"I shall take my leave," the Monitor spoke. Vermont nodded and watched the sentry disappear.
Turning his full attention to the Sorceress waiting for him, he stated, "I suspect you have a method of locating Enchantress," Circe just nodded, she had been thinking of the staff.
'Strange, I didn't sense any disturbance. I suppose it does make sense; it's just as impressive as the legends say,' she thought before shaking her head, not willing to irritate the angelic being.
"Please wait a moment," she said as she approached the spot where Enchantress disappeared.
'You can't steal a part of me and not expect it to bite you in the ass,' Circe thought to herself. As her magic erupted, chanting in an ancient language, a red magic circle appeared.
Circe recoiled slightly as blood started running from her nose. 'Whatever magic that creation god uses is no joke. I can barely find my own essence.' She clenched her jaw and doubled down, unleashing all her power. The magic circle responded to her, and the ground beneath her trembled as an incredible force tried to throw her back. But she conjured another magic circle behind her, anchoring her to the spot.
The harder she tried to start the incantation the more pain she felt.
Immediately, a flash of light went straight for Circe like lightning. 'Shit! I failed!' Circe cursed. Even with all her power, she couldn't brute force her connection to her essence. This was definitely about to hurt.
But before the lightning could strike Circe, Vermont appeared beside her and effortlessly smacked the lightning strike to the side. Circe was taken aback by the assistance but could only sigh in relief as she watched the lightning strike absolutely destroy whatever it came in contact with.
He tapped her again with his staff, and the backlash from her spell disappeared.
Circe took a deep breath, centering her mind on the threads of her magic scattered across existence. Raising her hands, she began the incantation again, feeling less resistance.
"Aetherium visus, vires meae recolligite,
Quaeso te, monstrate iter ad potentiam meam."
As she finished the chant, an orb of golden light appeared before her, casting a warm glow. The orb pulsed gently, orienting itself before moving slowly to point in the direction where her power was hidden. Circe felt a connection with the orb, knowing it would guide her unerringly to the source of her strength.
Vermont stepped forward and observed the orb with a fascinated expression as the storm of magic started to dissipate.
"What a convenient spell. Do you mind?" Vermont asked her as he turned and glanced at Circe, who stepped back.
"By all means," she offered as Vermont nodded, and a godpad appeared in his hand. Circe saw the thing and could feel the divinity radiating off the device.
"Alright, with any luck, this should do the trick without causing a singularity." Vermont said. It didn't register immediately, but Circe was concerned when she heard that, was he planning on making a spell from scratch? "No need to fret excessively; I can simply rewind time if necessary." he assured her.
"Yes, turn back time," she agreed. Time was easy to manipulate, even for her, but every sorcerer knew of the risks involved. That's why so few even dared to use the forbidden magic without some sort of catalyst. But even then, the chances of dying an excruciating death were always there.
"Alright, this should do," Vermont cleared his throat before speaking.
"Aetherium visus, vires meae recolligite, Artefactum hoc nunc sit mei indicium, Quaeso te, monstrate iter ad potentiam meam."
As he finished the chant, the godpad absorbed the glowing orb, its centerpiece gem beginning to glow with a faint, magical light. Vermont turned and showed it to Circe, who could still feel the connection from the orb.
"So, Angels can also use sorcery?" she asked as Vermont glanced at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, indeed, but not always. Merely through observation, I discerned the mechanics of your spell and reversed its effects. Thus, rather than a luminous orb, we now possess a form of radar. The inspiration came from my Destroyer god," he explained. Circe nodded.
"Hmm, alright," she nodded. It was strange and almost impossible for any being to just create a spell on the fly without it killing them. 'He also spoke the language fluently. I wonder if he figured out the ancient language simply from hearing me say a few phrases,' she wondered, that was a bit terrifying but she was talking to an Angel.
"Well, now that we have a tracking method for Enchantress, shall we leave?" he asked. Circe was taken aback slightly. 'Wait, why do I need to go with him?' she wondered as she glanced at Vermont, who had a blank expression on his face.
"You still provided the method for the death of a destroyer god and a creation god. Your previous master also killed the previous set of Balance Keepers," Vermont reminded her, making her sweat a little.
"I may or may not have provided information, but the actions of Enchantress aren't mine," she argued back.
"That is indeed accurate. Nonetheless, such matters fall under the jurisdiction of the current God of Destruction. Furthermore, my lord is in need of a proficient sorcerer within his ranks." Vermont explained as Circe's jaw clenched slightly, her fate was sealed the moment she was caught in this situation.
Vermont noticed her apprehension. "You are at liberty to attempt an escape, but rest assured, I now possess the means to track you myself." he explained. He looked at her.
"Come closer, for the time being, the Destroyer is absent, allowing you to assist me with some errands."
Circe just walked towards the Angel as he tapped his staff on the ground, and they both vanished in a burst of white light, exiting the pocket dimension.
Enchantress appeared in a dark space, gasping for air. She was half burned. 'I should have realized that disrupting the order would have the heavens send a hound after me,' she thought to herself as she tried to heal herself.
"This will take too long. At this rate, that thing will catch me before I can fully recover," Enchantress stressed. "I can't believe I fell for Circe's trick!" She was livid at herself as well.
"Even with the creation god's magic, I could only stall that thing. I need something higher up to survive now," she mused.
"I need to make the deal sooner than planned, but I don't think I have a minute to spare," she muttered to herself as she cut herself slightly to draw some blood.
"I hate demons, yet in desperate times..." Immediately, she crafted a magic circle with her blood. "This will probably doom the universe, but it's either it or me," she mused as six red eyes started peering through the magic circle. Enchantress coughed up more blood as more and more power was being drained from her.
"At least Circe was good for one thing." Her power.