"That's what happened, Director."
Coulson lowered his head apologetically. The failure of this mission had been rather unexpected.
To be fair, Coulson hadn't always completed every mission in the past. Mistakes were inevitable. Even Black Widow Natasha, and even his former superior, Nick Fury—the King of Spies—had suffered setbacks.
But failing because of the law? That was a first for S.H.I.E.L.D.
Coulson felt like he'd completely lost face. He couldn't bear to show himself to anyone now, and he was sure he was in for a harsh dressing-down from the Director.
To his surprise, however, Xia Ling wasn't angry.
"Oh, I see. It's fine. Just keep investigating."
Xia Ling seemed unconcerned. After all, both S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Church of Dagon led by Kaecilius were his subordinate forces.
Their conflict was nothing more than one hand fighting the other. Whichever side lost would simply step down from the ring, take a rest, and fight again later.
If S.H.I.E.L.D. lost, they could retreat to headquarters and try again another day. If the Church of Dagon lost, the mages could just open a portal and flee. At worst, they could hide underwater.
Was anyone really going to go underwater and wipe them all out?
"So, Director, what should we do next? Forge a search warrant and go back?"
Coulson asked cautiously, but before Xia Ling could answer, Hawkeye immediately shot down the idea.
"Forging a search warrant and investigating now would be pointless. They'll be on their guard. We'd be better off investigating under cover of darkness tonight. We might uncover some secrets they don't want getting out."
"Coulson, what do you think of what Hawkeye just said?"
Coulson felt miserable. Why did Director Xia have to ask him about everything? Even if he was capable, he couldn't take this kind of constant strain.
"Director, I don't have any particular thoughts. I'll do whatever you say."
Heaven knew Coulson only wanted to do his job dutifully and keep working in this position until he was old enough to live off his pension.
He didn't want to be worked like this nonstop. At this rate, he wasn't even sure he'd live long enough to collect his pension.
"We're the good guys. We can't sneak around like thieves, can we?"
At that, Hawkeye was about to object, but Xia Ling abruptly changed tack. "But to protect the lives of American citizens, we have every reason to carry out whatever patrols we deem necessary at night."
Hawkeye's eyes lit up. As a true-blue American patriot, he knew this kind of reasoning all too well.
"The Director is right. Protecting the lives of the American people is our responsibility. If monsters appear at night, then we must do everything necessary to eliminate the danger!"
Watching the two of them sing from the same hymn sheet, Coulson could only feel that he was superfluous.
"In that case, Director, I'll start making arrangements for a nighttime patrol right away. I'll put together a team to deal with any trouble we might encounter."
Coulson watched Xia Ling cautiously, afraid the Director might refuse and send him and Hawkeye out on patrol together again.
It wasn't that Hawkeye wasn't good enough. They simply didn't have enough people. Without teammates to back them up, if they ran into danger, they might not even be able to escape.
"Coulson, you never disappoint. You always manage to get things done properly. My trust in you is well placed. Of course you can put together a team. Have Brock Rumlow join this time, and choose a few more people to fill out the team.
Make sure everything goes smoothly this time."
"Yes, sir."
Coulson breathed a sigh of relief. At least this time, he'd managed to get a whole team to join him on the mission.
He'd wanted Brock Rumlow, his colleague, to join him last time, but Rumlow had happened to be away on a mission and wasn't at S.H.I.E.L.D.
And he wasn't the only one. Many of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s outstanding agents had all been sent on missions at the same time.
Coulson was especially puzzled by this. What kind of mission could possibly require so many of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s elite agents?
Director Xia hadn't explained, but he'd acted as if it were perfectly normal, so Coulson hadn't asked.
As a low-ranking employee, it was usually best not to know too much about certain things.
Otherwise, one day he might get in over his head and mysteriously end up committing suicide.
Meanwhile, the Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One, was keeping watch over the area.
She had changed into ordinary clothes and concealed her formidable aura. To an ordinary person, she would look like nothing more than a beautiful woman.
She was bald, but her face was still captivating.
The Ancient One already knew where her disciple Kaecilius had fled. After all, there was a huge church right here. There was no reason she wouldn't be able to find it.
But she couldn't enter the church.
Not because she lacked the ability, but because she had an overwhelming sense of foreboding. Every cell in her body was warning her.
It felt as though if she dared to walk right in, she would be heading straight to the underworld.
The Ancient One didn't believe there was anything on Earth that could kill her in an instant, but that didn't mean she could ignore all those warnings.
What was more, she didn't have much Mana left. Every bit she used was gone for good, and she still hadn't found a suitable new Sovereign Lord.
The voice that had been circling in her ears for some time continued to echo there. It had promised that it could become her new Sovereign Lord, and the price it demanded wasn't too high.
But the Ancient One had never agreed. Even when Dormammu, her mortal enemy, had threatened her, she'd dared to draw power from the Dark Dimension so she could keep living.
Still, she didn't dare accept the voice she kept hearing as the next Sovereign Lord for herself and the other mages.
As it happened, she didn't have much time left, either.
Her disciple Kaecilius had already chosen a Sovereign Lord as his creditor and was borrowing power from him endlessly. If she, as the Sorcerer Supreme, and the other mages didn't borrow from a Sovereign Lord as well,
then it wouldn't be Kaecilius hiding from her anymore. He and his followers would come after her and hunt her down.
In the original timeline, she really was supposed to die at Kaecilius's hands and retire that way.
But in the current situation, that clearly wouldn't do.
She had to survive—live forever!
Before you continue