The newly forged Obsidian Citadel hummed with power. The magical density within the black stone walls felt heavy. The air tasted of ozone and crushed mint. This was a byproduct of the massive celestial energy Lucifer had just commanded to restructure the fortress.
Lucifer stood in the center of the courtyard with steady breathing. The Warlord's Trial hung over his head as a mandate to slaughter half a million hostiles. He needed supplies. He needed resources. He needed time. Time was the one currency he lacked.
The ambient temperature suddenly plummeted. The space ten paces in front of Lucifer violently warped.
It did not tear like the celestial wound that delivered Elara. This was a precise surgical incision in the fabric of reality. A vertical line of pure blackness appeared in the air. It peeled outward to reveal a swirling vortex of deep purple energy.
"Stand to," Lucifer ordered.
The hundred Cryo-Vanguard Snipers dropped to one knee. They leveled their heavy ice-rifles at the rift. The whine of charging arcane batteries filled the courtyard. Elara stepped to Lucifer's right side. Her metallic wings flared defensively as her starlight eyes narrowed.
A figure stepped out of the purple rift.
It was not a monster. It was a humanoid entity draped in a shifting tattered cloak that seemed to absorb the surrounding light. It had no face. It only had an empty black cowl containing a swirling nebula of gold dust. Six elongated double-jointed arms protruded from the sides of the cloak. They held various glowing trinkets and spatial bags.
It was a Void Merchant.
These interdimensional scavengers traveled through the gaps in reality. They were drawn to massive surges of mana. They occasionally appeared to desperate survivors during the early days of the Great Integration. They offered basic survival goods in exchange for exorbitant prices. They were the ultimate war profiteers.
"Lower your weapons," Lucifer commanded the Vanguards. The rifles powered down. The Elves remained locked on the target.
"A high-density mana flare," the Merchant's voice spoke directly into Lucifer's mind. It sounded like grinding glass and clinking coins. "And a newborn Warlord standing at the epicenter. A rare sight on the first cycle of an Integration. You require sustenance, mortal. You require steel. I offer the tools of survival."
The Merchant casually tossed a small wooden crate onto the cobblestones. It landed with a dull thud. The lid popped open to reveal a sparse collection of low-grade health potions, dried rations, and a few basic iron arrows.
"Three Basic Supply Crates," the Merchant bargained and crossed four of its arms. "In exchange for the residual mana crystal forming in your citadel's foundation. A generous trade for a doomed mortal."
Lucifer scoffed. A foundation crystal was the lifeblood of a fortress. Trading it for three crates of garbage was a massive scam. Lucifer did not draw a blade. He knew exactly how to play this entity. Void Merchants traded in fixed values. Information was a valid currency.
"Keep your crates. I want your entire remaining localized inventory," Lucifer said. His voice carried heavy authority. "Every Basic Supply Crate in your spatial storage."
The Merchant emitted a grating laugh. "You possess nothing of that value, human."
"I possess a secret," Lucifer countered and took a deliberate step forward. He locked his gaze onto the swirling gold dust within the Merchant's cowl. "I know the exact unmapped spatial coordinates of the Astral Forge located in the Third Layer of the Abyss."
The gold dust inside the Merchant's hood violently stopped swirling. Complete silence overtook the interdimensional being.
The Astral Forge was a myth in this current era. It was a lost factory capable of forging massive weaponry. It was not discovered for another seven years in Lucifer's past timeline. Those coordinates were worth the wealth of an entire planetary system to a Void Merchant.
"You lie," the Merchant hissed.
"Layer Three. Sector Seven. Beneath the Lake of Boiling Ash. Hidden behind the illusion of a broken moon," Lucifer recited flawlessly. "Check the planar resonance. You will find my coordinates are exact."
The Merchant's six hands twitched frantically. The entity accessed its internal dimensional compass to verify the impossibility of the information. The gold dust flared brilliantly. The mortal was telling the truth.
"Agreed," the Merchant snapped rapidly. It was terrified Lucifer would realize the true value of the information and demand more. "The coordinates for my entire stock of Basic Supply Crates. A binding trade."
A massive pile of plain wooden crates tumbled out of the dimensional rift with a flick of its upper right wrist. They crashed onto the courtyard floor. There were exactly one hundred crates. It was worthless junk and starter gear for weaklings to the Merchant.
"The pact is sealed," the Merchant sneered. It prepared to step backward into the rift. It was thoroughly convinced it had just scammed the greatest treasure in the universe from an ignorant ape.
Lucifer did not watch the Merchant. He stepped forward and placed his bare hand flat against the nearest wooden crate.
[Ding!]
[Host has acquired 100 Basic Supply Crates.]
[Divine Talent: 'Apex Multiplier' triggered on specific category 'Loot Acquisition & Item Rarity!']
[Multiplying item quantity, consumable potency, and baseline rarity limits 10,000x!]
The wooden crate beneath Lucifer's palm violently detonated into blinding white light.
The explosion of sheer magical mass did not physically harm anyone. It pushed the very air out of the courtyard. The pathetic pile of one hundred wooden boxes morphed and multiplied. It expanded into a literal mountain of highly ornate platinum-bound chests. The dull red health potions transformed into thousands of glowing diamond-cut vials of Elixir of the High Heavens. The rusted iron arrows mutated into bundles of crackling rune-inscribed Aether-Piercers.
The true anomaly manifested at the very peak of the treasure mountain.
The Multiplier had forcefully pushed the basic loot table past its maximum parameter. It broke the defined drop laws of the system. A jagged fist-sized crystal hovered above the chests. It pulsed like a living exposed human heart. It was pitch black and interlaced with glowing blood-red veins. It actively bled a dark crimson mist into the air.
[Item Acquired: The Carnage Core (Mythic Artifact - Cursed)]
[Description: A core that feeds exclusively on the death and spilled blood of enemies. Stores lethal kinetic energy and grants True Damage. Warning: Requires constant slaughter to remain stable.]
The Void Merchant froze with one foot inside the purple rift. The entity whipped its cowl around. It stared at the mountain of multiplied wealth and the beating cursed heart floating at the top.
"Impossible," the Merchant screeched. The sound shattered several nearby obsidian windows. "A mortal cannot alter the laws of equivalence! You altered the fundamental mass of the trade! The Carnage Core is a restricted planar weapon! Return it!"
The Merchant lunged forward. All six arms extended and ended in jagged spatial talons. The entity prepared to rip Lucifer's head off and reclaim the impossible loot.
Lucifer did not even flinch. He did not reach for a weapon. He simply reached up and grabbed the floating Carnage Core. He felt the artifact pulse violently against his palm. It instantly synced to his Warlord aura.
A blur of liquid silver intercepted the Merchant's charge.
Elara slammed onto the cobblestones directly between Lucifer and the dimensional entity.
The impact of her landing cracked the reinforced obsidian floor. She did not draw a blade. She simply unfurled her massive metallic gray wings and unleashed her celestial aura.
The killing intent of a Fallen Valkyrie crashed down on the courtyard like a collapsing star. It was a suffocating divine pressure born from eons of celestial warfare and the bitter rage of a banished angel.
The air around Elara distorted and screamed as her pure will crushed the ambient mana.
She stared directly into the Merchant's faceless cowl. Her starlight eyes burned with the promise of heavy unyielding violence.
"Step back into your rift, parasite," Elara commanded. Her voice vibrated with a terrifying dual-layered celestial resonance. "Or I will sever your tether to the Umbral Plane and mount your limbs on this fortress wall."
The Void Merchant recoiled violently. The cosmic entity recognized the aura. This was not a mortal summon. This was a General of the High Heavens. She was a creature that used to hunt entities like him for sport.
"This territory is cursed!" the Merchant shrieked in pure terror. The entity scrambled backward and dove headfirst into the purple rift.
The spatial tear snapped shut instantly. It left behind nothing but the smell of the heavy metallic scent of the pulsing Carnage Core in Lucifer's hand.
Lucifer looked at the mountain of mythical supplies and then at the Valkyrie who had just intimidated a dimensional traveler into fleeing.
He secured the Carnage Core to the heavy iron buckle of his belt. The artifact immediately bound itself to his armor. The red veins extended to wrap around his waist like a metallic root system.
"Good work," Lucifer said smoothly and turned his attention to the platinum chests. "Now we have the resources. It is time to build a legion."