Before Dark Strange arrived, the wizards of Kamar-Taj had already begun taking on tasks typically reserved for police officers and firefighters across Earth. The Men in Black, too, had acquired Malrick's newly compiled spellbooks, engaging frantically in disaster relief and criminal apprehension to gain the casting resources needed for their spells.
Yelena had even suggested offering humanitarian aid to visiting aliens. Yet, despite exhausting every option, the number of disasters on Earth remained limited. Wizards and Men in Black traveled the globe performing good deeds, but they still could not accumulate enough experience to cast high-tier spells.
The arrival of Dark Strange changed everything. Initially, only the wizards followed him into Hell, but soon the Men in Black joined as well.
When Malrick entered the interlayer space of the Small World, he observed a pocket dimension several kilometers wide. Its barrier shimmered in six colors: blue, yellow, orange, purple, green, and red—the colors of God Realm Dimension energy. Dark Strange had obtained this energy by consuming dimensional creatures, and Malrick refined it into these six hues. Despite this, Dark Strange still looked exhausted, his dark circles deep, resembling a walking corpse.
Inside the pocket space, a few wizards sat cross-legged, resting yet surrounded by a pitch-black passage. Their injuries, which would have killed ordinary humans, visibly healed before their eyes thanks to the first Sequence One spell in Malrick's spellbook: Self-Healing Factor.
The wizards exchanged updates between breaths. Some calculated that killing another Hellhound today would earn enough contribution points to exchange for a single use of Magneto's powers. Others complained about succubi of Hell, remarking that Cyclops's optic blasts were necessary, though their points were insufficient. Contribution points were a quantified "magic cost" currency, created by Wong with Jarvis's help for Malrick. Initially, there had been no formal system, but after Malrick returned from the Dragon Race world to celebrate Morgan's birth, he established the magic system. Now, every heroic act or defense against dimensional invasions earned wizards contribution points.
The simplest spell, Wolverine's Self-Healing Factor, cost 1 point per use, while a Skyfather-level ability like Steel Body required 100,000 points.
Malrick ignored the resting wizards and flickered through the spatial passage, entering Hell itself. Here, the name truly suited the place. The sky and ground were dim, bathed in demon blood. Hundreds of wizards hovered in the air, more than a dozen Magnetos wielding metal to crush Hellish dragons, and telekinetic wizards manipulating the battlefield with sheer force. Wizards without enough points for these powers had exchanged them for mutant wings covered in white feathers, sweeping the battlefield with abilities like Cyclops's optic blasts.
On the ground, hundreds more wizards hurled spells: matter conversion, vector manipulation, electromagnetic control. Traditionalists wielded holy swords or used Mirror Dimension-like magic. Some even drew upon Hell's energy directly, allowed by a contract Malrick had signed with Mephisto.
The scattered demons fled, leaving heaps of purple- and green-blooded corpses. This campaign, Kamar-Taj's assault on Mephisto's Hell, had been ongoing for nearly three years. What seemed like endless demonic reinforcements had now been reduced to near extinction. Yet Mephisto could easily summon more demons, though he was too preoccupied to manage it.
The battlefield stretched around the spatial passage, but deeper within were stronger adversaries: Hulk, Diana, Kara, and others confronting greater demons like Blackheart and Water Demon. They lived, died, and fought again, numbed to the cycle. The true core of the battlefield lay even further, where Hell's lava and dim space had collapsed into black voids. The scale of the battles had destroyed all matter in that region, leaving a zone where even light and sound could not penetrate.
Malrick's gaze swept over the chaos, finally landing on that void. At its center, Dark Strange and Infinite Jarvis confronted Mephisto directly. In Hell, Mephisto's power rivaled super-individuals like Infinite Jarvis, but facing two at once, his strength alone was insufficient. The aftermath of their fight had destroyed most of Hell's structure, yet Mephisto could not even dwell on it, constantly defending his domain. Betrayed by Satanish, he had planned a joint attack with other Hell Lords but had been ambushed by Doctor Strange and Ultron instead.
He had been killed seven times. His demons had been slaughtered, replaced by waves of reinforcements from Kamar-Taj's wizards. He proposed reconciliation, even offering compensation, but these Earthlings would not relent. They kept him trapped in Hell, fighting relentlessly. Rage and fear mingled within him—if this continued, he would lose complete control.
As Mephisto prepared to send a distress signal to the other Hell Lords, a new presence appeared, flying into the battlefield.
"Long time no see, Mephisto," the figure said, clad in black battle attire, smiling.
Mephisto's pupils constricted. "It's you, Sorcerer Supreme."
The newcomer, the same Sorcerer Supreme who had previously subdued the demon gods, now reinforced the invasion. Mephisto realized all these incursions were orchestrated by him. Recalling the sorcerer's battle with Infinite Jarvis, a chill ran down his spine.
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