"Great god, please answer your believer's summons. Descend upon this world and let its ignorant masses receive your baptism..."
Watching the man's lips, Mercer easily read them despite their tiny movements. Such was the Sharingan's extraordinary power of observation.
"These summoning chants are way too edgy..."
Mercer was speechless. Besides, how did Loki qualify as a great god? He was just a guy throwing a childish tantrum because he couldn't get the throne.
"Is The Ancient One messing with me? Where's the Sub-Dimensional Being? I thought I'd get something good to eat."
Disappointment showed on Mercer's face. Now that he had learned magic and had Galacta beside him as insurance, he genuinely wanted to see what a Sub-Dimensional Being could do.
"I'm going to the bathroom." After telling Peter why he was leaving, Mercer turned to Galacta beside him. "I've got a plan. I'll leave things here to you. If anything goes wrong, save as many people as you can."
Still feeling that wasn't enough, Mercer added, "You can trade every five people you save for one Lightning Orb."
Unexpectedly, that remark made Galacta look upset. "Do you think all I care about is eating? Am I not worth your trust? If that were true, I'd have eaten your planet long ago."
Mercer froze at her words, then realized his mistake. "Sorry, sorry. That came out wrong. My fault. I'll leave this to you, then, partner!"
"Hmph. Who's your partner..."
Galacta turned her head away, though the corners of her lips faintly curled upward.
The man was chanting, intending to combine the spatial magic he had learned with the Tesseract's immense energy to summon a powerful evil god.
Just as he got into his chanting, a boy ran toward him. He paid little attention.
Judging by the boy's expression, he seemed to be looking for the bathroom. He was probably running over to ask where it was. The man had been standing there for ages, and at least five people had already asked him.
The man felt this made for excellent cover and hadn't bothered explaining himself. Now, seeing the boy run over, he showed no reaction either.
"Looking for the bathroom? It's..." As the boy reached him, the man answered out of habit. Before he could finish, however, he saw the Sharingan in Mercer's eyes, its three tomoe spinning.
For an instant, his mind went blank. A fierce wave of dizziness rushed into his head, and his rigid body toppled forward.
"Sir? Sir, what's wrong? Somebody help! This man just passed out!"
Mercer shouted, putting on quite a performance. Noticing the commotion, several Hydra members immediately rushed over.
Seeing the man collapsed on the floor, one of them bent down and pressed his fingers against his neck. His pupils abruptly contracted, and he gave the others a slight shake of his head.
Dead!
Someone had died silently right under their noses? They fixed sharp gazes on Mercer and asked in low voices, "What just happened?"
Panic and confusion appeared on Mercer's face. He stumbled over his words like a child who truly had no idea what had happened.
"I-I just wanted to ask him where the bathroom was. He fainted as soon as I came over. I don't know..."
A Hydra member beside him watched Mercer's expression intently. When Mercer finished speaking, he secretly shook his head at the others, indicating that the boy was telling the truth.
"Take him outside first. That matter... will have to wait."
Two Hydra members stepped forward, propped the man up, and carried him outside. At the same time, the speaker pressed the earpiece in his ear and spoke quietly.
"Attention, all units. S.H.I.E.L.D. has infiltrated the venue. Manton is dead. Increase security!"
To everyone else, this was only a minor incident, and they paid it little mind.
"Killing an ordinary person with ocular power is ridiculously easy. Now I really can kill with a look..."
Watching the man being carried away, Mercer murmured, "That should take care of things, right? I can let S.H.I.E.L.D. come in and clean up now..."
Just as he thought things were about to wind down, the building suddenly shook violently.
No one knew what had happened. They looked around in bewilderment.
Only Mercer, Galacta, and Peter turned their startled gazes toward the Tesseract apparatus at the same time.
Blue light blazed from the Tesseract, battering the seemingly sturdy glass casing.
Although the bystanders didn't understand this strange sight, they could tell it was a bad sign. They screamed and ran for the exits.
One person prompted ten more, and soon everyone inside was swarming toward the exits.
A stampede was inevitable in such a chaotic rush. Several people had already fallen to the floor.
"This is bad."
Mercer saw a girl fall, about to have her head stepped on.
Suddenly, a white strand shot out from somewhere and stuck to the person's ankle, shifting where their next step landed. Their foot barely brushed past her cheek.
Turning his gaze, Mercer caught sight of Peter running into a nearby emergency stairwell. Barely half a minute later, a red-and-blue figure leaped through an open window high above the gymnasium.
Mercer instantly recognized the figure in the red-and-blue suit. It was Peter Parker-Spider-Man!
With his help, the evacuation went a little more smoothly. At least no one was injured in a stampede.
Once most people had evacuated, thirty or so remained inside. Mercer was actually surprised that so many had stayed.
Apart from Mercer, Galacta, and Peter, who had become Spider-Man, every single one of them was a Hydra member!
There were even more than Mercer had expected!
"What's wrong with the device? Has it gone out of control?"
Several people sprinted over to the machine, their hands flying across its keyboard. But no matter what they did, its shaking showed no sign of easing.
"Did you do this?!"
Anyone who remained here at a time like this clearly wasn't an ordinary person. Seeing the strangely dressed Peter, along with Mercer and Galacta, still there, their faces darkened.
They thought back to what had just happened and the spellcaster who had suddenly collapsed.
Mercer had approached him earlier and was still here now, so the answer was obvious.
He had killed the spellcaster. Was he with S.H.I.E.L.D.? But they'd never heard of S.H.I.E.L.D. having a member this young.
At that moment, Mercer and Galacta's appearances shifted, returning to their original forms.
The Hydra members didn't recognize Galacta, but they all knew Mercer. Before their eyes, the previously unremarkable boy transformed into one of their priority targets.
None of them had imagined his Disguise Technique could be so advanced. Several Hydra members had been standing close to Mercer earlier, yet they hadn't noticed anything wrong with his face.
Peter stood nearby, stunned. The boy he'd been chatting with just minutes ago had suddenly become this handsome.
Of course, his looks were beside the point. What mattered was that they seemed to have come for that blue cube.
"So it's more than just an exhibit..." Peter murmured beneath his mask, staring at the Tesseract, his thoughts unreadable.
"Those bastards! They're the ones who-!"
The angry curse cut off abruptly. Energy shattered the glass compartment holding the Tesseract, and with a bang, a beam of brilliant blue energy shot forward.
Space rippled at the end of the beam, and a massive portal four or five meters tall opened there.
Immediately afterward, several crimson shadows stretched out from within, instantly wrapping around three Hydra members who hadn't yet reacted.
Their piercing screams had barely begun before the shadows dragged them into the portal.
More shadows emerged from the portal, allowing Mercer and the others to see the true form of these things that had taken lives in an instant.
The shadows writhing wildly in midair were actually... squid-like tentacles!
"These are... the Great Old Ones!"
Before you continue