Sacrifices

"They said what?" Mephisto had heard a lot of bizarre and unusual things as the lord of the Hell dimension. But very rarely would he hear something so outlandish that he had to do a double-take. Dormammu had said something that Mephisto couldn't believe he was hearing.

"Like I said already, the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth sent me a letter saying that he would be taking my niece Clea as a foreign exchange teacher for some magic school he is establishing. He has even recruited the boy who has a part of my powers as a student," Dormammu dejectedly repeated.

"So, your niece and your son are now involved in some school made by the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth? Is that what you are telling me?" Mephisto didn't know whether to laugh or to get angry at the incompetence of Dormammu.

But at least they got some information out of it. Dr. Strange starting a magic school did not bode well for their plan. If left unchecked for a few more years, who knows what kind of changes would take place on Earth? They couldn't let the humans become stronger.

"Be prepared. We will soon commence our plan to invade Earth and take over the damn place, as is our right." Mephisto didn't want to waste too much time with Dormammu so he gave a rundown of the plan and left to seek out other helpers immediately.

Dormammu was left there alone. He was thinking about the relationship between his niece Clea and the Sorcerer Supreme Dr. Strange. If they got together, would he have to call that detestable human his nephew-in-law? Just the thought made him furious. Not to mention the humiliation he would have to face from the likes of Mephisto.

While Dormammu was contemplating whether to kill his niece or take control of her, Mephisto was busy creating an army to attack Earth. Any self-respecting dimensional lord would want to attack and take a piece of Earth for themselves. So would all the demons and other dimensional creatures.

Earth held significance to the larger universe for many reasons. For one, it was the birthplace of very powerful elder Gods like Gaia, Chthon, Set, and Oshtur. Just this fact alone made Earth very desirable for many dimensional lords. The fact that human souls, their faith, and human emotions were a source of power for these beings was a massive bonus.

Chthon the god of chaos, Set the serpent, Dormammu of the dark dimension, Cyttorak of the crimson cosmos, and many other beings had already agreed on the attack on Earth. Everyone was quietly increasing their influence on Earth using the opening created by Mephisto's human minions.

For the devil himself, it was quite easy to manipulate some rich and influential old guys who wanted to become immortal and continue to amass more riches and influence. With the Earth Federation threatening their positions, they were even easier for Mephisto to persuade.

With just a few promises of immortality and a place for them to enjoy a life of immense wealth and power in the new world when Mephisto conquers and rules the Earth, he had an army of rich and powerful humans at his disposal.

The pawns were in place, the army was prepared, now they just had to wait for the opportune moment to strike. When that moment arrives, his humiliation will be paid for.

"The Lord has ordered for us to begin the ritual," a shadowy figure hidden inside a black cloak said in a cracked voice.

"The mutants are gone; this is indeed the most perfect time for us to strike. Are the sacrifices prepared?" Another figure hidden under robes asked in a female voice.

"Everything is ready. I have already placed the magic circle and the magic nodes around the factory town that I own. There are 15,000 residents, so it should be more than enough." Another voice answered in between laborious coughing.

"Good. Everybody follows my chanting. Don't make any mistakes. If you can't pronounce the chants, then repeat what I speak in your minds and pour in all the magic that the lord has given into the circle. Begin!" the leader of the group commanded.

In the dark room, blood-red candle flames lit up suddenly. The silhouettes of a dozen or so figures in dark robes could be seen vaguely in the candlelight. On the floor, there was a giant magic circle with weird symbols and shapes made on it.

And on top of the magic circle was a young girl bound by chains and naked. She was conscious and trembling with fear, but she couldn't move. Tears were flowing continuously from her eyes as she tried over and over to move her lips to scream for help.

But she couldn't speak at all. She couldn't even move her lips. All she could do was watch on in horror as the people in robes started chanting in a language she couldn't understand. The more they chanted, the more terrified she felt. She could tell that when that chanting ended, it would also be her end.

As the chanting continued, the magic circle started to glow red, and shadowy tentacles began to appear through the magic circle and slowly wrapped around the girl. She watched on in horror as the disgusting shadowy tendrils tightened around her, freezing all her movements.

Right at the end, when she knew that this was the end and her death was here, she felt very calm. She stopped crying and from her teary, red eyes, she watched as the leader of the people in the robes brought down a dagger to her heart.

Through all this, she had hoped that a hero would appear at the last second and save her. But no hero appeared that day. And she lost her life. As her soul separated and was being pulled somewhere, she cursed the people in the room with all her being. She cursed them to have a fate much worse than her own.

Just as the girl's soul disappeared into the void, something weird started happening in a rural town in America.

It was just an ordinary town created by a billionaire out of a necessity to supply labor to the toy factory next to the town. It had grown over time, but at the core of it, the town was still a community of the employees of the factory or businesses related to the factory.

The strangest thing that had ever occurred in that small town was that one time when the aliens attacked, one of the aliens had reached this town and had been mysteriously killed and disappeared.

But on this day, something far stranger and sinister was happening. The sky turned dark all of a sudden as if someone had turned off the afternoon sun with a switch. All power went down, and the only source of light became the recently repainted lines on the roads and houses.

The owner of the factory had sent someone to repaint the whole town and renovate the place completely and free of charge a month back. As he was known for his philanthropy and generosity, no one thought twice about his motives and everyone sang praises for him.

Now though, the whole town suddenly found themselves within a massive magic circle that was glowing dangerous shades of red. Cold winds were blowing everywhere without ruffling a single feather. The winds could only be felt by the people, but it did not affect the environment.

Everyone had some knowledge about demons and demonic magic because of all the superhero media. In a panic, the whole town began to make a run for it to get outside. Cars were crashing into other vehicles and decorations on sidewalks; people were trampling over each other; it was utter chaos.

To add to the panic, people started to suddenly drop dead without warning. Starting from the older people, the older they were, the quicker they were falling dead.

While there was a mad rush to get out of the town, the people who were at the edge of the town didn't fare any better. There was some kind of an invisible shield around the whole town that made getting out impossible. People tried ramming into it with cars, punching, digging the ground, and more. But the results were the same; they would all die in the circle.

When the last child in the city breathed his last, the magic circle started glowing brighter and brighter until the whole town was drowned out by the dark red light. Finally, when the light reached peak brightness, it detonated like a bomb and a huge pulse of energy was felt all over the planet.

Savant, Doom, Strange, the seven Sages, and a few more people who were knowledgeable about magic started appearing over the town one after another. Everyone began to check what was going on, and each of their faces became a combination of seriousness and anger.

Savant, who had just processed all the information coming out of the town, was burning with anger. Mephisto had been too careful and hidden, or maybe he had been too complacent. It didn't matter anymore. He was just too angry.

"They are coming. Be prepared for a fight. Send out an alert; there is going to be a demonic invasion in a few minutes. There might be more than just Mephisto and his minions; I fear that he has brought in reinforcements." Savant concisely relayed the information that he had deduced.

Some of the people present there seemed to want to question Savant, but Savant cut them off, "There isn't enough time for questions. Strange and the Sages should take the others and get ready for the upcoming fight. Doom, come with me; we will go take out Mephisto and his lackeys who did this."

Savant placed his hand on Doom's shoulder and disappeared together with him.

"It is indeed an urgent matter. With the timing of this invasion, I am inclined to believe Savant that there are more forces involved. Young Sorcerer Supreme, you should contact Oshtur and the Vishanti. We shall contact Gaia. The lot of you contact every hero and mage on Earth. We have a war at hand." Atri of the seven sages instructed everyone else and teleported away as well.