❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁
The vast cosmos...
Infinite starfield!
After breaking through Earth's atmosphere, Hawk rocketed toward Pluto's coordinates without hesitation.
At the same time—
The Black Phoenix Surplice materialized like a dark phoenix wreathed in crystalline black flames, spreading its wings before settling onto Hawk's back.
CLICK!
The black faceplate locked into place. Hawk's speed surged once more.
Mach 1000...
Mach 5000...
Mach 10,000...
Mach 100,000...
Mach 500,000!
...
Until he reached sub-light speed!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Hawk's Cosmo blazed furiously. Thanks to the Blood Dimension—a real, physical dimension that existed in reality—he had finally broken through to sub-light speed.
But true light speed required a Gold Saint.
And becoming a Gold Saint required awakening the Seventh Sense.
And awakening the Seventh Sense required the Mind Stone.
So if he wanted to truly step into the Seventh Sense and unlock the gates of the Gold Cosmo, he'd need the Mind Stone's boundless mental energy to blast those gates open.
As Hawk hurtled toward Pluto at sub-light speed, his consciousness descended to the deepest edges of his Cosmo. He stared at the impenetrable barrier of the Seventh Sense and thought about Strucker—who had taken his Mind Stone and vanished to God knows where.
He hadn't been in a rush before.
He still wasn't in a rush now.
After all, Strucker was somewhere on Earth. Where could he possibly run?
But getting the Mind Stone back sooner rather than later certainly wouldn't hurt.
Hawk had it all planned out.
After this trip to Pluto—once he'd made Mephisto relocate—he'd use the summer break to hunt down Strucker and find out where the bastard had been hiding.
His internship was already lined up anyway.
Not at some law firm. At the District Attorney's office.
Once again, The reason he'd chosen to study law in the first place was so that—assuming he didn't die—he could work his way up from the DA's office to eventually become a Supreme Court Justice.
An ordinary judge couldn't hold the Hulk accountable. But a Supreme Court Justice could.
So interning at the DA's office was staying true to his original path.
...
Eight hours passed in the blink of an eye.
Above Pluto—averaging 5.917 billion kilometers from Earth, a distance that light itself took five hours and twenty-nine minutes to travel.
WHOOSH!
Hawk emerged from sub-light speed. Clad in the Black Phoenix Surplice, he stood suspended in the void, gazing down at the brownish, nearly spherical dwarf planet beneath his feet.
He didn't bother examining Pluto. He had no interest in sightseeing.
He was here for Mephisto.
After all, Mephisto had already refused his attempts to access Hell through the dimensional rifts.
Right after La Magra died.
Hawk had planned to hear how Mephisto would try to weasel his way out of this. But Mephisto hadn't even bothered showing up.
No matter how many times Hawk knocked on Hell's dimensional door through the rifts, Mephisto refused to answer.
It was like Mephisto was home, heard the knocking, but pretended not to.
Did Mephisto really think playing dead would make this go away?
Not a chance... Hawk snorted internally. His form vanished from Pluto's upper atmosphere. When he reappeared, he was on the dwarf planet's far side. His Cosmo blazed as he drove his right fist straight at the entrance to the Hell dimension.
Not Phoenix Wings Rise.
But—
Phoenix Meteor Fist!!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! CRASH—
Phoenix after phoenix—so vivid they seemed physical—spread their wings and pummeled the Hell dimension's entrance.
Pegasus Meteor Fist might be Pegasus's signature technique.
But Meteor Fist itself wasn't exclusive to anyone.
Space trembled.
Spacetime shuddered.
Even Pluto's ancient ice mountains—frozen for eons—began collapsing under the dimensional shockwaves.
And the Hell dimension's gates fared no better.
BAAAAANG!
A thunderous roar echoed from the void. The Hell dimension hidden behind Pluto cracked open under Hawk's Black Phoenix Meteor Fist.
Hawk didn't hesitate. He flickered through the breach and entered the Hell dimension.
And then—
"Holy—!"
"What the FUCK??"
Hawk emerged into Hell's airspace and immediately sucked in a sharp breath at what he saw.
He actually thought he'd come to the wrong place. He turned around, exited through the breach, and double-checked the dimensional coordinates.
"No, this is right."
"But..." Hawk frowned deeply. He passed through the breach again, returning to the Hell dimension, and stared at the scene before him.
Massive chunks of Hell's landscape had collapsed. The waters of Hell—composed of pure despair and suffering—had flooded everywhere like a dam had burst.
Mephisto's once-imposing palace was now rubble.
Twisted souls wailed silently among the ruins.
The air reeked of endless sulfur and—
Blood.
"KILL! PROTECT THE LORD!"
"SLAUGHTER THEM ALL!"
"Filthy demons, accept judgment in our Lord's name!"
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Hawk's Sixth Sense unfurled instantly, catching the sounds of battle and screaming from deep within the Hell dimension. One step forward, and he materialized above an active battlefield.
What he saw:
Demon corpses littered the ground.
Mephisto—revealed in his true demonic form—looked utterly wretched.
One of his demon horns had been severed.
His demonic armor was torn and battered. Surrounded by dozens of Archdukes of Hell, he appeared to be retreating.
And the ones responsible for Mephisto's sorry state were the bird-people on the opposing side.
Yes.
Bird-people in the literal sense.
An army of winged warriors wielding swords stained with demon blood blotted out the sky, cutting down the roaring demons who charged at them.
One swing, one kill.
Mephisto's demon army seemed utterly powerless—slaughtered like lambs by these angelic forces.
The reason was simple.
A massive sword—radiant with holy light and large as a mountain—floated in the sky above.
This mountain-sized blade continuously emanated sacred pressure specifically designed to suppress Hell, crushing the demons' combat capabilities into nothing.
And standing atop the giant sword was a bird-man with six magnificent wings gently beating behind him. He wore armor of brilliant, holy light. Even his eyes glowed with pale gold.
Flanking him, two sword-wielding angelic warriors hovered protectively.
Hawk glanced at the six-winged being, then down at Mephisto's pathetic state on the ground below. His expression turned strange.
He remembered what La Magra had told him.
Heaven and Hell were family.
God and Mephisto were allies.
So—
What the hell was going on here?
Did Mephisto know Hawk was coming to settle scores and called in Yahweh to stage some kind of elaborate suffering act?
If this was all theater, Hawk had only one thing to say.
Mephisto had gone way too deep.
Back when Hawk first visited Hell—back when he couldn't actually kill Mephisto—why had Mephisto refused to fight him seriously?
Because Mephisto didn't want his Hell getting trashed.
And now?
Hell was genuinely trashed.
The countless dead demons were real.
Even Mephisto's severed horn was legitimate.
Hawk remembered sitting in that Hell tavern, listening to Mephisto brag about how proud he was of those demon horns.
So—
"What the hell is going on here??"
"Hah!"
"Demon—DIE!"
"..."
Just as Hawk stood there frowning, trying to make sense of the situation, a patrolling four-winged angel spotted him standing brazenly at the battlefield's edge. With a battle cry, the angel gripped his holy sword and charged.
Hawk snapped back to attention. Watching the battle-hungry four-winged angel rushing toward him, he instinctively threw a punch.
And then—
POP!!
The four-winged angel's body folded like a shrimp. He rocketed backward like a meteor and crashed into the battlefield below.
A dozen two-winged angel soldiers—caught completely off guard—were instantly crushed to death beneath him.
The next second.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
"DIE!"
"In our Lord's name—accept divine judgment!"
The four-winged angel—having carved a crater into the ground—ignored the blood streaming from his mouth. With a furious roar, he beat his wings, sword raised, and transformed into a streak of white lightning as he charged at Hawk again.
Hawk's eyes flashed crimson.
HUM!
Phoenix Beams lanced outward, colliding with the four-winged angel's blade with a thunderous crash.
SIZZLE. SIZZLE. SIZZLE.
The fanatical four-winged angel beat his wings furiously, but as his sword began melting inch by inch, his zealous expression gradually shifted toward horror.
The moment the blade fully dissolved in Phoenix Fire, the flames slammed into the four-winged angel's chest.
The next second.
POP!
The four-winged angel exploded on impact. Angel blood erupted outward, raining down upon the battlefield below.
"WHO GOES THERE??"
"WHO??"
The instant the four-winged angel fell, the six-winged angel standing atop the giant sword—along with the two four-winged angels flanking him—turned their attention toward Hawk.
The two four-winged angels appeared at Hawk's sides with blinding speed, barking demands. Without waiting for an answer, they lunged at him in a pincer attack.
Hawk raised an eyebrow. He retreated ten meters while driving his right fist forward.
Heavy fist, no flourish. Raw power, no tricks.
"Lightspeed Fist!"
BANG!
BANG!
Both four-winged angels exploded under his fists, blood painting the air.
After that first four-winged angel, Hawk had a solid read on their power level.
Roughly equivalent to a Bronze Saint infinitely approaching Silver Saint territory.
But no matter how close to Silver—still Bronze.
Hawk's first strike had been exploratory. That was why the first four-winged angel survived.
These two weren't so lucky.
They died on the spot.
So then—
What about that six-winged angel?
❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁
~# 70 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon!
https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)
~# Bonus Chapter every 300PS