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Hawk raised an eyebrow.
phisto—having just revealed his true red-skinned demonic form to prove his point—shifted back into his middle-aged appearance and looked at Hawk.
"Making Earth Dark wasn't my fault."
"Jehovah did that."
"Don't forget, I only took over Earth after defeating him."
As he spoke, phisto's right arm transford into a demonic claw. Hellfire erupted from it, the flas rising and gradually taking shape in the air, forming the image of an elderly Black man.
Hawk stared at the projection phisto had conjured—Jehovah's true appearance. His mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.
"That's Jehovah?"
"Yes."
phisto's mouth opened wide, and the fla-ford image of Jehovah was sucked into his maw in one motion, as if he'd swallowed the deity whole.
Hawk recalled the image he'd just seen and couldn't help shaking his head.
"If the people on Earth found out, billions of believers would be shocked."
"Including you?" phisto smiled, looking at Hawk.
Hawk laughed dryly, eting phisto's gaze. "If I were, I wouldn't be here negotiating with you about how to take down his dinsion, would I?"
phisto's expression cleared with sudden understanding. He pursed his lips.
"Fair point."
"But I'm curious—if he was Black, why didn't his mythology spread through Africa?"
"Simple." phisto smiled as he answered Hawk's question. "The reason it didn't spread in Africa is because of the birth requirents for new Celestials. Think about what conditions are needed for a new Celestial to be born."
Hawk watched the smile return to phisto's face, and sothing clicked in his mind. "A new Celestial requires a life-bearing planet's population to reach a critical threshold. The more life, the stronger the new Celestial becos..."
He trailed off.
His expression shifted to realization as he looked at phisto. "So Africa was his breeding ground."
It was common knowledge.
Every region on Earth had its own religious traditions and mythologies.
The Eastern nations had Buddha.
The Norse had Odin.
The Greeks had Zeus.
And then there was the so-called God.
Which left only one possibility.
It wasn't that the region lacked faith. It was that it couldn't be allowed to have faith.
After all, Developing faith required ti and effort. But if you were just running a breeding farm, none of that was necessary.
Hawk's expression cleared with understanding, then he thought of sothing else and looked at phisto.
"But after you took over Earth, you didn't do anything to Africa either."
"Because I didn't need to."
phisto spread his hands.
"I won."
"Jehovah needed life, and I need souls. So from a certain perspective, what he and I require is fundantally the sa thing."
"But my boss is Death. All I need are souls. My job was just to take over Heaven's operation while keeping the population controlled—making sure it never hit the Celestial birth threshold. That's all."
"And what if... it becos uncontrollable?"
"Then I step in personally."
"Like... the Plague of Athens."
"The Antonine Plague..."
phisto rattled off his accomplishnts like a proud catalogue, sharing with Hawk the various thods he'd used to ensure Earth's population never triggered the Celestial ergence threshold.
Hawk drained his glass in one smooth motion.
phisto did the sa, then smiled as he looked at Hawk, whose expression had brightened considerably now that they'd found common ground regarding certain demographics.
"So, do we have an agreent?"
"Not so fast."
Hawk smiled pleasantly. "Future souls on Earth still belong to you. But the souls of anyone I kill belong to . And not just people I know personally."
phisto grabbed the champagne bottle and shrugged.
"As long as you don't try to exploit loopholes and harvest all of Earth's population for yourself."
"I won't."
"Then I have no objections. I agree to your terms."
"Wow!"
Hawk looked at phisto, who had agreed so readily, and let out a sound of amazent. He studied the demon lord carefully. "Jehovah must have you in a real corner. If I hadn't co here today, would you have shown up at my door in a few days begging to work with you?"
One thing was clear—this wasn't typical phisto behavior.
Old ph valued souls above everything else. Just think back to what happened when they fought over Alexander Pierce's soul.
Back then, phisto had been like an enraged bull.
But now?
Faced with Hawk's outrageous demands, phisto had agreed without even thinking about it.
Either phisto had already figured out how to break the agreent—
Or phisto had seen what was coming. The calm before the storm. Jehovah sharpening his blades in the shadows, preparing for the kill.
Hawk was betting on the latter.
And there was a simple way to verify it.
"Swear an oath in Death's na."
"WHAT?"
"Swear an oath in Death's na. During the War between Heaven dinsion and Hell dinsion, as long as I'm on your side and help you defeat Heaven's conspiracy, then from that mont forward, all souls of those I kill belong to my Underworld."
Hawk smiled pleasantly as he looked at phisto.
phisto stared at Hawk, who was asking him to swear an oath in Death's na.
"...You don't trust ?"
"Once again, Old ph, you're already on my blacklist as unreliable. Honestly, working with you scares . Even my fiancée thinks this is a terrible idea. But I'm still willing to give you one more chance. You should thank ."
Hawk spread his hands, looking at phisto with complete sincerity.
phisto stared at Hawk—who was now earnestly suggesting he say thank you—and his eye twitched as he responded with a question.
"Thank you?"
"You're welco."
Hawk smoothly accepted the gratitude.
phisto's eye twitched even harder.
"That wasn't a statent."
"I know."
Hawk nodded, then picked up his champagne glass and stood from the bar stool, gesturing impatiently at phisto. "Co on, swear the oath. Once you do, our partnership is official."
phisto opened his mouth, staring at Hawk, who was now urging him along like an impatient child. He felt an overwhelming urge to curse him out.
But—
When he thought about Heaven dinsion's current offensive, he took a deep breath and swore the oath in Death's na.
A mont later, phisto looked at Hawk with an expressionless face.
"Happy now?"
"Yes."
CLINK.
Hawk's glass touched phisto's with a crisp sound.
Both drained their champagne in unison.
phisto set down his glass and looked at Hawk.
"To a successful partnership."
"To a successful partnership."
Hawk set down his glass as well, then looked at phisto.
"Looks like Heaven dinsion really has you by the throat. Otherwise you wouldn't be bleeding this much."
"You have no idea."
Now that the partnership was sealed, phisto let out a bitter laugh and shook his head, looking at Hawk. "The being Jehovah created to steal my authority over Hell has already been born."
Hawk raised an eyebrow, glancing at phisto.
"You already told last ti that their seed had been planted—"
"No, no, no. Last ti I only sensed that their seed had been planted. But after you left, I investigated more thoroughly and discovered that the Death Angel has already been born."
"Shit!" Hawk sucked in a sharp breath, staring at phisto. "And you're only finding out about this now?"
phisto shook his head. "That's how terrifying Heaven dinsion's invasions are. If you hadn't co to , I probably still wouldn't know."
Hawk's mouth twitched.
He suddenly realized he might have undercharged for this job. No wonder phisto had agreed so quickly.
It wasn't just that Heaven dinsion had shown up at his doorstep.
They'd practically already robbed his house.
Hawk thought about it, sighed, then looked at phisto.
"Alright. Do you have a plan? Like, do you know where this Death Angel is hiding?"
"No idea."
"...What about Heaven dinsion? Do you know where they're hiding on Earth?"
"No idea."
"..."
Hawk stared at phisto—who kept shaking his head in response to every question—and spoke without expression. "Then what do you know?"
phisto smiled brightly. "I know that when we eventually track them down and devour Heaven dinsion, the Celestials won't co after us."
Hawk raised an eyebrow.
"The Celestials won't intervene?"
"Not if you and I are on the sa side. This is a Dinsional War that Heaven started. They tried to devour , I devour them—it's perfectly reasonable. If the Celestials try to step in, my boss isn't going to just sit there and take it."
"You an Death?"
"Exactly."
"I thought you were just so nobody among Death's many lords."
"I'm still one of Death's lords. But you're different. Without backing you, when you kick down their door, the Celestials might personally show up to deal with you."
"I don't care."
Hawk's tone was casual.
He'd already pissed off the Celestials anyway. The mont he'd drained Tiamut of massive amounts of life energy and delayed its awakening, he'd crossed that line.
So making enemies of the Celestials? He'd already seen it coming. Otherwise he never would have agreed to phisto's proposal.
Once again—if you've already pissed soone off once, pissing them off twice doesn't make much difference.
Though...
If he could delay the confrontation with the Celestials, that would obviously be ideal.
After all, he hadn't even comprehended the Seventh Sense yet. Fighting the Celestials at this stage would probably be a one-sided beatdown.
And he'd be the one getting beaten.
Hawk paused, looking at phisto. "How much ti do you think we have?"
phisto thought for a mont.
"One year. Two at most. Death Angels grow extrely fast."
"...Alright!"
Hawk blinked, having expected things to be more urgent. But apparently they had plenty of ti. He thought about it and nodded. "Fine. You search for them your way, I'll search my way. We'll cover more ground."
After all, Heaven dinsion wasn't just targeting phisto.
They were coming after him too.
The people secretly working on his clones? Heaven dinsion's fingerprints were all over that operation.
He wondered if they'd actually managed to create anything worthwhile after all this ti.
Honestly, Hawk was kind of hoping they had.
Because—
If Heaven dinsion actually succeeded in making sothing, it would give him even more justification for striking back. When he conquered Heaven dinsion, he'd be completely in the right.
The defense would be simple: Heaven dinsion attacked first.
Hawk thought about it, then said his goodbyes to phisto, turned around, pushed open the bar door, stepped through, and found himself back in the Fox Manor greenhouse.
...
The sky had darkened outside. Snow was falling, and from the looks of it, it had been coming down for a while now.
Gwen was asleep at the flower table, her head resting on her arms.
The greenhouse had heating, though, so it wasn't cold.
Hawk looked at her from across the room—like a wife waiting for her husband to co ho—and smiled. He walked quietly toward her.
Gwen, still sleeping, seed to sense sothing. Her eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes. She found herself cradled in Hawk's arms, princess-style, and smiled up at him.
"You're back?"
"Yeah."
"How did it go?"
"He's desperate. Desperate enough to want to work with ."
Hawk took a single step and teleported them both from the greenhouse to the manor's main living room. As he filled Gwen in on what had happened in Hell, he glanced upstairs. "Is your grandfather asleep?"
Gwen climbed out of his arms, laughing softly.
"He went to bed hours ago."
"I told him you went to the next town over to visit a friend."
"Fair enough." Hawk smiled.
He watched as Gwen sat down on the couch, then settled in beside her, pulling her close. "Sorry. I said I'd co here to spend ti with you and your grandfather, take a vacation."
Gwen leaned against Hawk's shoulder, tilting her head to glance up at his jawline with a small smile.
"As long as you're safe, that's all that matters."
"I'm fine."
Hawk looked down, eting her eyes. "Everything's pretty much handled. From now on, I'm on vacation. Anything else can wait until we're back in New York."
And honestly, there wasn't much else to do anyway.
If phisto—with all his resources—didn't know where Heaven dinsion's absurdly stealthy angels were hiding, Hawk certainly wasn't going to figure it out.
Unless—
He waited until his Sixth Sense officially evolved into the Seventh Sense, and not just any version—the peak of Gold Saint Cosmo.
Because at that level, his Sixth Sense: Observation would be able to blanket every corner of Earth.
Put simply—
Once he reached that level, a single thought would let him see what was happening anywhere on the planet in real ti.
Live footage. 18K resolution. Zero lag.
Unfortunately—
His current Sixth Sense: Observation could only cover an area about the size of Mystic Falls.
Though he rarely used that ability anyway.
After all, he wasn't a voyeur. Just like he rarely used Sixth Sense: X-Ray Vision.
Hawk thought about it quietly.
Gwen, hearing his words, laughed softly.
"You still have one thing left unfinished."
"What?"
Hawk snapped out of his thoughts and looked down at her.
Gwen smiled. "This afternoon, Caroline ca by again. But when she saw you weren't here, she left."
Hawk chuckled.
"Don't worry. Klaus will do this favor."
"And if he doesn't?"
"He will."
Hawk t his fiancée's eyes with a confident smile. "Unless he wants to die."
Gwen blinked, pulling away from his shoulder to sit cross-legged on the couch, smiling as she looked at him. "So you were lying to Klaus before? About how Caroline would die if he died?"
Hawk shook his head.
"No. That part's true."
"Then why did you just say Klaus would agree unless he wanted to die?"
"If he doesn't do this favor, then he'll die. As for Caroline?"
Hawk gently pulled Gwen back against his shoulder, smiling. "My sister's alone in the Underworld. It's pretty boring for her. Caroline could keep her company. I just made a new deal with phisto, rember?"
He quickly explained the updated soul agreent he'd negotiated.
"Klaus would be killed by , so his soul belongs to . And all the vampires who die because of Klaus's death? Their souls belong to too."
"So don't worry about Caroline's soul suffering in Hell."
"I promise you, she'll live in the Elysian Fields of my Underworld. I've described it to you before. That's where my sister lives."
Hawk continued speaking as he looked at Gwen. "Besides, didn't you say you didn't like Caroline being a vampire?"
Gwen, leaning against Hawk's shoulder, shrugged.
"But there's sothing I haven't said yet."
"What?"
"Better a live dog than a dead lion. So try to get Klaus to agree, Hawk. If Caroline dies, Aunt Liz will be devastated."
"...Alright!"
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