Peter never intended to return directly to Earth-616. After hearing that Illyana was different from other counterparts who had unexpectedly entered Limbo, Peter made a crucial judgment: Belasco hoped Illyana would awaken her powers and escape back to Earth-616, thereby providing him a gateway into that world.
This was also why the demon Nightcrawler intended to capture him. Belasco couldn't breach Earth-616's reality barrier and planned to use either Illyana or Peter to cross over. Unfortunately for Belasco, Illyana never awakened her mutant abilities before escaping Limbo.
As for Peter? It was even less likely he'd take Belasco to Earth-616. So, Peter simply changed course, using a spatial rift to arrive in the Wasteland Universe—since Reed had used Earth-616 materials to build a portal in the Wasteland and then returned to Earth-616 with Wasteland materials, the passage of time in both places was now synchronized.
Thus, those few seconds were enough for the Black Panther on the other side to contact the Avengers. Doctor Strange then arrived, headache and all, bringing everyone he could muster to the clearing where Peter landed. This time, there were perhaps even more people present than when they fought Knull.
"Belasco, the exiled one, the failed lackey of Chthon, a notorious figure even among the Hell-Lords."
Strange looked at the demon before him, then glanced at his own depressed counterpart, rolling his eyes at Peter with exasperation. He shook his hands, projecting the golden Shield of the Seraphim: "You certainly know how to find trouble for me, Spider-Man."
"Actually, he was planning to invade our world anyway."
"Yes, I saw. He's holding the Bloodstone Amulet. If he enters our world, he can open a passage between reality and Limbo, allowing Chton to descend. But the Bloodstone can only perform that spell in the universe corresponding to his soul. The goal is to snatch that thing from him. Then we can kick this damned guy back to his happy home."
As Strange spoke, he cast a spell to block Belasco's path back to Limbo: "Alright, I'm not an Avenger, so I'll just tell you the objective. Listen up, everyone: grab that amulet from his hand. He can't run now. Everyone, watch out and don't die. Just hit him hard, that's it."
Steve was the first to raise his shield and shout the rallying cry.
"Avengers! Attack!"
"To me, X-Men!"
"For the glory of the Northern Gods!"
"It's clobberin' time!"
In an instant, the area was packed with heroes charging toward Belasco. Belasco, realizing he had been tricked, laughed with rage. He simply raised his hand, whipping up a storm of red, fiery energy.
"So what if this isn't Earth-616? This world is closely connected to your universe! I can still get to Earth-616 from here! How many X-Men and superheroes do you think I've killed?"
"Innumerable!"
"Shut up, demon." Hawkeye, who had only brought Black Widow and Ghost (three, if you count Silk), shot an arrow at Belasco's forehead. It did no damage, but the insult was supreme. Simultaneously, the older Hawkeye (from the Wasteland Universe) also shot an arrow at Belasco's forehead, then sighed.
"It's good to see a version of yourself who hasn't screwed everything up, isn't it, Clint?"
Hawkeye shook his head helplessly, never having imagined he might turn into that kind of old man. It was unpredictable.
Belasco, struck twice in the head, shrieked. While he couldn't return to Limbo immediately, he could summon endless hordes of demons from it. Suddenly, a swarm of corrupted X-Men and native Limbo demons rushed forward, blocking the superheroes charging toward him.
"Alright, I have a question."
Tony and Cyclops stood back-to-back. Tony blasted as many demons as possible with miniature missiles while asking curiously: "So this demon's home is filled entirely with X-Men he corrupted, not corrupted Avengers or anything. Does he like mutants, or does he discriminate against them?"
"I don't know. I only know that in the worlds of the parallel X-Men he corrupted, no one discriminates against mutants anymore." Cyclops blasted the head of a Demon Wolverine with a beam: "Because all the humans are dead."
Having said that, Cyclops rushed off to support other teammates, leaving Tony standing there, looking at the corpses of the fallen Demon Cyclops: "Alright, remind me to stick a note on the Avengers Tower fridge, J.A.R.V.I.S.: 'The X-Men's leader is an unfriendly fellow.'"
Belasco was enraged because he'd been fooled, but he was also acutely aware of his situation. He was confident he still had a chance to reach the 616 universe. These demon hordes weren't meant to defeat the superheroes here but to delay them. If enough cannon fodder held these guys up, allowing him to find the portal and enter Earth-616, he could then summon Chton there.
Once Chton begins his assault, everything will be fine.
"Demon, you will pay the price for killing a good man!"
Thor, who had been fighting his way through the demon horde for a while, spotted Belasco preparing to flee. He immediately hurled Mjolnir, which struck Belasco in the head. Belasco was unharmed, instead looking at Thor with disdain: "Do you think you can defeat me with one hammer? A Dimensional Demon God who transcends a single universe? You are nothing but a new god on one planet in one universe!"
"Perhaps I can't defeat you with one hammer, demon."
As Thor spoke, he held out his hands, summoning his hammer. The Mjolnir he had thrown returned to his hand, while a second Mjolnir flew from miles away, smashing into Belasco's head, and flying into Thor's left hand.
"But there is more than one Mjolnir here."
"Even with two hammers! Don't think you can..."
A third hammer then smashed into Belasco's head.
Strange, who was casting a spell to enlarge Hank Pym to fight a giant demon, looked at Peter, who was using Venom's symbiotic blades to pierce a demon, with great confusion: "Where did those three Mjolnirs come from, Spider-Man?"
"Uh, didn't I go to the Zombie Universe before?"
"Didn't that hammer get broken?"
"Then the Watcher sent me to a universe where Deadpool killed all the heroes and villains. There was an empty Mjolnir there. I asked Dr. Pym for some Pym Particles, shrank both hammers, and brought them along."
Peter actually wanted to mention that there should have been one in Earth-Z as well, but he didn't know why he couldn't find it.
"Strange gave Thor, who was playing with three Mjolnirs as if they were funnels (remote-controlled weapons), another strange look, momentarily speechless."
-----------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------
I handpick only the finest and most captivating novels for you. Don't forget to check out my other novels!
p@treon HongMengZi