"He just signed it?"
Looking at the empty place of Nightmare, Mephisto was silent for a long time, still looking at Luke and the others in some disbelief.
"Isn't the contract in your hands?" Luke was helpless after being asked by Mephisto again.
"I'm shocked only when it's in my hands." Mephisto looked at the parchment burning with black flames on the table in front of him and said sullenly, "Are all the demon gods so easily fooled nowadays?"
"Why are you calling it a lie?" Luke frowned sensitively. God King Odin and Ancient One also cast discontented and questioning glances at Mephisto.
What's going on? How can you dismantle your own TV?
"This is a mutually beneficial cooperation! It's mutual assistance that benefits both sides. To describe it as cheating is a bit too much." Luke asked softly, "In other words, if you were Nightmare, after enjoying this convenience and help, wouldn't you want to sign this kind of contract?"
"No!" Mephisto's head spun 360 degrees on his neck, leaving an afterimage. He'd suffered at the hands of the Abyss before! If there was even a slight chance, he didn't want his Hell dimension to have anything to do with the Abyss again! He said honestly, "Who would sign this?"
Everyone present was silenced for a moment by Mephisto's sudden sincerity.
Especially Odin and Gu Yi, after carefully pondering and considering Mephisto's words, they actually reached a rare consensus with him in their hearts.
Not to mention the Ancient One, who couldn't even be bothered to draw upon the power of the Abyss, even Odin wouldn't want Asgard and the Nine Realms to be tainted by it. Nidavellir, activated by the Abyss and becoming one of its physical carriers in this universe, was enough to give Odin a headache.
He did exile the other party, but for a conscious planetary life, if one day it suddenly wants to go home, what can Odin do?
Only Luke and Mephisto managed to manipulate the abhorrent energy of the Abyss in some creative ways. However, such manipulations carried certain consequences. The longer the timescale, the more obvious these consequences became.
After all, the abyss dimension cannot be cleared by any energy or method at present. Once it is contaminated, even a little bit, it can stubbornly rely on devouring energy or matter of other natures, and then grow stronger little by little.
Therefore, the more energy leaked from the Abyss dimension, the more matter and dimensions would be assimilated into the Abyss energy in the future. However, even though Luke and Mephisto made good use of the Abyss energy, it was still highly polluting and had limited uses.
Just as the law of increasing entropy is despairing, the energy of the Abyss is equally disgusting. It can be likened to an immortal cancer within the energy and material worlds, something even a dimensional demon known as the Cancer of the Universe couldn't refute.
Mephisto could only be thankful that he had discovered the active Abyssal energy earlier and that Luke had found a temporary solution. Otherwise, once the Abyssal energy completely spread throughout the Hell Dimension, he would have gone mad along with the Hell Dimension! Even more terrifying was the possibility that the consciousness of the Hell Dimension would be activated and contaminated, perhaps becoming a bottomless abyss. Not only would his family be wiped out, but he might also lose his entire life and the wealth he had accumulated.
A dimensional demon without a home is probably worse than a dog in the multiverse. If that demon without a home is the famous Mephisto, then he is almost dead in the multiverse.
"Don't say that about our future partners. This kind of talk is not conducive to unity! Remember this in the future, we have all signed this contract." Luke was silent for a moment, and reminded with a normal expression.
"Who will sign the next contract? Dormammu? I think he's smarter than Nightmare." Mephisto nodded. What if Nightmare becomes suspicious and doesn't believe they can sign the contract?
He'd tell him about the terrible conditions in his own dimension of Hell. If necessary, Odin could also tell him about how the Nine Realms had completely destroyed one of them. They were the earliest victims of the Abyss! Why wouldn't you believe it?
"He is indeed smarter than Nightmare. At least in terms of strength attributes and characteristics, Dormammu is much stronger than Nightmare. As long as he doesn't have the stupidity to go to Nightmare's dimension to fight Nightmare." Ancient One agreed.
"By the way, hasn't he discovered the abyss energy growing in his own dimension? That shouldn't be the case." Luke blinked. If there was a problem, Dormammu would definitely try his best to find a loophole and contact Strange, but Strange has been living a very carefree life recently and has not been entangled by Dormammu.
Didn't Dormammu discover the abyss energy?
This is impossible. As a lord, he should have quickly sensed the abnormality in his own dimension, just like Mephisto did. He didn't do anything to hide the abyssal energy.
"Have you ever considered that his control over the Dark Dimension isn't as perfect as you think?" Ancient One whispered, "The Dark Dimension was seized by Dormammu, and he's not the only one in control there. Or rather, any powerful dimension is often plagued by conflicts among multiple lords. For example, Mephisto only controls a portion of the Hell Dimension."
"So, he hasn't noticed yet?" Luke raised an eyebrow in surprise. If it's delayed any longer, like cancer, it'll become a late stage. What will happen then? It will definitely be much more difficult to deal with. In serious cases, if the Dark Dimension is too deeply eroded by the Abyss, Luke won't even have the desire to intervene.
Rather than slashing a half-dead, crippled Dormammu, it would be better to find a new target. As for the Dark Dimension being the gateway to many other dimensional worlds, the potential contamination and trouble the Abyss will bring to the multiverse as it expands is a future matter, isn't it? By that point, this universe might be nearing its end.
"I found it." Ancient One gave an unexpected answer in a relaxed tone. Her tone was so light and firm. Obviously, although she had been leisurely during this period, she was also keeping an eye on Dormammu in the Dark Dimension.
Although she no longer has the Eye of Agamotto, she has had her own backdoors and quietly established permissions in the universes of demons in various dimensions over the years. It may be a little difficult to steal a house, but it is still easy to use the permissions to extract some energy, spy on the latest events and news in the dimension without being discovered by the owner.
Under everyone's gaze, Ancient One said the second half of his sentence: "He is now trying to find a way to deal with the energy of the abyss."
"I hope he succeeds." Mephisto prayed for Dormammu with a gloating look.
success?
Are you kidding?
The Abyssal energy in the Hell Dimension can only be contained. Although most of it has been sealed using Luke's technology and used to create the Abyssal Contract, if the seal is not clean enough, it will inevitably resurface.
Would Mephisto dare to claim that the Abyssal energy within him had been completely sealed? He wouldn't dare! Even those earliest corrupted demons were kicked one by one by him, using the authority of Luke and the Ancient One to directly kick them into the deepest Abyssal dimension, transforming their attributes from Hell Demons to Abyssal Demons.
Those hell demons that were polluted and successfully transformed into abyss demons have become more powerful, but their brains are not working well.
Mephisto didn't think Dormammu would be able to find a solution to the problem that was giving him and Odin a headache and they were unable to solve it. He would probably just delay the matter and make it worse.
Mephisto thought this was a good idea. Only by making the other party deeply aware of the difficulty of the Abyss, when trading with them, could their technology be sold at a high price! They also dared to call out some excessive conditions.
Treating Dormammu like Nightmare was definitely not possible! Luke's original plan was to use Dormammu as a model and harvest a wave of them to restore their bank.
"He did find some ways." Ancient One's words shocked everyone present, especially Mephisto. The mask on his face was covered with fine cracks and was about to split.
Even Luke raised an eyebrow. No one understood better than him, the creator of Abyssal Energy, what a horrific, repulsive, and terrifying energy it was.
"Dormammu is using his life to dilute the energy of the abyss." Ancient One stated Dormammu's solution.
"This is only a temporary solution, not a fundamental solution. Life can indeed accommodate Abyssal Energy, and they are indeed one of the best carriers of the Abyss. However, the amount they can carry is limited! The more powerful the life, the greater the amount they can carry. And if it is just an ordinary life with ordinary life essence, the amount of Abyssal Energy currently being nurtured and assimilated in the Dark Dimension would be required to be counted in the billions.
But this is only the beginning. After briefly curbing the expansion and transfer of the Abyssal Energy, once it has completely contaminated and digested the life forms that carry it, it will usher in a larger-scale outbreak. I don't think Dormammu is so foolish as to not understand this, unless..." Luke blinked. He thought of a possibility.
"Yes, unless he's throwing away garbage," Ancient One continued. "He uses a large number of lives to absorb the energy of the Abyss, then uses the characteristics of the Dark Dimension to banish them to other dimensions through the connection ports between various dimensions. Then he seals this access port."
"Infect others with your own disease?" Mephisto was amazed. Dormammu was indeed a ruthless man who could gain a foothold in the dark dimension. He even thought of this method of transferring damage.
It's a pity that the Hell Dimension does not have the characteristic of the Dark Dimension that connects to the major dimensions. He would like to throw the Abyss Energy to the territories of other Hell Lords, but if there is no solution, if he does so, the consciousness of the Hell Dimension will probably expel him as a disaster in order to save itself.
Even Mephisto would never do such a thing as poisoning someone at home.
But he admired Dormammu's methods.
"We have to stop him!" Mephisto declared without hesitation.
"How can we stop it?" Ancient One gave Mephisto a curious look. Dormammu had already deemed the areas of the Dark Dimension currently infected by the Abyss a forbidden zone, with no exits. Any life that entered would be transported in droves through portals to the entrances and exits of various dimensions after infection.
Now, in addition to suppressing his long-standing internal enemies, Dormammu has focused all his energy on clearing the energy of the abyss. In this situation where he is being closely watched, even Ancient One can't do anything.
"Are we just going to let him handle it?" Mephisto glanced at Luke. Admiration was all he cared about, but if you were to resolve the threat of the Abyss on your own, how would we proceed? If so many other demons followed your example, would we even be able to continue with the future we'd planned?
You are destroying my job!
Mephisto would never want Dormammu to succeed.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" Luke gave Mephisto a strange look. "If the Abyss can be solved with this tricky method, why would I need to create and upgrade sealing technology?"
"You mean?" Mephisto's eyes lit up for a moment, but the next moment, the expression behind his mask turned bitter. Luke's words reminded him of the abyss within him, which he didn't know if he had completely cleared.
"This is indeed a method, but Dormammu might be thinking too highly of this solution to the pollution of the abyss. Does he think that if he cuts out the cancerous tumor, the tumor will disappear? No, the disgusting thing about the abyss is that it cannot be completely cleaned without certain targeted technologies. Does Dormammu think that he can solve the problem by having their pollution carried by other carriers and then thrown away from his home? I am afraid that under his operation, a larger-scale abyss outbreak will occur. The spirit, soul, energy, matter, and the abyss can all be polluted. A simple life cannot completely carry the energy of the abyss. Instead, the final emotions of life such as despair and hatred will turn into nutrients to nourish a higher concentration of abyss." Luke answered with some ease.
"In other words, the plan can still go on?" Mephisto rubbed his hands, and his mood instantly improved a lot.
"Of course we can continue. The area that Dormammu sealed off may be undergoing some unusual changes due to the combination of life, mind, and the abyss. Perhaps a small abyss will appear there? What else can Dormammu do when he finds that the entire area has been irreversibly transformed into the abyss? Can he also remove that area from the dark dimension? Even if he can do something, can he be sure that he has completely removed it, or has he truly cleared the abyss?
"The Abyss can't be cleared this way," Luke concluded. "If he came to us now, our workload might be less. But if he waited until the area had become abyssal, it would be a massive undertaking."
"I will prepare a good contract for him. As the second demon to sign the Abyss Contract, he should feel fortunate." Mephisto said enthusiastically.