Saga: My Love Is Great Love, Tony! (Guaranteed Fourth Update, Please Subscribe!!!)

"You can’t stop Hell from descending!"

"Is that so?"

Almost the instant Black Heart Demon emerged, Lake restrained the Force Seed that had begun stirring restlessly. He watched the hideous-looking Black Heart Demon expressionlessly. "Not everyone is afraid of your tricks and theatrics."

Black Heart Demon laughed loudly. "Do you think I’m still afraid of you devouring my essence?"

Lake said nothing.

If you’re not afraid, then that’s great. Stay right there and let me plunder a little longer.

After merely meeting him once, Lake understood why Black Heart Demon dared to say that. Unlike the previous times he had plundered, Lake could feel Black Heart Demon’s dark essence continuously draining away. But this time?

Black Heart Demon seemed to have turned himself into part of Hell. An endless stream of hellforce replenished the dark essence that Lake plundered away bit by bit, like ants moving a mountain.

There were both good and bad points.

The good part was that the longer Black Heart Demon existed, the more essence Lake could plunder.

The bad part?

This was no longer Black Heart Demon’s second-to-last target. It was his final one. By the time he had arrived here, Black Heart Demon had already carved the pentagram formation that supposedly symbolized earth.

Lake slowly opened his closed eyes. "This is your final stop?"

Black Heart Demon laughed madly. "That’s why I said you’re too late."

Lake tilted his head. "Too late? You haven’t finished carving the last one yet."

"You can’t stop me. Kneel down. Once Hell descends, I’ll grant you the right to be exempt from death in my name."

"Is that so?"

As a villain, Black Heart Demon was undoubtedly very competent. Just like all villains who showed off at the final moment, Black Heart Demon was no exception.

Black Heart Demon spread his arms and looked around. "Look. Long ago, the mages here tacitly allowed our Hell to use this place as a pasture so that they could obtain eternal life."

Lake remained expressionless.

He had already heard about this from Hermione. But what did it have to do with him? Only God knew whether he would have taken action if Black Heart Demon hadn’t stirred his appetite.

As for the Federal Mages?

They had chosen to kneel, and Lake could hardly barge in and demand that they stand. Besides, they hadn’t provoked him. Therefore, Black Heart Demon had completely miscalculated if he thought those words could stir anything in Lake’s heart.

Black Heart Demon closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he opened them and pointed toward New York. "I can sense those foolish humans praying for Hell to descend as soon as possible."

Lake fell silent.

This was the drawback of so-called happy education.

The people produced by happy education were easy to fool. But when they acted like idiots, they were just as hard to stomach.

For example, right now.

Almost as soon as the news that Black Heart Demon had appeared at the Long Island power plant spread, a huge, densely packed crowd of happy citizens holding all kinds of signs came shouting toward the scene. Lake’s clone, stationed there to direct the blockade, saw them clearly.

"Welcome, devil!"

"This is the judgment of the apocalypse!"

"Hell shall open, and we shall live forever."

"…"

Some other slogans were so outrageous that Lake could barely bear to look at them. They stood out exceptionally. Looking closely, one would find that most of them were African Americans. Looking even closer—

Uh…

They were the homeless sort of African Americans.

Lake looked at Black Heart Demon before him and spoke blandly. "Hey, do me a favor, will you?"

Black Heart Demon smiled at Lake, as if asking what favor.

Lake said expressionlessly, "Since they welcome the opening of Hell’s gates, go collect them for me. How about it?"

Black Heart Demon looked somewhat astonished.

Iron Man, standing nearby, also couldn’t help saying something. Then he looked at Lake in shock. "What are you talking about?"

Lake looked at Black Heart Demon. "How about it? If you do me this favor, I guarantee I’ll do you a favor too. For example, I can make your death a little more pleasant."

It was almost time.

Lake continued plundering the dark essence from Hell within Black Heart Demon’s body, using a flow so subtle that Black Heart Demon couldn’t detect it without careful inspection.

The Force Seed in his sea of consciousness cheered.

His Cosmo was also circulating at incredible speed.

It seemed…

He was just one tiny step away. He could smash through the gates of the Sixth Sense, and the Force Seed would break through the soil.

Iron Man couldn’t help looking at Lake. "Are you crazy?"

Lake glanced at Iron Man. "They want to go to Hell. I’m merely fulfilling their wishes. To them, the human world isn’t worth living in. Since that’s the case, why not free them?"

Iron Man said gravely, "They’re alive too."

"Can you make that decision for them?"

"…"

Lake looked at the speechless Iron Man, then turned toward Black Heart Demon. "What do you think? Let them go to Hell first. Clearly, you also grow stronger by absorbing their souls. An entire mass of humans wants to throw themselves into your arms. Aren’t you tempted?"

Over on the side where Lake’s clone was stationed, the protest march had already reached the edge of the cordon. A group of New York media reporters who feared nothing but peace had joined them.

"Move aside."

"We want demons."

"Open Hell’s gates, and you’ll all die."

"Demon lord, we’re your followers!"

"…"

Lake’s clone’s brow twitched uncontrollably. The media reporters were trying their best to find an angle from which they could photograph the Long Island wind power station and obtain first-hand material.

Black Heart Demon seemed to have finally recovered from his surprise. He looked at Lake. "Are you serious?"

Lake spread his hands. "I’ve never been more serious."

Black Heart Demon needed to carve the final pentagram formation here anyway. Lake only had to guard this place. As for those noisy, happy little Blacks?

Heh.

Forget one death. Even if their entire race were wiped out, Lake’s eyelids wouldn’t twitch.

The corners of Black Heart Demon’s mouth curled upward, revealing a strange smile. "Fine!"

Iron Man immediately put on his helmet. With a clang, his repulsors began charging as he aimed at Black Heart Demon within the black mist. "You can’t—"

Before he could finish speaking,

the black mist instantly swept toward the cordon.

The evil wind from Hell howled without end.

Lake’s clone watched the approaching evil wind and immediately ordered all the officers at the scene to take cover.

"Heh heh heh!"

Black Heart Demon’s demonic face appeared within the black mist. The tentacles in the darkness rapidly extended, carrying a strange smile. With a boom, they directly wrapped up the happy little Blacks holding signs, along with the few media reporters who feared nothing but peace, and dragged them into the black mist.

Everything happened too quickly. There wasn’t enough time to react.

By the time the black mist gathered again and landed before Lake, less than three seconds had passed.

But…

Lake’s clone’s ears had become quiet.

There was no other reason.

When Lake’s clone looked over, he saw that the idiots who had been shouting, along with the reporters who had been snapping pictures, had all been turned into dried corpses.

Even as dried corpses, they retained the expressions from the final second of their lives.

The second of terror.

Clearly,

when Hell had truly descended upon them, their expressions had thoroughly betrayed what was in their hearts.

Iron Man, hovering in the air, looked distinctly unnatural when he saw this.

After landing,

Iron Man didn’t look for Black Heart Demon. Instead, he looked at Lake, whose appearance had changed to resemble Saga. "Why?"

Lake stared at Black Heart Demon, who had condensed once more before him. "Life is suffering, and cultivation is suffering. They didn’t want to live. Why should I save them?"

Iron Man took several deep breaths.

Lake said blandly, "I uphold love and justice. But my love and my justice are only given to what I consider love and what I consider justice. They weren’t worth it."

With that,

Lake looked at Iron Man. "Isn’t your weapon the same? The only difference is that, in your eyes, Federation citizens use your weapon to kill foreigners."

Iron Man said gravely, "That’s different."

Lake shook his head, his tone as calm as ever. "It is indeed different. Your love is small love, a narrow kind of love. My love is great love. Perhaps once you sense the Cosmo, you’ll become like me. Some humans aren’t worth saving. Death is the best destination for them."

Iron Man: "…"

Black Heart Demon licked his lips and looked at Lake with considerable admiration. "I admire you more and more. Although those souls were filthy and depraved, I did as you said and devoured those who wanted to enter Hell."

Lake said, "You’re not as evil as I imagined."

An ordinary demon would have devoured any humans it saw without a second thought. But Black Heart Demon had actually honored his agreement and left Lake’s clone and the officers maintaining the cordon untouched.

Lake sighed inwardly. If devouring Black Heart Demon hadn’t helped his cultivation, he felt that perhaps he and Black Heart Demon could have become ordinary friends.

What a pity.

Black Heart Demon seemed to have lost interest in continuing to play around. His gaze shifted directly toward the long-ignored Iron Man. "You, a powerful insect. Since you summoned me here, I can give you the same opportunity."

Iron Man came back to himself. With a powerful enemy before him, there was no need to turn against his allies prematurely. He aimed directly at Black Heart Demon and said expressionlessly, "I’d rather watch you get beaten back to Hell by me."

Black Heart Demon laughed again. "Don’t you want to see your parents?"

Iron Man froze slightly.

Black Heart Demon said, "What? The reason you summoned me wasn’t because you wanted to resurrect those pitiful souls who are in Hell and enslaved by us? They’re your parents, aren’t they? Do you know what they begged me for when I came up here?"

Iron Man’s breathing became ragged.

Black Heart Demon once again put on the act of a proper villain. "They begged me. They pleaded with me. They licked my toes and hoped I wouldn’t hurt their little darling. Hahahaha!"

Lake, who had remained silent all this time, raised an eyebrow.

Tony’s previously ragged breathing immediately calmed.

Well, now.

An unexpected bonus.

Howard Stark and Maria Stark’s souls weren’t in Hell?