MCIM Ch. 157

The Ancient One stood at the edge of the Mirror Dimension, maintaining the containment field. She didn't need to participate in the fighting anymore, Mephisto's avatar alone was more than capable of grinding this world's Satan into paste.

If she could avoid borrowing power from extradimensional entities, that was always preferable. Even though she had no intention of paying it back, it would still affect her reputation eventually.

Not that anyone's keeping score.

Mario didn't know what the Ancient One was thinking. If he had, he definitely would've called her out on it.

Meanwhile, Kaecilius was dominating the battlefield. The sky filled with magic arrays as he wielded beams of light and magical whips like he'd been born to it.

"Guess I should contribute something too."

Holy light flickered as Mario cast one enhancement spell after another on Kaecilius and Mephisto. As for the Ancient One standing nearby doing essentially nothing? He subconsciously ignored her.

He swung his staff and first cast a magic amplification buff on himself. With that active, all his spellcasting abilities jumped an entire tier in effectiveness.

As the buffs landed, Mephisto and Kaecilius immediately felt the changes coursing through them. Mephisto in particular had never experienced getting buffed during combat before. For a moment, he felt like if he had Mario's support in the main world, he might be able to overthrow the Ancient One.

"HAHAHA!"

His laughter echoed across the battlefield as he raised his flaming greatsword high, then brought it down toward Satan. But Satan was, after all, the demon lord of this world. Even as an avatar, he wasn't going to die so easily. He twisted midair, the massive blade missing by inches and scorching the space where he'd been standing.

"You cooperate with sorcerers? And you call yourself a demon?"

Mephisto wasn't provoked by such obvious taunts. Instead, he responded with his own mockery. "Since when do demons need to follow rules? Die peacefully. I will personally visit your Hell and challenge you. Everything you have will become mine."

Satan, who'd just dodged the flaming greatsword, heard Mephisto's words and the hellfire above his horns flared even more violently. He'd fallen into a rage, but beneath that rage was fear.

"If you enter my Hell, I will annihilate both your soul and your body!"

The bluster rang hollow. So hollow that even Mario could hear it from across the battlefield.

Satan was really terrified. Compared to the Ancient One and Kaecilius, he was far more wary of Mephisto, not because the Hell Lord was strongest, but because he was a demon.

If anyone else killed him, even a god, no matter how powerful, he wouldn't worry. He could revive through Hell's power, reforming from the dimensional energy itself.

But if another demon killed him? The Hell dimension would discard him. Hell dimensions only needed demons. They didn't particularly care which ones.

Floating in midair, Mario watched the massive Satan and put away the staff radiating holy light. He pulled out a different wand.

The moment the wand appeared, it began absorbing everything around it. Logically, since it reflected no light whatsoever, it should have been invisible to the naked eye. Yet everyone could clearly "see" that he was holding a black wand.

He waved it lightly and silently thought: Black Hole.

The instant Satan sensed the wand aimed at him, his instincts screamed warnings. He could tell the danger originated from the human floating in midair, but he couldn't identify what the threat was.

Then...

"AAAHHH!"

Satan felt a twisting, grinding pain in his abdomen. Looking down, he saw a black hole appearing in his stomach. The event horizon was devouring his flesh and blood, pulling matter into infinite compression.

What the fuck?

He was completely stunned. The black hole was small, barely the size of a fist, but that irresistible gravitational force was strong. He hurriedly used his powerful demonic energy to tear himself away from the edge of the singularity, staring at Mario with shock.

I was wrong.

At first, he'd thought the Ancient One was the strongest among them. Then Mephisto's appearance had slapped that assumption in the face. And just as he'd been thinking about how to hold off Mephisto long enough to split off a clone and escape this damned dimension... Mario's attack revealed the truth.

No matter how powerful Mephisto was, he couldn't unleash an attack of this caliber so silently and without warning.

As a demon, he greatly appreciated Mario's combat style. Unfortunately, they were enemies, and he understood their objective now. There was no possibility of reconciliation.

Mario watched Satan in the distance as the wound rapidly closed, completely baffled by the demon's expression.

What's with that look? Does this guy have brain damage or something?

Scratching his head in confusion, he aimed his staff at Satan again. Another soundless black hole materialized, this one appearing directly in Satan's path as he tried to dodge.

[Black Hole:
Tier: Master
Element: Sorcery
Mana Cost: 150
Effect: Creates a black hole at the targeted location. The black hole draws in all creatures within a 6-block radius (excluding the caster), dragging them toward the singularity.]

This spell had been discovered by Thanos' subordinates while mining resources in the main world. Mario had searched extensively on his own without success. Proof that teamwork made the dream work.

Moreover, after multiple upgrades to his staff, the black hole's effective range had increased considerably from its base parameters. This black hole, aside from having a time limit, could essentially be considered a real stellar phenomenon. Such a terrifying cosmic object was currently his strongest offensive capability.

"AAHHH!"

Another scream rang out, but this one wasn't caused by Mario's black hole. Satan had sensed the danger in advance and escaped the gravitational pull. However, standing right beside him was a demon lord even stronger than himself, watching him like a predator stalking wounded prey. Mephisto's flaming longsword pierced straight through Satan's chest. Fortunately, he was immune to hellfire damage, otherwise that single strike would have finished him.

CRACK!

The sound of breaking ribs echoed across the dimensional battlefield. Black ichor sprayed from the wound, sizzling as it hit the ground. Satan knew he'd truly hit an iron wall this time. He stopped struggling and allowed the flaming blade to remain lodged in his body, staring at Mephisto with hate-filled eyes.

"I will wait for you in Hell."

"Don't worry. I'll come for you. It's just a pity you won't know when I arrive."

With a forceful upward slash, Mephisto split the unresisting Satan cleanly in two. The demon's body separated.

At that moment, the Ancient One finally began exerting her power. Countless magic arrays instantly materialized throughout the Mirror Dimension.

"Kaecilius!"

The sorcerer was already moving, controlling magical whips that extended toward one half of Satan's body. He flew over himself, beginning the process of energy absorption.

Seeing this, Mephisto revealed a faint smile. "Is he your choice? I'll help him along."

He reached out and grabbed Satan's corpse. Power surged through his hand, and the demon lord's body transformed into pure energy. The avatar had been formed from concentrated power in the first place, this was why the wounds from Mario's black holes had healed so quickly.

Before long, Satan's avatar condensed into a mass of energy floating in midair. Mephisto smiled, summoning hellfire to refine it. The dark impurities burned away, leaving behind only a sphere of pure, condensed power. That energy was then split evenly into two portions. One flew directly toward Kaecilius.

"According to our agreement, this is your share."

"Kaecilius, take it."

The Ancient One stepped forward, having finally stopped maintaining the containment field now that the threat was neutralized. A calm smile rested on her face as she looked at the energy sphere in Mephisto's hand.

"Mephisto, next I will establish a new Sanctum here, linking this world's energy with that of our own."

A Sanctum wasn't merely a place for sorcerers to live, it was a hub of Earth's mystical energy network. This was the foundation of the Ancient One's ability to protect Earth from extradimensional incursions.

Mephisto nodded and absorbed the remaining half of the energy into his body. Though it was only the power of an avatar, with the Ancient One's help ensuring none of it escaped, the concentration was remarkably pure.

"The energy quality is excellent. I will pull my Hell dimension closer to this reality. Otherwise, defeating a demon lord within their own Hell would be impossible. However, I hope you can help me hold back those troublemakers who might interfere."

The Ancient One nodded. She knew Mephisto was referring to beings from Heaven.

"I will handle them."

Meanwhile, Mario glanced at Kaecilius. After absorbing half the power of demon lord Satan's avatar, the sorcerer's face had turned deep red, veins standing out on his neck and forehead. This level of energy was extremely intense for a human sorcerer to process.

After a short while, Kaecilius opened his eyes. Mario quickly asked, "How do you feel? No indigestion?"

Kaecilius, who'd been feeling quite proud of his power increase, nearly stumbled and fell over.

"No... and besides, this is energy. At worst I'd explode, I can't possibly get indigestion."

Mario gave Kaecilius a dismissive look and stepped forward to pat him on the shoulder. "It's a figure of speech, genius."

He then turned toward the Ancient One. "If there's no problem, let's head back."

The Ancient One nodded. With a wave of her hand, the Mirror Dimension began contracting. Moments later, the group reappeared on the rooftop of Oscorp Tower.

The instant they materialized, Peter's voice rang out.

"Whoa! You were here the whole time?! My God, that's incredible!"

Mario looked at Peter, who was standing in the living room with the unconscious Dr. Octavius slung over his shoulder. The fierce battle had not affected the real world at all.

"Peter, put him down."

Only then did Peter remember he was still carrying his former mentor. He hurriedly dropped Otto onto the floor.

THUD.

Otto landed face-first, his fleshy cheeks jiggling from the impact. His eyelids twitched slightly, as if he might wake up at any moment.

"Kaecilius, can you knock someone's soul out of their body now? Like the Ancient One does?"

Mario even made a slapping gesture to demonstrate.

Kaecilius nodded. "Yes. It's a simple application of astral projection magic."

"Good. When he wakes up, knock his soul out. That way the tentacles can't control him and we can have a proper conversation."

Mario pointed at Otto lying on the floor. He greatly admired Otto's dedication to research. Although nuclear fusion had already been achieved in his world, and was even somewhat outdated technology now, a scientist like Otto would grow rapidly once exposed to more advanced knowledge.

It was like dropping a genius into a higher-tier world. They'd adapt, learn, and eventually excel. Otto was the same. Since he'd risen above others in the Spider-Man universe, once he joined Mario's operation and encountered new scientific knowledge, he would certainly advance quickly. And when that happened, Mario would reap the rewards.

Nearby, Harry said nothing. He simply watched the group of powerful figures in the room, his thoughts drifting to the Green Goblin serum hidden in his father's lab.

He wanted power.

His best friend was Spider-Man, there was no way he could fall too far behind.

After some internal debate, he finally stepped forward. Hesitating only briefly, he looked at Mario and asked, "Mr. Argento, I have something I'd like to ask."

Mario looked at him and smiled. "If you've got a question, just ask."

"Can I use the Green Goblin serum my father developed?"

Mario paused for a moment, then quickly understood. He glanced at Peter. Yeah, he got this mindset completely.

"The Green Goblin serum your father developed has problems. It's fundamentally incomplete. The risks are very high, and the effects are mediocre at best."

He pulled a Captain America-type serum from his inventory. This enhancement serum was the most basic strengthening agent in his lab. It only improved physical strength and reaction speed.

The truly advanced stuff were enhancement serums that granted multiple special abilities simultaneously. Still, giving Harry a Captain-type serum was more than enough. With proper equipment, it would let him happily "play superhero" with his best friend Peter.

"For safety's sake, use the enhancement serum my company produces instead. The effects are definitely better than Green Goblin serum, and there's zero risk."

He stepped forward and pressed the serum into Harry's hand.

"These packets are nutritional supplements. They'll help you quickly absorb the serum's effects. Go to the room next door and have Peter inject it for you."

Harry accepted the enhancement serum. As head of the Osborn family, he naturally understood the value of what he was holding. Even a single non-mass-producible enhancement serum would be worth a fortune on the black market.

"Thank you."

Seeing his excited expression, Mario waved dismissively. "Alright, go try it out."

Harry didn't even care that this was supposedly his own penthouse. Instead, he impatiently dragged Peter toward his bedroom. He couldn't wait to obtain extraordinary power.

The Ancient One watched Harry's departing figure and spoke thoughtfully. "He has potential to become a sorcerer."

Mario was surprised. "What? Harry has the talent for sorcery?"

The Ancient One glanced at Mario. "Anyone can become a sorcerer. Everyone has that potential."

After a brief pause, her expression unchanged, she continued. "Of course, you're the exception."

Are you trying to start something here?

"The most difficult part of becoming a sorcerer is establishing a connection with extradimensional entities, gaining their response, and borrowing their power. But now, we have a better solution."

The Ancient One turned her gaze toward Kaecilius.

Mario immediately grasped her plan. No wonder she'd agreed so readily when he suggested making Kaecilius a Hell Lord.

The Ancient One thinks borrowing power is getting harder, so she's planning to set up her own lending operation and offer low-interest loans to her people?

That way, the "company" could grow stronger, and the number of sorcerers could increase rapidly instead of remaining limited to a handful of practitioners.

After figuring it out, he gave the Ancient One a thumbs-up. "I can't beat you. You're something else."