- Lucifer and Elijah -
As Elijah stepped into the supplies building he noticed the sheer volume of stuff in the room. Along with the many crates, there was a demon sitting at a stone counter to the left of the doorway. The demon had a dark hood over their head, so he couldn't see them very well. He was more conscious about staring now, so he diverted his gaze to the other parts of the room.
There were shelves marked as "medicine" along with weapon racks and crates of clothing. There were some hanging bulbs that illuminated everything well.
"You have lightbulbs in this world?" Elijah asked, looking around at the various tools and gear that was lying around.
Lucifer responded while digging through one of the boxes.
"They're harnessed magic. There's a rune in the bulb that traps electric energy. The technology here is a little more advanced than the average town, but still nowhere near what the human world has."
Elijah remembered what he was going to ask Lucifer before Peter showed up.
"Do firearms exist in this world?" After asking, Lucifer's eyes widened. The rest of the group's members who were sorting through things turned towards Lucifer.
"Never ask that or bring up firearms again. I meant to tell you sooner, but today's been a little out of order.
"A little?" Peter sneered.
Lucifer sighed.
"Firearms, as modern humans know them, are a taboo subject in this world. Bringing them up can be akin to treason in certain territories."
'I should have known he'd ask about it. I assume he's smart enough not to mention it again now that I've warned him, but if he ever gets interrogated...no, no no that won't happen, don't overthink this.' Lucifer was lost in thought for a moment, before realizing Elijah was staring at him.
Lucifer gathered himself and slowly began to explain.
"Many gods in this world believe in maintaining order, AKA their rule. Ever since some of the more recent wars on the human side most of the gods have agreed to make any production of firearms illegal while also making it a forbidden topic. Magic is powerful, but the amount of time and effort it takes to become truly dangerous with it is what stops it from getting the same treatment."
Elijah was surprised that supposed gods would fear guns.
'Surely they can't be that afraid. A jet, or a tank, sure, but even those would lose out to a powerful mage, at least I think they would. I'm not really sure what qualifies as strong in this world.'
Lao, who was across the room putting various bottles from the medicine shelf into a brown satchel turned to Elijah.
"The first few pages of the guide lists various words and phrases you should abstain from. There's a lot of common things you might be used to saying that you should avoid."
Elijah opened the large book to check what exactly it was he should avoid. The first page of words and phrases were listed with small boxes of text beneath each listing, giving a reason as to why the particular word or phrase should be avoided.
'Can't say "damn it" anymore, guess that makes sense. Can't say the name of any religious figures, understandable. There's "guns" in big bolded text. I shouldn't say "dog"? What is a "Lycan" supposed to be? Page fifty-three for Lycans. Oh, werewolves. Also shouldn't use the term werewolf.' Elijah kept reading through the list fascinated by the extent of the guide's information.
About two hours had passed. Elijah had read through most of the banned words and sayings and was getting ready to check the bestiary.
"We should be getting ready to leave," Peter said looking at a clipboard. "Check off the things on the list so we can get moving."
One by one the various members of the team went up to Peter while holding a box or a bag and had him check off their supplies.
Sabu had various weapons rolled up in a black cloth. Yvere and Lao had satchels of medicine. Heinrich had a crate of food and a crate of orbs which insides resembled the lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling. Lucifer had bags of what Elijah assumed was money. Peter checked everything off and put the clipboard back by the counter.
The demon looked at the sheet of paper.
"You really think you need that much medicine?" The demon said. He had a gravelly voice, almost like there was something inside of his throat. "I'm guessing the new guy probably has fire or electric magic, hehe." The demon's laughing worried Elijah.
"Stop tryin' to scare the guy, Harik," Peter said in an annoyed tone. He turned to Elijah
"Magic can be dangerous if mishandled, but much in the same way a knife can be. You've got a good teacher, don't worry."
Elijah remembered his time in the military when older soldiers would try to scare new recruits.
'I need to keep my past experiences in mind. Just because it's a new world doesn't mean the lessons I've learned aren't relevant.'
"Alright, that's everything," Lucifer said opening the door to leave.
As they walked out Elijah noticed the gate of the wall begin to open. The loud sound of metal being turned was made worse by the sheer size of the gate. Elijah flinched at the noise and noticed no one else in the group was reacting.
'Guess they're used to it.'
Elijah followed behind everyone else in the group. As he looked behind him at the large prison he had been in for an uncertain amount of time, he was overcome with a feeling of anxiety. It reminded him of his first time jumping out of a helicopter.
Outside of the walls were two large creatures that had even larger metal carts attached to them.
"What are those things?" Elijah asked, trying to figure out whether they were horses or rhinos.
"They're called uništi," Lucifer said, proceeding to load the carts as each group member handed him a crate.
As Elijah got closer he realized that the creatures certainly looked like massive horses, but with bluish-grey skin, that had streaks of dark people all over. They were eight feet tall and ten feet long. He also noticed they had hollow eye sockets.
"Can they see?" Elijah asked while trying not to stand too close.
"Better than you can as a matter of fact. Their "eyes" see the energy of the world. Everything basically looks like a thermal map to them." Lucifer said while strapping down the crates.
"Amazing. I'm guessing they're fast as Hel- really fast too." Elijah corrected himself.
"Extremely. You're not used to their speed though, so we'll start out at a more normal pace."
Lucifer was done securing the supplies and now sat down, calling for Elijah to join the second cart.
Lucifer sat in the first cart by himself with Lao at the reins. Yvere took the reins of the second uništi, while the remaining four got into the back. There was more than enough room for all of them, but it still seemed weird to Elijah that Lucifer got a cart to himself.
Peter noticed Elijah staring.
"If anythin' falls off the cart it's his responsibility to go and get it. He can fly and is much stronger than all of us, so it's best if he holds things down alone."
Elijah and Sabu sat next to each other with Peter and Heinrich on the opposite side. Elijah noticed the handles on the seats of the cart along with what could only be grip marks. He grabbed the handle hoping the ride wouldn't be too terrible.
"We're off!" Lucifer yelled, signaling the gate behind them to close.
The sound was less jarring on the outside but still got a small flinch from Elijah. The metal carts were deep enough that there wasn't much worry of falling out. The uništi were fast, faster than any normal horse. He understood now why the carts were metal.
Normally it takes the sound of many horses to replicate thunder, but it seems like the hooves of these two creatures could mimic it on their own. Elijah gripped the handles as hard as he could, cutting his hand on the metal. He looked over at Peter who started mouthing "Relax, you'll be okay" to him.
The other three members of the cart seemed used to the speed which made Elijah wonder.
'How are those two controlling these things?'
Every bump during travel had Elijah yelling 'Fuck' in his mind. Several hours had passed and the sun was beginning to set. The carts began to slow down, to which Elijah thought
'Thank God. Almost forgot I can't say that anymore.'
Eventually, the group came to a full stop.
"Guess we're getting off here for tonight," Peter said standing up and jumping off the cart.
Sabu and Heinrich followed, but Elijah was taking some time to wait for his legs to feel like they work again. Eventually, he got off the cart, wobbling as he landed from his jump. Lao and Yvere came around to the back. They both asked if there were any injuries. Lao could see the skin on Elijah's hand had been ripped up by the metal handle.
"We'll have to get you gloves," Lao said grabbing the hand and restoring the torn flesh to brand new.
"Incredible," Elijah said looking at his hand.
'Why would they need a lot of medicine if healing magic is capable of that?'
Elijah then noticed that where the group had stopped was in the middle of a barren plain. It was dirt and dust as far as the eye could see. Before he could question why they would stop in such a place, two pieces of square rock rose from the ground.
Elijah looked over at Heinrich who was making motions that matched how the ground was moving.
"Not too big, don't waste your mana," Peter said to Heinrich.
"I know," Heinrich responded finishing off the blocky structure.
The cold wind from the night started to sweep in.
"I'll make the fire," Lucifer said. "Before we go in, can you add a training room?" Lucifer asked, looking at Heinrich.
A large rectangular room was formed right next to the house.
The group walked into the newly formed house. Lucifer grabbed a large metal square from one of the crates that had two circles that went against the edges with multiple carvings in-between the two. He placed the object in the middle of the room where everyone was and placed his hand on it. The carvings glowed orange and a large flame formed in the middle.
"That'll last the night. I'm going to be teaching Elijah how to use his magic in the training room. If you need anything, come ask. Lao, join us in one hour." Lucifer said before leaving for the training room.
Elijah followed behind, excited that he was going to learn more about magic.
'I don't know what this is going to be like, but I hope I can at least learn enough to defend myself. Why did he ask Lao to eventually join us though? Is it that likely I'll injure myself?'
As the two walked into the pitch-black training room Lucifer pulled out a large clear orb. The orb filled with a bright light illuminating the room. He placed the orb in a piece of stone sticking out from the wall that was the perfect size and shape to hold the light.
"Alright, let's begin with some basic training," Lucifer said placing his hands about twelve inches apart with the palms facing each other.
"Copy my hands and try to create electric lines between your two palms."
Elijah placed his hands apart and pictured what Lucifer said. Electricity sparked between his palms, which startled him at first causing him to lose focus...
"That's a good start. Twelve inches is usually too much for someone new.
'Lately, it does seem like teaching a reborn magic gets easier and easier with each passing year.' Lucifer thought.
"Now what?" Elijah asked, eager to learn more.
"Keep doing what you were doing, but shift the angles of your hand while maintaining the electricity. Try moving your hands while keeping them the same distance apart, until your palms are pointed vertically at one another."
As Elijah tried moving his hands while keeping the electricity flowing he zapped his hands, losing concentration and leaving small singe marks.
'A few shocks aren't going to stop me, but damn does that hurt like hell.'
- Lucifer -Ten minutes had passed since Lucifer's instructions to Elijah. Lucifer was making sure to correct hand placements, while also giving advice on how to reduce the backlash from the magic."Picture your hands as though they're covered in thin gloves made of energy. The body tends to create a natural shielding when you're doing basic things with magic, but as the action gets more complicated you have to manually control the protection. This will reduce the shock you receive considerably, and will also be useful for dealing with other's magic in the future."'He's not giving up, that's good, but beginners tend to snap after so many failed attempts.'Elijah was furious, but not at his inability to get the training right.'It's just a little shock, stop flinching. You're a grown-ass man, get your shit together and stop flinching.' As Elijah yelled at himself mentally he shoc
- Lucifer -One hour had passed and Elijah was able to do three ticks before shocking himself. His hands had been healed multiple times by Lao."Three ticks is impressive. I should be able to teach you proper attacks tomorrow. For now, though we're going to start your hand-to-hand training." Lucifer said, moving to the corner of the room.Elijah started to feel a little tired, physically. He wanted to ask Lucifer about his body but decided to hold off.'Maybe I can find the answer in that guide.'"What kind of sparring are we going to be doing?"Lao spoke before Lucifer could."I'll be checking your basics first. Throw a few punches and kicks."Elijah obliged and threw a straight, followed by an uppercut and then a hook. He tried to do a kick but almost lost his balance in the process.'I'm at lea
- Lucifer and Elijah -Elijah gripped the handle of his seat with his gloved hand and tried to keep his mind elsewhere.'That magic training was different than-' The cart hit a bump. 'different than I expected. I never thought I'd be willingly shocking myself again.'Peter, sitting across from Elijah, with his legs and chest strapped to the cart, had been sleeping for the last hour. Heinrich, who was next to Peter, was staring out of the cart, watching whatever things passed by. Sabu, sitting next to Elijah, also appeared to be sleeping. His eyes were closed and his head was down, but his right hand was still gripping the handle.'I guess there were soldiers who could sleep through bombing runs-' The cart hit another bump. 'even still though.'Elijah was happy that he never felt the urge to vomit, afraid that if he stuck his head out of the cart they'd hit a bump and he would be
- Lucifer -"Did you picture what I told you?" Lucifer said, holding back anger."No, I pictured a cannon firing. I didn't mean to it was just the first image that came to mind." Elijah's hand had been severely burned by the electricity. The bone on the under part of his fingers was exposed.Lucifer just closed his eyes and yelled in his mind. He had so many different ways he wanted to berate Elijah.'I can't believe the sheer ignorance of people sometimes. Next time I teach someone magic I need to remember this moment and use it as an example of why they should listen.'Lucifer had plenty of experience in the past dealing with reborn who injured themselves while recklessly practicing magic. This case was different though. The output was stronger than it should have been. Humans don't start with a lot of mana initially, so even when their magic does backlash it only causes minor
- Peter and Cytus -Peter shot a jet of flame towards Cytus who materialized his wings and flew over them. He landed behind the group and began discharging bolt after bolt towards Heinrich.Heinrich created walls to block the fatal shots, but was still getting slowly cut up by the electricity as the rest of the group tried to reposition."One-four!" Peter yelled as the other members shifted to support Heinrich. Yvere was standing right behind him as he endured the barrage, healing wounds as fast as she could.Heinrich was clenching his teeth so hard he thought he might crush them.'Come on Peter, what are you doing?'Peter created a wall of flame between Cytus and the group with his right hand, and then started to channel more explosive orbs in his left.The bolts stopped coming through the flame wall, which lead Peter to look at th
- Lucifer -'Fuck!'Lucifer was cursing himself in his head, wondering if he had gotten complacent or if his luck was just cursed. He flew at full speed and questioned whether or not he should call Death. He wasn't stopping so he untied his pocket and pulled out his echo."Lu-" Death tried to speak but the sound of wind drowned him out."HYDERN! ENEMY!" Lucifer repeatedly screamed into the echo as loud as he could.Death could just barely make out what Lucifer had said and yelled back. Lucifer was only able to make out "UND...OOD!" and assumed Death had gotten the message. He put the echo back in his pocket and started thinking about what to do would when he gets to Hydern.- Cytus -Cytus started walking towards Elijah, blind with rage. His spell from before had greatly increased his strength and speed, but now with the hole in his leg h
- 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 Dea
- 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
- 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