The Vishanti Trinity had not relinquished their pursuit of Sebastian Shaw. They desired to bring him under their command, envisioning him as the Sorcerer Supreme to succeed the Ancient One. In all her centuries, the Ancient One could not recall the Vishanti ever displaying such intense interest in a single wizard. Sebastian stood alone as the only mage they had so fervently sought to recruit.
Though she never voiced it, the Ancient One understood the root of their fixation. Sebastian's magic system, wholly independent from the magical traditions of this world, was a rare and coveted treasure. Magical authority, as she well knew, required the dissemination and teaching of a unique form of magic to establish its source. The broader and more widespread the adoption of that magic, the greater the authority it conferred. The Vishanti Trinity's ambition was clear: they aimed to bind Sebastian to their will, infiltrate his unique magical system, claim it as a new source, and thereby amass even greater magical authority.
Consequently, despite the Ancient One's reluctance to align with their schemes, the Vishanti permitted her continued interactions with Sebastian. Recently, they had confined her to Kamar-Taj and the three Sanctums, restricting her movements and forbidding her from leaving without their consent. Yet, when Sebastian extended an invitation, they allowed her to depart Kamar-Taj. In essence, the Ancient One was under a form of house arrest imposed by the Vishanti Trinity, and Sebastian represented her sole opportunity to step beyond those confines, a fleeting chance to breathe freely.
For this reason or the other, the Ancient One would never contemplate refusing any request from Sebastian.
Positioned in mid-air above a barren mountain in the northwestern United States, the Ancient One surveyed the desolate landscape before her. With a graceful wave of her hand, she conjured enormous magical arrays that materialized on all sides of the mountain, enveloping it in a protective barrier that completely isolated it from external observation. Having completed this task, she seated herself cross-legged in the void, assuming the role of guardian over the secluded mountain.
At the same moment, Sebastian stood before a dark red ruby hovering in the air, its surface radiating an intense, infernal heat. He drew a deep breath, steadying himself, and raised his wand, channeling a spell from his past life. "Incendio Diabolica," he intoned, invoking the Fiendfyre Curse. A slender stream of black-red Hellfire surged from the tip of his wand, cascading onto the dark red ruby and igniting it with a relentless, consuming blaze. Through the medium of the Hellfire, Sebastian established a connection to the ruby's core—the authority of Hellfire, comprising five percent of its total power, as negotiated with Mephisto.
With a subtle tremor of his wrist, Sebastian carefully reversed the Fiendfyre Curse, drawing the Hellfire back into his wand. As the flames retreated, they pulled the ruby's Hellfire authority along with them, channeling it through the wand and into his body. The wand, crafted with Asgardian materials and imbued with exceptional resilience, bore the immense pressure of this process. Sebastian exercised meticulous control, proceeding with utmost caution and patience. Despite the ferocious and untamed nature of the Hellfire's power, it flowed into his body smoothly, guided by his steady hand, without causing significant disruption.
Time passed slowly, minute by minute, and Sebastian found himself astonished by the sheer magnitude of power contained within just five percent of the Hellfire authority. In previous instances when he had cast the Fiendfyre Curse, the Hellfire he summoned had been a mere borrowing—a temporary spark that obeyed his command only for the duration of the spell before dissipating entirely. Those fleeting encounters had given him only a superficial understanding of Hellfire's potential. Now, as he undertook the task of absorbing the Hellfire authority and making it his own, Sebastian realized that even with all his preparations—Asgardian runes, Frigga's teachings, and the protective enchantments of the Ring of Harnessing Power—claiming such power was an extraordinarily daunting endeavor.
Outside the barrier, the Ancient One opened her eyes, her senses alerted to a disturbance. Dark, malevolent shadows were gathering around the edges of the mountain, probing the boundaries of her magical arrays. She extended her hand, and a thick, crimson electric current erupted from her fingertips, sweeping across the slopes and obliterating the shadowy intruders. These were mere scouts, she knew—spies dispatched by entities coveting the Hellfire authority Sebastian was claiming. Those beings, demons of the Hell dimension, would never abandon their pursuit of such a prize, particularly one tied to the infernal realms.
Within the Hell dimension, Mephisto held dominion as the Lord of Hell, commanding the greatest share of its authority. Other demons, however, possessed lesser portions of that power, among them the former archangel Lucifer, who, after his fall, adopted the name Satan. Satan wielded authority second only to Mephisto, making him the Hell dimension's most formidable demon after its Lord. Yet Satan harbored no interest in contesting Mephisto's rule; his ambitions were fixed on returning to Heaven and seizing its divine authority, a goal that kept him from clashing directly with Mephisto.
Returning to the present, the ripples caused by Sebastian's absorption of the Hellfire authority had drawn the attention of numerous demons concealed on Earth. Some acted for their own gain, while others served their infernal masters, much like the wind demons, earth demons, and water demons that had plagued Sebastian in the past. Now, they converged upon this desolate wilderness, drawn by the allure of the Hellfire's power.
Sensing the demons' approach, the Ancient One rose from her seated position, her robes flowing as she floated higher in the air. She raised one hand, and a massive magical circle manifested above her palm, spinning with radiant energy. The circle drew upon immense power from unknown dimensions, channeling it into dazzling bolts of lightning that rained down from the heavens, striking the encroaching demons with unerring precision. The weaker among them perished instantly, their forms disintegrating under the onslaught, while the stronger ones retreated, driven back by the Ancient One's formidable magic.
Just as she prepared to lower her hand, a figure materialized in mid-air before her—a male with long red hair and two short horns protruding from his forehead. His eyes glinted with a predatory confidence as he addressed her. "It has been a long time, Ancient One."
The Ancient One's face grew solemn as she recognized the intruder. "Belasco, Lord of Limbo. What brings the master of Hell's border to this place?"
Limbo, as its name implied, was the region of the Hell dimension closest to Earth, a liminal space under Belasco's dominion. Once a human wizard, Belasco had sacrificed much to ancient gods, gaining invulnerability and immortality in return. Through his machinations, he had seized a portion of the Hell dimension's authority, establishing himself as the Lord of Limbo. By all rights, a lord of an outer dimension should not freely appear on Earth, which made Belasco's presence here deeply unsettling to the Ancient One.
Belasco regarded her with a smug, self-assured smile. "I told you long ago, Ancient One, that without the Vishanti Trinity's favor, you are no match for me. Now, with their support waning, I have come to prove that you are nothing before me."
With those words, Belasco raised his arms, and the illusory border of Limbo descended upon the wilderness. A crimson haze unfurled, enveloping the barren mountain and a vast expanse around it. The raw, corrosive power of the Hell dimension surged forth, spilling outward and threatening to consume everything within its grasp.