When it came to using John Wick's soul as a wager, William only paused for a few seconds before pushing all hesitation aside.
The moment William looked up at him, Mephisto knew the matter was settled.
"So—what are the terms?"
William didn't hesitate. "We bet on whether that soul goes to Heaven or Hell after death. As for which side we each take—do I even need to say it?"
"Of course not. I'm the Lord of Hell," Mephisto said with a sly grin. "You think I'd personally escort him to Heaven instead of damning him myself?"
He chuckled. "If you win, I'll let go of Set. I won't interfere with whatever vengeance you want to take—even if you kill him.
But if you lose—"
"I'll drop one thousand intelligent souls in Long Island Cemetery," William cut in. "Whoever picks them up, that's not my concern.
But this bet? It has nothing to do with any contract. We both act in good faith—no binding magic."
Mephisto sneered. "That counts as a wager? What's stopping me from breaking the deal if I lose?"
William smirked. "Doesn't matter. I don't care if you keep your word. All I want is a reason—just one excuse to kill Set without the rest of Hell's demon lords jumping me for it.
If I lose, the souls will be there. If you lose, you'd better haul Set back to his Dark Kingdom.
Otherwise, any collateral damage—I'm not responsible."
He leaned in and said coldly, "And most importantly—if you dare cheat, I'll make your territory the testing ground for antimatter bombs."
That level of precision made Mephisto seethe internally. You think just because there's no contract, I can't mess with you? Don't underestimate a demon lord, brat.
"See you tomorrow," he muttered before vanishing into the shadows.
William, still tracking the space mark he'd planted on Mephisto's projection, watched it head toward the U.S. and chuckled.
After scaring Mephisto into invoking the very will of Hell, he now held a trump card—something that could checkmate every demon lord.
In a fantastic mood, William used a teleport spell to appear beside the stonewing beast still hovering indecisively above the estate.
"There's a demon prince down there," he said calmly. "If you're smart, you'll head back and rally reinforcements. Go alone, and you're just asking to be dragged back to Heaven in pieces."
To William's surprise, the stonewing beast didn't react with hostility, even after seeing him talking with Mephisto earlier.
Instead, it respectfully placed a hand over its chest and said, "Yes, Honored Grand Magus of the Light. I'll follow your command immediately."
Watching the beast flap its wings and soar off, William smirked. Holy magic really was deceptive. All he did was let the holy runes in his eyes show and morph his Sentry Armor to a light-based form—and the thing fell for it completely.
But in truth, William had always held respect for the stonewing beasts. Unlike angels, they weren't driven by ambition or ego. They simply guarded humanity without expecting anything in return.
They might be stubborn, even foolish—but never unlikable. Many were worthy of admiration.
Within minutes, twenty stonewing beasts arrived—armed with various melee weapons—and their wingbeats stirred enough noise to rattle the entire estate.
Inside, the demon spawn and their servants burst out, now fully exposed in their twisted forms—demons, wraiths, lesser fiends—howling up at the sky.
William scanned them once and quickly lost interest. These low-level invaders were nothing but cannon fodder. A single "Holy Rain" spell could wipe out half of them.
What did surprise him was that despite the massive commotion, not a single human nearby noticed. It was like the two sides were fighting in a different dimension altogether.
"ROAR—!" A thunderous snarl snapped him out of his thoughts.
Looking down, he saw over a dozen giant-headed werewolves racing along the rooftops, trying to leap at the stonewing beasts.
"Werewolves? Are you seriously trying to die?"
Grinning, William extended his hand and began buffing the nearby stonewing beasts.
He cast Holy Armor, Divine Protection, Haste, and Strength Enhancement—then conjured twenty Holy Light orbs, injecting them into each warrior.
Only after that did he smile and say, "Wipe them out."
Feeling the overwhelming divine power coursing through their bodies, the twenty holy-armored stonewing beasts raised their weapons and roared in unison:
"Slay the fiends!"
The six patrolling in the outer ring were the first to strike. With casual swings, they cleaved through six leaping werewolves like they were paper dolls.
Then, flapping their wings, they charged the remaining werewolves on the roofs, slicing down several more in mere moments—creatures that once required careful tactics now dying like vermin.
The remaining beasts near William dove to the ground and slammed into the demon horde, weapons gleaming as the battle erupted into a full-on brawl.
Luckily, William's Holy Armor and Divine Protection were extremely reliable—even full-fledged demons couldn't scratch them.
Once the stonewing beasts realized this, they stopped defending entirely, focusing on wide, sweeping strikes. Their attack speed and effectiveness skyrocketed.
The estate was soon littered with erupting hellfire as demon after demon was purged and banished back to the underworld.
And yet, William was a bit disappointed.
He didn't need more frontline melee fighters.
Besides, stonewing beasts who suffered critical damage would auto-return to the Tenth Heaven. Their true value wasn't in combat, but detection—they could see through any dark creature's disguise, making them excellent guardians.
Speaking of which...
William suddenly smiled. Stonewing beasts were originally built to guard churches and sacred buildings—protection is literally in their job description.
And now, with William—the ultimate support caster—watching from above, any stonewing beast whose armor dimmed would instantly receive a fresh burst of Holy Light, restoring their glow and shielding.
If any beast became surrounded or endangered, William would beam a purifying Sanctified Light around them, cleansing all nearby fiends.
After a few rounds of this, the beasts fought like warriors reborn, emboldened and invincible.
But for the demons?
It was a nightmare.
Nearly a hundred low-tier demons and wraiths had died, and they still couldn't break the stonewing beasts' defense.
Inside the estate, Demon Prince Bena's heart was bleeding.
He'd spent centuries preparing for this—smuggling these demons into Earth to form the backbone of his army.
But now, before he'd even planted his flag… his own father Mephisto had screwed him, leading the stonewing beasts right to his doorstep.
Worse?
Mephisto had teamed up with the same guy who had nuked Hell.
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