Reborn as the God-Emperor in Marvel

Solomon's lung injury made him cough continuously, with every word accompanied by bloody foam, but he wasn't too worried. Magic could solve this, and even without time to prepare spell components, the scrolls he'd copied beforehand could save his life.

Bayonetta leaped with him onto a large, falling stone slab. Her magic created a field of artificial gravity, allowing both of them to stand steadily atop it.

"Throw me out," Solomon said, pouring a small bottle of alcohol into his mouth, suppressing the urge to cough. The sweet, metallic taste of blood mixed with the alcohol, and he swallowed it down, feeling his throat and stomach burn. Before the alcohol could affect his mind, he muttered an incantation, casting a spell on himself.

This was the result of his study of necromancy: a spell called False Life, which used negative energy to stop bleeding and provided enough time for further healing. The spell would last for an hour, plenty of time for him to prepare proper treatment.

He coughed out the last clot of blood and said to Bayonetta, "Throw me out. The rest is your fight. As for Cereza... right now, she can't interfere with you. Do what you need to."

Seeing Solomon back to normal, Bayonetta returned to her usual playful tone. "Big Sis will handle everything, little brother. You've done more than enough."

With a glance at the figure rapidly approaching from below, she grabbed Solomon by the collar of his cleric's robe and kissed him on the cheek.

Then, without hesitation, she swung him in a wide arc and hurled him outward. A gold-red blur flashed through the air, catching Solomon mid-flight and carrying him to safety. It was Phoenix, who had returned after dropping Luka off in a secure location, arriving just in time to catch Solomon.

Solomon felt something sharp hook into his collar and heard the sound of wings flapping and golden sparks falling. He knew who had caught him.

Sighing with relief, Solomon tossed away the feather he was holding (a leftover component from Tasha's Hideous Laughter and also usable for Feather Fall), abandoning the idea of casting any more spells. He let Phoenix carry him away from the dangerous area of falling debris.

Looking down, Solomon saw Bayonetta, her black and purple butterfly wings extending from her back, leaping from one falling stone to another. Baldur, now fully adapted to his power, spread his five pairs of wings and swooped down toward her. Sensing the impending collision, Solomon urged Phoenix to speed up and find a safer vantage point nearby.

"Don't take me too far," Solomon said. "I need to make sure that we end up victorious."

"My Lord, but you're still injured," Phoenix's melodic voice rang out, sweet and clear despite the explosions around them. As a Marquis in the ranks of the 72 Demons, Phoenix was oddly kind-hearted for a demon, even more so than most humans. In fact, it wasn't truly a demon at all, but had fallen into the Abyss due to some past event.

Phoenix harbored a deep affection for Solomon, not just because it saw him as the reincarnation of King Solomon, but also because it had witnessed Solomon's tender moments caring for children. That was far preferable to the chaotic and lawless realms of the universe. As Phoenix flew toward the rooftop of a nearby building with Solomon, it asked about Cereza. "What about the child? I didn't see her."

"She was devoured," Solomon replied. "That child was the younger version of Bayonetta. Baldur absorbed her power. Now, Cereza is gone."

Phoenix fell silent, clearly shaken by this revelation, but Solomon had no time to comfort it. Just then, a whirl of sparks appeared in front of them, opening a portal. Phoenix immediately dove through it, taking Solomon with it.

They entered a mirror dimension, where all the buildings were tilted and folded, forming a vast platform. Is it Mordo again? Solomon wondered. He always shows up at just the right time. However, it was not Master Mordo waiting for him, but the Supreme Sorcerer herself, the Eye of Agamotto resting on her chest.

"Teacher," Phoenix said as they landed before the Sorcerer Supreme, "why have you come?"

"Because I've seen the possibility of fully killing Jubileus, and I'm needed here," the Sorcerer said, gently turning her fingers above the Eye of Agamotto. A green light from the Time Stone glowed, and two circular rings of green energy swirled around her wrists. "More precisely, killing Jubileus requires my intervention."

"Have you also seen the possibility of Baldur absorbing Cereza's power?" Solomon asked. "I assume you know Cereza's origin."

"When the power of the Eyes of the World converges, it grants a portion of the power once held by Aesir, the primordial chaos god. I don't know where this deity originated, but it indeed holds the ability to traverse time. After obtaining the Eye of the World, Baldur, while not as powerful as the Eye of Agamotto, can still craft a grand spell to bring young Cereza into the present with ease," the Sorcerer Supreme explained. "Absorbing Cereza's power is a necessary step toward killing Jubileus."

"And..." Solomon hesitated, but the Sorcerer Supreme saw his concern.

"Don't worry, Solomon," she said. "There are many possible futures, and you've already guided this to the best possible outcome. You've given Cereza enough care, and Bayonetta has made her strong. Now, I will write the eulogy for this god."

The Sorcerer Supreme effortlessly took control of the mirror dimension conjured by the hidden sorcerers. With a wave of her hand, the nearby buildings folded and spun, revealing a woman lying on the ground—Jeanne. Severely wounded by Baldur's magic, she was near death.

The Sorcerer raised her palm toward Jeanne, the green magic rings rotating on her arms. As the Supreme's hand moved, Solomon saw Jeanne's charred skin begin to heal, her wounds closing without leaving scars, as if they had never existed. Then, with a reverse motion of her hand, the external wounds reappeared, but the Sorcerer used another spell. Combining the power of the Time Stone and Visanti magic, Jeanne's fatal injuries were healed bit by bit.

The Time Stone only ensured Jeanne didn't die during the healing process. Jeanne had also been mind-controlled by Baldur, and her battle with Bayonetta had both restored Bayonetta's memories and freed Jeanne from Baldur's control. To help Jeanne take the final step, the Sorcerer couldn't simply revert her to her pre-battle state; she had to heal her gradually.

Through the mirror dimension, Solomon watched Bayonetta's intense battle with Baldur up close.

Baldur floated in midair, white feathers spread wide. He blew on a soft feather in his hand, and a long golden sword of positive energy materialized. With a flap of his wings, he flew forward at high speed, his weightless sword slicing through falling debris with ease, aiming this deadly weapon at Bayonetta.

Bayonetta summoned Gomorrah, the giant beast from the Demon Forest, but it couldn't bite through Baldur's golden shield. The sage effortlessly snapped the demon's neck. Bayonetta then called upon other demons, such as a massive centipede from the River Styx. Like a giant snake, the hair-covered centipede coiled around Baldur, crushing his shield before being torn apart by his sudden surge of power.

The fight was fierce, their speed so fast that to ordinary eyes, they were mere blurs, accompanied by flying bullets and flashes of light. If Solomon hadn't been safely observing from the mirror dimension, he would've been injured, and a lung injury would have been the least of his worries.

Bayonetta's combat prowess was extraordinary. She effortlessly dodged Baldur's attacks and retaliated with a variety of weapons. Solomon even spotted a lightsaber, undoubtedly a creation of Rodin, who was a huge movie buff.

"May Jubileus the Creator bless you!" Baldur suddenly cried out after being struck. He opened his arms and screamed, plummeting from the sky. Bayonetta leapt after him and, just before he hit the ground, she plunged her hand into his chest, pulling the young Cereza out.

"Is it over?" Solomon asked, looking at the Sorcerer Supreme, who was still healing Jeanne. Even while casting, she made time to speak with Solomon, signaling him to keep watching Bayonetta.

"It's not that simple," the Sorcerer Supreme replied. "This isn't over yet."

Bayonetta cradled the young girl as she approached the massive rune-covered disc that had fallen to the ground. Despite crashing from such a great height, the disc remained intact.

As Bayonetta neared, both the disc and the pocket watch around her neck began to glow brightly. This was a resonance of power. The disc contained a grand spell crafted by Baldur, the same spell that had brought young Bayonetta from 500 years ago into the present.

Instinctively, Bayonetta removed the watch from her neck and aimed it at the rune-covered disc. A blinding light erupted from the center of the colored glass in the disc. She saw a cold stone room, the intricate carvings on its walls striking her as eerily familiar. In the corner was a large iron bed covered in thick white blankets. Carrying the young girl, Bayonetta walked over and gently laid her down on the bed.

Baldur's magic had made the

 girl incredibly sleepy, but she still forced her eyes open, looking at Bayonetta and mumbling, "Mommy... Daddy..."

"Don't be afraid, child," Bayonetta said softly. "The nightmare is over. It was all just a dream. You're a strong little girl, and there's nothing you can't overcome."

"Mommy…" the girl asked drowsily, "Did you find it? What you were looking for?"

"Yes, I found it," Bayonetta replied. "So you don't need to worry anymore. Keep your treasures safe, especially this watch. Don't let it out of your sight."

"When I grow up... I want to be like you, Mommy," the girl whispered before drifting off to sleep.

"Sweet dreams, my dear," Bayonetta sang a familiar lullaby, the same one her mother, Rosa, had sung to her. On every sleepless night, Bayonetta had visited the imprisoned Rosa, who always sang this lullaby to soothe her. That gentle song had accompanied Bayonetta throughout her childhood.

Solomon saw a flash of light, and the young girl vanished from Bayonetta's arms. The witch covered her forehead, deep in thought. The rune-covered disc, which had survived the fall, was finally destroyed, its colorful glass shattered into pieces. If Solomon was right, Bayonetta had used the disc to send the young girl back 500 years.

"Shouldn't it have ended here?" Solomon asked. "This seems like a perfect ending."

The Sorcerer Supreme had just finished healing Jeanne. After sending her out of the mirror dimension, she pointed at Baldur, lying nearby. "Do you know why I healed Jeanne?" the Sorcerer asked. "Because she's the one to take the final step. That lipstick has yet to be used. And time itself is just starting to reveal its effects."

As the Sorcerer spoke, Bayonetta let out a scream of pain as red magic erupted from her body. The force of the magical storm pushed everything around her away, similar to the power Baldur had released through his "Right Eye." The surge of red magic signified the awakening of Bayonetta's "Left Eye," and this power was even more overwhelming than Baldur's.

After sending Cereza back 500 years, the love and care from both Bayonetta and Solomon had filled the void in her heart. And thanks to Bayonetta's warning, Cereza kept the watch close to her chest, blocking Jeanne's blade and allowing a completely different history to unfold. A parallel world began to form.

In that world, Cereza grew into a strong and independent witch, unaffected by her mother's death during the witch hunts. This alternate timeline prevented Jeanne from sealing her away. Perhaps due to interference between the parallel worlds, two completely different sets of memories—spanning 500 years—flooded into Bayonetta's mind. Overwhelmed by the mental shock, she fainted, triggering the full awakening of her "Left Eye."

"Now you must learn how to use the Eye of Agamotto," the Sorcerer Supreme said, noticing Solomon's confusion. "If you want to see what's happening in that other world, you'll have to use the Eye of Agamotto to observe those possibilities, for every possibility could give birth to a parallel world. There are many complex issues involved, including time loops, which you've yet to study."

"When do we start?" Solomon asked.

"After this is over," the Sorcerer Supreme replied. "For now, you should focus on someone else."

"It's all coming together!" Suddenly, Baldur, who had been lying on the ground, rose to his feet. He was surrounded by blue magic from the "Right Eye." "The Right Eye observes light, the Left Eye observes darkness, and together, they observe the world."

"In my plan, there was never supposed to be a woman named 'Bayonetta.' It was always meant to be you as a child, Cereza," Baldur said arrogantly. "She would see the world with pure eyes, creating new history. Her power could awaken the Left Eye. Everything has gone according to my plan, Cereza. You've done well!"

Writing this chapter was a headache. I adjusted the theory a bit to fit more closely with the conclusions from Avengers: Endgame about time travel and parallel worlds. The next chapter will wrap up the Bayonetta storyline, and then we'll move into the Marvel storyline. Also, a hint: Solomon doesn't like coffee.

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