Parker Robbins had made his fortune in the most unexpected way imaginable. What began as a careless theft had turned into something far more extraordinary than he could ever have dreamed. The two strange items he had stolen, things he had originally assumed were just valuable antiques, turned out to be objects of incredible supernatural power. At first he had barely understood what he was dealing with, but curiosity and desperation drove him to experiment with them over the next several days.
Through trial and error, Robbins gradually uncovered what the artifacts could do. The cloak allowed him to vanish completely from sight, rendering him invisible to anyone around him. The boots, on the other hand, gave him the ability to walk through the air as if gravity simply didn't apply to him. Once he learned how to combine the two effects, another ability began to manifest—bursts of explosive electrical energy that could shoot from his hands like violent arcs of lightning.
Even now, he hadn't fully mastered that last power. The energy sometimes sparked unpredictably, surging through his palms when his emotions ran high. Still, the abilities he had already learned were more than enough to change his life completely.
Using the cloak's invisibility, he had successfully broken into a billionaire's mansion just two nights earlier. The operation had been terrifying at first, but once he realized no one could see him, his confidence grew quickly. He hid quietly in the corner of the study and watched the tycoon open his personal safe, carefully memorizing every digit of the security code as the man punched it in.
Later, after the wealthy owner left the room, Robbins calmly opened the safe himself and walked out with half a million dollars in cash.
That single act had changed everything.
His mother, who had been suffering for months, was finally receiving the best medical treatment money could buy. Doctors who had once ignored them now treated her like an important patient. Even better, Robbins had just learned that his girlfriend was pregnant. The news had hit him like a thunderbolt, but instead of fear, he felt something he had never felt before—hope.
For the first time in his life, things were finally going right.
That evening, he took his girlfriend to a luxurious French restaurant they had once walked past but never dared to enter. Soft music floated through the dining hall while chandeliers cast warm golden light across the polished tables. They laughed together over expensive wine and dishes whose names Robbins could barely pronounce, both of them savoring the strange new reality they had stepped into.
Later that night, the two of them fell asleep in each other's arms.
Sometime in the middle of the night, Robbins suddenly found himself somewhere else entirely.
The world around him was filled with roaring flames and rivers of glowing lava that twisted across a blackened landscape. Nothing grew here. The ground was cracked and scorched, and the air carried a choking stench of sulfur that burned his lungs with every breath.
Standing before him was a towering creature.
At first he thought it was some kind of monster, but the longer he stared, the more clearly he understood what he was looking at. The being had two massive ram horns curling from its head and cloven hooves like a bull. A thin whip-like tail coiled lazily around its waist, and its skin was the color of dried blood, rough scales covering parts of its body.
"Human," the creature growled, its voice rumbling like distant thunder. "Before the great Lord of Hell, Mephisto, kneel at once."
Robbins stared at it in stunned confusion, his mind struggling to process what he was seeing. "Who are you? Where am I? What do you want from me?"
The demon's expression twisted with contempt, revealing rows of sharp teeth that looked capable of tearing flesh apart. "How dare you ask questions, human. You murdered one of my servants and still dare to act ignorant. Are you not afraid of hell's punishment?"
Robbins felt a chill run down his spine as fear slowly crept into his chest. "W-what are you talking about? What do you want to do to me?"
Mephisto's eyes narrowed as if studying him. Then the demon suddenly laughed, a cruel sound echoing across the burning wasteland. "Since you killed my subordinate, you will now serve in his place."
Robbins blinked in confusion, completely unsure how to respond.
Seeing his bewilderment, Mephisto lifted a clawed hand and released a pulse of dark magic into the air.
Robbins flinched instinctively, expecting pain to explode inside his head. Instead, something strange happened. A flood of knowledge suddenly appeared in his mind, as if someone had inserted instructions directly into his thoughts.
When he focused on it, he realized what it was.
It was the complete method for controlling the cloak and the boots.
The information felt natural, as though the artifacts had always belonged to him.
Mephisto chuckled quietly. "As my subordinate, you only need to complete two tasks for me. Do that, and I will grant you freedom along with even greater power."
Robbins had only tasted power for a few days, yet the feeling had already become intoxicating. The idea of gaining even more of it made his heart race with excitement. Without hesitation, he nodded.
The demon's expression turned satisfied. "Very good. From this day forward, you are my apostle of hell."
"The first task is simple," Mephisto continued. "You will perform a summoning ceremony for my arrival."
He began explaining the ritual in detail, listing the strange materials required and describing where Robbins could find each one. The instructions were long and complicated, but Robbins forced himself to memorize every word carefully.
During the explanation, Mephisto stopped several times to question him, making sure he had remembered everything correctly.
Only after confirming that Robbins understood the entire process did the demon move on.
"The second task," Mephisto said slowly, his eyes flashing with cold fury, "is to kill someone."
Robbins stiffened. The hatred radiating from the demon was so intense it made his skin crawl.
"Who does the lord want me to kill?" he asked cautiously.
"Ethan Voss."
Robbins frowned and thought for a moment before shaking his head. "Never heard of him."
"He's the owner of Typhon Group," Mephisto replied coldly. "Remember this well—this man is extremely cunning."
Suddenly the world around Robbins seemed to collapse inward. His consciousness felt weightless, dropping rapidly as if he had fallen into a bottomless abyss.
He jolted awake in bed.
For a few seconds he simply stared at the ceiling, breathing heavily while his mind struggled to make sense of what had happened.
Was that a dream?
Everything had felt unbelievably real, and the knowledge inside his mind about the cloak and boots was still there.
Curiosity overwhelmed him.
Robbins climbed out of bed quietly and put on the cloak and boots. Following the methods that had appeared in his mind, he quickly discovered that his control over the artifacts had improved dramatically.
His movements felt smoother and more natural than before.
"So my new boss really hates that guy Ethan Voss," he muttered to himself with a grin. "Just wait. I'm coming for you."
Deep within hell, Mephisto let out another furious roar. "Ancient One, you old hag!"
Earlier that same day, after a long conversation with Eufalia, Ethan Voss had finally accepted her apology. She admitted that giving him the golden bracelet during the ball had been a mistake, and after paying a heavy price for her actions, she was allowed to take Domino back with her.
The group soon departed for Madripoor Island, and Ethan made no attempt to stop them.
He was far more interested in the mysterious ritual Eufalia planned to perform—the so-called Gathering of Five.
At the moment, the expansion of his divine kingdom relied heavily on individuals and objects in the world that possessed unusual powers. Simply increasing the population produced almost no meaningful results.
The Gathering of Five appeared to be a ritual involving some form of supernatural sacrifice. Its fundamental purpose seemed to be obtaining power from higher beings.
If the ritual could be repeated many times, and if Domino's ability worked as he suspected, then the entire process could become something like a production line.
People would gain power through the ritual, then lose that power when they entered his Kingdom of God.
Afterward they could perform the ritual again.
The cycle could repeat indefinitely.
Of course, whether the gods or demons behind the ritual would tolerate such exploitation was another matter entirely.
The same principle applied to the Serpent Crown.
After making his decision, Ethan had calmly allowed Eufalia and her companions to leave.
As for the abilities he had extracted from the individuals involved, he studied them carefully.
Lady Spider's precognitive powers turned out to be quite different from what he had originally imagined. Her visions were not absolute glimpses of the future but rather the most probable outcome among countless possibilities. Even then, she could only see a very short distance ahead in time.
It was almost like analyzing massive amounts of data to predict likely outcomes. The cost of manifesting such an ability through the divine kingdom, however, was extremely high.
Domino's power, on the other hand, was something Ethan already understood well.
Her ability manipulated probability itself.
Although the cost was also enormous, its exact effects still required further verification. Ethan intended to let Eufalia conduct more experiments before drawing any conclusions.
At that moment, his phone suddenly rang.
Ethan glanced at the screen and smiled.
The billion-dollar weapons theft case had finally reached its most critical stage.
"Hello, Congressman Stern," he said casually after answering. "I heard you beat Secretary Pierce by one stroke during your golf game last time."
Technology really had come a long way.
"Haha," Stern laughed on the other end of the line. "That old man isn't easy to beat. He used to be a special agent, and he was pretty skilled when he was younger."
"Really? Then that makes your victory even more impressive. I bet he's been in a bad mood for days."
"That's absolutely true," Stern replied with another laugh.
After a few more polite exchanges, Ethan decided to move directly to the real topic.
"Congressman Stern, I've heard that Congress, the White House, and the Pentagon have all been quite worried about the missing weapons shipment lately."
"Yes," Stern said with a weary sigh. "Fortunately it didn't happen under my watch, otherwise it would have been a nightmare."
"I happen to have some information about that case," Ethan continued calmly. "Would you be interested?"
"What? Really?" Stern sounded genuinely shocked.
"Of course. I would never joke about something like that with you."
"That's incredible," Stern exclaimed. "You have no idea how nervous certain people have been these past few days. The White House, the Pentagon, the Senate—everyone's scrambling. Even the president is having trouble managing the situation."
"If those weapons could actually be recovered, a lot of very powerful people would owe you a favor."
There was a brief pause before Stern asked carefully, "Why are you telling me this?"
Ethan chuckled softly. "Congressman Stern, we're practically family."
"When good opportunities appear, you're naturally the first person I think of."
Of course, that wasn't his true reasoning.
The arms theft case had already drawn the attention of multiple powerful factions. Navigating those political currents required someone experienced in Washington's endless power struggles.
Even communicating directly with the president would involve countless obstacles.
Since Ethan was only interested in money, sharing the credit with someone useful was simply the most efficient option.
He sighed lightly into the phone.
"But even though I know where the weapons are, recovering them won't be easy."
"It's going to require money," he said slowly. "A lot of money!"
.....
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