Chapter Eighty-Five: There Must Be a Sylvanas

Aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, the air was thick with fear, death’s icy chill permeating every corner. Amidst this, the Mind Stone’s brilliant yellow light pulsed relentlessly. Roald gripped the hilt of Frostmourne, cradling Maria Hill gently in one arm. His face was softened by a tender smile, and as Maria Hill’s expression became serene under the Mind Stone’s enchantment, Roald drove the sword into her chest.

This would spare her pain, drowning her in gentleness—Roald’s greatest mercy. Countless souls, transformed into ethereal blue lights, converged upon the blade and were absorbed by Frostmourne. The runes etched upon the sword refined them into potent death and darkness, transmitting this power into Maria Hill’s body as it was gradually transformed.

Roald watched as Hill underwent her banshee metamorphosis, the blue glow in his eyes trembling with excitement. Soon, flickers of flame ignited along Frostmourne. Pressing the blade further, the sword’s energy blazed forth, but this time Hill did not resist as fiercely as before. She gazed into Roald’s eyes, lost, tears tracing her cheeks. Death’s energy began to erode her emotions, suppressing her attachment to the living and dimming her reason.

“You will belong to me forever. This is your destiny,” Roald whispered in her ear.

Maria Hill’s soul, powerless to resist, was steadily tainted, descending into the abyss of death. The Mind Stone’s yellow glow radiated outward in waves, affecting agent after agent across the Helicarrier.

Maria Hill.

Roald withdrew Frostmourne from her chest. The elite agent was now Sylvanas Hill, as Roald had planned—a new banshee, born of death.

Now, the two Hills were united as one.

[Banshee of Death—Maria Hill]

[Type: Hero Card]

[Level: Legendary A-]

[Race: Human]

[Attribute: Undead]

[Magic: B]

[Ultimate Skill: Useless Everywhere]

[Traits: Skilled Techniques, Death Cultivation, Queen's Blessing, Banshee’s Touch, Elemental Mastery, Forsaken, Ally Selection, Ace Up the Sleeve, Ornamentation, Rain of Chaos, Evil Shadow, Death Substitution, Survival of the Fittest…]

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[Description: When falsehood becomes truth, truth becomes falsehood. No one knows how many faces she has, but she is the true banshee of death.]

Compared to Sindragosa and Kel’Thuzad, these traits were rather basic, but that was due to Maria Hill’s lower base for transformation. Yet her soul’s purity was her advantage, allowing further traits to be added later.

Roald placed his hand upon Maria Hill’s now-banshee head. The power of [Dark Infusion] shone from his palm—the transformation was complete. Now, the final step.

[Your soul is damned.]

[Your flesh has fallen.]

[Maria Hill.]

[You are the new banshee of death.]

[Welcome to the Scourge.]

Maria Hill, kneeling on the ground, blinked, then slowly rose to her feet.

“Yes, I am the new banshee of death,” Maria Hill said, gazing at Roald. Blue light shone in her eyes, death’s energy enveloping her. As the glow of [Dark Infusion] faded, her uniform transformed completely, the original blue replaced by a black cloak-like garment.

Lifting her hand, Maria Hill felt, in some unfathomable way, the deathly power now hers—and the oath of allegiance binding her.

She first looked up to the stars and moon, then down to the myriad lights beneath the Helicarrier, and at last focused her gaze upon Roald, clarity returning to her expression.

She whispered the oath, words of corruption, softly but firmly.

On the Helicarrier, the Hydra agents, along with most others, seemed to hear something. Despair gripped them, and black death energy began to erode their reason.

“We are the Forsaken!”

The dead agents on the ground seemed infused with new strength—their injured and lifeless bodies trembled, wounds slowly healing, and they rose again.

Soon, as Maria Hill chanted her spell, black death energy, blue soul energy, and yellow psychic energy exploded outward from her in a ring-like shockwave.

As the dust settled, she stood amidst the ruins.

Alarms blared, footsteps rushed closer—the commotion caused by Hill alerted the other agents on the Helicarrier.

“I’m sorry, my master,” Hill said to Roald, glancing at the agents converging from afar. “I believe I must present you a gift.”

With those words, black energy appeared in Maria Hill’s hand, instantly enveloping the approaching crowd. The agents affected by the dark energy halted, their expressions intoxicated, some murmuring to themselves.

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Desire was stirred within each heart, greed magnified, all mesmerized by Maria Hill’s presence.

“Yes! Yes! We are the Forsaken!”

Within seconds, all agents touched by the black energy knelt, their consciousness stripped away.

Maria Hill’s lips curled into a cold smile. She clenched the black energy in her hand.

A beam of black energy flashed, and the kneeling agents, without even a cry, were shredded into shards like broken glass, scattered across the floor.

But moments later, these dead agents reappeared, now as black spectral forms, void of reason and freedom, bound forever to Maria Hill, the banshee of death.

Gradually, as Maria Hill absorbed countless souls in an instant, she regained her composure. She glanced at Roald, then issued orders to Barton and the resurrected Hydra agents standing nearby:

“Gather all remaining Hydra agents on the Helicarrier. The great Scourge needs them now!”

The Mind Stone’s yellow energy radiated once more, influencing everyone aboard the Helicarrier, controlling them and gradually stripping away their will. They stumbled, puppet-like, toward Maria Hill.

Roald watched, satisfied.

This was the combined effect of the banshee’s [Death Cultivation] and [Banshee’s Touch].

Maria Hill, as the new banshee of death, differed from Erica, who controlled others through physical contact. With the Mind Stone’s enhancement, she wielded the black energy with far greater efficacy in domination.

Thanks to [Death Cultivation], the black energy in Maria Hill’s hand functioned much like a Black Death Arrow, turning her victims into controllable specters.

Whether these specters retained their previous abilities and knowledge would require extensive data and experimentation.

For now, Maria Hill summoned all agents aboard the Helicarrier, and Roald understood her purpose.

To control every agent and make the Helicarrier her personal stronghold.

As Hill had said:

These people are the Forsaken.

The mobile base was hers at last.

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