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Chapter: Justice Assembly

The portal opened, unleashing a potent demonic aura into Hearthglen, immediately alerting its resident paladins and the towering ancient guardian trees.

"Silver Hand, prepare for battle!"

"Boom!" Thunder reverberated through the massive trunk of the ancient guardian tree, a resounding echo.

In response, the ancient tree swung its colossal palm, passing through the portal with dazzling holy light, striking at Mephisto and the continuous stream of demons pouring forth from Hell.

Mephisto's expression darkened, but he did not evade. Instead, he raised both hands to the sky, where dark red energy coalesced into a massive barrier, meeting the ancient tree's palm.

"Boom!"

Thunder and holy light erupted suddenly, incinerating low-level demons who had barely tasted the earthly realm.

Yet, as the most formidable demon in Hell, Mephisto wielded considerable power. Even with only 30% of his true strength in this clone, he outmatched most demon lords, unencumbered by the world's defenses.

Thus, the Thunder Clap from the ancient tree failed to breach Mephisto's defenses.

After withstanding the assault from the guardian ancient tree's palm against his dark red barrier, Mephisto redirected its momentum, causing a spike to protrude tens of meters from the barrier's midst.

The spike pierced through the ancient tree's palm, exploding upon impact, releasing malevolent energy that shredded the giant hand to pieces.

At that moment, a pair of golden round shields engraved with dragon motifs soared toward Mephisto's forehead from an unexpected angle!

The flying shields, imbued with holy light, caught Mephisto off guard, staggering him.

In a surprising turn, the dragon-adorned shields left a lasting mark on his forehead before returning, hurtling toward an Asgardian paladin.

"Socceror Supreme, what's the deal with these demons? If memory serves, this blood-red figure should be Mephisto, the lord of Hell," Brunok firmly caught his dragon shield.

"Yes. Mephisto has crafted a unique clone that evades the world's checks," Socceror Supreme amended, "Where's the Sun God?"

"We've alerted Heimdall," Brunnok replied, "but the High Lord appears occupied of late."

Gu Yi frowned slightly. "Occupied with what?"

After a brief silence, Brunnok spoke, "You know, he's wed... For the Asgardian royal family, offspring is a critical matter."

"..."

The battle between the Silver Hand and the demons had commenced. While the Paladins wielded Holy Light to subdue the demons, the fiends continued their onslaught from Hell.

Socceror Supreme marked, "This Hell rift will persist for about a day, during which more demons will flood into our world. This won't be an easy battle; we must eliminate Mephisto's avatar swiftly."

Brunnok pondered, "Aren't there ample Earth defenses?"

"Yes, I'll rally them all now, and you might find one particularly intriguing,"Ancient One said, leaving Brunnok momentarily puzzled.

Soon, however, the paladin understood her implication.

Ancient One teleported other mages from the Supreme Sanctuary and united hundreds of them to summon heroes from across the globe.

Naturally, the Avengers were indispensable.

"Avengers, assemble!" A man with an American accent hoisted his shield like a standard, capturing everyone's attention.

With a swift backhand swing, the round shield arced beautifully, knocking down several demons before returning flawlessly to his grasp.

"You're right, Socceror Supreme. I'm particularly interested in him now."

Brunnok fixed his gaze on Captain America.

Socceror Supreme smiled. "You two should talk."

"Indeed." Brunock launched his shield again, catching Steve's eye in a similar manner.

"Wow, that shield toss is impressive!" Steve remarked, watching him.

"You're not bad yourself!"

Thus, the two round shields darted around the battlefield, alternating between fighting demons like skilled marbles.

Though equally adept, their powers were distinct.

As an elite Asgardian paladin, Brunock nearly ended a demon's life with each shield throw, even against high-level adversaries.

In contrast, Steve lacked Asgardian strength or Holy Light energy. He easily dispatched low-level demons but struggled against stronger foes.

"Roar!"

Bruce Banner transformed into the Hulk, leaping into action and reducing two demons to pulp upon arrival.

Just as he finished his metamorphosis, a surprised voice piped up, "Wait, are your underpants made of light?"

Hulk turned to find Iron Man eyeing his briefs, roaring indignantly as demons swarmed his crotch, forcing him to focus on battle.

"Light-forged?" War Machine Roddy inquired.

Iron Man explained, "You're unaware, and I'm unsure. Stark Industries collaborates with the Golden Hand, Paladins or something, providing light-forged components... perhaps soon we'll see a Lightforged suit."

The conflict intensified, with thousands of demons pouring from the Hell rift to confront Earth's defenders.

Their numbers swelled, slowly gaining the upper hand.

Mephisto gloated as he battled the Ancient One, "There's more than enough time in a day. You'll witness this place becoming Hell's eternal gateway!"

Socceror Supreme retorted calmly, "A presumptuous demon. You might not know this, but I've glimpsed glimpses of the future."

Mephisto scoffed, "You see the future. So what?"

Socceror Supreme replied, "Of all the dreadful calamities I've foreseen, none involve you."

"Fool!" Mephisto seethed, incensed by the slight.

"Boom!"

At that instant, a dazzling Rainbow Bridge descended from the heavens, bearing two figures wielding hammers: Forseti and Thor.

"Lord!" The paladins exclaimed in surprise, as if they hadn't seen him in ages.

Upon Forseti's arrival, he wasted no time. Surveying the demonic horde around him, he conjured holy light in his palm, hurling a holy prism skyward.