The raging hellfire, of course... did not harm anyone.
As the saying goes, where there is smoke, there is no damage. The massive flames covered almost everyone, yet not a single person was hurt. With a wave of his hand, Strange teleported everyone away. In truth, Illyana could have done this even faster, but in her demonized state, she lacked the awareness to do so.
Immediately following that, amidst the surging flames, a colossal, burning demon rose from the ground. It was the second creature Illyana had summoned. The giant demon, standing dozens of meters tall, aimed a punch straight at Belasco. Belasco, however, elegantly sidestepped and thrust his sword forward, severing the demon's entire arm in an instant.
"This is the first time I've seen Belasco fight so well—the last time we jumped him, it felt like he went down before we even exerted much effort."
Peter stood in the distance, watching Belasco slice the demon to pieces in just a few strokes. Judging by this output, very few people present would be able to withstand it. Soon after, he saw the demonized Magik leap into the air, charging down with her greatsword on her shoulder.
Logically speaking, the best approach for dealing with Belasco was to banish him from Limbo. His ability to return this time was likely inseparable from the likes of the Dark Cohort and Mephisto. Therefore, as long as they banished him and then dealt with the people in the Dark Cohort, they could guarantee peace until Belasco could think of a new way to return to Limbo.
Unfortunately, although Illyana's physical attributes after her demonization allowed her to go toe-to-toe with the likes of the Thing and Hulk, certain aspects had clearly degraded rapidly. Her intellect didn't seem to have a problem, but she leaned far more toward solving problems directly rather than thinking them through.
"If they keep fighting like this, I'm worried she'll exhaust herself and collapse before she even thinks about banishing him."
Wanda sighed with emotion, while Moon Knight ran over to Peter's side to complain, "I hate this place. There is no moon here. You hate it too, right? After all, there are no spiders here."
"...If there were spiders here, I'd hate it even more, man. Who knows what kind of things the spiders in this place actually are."
Hearing this, Moon Knight nodded in agreement. "I agree. If this place had a moon too, it would probably mean Khonshu has multiple personalities, just like me."
You certainly have a lot of self-awareness. Peter shook his head and looked at his teammates again. Elsa Bloodstone, the number two bait, was squinting as she watched the distance. Peter curiously sidled up to Elsa and asked, "As a professional monster hunter, what do you think?"
"My advice is to run. I've never encountered a monster this powerful. Generally speaking, this isn't a monster I should be dealing with anyway. Professional work should be left to the professionals."
"However," Elsa added, "running away at a time like this means missing out on whatever happens next, doesn't it?"
Iron Fist was meditating and resting, Blade stood to the side as always, and Johnny was looking around nervously, seemingly watching for something. When he saw Peter walking toward him, he shook his head helplessly. "Sorry, I'm just... I'm worried Mephisto might show up here. But the good news is, I haven't detected him. It seems you and Strange haven't either."
Right at that moment, Strange opened a portal and arrived beside the two of them.
"That is the best news, and also the strangest news. Mephisto seems completely indifferent to the Dark Cohort and Belasco. His plans include these people, yet he doesn't care at all whether they succeed, nor does he care what they want to do. The Dark Cohort craved wealth, so he stayed one step ahead by trading stocks in Roxxon, and then split the stocks into two portions: the demonic contract portion was handed over to the Dark Cohort, while the actual physical stocks were sold off."
"As for Belasco, Mephisto probably just found him in some random corner. It just so happened that he also needed this group of people to help out, and since the Dark Cohort had both the capability and the desire to do these things, they hit it off immediately. But the problem is... all Mephisto gained were the souls of those who were possessed, and they are souls that never signed a contract with him."
Speaking up to this point, even Strange found it bizarre. "Because of that, I'm wondering what exactly Mephisto's true objective is."
Peter looked at Strange in some surprise and asked in response, "Shouldn't we focus on the battle right in front of us first?"
Belasco and Illyana, the two sorcerers, were putting on the most spectacular display of magical dueling: both carrying swords and hacking away at each other. They had already demolished several mountains in Limbo, fighting for about seven or eight kilometers, and were still continuing their close-quarters exchange. After watching for a while, Strange's tightly knitted brows relaxed. "No, there's no need. Her Eldritch Armor is gradually covering her body again, which means Magik's condition is improving significantly."
If they kept fighting like this, Illyana's soul would soon return to equilibrium. When that happened, her intelligence would reclaim the high ground, making it much easier to deal with Belasco. Furthermore, given their current combat prowess where a mountain was ruined every few moments, the vast majority of the people present couldn't intervene anyway.
"I am going to work with Wong and Doctor Voodoo to study how to counter any Chthonic summoning rituals that might appear. Scarlet Witch? We need your help here too."
Wanda pointed at herself, and realizing that Strange was indeed speaking to her, she obediently followed him. Peter, on the other hand, asked somewhat eagerly, "What about me? Is there anything you need me to do?"
"You? Well, if our plan fails, I need you to fully utilize the power granted to you by the Web of Destiny to tear open a massive rift in reality for me, completely disrupting the summoning ritual."
After saying this, Strange looked out at the distant battlefield once more, then added, "In addition, if we can't find a way to harm Belasco, then I'm afraid your spatial tearing might be the only thing capable of hurting him."
Peter nodded and watched Strange leave. He walked over to sit next to Iron Fist, with Moon Knight sitting nearby as well. Peter said, "Strange is lying. He has some other plans."
"How do you know?"
"Because that little mustache makes him look like a bad guy."
Moon Knight leaned over, answering Iron Fist on Peter's behalf. Peter was stunned for a moment by this interruption, then shook his head. "That's not the reason. It's because my Spider-Sense can detect that he's lying."
Iron Fist opened his eyes and looked at Peter. "Your Spider-Sense can even do that?"
"Yeah..."
The Spider-Sense of Spider-Man Noir could do exactly that.