The quarry returned to a deathly silence, as if that soul-stirring battle between gods and demons had never happened.
Dawn pierced through the clouds, splashing golden light over the wreckage.
Adam and Amon had long since vanished without a trace, leaving only shattered rocks and scorch marks from the high temperatures.
Lin Huai stood in the center of the clearing, holding the handsome but hollow-eyed Marionette in his hand. After advancing to [Bizzaro Sorcerer], his connection to this World had changed, allowing his main body to project more power.
He turned his head and looked not far away, where Mephisto's followers were shivering and hiding behind mechanical wreckage.
The play had ended; it was time for the unnecessary extras to leave the stage.
A cold sneer curled at the corners of Lin Huai's mouth as he raised his hand.
The Marionette elegantly straightened its tuxedo and gave Lin Huai a standard gentleman's bow. Its figure then blurred, melting into the shadows like a wisp of blue smoke.
Over the next few minutes, a series of brief, suppressed screams echoed through the quarry.
By the time the Mephisto Marionette reappeared, the hidden followers had already vanished. No blood was left, no corpses remained; their existence had been completely erased, as if they had never been there.
The Marionette stood quietly behind Lin Huai, like the most loyal Shadow.
Only after finishing all this did Lin Huai walk toward Johnny.
The pale blue Hellfire on Johnny's body receded, and he returned to human form. The madness and curse in his eyes dissipated, replaced by an unprecedented calm and depth.
"How do you feel?" Lin Huai asked.
"Better than ever." Johnny moved his limbs, feeling the freedom deep within his soul. "That voice that haunted me for half my life is gone."
He paused, his gaze toward Lin Huai complex. "But I've also lost my purpose. I'm no longer the Ghost Rider, so what should I do?"
"You are no longer the Ghost Rider," Lin Huai looked at him and said slowly, "but you can become the Spirit of Judgement. Vengeance looks back, while Judgement looks forward. This World has too much evil that needs to be judged."
Johnny fell silent.
After a long time, he nodded. "I understand. But before that, I need to find myself first. I want to leave for a while to figure out exactly what this power is and what I should become. However, if you need me, I'll come back anytime."
"I understand." Lin Huai didn't try to make him stay.
A trace of a smile appeared on Johnny's face. "Of course, after all, we haven't even had a drink together yet."
Having said that, he walked toward the container holding Nadia and her son.
Under the stunned gazes of Banner and Natasha, Johnny had a brief exchange with the woman. To everyone's surprise, Nadia chose to trust this man who had once burned with Hellfire.
Perhaps along the way, this man had shown her the beauty of humanity.
Johnny helped Nadia onto that ferocious Hell Cycle and then carefully picked up little Danny, placing him in front.
"Johnny," Lin Huai called out to him.
Johnny looked back.
Lin Huai handed him a new tarot card. The face of the card was still a skeletal knight riding a White warhorse, holding a black flag painted with a mysterious rose; the difference was that this time, the rising Sun had reached its zenith.
[God of Death]
"Good luck."
Johnny took the tarot card, nodded to Lin Huai, and started the motorcycle. The engine roared, and the Hell Cycle carried the three of them away, disappearing at the end of the quarry.
Natasha walked to Lin Huai's side, watching the receding figures. "I thought you would hand them over to Stark."
"Perhaps for them, following someone who also needs to find a new life is a better choice," Lin Huai replied.
Natasha was silent for a moment, then suddenly turned her head. Her emerald eyes shone brilliantly in the morning light.
"Lin Huai, who was that person at the end who announced your advancement?"
"God Almighty, Adam," Lin Huai answered calmly.
Natasha's body stiffened imperceptibly.
She looked at Lin Huai, her eyes carrying a hint of a plea she hadn't even noticed herself. "Tell me, how... can one obtain the favor of this deity? How can one find true redemption?"
Lin Huai looked at her for a long time before slowly speaking, "Perhaps the deity does not care where you come from, but only where you are going."
Natasha mulled over these words, remaining silent for a long time... That night, the group returned to New York. Lin Huai didn't go to Stark Tower, but returned alone to that small Divination House in Queens.
He needed a prayer, not to ask for anything, but just to clear his thoughts and see his future direction.
Sitting in the familiar prayer room, Lin Huai lit a candle and entered a state of meditation.
Grayish-white mist enveloped him as his spirit body passed through the boundless Cosmos, arriving once again before that magnificent and ancient palace.
This time, he didn't stop outside the hall.
The gray mist seemed to come alive, actively guiding him through the bronze Door, straight to the High-backed chair belonging to the 'Fool'.
The sleeping figure on the High-backed chair seemed a bit clearer than before.
"The Fool who doesn't belong to this era..."
Just as the honorific name was recited, an image surfaced before his eyes.
In the image, the light and shadow of the nine Worlds overlapped eerily in the sky, forming unstable wormholes. London's ancient Greenwich Observatory miraculously overlapped in space with the desolate Dark Dimension and the Golden Palace of Asgard.
Convergence.
Lin Huai immediately recognized the term.
The scene shifted. A humanoid creature with pale skin like paper, wearing strange armor, stood on a ferocious Dark warship, his eyes burning with thousands of years of vengeful fire.
Next, he saw a dark red, liquid-like ominous energy surging in an abandoned factory, suddenly burrowing into a woman's body. The woman let out a scream of agony.
Afterward, Thor anxiously carried her, returning to Asgard via the Bifrost Bridge.
The final scene was in the chaotic rift of the universe caused by the Convergence. A ferocious dark creature, like a vicious dog, followed the warship, its cold eyes gleaming with hunger in the Darkness. And in the mist where different Worlds intersected, a giant wolf composed of chaotic energy and space dust was slowly taking shape.
Lin Huai understood instantly.
The next crisis would be the Convergence caused by the overlapping of the Nine Realms, and the enemy would be the Ancient Elves who plotted to return the Universe to Darkness. The opportunity for his advancement was hidden within this grand war spanning the Nine Realms!
When Lin Huai woke up from meditation, it was already the next morning.
Without any hesitation, he immediately picked up the encrypted phone.
The call connected, and the voices of Tony and Steve came through.
"Hey, our master of the occult, you're finally willing to show your face?" Tony's tone was teasing.
"Things are finished here," Lin Huai got straight to the point. "You and Steve finish dealing with the mess in Sokovia as soon as possible, then return to the Malibu mansion. I need you to build some new things."
He paused, his voice grave.
"We don't have much time left."
"HYDRA must be dealt with as soon as possible. I can feel that some 'Spectators' who don't belong to Earth have already turned their gaze here."
"The enemies from the Universe will be here soon."