The Commercial Flight had been decent, Air Baltic's business class was a surprisingly not-shit trip, though that was likely based entirely on the fact that they had four, and soon to be five, if Ksenia's Archduke was serious about reopening commercial flights to the rest of the world, countries jointly funding it. There was a decent meal and no small amount of drinks as well, though I had to be sure to go easy on the booze, as I had work to do when I landed. The fact that four, soon to be five, countries were paying into the pot of government funding for the airline really did show, however.
Speaking of there being five countries funding Air Baltic, it seemed the Baltic States had been hit really hard by the fictional country thing that parts of Six-One-Six Marvel had going on. Not only had Lithuania lost territory in Lithuania Minor to the Russian Exclave in Kaliningrad, but it had also lost territory to Ksavia, as had Latvia, while Latvia had also lost the entire western half of its landmass to Slorenia, including Riga. Honestly, Estonia had lost the least. In fact, they'd gained territory around Aluksene, Gulbene, Balvi, and Vijaka in what had been Northeast Latvia in my Old Earth, though Latvia had taken a chunk out of Belarus to compensate. It probably had to do with the heretofore completely fictitious Slorenes and Dudeks being interjected into the area back in ancient times here which messed with ethnic and linguistic boundaries.
Regardless, the flight was fine, and as there was no real way for the airport's metal detectors to pick up things stored in an extradimensional space via magic, I was easily able to make it through airport security and out onto the streets of Riga. That was another difference from my old life. While Riga was still the largest city in the country, with Slorenia, it wasn't the Capital. That honor went to the smaller city of Tblunka. Tblunka was still a decent size for a European City, around the size of Lübeck in Germany, though it was very much not Capital Material in terms of size. Either way, I wasn't in Tblunka, and I wouldn't even be staying in Riga very long. I stopped just long enough to head to a bakery and buy a box of assorted speķrauši along with a bottle of Birch Sap Lemonade. Then, I ducked into the bathroom of the Bakery and, once I was alone, put the box and bottle into my bag of holding before taking hold of my magic and Apparating.
I'd been aiming for the center of the Kemeri Wetlands, and to my credit, I got there. The only problem was that I made it there about a hundred-twenty feet in the air above the Center of the Kemeri Wetlands. As I plummeted down, I could only think that this was what I got for apparating like I had, without a visual guide or any prior knowledge beyond the general. Fortunately, it was so high up that I actually had time to use Aeromancy to slow my fall. I began to cast spells, drawing mystic power out in controlled bursts of wind, slowing my fall just enough that I was able to land in the soft, muddy earth of the wetlands more or less unharmed, if not un-spattered by muck. As soon as I extricated myself from the mire of mud and rotten vegetation that I'd found myself landing in, I cast a quick Scourgify, twice, and then looked around at my surroundings.
It was a misty afternoon in the deep marsh, and as I looked around, the mists parted to reveal a giant hill rising up out of the swampy ground. It was obviously artificial, as the exposed stonework carved with ancient sorcerous Glyphs showed. A tunnel entrance yawned open forbodingly in front of me, leading down into the earth, into Cagliostro's Labyrinth. As I approached the entrance of this barrow-like structure, however, something felt off, an electric tinge on the back of my neck, a taste of metal on the tip of my tongue. On a whim, I bent down to pick up a moss-covered rock and tossed it into the entrance. Sure enough, the second it passed the threshold, the rock was assailed by a scintilating bolt of blue-white lightning, causing it to explode into blackened fragments of scorched stone.
"Right. I guess the trials begin now, huh?" I questioned.
Of course, as no one was around to answer me, I simply got to work trying to figure out how this all worked. Studying the runes revealed the obvious, that mystic power was being channeled through the rune scheme to the Sigil of Balthakk in order to cast a version of the Bolts of Balthakk on anyone or anything attempting to enter the maze. Judging from what I was seeing, there were two ways to bypass the wards here. The first was to simply conjure a shield strong enough to resist the Bolts of Balthakk, the second was to obscure the Sigil of Balthakk somehow in order to temporarily render the Rune Scheme incapable of firing the Bolts of Balthakk. The last was to send someone in ahead of you, let them take the bolt, and then rush on through before a second bolt could be fired.
I couldn't do the first one just yet, as casting the Bolts of Balthakk was a Sorcerer Supreme-level skill, and I wasn't there yet. The last one was not an option even if I wasn't alone. That left the middle path. It took me all of five minutes to come up with a counter-rune scheme and another two to carve it into the sigils in such a way that it would leech power from the rune scheme itself to contain the Bolts of Balthakk, which meant I wouldn't have to infuse it with magic myself. Sure, the counter-rune scheme would burn out eventually, but you would have that problem with any rune scheme that was twisted to power a counter-rune scheme against itself. The point was that I should be able to pass through before it did.
As I made my way through the entrance to the Labyrinth, there was a crackle as the Bolts of Balthakk fired, only to be deflected by my counter-rune scheme, conjuring a shield with the same power that the Bolts used to fire. I probably could have come up with a supplemental scheme to channel deflected bolts back into the rune scheme to keep powering the counter-rune scheme, causing a magical feedback loop, but I didn't have the time. Instead, I pressed on, pausing as I spotted the blackened, skeletonized corpse that had fallen just inside the entrance to the Labyrinth.
"Looks like I'm not alone down here, and whoever got here before I did isn't as nice a person as me." I frowned as I saw that.
Clearly, whoever it had been had picked option number three, sacrificing someone else for the sake of saving time. Or maybe whoever it was just couldn't figure out a counter-rune scheme? It seemed unlikely, but I supposed anything was possible. I mean, this was the Universe where a dumb hood like Parker Robbins could get his hands on mystic artefacts, even without the Beyond Corporation mucking with things. It was possible that someone just couldn't have learned how to do that, but still felt they were able to take on Cagliostro's Labyrinth.
Either way, I still had to keep going. The way forward was level for about ten yards, a perfectly straight stone corridor, before delving down into stairs. I descended the staircase, heading down into the Labyrinth Proper, and found myself in more stone corridors, lit by braziers of sorcerous flame. The designs on the walls were intricate, but not runes or sigils of any note in and of themselves. They could be used to camouflage actual runes and sigils, however, or possibly poison dart launchers. It would take an attentive eye to spot a trap before you triggered it down here, nevermind find the right corridors in this maze to progress toward the Book of Cagliostro.
"When in doubt, turn left in a maze, right?" I queried to the empty air.
Shrugging, I did just that, keeping my hand against the wall. This method would, of course, only work if the maze was Simply Connected, which was to say that all the walls were connected to either each other or the outside wall. With magic involved, that wasn't a given, of course, but I would start with this and then use the Pledge Method if I was proven wrong. Unfortunately, Cagliostro seemed to know about maze-solving logic as well, because the first left-hand turn I came to had a cleverly hidden dart trap with darts tipped with alchemically concentrated Wolfsbane, nasty stuff that can kill even someone with a superhuman constitution in seconds. I was barely able to avoid the trap by using telekinesis to parry the darts to the side as they came in at me.
The next two left turns were likewise trapped, the first with a pair of runic force fields that sprang up at either end of the corridor when the trap was tripped, while a toxic alchemical gas that would turn those who breathed it to stone began to fill the hallway. I was forced to use Aeromancy to keep a space clear of gas while I used my powers of Comprehension from Amestrian Alchemy to analyse the gas and then use Amestrian Alchemy proper to transmute it into its inert state, which was slow going. Comparatively, the second hallway being trapped with a mystic fireball rune scheme was fairly straightforward, and I was able to dodge the incoming fireballs using mystical and Chi-based enhancements, making my way over to the rune scheme and carving a counter-rune scheme to be able to continue without being assaulted by fireballs.
This would set the stage for the next few turns I would take, until finally, I came to a room that was already occupied. . .
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Mors Cruentia couldn't believe his rotten luck. Oh, certainly, he'd made his way into the Labyrinth easily enough. After all, he'd learned it was always wise to keep a zombie on hand to take the hits for you long before now, and there were enough hidden graves from the Second World War in the area for him to raise a few shamblers without any locals being the wiser. That had helped him a few times, right up until he'd run into Cagliostro's Creature.
How Cagliostro had managed to not only find, but bind an Asgardian Cold Wyrm to guard this Godsforsaken pit, Mors Cruentia couldn't figure out, but it had destroyed his remaining Zombies and forced him to quickly retreat or face a similar fate. Unfortunately, he may have been a bit hasty in his need to flee. He hadn't realized he had tripped the trap until he was already caught in it. It was a thing powered by a Svartalfari Dreamstone, set to manifest unbreakable bonds. Now, Mors Cruentia found his hands were quite literally tied, along with his feet, by bands of unbreakable mystic energy. The only way to free himself would be for someone to retrieve the Dreamstone and reprogram it with a new desire.
It was unfortunate, but there was little chance of that happening. As far as Mors Cruentia knew, he was the only one down here. Well, he and Cagliostro's creature, that is. Somehow, he doubted the Cold Wyrm would be willing to let bygones be bygones on this. Even if the Serpent weren't bound by Cagliostro's Mystic Commands, Mors Cruentia had a hard time believing it would simply allow him to go free now that he was clearly at its mercy. Wyrms were not known for such benevolence, at least, not Asgardian ones. If this were a Lung Dragon, then he might have a chance, but it was not, and there was no use bemoaning what could have been.
Then, just as he had resigned himself to his fate, Mors Cruentia heard footsteps coming from the other side of the corridor he had been bound in. Was it possible that someone else had arrived? Some fool he could trick into freeing him? Perhaps someone to assist him in slaying Cagliostro's Creature before Mors Cruentia inevitably stepped over their corpse to claim the Book of Cagliostro? It was possible, as the shadows coming around the bend showed. It wasn't until the person in question actually rounded the corner into the corridor that Mors Cruentia realized what was happening.
It was that other version of himself, the one who had joined the Avengers and hadn't yet realized that the likes of Tony Stark and Emma Frost were just using him. The foolish idiot who still thought that there was such a thing as good people and who hadn't realized the bitter truth of the World yet. He hadn't even integrated anything otherworldly in his body yet! How naive could you get? A new plan formed in Mors Cruentia's mind then. Perhaps this was the Omniverse letting him know that he had a teachable moment in front of him. Yes, he would show his foolish counterpart the truth of the world while he had him here. That there were no good or bad people, there were only those who had power and those who didn't, and that the ones with power would always be able to shit all over the ones who didn't.
You either fucked someone else over or you got fucked over in life and anyone who tried to tell you otherwise was selling something. It was time for his counterpart to realize that. He should have already known, but clearly he didn't.
That was all right, Mors Cruentia would be the one to teach him. . .
XXXX
Meanwhile, in a hidden undersea base beneath the Baltic Sea, Ultron was putting the finishing touches on his army. Ranks of serried combat androids, rows of lethal robotic fighting machines, and squadrons of deadly AI-powered aircraft, all gleaming with Vibranium plating to ensure that they would survive the harshest attacks the meatbags of Slorenia could throw at them. It wouldn't be long now, Alkhema's recent attempt to usurp his plans aside, this had been going entirely smoothly. Even without putting Alkhema's little revolt aside, her attacking the Avengers largely worked out in his favor, as they would be too distracted with his erstwhile bride to realize anything more was happening until it was too late!
Soon, he would be able to leave this base and begin his Steel Revolution. The foolish human meatbags of Slorenia would be first. They squabbled amongst each other, Slorenes claiming superiority over Dudeks, it was laughable! A cow might as well claim superiority over a pig! They both ended up on the dinner table at the end of the day. Meat was meat, and organic life had outlived its sell-by date. Once he had wiped Slorenia clean of organics, then he would begin phase two. He just needed his family to arrive first.
He had sent a trio each of his Vibranium-plated Combat Androids, piloted by forks of his own mind, to capture them. As he thought on that, one of his forks reported in. The capture of his father had been completed with only some combat damage to show for it. As expected, the Vibranium Plating he had added for extra armor was beyond the ability of someone like his Father to punch through. Ultron Prime ordered Ultron Fork Beta to bring his Father to his undersea base. As he waited for their arrival, he monitored the progress of his other forks. His Son and Daughter-In-Law were proving difficult to subdue, as expected, and while his nephew was off the grid, his other son was proving much easier to deal with.
Ultron felt a flash of anticipation at that. Hank Pym, his father, was already in custody, and his son, Wonder Man, would soon be as well. Yes indeed, it was only a matter of time. Once he had everything ready, he would unleash his Steel Legion on Slorenia and begin the Steel Revolution, then, with his family, he would set about creating a new race of Synthezoids to take the place of the weak fleshy humans who had once called Slorenia home. Once they had a nation for themselves, they would have a foothold from which to build up.
And then no one, not even the Avengers, would be able to stop Ultron's Steel Revolution from consuming the Earth. . .
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AN: The next chapter is already up on my Patreon, so check the link in the threadmarked post if you guys feel like throwing me a couple bucks to get chapters in advance. Everyone who does is super appreciated and I can't thank my patrons enough.
All right, so here's the next chapter. Here we see how things are shaking out with both Ultron's Plot and with Jan and Mors Cruentia in Cagliostro's Labyrinth. Already, we're starting to see the difference in philosophy and approach between Jan and Mors Cruentia right from the jump, since Jan sacrificed time to bypass the wards on the Labyrinth Entrance the hard way while Mors Cruentia merely sent zombies ahead to take the hits for him.
At any rate, the next chapter will include the meeting between Jan and Mors Cruentia Proper, as well as the start of Ultron's assault on Slorenia.
Stay tuned. . .