The wrist grabbed Qinuo and yanked him in.
"Oh my god!"
Pepper covered her mouth in horror, her face full of disbelief.
Natasha's pupils contracted; what was that hand?
Pamela hugged Damian, her worried gaze fixed on the direction where Qinuo had vanished.
Damian also looked worriedly at the spot where Qinuo had disappeared.
"It's alright, Pepper."
Tony appeared very calm, gently putting his arm around Pepper's shoulder to comfort her.
A few minutes ago...
"Help me put on a show, Tony..."
"Can't it wait? Until I make new armor..."
"No, I hate rats. I won't sleep soundly until he's dealt with..."
"Thank you..."
"It's fine. It should be coming for me... Here, take this. You'll probably need it."
"A ring?"
---
On the other side, Qinuo opened his eyes to a crimson palace. The walls seemed to be seeping blood, and the air was filled with a strong, pungent smell of gore.
Before him stood a red-skinned, black-haired demon, its body tall and twisted, exuding a chilling aura.
"Welcome, new Hell Lord, Qinuo."
Mephisto sat on the throne above, looking down at Qinuo with a cunning and greedy glint in his eyes.
"I'm also very pleased to see you, Mephisto."
Qinuo's lips curled slightly, meeting Mephisto's gaze without any fear.
Mephisto found Qinuo's reaction somewhat strange; he was so calm and composed, completely unlike someone new to Hell.
But he didn't care, as Hell was his home turf, and no one could cause trouble here.
"Someone, serve the meal," Mephisto commanded.
Soon, strange-looking demons filed in, placing platters before Qinuo.
Steaming human brains, eyeballs seemingly still moving in the eyeball soup, and twitching meat on roasted thighs... What was laid before Qinuo was undoubtedly a demon's dinner.
"Esteemed guest, please enjoy your meal."
A rotting corpse covered in maggots wobbled as it placed cutlery before Qinuo, with several maggots falling off and landing right in front of him.
Mephisto crossed his arms, leaning back on his throne, preparing to watch Qinuo make a fool of himself, a sinister smile on his face.
Qinuo's mouth twitched, and he asked inwardly.
Venom, do you want to eat human brain soup?
"What foolishness are you speaking? Hold on a little longer; we'll find it soon."
I can't stand it much longer.
"Good boy. When we get back, Pamela and I will wash your eyes out."
Alright, I can hold on a bit longer then.
"Just get to the point, Mephisto!"
Qinuo didn't even look at the disgusting demon dinner in front of him, his gaze fixed directly on Mephisto, a hint of impatience in his tone.
"Give me your Hell core, the Hell that can lead to the human world."
Mephisto said greedily, his crimson eyes fixed on Qinuo, revealing a fierce, determined glint, as if Qinuo was already in his grasp.
In the human world, that faint, elusive demonic aura had directly bypassed Earth Three's three great formations and appeared, instantly catching his attention.
So, he dispatched an avatar to the human world and found the footage from that time.
A human could summon demons in the human world. Many years ago, Hell was shattered by a catastrophe, and Mephisto obtained one of the fragments, becoming a Hell Lord.
Now, a new fragment had appeared in the hands of a human, who could freely summon demons in the human world. If he could connect his Hell to it, he could use it as a aisle to invade the human world and harvest souls on a large scale.
Moreover, his power would not be affected at that time; even someone as powerful as Ancient One probably couldn't do anything to him.
However, after searching for a long time, he couldn't capture the human's aura.
Even his manor was protected by an extremely special force that he couldn't enter at all.
In desperation, he had no choice but to settle for the next best thing and chose Obadiah.
"Is that why you used Obadiah to lure me out?" Qinuo asked.
"Exactly. His resentment attracted me, but he was too useless; he couldn't even unleash one-tenth of the Spirit of Vengeance's power."
Mephisto's face showed contempt.
"He was indeed quite useless. If he could have unleashed half his power, Tony's Apollo mode might not have been able to defeat him.
The Ghost Rider, with his immortality comparable to Wolverine's, being treated as a one-time revive token also lowered his status."
Qinuo's eyes showed a hint of regret.
"Give me your Hell. When I rule Earth, I can share it with you."
Mephisto spoke a mouthful of lies, his expression seemingly sincere but secretly cunning.
"Really? How about we sign a contract?" Qinuo said with a half-smile.
"..."
Mephisto was momentarily speechless. It had always been him who initiated contracts with other humans, but today it was reversed, which caught him off guard.
Mephisto's face instantly turned incredibly grim. His crimson eyes flashed with a fierce light, and he said viciously:
"Qinuo, you better think carefully. You are now in my Hell, and your life and death are in my control. With just a flick of my finger, you will suffer endless torment and never escape!"
He spread his arms, and a powerful and evil aura emanated from him, as if all of Hell was responding to him.
"Found it! Kill him!"
"I've been tolerating you for too long!"
Qinuo finally couldn't bear it anymore. He overturned the table and smashed the nearby rotting corpse to pieces.
He shot forward like an arrow from a bow, flying directly and charging at Mephisto without hesitation.
"Overestimating yourself."
Mephisto snorted coldly, his face full of disdain, and raised his hand to grab Qinuo. That hand seemed to carry endless demonic power, intending to capture Qinuo in one fell swoop.
However, at the moment of contact...
"Boom—"
A loud bang suddenly erupted. A red figure, with an overwhelming force, shattered the throne and shot towards the sky, bringing with it a violent gust of air, with shattered stones and dust flying everywhere.
The demons in Hell stared blankly as their Lord flew into the sky like a ball, each one dumbfounded and completely stunned.
"Impossible, how can you have such powerful strength?"
Mephisto, tumbling in the sky, finally managed to stop himself. His clothes were torn, his hair disheveled, and his face was full of disbelief.
The power of a Hell Lord is usually bound to Hell; the longer they are away from Hell, the weaker their strength becomes. But Qinuo, before him, broke this rule.
Qinuo floated in the air, looking at Mephisto with icy eyes, and mocked, "Do you think I'm like you, a Lord imprisoned by Hell? I am a Demon King!"
"Too arrogant! This is Mephisto's Hell!"
Accompanying Mephisto's furious roar, a red light suddenly descended from the sky, landing on Qinuo like Mount Tai pressing down, forcing him back to the ground.
This was the weight of Hell, like thousands of mountains simultaneously pressing down.
"So heavy!"
The ground beneath Qinuo's feet instantly cracked open, sending stones flying. His body bent, as if bearing an unimaginable weight.