Demon God Believers

"President Ellis, my son is indeed Mephisto’s reincarnation, but he won’t destroy the world. He’ll become Earth’s protector. You don’t need to worry. Yes, I can guarantee it."

In the private hospital, Tony had just hung up on the president when another call came in. He sighed helplessly, answered it, and made the same assurances yet again.

Tony had taken dozens of such calls that morning. Every caller was an important figure, and some had even subtly suggested that, for the greater good, he should sacrifice his Demon King son.

Naturally, Tony refused. His attitude was extremely firm. Those important figures could do nothing to him and could only hang up.

In the room, Colleen asked in confusion, "I don’t understand. Why doesn’t Mr. Stark bring up Blood God? With Blood God’s reputation, those people definitely wouldn’t dare say much."

"On one hand, he doesn’t want to shift the pressure onto Bert. On the other hand, it’s because he’s too proud."

Pepper stroked her swollen belly and said with a proud expression, "He is Tony Stark."

"Ms. Pepper, those important figures are manageable. They have many concerns and generally won’t make a move against Mr. Stark. At most, they’ll resort to some petty tricks."

Madame Gao said, "But certain special organizations that consider themselves righteous probably won’t let this go."

"Then let them come. The Stark Family can’t possibly be unable to protect even one child."

Tony walked in and said bitterly, "Hydra is truly vicious. Our child may have to live under other people’s strange looks from now on."

Pepper said confidently, "It’s fine. He’s Tony Stark’s child. He won’t be defeated by a few strange looks."

"That’s right. He’s my, Tony Stark’s, child."

Tony laughed loudly, then seemed to think of something and said unhappily, "This damn kid hasn’t even been born yet, and he’s already screwing over his father."

The three of them could not help laughing. At that moment, shouting came from the distance. Tony frowned and called out, "Jarvis, what’s going on?"

"Sir, Friday is currently serving you. Jarvis is upgrading."

Friday, the female-voiced AI butler, projected an image of the area in front of the hospital and said, "People are protesting outside, demanding that you put righteousness above family, kill the Demon King reincarnation, and protect the world.

That candidate is among them as well. He even claims that God appeared to him in a dream and ordered him to eliminate the Demon King reincarnation."

Tony cursed, "Damn it. Have all Drone Armor and bodyguards raise their alertness. If anyone dares enter the hospital, arrest them immediately and hand them over to the police. If they resist, you may use force."

"Understood."

Friday replied, "Mr. Stark, many TV Stations and reporters want to interview you."

"Reject them all. I’m not going anywhere for a while."

Tony said impatiently, "Have the police send people to drive those protesters outside away. I’ll donate a sum of money to the department afterward."

Friday began handling the matter. "Yes, sir."

Pepper comforted him, "Tony, don’t worry so much. Nothing happened last time, and nothing will happen this time either."

"I’m not worried. I’m just annoyed. Annoyed by all these flies buzzing around."

Tony shook his head and said, "Once this is all over, I’ll make that damn candidate pay."

Pepper smiled and was about to speak when Colleen suddenly sensed something. The Samurai Sword at her waist rang as it flew from its sheath and slashed through the air. In the next instant, an evil eye was cut in two by the blade, then dissolved into demonic energy.

"Demon God Believers!"

Madame Gao shouted, "Colleen, they should be nearby. Go out and capture them. We need them alive."

"Alright."

Without another word, Colleen vanished through the window like lightning.

Tony’s expression turned extremely grim. After comforting Pepper, he asked Madame Gao, "Demon God Believers?"

"Yes. That was an Eye of Scrying. Mr. Stark, this situation may be even more troublesome than we originally expected."

Madame Gao said, "Both righteousness and evil have set their sights on us."

"Eye of Scrying? I hate magic."

Tony cursed. He belonged to the technology side and knew nothing about magic.

Pepper could not help asking, "Why would evil target us too?"

Madame Gao said, "If I’m not mistaken, they want to take the Demon King reincarnation. As for whether they plan to sacrifice him afterward or use him to destroy the world, that remains unknown."

"They can forget it."

Tony and Pepper spoke at the same time. Tony took out his phone and said, "I’ll call in a professional."

The professional was not Wang Bert, but Strange. He had not returned to Kamar-Taj and was currently at the hospital pursuing his ex-girlfriend.

Since this concerned the Demon King, Strange quickly opened a portal and rushed over. Just as he was about to offer his opinion, Colleen returned to the hospital carrying two men in cloaks, their faces branded with insect marks. One look was enough to tell they were no good.

Colleen did not bring the two captives back into the room. She called from the garden outside, "They really are Demon God Believers. There was a small Altar outside, but I destroyed it."

"They’re followers of the Insect Demon Lord."

After taking one look, Strange coldly asked the two believers, "What are you doing here?"

One believer shouted fanatically, "We are waiting for the Demon King to be born, then we will offer him to the Demon God."

The other believer said, "As long as we bring that baby back for the Demon God, the Demon God will grant us endless power and make us immortal."

Colleen sneered, "What use is immortality if the world is destroyed?"

The believer mocked, "Fool. By then, we will surely go to the divine realm and live together with the Demon God."

"You two idiots, Demon Gods live in Hell."

Tony cursed. These two clearly were not right in the head.

"If they weren’t idiots, why would they worship Demon Gods? Kamar-Taj has seen plenty of fools like them."

Strange shook his head and said with a disgusted expression, "Dispose of them. They don’t deserve to live."

Even Strange showed no mercy toward Demon God Believers.

To become a Demon God Believer, one first had to kill a person, then rely on murder and sacrifice to obtain the Demon God’s rewards. Judging by the demonic power on these two, they had killed at least ten people.

"Alright."

Colleen carried the two Demon God Believers away—she could not kill people in front of the pregnant Pepper.

"Mr. Stark, this matter may be troublesome."

Strange said, "Your son is an unparalleledly good vessel."

"Hm?"

Tony and Pepper both glared at Strange in displeasure. You’re the vessel. Your whole family is vessels.

"It’s only a metaphor."

Strange shrugged and said, "He is Mephisto’s reincarnation and can naturally contain a Demon King’s Soul Stone. In other words, those Demon Kings can descend into him.

To put it another way, your son is the Demon King version of a holy son or holy daughter. If those Demon Kings obtain him, they can use his body to enter the Main Universe."

Tony asked, "So a large number of Demon God Believers will gather here?"

Strange nodded. "Yes."

Madame Gao sighed. "Righteous people, Demon God Believers, and spies that various countries may send… this hospital will be very lively from now on."

"Damn it. Bert and S.W.O.R.D. have other matters to deal with and can’t fully support me."

Tony cursed. Hydra was equally important. One mistake, and the world might truly be destroyed.

The two matters had become entangled.

Thinking of something, Strange said, "Mr. Stark, your son is screwing over his father."

In truth, the Demon God Believers were Mephisto’s second step. Unfortunately, before he could screw over Tony again, Wang Bert had taken him out.

Originally, this plan would have ended because of that, but Hydra had filled in the missing link—spreading the matter until the entire world knew about it. Thus, the Pitiful Plan continued.

Tony’s teeth ached at those words. He had thought getting screwed over by his son was no big deal before, but now it was truly screwing him over.

After hesitating, Tony said to Strange, "Strange, I hope you can stay here and protect Pepper."

Seeing Tony’s unusually proper attitude, Strange smiled. "No problem. It’s my responsibility in the first place.

This may be bad news, but it isn’t without benefits. Those Demon God Believers hide among ordinary people and aren’t as easy to find as demons. This is a good opportunity to wipe them all out in one sweep."

Tony smiled. "Looks like I don’t need to pay you."

"Let’s hope your son isn’t as annoying as you."

Strange sneered. At that moment, Madame Gao asked, "Mr. Strange, could you bring Pepper to the New York Sanctum for protection? The New York Sanctum is not only safe, it can also isolate her from ordinary people."

Strange fell silent for a moment, then said, "Those Demon Kings of Hell will definitely send people to attack the Defense Net and hold back Blood God and Kamar-Taj. The New York Sanctum may not be safe. Besides, the other Kamar-Taj sorcerers may not think the same way I do."

Everyone understood. The Kamar-Taj sorcerers might also want to kill Tony’s son. That was perfectly normal. After all, he was the Demon King reincarnation.

After thinking for a moment, Strange said, "Mr. Stark, I suggest you get that guy who specializes in killing demons to help. With him here, Demon God Believers will never be able to infiltrate the hospital."

"You mean that Fire Skull?"

Tony hesitated. That guy was indeed powerful, but would he burn Pepper too? "Yes. Whether to invite him is your decision."

Strange said. Tony thought about it, then said, "Friday, invite Officer Damon to the hospital. I want to talk to him."

"Understood."

Friday replied. Strange glanced at Tony and said, "I’m going to set up a Magic Array. Also, I suggest you drive those protesters outside away, or this will become very troublesome.

Demon God Believers are very skilled at sacrificing human lives. Those people are practically sacrifices delivering themselves to the door."

"I’ll do my best."

Tony sighed. America was a free country with a highly developed media industry, and with the candidate stirring things up, there was very little he could do—he could not exactly rush out and tear that candidate to pieces, could he? Though the thought had indeed crossed his mind.

Several days later, at the Hydra base, Wang Bert sat on a sofa browsing the news on a tablet. Looking at the increasingly spectacular protest march in the video, he smiled. "Tony’s troubles are getting worse and worse. Good thing I’m not the one getting screwed over."

"With Iron Man’s power, how can he still be unable to handle this? He’s one of America’s three richest men."

Wanda was somewhat puzzled. It was worth mentioning that there were no surveillance devices in this room. In addition, Wang Bert had filled the entire room with qi. If anyone tried to spy on them, he would discover it immediately.

"On one hand, the candidate keeps jumping around. The election isn’t over yet, and his status is rather special. Even Tony can’t do much to him."

Wang Bert explained, "On the other hand, the American Government is tacitly allowing it."

Wanda was stunned. "The American Government is tacitly allowing it? Isn’t the government’s relationship with Super Heroes pretty good?"

"It’s only an arrangement of interests. There must be plenty of higher-ups who don’t want a Demon King to be born."

Wang Bert smiled. "Only Iron Man could withstand this. If it were anyone else, they would have been secretly dealt with long ago."

"Is it really that dark?"

Wanda was even more shocked. Wang Bert smiled. "This world isn’t as simple as you think. Forget that. Once Hydra is dealt with, all these troubles will be resolved."

Though he said that, Tony’s situation was actually not very good. Ordinary people and righteous organizations were nothing; the key was the Demon God Believers.

In just a few days, a large number of Demon God Believers had infiltrated New York. Although Damon had been clearing them out, there were simply too many of them. Combined with the cover provided by certain interested parties, it was impossible to eliminate them all.

These Demon God Believers were preparing and waiting—waiting for Pepper to give birth to the reincarnated Demon King. When that time came, they would strike together and take him away.

And Pepper was due to give birth within the next few days.

"That’s true."

Wanda stared at the hateful candidate on the tablet and said viciously, "Don’t let that bastard off when the time comes."

"Of course I won’t let him off. He can promote his ideals in prison."

Wang Bert snorted. At that moment, his heart stirred, and he controlled the door to open a tiny crack. Wasp Carter flew inside.

"The Kree situation and the location of the Antimatter Bomb have been investigated."

Carter said, "But there are two places underground that Ant-Man and I couldn’t investigate."

Wang Bert asked, "Which two places?"

"One is the tenth underground level. It’s a huge Ice Chamber with unusual energy fluctuations. Ant-Man and I didn’t go inside because we were afraid of being discovered."

Carter replied, "The other is the final level. It’s completely sealed, and we can’t get in. If I’m not mistaken, the Supreme Intelligence should be inside."

"A huge Ice Chamber and the Supreme Intelligence? We’ll find out then."

Wang Bert sneered and said, "S.W.O.R.D. has already moved a large force to Sokovia’s neighboring country, Doom’s Latveria. As soon as we’re ready here, they’ll strike and coordinate with us from within and without to eliminate Hydra."

Carter asked, "When exactly will we act?"

"After Pepper gives birth."

Wang Bert said, "Only after resolving the matter on Pepper’s side can we attack Hydra with our full strength."

"That makes sense. I hope Pepper and the child in her belly stay safe."

Carter sighed and said, "Ant-Man and I will continue scouting and try to learn as much as possible about those two places to improve our odds."

Wang Bert nodded. "Alright. Be careful."

After Carter left, Wang Bert began reading the next news item: the Blood Clan Police Department spin-off film Xandar Battle would soon be released. Filmed in space with holographic projection technology, it would bring viewers a space battle indistinguishable from reality.

Special notice: the legendary Blood God would appear in the film.