The Witch Bonnie's barrier could restrain Vampires.
But it couldn't restrain Hawke.
Hawke took a step, and with the surge of his Little Universe's power, the Witch's barrier before him rippled like a calm lake.
As the ripples appeared.
Hawke walked in without obstruction, his gaze calm as he looked at Katherine, who was on alert, instinctively hissed, baring her two fangs, and looked exactly like a startled kitten: "Hello, Ms. Katherine Pierce."
It's impolite to call someone you don't know by their first name.
Especially when facing someone of the opposite sex.
Hawke didn't want a harem, nor did he want to have one, and furthermore, he didn't want Gwen to think he had any such ideas.
So, when he was at New York University, if a female classmate came to find him, or when he was with Gwen at Empire University, unless it was a woman they both knew well enough to call by her first name, he always used her last name followed by 'Ms.'.
Just like Katherine before him.
After Hawke walked in, Katherine instinctively took a step back, looking at Hawke with an expression of alert solemnity.
"Who are you, Klaus's person?"
"Heh."
Hawke heard this and recalled Damon mistaking him for Klaus, and now Katherine was mistaking him for Klaus's person.
But he could understand.
Just like his previous understanding of the Seventh Sense.
Before he glimpsed a corner of the Seventh Sense, he saw it like a frog in a well viewing the moon in the sky—though distant and unreachable, at least visible.
But the moment he glimpsed a corner of the Seventh Sense, he completely understood that his view of the Seventh Sense was like a mayfly seeing the vast sky.
Damon and Katherine's view of him was similar.
After all, in their understanding, the Original Vampire was already the most powerful Vampire, and it was hard for them to imagine anyone more powerful than an Original Vampire.
Hawke smiled and shook his head.
"I don't know any Klaus, I came for you."
"…"
Katherine listened to Hawke's words, and a charming smile appeared on her delicate face, then her demeanor became full of allure and grace, as she smiled warmly and walked towards Hawke.
Hawke saw this and took a few steps back.
He didn't want to go back later after finishing his business and have Gwen smell a strange woman's perfume on him.
Again.
He had no intention of having a harem, nor did he want to make Gwen worry, so when he was out, he was very disciplined in his relationships with unfamiliar women.
Trust is never created out of nothing; it accumulates little by little over time.
Just like now.
Let's put it this way, even if Gwen's best friend Mary returned from Los Angeles and swore to Gwen that Hawke was seeing someone else, Gwen wouldn't believe it.
The reason lay in Hawke's constant maintenance of distance from other women.
This was also why Gwen didn't ask him what he was going out for earlier.
Because of trust.
Katherine looked at Hawke, who had taken a few steps back, and the charming expression on her face stiffened slightly.
Good heavens, was your action of stepping back genuine?
Are you even a man?
Hawke's expression was calm as he looked at Katherine, getting straight to the point.
"Let's make a deal, Ms. Pierce."
"What?"
After Hawke took a step back, the charming expression on Katherine's face had also disappeared, replaced by her vigilant look, and even her demeanor became extremely cold.
Hawke was direct.
"I can save you from here."
"In return, let me see your soul."
"How about it."
Yes.
This was why he ran all the way here late at night. The moment he saw Katherine, he confirmed that the soul of Dr. Mallick, whom he had captured, had the same spiritual aura as Katherine's soul.
Just as souls from the Hell Dimension all bore the imprint of the Hell Dimension.
Katherine's soul and Dr. Mallick's soul were also like this.
But it wasn't Hell; it was another dimension that controlled the laws of life and death.
Hawke was very curious about this, and at the same time, he disdained Mephisto.
Mephisto, that old demon, still kept saying, "Souls belong to Hell, sacred and inviolable."
And what was the result?
Old Mephisto, your home is almost being stolen.
Katherine was first taken aback by Hawke's request.
The next second.
Whoosh!
Katherine's figure turned into an afterimage in front of Hawke.
Hawke's smile remained unchanged. Under his psychokinesis, almost the moment Katherine disappeared from her original spot, he re-restrained Katherine, who was in an afterimage state, back to her original position.
Katherine, who had reappeared, felt the invisible force coming from all directions, omnipresent, like a quagmire trapping her tightly, and she struggled with an expression of fear and unease.
At this moment, Katherine shed all her disguises, revealing her truest self: unease, fear, and unwillingness.
Hawke chuckled softly and withdrew his psychokinesis.
Katherine, who a second ago thought she was truly going to die this time, was stunned again a second later as she felt her freedom return, and she looked at Hawke.
She had originally thought Hawke was going to kill her.
After all, Hawke had spoken of her soul, so it was perfectly normal for her to want to escape.
But now…
Katherine frowned deeply, looking at Hawke, who was still watching her with calm eyes.
"You just said you wanted to…"
"See your soul. In return, I will take you out of here. Of course, you can choose to refuse."
Hawke's tone remained calm.
He was now 100% certain that the captured Dr. Mallick was a clone with a soul.
Hawke was just curious now which dimension this soul came from.
That's all…
So if Katherine agreed, it would at most be a bonus for him; if she didn't agree, it was fine, he had already gotten what he wanted.
Katherine barely hesitated.
"Then I refuse."
"Alright!"
Hawke heard Katherine's answer, and he was also very decisive, turning to leave.
Just then.
Katherine looked at Hawke, who had stepped out of the seal in just one step, seemingly genuinely intending to leave, and quickly spoke up.
"Wait a moment."
"…"
Hawke returned to the seal, looking at Katherine, who had called out to him.
Katherine said in a deep voice, "You said you wanted to see my soul, just see it, and won't do anything to my soul?"
Hawke's answer was concise.
"No."
"After you see it, you will help me leave here, and not demand that I follow you?"
"…"
Hawke heard this and looked at Katherine: "I have a fiancée, Ms. Pierce, and I love her very much."
Katherine's lips twitched, and she took a deep breath.
"Then how do you plan to see it?"
"Simple."
Hawke smiled slightly at this, extended his right hand, and the Little Universe instantly flickered in his palm like a projection. Soon, the Underworld seemed to appear within his palm.
Underworld in the Palm.
In an instant.
Hawke's laws of life and death operated, and Katherine's eyes immediately fell into a daze, while Hawke had already entered Katherine's soul World.
What kind of soul does a Vampire have?
Ugly?
Bloody?
Full of filth.
In fact, it was true, just like Damon's soul.
But Katherine's soul…
Holy!
Light and warmth, no matter from what perspective, just by looking at Katherine's soul, one would never think Katherine was a Vampire; instead, she resembled—
An Angel?
Hawke's heart stirred as he looked at Katherine, whose eyes were slightly closed, and whose radiant soul essence could only be seen by entering her soul. His mind first conjured the Angel skeleton bound in the Underground Room of Fox Manor's annex.
Of course.
He wasn't saying Katherine's soul was the soul of the Underground Angel skeleton, but rather he recalled a remark William Fox had made at the time.
After Jesus died, he resurrected and ascended on the third day!
The next second.
Hawke's mind conjured Elena, who, if not identical to Katherine before him, could only be described as carved from the same mold.
Following that—
Doppelgänger!
This was one of the most mysterious settings in 'The Vampire Diaries'.
According to the original plot description, doppelgängers are not simply two people who look very similar; the true meaning of a doppelgänger refers to individuals chosen by fate. They not only possess identical DNA, but also have identical appearances, voices, and even souls.
This was also why Hawk determined the Dr. Mallick he captured was a clone with a soul the moment he saw Katherine.
He did not compare Katherine with Mallick.
He made this judgment after first seeing Elena, and then Katherine.
Because Elena's soul and Katherine's were exactly the same.
The only difference was that Elena's soul did not possess the sacred light he now saw deep within Katherine's soul.
Also…
The captured Dr. Mallick did not seem to believe he was a clone.
Hawk had not yet figured out this point.
However, Hawk already had a speculation as to why Katherine's soul glowed with such sacred light.
It was still because of the battle between the Heaven Dimension and the Hell Dimension for control of Earth.
In that battle, Mephisto won the final victory, and the Heaven Dimension retreated.
In that great war, countless Angels fell.
The number was certainly not small; this could be known from the Angel skeleton in the Underground Room of Fox Manor's annex.
The souls of those deceased Angels, theoretically speaking, should belong to the new winner, Mephisto.
So…
"Mephisto!"
After seeing the essence of Katherine's soul, Hawk thought to himself, then without hesitation, he appeared directly in the spatial rift, and by operating the Law of Life and Death, he successfully located the portal to the Hell Dimension and directly punched it.
As everyone knows.
He never delays his revenge!
"Roar!"
"Hawk!!!"
The Hell Dimension's gate rumbled, Mephisto instantly understood, roaring in fury, revealing his true demonic form, and looking at Hawk, who had come knocking on his door again and again, he shrieked angrily: "Do you really think I wouldn't dare to start a divine war with you?"
Hawk was expressionless.
"Are you the one who wants to start a divine war with me?"
"What?"
Mephisto, with a huge look of confusion on his demonic face, listened to Hawk's words, couldn't help but be stunned, then roared angrily: "Do you think you can violate the oath you made to the Goddess of Death back then? It's bad enough that you're not keeping your promise now, but you're also slandering me."
Mephisto—
He felt wronged.
If the Goddess of Death gave him another chance to redo it, he guaranteed he would absolutely not think of being an enemy of Hawk this time.
No other reason.
Because this time, he found that Hawk's strength seemed to have grown again.
This was not scientific.
No.
This was not occult at all.
Hawk listened to Mephisto's angry voice, suppressing his grievances, and raised an eyebrow.
"You didn't do it, you didn't collude with HYDRA to ambush me?"
"What are you talking about?"
Mephisto said in a deep voice: "What is HYDRA?"
Hawk frowned, stopped speaking, and shifted his gaze downwards, revealing Katherine's soul below.
Mephisto followed Hawk's gaze.
The next second.
The moment Mephisto's gaze fell on Katherine's soul, his expression shook, and then he seemed to think of something, and his voice became even deeper and angrier!
"Jehovah!"
"…"
Hawk's heart stirred, listening to Mephisto's seemingly genuine angry voice, and looked at Mephisto: "Didn't you drive the Heaven Dimension out?"
Mephisto sneered, staring intently at Katherine's soul: "Apparently, they snuck back in."
As the words fell.
Mephisto's demonic hand opened, intending to take Katherine's soul.
But…
Hawk's mind stirred, and with a bang, the moment his right hand opened, it slammed into Mephisto's demonic palm.
The spatial rift was violently turbulent.
Mephisto roared.
"Hawk!"
"What are you roaring about?"
Hawk instinctively dug at his ear, then looked at Mephisto, who was constantly yelling: "You're a Dimension Lord, can't you pay attention to your image? She's not dead yet. Only dead souls belong to you."
Mephisto sneered, continuing to stare fixedly at Katherine's soul.
"She is already dead."
"She's a Vampire, she's not dead yet."
Hawk shook his head, corrected him, then brought up Dr. Mallick's suspected clone with a soul, and then came here to find that Elena's and Katherine's souls were also identical, then saw Katherine's soul, thought of the divine war between Hell and Heaven, and thus mistakenly thought it was Mephisto and HYDRA working together to cause trouble.
After listening, Mephisto fell silent, his pair of dead-fish-like demonic eyes watching Hawk.
Their eyes met.
For some reason, this time, Hawk felt a bit flustered looking at Mephisto's eyes.
Who knows how long passed.
Mephisto's voice was drawn out.
"Hawk!"
"Hmm."
"I am a God. HYDRA, a broken thing created by a bunch of humans, they don't have the qualifications to team up with me."
"What about Ghost Rider?"
"That's my messenger. Do you think I would team up with an organization concocted by ordinary people to deal with you? That would be an insult to me. I am indeed trying to deal with you, but I haven't fallen to the point of teaming up with a bunch of my food."
When Mephisto said this, his voice was calm, no longer filled with the previous anger.
Who was he?
The ruler of the Hell Dimension.
What was HYDRA? A villainous organization of ordinary people who couldn't even succeed in their second attempt at struggle.
But that didn't matter anymore.
Let alone HYDRA, even the Five Great Benefactors, in Mephisto's eyes, shared a common name.
Food!
He could use any means to eat food, but he would never team up with food.
Hawk met Mephisto's calm demonic eyes: "Sorry."
Admitting a mistake, there was nothing to be embarrassed about.
He could be a tyrant, but not an incompetent ruler.
Only…
After apologizing, Hawk quickly brought the topic back to these two identical souls.
"I thought souls were unique."
"Indeed."
Mephisto said in a deep voice: "But the souls of those bird-people from the Heaven Dimension are an exception."
Hawk raised an eyebrow.
Mephisto looked at Hawk.
"Every dimension has its own characteristic, just like my Hell Dimension, its characteristic is demons."
"Demons don't eat or drink, primarily tempting and snatching souls."
"Those bird-people from the Heaven Dimension also have their own characteristic."
"Soul duality."
"These bird-people, relying on this characteristic, have silently invaded and encroached upon many other life Planets under the jurisdiction of other Death Lords."
Simply put.
Angel souls possess duality. If placed on a life Planet under the jurisdiction of the Heaven Dimension, the characteristic displayed is that even if an Angel dies the first time, they will resurrect and be reborn.
Just like Jesus resurrected on the third day after his death and ascended.
But if placed on another Death Lord's Earth, the manifestation would be different.
After all, if you perform a resurrection act on someone else's territory, aren't you clearly telling the Death Lord that you're here to snatch their territory?
So, when in someone else's territory, the duality of Angel souls changes.
Just like Katherine.
Katherine used to be an ordinary person, but she became a Vampire. Although Vampires are supernatural beings, Vampires also have a name: living corpses.
So…
The Angel's duality took effect, splitting off an identical soul. To prevent the local Death Lord from noticing anything amiss, this soul went to Hell in Katherine's place, then underwent reincarnation and was reborn, and that soul had a brand new soul named Elena.
This was how the Heaven Dimension invaded other Death Lords' territories.
A soul tainted with the aura of Hell might not be much.
But two, three…
By the time the local Death Lord reacted, the Heaven Dimension had already sharpened its knives.
"No!"
"I should go."
"I didn't plan against you, at least not this time."
"Don't knock on my door again!"
After Mephisto finished speaking, upon thinking of the Heaven Dimension's hidden methods, he seemed to realize something, dropped these words, and vanished.
As for Hawk…
He didn't even bother with him.
Even!
Mephisto secretly rejoiced, wishing Hawk would go to war with Heaven.
…
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