- Moloch and Baal -
(After Lucifer sent the group back to Hell)
Moloch and Baal were discussing over an echo call about their alliance with Satan.
"Can we really trust him?" Moloch asked, stroking his beard.
"Bit late to question it now?" Baal grunted. "We could win without his help, so I'm not overly invested in his strength."
"Mmmmm," Moloch hummed. "Don't you think the timing is strange?"
"His timing is always strange," Baal laughed. "Why are you so concerned about this?"
Moloch paused. He was worried about himself more than anything. He had questioned his alliance with even Baal in the past, so this trepidation was nothing new.
"We lost the Underground," Moloch growled. "I don't like the way things are going."
"Like I said-" Baal sighed. "-bit late to question it now."
'Is it?' Moloch thought. 'Maybe we overextended? Maybe we made a mistake?'
"I'm tired of our complacency," Baal said. "I'm not going to sit around and try to build another Underground. I'm not going to wait here until the next cataclysm."
'Fool,' Moloch mocked Baal in his mind. 'You think your vigor will amount to something? This is exactly why Satan kept winning against us. I could do so much more with your ability, but I guess stupidity is often balanced out by luck.'
"You know how they call it the "Moloch Line?" " Baal asked.
"Of course, why are you asking?" Moloch sighed.
Moloch and Baal have had conversations about the "Moloch Line" name in the past before, and Moloch has always just shrugged and said "They should have named it after us both." even though he didn't mean it.
"I'm tired of living in Satan's shadow," Baal grunted. "I'm tired of being the third demon lord that's often forgotten about. I'd rather die out there fighting the Rider, then sit here and fall further and further into obscurity."
Moloch hated these talks. He needed Baal's strength, but couldn't stand the demon's ideals. He had always wished that he had made allies with Satan back in the days of the cataclysms but just accepted that he was stuck in his current position.
"Stay in the back if you want-" Baal insulted. "-I am done waiting for this world to come to me."
'Fucking void-eyes,' Baal mocked Moloch. 'You think I don't know how you feel about working with me? Keep torturing lessers so you can pretend you're strong.'
"I have no plans on letting you do all the fighting," Moloch insisted. "You fall, I fall."
'That should shut him up.'
Baal had a lot he wanted to say to that. He knew Moloch was full of shit, and that the demon would gladly let him die if it means they get away.
"Right," Baal chuckled.
'I don't trust Satan myself, but he doesn't need to know that.' Baal thought. 'Might as well use his strength while I can.'
- Milsi -
(A little while after Lucifer sent his team back to Hell)
Milsi was at the front of Verdyr, waiting for Lucifer's team to come through. She couldn't understand why things were happening the way they were. Why was Satan betraying Death? Why was he allowing her to warn them? The obvious answers insulted her lord, so she kept circling around, hoping there was a different reason.
'You warned us about Death and Lucifer and yet you're doing this? Trusting those false lords, especially after your history with them, doesn't make sense, even for you.'
Milsi didn't want her kind fighting Lucifer and Death. She didn't want her kind fighting in general. It was one of the reasons she had such great respect for Satan. She preferred peace but knew that all hellspawn demons didn't feel the same.
'What if I join them?' She started to pace in circles. 'Maybe I could help turn enough of my kind to stop this pointless battle? No...none of my kind would dare betray the lord.'
Thinking about the coming battle made her think about the demons that were killed in the far north.
'Viri...Qlu, maybe your deaths sent him down this path?'
- Lucifer, Kahvis, Molakar, Jahkar -
(Present)
Kahvis and Lucifer were staring at Molakar. The demons behind Molakar were waiting for him to move. He needed to push forward, but the damage he received from Lucifer had taken a toll on his confidence that he wasn't able to push past. He decided to take Kut'thar's advice.
"HEALERS BEHIND ME!" Molakar began to shout commands. "ALL RANGED UNITS STAY BEHIND THE HEALERS AND SUPPORT!"
The demons were confused briefly but started to rapidly change into a formation behind Molakar. Lucifer and Kahvis thought it was strange that the demons were actually using strategy and decided that it was a bad sign.
"We need to kill him now," Lucifer said to Kahvis.
Kahvis nodded and took the lead. They shot lightning towards Molakar's exposed flesh with one hand, leaving the other open to defend. Lucifer was already flying towards Molakar, readying a blue flame in his left hand.
Molakar covered his face with his left arm to block Kahvis's attack and marched forward, his right arm pointed towards his two foes. He hated fighting this way, but a conversation he had with Kut'thar wouldn't stop playing in his head.
' "Dying for nothing isn't glorious. Please, use my strategies if you need them." '
Lucifer shot towards Molakar. He could catch any fire thrown at him, while Kahvis covered everything else. He needed to kill this one threat before the other caught up. His left hand pointed at Molakar, and a massive burst of blue flame shot forward.
The back-line demons countered Lucifer's attack with stone and wind. They smiled, confident that the blue fire wasn't as scary as it seemed until they felt an explosion go off near them.
Lucifer shot the blue fire at Molakar, while throwing explosive orbs at the back. He followed up by dropping to the ground, placing his hands down, and causing a large eruption of fire that dwarfed Molakar's.
'How can he-' Multiple demon soldiers thought before being incinerated.
"WATCH OUT FOR THE UNKNOWN'S ILLUSIONS!" Molakar was shouting.
His shouting was going unheard. Lucifer's attack had engulfed the entirety of the demons behind him, and the only ones that lived were in far too much agony to listen. Molakar had been saved by his armor, but the scene he witnessed made him wish he hadn't been.
Jahkar flew in, finally catching up with Molakar. His mind and face were opposites.
'How? How, how, HOW?!' Jahkar screamed in his mind.
Jahkar was furious. Maybe he knew the smart option was retreating and waiting for further reinforcement, it didn't matter. He wanted the archangel in front of him dead.
"BROTHER DON'T!" Molokar shouted, not turning to face Jahkar.
Lucifer felt a chill go down his spine. His head lightly pulsed with pain. He knew what was happening, and he was hoping he was ready for it.
"PRINSH!" Jahkar tried to scream through his laughter.
Jahkar was madly laughing. His red skin started to turn purple, his mouth opened wide and needle teeth rapidly grew in place of his old teeth. A second, much larger set of bone wings shot out of his back. This was all in an instant, causing immense pain to Jahkar.
Kahvis had disguised themself as a demon, getting behind Molakar ready to strike. Their illusion faded the moment Jahkar transformed, surprising them. They didn't hesitate to shoot a bolt at Jahkar.
"BALL!" Jahkar screamed while dodging Kahvis's attack.
Molakar recognized the command. He covered his face and lowered his stance.
Jahkar's new wings were instantly covered in explosive orbs. He whipped the wings towards Lucifer, causing a chain of explosions to rip across the area.
Lucifer flew up to avoid the attack. He knew he needed to finish off Molakar, but even he couldn't risk taking hundreds of explosive orbs at once. What he wasn't expecting was how endless Jahkar's barrage was going to be.
Jahkar had been keeping Kahvis pinned by using his hands to blast flames at the unknown. He had, at most, five minutes at his current pace. He wasn't sure if his enemies knew that, so he decided to continue his assault, hoping to kill them before the timer becomes an issue.
'You can't keep this up for long,' Kahvis thought.
Heavy footsteps were swiftly approaching Kahvis.
"YOU!" Molakar shouted, charging through his brother's flames.
Kahvis stopped redirecting Jahkar's flame once they saw Molakar get close. They let the flames consume both of them, and was tackled to the ground.
Molakar's heavy body had Kahvis pinned to the floor, reinvigorating his confidence. As his brother's flames scorched the ground around them he slammed his fist into the unknown's face. They were overjoyed with their position.
"COME ON UNKNOWN!" Molakar shouted as he struck Kahvis's face. "COME ON! USE YOUR MAGICS!" He laughed.
Kahvis's skin was slowly being burnt by the flames, and their face was being broken by Molakar. They lifted their arms up towards Molakar's chest, causing the demon to laugh more.
"GO AHEAD!" He shouted confidently.
Kahvis struck their palms into Molakar's chest and launched the demon high into the sky.
When Jahkar saw his brother launch into the sky he stopped channeling his flames for a moment. He was confused by what the unknown had done. The momentary lapse in concentration led to him receiving a bolt vertically across his face.
Kahvis wasn't looking at Jahkar after shooting, instead choosing to focus on the approaching demons. They didn't like that the reinforcements seemed lacking. If the demons weren't going for them and Lucifer, then there was only one other place they would reasonably go.
Lucifer saw Molakar's body launch up into the sky and shot towards the flying mass of black metal. He put his hands under Molakar's armpits and held the demon still in the sky as explosions went off around them.
Molakar had been more confused by what happened than scared. He smiled at Lucifer, not realizing the situation he was in.
Lucifer took a deep breath and breathed fire at Molakar's exposed face.
Molakar's screaming caused Jahkar to switch the entirety of their focus from Kahvis back to Lucifer.
Lucifer dropped Molakar when he heard Jahkar flying towards him. He hadn't killed Molakar, but he was confident that he had done enough damage for now.
Jahkar got close and proceeded to shoot fire from his hands and wings. The combination of the four streams of flames filled the sky.
The sheer amount of fire prevented Lucifer from simply flying away from the attack, not that he had any plans to. He took a large breath and held it. He bent his arms towards the flames and created a small pocket for himself.
Molakar crashed into the ground, creating a small crater where he landed. He was covering the charred part of his face, trying to push the pain out of his mind. He stood up, still writhing, and looked around. He saw Kut'thar in front of him and forgot his own warnings.
Kahvis put their hand against Molakar's burnt skin, and shot an extra powerful bolt through the demon's head, causing it to whip backward.
Jahkar kept his torrent of flames going, unaware that his brother had just been killed. He knew that Lucifer was still in his fire, a fact that trapped him into his mistake. He was breathing heavier and heavier, feeling depletion come much sooner than he had initially planned for. His fire was slowly getting weaker, Lucifer wasn't dead, he still had the unknown to deal with, and the long wound on his face ached.
Lucifer kept hovering among the flames, his skin and wings only slightly burned. He could tell the flames were getting weaker. He only needed to last a little longer and he would be face-to-face with a fully depleted Jahkar. The fire stopped, and a grapefruit-sized explosive orb was rapidly approaching him.
Lucifer put his left arm out to redirect the orb, not seeing the smaller orb behind it. An explosion went off, taking Lucifer's left hand with it.
Baastra was hovering next to Jahkar, smiling.