Thank you for your suggestion, Tony." Coulson nodded gratefully, then gave an order, "Take the item back to S.H.I.E.L.D.."
"Director Coulson, this area has already been taken over by S.W.O.R.D.." The S.W.O.R.D. agent quickly stopped the S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel.
For a moment, the situation was once again at a stalemate.
"Sorry, Kamar-Taj wants this hammer."
Tony indicated, no more pretending.
I'm laying my cards on the table.
I'm not just a playboy, billionaire, Iron Man. I'm also a sorcerer.
A sorcerer who is a candidate for the next Sorcerer Supreme of Kamar-Taj.
Golden sparks flickered, and a distinctive Kamar-Taj portal opened.
Tony had Jarvis control his armor's arm to pass through the portal and bring the hammer back to the New York Sanctum.
The S.W.O.R.D. agent wanted to stop him but was held back by his officer.
Power is authority.
And the controller of the most powerful force on Earth was Sorcerer Lucas of Kamar-Taj.