Chapter Thirty-Three: The Yellow Light Legion vs. Hydra (Part One)

The word "skull" is quite niche; it is rarely used in daily life. Elias only recognized it because he had just looked it up on Wikipedia.

According to Captain America’s encyclopedia entry, his most notable achievement was defeating the Nazi leader Red Skull during World War II. The entry for Red Skull—Johann Schmidt himself—was significantly shorter, as if he had never accomplished anything of note in his life. One of his most celebrated "achievements" was being defeated by Captain America, and the second was his loyalty to the Nazi Führer, Hitler.

The encyclopedia recounted an anecdote: Red Skull first met Hitler at a German hotel. He was working there as a waiter when Hitler came to stay. One day, while Mr. Red Skull was going door-to-door peddling drinks, he happened to stumble upon Hitler executing his subordinates. They locked eyes and paused in surprise. Red Skull, who seemed to be a natural sociopath, didn't panic at all; with one glance, he decided that Hitler would be his future master. Hitler, surprisingly gracious, didn't shoot him on the spot, but instead lectured his subordinates:

"You are not even as good as this servant beside me!"

After that, they spent a long period in mutual admiration, thick as thieves. With Hitler’s support, Red Skull’s path was smooth, and his ambition grew until he eventually accumulated enough power to bite back at his former master. By the end of World War II, Red Skull had officially created his own brand: the notorious Hydra, a legendary, ever-growing entity where two new heads would sprout from the stump even if one were severed.

Then, he was soundly beaten into oblivion by Captain America.

The Red Skull recorded on Wikipedia was like the Big Bad Wolf in a cartoon: constantly causing trouble, and constantly failing at the final step. Most of the time, the one stopping him was Captain America, with only rare exceptions involving Captain America’s comrades. During this long career slump, Red Skull developed a deep obsession with Captain America, to the point where it became unclear whether he committed crimes to fulfill his ambitions or simply to get revenge on the Captain.

In short, he was that typical brand of supervillain found in American comics.

Therefore, after reading Red Skull’s entry, Elias reached a basic conclusion: where Captain America appears, Red Skull might not be there, but where Red Skull appears, it is certainly because of Captain America.

However, he hadn't intended to study the man too closely, mainly because people said Red Skull was already dead.

Although Wikipedia stated his exact time of death was unknown, how many "good young men" from the last century could be found who, like Captain America, were flash-frozen and then thawed out?

As it turned out, Elias suddenly realized he had underestimated the complexity of the situation.

This world actually had a Hell.

Deceased villains went to Hell, and once there, they could actually hire hitmen, sending a group of local Hell-born residents to the living world to exact revenge. Does the saying "I won't let you go even in death" really hold true?

Perhaps Elias’s expression was too complex. The demon with black-and-white striped curved horns—the one who had been cursing the loudest and spreading rumors that Ophelia was a school bully—subconsciously explained:

"We charge a high fee. Not just any small fry can afford to hire us."

The red-skinned female demon beside him wiped her face in exasperation: "Blitz! Why are you telling them this?"

"Shut up, Millie, I just want our target to die with a clear understanding," the demon named Blitz stood up with a sour face and straightened his black coat. "Look at that high-and-mighty attitude of his. How could he possibly appreciate the hardship our dear client, Mr. Red Skull, went through, acting as a beast of burden for Hitler in Hell for years just to scrape together a few pennies?"

"Theoretically, we shouldn't be telling the target these things either," another demon named Moxxie, who was holding a sniper rifle, muttered. "Now it's a mess. If he dies today and doesn't make it to Heaven, we might see the Yellow Lantern Corps fighting the Nazis in Hell..."

"And if he doesn't die, it'll all be your fault!!" Blitz roared at him. "Pull the trigger, or I'll shove that useless gun butt into your—!"

Moxxie was startled and hurriedly fired at Elias again.

*Bang—*

This time, the bullet headed straight for Elias's forehead, the metal casing covered in a biting chill. At the same time, Millie, the assassin, picked up her daggers again, rushing toward him from the darkness with a fierce, hideous grin!

*Boom!!*

A translucent chain extending from a Yellow Lantern ring appeared out of thin air, shredding the bullet into dust before lunging like a python toward the demon who fired. Elias didn't turn back, but a massive book appeared behind him. Its spine looked as if it were cast from steel, and when it collided with Millie's daggers, it sounded like a thunderclap.

"Damn!" Blitz, the observing demon, remarked, "Isn't he a magic-user?"

In the distance, a gray-furred, dog-headed woman who hadn't joined the fight yet and was openly distracted by a book of her own, said flatly: "Maybe Gandalf set a bad precedent for them."

"..."

The boss of the hellish assassination company, I.M.P. (Immediate Murder Professionals), the demon Blitz, observed Elias with suspicion. When their client, Red Skull, came to the company, he had sworn: "Elias Esposito is just an ordinary human! He might know two dark spells and is on good terms with Superman, but that doesn't matter. As long as you can take him out in three seconds, even Superman won't be able to chase you into Hell."

At the time, Loona—the gray-furred dog-headed girl, a hellhound by race—hadn't taken it seriously at all, yawning as she said: "Sorry... we're closed on Saturdays."

"What? Why do you demons take a holiday on the Christian Sabbath?" Red Skull asked in disbelief. "I heard you help those in Hell take revenge on the living world, so I came here specifically."

Loona rested her chin on one hand, lazily scrolling through her phone, and said: "Sorry, the revenge targets don't include superheroes."

"Is that a rule?"

"I just added it."

"...The person I want to kill isn't a superhero."

"I'm so surprised," Loona said in a deadpan voice, not looking up. "He's not Captain America, but he is Steve Rogers, right?"

"He is not Captain America, and he is not Steve Rogers." Red Skull couldn't take it anymore and snatched the phone from Loona's hand. "Listen to me, I want you to take out Elias Esposito and his family, including his sixteen-year-old son, his eleven-year-old daughter, and his three-year-old dog."

"Ah." A look of surprise finally appeared on Loona's face. "What grudge do they have against you?"

"It's a long story." Red Skull paced the meeting room. "It started with a group of reckless Australians trying to replicate Captain America's serum (Loona: So it *is* Captain America after all?), but they ended up deliriously creating a bunch of animal hormones that only worked on kangaroos. Later, an American, Gale Esposito, bought those hormone-injected kangaroos and used them to invade Metropolis, causing massive damage while deliberately making people think he was working with Hydra! I, Red Skull, when have I ever done something so brainless?!"

In reality, Gale had only once said, "I want to display a row of Captain Americas in my house for exhibition."

But Red Skull's obsession with Cap was as famous as the family drama of the Bat-family. The latter were a bunch of detectives who, through years of mutual infighting, could tell that the posts on the superhero fan forums didn't come from any of the brothers or sisters. Hydra didn't have such luck; this blame was dumped directly on them and couldn't be shaken off.

Following the same logic that Nightwing used to deduce that "the poster is targeting Tim," Red Skull believed that this wave was an intentional persecution by the International Gang.

With the enemy dancing on his own coffin lid, how could Red Skull tolerate it?

Upon receiving the news, he immediately asked Hitler for time off—they Nazis hated Catholics, so they didn't take Saturdays off—and rushed to I.M.P., said to be the only private organization capable of traveling from Hell to the living world, to hire a hit.

Loona pointed out not-so-subtly: "Criminals with brains are usually still alive."

"Shut up!!" Red Skull slammed the table, throwing Hitler's ledger onto Loona's desk. "I can pay more."

Before Loona could react, her boss and adoptive father, Blitz, rushed into the lobby like a gale, saying affectionately: "Easy, easy. The holiday is canceled, you lazy bums! Take out the target within 24 hours, or I'll kick your asses so hard with my boots!"

"Kick! It's kick!" the employee behind him corrected in vain.

...

That was the entire process of Blitz taking the order, but now he suspected that Red Skull was playing them for fools. Elias Esposito—how the hell does this look like an ordinary person??

The alley in Suicide Slum was quiet, with only the sound of metal clashing echoing continuously. The demons Millie and Moxxie were a sweet couple; the former was their company's best assassin, even though I.M.P. only had one assassin, and the latter was their best sniper, even though they only had one sniper. But regardless, a demon's physical constitution surpassed that of an ordinary person, and they were battle-hardened and professionally trained.

Millie had struck sixteen times in one minute just now, the blade light splashing like sparks, and every strike had been blocked by Elias. During the final attack, a chain wrapped around Millie’s demonic tail, hoisting her into mid-air. Seeing this, Moxxie screamed, "Millie!!" and without hesitation, abandoned a perfect attacking opportunity to save his lover.

Blitz couldn't blame them.

Just as his adopted daughter, the hellhound Loona, had pointed out at the beginning: they couldn't beat the opponent no matter how you looked at it.

Damn it! From now on, he would write "no supervillain orders" into their corporate culture!

After all, the target of a supervillain's revenge was either a superhero or another supervillain!

Just as he saw things going south and wanted to order his employees to retreat, the lantern in Elias's hand flashed noticeably.

Blitz paused slightly, recalling a rumor—whether true or false—that the Lantern Corps' weapons required recharging.

The rings worn by these cosmic police or militant forces had to be recharged by a lantern, and each member's lantern was connected to the central power battery at their team's headquarters. For various reasons, the vast majority of Lantern Corps members, regardless of the color of the ring they wore, would never carry the lantern in their hand like Elias.

It was easy to understand why; who would hold a torch while engaging in hand-to-hand combat with an armed opponent? No one was that proficient.

However, holding the lantern allowed Elias to avoid the risk of his ring running out of power mid-fight. Plus, since even Hell knew there was a Superman in Metropolis, Blitz had never intended to fight a war of attrition.