Watching Herman dispatch the Earth Demon with ease, the two remaining demons were scared out of their minds.
They immediately dissolved into elemental forms and tried to flee… even knowing their chances of escape were slim. Staying meant certain death.
How could such a terrifying human exist? They scrambled to run, but unfortunately for them, Herman wasn't the type to leave loose ends.
"Alright then, looks like you don't have my courage."
He lifted his hand.
Telekinesis surged.
The two demons were yanked back toward him. Their elemental forms were nowhere near as stable as Blackheart's and crumbled instantly under the pull.
"No!"
"Spare us! Please spare us!"
The Water Demon and Wind Demon screamed in terror.
To their horror, even their elemental bodies began to rapidly disintegrate beneath the faint golden flames flickering across Herman's skin. With no other choice, the two demons reverted to human form and groveled for mercy.
"Sorry. This is for my bar."
Herman didn't waste another word. His eyes blazed, unleashing divine fire that burned the two demons out of existence.
Two more strands of primordial essence poured into his body, feeding the divine flame. Herman felt it.
If he could gather enough fuel for that flame, perhaps… it might one day bring him a shocking transformation.
Of course, reaching that level would take countless sacrifices. Blackheart and three lesser demons together hadn't even satisfied one percent of its hunger.
"I wonder if burning Odin would finally be enough," Herman mused darkly. But he quickly forced the thought down.
The God King of Asgard had no quarrel with him. If he needed fuel, Mephisto was a much more fitting target.
"This craving to consume gods and demons… it must be the flaw in my divinity."
The light in Herman's eyes dimmed, the golden flames across his body fading as he suppressed the divine fire. His mind steadied, returning to its usual clarity. Every god carried flaws; his was this insatiable hunger.
Still, Herman's will was strong enough that he wasn't worried about losing control.
Looking around at the ruined wasteland, he sighed. He had come here just to handle a bar renovation—yet somehow ended up erasing the entire building.
"Maybe I could get ahead of this, claim it was some natural disaster, and let the insurance company build me a new bar."
The thought lit up his mind. Not a bad idea at all.
Sure, he'd earned a decent paycheck playing Homelander and a director's cut on the side, but he wasn't exactly flush with cash. Rebuilding the bar was within his means, but Herman believed in saving whenever possible. That was the mark of a responsible citizen.
Insurance companies had bled enough people dry. Time they got taken for a ride themselves.
Natural disaster coverage.
He remembered this bar had it. But before filing a claim, he'd need to return to New York and clear himself of any suspicion.
"Am I being too wicked?" he muttered.
Then, with a smirk, Herman launched himself into the sky with Telekinesis. A sonic boom split the clouds as he vanished into the storm.
...
Boom.
Some time later, thunder cracked violently over the ruins of the bar. A jagged bolt tore across the night sky, and from the lightning stepped an old man clad in opulent robes. In the harsh white glow, his face twisted into something grotesque and monstrous.
"Blackheart. My son."
Mephisto gazed over the silent wreckage, his expression dark with rage.
He had felt Blackheart's essence vanish and followed its final traces here, yet not a single clue to the killer remained.
Truth be told, Mephisto didn't care much for Blackheart himself… but the fact someone had completely erased his son's existence? That was a naked humiliation.
Even the Ancient One, upon discovering one of Mephisto's spawn rampaging in the mortal world, would usually just banish them back—so long as she wasn't provoked.
But this? To wipe Blackheart out entirely, leaving nothing behind, was nothing less than a direct challenge to his authority.
"Whoever it was… they will pay."
He struck his staff against the ground. Endless black mist coiled around him, faintly revealing the outline of his true demonic form.
A roar boomed outward, as though meant to shake the world itself—though in truth, it only echoed restlessly around the ruins.
Mephisto's avatars were weak in the mortal realm. He knew full well that anyone strong enough to kill Blackheart wouldn't fear a fragment of him.
So he decided. He would play the trump card he'd left behind in this world.
And it was worth it.
In Hell, what mattered most?
Authority.
Mephisto refused to give the other dimensional lords the chance to laugh at him. He swore he would seize the culprit's soul and torture it for ten thousand years.
"No—I'll make them regret it for all eternity!"
With a final scream of fury, Mephisto's form dissolved into the folds of space.
…
"Achoo~"
Just as Herman reached the outskirts of New York, he sneezed.
With his divine constitution, catching a cold was impossible.
So he thought to himself…
It must be one of the company's beautiful employees dreaming about him.
And knowing his luck, probably the kind of dream that made hearts race.