Szardos, who was in turn kidnapped by Belasco and brought to Limbo. Nightcrawler and Sefton freed her, and Sefton secretly took the sword and adopted the codename Magik for herself. Belasco and his allies, the N'Garai demons, fought the X-Men again soon after, but were defeated by the X-Men with the assistance of the new Magik. Quest for Magik Cast into an even lower level of hell by his disappointed gods, Belasco used the life-force of a low level demon to regain access to the Limbo dimension after seeing a version of Magik (Illyana Rasputin) alive which was brought back when the Scarlet Witch House of M. Once there, Belasco fought his way through Amanda Sefton's minions and even used a Bloodstone containing a portion of Illyana's soul, to resurrect Illyana in her Darkchylde form to overthrow Sefton, however his creation had all of Illyana's memories but lacked her soul. Disappointed, Belasco banished her before battling the sorceress himself. As opposed to their first battle, Belasco was successful and cast Amanda out of Limbo, becoming Limbo's ruler once again. Belasco then summoned the New X-Men because he felt the scent of the House of M Magik on them. It is revealed that Belasco's fixation on Illyana is not simply for her powers, but also because he fell in love with her. Finally Belasco was defeated by Magik with the help of a reformed Pixie, who stabbed him with a 'Souldagger'. Now Magik is the new ruler of Limbo, served by S'ym and N'astirh and in search of her soul. Dark Web During the "Dark Web" storyline, Belasco saves Mary Jane Watson and Black Cat from some demons. He would like to make use of Black Cat to obtain his misplaced Soulsword from the Screaming Tower where they will have competition from the Thief Army, the Heven's Devils, the HYDRA Expedition Force Agares, and S'ym. To help them out, Belasco skins himself and uses part of his soul to make a Soul Compass. Powers and abilities Belasco is one of the most powerful sorcerers on Earth and possesses a wide knowledge of the mystical black arts. He possesses the ability to manipulate the forces of magic for a variety of effects, including the ability to fire concussive bolts of mystical energy, create protective shields of mystical energy, transform and transmute matter both living and inanimate, travel inter-dimensionally, shoot mystical rays, control