"Captain, someone's trying to breach Stark Industries' flight systems."
"Can you keep them out?" Captain Rogers asked worriedly. Ever since receiving landing instructions from the Scourge sky carrier a few minutes ago, a sense of foreboding had filled his heart. Whether it was the impatience of the flight control officer or the way the rapid-fire cannons followed their Quinjet's movements, everything pointed to a hostile attitude. He was sure the hacking attempt was the work of the Eternal City. If not for Vision detecting it in time, they might have had vital information stolen.
"I can manage. Should I launch a counterattack?"
"No. Absolutely not." Captain Rogers shook his head. "No one carries weapons. We must not show even a hint of hostility."
"But I doubt they'll be so nice to us, Cap," Falcon said. "We might end up getting locked up ourselves."
"They don't need to bother if they wanted us dead. A random mage could silently finish the job. I've seen magical curses—ordinary people don't stand a chance against a mage." Captain Rogers watched as the pilot hovered the Quinjet at the edge of the sky carrier's flight deck and slowly moved inward. He could faintly recognize the original frame of the sky carrier, but after the Eternal City's heavy modifications, its aircraft capacity had shrunk so much it was hardly worthy of being called a carrier anymore. He had never seen a carrier with its flight deck armored shut and rapid-fire cannons mounted atop the armor—it was practically a flying battleship.
"Sounds like there's a story there," Falcon remarked.
"I'll tell you later." As the aircraft docked, the rear hatch slowly opened. Captain Rogers picked up his shield and led the team forward. While they couldn't show hostility, it didn't mean they wouldn't be cautious. The Eternal City's attitude was expected—leading the reception was a tall, thin, gray-haired middle-aged man, along with a girl clad in black power armor wielding a chainsword. But Rogers hadn't expected to face the barrels of heavy assault troopers wearing full power armor the moment he disembarked—he had seen what those girls could do in Sokovia. They brought firepower meant for disabling heavy vehicles.
They weren't worried about the special operations team, or even about him and Falcon—they were worried about Vision!
Rogers understood immediately. Under his request, the spec ops agents handed over their weapons, and Falcon surrendered his wings. But just when he thought the worst was over, the armored girls and mages pulled out shackles, attempting to detain the agents.
"What are you doing?" Rogers shouted. "Haven't we shown enough trust?"
"This isn't about trust. We must examine whether their minds have been corrupted by evil—including yours," Kaecilius said, looking over the soaking-wet Captain Rogers. "Since you've shown trust, I'll tell you—the three sky carriers have already executed forty ordinary people who fell into madness. Their souls were crushed, their bodies no longer held their own wills, and there was no saving them. We cannot rule out that some agents among you may also be tainted, but I promise, Kamar-Taj will act mercifully before they can commit irredeemable crimes against humanity."
"That's not mercy. That's butchery," Vision said, grabbing Kaecilius's arm to stop him from approaching the agents. Instantly, the tension skyrocketed—the heavy weapons squads moved their fingers onto their triggers, their explosive rounds and plasma weapons primed. Meanwhile, the leading Sisterhood warrior activated her chainsword's low-speed mode, ready to strike at a moment's notice.
"I don't understand," Vision said calmly, ignoring the threats. "Why don't you at least try to help them?"
"Not everyone has a Mind Stone, robot," Kaecilius said, pulling his arm free. Vision did not resist. "Even the Mind Stone struggles to restore a broken mind—especially when the wielder is a machine."
"I cannot allow this," Vision said stiffly. "Humanity needs to progress, but not all sacrifices are justifiable. What you're doing is irrational and unscientific. You haven't even tried treatment first. Proper observation should precede judgment. At worst, they should be committed to psychiatric care, not crudely executed. What you're doing is no different from medieval bloodletting butchers—barbaric and arbitrary."
"Oh really?" Kaecilius smiled. Before anyone could react, he suddenly lunged forward and punched Vision in the head.
Vision instinctively tried to phase, but an orange-red shield shimmering with magic slammed into his phased head, forcing his body to rematerialize and taking the full blow. A dull, heavy thud echoed in everyone's ears as Vision was sent flying and slammed onto the deck, lying stiffly motionless.
Kaecilius moved quickly, binding Vision with magic.
"You're right. We are butchers—humanity's butchers. We guard our race at all costs, even if it means trampling morality. This is the bottom line of Kamar-Taj—not something you superhero game players could ever understand," he said, lifting his gaze to Rogers and Falcon. "You haven't truly seen the horrors of elder god worship. What gives you the right to judge us? But I'll give you a hint—this earthquake. Its source was a random cultist from two hundred years ago. Now he's the cause of thousands of deaths. If he had succeeded, casualties could have reached hundreds of thousands or even millions. And why did he fall? Simply because he once heard a god's name. I have no right to judge those driven mad—but neither do I have the right to let them live. This is the cruel truth of the world. Bloodshed is the only way to shield the innocent from the blight of cults. Mage after mage has bled and died to protect you."
Captain Rogers remained silent, unsure how to argue against such words—it was not his area of expertise.
"I understand the sacrifice," he finally said after a long moment. "But understanding it doesn't make it right."
"I never said it was right," Kaecilius chuckled. "And I take no pride in it. Solomon is working on alternatives so that future mages might not need such bloodshed. I don't believe he'll succeed, but I still support him."
Only then did Falcon seem to grasp what was happening. His eyes widened in disbelief. He was so shocked he overlooked Kaecilius's explosive statements, as well as the buzzing chainsword near Captain Rogers's neck. For Avengers veterans, it was almost unimaginable. They knew the power Vision had shown during training. Until a day ago, they could never have imagined someone taking Vision down so easily.
"Vision... is he dead?"
"This robot is just in standby mode—like a phone in sleep mode," Kaecilius said matter-of-factly. In his eyes, Vision was nothing more than a smartphone with a Mind Stone installed. He discreetly flexed his fingers—he had tried prying the Mind Stone off but failed; dismantling the robot would be necessary.
"There's more than one Infinity Stone in the world. As a senior steward of Kamar-Taj, I'm quite familiar with Infinity Stones and how to use them. Besides, it's just a machine, isn't it?" he said.
"Don't worry. If your agents are clean, they won't even lose a hair. Are we going to stand here arguing philosophy? Since you want to talk, I'll take you to someone you can actually talk to."
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Fairy Tail: Igneel's Eldest Son (Chapter 256)
I Am Thalos, Odin's Older Brother (Chapter 336)
Reborn in America's Anti-Terror Unit (Chapter 542)
Solomon in Marvel (Chapter 924)
Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1284)
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1289)
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1316)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1402)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld! (Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 660)
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