"Resurrection is possible."
"But first, you need to prepare a body to house the soul."
"..."
Hawk listened to Mephisto's words, and the expression on his face froze once again.
He was a bit bewildered.
"Wait a minute..."
Hawk snapped out of it, shook his head, and looked at Mephisto: "Can't you just resurrect directly?"
He remembered Mephisto had this ability.
Mephisto looked at Hawk, his mouth slightly upturned: "Of course I can, if you're willing to play dumb and pretend not to see that the body your sister was resurrected in is maintained by my energy."
Hawk's mind raced.
His iridescent scarlet pupils contracted several times in a short time.
After a while.
Hawk took a deep breath and turned back to look seriously at Mephisto sitting opposite.
"So, you mean, as long as I can find a body to house my sister's soul, you can resurrect my sister's soul?"
"That's right, as long as you find a body, I will release your sister's soul."
Mephisto nodded without hesitation, affirming Hawk's statement.
Upon hearing this, Hawk exhaled a breath of foul air and then looked seriously at Mephisto again.
Just as he was about to express his formal thanks.
Mephisto's words changed again: "If you hadn't summoned your sister's soul a few days ago."
Hawk's heart skipped.
"What do you mean?"
"You know that during this period, all Earth's dimensions closed their passages to prevent the World Tree's energy from spreading, right?"
"Yes."
Hawk nodded, then looked at Mephisto with confusion.
"But what does this have to do with my sister?"
"Your sister's soul was affected by this energy."
"Swish!"
Hawk instantly stood up from the sofa: "What?"
Mephisto, sitting opposite, looked up: "But don't worry, she's temporarily fine."
Hawk closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and sat back down.
After Hawk settled, Mephisto continued to speak.
"If your sister hadn't walked out of the Gates of Hell to meet you, as long as you find a body, I can resurrect your sister at any time."
"But now it's not possible. Your sister not only has my Hell's aura on her but also Helheim's aura."
Every few thousand years, the World Tree vibrates with energy, causing all affected dimensions to be eroded and assimilated into the World Tree Cosmos.
This energy is strong; otherwise, Malekith, the leader of the Dark Elves, wouldn't have sought to use it to turn all Nine Realms into a true dark world.
Although Malekith failed, the energy vibration of the World Tree still occurred.
Because of this, during this period, almost all dimensional beings active on Earth returned to their dimensions, closing their dimensional doors.
Dimensions are like this, let alone souls.
Although Anya only stepped out of the Gates of Hell without stepping beyond Hell's frontier, she was still swept by the invisible energy from the World Tree.
Although not much, it is troublesome.
Simply put, previously Anya belonged to the Hell Dimension as an undisputed soul; now that's not the case. From some perspectives, part of Anya's soul also belongs to Helheim.
Just...
"Helheim?"
Hawk recalled the desolate domain he saw during the convergence of the Nine Realms, furrowing his brow: "Goddess of Death, Hel?"
Mephisto nodded.
"Yes."
"She was sealed by Odin."
"But she isn't dead."
Mephisto said, then shifted his tone again with a cold laugh: "And she seduced my son to escape from Hell, trying to use him to unseal her ahead of time."
Hawk furrowed his brows at Mephisto.
"Witch Heart Demon?"
"Yes."
Mephisto shook his head, raising his wine glass, his expression suggesting 'disastrous family drama, taking pleasure in a joke' as he spoke to Hawk: "If my foolish son finds the Four Elements Demon and then uses the World Tree's final energy waves to create a new Hell, then Hel will achieve a brief release, and your sister's soul will belong to Hel."
Hawk couldn't help but frown.
"How can this be allowed!"
"She is the Goddess of Death."
Not all gods have the qualification to be called gods.
Although dimension gods are also gods, before a true deity, dimension gods do not count.
Like Hel.
This Goddess of Death controls all non-war time death souls of an entire Cosmos.
Don't ask why war time death souls don't belong to her.
Because they belong to the Heroic Spirit Hall.
At this moment, Hawk understood why Mephisto appeared here.
"You want me to help stop the Witch Heart Demon's plan to remake Hell?"
"Yes."
Mephisto nodded, looking at Hawk: "But not just for me, also for our sister."
Hawk's mind turned, silently observing Mephisto: "As long as I stop the Witch Heart Demon, you'll resurrect my sister once I find a body to house her soul?"
Mephisto nodded.
"Yes."
"I understand."
Hawk nodded thoughtfully, then turned to Mephisto to ask the final question.
"Where is Witch Heart Demon now?"
"Texas, the Four Elements Demon was in Texas before the Hell Dimension closed. The aftermath of the World Tree energy is still ongoing, although it's nearing the end, but I need to stabilize Hell, and I need to combat Hel to prevent her from taking your sister's soul, so I can't go personally."
Four Elements Demon, the name includes "demon," but it is not a demon from the Hell Dimension.
Instead, it's a native earth demon.
Strictly speaking, they aren't even demons; they are creatures transformed from Earth itself, reconstructed from the fallen World Tree into the four fundamental elements of earth, water, wind, and fire.
In Eastern mythology, they could be referred to as Transformation!
Listening to Mephisto's explanation, Hawk nodded and then finished the drink in his cup, saying to Mephisto, "I will take care of this matter."
With that said,
he placed the empty cup on the table and got up from the sofa, turning towards the tavern door.
Soon.
Just as Gwen was puzzled by where Hawk had vanished to, Hawk reappeared in the place he had just disappeared from.
In Gwen's eyes, only about a second had passed between Hawk disappearing and reappearing.
But...
The smell of alcohol was unmistakable.
Gwen looked suspiciously at Hawk, who had just opened the car door again and sat back inside, but seeing Hawk didn't speak, she didn't say anything either, hitting the gas pedal and driving straight to Palm Street, then parked the car in the garage.
An hour later.
In the master bedroom on the third floor.
Gwen, wearing a nightgown, came out of the bathroom and blinked at Hawk's back on the balcony, who was staring into the distance, lost in thought.
Just then.
Hawk turned and walked into the bedroom, smiling slightly at Gwen who had just finished showering, then briefly described his conversation with Mephisto in the Hell Tavern.
After listening to Hawk's recounting, Gwen's face showed a happy expression.
"So, if you can help Mephisto stop that Witch Heart Demon, Mephisto can help you resurrect your sister?"
"That's what he said."
"Uh..."
Gwen, hearing Hawks words, was slightly stunned, and then she looked at Hawk: "You don't believe Mephisto's promise?"
Hawk nodded without hesitation, looking at Gwen: "Gwen, never trust what demons say, not even a single punctuation mark."
Gwen frowned: "So you're saying Mephisto is lying to you?"
Hawk shook his head again.
Gwen was bewildered.
Hawk chuckled, explaining to Gwen: "Mephisto said he would release my sister's soul — he hasn't lied, but did you notice he gave a prerequisite condition?"
Gwen's thoughts raced.
The next moment.
Her eyes brightened.
"You need to first find a body that can house Anya's soul."
"Yes."
"Phew..."
Gwen gasped: "How will you find that?"
Hawk shrugged.
"I'm not worried about that part, it's quite easy."
"Easy?"
"Cloning will do."
Hawk smiled slightly.
In Marvel Cosmos, aside from anything else, there's heaps of high-tech.
Cloning, that's all.
Though he hasn't heard of any company currently researching cloning technology, there's no need to worry; it surely exists, and perhaps it's already quite sophisticated.
Moreover.
If it's not on Earth, wouldn't it be on an extraterrestrial planet? One could simply make a cosmic journey to Sandaar Star or further to Sovellin.
The cosmos is so vast, finding a body for his sister should be easy.
But the key issue isn't that.
It's the prerequisite Mephisto laid out.
Hawk explained to Gwen: "Do you think resolving my sister's body's issue should come first, or the Witch Heart Demon affair?"
Gwen blinked, considering Hawk's words about Witch Heart Demon: "Witch Heart Demon first, he's already come to Earth looking for that Four Elements Demon."
Hawk nodded: "Yes, and what if I, having helped Mephisto resolve the Witch Heart Demon issue successfully, Mephisto then regrets it?"
Gwen paused, looking at Hawk's smiling face.
Hawk smiled as he spoke: "What Mephisto just told me, I believe he was being honest, but current truth doesn't imply future truth — demons are unreliable, just like Ace says super beasts never feel pain."
Gwen continued to blink.
"Ace, super beast, what's that?"
"It's not important."
Hawk decisively waved his hand, looking at Gwen.
"What matters is, I have no assurance, no certainty whether Mephisto will truly fulfill his promise, and I feel Mephisto is testing me."
"Testing?"
"Yes, testing!"
Hawk looked at Gwen, revealing his suspicions.
"If I really help him with Witch Heart Demon, I'm afraid Mephisto will later leverage Anya against me!"
"..."