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It was a red world.
It was a world crawling with flames and suffering. The sky seemed to be filled with blood and the ground cracked open in long fissures, each of which released hot air periodically.
In such a world, a great battle was reaching its conclusion.
A red demon with a muscular body and short red hair. What set him apart from humans wasn't through the tiny demonic horns on his head or his thin tail—it was through his body that had its skin peeled away everywhere except for his face.
He fought fiercely, using his claws and tails against his opponent.
The blonde woman, whose glowing sword cleaved the air itself with each swift strike, wasn't having any of this.
Her sword cleaved the demon's arm, and it was flung far away. The Limbo distorted his scream into a shriek that grated anyone's ears. The woman remained unaffected. She had been subjected to worse.
Holding her sword in both hands, she went for the killing blow.
The demon kicked her sword away and flew down. He landed hard on the red cracked earth. Clutching the shoulder that was now a stump, he gnashed his teeth and glared up at her.
"You disgusting human. How did you escape my prison fourteen years ago? WHO ALLOWED YOU?"
The blonde, Illyana Rasputin, put her Soulsword over her shoulder and looked at Belasco.
"I also want to know who carried me to that universe." Despite not being in her homeworld for fourteen years, her Russian accent still held strong. Some things didn't let go. "Stupid demon."
His face twisted at the insult. "You'll die without an answer."
Belasco turned around and ran. He used the ridiculous speed that left afterimages in places. Limbo warped to his wishes and the terrain bent around to create obstacles for Illyana.
She laughed and chased after Belasco. "Old demon, it'll be fun killing you again."
A part of her, the demonic side shaped by the torture of Belasco and Limbo, relished the hunt. Making the Lord of Limbo run like a coward was thrilling.
The other side urged her to end this as quickly as possible and return to Earth, to see her dear brother alive and well after a long time. Fourteen years they had been apart.
Piotr probably wouldn't recognize his sister who was no longer a little girl. She was a mutant sorceress who had seen tragedies far beyond what most would consider a nightmare.
Even so, she wished to meet her warm-hearted sibling whom she had believed to be dead.
She slowed her pace when she saw Belasco had stopped on a small platform floating over a lava lake. A portal, which she recognized as one of the demon's magic spells, opened beside him. The arm she had slashed away with her Soulsword came flying through the portal, carrying a red slime-like creature. The creature slumped on the cut-off arm and absorbed itself, becoming dark red skin.
Belasco brought it to the stump, and the red tethers attached the arm back in its place.
The writhing mass spread over Belasco's shoulders. His body twisted and turned, growing smaller at places but larger at other places.
'What is that monstrosity?'
She had spent fourteen years in another universe and still hadn't seen anything like this.
Still, she wasn't going to watch him transform and become more powerful. She crossed the distance and stabbed the Soulsword right through his back.
He jumped over, moving at a speed that made his earlier sprint look like he'd been standing still.
Landing on a ridge of rock thirty meters away, he threw his head back and laughed. A deeper, layered voice like two things shared the same throat.
"You know how long I've been waiting for this," he said in a pleased voice. "This creature was born from human ambitions and greed… It is the pinnacle of beauty."
"You're the vile creature here. This form is even more disgusting than before."
The smile full of sharp teeth made her skin crawl.
"You might be more powerful than me, Illyana, but you forget that I'm not a fighter." He spread his arms as demons gathered behind him. "I'm the Lord of Limbo. I command this dimension as my own."
The demons encroached upon her from every direction.
"You're a disgrace, Belasco." Illyana stood fearless in the face of the demon horde. "You are unfit to rule Limbo."
Belasco turned around and walked away.
"Illyana, I'll return soon…" His voice echoed in the Otherplace. "To have your head and crown it in my palace."
Illyana tossed her Soulsword in the air and kicked it. A sonic boom echoed as the sword cleaved a line through the horde. The gap was instantly filled.
"I'll come to you after I deal with these pests."
She wasn't walking away without killing the demon who had turned her warm and sweet life in Russia into a Hell.