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"Poor Butterfly. You lost your wings!"
- Toffee (Star vs. The Forces of Evil)
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<(Atem POV)>
"Void Fire!" I roared, dark purple flames erupting from my hands in an instant, surging toward Mephisto like a relentless inferno. It wasn't the overwhelming tidal wave of hellfire he had just unleashed on me, but the amount of fire could still be compared to the most cutting-edge military-grade flamethrowers Earth had to offer.
"Heh, that's all? Pathetic for a so-called god!" Mephisto sneered, casually raising a hand to block the attack. The smug look on his face and his ever-present grin made it clear that he didn't see my fire as an actual threat.
However, the moment the purple flames touched his fingertips, his expression twisted. His grin instantly vanished as his eyes widened just a fraction. It was at this moment that Mephisto finally realized that he had just fucked up.
A guttural snarl tore from Mephisto's throat as soon as the dark fire had seared his flesh. Within moments, his smirk was replaced by wide-eyed fury as he tried to yank his burning hand back. However, for some reason, all his instincts warned him that simply yanking his burning hand away wouldn't save him. So, he did the next best thing he could think of: he severed all of his burning fingers by cutting them off at their bases.
"I felt that. It felt like... nothing," he hissed, watching as his fingers slowly began to mend again—slowly, not instantly. That alone made his eye twitch. "That doesn't happen often," He murmured, rolling his wrist as if testing the damage.
Around him, embers of purple void fire crackled and smoldered, devouring anything they touched at a slow, merciless pace. That was the real strength of these flames—they didn't spread fast, but there was almost nothing in existence they couldn't consume. Nothing could extinguish them. Given enough time, they could even reduce this entire dimension to ash, and not even Mephisto would be able to stop it.
The problem? I didn't have that kind of time.
"I've made up my mind... I want you for myself—for my collection. And if I can't have you, no one else will." His lips curled into a sinister grin, his gaze locking onto me like I was some rare, forbidden prize.
Yeah... this guy was seriously giving me Orochimaru vibes.
With a flick of his wrist, countless fiery portals made of seething hellfire erupted around us. The entire palace quaked beneath his oppressive aura as his smirk deepened. "I'm afraid I'll have to go back on my earlier words. My subjects seem to have grown too... curious and unruly for us to have any semblance of privacy anymore." His words carried the weight of an apology, but the expression on his face didn't look even the least bit apologetic.
Through the portals, hundreds of demons—some humanoid, others monstrous—soon began to pour into the palace, their claws and fangs bared as they zeroed in on me and Natasha. Strangely, they didn't even glance at Hela, who was hovering above the chaos—almost like they didn't see her as a threat.
'Don't'. I sent the thought directly to Hela, as soon as I sensed her urge to break her so-called neutrality. She hesitated for a second but then exhaled slowly before nodding, expressing her silent agreement to let me do what I wanted.
