High Heaven I

There was only one reason the angel had given its name to Irwin, and it was that Barchiel was confident that he would escape. And that, in doing so, Irwin would have a nasty grudge with Dagon and her forces, thus, he will do anything to get revenge.

Yes, even after all that time in captivity. The angel was as devious and cunning as it ever was. It was not out of chivalry or mercy that it did so, but a long-term ploy with no assurance of ever blooming into fruition.

As such, when Irwin was contemplating on how to best get revenge, he thought, "Why not involve the angels?"

He scratched Barchiel's back, Heaven scratched his back. Of course, retrieving their stolen angel would not be sufficient as an argument for Heaven to make their move.

There were, after all, training and limiting their forces until the advent of the Apocalypse. One less angel was one less warrior for the war to end all wars.

But for him to begin sending messages, he needed the appropriate communication spell, defensive spell in case they were a little bitchy, and a circle that could accommodate their presence if they were super bitchy. As such, delight bloomed within him as piles upon piles of corpses towered in front of the runic pillars.

He could see mythical beasts, monsters, and even a few human corpses inside of the dead mountain. Although a few of them did not have an aura or hint of supernatural within them, he was sure that they were still worth a few credits.

"And that's all of it!" Aeneas said, reading from a clipboard. Apparently, the witches still enjoy the amenities of modern life, although only the ones that aren't affected by their magical energy.

"About 70-80 corpses. Nice." Irwin counted, rounding down. They were all squished together so it was hard to tell where one arm starts and another horn ends.

"What are you gonna do with the corpses again? Is there a spell?" The Warlock was rather inquisitive with Irwin's requests, seeing as it took a few hours and a lot of manpower, which they don't have, to gather the corpses.

Irwin grinned, his eyes glowing light purple. "Something like that."

What came out of his mouth next was pure gibberish, disguising his System's miraculous display of disintegration into a spell created by a legendary figure in the Coven's history.

■■

All tradeable items have been scanned. Please select which item to trade:

▪︎ Norn - Class 1 Monstrosity - Adult Werewolf Variant: 14

▪︎ Gabe - Class 1 Monstrosity - Adult Werewolf Variant: 11

▪︎ Thaumiel - Class 2 Creatures - Natural Witch Variant: 41

▪︎ Celeka - Class 1 Creature - Human Variant: 6

…

■■

The sub-system's scan revealed what Irwin would describe as a feast for the eyes and the pocket. The variety and rarity of some of the corpses helped in garnering higher credits.

He did not even know that a witch was so highly valued. It must be why Charlotte's mother was enough to buy an Angel Blade, he thought.

It took a dozen seconds before he could take account of all the tradeable items, which added more to the awkwardness of having to spout Spanish lines from a translated version of the US version of The Office.

It was then that the mountain of corpses began to crumble as a wave of dark ash billowed out of the center of the corpse pile and engulfed Irwin in its terrifying storm.

The witches and servants that partook in the acquisition of the corpses, most of whom stayed due to curiosity, were now an audience to a whirlwind of ash and dust as it engulfed the whole area with its withering force.

Some tried to enforce themselves with their magical energy, while others merely ran in fear. But all throughout this fearful hubbub, Irwin stood still as a bone and chanted in an esoteric language as he recited the opening monologue for the Bee movie.

All the while, his retina received dozens upon dozens of messages as the system absorbed the corpses and turned it into Store Credits.

By the end of it all, when all that stood within the area between all four runic pillars was Irwin, not even a single drop of blood was left of the mountain of corpses.

The perpetrator, shoulders trembling, merely laughed ominously as he gazed at his credits.

■■

Current Credit: 177 -> 884

■■

"No, Irwin! Stop it." He slapped himself from the giddiness. "Now's not the time. Concentrate. Find a comms spell, defensive spell, and… Do I really need something for them to descend unto? No, that's stupid. Oh, yeah. I think it's time to find some artifacts. There's some interesting things out there–"

"Uh, Sir Irwin? Are you… fine?" Aeneas's trembling voice startled Irwin out of his rant

"Yes." Irwin replied. "Prepare a chamber for me. Large enough to withstand the might of the Celestials."

●●●●●●

Irwin set about finding what he needed as he sat cross-legged at the center of a large room. It had been hastily renovated, now devoid of furniture and decorations, but the dust and imprints from decades-long fixtures were not easily scrubbed from existence.

First, he needed the communication spell. It didn't need to be a spell, he thought, maybe an artifact. A spell, however, would be wiser, as he would not use such an effect often.

With that in mind, he delved into the list of Celestial Magik and searched for any spell with such a description. After about half an hour of searching, however, all he could find was a warding spell that could allow him to communicate with a known angel.

"Should I call on Castiel? Nah, at this point, he's still a zealot. I need someone who sees the bigger picture, but is a weasel. I probably need a Garrison Leader. Someone…" A lightbulb turned on inside of his head.

He bought the spell, Enochian Transmission Sigil, for 180 credits. He found Celestial spells to be much more expensive, even the lowest costs as much as 100 credits.

He chalked it up to the cost of Enochian translation and gaining the ability to use them with the help of the System.

With the Sigil on hand, Irwin set about finding defensive spells, preferably one that blocks attacks on his soul or one that deflects angel attacks.

Since he would be working with angels, it would be best if he could also find one in the Celestial category. That would help fight off their powers and, as a side deal, he was already familiar with almost all the spell names held within.

It took a quarter of an hour for Irwin to find the most appropriate spell in the category, but, like the other Celestial Magik, it was expensive as all hell. This spell was worth 125 credits.

■■

▪︎ Iron Spirit Ward ▪︎

Description: The caster can imbue their essence with a temporary defensive sigil using their Grace. A basic spell technique learned by Seraphim against the demonic corruption of the forces of pure evil.

■■

It was clear to him that the more descriptive the spell was, the more expensive and powerful it was. Still, the spell satisfied his conditions, as it was relatively easy to use and was of the same component as that of Transmission Sigil.

All that's left is the artifact. It would be his first time buying it for himself, as he was foolishly more focused on the consumables portion of the store.

He had already seen what Hilde's Girdle can do and, frankly; he was astounded by its effect. The side effects of daily suffocation would not be so terrible if he were to gain the ability to break a boulder in half, especially with how strong he currently was.

He removed himself from the Spell category and entered the Armors & Mystical Items category.

■■

[ Armors & Mystical Items ]

▪︎ Torso

▪︎ Upper Limbs

▪︎ Lower Limbs

▪︎ Head

■■

"I think I can buy two items from here. Maybe an armor and a mystical item. Now… What do I need for the raid? Since I have how much? 579 credits left. I need armor that will help me against demons and Dagon, something that will reduce the effects of their Infernal Magik towards me."

He browsed the store, finding three armors that satisfied his conditions.

■■

Basker Hound Leather Armor

Price: 85 Credits

Type: Monster Armor

Description: Made from the tanned skin of a Basker Hound, an experimental chimera created by the British Men of Letters. Tough enough to withstand bullets and resist physical and metaphysical corruption.

■■

Viceroy's Promise

Price: 210 Credits

Type: Enchanted Armor; Named

Description: Grand Duke Konstantin holds a great deal of loathing for his brother. Whomever wears this would experience severe hatred for a family member.

Effect: Once equipped, the user would gain Full Resistance to Physical attacks and Lesser Resistance to Magical attacks. The user would also temporarily receive [Danger Sense (Lvl 04)] system skill and [Feather Form (Lvl 01) system skill. 

■■

Astaroth's Breastplate

Price: 100 Credits

Type: Cursed Armor; Semi-sentient

Prerequisite: Can only be worn by those who gain the Armor's approval

Effect: Once equipped, the user will gain, [Infernal Magik (Lvl 01)] as a System Skill. The armor is highly resistant to Infernal Magik and demonic corruption. It can also hide the user's presence from scrying and become invisible to the naked eye using Stamina or Magical Power.

Warning! Prolonged use of the armor may cause the following side-effects: Hallucination, Regicide Ideation, Acute Madness, Homicide Ideation, Blood Vomiting, and Incremental Allegiance To The Dark Lord, Lucifer.

■■

The last one was not really a choice to begin with. It was just fun how absurdly horrific it was and how it came to be within his system. 

The ability to use Infernal Magik alone was more than its worth in credits. Although he could use whatever spell he bought from the Trade Store or learned through studying–no matter if it was Celestial or Pagan Magik–even if he did not have the skill related to that spell, the spell's usage of his magical power was more than double of his Human Magik spells.

As long as his Status sheet does not have Infernal Magik (Lvl 01) or Celestial Magik (Lvl 01), the innate magical energy derived from accessing the spell would be expensive, even if he added in materials and components that are of greater value or higher purity.

He shook his head, sighing for the umpteenth time before buying Viceroy's Promise and searching for his artifact.

●●●●●

I don't know if I what I have created is good enough for this, but if you ever want more:

patreon.com/MillanGrimme

It's five (5) chapters ahead of this site.