Return to the temple in New York.
Aron took out the Reality Stone and returned it to its original form.
Since he had never had the chance to see Kaecilius in person, he did not know his true face.
Because of that, he simply used the image of the actor who played him in the movie as a physical solution. It was practical and enough for the Stone to react.
"Strange, don't blame me for being ruthless. If you must blame someone, then blame the Ancient One."
Saying that, Aron pushed open the temple doors and stepped inside.
Johnny Blaze and Robbie Reyes, the two Ghost Riders, were sitting on the couch waiting for his return.
"Was your uncle saved?" Aron looked at Robbie and asked casually.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the question was spoken, Robbie suddenly rose from the sofa.
His face stiffened, and then he suddenly dropped to one knee, bowing his head. It resembled an old knightly salute, an ancient oath of loyalty.
"Aron," he said in a serious voice, "I already told you, as long as you can save my uncle, I will be your subordinate in the future. I will do everything you tell me and never regret it."
Robbie looked completely serious, without a trace of joking.
Aron was stunned for a moment by this gesture, then waved his hand.
"It's alright. Let's not talk about it."
Seeing that Aron did not intend to accept his oath, Robbie lowered himself even further.
From one knee he went to both, as if he wanted to bow completely. His loyalty was clear and almost uncontrollable.
"Alright," he said quietly.
Aron watched him for a moment, then calmly added: "But I really don't need you here. It will be much more useful if you go to Hell and help me fight, right?"
He paused a little, then nodded firmly.
Robbie's power, the curse of the Spirit of Vengeance, had enormous advantage when it came to ordinary demons.
His fire could burn their essence. Sending him to the front was the best solution.
After resolving the matter of Robbie's dwelling and role, Aron turned to Johnny.
Johnny sat relaxed, but in his eyes there was a certain heaviness.
"Hey, Aron," he spoke with a faint smile, "although you saved my life, I'm still more than thirty years older than you. So don't expect me to kneel to you too."
His tone was half-joking, but it didn't hide his gratitude.
Then he became more serious: "But I owe you my life. If you ever need anything from me, just say the word. I owe you, and I'll pay it back."
Aron smiled faintly.
"Don't worry. I don't have some weird fetish for kneeling."
Both of them laughed at the remark.
"As for needs… maybe one day I'll need the Spirit of Vengeance in you," Aron added calmly.
Johnny paused for a moment. Aron's words immediately brought to his mind his curse, the being inside him.
Zarathos.
The true name of the Spirit of Vengeance. The oldest race of hellish demons, the former Lord of the Blazing Hell.
In the distant past, Zarathos ruled parts of Hell as powerfully as Mephisto does today. But Mephisto managed to defeat him, wipe his memories, and then enslave him, turning him into a weapon.
Since then, Zarathos had been sealed inside Johnny, becoming the source of his powers, but also of his torment.
Aron immediately went straight to the heart of the problem.
"Johnny, if I stripped you of those abilities and made you an ordinary man… would that suit you?"
Johnny looked him straight in the eyes, and the answer came without hesitation.
"Gladly!"
His voice was sharp, almost rigid, but at the same time full of sincerity.
"If I could choose," he continued more calmly, "I would always rather be an ordinary man.
"I want a peaceful life, without curses, without blood and darkness. I'm not young anymore. In ten years or so I'll be reaching retirement, and what I want is only peace. If you now have a way to free me, that would be best."
Aron watched him for a long moment, then nodded.
"Alright. But I must tell you in advance, this won't necessarily make you a normal man. Maybe your powers will still remain with you."
"It doesn't matter," Johnny replied without a trace of doubt. "Even if part remains, if I can at least live more freely, that's enough."
Aron nodded. His words had been like a preventive injection, but Johnny was already ready.
Then he spread his hand and opened a portal.
"Let's go."
In an instant, space opened and before them appeared the darkness of Limbo.
That's right. The barrier between Limbo and Earth was already fragile enough to be pierced with ordinary teleportation magic.
Aron stepped through first, then Johnny and Robbie followed.
---
Limbo.
Aron simultaneously felt the warmth that enveloped him and a strong influx of energy.
The demonic power, which he had consumed greatly during the previous battles, now returned at an incredible speed.
Moreover, he felt his strength gradually rising, surpassing his previous limits.
"…?"
He raised his hand and opened his palm. On his skin immediately appeared demonic energy, dark like tar, purer than ever before.
This power required no purification from the system. It was natural, raw, and yet perfectly balanced.
"Congratulations, dear."
Hela's voice rang out behind his back, soft yet filled with strength.
"Perhaps I should now call you… Lord of Limbo."
Aron turned and looked at her.
"So Limbo is completely conquered?"
"That's right." Hela nodded, her eyes radiating satisfaction. "And in your name."
With a wave of her hand, she summoned a vision that froze both sea and land.
The ground trembled, and in the distance appeared two vast torrents of energy.
On the left, green like rotting flame, her army of the dead rose, a boundless mass of warriors waiting for command.
On the right, red like molten lava, the demons of hell rose, now under Aron.
"Dear, as I told you…" she continued, her smile wild, warlike.
"After we destroyed about twenty million demons, the survivors finally acknowledged your rule.
"And now they kneel before you, ready to swear their oath of loyalty."
She lifted in her hand a black scroll streaked with bloody runes and handed it to Aron.
Aron took the contract.
Immediately his body was swept by a force that bound him to the demons.
He felt their souls, their blood, their destinies, all tied to him.
It was as if at that moment he became their core, their will, and their master.
"Hela, excellent work."
Hela leaned against his shoulder, her voice seductive, but at the same time filled with thirst for battle.
"Praise is unnecessary, you know what I want."
She whispered into his ear, and her breath destabilized him for a moment.
"Dear… let's attack another hell. I haven't killed enough yet."
Aron paused for a moment, looked at her sideways, and only then truly understood why Odin had sealed her.
She was a war maniac, the embodiment of greed for conflict.
But at the same time… he liked it.
"Whom do you want to attack now?" he asked.
"What do you think of Mephisto?" she smiled wickedly.
"I know you and he already had friction. If you want, I can help you slaughter that old devil."
"Mephisto?" Aron fell silent for a moment.
"Of course, I can't defeat him now." Hela admitted, but her tone immediately changed as she whispered again into his ear.
"But… as long as you allow me to set foot on Asgard, to stand once more on that land… my power will grow.
"Then I will be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with Mephisto."
Aron narrowed his eyes.
"So that's your real goal."
Hela laughed and straightened.
"Speaking of Asgard… you remind me of something.
"Your father, Odin, once promised me that I would be able to choose one artifact from the Asgardian treasury."
Aron remembered the promise Odin had made, at the time when he had hoped to restrain Hela's power.
"Then I'll go with you." he said without hesitation.
"I know every treasure in that vault. It will be my pleasure to help you choose the best one."
Hela returned his gaze, her eyes gleaming with a mix of desire and battle lust.
"We can talk about that…"
The two of them then continued moving through Limbo, no longer speaking about demons, but about the wars to come and the treasures waiting in Odin's vault.
Their voices, full of excitement and plans, echoed in the hellish dimension as they moved away.
Johnny Blaze and Robbie Reyes, who had all the while stood in the shadows, silently observed.
Their eyes were wide open, faces pale, as if they had just witnessed something that did not belong to human comprehension of reality.
Only when Aron and Hela had gone did the two of them speak.
"Did I hear correctly, Robbie?" Johnny swallowed hard.
"He… he intends to attack other hells?"
Robbie barely found words.
"Yes… that's how I understood it too."
Johnny shook his head, glancing toward the hordes of demons still seething in the distance.
"This is insane… we barely survived this hell, and he's already planning the next!? God… we're finished."
Robbie was silent, his eyes lingering on the horizon, where the demons knelt in endless rows before Aron.
His voice was quiet, almost a whisper.
"No, Johnny… we are already part of this. Whether we want it or not…"
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