Mephisto laughed, finding it amusing how humans sometimes tried to deceive themselves.
Do they really not know who they are dealing with? Demons are the embodiment of deceit, trickery, and malice.
"Robbie," he said in an icy voice.
"Think of your uncle Eli… and then of Johnny. Are you sure you want me to be the one to tell you what you already know?"
Mephisto turned toward him. He lifted the crutches in his hands, then flipped them so that they were aimed at Robbie.
At that moment, Robbie's missing mouth reappeared. He could speak again.
"Ahhh…" he gasped, touching his mouth with his hand, as if afraid it might vanish again.
Still, fear was clearly visible in his eyes.
"I… I already told you everything I know," he stammered.
"The Demon of the Heart… he's the one who stole the holy soul. He appeared while Johnny and I were fighting an enemy, grabbed it and disappeared with it. Later, he hid it."
His eyes flickered with panic, his words coming out broken, as if he were desperately trying to convince Mephisto of his version of events.
Mephisto, however, was growing more and more impatient.
"Again with the same worn-out lies," he hissed through his teeth.
"Completely meaningless. Robbie, do you think I'm an idiot?"
His voice was like a knife.
"I know your strength and Johnny's very well. Blackheart does not have the power to steal holy souls from you, not even to surprise you. And besides…" Mephisto leaned closer.
"You said you and Johnny were fighting someone else? Against that man? Heh… as far as I know, that man is nowhere near Blackheart's strength. And you claim you fought him?"
His eyes gleamed with red flames as he spoke, a mocking smile on his face.
Mephisto's knowledge of Aron was outdated. Ever since Belath's last invasion of Earth, Mephisto was convinced that Aron's strength barely reached the threshold of the cosmic level, only brushing against the power of the Heavenly Fathers.
"Your intelligence network is wrong!" Robbie shouted, his voice trembling between fear and anger. "That man's strength is already on the edge of becoming a Heavenly Father!"
"Lies! Again the same lies!" Mephisto roared.
"Do you think Heavenly Fathers are some commodity sold on the streets of hell? A human being becoming a Heavenly Father in such a short time? Nonsense!"
His face twisted into a mocking grin.
Robbie's stubborn deception infuriated him. It was the same kind of trickery Johnny used, and that was exactly what cost him.
That was why Mephisto destroyed him: he broke Johnny Blaze, sealed him in hell together with his Spirit of Vengeance.
And now Eli Morrow's soul, Robbie's uncle, was torn from his body and cast into the same abyss.
"Robbie… do you know how much it costs to try to deceive me?" Mephisto ground his teeth.
"I'll give you one last chance. Tell the truth and…" he paused briefly, as if savoring the anticipation, "…I will free Johnny. And I will free your uncle's soul."
Each word was a weight crashing down on Robbie, like fiery shackles.
"I…" he began, but his face was full of inner conflict. His eyes filled with tears.
"Yes… Johnny and I… we lied to you," he finally confessed.
"In truth, we made a deal with Blackheart. Thanks to him, we managed to manipulate part of your power on Earth. Our plan was for Blackheart to join us and use a weapon desecrated with holy blood to kill you. Once we seized that power, we would overthrow your rule in hell."
As he spoke those words, his strength drained away. His knees gave out, and he collapsed to the cold ground.
Desperately, he recounted the plan, though deep down he knew it probably wouldn't save him.
"..."
Mephisto fell silent after listening.
He didn't sense a lie.
Robbie wasn't lying.
And only Blackheart knew his weakness – a weapon tainted with holy blood.
"This is betrayal!"
"This time I will split his soul into four parts and seal it in hell!"
"Let him feel forever the pain of flames that scorch the very soul!"
After learning of the plan devised by Blackheart and Johnny, Mephisto was beside himself.
But after the rage came hatred.
Hatred for stupidity.
"This idiot!"
"Does he really think I'll fall before Johnny?"
"Without Johnny, just him, even if he carries the holy soul, he is no match for me."
"Fool! You can't even stage a rebellion properly…"
Mephisto cursed his own son.
Ambitious, but stupid.
Again, unbearably stupid.
"Take me to him!"
Mephisto shouted at Robbie.
"There's no need to search for him."
"I've already come, old immortal."
As soon as the words left his mouth, a new voice echoed from the darkness.
Blackheart stepped out of the shadows, his body dark as night, hair spiked sharp like the quills of a porcupine.
"…?"
Robbie and Mephisto turned toward him simultaneously.
Doubt clearly appeared in Robbie's eyes.
"You traitor!"
Mephisto immediately exploded in rage when he saw his son.
"And you really did steal the holy soul!"
But… the moment he tried to sense the power within Blackheart's body, he realized something was wrong.
There wasn't a trace of holy energy.
Mephisto's rage grew even more:
"You traitor!"
Blackheart immediately returned the gaze with utter contempt.
He didn't even bother to show fear.
"…?"
Mephisto froze.
Something was wrong.
His son was cruel and power-hungry, constantly talking about rebellion, but he never had the courage to oppose him so openly.
"Who the hell are you!?"
Mephisto's eyes blazed with murderous intent.
"I am your father."
The red light of the Reality Stone flashed in the darkness.
In an instant, Blackheart's figure scattered, and in his place appeared Aron, with a smile that was more like an insult.
At the same time, his voice rang out as a parody of the famous line: "I'm your daddy."
"Who are you?"
"Didn't I just tell you, my father?"
Aron laughed mockingly, provoking Mephisto with every word.
He was trying to drive him into anger, to push him over the edge so he'd lose his composure and make a mistake.
But to his regret, Mephisto wasn't some ordinary old man. He was a demon. His heart still beat strong, relentless.
"You sent your son for my soul and still ask who I am?"
"Aron!?"
Mephisto shuddered.
"That can't be! What about Blackheart? Where is my son!?"
He realized something was wrong.
He could sense his son's presence on Earth.
Blackheart was indeed here.
But now Johnny and Robbie were under control, and the holy soul he was seeking stood right before him.
So where was his son?
"Well, let's say…"
"Do you see this mass of energy in my hand? Just like your son Blackheart has."
In Aron's palm, a dark red resentment glowed, full of destructive power.
"You!"
Mephisto's pupils shrank sharply.
"Man, soon you'll realize what kind of mistake you've made!"
His aura flared like wildfire.
The frail body of the old man on crutches vanished in an instant.
In its place appeared his true demonic form: a red-skinned monster, with a cloak and cape like a vampire, shrouded in a deadly aura.
His presence was so overwhelming that the air around them grew suffocating.
Sinister. Cunning. Lethal.
"..."
"Impressive. I must admit, you are terrifying."
"But let's not end this in a meaningless clash."
"Give me part of your power, and I promise you, if you don't back down, you will be—"
Aron didn't even finish the sentence.
In an instant, a brilliant red pillar of light crashed down upon him.
–––
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