Blood God: Fake, Fake, It Was All Fake!

"Worm, I'm here."

A cruel smile curled at the corner of Blood God's mouth. His body flickered as he prepared to break through the Dimensional Barrier and descend upon Earth in Universe 404.

Bang!

Three enormous golden formations appeared, forming a powerful Magic Shield that blocked Blood God.

Master Ancient One, clad in a Yellow Trench Coat, stepped forward. "Blood God, please go back. There is nothing here that you seek."

"Are you the guardian of this world?" Blood God looked at The Ancient One and threatened:

"You cannot protect that thing. Finders keepers. Let me in, or else—even if you can destroy this avatar of mine, you cannot stop me from spreading the news."

The instant he saw The Ancient One, Blood God sensed an intense threat.

But it did not matter. What could not be obtained by force could be obtained through cunning.

"Thing? What thing?" The Ancient One laughed. With a wave of his hand, he opened a gap in the formation. "Why don't you take another careful look, Blood God, and see whether what you seek is here?"

Blood God sent a thread of Divine Power through the gap.

Why does he look so fearless?

"Impossible, absolutely impossible! I saw it clearly back then. That was Eternity's aura."

As the Divine Power investigated and relayed its findings, Blood God could not help crying out.

"Eternity's aura?" The Ancient One chuckled. "In the Endless Multiverse, where is Eternity not present?"

Blood God's eyes turned crimson as he stared at The Ancient One. "I want to go in and see for myself. If it isn't—"

"If it isn't, then leave this avatar of yours here, Blood God." The Ancient One's voice turned cold as he threatened, "Don't mistake courtesy for weakness. Letting you take a look is already doing you a great favor."

Huff, huff!

Blood God's breathing grew heavier, and two streams of scarlet Blood Plasma dripped into the void with each breath.

"Protecting the real world from magical corruption is the Sorcerer Supreme's duty.

"To give everything until death.

"That is the conviction of every Sorcerer Supreme."

The Ancient One spoke with righteous conviction.

"So there's no room for negotiation?!"

Blood God secretly gathered energy. He had paid such a great price; unless he went in to see for himself, he would never let it go.

Even if this avatar died in battle!

"If you want to go in.

"You'll have to pay more!"

"There's no room for negotiation, then—huh?"

"Energy. As long as you can pay enough energy, there's nothing wrong with letting you go in for a look," The Ancient One explained.

Blood God fell silent.

In his endless years, even he had rarely seen such a shameless powerhouse.

Was he bluffing by feigning retreat, trying to dispel my suspicions and protect the Heart of Eternity;

or had all of this been his scheme from the very beginning?

I'll ask first, then decide.

"How much energy?"

The Ancient One slowly raised one finger.

"The amount of energy you transmitted to Earth without my permission before. Give me another share of that."

Blood God was angered. Since when had he needed anyone's permission to do anything?

"Fine. Come with me to the Blood Dimension and collect it."

"No." The Ancient One shook his head. "Give it to me the same way you transmitted it to Earth."

Blood God frowned, the Blood Plasma flowing over his body speeding up noticeably. "By my method, I can give you double."

To send energy from the Blood Dimension here, nine parts out of ten would be consumed along the way. Naturally, Blood God would not accept The Ancient One's proposal.

The Ancient One merely smiled at Blood God without speaking.

You think I care about the energy you transmit here? Why do you think the transmission loss is so high?

Either hand over one share of energy and go in for a look to put your mind at rest;

or I will do it myself and squeeze that share of energy out of you.

Russell could act. Did The Ancient One not know how?

New York.

"Whew, we finally got all these Blood Clan under control."

Gwen let out a long breath and sighed.

As for her mask, it had long since been tossed somewhere unknown.

"Russell, why can you inflict irreversible damage on the Blood Clan?"

Tony landed as well and asked directly, "Was it because of that... magic?"

Russell nodded. "That's right."

Tony frowned.

If all magical creatures had such traits, there was another aspect of his armor that needed upgrading.

"The matter is finally over." Blade walked over as well.

Other than the people from S.H.I.E.L.D., the four of them were the only outsiders, so they did not need to take part in cleaning up the battlefield.

"But won't there be problems with leaving those captured Blood Clan in their custody?"

Blade had dealt with Vampires for many years. He knew all too well how certain human higher-ups viewed Vampires.

Now that an upgraded version had appeared, someone might very well get the wrong ideas.

Over? It was not over yet.

Russell raised his head and looked toward the sky.

In that direction, two auras were confronting each other.

One radiated the Blood God's Power that he had become very familiar with.

The other should have been The Ancient One.

What were The Ancient One and Blood God doing?

Would they fight?

They probably would.

Suddenly, a fiery Portal opened not far away.

The Ancient One stepped out first, followed by a man dressed similarly to him.

As if sensing someone watching him, the man looked over.

The hairs all over Russell's body stood on end.

Blood God!

With just one glance, Russell recognized the man's identity.

How had he gotten in?

"Blood God, don't forget our agreement." The Ancient One reminded him from the side, seemingly mild-mannered. "If you make a move, this avatar will have to stay here."

Blood God withdrew his gaze.

Business came first. He would not bother with this worm.

"Haha, let S.H.I.E.L.D. handle things here. Gwen, Tony, Blade, let's head back to the city and rest first."

Russell gave a laugh and suggested that they leave first.

This place was no longer safe. He needed to hide at the New York Sanctum Sanctorum for a while.

Tony could not see The Ancient One and the others, so he did not realize the danger. He politely declined.

"Russell, if you're tired, go back first. I'll stay a little longer. If anything happens, I can provide support in time."

"Russell, is something dangerous here?" Gwen suddenly asked. "My Spider-Sense twitched just now."

Russell nodded.

"Oh, my Arc Reactor is nearly out of energy. I need to go back and replace it." Tony changed his mind. "Let's go. We'll head back and rest for a while."

"Blood God, how is it? I told you there was nothing here that you wanted."

"No? How could there be nothing? Did I see it wrong?" Blood God muttered. "Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

Blood God suddenly erupted, firing a blast of energy at The Ancient One.

"You must have hidden it!"

The Ancient One summoned an Energy Shield and blocked Blood God's attack.

"Why go this far, Blood God? Even now, will you still not admit defeat?"

As he spoke, the space around The Ancient One warped. "Blood God, if you want to see it, then I will let you see it clearly."

The Mirror Dimension rapidly expanded.

Blood God did not resist, allowing the Mirror Dimension to pull him inside.

"So that's how it is. This was all your scheme.

"Fake, fake, it was all fake!

"What Heart of Eternity? It was all fake."

Blood God looked utterly crazed.

In this game, he had lost completely.

"Blood God, please."

The Ancient One opened a Portal and gestured for Blood God to leave.