The Big Explosion

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

"Everyone, evacuate immediately! I repeat, evacuate immediately!" Coulson issued the order through the communicator, the smile rarely absent from his face now gone. "Natasha, Fury will be furious if he finds out you support the person he has always been wary of. And... I'm a little curious. Why do you trust someone you've only met once?"

Natasha looked at the faintly trembling metal barracks in the distance, her red lips curling slightly. "Heh, maybe... it reminded me of some things that happened before..."

Coulson did not understand what Natasha meant, but he would not pry. After all, agents, especially agents like Natasha who had once belonged to the enemy, all had their secrets. Just like him—no one knew he had a girlfriend who played the cello. (At least, he thought no one knew.)

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

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

Chen Tian could not help laughing. "Alright, alright, stop fighting, you two." He looked at Mephisto, who was trapped in an illusion, and his gaze sharpened. "Now, we need to find out where Thor is."

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

The Mangekyō Sharingan in Madara's eyes spun. "Master, give me one more minute. That 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 ram horns were twisted and broken, and sulfurous blood dripped onto the nonexistent ground, evaporating into black mist.

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

"Speak." Eternity's voice was like billions of stars roaring at once. "Where is Thor Odinson?"

A hoarse laugh squeezed from Mephisto's throat. "Heh... hehe... 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.

"Ahhh—!" Mephisto's body was instantly torn apart, then reassembled in 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 Dimension's interlayer..." Mephisto panted, then suddenly grinned viciously. "But you are too late... Loki has already... begun his plan..."

Eternity's figure gradually faded, and the white space began to collapse.

Mephisto froze. "Wait... you... you are 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 curled across his lips. "Master, I found him."

Chen Tian raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Madara formed a seal with one hand and released the illusion. Mephisto's body began trembling, cold sweat covering him. He looked up and saw Chen Tian, Madara, and 2B looking down at him from above.

"Where?" Chen Tian asked, raising an eyebrow.

"At the New York Sanctum. Kaecilius imprisoned that Thunder God in the underground Mirror Dimension interlayer." Madara smiled faintly. "A Mirror Dimension interlayer. Interesting. Does Master need me to make a trip to New York myself?"

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

Madara nodded slightly and looked toward Mephisto, who was waking from the illusion. "Master, why not let this demon remain immersed in my illusion forever?"

"Hey, what fun would that be? Isn't he interested in Diablo and me? Well..." Chen Tian smugly crossed one leg over the other. "I am very interested in his Hell Dimension too."

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

Madara folded his arms, and a flash of disdain passed through his scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan. "Hmph, take control of a dimension?"

He arrogantly lifted his chin. "Master, there is no need to waste so much time. Why would the power of Madara Uchiha need such external things to prove itself?"

Chen Tian rubbed his forehead helplessly. "Yes, yes, Your Excellency is invincible under heaven."

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

Sure enough, the bound Mephisto began struggling violently. Sulfurous black mist continuously seeped from his body. Diablo immediately strengthened the seal, and blood-red chains dug deeply into the demon lord's flesh.

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

Chen Tian crouched down until he was eye level with Mephisto. "Old Mephisto, don't get so worked up." He wore an innocent smile. "How about we make a deal?"

Mephisto's vertical pupils narrowed to 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 stunned by the proposal.

Mephisto suddenly burst into wild laughter, his voice full of mockery. "Hahaha... foolish mortal! Do you think Hell is some property that can simply be transferred?"

Chen Tian stood and shrugged. "I tried talking nicely, but you would not listen, so I have no choice." Chen Tian called out into the air. "Hey, Lord of Terror, I'll leave the rest to you."

As soon as Chen Tian spoke, countless crimson fissures suddenly split open in the air. Scorching magma dripped down like blood, gathering on the ground into a pool of boiling lava. The stench of sulfur instantly filled the air, which itself distorted from the heat.

Boom—!

A huge figure slowly rose from the magma, its monstrous demon body gradually taking shape.

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

His scarlet vertical pupils looked down at Mephisto, and his mouth split open to reveal pale fangs.

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

Mephisto's expression completely froze.

His pupils shrank violently. For the first time, true fear appeared on the face that always wore a cunning smile. He looked up at Diablo's complete form, and an inhuman rasp escaped his throat. "No... impossible... this pressure... fear... given form?"

Diablo slowly bent down, his demon body over three meters tall casting a suffocating shadow. He extended a claw covered in crimson scales, gently pinched Mephisto's chin, and forced 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 close range, he finally saw Diablo's true nature—that was not a demon form that should exist in this universe at all. Every inch of Diablo's skin flowed with chaotic energy from another dimension, and ancient runes flickered in the depths of his vertical pupils, runes that even a lord of Hell could not comprehend.

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

Diablo let out a low laugh, and the entire space began to distort from the sound. "Smart. Too bad it is too late."

He suddenly tightened his claw, tearing several bone-deep wounds across Mephisto's cheeks. Sulfurous black blood sprayed out.

"Ahhh—!" Mephisto screamed, but what frightened him more was the discovery that his regenerative ability had completely failed before Diablo. Those wounds did not heal. Instead, 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 full of disdain. "Nothing but frightening tricks."

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

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

The moment he finished speaking, Diablo's claw stabbed violently 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?"

Mephisto's extracted heart throbbed violently in Diablo's palm, its black veins writhing like poisonous snakes. "A bunch of fools!"

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

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

Diablo swallowed the black heart in one bite. 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 blood vessels like venomous snakes. Streams of black lava flowed out from between his scales.

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

Mephisto's body peeled away in pieces through the air like ashes from a burned-out fire. Yet his laughter grew ever more unrestrained, as though this defeat was his true victory.

"How dare you underestimate a dimensional demon god?!"

His voice echoed through the twisted space, carrying a strange sense of satisfaction. Those fading vertical pupils stared fixedly at Diablo, as if 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 gnawing at his power.

"Did you think I would simply hand over Hell's true authority?" Mephisto's remnant sneered at Chen Tian. "Just wait, little boy. Once you lose this demon's help, let us see whether you can withstand the harassment of demon gods from every dimension."

A deep roar rolled from Diablo's throat. He suddenly opened his enormous mouth and completely devoured the remnants of Mephisto in the air! He forcibly swallowed the sulfurous black mist, crushing the final trace of the demon lord's existence within his body.

However, it brought no satisfaction of victory.

The atmosphere instantly became silent. Chen Tian's face scrunched up as he looked at 2B. "Was that old guy talking about 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 had outplayed that crafty demon. Turns out I was the one who got played."

Diablo's enormous body swayed, and his knee covered in crimson scales slammed heavily into the ground, kicking up a ring of sulfur-scented dust.

"Master..." Diablo's voice carried weakness for the first time, black blood continuously spilling from his throat. "That old man... used his authority to grievously injure me. I must return to the summoning space to recover..."

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

Diablo bared his fangs in a grin. "Master, do not belittle yourself. You are still young." As he spoke, 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 am by Master's side." Madara ruthlessly interrupted Diablo.

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

"Heh, the barking of a defeated dog."

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

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

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

"Fuck! My cursed mouth!"

Chen Tian stared at the suddenly appearing red light, wishing he could go back and slap the version of himself who had said that.

The red glow spread like blood, and the entire ground instantly transformed into a pool of boiling lava. Mephisto's wild laughter came from every direction. Countless skeletal hands burning with hellfire stretched from the split fissures and crazily grabbed at them.

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

Madara snorted as his Rinnegan lit up. "A mere remnant soul dares act so boldly!" He rapidly formed hand seals. "Tengai Shinsei!"

The sky suddenly split open, and a meteor a hundred meters wide, wrapped in flames, crashed toward the ground. Those skeletal hands were instantly crushed, but strangely—the red light only grew stronger!

The crimson glow became increasingly blinding, directly piercing through the dust storm raised 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 and watched the meteor slam into the former base.

Boom!!!

A mushroom cloud rose into the sky, and the shockwave spread outward at a visible speed. The ground rose and fell like ocean waves, while 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 get me a new one!" Sweat covered Coulson's forehead.

"Damn! This is not damage any conventional weapon could cause!" Coulson's fingers gripped the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles turned white. He glanced at the dashboard—the speed had already exceeded two hundred kilometers per hour, but the shockwave was still closing in.

Natasha quickly fastened her seat belt while pulling out her communicator. "All units, attention! Take shockwave protection positions immediately! I repeat, immedia—"

Her words abruptly stopped.

Countless red lights pierced through the billowing dust raised by the meteor's impact. The blue sky was stained red, and a scarlet heaven shrouded the entire land.

"Run! Coulson!!" Every hair on Natasha's body stood on end. Her brain screamed at 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.

The vehicle she was in began shaking uncontrollably. She looked at Coulson. He seemed to be shouting something at her, but she could not hear anything.

Natasha's world fell into an eerie silence at that moment.

She saw Coulson's mouth moving. She saw the veins bulging on his forehead. She saw his fingers clutching the steering wheel until the knuckles turned white—but every sound had vanished. In the rearview mirror, that destructive shockwave swept toward them like a tsunami, twisting even the air into translucent ripples wherever it passed.

Bang!

The SUV was tossed over like a toy, rolling three full times through the air. Natasha's body was painfully cinched by the seat belt, and the centrifugal force seemed to displace her organs. The windshield shattered into dust upon the first impact with the ground, and the shriek of twisting metal pierced her ears.

When the world finally stopped spinning, Natasha found herself hanging upside down in the mangled cabin. The airbag was pressed against her face, and the stench of blood and gasoline filled her nose. She struggled to undo her seat belt, then crashed heavily onto the roof of the car—which had now become the "floor."

"Coul...son?" Her voice was hoarse. She slightly turned her head 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 just passed out.

Natasha smashed the remaining window glass with her elbow and dragged her aching body out of the wreckage. When she staggered to her feet, the scene before her stole her breath—

The entire wilderness had become a charred hellscape. Throughout the area swept by the shockwave, all vegetation had fallen in radial patterns, covered with a crystalline layer of vitrified material. Where the S.H.I.E.L.D. base had once stood in the distance, only an enormous crater ten kilometers wide remained, its bottom glowing with an eerie dark-red light.

"This... this was more powerful than the atomic bomb that bombed 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 continued staring tightly at the ruins, concern in her eyes.

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

"No, Chen Tian cannot be judged by common sense," Natasha refuted.

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

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

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

Natasha's pupils suddenly contracted. In the center of the burning ruins, she saw a massive blue energy body slowly rising. It was a translucent warrior giant clad in armor, its hands shielding its chest, while wings spread behind its back and blotted out the sky.

"Susanoo..." Natasha murmured so quietly that only she could hear it. Her memories grew clearer.

Susanoo slowly lowered its massive blue arm and stood 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. "Master's vital signs are stable, but his adrenaline level exceeds normal levels by 300%. Immediate—"

"Stop, stop, stop!" Chen Tian quickly waved a hand to interrupt 2B's medical report. He then gave Madara, at Susanoo's core, a thumbs-up. "Madara, you are awesome! If not for that move, I would probably not even have ashes left!"

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

He folded his arms, and Susanoo's armor gave a crisp clatter along with his movement. "I simply did not expect that demon lord's ambush to be so well prepared that even I did not notice it."

Madara bowed slightly toward Chen Tian. "My deepest apologies, Master. This was my mistake." (Do not say Madara apologizing is out of character. Even Diablo can kneel before the protagonist, so no explanation is needed for how overbearing this golden finger is~)

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 immediately lay down. 2B quickly knelt and caught his head with her thighs.

Chen Tian lay spread-eagled in Susanoo's palm, the back of his head resting on 2B's soft thighs as he watched the sky slowly change from scarlet back to 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 suddenly sat up and slapped his forehead. "No! There's Loki too! 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.