Summoning the Great Old Ones

"So, you came to me for help because you couldn’t reach other dimensions?"

In the secret basement of Linda’s home, the five of them stood in a circle. After hearing John’s account, Linda finally understood the full story.

To be honest, when John said that Zhang Ye couldn’t open a dimensional passage through sacrificial magic, Linda had even briefly suspected that Zhang Ye was a Hobgoblin that had crawled out of the Hell Dimension.

After all, Linda had some dealings with Mephisto in her younger years and knew a little about the Hell Dimensions where Mephisto resided. As far as she knew, there were plenty of people unable to practice magic, but there were almost none who couldn’t connect to the Hell Dimensions. Perhaps only those blacklisted by the Hell Dimensions would encounter such a thing.

But what kind of place was the Hell Dimension?

It was a higher natural dimension ruled by Hell Lords, a place ordinary people could never imagine or comprehend. If Zhang Ye had been rejected by the Hell Dimensions and blacklisted there, one could only imagine how terrifying his origins were!

Still, that was only a hypothesis. Zhang Ye had made it clear that he had never come into contact with the Hell Dimension before, much less its demons. From that perspective, the entire matter had hit a dead end.

Zhang Ye was also quite curious about this. He had many unusual traits, but almost none of them affected the Hell Lords. The only clue they had was that the dimension seemed to instinctively reject him, as if it had been specifically set to reject his calls. Every attempt at communication was unilaterally refused by the other side.

The Hell Dimensions were particularly chaotic and wretched places. Their origins and history likely predated human civilization on Earth by far. For such a dimension, brimming with bizarre and dangerous powers, to specifically blacklist him—the implications were deeply unsettling.

Perhaps the Lords of the Hell Dimensions had discovered him the moment he arrived in this universe. Or perhaps his origins, being completely different from those of this universe, meant he simply could not cross the threshold set by the Hell Dimension.

The most important question now was whether the Hell Dimension was rejecting Zhang Ye alone, or rejecting all outsiders from other Multiverses like him.

Originally, Zhang Ye had planned to have Kara and Pietro try as well. If they too were unable to use sacrificial magic, it would prove that the Hell Dimension was closed to all outsiders. If they succeeded, then the problem might lie with Zhang Ye alone.

But now, Zhang Ye had a better idea. Through John’s introduction, he would have Linda summon the demon with whom she had signed a master-servant contract and ask it directly.

Rather than endlessly speculating among themselves, it was better to find a demon from another dimension and speak face-to-face. For Zhang Ye and the others, that was undoubtedly the better approach.

After hearing Zhang Ye’s request, Linda struggled for quite a while. In the end, under the immense pressure Zhang Ye and the others placed on her, she agreed.

Unlike the terrified John, Linda was deeply afraid, but she quickly regained her composure. Perhaps because Quicksilver was a superhero, Linda felt that these people probably would not harm her or her family.

But their origins were simply too unbelievable for Linda to dare investigate further. As a result, she did not dare voice even the slightest refusal, even though she truly did not want anything to do with them.

"Fine. I’ll do as you say, but only this much. Once you’re done talking, you must leave this place, and never come back. I’ve been retired for a long time," Linda said, letting out a heavy breath.

"Of course. Thank you for understanding." Since Linda was being cooperative, Zhang Ye was happy to be polite. After all, who did not like hearing something nice?

Sure enough, Zhang Ye’s courteous words softened Linda’s attitude considerably. She shot a helpless glance at John, who was silently hiding in a corner, then waved her hand to signal everyone to move farther away while she stepped into the magic circle herself.

Sitting cross-legged amid the enormous magical symbols, Linda raised both hands high and continuously murmured words that sounded like the chirping of insects.

Zhang Ye and the others could not help frowning upon hearing the sound. Kara in particular felt as if she were hearing the buzzing of countless bees. The unbearable noise made her cover her ears.

Seeming to notice that Zhang Ye and the others were not doing well, John hurriedly spoke to divert their attention. "Linda was once Mephisto’s apostle. A group of lunatics sacrificed her soul to Mephisto, and from that time onward, Linda’s attitude toward the Hell Dimension grew worse and worse."

Zhang Ye nodded thoughtfully. "I seem to remember something. She fought Ghost Rider, right?"

"Yes. At the time, the Midnight Sons did not exist yet, and dark creatures on Earth were especially rampant. But that was a long time ago. Later, Linda reclaimed her soul and fell out with Mephisto," John said awkwardly.

"I see. The reason she worships the Great Old Ones is because she fears Mephisto will one day take revenge on her, right?" Zhang Ye glanced at Linda, who was still chanting, and slowly said, "Didn’t she realize she had just escaped the wolf’s den only to enter the tiger’s lair?"

"She had no choice. Once someone begins practicing Black Magic, there’s no turning back, especially a witch like her who had dealings with the Hell Dimension too deeply. Mephisto is no good man. If Linda hadn’t reacted quickly, her fate would probably have been no different from Martin’s. Oh, do you know Martin?"

"Which Martin?" Zhang Ye froze for a moment.

"The one called Hell Master. Years ago, he sold his soul and signed a contract with Mephisto, turning his entire body into a host for demons. His body could also open passages connected to the Hell Dimensions, allowing demons from Hell to come to Earth."

"I vaguely remember him." Zhang Ye carefully searched through his memories. It seemed there really had been such a supervillain in the comics.

While they were discussing these matters, a slight tremor in the surroundings immediately drew Zhang Ye and the others’ attention back to Linda.

By then, Linda’s chant had reached its end. Dense, spiderweb-like cracks appeared across the basement ceiling and walls. The marks gradually split apart, and the shattered ceiling began rapidly "falling" upward.

It was as though a massive opening had been torn into reality itself. In an instant, terrifying pressure descended upon everyone present!

(No writer’s block, just a hangover.)