As the body possessed by Mephisto perished, a pitch-black soul drifted out. Seizing the moment before the portal above vanished, it shot upward, desperate to return to Hell.
The original host had been merely an ordinary individual, his power entirely derived from Mephisto's formidable soul, which had elevated him to near-demigod status.
Such a powerful soul was an invaluable prize for both Garus and Sindragosa—there was no way he would allow it to escape.
Raising Frostmourne, Garus unleashed a powerful soul-devouring force, pulling Mephisto's soul fragment into the blade's internal void.
At that very moment, far away in Hell, Mephisto lost all connection to his soul fragment. Enraged beyond measure, he roared in fury. This was no minor setback; to seize control of Earth, he had projected a significant portion of his power into the material realm. Now, with his fragment lost, his strength had suffered a substantial decline.
He needed time to recuperate. Any further loss of power, and he would struggle to maintain control over the demons of Hell.
Above Earth, the spatial rift connecting the planet to Hell was slowly collapsing. Millions of demons were now stranded in another world, and Mephisto knew that, before long, they would be annihilated by humanity's combined forces—their modern weapons, the Ancient Order, the Avengers, and the mutants.
"So be it. Let Thanos wipe out life on Earth, and I will harvest the souls afterward. Originally, I had planned to corral them like cattle." His invasion of the material plane had ended in utter failure.
In a small village, with Mephisto's departure, the molten lava covering the ground rapidly cooled, and the surrounding environment began to restore itself.
High above, Sindragosa gleefully pursued the scattered demons, feasting on their souls in a bid to reclaim her peak strength.
"I remember you," Stephen Strange said, staring at Garus from a distance before suddenly exclaiming, "You're Garus, the headmaster of the Mutant Academy!"
Garus watched as Strange rushed toward him, uncertain of his intentions.
Strange extended his trembling hands, his voice filled with emotion. "Garus, you must have a way to heal my hands, right?"
His hands had once been his greatest asset, allowing him to save countless lives deemed beyond hope. He had once removed a bullet from a patient's brain with unmatched precision, leaving even the most delicate tissues untouched.
He had reveled in the gratitude of those he saved. But now, his hands were ruined.
Garus examined Strange's scarred, trembling hands. "Of course, I can help."
"Really?!" Strange was overwhelmed with excitement and reached for Garus's shoulder. However, before he could make contact, the chilling aura surrounding Garus sent a shiver through his entire body.
"What kind of hands do you want? Kree, ghoul, vampire…?" With Dr. Connors' current technology, replacing limbs with anything imaginable was entirely possible, with no risk of rejection.
"No, no, absolutely not." Strange was horrified and quickly declined.
"Stephen, we need to leave," Mordo called out as he gathered the fallen bodies of their comrades. "There are still plenty of demons left to slay."
"Slay demons?" Strange glanced at the massive, grotesque demon corpse on the ground. Before he could protest, a golden lasso shot out from behind him, wrapping around his waist and yanking him through a portal.
"Hey! Mordo, I'm still a novice—" Strange's protests faded as he disappeared into the portal.
At this point, Doctor Strange was far from the master sorcerer he would become. His resentment toward the Ancient Order was clear.
The Terrigen Crystals that should have appeared after Mephisto's defeat were nowhere to be found. Had the Mandarin survived and stolen them?
Garus recalled the existence of Eastern mystic arts, particularly the Five Elements Escape Technique—perfect for a swift retreat.
Spotting something unusual in a relatively intact tree nearby, Garus didn't hesitate. He unleashed a Death Coil toward it.
With a sizzle, the last surviving tree was instantly corroded into ash.
A disheveled figure tumbled out—none other than the Mandarin. Gone was his usual air of refined mysticism; his body was covered in charred burns.
"Wait!" he shouted as Garus prepared to strike. "You want the Terrigen Crystals, right? I'll give them to you."
From his tattered robes, the Mandarin produced six glowing crystals.
"I also like those rings of yours…" Garus remarked.
"No way." The Mandarin nearly jumped. Without his Ten Rings, his power would be drastically reduced—he would never surrender them.
Before Garus could respond, the Mandarin vanished in a flash, diving into the ground and escaping at high speed.
Garus let it go. The rings were of no use to him anyway.
By the time Garus arrived at the academy, its defenses were on the verge of collapse. Outside the barrier, countless demons swarmed, but the greatest threat was a powerful demon lord whose sheer strength alone was overwhelming the school's defenses.
"Wanda, what's the situation?"
Seeing Garus approach, Wanda sighed in relief. To her, as long as Garus was there, everything would be fine.
"We're running out of energy. The gargoyles acting as sentries have almost all been destroyed. If this continues, the city will fall."
Garus frowned. "Where's Erik?"
Wanda shrugged helplessly. "Who knows?"
Boom!
Another tremor rocked the sky city. It began tilting precariously, plunging downward.
"Alert! Defensive barrier rebooting. Levitation matrix compromised…" The protective shield enveloping the fortress flickered out.
If it were up to Garus, he would never have used such an energy-consuming barrier. But there was no time to dwell on that now.
Before he could react, the entire sky fortress plummeted, crashing into Stark Tower—though by now, Tony Stark had long since sold it.
Amid the screams of bystanders, the collision obliterated numerous buildings, shredded roads, and carved a massive crater into the earth below.
Within Naxxramas, swirling mists of chaotic magic shielded the interior from harm.
"My experiments!" Dr. Connors wailed in his laboratory. Months of research lay in ruins, with pools of red and green fluids mingling among bizarrely twisted remains.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the fortress's foundation. Though it barely held together, the once-magnificent floating fortress now teetered on the edge of collapse.
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