Mara eyed the bayonet with a confused look until Father Anderson put the blade to her cheek and pulled abruptly, slicing her cheek open. Mara let out a scream that only shook the windows thanks to the holy scriptures. "See wee lass we know alllll about you and that demon becoming one as you defiled your sacred body, given to you by the Lord, in the name of lust. Mara tried valiantly to cuss the man out but the gag just made it sound like angry garbled nonsense. Father Anderson spun around and back handed the cheek he cut so hard it started bleeding again and Mara thought she saw stars in her eyes. "You WILL keep yer mouth SHUT you infested wench!" he snapped. Mara had a feeling that Gabriel would have never hired this man had he known what he intended to. Did he know about this?
Father Anderson went to cut Mara again, this time on her thigh but the screaming Domonique behind him halted his movements for now. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING TO HER!?" Domonique screamed running down the stairs from the office room. Father Anderson straightened himself and stepped away from Mara before Domonique could shove him off like she intended. "This is NOT what we agreed upon, one and SECONDLY I had yet to determine if Mara was actually in any danger and you KIDNAP US!?" Domonique yelled, the ground below them shaking. "We knew you had a weak resolve for the girl and would probably by her 'in love' sob storeh, so we had to improvise. I do have to thank ye though, whatever you did to get 'er here made it so she couldn't sense Yumekio watching you. Made it a lot easier to grab ye both!" Father Anderson explained turning his back to them as Heinkel rolled out a kart to him. Domonique noticed what looked like torture materials spread out and was horrified.
"Now with the wonderful block we put up, the demon can't communicate or feel her and vice versa, but once we drop it, all her pain hits him fullll force. Incapacitating him long enough for us to capture him. Then we can have more fun with her in front of him, eventually kill her whenever we get bored and then get rid of the vile stain known as Malum." he informed them with a sadistic smile. "Now you can move, or join her." the father asked. Just as a look of horror spread across the girls' faces a man walked in, "Father Anderson, they're here!". Mara was able to force him out the way without her hands or an incantation and the shock gave Domonique enough time to run out the open door. "Yumeiko After 'er!" Father Anderson ordered and Yumekio ran after Domonique. "Ah well, more time for you then!" Father Anderson said picking up a scalpel and walking over to Mara.
Once outside, Domonique had a lot less people to stop her from casting but Yumeiko was fast. Domonique muttered a spell making a mass of the land around her quicksand while simultaneously rising stones from the ground to create a protective barrier around her like a dome shaped by stone pillars. "You think you can help your friend in there? She is as good as dead already. Just give into the Iscariot and let us purge you of your sins and send you to heaven while you still remain pure!" she screeched. Domonique ignored that bat shit crazy woman outside her protective area and sat with her legs crossed. "Mother Gaia hear my plea, I require your aid and energy. Let me see and let me speak, let me find the one I seek." she whispered along the wind. Immediately she felt her connection to the earth swell. She could feel every plant, tree or blade of grass commented to the earth. The animals that lived off what mother earth provided and how the other elements fed into one another.
She found a flock of birds perched on the building across from her hotel. "Lend me yourself." she whispered and her eyes snapped open looking like that of a raven. She controlled the lead bird, causing the flock to follow as they swooped down uncharacteristically onto the sidewalk where Kayos and Vyngence were filling Malum in on their findings. The bird cawed at Malum aggressively and it didn't take long for him to put two and two together. " Vygence, follow the flock! Kayos call the others and tell them where to meet us!" Malum threw out orders as he jumped into his car. Domonique led them to the location of the wherehouse before letting her connection with the birds go. When she opened her eyes she almost fell over but the constant sound of Yumeiko still trying to hop over the quicksand and break down the stone kept her going.
"You are overly, fucking, ANNOYING!" Domonique screamed, making the ground shake, throwing Yumekio's jump off and landing her feet first into the quicksand. "I may not be Mara but I am still a witch in my own right and I am NOT to be TRIFLED with BITCH! I may not be able to stop your order of Judas cock sucking psychopaths but I made sure to call on someone who could." Dominique spat as Yumekio sank further into the ground. "Hope you know that not regular quicksand dear girl. This spell I worked on after Mara had me watch this crazy show called Naruto? I think? Anyway, charochol wearing sand ninja, crazy red hair, did this cool ass move and I knew I had to rock that shit. Took me a month to perfect the spell but I haven't had a chance to perfect it...till now!" Dominique said with a laugh.
She began to mutter her spell as the ground returned to its normal solid form but the earth around Yumekio lifted, so they were now eye level. Domonique cupped her hands together and interlocked her fingers slowly as the stone and dirt began to slowly crush Yumeiko's body. "Stop! STOP PLE-AAHHHHH!" Yumekio coughed on her own blood as her ribs shattered, punchering her lungs with a resounding crack. I believe I remember asking for mercy on my friends behalf and getting none." Dominique whispered into Yumekio's ear and she stopped applying pressure. "Your friend is vile and tainted! She needs to be cleaned from this earth!" she managed to get out between coughs and chokes. Domonique made a confused face and begin looking around on the ground and in her pants pockets from something. Finally after a few seconds she stopped and looked into the confused eyes of Yumeiko's. "Sorry, Fresh outta mercy or fucks to give." she said as she cupped her hands again. This time instead of applying pressure, Domonique pulled her hands apart and splayed her fingers wide causing spikes of earth to launch Yumeiko's body in all different directions. She closed her first causing even more spikes to shoot out from the original ones. "This is for Mara!" Domonique yelled and she held her closed fist together and then pulled them apart angrily as the earth pulled apart in no kind of order, shredding the remains of Yumeiko's body and flinging the pieces apart. "Please hurry." Domonique whispered look in the direction Malum should be appearing.
~
It didn't take long for Kayos and Vyngence to gain access to the security system and see the Iscariot cart out an unconscious Dominique and Mara. "She used Magic of some kind to get Mara here but based off of what we saw in the room, perhaps she didn't intend to hand the queen over?" Kayos theorized. "I felt no malice or ill intent from Dominique's residual evidence. At least not towards the Queen. It seems the Iscariot brought her in as a Trojan horse but something happened or changed and she decided to not help them perhaps." Vyngence said, agreeing with his brother. The men left the hotel and met up with the rest of The Legion and Malum as the last known location of Mara before the Iscariot slipped into an abandoned area with no working CCTV.
"My king, both of the girls were taken and there was a sign of struggle." Kayos informed him only raising the levels of Malum's rage higher. "Semi-good news, the Domonique girl had no ill intent for the queen. I found some of her belongings and hacked into it, seems like the Iscariot wanted her help catching the queen. They basically told her that you bound The queen to you against her will and because Mara used elemental based magic against them, they needed a witch who could fight that. They just lucked out with them being friends." Vygence informed him. "So Domonique is as much a pawn in the game as the Iscariot is.." Malum murmured. "Actually my lord, I think it's the other way around." Kayos said and Malum raised a confused brow. "The angel hired the Iscariot to help get the queen away from you but if what you say is true about the angel's feelings for her, perhaps he has no idea what is actually going on?" Kayos suggested.
"It matters not. Mara is mine and we will end the Iscariot one way or another. Call the-" Malum didn't get to finish as a flock of birds landed on the sidewalk next to them and started cawing at them aggressively. He realized the birds were not themselves first but once he felt their aura he realized they were being puppeted." Vygence, follow the flock! Kayos call the others and tell them where to meet us!" Malum threw out orders as he jumped into his car.
Malum got out of his car as the rest of the Legion joined him on the dirt road. "We find my Mara, that Domonique friend of hers and kill everyone else!" he hissed. They nodded at Malum's order, shifted into their true forms. War gave Malum a dagger from his belt and Malum used it to slice his palm. Malum muttered a spell in an old demonic language as he drew a symbol on the ground with his blood. The ground inside the symbol fell away and a three headed demonic hound climbed out before the ground reappeared and the symbol disappeared as if it never was. Malum held one of Mara's shirts to the dogs' nose, "Find her!" he ordered and the dog ran off.
It was easy enough for them to keep up with the hellhound. "Stop!" Malum roared and all of them, including the dog, halted. "Do you feel that?" Malum asked with a grin. "Is that a hallowed ground I smell?" Conquest hissed with a chuckle. "They think to weaken us?" Pride asked with an offended scoff. "Oh how little they know and how royally they've just fucked themselves over." Karma said with glee. "Let's begin…" Malum said "Today the Iscariot dies!" Malum said with a hiss.
Domonique felt the strong powers before she saw them. As the demons got out and shifted to their true forms part of her wanted to turn back and find another way to communicate with them but she couldn't back out now. She owed Mara this much at least. They were here because of what she did. "Malum!" Dominique yelled, getting their attention and waving them down. Malum was on her in seconds holding her in the air by her neck, "Where is she WOMAN!" he asked seething as he released his grip just enough for her to speak and breathe. "The warehouse!" she wheezed out and Malum noticed the mangled bodily remains of one of the Iscariot. "She was the one watching the queen the day you mated." Vygence said gripping a piece of flesh. He could see someone's death, much like his father and brother, and he smiled as he tossed the useless flesh aside and licked off his fingers. "She killed her, rather brutally I may add. I'm quite impressed. She is not our enemy, my king." Vyngence informed him.
Malum took a deep breath knowing that if Mara was to forgive the woman and he killed her anyway he'd have to deal with his queen's rage. Reluctantly he dropped Domonique who coughed as gasped for air. "Thank you." she managed to get out as she thanked Vyngence and Malum. "You must be quick. He's torturing her in the hopes to weaken you once the connection is reestablished!" Domonique informed him. "WHY DIDN'T YOU LEAD WITH THAT WOMAN!?" he roared. "Well you were choking her out my king" Karma retorted with a smirk. Domonique led them to the building as droves of Iscariot were waiting outside for them.
"What the fastest wait to sully hallowed ground?" Domonique asked, rubbing her sore throat. "Lots of death, blood, the usual." War replied. "There are more inside but I want to help as much as I can." she offered. "It's the least you could do for putting our queen in this position in the first place!" sloth hissed. "What do you have in mind witch?" Vygences asked, curious as to what she had planned. "Toss me in the air? Make sure I go straight up but not too damn high please?" she asked hoping they wouldn't toss her so high it'd kill her. "This should be fun!" Kayos said as he kneeled down with his back to the horde of Iscariot and cupped his hands for her to step off of.
Domonique took a deep breath and swallowed her pride before running at Kayos and he tossed her a good 20 feet in the air. Domonique focused her energy through her pressure points and concentrated it into her hand as she fell. Using some magic to protect her from the fall and balance her out, Domonique punched the ground causing a massive quake in the earth and spikes of stone shot out of the ground in various angels and places all randomly in a wave towards the building. Domonique brought her hands together, palms touching and pulled them apart, making a T shape with her body and the spike grew small spikes. Once she made sure most of them were skewered she shifted her hands around almost randomly but she moved the pyres around the grounds making sure there was about flesh and blood to cover a vast majority of the land.
"Not gunna lie. Definitely aroused." War grumbled under his breath and everyone laughed at him. "Not that you needed it I'm assuming but anything to help aid you in this battle. He has blessed talismans on the walls, coating them like a bible hot box." she informed him and he nodded. "Most likely how they're blocking our connection." he replied.
"YOU MONSTERS!" A random woman in the leftover Iscariot horde screamed as they ran at the legion. "You missed some," Conquest noted. "Nah I just didn't want to take all your fun." Domonique retorted and ran behind them. "Yea Imma need a cold shower." War muttered again as the Legion pulled out their respective weapons and cut through the holy warriors like a lightsaber through butter. Gluttony and Famine licked from meat and blood off their blades with a soft moan as if it was the finest meal they ever tasted. "Conquest, War. If you could knock please? Let our guest know we've arrived?" Malum asked with a smirk that fell as they could hear Mara's screams off and on and Father Anderson slowly cut her over and over again.
Without warning, War and Conquest had two massive hammers and ran at the warehouse smashing the side of it and breaking through the sacred scriptures as if they were nothing. The pain hit Malum before he saw her. Mara was leaning forward on the chair she was tied to, coughing up blood. Malum's roar not only shook what was left of the structure but the glass shattered and the sacred scriptures started to burn away as if they were tissue paper in a bonfire. With the fragment of consciousness Mara maintained, she focused on blocking out the pain he could feel or dulling it the best she could. Malum felt it almost immediately. "Mara don't! Save your strength! I cannot lose you!" he yelled. The legion had already spread out and began easily killing off the Iscariot members inside but Father Anderson seemed unphased by the death and chaos around him.
Father Anderson started clapping and laughing obnoxiously as she turned Mara's chair around roughly so Malum could see what he had done to her. She had cuts on her face and limbs but her main body was left alone from what Malum could tell. "Well well well what the reunion we have 'ere ye? You're just in time fer the finale! You get to watch me end the life of your bed-wench here and send her to be judged by the lord!" he said with a smile as he pulled out four bayonets from out of nowhere. He threw them at Mara's body but they never made it far.
While Father Anderson was on his villain monologue, Malum had been coating the floor of the warehouse in his shadows. The tendrils threw the bayonets back impaling Father Anderson in his limbs and pinning him to the wall like Jesus on a crucifix. Malum cut Mara free and cradled her in his arms as his aura encased her and began to feed her some of his energy and heal her. Father Anderson was still laughing as his body fell, gravity and his weight having pulled him off the bayonets and left him cut up on the floor in a heap. Mara took a deep breath as the aura receded and she opened her eyes to see Malum and she immediately started crying and she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close.
Malum whispered sweet nothing in her ears and calmed her down while the madman on the floor was attempting to drag himself over to them with his mutilated limbs. "I WILL end you BOTH!" he hissed with madness and rage in his eyes. "You will not touch me nor My Mara. Ever. Again." Malum growled as he used a free hand to generate an orb of pure hell fire. He dropped it without a care and the building immediately started to catch fire. By the time they walked the short distance outside to a waiting Domonique the warehouse had completely collapsed, consumed in flames. "So pretty…" Mara whispered, watching everything burn. "Sleep my love. You are safe now." Malum said putting her to sleep so her mind could recover with her body.