Chapter 287. A Delicious Soul +1
Mephisto had intended for his departure to be a masterclass in dramatic irony—a lingering threat left hanging in the stale air of the Mirror Dimension while he slipped back to his brimstone throne to plot a thousand years of misery for this mortal.
Instead, he found himself paralyzed. He remained perched atop the floating taxi, his body stiff as a statue, his essence caught in a spatial vice that refused to budge. The very atoms of the air around him had become an unbreakable cage.
His frantic gaze fell upon the object in Noah's hand. As a cosmic entity who had watched empires rise and fall since the dawn of time, he recognized the artifact instantly. It wasn't just a focus for sorcery. It was an Infinity Stone.
The Space Stone—the literal heart of distance and direction. Under its absolute dominion, Mephisto's attempt to bridge the gap between Earth and his hellish realm was like trying to punch through a wall of neutron star matter. In the deep, screaming pits of the Underworld, the true Mephisto, seated upon his throne of bone and obsidian, let out a roar that shattered the glass spires of his capital city.
«The Space Stone! That wretched, miserable worm!»
The fury of the Hell-Lord rippled through his entire dimension. Lesser demons cowered in the soot, and tortured souls wailed in renewed agony as the ground heaved under the weight of their master's rage. They knew not what had sparked this tantrum, only that the King of Lies was truly, cosmically incensed.
Back in the Mirror Dimension, the avatar was a pathetic sight. Bound by the azure light of the stone, Mephisto could do nothing but roll his eyes in a frantic, desperate circle, his mouth locked in a silent snarl.
Noah flicked his wrist, and the suspended taxi was drawn smoothly toward the ground. He descended through the air as if walking down an invisible staircase, hovering just above the demon's eye level, looking down with the cold indifference of a scientist examining a specimen.
Mephisto's eyes were wide, darting between the glowing blue gem and Noah's face. The shock was palpable. The existence of an Infinity Stone on Earth, held by someone other than the Sorceress Supreme, changed the entire landscape of his plans.
Seeing the demon struggling to form words, Noah brought his thumb and forefinger to his lips in a «zip» gesture, then pulled them apart.
The spatial gag vanished.
«The Space Stone...?» Mephisto rasped, his voice cracked and trembling with suppressed fury. «I did not expect another Singularity to surface on this mudball. It seems I have been blind to your true nature, mortal. You are more than a thief.»
«Is that the extent of your parting wisdom, Mephisto?» Noah asked, his tone mocking. He slowly raised his other hand, making sure the demon had a perfect view of the ring glinting on his finger—the Dark Seal.
Mephisto's eyes narrowed as he felt the resonance coming from the ring. It hummed with the concentrated misery and power of the countless souls Noah had already harvested. The demon's mind, ancient and sharp, finally connected the dots. He looked at the ring, then back at Noah's predatory smile.
His pupils shrunk to pinpricks. «Mortal... what are you doing? What is that look?»
Noah's smile broadened, showing a hint of teeth. If the souls of common sinners provided a steady stream of growth, then the soul of a Dimensional Lord—even a mere avatar—would be a feast beyond compare. It was the difference between a crust of bread and a royal banquet.
Without a word, he willed the Dark Seal into action. The yellow-gold metal of the ring began to pulse with a sickly, gravitational hunger. This wasn't a physical pull; it was a spiritual vacuum, a black hole designed specifically to strip the essence from the shell.
Mephisto began to thrash within his spatial prison, his composure shattering into a frantic, gutteral roar.
«You wouldn't dare! If you consume this vessel, you sign your own death warrant! I am Mephisto! I will rain fire upon your world until the oceans boil! Everything you love, every soul you have ever touched, will be flayed for eternity in my sight!»
Noah ignored the hysterics. Threatening a man who held the keys to the Abyss was a bold strategy, but a futile one. Who does he think he's talking to? Noah thought. I am a master of my own dimension. The potential of his Void far outstripped the stagnant pits of Mephisto's hell. In time, when he had fully submerged himself in the power of the Abyss, Mephisto's realm would be nothing more than a footnote—his first conquest.
Besides, it was clear the demon had been lazy. Mephisto hadn't bothered to do his homework before manifesting. He hadn't known about the Space Stone, and he certainly didn't know about the second Stone Noah held in reserve.
A single Stone was a deterrent. Doctor Strange would eventually prove that even a novice could ward off a being like Dormammu with the Time Stone—though only because the Lord of the Dark Dimension was arrogant enough to let the sorcerer into his house. Time was a loop, a cage that even a god couldn't easily break once they were caught in its gears.
If Dormammu had been cautious, if he had stayed behind his dimensional veil and swatted Strange like a fly, the story would have ended differently.
Mephisto was making the same mistake. But Noah wasn't just planning to annoy him into a stalemate. He had two Stones, and a hunger for more. With the power of the Void and the fundamental forces of the universe at his command, the «Lord of Lies» was nothing more than high-quality fuel.
Under the relentless pressure of the Dark Seal, the elderly facade of the avatar began to flicker and dissolve. One moment it was a man, the next a grinning skull, then a towering red horror with curved horns. Strands of grey, ethereal smoke—the very essence of the demon—began to spiral toward the ring.
The demon's threats turned into a cacophony of overlapping voices, a dissonant choir of curses. To anyone else, it might have been terrifying. To Noah, it was just impressive vocabulary.
«Such passion,» Noah remarked dryly. «I'll have to remember that one about the 'intestines as garters.' Very creative.»
To reward the demon's eloquence, Noah surged the power of the Dark Seal to its maximum. The avatar let out one final, piercing spiritual shriek that rattled the crystalline buildings of the Mirror Dimension. Then, the vessel collapsed inward, turning into a concentrated stream of pure, dark soul energy.
The ring drank it all in. As the last vestige of Mephisto vanished into the gold band, a wave of cold, invigorating power rushed through Noah's veins. He closed his eyes, exhaling a long breath as a deep sense of satisfaction settled in his marrow.
Mephisto was gone, and the Void felt just a little bit more like home.
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