Damn it! I knew this would be a problem.
Watching Carol trapped in a spiritual battle, William, hovering above the church, felt relieved but also wary.
Fortunately, he had seen the movie Constantine and knew that demonic artifacts were harmless until a demon actively needed them.
At that point, they stopped being simple relics and became cursed objects—touching them meant inviting disaster.
Just like now.
From the moment he realized Set had been watching Ahmanet all along, William instinctively sought a scapegoat.
But he couldn't actually allow Set to descend or possess a body, which would grant the god a physical vessel.
And with Captain Marvel readily available, William didn't even have to think twice—there was no better shield than Carol.
Ahmanet assumed Set could control Carol, but she didn't realize that Carol Danvers had previously broken free from the Supreme Intelligence's mental control.
With such a highly resistant, battle-hardened host, why wouldn't William use her?
Plus, Carol had a unique ability—energy absorption.
At the end of the day, Set's spiritual invasion was just a form of energy-based consciousness transfer.
And given that this spiritual presence was likely weakened, William wasn't too concerned.
So, while Ahmanet laughed triumphantly, thinking she had won, William remained completely unbothered.
Worst case scenario, he would lock down the space around Carol, altering its frequency to sever her connection to Set.
But before resorting to that, there were other methods to try first.
The moment William made up his mind, two spider-drone launchers flew over Carol's head, dropping twenty spider drones onto her.
If necessary, all William had to do was give the order, and they would immediately administer electric shocks.
Inside the church, Ahmanet had been ecstatic, watching Carol stand frozen like a lifeless puppet—
Until she suddenly sensed something terribly wrong.
William issued the command—
A burst of electricity surged through Carol's body, lighting her up like a charged battery.
As the electricity intensified, her energy levels skyrocketed, until—
Her eyes snapped open, filled with rage.
She threw her head back and roared,
"GET OUT—!"
A furious, fearful, unwilling voice echoed from the void, sending shockwaves through the air.
Even though William was floating a thousand meters above, he swore he could hear Set's enraged scream.
Carol, now fully conscious, felt Set's spiritual invasion burn away as her own energy destroyed it—
And then, she absorbed it.
Watching this unfold, William's eyes gleamed with envy.
Carol, now fully restored, gripped the Dagger of Set tightly, slowly applying pressure.
With her other hand, she raised her glowing palm, aiming at the motionless Ahmanet.
"Wait! Wait!"
Just as Carol was about to shatter the dagger and finish off Ahmanet, a figure in red and gold armor teleported into the church—
William.
"WAIT, CAROL!" he shouted.
"Destroying the dagger alone won't be enough to end this!"
"You bastard!"
Carol immediately turned toward the new arrival, recognizing him instantly.
Without hesitation, she lunged forward, her fist smashing into William's Mark armor.
BOOM!
The impact sent him crashing through multiple church walls, tumbling dozens of meters across the muddy ground.
Before he could recover, a bright light flashed, and Carol yanked him off the ground, lifting him by the chest.
"You knew this dagger was cursed, didn't you?!" she snarled.
"You deliberately tricked me into touching it!"
Crrrkk! Crrrkk!
The Mark armor groaned, deforming under Carol's crushing grip.
Without thinking, William activated the Space Stone's power, his body phasing into an intangible state—
Like a ghost, he floated out of Carol's grasp.
"Calm down, you lunatic!" he scoffed.
"Need I remind you who just saved your ass?"
"And what if Set had invaded my soul instead? Would you have been able to pull me out?"
William hovered effortlessly, shifting between reality and illusion, while continuing,
"I had at least three backup plans to snap you out of it.
And now that you've purged Set's influence, tell me—don't you feel like your soul has been enhanced?"
For once, William didn't even bother lying, which surprised Carol.
Her opinion of him actually improved slightly.
Still watching his phased form, she instinctively examined her own state.
To her shock, she did feel an elevated sense of awareness.
Her thought processes had sharpened, and she even sensed something unsettling about William—
Something that made her believe he was a real threat.
But almost as quickly as the thought appeared, she dismissed it.
How could this coward—who refused to fight back—possibly be dangerous?
Yet, the feeling of impending danger refused to go away.
It was like a subconscious warning.
Scowling, Carol shook her head, frustrated that she would ever think William was a real threat.
To vent her frustration, she fired an energy blast at him.
But it passed right through his phased body, soaring into the night sky and vanishing.
"Okay, can we have a civil conversation now?" William said with a smirk.
"You could punch me all day, but unless you can break through dimensional barriers, you won't be able to touch me."
Carol, originally planning to stop, grew even more irritated by his smugness—
And immediately tried every possible attack she had.
But as William had predicted, none of them worked.
For several minutes, she attempted energy beams, punches, sonic attacks, even photon explosions—
Nothing worked.
Meanwhile, William stood with his hands on his hips, whistling.
Furious, Carol finally stopped, glaring at him.
"You turtle-shelled coward!" she growled.
"Why the hell aren't you fighting back?!"
William snorted.
"What do you think I am, an idiot?"
"If I fought you in hand-to-hand combat, I'd lose."
"If I used magic or energy blasts, I'd be charging you up like a battery."
"You'd just get stronger while I'd get weaker—and eventually, you'd pin me down and do whatever you wanted."
Carol's face flushed red.
"You perverted bastard!" she snapped.
She immediately fired another massive energy blast at his head.
"Get your cowardly ass out of that damn pocket dimension!"
William just shrugged, unfazed.
Why would he fight her head-on? That would be stupid.
Winning would accomplish nothing, and it would expose his own trump cards.
Instead, he ignored Carol's tantrum and issued an order to Sunday:
"Prepare a mercury-circulating stasis pod to keep Ahmanet restrained."
Meanwhile, in his own realm, Set was seething—
Not only had Carol resisted his possession, but William's red-and-gold armor had also left a deep impression on him.
In fact, it was very likely that the next time Set manifested, he might mistake Tony Stark for William.
(End of Chapter)
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