"MANKIND ILL NEEDS A SAVIOR SUCH AS YOU!" the paladin shouted, raising his shield. A golden aura radiated from the armament, deflecting gunfire from both himself and Gene.

As the ring of bullets striking a grand barrier sounded off, he felt an odd sense of zen. He was reminded of a particular passage, and sure enough, his voice began to resound louder than even the hail of gunfire. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who in the name of charity and goodwill, shepherds his brother through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper, and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger, those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers."



Gabriel appeared with the loud blast of a trumpet, and immediately rocketed from the paladin's hands at immense speeds, skewering a gunner. In the same instant, the crusader seemed to follow in a quick flash and yanked it free, before spinning the spear around, dashing amongst several other blasphemers. In such close quarters, he was a whirlwind of wrath and edged weapons, too close for any of the ranged fighters to get a decent shot as he quickly worked his way through the crowd. Whereas they had to aim their guns and avoid hitting each other, Antonio could swing and kill whomever he pleased. Quickly, he switched to Michael and deflected a 9mm round with the shield, before sinking the blade into the foe's tender yet delicious neckmeats. Next, he swung Uriel at the shieldman. To his surprise, the defense held. Quickly, Antonio leaped off his feet, using the momentum of the blow to propel himself in midair, doing a backflip while readying Raphael and unleashing a hail of magical arrows into the remaining two gunners.

"And now. You." he landed on his feet, and pointed his sword at the ponce from earlier. "After I tear down your wall, I'll teach you the folly of putting your words in the mouth of God."

The first few steps were rather slow until she picked up the speed. After that initial rather slow unnatural movement as took all pleasure in everything she did, she was dashing through the darkness of the tunnels, every now and then jumping from a wall to wall. A wide smile almost constant on her lips as she could hear the things scuffling towards her.

A few more seconds and there were they!” Just in time for the party!!!!” She shouted in amusement as they basically clashed into each other. Kosara used the initial kinetic from her run to jump straight onto the head of one of the demons, using it as a elevated platform to stand on as his buddies turned to her. The demon under her was practically crushed, but still not destroyed as it made impossible to discern noises and attempts to move.” Ahh don’t be such a slab!” She demanded as she stomped with her sharp heel deeper into the demon’s head.” Alright boys! Let's dance!!” She screamed as she jump kicked and threw the demon under her heels at one of its mates.

What followed was a flurry of slashes and kicks that caused chunks of the walls and floor to fly at all directions as her strikes passed through her enemies, hitting the surroundings. In such a tightly packed space with this huge number of enemies, she had switched to her Cascade style. As her attacks neatly hit the tightly packed enemies more and more power was gathered for the next strike. Eventually each swing cut the demons in front in half. She too had taken a minor damage, but nothing to be concerned about… or more likely realize as the pure bliss on her face was unmistakable! Already entered a trance she cared only about fighting more demons! Since there weren’t already any left in here, besides one.

With a mad dash, she rushed forward, grabbing the demon by it’s head, pushing it into the wall as it she ran, having it grind against the stone and concrete. It’s screams ands screeches were like honey for her ears as she ran in the direction where sensed more demons! Soon enough she found them right ahead by an entrance to the side. Sounds of battle echoed through the opening as another huge smile appeared on her face.

“CATCH!” She shouted as she threw the remains of the demon in her arm at it’s former mates as she also crashed into them sword first moments later. She impaled a single demon before swung her sword, dragging him to collide into the ones next to him. She fought through them, making her way towards the entrance to the Antechamber! She let out a giggle as she punched a demon’s head into the wall and it spattered.” Out the way ragdolls!!!” She shouted, using one of the demons as a platform to jump above another one, catching it’s head as she made her way into the Antechamber, throwing the demon ahead of her. She wanted to fight the stronger existance within the chamber!

Damn, he shouldn't have wasted his time with that music player. He gave up the element of surprise and ended up with his arm minorly inconvenienced by this speckled turd-wall. Akoni inwardly chided himself for falling to the same kind of dumb decisions he was always telling these crickets to avoid. He wasn't as young and powerful as he once was, after all. Well, he could be, but only for a minute or two. Then he'd probably die. One good thing came from this situation though, she seemed to be irritated and bothered by his comment. That was a win in his book.

"Because it makes ya look like a ten cent whore," he answered, pulling on his arm. As he did so, Lammasu made another transformation from within its trapped confines. The blade retracted, opening up some movement space. Then the gauntlet erupted with dozens and dozens of small, spiked studs. With one really really good yank, he freed his arm from captivity.

Akoni took a second to catch his breath. Damn lungs. If only I were just ten years younger, she'd already be done with! Thankfully that fool Snider had bought him the time he needed to get his second wind. Such a brute might as well have been born a demon himself. And his music sucked. "Good music is timeless!" he retorted to the younger-but-still-old man, casting a spell that changed the music track again.

Akoni would have laughed at Snider getting his ass handed to him by Gomory, but he couldn't afford any more distractions. The nephilim jumped into the bout, intent on unleashing a flurry of assault on the demon and pushing her back. Excellent, a perfect opportunity! Akoni would go in for a feint, charging Gomory just behind Wrath ready to release a volley of punches. His real plan was to generate a gate beneath her feet, while he placed the exit past the edge of the central platform in a location where she had destroyed any footholds. He doubted she would fall to her death, but damned if it shouldn't force her into an open position!

KYL-9XX

The peace between the partis lasted only for an instant. As the cyborg lowered his weapon, a circle of light started to form under his feet. He tried to initiate his Cheetah module to get away, but it was all too little too late. The light circle casted a spectral force all around him, levitating him slightly into the air, and making it impossible to get away. KYL was trapped and left to the mercy of his attacker.

The demoness turned towards him and took a few steps in his direction, but the cyborg was lucky enough to be only one of several people trying to ambush her. As one, or several, of the other parties engaged the woman, KYL decided to get rid of the trap. Switching to his Cheetah module, the gatling gun started firing in several directions. One bullet by itself didn't accomplish anything, but the sheer number of them slowly ripped the spectral force apart. It still took quite some time, but the cyborg was finally free and on his feet again. But things would only get worse from here.

Turning around to see what was going on, the cyborg was hit by some demonic force, a wave so strong it sent KYL flying into the air. His flight was short though, stopped by one of the walls of the hall. The demonic attack combined with the impact on the hard surface took a big toll on the cyborg. His readings started to go crazy, probably malfunctioning, and one of his cybernetic eyes had gone out. Hald-blinded and severly injured, KYL could do little more than observe the battle as it went on, laying on the floor. It seemed like more people had found their way to the 2nd seal, but the cyborg could barely see, and even less analyze them.

//WARNING: CRITICAL CONDITION
//SUGGESTED_ACTION: DISENGAGE

Slowly getting up, he prepared to launch another attack, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Snider quickly slid his hammer back into its holster. He was quick to notice the flurry of blows he was running into. BOOM! With a jet of flame, the muscular demon hunter flew backwards into the air, doing a back flip, far more an acrobat than his build had previously suggested. He landed with his machine gun, Joanna, in hand. He stood right next to his music box. Snider kicked it back and stepped on the stop button, then the eject button. The disk ejected, Snider kicked it back and out of the way.

Snider stomped on the boombox. Out of his pants, another CD slid into the boombox. The sound of bass guitars accompanied the machine as he attempted an attack. Snider slapped the tripod of his machine gun and slid his hand forward so that his finger was on the trigger of his grenade launcher. He kicked the boombox out of detonation range and immediately pulled the trigger.

Untouchable opponents were a diamond dozen to Snider. He hoped the grenade actually detonated within the cloud, Gomory caught in the explosion. With any luck, Akoni would as well. So thought the hunter, of course. He himself made sure he was far enough not to be caught, firing in the air above Gomory, in attempt to leave as little room to escape as possible.

Not a moment’s rest awaited Gomory, but she was ready. Finally the giant made his move, rushing out of cover and toward her, his every footstep pounding the stone with the sound of a miniature thunderclap. In the ghostly light of the Eidolic Cairn the Rage Bringer gleamed like a butcher’s cleaver. Wordlessly she engaged him, holding her sheathed weapon in both hands to beat down his upward slash before returning to a normal stance for the duel. They fought savagely, a whirlwind of metal against metal. In order to keep herself in a prime position for retaliation, she endeavored to avoid his thrusts and slashes, but his defense prevented her from making a decisive strike.

For a quarter-minute their highly-mobile battle ensued, furious and brutal on both sides. Several of her punishing swings made contact against his legs and shoulders, but an unexpected pommel strike chipped the tip of her left horn off, and after an unlucky deflection on Gomory’s part the Nephilim managed to gouge at her left ankle. Then, in the midst of the heated rumble, he saw fit to apologize. The shadow of a grin passed over her, though even her opponent would be hard-pressed to spot it. ”On the contrary. It is...eyah!...refreshing to fight an actual combatant.”” Spotting an opening, she aimed her clublike weapon at Wrath’s face to clock him on the chin, and in the process unconsciously overextended herself. The next instant, a horizontal slice from the Rage Bringer flew toward her belly, and she hopped backward—not far enough, and the blade bit into her flesh, spraying murky blood onto the stone. Gomory gave a light gasp, but the smile on her face made it seem as if the weapon kissed her rather than cut her. Any praise that she might have extended to Wrath, however, went wasted as Akoni –late to the fight as ever thanks to his fixation on the boombox- made his move. Breathless, the demoness reversed her grip on the sheathed Jiaolong to block his punches, channeling her magic through the catalyst all the while. With every strike, paint appeared on the weapon, some of which stuck to his fists. Despite landing a few good hits on Gomory, he would soon find himself almost covered in the paint, though he did wait for it to dry before pulling off his strategy. Caught in her momentary excitement, Gomory did not anticipate a portal forming beneath her feet, and quite abruptly she fell through.

”Bah,” she muttered, reappearing over the void. A lesser demon might have fallen into the abyss, but Gomory saw this underhanded move as little more than a setback. Pink flowerpetals filled the air around her, and bizarrely the demoness hovered in place. Bringing her knees to her chest, she placed the Jialong beneath them both like a springboard, and focused her magic to create a blob of paint that hardened into a solid mass. While doing this, she surveyed the situation. Evidently her moonlight tremor failed to take Snider out of the fight, judging by the foomp of the grenade launcher. Unfortunately for him, he had aimed at the motes of dust stirred up by her duel with Wrath—her previous position, and one she no longer even came close to occupying. She chuckled to see that his lack of foresight meant that his grenade would be exploding right in the midst of Akoni and Wrath, potentially damaging his own allies. The thought did not occur to her that he may have meant to hurt them as well as her. For all of his ineptitude, however, Snider had begun to annoy her. On two occasions now she attacked him specifically, yet he sported nary a scratch. That would have to change.

She kicked off, using the paint mass as a springboard to launch herself, meteor-like, back toward the platform. Pink petals formed a cyclone around her as she flew. Now spinning and pivoted so that her feet were in front, she willed the effects of her Cherry Blossom Dance to cease. By now, the paint splattered across Akoni had almost certainly dried, trapping him in place. Thusly, when her flying dropkick made contact with him, it contained the full force of her mass. Unrelenting, she bent her knees halfway through the kick to use him as a springboard as well, flinging herself up into a backflip to land with laudable grace on the central platform once more.

Not waiting to enjoy the sight of Akoni flying through the air, she turned her attention toward Snider. Did the simpleton not even bother to avoid the very obviously discolored placed on the ground where her magic lay waiting? She held two fingers upward, the paint surrounding Snider in every direction went stirred to life, and as one as many as three dozen painted lances shot straight for him. His misguidedness and neglectfulness caught up with him at last, placing the would-be trapper in a trap himself. Before the old man could hope to dodge the lances sunk into his skin and clothing. The eyes of Gomory blazed with moonlight, and she called, ”You’ve earned your rest, old man.” She spread her fingers, and the paint beneath him began to bubble and broil. All too soon, it erupted into a violent explosion of paint and moonlight, no doubt putting the elder out of the fight for good.

Gomory could feel it; the fight would soon be over. A fraction of her seriousness almost certainly dealt with two of her opponents. Now only the Nephilim and the ones called Nero and Mary remained, and in the spirit of finishing the mission swiftly, Gomory felt as if she could get serious after all. Moving her grip on Jiaolong downward, she took the hilt of the sheathed weapon in her hand. ”The time has come to end this game. A splash of paint, in colors more brilliant, startling, and chaotic than before, radiated outward from her as she let her inner devil out. Gomory’s true, monstrous form stood at the ready, garbed in lengths of paint-ruined cloth and wielding the naked Jiaolong blade. ”Zài jiàn,” she bade them, and three doppelgangers of paint appeared beside her, wielding identical blades. One rushed Wrath, another Mary, the last Akoni, and the original demon walked slowly toward Nero.



Ice crashed over the steel defenses of Gideon, coating them in a glaze of ice that stuck them together and made them sluggish, but nevertheless it served as an adequate defense. He wheeled to face Ell as she charged, repositioning his blades to arise beneath her. Never expecting such a move, the woman could do nothing as one spear each raked her hip, ribs, and shoulder, while another stuck in her boot and sank half an inch into the sole of her foot. She cried out in pain, stumbling, and Israfel tumbled from her grasp. Instantly Ell seemed to change gears, suddenly ignoring her fresh wounds to the best of her ability. Gasping, “Mother!” she dove after the mace, landing roughly on her chest but snatching the Angel Arm from where it fell.

Gideon did not receive a chance to exploit her vulnerability, however. He managed, by moving at frightening speed, to dodge or deflect most of the incoming projectiles, but some of the shot did penetrate even his skilled defenses. With practiced ease he produced his guns to return fire, simultaneously whipping his blades around to rip through the flesh and bone of Ell’s back, but he never got the chance. Even a master of multitasking as he could not sustain both an offense and a defense against five assailants. As such, when his weapons locked on to Ell, he found himself suddenly blindsided by a colossal shoulder-charge from Babyfingers to knock him out of position and disorient his aim. Roaring, the huge man then stepped over Ell, shielding her with his augmented bulk as he prepared a scatter-blast of ice shards to take Gideon down.

Meanwhile, Bullion and Souta recovered from the spritzer of machinegun fire. Using his large Devil Arm, Bullion had attempted to block the bullets, and succeeded for the most part. Some of the demon’s projectiles did damage the weapon, however, and two that got by had embedded themselves in his armor, creating sharp dents that sent a fresh wave of pain into him whenever he attempted to move his right shoulder. From Souta’s enchanted clothing swirled a miniature riptide of arcane seawater that sped up his dodge, but even still he caught a couple of the bullets in his right arm. ”Augh, God!” he growled. “That’s it.” Maelstrom fell from his grasp, but before it hit the floor it vanished, and Escre appeared in his left hand. He ran forward, buoyed up by rushing water, and transitioned into a Squall directed at Gideon. A resounding crack heralded his sliding thrust attack; Atlas, who despised not being able to help his allies in a fight, had redoubled his efforts on the barrier and they were paying off.

At that moment a Hideous sailed into the room, thrown by a newly-arrived, white-haired woman. With a yell, Bullion swung his Devil Arm in a mighty overhead chop, cleaving the Hideous’s upper torso in two with the bayonet. Mistaking her for an Order of the Sword knight, he called, “quit fooling around and attack that demon!” He pointed with the bloodied bayonet at Gideon, unable to fire for fear of hitting either Souta or Babyfingers.



Having clearly not expected Gene to both take the strike meant for Antonio and then attack, particularly with brutal speed and power, Tickler could do little but gape and swear as the marble fist of the Effigy collided with her guts. “Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!” Her scream echoed through the lobby over the sound of pistol fire, and her body slid back a full meter, her shoes squeaking on the floor, before she sank to her knees and collapsed face-first.

Immediately after, the Paladin went to work. The contracted security personnel, inexperienced as they were against supernatural foes, fell like leaves in autumn. He met an immovable object, however, in Tybalt. The southerner’s dual greatshields did not sustain anything more than a scratch from Antonio’s spear, and very nearly did he take a crippling blow for his mistake: had he been a second slower, Antonio could have been crushed by Tybalt as he pounded his shields together. For all Tybalt’s fortitude, however, the damage had been done. Two defenders remained where a mere moment ago there stood seven. Against such deadly adversaries, the situation looked very bad for the last men standing. Yet Macbeth did not frown. “Truly? We are all of us sinners.”

Then, from behind Antonio and Gene, came an awful snarl. Tickler, presumed to be defeated in a single strike, was getting to her feet. Across her body a distorting red aura simmered like rage, and her reddened face looked absolutely livid. “Любительские,” she growled in Russian. Amateur. “Боль почему я борьбе!” Pain is why I fight.

She lashed her tentacles, which had grown in size and power as if they were alive. “Вы готовы к ад?” Tickler shrieked before she threw herself toward Gene, whirling Morbuzahk with enough force to turn a tree to splinters. At the same time Macbeth moved forward, dashing low before assaulting Antonio with his cursed swords.

Are you ready for hell?

@Lugubrious@rivaan

Gideon seemed to have been successful in spearing Ell's body and foot, despite her trying to ignore the pain and continuing the fight. Regardless, he continues fire on Bullion and Souta, whom the former had attempted to block the bullets, and succeeded for the most part. Yet even then, some got through and were able to pierce through his armor and even damage the weapon. Even Souta got a few in his arm as well. The half-demon was doing alright for a fight like this so far. But as he turned his attention onto finishing Ell off, he suddenly felt like getting hit by an incoming freight train as Babyfingers shoulder-charged into him. Regardless he still ordered his blades to go but being knocked out of position, the aim was messed up as they barely missed Ell by a close meter, but was in aim of getting Babyfingers instead.

Gideon was flinged away as he gets back his footing, skidding across the ground on his feet. Perhaps he was a little too careless in watching out for that brute. Regardless, he wasn't out of the fight. Then, the half-demon hears a pained roar of battle as Souta ran forward, buoyed up by rushing water, and transitioned into a Squall directed at Gideon. He then issued a sliding thrust attack, but at that time, the half-demon quickly equipped his right Bone Gauntlet from his belt and attempted to issue a Piercing Blow at his opponent. If it were to hit, it would pierce and gore Shouta's side as he would be pushed to the side by the incoming force. He would be lucky it didn't utterly chop him in half... or worse.

As the half-demon was going to face towards the remaining people in his wake, he suddenly hears another voice, a feminine one, and sees a dead Hideous flying towards Bullion as he slices it in half with a single stroke of his Devil Trigger. When he finally sees his opponent, his demon senses had detected her to be a half-demon herself. He was taken back as somewhat surprised. Perhaps he wasn't the only half-demon here after all. Regardless, it's clear that she wasn't part of Hell herself, but probably reinforcements for these humans. Disgusted, he attempts to knock her out of the sky as she transforms another four blades into two longswords, and with a flick of his wrist, they issue a Fast-Slash at her. He showed no regret in doing this at all...

Suddenly, Mary was in a wall.

It all happened so fast. Mary was rushing towards the old man, sword in hand. He simply stood there with a warhammer in his hands, lax but obviously ready. Then suddenly she just... Couldn't see him anymore. He was obscured by a blur, something so fast Mary could barely just see it. A demon, full fleshed beast. The woman was cutting at him in Mary's place. They both stopped, and the demon crouched. And then,

Hell.

The demon activated it's devil trigger for just the tiniest of moments. Only a trained eye could catch something so fast. Especially when being launched into a wall. The demon released a painted shockwave that knocked Mary into one of the wall of the ruin. It crumpled on impact, and Mary felt herself cough up some liquid. She wiped it away with out looking at it for fear of it not being spit or bile.

Mary waited there for a while. Simply watching the demon play with her toys. Mary didn't bother listening to anything the any of them said. She only listened for Nero's voice. She looked over to him. His devil bringer was revealed, and he too was standing by. She pulled herself out of the rubble, and began to make her way over to him, on guard at all times so as to not get in the demon's way. Mary did not even fire a shot at her though, as a cocktail of fear and resignation spread through her. If only things had gone different, maybe they could have succeeded. The tall man who seemed unaffiliated actually managed to hit her once, twice even! But it was over now.

After ascending from below the pit (did she have a teleportation technique?) She unsheathed her blade. A ravenous demonic form appeared, chaos incarnate. Mary's entire body tensed, Falling Leaf Blade out and adrenaline pumping. Two beings made of some sort of substance appeared from underneath her feet, color's chaotically splayed all across its form. She began to dodge before it even ran at her, but even with Mary's enhanced speed, the construct managed touched the edge of Mary's face. The cut was clean, and silver began flowing out of it. Mary felt sick, and bile began to rise from her stomach, and tears began to form in her eyes. Without the help of her devil trigger, she would not even be able to survive two slices of the blade.

"Nero, we need to leave now!" She called out with a scream. But she couldn't even check if he was alive. If she gave this thing even an inch, it would not hesitate to decapitate her. The thought of activating her devil trigger crossed her mind again. She would rather die with honor.

The exchange was intense and Wrath was now soar and bleeding slightly on and from all over his body. But the thrill of the fight made him immune to the pain. Or at least, it would have if the guy who could portal wherever he liked hadn't come over the top of Wrath and attacked himself. Ah, no good spoil sport. Still he took the reprieve and leap back and rest for the briefest of moments. He watched the exchanges between the Demoness and the old mage, which ended with him stuck. However, as he moved to help the crazy old man, an odd sound reached his ears.

*fwoomp*

He only had a second to spot the small projectile and register it was some kind of bullet before it exploded as he dove out of it's path. His leg was wracked by shrapnel, but thanks to his armor, not much of it pierced, only just enough to make it uncomfortable to move too much. Of course, in the time it took him to remove those six pieces (Gomory was preoccupied with the psycho old man) and stand back up with Rage Bringer in hand, when the psycho was enveloped in an explosion of whatever energy Gomory used to attack. He turned to face the demoness, bringing his great sword to bear, when he found himself faced with a full Demon form Gomory, who had sent a doppleganger to face him. He met it's blade with his own, sparks grinding off the friction caused by the two weapons.

"Well then, color me interested." Pushing the fake energy demon back, he catches it with a quick pommel strike to the gut and raises Rage Bringer before bringing it down in a Crushing Slash and follows the attack up with another flurry of slashes, thrusts and pommel strikes, though the previous exchange had prepared even the copy well, letting it add several more cuts and gashes to his collection so far. So he opted instead to deflect one of the attacks to the right and then shoulder slam the copy before delivering a series of mixed fast and heavy blows.

That chick with the tentacles and pyjamas was up. That wasn't good news. Gene was absolutely sure that he'd hit her in the liver-- he had, hadn't he? The fact that she was up and about said some very sinister things about what these "Reclaimers" did to their soldiers.

Gene had seen it several times before, when he was interested in MMA. A man gets hit in the liver, even a light jab from a padded fist, and he goes down. It was just a simple part of how the body responded to an organ being bruised. Gene knew he was strong-- a blow from him would have seriously messed up that poor girl's liver. Though Gene was glad that the shock hadn't killed her outright, she was rapidly making her situation worse just by moving around. With how she's moving around, Gene reckoned, she'd be making the ruptures he'd caused even worse, resulting in grievous internal bleeding and, shortly, death.

"Wow, those are some good painkillers they've got you goons on." Gene said, genuinely worried. "Lady, you need to--" Tickler charged, and swung her tentacles wildly at Gene. Thanks to Tickler's enraged state, she certainly wouldn't be as accurate as she could have been, and Gene capitalized on this. With one wild Side Juke [1], Gene heaved himself out of Tickler's way, allowing her to safely express herself on the tasteless concrete flooring where Gene once was.

"Fuck! Stop! Take a nap, go to the hospital, do something else! You're gonna pop your goddamn liver if you keep moving around like that!"

Gene certainly couldn't convince Tickler to change her mind, but he at least hoped she would worry about herself. By a generous estimate, Gene suspected Tickler would be able to keep this tantrum up for another twenty or so seconds before she'd well and truly screw herself over, but hopefully she'd feel her organs shutting down long before that. Regardless, Gene adopted a defensive stance. If she wanted to try and sneak a few hits in before hell took her back, she'd have another thing coming!

As Gomory walked towards him, her figure shifted rapidly each time she moved with great speed in a zigzag towards Nero as he fired off his Blue Rose. As soon as the first clip ran out and he raised the large revolver to clear it off it's spent shells, Gomory charged right at him at full burst. Nero quickly responded by bringing Red Queen in front of him, blocking her attack, at the same time as throwing Blue Rose up behind him with his other hand, and with the help of his Devil Bringer, end the crossed blades with the extra power provided by his arm. Then as the two reached a neutral position, Nero had the time to catch the revolver again and load it with another clip... But after a moment of pointing it at Gomory, he slipped it away.

"Looks like a gun's not gonna cut it", he sighed, then brought Red Queen in front of him, then revved it.

"I see that arm is as dangerous as I've heard", the power he had, to be able to easily end the exchange earlier with just raw power, thanks to that arm... She was going to have to be more careful.

Two more shadows erupted from her and charged Nero down from multiple sides, but as he swung Red Queen at them, properly countering each advance, they just kept returning, and coming back faster and more numerous, and until suddenly, he was forced to do a wide spinning slash. Red Queen, wreathed in flames as it did so was being revved up in the midst of that exchange, but this was what Gomory was waiting for.

Almost upon ending his wide slash, the demoness was already coming up from behind, the glint in her eyes showed the intention to kill, she was going to not strike just once, but many times. She planned to try and end this before Nero could catch her with that arm. She felt her jaiolong meet it’s mark with each strike, yet... Something did not feel right. And upon the last hit, she felt her blade meet another blade. Forming behind Nero and in front of Gomory, was a demonic visage, a phantom, almost familiar, but what was most familiar was the sword that was now within Nero's Devil Bringer.

The Yamato. She knew what that blade was, by instinct she jumped back... This boy was filled with dangerous surprises, but then again, so was she.

Nero didn't waste time to turn the tables on Gomory and begin his own assault, she found herself creating shadows to keep up with the blade-wielding phantom behind Nero, it was like almost literally fighting two opponents at once, but Nero wasn't wielding his Red Queen anymore, instead he was swinging around the Yamato. No finesse, no elegance, nothing like the user of the Yamato she once heard of, but even then... That okatana ended up in his hands...? And that phantom behind him was familiar too. Might he have relation? In any case, now was not the time to think about this.

The Yamato was a blade that could slice through almost anything, taking a hit was going to be fatal, but the moment before Nero's attack finally got through Gomory's defenses, activated some of her Devil Trigger’s powers. The activation had enough force to throw Nero away a couple feet, then sliding a couple more as he recovered. It was clear this battle was going into an entirely new level, one no one else here could yet meet. A flurry of steel clashing against steel ensued, though amidst this, Gomory's willed spurts of discordantly-colored paint to erupt from the stone at seemingly random intervals, and even her own blood out her back, but each time that wound would close up near instantaneously. The exchange suddenly stopped, and the wind that they had created around them, the whirlwind, dispersed all at once, sending something tantamount to a shockwave throughout the entire cavern.

Gomory had decided to just hold the phantom's blade with one arm. In response Nero swung the Yamato at her, but a rapid slash with her free hand, Gomory knocked the Yamato out of his hand, but he wasn't done yet, as his Devil Bringer began to fizz out, Nero finally caught her in his powerful grip. At that same time, the shadows that everyone else was fighting disappeared too, but by then, even the shadows' opponents would have been too tired to continue for too much longer anyway.

---

As the battle between Nero and Gomory raged and all eyes were on them, the man many knew as Sevrin stepped out of the shadows, the moment he'd been waiting for. It was so handy that he didn't have to try and take the Yamato from Nero himself, as he caught the fabled demonic blade in his hand, he twirled it around a bit, and stepped towards the large pile of rocks, the second seal.

"Get out of the way you stupid ghosts", he snarled, swinging the Yamato nonchalantly. It's mystical reality-slashing properties easily disposed off the phantasmal beings that appeared to guard the Cairn. After that was over in the mere moments it occurred, he brought Yamato above his head, in a two-handed hold, and then brought the blade down. The noise itself was cut from the cavern in that single moment, and the sound of a blade slicing through it's unfortunate target brought all eyes to Sevrin.

As he turned around, the Eidolic Cairn behind him crumbled, a core-like thing under the rocks looked cracked, and then shattered as the stones erupted and turned to ash. In that instant, Gomory, frozen with surprise, lost her cool. "What!?" she shrieked, instantly forgetting Nero
A holy light filled the room in that explosion, and then suddenly... It was gone. Only a crumbling pile of gravel and stone left where the Cairn once was.

"Heheheheheeee.... Heehahahahaaaaaaaa.... AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAAA!", the maniacal laughter filled the cavern with a distinct pitch and echoed throughout the cavern.

In his weakened state, Nero charged at the man Sevrin. He went to slash with Red Queen, which Sevrin easily avoided by moving his body slightly, and as he brought the Devil Bringer to punch the man, a purple and black aura erupted from Sevrin, and then it concentrated around his arm. Sevrin grabbed a full-force punch from the Devil Bringer. Nero's face of rage changed to surprise as Sevrin's devilish grin widened, before Nero was kicked back away to where he was before. The destruction of the Second Seal, the very site of it poured with power, which Sevrin was able to absorb just by being there, it would momentarily give him more power than this body could handle, but he was regaining his strength... Soon he can separate himself from this mortal body.

"Ooooh it feels so, sooo good to get some power back... But I'm afraid this isn't enough", he began.

"Gomory, you tried, and failed... Had you spoken with these gentlemen, perhaps I would not have succeeded this night, but alas your strong-headedness was your undoing. I was almost getting worried, since this party was getting so lively. However...", the ceiling above them gave an ominous and loud belch as a mass of dust and stones began to fall.

The deluge of rubble did not register with the demoness at first. At a lost for words, she had fallen back into a sitting position. Even as the platform itself began to falter, the ghostly energy upholding it now lost, she failed to move. Never had she dreamed that something like this could happen. For the first time, her heart felt fear, not for the sake of the world or her pride, but for the fate that would befall her for her failure. Yet Gomory's face twisted from shock to rage. "Conniving vermin! I'll kill you or die trying! I swear it on my life..." Beside her the two Fausts appeared, and over the demoness they threw their shadowy cloaks. The three then vanished into darkness, leaving nothing behind but a crude painting and painful memories.

"I'm afraid this party's about over. Have fun with the cleanup all of you", he took his hat off, and bowed, his hair blasted back and was a lot messier than before, and soon his figure was hidden away as a large boulder landed in front of him. Though no one here would have the time to do anything but get out of the vast cavern, if one checked, he was simply... Gone, like a phantom. And with him, the Yamato too.

---

---

Wrath side stepped another slash, bringing his own blade around in a deadly horizontal slash in an attempt to put an end to this fight. He was sporting dozens of new slashes and cuts all over his body, but that was far from the source of his exhaustion. No, what was making his blows slower and lighter was the fatigue. He wasn't sure how much longer he could go for at the rate he and the false Gomory were going, when suddenly it vanished, allowing the Nephilim to exhale in relief. His relief, however, was short lived, as he looked up in time to see what looked like a human slamming a sword into the pile of stones.

"No!" Wrath managed to stand and start to lunge forward when the holy energy exploded outwards, blasting the Nephilim back onto his back and sending him sliding a couple of feet back. "So done with today..." Picking himself up, he watched as first Gomory disappeared, then the man who had destroyed the second seal. Before Wrath could really seek to get some answers, a boulder landed near him and had him up and moving. He spotted the portal user from before, laying on the ground looking beat to hell and scooped him up as he ran, going back out the tunnel he'd come in. "Come on you old fool, you aren't dying here."

Through the tunnels the Nephilim ran, trying to stay ahead of the crumbling ceiling behind him. It was close, he'd felt rocks and pebbles hit his head, neck and back several times, but he didn't slow down until he was in a newer part of the tunnels and running up the stairs of a subway station. Once he was sure he'd cleared the danger zone, he slowed and then stopped, panting, and laid the old man down against a wall. Looking back towards where the Cairn had been, he turns and slams his fist into a wall, breaking it partially. "Well fuck. Uriel's going to be pissed."

Kosara giggled as the demon she threw ahead of her was cut into two. It was just a husk as she had killed it already, but it was still a nice thing to see, causing a huge waves of pleasure and joy wash across her.

When she heard the order from the members from the Order of the Sword she just smiled slyly as she looked at their enemy. Kosara grimaced for a moment as she realized it was a half demon also... sure he was strong, but wasn't a full demon. Granted he seemed all kinds of demonic and was surely gona give one good enjoyable fight. She giggled once again.” That's not a demon... it's a HALF demon! Doesn't matter though! I WANT TO FIGHT YOU to the point you get unchained!” She shouted at Gideon with an overly excited and happy voice.” Unchained as in... ohh screw it...” She finally said realizing the joke was lame.

As the red headed enemy attacked her with two swords that were hovering around(all kinds of fun she decided it was), she quickly swung her sword in a circle using her layered block to block as much of the attack as she can, before she spun in motion, making a half step as she jumped the rest of the distance towards the enemy. Then she swung her sword upward at him. She smiled, with a pure blissful expression on her face.” I know I will love fighting you!” She said before something went terribly wrong as energy fluctuations hit her senses. She swung her sword to the side to get away from the enemy as the realization of the something going wrong sank in...” The seal...?” She muttered.

Akoni punched and punched and punched, cursing as each time he was blocked, parried, diverted, and got a little more of that strange paint substance on his devil arm, Lammasu. Ultimately however, his strategy had the desired effect. Gomory had been so distracted with the constant onslaught from himself and the nephilim Wrath that she fell straight down his gate. Akoni smirked at his accomplishment, but it was short-lived.

At that moment he found that he could hardly move anymore. The bizarre ability of that she-demon had hardened, keeping him in place. What's worse was the distinct sound of a grenade shell landing nearby. Snider, you idiot! Thinking quickly, Akoni took advantage of the situation. Rather than let himself be killed by some other old man's weapon, he created a gate between himself and the grenade, and fashioned the exit directly up against the hardened paint. When the explosive detonated, shrapnel pierced through his temporary prison. Once weakened, it was easy to bust himself free.

"I'm getting sick of that shit trapping my arms," he mumbled, dismissing the gates. It was at that moment that one of the prime weaknesses of his Gatewalk took its toll, for they were not transparent and blocked his vision. Once the gate was dismissed, Akoni barely caught sight of Gomory flying toward him, feet first. He nary had time to soften the blow by blocking with a single arm, but it was nowhere near enough. Akoni was sent tumbling backward, two ribs cracking in the process. His reluctant journey only ended when his back collided with a stone, giving a large, nasty bruise. Akoni was nowhere near him prime, and despite his fantastic magical prowess still possessed the body of a normal, fragile human being. Suffice it to say, he wasn't feeling very good at this point.

"GAH! Uuuuugh." He struggled to stand, grasping his ribs in pain, trying to hold them in place. Once up again he took a moment to cast a spell that would aid him. "Mending," he mumbled through the pain, then exhaled harshly as his bones grinded against one another to snap back into place. They were by no means healed, but at least they weren't stabbing into his organs anymore.

By the time the old wizard looked up, Gomory had transformed. She was done playing around and had activated her full devil trigger. Fantastic. What's more, she still considered him enough of a threat to send some kind of clone or doppelganger after him. Hell, she probably didn't consider him a threat at all. It was probably just "clean up." Akoni sighed, knowing that if he was going to survive, he only had one single solitary option left to him, and that one option meant he was probably going to die anyway. Well if you have to go, go out on your own terms, right?

The elderly man closed his eyes and looked at peace. As the Gomory-clone approached him he took a deep breath, then opened his eyes. A bright blue light shone from them, like a high-powered flood light. Then one by one, the tattoos covering his body began to shine as well. The lights grew brighter and brighter until they erupted into an aura surrounding his body like a bright blue flame.

"OVERCHARGE!" The words were not spoken, not shouted, but seemed to emanate from the very core of the wizard's being. At speeds incomprehensible to normal mortals he dashed forward, his Surge ability far faster than it was previously. In an instant he reappeared in front of the doppelganger, both fists embedded deep into its chest. With a mighty force he pulled his arms to the side, tearing the construct in two.

All in all the event had taken no more than five seconds total. In the next instant the aura faded. The light dimmed. Akoni fell over onto the ground, his vision gone hazy. As he hit the hard stone ground, he caught sight of something terrible. A man he recognized, holding a legendary sword of Sparda's, the Yamato. As the man brought the sword's blade down onto the Second Seal of Armageddon, Akoni lost consciousness, barely clinging on to life.

Humans were, Lily decided, incredibly stupid individuals. Oh, she had known it for several centuries, but that did not lessen the aggravation she felt when that ineptitude showed itself in full force. About the only one that seemed to show some level of higher level thought process was the Nephilim, but even he fell to the lure of battle, and was inevitably beaten back, even if he seemed to be the only one who had actually managed to put up a bit of a fight.

In the time that she and Fenn had observed, neither had moved from their position nor made their presence known. If they had been discovered—she doubted they had—then no one had bothered to draw them into the conflict, or had been too scared to. Gomory, as was evident by her actions, was a formidable fighter in her own right, and involving an additional two demons into the fight, with dubious allegiances, would he hazardous at best.

More than once, however, she did feel tempted to join the fight, if only to show how a true demon fought, but every time Fenn glanced at her, reminding her of what she already knew: Going in would ruin their only advantage should it ever become necessary to actually fight, and they still did not know if Gomory was even telling the truth. So she waited. And watched.

The fighting seemed to come to a close, with Gomory revealing her true form and absolutely devastating the opposition. That even the Nephilim seemed to be having a very hard time at even staying alive did surprise her to a certain degree.

Everything changed, however, when someone else showed up. By the looks of it, a human, but someone with a sword and an arm of demonic nature. The fighting was heated but brief, ending with the sword being knocked from the newcomer's hand... only the be grabbed by someone else, someone whom Lily had not even noticed arriving. She did not recognise him by his looks, but something about him definitely felt off, and frighteningly familiar. But that's impossible! Lily wasn't one to be frightened, but a voice in her head told her to get away the instant she laid eyes upon him and sensed the malevolence all but wafting off of him in thick, stinking waves.

She turned to Fenn. "We need to leave. Now." As she said it, the earth started to shake, and the caverns and tunnels they were in started to crumble. A quick glance over her shoulder revealed the unthinkable: The Seal had been broken, by none other than the one who felt Wrong, slashed apart by Yamato. Hackles rising, she turned around resolutely and started marching away with Fenn at her heels.

The swordsman dashed forward, attacking the paladin head on without so much as a sneak attack. He was one of those dual sword fighters; Antonio knew their type. Broadly, they were in two categories. One had the experience, reflexes, and upper body strength to use a large sword in each hand. The other kind didn't.
And as he began swinging at Antonio, using sword and shield to parry the devil arm's blows, it became quickly obvious he was the latter. If his physical ability was quantified into statistics, they'd be... middling, he'd have to say.

But beyond that, he had an annoying manner of dress, with a fedora covered in large feathers. It was typical, really.
"Flock off, feather face!" he said, using his Stonewall skill. The shield bash was invulnerable from the front and excellent for knocking opponents away, but its real usage lay as a setup; knocking your opponents back left them with a huge opening as he immediately used his other skill. Michael flashed with a glowing light, and the paladin rocketed forward, thrusting the sword in front of him like an angry lance headed towards the blasphemer's heart.

After much searching around and interrogating of Order members she finally managed to get general direction to search in. It was made even simpler with the sudden fluctuation that came like a storm. This power....it can't be.... Alarmed with what she felt, she took off at full speed towards the direction it was coming from. When she arrived at the Cairn, her eyes went wide at the sight of the seal being completely destroyed.

Though, the surprise was more-so directed at who broke the seal than the fact it was broke in the first place. By all appearances that thing was human, but it clearly reeked of demon. For the first time in over a millennia, Blair found herself trembling in fear. She wasn't sure who he was but he felt familar and was someone that was enough to send chills down her spine. The one causing the distortions... It must be him.....but... it's impossible! Lord Mundus must know immediately...

Once the figure vanished from sight, she decided it would be best to flee. With the seal now destroyed, target identified, she needed to get out of there and report back to Lord Mundus. She should probably meet back up with Gideon but she was sure he'd crop back up eventually. With that out of the way, she made her way out of the Cavern and report back what she found out.

KYL-9XX

Laying on the cold floor, KYL could do little but watch as things went from bad to worse. The demoness took on every opponent that launched at her nonchalantly, playing really, more than fighting. It wasn´t until the old man and the demon-angel took her on at the same time that she seemed to take the battle seriously. She was so powerful, so resourceful, the cyborg had never faced an opponent as dangerous as her. It all culminated in her transforming into a fully-fledged demon, taking on a man in white. The two opponents were equally strong, exchanging blows and cuts back and forth. The cyborg waited for an opportunity to step in, but he knew it would be pointless. His augmentations and arsenal were no match for the supernatural beings. It made him feel fear and anger. Wait?

//EMX_INHIBITION_CHIP: NOT RESPONDING
//CONTACT_DR_MELDRICH

What was going on?? KYL was suddenly filled with a spectrum of things he hadn´t felt in years. His mind was racing, trying to understand what was going on. All he knew, or remembered, was to take decisions based on facts and infromation...but all of a sudden, a thousand new parameters were available to him. Emotions. And one emotion reigned supreme: Fear. It made his limbs freeze and his mind stutter. The cyborg was not used to this, and he wasn´t liking the change at all. He thought things could not get worse, but oh, they did. Where the demoness and the man in white were fighting, suddenly a man appeared. A man he recognized from his files, affiliated to the Hunters. He was holding a sword in his hand, and for a second it seemed like the battle was about to be done: The demoness would lose. But the man didn´t attack the demoness.

He broke the seal.

The breaking of the seal was followed by something like an earthquake. As the place started to fall apart, the walls and the ground shaking, the cyborg realized two things: 1) They had lost. All of them. 2) It was time to get out. KYL turned around, back the way he came from. Taking a quick glance back, he realized that everyone was trying to save themselves. His Cheetah module was still working, and so he started his thrusters and made his way back down the dark tunnels. The demonic creatures had all either been killed, or they were escaping as well, as he didn´t run across anything but falling stones and rubble on his way out.

KYL stepped out of the manhole into the streets. The world wouldn´t be the same, he knew. Not for him and not for anyone else. Where to go from here? That was the feeling of despair, he knew now.

The passage back through the tunnels was silent, the Shapeshifter lost to her own thoughts and the large Hellhound back on their trail, leading them back down the path that had led them to that cavern. Were it not for the urgency in their pace and the rumbling behind them, one would think the two had not in fact witnessed the destruction of the second Seal of Armageddon. Fortunately, whatever load the second seal had been bearing in the cavern only seemed to extend as far as the immediately adjacent tunnels. It was not long before the only signs of collapse was the occasional echo of crashing stone.

Fenn could not help but retrace through the events leading up to it in his mind. He had watched the battle between Hell’s recruiter and the interlopers with only passing interest, making notes of fighting styles and potential threats to himself out of habit – it was another harsh truth that the large demon could not remember the last time he had met another being without silently contemplating the best manner of ending their lives – but the encounter in an of itself was a sore sight.

He had come to believe not a single one of all the individuals involved in the initial skirmish had been seeking to destroy the seal. Even before considering the reasons why it would make sense for humans, demons, half-demons, and other parties would want to protect the seal, there was was simple fact Fenn had observed throughout the confrontation. All of their attention had been focused on each other, rather than the cairn behind them. And so the conflict came from foolhardy pride on the side of the Demon King’s aide, and bumbling ignorance from the interlopers. Two sides of the same coin, both wishing for the same thing, yet both snarling at each other across the empty expanse.

It would have been entertaining had it not been so profoundly stupid.

The enemy had said as much when he finally showed himself. The seal had been destroyed, but now they had a target. Not that Fenn knew who the snake was, nor where he had come from. Concealment of some kind was a likely explanation. He had made his way into the room, perhaps during the fight, perhaps before all of them, if he lacked the means of destroying the seal by himself, and then waited. The half-demon’s weapon had given him his opportunity. Something powerful enough to cut-off that wellspring of power with a lazy slash.

But then the enemy had disappeared, leaving them with no trail to follow.

Though perhaps that was not strictly true. “It feels so, sooo good to get some power back..." the snake’s words echoed in his head, something his sharp ears had picked even from the other side of the cavern.

There was an implication there, about power once possessed, but then lost. This idea was key, Fenn decided. An old player returned, seeking to reassert his presence? But who fit that profile, and how would knowing that help them reach him?

They passed through Buer’s room on their way out, but neither did the scholar open his eyes in response to their presence, nor did Lily acknowledge his existence, simply walking past the demon and through the torn wall as though it were simply another hallway. Fenn hesitated ever so slightly before following. The scholar was an option. Even bound as he was, he seemed to know more than anyone else involved in these matters. Even if he could not direct them towards the snake, he may be able to offer some insight as to the location of the next seal.

Fenn grimaced under the low light of his flames. Part of him found the idea of relying on the chimera repellent. They had already refused Buer his freedom once, and going back on that decision simply because the situation had changed stung at his pride. However, if the two of them were to protect the seals, a plan of action was needed.

He had come fully prepared to sacrifice this seal for the purpose of identifying the assailant, but he had expected more to come out of it. Or perhaps he had not.

Slow laughter escaped him.

This finally brought Lily out from her reverie. She wheeled around. “What’s so funny?”

“I was contemplating,” Fenn said as he came to a halt, “that never before have I been so pleased by failure.”

“Shut up,” she nearly hissed, settling for a very dissatisfied grumble instead. Her face looked more like a dark and stormy sky, ready to send down forks of lightning at whatever displeased it, or, in this case, her. “If you knew who that was, you wouldn’t be happy. I can’t tell you his name, but he was there two thousand years ago. And he’s the third most powerful Demon I know of. He’s leagues above either of us.”

Fenn’s sneer grew. Confirmation. She must not know him as well as she boasted, for the news made him very happy indeed. “Do you falter in the face of your enemy, Imp?”

“Falter?” She huffed, mock offended. “Hardly. I stood up against the brat Mundus, refused to follow in his steps. And Mundus is still more powerful than this one… He still should not be here, however.” She grimaced, arms crossing.

“I imagine. I hazard if you were to encounter him, you would find him far more within reach than you may expect.”

“He didn’t seem as powerful as he should, that much is true,” Lily replied, her grimace turning into a grim smile. “That being said, I have no intentions of giving up. There are yet five seals to go, and, despite everything, the humans have taught me something.” At this point she all but grinned, meeting Fenn’s eyes. Fenn recognised the defiant glint, having seen it before on several occasions. It was the look of someone who had set a goal, and refused to give up. “They taught me persistence. No matter the odds they never give up, nor do I have anything intentions of doing so. The seals will remain. So I have decided.” She turned on her heel, continuing down the tunnels, a swagger in her steps that had not been there before, betraying her steadily improving mood.

The dog rolled his eyes, following. “There is nothing inherently human about intransigence and pride, Imp.”

“You say that, yet I have never seen a demon stand up to someone or something so much more powerful than themselves, that they may have very well been a human in terms of power. You, of all puppies, should know that. Or have you forgotten that human you fought earlier? Hopelessly outmatched and yet he refused to simply run away.” She glanced at him out the corner of her eye. “Surely that counts as a level of defiance known only to humans? Most demons I know are cowards, or reckless and unaware of danger like Hideous.”

“A case in favor of foolishness.” An idiocy that would not stand in most of the underworld. All who espoused it were dead, and for good reason. Fenn had buried many such foes himself. And how could he not remember? Most had been kin.

He snarled. It seemed that the lighter Lily’s mood turned, the darker his own became. “I would know of your plans, Imp.”

“Getting on your nerves is always such a simple task,” the demoness idly commented, then grew more serious. “As of right now, I have few plans. The closest to one would be to find the third seal through whatever means, and do what we can to protect it.” A look of revelation, almost as if she had an epiphany, appeared, a thoughtful look following. “Which means that we’d probably be best off allying with the humans of Gilgamesh or the Order of the Sword. I assume you’ve heard of them?”

He shrugged. All humans looked alike to him. He was not particularly interested in the powers of this world. That said, the shortcoming that finally brought low Hell’s recruiter was an inability or unwillingness to differentiate friend from foe. If they were going to put success before pride, expediency would take the reins by necessity.

“I will follow the trails,” he said, moving past her. “We may still reach those that gathered around the second seal.”

Lily offered a nod. “Lead the way.”

In Souta's rash anger, he did not perceive that his fast thrust attack might fail, and that Gideon might flip the script and eviscerate the human in a single hit. Far too late did Souta spot the triple blades of his adversary's Bone Gauntlet, on a collision course for his torso. A direct impact at this range would spatter his innards and splash his spinal fluid all over the opposing wall, let along bypass his water aura as if it were nothing. The art student's adrenaline turned the instant he noticed his incoming death into an agonizing moment in which he could do nothing but stare, a look on his face not complete enough to register as horror, and think about how little he wanted to die.

The Bone Gauntlet ripped in, crushing core material. Souta yelled in fear, but the sound that immediately preceded this noise was not the gruesome shluck of a newly-made corpse, but the sound of rending metal. Abruptly, the weapon's path stopped, hanging in midair except for some odd distortion around the blades. A steely whisper emanated from the empty space in between Gideon and Souta, ”Don't you touch my baby brother.”

Otsune's invisibility wore off, revealing the catastrophic damage dealt to her left arm. While cybernetic, the sparking wound nevertheless managed to inspire a semblance of terror for what might have otherwise been. As one the two siblings jumped back, with the younger awash with relief that he imagined might soon turn to embarrassment. As Otsune studied the extent of her 'injury', as coldly as if she hadn't just saved Souta's life, the latter watched Gideon turn his attention to the newcomer.

At that moment, a resounding crack echoed through the antechamber. The humans turned to see the stone blocking the door stood no longer. Through the aperture rushed a wave of greenish energy and a ominous, worrisome pressure. Atlas rushed inside, followed by the others with Babyfingers guarding the rear, and together they stood on a lip over the abyss and witnessed the destruction of the second seal.

No words could to justice to the feeling of catastrophe that took hold of them. Freshly out of one traumatic experience, Souta didn't know what to think. ”We...didn't even get here in time?” His eyes swept over the various interesting people inside the huge cavern, and they beheld the beginning of the collapse. ”Chikushō...” Next to him, he heard tearful sniffling. He turned to see Ell, hunched over from the pain, limping up to watch the fall. Pity overwhelmed him, and he put his arm over her should as much to comfort as to help her walk. ”Don't cry. We'll do better next time.” He glanced at everyone else, searching for support. ”Come on, let's get out of here.”

And they did.



The fact that Gene avoided Tickler's frenzy attack incensed her -naturally- but did not bother her unduly. If anything, she disliked how he seemed to be trying to play defensively. Did he mean to wait the berserker out? Perhaps he put too much faith into his attack from earlier. Few ordinary women could sustain an unrestrained punch from a man, particularly one with such power as the Effigy, but the Tickler did not constitute an ordinary woman. Putting her natural and trained toughness aside, she had been altering herself even before service in Gilgamesh. Modifications to her physique, coupled with flexible but top-of-the-line body armor, meant that though she went through severe pain every second, she would not be bleeding out.

“Вы идиота думать мне слабой,” she roared, and taking a solid stance, she sent the Morbuzahk's tentacles forward. You are an idiot to think me weak. Like the heads of a hydra they surged through the air, aiming to impale, ensnare, and crush.

At the same time, Macbeth wore a quiet smile. As he 'attacked', he took note of the resilience of Antonio's weapons, and the practiced hand that rebuffed the twinbladed assault. This dance continued until Antonio made a crucial error—opening his mouth.

Among the soldiers used by Gilgamesh, Macbeth had always been an odd one. First and foremost in the company's mission came the assertion of humanity's place in the trinity of realities, which not only hinted at but demanded combat with angels and demons. Yet Macbeth, grim, softspoken, and enamored with suffering, chose from a young age to train himself against humans. He knew how they thought and acted—he could practically read Antonio like a book. When the paladin opened his mouth to offer a witty one-liner, Macbeth guessed that he was about to do something special. Yet he did not immediately transition to an attack, and so the clever swordsman's eyes landed on the shield.

Drastically Macbeth slowed his attack, withholding his strength so that his blades struck the shield at quarter-power. Instantly he found himself shunted backward, the force at which he attacked taken and redirected against him. Then from Antonio came a brief but brilliant glow, no doubt meant to herald a righteous counterattack and end the fight in one shot. Feeling truly insulted but smiling anyway, Macbeth allowed the blade to come, and at the crucial moment he span to the side. The ludicrous, bone-crushing force of Antonio's attack proved his detriment, carrying him right past Macbeth and out of range. The swordsman snickered. Looks like my playing has convinced him that I'm an amateur. I wonder if he's seen through the act now? He eagerly anticipated finding out.

The moment never came. There came a sound of thunder, and underfoot the earth shuddered. Tickler nearly fell backward, and she instinctively retracted her weapon's tentacles to steady herself. Making sure that he stood outside Antonio's attack range, Macbeth steadied himself. Over the next few seconds, he remained still as the earth rumbled on, moving only when it trailed off provided one of his enemies did not attempt to make a move. “Well,” he began. “This complicates thi...?”

A harrowing screech interrupted him, bidding all present to look out toward the street. Before the combatants' eyes, a car flipped end over end, metal crumpled and glass disintegrated. Through the street echoed the clamor of a great bell, ringing out as a wave of smoky darkness swamped the ground. A purple glyph appeared in the murkiness, and from the portal rushed a looming Hell Vanguard. The twelve-foot-tall demon swung its scythe at a nearby abandoned hot dog sand, slapping it like a hockey puck down the street. It clashed noisily against the shield of a huge, red-armored Ardor whose form shivered in the damaged veil meant to hide angels from the eyes of humans under normal circumstances. Without any further ado the two warriors locked blades, the Vanguard screaming horrifically all the while. From the darkness rose a troop of Hell Prides with interspersed Hell Sloths, some of which attacked the Ardor. The rest turned their sights on the two other beacons of holy energy nearby: Gene and Antonio.

Macbeth chuckled darkly. During the action he and Tickler had regrouped, the latter bereft of her berserker rage and doubled over in pain. “Adieu, adieu! We'll let the demons sing you to your rest.” The pair retreated hastily, fleeing into a back room and sliding shut the vault door behind them.



News stories across America, separated as they were by distance, ideals, and more, temporarily united to cover a single breaking story: the disaster befallen Barlour City. According to witnesses, the ground began to quake in a surprise tremor just after noon, while most folks hid indoors from a storm unprecedented for the region. City officials quickly decided to sound the alarm, and in minutes the entire populace was in full evacuation. People streamed out of the city by bus, in cars, on bikes, and on foot. Social media coined the ongoing event the 'Barlocalypse', and the net buzzed with sensationalized stories about the ground ripping up and bizarre entities running amok. Miraculously, the casualties were minimal, but still a tragic amount were dead, wounded, or missing. Everybody agreed: within hours, the city looked and felt like a warzone.

In truth that estimation did not at all miss the mark. The destruction of the Eidolic Cairn marked the rise of chaos, not just of the land itself, but among the forces of heaven and hell. Waves of demons and angels appeared in various locations in the city, quickly developing into a bloody struggle. The remaining members of the Demon Hunter's Organization and the Order of the Sword found their hands more full than ever before if they chose to stay; against individual or squads of enemies, a group of talented combatants could hold their own, but either a legion of Hell and a platoon of Heaven could wipe humans out instantly if they interfered in the ongoing battle. Gilgamesh, counting the mission as a complete loss, wasted no time departing along with the civilians. Its SUVs, vans, and helicopters left the branch office packed to the brim with personnel and property. Meanwhile, the inhuman occupants of the city could very well choose to fight it out if they wished, yet all that lay before them was a glory-devoid battle of attrition.

Yet even as the individuals who participated in or witnessed the battle for the Eidolic Cairn dispersed, they would never be alone. Mary, Souta, Silas, Fenn, Snider, Wrath, Lily, KYL, Kosara, Akoni, Gene, Antonio, and Midori all felt it. Deep underground the spirits of ancient humans had watched their every step, but after the destruction of the Cairn and the passing of the spirits, the feeling of being watched did not fade away. The hairs on the backs of necks remained raised; the senses of the sensible continued to tingle. Several hours after the end of the incident, whilst the war in Barlour raged on, it finally became apparent why.

From nowhere there would come a voice, a lackadaisical sort of greeting. Then again, it didn't come from nowhere; it came from a being, tall, gaunt, shadowy, and utterly unexpected. Where could it have come from? Its six eyes gleamed a sinister green-blue, and it seemed very much like a demon, but unlike demons, no attack made against it would have any effect. Making itself at home in whatever environment it found its target it, whilst both speaking and acting in an annoyingly condescending and smug manner, the creature explained that its target had been summoned—by who, he or she might ask? Why, by the true authority of the cosmos. Of course, the watcher would be only too pleased to escort its target. Brooking no disagreement, it would reach out and grasp the target even if he or she refused before warping away into darkness.



Somehow, participating in the mass exodus from Barlour made the failure of Gilgamesh, and indeed everyone, that much bitterer to Souta. He expected that the soldiers felt the same, if not worse. They, after all, had more to lose. As much as this disaster pained him, Souta reasoned that he could not have been expected to do any better. One could not, after all, demand an art student and arms maker to be as adept a fighter as a trained warrior. While a small part of him glumly acknowledge the selfishness of the declaration, he concluded that he did the best he could. These assumptions, of course, could not be run by any of the Gilgamesh operatives. During the first phase of the evacuation, Otsune received an order to go and pick up one of the reinforcements, a cyborg called Kyle or something like that, who got himself damaged during the proceedings. Still not overly pleased with the near-annihilation of her forearm, Otsune rerouted the request to Souta, who obeyed to pay her back. Taking a crappy abandoned car, he had quickly sought out and picked up the cyborg, but not fast enough to join the others in their orderly retreat. So now Souta drove on the open road in a station wagon, Kyle in the backseat, with trouble receding behind them and trouble coming up ahead.

As much as he tried to concentrate, the man's mind did wander as he cruised down the highway. In fact, after passing through a tunnel, he did not notice the car's newest occupant reclining in the passenger seat until she sighed and remarked, ”Ah, don'tcha just love the highways in the afternoon?”

Souta nearly jumped out of his skin. In his panic he careened over both lanes, but fortunately there were no other cars on this scenic route. Slamming on the break, he pulled over, practically tore down the door, and tumbled out onto the grass. From inside the car the dark specter snickered. What's the matter, kid? You look like you've seen a ghost.” She floated out and seated herself on top of the car. Looking at Souta and Kyle both, she continued. ”Terrible manners to show to someone like me. I'm an important person, you know. Very busy. Very important.”

Two oversized fishhooks appeared in Souta's hands. The watcher clucked its tongue -or at least, made a sound similar to it despite an apparent lack of a mouth- and told him, ”Won't work, kiddo. Try all you want; can't touch this.” She laughed even as one of the hooks passed harmlessly through her head, after which she put on a hurt expression. Naturally, her six eyes and lack of discernible features made this difficult to pick up on. ”Oh, aren't you the cutest thing. Well, quit fidgeting and listen for a sec. You've been called for. I'm here to take you in.” She made her claws into finger guns. Busted! Huhuhuhuh.”

Feeling very threatened and irritated, Souta banished his Trawlers. He glanced deploring at Kyle before looking back at the watcher.