A few minutes after the squads from both the Requiem and the Shinobi-Samurai Empire had met up, they settled in the middle for where August and Ben's unconscious bodies laid carefully. Everyone gathered around, everyone damaged would be healed by Madi and Louis, seeing as how her niece's son seemed to inherit her healing capabilities. Meanwhile, everyone else disregarding those who were excluded from the main battle gathered around to listen to Whitney's side of the story, Jason sitting right across from him as he took a sip from his bottle of water he'd brought with him through the shadows cast by the sun above,
"When we entered the battleground, all of us were immediately trapped within a box of rock that emerged from the ground. At first, I thought it was Sunni protecting us, but there was a crack in the walls, one that let oxygen in. All of us were in that cage for what seemed like hours, Miah and Leah tried breaking out, Louis stood back trying to freeze the walls, needless to say, everyone tried but failed, even me. Trapped in there for like 30 minutes, then the walls fell and we were finally able to walk freely and reunite with you guys," Myers informed the rest of the group to the circumstances of his squad's former temporary jailing.
Azazel, who'd been overseeing August's recovery… had an inkling about why they were kept intact. The walls that Lucifer erected had blocked all forms of destruction, no matter how simple they may have seemed, but they didn't block out hearing. While he may have been some distance away from the ongoing battle between that of Lucifer against Aug and Ben, he did manage to hear something else near the end when he fled the massacre he left behind,
"Save the Hunger for me…"
The Hunger was a variant of the Lust Arcana and seeing as how the soul shape base was based on that of the Major Arcana, the monster could very well mean one of the few here. One of the few who didn't get themselves involved with the main battle, and seeing as how he could turn humans into monsters, he likely knew about the false Nyarlathotep and not to mention the demons Jason and Al were fighting against. As Jason listened along with those he was fighting beside closely scattered around them, Azazel stated at Whitney with his crossed legs, distinctively answering any questions they had about what happened.
The power to transport through the shadow realm, make darkness barriers and even summon pseudo-monsters from collective monstrous/darkness realms. Whitney Myers, not to mention the Requiem descendants of Emma and Mary, all of them seemed to be important enough to warrant Lucifer's interest. But what? It had only been the first half of the Advent; with a singular causality in their midst, that being one of the strongest, with two of their other heavy hitters on the pink of death.
All these collective thoughts running through his Detective's brain, he kneeled beside Madi, tending to her younger brother with one hand on his chest and another hand on August's cheek. Under her eyes, there was a red stain, her pupils seemed dead, she'd been sobbing, he saw her doing it, but he never got the bigger picture. Out of all the siblings, she was the one he never spoke with the most. He knew what made the brothers tick.
Ben felt powerless and had to make up for it, with a lifetime of horror, murder, and whatever, he wanted to ensure he had a proper death saving those he cared about and avenging his mother to honor her memory.
Jason wanted to make her proud, no matter what, to reach the end and make sure everyone was living happily, he'd follow his brother, face the future, do whatever.
But Madi, she was always more of a closed book, he could never tell what she wanted and why she did the things she did. Fighting alongside her brothers to destroy everyone in their path, battling in this Advent, was it just for their mother's sake?
"Hey," Azazel beckoned out to the woman, leading for the Empress to turn her head and stare into his blue eyes. He wasn't nervous or scared of her, but the more the question raged through his head, he felt his hand shiver as if asking this would… lead to something worse. Nevertheless, he went with his instincts and inquired Madisyn, "Why do you follow Ben? Why do you fight, is it really for your mother or… I don't know. Why do you do the things you do?"
At first, after he quizzed her on her reasoning behind everything, what laid was the silence between the two genders. The female halting the movements of her limbs so she could focus on herself, and answering this, but she still looked ahead. With most of Ben's blood gone, she went to closing his wounds, pushing out her index finger, she burnt them shut, speaking while she did this, she thought it right to do it this way… that way, she didn't get distracted with useless emotions,
"When my mother was ill, I only ever visited her once. After that, the one time I saw her again was when she was killed by my other-self. But, it was the strangest thing; I didn't feel sad or emotionless or apathetic like Ben was that day. Her last words, I still remember them to this day. Take care of my brothers, be better than her. It was always my responsibility to be strong, to save those I cared about even beyond Ben and Jason. At times, I feel like I can't save anyone, and that I'm not worthy to even hold the same last name as my mother. Ben, I'm sure, feels the same, now more than ever after everything that's happened. I never hated him for what he did, I stood by his side because he was my brother, I was supposed to take care of him. I have to, if I don't… he'll just end the same as Henry and Ella. I'm a lonely girl, so, when I die, I just… I want to know that the people I saved will live good lives and have proper deaths," As Madi informed Azazel of her will and resolve, the latter of the duo placed his hand upon her shoulder; to which she somberly stared at him.
Gazing back at her, he smiled to which she returned with her grin, nodding slowly. It felt nice… to be wanted, and as he stood up, ruffling her hair, she couldn't help but jokingly yelp as she held the top of her head with her hands. Turning her head as she watched that Detective walk away, he held no resemblance to that man, considering what wasn't even his offspring, but, for some reason, it reminded her of her best friend. Whom she missed dearly, but she couldn't think about it much now, instead, she shook her head and rubbed her temples.
Henry was gone now, eventually, so would she, she didn't know why she was still worked up about things like that. He chose to die, to save them, sacrificing himself so his friends could live. Maybe, a part of himself wanted to make sure he didn't turn into the Smoldering Warrior. Maybe that's why he did it? Just to secure his future even after learning the truth about the Kingdom's false 'future.'
Maybe she was a bad person because she didn't understand it, but she didn't care, all she wanted was for the ones she loved to live long happy lives and have proper deaths for when their time came. And if she wasn't here to see it, that would be fine, but living more, beyond that, being a proud mother and a grandmother, if she would be granted that honor, then without a shadow of a doubt, she'd live. Then again, she was human… after all.
BOOM! Those horrendous beasts made incarnate from the darkest depths belonging to the most horrific of realms swirled out from their abysmal swarm of chaos they called their home. Clawing out with their signature edged nails to create holes in space, tearing open the fabric of this world to manifest a fissure, in reality, rapidly moving at such speeds unknown to man, with terrifying designs it'd drive those ignorant to the truly mad. Those conscious could sense those things birthing into reality, bursting into the scene by the will of the only Embodiment of Evil and Destruction.
Turning their heads, they could see it, those disastrous beings coming right at them with their wings spread out, ripped and torn, made bloody by their victims' internal liquid. It wasn't just regular demons, though, there were immense variants, some even duplicated an infinite amount thrown into this world for this event. Squid-like heads to take after Cthulhu, he who lays dormant at the bottom of the ocean in his oceanic city. Even giants scraping the skies with their ginormous heads, there were too many of them to tell, for monsters and disgusting creatures from all eras in time had bounced out from their origins to stay here. Dragons roaring out as they flew higher into the air, Titans screaming out once their ginormous feet crashed onto the ground of the battlefield, letting out a shockwave radiating out from the sole of their feet.
And at the center of it all, through the revolting graveyard where those cursed by a touch of Death slept, previously laying in those silent chilling walls in the Beyond that of what was known to those mortal, scratches littering space as they were swirled out from the inner workings of humanity's subconsciousness, where hate, chaos, sadism, violence, envy, jealousy, and all other dreadful emotions originating from that signature brain; there laid the babbling mess of incoherent darkness, named that from the Almighty Lord Allfather Himself, the Embodiment of Evil and Destruction; Satan.
Strong-willed minds were able to resist the illusions of insanity that were brought upon by their mere existence, to which their body stood covered by their cloak. Horns growing a bit larger, they commanded the Hellish Army, raising their shriveled dark arm… so they could shut their mouths or be disintegrated entirely by their Devil King. The incessant screams of madness that bellowed out from their throats seemed to subside the millisecond after they raised their lanky limb, all of this just a far enough distance right away from the Rivera Party.
Some were horrified by what they'd seen, minds barely able to restrain themselves from going mad as Ed began to grab at his throat, preparing to tear it open so he could be rid of this terrifying sight. Alex couldn't help but gasp at the sight, mouth agape, as if entranced by their faces and twisted bodies, then snapping out of it with a quick spark of his energy appearing to the front of his vision. Reaching out to Rose in front of him near her brother, he covered her eyes grabbing at her waist so she could bury her face in his chest, covering her ears… but the whispers were too much for either of them. As he fell to his knees, so did she, and the both of them were powerless in the face of such magnifying sinister Evil.
Azazel's strengthened resolve could barely keep him on his feet, as he stared down the faces of those beasts, he couldn't help but bleed from the nose. Gasping abruptly, he tried to catch his breath, grasping at his throat and scratching at it with his exposed fingers, then falling to his knees, rapidly coughing into his palm covering his lips.
Sunni, couldn't help but have her fist a few several inches away from her face, as if seconds away from smashing her features right in. With her strength, if she punched right at her skull, maybe her eye would fall right out from the socket. Whimpering fearfully for the future of her life, of all life in this world, Rose gripped at the hoodie of her best friend, face buried in his chest, tightening her hold on his attire… she could feel her life as she knew it draining away the more she stood here. Louis immediately passed out with Claire soon following, Miah and Leah holding one another praying to God for their survival.
Those who were even remotely stable with their mental state still decaying gradually, Ryder ran over to his son, kneeling beside him and flicking the side of his head so he could fall unconscious. Holding his boy in his arms as he withstood the pain caused by this psychological energy, the soft steps made by the Hunter's boots had suddenly entered the ears of the Moon, not to mention his own younger sister, cradling as she held her head in immense agony. Jason was now the only one standing, but all he had to do was simply yank his sword right out of its sheathe and point it right at the air, the tip especially shining against the risen sun.
Whitney, hands clawing on the ground, touched the side of his head with his index and middle extremities on his right hand, purple eyes darkening entirely for them to become entirely black. Harnessing the entire will of Chaos itself, a black sphere enveloped not only him, but those suffering so all of them could be free of the mental torture in his domain. Now, after the orb had sucked everyone inside, Jason was the only one remaining, the ball of shadows right behind him, still, he drove the Ketsueki right into the sky, crackling with Takyr right at the edge.
Absorbing every single stream of demonic energy surging through this arena, then sliding the sharp side of the blade right against his palm, there laid the bloodied line right across his hand. Throwing the Ketsueki onto the ground in front of him, he felt the transformation suddenly take hold over every part of his body, starting with the tips of his fingers turning as sharp as the razor-like claws of Lucifer himself,
"Hmm…" As the Devil King turned their head interested, they watched further for what they would do next. A throne appearing right behind them comprised of charred bones, Satan sat down in anticipation for what was yet to come,
"Ah… tch… mmm… RAGGHHHHHGGHHHHHHH!!!!" The Demonic Hunter could no longer withhold any more screams, crying right out into the clouds so the transformation could now start, the body of the Celestial Form corrupted as it started from the bottom of his larger skeletal feet.
The larger shockwave had created a crater where he previously stood, exploding out the rubble beneath his feet so he could crush the little ants invisible to the naked eye. The smoke hiding his true form, all it took was a simple step out from the darkness to stomp leading out a large BOOOM!!! Shaking the very core of the Earth itself, there that damned painted smirk sat over his lips, demon ears pointed it the skies, like a Titan roaming the badlands, more of those Giants obeyed the silent will of their Devil Master aiming their fists at the face of this imposter.
The way they punched seemed so slow and contrived as if it were just a hassle to even do that. Jason behind the face of this monster, where it laid hollow, except for the veins attached to the back of his head, his wrists, and his ankles. Eyes closed but his brain active, he used the instinct he had when he was humanoid. With such a big body and a wide target, you'd think something like this wouldn't have the speed needed for a feasible encounter, however, you'd be wrong.
The Demonic Hunter had easily dodged out of the punch's radius so he could reappear from a red energy blur right behind him, already having sliced the Giant in two pieces, right down the middle so he could split apart gently and fall right ahead letting out another shockwave. Giggling maniacally as if he were mimicking Lucifer's psychotic nature, he raised his muscular large arm to the sky, with his wrist pointed upward to the clouds as well. Creating a copy of the Ketsueki but larger and surrounded by a red energized replacement, the Vampiric Titan let out a monstrous roar, driving the tip of the blade right at the Devil King to stab through them with ease.
But, the second the edge of the blade had reached the back of Satan's throat, they'd suddenly vanished and now appeared right to the front of their vision. Without wings to even sustain their flight, all it took was a simple flick of their pointer against their thumb. A condensed form of Takyr tearing apart the mirage of the Titan's face, the invisible blast had launched Jason back to where the orb of darkness stood. His demonic Titan from falling onto its back, Satan stood victorious over it, still with that stoic expression over what they called their 'face.'
Pentagrams hovering atop the horns protruding right out of their forehead changing their color from orange to blood red, The Devil King's feet brushed against the ground below them. Sticking out their hand, the Six Eyes layered on top of one another glistened with a hellish glow, their black aura inspiring fear into those weak enough to be affected,
"Fly, my pawns. Challenge the Sixth Holy King and his fledgling allies. Kill them in the most disgusting way possible, but not my prize. I thank you, my children," As Satan commanded his monsters to fly onward with the will of a thousand sadistic blood-lusting psychotics, intent on murdering those pathetic creatures right in front of them.
Jason making a crash landing onto the scene, a hole in his chest was huge and apparent, with his heart stuck to the top of his insides, thankfully protected, or else that would've been his end. The domain of shadowy blackness breaking apart as if a window shattering to shards then hitting against the ground before evaporating. Everyone came running out in preparation to fight, though still woozy from the effects of the psychological Takyr that had infected their minds. Despite this, though, each of them was ready to fight, drawing their weapons or raising their fists, the superhumans stood against the demons in the Advent of Destruction,
"What a blessing you've been given-
Blessed Emperor of Longing."
To Be Continued.