In the stillness of frozen space, Soren slowly raised his head, eyes narrowing toward a distant presence, a sliver of pure darkness that had just stirred in the void.
At that precise spot, an old man sat unmoving, unfazed by the halted world around him. The crowd had been silenced, suspended mid-shout in a frozen roar.
Yet the man simply stared, expressionless, predatory. His eyes were not filled with fanaticism or rage.
They were the eyes of a god...
A hunter, who had at last found prey worth chasing.
Soren had halted the flow of time with spatial magic, though only to a limited extent, enough to bind ordinary beings, not monsters. He hadn't expected this elder to resist... but he wanted to see how far the man would go.
And he didn't wait long.
The old man's brow twitched as he felt the stagnation in the air.
A riot of shadow burst forth from his body like a living tempest, and in the blink of an eye, he shattered the bonds that held him.
Slowly, deliberately, he turned his gaze toward Soren. When their eyes met, the very air between them hissed, space itself letting out a shrill, metallic shriek, as if reality was rubbing raw.
With a single step, the old man vanished.
He reappeared instantly, now face to face with Soren… his expression unreadable, save for the faint glint of danger in his ancient eyes.
"Young man." The old man spoke, his voice cold and heavy, vibrating with dark power.
"Was it you who dared tamper with space just now?"
Soren smiled faintly. "I was curious."
"That kind of darkness… it's not something you see every day. If I'm not mistaken, you're Mephisto, aren't you?"
The old man's expression shifted, just for a moment.
He hadn't expected to be recognized so easily.
"…You are correct." The old man said slowly.
"I am Mephisto. What you see here is merely a fragment, a projection. My true form resides deep in the infernal plane."
"And you, who are you, to imprison space around me and call me by name?"
Soren kept his arms at his sides, still relaxed. "Someone who pays attention,"
"I arrived here when I heard the crowd cheering at that flaming stuntman Johnny, was it?"
"It didn't take long to realize I'd stumbled onto the Ghost Rider."
Mephisto's eyes narrowed. The air around him pulsed with a slow, suffocating pressure. But Soren went on.
"You're the Lord of the Abyss. Shouldn't you be tormenting souls or hatching schemes in your own realm?"
"What brings you to Earth? Don't tell me you're just sightseeing."
There was a tense silence before Mephisto chuckled, a low, rumbling sound that barely resembled laughter.
"You're bold." The arrogance returning to his voice like a wave. "But you're also ignorant. You have no idea what forces you've stepped into, boy."
"That may be." Soren replied coolly.
"What are you doing here, exactly Mephisto."
Mephisto's expression darkened.
"Your curiosity is a dangerous thing, child."
"But I'll humor you… for now. Step aside before I decide that your soul would be better served in chains."
Soren tilted his head, a sly smile playing on his lips. "Careful."
"Threats are cheap… especially when you're not even here in the flesh."
A pulse of dark energy rippled out from Mephisto in warning, but Soren didn't falter.
Soren's brows furrowed, displeasure tightening his features. Mephisto's condescending tone grated on his nerves.
The air around him began to distort as his aura surged, rolling outward like a tidal wave of raw power.
"You seem to have forgotten something."
"This isn't the Abyss, Mephisto. You're standing on Earth. And I don't take kindly to devils strutting around like they own the place."
The rising pressure in the atmosphere was suffocating. Even the fabric of reality trembled under Soren's growing presence.
Mephisto's face twisted in anger. His body, though merely a projection, faltered under the weight of Soren's power.
His form shimmered with instability, humiliation flashing across his ancient features.
"Young fool." Mephisto growled.
"You overreach. Do not mistake my restraint for weakness. If we were in the Abyss, I'd have torn you to pieces by now body, soul, and pride alike."
Soren's eyes turned sharp, glacial. "Is that a threat?"
Mephisto bared his teeth. "I am the Lord of the Abyss!"
"You think you can challenge me and walk away!?"
"Perfect." Soren replied with a small, dark smile. "I was hoping you'd say something stupid."
Without warning, his aura flared like a collapsing star. The sky rippled. The ground cracked. A force beyond mortal comprehension crushed down on Mephisto's projection.
For a brief instant, the demon lord's eyes widened, not in rage, but in realization.
This wasn't posturing.
Even standing on Earth, even without revealing the full extent of his power, or the few Infinity Stones he'd quietly absorbed, Soren was still overwhelmingly dangerous.
"You!"
Mephisto barely had time to speak before Soren's fist, cloaked in cosmic energy and divine force, drove straight into his chest.
A grotesque, inhuman shriek tore through the still air as the projection shattered.
Mephisto's form exploded into a swirl of pitch-black mist, scattering like ash in the wind and spiraling violently toward the earth.
The shadows writhed and clawed at reality before being sucked back into the ground, ripped across dimensions, returning to the Abyss.
His resentful voice echoed through the void like a curse.
"This isn't over, mortal! I'll make you regret ever crossing me!"
Soren stood motionless, eyes still glowing. His voice was calm, cold, and resolute.
"Mephisto… you send one more puppet to Earth, and I'll bring war to your doorstep. I'll tear your throne apart and bury your name in the ruins of the Abyss."
"Mark that."
A long silence followed. The only sound was the faint hum of displaced energy dissipating around him.
Soren's gaze dropped to the spot where the black aura had vanished. His expression hardened.
"Demons."
"Always playing with hearts and bargains. Never a straight fight."
With that, he lowered his aura and released the space-time confinement. Reality snapped back into motion.
Cheers and roaring applause instantly resumed around him, as if nothing had happened.
No one noticed the godlike battle that had just taken place beyond their perception. All eyes remained glued to the fiery figure of Johnny Blaze, the Ghost Rider, performing stunts in the arena.
Soren watched the crowd for a moment, then vanished with a quiet shimmer of teleportation.