thefictionvixens Page 602
Page 602
The dancing flames instantly transformed into a blazing basement door, and Legba's father twirled his fingers, gesturing for the door to open.
"what!"
When the door opened, the dried head in Banner's hand suddenly shook with unprecedented force, as if in fear of something. The stitches on the mouth gradually separated, allowing him to see it. A piercing scream rang in his ears, and Banner could even hear the obvious fear in it.
People felt awe at the presence that appeared from behind the door.
Amidst a cacophony of screams, the tightly closed door opened, and a Black man with a thin, cotton-top nose emerged. He wore a top hat, a black tuxedo, and a gentleman's suit with a single-lensed eyeglass, carrying a cane, seemingly preparing for the deceased's burial.
In Voodoo rituals, Papa-legba is not only the god of crossroads, but also possesses the power of gates. He is the gatekeeper among the Voodoo Loa gods, holding the key between the two worlds and controlling the opening and closing of the gate to the spiritual world.
From behind the door appeared the object Doctor Strange was summoning on the Ouija board: Baron Samidi the Sabbath, the Voodoo god of death.
As a Voodoo deity, Baron Samedi, or the Baron of the Sabbath, is not a benevolent god in the traditional sense, but rather a temperamental figure who governs death and is known as the leader of reincarnated corpses. In Haiti, it is customary to plug the nostrils of the deceased with absorbent cotton when placing them in a coffin so that the Baron of the Sabbath will not take their souls away.
And once the sacrifices made by the victims prove to be unsatisfactory to her, she will spread death without ceasing.
As he emerged from behind the sept-shaped gate to the spirit world, the hat-wearing Baron Shabbat nodded to Old Man Legbar, who opened the door and peered greedily at Dr. Strange through his monoculars, speaking in a thick nasal voice.
"Make your sacrifice, and I will grant your wish."
"The soul of Captain America, in exchange for my own soul."
Souls as sacrifices?
Banner walked to the side, clutching the head of the rebel in his hand, and looked at Doctor Strange standing in front of Baron Saturday.
He hadn't realized that the sacrifice for this ritual came at the cost of another person's soul.
"I'll grant your wish!"
Upon hearing Stephen's words, Baron Subota nodded, clearly very pleased with the suggestion made to him.
Immediately afterwards, she reached into her pocket, pulled out a gold coin, and tossed it to Doctor Strange, who was standing in front of her.
clanging
A gold coin fell to the ground with a crisp sound.
"This is the soul you wanted."
He spoke to Dr. Strange, who stood before him, in a thick nasal voice. Then he saw Baron Shah of the Sabbath clutching a skull cane and opening his mouth. The image of Blackface began to change, and a skull face covered in white bones appeared on his body.
"Make the sacrifice now!"
As Baron Subodin finished speaking, Dr. Strange felt a powerful suction force forming around him. This force emanated a persistent chill, turning his body pale, and his soul emerged from his body to fulfill its promise.
It was clear that Stephen did not intend to keep his promise.
Holding the coin representing Captain America's soul, Dr. Strange began casting his spell without hesitation.
“Drive out every unclean soul, every power ruled by Satan, all adversaries that invade this body from hell, all secret legions, all demons and murderous cults.”
"Therefore, in the name of the Holy Spirit, I curse every demon in this body. I will drive you out, cleanse you, so that you will no longer deceive mankind, and make you drink the poison of an eternal curse."
Accompanied by a Latin exorcism ritual, Doctor Strange lifted his cloak, revealing the Solomon's Key tattoo on his chest.
Chapter 695 Powerful Magical Effects
Of course, this is not the real legendary Key of Solomon, but a magical seal that was later inherited by humans through comparison and study of the Minor Key of Solomon, and became effective in part by applying demonic symbols to it.
Stephen's chest tattoo is the mark of Fras, the 31st of the 72 pillars of Solomon's devil as described in the Lesser Key of Solomon. Fras has the ability to identify herbs and gems, discover hidden treasures, teach logic and virtue, make people invisible and immortal, and retrieve lost items.
Of course, this immortality is not true immortality, but rather a temporary immunity to death for the user of an auxiliary ability, just like in this case, where Doctor Strange used this symbol to protect his soul from being kidnapped by the Baron of the Sabbath.
At the same time, the spells that flew out of his mouth were exorcism spells recorded in the Greek manuscripts of the sorcerer Solomon, and together with the seventy-two demon pillars on his body, they had powerful magical effects.
As she felt the door behind her being pulled harder, Baron Sabbath's skeletal face suddenly contorted in a grotesque expression, her voice becoming angry and shrill, causing the entire basement to shake.
You lied to me.
"That is blasphemy!"
With the roar of "Saturday Baron," Banner clearly felt a faint crackling sound coming from the dried skull in his hand, indicating that the explosive power of "Saturday Baron" had exceeded the capacity of his skull.
Despite the Baron's roar, Doctor Strange remained calm as he continued his exorcism incantation. Several blue flames began to appear in the blazing brazier, spreading along the burning flames toward the gates of the spirit world. With the appearance of the blue flames, the gravity from the spirit world intensified.
“You will pay the price. From this moment on, all the witchcraft you use will no longer work. I curse your soul to be tormented forever.”
Due to the powerful suction, most of Saturday Baron's body was pulled back into the Voodoo's spiritual realm. Her pale, skeletal arms reached out and gripped the edge of the door as she hurled a vicious curse at Dr. Strange.
As the curse fell, Baron Subodin's figure finally disappeared from the cellar door.
Old Man Legba raised his hand, fulfilling his duty, and slammed the door shut.
"You made the stupidest decision ever."
The scorching heat from the fire door seeped into the basement, and Old Man Legba looked at Doctor Strange, who was leaning on his cane, with a cold expression on his face.
Faced with PapaLegba's threat, Stephen completed his incantation with a sigh, watching the ragged, cane-wielding voodoo deity move his legs and perform a bizarre dance, bringing the entire divination board meeting to a close.
"Voldemort will not let you go."
As the ceremony ended, Papa Legba's figure in the basement became increasingly alluring, but her voice clearly reached Doctor Strange and Banner's ears.
With his final incantation, the dancer collapsed, and the basement returned to its previous eerie state.
Dr. Strange stood motionless for a long time, panting, before recovering from the previous scene.
Staring at the increasingly vibrant red symbol on his chest, Stephen tugged at his collar, covering the tattoo again, while twisting his body and waving to Banner in the distance.
Upon hearing Doctor Strange's call, Banner quickly suppressed all thoughts in his mind and stepped forward.
The other person struggled to open his palm, revealing a gold coin in it, and said to Banner, "Take this gold coin and put it in Captain America's mouth."
Banner reached out and took the gold coin, holding it tightly in his hand. He looked at Stephen, who seemed to have aged several years in just a few minutes, and couldn't help but sigh.
"You look terrible."
Although he didn't know much about magic, Banner saw the danger in the communication between Doctor Strange and Baron Sabbath in this scene, and it was clear that deceiving the gods was not without its costs.
Banner still vividly remembered the curse that Baron Saturday and Old Man Legbar had cursed before their disappearance.
"I'm persisting."
Dr. Strange didn't respond. He just gritted his teeth, nervously pulled at his sleeve, revealing another symbol. After a few incantations, his expression changed visibly, except that the white mustache on his lips looked whiter than Banner had seen before.
Ami is the symbol of the 58th of Solomon's 72 pillars. He wields magic and can exchange life force with humans.
Seeing that Dr. Strange had recovered somewhat, Banner no longer hesitated. With one hand holding the now calm, dried-out head and the other holding the gold coin representing the soul of Captain Pretty Country that he had received from Baron Anse, he walked toward the center of the altar.
According to Stephen, Banner stuffed a gold coin into the mouth of the handsome captain.
Immediately afterwards, people saw Doctor Strange step aside, tie a few feathers to Captain America's body, put on a mask, and begin casting spells from his mouth again.
Given what has just happened, it is clear that Voodoo magic cannot be used, so Stephen chose another summoning ritual, namely Indian shamanism, which also has the power to summon souls. Doctor Strange intends to use it to resurrect Captain America.
Frankly, even Banner, who witnessed Doctor Strange's previous witchcraft, still thought it was going too far to resurrect someone who had been dead for nearly seventy years.
In Room 167 underground, he watched Doctor Strange beat the Imchin drum, singing and dancing as he began a shamanic ritual, summoning the spirit of Captain America in the center of the altar.
Snap, snap, snap
Imchin's drumming continued to echo in the basement, accompanied by Doctor Strange's singing and dancing, when a strange, eerie wind suddenly swept through the entire basement.
Caught in the gust of wind, Banner instinctively felt his consciousness begin to fade, but the faint vibrations from the dried head in his hand brought him back to his senses.
The instant Banner's consciousness created the lake, the beautiful captain, who had been motionless in the center of the altar, quietly scratched his finger, seemingly showing signs of awakening.
I don't believe they would do that!
Seeing what happened to the handsome captain, Banner's expression turned extremely shocked.
"Who are you!"
Meanwhile, Dr. Strange and Imchin's drumming grew increasingly persistent, and he spoke in a hoarse voice, posing a question to the handsome Captain America in the center of the altar.
"I am the captain of the beautiful country."
To Dr. Strange's question, the handsome Captain Stephen, lying on the altar, answered in a puzzled tone.
Peggy Carter.
With this answer, it's either Captain America or Peggy Carter.
In the basement, Doctor Strange's drumming abruptly stopped.
Chapter 696 Ghost Swamp
Manchak Swamp, New Orleans, Louisiana.
All the trees here are terrifyingly tall and densely packed, each one growing wildly and menacingly in the swamp. The sunlight is blocked by the thick foliage, making the entire swamp look even more eerie and awe-inspiring.
Legend has it that in the late 19th century, an evil Voodoo organization appeared on Shadow Lake in the Manchak Swamp. They captured people and animals to experiment on, and developed an evil drug that turned people and animals into bloodthirsty and ferocious creatures, turning the shores of Shadow Lake into a hellish place littered with bones.
At that time, those who couldn't stand it any longer united to form an anti-cult group and headed straight for the voodoo stronghold of Ghost Lake.
In the end, justice prevailed over evil, and the anti-voodoo team wiped out the voodoo cultists in the Manchak Swamp.
But Queen Voodoo died with resentment and cursed the swamp, and the evil spirit remains in the Manchak Swamp region.
From that time on, strange things began to happen in the Manchak Swamp.
First, three residents mysteriously disappeared in the swamp. Shortly thereafter, a terrible development occurred: three towns near the swamp reportedly vanished after a storm, leaving no survivors and even the ruins of the villages gone.