CHAPTER 187

[Random Sorcerer POV]

War. 

That was something he had never seen, never thought he would experience in his young life. And yet not only was he on the verge of one breaking out, he was also participating in a magical war against forces from Hell. 

He bisected a cultist, one of those who called themselves the Sons of Satannish, a literal Hell Lord, not that he knew exactly what that meant. 

He saw a demon swipe its claws against the face of a sorcerer like him and used it to scar the poor woman's face as it gouged out her eye and nose with its claws. The sorceress couldn't even scream and just died gurgling on her own blood. 

He and another rushed at the demon with magic circles around their hands as they conjured eldritch weapons of magic and light. They made quite the quick work of the demon but it seemed as if everything they were doing wasn't changing their overall situation. 

From what he knew, there were hundreds of these spots scattered all across the world and that was what they were fighting against. Just for this past hour, he had seen more death and killed more than he had ever done in his life. 

"We have to move now! Master Pian Dao is already opening the portal to the next location." He nodded his head as the warning and took in deep breaths of air and joined the congregation that was forming as they annihilated their fourth base. 

Two other students assisted Master Pian Dao and opened the portal wide enough that it covered everyone and immediately transported them to a hellish scape that he and everyone was gradually getting used to. This one however was different as the ground was littered with the bodies of sorcerers from the Sanctum that had been thoroughly wiped out. 

They were immediately identified as they switched spaces and the demons didn't give them any sort of reprieve and pounced on them the moment they appeared. 

This was the first defeat they had seen since this impromptu war started out of nowhere and the sight caused some lesser determined ones to flatter which was more than enough that any demon could hope for. 

Being distracted on the battlefield was a fatal mistake that was repaid with death and these novice sorcerers learnt that all too late. They were immediately overwhelmed and killed, something which caused panic to spread through their group as their numbers were thinned at every passing moment. 

The young sorcerer seeing what was befalling his mates and senior apprentices, riled himself up and launched his attacks, the reality of what was happening finally hitting home. It was him or them. As simple as that. 

His chi burst out as he drew magical circles around him and drew the short length sword that was lodged in his sash. Having the only assurance of life in both hands, his spirit lifted up a little and with a loud shout to rile his dampening spirit, he jumped into the fray and struggled to snuff out the life of any enemy before they snuffed out his. 

He threw the magic circles around his hands but they were not enough to kill the demon in front of him, on slightly grazing it. Not missing a beat, he brandished his short sword and rushed at the demon while holding an eldritch shield in his hands. 

He stumbled backwards as the demon collided against his shield with a grunt and fortunately, due to the amount of adrenaline flowing through his body, he was quick to dodge the spell that the demon threw at him. 

He could hear the grunts, screams and begging from the background but he was too focused to spare his attention to them. The only thing on his mind was how to escape this demon and survive just a little bit longer. He knew subconsciously that the chances of him surviving this war was very slim since he could just be another nameless soul in the grand scheme of things so what he was fighting for was not due to some great determination but just for the sheer privilege of surviving till the next minute, a milestone that was progressively getter harder to reach. 

"I can ssssmellll it off youuuuuu… Fearrrr." The demon hissed out and the moment he flinched was the second the demon attacked with renewed frenzy. "For eons and centuries have we coveted the human, and now it will fall under the might of TWO Hell Lords. So die like all worms do!" Vine-like limbs emerged from the back of the demon, over a dozen in number with each of them having wide mouths with jigsaw teeth. 

Fear is an emotion every biological being feels when they come in front of a natural predator and right now, he was emitting just that. A scent that was tantalizing to creatures of the dark. 

He withheld the humorless chuckle that wanted to escape his throat and stood at a face-off against the demon. A nearby explosion signaled their resumed clash. 

The young man formed a magic circle on the ground with the radius centered on him and from the ground floated up small yellowish wisps of energy. He sent them at the demon while the demon responded with the hungry vines that he sprouted from his back. 

The vines hissed as they lashed but instead of backing down, they increased their ferocity with rabid abandon and tore at the wisp. 

The boy tried cutting and deflecting the vines that were unhindered by his spell with all his might but he could tell he was running on fumes. 

'Whatever, fuck it.'

He dropped the knife he was holding but before it touched the ground, it was wrapped around with an eldritch rope. Deactivating his shield, he grabbed unto the first vine that took a bite at his biceps and swung the rope-held knife at the demon. 

He flicked his wrists and the knife changed directions midair with the demon thinking he had successfully dodged what he assumed to be a last ditch attack. 

The knife wrapped around the demon's neck but unfortunately it was lucky enough to catch the blade before it's magically enhanced edge pierced its throat after wrapping a noose around his neck. 

In anger he forced his vines at the young man, commanding two to go for his stomach and gnaw at it until the man's innards started spilling out. 

Not seeing that as enough, three went for his legs, two for his knees while the last went for his scrotum, yanking any part of him and ripping it away from his body. 

Despite all this, the man refused to budge as he drew the rope till it grew taut, bringing the tip of the blade to draw blood from the demon's throat. 

Having defeated all of the man's whips, the demon sent his remaining vines at different parts of the man; his jaws, his neck, shoulders, the back of his head and his Achilles. The man never made a sound as the demon destroyed his body to empty bits and pieces, drawing the blade slowly into its neck. 

All of a sudden the demon stopped as it finally realized something after half of the blade went inside its throat… 

… The young had been dead for a while now, since when it first attacked him with the vines. 

It wanted to rage as it was killed by a dead man but it couldn't at the light of life left its eyes. 

The fighting in the background had stopped for a while now, making them the last standing survivors but even that didn't last. 

… 

[The Dark Dimension] 

Burst of power and chaos erupted in the dreary hell that spanned an indefinite amount of space. 

"I can feel it as the moment trickles by ever so slowly. Very soon I shall have my reward and my vengeance. The woman they call the Ancient One; a title I scoffed at with disdain, the man of the strange arts; Strange Stephen Strange, and finally the reward of the phantom memory that was ripped away from me. His name escapes me but it shall matter not any longer once I have Earth in my possession."

A deep growl sounded beside Dormammu's enormous figure. He stood taller than any building in the world with a sinister face and two horns on his head. His sinister visage was further complemented by the face he had on his stomach which produced the gurgling growl, leaking wisps of hellfire. He was Satannish, one of the Hell Lords alongside Dormammu and Mephisto and a few others. 

Instead of the dark and dreary environment that surrounded Dormammu's firm, all around Satannish was a blazing fury of hellfire and brimstone. 

"Mephisto's trickeries surely know no bounds. Though the coward likes to hide behind his tricks and schemes, it however can't be doubted that he is a surprisingly knowledgeable individual. The moment we step on Earth's soil will be the moment we conquer that dimension and there's nothing any of the human weaklings can do about it." Satannish said, his a grating voice that was bound to bleed the ears of any mortal who listened to it. 

"The sorcerers are busy chasing a false trail not knowing that this is a two-pronged attack and due to their lacking numbers, they couldn't hope to hold out long against the millions of hellspawns that will soon appear on it. The Sanctums will be heavily unguarded and that is where we will strike, severely weakening the barrier around that dimension for us to fully enter. No matter which route they take, they can't stop our plan from working." The dark dimension grew cold and chaotic as it reflected its master's emotions. Dormammu's rage has never once been kindled and stoked like it was, not since the time of the father of magic. He hated Strange to the core of his entire being, that much was visibly apparent. That anger was further multiplied by the fact that the three people that have caused him such losses were all together, bound in one place; a heinous gathering fit for the bastard sorcerers they were. But unfortunately for them, their time has come to an end. 

"It looks like they've started moving against the dark sorcerers and the hellspawns. We should start on our own end." Satannish's huge form disappeared, taking with it the billowing flames and letting the dimension he had been in to succumb to the infinite darkness. 

"You can come out Mephisto, or should I make you?" Space shimmered and with a chuckle and following it was the red-skinned Lord of Hell. "I still don't know what is in it for you for the help you rendered but I should let you know that should you try your trickeries on me, I won't hesitate to put an end to your reign." Dormammu warned. 

Despite the open threat, the small smile on the Hell Lord's face didn't budge in the slightest, in fact he didn't seem at all concerned as if the threat was given to someone else that was here alongside them. "You think too much Dormammu. All I want is to watch the chaos unfold and see if I can get some new… toys. Helping you out is just a means to an end, a fun one should things go as I envisioned. Normally I would congratulate you for your forthcoming victory in the conquering of Earth but I will refrain from that since history with that dimension has made me… doubtful."

Dormammu snorted at Mephisto's not so veiled jab at his repeated loss in regards to Earth. "If you've come here just throw your words around, I'll advise you to leave else you risk stoking my anger over its limits."

With the same small smile plastered on his lips, Mephisto fizzled out of reality and retreated to his dimension, leaving the raging Dark God to himself. 

"I know you can feel this, Yao. Can you feel your end creeping near? Do you fear? Do you despair?... Do you beg? I want you to tell me what you feel when I rip away everything you've ever stood for right in front of you."

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