"You, old demon who has lived for thousands of years, sneaking up on me as if you were a young man in his twenties. Do you want us to face each other that way?"
Aron dodged Mephisto's attack with a swift sidestep.
Red pillars of hellish energy bombarded the Gobi Desert.
Explosions shook the earth and in an instant reshaped the entire landscape.
A long ravine stretched out like a scar, tearing through the ground.
"…"
"You really have reached the level of a 'Heavenly Father.'"
"No wonder Blackheart died at your hand."
Mephisto watched Aron's speed and evasions. Surprise appeared on his face. Robbie had clearly not lied, this man had truly become what mortals call a "Heavenly Father."
But despite it all…
Mephisto was only mildly surprised.
And what if Aron had reached that level?
Even if only a fraction of Mephisto's power descended to Earth, a beginner who had just stepped into the world of the Heavenly Father could not compare to him.
"Wait until I kill you."
"I will take your soul!"
"I hope that then… you won't be so fast and slippery."
Mephisto rose into the air.
His black cloak spread wide, and when he extended his arms, beams of light burst from the tips of his fingers.
Each one powerful enough to tear the earth apart and reshape the entire region.
"Mirror Dimension!"
Aron did not want their battle to spill into the real world and attract the Ancient One's attention in the future. That is why he decisively dragged Mephisto into the mirror realm.
"Occult magic?" Mephisto felt the space around them suddenly change, and his expression darkened.
"What is your relationship with the Ancient One?"
At first, he thought Aron was merely using Hela and her power.
But evidence kept piling up, constantly shattering that belief.
Aron, whom he thought relied on others… revealed himself to be far more than that.
Not only had he reached the level of a "Heavenly Father" like Hela, but he was also connected to the magic of Kamar-Taj.
"Shouldn't you be afraid?"
Aron raised the fiery combat blade and slashed it toward Mephisto.
The flaming wave of the blade crashed onto the demon's body, but Mephisto did not even move.
He didn't even bother to dodge.
The flame vanished on his skin without effect.
Aron frowned. "The same level of Heavenly Father, and yet the gap is still this vast?"
Here lay the greatest flaw of the Marvel cosmos, the division of power was often chaotic and illogical.
How else could one explain that Hulk and Hawkeye were often placed in the same "team," despite their disproportionate strength?
The so-called "cosmic level" and "Heavenly Father level" were more thresholds than clearly defined steps.
For example, the cosmic level.
The lowest threshold of that rank meant only that you could freely fight in space and that your power was comparable to that of a spaceship.
But that was only the minimum!
From that threshold onward, countless forces at the cosmic level existed, many of them far stronger than you.
"I could not have imagined that even Belath's blade would end up in your hands."
Mephisto glanced at the fiery combat knife Aron held. Contempt flickered in his eyes.
"When Belath was at his peak, with that blade he could barely fight against one of my avatars."
"And you… a mortal…"
Mephisto smiled coldly and disdainfully.
"Now I will show you what the true gap between us, Heavenly Fathers, really means!"
The moment he said it, his body was engulfed in fire.
Hellish energy flooded the mirror dimension, transforming into a single deadly strike.
Aron's heart pounded faster.
The Cloak of the Great Demon Shadow unfurled behind him.
Like a black hole, it began absorbing all of Mephisto's attacking energy.
"Return it to you!"
Aron controlled the cloak and directed back all the energy it had absorbed.
This was the key ability of the Cloak of the Great Demon Shadow that he had personally researched.
Somewhat similar to the energy-absorbing mechanism in the Vibranium suit of the Black Panther.
The cloak could absorb and store enormous amounts of energy. And what made it even more dangerous, it could release all that energy in an instant.
Moreover, Aron had yet to find its absorption limit.
Boom!
The mighty attack, compressed by the Cloak of the Great Demon Shadow, turned into a pillar of light stretching up to the heavens.
"…?"
Mephisto had not expected Aron to possess such a trick. Caught off guard, struck by his own energy, his body was hurled upward while continuously seared by waves of his own power.
In that moment when time seemed to stop, his body was already covered with scars.
Indeed, as he had claimed, he did not fear Aron's attack. There was a gap between beings of the Heavenly Father level.
But this… this was not the strike of an enemy. This was his own power, turned against him.
And it began to tear him apart.
"Human! You are driving me insane!!"
Fire blazed in Mephisto's eyes.
At first, he had restrained himself, fearing that too much noise might draw the Ancient One's attention. But now… now he no longer cared.
"Die!"
The enraged Mephisto shook the very space.
Crack…
The Mirror Dimension began collapsing, as though crushed by an invisible force. Its edges cracked, and from every fissure burst blazing hellfire.
Like a dam breaking. Only what poured out was not torrents of water, but flames of hell, the terrifying fire of the Flame Dimension itself.
"Just as the Ancient One said…"
Aron's face darkened.
The Ancient One had warned him that he might not be able to handle Mephisto. And now he saw she had been right.
Mephisto was not an ordinary Lord of Hell. He was the strongest among them. His power was on the level of beings belonging to the very top of existence. Even when he sent only an avatar, his might was terrifying.
But Aron never entered a battle unprepared.
"Good thing… I have always known how to cheat death."
He cut his finger, letting a drop of blood fall.
The Reality Gem appeared in his hand.
"You know, Mephisto, you have a loyal son. Too bad he's about to be left without a father."
The red energy of the Reality Gem flared and spread through the space.
From the first drop of blood, another began to form. And another. And another…
Soon, the entire space was filled with a sea of blood, a crimson ocean of holy blood.
Mephisto's expression froze.
His mouth hung wide open as the flames in his eyes began to fade.
All his power, all his attacks, everything weakened in an instant before the endless sea of holy blood.
Blackheart had been right, the weakness of the Lords of Hell was always the same. Holy blood.
"You…"
Mephisto tried to speak, but Aron was already controlling the ocean of blood, directing it toward him.
"Let the blood suffocate you."
With the Reality Gem, Aron shaped a cloth, soaked it in holy blood, and flung it straight into Mephisto's face.
"Aaaaaaahhh!!"
The Hell Lord screamed, burning under the touch of holy blood. Just as magma would scorch an ordinary man, his flesh and bones began to melt and fall away as he howled in pain.
"Remember me, human…"
"I swear…"
Mephisto tried to finish his sentence, but he couldn't.
Puff!
A spear of solidified holy blood pierced his chest from behind.
"?!"
Mephisto turned his head in shock.
Only then did he realize, the Aron throwing the cloth had been just a duplicate. And it was already fading, turning into a mist of blood.
"Mephisto…"
"Aren't you the master of illusions and doubles?"
"Then why couldn't you tell the difference between the real and the fake?"
The real Aron stood behind him, holding the bloody spear. Without hesitation, he pulled it back and aimed directly at his head.
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