Chapter 4843

The night in Hampton was black with a deepening darkness. Tonight there was no moon, and the snow was dim like the prelude of a classical piece building in intensity, quiet as if frozen, yet occasionally a drumbeat would leap out. The names listed by Death's pen were like a long poem, pushed ashore by surging waves, leaving only faint, nearly invisible wet traces on the sand.

An arrogant figure stood beneath the porch light, almost only a silhouette visible. Natasha still wore her black catsuit, the lipstick color like the extravagant feathers on ladies' hats at an 18th-century ball.

Everyone else had already gone back to their rooms, but none had slept. They stood at the windows, watching the two depart, knowing this absolutely would not be an ordinary night. But as the night deepened, drowsiness still swallowed most people, even including the children who had played all day.

In the latter half of the night, a faint thunder rumbled on the horizon, waking everyone. Though the East Coast winter also has thunderstorms, that sound did not seem so sharp.

The people in pajamas came again to the living room. Greedy saw the flash on the horizon through the window, knowing it could not have been caused by Arrogance and Natasha, and seemed more like superhumans fighting.

"Shall I go check?" Stark asked hesitantly. He was a bit sleepy, but little Morgan in his arms was quite energetic.

"Definitely someone is fighting, Dad." Little Morgan said, "I think we can go take a look."

"I want to go too." The twin brothers rubbed their eyes, looked up toward Wanda. Wanda looked not sleepy at all, even a bit excited, possibly from staying up late chatting with the witch.

"Oh, wait a moment." Wanda suddenly spoke, she looked out the window, then said, "It seems to be my teacher."

"Who? Hanix?"

The flashes drew nearer. Strange had no choice but to act, using magical power to envelop the manor, placing a shield above it. But such dense magical power was like a lighthouse in the night, quickly drawing the attention of both combatants. The sound grew closer.

Several people rushed out of the manor gates. A woman with lightning flashing in her eyes floated above the manor, while two men panicked and ran inside.

They actually passed through the Sorcerer Supreme's shield and ran in. Greedy frowned slightly, he could see Strange deliberately let those two in. These two seemed unaware of the magical shield's existence, proving they were not strong enough.

But the woman hovering in midair was full of wariness; she did not even descend, but remained floating there until she saw Strange's face among the crowd.

She lowered her hands, turned and left. The two men stared incredulously at her departing direction, then turned to look at these people before them. However, they noticed Captain America and Iron Man.

"Avengers?" the black-haired man leading the way frowned. He looked like a strong middle-aged man with thick black hair and beard. The one behind looked somewhat younger, but also similarly black-haired; without close inspection, the two resembled father and son.

"You must be sorcerers, right? What are you doing running here?" Steve asked, frowning.

"Nothing, we're just..."

The older one had not finished speaking when the younger stepped forward and said: "We are being hunted, can you help us?"

"First tell us who you are." Steve said.

"I am Nicholas." The older man said, "This is Blake. We came from the south, chased all the way here."

"We can't meddle in magical affairs." Stark said, "You'd better leave as soon as possible."

"Wait, don't just stand by and let them die!" the young man called Blake said, "Those hunting us fear your reputation and dare not pursue further; can we stay here for a while?"

"Of course, we welcome you." Strange's voice sounded from the rear of the crowd. People sensibly dispersed. And when the one called Blake saw Strange's face for a moment, his complexion instantly turned pale.

"No no no, I think we should still leave." Blake grabbed Nicholas and tried to walk out. Nicholas hesitated, stopping his steps, as if still wanting to say something. Blake simply ignored him, ran out himself, but after just two steps he bumped into the shield. This thing is easy to enter, hard to exit.

"Sorcerer Supreme…… wait, Sorcerer Supreme, my father is your partner! You can't kill me!" Blake shouted, "My father is Mephisto! You can't kill me!"

Blake used all his expression and body language to interpret what "afraid" meant. Nicholas, upon hearing Blake call Strange Sorcerer Supreme, still seemed doubtful. Steve judged from his expression that this guy should be out of the loop, unaware that the Sorcerer Supreme had changed.

But that's understandable; for long-lived species, a dozen years is really too short, just casually doing something and it's over. Besides, previously the Ancient One's Sorcerer Supreme tenure was fine, with no reason for a change, so it's normal these people don't know.

Blake directly plopped down on the ground. Strange extended one hand toward him; Blake even made no resisting motion, tightly closing his eyes. But the next second, Strange frowned slightly in doubt.

"... How did you become human?" Strange asked.

"Mephisto did it!" Blake shouted, "I don't know how he did it, but I was sealed of power, and I can't use magic at all..."

Strange stared at him for a moment, but then withdrew his hand and looked toward Nicholas beside him. Nicholas waved his staff, seeming to want to act, but the next second was bound by Strange with crimson bands.

With a "bang," Nicholas was thrown into the cellar. Strange didn't even look at him as he went up. Meanwhile, Blake sat shivering on the sofa. Strange paused, turned his head to look at him and said: "Thank your father, I cannot act against ordinary people."

Having said that, he went upstairs. Blake did not relax in the slightest. Now he had Captain America on his left and Iron Man on his right, while he was merely an ordinary person with no strength to bind a chicken, possibly even less than current ordinary people, a version of ordinary people from before. Human strength has increased, leaving him behind.

"You came from Salem, right?" Greedy said, "I heard you caused quite a stir there."

"Not me." Blake deflected responsibility, "It was Nicholas, he wanted to take revenge on his mother, dragging me along. I have no grudge with the witches, no need to deal with them."

"You and Nicholas made a deal: you help him cause trouble in Salem, he helps you restore your power and devil form." Greedy stated without blinking, "Should I call you Blake, or Blackheart?"

"If I were still the Prince of Hell, I would naturally be Blackheart. But I am now just an ordinary person, you can call me Blake." Blake hurried to clarify.

If he were still Blackheart, he would belong to the cosmic gods, appearing on Earth would be unauthorized stowaway, and this would already have been sliced into pieces by the Sorcerer Supreme. Fortunately he has become human, no different from humans, so even the Sorcerer Supreme cannot catch him, having to let him go. He now wishes no one could remember he is the Prince of Hell.

Stark's eyes flickered with a faint light; he stared for a long while, then said: "You really became human, I can't see any clue. How did Mephisto do it?"

"Um, I have human blood." Blake said.

"Your mother is human?" Steve asked, puzzled.

Blake shook his head, saying: "I am not begotten by Mephisto; I am formed from the accumulated sins of New York's Christ Crown over long years. Since sin is made by humans, one could say I am another form of humanity, similar to a vengeful spirit born of resentment."

"I see." Stark said, "But, what is Christ Crown?"

Blake blinked, then said: "It's just an area in New York."

The people exchanged glances. The New Yorkers present had never heard of this area. Steve said: "Could it be a street? Roughly which part of New York?"

"Looks like a hillside." Blake said, "On the hillside there are many thorns, like the crown worn on Jesus' head. At the foot of the hill there is a town, with many residents too."

"Look at this." Natasha kicked the thing under her foot. It looked like a fixed ground ring, but if observed closely, one could see it should be a cellar door.

The place they are now is exactly where they previously bought household goods and such. This location's original site was the Violet Holiday Resort. After the Violet Holiday Resort closed, it was turned into a mall, which has remained open to this day.

Natasha and Arrogance searched the mall for a long time, finally finding this cellar door near the southwest side, that is, the mall's water supply center; it looked somewhat aged.

Natasha squatted down, pulled hard on the ring; the door seemed to loosen a bit, but still would not open. She changed her posture, gave a hard yank, and the long-neglected latch broke directly, a rotten smell coming out.

Natasha deeply frowned. She was the first to jump down, turned on her flashlight to shine, then said: "No problem, come down."

Arrogance followed down, but he soon frowned, his voice echoing in the narrow space: "This place is filled with a rotten smell."

The lower space is not very large, appearing to be a place for storing water tanks. In eras when water supply technology was not so good, such holiday resorts often stored some water for emergencies. The water here has dried up long ago, but those plastic water tanks remain.

Natasha walked ahead with her flashlight, Arrogance followed behind. Arrogance seemed to be sensing something, he slowly opened his mouth and said: "The flesh-eating bacteria incident at the Violet Holiday Resort certainly is not as simple as it appears on the surface."

"Why do you say that?" Natasha asked.

"Have you heard of any bacteria that gnaws at human organs?" Arrogance paused, then continued, "This might originally have been a vengeful spirit's retaliation."

"That does sound off." Natasha said, "If bacterial outbreak in the human body is relatively slow, then initially someone feeling unwell would go to the hospital, and others would not get infected. If the outbreak is extremely rapid, then it would not sound like bacteria, but rather like some corrosive liquid, like drinking concentrated sulfuric acid..."

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from behind them. Natasha instinctively turned her head and shone her flashlight—at that instant, a long-haired figure flickered past. And on the gray-white wall, suddenly a pool of blood appeared.