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Monitoring through the Red Queen, Ivan swiftly located Hellboy and his team. They had reached Sebastian Cemetery, specifically Mausoleum Number 16, in Moscow. Guided by a reanimated corpse awakened by Hellboy's rune, they entered a vast underground complex. Red Queen detected a network of intricate tunnels stretching for kilometers, laced with magical energy barriers and complex mechanisms. After a cursory investigation, it could only offer a basic map. The rest, Ivan realized, required personal exploration.
Unfazed by potential traps, Ivan materialized directly within the cemetery and entered through the main entrance—the first obstacle was a broken bridge. Taking flight, he unleashed his mental power to probe the depths of the underground space.
Meanwhile, Hellboy, after navigating numerous traps, confronts his adoptive father's murderer. He enacted his vengeance, then fought a relentless battle against the constantly respawning hellhound Sammael. Ultimately, with the Flame Girl's aid, he defeated the entire hellhound horde. However, the ordeal left him unconscious. Upon regaining his senses, he found himself imprisoned in shackles.
At the exact moment, Ivan arrived at Hellboy's location. Sixty years ago, he observed his old friend, Rasputin, flanked by a stunning assistant. In the center of the prison lay an unconscious girl – the Flame Girl, Liz Sherman. A white man, John Myers, the new FBI agent assigned to guide Hellboy, was also a prisoner, chained to a stone pillar. A massive stone tablet with two vacant holes dominated the room.
The unconscious girl was Hellboy's love interest, Liz.
Hellboy, consumed by rage, struggled against the shackles but to no avail. An unknown power nullified his immense strength. Ivan concealed himself in the shadows, content to observe for now. He wouldn't intervene prematurely if things didn't directly interfere with his plans.
Rasputin, his patience wearing thin, approached the Flame Girl. Before Hellboy's horrified eyes, he kissed her soul, draining her soul.
"Her soul has been taken to another realm," Rasputin declared, looming over Hellboy.
"If you wish for her return, open the gateway!"
Enraged, Hellboy strained against the shackles, roaring and lunging at Rasputin. But the restraints held him captive.
"Your true name is inscribed on the shackles," Rasputin shouted, urgency lacing his voice. "No matter your strength, it binds you. Read your true name!"
A solar eclipse was imminent – the perfect window to open the gates of Hell and unleash the seven Chaos Gods, Ogdru Jahad. Missing this opportunity could mean waiting an unknown amount of time.
Hellboy wrestled with his conscience. Logic urged him to refuse, but the desire to save his love gnawed at his resolve. Torn, he remained silent.
"Read your actual name now! Be the key! Anung Un Rama! Could you speak it again?
"Anung… Un… Rama!" Hellboy finally uttered his actual name. With a metallic click, the shackles fell away. Flames erupted from his head, revealing demonic horns. His body grew more prominent, his consciousness fading as his demonic nature took hold. He rose and lumbered towards the massive stone tablet. Extending his monstrous right hand, he grasped one of the holes and twisted it – and a beam of light erupted from the tablet's summit.
Because the lunar eclipse caused abnormal fluctuations in space and was stimulated by the light beam, a space channel was opened. Ivan even vaguely saw a dark world on the opposite side of the channel. Thousands of meters long, the monster covered with tentacles broke out of the ice and moved slowly toward the space channel.
At this time, Hellboy's right hand is about to stretch out to the second hole in the stone tablet. If he turns it again, the space channel will expand rapidly until it can accommodate the Seven Gods of Chaos entry, which is thousands of meters long. Unexpectedly, Agent Myers used the cross left by Hellboy's adoptive father to wake his sanity at this critical moment. The recovered Hellboy directly broke his demon horn and pierced the dark wizard Rasputin's body.
Without Hellboy's power's support, the space channel in the sky was immediately closed, and Ivan, hiding in the dark, breathed a sigh of relief.
Ivan had no interest in the next Hellboy battle against Rasputin's avatar of Ogdru Jahad, so he blessed himself with a stealth technique, flew to the sky, came to the position where the space pass was opened before, and carefully sensed it. A moment, sure enough, even though the channel was closed, there were still some traces of space cracks. Ivan took out a pair of gloves inlaid with space energy crystals, directly tearing the space cracks and drilling in.
This is a dark world. There is no light in the eyes, but this is nothing to Ivan. Even without eyes, Ivan can use his spiritual power to find what he wants. Soon, Ivan found out. Achieving his goal, seven giant monsters were sealed by ice.
The Seven Gods of Chaos, Ogdru Jahad, but Ivan felt they should be called the Chaos Monster, a monster that devours life, energy, and everything. It once destroyed countless civilizations but is now imprisoned in this dark place.
Ivan quickly approached the seven monsters; his spiritual power radiated out, and he mocked coldly: "How pitiful! The Seven Gods of Chaos are imprisoned in this dark place; there is no energy for you to devour, no servants to serve, only You can watch yourself weaken day by day, feel the loss of life, to survive, to reduce the consumption of your energy, to survive, even to freeze yourself, but even so, how long can you hold on? Now? Your body is about to reach its limit; what does it feel like to watch yourself weaken and die."
"Who dares to laugh at us? I will torture your soul for 10,000 years." The grumpy Chaos monster shook his body, and the ice that sealed his body shattered a small part, revealing a tentacle and grabbing it towards Ivan.
Ivan is not panicking at all. This time, he came to make a deal with the Chaos Monster. But to make a deal, he must first show his strength; otherwise, in the case of unequal strength, I am afraid that the other party will not let you go. In the eyes, Ivan rubbed his hands into a knife, and the power of the rules condensed into a knife shape and slashed over, directly cutting off the tentacles that were stretched out.
The raw power unleashed by Ivan's manipulation of the rules astounded the Chaos Monsters. Despite being just one of thousands of tentacles, its severance with such ease served as a chilling display of his might. The seven monstrous entities immediately shifted their stance.
"We underestimated your strength," they rumbled in a chorus of powerful, evil telepathy. Alluring promises echoed in Ivan's mind, a barrage of tempting illusions to trap him. Wealth, beauty, unimaginable power – everything most beings craved – was dangled before him in an attempt to manipulate him. But Ivan was unfazed. These were mere trinkets compared to his actual goals. With a surge of mental fortitude, he shattered the illusions and expelled the intrusive psychic tendrils.
"Enough with these tiresome tactics," he boomed via telepathic projection. "They hold no sway over me. I come seeking a bargain. Do you not yearn to escape this eternal darkness? This is your chance. Surrender to me, pledge your souls, and I shall grant you freedom."
"Surrender? That's a fool's dream!" roared the Chaos Monster who had attacked Ivan earlier, a tremor of violence resonating within him as he readied another strike.
However, an enormous tentacle lashed out, obstructing the initial attack. Ivan had meticulously studied these creatures. According to ancient legends, they were parasitic gods, each burrowing into a planet and consuming its life force. As they grew in size, they devoured planets one after another.
These were embodiments of destruction, their reign of terror across countless planets documented in ancient lore. The largest, once said to span nearly 10,000 meters, had set its sights on Earth before being imprisoned by its guardians. Within this desolate dimension, devoid of life-sustaining energy, their once immense bodies, nearly 10,000 meters long, had shrunk to a mere 2,000 meters. To survive, they resorted to self-induced stasis. Their hunger gnawed at them, and without a new source of sustenance, their demise seemed imminent.
Their escape hinged on Rasputin. Hence, their meticulous plan was crafted 60 years ago – the creation of Hellboy, their demonic pawn. Unfortunately, their scheme had crumbled, and Rasputin lay dead. Ivan, their only remaining hope, stood before them. He had strategically timed his arrival, ensuring he held the upper hand in this negotiation.
"Who are you?" rumbled one of the monstrous entities, its voice tinged with a grudging respect. "Your power rivals that of the most formidable ancient gods. And you seem eerily knowledgeable about us."
"Ivan Shaw," he replied, " I am a researcher at heart, forever pursuing truth. Now, a businessman is proposing a deal. You are free to decline. It's not a deal built on fairness but on an opportunity. I coerce none. You possess the right to refuse. Remember, your last hope, Rasputin, has failed. It appears I'm your only lifeline. Exclusive deals often come at a premium." Ivan maintained his characteristically dry wit.
"You! You must have sabotaged our plan! Rasputin's failure is your doing, isn't it?" The Chaos Monster who had launched the initial attack roared in fury, straining against the restraining tendril of another monster, desperate to tear Ivan limb from limb.
"Don't blame me. My involvement was negligible. You may doubt my words, and that matters little. The present reality is that I am your only hope. Freedom lies within your grasp, but it hinges on my offer."
Ivan's final statement hung heavy in the inky void. The monsters knew he spoke the truth. Despite their loathing for him, their desperate situation forced them to confront a harsh reality: they were at his mercy.