Hakon nods shortly, stifling a sigh- nonetheless as she vaults forward immediately, aiming for a window just beneath the creature's right-most head. Bringing her shield up, she broke into a run, smashing though the glass like a charging bull. A blast of strength assisting her in this rather exaggerated feat. Nonetheless, the paladin crashes through the window- red-hued panel shattering outward completely as she lands heavily upon the raw, boggy terrain outside at a roll. Popping to her feet, the young woman quickly drew her broadsword from its sheathe upon her back.

The massive dog head swung toward her, lunging with yellowed fangs- only to be blinded suddenly by a flash of light from the shield. The creature reels it's head back, yelping with surprise only to find its throat suddenly pierced by the massive sword. The flesh and fur about the sword began to boil and erupt in bile and darkness- obviously being consecrated as she whispered a quick prayer under her breath. Nonetheless, the creature lunged at her once more, gaping maw attempting to lock upon her shield- yet she rolled forward, beneath the beast to escape the powerful, gnashing teeth.

It was interesting, Aven had never been on the inside of a creature before. He imagined it was much more terrifying were one not in shadow form, though he supposed such was a moot point. As he shot down it's throat, tendrils of shadow began to slice away at the Cerberus's insides, carving up it's esophagus and piercing through to the outside at parts. He gave the beast credit, it was sturdy enough, and it had a much higher tolerance to dark matter's corruption than the lower echelon demons they'd massacred before. He figured it would be best to keep going till he reached it's stomach cavity, and pierce the heart from there. Though he wasn't an expert on anatomy, he knew for a fact that if he stabbed in enough directions from the middle, he'd eventually hit his target. Perhaps a bit of a crude tactic, but effective nonetheless.  

Hakon pauses and looks up to the creature's belly which was rumbling rather strangely, as the beast began to howl in agony and leap, buck, flail desperately the rid of the parasite quite literally tearing its stomach to shreds, she exhaled quickly and rolled out of reach of the monster, slamming her back against the wall of the tavern, breathing rather hard as she stared down the massive three headed dog. Closing her eyes tightly, she grit her teeth- sometimes her lover's tactics made her want to vomit, he was rather… He should have ended it sooner, and she made sure to yell this," Aven! Just end it!"

The dog howled, all the heads opening up with agony as it eventually collapsed to the ground writhing. She looked away, she couldn't watch.

As it turns out, Aven was not very lucky when it came to shots in the dark, an ironic turn of phrase. In his drunken stupor, he figured it would only take five, maybe six tries to hit the beast's heart… and thirty-seven tries later, he came to a silly realization: it may not actually have had a heart. It was a Demon, after all, they don't exactly sustain themselves as normal creatures would, so it made possible sense that it didn't have a normal circulatory system, either. That's what he got for being drunk and assuming… Ah well, by the sudden ceasing in it's flailing, he could tell the beast was dead anyhow. 

A few tendrils paved a hole into its side, and Aven's shadow slid out, zig zagging over to Hakon. He rose from the shadow tipsily. "Sorry I took so- *hic*- long, I'm still a bit wobbly from eating that demon horde." Behind him, the beast had begun to dissolve into particles, floating off into the air around them. "Should we continue?"

She didn't like the fact it had suffered so horribly, despite being a creature of pure vile evil. Perhaps living in this land had given her a much more empathetic outlook upon magic, based upon how she could finally see how a society could thrive and blossom peacefully with the application of magic and sciences going hand in hand. Hakon tried not to grow angry as she staggered out of the corpse like a drunkard, consoling herself that it wasn't his fault that devouring living tissue made him intoxicated. She didn't want to bother trying but she assumed if she functioned in a similar way, the same might just happen. She exhales quickly though her nose, pushing off the wall and wrapping him up in a hug," Right- lets-"

As if on queue, they are transported into a huge labyrinth filled with every treasure imaginable. They seemed to stand at its center in a great pentagon of a room- five great spires rising from each corner, a Sphynx sitting elegantly upon each spire. The great beasts glowered down at them before one raised a great paw to Aven.

" This one desires the knowledge of the immortals."

It spread its great wings, turning the great claw to Hakon. Whom froze up suddenly.

" This one desires to live its life as it always has."

" Offer them what they desire."

As if one queue, two portals opened on either side of them. Facing Aven was a cortex of violent, red energy that throbbed like a heart beat. A third Sphynx spoke, addressing him.

" Step into this portal, your eyes will be opened to the secrets of the universe. You shall understand the Universe in its entirety beyond even the Gods."

Meanwhile, the wall opened up to reveal a blossoming fruit tree, succulent iridescent blue fruits shaped like human hearts resided in the delicate branches.

" Devour a fruit from this tree and you forever may live as a warrior. You shall be free."

" Accept these gifts or be rendered asunder."

" Accept."
" Accept."
" Accept."
" Accept."

The five sphynxes stared down at them with harsh, predatory gazes. Hakon froze in place, her breath catching in her throat… Live forever as a warrior? Live her life free of responsibility other then merely surviving? It was as if they peered into her heart… Then again, they likely had. She looked back at Aven,"…" She wanted to risk this, but what would he say now that he knew her deepest desire?

Aven stared at the portal. He could feel magics emenating from it that even he had yet to explore, energies that called out to him fervently to be documented, secrets to be learned, powers to be discovered! It was almost too good to be true… because it was. He glanced over to Hakon. Live forever as a warrior… He'd known Hakon for years now, the love of his life and center of world. He knew her desires better than anyone, that she could never stay put and play the part of normal citizen, be content with wasting her days away doing housework and raising a family. A fiery spirit was housed in her soul, one that could never be tamed, not even by himself: that was just another thing Aven adored about her. There was, however, one thing he knew she desired almost as much. He reached forward and grabbed Hakon's shoulder, pulling her chest to his as he kissed her deeply, unashamedly. After a good ten seconds, he pulled away, serious look on their face. "They're liars." He faced the Sphinxes. "You think me a fool, creature? You exist in the confines of Dalanesca's realm, no power you possess can surpass her own. Such an obvious bluff from such an ancient creature, how pitiful." A sideways glance at the tree presented to Hakon confirmed his suspicions. The fruit of the underworld. "No doubt she would live the rest of eternity as a warrior after eating one of those fruits: she'd be transported to the next Circle and imprisoned there, the Circle of Anger!" He grinned, despite the situation. "Luckily, there's a another way to get to that Circle, isn't there? If I'm not mistaken, it involves me taking all of your lying heads!"

Hakon was taken by surprise at the deep kiss, but eventually she wrapped one of her arms around his neck and closed her eyes. God… What she would do to just live forever as a monster of  habit and war. She furrowed her brow, pressing her lips more fervently against his, but she had so much more to live for- her baby. Aven. Pulling away, she pauses as he calls the Sphynx's out, watching their great wings slowly unfurl and rumble, snarling, their beautiful faces curling with disgust.

" Ungrateful."
" Vile."
" Pathetic."
" Weak."
" Callous."
" WORMS."

Immediately the Five leapt down from their pedestals, the the first to land before them a tiger and eagle mix with the face of a beautiful woman. She quickly lunged toward Hakon with a roar, claws fastening around the shield and pulling her away from Aven as the Paladin prepares for the fight, gritting her teeth as she stumbles and is seperated from him by a massive Panther-Raven Sphynx whom agilely pounces upon Aven, its black body rippling with power. Meanwhile, the Lion-Owl mixture accompanies his Tiger-Eagle counterpart, the pair attempting to pin Hakon to the ground as she smashes her shield into the first's face. A leopard-owl mixture leaps upon Aven, lashing out at his face with a vicious screech as it is accompanied by its cougar-dove counterpart. Immediately the labyrinth seems to explode with feather, claw and blood.

Aven laughs as they pounce down. He could see exactly why Hakon was so addicted to battle, that day was full of more adrenaline and excitement than nearly any other day he'd lived, and the enemies were all quite formidable, not simply humans with shields and swords. However, unlike Hakon, who reveled in the exchange of sword blows and body movements, Aven would find much more pleasure in a duel of magical might, of strategy, wit, and will. As the two foolish Sphinx pounced on him, he almost casually beheaded both with flicks of his wrist, four tendrils of shadow writhing around him as their bodies falling to the ground limp. These were not Demons, he noticed, but so animalistic were their attack patterns that he could tell where they'd attack without hardly any effort. For creatures of knowledge, he would have thought they would attempt to dispatch with arcane means. Apparently, not so. He sighed, the shadows striking out and impaling the Lion-Eagle through the chest and tossing the body aside like a rag. "I would say, 'If you touch her, you die', but you're all dead, anyway." 

Hakon turned slightly toward him as he spike, her shield having been wedged beneath the Tiger-Eagle's neck as her sword protruded from its thickly muscled neck, she let the beast drop," This isn't right." She mutters under her breath, allowing the beast to follow with a thud- as the blood from the Sphynxi began to flow… It followed a deep trek within the pentagon, small carvings hidden beneath the great heaps of gold- yet obviously that of a rune circle.

The air began to throb, with power, with the thick stench of blood and molten iron. A low roar akin to throat-singing began to echo through the labrynth as the blood magic of the Guards began to work. Great plumes of pungent smoke rose from the carving, taking on the souls of those trapped forever hoarding their possessions. Screaming, crying out as the gold burned the flesh from their hands and they ate until their intestines burst yet- they kept at their obsessions, forever punished for their greed. Yet… These souls began to notice those not of them- these living creatures that would take their  possessions whatever the cost- so these souls began to attack. 

The first that slammed into Hakon caught her utterly by surprise, she could feel the fat man's thick fingers around her throat yet his entire body seemed utterly immune to her armor, her shield- shifting through the metal like it was nothing. With shock she realized the souls couldn't be touched- but these souls could touch them.

Aven cursed loudly. "It was a trap!?" He should have known they had something up their sleeves, but it was far too late for him to stop the activation. The parameters had already been met, and the souls of the unfortunates trapped in the Circle of Greed came for them, one grabbing hold of Hakon, an obscene, fat old man. "Hakon hold on!" Before he could even move, souls accosted him as well, latching onto his body, trying to drag his soul down into the abyss with them, something to possess to satiate their endless greed. 

Howls of torment filled the room, but they were not Aven's nor Hakon's. The souls latching on to Aven began to turn black, their eyes becoming wide with horror as their very being was slowly erased. The souls, even through their avarice, began to back away, several cowering at the sight. Aven shook his head, striding over to the only spirit still attacking, and grabbed the disgusting spirit's head, causing it to gasp in pain, then disperse into nothingness. Aven looked around at the spirits. "This is where I say, if you touch my Haki, I'll end you." 

The souls retreated desperately back into the smoke, returning to their harrowing punishment. Their existence was torture, but the idea of nonexistence evoked the one emotion stronger than their greed: fear.