The Darkhold!

"Looks like she's set her sights on the superheroes."

"Taking them head-on wouldn't be wise."

Hidden in the shadows, Mephisto weighed his options.

He had heard a little about the Avengers.

They were nothing but violence-loving brutes.

Even the gods of Asgard had suffered at their hands.

He had no desire to provoke such troublesome opponents.

The safest approach was to work from the shadows.

Without anyone noticing.

He would quietly get his hands on the Darkhold.

"Perfect."

"Those superheroes can never resist helping people in trouble."

"That gives me the perfect chance to strike!"

A smug smile touched Mephisto's lips.

His gaze pierced through the obstacles.

He could see clearly.

A witch was hiding in a basement, leafing through an ancient, weighty tome.

It was the Darkhold he had long coveted.

Greed gleamed in Mephisto's eyes.

Then.

A strange crimson energy spilled from his fingertips.

It shot straight toward the witch like an arrow loosed from a bow.

He was certain.

Once the witch began wreaking havoc.

The superheroes living nearby would never stand by and watch.

When that happened.

He could take his prize without lifting a finger.

Earth held a terrifying depth of power.

Over the long ages.

It had produced countless gifted superhumans.

Witches had once been among the most remarkable of them.

In the Middle Ages, they had even been able to shape the fate of entire nations.

Unfortunately.

Times changed, and technology advanced.

Religious purges had been brutal, too.

The witches had inevitably fallen into decline.

Agatha was the sole survivor of that cruel history.

She was obsessed with Black Magic and knew wicked ways to steal others' magical power.

More frightening still.

In her hands.

She held the Darkhold, a book countless people would go mad to possess.

After surviving for centuries in