Watching the demon Illyana teleport back and forth inside the portals, Gwen asked inquisitively, "Is she really unable to get out?"
"No, actually she can, if she were smart enough. But she doesn't act like a devil; she acts more like a demon, controlled by her own rage. So... I feel that even if she realizes she can run out, it would still take her a very long time."
Peter spoke as he looked over at Illyana, who was sitting cross-legged to one side, waiting for her to finish casting her spell. Gwen asked out of curiosity, "Who is this girl? How come I've never even seen her before?"
This was a good question, so good that Peter didn't even know how to answer it for a moment. He thought about it and provided a polite, standard response: "This girl is a mutant, a student from the Xavier Institute, and she just happens to be a magician as well. When she was a child, she was abducted to this place by a devil and survived here for several years, learning black magic. I'm reasonably familiar with Strange's side of things, as you know."
Not a single word was a lie, though Gwen in all probability would never guess that the several years spent surviving and learning magic translated to just a single year in the real world.
Gwen actually felt a bit tempted to reply, "No, I don't know," but decided against it upon further thought. Thus, she waited alongside Peter for Illyana to finish meditating. Once Illyana ended her ritual and stood up, she looked around the surroundings and spotted those two portals positioned very close to one another.
"...How about you undo them."
"You've already finished your spell?"
"Of course, my full arsenal of spells is ready. Release her, I want to compete with her to see who is superior!"
Looking at the grandly ambitious Illyana, Peter felt a bit bewildered for a moment. So your idea of casting spells is just stacking a bunch of buffs on yourself and then engaging in close combat? Have you been corrupted by Strange? Are you a proper mage?
"I... forget it, I don't feel like advising you either. I'm still counting on you to take us back."
As Peter spoke, he deactivated the sling ring portals. The Darkchylde, who had been charging forward for the longest time, instinctively continued to rush onward, only to encounter a fully prepared Illyana. The latter, holding her greatsword, directly slapped her demonized self away with a single strike, then waved her hand toward Peter's direction to signal that she was fine before immediately departing via a teleportation portal.
Gwen looked around the surroundings, watching Peter remove the Bloodstone amulet. "Wait, so we just... have nothing left to do like this?"
"I guess that's about it. If she truly needs our help, she will call for us." Peter then looked toward Gwen. "The real problem is actually that we can't get back at all without her, so we have no choice but to wait here for the result."
"Phew... So you deal with this kind of stuff every day?"
"I wouldn't exactly say I deal with this kind of stuff every day, but... sometimes, yes."
Gwen looked at everything around them, then suddenly sighed with emotion. "This place is actually pretty cool. If only... there weren't so many evil enemies and bizarre occurrences. That girl is pretty cool too. She's so short, yet she can swing such a massive sword."
"You absolutely must not call her short to her face. She cares about that matter deeply."
Gwen nodded as a matter of course. "Of course, I know. Though it would be even cooler if that girl weren't wearing pajamas."
--
This place was certainly very cool, and Illyana felt the same way. The primary reason she had never altered Limbo's terrain—aside from lacking the time—was largely because it looked very cool.
Similarly, the reason she had created such a tall and imposing demon form for herself was also because it was very cool.
"I regret designing you to be this tall. You're more than a head taller than me, which looks really displeasing, especially when looking at a face that's almost identical to my own. It makes me even more displeased." Illyana's body was covered in a magical shield that blocked a strike from the Darkchylde, after which she slashed back with her own sword. "Then again, this sword of mine is half of my soul, but you only have half a soul left to begin with. What on earth is your sword made of?"
"You abandoned me!"
"Abandoned? That's the wrong word. I merely—needed a decoy to draw out Belasco!"
Illyana withstood a strike from the Darkchylde. "I don't have any complaints against you. I sculpted that demon form with my own hands. Although it's displeasing to fight against you, I have to say this appearance is truly—too cool!"
Shouting something out, Illyana directly batted the Darkchylde away. For a moment, the Darkchylde actually didn't know what to say. She had been half of Illyana's soul for a span of several years, so naturally, she knew that what Illyana said was entirely true.
Even though those years in Limbo could absolutely be described as desperate survival, and even though most of the people who had helped her back then were no longer around, she absolutely did not harbor hatred for that period of time and those memories.
From beginning to end, the only thing Illyana Rasputina loathed and detested was Belasco, and nothing more.
But that was indeed not something Illyana wished to discard. Even after tearing her soul apart, these things remained preserved in the deepest recesses of her memory. And precisely because of this, during this once-in-a-lifetime golden opportunity to draw out or even eliminate Belasco, Illyana was willing to take the risk of her soul fracturing or even dissipating to make an attempt.
"So, if you want to spout any ghostly nonsense about abandonment or betrayal, scram far away! Those things have nothing to do with you! To put it bluntly, you are purely an accidental byproduct, not some self-loathing of mine."
"How can a person loathe themselves to the point of complete opposition!"
While shouting words that even she might not fully comprehend, Illyana struck the greatsword out of her opponent's hand. Subsequently, the greatsword, whatever it was composed of, dissipated.
"Of course, there's also that issue of soul imbalance—that indeed needs to be resolved. Although this place is very cool, it really isn't quite suitable for sleeping or anything."
As Illyana spoke, she directly threw out the Soulsword in her hand. Along with the conclusion of her words, the Soulsword pierced straight into the chest of the Darkchylde. However, she did not perish or get destroyed; instead, she warped along with the magic itself. Following that, she and the Soulsword transformed together into two Bloodstones.
This was precisely the spell Illyana had prepared. Since Belasco could tear away half of her soul to turn it into a Bloodstone, there was no reason she couldn't use half of her own soul to manufacture another Bloodstone herself.
"The only question, or rather the difference, is which Bloodstone will be used to repair the soul when the time comes. That's all there is to it."
Illyana exhaled a long breath, then picked up the two Bloodstones and stretched her arms. Now, she could finally sleep normally.
"Wait, what time is it now?"
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