"Steel Judge," Mephisto introduced. "His armor was forged from Hellfire and black magic, the perfect union of knowledge and magic, created solely for slaughter."
Thanos sized up the two men.
He could sense the destructive power contained within them.
The two of them were indeed qualified to step onto the Grandmaster's arena.
"And the other one?" Thanos looked at Mephisto.
Mephisto smiled mysteriously.
"The last one is a truly powerful warrior. But please allow me to retain a little mystery..."
"At the most crucial moment, he will naturally make his appearance. I guarantee he will not disappoint you."
Thanos looked at him coldly.
He did not trust any demon's guarantees, especially Mephisto's.
"State your terms." Thanos was direct.
Mephisto revealed a triumphant smile.
"Don't worry. What I want is entirely reasonable."
"First, after you win the competition, I need you to use the Soul Stone to extract something from Homelander's body for me. That thing belongs to me, and he must return it."
Thanos neither agreed nor disagreed, merely signaling for him to continue.
The greed in Mephisto's eyes was undisguised.
"Second... half of Earth's souls."
Thanos's gaze sharpened.
Seeing this, Mephisto calmly explained:
"I know how you operate, Thanos. Whenever you arrive on a planet, you eliminate half its population. That is your rule."
"Since Earth is already on your list for cleansing, you might as well cooperate with me. When you raise your butcher's blade, let half of those souls fall directly into my Hell Dimension."
"There is no loss for you. The outcome is the same. Earth achieves balance, while I get what I want."
Thanos stared at Mephisto coldly.
He was disgusted by a demon's greed, but from a purely rational perspective, Mephisto's proposal did not interfere with his core objective.
All he cared about was