When Your Final Solution Is Still a Fistfight

Watching the demon Illyana teleport back and forth through the portals, Gwen asked curiously, "Can she really not get out?"

"No, she actually can, if she's smart enough. But she's less like a devil and more like a demon, controlled by her own anger. So... even if she realizes she can escape, I think it'll take her a long time."

As Peter spoke, he looked toward Illyana, who was sitting cross-legged nearby, waiting for her to finish casting. Gwen asked curiously, "Who's this girl? How come I've never seen her before?"

That was a good question—so good that Peter had no idea how to answer it for a moment. After thinking it over, he gave a standard polite answer. "She's a mutant, a student at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, and also a mage. She was kidnapped to this place by demons as a child, survived here for several years, and learned dark magic. I'm fairly familiar with Strange's side of things, you know."

Not a single lie had been spoken. It was just that Gwen would probably never guess that those several years of survival and magical study had amounted to only one year in the real world.

Gwen had actually wanted to say, "No, I don't know," but decided against it. So she waited with Peter for Illyana to finish meditating. Once Illyana concluded the ritual and stood, she looked around and spotted the two portals pressed close together.

"...How about you undo it?"

"You've finished the spell?"

"Of course. I've got every spell on me now. Let her go—I'm going to settle this with her!"

Watching Illyana brimming with heroic spirit, Peter was briefly confused. So her spellcasting amounted to piling buffs on herself before going into melee? Had Strange led her astray? Was this mage even