Dragons fight in the wild, their blood black and yellow!
Phoenixes guard the dark, their feathers brilliant!
At the moment when the shadow of the Black Phoenix projected into the Hell Dimension, at the instant when the shadow of the Black Phoenix unfurled its wings.
The Netherworld projection of Hawke's Little Cosmos followed closely, perfectly merging with the unfurling wings of the Black Phoenix.
At the same time.
Along with the burning dark red flames of the Black Phoenix's shadow, a Black Phoenix Holy Armor, appearing like crystal yet metallic, also emerged in rapid succession.
Mephisto was instantly shocked upon seeing this scene.
In the next second.
Upon recovering his senses, he roared angrily and swung a punch directly at the standing Hawke in front of him.
"Give me your soul."
"Boom!"
Hawke stood still, completely ignoring Mephisto's attack.
But!
Almost at the moment when Mephisto's massive fist was about to smash into Hawke, the projected Black Phoenix wings vibrated, transforming into a black light that merged into Hawke's body. Instantly, an irresistible surge of energy radiated from Hawke's body in all directions.
The energy was so powerful that even Mephisto was caught off guard and was blasted away.
Mephisto quickly got back on his feet.
Hawke glanced over and made a remark.
"Fool!"
Do you not know about the invincibility frame during transformation?
It is well known.
During transformations, regardless of how long the preparation time before the transformation is, or whether the strength after the transformation is great or weak, in essence, during the transformation, the person is assumed to be invincible.
Not to mention being interrupted, even if the Earth was smashed to bits during the transformation, the person in the process of transforming is assumed to take no damage.
This is the code of the martial world.
Just after Hawke remarked on Mephisto's breach of this code, the Black Phoenix Holy Armor above promptly disassembled into pieces, with dark red flames sweeping toward Hawke.
First to arrive were the sharpest and most lethal claw armors.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Armguards, leg guards, greaves... numerous Holy Armor pieces gleaming amidst the dark red flames coated his body perfectly amid a series of crisp clashes.
Dark red flames swept over his legs, and the calf guards and battle boots, like Black Gemstones, formed and wrapped around him in the flames.
As the helmet, forged from the same Black Gemstone, lowered, the side wings flared out menacingly like Phoenix Wings with flames, while the faceplate dropped down, concealing all of Hawke's expressions, leaving only his eyes with an Underworld-like shimmer in their half-crimson, half-golden pupils.
Finally!
As a flaming tail feather-shaped waist guard precisely joined the vacant part, a dazzling black light roared over the Holy Armor's surface, finally finding a gathering point like molten lava.
Boom!
A colossal pair of Black Phoenix wing shadows, made of pure energy, unfurled behind Hawke.
Black flames, centered on Hawke, spread out in all directions the moment he clenched his fist.
Instantly.
Land quaked, mountains swayed!
Mephisto's expression turned exceedingly grim as he stared intently at the transformed Hawke, donning the Black Phoenix Nether Armor, squeezing out a statement through gritted teeth.
"Netherworld!"
"Surprise!"
Adorned in the Black Phoenix Nether Armor, Hawke spread his hands toward Mephisto: "It's only polite to reciprocate. You gave me the Ghost Rider as a surprise, naturally, I have a surprise prepared for you too. Now it seems obvious, your gift didn't surprise me much, but my gift, look into my eyes, Mephisto, tell me, did you feel my surprise?"
Mephisto trembled all over: "Alright, very well, the Reality Gemstone is on you, and... the Time Gemstone! The Ancient One!"
He now fully understood.
Hawke didn't sell his soul to any dimension.
Strictly speaking, he sold his soul to himself.
Hawke really created his own Netherworld, using his son Witch Heart Demon's Life and Death Law, and the Four Elements of Creation, within just two days.
Yes.
A world, not just a dimension, but a world a level higher than a dimension.
And this is almost impossible.
Unless he had the Ether, and even so, it would still be virtually impossible to create a Netherworld in such a short time.
Unless... the Time Gemstone!
When Hawke's Netherworld projection had just arrived, Mephisto instantly sensed the Power of the Ether, and the yet to fully dissipate Power of Time.
Only...
Mephisto spoke in a subdued voice: "How did you convince The Ancient One to lend you the Time Gemstone?"
Hawke shrugged: "Maybe you won't believe it, I just went over, said I needed to borrow the Time Gemstone, and The Ancient One gave it to me, unlike what you said, The Ancient One is pretty easy to deal with."
He spoke the truth.
The fact is, the difference was, his promise wasn't even mentioned, yet The Ancient One could have already borrowed power from his future self.
Relying on the Time Gemstone to do whatever he pleases.
Hawke thought to himself.
Mephisto was once again dumbfounded.
The Ancient One?
That bald-headed woman who practiced lifelong celibacy and cultivation?
Is she easy to deal with?
That bald woman has trapped him with the Time Gemstone countless times, and because of this, he could sense the lingering Power of Time on the projection of the Netherworld that Hawk had manifested.
But he quickly regained his composure.
Mephisto looked at Hawk gloomily: "Do you think you can defeat me like this? Don't forget, this is my Hell. I tricked Odin and the soul of the Eternal here once, and in the end, they were helpless against me. Do you think you can handle me in my Hell?"
As he said this,
Mephisto paused for a second, then looked at Hawk with a sinister tone: "Don't forget, I still have your sister in my hands, aren't you afraid I'll burn her soul?"
Underneath the faceplate that completely masked his expression, Hawk gazed at Mephisto with eyes of half-red, half-gold phoenix hues ("feng" for male, "huang" for female!): "Give me my sister's soul back, and I'll turn and leave immediately. I'm not interested in you or your Hell."
He was quite busy.
If Mephisto had even a little honesty, he wouldn't even think about messing with the Netherworld.
God bears witness.
Before Mephisto came looking for him, he had already weighed Thor's hammer, confirmed the material, and started pondering how to ask Thor for eight or ten tons of Uru Metal.
After all, that stuff is strategic material for Asgard, and without connections, it's very hard to get.
Especially since the amount he wanted was somewhat substantial.
In the end, he was preparing to plot for the Golden Holy Armor, but Mephisto came with his little schemes. If it wasn't for Mephisto, he wouldn't have thought of using the Black Phoenix Nether Armor as a transition.
So...
From this perspective, he should thank Mephisto.
Of course,
The premise of thanking him is that Mephisto releases his sister's soul.
"Not even close!"
Mephisto shouted angrily, his expression twisted: "You killed my son, so I have to kill your sister!"
Hawk chuckled at these words.
"You just thanked me for killing your son."
"I was lying to you, demons are not to be trusted!"
"Alright then."
Hawk couldn't argue with this explanation from Mephisto, nor did he want to. He simply flipped his hand and took out the St. Peter's Basilica Contract, which sealed a thousand fallen saints' evil spirits, and weighed it in his hand before looking at Mephisto.
"How about a trade with this? Give me back my sister, and you get the St. Peter's Basilica Contract."
"...Bring it over first. After you give it to me, I'll return your sister."
"Heh!"
Hawk sneered at Mephisto's words, "You just said demons aren't trustworthy, do you think I'll trust you?"
Mephisto grinned menacingly: "Believe it or not, give me the St. Peter's Basilica Contract, or I'll burn your sister's soul now."
As he spoke,
he reached out his claw, and in an instant, Anya, who had been confined under the guise of being cared for in the palace, dressed in white, was pulled in front of him.
Anya only saw a flash before her eyes, and then she was looking at the man in the Black Phoenix Nether Armor. Although she couldn't see his face, the moment she met those eyes,
she knew who he was.
"Brother!"
"Anya."
Hawk's icy gaze softened immediately at his sister's appearance.
In the next second,
Anya, who instinctively wanted to run towards Hawk, was restrained by Mephisto beside him.
Mephisto's expression was twisted.
"St. Peter's Basilica Contract, give it to me!"
"Mephisto."
Hawk's gaze became cold and he stared directly at Mephisto: "I'll say it one last time, release my sister first, then it's the St. Peter's Basilica Contract."
Mephisto grinned viciously, his claw resting on Anya's head, looking at Hawk with apparent impunity: "I'll say it one last time too, give me the St. Peter's Basilica Contract!"
Hawk's faceplate retracted, fully exposing his face to Anya, and he gave a slight smile.
"Do you trust your brother?"
"Of course, my brother is the best in the world."
"Good!"
Hearing Anya's words, Hawk smiled gently, then looked at Mephisto with eyes filled with boundless indifference: "Go ahead."
Mephisto was slightly startled.
"What?"
"Go ahead!"
Hawk's tone was cold as he looked directly at Mephisto: "If you have the guts, burn my sister. Once you do, the next second I'll tear up the St. Peter's Basilica Contract and contend with you for the ownership of Earth's souls. And I assure you, from then on, I'll do nothing but focus on you, personally serve you until your Hell Dimension contains no more souls, and no demons can exit. I won't kill you; I'll have you guard your Hell Dimension and watch as you wither and die!"
Mephisto: "..."