The feast was savage.
Drex Valen endured the agony of limitless power pouring into him while simultaneously directing the black hole within himself to continue consuming.
It felt as though he were an ordinary man trapped between two massive waterfalls, battered from both sides by relentless torrents.
Every part of him hurt.
Yet his power continued to climb at an exponential rate.
And it showed no signs of slowing down.
anwhile, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury had been summoned by the World Security Council to attend what was likely the fastest and most efficient ergency eting in history.
By the ti he rushed from the Triskelion back to the Helicarrier, his mood had darkened considerably.
Not an easy feat for Nick Fury.
The mont he stepped into the command room and reclaid his usual position, he began issuing orders.
"Everyone, get ready. I want deploynt preparations completed within thirty minutes. We're moving imdiately."
He swept his gaze across the room.
"Notify the teams on-site. Lock down every affected area. I don't care what's there or who owns it. Evacuate all civilians and non-essential personnel."
Soone looked ready to object.
Fury cut them off before they could speak.
"Don't tell we don't have enough manpower. Local military forces will support the operation."
His expression hardened.
"This is an extraordinary situation. If necessary, we take control. Understood?"
A woman raised an eyebrow.
"Take control of everything, sir? Including military authority?"
The speaker was Victoria Hand, a Level Eight S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.
Efficient, ticulous, and notoriously cautious.
She was also one of the agency's most gifted strategic analysts, known for identifying weaknesses and planning several moves ahead.
The issue wasn't military resistance.
The issue was religion.
The authority of organized faith had long since declined from its dieval heights, but Vatican City still maintained specialized forces.
So called them Paladins.
Others called them Defenders of the Faith.
Exorcists was another common term.
Whatever the title, they were individuals capable of wielding supernatural power, and many were fanatics.
Even S.H.I.E.L.D. preferred not to deal with them if it could be avoided.
Fury didn't hesitate.
"Don't worry about the religious zealots. They've got bigger problems right now."
His tone was absolute.
"These orders co directly from the Security Council. If they refuse to cooperate, you're authorized to use any ans necessary."
It was clear that, in Fury's eyes, the Vatican's special privileges no longer held much weight.
Besides, S.H.I.E.L.D. had already ford so theories about what was happening to the Catholic Church.
The supernatural phenona occurring across the globe had provided enough evidence to support a very interesting conclusion.
And if that conclusion was correct, the Vatican no longer had the leverage to challenge anyone.
The senior agents exchanged knowing looks.
Even from Fury's brief explanation, they could infer truths the general public couldn't begin to imagine.
Fury continued issuing orders.
"Jasper, monitor every major network. The last thing I need is a flood of doomsday cults spreading panic online."
He pointed directly at the bald agent.
"Coordinate with local police and intelligence agencies. Target cult leadership under anti-terrorism authority if necessary."
Then he added:
"And rember, for this operation, you're Interpol."
"Understood, sir."
The agent nodded once and imdiately left the room.
"Coulson."
Phil Coulson straightened.
"I want you using every contact you've got. Reach out to anyone with influence inside the major religious organizations. I don't want religious extremists causing problems while the world is already on edge."
Coulson grimaced.
"Sir, that's going to be difficult."
Religious leaders weren't exactly known for being easy to negotiate with.
Then he saw Fury's expression and quickly corrected himself.
"I'll start making calls imdiately and advise them not to take any reckless action."
"Advise them?" Fury snorted.
"Warn them. If anybody decides to get creative, they'd better be prepared to hold funerals for their churches. I've got enough explosives to make that happen."
Coulson paused.
It was impossible to tell whether Fury was joking.
Or completely serious.
After a mont, he simply nodded and headed out.
At this point, he'd beco accustod to carrying political fallout for S.H.I.E.L.D.
If things went wrong, having Fury's na attached to the operation might finally spread so of the bla around.
With Coulson's departure, every top-level agent present had their assignnt.
As one of the earliest people to witness the events surrounding the God of Destruction and Ruin, Nick Fury found himself facing a problem unlike any he'd ever encountered.
He didn't know what Drex Valen wanted.
He didn't know what the being's intentions were.
And how was a mortal supposed to understand the will of a god?
Nick Fury had never believed in gods.
But after what he had witnessed, even he found his certainty shaken.
He wasn't alone.
A great many people were afraid.
And the strange part was that Drex hadn't actually done anything to humanity.
Not yet.
But what if he was an evil god?
What happened to mankind then?
Even if his angelic servants didn't appear malevolent, that didn't necessarily make the situation better.
Viewed generously, Drex's existence challenged every legal and political system on Earth.
His ssengers judged people according to a standard of good and evil that existed outside human law.
They decided who was guilty.
Who deserved punishnt.
Who deserved death.
That alone represented a direct challenge to every court, every legal institution, and every individual entrusted with enforcing justice.
Viewed less generously, it was even worse.
It threatened to expose every hidden corruption buried beneath society's surface.
If a convicted criminal suddenly died at the hands of one of Drex's divine agents, the ssage would be impossible to ignore.
It would imply that human justice had failed.
That the legal system's claim to fairness was a lie.
And that those who controlled those systems had been exposed for everyone to see.
The implications grew even darker.
What happened if a nation's leaders suddenly died because so higher power judged them guilty?
What happened if presidents, pri ministers, kings, and ministers were no longer beyond judgnt?
For governnts around the world, the consequences would be catastrophic.
No ruler wanted to face that reality.
No institution built on authority wanted people questioning where true authority ca from.
Because at its core, this wasn't simply a conflict of law.
It was a conflict over who possessed the right to judge.
And that thought terrified people.
For thousands of years, human beings had comforted themselves with the belief that their lives remained under their own control.
Now there was a possibility that soone else held that power.
Sothing else.
A god.
The struggle between divine authority and temporal authority was as old as civilization itself.
The difference was that, in the modern world, temporal authority had long ago claid victory.
Now, for the first ti in centuries, that victory no longer seed guaranteed.
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