Tony Stark swallowed hard. The energy slash Bella unleashed had been so powerful that even in his cutting-edge Mark armor, he was sure he wouldn't survive a direct hit.
That attack could cleave a mountain in two—it could do the same to him. And yet... Mephisto had just taken that strike head-on?
Hold on a second…
Tony's eyes narrowed inside his helmet.
Isn't Mephisto supposed to be the Demon King of Hell? The ultimate evil? The overlord of a dimension of fire and torment?
Then how the hell did he just get taken out by one slash—from a girl?!
Sure, Tony wasn't about to downplay Bella's power. She was terrifying in a way even the Hulk would find unnerving. But still, for someone who ruled Hell to be cut down like that? Something felt wrong.
"J.A.R.V.I.S.?" Tony asked quietly.
"Sir," the AI replied, "no anomalous energy fields detected. No electromagnetic fluctuations within a 500-meter radius. The target appears to have vanished."
Tony turned his helmet from side to side, scanning the environment. No traces. No heat signatures. No teleportation trails.
Was Mephisto really... killed? The thought didn't sit right.
But before he could process it further, Bella turned to look in his direction.
No—wait. She wasn't looking at him. Her gaze passed over him and landed on someone just beside him.
Natasha.
Tony's breath caught in his throat. Oh no—
Instinctively, he turned his head—and that's when he saw it.
Mephisto, completely intact, standing right behind Natasha Romanoff.
"Natasha, move!" Tony shouted, voice laced with panic.
The plates on his shoulder armor shifted instantly, unlocking a volley of micro-missiles. At the same time, the pulse cannons in both palms charged to maximum.
But Natasha needed no orders.
Years of espionage and assassination work had trained her for split-second reactions. The moment she heard Tony shout her name, she rolled forward in one fluid motion. As she came up from the roll, she twisted and aimed her Holy Light Stone gun over her shoulder.
Bang! Bang!
Twin blasts of divine light fired. From a distance, Hawkeye Barton loosed an arrow, and Captain Rogers fired an energy beam from his shield module.
But none of it worked.
With a flick of his wrist, Mephisto deflected all of it—divine light, energy bolts, even Barton's precision arrow. The attacks veered off-course like leaves in a whirlwind, dragged aside by an invisible force.
In an instant, Mephisto blurred forward, closing the gap between him and Natasha like a ghost.
She was still mid-roll, recovering her footing, when a massive, withered hand loomed into her vision—descending like a crumbling mountain.
"Damn it!" Tony cursed under his breath.
The Mark armor responded in milliseconds, but it wasn't fast enough. His system couldn't charge the high-powered pulse cannon in time.
The Arc Reactor on his chest flared, but before he could fire—
Boom!
Suddenly, another black-clad figure streaked past.
It was Bella.
A shockwave exploded as she launched forward with such velocity that the ground cracked beneath her boots. At the same time, Tony was flung backwards—struck by an unseen force that hurled him like a ragdoll.
His trajectory aimed straight at a shattered wall with a jagged metal beam sticking out like a spear.
Tony gritted his teeth. This might hurt—
WHAM!
Before he could crash, Bella appeared behind him, her left hand slamming against his back with a cushioning force. She redirected his momentum safely, sparing him from being impaled. Tony tumbled to the ground, dazed but alive.
Bella didn't stop. Without breaking stride, she dashed toward Natasha.
In one fluid motion, she drew her black-bladed Oath of Victory sword and slashed upward toward Mephisto's neck. The blade shimmered with golden energy, shrieking through the air.
If it landed cleanly, Mephisto's head would be rolling.
But incredibly, he didn't dodge.
Instead, Mephisto kept reaching for Natasha, as if determined to drag her into death with him. His eyes burned with the madness of a fanatic.
"Is he insane?!" Rogers shouted.
Bella's blade halted just before it struck. She twisted, turning her entire body, and with a powerful throw—
She launched the black sword—past Mephisto—toward Captain Rogers.
BOOM!
The explosion of air from the throw alone rattled the battlefield.
What the hell? Everyone was stunned. Why target Steve?
Captain Rogers had just enough time to prepare a dodge, but he stopped when he locked eyes with Bella.
Her expression was calm. Pure. Intent.
That was all the assurance he needed.
He held his ground.
The blade zipped past his ear, the sonic boom nearly rupturing his eardrums. A thin line of blood trickled down from both ears.
And then—
THUMP.
A muffled impact behind him.
Splurt.
Black blood sprayed out from thin air.
The real Mephisto appeared, pinned against a withered red maple tree, impaled through the chest by the black sword.
He wasn't dead.
But he was impressed.
Bella stood in front of the false Mephisto, hand wrapped around his neck. As she tightened her grip, the body in her hands turned to smoke and faded away.
A clone. A puppet.
All of it had been a trick.
"Damn…" Barton muttered. "This guy's good."
Natasha and Steve, seasoned fighters as they were, now fully understood. The Mephisto attacking Natasha had just been bait. A distraction. The real target had been Rogers all along.
Only Bella saw through it.
Only Bella responded fast enough.
This was what it looked like when two apex predators played chess on a battlefield.
"Is this what a real battle of power and wit looks like?" Tony muttered as he pushed himself to his feet.
He wasn't even mad. Just impressed.
Up ahead, the impaled Mephisto chuckled softly, even while pinned to the tree.
"You are a born warrior," he said. "Your instincts… they even surpass some of my finest creations."
Whoosh—
Bella held out her hand.
The Oath of Victory sword vanished from Mephisto's chest and reappeared in her grasp. Mephisto dropped from the tree like a feather, landing softly on the broken earth. No wound. No blood.
"Your cunning exceeds even my expectations," Bella said, narrowing her eyes.
"Cunning," Mephisto said with a smile, "is the essence of demons."
His voice turned smooth. Seductive.
"Join me, Bella. Join Hell. I'll give you glory, strength, eternal life. Power to rival gods. Together, we could conquer other dimensions. Rule the cosmos. Rewrite the laws of reality. Just say the word."
His ambition radiated from every syllable.
His eyes sparkled with dreams of cosmic dominance.
But Bella didn't even blink.
"Not interested," she said flatly. "If anything, killing you would bring me joy."
Mephisto's smile faltered—just slightly.
"A pity," he said at last, "but I understand. I hope your answer changes next time we meet."
And then, his body began to fade like mist under morning sunlight.
Just before his form completely vanished, his voice echoed one last time—
"I hope you enjoy my parting gift."
RUMBLE—
Thunder exploded across the sky.
Bella looked up sharply. The others followed her gaze.
And what they saw made Tony's voice crack.
"No. No, no, no—damn it. Can he take this gift back?!"
High above them, the clouds twisted violently. The air shimmered with otherworldly energy. The heavens groaned as if something ancient had just awakened.
Bella tightened her grip on the sword.
Something was coming.
And Mephisto's "gift" was no bouquet of flowers.
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