"For the Lord!"
The moment Moru heard Mephisto’s name, his eyes blazed with fury.
"Worthy is this evil to be fought!"
With surprising agility, he sprang to his feet and charged straight at Evenson, fists raised, ready to strike down what he clearly considered a servant of the Devil.
He made it exactly three steps.
Click.
Clack.
Chk-chk.
More than twenty rifles snapped into firing position in perfect unison, every muzzle trained squarely on his chest.
Moru froze.
A devout servant of God should preserve his life for future service.
He immediately reconsidered the wisdom of martyrdom.
Evenson casually raised a hand.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents lowered their rifles a few inches, though none of them looked pleased about it. Levin and the others, who still wore bruises from their earlier encounter, silently vowed that if Moru so much as twitched the wrong way, he’d leave the church in considerably more pieces than he had entered it.
Evenson studied the priest.
Mephisto undoubtedly knew this little church order existed.
They hated each other.
There was no chance of genuine cooperation.
But that didn’t mean their goals couldn’t temporarily align.
Both wanted to stop Locke.
Mephisto never needed to negotiate. He only had to leak information where it would be found.
This fanatical order would rush into action on its own.
As a Lord of Hell, he had countless ways to manipulate his enemies into working for free. It was exactly the sort of thing he’d enjoy.
In fact...
That was probably what had already happened.
The only reason this obscure church had reached the Devil’s Child before Locke was because Mephisto had quietly nudged events in that direction.
And yet...
In the end, Mephisto had still come to Evenson.
That meant only one thing.
Evenson stepped forward.
"I think Mephisto knows exactly what you’re capable of."
He looked Moru straight in the eye.
"Better than you do."
"He came to me because he never believed you could finish the job."
The muscles in Moru’s jaw tightened.
Being dismissed by an enemy stung.
Perhaps more than it should.
"Or perhaps..." Moru shot back stubbornly, "he simply refuses to admit we could destroy one of his avatars. If we succeeded, your master would lose face."
Evenson’s expression darkened instantly.
"Watch your mouth."
"That old bastard is not my master."
Moru clearly didn’t believe him.
Evenson continued anyway.
"He imprisoned the soul of a friend."
"A genuinely good man."
"A man who died protecting others."
"I’m only honoring our agreement because it benefits everyone involved."
He shook his head.
"You, on the other hand..."
"...have accomplished nothing."
"You couldn’t even protect the Devil’s Child."
"And now you can’t even leave this mountain."
The church stood deep within the Lithuanian highlands.
The nearest civilization lay hundreds of miles away along winding mountain roads.
Without transportation, Moru could wander for a day and still never escape.
With the winter solstice approaching, the Siberian winds sweeping across the mountains would freeze him long before that.
Moru glanced toward the massive aircraft outside.
"Take me with you."
"We can work together."
If cooperation with darkness served God’s will...
...then perhaps darkness was temporarily acceptable.
He blinked.
Why does it feel like every conversation with these people lowers my standards?
"I’m sorry."
Evenson turned away.
"You don’t offer anything worth partnering with."
"I’ll send someone back to rescue you."
"If I have time."
"At least you won’t freeze to death."
Desperation finally broke through Moru’s composure.
"I know how to find the child!"
"I can tell you everything!"
"The child will only be safe inside the Sanctuary!"
Evenson stopped walking.
He turned back slowly.
"You planned to bring the child to your Sanctuary?"
"Yes."
Moru nodded firmly.
"It’s the birthplace of our order."
"No servant of Hell can touch that place."
"I swear it."
A faint smile flickered across Evenson’s lips before disappearing.
"Then..."
"Come with us."
Sanctuary...
Interesting.
At last, Moru secured a ticket aboard the luxury aircraft instead of spending the night alone in a church filled with corpses.
Everyone boarded.
Over the intercom, the pilot announced,
"Preparing for vertical takeoff. All personnel move to designated safe areas. Cargo ramp closing."
"Hold the ramp."
Evenson’s voice echoed through the cabin.
Melinda relayed the order before turning toward him.
"What are you doing?"
Instead of answering directly, Evenson asked,
"What’s S.H.I.E.L.D.’s mission?"
Melinda answered automatically.
"We stand as the shield between the ordinary world and the strange."
"We protect humanity from truths they’re not yet prepared to face."
"And if we fail?"
"We protect them anyway."
A faint smile spread across Evenson’s face.
The aircraft slowly lifted from the ground.
Standing at the open cargo ramp, he gazed down at the ruined church.
With a flick of his wrist, his familiar skull-topped staff appeared in his hand.
He slammed its iron tip against the deck.
Boom.
The five skulls adorning its head ignited simultaneously, each breathing emerald fire.
Claire’s eyes widened.
She immediately sensed what he intended.
"You’re..."
"Burying everything."
Evenson closed his eyes.
He lifted both hands.
The church lay directly beneath him.
Softly...
He began to chant.
Every syllable carried impossible weight.
Claire instinctively stepped backward.
Unlike the others, she possessed genuine magical training.
She could feel it.
Each word resonated against her soul like the tolling of an ancient bell.
Moru lacked that sensitivity.
His understanding of the mystical barely exceeded that of an ordinary human.
Yet instinct alone screamed that something unimaginably dreadful was gathering.
He clutched the cross hanging from his neck and prayed with all the faith he possessed.
No holy light answered.
Only darkness.
Only destruction.
Evenson’s eyes snapped open.
His voice thundered across the mountains.
"I..."
"...am the Chosen Harbinger of Ruin!"
"The End of All Things!"
"I cannot be resisted."
"I cannot be denied."
"I am..."
"...the Cataclysm!"
The world answered.
The church below began shaking violently.
Walls split apart.
The bell tower collapsed.
Shadow and emerald flame erupted through every corridor, devouring stone, timber, and flesh alike.
Then the earth itself ruptured.
Molten rock exploded upward like a volcanic eruption, climbing so high that it nearly reached the ascending aircraft.
When the spell finally ended...
Nothing remained.
The church had vanished beneath a blazing sea of lava.
Evenson quietly admired the destruction.
"Green really is the better color."
Only after the aircraft climbed high enough that the cargo ramp was forced shut did he finally turn back toward the cabin.
Silence greeted him.
Rumlow and every member of the tactical team stared at him with pale faces.
When his gaze swept across them, they instinctively lowered their heads.
Not out of discipline.
Out of awe.
Out of fear.
Evenson’s eyes settled on Moru.
Though his words were directed at the priest, everyone aboard heard the message.
"Now..."
"...you understand who you’re working with."
...
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