Soul

Natasha glanced at the console and asked Taskmaster, "Why did all of you suddenly wake up?"

Taskmaster still did not answer, as if Natasha did not exist. Natasha sighed and went to talk to Drakov on the ground. "You're depressed, and so am I. I feel like I've been set up."

Drakov said in a low voice, "Take me away, and I'll give you anything you want."

"What I want is for you to disappear forever."

Natasha snorted. Seeing this, Drakov begged Taskmaster again, but Taskmaster ignored him completely.

The Black Widow Legion was highly capable in combat. Before long, every enemy inside the fortress had been cleared out. The Black Widows then escorted Red Guardian and Melina into the main control room.

Red Guardian was injured, and it was obvious the Black Widows had given him a beating.

"Drakov!"

At the sight of Drakov on the floor, dense Killing Intent rose in every Black Widow's eyes. Taskmaster said, "Boss said to take him downstairs before we do anything. Then, each of us can kill him once."

"Once isn't enough."

Yelena said coldly. The Black Widows all nodded. If there was ultimate evil in this world, Drakov was surely one of them.

"Take him downstairs? Could it be that you..."

Thinking of something, Natasha asked in alarm. So the Demon King's target had not been her, but the Black Widows.

"Whether it is or not isn't important. What matters is that you should leave."

Yelena said, "Remember to forget everything that happened here."

"Forget it? That won't do."

Natasha spoke with a mysterious smile. At that moment, a Black Widow shouted, "Aircraft detected nearby!"

The Black Widows froze, then hurriedly looked at the screen. They discovered six fighter jets approaching. The jets were equipped with special technology, which was why they had only been detected now.

They were S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinjets.

Melina asked Natasha, "Did you bring people with you?"

"I didn't bring anyone, but S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury is a super-paranoid lunatic who trusts no one. I suddenly came to Russia, so he definitely sent someone to watch me."

Natasha smiled. "With their methods, following me here would be perfectly normal."

At that moment, Natasha was pulled into the Illusion Realm again. Andrew looked at her with a mocking smile and asked, "Are you feeling smug now? Do you think you played me?"

"I didn't play you. If you insist on seeing it that way, there's nothing I can do."

That was what she said, but Natasha's smugness was written all over her face. Andrew smiled. "You say you didn't violate the contract, so you didn't? S.H.I.E.L.D. followed you to the Air Fortress, Natasha Romanoff. You violated the contract. From now on, your soul belongs to me."

As Andrew spoke, the contract mark within Natasha's soul transformed into the Phoenix Brand. This meant her soul officially belonged to Andrew.

Natasha shouted in shock and fury, "I didn't violate the contract. You can't take my soul."

Andrew asked leisurely, "Do you remember the final clause of the contract?"

Natasha recalled it and asked in astonishment, "The final clause says the Demon King has the final right of interpretation?"

"That's right. The right of interpretation belongs to me. It is a fact that S.H.I.E.L.D. appeared here. If I say you breached the contract, then you breached the contract."

Andrew sneered. "Who do you think you are? Trying to play tricks with the Demon King? Are you worthy?"

Natasha trembled with rage and shouted, "I refuse to accept this!"

"Do I need you to accept it?"

Andrew said, "Your soul already belongs to me. I control not only your life and death, but everything about you. Natasha, think carefully about what you say next. It will determine your future fate."

Natasha felt as if she had fallen into an ice cellar. After a moment of silence, she knelt before Andrew and said with utmost respect, "Lord Demon King, please forgive my arrogance. Everything I have belongs to you."

Andrew walked over to Natasha, lifted her chin with one finger, and said, "Your eyes tell me that the flames of resistance are still burning in your heart."

Natasha's heart skipped a beat. Just as she was about to explain, Andrew continued, "But I don't care, because I have no interest in you. Besides, one day, you will cry and beg as you offer everything to me."

Then, the Illusion Realm vanished. Natasha let out a sigh of relief, only then realizing that her back was drenched in cold sweat.

Fortunately, the Demon King had no interest in her. Otherwise, she would have been finished. Her soul already belonged to him, and he could easily make her beg for life while denying her death.

"I was a little too full of myself."

Natasha secretly shook her head. Still, she did not believe that she would ever submit to the Demon King. She was a Black Widow. She had never submitted to anyone.

It was worth mentioning that Natasha and the other Black Widows could not reveal any secrets unless Andrew gave them permission.

After dealing with Natasha, Andrew lightly waved his hand toward the six Quinjets. All six immediately began to decay, and before long, they had become six rust-covered wrecks.

Immediately afterward, the wrecks fell apart in midair. The six pilots hurriedly Activated their escape systems and were ejected from their cockpits one after another.

This was the Curse of Decay.

"You should leave."

Andrew's voice echoed in Natasha's mind. Not daring to delay, Natasha prepared to leave with the utterly confused Red Guardian and Melina.

Thinking of something, Natasha called to Yelena, "Yelena, do you want to leave with us?"

"I will go find you, but not now."

Yelena shook her head. Natasha knew that all their souls had fallen into the Demon King's hands. She sighed and boarded a fighter jet, leaving the Air Fortress.

Just after Natasha and the others departed, massive amounts of black mist rose from the Air Fortress. When the mist dispersed, the entire fortress had vanished.

Melina was a little frightened. She could not help asking, "Natasha, what exactly is going on?"

"You'd be better off not knowing the truth."

Natasha gave a Bitter Smile. What was wrong with this world? First Angel, then the Demon King? Couldn't they just have some fun in peace?

Melina reminded her, "I don't care about the truth, but S.H.I.E.L.D. definitely does. Natasha, you should be prepared."

Natasha's head immediately began to ache. This time, S.H.I.E.L.D. would probably interrogate her for a long time. Hopefully, they would not stop paying her salary. She had so many credit cards to pay off.

Andrew teleported the Air Fortress to Rebirth Hell. Howard, Trask, and Yinsen came out to inspect it together.

"The technology is decent, but this thing is too easy to destroy. It's not very useful."

Howard said. Trask added, "All show and no substance. Boss, can we dismantle it? There are quite a few materials on it that we need."

"If you talk like that, Drakov will cry."

Andrew joked. "You can't dismantle it. Turn it into an airborne base instead. That will make rescuing people much more convenient in the future.

"As for materials, you no longer need to worry about them. Drakov has an intelligence network comparable to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s. With that intelligence network in hand, buying materials will be easy, whether through legitimate channels or otherwise."