Hawk sat cross-legged, raising his head and letting out a miserable scream.
The sound was piercing.
Caught off guard.
Mephisto, who appeared silently behind him, gripped the 'Death Blade' tightly, repeatedly driving it in and out of his chest.
Thud, thud, thud!
Each time Mephisto withdrew the 'Death Blade' from Hawk's body, it brought forth a massive amount of golden blood.
Golden blood splashed freely.
Scattering over the Netherworld.
Spraying onto Mephisto's body, and onto Mephisto's face.
Mephisto's expression was fierce, dismissing the warm golden blood splattering on his face as he stabbed with such speed it seemed like a blur.
Quickly.
Hawk's Phoenix projection shattered into pieces.
Bang!
By the time Hawk's body fell onto the Netherworld, his chest had been thoroughly stabbed into a beehive by Mephisto.
No.
Even more tragic than a beehive.
Laying on the Netherworld, Hawk was barely breathing, seemingly just moments away from his demise.
As he fell, holding the 'Death Blade' with his face covered in golden blood, Mephisto came into view.
Upon seeing that the one stabbing him was Mephisto, Hawk's pupils contracted violently, his expression one of disbelief.
"Old... Old Mo?"
"Sorry."
Mephisto, face smeared with golden blood, looked at Hawk lying on the ground, his face gradually turning gray-black, breathed a sigh of relief, and then, facing Hawk's incredulous expression and gaze, seriously apologized to Hawk.
Hawk opened his mouth slightly, his chest panting like a damaged bellows, and after a few breaths, he stared at Mephisto, speaking with immense difficulty: "Why... why?"
His tone was filled with confusion and bewilderment.
"Are we not allies?"
"I am a demon."
Mephisto wiped the blood off his face, listening to Hawk's words, glanced at him with unconcealed derision: "Demon's words are not to be trusted, especially mine, not even the punctuation, just as you said, Hawk."
Hawk's mouth opened wide.
"But I have already promised to make you my Netherworld King."
"I know and I'm grateful."
Mephisto, hearing this, nodded without hesitation, then shrugged: "But compared to being your Netherworld King, I'd rather be the Main God."
It is widely known.
He, Mephisto, harbors a heart of progress.
Netherworld King is progress.
But Main God is even more progress.
Of course.
Though being a Celestial God and Netherworld King is not bad, becoming a Main God would mean even greater freedom and breadth for him.
Therefore...
What is wrong with my pursuit of progress?
Mephisto thought inwardly, then facing Hawk's dying gaze, looked at the 'Death Blade' in his hand.
In the next moment.
He looked at Hawk, smiling slightly.
"I know you're curious why this weapon can hurt you."
"Because it is a Law of Death."
"Formed by the Law of Death from the World Tree, not just you, even my superior, Death, if stabbed by this Death Blade within the World Tree's domain, needs to watch out."
"..."
Listening to Mephisto's rebellious remarks, Hawk's pupils contracted.
Mephisto chuckled wickedly.
"Don't look at me like that; pursuing progress is not wrong."
"Besides."
"This is the World Tree, not the Main Cosmos, so no matter what I say about death, death won't hear it."
"You've talked too much."
Just when Mephisto, feeling triumphant and like a villain, was smugly explaining to the falling, soon-to-be-dead Hawk, a cold voice suddenly echoed behind Mephisto.
In the next moment.
Another figure emerged from the darkness.
Hel!
But unlike the Hel from Asgard, this Hel had one side of her face beautiful and delicate, while the other side was completely decayed.
Her skin clung tight to her bones, semi-transparent, exposing blood vessels, with deep eye sockets, pale eyes.
Appearing...
Half alive, half dead.
Simultaneously, the Helheim that Hawk believed had turned to void along with Asgard also gradually emerged from the intense shadows.
Hawk, lying on the ground and about to fall, looked at the appearance of Hel, with an expression of disbelief and shock.
"It's you, you clearly..."
"My power comes from the land of Asgard."
Appearing in Hawk's sight, Hel stopped beside Mephisto, and met Hawk's gaze, curling her lips into a cold smile: "But I am still the Goddess of Death, not the Goddess of Death of Asgard, but the Goddess of Death of the World Tree."
Hawk instinctively drew a sharp breath.
But as he gasped, he felt immense pain in his chest, instinctively coughing repeatedly, spitting out a lot of golden blood, and his complexion turned infinitely listless again, seemingly on the verge of falling at any moment.
Hawk struggled to hold on, continuing to look at Mephisto, then, as if resigned to his impending fall, he lay completely flat on the Netherworld soil, his voice carrying a final calmness.
"So... when did you start colluding?"
"We merely took what we needed."
Mephisto smiled slightly, looking at Hawk who was lying flat, contemplating: "Do you remember Earth year, three years ago, the convergence of the Nine Realms of the World Tree?"
Images flashed through Hawk's mind, of himself three years ago in London, battling Malekith at Stonehenge, fully comprehending his Sixth Sense and ascending to become a Silver Saint Warrior.
But that was not the main point.
The main point was, as Mephisto spoke, Hawk's mind also conjured up images from that time in London, seeing a fleeting glimpse of Hel at the moment of the Nine Realms' convergence.
"Because of the Nine Realms' convergence, although Hel couldn't escape, we, being of death attribute, could have a brief conversation."
"It was then that I told you, Hel, about the World Tree's fall into the Main Cosmos."
"I am an affiliated god of death."
"And moreover, an affiliated god that death particularly values, so I know some things about the World Tree."
"Actually, before you appeared, I was initially plotting the position of the Death Celestial God of the World Tree."
"After all, once the World Tree falls, Hel's divine authority as the Goddess of Death would be taken over by the death of the Main Cosmos."
"But you appeared."
"Main God's divine authority."
"Celestial God is good, but Main God is even rarer for me."
"So..."
"I've reached a cooperation with Hel."
"Hel will become the Main God of the World Tree, and I will become the Main God of the Phoenix."
"Helping each other, collaborating for mutual benefit."
"Therefore—"
"I haven't actually betrayed our alliance, Hawk, I just reached a cooperation with Hel earlier, you were just late to the party, Hawk."
Mephisto's words continued as Hawk's grayish complexion grew more apparent, seemingly wanting to make him an enlightened ghost before he died.
"But rest assured, Hawk, after your death, when your soul reaches Hel's Netherworld, you will receive the highest treatment."
"In Hel's Netherworld, your status is most respected, except that you've died; whatever you want, we will satisfy."
By the end of the statement.
Mephisto crouched beside Hawk, facing his increasingly gray eyes: "We weren't allies, so there was no betrayal. It's just a matter of winners and losers, don't blame me, Hawk, blame yourself for being too soft-hearted, knowing full well a demon's words can't be trusted, yet you believed them, so all of this is of your own doing."
With pupils completely covered by grayness, Hawk listened to Mephisto's final words that pierced his heart, pulling out a smile more pitiful than crying.
But he didn't refute.
Because...
"I indeed softened up, at the moment you called me good brother, I truly believed you'd change."
"What a pity, I revealed my heart to the bright moon, yet the bright moon shone on the ditch."
"Enough!"
"It's merely self-inflicted, that's all."
Hawk's tone drifted, voice haunting, then with the final moments before his fall, he addressed Mephisto with his last question.
"How were you so certain I'd come here."
"Well..."
Mephisto heard Hawk's last question, couldn't help but chuckle, looking at Hawk: "I'm a Demon, you know, the most powerful aspect of demons isn't their strength, but their means of manipulating hearts. Do you recall I mentioned Heaven Dimension could be a point for connecting with the Main Cosmos?"
Hawk's voice floated, ready to fall.
"Heaven Dimension... Yahweh, you arranged it?"
"No."
Mephisto shook his head: "Everything was true, but I sensed you had a skeptical heart, so I merely went with the flow and planted two seeds for you, one being that the dimension could serve as your expansion point, the other being that Heaven is unreliable. Consequently, when you knew that realizing your universe in the real cosmos would trigger a time trap, you naturally targeted the World Tree."
Listening to Mephisto's arrangement, a late realization surfaced on Hawk's face.
But...
He had to admit one thing.
"Impressive."
"Thank you."
Mephisto's smile was bright, looking at Hawk who was now entering the phase of collapse: "Is there anything else unclear? Once you're in Hel's Netherworld, I can't freely observe you anymore."
Hawk shook his head, looking at Mephisto, a slight smile tugging at his lips.
"Thank you, Mephisto."
"You're welcome."
Hawk said nothing else, but let out a long sigh and closed his eyes.
The next moment.
His body fell in golden light.
...