American comics: From Hogwarts to God on Earth

"You will not be punished, my friend," Satan said with a grin. "You will replace me and become the new king of Hell."

Rune looked at Satan with a puzzled expression. Satan patted Rune on the shoulder and said, "You may not realize it yourself, but I can see it. Your soul is different, very different." He rubbed Rune's face. "The difference between your soul and that of an ordinary person is like the difference between an elephant and an ant. I have never seen such a special soul. You have shown me a possibility, child. Perhaps you can help me get away from this damned hell."

Rune shook his head. "I'm sorry, I have no intention of leaving the mortal realm." Rune didn't want to take on Satan's hot potato. Lucifer did indeed hope Rune would accept his position. He had ruled Hell for ten billion years, and as time passed, he grew weary of this endless rule and tired of the struggles between the various demons and sinners within. He longed to break free from Hell's constraints and pursue a freer life. He would eventually relinquish his rule over Hell.

In the future, Lucifer will hand over the Key to Hell to Sandman and the rule of Hell to two angels, but ultimately, the rule of Hell will return to the newly fallen. However, as Rune predicted, the name of Satan is indeed a hot potato; it requires the faith of evil spirits and demons. Once the evil spirits and demons deem you not cruel enough, the name of Satan and the power it represents will shift their allegiance. For example, when Doomsday went to Hell, it almost took the name of Satan from the newly fallen. Forced into a corner, the newly fallen summoned Supergirl and Martian Manhunter from the real world to help them regain their faith. Not to mention several other demon lords who are also eyeing the name of Satan.

As one can imagine, becoming Satan would mean not only fighting against the newly fallen and other demon lords, but also suppressing the supervillains who died later. One wrong move, and he could lose the title of Satan. Moreover, becoming Satan essentially meant being locked in Hell. Therefore, Rune ultimately chose to refuse.

Lucifer frowned slightly, his long eyelashes casting faint shadows beneath his eyelids. "Alright, alright, I should have known. Since you don't want to be Satan, that's fine too. Just don't regret it when someone else you don't like becomes Satan later."

Rune nodded. Even if the newly fallen became Satan, he would probably prefer to cause trouble for Constantine. Their ill-fated relationship had only just begun.

Rune then visited several famous Hellish locations, such as Chernobog and London. These areas all shared the commonality of having caused numerous deaths, but their Hellish landscapes differed greatly. The former resembled a Fallout game from the 1990s, while the latter was shrouded in fog, much like Silent Hill.

While in Cherokee, Satan sighed, "I quite like these strange things, but many of them are in Heaven, and I can't expand this city even if I wanted to."

After traversing several regions where even a documentary could be shown as a horror movie, Rune finally asked his question: "Why do the newly fallen so desperately want Zatanna?"

He and Zatanna had asked Itlergan before, but Itlergan's answer was vague and uncertain. Moreover, Rune had a premonition when he got involved in this matter that the First Fallen's behavior was related to what Deadpool had warned him about. Otherwise, Lucifer's goodwill alone wouldn't have been enough to make him personally risk his life—he knew that Lucifer would step down as Satan in a few years and even throw away his wings.

"Oh, this," Satan said as he led Rune along a rugged path. "Logically, since you helped me, I should have told you directly, but because I made an agreement with some people, I can't tell you the reason right away. But I can describe it to you like this. She has a quality that most ordinary people don't possess, but it's not magic."

Satan continued, "By the way, your nominal cousin actually has similar traits."

Rune listened to Satan's explanation with a frown, then pondered for a moment, but before he could think for long, Satan interrupted him.

"Look!" Satan smiled and pointed to the tall building not far away. "That's my dwelling."

Rune looked in the direction Satan was pointing, where stood a colossal, golden palace. It resembled an ancient Greek structure, built with countless jewels. Many parts were inlaid with exquisite reliefs, and the palace's roof was decorated with golden palindromes. Around the palace, numerous blood-red flowers swayed in the wind, and small succubi were carefully tending to them in the flower fields.

Upon entering the palace, Rune discovered even more details. The exquisite reliefs were painted entirely with various gemstones, their outlines delineated with gold and silver lines, their opulence beyond imagination. The hall's floor was constructed from a single slab of marble, without any trace of cutting.

"This is the palace Mammon built for me. We were old acquaintances," Satan said nostalgically, sitting on the exquisite chair. "Back then, many angels only had eyes for God, only for Him. All they cared about were gold, silver, and precious stones. Such angels quickly became demons, but I didn't particularly like him either."

"Why?" Rune asked.

"He didn't like the struggle between me and God," Satan lamented. "He always liked to suggest that instead of fighting with God or humans, it would be better to live peacefully in Hell and enjoy the pleasures of money and other material possessions. So I simply kicked him out of Hell. As a result, he created indulgences on Earth, and later even created finance and X-books, which is really both laughable and frustrating. However, Hell's performance has indeed improved."

Rune stared at Satan speechlessly.

"Alright, alright, let's get down to business." Satan shrugged, then flashed a mischievous smile. "Don't tell me yet, let me guess, what do you want?"

Strange things began to appear in his hands: "Hmm, for a wizard, a staff might be important enough? No, no, you already have a staff." A hooded robe appeared from the black mist. Satan looked at Rune's clothes and shook his head: "Hmm, the robe is indeed somewhat useful, but you already have a good enough companion."

Then, three iron nails appeared, and Satan muttered, "Hmm, the thing used to nail a god is enough as a reward, but you probably won't use it..."

He scratched his head, his brows furrowed, and placed his hands on the desk, his fingers unconsciously tapping the surface, making a "tap-tap" sound.

"Aha!" He seemed to finally realize something. "You'll definitely like this!"