The monster disappeared instantaneously after gulping down all of the next season's membership gifts.
Yes, it vanished. Mephisto, in total frustration, failed to find any signs of teleportation, not even a whiff of soul essence. A beast of that size simply vanished into thin air.
All the Demon Gods present were dumbfounded. Where were their membership gifts? Such a massive membership gift, how did it disappear all of a sudden?
"Does that newcomer even have manners?!" one of the Demon Gods roared: "Dare he hog our gifts???"
"Where is he?!" Mephisto shouted: "If he's still within this cosmos, he can't possibly not be detected, find him!!"
"But I've never come across such a presence before!" another Demon God said: "Could he be a newly born Demon God? But how could a fledgling Demon God be this powerful??!!"
Mephisto turned into humanoid form, about to question The Ancient One, only to find that she too wore a face twisted with rage. Before he could open his mouth, The Ancient One had already taken her first jab at him, assaulting him while accusing, "Mephisto! You're behind this mischief again!"
"Not me!!" Mephisto yelled back: "If not you then who?! The Ancient One… you cunning bastard! You've been planning to hog it all along!!!"
Both Mephisto and The Ancient One realised that the fear and anger in each other's eyes were not feigned. So, if neither of them was the culprit, who else could it be?
Suddenly, they turned their eyes towards Odin and his crew. Everything was peaceful last time, how did a beast that gobbles up gifts appear out of nowhere the moment you Asgardians arrived?
Odin had no leisure to deal with Mephisto's accusations. Helen's disappearance was far more important. Every Asgardian who was present was frantically searching for the child.
Mephisto eyed Odin warily. The ripples of power surrounding Odin were vividly visible even from a great distance. It's a universl truth that Asgardians grow stronger with age.
"I refuse to believe it. No matter where he has escaped to, as long as he remains within this cosmos, he cannot hide. If need be, we'll turn the entire cosmos upside down in search!" Mephisto dismissed with a huff. After saying that, he departed, and the other Demon Gods followed the same suit. All of them were consumed by the same thought.
If that monster had devoured the energy and escaped, and if one were to swallow that monster, wouldn't that be the equal of hogging all the membership gifts? That's a colossal fortune. Whoever got their hands on it could well have a significant leap in power.
Of course, almost no Demon God suspected the Holy Sanctuary of foul play. That's because they regard humans with condescension. They acknowledge that the Supreme Magician has great power. But that's an exception. Plus, the soul strength of humans inherently hintst that they simply couldn't swallow such a massive amount of energy in one gulp.
The reason The Ancient One and Mephisto didn't fight at the scene was this. Mephisto knew well that, even if the body of The Ancient One had been remodeled, she still could not absorb such a high dose of energy instantly, as it would severely harm the soul. This innate handicap of humans cannot be overcome, no matter how much you remodel it.
As long as The Ancient One had not changed into a Demon God, and hadn't completely altered her life form, she diden't qualify as a suspect. As for the rest of the humans? They shouldn't even be mentioned. One ten-thousandth of that energy would be enough to blow them to smithereens.
All the Demon Gods focused their gaze on their own kind. Only the Cosmic Sorcerers might have been able to swallow such tremendous energy in such a short time without exploding.
However, the departing Demon Gods had scoured every corner of the cosmos, yet failed to spot the strange monster.
Normally, any method of rapid locomotion, teleportation, or flight leaves behind energy trails, visible to the Demon Gods but not humans. Even with special means to hide them, he will need a place to stop and absorb all the energy, right? A Demon God of such size simply cannot remain hidden.
Mephisto, who had witnessed all this, was unwilling to give up. This old demon does not work for free. If the news goes public that some unknown monster devoured all the spoils, his reputation would suffer a great blow.
Mephisto even hunted through Dormammu's Dark Dimension, braving Dormammu's attacks, but finding nothing.
The Dark Dimension was already quite an obscure and sequestered place. Other fragmented dimensions were hardly able to accommodate a Demon God. Even so, Mephisto had diligently searched over every nook and cranny, and found no trace of it.
So, where exactly did the vanishing monster go? It went home, literally speaking, it went home.
In a space shrouded in grey fog, above a large city hovering on a small island, Shiller and Helen, who had turned back into a little girl, high fived. Helen let out a cheer, followed by a hearty burp and burst into giggles on the spot.
The moment she got off Thor, her first reaction wasn't to absorb power.
She had witnessed the standoff between Solus, who had ascended above the metaverse, and Stark. Although she was an ill-prepared combatant, Helen had some idea that battles occurring above the metaverse could be dangerous, and that her father, Stark, might not be sufficiently prepared.
So her initial reaction was to go seek backup for Stark.