Marvel: The Awakened One

”Abigo—”

”Wait.”

”You’re not Abigor.”

Gressil had followed the scent of the Wind Demon.

Blackheart had found him, inviting him and the other three Elemental Demons to join him in a grand undertaking: to create a new Hell, a dimension belonging to the five of them, to build it from the ground up and achieve unprecedented glory.

Blackheart had painted a dazzling picture of their future.

Gressil had agreed and offered to help find the other three. With all four of them, plus Blackheart’s command over the laws of death, they had everything they needed to create their own Hell.

Blackheart had even taken care of their initial supply of souls.

Years ago, Mephisto had left behind the Contract of San Venganza on Earth—a contract bound with the souls of a thousand corrupt men.

If they could find that contract, their new Hell could use it as a foothold to enter the great war for the souls of Earth.

Just as Mephisto had once battled Yahweh for dominion over the souls of mankind.

But they had a real shot at this. And so, Gressil had immediately set out to find the others—and following the unique connection between the four foundational elements, Gressil had caught Abigor’s scent and followed it here.

At first, he had been confused as to why Abigor seemed to be avoiding him, but as he watched the scent trail lead him further and further into the desolate wilderness, he had let it go.

...

Gressil, having just burst from the earth, was about to speak when he saw the figure before him—a man who carried Abigor’s scent, but was clearly not Abigor. He froze.

Instantly, Gressil’s guard was up.

Hawk just smiled. ”Are you looking for Abigor? I was just with him. He’s helping me with something. If you’d like, you can help me too.”

Gressil’s earthy brow furrowed.

”Helping you? With what?”

”With my training.”

Hawk’s smile vanished. He spoke the words, then, without another moment of hesitation, threw a right hook at Gressil.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The moment Hawk’s fist shot out, Gressil was sent reeling. His chest caved in, exposing a glowing earthen core, and he was thrown backward through the air.

Only then, as he was flying backward, did he hear the words Hawk had spoken as he threw the punch.

”Supersonic Fist!”

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Gressil slammed into the ground and—with a furious roar—threw his hands out toward Hawk.

Rumble!

The ground began to shake. Rocky spires erupted from the earth, one after another, like a subterranean dragon of stone, and in the blink of an eye, the spikes were right under Hawk.

POOF!

”What?”

Gressil stared, not at the expected impalement, but at the afterimage that had just been torn apart. He was stunned.

The next second, a voice came from behind him.

”Hey.”

”Over here.”

WHOOSH!

Gressil instinctively spun around. He saw a blur of light, and then a sharp pain lanced through his newly repaired chest.

He looked down.

A strange arm had punched clean through him, and a hand was now wrapped tightly around his earthen core. In that instant, Gressil’s head snapped up to look at Hawk. Just as he was about to speak—

Hawk ripped the core from his chest.

The next moment, Gressil’s body crumbled before Hawk’s eyes, dissolving back into the desert sand.

It wasn’t that he was weak. It was that Hawk was too strong. And more importantly, An Earth Demon was not a formless Wind Demon.

If the Wind Demon had died of carelessness, the Earth Demon had lost because it had a physical form. Gressil had a body. If that body was destroyed by overwhelming force, or if its core was damaged or stolen, it would die.

Coincidentally, Hawk’s specialty was physical attacks.

So, Hawk glanced at the pile of sand that had once been Gressil, then looked down at the glowing earthen core in his right hand.

This was the element of Earth.

With a single thought, a spectral phoenix appeared behind him, and the crimson flames of the Phoenix ignited in his hand, beginning the process of refining the core.

...

Within his Cosmo.

With the introduction of Earth, another massive tremor shook his inner universe.

But this time, the tremor was different from the one caused by the wind.

If the wind had been a cosmic storm, the earth was a cataclysm of landslides and earthquakes.

The meteorite fragments in his Cosmo, which had been stirred up by the wind, were now completely pulverized into sand. Then, with the addition of the earth element, they began to expand, and under the influence of the wind, they began to slowly rotate once more.

It was like the birth of a planet in its earliest stages.

But without all four foundational elements, a true material world could not be formed.

The Wind Demon. And now the Earth Demon.

”I’ve been off the plane for less than an hour, and I’ve already got two of them?”

This is some serious efficiency.

Hawk opened his eyes. Then, he looked off to his left, into the distance.

He could feel it. The presence of the Fire Demon. With two of the elements now in his possession, Hawk understood why the Earth Demon had been able to track him.

The four foundational elements shared a mystical connection.

Because of it, even if they were scattered to the four corners of the earth, they could always find each other.

Hawk smiled. He instinctively pulled his phone from his pocket and checked the time.

Only three in the afternoon.

”Good.”

Hawk put his phone back in his pocket, and with a pop, he vanished, becoming a streak of light as he shot toward the location of the Fire Demon.

His strange curse only seemed to affect him when he was leaving New York. So far, he’d never had any trouble on his return flights.

Is it because going back to New York counts as returning to a home base?

Hawk thought to himself as he soared through the clouds.

...

A moment later.

He spotted a volcano below. With a single thought, he was standing at the edge of the crater, ignoring the thick, sulfurous smoke as he peered down into it.

He saw it immediately.

A figure, swimming through the thick magma at the bottom of the volcano, practicing various strokes. Salamakk—the Fire Demon.

(PS: The Fire Demon is the only original character among all the Elemental Demons)

At the same time.

Salamakk, enjoying a leisurely swim in the magma, felt the presence of his good brothers, the Wind and Earth Demon.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Salamakk shot out of the magma, and without even bothering to shake off the dripping lava, he prepared to go and greet his brothers.

And then, he saw Hawk.

”Fuck!”

SPLASH!

The moment Salamakk sensed the auras of his brothers on Hawk, his flames flared, and without a moment’s hesitation, he did a complete one-eighty and, like a diver, plunged back into the thick magma.

He might be called the Fire Demon, and he might have a fiery temper. But he was actually the smartest of the four.

Well... relatively smart.

In short, even though he didn’t understand why the auras of his brothers were on the same person, it didn’t stop him from making the most advantageous choice in a split second.

Most importantly. Whatever the reason, the fact that his brothers’ auras were on the same person, and that this person had now found him, could only mean one thing.

Nothing good!!

Standing at the edge of the volcano, Hawk was taken aback for a second as he watched Salamakk, who had just shot out of the magma, plunge right back in.

...

Hawk shook his head, an amused smile on his face.

’Looks like Salamakk was spooked by the auras of the Wind and Earth Demon. He thinks I’m here to collect him.’

He’s not wrong...

Hawk leaned over the edge of the crater and called down to the demon, who had now completely submerged himself in the lava. ”Salamakk, Abigor and Gressil are in trouble. They need your help. They sent me to get you.”

In the magma, Salamakk heard Hawk’s words and slowly poked his head out.

Abigor and Gressil are in trouble?

’The four foundational elements are one, I have to go help them.’

Salamakk thought to himself, and with a whoosh, he shot out of the magma once more, a trail of thick smoke in his wake as he flew toward the top of the volcano.

Instantly. A massive plume of smoke billowed from the crater, as if the volcano had just reawakened and was about to erupt.

Hawk, who was waiting at the side, saw only smoke and no demon. His smile froze for a second.

Suddenly, he heard Salamakk’s voice from within the volcano.

”Hahaha, you think I’m an idiot? You think you can trick me into coming out like that? Motherfucker, if you want me, you’ll have to come down here and get me yourself!”

”...” Hawk fell silent.

This wasn’t your average demon. This required a heavy hand. Hawk expression stayed cold as he raised his foot. An instant later, he moved.

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