Axis of the Universe.
Earth.
May 25, 2017.
Clear skies.
This day would forever be etched in the annals of the three great pantheons.
On this day, the gods would pay tribute to a single man.
In the vast plaza of Kamar-Taj, the secret magicians stood solemnly.
They no longer wore the monk-like gray robes of the past. Instead, they donned black inner garments and tight-fitting dark yellow uniforms, layered with full-body gray-white cloaks—these were the Ascetic Kings.
When the Sorcerer Supreme could not bear the price of certain ancient spells, these men and women would share the burden in silence.
Nick Fury stood afar, in a corridor built along the mountainside loft. Beside him stood Wong.
Suddenly, Wong spoke:
"It's begun."
Nick Fury glanced at his watch—12:00 sharp.
He stared intently at the plaza below, not daring to blink for fear of missing a single moment.
Yet, oddly, the setting didn't appear particularly grand. It wasn't even as elaborate as a U.S. presidential inauguration.
Just as he started to wonder, he felt a strange tremor in the air.
No wind. No shockwaves. No changes in air pressure.
It was as if space itself had started to quiver.
His eyes widened.
From a distance, a series of magical circles appeared across the vast plaza—glowing like advanced CGI effects from a computer screen.
They were layered with intricate, unknowable patterns and symbols.
These runes morphed, merged, and rotated rapidly—until they reached some unseen threshold.
And then... something completely beyond his understanding unfolded.
Space began to distort.
The once football-field-sized square started to expand rapidly.
The bluestone paving morphed into a shimmering golden metal, carved with strange, arcane glyphs.
Golden pillars erupted from the circular edge of the plaza, now ten times its original size, glowing with multicolored magical energy.
The world surrounding the square collapsed, revealing the vastness of deep space, like a vision of the Milky Way, filled with blazing stars.
In that moment, the entire plaza seemed like an island floating in the cosmos—cut off from Earth, suspended in another dimension.
Nick Fury could barely breathe. And then—
The sky above shifted.
The clear blue dissolved, replaced by the star-streaked veil of the universe.
A brilliant, multicolored torrent surged forth from the distant galaxy, descending upon the world emblem of Asgard—the Horn of Odin, marked by three interlocking elliptical rings.
The Bifrost.
A beam of divine light struck the symbol.
A tall, one-eyed man appeared—Odin, wearing majestic golden armor and wielding a silver sword crackling with thunder. Two ravens perched on his shoulders, and his presence radiated unmatched authority.
Behind him walked Thor, Mjolnir in hand, clad in battle armor.
His usual playfulness was gone, replaced by solemnity and bloodlust—a god ready for war.
Trailing them were the Warriors Three—brave and fierce, armed with swords, battle axes, and great shields.
Following them was a unit of Asgardian guards in gold-plated armor, carrying radiant treasures of immense power.
Nick Fury, who had studied Norse mythology since Thor first appeared on Earth, immediately recognized the figure at the front.
He clicked his tongue and muttered in disbelief:
"That's Odin... the All-Father of Asgard. He came himself?"
In his mind, this tribute ceremony should've been attended by lesser gods—not the King of the Gods himself!
Suddenly, thunder cracked across the heavens.
Nick Fury looked up—and saw the impossible.
The thunder arrived before the lightning.
A golden bolt hovered midair—then split apart as if torn open by two massive invisible hands.
A circular gateway hundreds of meters wide was pried open between worlds.
A staircase formed from celestial stone, like something out of a Greek temple, extended downward.
Figures began to descend.
The leader was a man in a magnificent white robe, lined with real golden lightning bolts that danced and flickered with every step.
Beside him walked a regal woman in a flowing violet gown, embroidered with patterns of blooming flowers and peacock feathers.
Following them were:
A glowing man with a radiant smile—Apollo, god of the sun.
A woman in a short silver-gray robe, adorned with deer and moon motifs—Artemis, goddess of the hunt.
A calm, wise woman in a white robe embroidered with the Eye of Wisdom and olive branches in blue thread—Athena, goddess of wisdom.
Behind them came rows of topless warrior-servants, each bearing luminous treasures.
Nick Fury's whole body broke out in goosebumps.
His scalp tingled.
The leader was none other than the Olympian Zeus.
Another God-King had arrived—to personally pay tribute to Mr. Russell.
He couldn't process it.
He couldn't imagine this scenario even in his wildest dreams.
Suppressing the excitement in his chest, Fury turned to Wong and asked, his voice trembling:
"Magician... do you know who those people behind Zeus are?"
His curiosity burned like wildfire.
Wong took a deep breath and replied:
"Yes. There are ancient records of them in Kamar-Taj."
"Walking beside Odin is Hera, Queen of the Gods. Behind her are Apollo, Artemis, and finally, Athena."
Nick Fury's eyes widened involuntarily, shocked once again.
At that moment, the gods of the Greek Pantheon were already standing upon the Golden Square, and the pathway they arrived through dissipated into a flash of lightning—returning to Zeus's hand.
Then, the backdrop of the universe suddenly lit up!
A brilliant solar silhouette appeared across the cosmic sky.
Moments later, a black sunspot emerged within the radiance.
It grew larger and clearer, until finally—within a dozen seconds—it took shape.
It was an enormous golden ship, hovering silently outside Earth's atmosphere.
From the ship, streams of light leapt down, descending to the Golden Square, landing precisely on the sun emblem carved into its center.
From within these radiant trails emerged a figure—a humanoid with the head of a falcon, wearing a sun disk crown atop his head.
The massive golden solar disk, adorned with countless embedded rubies, emitted intense, flame-like light, symbolizing the scorching power of the sun itself.
He wore a resplendent white linen robe, embroidered with gold-threaded hieroglyphs symbolizing life, power, and divine authority.
These glowing inscriptions danced around him like flowing light.
Nick Fury recognized him immediately.
The supreme deity of the Egyptian Pantheon, Ra, the Sun God himself.
To look at him was like staring directly into the heart of the sun.
Another God-King, arriving in person—just to present tribute to Mr. Russell.
It was simply unimaginable.
Behind Ra followed a man wearing a light blue short robe and a feathered headdress.
The fabric appeared almost ethereal, like it was woven from the air itself, with flowing wind-like patterns stitched into it.
Wong, standing beside Fury, explained thoughtfully:
"That is Shu, god of wind and air—one of the Ennead. He represents divine order."
More streamers descended and transformed into humanoid forms.
Wong continued his introductions:
"That's Tefnut, goddess of rain; Geb, god of the earth; Nut, goddess of the sky; Osiris, god of life; Isis, goddess of magic; Set, god of chaos; and Thoth, the guardian of wisdom."
Although Nick Fury couldn't tell them apart visually, he knew those names.
All nine deities of the Egyptian Ennead had arrived.
At this moment, Wong let out a sigh.
"Since ancient times, I don't know how many millennia have passed without the three major pantheons—Norse, Greek, and Egyptian—gathering in one place. And now, they've all come to pay tribute to the same person."
"We're witnessing history."
Nick Fury nodded heavily.
He rubbed his face, speechless, numb from shock.
Even if he died now, he felt he'd lived a life without regret.
He could already imagine how stunned Bucky and Natasha Romanoff would be once he reported back to S.H.I.E.L.D.
What an honor this is!
Then, a sudden realization struck him.
He looked around, confused, and asked:
"Magician... where is the Sorcerer Supreme?"
He wasn't surprised that Mr. Russell would be the last to appear.
But where was the Sorcerer Supreme?
Wong's face reddened slightly.
He couldn't admit that his boss was just trying to look cool.
So he replied vaguely, "He'll be out soon. It's... almost time."
And then—the greatest change occurred.
It wasn't just Kamar-Taj anymore.
The entire world dimmed.
Not a complete loss of light—rather, a deeper dimension, hidden beneath reality, began to fully manifest.
It was like the polar night sky had descended.
Above, a towering tree formed entirely from laser-like energy slowly appeared in the heavens.
At this moment, every corner of the Earth could witness this miracle.
Countless people looked up at the sky in awe.
Back on the Golden Square, the three God Kings—Zeus, Odin, and Ra—stood in a triangle.
They exchanged glances.
In their eyes, a shared understanding.
"The World Tree acknowledges him..." Zeus muttered, eyes fixed skyward.
Odin's expression grew complicated.
"This is unheard of. There's no record of such a thing."
The golden hawk eyes of Ra reflected something deeper.
He said quietly, "It's not just recognition... it's affection. There's a sense of pleasing, even devotion…"
He turned to Odin.
"He's one of your Aesir gods, isn't he? You really don't know who he is?"
Ra had previously only observed the battle from the distant Theban God Realm. But now, he understood why the Serpent of Destruction never tried to escape to the World Tree.
The World Tree rejected the great serpent.
And now, Ra realized why.
The World Tree had already chosen.
This revelation was so profound, Ra almost couldn't believe it even while witnessing it firsthand.
Gods like Thor, Apollo, Shu, and others were equally stunned, their perceptions shattered.
Suddenly, Odin sensed something.
He inhaled deeply and murmured:
"It's…"
The World Tree, towering across the sky, shook gently.
From its glowing branches, light burst forth like thousands of luminous mists, forming a massive silver gate, thousands of meters high, with mysterious carvings and statues etched into its surface.
A golden meteor descended from the sky and landed before the gate, transforming into a figure—
Tony Stark, the Sorcerer Supreme.
Golden runes of magical energy coalesced around him, forming a massive arcane figure that slowly reached out and opened the Silver Gate.
Instantly, countless soft white lights surged outward.
They weren't blinding—rather, they were warm and serene. Looking into them brought peace to the soul.
White feathers drifted from the heavens like phantoms, and a sacred hymn echoed faintly.
Nick Fury stood dumbfounded.
Was this a Norse god's entrance?
Why did it feel like the Second Coming of God from the Bible?
When the shadowed figure stood before the Silver Gate, backlit in divine glow—
That sacred aura overwhelmed everything.
Fury instinctively wanted to kneel and pray.
He wasn't alone.
Across the globe, billions of people witnessed the miracle.
The sheer spiritual power made them weep, tremble, and call out in devotion.
On the Golden Square, the gods' expressions changed.
Their perception was sharper than mortals.
This wasn't divine power they'd ever felt before.
This was something higher.
Their souls and bodies felt overwhelmed.
There was only one possible explanation—
This divine power surpassed them all.
Odin's breathing became ragged. His scalp tingled.
Was this truly power born of the Aesir?
Hera secretly glanced at Zeus.
She had opposed him attending this tribute, saying it would lower the Pantheon's status.
Now, she was thankful he insisted.
Because what they were witnessing...
Was a being beyond gods.
Outside the Silver Gate, Tony Stark wore a complicated expression.
He never expected the time anchor point to be triggered like this.
From above, Russell began to descend.
Each step he took onto invisible air left behind a green time array, flashing then vanishing.
They etched themselves not only into the void—but into the hearts of all who witnessed them.
These imprints became the most sacred anchor points in human memory.
From a height of tens of thousands of meters—
Russell took seven steps.
He landed in the center of the Golden Square, stepping upon the symbol of the Eye.
Above, the World Tree trembled one last time before fading slowly into the sky.
The Silver Gate began to vanish, transforming into streams of light.
Behind it, like a mirage, the outline of a heavenly city could be seen.
When it vanished, a milky white light flashed in Russell's pupils, and the entire space trembled.
An invisible force spread out.
The gods standing on the square felt their surroundings vanish.
Now, only one man remained in their vision.
Thunder and fire circled him.
Death and fear bowed.
Light radiated.
Snowflakes danced.
A seven-colored halo crowned his head.
And then—it was gone.
The vision lasted only a second.
But it shook the gods to their core.
They changed their expressions, placed their hands solemnly over their chests, and spoke in unison:
"Greetings, Mr. Russell."
At that moment—
All gods saluted the uncrowned king.
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