Ethan stood at the center of the crimson storm, blood-red energy flowing around him like an endless ocean.
A smile spread across his face as his gaze moved across the three demons.
"You know, it feels really good to be powerful. A few minutes ago you were standing there discussing my death like the outcome was already decided. I was poisoned, trapped, surrounded, forced to play by your rules." His glowing eyes settled on them.
"Now look at you."
The difference was impossible to ignore. Baphomet's amusement had gone. Valak no longer looked patient. Even the Dark One seemed considerably less comfortable than before.
Ethan chuckled. "Funny how quickly things change."
Baphomet's instincts were screaming at him — every warning he possessed telling him the same thing.
He shifted subtly backward, black flames gathering around his body as he prepared to retreat without drawing attention to it.
A crimson lance slammed into the ground directly in front of him, splitting the earth apart and forcing him to stop. He hadn't even seen Ethan move.
Ethan yawned, and somehow the casual gesture felt more threatening than any display of rage. "Your fire attacks were actually pretty impressive."
A small flame appeared above his palm. Baphomet's expression darkened immediately as it twisted, compressed, and reshaped itself into a burning spear — not an imitation, not something similar. His power, answering someone else.
"Why do you have my power?" Baphomet asked, his voice no longer carrying the same confidence.
"When you threw me into Hell, one of your coworkers decided he liked me more than he liked you." Ethan pointed lazily toward them. "Crowley showed me where your territories were."
Valak's eyes narrowed. Baphomet went completely still.
"You didn't," Valak said.
"I found your real bodies," Ethan said. "Crowley was very helpful. Once I found them, the rest was easy. I erased your territories and fed your real bodies to the Blood Realm."
Baphomet visibly flinched. Valak's pupils narrowed to slits.
Their true bodies weren't disposable vessels — they were anchors, foundations connected directly to their existence. Losing them wasn't supposed to happen to beings who had survived for centuries.
Ethan raised his hand and the burning spear dissolved, replaced by a massive blood serpent with flames erupting across its body.
Valak recognized one power. Baphomet recognized the other. Both belonged to them. Both now answered to Ethan.
"You should've seen your faces when Crowley sold you out."
Nobody found that amusing, because they finally understood the problem.
Before today, death had only ever been an inconvenience — even if Ethan destroyed their incarnations they would eventually return. That safety no longer existed.
Ethan looked at them, his expression calm, almost conversational despite everything happening around him.
"Before, killing you here wouldn't have accomplished much. You would've gone back to Hell and recovered eventually." The crimson glow in his eyes intensified.
"Now there isn't anywhere left for you to return to."
The Dark One's expression shifted when he saw neither Baphomet nor Valak moving to help him.
"You still want Gomez and Pugsley, don't you?" he said quickly. "I hid them before coming here. Let me leave and I'll tell you where they are."
For a moment Ethan simply stared at him.
Then he laughed.
The sound made the Dark One's smile twitch.
Ethan looked at him as if the suggestion itself was ridiculous.
"Hah."
The Dark One frowned.
Ethan pointed at him.
"A few minutes ago you were threatening souls, rituals, and eternal imprisonment. Now you want me to trust you?"
The Dark One's expression hardened.
"I have something you want."
"And you think that changes anything?"
The blood swirling around Ethan drifted lazily through the air while his crimson eyes remained fixed on the Dark One.
"Once was enough."
"The only reason you managed to get anything over me was because I didn't know what you were planning."
Ethan's smile returned.
"Now I know exactly what kind of bastard you are."
"So tell me something."
The blood around him began moving faster.
"Why would I believe a single word coming out of your mouth?"
Then Ethan snapped his fingers.
Space folded around the three demons instantly as crimson lines appeared around them, forming the edges of a massive cube. Before any of them could escape, the structure closed from every direction and trapped them inside.
The three demons immediately slammed against the walls.
Their attacks exploded across the surface.
Nothing worked.
The cube continued shrinking.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!"
"NO!"
The screams echoed from inside as the pressure increased. Fire, darkness, and corrupted energy crashed against the crimson prison, but every attempt to break free was swallowed by the cube itself.
Ethan watched without expression as the structure compressed further and further until the massive prison became small enough to fit into his hand.
The screams didn't stop.
If anything, they became worse.
The cube shook violently while the three demons continued struggling inside, their voices blending together into a constant chorus of rage and agony.
Ethan reached out and caught the cube in his palm.
A smile slowly appeared on his face as he looked at the prison containing all three of them.
"Now," he said quietly, turning the cube over in his hand, "you get to spend eternity in there."
***
A/N: And on Patreon, The Boys arc started.
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