"Resurrection is possible."
"But you must first prepare the body to house the soul."
"…"
Hawk's expression froze once more as he listened to Mephisto's words.
He was a bit bewildered.
"Wait…"
Hawk came back to his senses, shook his head, and looked at Mephisto: "Can't you resurrect her directly?"
He remembered that Mephisto had this ability.
Mephisto met Hawk's gaze, a slight smile playing on his lips: "Of course I can, if you're willing to play dumb and pretend not to notice that the body your sister was resurrected in is sustained by my energy."
Hawke's thoughts spun rapidly.
His current scarlet, heterochromatic golden pupils also contracted rapidly several times in a short period.
After a while.
Hawke took a deep breath, his expression serious and solemn as he looked back at Mephisto, who was sitting opposite him.
"So, you mean, as long as I can find a body to house my sister's soul, you can resurrect my sister's soul?"
"That's right, as long as you find a body, I will release your sister's soul."
Mephisto nodded without any hesitation, confirming Hawke's statement.
Hearing this, Hawke exhaled a mouthful of stale air, then looked at Mephisto with a serious expression once more.
Just as he was about to express his solemn gratitude.
Mephisto's tone shifted again: "If you hadn't summoned your sister's soul back a few days ago."
Hawke's heart skipped a beat.
"What do you mean?"
"You know that all the Dimensions of Earth have closed all their passages during this period, fearing the ripple effects of the World Tree's energy, right?"
"I know."
Hawke nodded, then looked at Mephisto in confusion.
"But what does that have to do with my sister?"
"Your sister's soul was affected by this energy."
"Whoosh!"
Hawke instantly stood up from the sofa: "What?"
Mephisto, sitting opposite, looked up: "But don't worry, she's fine for now."
Hawke closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then sat back down.
Mephisto waited until Hawke was seated before continuing to speak.
"If your sister hadn't stepped out of the Hell Gate to meet you, as long as you found a body, I could have resurrected your sister at any time."
"But not anymore. Your sister's body now carries not only the aura of my Hell but also the aura of Heim."
The World Tree's energy vibration, occurring once every few thousand years, causes any affected Dimension to be eroded and assimilated into the World Tree Universe.
This energy is powerful; otherwise, Malekith, the leader of the Dark Elves, wouldn't have thought of using this energy to turn the entire Nine Realms into a true Dark Dimension.
Although Malekith failed, the World Tree's energy vibration still occurred.
Precisely because of this, almost all dimensional beings active on Earth have returned to their own Dimensions and closed their dimensional gates during this period.
If Dimensions are like this, what about souls?
Although Anya only stepped out of the Hell gate at the time and did not step out of the Hell border, she was still swept by the invisible World Tree energy.
Although not much, it was still troublesome.
Simply put, Anya's soul was previously an undisputed soul of the Hell Dimension, but now it is not. From a certain perspective, a part of Anya's soul also belongs to Heim.
It's just that…
"Heim?"
Hawke remembered the desolate kingdom he saw when the Nine Realms converged, frowning: "Goddess of Death Hela?"
Mephisto nodded.
"Yes."
"She was sealed by Odin."
"But she is not dead."
Mephisto said so, then his tone shifted again, and he sneered: "And she also tricked my son into escaping from Hell, trying to use my son to get herself unsealed early."
Hawke frowned and looked at Mephisto.
"Witch Heart Demon?"
"Yes."
Mephisto shook his head, raised the wine glass in his hand, and with an expression of family misfortune, as if letting Hawke see a joke, he said: "As long as my stupid son finds the Four Elemental Demons, and then uses the last aftershocks of the World Tree's vibration to re-establish a new Hell, then Hela can gain temporary liberation from this, and your sister's soul will belong to Hela."
Hawke couldn't help but frown.
"How can this be allowed!"
"She is the Goddess of Death."
Not all gods are qualified to be called gods.
Although Dimension gods are also gods, Dimension gods are not enough in front of true gods.
For example, Hela.
This Goddess of Death controls the souls of all living beings who die outside of wartime in a certain Universe.
Don't ask why souls who die in wartime don't belong to her.
Because they belong to Valhalla.
Hawke now understood why Mephisto appeared here.
"You want me to help you stop Witch Heart Demon's plan to recreate Hell?"
"Yes."
Mephisto nodded, looking at Hawke: "However, it's not just for me, but also for our sister."
Hawke's thoughts turned, and he looked at Mephisto without changing his expression: "As long as I stop Witch Heart Demon, you can resurrect my sister after I find a body for her soul?"
Mephisto nodded.
"Yes."
"I understand."
Hawke nodded thoughtfully, then asked Mephisto the last question.
"Witch Heart Demon, where is he now?"
"Texas. The Four Elemental Demons were in Texas before the Hell Dimension closed. The World Tree's energy aftershocks are still ongoing, although they are nearing their end. But I need to stabilize Hell, and I need to fight Hela and prevent Hela from taking your sister's soul, so I can't go myself."
The Four Elemental Demons, with "Demon" in their name, are not demons from the Hell Dimension.
Instead, they are native Earth demons.
To be precise, they are not even demons, but rather demons formed from the four basic elements of Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire, re-established during the Earth's fall from the World Tree.
In Eastern immortal cultivation novels, this could be called transformation!
Hawke listened to Mephisto's explanation, nodded, then drained the wine in his glass and said to Mephisto: "I will resolve this matter."
Having said that.
He placed the empty wine glass on the table, then stood up from the sofa and turned to walk towards the exit of the Hell Pub.
Soon.
Just as Gwen was wondering where Hawke had gone a second ago, the next second, Hawke reappeared from where he had just vanished.
In Gwen's eyes, from Hawke's disappearance to his reappearance, it was only about a second.
But…
The smell of alcohol was very real.
Gwen looked at Hawke, who had reopened the car door and sat back in, with some suspicion, but seeing that Hawke did not speak, she also remained silent, pressed the accelerator, drove directly to Palm Street, and then parked the car in the garage.
An hour later.
In the master bedroom on the third floor.
Gwen, wearing pajamas, came out of the bathroom and blinked at Hawke's back, who was standing on the master bedroom balcony, gazing into the distance, deep in thought.
Just then.
Hawke turned and walked into the bedroom, smiled slightly at Gwen, who had already showered, and then briefly described what he had just discussed with Mephisto at the Hell Pub.
Gwen's face showed a happy expression after listening to Hawke's narration.
"So, as long as you can help Mephisto stop that Witch Heart Demon, Mephisto can help you resurrect your sister?"
"That's what he said."
"Uh…"
Gwen was slightly stunned by Hawke's words, then looked at Hawke: "You don't believe Mephisto's promise?"
Hawke nodded without hesitation, looking at Gwen: "Gwen, never believe what a demon says, not even a single punctuation mark."
Gwen frowned: "So, you mean, Mephisto is lying to you?"
Hawke shook his head again.
Gwen was bewildered.
Hawke smiled and explained to Gwen: "Mephisto said he would release my sister's soul, and he wasn't lying, but did you notice that he gave a precondition?"
Gwen's thoughts turned.
The next second.
Her eyes lit up.
"You need to first find a body capable of housing Anya's soul."
"Yes."
"Hiss…"
Gwen gasped: "How do you find that?"
Hawke shrugged.
"I'm not worried about that; it's very easy."
"Easy?"
"Just clone her."
Hawke smiled slightly.
The Marvel Universe, if it has nothing else, has tons of black technology.
Cloning, that's all.
Although he hadn't heard of any company currently researching this cloning technology, there was no need to research it; it definitely existed, and it might even be very mature already.
Furthermore.
If Earth doesn't have it, don't other Planets? It's no big deal to take a space flight, go to Xandar, or if not, Sovereign.
The Universe is so vast; finding a body for his sister is still very easy.
But the main point isn't that.
It's the precondition Mephisto gave.
Hawke explained to Gwen: "Do you think resolving the issue of my sister's body should come first, or Witch Heart Demon's matter?"
Gwen blinked, thinking about Witch Heart Demon mentioned in Hawke's words: "Witch Heart Demon, I guess, he's already on Earth looking for those Four Elemental Demons."
Hawke nodded: "Yes, and what if Mephisto regrets it after I successfully help him deal with Witch Heart Demon?"
Gwen was slightly stunned, looking at the smiling Hawke.
Hawke said with a smile: "I believe what Mephisto just told me is the truth, but the truth now doesn't mean the truth later. Demons are untrustworthy, just like Ace said that Kaiju will never feel pain."
Gwen continued to blink.
"Ace, Kaiju, what are those?"
"That's not important."
Hawke decisively waved his hand, looking at Gwen.
"What's important is that I have no guarantee and cannot be sure whether Mephisto will truly fulfill his promise. At the same time, I feel Mephisto is testing me."
"Testing?"
"Yes, testing!"
Hawke looked at Gwen and stated his guess.
"If I really help him deal with Witch Heart Demon, I'm worried that Mephisto will hold Anya hostage to command Hawke in the future!"
"…"
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