The Big Explosion

Natasha and Coulson, positioned outside the base, were organizing the agents' emergency evacuation.

"Everyone evacuate immediately! I repeat, evacuate immediately!" Coulson issued the order through the comms, his usual smile conspicuously absent. "Natasha, Fury will be very angry if he finds out you supported the person he's always been wary of. And... I'm a little curious. Why did you trust someone you'd only met once?"

Natasha looked at the faintly trembling metal hangar in the distance, the corners of her red lips curling upward. "Heh, maybe... it reminded me of some things that happened long ago..."

Coulson did not understand what Natasha meant, but he would not pry. As an agent—especially one like Natasha, who had once belonged to the enemy side—she was bound to have secrets. Just like him; no one knew he had a girlfriend who played the cello. Or so he thought.

2B appeared beside Chen Tian. "Master, all agents have evacuated to a safe distance."

As soon as 2B finished speaking, Diablo's hoarse voice rang in Chen Tian's ear. "Master, I am ready as well. However..." The Demon King's tone carried obvious dissatisfaction. "That bastard named Madara Uchiha glared at me with his Rinnegan again."

Chen Tian could not help laughing. "All right, all right, stop bickering, you two." His gaze sharpened as he looked at Mephisto, trapped in an illusion. "Now, we need to find out where Thor is."

Chen Tian looked at Madara beside him, who was still striking a pose. "Madara, how is it? Did you find where Mephisto hid Thor?"

The Mangekyō Sharingan in Madara's eyes spun slowly. "Master, give me one more minute. This demon is about to confess everything to the supreme being in his illusion."

In a pure white void, Mephisto knelt on the ground, trembling all over.

Cracks covered Mephisto's crimson skin. His goat horns were twisted and broken, while sulfur-smelling blood dripped onto a nonexistent floor and evaporated into black mist.

Eternity's form shifted constantly before him. Billions of stars revolved, and the vast pressure of the universe crushed every inch of his soul.

"Speak." Eternity's voice rumbled like billions of stars roaring in unison. "Where is Thor Odinson?"

A hoarse laugh squeezed out of Mephisto's throat. "Heh... hehehe... Eternity... actually paying attention to a brute from one universe among countless universes? How fascinating..."

Eternity did not answer. He merely raised a hand slightly.

"AAAAARGH—!" Mephisto's body was instantly torn apart, only to reform the next second. The agony curled him into a ball.

"Your last chance." Eternity's voice was cold and merciless.

Mephisto's vertical pupils spun wildly. At last, he broke. "The Mirror Dimension! Kaecilius... the mage from Kamar-Taj... helped me hide him there!"

Eternity's figure paused slightly. "The exact location."

"The New York Sanctum... underground... the Mirror Layer..." Mephisto panted, then suddenly grinned viciously. "But you're too late... Loki has already... begun his plan..."

Eternity's form gradually faded, and the pure white space began collapsing.

Mephisto froze. "Wait... you... you're not Eternity?!"

At the final moment before the illusion shattered, he heard a teasing voice.

"Of course not, old man."

In the real world.

Madara Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan slowly stopped spinning, and a cold smile tugged at his lips. "Master, I found him."

Chen Tian raised a brow. "Oh?"

Madara formed a hand seal with one hand, dispelling the illusion. Mephisto's body began trembling, drenched in cold sweat. He looked up to find Chen Tian, Madara, and 2B staring down at him.

"Where?" Chen Tian raised a brow.

"At the New York Sanctum. Kaecilius locked that Thor in the underground Mirror Layer." Madara smiled faintly. "Mirror Layer. Interesting. Master, do you need me to make a trip to New York myself?"

Chen Tian shook his head and looked at the struggling Mephisto. "No. I need your help with what comes next."

Madara nodded slightly and looked at Mephisto, who had awakened from the illusion. "Master, why not let this demon remain trapped in my illusion forever?"

"Hey, where's the fun in that? Didn't he take an interest in Diablo and me?" Chen Tian crossed one leg over the other smugly. "Well, I'm quite interested in his Hell Dimension too."

Thinking of his plan, Chen Tian became even more animated. "Madara, what do you think about having Diablo take control of Mephisto's Hell Dimension?"

Madara crossed his arms, and disdain flashed through his scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan. "Hmph, take control of a dimension?"

He proudly lifted his chin. "Master, there is no need to waste so much time. Why would I, Madara Uchiha, need to rely on such external things to prove my power?"

Chen Tian rubbed his forehead helplessly. "Yes, yes, Your Excellency is invincible beneath the heavens."

2B's mechanical visor flickered faintly as she softly reminded him, "Master, Mephisto is about to awaken."

Sure enough, the bound Mephisto began struggling violently, sulfur-smelling black mist seeping continuously from his body. Diablo immediately strengthened the seal, and blood-red chains dug deeply into the Demon Lord's flesh.

"AAAAARGH—!" Mephisto let out a pained howl, his aged face twisting grotesquely. "You... dare toy with a Lord of Hell!"

Chen Tian crouched down, meeting Mephisto's gaze. "Old Mephisto, don't get so worked up." He showed an utterly harmless smile. "How about we make a deal?"

Mephisto's vertical pupils contracted into thin slits. "A deal? With you?"

"That's right." Chen Tian snapped his fingers. "Your Hell Dimension in exchange for your life."

The entire space instantly fell silent. Mephisto stopped struggling, clearly shocked by the proposal.

Mephisto suddenly burst into wild laughter, his voice filled with mockery. "Hahaha... foolish mortal! What do you think Hell is? Real estate that can be casually transferred?"

Chen Tian stood and shrugged. "I tried reasoning with you, but you wouldn't listen. Then I have no choice." Chen Tian called into the air, "Hey, Lord of Terror, I'll leave the rest to you."

The instant Chen Tian's words fell, countless crimson fissures tore open in the air. Scorching magma dripped down like blood, gathering into a pool of boiling lava on the ground. The stench of sulfur spread at once, and even the air warped from the heat.

BOOM—!

A massive figure slowly rose from the magma, its savage demonic body gradually taking shape.

Diablo—the Lord of Terror—had finally descended upon the world in his complete form.

His scarlet vertical pupils gazed down at Mephisto, his mouth splitting into a grin that exposed stark white fangs.

"Leave it to me, Master." Diablo's voice seemed woven from the wails of countless dead souls. "I will let the demons of this world know that even among demons, there are ranks."

Mephisto's expression completely froze.

His pupils contracted violently. For the first time, genuine terror appeared on that face that always wore a crafty smile. He looked up at Diablo's complete form, an inhuman hiss emerging from his throat. "No... impossible... this pressure... fear... made manifest?"

Diablo slowly bent down, his demon body over three meters tall casting a suffocating shadow. He extended a claw covered in crimson scales and gently pinched Mephisto's chin, forcing the Lord of Hell to meet his gaze.

"I heard..." Diablo's voice rolled like hellish lava, "you wanted to devour me?"

Mephisto's body trembled beneath the Power of Fear. At such close range, he finally saw Diablo's true nature—this was not a demon form that should exist in this universe. Every inch of Diablo's skin flowed with chaotic energy from another dimension, and ancient runes that even a Lord of Hell could not comprehend flickered in the depths of those vertical pupils.

"You... you are not a demon born in this world..." Mephisto's voice trembled.

Diablo let out a low laugh, and the sound made the whole space begin to distort. "Smart. Too bad it's too late."

He suddenly tightened his claw, ripping several bone-deep wounds across Mephisto's cheek. Sulfur-smelling black blood sprayed out.

"AAAAARGH—!" Mephisto screamed, but what frightened him even more was discovering that his regeneration was completely useless before Diablo. Not only did those wounds fail to heal, they began to rot and spread.

Chen Tian watched with great interest and turned to Madara. "When it comes to torturing people, demons really know their stuff."

Madara snorted, his eyes filled with disdain. "Just some intimidating tricks."

By then, Diablo had lifted Mephisto off the ground. The Demon Lord's feet dangled in the air as he hung like a rag doll. Diablo pressed his other claw against Mephisto's chest, where every demon's core of power lay.

"You know, old man..." Diablo's voice suddenly became gentle, making it even more chilling. "Back in my homeland, we call things like you... snacks."

As soon as he spoke, Diablo's claw viciously plunged into Mephisto's chest! Amid the spray of black blood, he forcibly tore out a beating black heart. Countless tiny chains wrapped around it, each one connected to some corner of the Hell Dimension.

"The core of Hell's authority..." Chen Tian whistled. "That easy?"

The heart torn from Mephisto's body beat violently in Diablo's palm, its black veins writhing like venomous snakes. "A bunch of idiots!"

The terrified Mephisto suddenly revealed a savage smile. A thunderous rumble came from his pierced chest. "You think... I came unprepared?!"

Chen Tian's pupils shrank. "Not good! Diablo, swallow it—"

Diablo swallowed the black heart in a single gulp. Not long after he swallowed it—

A muffled sound came from deep within Diablo's throat. The black heart exploded inside him, and countless hellish runes slithered through his veins like poisonous snakes. Streams of black lava flowed from the gaps between his scales.

"Cough—!" Diablo dropped to one knee and spat out a mouthful of black blood mixed with sulfur. He looked up in disbelief at the fading Mephisto. "You... actually used your own soul and authority as bait..."

Mephisto's body peeled away in flakes through the air like ashes from a burnt-out fire. Yet his laughter became more and more unrestrained, as though this defeat was his true victory.

"How dare you underestimate a Dimensional Demon God?!"

His voice echoed through the distorted space, carrying a strange sense of satisfaction. His fading vertical pupils stared fixedly at Diablo, as though admiring his masterpiece—the Lord of Terror's scales were being corroded by hellish runes, black cracks spreading across his body like countless tiny venomous snakes devouring his power.

"You think I would hand over the true authority of Hell?" Mephisto's afterimage looked mockingly at Chen Tian. "Just wait, Little Boy. Once you lose this demon's help, let's see whether you can withstand the harassment of Dimensional Demon Gods from every dimension."

A low roar rolled from Diablo's throat. He suddenly opened his enormous mouth and completely devoured what remained of Mephisto in the air! The sulfur-smelling black mist was forcibly swallowed, and the Demon Lord's final trace of existence was crushed within him.

However, it brought no satisfaction of victory.

The atmosphere fell silent at once. Chen Tian's face scrunched up as he looked at 2B. "Did that old guy just say Dimensional Demon Gods from every dimension?"

2B nodded. "Master, you do not need to worry. 2B will protect you."

Chen Tian waved his hand and let out a heavy sigh. "I thought I'd outplayed that cunning demon. Turns out I'm still the one who got played."

Diablo's massive body swayed. His crimson-scaled knee smashed heavily into the ground, kicking up a ring of sulfur-smelling dust.

"Master..." Weakness appeared in Diablo's voice for the first time, black blood constantly spilling from his throat. "That old man... used his authority to grievously wound me. I must return to the Summoning Space to recover..."

Chen Tian nodded. "Sorry, Diablo. I underestimated that demon too much."

Diablo bared his fangs. "Master, do not belittle yourself. You are still young." Countless streams of magma appeared beneath his feet and slowly surrounded him. "Master, I will be unable to answer your summons for some time. Please be extremely careful..."

"Hmph, what are you worried about? I'm by Master's side." Madara mercilessly interrupted Diablo.

"Damn Uchiha! Once I recover, the first thing I'll do is break your legs! Let's see how you dance then!" Diablo furiously cursed as his figure vanished.

"Hah, the barking of a defeated dog."

After watching Diablo disappear completely, Chen Tian looked at Madara's proud, prickly expression and sighed.

"Let's leave first. I don't want to stay here any longer. Who knows what Mephisto left behind here."

Chen Tian's loose mouth was apparently blessed. The moment he finished speaking, countless glowing red runes appeared across the ground beneath them.

"Fuck! My damn crow mouth!"

Looking at the sudden red glow, Chen Tian wished he could go back and slap the version of himself who had said that.

The red light spread like blood, and the entire ground instantly turned into a boiling pool of lava. Mephisto's wild laughter came from all directions as countless skeletal hands burning with Hellfire stretched from the torn fissures and frantically grabbed at them.

"Master!" 2B's mechanical visor instantly switched to combat mode, her silver hair flying in the heatwave. She scooped Chen Tian up and leaped into the air, the heels of her boots transforming into levitation devices.

Madara snorted as his Rinnegan flared brightly. "A mere remnant soul dares act so arrogantly!" His hands rapidly formed seals. "Tengai Shinsei!"

The sky suddenly tore open, and a meteor a hundred meters in diameter, wrapped in blazing flames, crashed toward the ground. Those skeletal hands were instantly pulverized, but strangely—the red light only grew brighter!

The red light became even more dazzling, piercing directly through the dust storm kicked up by the falling meteor.

"Damn it! What was that meteor?" Coulson shouted as he drove, asking Natasha.

Natasha leaned the upper half of her body out of the car window, watching the meteor crash into the former base.

BOOM!!!

A mushroom cloud shot into the sky, while the shockwave spread outward at a visible speed. The ground rose and fell like ocean waves, and concrete fragments and metal wreckage were hurled hundreds of meters into the air.

"Coulson! Faster!" Natasha shouted at Coulson, who was driving.

"I know, I know! Damn it, this car is already at its limit! When we get back, I'm making Fury give me a new one!" Coulson's forehead was drenched in sweat.

"Hell! This isn't damage that conventional weapons could cause!" Coulson's fingers clenched the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He glanced at the dashboard—the speed had already exceeded 200 kilometers per hour, but the shockwave was still closing in.

Natasha quickly fastened her seatbelt and pulled out her communicator. "All units, attention! Assume shockwave protection positions immediately! I repeat, immediately—"

Her words abruptly stopped.

Countless red rays pierced through the dust storm raised by the meteor's fall. The blue sky was stained by crimson light, and a blood-red heaven enveloped the entire land.

"Run! Coulson!!" Every hair on Natasha's body stood on end. Her mind screamed at her over and over, telling her to run.

In Natasha's terrified eyes, the mushroom cloud rising behind them was replaced by endless flames, and a massive explosion reflected in her pupils.

Even the vehicle she was riding in began shaking uncontrollably. She looked toward Coulson. He seemed to be shouting something at her, but she could not hear a thing.

Natasha's world fell into a strange silence at that moment.

She saw Coulson's mouth moving, the veins bulging on his forehead, and his fingers clenched tightly around the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white—but every sound had vanished. In the rearview mirror, the devastating shockwave swept toward them like a tsunami, twisting even the air into translucent ripples in its wake.

"Bang!"

The SUV was flipped over like a toy, rolling through the air three full times. Natasha's body was painfully constricted by the seatbelt, and her organs felt displaced under the centrifugal force. The windshield shattered into powder on the first impact with the ground, while the shriek of twisting metal stabbed into her ears.

When the world finally stopped spinning, Natasha found herself hanging upside down inside the mangled cabin. The airbag was plastered against her face, and the smell of blood and gasoline filled her nostrils. She painfully unfastened her seatbelt, crashing heavily onto the roof of the car—now the "floor."

"Coul... son?" Her voice was hoarse. She turned her head slightly and saw Coulson hanging upside down in his seat as well, his face covered in blood and his eyes shut.

She reached out and touched Coulson's neck, then let out a long breath. His pulse is still there. Looks like he only passed out.

Natasha smashed the remaining window with her elbow and dragged her aching body out of the wreckage. When she staggered upright, the sight before her made her breath catch—

The entire wilderness had become a scorched hell. In the area swept by the shockwave, all vegetation had been flattened outward in a radial pattern, its surface covered with a gleaming vitrified substance. Where the S.H.I.E.L.D. base had once stood in the distance, there was now only an enormous crater ten kilometers across, its bottom glowing with an eerie dark red light.

"This... this was more powerful than the atomic bombs used to bomb Japan back then." Coulson's voice came from behind her. He had somehow awakened, his face covered in blood and his suit in tatters.

Natasha did not answer Coulson. She kept staring at the ruins, concern filling her eyes.

"You're worried about Chen Tian?" Coulson limped toward Natasha. "In an explosion like that, I think it would be difficult for any living creature to survive."

"No, we can't judge Chen Tian by common sense." Natasha refuted him.

"How would you know?" Coulson looked at Natasha in confusion.

Natasha did not reply. She would not tell Coulson that ever since seeing Chen Tian on that rooftop, he had begun appearing in her dreams, as though Chen Tian had lived in her past.

"Natasha! What is that?" Coulson suddenly pointed at the ruins in the distance.

Natasha's pupils contracted sharply. In the middle of the burning ruins, a massive blue energy construct was slowly rising. It was a translucent samurai giant clad in armor, both hands shielding its chest, wings spread behind its back and blotting out the sky.

"Susanoo..." Natasha murmured so quietly that only she could hear it, her memories growing clearer and clearer.

Susanoo slowly lowered its enormous blue arm, standing atop the scorched earth like a god descending into the world.

Chen Tian poked his head out from Susanoo's palm, his face pale as he wiped cold sweat from his forehead. "Fuck... I almost got blasted into the sky..."

Behind Chen Tian, 2B scanned him repeatedly. "Master's vital signs are stable, but his adrenaline level exceeds the standard by 300%. Immediate recommendation—"

"Stop, stop, stop!" Chen Tian hurriedly waved his hand, cutting off 2B's medical report. He turned and gave Madara, at Susanoo's core, a thumbs-up. "Madara, you're awesome! If it weren't for that move of yours, I'd probably not even have ashes left!"

Madara stood proudly within the crystal on Susanoo's forehead, his Sharingan coldly sweeping across the ruins. "Hmph, it was merely an explosion."

He crossed his arms, and Susanoo's armor gave off crisp clanking sounds with his movement. "I simply did not expect that Demon Lord's trap to be set in advance so thoroughly that even I failed to notice it."

Madara bowed slightly to Chen Tian. "My deepest apologies, Master. This was my mistake."

Chen Tian waved at Madara, then looked around and clicked his tongue. "Terrifying. Oh, right."

Chen Tian turned to 2B. "Did you contact Tony just now?"

2B nodded. "When I learned Thor's location, I contacted Stark already. He should have arrived in New York by now."

After hearing that, Chen Tian flopped down. 2B immediately knelt and used her thighs to catch his head.

Chen Tian lay spread-eagled in Susanoo's palm, the back of his head resting on 2B's soft thighs as he watched the scarlet sky slowly return to a deep blue.

He let out a long breath and muttered to himself, "Once Tony rescues Thor, he can come here and take his Mjolnir..."

The moment he finished speaking, he abruptly sat up and slapped his forehead. "No! There's also Loki! He might throw the Destroyer Armor into New York!"

"Chen Tian! Get back to New York now! A killer robot fell from the sky! Tony is keeping it occupied!" Coulson's voice came from beneath Susanoo's feet.