Satanish was dead.
But he hadn't fallen by Aaron's hand—he was sliced in two by Illyana's sword while in a daze.
His grotesque, terrifying head hit the ground, eyes still wide with shock. In them lingered the doubt and fear of his final moment.
Yes, Satanish was terrified.
As powerful as he was, witnessing Aaron's ruthless treatment of a Dimensional Lord shook him to his core.
What began as a hunt had reversed—now it was clear who the real predator was.
With Satanish gone, Aaron naturally accepted his body with a smile.
The Dimensional Lords were entities of pure energy.
The energy within Satanish was equivalent to that of several ordinary Heavenly Father-level gods.
But the real prize wasn't the corpse—it was the dimension itself.
That had always been Aaron's true objective.
Once the battle ended, Limbo returned to its former quiet.
The native inhabitants finally exhaled in relief.
But as they stared up at the towering figure of the Dimensional Lord—whose exact size was impossible to gauge—they could only feel deep reverence.
Even if this being radiated a faintly human presence…
It didn't matter to them.
After all, Limbo was a unique place. Belasco had captured many humans here. He himself had once been human before pledging to the ancient gods and transforming at the edge of hell.
In fact, many of the new demons along the hell's borders had once been human.
Aaron's identity was irrelevant, so long as he was their savior.
From their perspective, anyone who lingered at the borders of hell would eventually be assimilated. Worrying about identity was pointless.
And besides, they didn't have the strength to care.
Didn't they see how the new Lord of Hell's Border acted like a subordinate before that terrifying Dimensional Lord?
Maybe Aaron wasn't even human at all.
Perhaps he was one of the legendary Dimensional Lords.
Those beings were said to often disguise themselves as others—or send their voices through chosen avatars.
Belasco had once served Chthon, one of the most powerful ancient gods of black magic.
But now, a being greater than Dormammu and Mephisto had emerged—one capable of killing both.
This power was on par with Chthon's.
Compared to Chthon, even the Serpent God Set was a lesser threat.
And in their own domains, these entities were nearly untouchable, even by ancient gods who once dominated the real universe.
Could Aaron be the Dimensional Lord of the Crimson Universe?
Some demons began to speculate.
There were countless dimensions ruled by Dimensional Lords, and among them, Cytorrak—the Crimson Universe's ruler—had risen as perhaps the strongest.
Except for the mysterious observer Shuma-Gorath, Cytorrak's power surpassed most.
Even the former ancient gods seemed inferior in his presence.
If Aaron served Cytorrak, that would explain everything.
They had seen him wield the Crimson Chains of Cytorrak against Dormammu.
It was impossible there was no connection.
Only that connection could explain his ability to slay Dormammu and Mephisto.
Still, these were just guesses.
No one dared ask. No one even dared look up.
All the demons prostrated themselves, offering their highest reverence to Aaron.
Aaron ignored them entirely.
"Get ready. We're heading to the Hell Dimension. It's time to settle old scores."
"You really think I'm someone you can push around?" he growled. "You keep coming for me!"
Illyana hesitated. "Are we really going to their domain? In their dimension…"
She trusted Aaron's strength, but Mephisto had ruled hell for a long time.
Compared to him, Velasco was nothing.
Killing Mephisto in his own territory might not be easy.
"It's no big deal," Aaron replied calmly. "Let's go."
He had no concern about the danger.
After repeated experiments, he was confident that Energy Absorption LV9 was fully effective against Dimensional Lords.
As long as Mephisto could be suppressed—he was done for.
Besides, Illyana's Soul Blade was made for slaying beings like him.
And he had Jean by his side.
Illyana summoned her subordinates and gave some final instructions.
Then, they all set off for the Hell Dimension.
At that moment, Mephisto was furious.
His alliance of Dimensional Lords, years in the making, had collapsed.
Even their retaliatory strike had failed.
Dormammu and Satanish were both dead!
To make matters worse, the few remaining demon lords in the Hell Dimension had joined forces against him.
Leading the charge was his so-called "brother," the Blackheart Demon.
Blackheart was both dead and alive.
A being born of hatred, even Aaron's energy absorption hadn't fully destroyed him—his grudge remained.
Thus, Blackheart returned, his power even greater.
He rallied other disembodied demon lords and lower-ranked demons to launch a grand trial against Mephisto.
Though Mephisto subdued them by force, his reputation took a catastrophic hit.
Now, every demon looked at him with scorn.
His once-great alliance was shattered, key lieutenants lost, and their territory divided among the survivors.
Mephisto seethed.
And then Aaron returned—for the third time.
The first time, Aaron had flirted with the Ancient One and slipped away.
The second time, he'd briefly fought Mephisto with an astral projection.
But this time, Aaron came to end it for good.
Seeing Aaron, Mephisto's blood pressure skyrocketed.
"You dare step into my realm?! The road to heaven is open, yet you choose hell!"
Without hesitation, Mephisto launched a full attack.
He activated his domain's power, shaking the land violently.
He thrust his hand forward—his dimension itself obeyed.
Mountains rumbled. Rock and lava surged. Demons poured forth.
But these tricks were useless.
With a wave of Aaron's hand, the terrain crumbled to dust.
The demons charged—teeth bared, claws out—but they were nothing.
Jean stepped forward.
The Phoenix Force flared, freezing the demonic horde mid-charge.
Illyana leapt high, Soul Blade gleaming, and struck.
A flash of swordlight—and the demons were gone.
The two fought in perfect sync.
But Mephisto wasn't finished.
Hellfire surged.
It devoured the sky.
From above, Mephisto glared down, his blood-red cloak billowing.
"It's over. Your souls are mine!"
Under the hellfire's glow, his red skin gleamed like molten metal.
Mephisto wasn't weak.
He often gave the impression of relying on cunning, but his true strength remained unknown.
At times, he'd even stood toe-to-toe with Dormammu—and won.
To him, Dormammu was never a real threat.
Of the Dimensional Lords, Dormammu might've looked strongest—but he was also the most reckless.
Aaron chose to fight Mephisto first for a reason—he couldn't let him summon reinforcements.
Dormammu and Satanish lacked the cunning for that.
But Mephisto would've seen the danger and called for help.
So he had to fall first.
Hellfire loomed above.
Aaron rose to meet him.
He activated Energy Absorption.
"What?! You can absorb hellfire too?!"
"You've got to be kidding me!"
Mephisto was stunned.
Hellfire burned souls—no one could absorb it.
Especially not when fused with his power.
But Aaron devoured it like candy.
Mephisto was helpless.
He'd never faced someone like this.
Fights usually involved spells, counters, and physical blows.
Aaron just… ate everything.
Magic, energy—nothing could escape him.
"Is he a spawn of Galactus or something?! Even Galactus isn't this gluttonous!"
Mephisto had little interaction with Galactus.
He feared him—but didn't see himself as inferior.
He'd even considered trying to poach his herald once.
But Aaron… he resembled Galactus too much.
That endless consumption left Mephisto at a loss.
Pure magic had no effect.
Frustrated, Mephisto redirected the hellfire at Jean and Illyana.
At the same time, he grew to colossal size.
He unleashed the full power of the Hell Dimension, trying to crush Aaron with the rules of the realm itself.
Any being that entered his domain would be subject to hell's laws.
Godlike, omnipotent—enough to eliminate 99% of invaders.
But Aaron wasn't part of the 99%.
The dimension cracked.
Fissures tore through the landscape.
Earthquakes roared.
Even the real universe trembled.
Through the rift, a glimpse of the galaxy beyond could be seen.
At Kamar-Taj, the magicians saw the disturbance.
The Ancient One was notified immediately.
They worked together to reinforce the magic barriers—keeping the chaos from spilling into the real world.
Such was the magnitude of the battle between Aaron and Mephisto.
Even proximity would annihilate lesser gods.
The magicians watched in awe, stunned by the might of the God of Magic.
To fight Mephisto in his own dimension was unheard of.
Could Aaron win?
Historically, Mephisto had never lost.
His cunning let him evade the strong, slaughter the weak, and manipulate his peers.
He always had the upper hand.
Only Aaron had ever made him suffer a true setback.
Could the God of Magic be the one to finally defeat him?
As they reinforced the magic circle, everyone watched in silence.
A true divine battle was unfolding.
Even the Sorcerer Supreme might not have managed this.
Not even Agamotto, Kamar-Taj's founder, could've done it.
The Ancient One watched calmly, her expression unreadable.
No one knew who she hoped would win.
"You've finally begun to act…"
"Was it just to win?"
Even she couldn't foresee the outcome.
But she was eager to find out.
Aaron had surprised her time and again.
The past two years had been the Dimensional Lords' most humiliating era.
Perhaps this was the beginning of the counterattack.
And they weren't the only ones watching.
Behind Kamar-Taj, the Vishanti watched.
So did the Dimensional Lords of other realms.
Including the mighty Cytorrak.
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