Reborn as the God-Emperor in Marvel

The Sorcerer Supreme did not use the Eye of Agamotto to reverse time and save Solomon's life. That's something many at Kamar-Taj would never allow. There are quite a few stubborn individuals who believe that using the Eye to manipulate time disturbs its natural flow. They're not entirely wrong, and the Sorcerer Supreme also agreed that rewinding Solomon's time might undo his contract with the Vishanti.

Instead, the Sorcerer Supreme used white magic from the Book of the Vishanti to help Solomon heal on his own. This magic drained Solomon's own life force, which is why he felt weak upon waking. The side effects were tolerable, though. To restore someone with such severe burns as if they were reborn is beyond what modern medicine could achieve. Just regrowing skin would typically require a long and painful process, but with the magical treatment, Solomon felt no discomfort.

It's worth noting that when the Sorcerer Supreme brought Solomon back, every inch of his skin had been charred, and the flesh beneath was almost cooked. If the Sorcerer Supreme hadn't acted quickly, Solomon could have died at any moment. However, this treatment required a strong life force, and fortunately, Solomon's body had already been fortified with positive energy. With a few days of rest, he would recover. His long curls, which had been lost, had even grown back—though shorter than before. Solomon was quite pleased with that since he couldn't stand the idea of having hair barely longer than his fingernails. That would have been worse than death for him.

Once Solomon could get out of bed and eat, he took a look at the charred remains of the shell he had shed during the treatment. It seemed that the Sorcerer Supreme had peeled him from it like a chestnut. His new skin was delicate and soft, with none of the calluses from martial arts training. His face, too, was smooth and fair again, attracting teasing from the female sorcerers at Kamar-Taj, who couldn't resist pinching his cheeks every time they passed him.

"Sigh…" Solomon sat in his room, dipping a quill into ink as he sketched on a piece of parchment to make scrolls. He believed that part of the reason his last mission failed was because he hadn't brought enough scrolls with him. If it hadn't been for the two "Protection from Evil" scrolls he had on hand, both he and Wong would have faced an even more miserable fate. People possessed by evil spirits rarely meet a good end, and if they had been possessed, they wouldn't have had a chance to wait for the Sorcerer Supreme to rescue them.

Following the Sorcerer Supreme's instructions, Solomon had to rest for many more days before resuming normal activities. Master Zhang, who taught him Baji Quan, didn't want to see him flailing about, so he was excused from the self-defense classes. To this day, Master Zhang still believed Solomon was attacked by the dark wizard because he hadn't taken his self-defense lessons seriously.

As a result, Solomon became the negative example used in self-defense classes.

The excuse of being "attacked by a dark wizard" fooled almost everyone, except for the Sorcerer Supreme and Wong. As for that dark wizard? Since the Sorcerer Supreme got involved, they were definitely dead—probably with a soul that couldn't even reach hell.

Solomon set down his quill and raised his hand to inspect the three rings on his right hand. There was a sapphire ring on his index finger, an orange sapphire ring on his middle finger, and a pink diamond ring on his ring finger. These rings looked pristine, showing no signs of being scorched. The gems glittered enchantingly in the sunlight. While the rings appeared expensive, they seemed no different from ordinary rings, with no trace of magic about them. No one would imagine that these rings could control the power of the Vishanti.

Cautiously, he tried to remove the rings but found that not only had they automatically adjusted to fit his fingers, they seemed unwilling to leave him. Even as he increased his effort, it was impossible to take them off.

Solomon sighed.

Well, it seemed these rings had latched onto him like a stubborn drunk refusing to leave. Based on his knowledge of dark magic, this behavior signified that the contract with the Vishanti had already been established. He could now openly wield their magic. Whatever reasons the Vishanti had, Solomon could only wait for their plans for him. His contract was much more flexible than others at Kamar-Taj, and breaking it would be much easier. He even had the power to refuse the contract, provided he could remove the rings. For now, wearing them meant not only gaining access to the Vishanti's immense power but also learning to control the holy marks he had acquired.

Thinking further wouldn't help him now, though. Solomon sighed again, picked up his ruler and protractor, and resumed drawing scrolls. For him, expanding his collection of spellbooks and scrolls was the most important task at hand.

---

What happened in Salem naturally attracted the attention of certain agencies. To handle this supernatural phenomenon, they quickly arrived on the scene. Given that the area affected wasn't too large and was located in the suburbs, the incident wasn't significant enough to report to the World Security Council. However, due to protests from the Salem senator, S.H.I.E.L.D. sent an experienced agent to investigate.

"Mutants? Terrorist attack? Or just an accident?" asked Phil Coulson, wearing his usual black suit, as he took the tablet from his colleague. He removed his sunglasses and glanced at the screen before handing the tablet back. He then looked over at the team inspecting the scene. "Have we found any additional information?"

"Nothing at all," replied Sylvette, shaking her bald head. "However, according to the Salem police, Senator Richie White was robbed that day. Apparently, someone used a flashbang to snatch a ring with a pink gemstone right off his finger. We can't confirm whether the robber is connected to the mutant in question, though."

"No ringing in the ears, so it wasn't a stun grenade. It might have been a homemade flashbang. Any witnesses?" Coulson sighed. He had already braced himself to face an out-of-control mutant and had come to Salem with lightweight weapons. Ever since Melinda's incident on Bahrain Island, she'd been moved to a desk job. If Melinda were here, Coulson would feel more secure. The weapons he carried didn't give him nearly as much confidence as having Melinda by his side.

"No witnesses. After the sudden flash, Senator Richie White realized he'd been robbed. The only useful piece of information we got from him was a bruise on his wrist," Sylvette said, pushing up her gold-rimmed glasses. "We can estimate the height and weight of the attacker based on the bruise, but most of the people present were arrested by the police, and we didn't find anyone fitting the profile."

"The real thief probably fled the scene. We're not here to catch the senator's robber, nor are we looking for beggars, gamblers, or drunks. We're here to investigate the supernatural event. Let the local police handle the robbery. If they hadn't failed to find any bomb remnants, they wouldn't have called us. No terrorist attack takes place in the middle of nowhere. But…"

Coulson stomped his foot on the asphalt. Before him, the road had melted, with the tar radiating out in an arc. The degree of melting varied based on how far each section was from the center of the heat source. The asphalt closest to Coulson was slightly raised, while the center had liquefied entirely. For an experienced agent, the scene offered plenty of clues to investigate. Coulson had never expected to find anything useful in the surveillance footage anyway.

Pointing at the ground, Coulson said, "There's a footprint here, leading to the center. We can easily determine the physical details of the person who left it once we analyze the trace evidence. Then we can compare it to the robbery suspect. I've got a feeling they're the same person. And the person in the center of the heat, well, that's likely our mutant. The problem is, we don't see any footprints leading away. Maybe our suspect is a mutant too."

"You mean they can fly?"

"Achoo!"

"Achoo!"

Meanwhile, Solomon and Wong, casually eating a meal in the Hong Kong Sanctum, had no idea that S.H.I.E.L.D. was already investigating them.

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