4: The Sorcerer Supreme

In the face of everyone's disdain, Mephisto's expression did not change at all. He was originally the most shameless Lord of Hell, and more importantly, if he couldn't get something, he would rather destroy it than let others have it.

For a devil, harming others without benefiting oneself is a matter of course!

As soon as Mephisto finished speaking, a circle of golden sparks appeared in front of Kira Argento. Immediately after, the circle of golden sparks rapidly expanded, and a yellow figure became faintly visible behind the circle.

"Sorcerer Supreme?"

Kira Argento gasped and hurriedly drew upon the power of Blackheart, transforming it into a black ball that he shot toward the spatial portal.

Bang!

As soon as the black ball reached the portal, it exploded with a roar, causing the portal to collapse rapidly amidst the violent tremors.

Before Kira Argento could breathe a sigh of relief, sparks appeared around him again, spinning much faster than before. Immediately after, a yellow figure walked out of the portal.

This figure had gray hair and a sullen expression, giving off a very difficult-to-mess-with vibe, but Kira Argento breathed a sigh of relief.

It was not the Ancient One who came, but her chief disciple, Kaecilius.

Mephisto was stunned and shouted discontentedly, "Why didn't the Ancient One come?"

"The Sorcerer Supreme does not need to explain herself to you."

Kaecilius glanced at Mephisto and conjured a magic whip to attack Kira Argento. At this moment, a chain burning with flames fiercely struck towards him.

Kaecilius hurriedly swung his magic whip to deflect the flaming chain, which smashed a nearby stone pillar into pieces with a loud bang, sending debris flying everywhere.

Mephisto shouted angrily, "Ghost Rider, what are you doing?"

"Roxanne can't be harmed."

Johnny shouted as he fiercely hurled the flames from his body toward Kaecilius. The Wind Demon had told him that if the Hell Lord was harmed, Roxanne would die. Roxanne was the woman he loved most, and he couldn't let anything happen to her.

Mephisto was almost infuriated to death. At such a critical moment, you're playing the hero for love?

Unfortunately, the Spirit of Vengeance within Johnny was special, and Mephisto couldn't strip it away. In fact, he could do nothing now, feeling extremely frustrated.

"Get out of the way."

Kaecilius swung his magic whip, shattering the hellfire one after another. Then, he drew a circle with one hand, causing a glowing circle to appear under Johnny's feet, making him fall uncontrollably.

At the critical moment, the Wind Demon rushed over and lifted Johnny, hurling him forcefully toward Kaecilius. Kaecilius cast a spell with both hands, causing a barrier resembling glass to appear out of thin air.

Johnny crashed into the barrier with a bang and fell down.

Kaecilius controlled the barrier, preparing to trap Johnny. At that moment, a red flame surged into Johnny's body.

"Stop tossing me!!" Johnny roared, the flames on his body flaring up, and he punched the barrier, shattering it into butterfly-like fragments that dispersed.

It was Kira Argento who had transferred the power of the Spirit of Vengeance to Johnny. With the reinforcement, Johnny's strength increased greatly, and he teamed up with the Demon Wind to battle fiercely against Kaecilius.

"The Spirit of Vengeance? You not only stole my contract but also my Spirit of Vengeance?"

Mephisto was so furious he almost spat blood. Kira Argento couldn't be bothered to respond to him.

As the last soul flew into his body, the small Hell was about to be completed.

"Haha, it's a success."

Kira Argento was overjoyed. At this crucial moment, suddenly, everything around him stopped, as if a movie had been paused. Whether it was the ferocious Johnny, the furious Mephisto, or the excited Kira Argento, they were all frozen in place.

"What!? Time has stopped!? Ancient One, you did this on purpose, didn't you?"

As a Lord of Hell, Kira Argento's consciousness was not halted. He cursed with his mental power, thinking it was clearly a trick to stop time just as he was about to succeed.

At that moment, everything blurred before Kira Argento's eyes, and he found himself in an ancient hall.

A bald woman with an elegant and calm demeanor, dressed in yellow robes, was sitting there quietly with a fan in her hand. There was no doubt that she was the Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One, who suppressed all realms and made countless demon gods tremble in fear.

The Sorcerer Supreme raised her hand and said to Kira Argento, "Please sit, newly born Lord of Hell."

"Very well~" Kira Argento glanced at the Sorcerer Supreme and suddenly smiled. He sat down in front of her and said, "So, stopping time at the last moment and inviting me into an illusion, Sorcerer Supreme, do you want to negotiate with me?"

The Ancient One did not answer directly. She looked at Kira Argento with a gaze that seemed to see through everything and said, "You are very special."

Kira Argento's heart skipped a beat, but on the surface, he said, "Are you saying I look particularly handsome?"

The Ancient One smiled slightly and said, "Perhaps I mean that you have particularly thick skin."

Kira Argento's face darkened. He said, "Sorcerer Supreme, let's talk conditions. Don't go too far. The small Hell is about to be completed. If I want, I can cause mutual destruction with Earth. You should know, I'm not afraid to go barefoot while you're wearing shoes."

"You are indeed barefoot," the Ancient One said. "Not only are you special, but this world is also very special."

Kira Argento asked, "What's so special about it?"

The Ancient One raised her fan and pointed, creating a magical light screen. On the screen, a wise bald man in a wheelchair was teaching a group of students.

Kira Argento narrowed his eyes slightly, 'That's Professor Charles?'

"A year ago, there were no mutants. Then, they suddenly appeared, and everyone felt their existence was normal. Only a few beings noticed something was wrong," the Ancient One said. "Situations like this have occurred four times this year. In other words, four worlds have fused into this one. Mutants, Ghost Rider—they all appeared after the world fusion."

"World fusion?"

Kira Argento was increasingly shocked. The Ancient One nodded and said, "Yes, world fusion. This year, I've been investigating the truth, but I've found nothing. The only thing I can be sure of is that world fusion hasn't ended. It will continue."

"No one knows what the future holds for this world. You are a very special person, so I can let you keep the small Hell, but I have two conditions."

Kira Argento said, "Let's hear them. I must state in advance that I'll only accept reasonable conditions."

'After finally becoming a Lord of Hell, I can't keep living like I did before, compromising myself.'

The Ancient One looked at Kira Argento and said, "You cannot cause large-scale harm to humans, and you cannot do anything that might lead to the destruction of humanity."

"You make me sound like some inhumane demonic bastard. Well, I am a Hell Lord," Kira Argento said. "You are in luck I guess~ Don't worry, even if you didn't say it, I wouldn't do such things."

"A Lord of Hell isn't necessarily a 'demonic bastard'," the Ancient One chuckled then shook her head and said. "By the way, once the small Hell is established, your Hell will be connected to Earth. If Earth is destroyed, your Hell will suffer certain impacts."

"Certain impacts?"

Kira Argento narrowed his eyes and asked, "Sorcerer Supreme, did you do something secretly?"

"If I had done something, it wouldn't just be non-fatal impacts. Simply put, it's being affected by space storms."

The Ancient One said, "Secondly, you cannot collect souls through violence or slaughter. You can only use contracts to let people voluntarily give their souls to you, similar to how Mephisto does it."

'Oh, how fucking lovely' Kira scoffed.

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