Chapter 319

After about fifteen minutes, in the dark and quiet forest, the ringing of Strange's phone broke the tranquility.

He picked up the phone, pressed the answer button, and then put it to his ear. The pleasant voice of the Sanctum Sanctorum customer service staff came from the other side: "The communication from Mephisto, Lord of Hell, will be connected for you in 30 seconds. During this period, we will play waiting music, please wait patiently..."

After dozens of seconds of pleasant music, the mobile phone "swooshed" out of Strange's hand, and the button part turned into a big mouth full of sharp teeth. Mephisto's voice came from that mouth: "I say Strange, where did you see this pattern?"

The mockery in his tone made Strange feel inexplicable. He asked: "What's wrong? What is this pattern?"

"You actually don't know? This is the symbol of Hela, Lord of the Underworld, that crazy woman who plays with skeletons and souls at home all day long. Have you seen any suddenly resurrected skeletons and corpses around this pattern? If so, then it is definitely her..."

"There are indeed, and not just one or two. A cemetery nearby has been haunted for several days."

"That's right, Hela's best trick is the army of the dead. Her death attribute comes from the back of the World Tree, so it is just the opposite of rebirth. Besides death, there is also rebirth..."

"But why would Hela appear on Earth?"

"How would I know? But... considering the good discount you gave me before, I remind you, this woman is very difficult to deal with. Once she appears somewhere, her ubiquitous power of death and rebirth will pollute a large piece of land, and then create all kinds of troublesome creatures. If you don't want your territory to be turned into a skeleton dance hall by her, you'd better think of a way..."

After hanging up the phone, Strange frowned, looking at the pattern. Shiler patted him on the shoulder and said: "Leave this first. If Hela really descends, do you have a way to deal with her?"

"No..." Strange shook his head and said: "I'm just worried that Hela will descend. If she really descends, then I can't leave, because only I can deal with these troublesome demon gods."

After gaining a very affluent life, Strange seemed to have regained some sense of mission. He stared at the pattern on the ground and began to think about what way could restrain Hela.

Shiler continued: "I'm afraid things won't be as simple as you think. In any case, the Lord of the Underworld has no reason to appear on Earth, especially here..."

"If she wanted to attack Earth, she couldn't have just left a mark here. Mephisto also said just now that if she really wanted to do something, she would have flooded this place with an army of the dead long ago. New York has hundreds of cemeteries, enough for her to use."

"Indeed." Strange's expression was a bit confused.

"I know the style of these cosmic demon gods. When they fight, they won't be like humans, warning, negotiating, and haggling with each other first, and then tentatively shooting. Once they make a move, it's a life-and-death duel."

"If Hela wanted to invade Earth, she didn't need to put a mark here first. Everyone knows that a lightning raid is the way to achieve victory quickly. Her move is more like beating the grass to scare the snake."

"Why do I feel like she's being a bit sneaky?" Shiler looked at the sign and said: "It's as if she's deliberately restraining her power, not wanting to be discovered, but the power of the demon god is too powerful, so much so that it leaked out, causing paranormal events."

Just when the two were constantly speculating, Strange's phone rang again. The sudden ringtone gave him a big fright. He took out his phone, and the phone flew into the air again. That familiar big mouth appeared again, and Mephisto's voice sounded in his ear: "Stephen, let's make a deal. What is that... quarterly membership of your Sanctum Sanctorum called? As long as you give me a quarterly membership, I will tell you more clues, how about it?"

Strange cursed secretly. Mephisto, this cunning old fox, deliberately didn't say everything just now, and deliberately emphasized Hela's threat, hanging people's appetite, making him raise a lot of guesses, but there was no answer. Now he came to play the savior, but it was just to take more advantage.

"I can only give you one month at most. You know, that place is not opened by me. There are also shares of the Sorcerer Supreme and the All-Father. If I give too many gifts, I can't explain it to others..."

"Okay, then one month."

Mephisto was just taking advantage of the situation. Then, a black energy spread from the phone, forming Mephisto's upper body. He snapped his fingers, and a wisp of black smoke floated toward the mark. He explained to the two people behind him:

"Generally speaking, when a demon god leaves his mark somewhere, it is to convey information. For example, I left my own mark in this phone of yours, so I can call you at any time."

"Of course, the magic broadcast you made is good. After you finish it, don't forget to let me leave a mark next to that magic circle, so the signal will be much better."

"So what does this mark left by Hela represent?"

"Wait, I'm interpreting it. You know, women always like to add too many unnecessary decorations to their various items. Hela's mark is the same. She carved so many complex patterns, but only a very small part can actually be used..."

"... Okay, read it out, um?" Mephisto gave a confused "um", and then said: "Hela is looking for someone."

"Looking for someone?... Looking for whom? There shouldn't be anyone on Earth related to her, right?"

"She didn't leave a name, just said it was a girl with long black hair... wait, there is another paragraph, if you find her, please call the Sanctum Sanctorum to contact her..."

"Strange, you are famous." Mephisto turned to tease Strange.

Strange spread his hands and said: "Okay, it looks like another pet lost event. Regardless of who she is looking for, the mark she left has brought us a lot of trouble. How to clear her?"

"If you are willing to give me another month..."

"No need, we'll find a way ourselves, goodbye." Strange threw out the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, rolled his phone back, and then pressed the hang-up button. Mephisto's figure disappeared instantly.

After a while, the phone rang again. Mephisto said: "I can help you clear all the power here, but you have to leave me an exclusive line. I've been a bit busy for the next 20,000 years..."

"An exclusive line is impossible, but I can give you an extra thread. Our high-level customer service is limited, you have to know..."

"Okay, then give me an extra thread."

Mephisto's figure drilled out of the phone again, and then he snapped his fingers. Instantly, countless black energy poured into his body from the mark pattern and the surroundings, and then all traces disappeared. After Mephisto's figure disappeared, Shiler said: "It looks like you've been tricked by this devil again."

Strange's face was also a bit ugly, because anyone with eyes could see that the process just now was Mephisto absorbing power. This cunning devil not only got a part of the power left by Hela for nothing, but also made Strange give him an extra customer service thread.

"I'll give you a suggestion. Directly transfer Mephisto's calls to Nick. Even if you don't necessarily make money, at least you definitely won't lose."

Strange turned to glance at Shiler and said: "What is your phone number? If every strange call could be transferred to you, Earth would have become a cosmic holy land by now."

"Okay, the problem of residual power is solved, we have to study who Hela is looking for."

"Anyway, it definitely can't be an ordinary person. Hell and the Underworld are not places where ordinary people can stay. Maybe she is looking for another cosmic demon god." Strange opened a portal while saying: "The good news is that the paranormal event is solved, the bad news is that there may be another demon god in some corner of the Earth now."

Shiler followed Strange into the portal and said: "Don't let Nick know about this, otherwise his blood pressure will soar again."

Returning to the room in Arkham Asylum, Strange wanted to call again. Shiler asked him: "What are you doing?"

"I'll call the Sanctum Sanctorum and ask them which of the known demon gods has the image of a black-haired girl. In this way, even if this demon god causes any trouble, we can stop him in time."

"I advise you not to do this, because it may offend Hela. Didn't you notice that Hela left a mark here sneakily, maybe she just wanted you to help her find someone secretly?"

Strange sat on the sofa, touched his face, and said: "She has no reason to do this. Why would she be sneaky? Is there anyone who can do anything to her?... Oh, wait, there is. Could Hela be afraid of Ancient One? But the Sorcerer Supreme shouldn't be able to manage her Underworld."

"Don't forget, besides Ancient One, there is Odin among the Nine Realms. Not only Odin, Thor has also regained his divine power and even made some progress. But it is more likely that the person Hela is looking for has a special identity..."

"The problem is back to the starting point. Who is this person?" Strange rested his elbows on the armrest of the sofa, then pressed his forehead with his hand.

Just at this time, Shiler's phone rang. Strange turned to look at Shiler. Shiler picked up the phone and said: "... Hello? Peter?... What's wrong? How are things over there? The skeleton suddenly lost all its power and turned into a bone frame? That's a good thing."

"The great successor of the Sorcerer Supreme, Strange, went to make a deal with the devil, so Mephisto, Lord of Hell, helped us solve this trouble, but it brought us a bigger problem..."

Just as Shiler said this, he heard a loud noise from Peter's side, followed by a mess of noise. Shiler heard the sound of Peter taking off into the air, followed by the "shoo-shoo" sound of spider silk being fired.

After a series of "slap, clatter, bang", Peter's scream and a woman's exclamation sounded at the same time. A few seconds later, Steve's voice came from afar, and he said: "Peter, are you okay?"

"I'm fine..." Peter was lying on the ground, and a woman, or rather a girl, in a black robe was pressing on him.

Steve stood a few meters away, not rushing over, but making a defensive posture, and asked the girl: "Who are you? How did you suddenly fall from the sky, and..."

Steve looked around, and there were scattered bone frames all over the ground. He looked at the girl and continued to say: "... and there are so many skeletons following you?"

The girl in the black robe stood up, and Peter was finally able to crawl up from the ground. He patted the grass on his body, turned to look at the person next to him, and then he saw a fair and slender hand reach out from under the black robe and take off her hood.

Shiler heard from the other end of the phone: "What the fu..."

"... language!"

－－－－－－Aside－－－－－－

Language means language, referring to Captain America not swearing. Whenever someone in the team swears, he will say: Language! (Watch your language!)