Hell, Mephisto's palace.
A musical was being performed here.
The play was titled "The Origin of Fear."
The playwright and protagonist were both Mephisto.
At this moment, there was only one audience member, also Mephisto.
Leaning back on his throne, Mephisto watched the performance below, lost in thought. He was reminiscing about his past glory.
During the Origin of Fear event, he single-handedly incited numerous Hell Lords and various gods into internal strife. Ultimately, he reaped the benefits and ascended to the throne of Satan.
Unfortunately, good times don't last.
"Alas."
Mephisto sighed deeply.
After falling from being Satan, he suffered another time on Earth-404. Being extorted for two billion units of energy was like adding insult to injury.
However, in Mephisto's perception, his energy was not absorbed but stored in a location on Earth-404. He still had a chance to reclaim this portion of energy. Moreover, he had already formulated a plan.
"I wonder how Hope Van Dyne's mission is progressing. Only by finding Agatha can the next step of the plan be carried out."
"Damn it, if I hadn't been so severely injured before, Agatha wouldn't have been able to cut off contact and escape."
Thinking of the infuriating situation, Mephisto heavily pounded his throne.
The demons performing diligently below, thinking Mephisto was displeased with their show, couldn't help but tremble.
—
Styx.
While Mephisto was singing and dancing, Lucas and his group quietly infiltrated his Hell.
"Is this Hell? The resting place of souls."
They looked at the scene before them, where countless souls bobbed aimlessly in Styx.
Gwen, Wanda, George, and Pietro exclaimed softly.
Their voices carried sadness.
The female Ancient One comforted them, "This is already quite good. For these souls, it's merely a long sleep."
The few nodded silently.
In this world where countless gods and demons exist, if death was merely a long sleep, then it was indeed a blessing.
After comforting the few, the female Ancient One signaled Lucas to act, to retrieve the souls of Helen and Wanda's parents from Styx.
"Lucas, you do it. Be careful, use your attribute-less energy, and don't disturb the spirits here."
Lucas nodded, releasing his points. Carefully avoiding other spirits, he fished out the souls of Helen and Wanda's parents from Styx.
But even though Lucas was careful, ripples still spread across the river. And these ripples were sensed by Mephisto in his palace.
"Who is it? What kind of thief dares to steal souls from my Styx?"
As Mephisto's voice echoed, the Hellfire on the banks of Styx surged, locking down the surrounding space-time.
Amidst the endless flames, Mephisto, with his song and dance troupe, suddenly teleported to the scene.
Further away, countless demons were also alarmed by the commotion here and cast their gazes over.
Swish!
The moment Mephisto appeared, three gazes fell upon him.
The owners of these gazes were Lucas, the male Ancient One, and the female Ancient One, respectively.
At the same time, Mephisto's gaze also swept over the three in turn.
The two sides stood in silent confrontation, and for a moment, the tension was palpable.
"Who are these three people, daring to face Lord Mephisto without any fear?"
"No matter who they are, they are dead."
"That's not necessarily true. If they dare to come to Styx to steal, they must have some backing."
"You never know. Some humans are incredibly bold."
In the distance, the demons observing this scene began to chatter amongst themselves.
Although their opinions differed, they generally believed that Mephisto would surely display his power and uphold the dignity of the Hell Lord.
"Hmph!" Mephisto snorted coldly.
Scarlet energy surged, sweeping towards Lucas and the others, enveloping them.
Mephisto's figure flickered, carrying endless Hellfire, and rushed into the scarlet energy. The next instant, the Hellfire ignited the scarlet energy, turning it into a sea of fire.
"Flame Domain! It's Lord Mephisto's Flame Domain!" The demons exclaimed.
They hadn't expected Mephisto to unleash such a powerful move right away.
"It seems these little thieves have some ability to force Lord Mephisto to use the Flame Domain."
"But it won't be long before they turn to ashes, not even a soul left."
"How pitiful. Why did they have to anger him?"
In the demons' minds, Lucas and the others had already been condemned to death.
However, the situation within the sea of flames was completely different from what they imagined.
After using the sea of flames to block his subordinates' senses, Mephisto questioned with a dark expression, "What are you doing in my Hell?"
'Has my scheme been discovered?'
Lucas smiled. "Mephisto, I'm taking a few souls; you don't mind, do you?"
Mephisto said coldly, "I do mind. I mind very much."
At the same time, he breathed a sigh of relief. 'It seems they haven't discovered my scheme. They just came in to take a few souls.'
"The last transaction is over. If you want to take souls from me, you need to pay a price."
A price?
If they had to pay a price, why would Lucas, the male Ancient One, and the female Ancient One come together?
"Mephisto, that's where you're wrong. The last transaction, from its inception to your payment of energy, took about four days. (Real Universe time)"
"Shouldn't you settle the interest for these four days?"
Mephisto was silent.
He had never seen such a shameless person.
"This is my Hell. It's not a place you can just come and go as you please."
Mephisto spoke harsh words, but his body was honest.
The surrounding Hellfire showed no intention of approaching Lucas and the others.
Lucas, the male Ancient One, and the female Ancient One said nothing. They just took a step forward.
And another step forward.
"The authority of Hell to contain souls comes from Death. Aren't you afraid I'll complain to Death if you arbitrarily reverse life and death?" Mephisto said sharply.
He really didn't want to fight Lucas and the others at this time. It wasn't worth it.
But if he let them leave directly, what if they came again in the future?
One step back, and every step is a retreat.
The male Ancient One smiled lightly, pointing to himself. "I'm with Eternity."
Saying that, he took another step forward.
Lucas and the female Ancient One followed suit in tacit understanding.
Facing the pressing advance of the three, Mephisto's expression continuously changed. Finally, he snorted coldly and released the surrounding space-time confinement.
"Consider this the interest for now, don't let there be a next time. Now get out."
Lucas and the other two didn't mind Mephisto's nonsense.
A portal appeared, taking the others away.
The moment the portal closed, cheers erupted from the demons on the other side.
"Look, those people were indeed completely burned, even their souls aren't left."