III

Munich, Germany (June 2019)

Haneul felt the familiar push and pull of traveling as he descended to the demon realms. As he traveled, he vaguely noticed the light pulsing from where earth met the gates of hell above him. He suddenly felt the urge to go back to the surface, but he had a job to do, so he continued to sink himself underneath. 

Screams of the damned welcomed him as he fell into their realm. Thankfully, he had enough concentration to not fall into a horde of those foul creatures, which was what happened the first time he traveled underneath. He let himself laugh at the memory. It wasn't pretty, and he barely made it out alive. It was funny to him now, though.

Stealthily, Haneul hid behind a massive rock of yannite, the glistening slab of stone that could only be found in hell. It has the same composition as a diamond, only different in color. Not that hell had scarcity when it comes to the treasures coveted by man. Humans were not entirely wrong when they surmised that hell is beneath the earth. It was just on another dimension. Demon sky was underneath the earth, and metals known to man occasionally fell towards demon soil during earth plate movements. Of course, those three-dimensional movements just had to coincide with an inter-dimensional opening for the metals to make it to hell.

The yannite pulsed with demon energy, and Haneul carefully distanced himself from it. It was prudent for anyone not to touch anything in demonworld, no matter the sort of being you were. He drew his celestial sword Linthra from his back as quietly as he could and surveyed his surroundings.

The desert-like expanse of the land that he was in appeared to be empty, except for the screeches of the horde nearest to him. They didn't seem to be near enough for them to notice him, though. It also looked like he was a million miles from the capital, which he thanked the Macroverse for. There were fewer demons to encounter in the provinces, and he needed to find the Lilim quickly. Closing his eyes, he tracked the girl again, careful not to touch anything with his energy as he turned around corners and the occasional lone demon doing its own thing.

"Let me go! I said I don't want to! Please!" Finally, he was near enough to hear the Lilim's voice echo in his mind. As fast as he could, he pointed his energy towards its direction. 

There. The Mirror was being held in between by two incubi, her wounded body being dragged forward. Her pleas were in German, but that didn't matter to Haneul. Language is a construct of civilization, bound in a three-dimensional world. Beings hailing from other dimensions could just essentially read your thoughts as they form if they had access beyond the fifth dimension. Not for demons born below the earth, though, as they were only four-dimensional and had their own languages. They had to learn the human tongues if they wanted to speak them. Not that they would heed her pleas if they did happen to understand her. 

Following his energy, Haneul ran as fast as he could towards the captured Lilim. The incubus to her left was the first to notice Haneul's presence, and it immediately turned, striking its long tongue towards him. Haneul dodged the attack and brought up his sword, cutting off the incubus' head in a clean strike. Black ash scattered around the air as Haneul's sword burned its essence. Screeching, the second incubus jumped towards Haneul with its talons out. Haneul had to take three steps back, dodging each of its attempts to scratch him, before he was finally able to kick its legs from underneath it. He then plunged his sword into the incubus' chest. Linthra blazed in heavenly fire as it turned the demon into black ash.

Not missing a breath, Haneul looked at the cowering Lilim. She remained sprawled on the ground, staring back at him in silent horror. "Angel." The Lilim whispered under her breath.

"It's okay," Haneul said, gently replacing his sword to its sheath. "Tell me. Seeing as they had to drag you in here, you didn't choose to descend?" Haneul asked her softly, referring to the ritual Lilim's children were made to enter archdemonhood at the age of eighteen.

"Y-yes." The Lilim replied weakly. She slightly dragged herself further away from Haneul, who was taking careful steps towards her. "Please, don't hurt me."

"I won't hurt you," Haneul assured the girl. "What's your name?"

"Schmidt. Ella." answered the Mirror.

"All right, Ella," said Haneul, stopping to slightly get a better look of her eyes in case she wasn't telling the truth. No specks of back and purple, he noted. "Where's your guardian?"

"She—she" Ella's lower limp trembled. "She died protecting me. I told her I didn't want to descend, so she helped me hide from them. But they--- they caught us and killed her."

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Haneul said, his voice sincere. They were enemies, but that didn't mean he didn't appreciate bravery and nobility in their kind. Also, Ella was still a demi-demon that possessed a soul. As far as Haneul was concerned, she wasn't far from redemption. "You've been told how this thing works by your guardian, right? I need to take you with me. I promise you will not be hurt."

"No!' Ella shouted as she scrambled to stand up. By the way, she stumbled, Haneul could tell that her legs were hurt from the incubi's grip. "Mol told me that you take us as prisoners and torture us. I won't come with you. I'd rather die here."

...and isn't that the biggest misconception since the beginning of time, Han thought. It was true that angels hold demi-demons and other supernaturals in custody, even those who promised not to harm. But it was for the safety of humanity. One could never know when they will decide to entertain their darker side again. Also, the prison she was talking about really was more of a corrective facility than a torture chamber.

"No, I promise you. You will not be hurt." Haneul tried to convince the girl again. 

Ella opened her mouth to speak, still not convinced, but she was cut off by two figures falling from the sky. She instinctively covered her eyes to shield them from the light in front of her. 

Haneul did not need to, and he was not surprised. He had sensed his brethren before their arrival. LJ and another angel, Minho. As Haneul expected, LJ landed badly, his knees almost buckling underneath him as he shook off his disorientation. Minho, however, hit the ground as gracefully as a cat, his black Celestial Police cape rustling behind him. Show off. Haneul thought.

"So, you decided to get reinforcements, L. But, Minho? Really?" Haneul told LJ as the new arrivals settled themselves on each side of him, assessing Ella.

"Li Jie was concerned you'd both get destroyed down here, and apparently, I was the one nearest to the area." It was Minho who answered, with a finely veiled contempt in his voice. Minho's tone reminded Haneul that his dislike for the guy was not one-sided.

"But you were back in Seoul--Look, never mind. She wishes no descent. I just need to convince her to come with us." Haneul told them. 

"Convince?" repeated Minho, as if the concept was preposterous to him. Before LJ or Haneul could protest, he stalked towards Ella and grabbed her shoulders. The Lilim yelped at the pain.

"Gently, M. I don't think she even has the strength to walk." LJ reproached his friend. Minho ignored LJ; his attention focused on Ella. But before he could do anything, a sharp cry pierced around them. The angels looked at each other in apprehension. The noise was dangerously close to where they were standing. Sure enough, it was followed by a thundering of what could only be hoofs and claws heading in their direction. 

"God damn this place," LJ muttered as he took out two of the knives on his belt, changing his position for battle.

"He already did." Haneul felt the need to point it out as he drew his sword with his hand, mimicking LJ's stance.

"Pedant," said LJ under his breath, but he was smirking.

"We can't fight that many. What are you doing?" Minho said, regarding his companions with surprise. "We should head back right away."

"LJ can't," replied Haneul, looking at his friend. LJ was already showing lines of golden ichor on his body. That usually meant that an angel had consumed most of his energy trying to control his assumed body. 

"What?" Minho was starting to lose his composure that. Haneul would have enjoyed that if they weren't just about to be destroyed.

"My consciousness has been struggling with this body, M. I can't travel to any dimension as of the moment," LJ said sheepishly. Haneul noticed he didn't tell Minho why. Not that the latter deserved to know.

"You have got to be kidding me," Minho replied, thankfully not asking for an explanation. "How long do you need?"

"Five minutes should do it," LJ answered.

"Fine. We'll cover you," said Minho, finally realizing that they had no choice.

"Get behind me. Save as much of your energy as you can for travel." Haneul told LJ, who nodded and took a few steps back. Minho half-dragged Ella towards his companions and left her sitting on a yannite just a few steps from LJ.

"Don't try to run," Minho warned The Lilim before he took his position beside Haneul, aiming his arrow towards the advancing legion.

"As if I can run in this state," Ella murmured under her breath.

"Ready?" Haneul asked. Before any of his companions could answer, the demon horde was already upon them, and one by one, they slashed their enemies to ashes. There seemed to be hundreds of the damned. They were fighting only lower hell-born beings, though, so it wasn't as difficult as it were if they were fighting former comrades who Fell.

"Man, there's so many of these. Do you want me to just burn them with my true form right now? That would be quicker." LJ was cheerfully saying as he fought whatever demons reached him from behind Haneul and Minho.

"That would be quicker, yes. But think of the paperwork that would entail." Haneul answered in between strikes of his sword.

"Not to mention that such an act would alert the Greater Demons of this place. I don't think even God's grace can save us when they come at us all at once in their home dimension." Minho said seriously, shaking his head at LJ before rolling gracefully on the ground to avoid a demon talon.

"You two are a bunch of know-it-alls, aren't you? You know what, you're not even know-it-alls. More like a let's-point-the-obvious-kind of people." LJ commented, still cheerful despite their apparent struggle.  

"Save it, L. Let's just focus on traveling away from here, shall we?" Haneul replied.

LJ rechecked his energy reserves and laughed a bit. "Hey! We're back, baby," he exclaimed. Barely registering his fellow angels' sigh of relief, he quickly grabbed the Lilim so they could get back to the surface.

Ella was taken by surprise but thankfully did not fight him off. She obviously wanted to be out of the place as much as the angels. LJ's travel was a bit unstable, but they made it out safely into the land just behind the bar that they were previously in. Grinning, he turned to Ella. But his smile faltered as a knife greeted him to the throat.

"Whoa. Easy there." LJ said, gently trying to pry the knife from her shaking hands. Ella only held on to it tighter. Up close, LJ could see that blue-black demon blood trickled from her nose. It was probably from the exhaustion of traveling in only a half-demon body. She must have been in immense pain, but she was still trying to resist arrest. For a second, LJ could not help but admire the girl's persistence. 

"I need you to let me go before your friends get here," said Ella, a determined look on her face.

LJ sighed. "I can't do that. We need to bring you back to headquarters with us." LJ studied the girl closely. "Ella. That's your name, right? Please, we can talk about this." he said as softly as he could.

"Your friend and I already talked. I said I'm not going with you." Ella said, already bleary-eyed from the pain and exhaustion catching up to her. "I'm so sick of this. I'd rather kill myself than let heaven or hell claim me."

"Now, I don't think that's a good idea, Ella. You're a demon. You have no soul. If you kill yourself, you'll dissolve to nothingness." LJ explained.

"Don't patronize me. I may be a demon, but I am also human. I have a soul, and it's one that you can't touch when I die." Ella spat. LJ could not think of a reply; she was right. 

Just then, Ella pulled the knife back from his throat and pointed it towards her own, cleanly cutting the vein beneath her skin. LJ gaped at her in disbelief. He didn't think that she would really do it, so he barely reacted. Ella's throat gurgled, and she gasped as her body fought for air. LJ caught her as her dying body slumped in his arms.

"What's going on here?" Minho exclaimed when he appeared, his face aghast. Haneul arrived beside him next, wearing the same expression. 

"She--- she just..." LJ's words got caught up in his throat. He could only stare at his brothers as he felt the Lilim breathe her last in his arms.