"Welcome, my guests."
Belasco smiled as he stood at the entrance of his palace. Peter couldn't help but quip at the demon's grotesque appearance: "I rarely say this, but I haven't seen anything so disgusting since I left the Zombie Universe."
Belasco seemed to ignore Peter's jab, looking instead at the two versions of Illyana in the team—the older and younger—and smiled. He then displayed the X-Men suspended behind him. Because their time had been frozen by Kang the Conqueror, even Belasco couldn't corrupt them.
"Welcome, Illyana. You don't know how long I've waited for your vengeance. I apologize to the elder one; your family is beyond salvation. After decades, they have long since become demons or fodder for demons."
Belasco paused, ensuring he hadn't forgotten any of his lines. Satisfied, he continued with a smile:
"But you can still prevent the disaster that befell you from happening to your other self, yes? I believe you came for this. Naturally, I have prepared a ceremony for you."
As Belasco finished speaking, one skeleton after another of Magik was unearthed from the dust on both sides of the staircase leading to the Limbo palace entrance. They ranged from fresh corpses, recently deceased with still-pale faces, to crumbling, decaying bones. Nearly every Illyana skeleton retained their smooth, golden hair as a distinguishing mark.
They lined up in two rows, leading from the palace entrance to the end of the steps.
"I... I merely wanted to show you what your final fate is. Or perhaps, I could generously take a student or a servant, if you are willing." Belasco smiled, a glass of red wine appearing in his hand. He then shook his head in mock regret.
"As for now..."
"To you, your X-Men."
Endless waves of demonic X-Men poured out from all directions. The Ghostbusters immediately went into high alert, preparing to face the monsters. The decadent Doctor Strange first unleashed the Winds of Watoomb, knocking a large mass of demonic X-Men away. He then roared, "Crimson Bands of Cyttorak!" forming a massive crimson energy shield that perfectly blocked the energy blasts from the demonic Cyclops clones.
Next, the completely vampiric Blade rushed out, dissolving into a swarm of bats. He reformed behind a demonic Cyclops, tore off his visor, sliced off his eyelids, and forced his head to look at the other demonic Cyclops clones. The overwhelming, unrestrained power instantly annihilated all enemies.
The Hell-version of Shadowcat phased out of the shield and began mercilessly attacking those who were once her friends. She perfectly demonstrated how terrifying a superhuman with phasing abilities could be. After this Kitty—who had distinct feline features—ran a circuit, her hands were drenched in blood.
Only heartless, demonic X-Men corpses were left on the ground.
Demonic Angels charged towards them, but the demonic Storm would not let them succeed easily. With a mere whirlwind, she snapped all their wings.
"When you have too much of anything, it becomes as worthless as a stray dog," Belasco muttered, rolling his eyes in annoyance.
He watched someone charge toward him: Earth-616 Spider-Man. Facing him were demonic Wolverines.
"Hey, Logan, Logans, I'm curious about something. Did Hell strengthen your healing factor or weaken it? Because you all look pretty rough."
The one who landed was barely Spider-Man, standing over two and a half meters tall with bulging muscles. Venom felt the symbiote-enhancing properties of this place and immediately began attacking. The symbiote on him became more active, effortlessly whipping out tendrils dozens of meters long that could easily pierce the skin of any enemy except the Colossus demons. The cost was that Venom's surface boiled and churned like agitated water. The symbiote seemed excited or maybe out of control, but Venom felt jubilant. Countless Logans raised their metal claws, but before they could charge, Venom stabbed them and tossed them aside. Although the Adamantium skeleton was tough, piercing the gaps between the ribs and crushing the heart was simple enough.
"Woo-hoo! Yeah!"
While wildly striking the Wolverines, Venom had a genius idea: If I take all these Wolverine corpses with me, can I refine a huge amount of Adamantium to make an Adamantium armor?
It would be a shame to waste so many Wolverines, wouldn't it?
Belasco watched all of this with curiosity. After millennia in Limbo, this was a boring spectacle. However, he raised an eyebrow and asked without turning around, "Aren't you being a bit too presumptuous, using a Limbo-based teleportation to ambush me?"
Appearing behind Belasco were the older Magik, the younger Illyana, and the demonic Wolverine, who had all used a teleportation gate to bypass the fight. The three aimed for Belasco, who smiled and shook his head. "So what's your plan? Stab me with a sword?"
"Why not?" the demonic Wolverine growled. The corruption of Hell hadn't stripped him of his healing factor; it had amplified it. Coupled with the defensive spells Strange had cast on him, he stood at the forefront. After giving the older Magik a look, he charged toward Belasco.
Brave, but...
Belasco didn't even raise a hand.
The runes on the charging demonic Wolverine instantly shattered. His healing factor was useless as he completely disintegrated. Then, the younger and older Magik—who should have teleported behind Belasco during the precious seconds Wolverine bought, ready to stab Belasco with the Flames of Faltine Strange had prepared—were simultaneously choked by Belasco and lifted into the air.
"Did you truly believe you had a chance to defeat me? I am the master of Limbo! Every day you spend being corrupted is a part of me, like this."
In Illyana's wide eyes, she saw her older self instantly turn into a skeleton.
"The longer you prepare, the easier it is for me to kill you. Just like that. Oh... are you angry?"
Belasco watched in surprise, even delight, as the Illyana in his hand actively began to mutate. This wasn't a mutation caused by Limbo's corruption; it looked more like an excessive channeling of Limbo's energy, causing her soul, which was half-filled with dark magic, to shapeshift.
Red horns sprouted from the sides of her forehead. Her body was covered in black, dried-blood-like matter. Her hands became claws, and a pair of scarlet wings and a tail grew from her back.
"You have become one of us, Illyana!"
Finally, after tens of thousands of years of this game, Belasco saw a different Magik—an Illyana Rasputin who, driven by rage, willingly embraced the power of Limbo and became a demon.
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