Belasco was fighting Illyana with what could be described as absolute leisure. The reason he was so relaxed was because Illyana was currently fighting completely without her brain, hacking and slashing all over the place. Meanwhile, having received the blessing of Chthon, he possessed a near-immortal body. Though he couldn't completely avoid the physical pain of the flesh, at the end of the day—hey, you can't kill me!
Right now, Belasco was pondering a much more crucial matter: how to secure victory in the current situation when that pack of ungrateful wolves from the Dark Consortium refused to help him at all. Without a doubt, the current situation was a trap. Whether it was the Bloodstone, the Chaos Magic, or his old rival Spider-Man, they were all part of that Sorcerer Supreme's grand plan.
Furthermore, his invocation of the great Chthon here in Limbo was likely part of his opponent's plan as well. Because of this, he needed to think through his counterstrategy very carefully.
Did these people really think he was just standing here taking a beating? No! He was pondering his next move!
The improvement in Illyana's condition had similarly caught Belasco's attention. He couldn't help but marvel at how well the opponent had played their hand. Even if Strange hadn't lured him out today, Strange would have eventually resolved Magik's soul imbalance issue, which would have increased the winning odds for their side when the time came.
Wait a minute...
Belasco suddenly hit upon a brilliant idea.
"You absolute fool. Do you honestly think your attacks have had even the slightest effect?"
Belasco grinned widely, then shook his head helplessly. "No, you can't do a single thing."
"Really? All I've seen is you flying back and forth like a ball, Belasco."
The demonized Illyana mocked him with a laugh. Belasco smirked in response: "So what? You'll tire yourself to death sooner or later. You aren't the master of Limbo yet—or rather, you don't dare to be. You're afraid of becoming a monster, aren't you?"
"Become a monster as weak as you?"
Belasco fell into a very serious silence for a brief moment.
"You know exactly what kind of monster, Illyana Rasputina. The monster that caused the deaths of your friends. Let me think, that cat-like girl, Kitty Pryde, right? And that Storm, who died a worthless death that nobody remembers. I recall there was a Wolverine, wasn't there? It's been too long, so I'm not entirely sure... Oh, wait, I remember there was a vampire, Blade, wasn't there? He shouldn't be dead yet. Why haven't I seen him around?"
"Are you really so stupid that you're practically begging for a beating?!"
The giant sword hacked down upon Belasco's neck. This time, Belasco did not let himself be blasted away by the force of the strike. Instead, he calmly flicked the blade. If this weapon were still the Soulsword, capable of directly harming the soul, Belasco would have been somewhat afraid. But now, even though this sword had transformed into an indestructible divine weapon, it conversely could not harm him in the slightest.
On the contrary, with a single strike of his own, he sliced open Illyana's armor made of Promethium.
"I am stupid? You haven't managed to harm me in the slightest up until now. Quite the opposite, the divine weapon I possess is also blessed by Chthon. Slicing through your armor is no different from slicing through a sheet of paper."
Belasco continued to trade barbs with Illyana with a smile. Illyana, without a doubt, noticed this fact. In an instant, she teleported right behind Belasco, grabbed his wrist, and aimed Belasco's own longsword directly at his chest.
"An indestructible body and an all-severing sword? Haha! Now that really is a cliché story!"
In a single instant, the longsword pierced straight through Belasco's chest.
A smile crept onto Belasco's face as he watched his own blood flow from his chest.
Who could say it wasn't?
As Belasco's blood poured from his chest and splattered onto Illyana, the prerequisite for the ritual Belasco sought was officially met. At this very moment, a brilliant light erupted from Illyana's body, and she immediately fell into agonizing, wailing pain.
Peter bolted to his feet, but Strange floated to his side, blocking him with the Cloak of Levitation.
"No need to rush over, Spider-Man. Everything is going according to plan."
"What do you mean 'everything is going according to plan'? This situation right now is your plan?"
"Indeed it is." Strange nodded honestly. "It might seem somewhat unbelievable to you, but this is the exact scenario I have been contemplating and hoping for. Belasco is attempting to destroy Magik, and his method is to sacrifice his own life force to tear half of her soul—the part formed by Limbo—away from her body."
Peter didn't understand at first, but it quickly clicked: "Wait, isn't that exactly what happened when Illyana was first captured by Belasco?!"
Back when she was just a child, Illyana had been captured by Belasco and brought to Limbo, where half of her soul was brutally torn away by Belasco to be crafted into Bloodstones.
How was the current situation any different from back then?!
"The difference is that Magik now possesses a sufficiently powerful will to ensure that half of her soul will not fall into Belasco's hands. Meanwhile, the other side of her soul—the side that originally shouldn't have belonged to her—will become a new life... or rather, a new existence. That is the Darkchild I mentioned, what you call the demonized Magik."
Strange continued to explain, "When Magik's soul is torn in half, it means her original soul will finally have the opportunity to become whole again. She can return to a normal state. Originally, this task should have been performed by me, but even the Sorcerer Supreme is inferior to a demon when it comes to manipulating souls. Therefore, we needed to create a desperate situation for Belasco, forcing him to proactively bring about this scenario."
"And force Illyana to go through that kind of agony all over again?!"
"She knew about this. Furthermore, we decided not to tell you in advance after discussing it, out of concern that you would object."
Strange gave Peter a sharp look. "This is just like having to cut open the skin and flesh that has already healed over a stump before reattaching a severed arm. It is incredibly painful, but it is necessary. While maintaining a balance between her two sides is theoretically important as well, Spider-Man, we do not have that much time to heal Magik. We still need to deal with Belasco and Mephisto."
Therefore, this had become the best option.
Following that, Strange pulled out a long scroll that Peter had seen once before. He began to incant a spell, unleashing a magic that forcibly intervened in the ritual Belasco was conducting.
Peter suddenly felt that this scroll looked exceptionally familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.
Then, it hit him all at once. It was during the Symbiote Crisis.
Is that the Darkhold?!
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