Chapter 289

The Eredar Twins got into Umbrella Corporation’s only official vehicle after leaving Ross’s house. Saloras told Luther, who was driving, "Have those brats get ready. Don’t let anything go wrong."

Aurelles added, "This is just a show. If the lead actor dies, it’ll be more trouble than it’s worth."

They had already put quite a bit of effort into Ross. As long as he survived this ordeal, he would be useful. They could not let him die.

In the front seat, Luther humbly assured them, "Mistresses, please rest assured. The Shadow Sanctum and the Night Eternal Sisterhood are fully prepared. Nothing will go wrong."

"Mm." Only then did the Eredar Twins nod in satisfaction.

What? Weren’t the elite Brazilian hired guns led by Hayden supposed to lead the operation? The Eredar Twins said no such thing existed.

Not only were those people outrageously expensive, but they were also inconvenient to use. Setting everything else aside, entering the country alone would be a major problem.

The Brazilian hired guns were famous and hardly some secret organization. Nearly every member was on file with governments around the world. If that bunch of hardened thugs tried to enter New York with their weapons, the CIA would probably invite them for coffee the moment they stepped off the plane.

Their own people were still easier to use. Besides, the Shadow Sanctum stationed at the Void’s Legacy nightclub and the Night Eternal Sisterhood usually based at the Night Eternal Monastery had both been personally selected and trained by the Eredar Twins. Their combat strength was no weaker than that of the Brazilian hired guns.

Though just a few months ago, they had been honorable gang enforcers and dancing girls. Sigh. Hopefully Ross would never learn what sort of people he had entrusted with his personal safety.

"Hm?" The Eredar Twins lowered their heads at the same time and looked out through the car windows. From the rooftop of Stark Tower, New York’s landmark building, a blue beam containing immense energy shot into the sky, instantly tearing open a huge rift overhead.

"Has it already begun?"

"How irritating."

Looking at the rift, the twins made no effort to hide their disgust. They were especially sick of this sort of thing now.

This world-ending professional had already settled down, eating, drinking, and having fun on Earth, living a peaceful and satisfying life. And now a bunch of inexplicable fools had suddenly appeared, clamoring to cause trouble. That was absolutely intolerable.

"Disgusting flies." Watching the Chitauri swarm out of the rift, Aurelles curled her lips. "I really want to throw a spear-wielding tauren beneath that portal and see whether they still dare act so arrogant!"

"That little sorcerer foresaw all of this. He should be able to handle it… huh?!" Saloras, who had been fairly calm, suddenly sensed something. She looked at her sister and saw the same astonishment in her eyes, then abruptly flew into a rage. "Idiot!"

"I underestimated his nerve. He actually dared to carry out such a dangerous plan." Saloras sneered at first, then gritted her teeth hard. "Too stupid. I already gave him my Dark Strike, so why would he still use something so dangerous?"

"Heh heh…" Aurelles was the calmer one now. "There’s nothing strange about it. Making a sorcerer guard those things every day and expecting him to leave them untouched would be the truly abnormal thing. The fact that he held back for so long is already impressive. I admire his self-control."

"But he can’t control that thing’s power at all." Saloras said anxiously, "That power will turn on him."

"Oh?" Aurelles drew out the word strangely, narrowing her eyes as she teased, "Are you worried about him?"

"Nonsense!" Saloras abruptly turned her head, and a distinct crack sounded because she moved too fast. "I’m just worried that if a powerful Fel Lord suddenly appears in this world, the two of us will have a hard time dealing with it."

"So he needs our help." With that, Aurelles leaned back and vanished into thin air.

"Tch, you’re even more anxious than I am." Saloras spat, then followed suit.

Evenson had already returned home. There was a Demon Array he had prepared in advance here, which he used to instantly return to New York from across space before summoning his subordinates back.

Though he had returned earlier, he had not stopped Loki from using the Cosmic Cube to open the spatial gate, because that gate was necessary to him. So he had been preparing for battle this whole time.

Since he was about to fight a major battle, he could not exactly head out in casual clothes. He donned robes he had not worn in a long time, but instead of his old Heart of the Void set, he wore a brand-new set of robes in dark tones: Corruptor.

The brown robe and gloves, the shoulders bearing circular red magic arrays on either side, the tiny skull ornaments threaded onto the upright spikes—once he pulled up the hood, his entire face would be concealed in shadow, with only two blood-red eyes visible.

Of course, it was only clothing, a cheap knockoff Evenson had tailored himself. It was far inferior to the genuine article, but Evenson had improved it, making its spell-enhancing effects far stronger than the Heart of the Void.

At the chest of the outfit was a device similar to Tony’s Arc Reactor. Evenson called it a Fel Energy Battery, and thin tubes extended from it throughout the entire outfit.

The technology behind this design came from the Whiplash technology Sarah had obtained from Ivan Vanko last time. As long as Evenson continuously poured Fel into the battery during ordinary times, it would store that power. Once activated, the Fel stored within would flow through the tubes and spread throughout his body.

Enchantments capable of achieving the same effect were generally reserved for greater demons or high-level Warlocks. Theirs were permanent, while Evenson’s was temporary.

Wearing this flashy knockoff, Evenson slowly walked to the shop entrance and looked up at the rift in the sky. He solemnly declared, "The gates to the new world have already… damn!"

Perhaps because he had come into contact with Loki, just as Evenson was halfway through posing, someone grabbed the back of his collar and violently flung him away. His entire body flew backward and slammed into a table.

"Ah, my twenty-one-year-old lower back that hasn’t even had a chance to prove itself yet!" Evenson clutched his waist, enduring the exquisite pain as he glared furiously. "What are you two doing?!"

The ones who had thrown Evenson were the Eredar Twins, who had just teleported over. They had already been in a bad mood, and then they saw Evenson showing off. Hot-tempered Aurelles immediately grabbed him and tossed him aside.

Saloras walked up to Evenson, raised her right leg, and slammed her hoof onto the table with a thud. Then she grabbed Evenson’s chin and leaned in, looking like a domineering female CEO cornering a pretty boy against a wall. "You really don’t know when to be satisfied, do you? I just gave you legendary equipment, and that still wasn’t enough? You actually dared set your sights on an artifact!"

Then she glared and shouted sharply, "Idiot! Is Usaless something you can control at your current level?! You truly don’t know the meaning of death!"