Sacrifices IV

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

▪︎ Ebisu's Ring of Unfortune - (Luck) Major Enchantment / (Bloodline) Slight Enchantment / (Hallucinate) Lesser Enchantment / (Poltergeist Pheromone) Lesser Enchantment - Pagan Magik: 122

▪︎ Sycamore Wand - (Power) Lesser Enchantment - Human Magik: 29 

▪︎ Totem Of Ampharo - (Physical Defense) Full Enchantment - Type Magik: 88

▪︎ Jade Dragon's Stamp (Artificial) - (Oath) Major Enchantment / (Soul Curse) Substantial Enchantment - Type Magik: 221

▪︎ Binding Jar - (Oath) Lesser Enchantment / (Imprison) Full Enchantment / (Suction) Minor Enchantment / (Visual Curse) Greater Enchantment - Type Magik: 199

▪︎ High Priestess' Infernal Grimoire - (Power) Lesser Enchantment / (Increase Reserves) Minor Enchantment / (Oath) Greater Enchantment / (Track) Graeter Enchantment - Type Magik: 302

▪︎ [Aegis] Torn Page - (Magik Drain) Greater Enchantment - Type Magik: 218

…

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Hundreds of mystical items, armors, and a dozen grimoire appeared within Irwin's retina as he waited for his sub-system to finish analyzing every treasure within the vault of the Borrower witches.

He had already instructed the angels to transfer the treasures from the second floor into the vault, so that he could trade them in one go. While waiting, he traversed the sea of glimmering treasures to check if his stolen items were within this vault.

His eyes widened when he saw his amulet within the pile of necklaces, anger stowing within him as he gently lifted it up and brushed the dirt off the symbol of Ereshkigal.

The amulet's power was certainly helpful to him in the past, gaining advantage in terms of firepower and magical output that far outstripped his capabilities and, at times, allowing him to channel his magical energy within the symbol. Its usefulness, however, was far more than being a potent magical focus. Once he learned the spell to commune the pagan gods, the amulet would enhance the connection to the god's physical self.

He floundered for a few more moments as he looked for items that were either unique in its making–something that he can't easily buy or create with the Trade Store–and was not cursed to all hell.

To his surprise, he found a pedestal that held a familiar-looking card within a glass box. His face morphed into fascination and deserved condescension as he shook his head in amusement.

"What is it?" Asked the woman with a scar on her face, a guard sent by Malkanthor. Or so he said.

"Nothing, I just… I was worried for nothing, I guess." Irwin tapped the glass and when it did nothing, he put his fist through it and grabbed the card.

Shaking off the glass, Irwin caressed the Monster Banishing Sigils honed edges and soft velvet surface. The enchantments held within surged in excitement as Irwin teased it with his magik.

"Welcome back." He whispered.

"Are you finished?" The angel asked, confused by his actions.

"Just a moment." Irwin closed his eyes and agreed upon the trade whereupon a cloud of ash born out of quickly disintegrating treasures billowed upwards.

The storm of ash swirled atop their heads before swarming Irwin and forming a cocoon around him. The cocoon was alive with excitement as ash continued to integrate and replace the ash that had been absorbed into Irwin's flesh.

While it may have seemed painful or even frustratingly uncomfortable, Irwin felt nothing but adoration as he watched his Store Credits go up by 500 to 700 to an astonishing 1,000 credits. It went up above the thousand mark, reached the five thousand mark and, after a few seconds, it stayed steady at 6881 credits.

Who knew that raiding an island owned by one of the most powerful creatures in the world would be so enriching? If he was not afraid of the other Prince of Hell, then he would be jaunting towards their bases right about now.

Irwin opened his eyes and saw that not even a lick of dust was left of the vault, earning a shameless chuckle out of him. He placed the amulet around his neck and felt the magik circulating around his body include the amulet in its circulations.

"Where's the rest of your Garrison? Also, what name should I call you?" Irwin walked out of the vault, meeting up with the scarred angel as he twirled his Angel Blade in his right hand.

"You may call me Hadriel, a warrior-servant of the Lord," Hadriel replied. "Malkanthor and the rest are finishing up the demons outside, but they are ready at a moment's notice."

"Good. It's time to cut that bitch."

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An explosion of rock and dust brought Hephaestus crashing into the paper walls of the pavilion and right into the heart of the first floor. He tried to stand on his feet using the metal throne as a crutch, but the pain in his stomach was growing greater and he did not want to succumb to that pain.

It had been almost a quarter of an hour since they began fighting and they were losing badly. Dagon's command over her Hellfire and Infernal Magik had grown even stronger since they had last met and if she had grown stronger, so did the other Prince of Hell.

'So their plan must be nearing its end.'

He launched out of the room in time to see Dagon separate Thrudgelmir's spear in half and force the giant into defending itself. Flames swirled around the woman's body, enveloping her like a dark phoenix with a malevolent presence.

Brunhilde brandished her bronze axe, using her newfound strength to great excess as she forced Dagon to back off. The warrior queen then launched a flurry of blows, which Dagon met with a nondescript silver sword.

Wounds began to accrue on both combatants, but Hephaestus knew that Dagon's wounds were merely superficial in nature. Her corrupted soul would only need to possess another vessel and all of their hard work would be all for naught.

Hephaestus wielded his forging hammer and rushed towards Dagon, only to be met with a whirlwind of black flames that he narrowly evaded. As soon as Dagon turned her back on him, he threw and aimed his hammer at her back.

Brunhilde saw the soaring hammer and swung her blade sideways, allowing the hammer to hit Dagon in her left buttocks and sending her flying in the air. Brunhilde changed her grip on the sword to meet Dagon's floating form, but the blade only caught the demon's right arm before she was hit by an explosion of black flames.

Although half of Brunhilde's face and her left arm was burned beyond recognition, she had managed to cut off Dagon's right arm with only a thin sheet of flesh, allowing it to hang on her shoulder.

"Give up, Dagon!" He yelled, hoping to buy time by inducing a conversation. "We're merely the advance force. There will be more coming."

Dagon snorted as she pulled the last strand of flesh on her vessel's arm, threw the arm away, and cauterized the wounded stump. "Why would I do that when we're still having fun?"

She rushed towards him with a maniacal grin on her face, but when he readied for her arrival, she unleashed a wave of hellfire from within her body. The flames swelled bigger and larger, forcing the trio to jump further away.

She burst through the hellfire, body covered in burning wrath and arrived almost instantly in front of Thrudgelmir. The giant compressed his strength and released a momentous punch, hitting the demon's torso and caving in her chest. 

Yet all that damage did not cease Dagon's actions as her silver blade tore through the blazing air and slashed through Thrudgelmir's armor, creating a deep gash within the giant's body. 

She released her hold on the sword, letting its momentum sink its tip upon the flaming ground as her left fist buried itself upon the giant's face. Before Thrudgelmir could retaliate, Dagon's right fist dug deep within the gash and pierced a hole through his back with the giant's humongous beating heart in her palms.

She pushed Thrudgelmir off of her and turned towards Hephaestus as the giant fell to the ground. Dagon slowly and methodically slurped the blood coming off the beating heart, seemingly enjoying Brunhilde's shocked face.

Hephaestus knew they were outmatched, but certainly not this much. He already had a bad feeling about the raid, even more so when Irwin was visibly keeping much of the plan within himself.

He wanted to run, to hide himself once more. He knew that being exiled and his dignity being stepped on was better than dying in the hands of his greatest enemies.

Brunhilde wielded her sword once more as he stood there in shock. Her swings were wild, but powerful, wind that could cut steel left the tips of her blade as she matched and even pushed past Dagon's movements.

The pain in his stomach grew larger. Everytime Brunhilde gained an injury, the gnawing in the deepest recess of his form consumed a part of him that he could never understand. There was only so much he could do for he was no fighter and certainly no less useful to her friend as of this moment.

Rage was building up within his body. His eyes turned crimson before slowly morphing into a deep amber. Metal clangs resounded within his soul, slowly forging an entity that the pagan god had casted away for centuries.

An immense power radiated out of him, startling both combatants that were locked in battle. Dagon was the first to take back control, seizing Brunhilde's concern for her friend to create a gap between her left waist and left ribs before swinging her sword upwards to slice off her forearm.

Brunhilde fell to the ground, blood oozing out of her like a fountain. Yet her gaze was trained towards Hephaestus as his skin turned from deep olive to dark red.

"Oh, what do we have here?" Dagon bit her lips as she wiped the blood off her blade with her fingers. "Looks like someone's going berserk!"