The Sorcerer Supreme and Mordo watched War Machine destroy the Wall Street Stock Exchange and then teleport away. Although Mordo wanted to say something, The Venerable One had no objection to her favorite student's actions. Athena was also quite satisfied with the punishment Salomon had meted out, believing it displayed the bearing of a king.
"I believe him." Athena said no more, merely displaying complete confidence. The Sorcerer Supreme wore the same expression. Both believed they held the upper hand in the chess game they were manipulating from the shadows.
The key to victory or defeat in this contest was Salomon's humanity. Both the Sorcerer Supreme and Athena believed that Salomon would walk the path fate had laid out for him, but Athena believed he would retain more of his humanity and remain attached to the past. She believed that she had taught Salomon what beauty and wisdom were, and that he would feel more favorably toward the Olympian Pantheon. The Sorcerer Supreme dismissed such thoughts. The Venerable One believed that if the Olympian Pantheon blocked his path, then not even Athena could escape death. They should persuade the Olympian Pantheon to abandon certain plans now and avoid total annihilation. Better yet, they should become Salomon's allies.
In the eyes of both Salomon and the Sorcerer Supreme, neither Asgard nor Olympus truly counted as gods. At most, they were blindly arrogant natives of the material universe lording over a single realm. Only Odin came somewhat close to the concept of a True God. True gods existed in another spiritual dimension, pure aggregates of concepts. Every emotion in the world became nourishment for them, like malignant tumors spawned by the universe. The Olympian Pantheon, trapped in the gap between reality and illusion, could only be considered Material Plane beings wielding powerful