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Hawk raised an eyebrow.
Mephisto—having just revealed his true red-skinned demonic form to prove his point—shifted back into his middle-aged appearance and looked at Hawk.
"Making Earth Dark wasn't my fault."
"Jehovah did that."
"Don't forget, I only took over Earth after defeating him."
As he spoke, Mephisto's right arm transformed into a demonic claw. Hellfire erupted from it, the flames rising and gradually taking shape in the air, forming the image of an elderly Black man.
Hawk stared at the projection Mephisto had conjured—Jehovah's true appearance. His mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.
"That's Jehovah?"
"Yes."
Mephisto's mouth opened wide, and the flame-formed image of Jehovah was sucked into his maw in one motion, as if he'd swallowed the deity whole.
Hawk recalled the image he'd just seen and couldn't help shaking his head.
"If the people on Earth found out, billions of believers would be shocked."
"Including you?" Mephisto smiled, looking at Hawk.
Hawk laughed dryly, meeting Mephisto's gaze. "If I were, I wouldn't be here negotiating with you about how to take down his dimension, would I?"
Mephisto's expression cleared with sudden understanding. He pursed his lips.
"Fair point."
"But I'm curious—if he was Black, why didn't his mythology spread through Africa?"
"Simple." Mephisto smiled as he answered Hawk's question. "The reason it didn't spread in Africa is because of the birth requirements for new Celestials. Think about what conditions are needed for a new Celestial to be born."
Hawk watched the smile return to Mephisto's face, and something clicked in his mind. "A new Celestial requires a life-bearing planet's population to reach a critical threshold. The more life, the stronger the new Celestial becomes..."
He trailed off.
His expression shifted to realization as he looked at Mephisto. "So Africa was his breeding ground."
It was common knowledge.
Every region on Earth had its own religious traditions and mythologies.
The Eastern nations had Buddha.
The Norse had Odin.
The Greeks had Zeus.
And then there was the so-called God.
Which left only one possibility.
It wasn't that the region lacked faith. It was that it couldn't be allowed to have faith.
After all, Developing faith required time and effort. But if you were just running a breeding farm, none of that was necessary.
Hawk's expression cleared with understanding, then he thought of something else and looked at Mephisto.
"But after you took over Earth, you didn't do anything to Africa either."
"Because I didn't need to."
Mephisto spread his hands.
"I won."
"Jehovah needed life, and I need souls. So from a certain perspective, what he and I require is fundamentally the same thing."
"But my boss is Death. All I need are souls. My job was just to take over Heaven's operation while keeping the population controlled—making sure it never hit the Celestial birth threshold. That's all."
"And what if... it becomes uncontrollable?"
"Then I step in personally."
"Like... the Plague of Athens."
"The Antonine Plague..."
Mephisto rattled off his accomplishments like a proud catalogue, sharing with Hawk the various methods he'd used to ensure Earth's population never triggered the Celestial emergence threshold.
Hawk drained his glass in one smooth motion.
Mephisto did the same, then smiled as he looked at Hawk, whose expression had brightened considerably now that they'd found common ground regarding certain demographics.
"So, do we have an agreement?"
"Not so fast."
Hawk smiled pleasantly. "Future souls on Earth still belong to you. But the souls of anyone I kill belong to me. And not just people I know personally."
Mephisto grabbed the champagne bottle and shrugged.
"As long as you don't try to exploit loopholes and harvest all of Earth's population for yourself."
"I won't."
"Then I have no objections. I agree to your terms."
"Wow!"
Hawk looked at Mephisto, who had agreed so readily, and let out a sound of amazement. He studied the demon lord carefully. "Jehovah must have you in a real corner. If I hadn't come here today, would you have shown up at my door in a few days begging me to work with you?"
One thing was clear—this wasn't typical Mephisto behavior.
Old Meph valued souls above everything else. Just think back to what happened when they fought over Alexander Pierce's soul.
Back then, Mephisto had been like an enraged bull.
But now?
Faced with Hawk's outrageous demands, Mephisto had agreed without even thinking about it.
Either Mephisto had already figured out how to break the agreement—
Or Mephisto had seen what was coming. The calm before the storm. Jehovah sharpening his blades in the shadows, preparing for the kill.
Hawk was betting on the latter.
And there was a simple way to verify it.
"Swear an oath in Death's name."
"WHAT?"
"Swear an oath in Death's name. During the War between Heaven dimension and Hell dimension, as long as I'm on your side and help you defeat Heaven's conspiracy, then from that moment forward, all souls of those I kill belong to my Underworld."
Hawk smiled pleasantly as he looked at Mephisto.
Mephisto stared at Hawk, who was asking him to swear an oath in Death's name.
"...You don't trust me?"
"Once again, Old Meph, you're already on my blacklist as unreliable. Honestly, working with you scares me. Even my fiancée thinks this is a terrible idea. But I'm still willing to give you one more chance. You should thank me."
Hawk spread his hands, looking at Mephisto with complete sincerity.
Mephisto stared at Hawk—who was now earnestly suggesting he say thank you—and his eye twitched as he responded with a question.
"Thank you?"
"You're welcome."
Hawk smoothly accepted the gratitude.
Mephisto's eye twitched even harder.
"That wasn't a statement."
"I know."
Hawk nodded, then picked up his champagne glass and stood from the bar stool, gesturing impatiently at Mephisto. "Come on, swear the oath. Once you do, our partnership is official."
Mephisto opened his mouth, staring at Hawk, who was now urging him along like an impatient child. He felt an overwhelming urge to curse him out.
But—
When he thought about Heaven dimension's current offensive, he took a deep breath and swore the oath in Death's name.
A moment later, Mephisto looked at Hawk with an expressionless face.
"Happy now?"
"Yes."
CLINK.
Hawk's glass touched Mephisto's with a crisp sound.
Both drained their champagne in unison.
Mephisto set down his glass and looked at Hawk.
"To a successful partnership."
"To a successful partnership."
Hawk set down his glass as well, then looked at Mephisto.
"Looks like Heaven dimension really has you by the throat. Otherwise you wouldn't be bleeding this much."
"You have no idea."
Now that the partnership was sealed, Mephisto let out a bitter laugh and shook his head, looking at Hawk. "The being Jehovah created to steal my authority over Hell has already been born."
Hawk raised an eyebrow, glancing at Mephisto.
"You already told me last time that their seed had been planted—"
"No, no, no. Last time I only sensed that their seed had been planted. But after you left, I investigated more thoroughly and discovered that the Death Angel has already been born."
"Shit!" Hawk sucked in a sharp breath, staring at Mephisto. "And you're only finding out about this now?"
Mephisto shook his head. "That's how terrifying Heaven dimension's invasions are. If you hadn't come to me, I probably still wouldn't know."
Hawk's mouth twitched.
He suddenly realized he might have undercharged for this job. No wonder Mephisto had agreed so quickly.
It wasn't just that Heaven dimension had shown up at his doorstep.
They'd practically already robbed his house.
Hawk thought about it, sighed, then looked at Mephisto.
"Alright. Do you have a plan? Like, do you know where this Death Angel is hiding?"
"No idea."
"...What about Heaven dimension? Do you know where they're hiding on Earth?"
"No idea."
"..."
Hawk stared at Mephisto—who kept shaking his head in response to every question—and spoke without expression. "Then what do you know?"
Mephisto smiled brightly. "I know that when we eventually track them down and devour Heaven dimension, the Celestials won't come after us."
Hawk raised an eyebrow.
"The Celestials won't intervene?"
"Not if you and I are on the same side. This is a Dimensional War that Heaven started. They tried to devour me, I devour them—it's perfectly reasonable. If the Celestials try to step in, my boss isn't going to just sit there and take it."
"You mean Death?"
"Exactly."
"I thought you were just some nobody among Death's many lords."
"I'm still one of Death's lords. But you're different. Without me backing you, when you kick down their door, the Celestials might personally show up to deal with you."
"I don't care."
Hawk's tone was casual.
He'd already pissed off the Celestials anyway. The moment he'd drained Tiamut of massive amounts of life energy and delayed its awakening, he'd crossed that line.
So making enemies of the Celestials? He'd already seen it coming. Otherwise he never would have agreed to Mephisto's proposal.
Once again—if you've already pissed someone off once, pissing them off twice doesn't make much difference.
Though...
If he could delay the confrontation with the Celestials, that would obviously be ideal.
After all, he hadn't even comprehended the Seventh Sense yet. Fighting the Celestials at this stage would probably be a one-sided beatdown.
And he'd be the one getting beaten.
Hawk paused, looking at Mephisto. "How much time do you think we have?"
Mephisto thought for a moment.
"One year. Two at most. Death Angels grow extremely fast."
"...Alright!"
Hawk blinked, having expected things to be more urgent. But apparently they had plenty of time. He thought about it and nodded. "Fine. You search for them your way, I'll search my way. We'll cover more ground."
After all, Heaven dimension wasn't just targeting Mephisto.
They were coming after him too.
The people secretly working on his clones? Heaven dimension's fingerprints were all over that operation.
He wondered if they'd actually managed to create anything worthwhile after all this time.
Honestly, Hawk was kind of hoping they had.
Because—
If Heaven dimension actually succeeded in making something, it would give him even more justification for striking back. When he conquered Heaven dimension, he'd be completely in the right.
The defense would be simple: Heaven dimension attacked first.
Hawk thought about it, then said his goodbyes to Mephisto, turned around, pushed open the bar door, stepped through, and found himself back in the Fox Manor greenhouse.
...
The sky had darkened outside. Snow was falling, and from the looks of it, it had been coming down for a while now.
Gwen was asleep at the flower table, her head resting on her arms.
The greenhouse had heating, though, so it wasn't cold.
Hawk looked at her from across the room—like a wife waiting for her husband to come home—and smiled. He walked quietly toward her.
Gwen, still sleeping, seemed to sense something. Her eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes. She found herself cradled in Hawk's arms, princess-style, and smiled up at him.
"You're back?"
"Yeah."
"How did it go?"
"He's desperate. Desperate enough to want to work with me."
Hawk took a single step and teleported them both from the greenhouse to the manor's main living room. As he filled Gwen in on what had happened in Hell, he glanced upstairs. "Is your grandfather asleep?"
Gwen climbed out of his arms, laughing softly.
"He went to bed hours ago."
"I told him you went to the next town over to visit a friend."
"Fair enough." Hawk smiled.
He watched as Gwen sat down on the couch, then settled in beside her, pulling her close. "Sorry. I said I'd come here to spend time with you and your grandfather, take a vacation."
Gwen leaned against Hawk's shoulder, tilting her head to glance up at his jawline with a small smile.
"As long as you're safe, that's all that matters."
"I'm fine."
Hawk looked down, meeting her eyes. "Everything's pretty much handled. From now on, I'm on vacation. Anything else can wait until we're back in New York."
And honestly, there wasn't much else to do anyway.
If Mephisto—with all his resources—didn't know where Heaven dimension's absurdly stealthy angels were hiding, Hawk certainly wasn't going to figure it out.
Unless—
He waited until his Sixth Sense officially evolved into the Seventh Sense, and not just any version—the peak of Gold Saint Cosmo.
Because at that level, his Sixth Sense: Observation would be able to blanket every corner of Earth.
Put simply—
Once he reached that level, a single thought would let him see what was happening anywhere on the planet in real time.
Live footage. 18K resolution. Zero lag.
Unfortunately—
His current Sixth Sense: Observation could only cover an area about the size of Mystic Falls.
Though he rarely used that ability anyway.
After all, he wasn't a voyeur. Just like he rarely used Sixth Sense: X-Ray Vision.
Hawk thought about it quietly.
Gwen, hearing his words, laughed softly.
"You still have one thing left unfinished."
"What?"
Hawk snapped out of his thoughts and looked down at her.
Gwen smiled. "This afternoon, Caroline came by again. But when she saw you weren't here, she left."
Hawk chuckled.
"Don't worry. Klaus will do me this favor."
"And if he doesn't?"
"He will."
Hawk met his fiancée's eyes with a confident smile. "Unless he wants to die."
Gwen blinked, pulling away from his shoulder to sit cross-legged on the couch, smiling as she looked at him. "So you were lying to Klaus before? About how Caroline would die if he died?"
Hawk shook his head.
"No. That part's true."
"Then why did you just say Klaus would agree unless he wanted to die?"
"If he doesn't do me this favor, then he'll die. As for Caroline?"
Hawk gently pulled Gwen back against his shoulder, smiling. "My sister's alone in the Underworld. It's pretty boring for her. Caroline could keep her company. I just made a new deal with Mephisto, remember?"
He quickly explained the updated soul agreement he'd negotiated.
"Klaus would be killed by me, so his soul belongs to me. And all the vampires who die because of Klaus's death? Their souls belong to me too."
"So don't worry about Caroline's soul suffering in Hell."
"I promise you, she'll live in the Elysian Fields of my Underworld. I've described it to you before. That's where my sister lives."
Hawk continued speaking as he looked at Gwen. "Besides, didn't you say you didn't like Caroline being a vampire?"
Gwen, leaning against Hawk's shoulder, shrugged.
"But there's something I haven't said yet."
"What?"
"Better a live dog than a dead lion. So try to get Klaus to agree, Hawk. If Caroline dies, Aunt Liz will be devastated."
"...Alright!"
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