Gretchen Vradiskii Ufain
Downtown, Capitol City

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"Demon sealing circle!"

Unfettered, unhindered, with not even one of the stronger demons coming to disrupt her chant, her ritual completed itself, as she opened her eyes, feet now firmly on the ground. Entire sections of the downtown area suddenly cleared of any fog, and of any demons, as the ritual of purification erected a barrier, utilizing all the talismans she had thrown down on the way here. Not even the stronger demons could withstand the barrier for long, as it was not a mere instant barrier, flimsy in its construction, but a proper barrier erected through her ritual.

With a large swathe of the downtown area purified and the demons within burning while they disintegrated into nothing, all she had to do now was extend the barrier to encompass the entire downtown area and mop up the rest. Even those flying demons that did not fly high enough was burning away above it.

After that, the ring leader, Gretchen thought as she cast her eyes upward.

Well, if the ring leader was lax enough to ignore her while she worked, perhaps this would be easier than she thought. Sighing as she thought of all the walking she needed to do, Gretchen made her way into the small unpurified chunk of downtown still left.

Light.....

Air in her lungs, wind through her hair, the taste of ash on her tongue and the smell of burning flesh in the air.

Slowly, Lilith materialised within this world. First her fingers, as they reached through the veil between worlds and tore at the threads. Then her arms, pushing through the holes in her fabric. She was known, she was heard, she was felt. She could feel it, a quiver in her soul as she moved from one plane of existence to another. As arcane bonds gave way to solid form, as her soul expressed itself in the words of matter and energy. From the fundamentals of this world she built her body once more, and with newly formed lips she savoured the taste of a realm nearly forgotten.

Why had her bonds weakened? How long has it been since she had been born into this realm? Lilith did not know, she could not remember. In that land of eternal torment to which she had been banished, time was a subjective concept.

Fear, agony, despair. Cries for help resounded in her ears, cries of pain echoed in her empty being. She could feel them, the agony of mortal beings close to death. The thump of adrenaline, the determination born from desperation. The ones who broke, the ones who fought, the ones who filled themselves with deathly calm. The ones who gave up entirely. It was a beautiful sensation, an immortal melody sang in the sweetest voice. A taste with no compare. Such intense emotion, such feeling, such desire. Lilith could barely contain herself. How long had it been since she had feasted on such sweet despair? Surely it had been centuries, for she felt famished.

But there was also another sensation, one that she quite carefully locked away within herself. Pain, and not the pain of another. With an eldritch curiosity, Lilith observed the sacred flames tearing at her being. Frowning, Lilith wondered at the source. This was but a pale immitation of her Father's seal, of the light that outshone light itself. A mortal attempt to grasp at the divine, a seal divined from mortal will and mortal magics. But as far as such things went, it was no weak magic, and would certainly have annihilated a lesser demon quite quickly. Even Lilith, normally beyond the bounds of mortal magic, could feel these flames punishing her, sealing her, attempting to return her to the darkness. It was a rather unpleasant sensation, and as such one she chose not to feel.

With a smile, Lilith soon located the source of the power. Of the few mortals who remained within this barrier, there were but a couple who were not consumed by fear. Certainly no terrified mortal could have pulled off magic of this magnitude. Such a feat would require focus, and such focus would require willpower. Certainly that was one word from what she felt from the odd couple, who had positioned themselves conveniently in the centre of this barrier. How curious. How delicious. Certainly if she was to feed on a mortal, then should she not choose her first meal with care? It was an honour, after all. No mere common mortal would do. But this strange child, who had maintained her composure even among such despair. She would certainly suffice.

With a beat of her mighty wings, Lilith shot through the air like a bullet. She soared through the sky, diving down as a streak of darkness before she flowed over the ground. Before the couple responsible she emerged, in all of her glory. Pale perfect skin, wings of flowing darkness, clad in solid shadow and ethereal magics. An appearance slightly ruined by the blue fire, which even now clung to her, slowly eating at her essence.

With her appearance, Lilith unleashed a wave emotion. It was twisted love, it was an eldritch lust. Those nearby would feel it droning in the back of their minds, in the back of their hearts. The soft kiss of obsession, the dark love that drove men to madness. A joy that pulled at the heart, that made one forget their self-control. A bittersweet temptation, a pull that was all too easy to give in to. To simply kneel, to be engulfed in endless joy. Addiction for the heart, narcotics injected directly into the soul. This was the twisted thoughts that Lilith radiated. Unrestricted, the full blast of Lilith's power at this distance would have forced any mortal to their knees in moments. But even now, with her powers dampened by this strange magic, it was a powerful debilitating force. An eldritch allure to this strange figure that made one want to stop and listen, to look at her all day, to obey her every word. To stagger forth towards her, with no regards for the consequences. Without arcane protection or great willpower, there was little the mortal mind could do to withstand such unholy influences.

"What beautiful creatures, humans." Smiling, Lilith moved in closer to the pair, flowing over the ground like a serpent. "My, such strange magic you have woven. And what fearless determination. You have caught my attention, child. Now, what will you do with it?" Her last question was paired with an arrogant smirk. How would they react, Lilith wondered? Humans always had such a wide range of reactions. From terror to hatred to subservience. It was always fascinating. Like smelling your wine, before taking the first sip....

Balthazar watched intently as his super charged winged minions began to take on heaven's army of angels. The struggle provided much amusement at first but eventually began to loose it's edge. The real fun would begin once Zaphiel, Aquilina Achilles finally hit the downtown area. The demon known as "Death's Right Hand" was on a clear collision course for these three angels. Their battle would inevitably be epic, but even he might be out of his league against three angels of their rank, two attacking up top and one from below. With this in mind, Balthazar decided to release a small group of highly Elite demons to provide some air support, eight of them to be exact. "There, that should even things out a bit."

That's when a gigantic magical barrier suddenly erected across many sections of the downtown area. Large numbers of demons were vaporized in an instant. Balthazar had not noticed the shrine maiden Gretchen until this moment, but needless to say, this gained his attention. In fact, unlike other enemy retaliations up to this point, this did not amuse Balthazar in the slightest. There was no bloody battle, no screams. He felt hurt, cheated out of a good time. Before acting on this emotion however, the lovely high ranking demon known as Lilith made her grand appearance onto the battle field. 'Splendid', Balthazar thought to himself.

She could take on the shrine maiden, for sure. But what about the maiden's body guard, the witch? She had been following the young maiden from a distance for a while now, fending off stray demons that may have otherwise caught the maiden off guard. The numbers had to be evened out here as well. His commanding voice echoed across the city, "Attention all minor demons. There are two humans facing off against your Mother of Sin, a witch and a shrine maiden. Your Mother of Sin has set her sights on the young shrine maiden... so leave her be. As for the witch, the one to bring me her head will be granted unimaginable power! HAHAHA! Oh, and if you see any of those pesky spell tags that are holding up that damn barrier, burn the entire area to a crisp! Trust me, you don't want to enter that pesky thing!"

Bonk
There is was, that sound he dreamed about so, ever so often. Some would say it's petty, but looking back on these memories is like porn to him, oh so satisfying. Now that he had killed one, his blood lust could not be stopped. He looked around, observing his surroundings looking for anything out of the ordinary. There. 3 Angels all in one area. It'd be tough, but he's going hunting. He walked as menacingly towards that location as he could, a few Elite Demons came to his aid.

"Well now we can have an even battle for once!" He looked back at where Balthazar was barking orders at demons below, "Thanks for the help bud, it'll be well worth your time."

As he got closer, he analyzed some of them. One was an Archangel, fully suited and ready for battle, holy sword in hand, and disgusting form. Everything was terrible about him. They all were bad, but he was putrid. The smell of god even made it to John's nostrils, and he retched back. He could tell that he was a good ways up on the priority list, but there was another. Something was off about her. She moved differently to the others, stiffer, like she wasn't being controlled by her own self. The last looked small and puny compared to the others, in there bulky armor. She was going to be easy pickings, all of them were.

John charged the stiff one, and sent the elites for the other 2. They will be preoccupied, and I'll be able to make the most of this one. He flipped his sword around his hand, threw it in the air, and grabs it. He charges as fast as he can with all his bulking equipment, and screams as loud as he can, letting the voice of Death through his own.

He mumbles under his voice, "I got some gifts for you Death, I think you'll like them." and chuckled.

The Strange female charges him as well, and they meet in the middle. She tries to poke and John, but he puts up his shield, and blocks the hit. John moved his finger back and forth, in a no, that's not good motion. He tried to slam her back on the shield, and pin her on the ground, but she goes up and starts to fly. Just as he was going to put his shield up to block a slamming attack, she started to glow blindingly bright. John put his gauntlets over his eyes, shielding him from what was happening.

"Angels, pussy's the lot of them." John was furious now.

He flicked his sword toward the ground, and darkness crawled up towards the hilt. This female swooped down, lance trying to pierce John's shield, but John was different, and unpredictable now. John side-stepped out of the way, and slammed her down on the spike on the edge of the sword. Over and over and over, she was now unable to move. He continued to beat her with the end of his sword, and as a parting gift, he jumped up, and fell on his shield. Where she once was is now a pile of flesh barely resembling an angel. Armour was broken, wings torn, lance snapped in half. He had won. He lifted her by the throat, and the same portal of dark sludge he entered with, he shoved her in.

"One less angel, one for demon for Death. She's going to be transformed, and become my mindless slave." He yelled into the closing dark mass, "Have fun death!"

Balthazar couldn't help but gasp as the giant demon named John utterly destroyed the angel known as Aquilina It was truly a grusome sight. What was once a beautiful embodiment of God's Wrath, had been turned into a heaping pile of blood, shattered armor, and stained feathers. She was then swallowed by a black sludge. The entire sight was mouth watering.

But Balthazar didn't have a mouth, still in his giant cloud like state. Instead, a black oily substance began to rain down all across the downtown area. Just like the fog from before, he was barely even aware of the destruction this was causing. The black water ate away at everything in site, the most literal interpretation of the phrase 'acid rain'. To his demon army however, this was just a welcome healing bath.

After a few moments, Balthazar calmed down. His army was winning, but strangely enough, something inside of him felt empty. The feeling was nagging. Then it hit him. 'Why should his minions have all the fun?' He then quickly scanned the battle field. In seconds, he found his target, the legendary witch, Margeret. She was hovering above the Shrine Maiden and Lilith. The maidens enchantment was acting as an umbrella against Balthazar's black rain.

It should come as no surprise that a demon would do what Balthazar was about to do. While the witch was distracted by watching the two below her, a solid black spike came down like lightning. This impaled the witch right there on her broom, right through the chest. The spike then curved into a hook which secured her in place. She was dead in seconds. Slowly, he began to lift her lifeless body up off the broom.

"Mwahaha!"