- Death -
"H...RN!E...Y! Death could hardly hear Lucifer through the wind.
'Given the noise he must be flying full speed. If he's calling me while doing that it must be an emergency in Hydern.'
"UNDERSTOOD!" Death yelled into the echo, startling Mira.
"We have to go now. There's a problem at Hydern."
"What's going on?" Mira asked.
"I'm not sure, probably an enemy."
Death climbed onto into his uništi and put his hand on its head. The uništi's purple streaks turned darker as black flames formed around its hooves, neck, and eye sockets.
"Sorry-" Death said to Mira. "-but I'm going to go as fast as I can."
Death gripped the reins and yelled "Go!" causing the uništi to almost disappear in a flash of speed. Mira did her best to keep up, but it wasn't long before she was trailing Death. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.
'I had heard legends of him, but to be able to hold on to such a thing.' She realized she couldn't keep up, so she simply tried to maintain line of sight, but even that was difficult.
The uništi was burning the ground it ran on, leaving blackened hoof marks behind it.
'How long has it been since I've done this? Riding towards a distress call at full speed?'
Death wasn't struggling to maintain his position on his uništi, but was instead running through all the possibilities in his head of what could have happened at Hydern.
'I know Lucifer has a no-problem-too-small policy now, but I hope whatever is going on it doesn't end like last time.'
Death checked behind him in the sky to see if Mira was still keeping up. The angel was reduced to a dot by the distance which made Death smile, then grimace.
'The only one of your kind who can keep up with me is your father.'
- Lucifer and Team-
The group was now gathered behind the inn, sitting in the empty metal cart, discussing what to do next. Yvere and Heinrich were on the left cart seat, while Sabu, with Lao's unconscious body, were on the right. Lucifer and Peter were sitting across from each other on the floor, with Peter near the back. Elijah was lying down behind Lucifer.
"We need to stay here a few days while all of you recover." Lucifer said
No one in the group disagreed with him. They all just nodded, wondering what would come after those next few days. Elijah was sleeping next to them, and Lao was starting to regain consciousness.
Yvere was impressed that Lao had recovered, but told him "Don't act strong. Keep sleeping if you need to."
"What-" Lao's eye quickly widened as he thought the group might still be fighting. After seeing that everyone was okay he leaned back against the cart and gave a sigh of relief.
"What happened after I was knocked out?"
Yvere explained how the fight ended and that she had taken his mana to heal everyone.
"I'm really sorry about that. You know I would normally never do that without consent." Yvere was worried about Lao's reaction. There are strict laws in her land not to feed off of mana unless given permission.
Lao waved his hand at the statement.
"You needed to heal us and couldn't do it without my mana, it's fine. If you're so worried about the law let's just say I gave you permission prior. Which I do, from now on until I'm dead." Lao grinned, hoping the statement would ease Yvere's mind.
Yvere laughed, realizing she was just over-worrying.
Lucifer began explaining what the next few days would entail, and what would come after.
"Any of you that want to leave now, and that will include Elijah when he wakes up, can leave if you want. I'll make a call to Satan and have him send some demons out to escort you."
The group was surprised by the news. Lucifer always allowed someone to leave a mission if they needed to, but never outright asked if someone wanted to.
"Would Satan really do that?" Peter asked.
'I thought he was touchy about sending his own out of Hell.'
"I would owe him a favor in return." Lucifer responded.
Peter looked bothered by the statement.
'A favor doesn't mean somethin' simple.' He was against the idea of asking Satan for help, but didn't know how the others felt, so he bit his tongue.
"I'm staying." Yvere answered first. "I didn't join you because I thought I would go on fun adventures. I don't ever want to see Cytus again, unless he's in an urn, but I won't let him stop me from helping you."
Yvere felt exhausted, and she didn't let on how truly afraid of Cytus she is. She put on a brave face and waited to hear from the others.
Sabu spoke next.
"I feel embarrassed by my performance. I was taken out of the fight far too soon. I need to prove to you that I was worthy of the second chance you gave me." Sabu lowered his head to Lucifer, and thought back to what this kind of failure lead to in his past life.
"Before any of you continue I should make something clear-" Lucifer spoke in a soft tone. "I haven't lost respect for any of you, nor do I believe you're weak for wanting to leave. If you go back to Hell you will still be allowed to join these missions in the future." Lucifer said all this making it clear he didn't want people who were willing to throw away their lives to prove themselves.
'Self-preservation is important, so long as isn't to a selfish extreme.'
Yvere and Sabu looked at each other, understanding what Lucifer was saying. They still wanted to stay on the mission, but knew that there was no sense in trying to play a hero with Lucifer. Hell's second warden had seen plenty of humans that thought themselves just in their actions, and wasn't easily swayed by words alone.
Heinrich started next.
"I don't want to stay, personally." Everyone, but Lucifer, seemed surprised. "I would love to go back to Hell, but I can't yet. I don't want to stay and I don't want to go back, so what should I do?" Heinrich turned to Lucifer.
Lucifer could see the desperation in Heinrich's eyes. It was clear the man was torn between what he wanted to do, and what he what felt he had to do.
'What do I say to someone like this?' Lucifer ran through various conversations he had in the past. There was one that gave him an idea.
"I think you should stay." Lucifer said. Heinrich and Peter were both stunned by the answer. Before Peter could speak in protest Lucifer continued. "I don't want you in the front anymore. You should remain in a supporting position. Your magic is incredibly useful, but that doesn't mean you need to be everyone's shield."
Lucifer wasn't sure if what he said was right, but he hoped it would help Heinrich with his decision.
Heinrich thought back to his previous life. He closed his eyes and winced at the images he saw in his mind. He always used his past as a motivator to keep moving whenever he felt scared of this world.
"I-I think I should stay." There was no confidence in his words, but at least he had made a choice.
Peter wanted to question whether or not Heinrich was really okay with staying, but he thought he should wait until tomorrow.
'Maybe after some rest and sunlight.' Peter thought, cursing the extras long nights of this world.
"Staying." Lao said matter-of-factly. He had seen plenty of nightmares out in this world, and as terrifying an opponent as Cytus was, there had been worst encounters in the past.
'I should have assumed that a blow to the neck wasn't enough. It's my fault for thinking I could have ended the fight there. Sun would be disappointed in me.'
"I'm stayin' obviously." Peter said.
'I'm sure Lucifer won't be happy that I spent life force, but he should be understandin' of the circumstances.'
"About that, Peter." Lucifer made a hard stare. "How do you feel after spending your life force?"
Peter at the moment of backlash had felt like his body was being ripped apart by flaming chains.
"I'm fine now. Was in excruciatin' pain before, but that's over." He laughed nervously, knowing that Lucifer wasn't done with him.
Lucifer glared, before closing his eyes and leaning back.
"It's good that you didn't use all of it, but understand that the consequences aren't done yet." Lucifer was frustrated with the situation, thinking about how he should have argued with Peter about not training with him.
'I shouldn't have let you convince me. You and everyone else would have been in a much better position if I had just put my foot down.'
Lucifer and Peter were having similar thoughts. The rest of the group were also questioning their parts in the fight. Eventually, Lucifer got out of his head and spoke again.
"Alright, that settles who's staying, mostly, so now let's go over what happens when we leave." Before Lucifer could speak, the thunderous sound of hooves could be heard coming towards them.
- Death and Lucifer -
Death arrived in Hydern's entrance about fourty-five minutes after Lucifer called him. He hopped off his uništi and materialized his scythe. It was a long silver pole with a black crescent-shaped blade protruding from the top.
Death quickly looked around for any signs of enemies, but all he saw was the damage from the fight that had taken place. As he saw Lucifer running to greet him he dematerialized his scythe.
"Is everyone okay?" Death asked, looking at the damaged inn and various burn marks on the ground.
"Everyone's fine, mostly. Peter used some of his life force though." Lucifer said the last part with an upset look.
'If only I had said no.' Lucifer looked over at Death's uništi, and shuddered. 'I'm guessing Mira is still far behind.'
Death wasn't happy to hear about what Peter had done, but assumed it must have been necessary.
"Alright, tell me the full story."
Lucifer informed Death of everything that had happened. After hearing Ctyus's name Death scowled.
"I don't look forward to telling Mira and Michael about this." The two walked up to the cart and everyone stared at Death.
They had all met Death before, but it didn't stop them from staring. Death was used to the treatment and passed it off as a result of their fatigue.
'I'm sure they're just happy to be safe.' Death thought, giving an awkward smile.
"Back to what comes next." Lucifer said, snapping the others out of there stares. "We'll be heading to the border in three days. As you all know, once we cross it is when things 'Normally' get more difficult for us. I want this battle with Cytus to be the worst thing to have happened, and I'll do my best to keep things smooth."
Lucifer's words were made more believable by Death's presence. He was now grateful that Death had decided to come along.
'Now there's only one thing left to take care of.'
Lucifer informed Death that he would be pursuing Cytus, making sure to finish off the problem before it comes back. Death nodded in agreement.
"I'll make sure to keep a close eye on everyone while you search." Death said.
Lucifer flew off, trying to think where Cytus would have gone.
'Where are you, you parasite?!'
- Lucifer -Lucifer was flying around looking for any signs of where Cytus could have gone.'I will find you. Maybe not today, but I swear on my soul that I will end you.'Lucifer couldn't find anything and decided to fly back to Hydern for now. The thought of Cytus getting away would be a thorn in his side, but he knew finding him wouldn't be easy with how close to the border they were.Mira eventually landed in Hydern, looking around for Death who was standing with three others.The inn was being repaired by one of the village's stone mages, who had been waiting until things were confirmed safe before showing themselves."Woulda helped, but you understand? Right? The mage was a woman, no taller than five feet tall, with messy blonde hair that covered her eyes. She was wearing a purple robe full of holes."It's fine." Said Peter, standin
- Death and Mira -Death wasn't certain that Mira had her own echo, but it was safe to assume. Given her reaction to what he said he was able to confirm his suspicions.'I don't appreciate the distrust, but it seems harmless. None of what's happened is worth hiding.'Mira walked away, embarrassed that she had been found out so easily.'He is as old as father, of course he would know I had my own echo.'Mira called Michael and reported Lucifer's progress on the hunt. She had nothing new, regarding Death, to inform Michael about."Stay vigilant. What happens in the northern territories is more important than right now. I do not believe Lucifer will find Cytus, so be careful once you cross the border.""I will be sir."Mira having left to discuss with Michael gave Death time to make a call to Purgatory.
- Elijah -Elijah had started adjusting to the uništi's speed. He wanted to ask questions but the sound of three uništi was far too loud for him to try. He looked at the passage coin, wondering what the significance of such a thing was.'I've heard of needing money to get into the afterlife, but I don't think this is the same thing.'The passage coin was gold-colored, and depicted two wolves, one black, the other white, both circling each other. The coin had writing on it.'Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi.' Elijah wasn't familiar with the two, but figured they must be gods.Elijah wondered how Yvere was feeling right now. The group was heading towards the Vampire's homeland, Sangmara, and he thought Yvere had looked worried before they left.'Maybe her family doesn't approve of this line of work. It wouldn't surprise me, especially considering the fight
- Death and Mira -Death and Mira arrived at the walls that surrounded a large gothic castle. They were greeted by three guards in black cloaks."Queen Gwyn and King Lucius are waiting for you in the meeting hall sir."Death got off his uništi and handed the reins to the guard."If anyone steals him I'll be holding all of you responsible." Death said, walking through the doors of the wall and into the castle with Mira, who was glaring at the guards."I know you aren't fond of their kind, but giving them dirty looks won't accomplish anything." Death said to Mira.Mira ignored Death. She couldn't stand the vampires. The only reason she didn't give the same glare to Yvere was because of Lucifer. Death didn't tolerate racism, but Lucifer was the type to threaten if his team was treated poorly. She thought back to a story she had heard of Lucifer slamming M
- Death -Gwyn shot icicles at Death like a machinegun while Lucius started spreading flames on the ground. Death spun his scythe to block the icicles and swung the scythe around his feet putting out the flames.The vampire rulers had Death pinned in a cycle of defense. Death decided to stand in the fire and throw his scythe at Gwyn. The scythe connected with Gwyn's face knocking her over. He took the opportunity and blinked, reappearing in front of Lucius.Lucius created a barrier of flame around him to stop Death, but it didn't work. Death grabbed Lucius' head through the barrier and pulled it down while kneeing, throwing the king backwards.Death dematerialized his scythe and recreated it in his right hand. Gwyn stood up, wiped the blood from her nose, and created a staff of ice with water circling around it. Lucius stood up and shook his head. He wiped the blood from his face and created multiple
- Lucifer -Lucifer and Elijah were standing next to the training ground as it was being repaired, with Lucifer giving Elijah instructions on how to properly cover his hands in mana."Picture your mana like it's a tub of water in front of you. Imagine yourself putting your hands into the tub and the water staying on them like gloves."Lucifer covered his hands in fire briefly and showed the absence of damage to Elijah."You won't be immune to damage, but any added defense is a good thing.Elijah pictured what Lucifer was saying. He covered his hands in mana and proceeded to try and shock himself."Mmph!" Elijah shocked himself and tried to hold his yell in."This takes times. It's one of the fundamentals of lightning magic. Learning this first makes everything else easier."Lucifer knew how dangerous lightning magic c
- Lucifer and Elijah -(After the match with Death)Everyone else had left to train in different parts of the castle while Lucifer stayed behind with Elijah.Lucifer was sitting down in a chair. His left arm was placed on a table, being healed by one of the castle's healer while talking to Elijah about the neutral zone they were heading to.Neutral zones are small pieces of territory unclaimed by its neighbors that exist either as a means of separation from two races that don't want to border one another, or as an eternal battlefield."It should be peaceful there." Lucifer said."You really need to stop using the words should and peaceful together." Elijah joked, while looking away from Lucifer.The healer was fixing a compound fracture in Lucifer's arm."I know I shouldn't invite dramatic irony, but I don't want to l
- Death -Death was riding in front of the group as usual. He was wary of the neutral zones. The one between Sangmara and the Lycan territory of Vázoluna was considered to be the most peaceful, but that fact made Death more conscious of potential threats.This neutral zone was a wasteland. The only things around were the remnants of former battles. The zone was clearly still seeing some form of conflict. That or gods were using it as a practice ground for their magic.'I don't care how peaceful I'm told this place is, I'm not letting it lull me into a false sense of security.'Sure enough, as though the universe heard Death's thoughts, a gigantic stone wall appeared in front of him.The uništi were stopped and Death jumped off Hrom and conjured his scythe. He wasn't waiting for the enemy to attack. He pulled his scythe back and swung it towards the wall, cutting it
- Elijah and Lao -(After Death called Satan)Lao, Heinrich, Yvere, Sabu, and Elijah were heading towards Bolotano with everyone else."You don't have to fight," Lao said."Why are you telling me this?" Elijah sighed. "I know, but I have a feeling there won't be an actual choice.""I wanted to thank you, for Sol." Lao looked at the ground. "And...say that I'm sorry for how I've come across.""You're fine." Elijah shrugged. "I don't mean any offense by this; we're not friends. We've practically just met and you clearly have a lot to deal with on average.""I...I, sorry." Lao stopped.Elijah knew what Lao was trying to do. He hated the situation he was in, leading to him forgetting about the rest of the team's problems. He had the least to lose among all of them, and yet he was acting as if he had it the worst.&
- Moloch and Baal -(After Lucifer sent the group back to Hell)Moloch and Baal were discussing over an echo call about their alliance with Satan."Can we really trust him?" Moloch asked, stroking his beard."Bit late to question it now?" Baal grunted. "We could win without his help, so I'm not overly invested in his strength.""Mmmmm." Moloch hummed. "Don't you think the timing is strange?""His timing is always strange." Baal laughed. "Why are you so concerned about this?"Moloch paused. He was worried about himself more than anything. He had questioned his alliance with even Baal in the past, so this trepidation was nothing new."We lost the Underground," Moloch growled. "I don't like the way things are going.""Like I said-" Baal sighed. "-bit late to question it now."'Is
- Lucifer and Kahvis -Lucifer and Kahvis were on their own at the front of the right army, with Death being alone on the left. The two were channeling magic as they walked, Lucifer's arms were covered in explosive orbs, and Kahvis was holding two orbs of electricity. Kahvis had switched to a black shirt with three linked blue circles on the back, with black pants. The two were walking through the destroyed headquarters. Kahvis looked around at the area, confused by what happened."I don't have time to explain." Lucifer said."It doesn't matter." Kahvis responded.The two kept moving forward. They were meant to spearhead the demon armies along with Death. They would need to deal massive damage first, or the resistance's army would simply be overwhelmed. It didn't help that the average demon soldier is stronger than the average human. The odds of the battle went through Lucifer's mind one last time be
- Satan, Moloch, Baal -(Morning after last chapter)"Like I told you before, you need to start your attack now." Satan said into the echo. "If you don't keep them from digging deeper in Bolotano we won't win this.""You care about winning and yet you sent a messenger to them!" Moloch spat."I want a proper battle-" Satan's voice started to sound like a mix of anger and excitement. "-not some facade of one. You're lucky you have my help, now don't waste it.""Can you at least tell us how long it will take for your forces to pincer them?" Baal asked."No...too easy." Satan said with a smile. "Who knows, maybe you'll win without me? Wouldn't that be something?" Satan leaned away and whispered. "Though I wouldn't bet on it...""Once this is all over we should come to your side of the world and return the favor." Baal said.
- Saint, Death, Lucifer -Lucifer wanted to help Saint, but he was scared that he might draw Death's aggression. He thought it would be better if he waited and only stepped in if it seemed like Saint was about to lose.Death rapidly blinked to Saint. He was on her in a moment, gripping his hand around her throat and lifting her off the ground. He was readying to slam her down when he felt both her feet kicking into him. The blow was strong enough to send him back once more.What followed looked like a white light crashing against a shadow. Death had strength and speed, Saint had technique. Their fight started to destroy the resistance's evacuated headquarters, causing the sound of breaking stone to fill the air.Death grabbed Saint's arm and threw her through multiple huts. He appeared above her, attempting to stomp her face. She dodged the attack and struck Death's smoke hidden face. She exchanged b
- Lucifer -Lucifer had stayed in the hut long after Death left. He had been staring at the board endlessly, to the point that he could see images of it when he blinked. The scenarios he had run through in his head had pervaded all of his other thoughts. Even thinking about the five traveling to Heliopolis would be interrupted by a connecting thought of how he would deal with their respective magics.These thoughts combined with the fact that he was in two minds about having Peter stay around made it difficult for him to think about much else. He trusted Peter's strength, but couldn't help picturing him die. The true risk of this war had set in. It wasn't that he had thought things would go perfectly fine, and everyone would get a happy ending, just that he had confidence from his prior victory in the Underground.He pictured Kahvis attending to the friends and loved ones of those who died in the raid, and wondered what
- Peter, Lao, David, Sabu, Moloch -"Now it's almost fair." Moloch smiled.Moloch lifted his hand up and made a circle in the air. Blood shot up from the ground and begun spinning violently. Moloch sustained the velocity of the vortex with one hand while using the other to explode the insides of the stone pillar David and Sabu were on.Lao rushed towards Moloch. Moloch flicked his hand toward Lao, causing blood spikes to shoot up from the ground. Lao jumped over the attack and kept moving.Lao sent a quick right punch speed towards Moloch. His fist connected with Moloch's smiling face.Moloch quickly opened his hand. Blood spikes shot from his cloak into Lao. He was overjoyed in what he thought was a victory, until he saw the reborn's face.Lao had blocked his head and heart from receiving hits. He was still deeply wounded, but he wasn't done moving. His left
- Lucifer and David -(Before the main story)"I'm telling you to be more careful." Lucifer was warning David. "Double affinities don't make you invincible.""I can't afford to be more careful." David said.David was 5"9'. He had dark shaggy black hair that matched his scraggly beard. He had a slim frame that made him appear younger. He was wearing a black shirt and thick brown pants. His irises were a bright yellow color."I'm telling you this because I don't want you dragging Peter into making bad decisions." Lucifer sighed.The two were approached by a reborn woman."You two ready?" Emily asked."Hopefully." Lucifer said in David's direction.Emily was a shorter woman, standing 5"5'. Her brown hair was crew cut, and her face seemed to be permanently scrunched. She was wearing a green cloak and
- Death and Oliver -"You okay sir?" Oliver said from afar to Death."I'll be fine." Death mumbled.Oliver didn't have much interaction with Death before their meeting in Passage. He was secretly excited to get the chance to speak with him. He was going to ask if he could practice with him until he saw Death's training. It was different, it seemed more purposeful, as though he was imagining someone as he swung the scythe.'Can't imagine practicing with that.' Oliver scratched the back of his head.Death was trying to quiet everything around him. What mattered to him now was staying focused. He couldn't practice his riding with Hrom so he was stuck with just weapon and image training. So long as he kept his eyes closed he wouldn't see the eyes of the crowd and most of them wouldn't dare say anything if they thought he could hear them.Oliver was looking around