Reborn as the God-Emperor in Marvel

"I can only express my regret," Balder said in a calm tone, though no one knew what he regretted. Was it for Luka, who was about to die, or his father, who had been dead for twenty years?

Luka, panicking, couldn't see what was holding his limbs, but both Bayonetta and Solomon could clearly see the four weak, fish-like Affinity angels. Bayonetta swiftly fired four shots, each bullet cleanly piercing through an angel's head. Luka fell to the ground, but Balder, apparently bound by his word, waved his hand again. A golden electric current wrapped around Luka, attempting to throw him out the window.

Bayonetta lunged toward him, but she couldn't catch up in time. Luka smashed through several pillars and a stained glass window, his terrified scream echoing as he was flung out of the spherical room. Solomon didn't turn around; instead, the small tuft of Phoenix feathers he had been holding vanished, and Phoenix swiftly flew out of the shattered window. If Luka survived, he would owe Solomon a favor—Solomon loved one-sided deals, as long as he was the one in charge.

Solomon kept his focus on Balder not only because Cereza was in his arms but also because the trick Balder had demonstrated earlier gave Solomon an oddly familiar feeling. There were many ways to make an unopened flower bloom, using positive energy or manipulating the elements of nature. As someone with angelic powers, Balder would naturally excel at positive energy spells. However, Solomon hadn't sensed any positive energy in that flower; instead, it was something else—the power of time. Solomon, having handled the Eye of Agamotto several times, was no stranger to the power of the Time Stone. Balder had used the power of time.

This didn't make sense. It wasn't that time manipulation was exclusive to the Time Stone, but the stone could affect the time of all things, controlling entropy. If a Lumen Sage could manipulate time, then the Umbra Witches should have the same ability. Even if this power were limited to the Eyes of the World, Bayonetta had never shown any capacity to control time. Her Witch Time ability only heightened her senses, stretching the perception of time but not actually controlling it.

Now, Solomon finally understood why the Supreme Sorcerer took Balder so seriously. Spellcasters who could manipulate time were always dangerous, and Solomon had very few spells that could interfere with time.

Bayonetta, seeing Phoenix fly out after Luka, felt a little more at ease. With a serious expression, she turned around and stood on the red-carpeted stairs, facing her so-called father.

"Cereza, your journey ends here," Balder said in his usual nonchalant tone. "If destiny is not realized soon, this tragedy will repeat itself. Speaking of tragedy, I assume you've met Jeanne? Though she sealed you away to protect you from all this, she's been quite useful to me since she fell into our hands."

"She was rebellious at first, needing some mental conditioning, but as I expected, her tragic fate became the key to bringing you here," Balder continued, deliberately provoking Bayonetta, exposing the truth behind Jeanne's enmity. "The time for the Left Eye's awakening is near. Don't be afraid, my dear Cereza."

"I don't understand," she replied. "Why bring my younger self here? Why go through all this trouble?"

"You lost your memories. To awaken you as the 'Left Eye,' your past strength, experiences, and love must be restored," Balder said, holding the small girl as he walked toward Bayonetta, ignoring Solomon, who stood nearby.

The mystic wasn't offended by this. He was pondering a more complex issue.

Initially, Solomon had thought Cereza was Bayonetta's half-sister, but after sensing the use of time magic, Cereza's identity was shrouded in mystery. Balder had never hidden the fact that he referred to both Cereza and Bayonetta by the same name. Jeanne's words to Bayonetta, and the way she addressed her, had already led Bayonetta to realize the truth.

Cereza was Bayonetta. The little girl was Bayonetta as a child, brought here from five hundred years ago through Balder's time magic.

But Solomon couldn't fathom Balder's ultimate goal. Interfering with the past couldn't change the present; it would only create a parallel universe. Parallel worlds prove that time doesn't always move linearly. Just like branches extending from a tree trunk, meddling with the past creates new shoots. Only when these shoots grow into new branches does the change affect the world. 

Suddenly, Solomon realized another possibility—that parallel worlds could interfere with each other! What Balder was doing was akin to grafting a shoot onto the main trunk, using it to interfere with the current Bayonetta. The thought made Solomon's heart race—it was a groundbreaking theory. His intellectual curiosity even made his skull itch as if his brain had sprouted tendrils, tickling his mind. Solomon was dying to engage in a scholarly debate with Balder, to explore this new path.

If the Supreme Sorcerer pursued immortality to explore the highest realms of magic, Balder's method of bringing young Bayonetta to the present showed Solomon another route—a way to explore magic indefinitely without becoming a lich. But now wasn't the time for that discussion. Solomon refocused on Balder, preparing a spell he was confident would temporarily subdue the Lumen Sage. In magic, the key was not the most powerful spell but the most appropriate one—low-level spells could often work wonders.

Bayonetta's emotions had been successfully ignited by Balder. Filled with rage, she shouted, "Not only did you ruin the world, but you killed my mother. And now, you dare speak of… love!"

"I didn't kill Rosa. It was the world's distortion that separated us, and the angels eager to resurrect the Chief God who killed her. I could do nothing," Balder said, placing a hand on his chest as Bayonetta mentioned his wife. He stepped closer to Bayonetta. "The angels fought you, pushing you to the brink, only to become sacrifices to enhance your power. Jeanne was the final step in refining your abilities. To achieve this, your memories had to be awakened. She did a perfect job, and your presence here proves it."

"You're insane," Bayonetta said, pointing her gun at Balder without a second thought, despite the fact that he held the younger version of herself.

"I don't think so," Balder responded softly, his voice oozing charisma. "The world is what's mad, not me. Can you really shoot me? Will you shoot your father, my dear daughter, Cereza?"

"Why not?" Bayonetta squinted her eyes, tilting her head slightly, and pulled the trigger without hesitation. At the same time, Solomon unleashed his prepared spell.

Tasha's Hideous Laughter!

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