Chapter 61

(Happy Friday guys. The support has been unreal as always. Excited for you to read this one. We're delving into some AU lore, setting up potential bad guys, and since you've been battle starved, a start of a good fight.)

"Mutant-Demon Cambions?" I laughed at the absurdity.

Only in a Marvel Universe with fucking Multiversal Bleed.

Mesmer's claim about creating a being superior to the Nephilim was not an exaggeration. If you found the right Mutation—affinity mix, you could have a fucking Multiversal entity on your hand.

And if I were Belasco, I'd not stop playing the biological gacha until I found that winning combination and then tried to steal its body for good measure because there was no way in Hell I was going to let my kid take my throne.

"It would be the end of everything as we know it," Mordo said with genuine trepidation.

"As if the demons were not scary enough as is," I laughed nervously. "I'm guessing Ilyana and Storm's appearance gave whoever this First Son is the tools he needed for his breakthrough.

"You think they're dead?" Jean asked, her eyes wide with anxiety.

"Unlikely," I said diplomatically, but then again, time might flow faster in Limbo than in the comics. This version of Limbo felt like an amalgamation between the world we knew from the DMC games and the strange universe from the movies.

It was hard to tell which rules applied and which didn't.

"It would be shortsighted to kill them if they are indeed the key to this new breed of mutants," I said and then turned to Mordo. "Say, random question. There's no notable time differential between Earth and Limbo, is there?"

"There is, but only some of the time," he said, folding his arms, and I saw the panic growing on Jean's face.

Mordo thankfully clarified. "Sparda, in one of his earlier trips to the demon world, said he came across a location near the center of the dimension where time seemed to flow three times faster. If Belasco has any faster time fields, he's not deployed demons who've used it or the Sorcerer Supreme would know about it."

"We have to save them, Dante," Jean said. "We can't leave them there. Every second we wait is three more they lose."

"I'm with you, Jean," I said, "but one catastrophe at a time. We don't have any solid measure of the demons' strength or where to begin looking. It's a suicide mission, as we are right now. It might be possible with all of the X-Men, but even then…"

"He speaks the truth," Kaecilius said. "No Sorcerer has stepped into Limbo and returned alive, no matter how skilled or powerful. Down there, the demons are the least of your problems." Kaecilius glanced at me. "The Cambions are stronger and crueler than most demons you'll ever face."

From his tone, I could tell there was a history, and then I made the connection.

"Was it a Cambion that took them from you?"

Kaecilius's face turned vicious. If looks could kill, I would've dropped dead then and there.

"Isha Stormfire," he spat. "She's fire and wind incarnate. Every time she appears, mass death and destruction follow. She endures fewer restrictions than the average demon, all Cambions do, but they cannot act with impunity without drawing the attention of the Ancient one and other powerful entities on Earth. That is why they prefer to act through proxies and cloak their presence. They won't lift a finger unless absolutely necessary, and Hell follows when they do."

I was sweating by the end of his little monologue. "How many of them do you think there are on earth?"

"Approximately fifty," Mordo said, "probably more. As Kaecilius said, we don't know what goes on down there."

His last words were darkly foreboding and sparked a deep dread that I found hard to shake. Now that I had Jean by my side, I didn't feel as vulnerable, but I'd be lying if I said I trusted her completely or wasn't hungry for more power.

And the demons in the town were just power batteries—Red orbs waiting to be harvested.

"Given everything we've learned, I think our team composition needs to change," I said, stepping forward.

---

Mordo opened a portal that dropped me on a branch of one of the tallest trees on the outskirts of town.

I pulled myself up several branches, situating on a comfortable Y-branch that gave me a clear view of the town. With a mental tug, I summoned an M4 rifle with a scope and activated Devil's Eye. All floating Watchers became visible to me, and I breathed in as I lined up my first shot.

I squeezed the trigger, and an eye exploded. I swiveled to the next target and fired again and again and again. In 15 seconds, I'd dropped 12 watchers, and there was a frantic cacophony of grunts, screams, shouts, and hoots as the demons of the town discovered what I'd done. I saw several fleshwarped humans point at me. Patches of their skin were crimson, and their limbs were overgrown and extended, with clumps of stone glued to odd locations on their bodies. Several watchers turned to me as well, but I was already moving.

I leaped from the tree where a portal awaited me, delivering me behind the enemy line where Mordo waited.

I smirked and chucked the grenades at a group of Fleshwarped running at us. They exploded in a visceral spray of shrapnel and flesh, and Mordo raised a shield to protect us.

A fleshwarped dog leaped at Mordo from the side, and the man reacted immediately. He twisted his waist, dispelling his shield, allowing the beast to fly over him, and pulled out a staff that elongated into a glowing whip and lashed out.

He yanked its hind legs with impunity, laying it up for a burst shot from my shotgun. It took a chunk out of its side but was not enough to put it down. Luckily, shotgun shells were in ample supply. It took five more headshots to kill it properly.

The shot-to-kill ratio wasn't ideal, but human weapons were necessary if I wanted to have enough demon and angel energy to fight the Garok later on.

Besides, I'd been neglecting my gun training. I don't think I've ever fought an enemy with firearms exclusively, well, except for in the beginning.

As I reloaded my empty shotgun, I surveyed our environment, listening for incoming demons, and their feet were thunderous. The majority of them were returnees from the gate.

"10 seconds," I announced, and Mordo opened a portal, letting in eight other sorcerers who had already weaved spells.

The first let his spell untangle, creating a large eldritch shield that created a huge dome covering us on all sides. Most of the runes and lines of the shield were gathered at the front.

I switched out my shotgun for an RPG as the wave of monsters approached.

Six hyenas bolted down the alleyway leading to us, and I targeted the load-bearing wall of the building a few paces ahead of them. The RPG exploded just as they reached the building, and it tumbled down.

I switched to my grenade launcher with a small smile tugging at my lips as Red orbs flooded my notification screen.

Congratulations, you've earned 380 Red Orbs.

That was what I was talking about.

The watchers gave 20 red orbs per pop; the dogs and hyenas 20.

I turned back to the sorcerers, minding the wave from the gate just in time to see them release a familiar laser. It cut a line through the horde ranks, killing almost 30 instantly. Two of the three sorcerers broke out in nervous sweat as they slowly shifted the floating eldritch formula in the air, arcing out the beam.

It cut a calamitous line through the earth, evaporating blood, sinew, and muscle before they were properly spilled. The attack stopped when it hit a building and collapsed it. More than half of the gate horde was gone, and I was all too happy to help them thin the horde even more, firing potshots of grenades that arced high and landed with a ground-shaking force.

All six grenades found their targets, and I felt the Red Orbs flow in.

Congratulations, you've earned 300 Red Orbs.

My total Red Orb count had reached 732, the highest it has ever been, and I decided to bank it for now. While having Eryx and Aquila was important, they both came second to Rebellion. It was the key to creating my new Uber skill and probably the key to surviving the shitstorm coming my way.

I pulled out my M4 next and went back to picking Watchers from the sky from the safety of the shield. The sorcerers started launching kinetic balls that eviscerated lines upon lines of demons, and Mordo seemed content just to stand and watch.

When I heard all of the fleshwarped demons let out a ferocious roar as one, I knew we'd finally gotten the Garok's attention.

All of the demons began to retreat, moving away from our direct line of fire and ducking into buildings. The watchers dived low, vanishing into the small network of tight alleyways. Only the fleshwarped brutes remained visible, and they'd all come together in a single line, charging as one unstoppable wave.

They were easily over 100, and I saw panic creep into Mordo's features for the very first time.

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