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*****
"I choose her!"
Mephisto pointed directly at Gwen, a sinister smile spreading across his face.
"Here, the people on your side... it's not limited to just the two of you."
He was, after all, an expert in making deals, always able to seize upon any loopholes.
Sure enough, upon hearing his words, the expressions on Mike's and the Ancient One's faces became incredibly ugly.
Witnessing this, Mephisto became even more delighted with himself.
This was precisely why he loved making deals.
Now, his opponents had only two choices: either abort this transaction and let him go, or proceed with the transaction.
"Wait a moment. I'll go and bring her over."
Mike said this with a dark expression, and then immediately vanished from where he stood.
A few seconds later, Mike, who had casually disposed of Kerrigan, reappeared. At the same time, Gwen also walked slowly into the building.
Mephisto's eyes flickered, and he asked in astonishment, "You're... you're actually going to let her fight me?"
He was absolutely certain he would win this fight. He couldn't believe that the Ancient One and Mike were unable to see that.
Mike put on a serious expression and said, "We have no choice. But I believe in her. I believe in justice!"
The Ancient One shook her head, hastily raising her fan to cover the lower half of her face, but her wise eyes and brows still couldn't help but curve into a slight smile.
This acting was truly clumsy. She could hardly bear to watch it any longer.
But Mephisto, on the other hand, couldn't help but let out a cold sneer.
"This sanctimonious face of justice you put on is truly disgusting."
In his opinion, this was perfectly in line with Mike's typical way of doing things. Just look at Mike's children—all of them are proponents of justice. To be able to raise children like that, this father... was truly disgusting!
Mephisto sneered inwardly once more. No longer paying any mind to Mike, he began to draw out the power from Danny's body.
Doing this would, of course, cause his current incarnation plan to fail. But the fortunate part was that he could preserve his power, ensuring his losses wouldn't be too catastrophic.
If the plan failed, he would just find another opportunity to formulate a new plan. It was no big deal. He was already used to it.
As the power was rapidly extracted, Danny couldn't stop himself from crying out in pain.
Although it was agonizing right now, the good news was that starting today, he would no longer have to endure the nightmares brought on by this power, and he wouldn't have to worry about being coveted by a devil.
A short while later, Mephisto had drained every last bit of power from Danny's body. Danny collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Mike casually tossed out a Rejuvenation spell to heal him.
Mephisto felt the power coursing through his body, relishing the formidable sensation of wielding his strength once again. He finally let out a long sigh of relief.
He looked toward Mike and the Ancient One and sneered, "Come on, then."
This mortal body could not withstand such immense power; it was already beginning to break down. He needed to make this a quick fight.
He paused, looking at Gwen who was wreathed in blue flames, a look of surprise flashing in his eyes. "A Spirit of Vengeance... but it bears traces I left behind. Was this Spirit of Vengeance once enslaved by me? To be purified now... truly remarkable."
"How about it? Would you consider serving me? I can give you many, many things."
Gwen let out a cold snort and, filled with righteous energy, shouted loudly, "I am an emissary of justice! I would never throw myself into the embrace of a devil!"
"Well said!"
Mike praised her with great enthusiasm.
Witnessing this scene, the Ancient One's face, hidden behind her fan, began to twitch uncontrollably.
This father-daughter duo... they were such drama queens, but their acting skills were just terrible. Yet, looking at that fool Mephisto's expression, it seemed he had actually believed them.
She was speechless inwardly but still had to maintain a shocked expression on her face. Hurry up and start, hurry up and end. I'm not going to be able to hold this expression much longer.
The Ancient One let out a long sigh in her heart.
"Hehe," Mephisto smiled faintly. "When you get to Hell, I will be sure to 'take good care' of you."
As his words fell, his thoughts shifted. A magic shield formed around him, and at the same instant, a blast of magical fire shot toward Gwen.
Gwen spun her chain, forming a vortex of blue fire that blocked Mephisto's magic flames. As her vortex devoured the attack, she gave a low call. The Nighthawk appeared above Mephisto's head, its talons, burning with blue fire, grasping toward Mephisto's skull.
"Hmph!"
Mephisto snorted coldly. His powerful magic instantly fortified his body to a terrifying degree. He grabbed the Nighthawk's talons and forcefully flung the construct at Gwen.
Gwen, leaving a trail of fire, dodged the attack. She pressed her hand onto the Nighthawk's back, and a large amount of fire erupted from her. The Nighthawk spread its wings, stabilized its form, and carried Gwen soaring toward the sky.
Mephisto smiled faintly. Trying to create distance to stall for time?
Did she sense that my current body is rapidly weakening?
"A clever choice. But I have no intention of giving you such an opportunity, my little dear."
Mephisto whispered, his body lifting into the air as he flew in pursuit of Gwen.
This was the barrier the Ancient One had constructed; it had a finite range. If she wanted to stall for time, how long could she possibly run in this limited space?
Mephisto's eyes flashed. He murmured a simple incantation, but vast, realistic illusions were cast by him into the barrier. They blurred the sense of distance, affecting Gwen's senses and interfering with her judgment.
Gwen took a deep breath and looked toward the sky, charging upward. As long as she flew to a sufficient height, she reasoned, she wouldn't crash into any buildings.
The idea was a good one, but Mephisto's illusion had completely warped her sense of direction. Although it looked like she was flying toward the sky, she was, in reality, still flying forward. Although the "sky" she was looking at was a patch of clouds, in reality, what lay before her was a skyscraper.
CRASH!
Gwen smashed directly into the building, blasting a large hole through the facade, and tumbled into the building's interior.
Seeing this, Mephisto sneered. With a wave of his arm, a stream of magic fire, like a roaring fire dragon, rushed toward her.
Using fire to fight a Spirit of Vengeance who also wields flames? It might seem ridiculous. But in truth, this fire was not merely fire; it was saturated with Mephisto's magic, containing raw madness and chaos.
He was merely attempting to use these flames to once again pollute the Spirit of Vengeance, to corrupt it back into a base Ghost Rider. This was also the very reason he had just said he would be "waiting" for Gwen in Hell.
Looking at the charging fire dragon, Gwen looked completely helpless. She had no idea if this thing was real or fake. She didn't even know if there were any civilians around her, or if an attack she launched at Mephisto might end up hitting an innocent person.
These damn illusions.
She cursed inwardly, and a fiery vortex ignited within her eye sockets. The Penance Stare. While it couldn't help her directly see through the illusions, it could help her see the souls of everyone around her, and it allowed her to lock onto Mephisto's soul.
"To be able to barely fight, even like this... truly a clever child."
Mephisto made no attempt to hide his admiration for Gwen.
Gwen suddenly sighed. She had no choice but to dodge the charging fire dragon.
"Sigh... I really should have listened to my dad. But I really wanted to try fighting you myself. But if we keep fighting like this, I might end up hurting someone innocent. So..."
Gwen, in her skeletal form, flashed Mephisto a happy smile and said, "I'm going to use my cheat!"
As she spoke, she pulled out several cards from her pocket and casually drew one from the stack.
She glanced at it, and for a moment, she was slightly stunned.
Oh, it's this one.
Name: Frostbolt (Enhance +10)
Skill Description: Shoots a bolt of frost at the target, dealing frost damage and reducing the target's movement and attack speed.
Note: Pew pew!
Following the instructions her dad had given her, she directly threw the card forward.
In the next instant, the card dissolved into specks of light and vanished. Immediately, a single frostbolt appeared in front of Gwen.
This frostbolt looked exactly the same as an ordinary frostbolt. It appeared completely unremarkable. To Mephisto, it looked like something he could disperse with a casual wave of his hand.
The frostbolt locked onto Mephisto. It flew toward him at an extremely high speed, getting closer and closer.
And just as Mephisto raised his hand to swat away the frostbolt that looked like it could be dispersed with a single slap, his expression changed dramatically.
A terrifying mass of frost energy exploded violently from the frostbolt's unremarkable body. At a horrifying speed, it froze his body, the space around him, and even his very soul. Then, with its power undiminished, it struck his heart.
"BANG!"
Accompanied by the sound of a shattering explosion, an burst of extremely frigid energy bloomed in mid-air.
Instantly, the temperature inside the barrier set up by the Ancient One plummeted, and snowflakes began to fall from the sky.
As for Mephisto, he had been frozen into an ice sculpture by that terrifying frost energy, and then shattered into fine ice powder.
Witnessing this, Gwen was stunned for a moment. She looked down at the few remaining cards in her hand.
Her dad... he really was the best to her!
The Ancient One raised her head to look at the sky, gazing at the ice-blue frost scar that had frozen the air. She tilted her head slightly and said to Mike, "I didn't expect you to have such deep attainments in magic as well."
"It's just a special ability, nothing worth mentioning."
Mike explained with a smile, his gaze shifting to the parchment scroll in the Ancient One's hand.
Just a moment ago, a powerful surge of energy had rushed into that parchment.
Seeing Mike's look, the Ancient One nodded, confirming with certainty, "It is his portion of power. And it no longer has a soul imprint attached. He has vanished."
Speaking of this, she couldn't help but smile. "Losing so much power this time... that cunning fellow must be going crazy with anger."
"Haha!"
Mike said, full of pride, "It's all because my acting was so superb!"
The Ancient One: "..."
Could you please have a little self-awareness?
It was clearly Mephisto who had a screw loose.
"Dad, your acting was really good, just as amazing as mine!"
Just then, Gwen flew down from the sky, praising Mike. She handed the cards in her hand back to him. Mike's hand blurred slightly, and the cards disappeared.
Mike nodded and said to Gwen, "You were great, too."
Watching the father and daughter pair exchange compliments, the corner of the Ancient One's mouth twitched. She tossed the parchment in her hand to Mike and said, "I'm heading back."
As her words fell, she casually opened a portal and quickly departed. If she didn't leave now, she was afraid she wouldn't be able to resist making a sarcastic comment.
After the Ancient One left, Gwen moved closer to Mike and asked in a low voice, "Dad, how was the power of that thing so immense? It took out that devil in one shot?"
To be honest, the power of an "Enhance +10" Frostbolt had also exceeded Mike's imagination. However, after Mike calculated the power multiplier of an Enhance +10 versus a normal frostbolt, he felt it was only logical.
1024 times.
This wasn't a simple one-plus-one addition. It was a terrifying qualitative change brought about by continuous stacking and compression. Besides, this wasn't even Mephisto's true body.
However, now that this card had been used, Mike no longer had his highest-level enhanced card. He had no idea when a card with such a high enhancement level would appear again.
Mike smiled faintly. "This is the power of 'the grind'!"
"?"
Gwen frowned.
The power of 'the grind'?
Why not the power of the stomach?
Before she could ask any further, Mike patted her on the head and said, "Let's get going. Don't forget, we're here on vacation."
Gwen nodded, then suddenly asked, "What about that boy?"
"I opened a portal and tossed him back to his mom."
Mike said casually.
While Gwen was fighting, he had opened a portal and sent the kid through. As for Johnny Blaze and the boy's mother, because Mike had knocked them unconscious, they were still fast asleep.
"What about those people?"
Gwen pointed toward the church, at those demon cultists who were now either standing around with dazed expressions or looking furious.
Mike pondered for a moment, and a new card appeared in his hand. If they just ignored these people... these people had been in contact with a devil, and they might have grasped some kind of demonic summoning ritual. What if they summoned Mephisto back, or another demon? That would just stir up new trouble.
The card in his hand dissolved into specks of light. A powerful psychic force, like an invisible storm, enveloped the entire building. After completely immobilizing all the demon's followers, Mike performed a mass hypnosis, sealing away all of their memories related to demons.
From now on, as long as they don't intentionally seek out contact with demons and aren't subjected to stimuli in that specific area, this portion of their memories will never resurface.
After finishing all this, Mike flew up, bringing Gwen with him. And as they ascended, the barrier that the Ancient One had put in place disappeared.
Immediately, the continuously falling snowflakes drifted outside the barrier's original range, causing a flurry of exclamations from below.
...
At this very moment, in Hell.
Within Mephisto's palace, a furious roar, like a violent storm, exploded from the center and spread rapidly outwards, causing all the wailing spirits and demons who heard it to tremble in abject fear.
"Hnngh!"
Mephisto was panting with rage.
He had been set up.
He had originally believed he had found a brilliant loophole in the deal, but he never imagined that the "loophole" was something they had intentionally left for him.
To think that that father-daughter pair had been acting, putting on a show just for him!
Damn it, their acting had been far too convincing...
No, thinking back on it now, that pair's acting was just like they were reading from a script. It was as clumsy as a pretty-boy actor who relies solely on their face to get by.
But he had been completely misled by the Kent family's reputation, by the legends people told about them, and had truly believed they were extremely, inflexibly righteous people...
"Too cunning!"
Mephisto couldn't help but curse angrily, slumping down onto his throne in resentment.
Just thinking about it, the look the Ancient One had given him at the time... That was clearly the look one gives to a complete idiot.
He had lost all face, and in front of his old rival, no less!
Merely thinking about this made Mephisto's expression grow even darker.
He had lost a significant amount of power this time. To recover it would require a very, very long time.
Mike Kent! Ancient One!
He cursed them furiously in his mind.
Just at that moment, the space in front of him tore open, and two figures stepped out from within.
Mephisto's eyes narrowed. He looked at the two arrivals with studied composure and said, "Thanos? A Kryptonian? What are you two doing here?"
(End of this chapter)