- Death -
Death could feel his echo receiving a call. He assumed it was Lucifer.
"Lucifer? Is everything okay? I'll be right there!"
The demon bartender looked over at Death.
"No! Just stay with the team. If anything happens up there I'm trusting you with their safety." Lucifer ended the call.
The rumblings of the explosion could be felt in the tavern. The bartender raised their palm from behind the counter and shot an explosive orb at the group. Peter caught it and Sabu threw a knife in-between the demon's eyes.
Peter shot the magic at the wall behind the counter and pulled out his sword. He stabbed the demon's corpse in the head.
"Durable fuckers. Ya can never be too sure."
Death wanted to run down and help Lucifer until he got another call.
"It must be Oliver." He answered.
"Sir-" explosions from Oliver's end covered his voice. "-a large force of demons has marched into the territory!" The sound of a blade cutting through flesh came through.
"RETREAT!" Death yelled, hoping Oliver could hear him.
The call ended without a word. Death handed his echo to Elijah and took on his hunter form.
"You know how to use it?" Death's voice rumbled.
Elijah nodded his head.
"I know you want to help Lucifer, but I have to save my grim."
Peter shook his head.
"I heard Luce. Whatever is goin' on down there he thinks he can handle. I trust him, so let's go help your soldiers."
Death remembered something he had been told after the battle of Sol. His conversation with Lucifer quickly played through his mind.
(The night after the battle at Sol)
"Peter saved the team, again. If he hadn't suspected something they might not have made it. The better he gets at these missions, the more I wish he would retire." Lucifer's tone was tired.
"He's an amazing asset though. If he retires your team would be far less safe." Death said.
"I don't want him to be a martyr." Lucifer worried. "He's more than redeemed himself as far I'm concerned."
(Present)
"Stay behind me if possible." Death ordered.
The oni and demon in the elevator were hiding. They didn't know what was happening, but they weren't about to throw their lives away to find out.
Death and the team left the tavern. All of them could feel the eyes of multiple hidden enemies.
"First things first." Death blinked to the alley next to the group.
A large demon's body with a snapped neck was flung out of the dark passageway. Death walked out, his hands wrapped around another demon's mouth. He held them up, purposefully trying to show any other assailants what will happen to them. The demon struggled with all their might, and in one clench of Death's hand, the skull was a sloppy mix of blood and bone. He flicked his hand to the side to remove the blood.
"That should slow them down." He whispered behind him. "Let's move."
The group proceeded to run. Death made sure he never went too far ahead. He would blink to the rooftops and swiftly eliminate enemies while pointing out the others for the group.
Peter shot explosive orbs while Sabu threw wind-assisted knives. The ambush the enemy had lined up fell apart to Death's unstoppable aggression. As the group went further they encountered fewer and fewer hidden enemies.
"It'll be faster to get to Oliver if we ride!" Death shouted.
They headed to the stables. The orc was going to ask what was going on before he noticed Death's hunter form. They took their uništi from the stable. It was Death and Peter, Yvere and Heinrich, and Elijah with Lao. Sabu ran alongside with his wind magic.
Elijah gripped Lao so tightly he thought he might choke the healer. To his surprise, Lao seemed unaffected.
The group rode for Oliver's camp. Death could see a large force in the distance. It was a proper army that put the size of Azriel's force to shame. Death rode faster, almost losing the others.
A small battalion of curled-horn demons was attacking the camp as Death arrived. Two grim were dead, surrounded by the corpses of demons.
"Take the reins." Death told Peter.
He blinked off the uništi and ripped his way through every demon he saw. He wanted to eliminate every immediate threat he saw. It didn't take long for the demons to retreat back into the larger force. Death conjured his scythe and started following the trail of bodies he was sure would lead him to Oliver.
Oliver and two female grim were back-to-back. Oliver was holding a spear, summoning walls to stop any attacks. One of the female grim with short red hair was panting, clearly mana depleted. The other had short brown hair that was covered in blood. She was holding two curved swords and shaking from blood loss. Oliver noticed Death and covered his team in a stone dome that he started to move.
The demons were swarming around on the ground and air. The aerial ones tried firing a mix of lightning and fire at Death. He negated their magic with every swing of his scythe, causing them to hesitate to attack again. The demons who continued attacking him soon fell out of the sky.
Sabu was behind providing anti-air with his knives. Peter assisted him, firing orbs at the ones in the air while cutting down any that dared to get close. Yvere and Lao were running over to see if the surviving grim needed healing, while Heinrich was prepared to catch any ranged attacks. Elijah had his dagger out and was sticking close to Heinrich.
"Injuriesmagicnames?" Yvere asked as fast as she could.
"Minor burns on my arms, fire magic, Julia." The mana depleted one said.
"Deep cuts on my arms and back, illusion magic, Rebecca." The blood-covered one said.
"Multiple stomach punctures, earth and water magic, Oliver," Oliver said.
Yvere healed the afflicted areas, surprised that Rebecca and Oliver were still standing.
"Here ya go." Peter handed Yvere a demon that was missing their hands. She drank their mana as Death held them by the neck, breaking it once she was done.
"Shouldn't you keep him around as a backup reserve?" Oliver asked.
"We need to keep movin' and draggin' a demon body around would slow us down," Peter informed.
The group was getting surrounded. The demons were a wave of red and black, slowly enveloping the land.
"We need to get back to the center of town. It'll be more advantageous terrain for us." Death suggested.
Everyone agreed and they proceeded to head back towards the town. Peter, Oliver, and Death made an outer ring of offense and defense, striking down any enemies that got close. The second ring was Heinrich, Sabu, and Lao whose main job was to stop projectiles. Finally, the inner circle was Rebecca, Yvere, Elijah, and Julia Leading the uništi.
The outer ring did most of the work as the group traveled, stopping any attempts to get close. Only a few attacks made it past them but were easily caught by Heinrich and Sabu. Yvere made sure to heal anyone that called out an injury while occasionally drinking from demons that Death would throw her.
As efficient as they all were, it was a losing battle. Every dead demon was replaced by ten more. Their formation was effective but had a time limit. The only one who had the mana to fight the entire army before them was Death. Peter knew he would hit his limit long before the army was defeated and Oliver had already expended a large amount from protecting himself and his fellow grim.
Death stood still for a moment and reared his scythe back. The grim knew what he was doing, and the team could guess. Death's scythe became enshrouded in smoke.
[Die!] He yelled, swinging his scythe with such strength that the air itself seemed to rip open.
A large chunk of the pursuing force was cut in half by the invisible part of the attack. While those who had avoided it got covered in the black smoke. The demons that survived soon fell to the ground, suffocating. The sight held the enemy back.
Death caught back up with the group. He didn't know why this was happening, or whether it was because of the unknown, but he knew he didn't have time to wonder. He needed to remain ready for anything else. Part of him wanted to look at the ground for a sudden attack from a yokai.
After realizing Death wasn't going to launch another attack the demons were about to keep pursuing until a deep, gravelly voice roared out.
"WAIT YOU FOOLS!"
A demon that stood multiple feet above the others walked forward holding a large war hammer that was almost as tall as him. They were wearing an all-black coat that stretched down to their knees, with curled black horns and a bald head.
"Lord Baal says we're here to kill the unknown. He didn't mention anything about Death being here. All of you retreat for now! We're waiting for lord Moloch's forces before we continue."
"Commander Urdros, we-" Urdros's hammer caved the demon's head in.
"Don't talk back to your commander." He spat. "COME ON!" He ordered. The army retreated.
Urdros was furious. He hated the idea of retreating more than anyone. If he hadn't seen Death's attack he might have continued his assault.
The group gathered back at the tavern.
"You four-" Death pointed to Elijah, Julia, Rebecca, and Lao. "-stay in the tavern. The rest of us will defend this building until it seems safe. If any of you feel depleted, barring Yvere, then you go into the tavern with the others." He ordered.
No one argued. Death was seen as their only hope of getting out of this. He grabbed his echo from Elijah and tried calling Lucifer. He wasn't sure if he would be in a situation to answer so he was only giving it the one chance.
"Is everything okay on your end?" Lucifer's hasty tone was peppered with the sound of explosions.
"Baal's army is here for some reason. I think they might be retreating, but I can't say for certain." Death kept looking around, expecting to see a large group of demons rushing in. The still ground and lack of enemies gave him a slight relief.
"We'll be done here soon. Just-"
"Be more careful." A monotone voice came through.
"-just stay put," Lucifer said, ending the call.
"Do ya think they left? They might've retreated after seein' your attack." Peter thought out loud.
"I don't know." Death responded. "We can't risk them coming back though. I think you should help Lucifer now regardless of whether he can handle what's happening. Take Heinrich with you."
- Peter -
Peter nodded. He and Heinrich ran into the tavern, quickly explained the situation to the four inside, and kept moving. They noticed the black metal door was open and the stone elevator inside was empty.
"Do you think he could fight that whole army by himself?" Heinrich asked as he started to move the elevator.
"I'm sure he could if he wasn't burdened by us." Peter sounded confident. "I have a feelin' that army isn't the full force of what we're goin' to be dealin' with though."
As the Underground came into view the destruction caused Peter's eyes to widen. He couldn't believe this place was finally being destroyed.
'I can see why ya would agree to this Luce. Let's make them pay for what they did.'
Peter's grip tightened around his sword. Heinrich sped up the drop of the elevator for fear of getting hit by a stray attack.
As the two walked out of the elevator they were attacked by two large orcs. Peter torched their bodies in one swipe of his sword. He walked up to the two burnt bodies and stabbed them in-between the eyes.
"C'mon." He motioned to Heinrich.