"This is...? A High-level Demon? Or a Lord-level one?"
Seeing the tall demon struggling in the pit but unable to stand up, Artoria curiously asked Steve. It was her first time seeing a demon in Marvel. She had only seen a glimpse of such dark creatures through a video capture of Blade hunting Vampires, but nothing else. For instance, rare werewolves or demons from Hell—Artoria had never encountered them. She didn't expect to see a giant demon today. Judging by the amount of energy on its body, it shouldn't be an ordinary demon; its strength was very powerful.
"This is a clone of Mephisto. The energy on it looks terrifying, but it doesn't have that much destructive power. There also seems to be a problem with its consciousness. Although I don't know what this guy, one of the Hell Lords, wants to do, he has violated the agreement that demons must not cross into the human realm."
Saying this, Steve kept staring at the demon in the pit. At first, he was indeed frightened. He didn't expect a legendary Demon King to appear, which made him a bit hesitant initially. But later he found that perhaps because too little consciousness was invested, this big guy looked intimidating and had great destructive power, but its brain wasn't very functional. He used a trap to lure the guy here and then had many Master Brothers seal it together. Why seal it? Because he didn't have powerful enough means to destroy this Demon King's clone yet.
"By asking me to come over, do you mean you want me to destroy this 'clone'?"
Artoria wasn't stupid. Although Steve didn't say it directly, he had expressed the Hope that Artoria would take action. Facing Steve's little trick, Artoria raised an eyebrow. Did this guy really think she was free labor to be ordered around at will? Thinking of this, Artoria was quite displeased. As a Sorcerer Supreme, he hadn't even learned a powerful Forbidden Curse yet. She really didn't know what he had been doing lately; his strength was growing so slowly. If Ancient One knew, she would definitely blast him with a Forbidden Curse.
"I can eliminate it, but lend me the Time Stone."
Working for free was impossible. Since such a good opportunity for extortion had come, Artoria didn't hesitate to ask for a lot. She directly stated what she had wanted for a long time: the Time Stone. As someone with a collector's hobby and slight OCD, Artoria didn't want an empty slot on her gauntlet. She had helped Steve once before, which counted as a favor. This time, since Steve was setting her up, he needed to pay a price.
"This... no problem."
To Artoria's surprise, the guy only hesitated for a moment before immediately agreeing to her request. This left Artoria, who thought she would have to wait a long time, instantly stunned. What about your promise to Ancient One? Isn't it a bit inappropriate to take out the Time Stone so easily? Aren't you afraid that once I take the Infinity Stone, I won't come back? This guy shouldn't give it to me so easily! With this thought, Artoria looked at Steve suspiciously. Unexpectedly, his next move truly shocked Artoria. He actually opened the eye of agamotto, took out the Time Stone inside, and gave it directly to Artoria. He was very decisive, without a hint of hesitation.
"Do you know what you're doing? You can't be unaware of its importance. Why would you give it to me so easily?"
Despite what she said, Artoria stowed the Time Stone away incredibly fast. Crystal, watching from the side, was dumbfounded; she hadn't expected her favorite Sister Artoria to have such a cute side. After putting the Time Stone away, Artoria asked Steve about it. This was the most important thing the Ancient One had guarded for centuries. The heaven-defying abilities of the Time Stone had incredibly broad applications, but the most powerful aspect was the strength of all six Infinity Stones gathered together. Artoria didn't believe the Ancient One was unaware of the future where Thanos would destroy half of all life in the Universe. Since she could tell at a glance that Steve was from five years in the future, the Ancient One must have left something behind.
"I know, of course. But Sorcerer Ancient One once instructed me that if you needed the Infinity Stones, I should just give them to you. Although I don't know what she meant, since she made such an arrangement, there must be a reason for it."
Steve's answer left Artoria momentarily stunned, her hand tightly clutching the corner of her clothes. As expected, Master Ancient One truly cared for her, even arranging for Steve to hand over something so important. At this moment, Artoria's heart felt as warm as a June day. The Ancient One's arrangement gave her an unprecedented feeling of being trusted, making her nose sting and her eyes turn a bit red. Artoria forcibly held back her tears; she didn't want anyone to see her soft side, especially not in front of a man.
"Have the Master Brothers leave this place. Crystal, you leave too. I'm afraid I might hurt you."
The emotional moment passed, and with a flash of golden light from Artoria's right hand, the magnificent excalibur appeared in her grip. The power of excalibur seemed to be growing; the sharp cutting intent on the Blade was more palpable than before. Steve glanced at the excalibur in Artoria's hand. After hearing her words, he didn't question her at all. He directly grabbed Crystal by the back of her collar, called out to Wong, and had everyone open portals to leave the area.
"Roar! Damned humans, all of you die!"
Once the sorcerers vanished, the ten-meter-tall demon in the pit immediately stood up. It spread its pair of pitch-black, crow-like wings and roared at the sky. It seemed to have accumulated quite a bit of anger from its fight with Steve, and now it appeared to be exploding with rage. Its eyes, radiating fury, locked onto the only living being left in the vicinity—Artoria. Flying out of the pit, the demon raised its massive foot and stomped toward Artoria, seemingly intent on crushing her flat.
"This is truly a failed reincarnation, Mephisto."
Looking at the brainlessly attacking demon, Artoria raised her head and watched the horseshoe-shaped giant foot stomping down toward her. With an expressionless face, she raised her right hand. With a flash of golden light, the demon's movements instantly stopped. It curiously looked at its suddenly lightened left leg, followed by the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground nearby. It turned its head to see its own foot. Lacking much knowledge in its brain, it looked at the foot again and finally realized it was injured. Soon, an identical leg grew back. Such regenerative ability made Artoria furrow her brows. No wonder Steve couldn't eliminate it; it seemed that without vaporizing every single one of this guy's cells in one go, it was impossible to kill.
"You know how to be afraid? It seems your IQ isn't that low."
Just as Artoria wanted to test a few more moves, the demon took a small step back. Although its brain wasn't great, it still understood who was stronger. It felt that the human before it was different from the previous ones; this one seemed quite a bit stronger than itself. Demons were cunning creatures; they didn't have any spirit of the sword. This fellow, possessing Mephisto's power and a small fragment of his soul, was even more so. Was Mephisto, who had laid low for so many years, the type of person to face things head-on? This clone, having inherited that trait, had already grown timid and intended to flee.
"It's too late to run. Rhongomyniad hasn't made an appearance in a long time."
Seeing the demon's actions, Artoria smiled. excalibur reluctantly withdrew, seemingly wanting to fight, but Artoria preferred using Rhongomyniad for large-scale combat. The Rhongomyniad, with its seals not fully released, appeared in Artoria's hand. It seemed happy to be used by its Master, emitting a pleasant resonant sound. Artoria gently stroked Rhongomyniad and pointed the spearhead at the demon. Sensing the aura of Death, the demon turned and ran, flapping its massive wings to escape this place. But would Artoria grant its wish?
"Holy Lance, Anchor Down!"
"The Spear that Shines to the Ends of the Earth!"
Artoria completely released the seals that she usually couldn't open. The silver body of the spear instantly burst open, revealing the golden pillar of light within. A radiance like the sun immediately illuminated the land. From a distance, it looked as if the sun were rising from the ground. As Artoria liberated its True Name, the light shone upon the entire world. The demon flying in the air was no match for the speed of light and was instantly vaporized within the radiance. This anomaly allowed people on half the Earth to see that dazzling golden light.
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