Mephisto had told many lies in the past.
Basically, out of ten sentences, uh, eleven were lies.
But this time.
Mephisto met Hawke's gaze, patted his chest, and swore that this time he was absolutely serious.
Indeed.
He valued the living Planets under his command greatly.
After all, souls were related to the strength of every Death domain, and also to the strength of every Death Lord.
But… Hawke offered too much.
It's just a mere living Planet; with the Heaven Dimension, I can go to the Multiverse and seize countless living Planets.
After all, there aren't as many Gods there as in the Main Universe.
Mephisto thought, his eyes burning with desire.
Then, while ordering his demon army to completely sweep through the entire Heaven Dimension—he would refine it after talking with his good brother—Mephisto's demonic true form showed a fawning smile, nodding and bowing as he invited Hawke to the small tavern in Hell.
Hawke looked at the somewhat disgusting smile on Mephisto's face, opened his mouth, and finally chose to remain silent, following Mephisto back to the small tavern in Hell.
"Good brother!"
"…"
Hawke looked at Mephisto, who was holding two wine glasses and offering them to him, ignoring the old demon's address and getting straight to business.
He had been away from Earth for some time, and Gwen was probably already worried.
So… finish asking quickly and return to Earth quickly; his sister was still waiting to be cloned and resurrected.
Mephisto also didn't continue to play tricks. After pouring himself a glass of wine and clinking glasses with Hawke to celebrate their victory, he took a sip of his wine, then looked at Hawke and explained why Hawke felt that time was so malicious towards him.
"Because your timeline is already independent of the Main Multiverse's time."
"…"
Hawke frowned upon hearing this.
After his timeline contracted, theoretically speaking, it was indeed independent of himself.
Simply put.
"A golden elixir swallowed, my fate is mine, not Heaven's."
His act of gathering his timeline was more or less what that meant.
But… his timeline still existed.
Mephisto shook his head.
"How much longer can it exist?"
"…"
Hawke frowned.
Mephisto chuckled, "Don't look at me like that. After your life level ascended to Godhood, I truly have no ill will towards you. I am a Dimension God, but a Dimension God is not a true God. I'm not a fool."
Hawke took a sip of his wine.
"Then…"
"If I'm not mistaken, in your timeline, in the future, there's a very, very long blank area, isn't there?"
"…Yes!"
Hawke had seen it when he was gathering his timeline.
If nothing unexpected happened, it meant he had already manifested the Phoenix Universe.
Naturally.
The time of the Marvel Main Multiverse naturally couldn't govern him, the Main God of the Phoenix Universe.
Mephisto spread his hands upon hearing this.
"That's why you feel that time is so malicious towards you."
"Someone doesn't allow Gods who transcend time to appear again."
"…Time?"
Hawke raised an eyebrow, saying it subconsciously, then a thought flashed through his mind, and he looked at Mephisto: "Eternity?"
It was well known.
Time itself had no self-awareness.
But Eternity, the abstract manifestation of all timelines in the Main Multiverse, did have self-awareness.
And with self-awareness came its own good and evil.
So… Mephisto smiled slightly after Hawke uttered the name Eternity, saying nothing, just holding his wine glass and taking a sip.
He could say Eternity's name in normal times.
But at this moment, it was better not to say it if possible.
Hawke's timeline had contracted, but his timeline hadn't. If Eternity happened to be on this timeline and heard it, he would be in trouble.
Hawke watched Mephisto's reaction, his thoughts turning.
"You just said 'don't allow to appear again'?"
"Zeus!"
This could be said.
"Zeus, as the Lord of the Olympus Universe, transcended time."
"He, like you, was unmoved by the unknown future. In order not to let Zeus transcend, Time could only choose other targets, and through others, tempt Zeus, that he would die in the future, trying to make him take a look at the future."
"The most famous example is the myth circulating on Earth, that the Goddess of Wisdom, Athena, would overthrow Zeus's rule."
"But that was Time's prophecy, and prophecy is not an unchangeable past."
"So…"
"Zeus ultimately transcended."
Mephisto said this, put down his wine glass, looked at Hawke, and said with a smile, "So, the Celestials, to Zeus, are only fit to guard the gate. But in return, Zeus no longer participates in any time of the Main Multiverse, so Zeus basically lives his own life behind closed doors now."
Hawke was slightly stunned upon hearing this and couldn't help but recall the scene of meeting Poseidon and talking with him in the Atlantic Ocean at that time.
"Uh…"
"What's wrong?"
"I was in the Atlantic Ocean a while ago…"
Hawke looked at Mephisto and recounted his encounter with Poseidon in the Atlantic Ocean a while ago: "Poseidon said that Zeus made a deal with the Celestials."
Mephisto shrugged.
"That's right, Poseidon is just a subordinate God."
"And you should also know Zeus's sense of mischief."
"He most likes to watch his elder brother Poseidon, who was driven to the ocean, and his younger brother Hades, who was driven to the underworld, wanting to do something but being unable to defeat him."
"…"
Hawke fell silent.
He wanted to refute, but thinking of the mischievousness of Zeus recorded in Earth's myths, he felt that Mephisto's explanation was the most reasonable.
After all, you certainly couldn't expect to view Zeus, who could turn into a goat to seduce women, with normal human thinking.
"So, Time will still try every possible way to tempt me to look at the future, to prevent me from transcending?"
"Definitely."
Mephisto nodded without hesitation, then looked at Hawke: "But as long as you insist on not looking, you'll be fine. Anyway, you've already gathered your timeline, and it can't accurately locate you, let alone the Celestials."
Hawke subconsciously nodded.
The next second.
He seemed to have thought of something, and with a sudden jolt, he snapped back to reality, staring intently at Mephisto.
Eternity and the Celestials couldn't precisely locate him.
But what if someone acted as a spy?
For example… a certain Hell Lord in front of him whose character and morals had no bottom line?
Mephisto met Hawke's gaze, first愣ing, then seemed to have thought of something, his face instantly darkened, and then he raised a finger without hesitation: "By Death, I swear I will absolutely not tell a third person about today's conversation."
Hawke's murderous gaze softened upon hearing this.
Mephisto was speechless: "Good brother, if I were going to complain, I wouldn't have told you so much, would I?"
Hawke raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.
That's true.
But… he believed in the credibility of Mephisto swearing by Death, but he didn't believe in Mephisto's good intentions for no reason.
Especially since Mephisto had shown good intentions twice in a row.
So!
"What do you want?"
"Hehe."
Mephisto rubbed his hands together like a fly, looking at Hawke without any pretense: "If brother succeeds, I hope brother will lend a hand to your little brother then. Hades dislikes being the King of the Underworld, but I don't. I guarantee I'll manage it in an orderly fashion for my good brother."
In one sentence.
A Dimension God, while called a God, is not a God; even his own authority over life and Death is bestowed by Death.
So… he desperately wanted to become a God!
Hawke couldn't help but let out a laugh upon hearing Mephisto's words.
But this was very Mephisto-like.
If Mephisto had just said some nonsense about serving his good brother without expecting anything in return, Hawke would have guaranteed to chop Mephisto up without a second thought.
Anyway, he had already slaughtered one God today, so killing another Hell Lord wasn't a big deal.
But now… "Alright."
"But don't be in a hurry."
Hawke looked at Mephisto, whose face was undisguisedly written with "Brother, I really want to progress," and smiled slightly: "If you're not afraid of Death bothering you, I can still give you a King of the Underworld."
Mephisto's eyes lit up.
"Is that true, brother?"
"I never make promises lightly. As long as you don't betray me, after it's done, I won't enjoy the glory alone."
Hawke said with a smile: "Next, you do two things. If you do them well, I will promise you the great position of King of the Underworld."
Mephisto's expression instantly turned serious as he looked at Hawke.
"Brother, tell me!"
"I don't really like darkness."
"Understood!"
Mephisto heard this, and with just a thought, instantly understood the meaning of Hawke's words, immediately nodded, and then seemed to have thought of something, looking at Hawke: "Brother, the authority over life and Death in the Western Hemisphere…"
Hawke's mind moved, and he directly returned the Western Hemisphere to Mephisto, only retaining the right for those who chanted his name and those he killed to enter his Underworld.
Mephisto's expression was serious after reclaiming the authority over the Western Hemisphere.
"Brother, rest assured, from this moment on, no new darkness will be born!"
"Very good."
Hawke smiled brightly, then said with a slight smile: "I also don't really like ghosts."
Mephisto was slightly stunned upon hearing this.
But it was only a slight pause, lasting a second or two longer than before.
Soon.
Mephisto also reacted and nodded heavily again: "Brother, I understand. Just watch."
Hawke hummed, said no more, drained the wine in his glass, and then stood up and walked towards the door of the small tavern.
"I'm leaving."
"Brother, take care!"
Mephisto, who now had "brother" constantly on his lips, diligently escorted Hawke to the entrance of the Hell Dimension, watching Hawke, who was transforming into a rainbow and heading towards Earth, shouting from the Universe.
Boom!
Hawke appeared directly above a certain microstate in Italy 0.01 seconds after breaking through the atmosphere.
The next second.
Without hesitation, he pointed his right index finger out.
Lightspeed Fist!
And then—
Deeply hiding his achievements and fame.
Turned around.
Left—(End of Chapter)
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