The night in Hampton was so dark it seemed profound. There was no moon tonight, and the snow was as dim as the prelude of classical music, silent as if frozen, yet occasionally interrupted by a drumbeat. The names listed by the God of Death resembled a long poem, pushed ashore by the surging waves, leaving only faint, invisible traces of dampness on the sand.
An arrogant figure stood under the porch light, almost a mere silhouette. Natasha was still in her black bodysuit, her lipstick the color of the ostentatious feathers on ladies' hats at an 18th-century ball.
The others had all returned to their rooms but hadn't slept. They stood by the windows, watching the two figures depart, knowing it wouldn't be an ordinary night. Yet as the night deepened, sleep still devoured most of them, even the children who had played all day.
By the latter half of the night, faint thunder rumbled across the sky, waking everyone in Zhejiang. Although thunderstorms were not uncommon on the East Coast in winter, this one sounded unusually sharp.
Everyone in pajamas gathered in the living room again. Greed looked out the window at the distant flashes, knowing it couldn't have been caused by Arrogance and Natasha, but more likely a fight between superpower users.
"Should I check it out?" Stark asked tentatively. He was a bit sleepy, but little Morgan in his arms was quite alert.
"Someone is definitely fighting, Dad," little Morgan said. "I think we can take a look."
"I want to go too," the twin brothers said, rubbing their eyes and looking up at Wanda. Wanda didn't seem tired; she was even a bit excited, perhaps from staying up late chatting with the Witch.
"Oh, wait a minute," Wanda suddenly said, looking out the window. "I think it's my teacher."
"Who? Hanix?"
The flashes grew closer. Strange had to intervene, enveloping the estate with magic power and casting a shield above it. But such a dense surge of magic power was like a lighthouse in the dark night, quickly attracting the attention of both warring sides. The sounds were getting closer.
A group of them rushed out the estate gates. A woman with thunderous eyes floated above the estate, while two men hurriedly ran inside.
They actually passed through the Supreme Magician's shield and got inside. Greed slightly frowned, realizing that Strange intentionally let them in. The two appeared unaware of the magical shield's presence, proving they weren't strong enough.
Yet the woman hovering in mid-air seemed full of wariness; she didn't descend but floated there until she spotted Strange's face in the crowd.
She lowered her hands and turned to leave. The two men looked incredulously in her direction, then turned their attention to the people in front of them. However, they focused on Captain America and Iron Man.
"The Avengers?" The black-haired man in the lead frowned. He appeared to be a strong middle-aged man with thick black hair and a beard. The one behind him seemed younger, but also had black hair; at a glance, they could be mistaken for father and son.
"You must be Mages, so why are you here?" Steve asked with a frown.
"It's nothing, we're just..."
Before the older man could finish, the younger one stepped forward and said, "We're being hunted. Can you help us?"
"First, tell us who you are," Steve said.
"My name is Nicholas," the older man said. "This is Blake. We came from the south, chased all the way here."
"We can't manage matters of the Magic realm," Stark interjected, "You'd better leave as soon as possible."
"Wait, don't leave us to die!" urged the young man called Blake. "The ones hunting us fear your reputation and don't dare to come here. Can we stay for a while?"
"Of course, you're welcome to stay," Strange's voice came from the back of the crowd. Everyone tactfully stepped aside. As Blake met Strange's eyes, his face turned pale.
"No, no, I think we'd better go," Blake said, attempting to drag Nicholas away. Nicholas hesitated, seemingly wanting to say something further. Blake simply ignored him and ran towards the exit, but after just a few steps, he collided with the shield. Getting in was easy; leaving was difficult.
"Supreme Magician... wait, Supreme Magician, my father is your partner! You can't kill me!" Blake shouted, "My dad is Mephisto! You can't kill me!"
Blake used every facial expression and body movement to demonstrate "fear." Nicholas, hearing Blake refer to Strange as Supreme Magician, was still confused. From his expression, Steve deduced that this guy hadn't kept up with recent events, unaware that the Supreme Magician had changed.
But understandably, for immortal species, several decades is still brief; any trivial endeavor would pass in that time. Furthermore, The Ancient One had served as Supreme Magician for so long without any apparent change, so their ignorance was plausible.
Blake dropped to the ground. Strange extended one hand toward him; Blake didn't even make an attempt to fight back and tightly closed his eyes. But in the next moment, Strange slightly frowned in bewilderment.
"...How did you become human?" Strange asked.
"Mephisto's doing!" Blake shouted, "I don't know how he did it, but my powers have been sealed, and I can't even use magic anymore..."
Strange looked at him calmly, but then withdrew his hand and turned to Nicholas beside him. Nicholas swung his magic wand, seemingly wanting to take action, but the next second he was tied up with the Deep Red Ribbon by Strange.
With a "bang," Nicholas was thrown into the cellar. Without even looking at him, Strange went upstairs. Blake sat trembling on the sofa. Strange paused his steps, turned his head, and said to him, "Thank your father, I can't lay a hand on ordinary people."
After saying this, he went upstairs. Blake didn't relax at all. Now, he had Captain America on his left, Iron Man on his right, while he himself was just an ordinary person unable to bind a chicken, maybe even weaker than ordinary people now, an obsolete version of ordinary people. Humanity's strength had advanced, leaving him behind.
"Did you come here from Salem?" Greed asked, "I heard you caused quite a commotion there."
"It wasn't me." Blake shirked responsibility, "It was Nicholas, he wanted revenge against his mother and dragged me along. I have no quarrel with the Witches, no reason to deal with them."
"You made a deal with Nicholas, you helped him cause trouble in Salem, he helped you regain your powers and devil form." Greed revealed his purpose indifferently, "Should I call you Blake, or Heart of Darkness?"
"If I were still Hell's Prince, I'd certainly be Heart of Darkness. But now I'm just an ordinary person, you can call me Blake." Blake hurriedly clarified.
If he were still Heart of Darkness, he'd belong to the Cosmic Sorcerer, appearing on Earth would be an unauthorized border crossing, and he should've been shattered by the Supreme Magician by now. Luckily, he'd become an ordinary person and indistinguishable from the Human race, even the Supreme Magician couldn't find any trace, having to let him go. He was now desperate for no one to remember he was Hell's Prince.
Stark's eyes gleamed weakly; he watched for a long time and then said, "You really have become human, I can't discern anything. How did Mephisto do it?"
"Uh, I have human lineage," Blake said.
"Your mother is human?" Steve was somewhat puzzled.
Blake shook his head, saying, "I wasn't born from Mephisto, I am the accumulated sin from the Crown of Christ in New York over the years. Because sin is created by humans, you could say I'm another form of humanity, akin to a hobgoblin formed of resentment."
"I see," Stark said, "But, what is the Crown of Christ?"
Blake paused, then said, "It's just an area in New York."
The people looked at each other. The New Yorkers present hadn't heard of this area. Steve said, "Is it possibly a certain street? Roughly where in New York is it located?"
"It seems like a hill," Blake said, "There are many thorns on this hill, like the crown worn on Jesus' head. There's a town at the foot, with quite a few residents."
"Look at this," Natasha kicked the thing at her feet. It looked like a ring fixed to the ground, but on closer inspection, it should be a cellar door.
The place they were now, was the mall where life-essentials were bought earlier. The original site of this place was Violet Resort Village. After Violet Resort Village closed down, it was turned into a mall, running till today.
Natasha and Arrogant searched the mall for a long time, eventually finding this cellar door near the southwest side, the mall's water supply center; it seemed to have some age.
Natasha squatted down, pulled hard at the ring, the door seemed to loosen a bit, but still wouldn't open. She changed her posture, yanked sharply, and the aged lock broke directly, a rush of decay wafting out.
Natasha deeply furrowed her brow. She was the first to jump in, turned on her flashlight and said, "It's fine, come down."
Arrogant followed down soon but quickly frowned, his voice echoing in the narrow space: "This place is filled with a decaying aura."
The space below wasn't very large, seemingly a place for water tanks. In times when water supply technology was not good, places like this resort often stored some water for emergencies. The water here had dried up long ago, but the plastic water tanks remained.
Natasha held the flashlight while walking in front, with Arrogant following behind her. Arrogant seemed to be sensing something, he slowly spoke, "The carnivorous bacteria incident at Violet Resort Village must be more than it seems on the surface."
"Why do you say that?" Natasha asked.
"Have you heard of bacteria that would eat human organs?" Arrogant paused, then continued, "This might essentially be an act of revenge by an evil spirit."
"Sounds indeed odd," Natasha said, "If bacteria explode within the body relatively slowly, then initially someone falls ill and gets treated, others wouldn't fall victim. If it explodes very quickly, it doesn't sound like bacteria but rather a corrosive liquid, like drinking concentrated sulfuric acid..."
Suddenly, a rustling sound came from behind them. Natasha abruptly turned around and shone her flashlight at the instant, a long-haired silhouette flashed by, and there, on the gray-white wall, suddenly appeared a blot of blood.