With the final death of the Demon of Pride, Robert recalled that his last words were a taunt directed at him, fitting for the demon's character. As Pride's demise became evident, the expression of the Six Sins Demon—still in the pit of the ruined town—shifted dramatically. His healing came to a halt, and panic seized his features.
This wasn't just the reaction of the Six Sins fusion demon but of each individual sin demon within, all of them truly afraid. Despite being sealed for thousands of years, the Seven Deadly Sins demons never once feared death; as top-tier rulers of Hell, they were nearly impossible to kill. Even the sorcerer Shazam and his successor Frank weren't seen as threats.
Yet now, after Frank took the Demon of Pride, Pride was killed. This change meant real danger. Pride had been the strongest among them, even a whole level above the others. If he could die, how could they survive?
"Run!" The shared thought flashed through the minds of the Six Sins Demon. Driven by the instinct to survive, they acted in unison, disregarding their injuries and controlling their shared body and demonic eye to flee.
But just as they reached the edge of the town's ruins, they struck an invisible barrier, shattering their escape plan instantly.
"A telekinetic barrier? Not divine power? Did Shazam really have such an ability?" the Six Sins Demon mused, recognizing the force blocking them. But doubt lingered; Shazam had never shown this skill before, nor had Frank used it in their battles. Otherwise, Frank could have easily restricted their movements many times before.
"Wait, could it be... the Avengers?" The Six Sins Demon realized there might be others involved, recalling the super-hero team Shivana had mentioned. Unfortunately, with Shivana long dead, they couldn't get any more information from him.
Though no one appeared, they remained trapped by this telekinetic barrier, as if jailed within the town ruins. They had a limited freedom of movement, but true escape was impossible.
"Break through the barrier! If we wait for Shazam to return, we're finished!" They grew frantic, conjuring flames and lightning to blast the invisible wall.
An explosion rocked the town, but though the ground bore scars of destruction, the barrier remained intact, showing no signs of breaking.
"Then what about going underground? Or flying high enough?" When their attacks failed, the Six Sins Demon tried other ways out. However, they were quickly stopped by the invisible barrier both beneath the ground and in the air.
"Did you think I'd leave a loophole for you?" Susan Stone smirked as she watched the demon futilely searching for an exit. "I learned this trick from the Saiyans—now just sit tight in there until Frank gets back."
"Why don't we just handle them ourselves?" Johnny Stone suggested, impatient to act. "The Saiyan went to back up Frank; who knows when he'll return?"
But before he could act, Hulk intervened, sending Johnny flying with a single blow.
"Hulk will handle it! And that punch was payback for blowing Hulk up earlier!" Hulk shouted, glaring at Johnny.
Johnny, uninjured, shrugged it off. "I didn't think you'd still remember that…"
"If Hal were back from Oa, we could let him practice on these demons," Tony Stark observed. "But he's not here, so let's leave these six to Frank."
"Actually, if you're looking for a good challenge, you could visit one of the hell dimensions or another realm," Stark suggested to Hulk. "Earth is a lot tougher than before, but I'd still rather avoid any more massive battles here."
"Hulk understands," Hulk replied reluctantly. He knew better than to press the issue since all his food and entertainment came courtesy of Stark.
"Come out and fight us! If you heroes have any courage, show yourselves! Why hide like cowards?" Meanwhile, the Six Sins Demon, trapped in the ruins, roared out in frustration.
Their fear turned to rage, but the Avengers ignored their outburst. To them, these demons were already as good as dead.
"Damn it! This isn't working. We need to split up and attack different points; maybe we can shatter the barrier that way," Greed suggested, desperation filling his voice—a reflection of his intense will to survive.
Driven by this desire, the Six Sins Demon split up to try different escape points. But Greed lingered near the demonic eye embedded in the transformed body of Shivana. His greed for power meant he couldn't bear to abandon the eye; after all, every bit of strength increased his chances of survival.
Explosions soon echoed across the town as they each tried to break through the barrier, yet even with the demonic eye, escape was impossible. If they couldn't break through together, a single demon with the eye certainly had no chance.
As despair grew, it deepened when they saw Robert and Frank returning.
They didn't know who Robert was, but Frank filled them with terror. Though they couldn't understand why Shazam couldn't kill them but only seal them, while Frank—a mere successor—had killed the Demon of Pride, they knew one thing: they were about to die.
"They're all separated—perfect." Frank's eyes gleamed at the sight of the demons standing apart. This made them much easier to deal with.
Shazam's sealing spell, requiring the demonic eye to bind the Seven Sins as one, was different from Frank's new ability, which let him seal each demon individually. Frank didn't need the demonic eye's power, nor did he fear the risk of freeing all the demons at once.
The flaw of traditional sealing spells had been resolved by Robert's new technique—killing the sealed target outright so that no one could ever break the seal.
Without hesitation, Frank struck, flinging the Lust Demon into a crumbling wall. The wall absorbed him, forming a rough, damaged mural far less refined than the former seals. The town had already been reduced to ruins, so usable walls were scarce. But with five more demons to seal, choices were limited.
"Wait! Wasn't Pride dead? Could we have been mistaken?" The Five Sins were stunned, hesitating as they saw Lust become a mural. If they were only to be sealed again, it was a tolerable fate. After all, they had already been sealed for thousands of years; a few more wouldn't be the worst outcome.
Their reluctance faded, and they lowered their resistance, realizing that with their current disadvantage, resisting would only lead to a beating. Thus, they allowed Frank to seal them one by one.
"Why just seal them?" Stark asked, frowning as he joined Robert. "Won't they eventually find a way out?"
"Relax. Killing them is simple enough, but I want Frank to learn my new technique," Robert replied, gesturing for Stark to watch.
Under Stark's gaze, Frank channeled his divine power, eventually unleashing an attack reminiscent of heavenly thunder, shattering the wall and turning Lust into dust.
Even the Pride Demon, stronger than any single one of them, couldn't withstand this attack, much less these individual sins, who were weaker than Frank. With Lust's mural turned to ash, the Avengers understood Robert's new method—sealing, then killing.
"Finally, a real victory!" Frank exclaimed, excited. Though Robert had dealt with Pride, this was the first major foe Frank had defeated by himself, and it was only the beginning.
One by one, Frank charged his attacks, pulverizing each demon's mural until only Greed was left. But as he struck the final mural, something strange happened.
The mural shattered, but demon flesh and blood splattered everywhere, along with the demonic eye. The eye began to generate fresh, growing tissue around itself.
Greed wasn't dead. The demonic eye had become his lifeline.
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