Marvel: God of Spotlight, The Homelander

"Iron Inquisitor," Mephisto introduced. "His armor is forged from Hellfire and black magic, a perfect combination of knowledge and magic, born solely for slaughter."

Thanos eyed the two individuals.

He could sense the destructive power contained within them.

These two were indeed qualified to step onto the Grandmaster’s arena.

"And the other one?" Thanos looked at Mephisto.

Mephisto smiled mysteriously.

"The last one is a truly powerful warrior. But please allow me to maintain a bit of mystery..."

"At the most critical moment, he will naturally appear. I guarantee he will not disappoint you."

Thanos looked at him coldly.

He did not believe any demon’s guarantee, especially not Mephisto’s.

"State your terms," Thanos said bluntly.

Mephisto revealed a smug smile.

"Rest assured, what I want is very reasonable."

"First, after you win the competition, I need you to use the Soul Stone to help me extract something from inside Homelander. That thing belongs to me, and he must return it."

Thanos was noncommittal, signaling for him to continue.

The greed in Mephisto’s eyes was undisguised.

"Second... half of the souls on Earth."

Thanos’s gaze sharpened.

Seeing this, Mephisto explained unhurriedly:

"I know your style of operation, Thanos. Every time you arrive at a Planet, you eliminate half the population; that is your rule."

"Since Earth is already on your cleanup list, why not cooperate with me? When you raise your blade, let that half of the souls fall directly into my Hell dimension."

"This is no loss to you; the result is exactly the same. Earth achieves balance, and I get what I want."

Thanos looked coldly at Mephisto.

He felt disgusted by the demon’s greed, but from a purely rational perspective, Mephisto’s proposal did not interfere with his core goal.

He only cared about halving the population to maintain the balance of resource distribution in the Universe.

As for where the dead souls went—whether they dissipated in the Universe or fell into the hands of a demon—it made no difference to him.

"Very well," Thanos agreed in a deep voice.

Upon hearing this, Mephisto immediately burst into laughter, quickly reaching into his robe to pull out an old parchment scroll.

"Excellent. Then, to ensure our mutual interests..." The parchment scroll floated slowly through the air toward Thanos, "Please sign your name here. This is the fairest contract in Hell, and it is binding for both you and me."

Thanos glanced down at the parchment scroll, a look of disdain on his face.

He did not reach out to take it; instead, he waved his hand and knocked it directly to the ground.

The smile on Mephisto’s face vanished.

"What is the meaning of this, Thanos?"

"I never sign any contracts," Thanos said, lifting his chin, his words imbued with absolute dominance. "My word is the strongest contract in this Universe. What I have promised you, I will certainly do."

"If you do not believe me, then take your people and get out!"

The atmosphere between the two instantly solidified.

Ebony Maw raised his palm slightly, already prepared for a fight.

Mephisto stared at Thanos for a full half-minute.

He attempted to find a glimmer of possibility for retreat in the eyes of this purple potato, but all he saw was a will as solid as rock.

In the end, Mephisto compromised.

He put away his cold expression and put back on that hypocritical smile, even clapping his hands exaggeratedly.

"Hahaha! Good! Very good!"

Mephisto took a step back and bowed slightly.

"A verbal contract is still a contract. The credibility of a Universe overlord is naturally trustworthy. I have absolutely no objections."

He turned to look at the Steel Judge and The Hood, making a gesture.

"The two of them are now under your command, Thanos. I wish you victory in the arena."

With that, Mephisto’s body began to turn into black smoke, dissipating bit by bit into the air.

Thus, all seven spots were filled.

...

New York Sanctum.

Strange was standing before a massive brass star chart, gently adjusting the dials on it.

"Szzzt—" A circle of golden sparks tore open in the air.

Homelander stepped out of the Portal and walked straight toward Strange.

Hearing the commotion, Strange stopped what he was doing and turned around.

"Teacher Homelander, you look to be in good spirits."

"I am always well," Homelander walked up to him and said bluntly, "I came to ask about Wanda. Have you found a way to wake her up?"

For Homelander, with the sharp increase in the demand for special popularity value, Wanda, this leek with immense potential, had now become particularly important.

Doctor Strange’s talent in the field of magic was unquestionable.

He was a top-tier mage who would one day be able to go head-to-head with a fully realized Chaos Scarlet Witch.

Homelander believed that if there was anyone on Earth capable of solving Wanda’s problem, Strange would certainly be at the top of the list.

Strange rubbed his temples, his expression somewhat weary.

"I have consulted many ancient texts; the situation is somewhat tricky."

"Get to the point."

"Wanda’s situation is very special... Her astral projection may not be lost in some dimension, but rather banished to other parallel Universes."

Homelander frowned; this was the result he least wanted to see.

Parallel Universes.

This meant infinite variables and infinite interference.

Compared to being lost in a single dimension, searching for someone in the Multiverse increased the difficulty exponentially.

"Stephen, is there any way to bring her back?" Homelander asked in a deep voice.

Strange paused, seemingly weighing his words.

"I accidentally came into contact with some... lost magic." Strange avoided Homelander’s gaze, his tone somewhat vague.

"There is a spell among them that allows the caster’s astral projection to cross Universes and attach to themselves in other parallel Universes."

"It is called... Dreamwalking."

"Sounds very practical..." Homelander raised an eyebrow and asked, "But what does this have to do with Wanda?"

"I was thinking..." Strange said slowly after hesitating for a moment, "If I try to modify that spell and reverse the energy circuit of the runes—instead of projecting consciousness out, it generates a reverse dimensional gravitational pull..."

Strange used his hand to gesture a swirling motion in the air.

"Then I could forcibly recall her astral consciousness, which has been left behind, back to her physical body."

Upon hearing this, Homelander clapped his hands: "Perfect! This is exactly the result we need. Then let’s do as you say."

"Teacher Homelander, it’s not that simple..." Strange, however, revealed a look of difficulty, his expression struggling.

"This kind of spell involves some forbidden powers; it is evil... and dangerous."

"This completely conflicts with the tenets and principles of Kamar-Taj. If Ancient One knew, she would absolutely never allow me to do this."

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