*Deep in the depths of the underworld*
A figure sat upon their throne of rough stone and skulls, their features hidden in the shadow. The throne room was enormous and dim red lights lit the empty halls. But the the hall had movement, for the first time in many years, there was a visitor.
A tall, burly being in thick, heavyset armor that was covered head to toe in chains entered the room. The figure stood at over ten feet tall and had a large body. It looked almost obese with the armor. It wore a helmet with four large, curling, intertwined horns and chains dangled down from the helm to his collar bone, where they were nailed into the bone. Small holes in the mask served as the visor.
The large demon knelt before the throne, head bowed.
"My liege." Came a gruff voice from the brute.
"What is it that you want, Edo?" The demon upon the throne spoke, his voice cold and calm.
"Gallatine was killed."
Two red flashes of angry light opened from the darkness where the demon sat in his throne, his eyes full of only hatred and contempt. "How is this? How has my own general fallen? We are not even at war, our battle with the gods ended many, many years ago, so tell me, how could he have died?"
"He went to the Mid Realm after sensing an aura much like... his. According to Zealous he was killed by two Deities." Edo, the large demon, spoke.
"Deities, you say?" The demon said, now in a low tone. "So the gods wish to meddle with the world once more, do they?" A hand pounded the armrest of his throne. "Lilith!"
A pale woman with silver hair appeared from the shadows beside the demon's throne. She had silver, luminescent eyes and two long, thin horns protruded from her head. Angelic, white feathered wings were folded against her back and, as she knelt, she held her hand to her chest. Her figure was filled and that of a fully matured woman, and she wore a cold, dead smile.
"Yes, Lord Lucifer?" She asked, her voice silky and sweet.
"I want you to test these... Deities. You are in charge of killing them, you may do it however you see fit, feel free to use any of my puppets." The figure in the throne, Lucifer, spoke, waving at Edo. "What's mine is yours. Now go, I want them dead."
Lilith got to her feet and bowed. "Yes, your majesty, as you wish." Then she turned and walked down the hall, Edo at her side as they exited the throne room. When they were gone the shadows grew even darker in the chamber, the lights now barely even visible in the dense shadow as the room was filled with Lucifer's pressure. His red eyes glared at something only he could see.
He raised his hand, then clenched it into a tight fist, causing all the lights in the chamber to go out. "Soon. This world... will crumble."
•
•
•
"I'm standing right here, asshole." Darius spoke irritably.
"Yeah, your point?" Akuro replied.
Inari shook her head and massaged her temple as if she had a headache. "Alright, all I want is to know why that demon appeared in the first place."
"Why?" Akuro asked.
"What do you mean why? It was a demon!"
"Yeah but why do you wanna know so bad? If you ask me,it seems like you're hiding something."
"You are calling me the suspicious one? That's rich." Inari said.
"You all bicker a lot, don't you?" Came a voice from above. Akuro looked up and who he saw made him groan in irritation. Darius and Inari followed his gaze with the same response. Sitting atop one of the buildings that didn't go down was a girl smiling confidently down at them with contempt in her eyes.
"Ah, it's the psycho." Darius said.
Adeline scowled, "Do not speak of me in such a manner, you lowly weakling." She spoke. "You should be bowing to me, I came to bless you with my aid, but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine you'd defeat the demon on your own."
"Then why are you here still? Go away already." Darius responded.
Adeline shook her head and made a *tsk tsk* sound. "You really should treat your superiors with more respect, you know." And then she went crazy, her eyes wide, "I am better than all of you! I was hand picked to be God's hand of destruction to purify this world! You are meant to be my servants in this cause! You are no more than my lowly tools, weaklings for me to use as I see fit!"
Akuro ground his teeth and clenched his fists. "You are really annoying." He said.
"Excuse me?" Adeline hissed.
Akuro materialized his scythe and swung it through the air, sending a wave of aura whistling towards Adeline, but then Onoma appeared at her side, freezing the attack in its tracks before it eventually faded.
"The hell is he doing here?" Darius asked.
"It would seem you two aren't the only ones to join together." Inari pointed out.
Adeline grinned maliciously. "You foolish boy. You really had the audacity to dare to attack me?" She laughed hysterically. "If you struggled against that demon then you have no hope of ever bringing me down!"
Onoma had his eyes locked on Akuro, who scowled back at him. Adeline stood then, holding out her hand to the three Deities below her.
"There are sure to be more demons to come. Join me, and serve as my tools of destruction! With you all serving under me, mankind can be purged of their sins, and nothing, not even the demons could stand in our way!" Adeline said.
"I won't be someone's tool. I'm doing my own thing, so you can screw off, you pretentious bitch." Akuro growled in reply.
Adeline frowned, looking from Akuro to Inari, and then Darius. She shrugged. "Fine then. That's too bad, I see you all have made up your minds. You must've been corrupted by that demon, you poor souls." She turned away from them. "So be it. When next we meet I will personally purify your souls! You may be lowly weaklings, but it's the least I can do, even ants deserve to have their souls saved. Goodbye then. Onoma, let's be off."
With that Adeline disappeared. Onoma gave one last spiteful look at Akuro before following after her.
"Well, this does not bode well." Inari said.
"No, but it's fine, we'll kick her ass." Darius said confidently.
"You mean Akuro will kick her ass while you watch?"
"No, actually, I'm not a coward. Akuro will be fighting Onoma, they've kinda got a rivalry thing going on."
"Who said?" Akuro jumped in, "I don't care for him one bit, he's the one who keeps attacking me."
"Yeah well I don't think he's gonna stop anytime soon." Darius said.
"Especially now that he is aligned with Adeline." Inari added.
"Gonna be honest, I did not see that one coming. Onoma doesn't seem like the team player type." Akuro shrugged.
"Yeah well now they are gonna go and 'purge humanity', whatever the fuck that means." Darius spoke.
Akuro looked down at the crater he'd created. 'I thought I was strong... but Darius had to step in. Without him...' Akuro thought back to the attack Gallatine had been casting before his soul had been shattered, 'I think I would've lost that fight.' His eyes narrowed. 'Not just gods and Deities, but I've gotta worry about demons now too? Screw this. My original plan of just laying low and by myself won't work.'
Akuro turned to Inari. "Join us, and don't worry, I'm not like Adeline." He said. Inari looked up at him as he spoke, her green eyes interlocked with his dark blue. "I won't treat you like some fool, if you join us, you'll be an ally. A friend."
Inari looked at Akuro for a long moment as if she were trying to get a read on him. Then she sighed, a hand on her hip. "Fine. There's no way I'd be able to survive alone anyways. I'll join up with you guys, it's better than being that crazy girl's slave."
Akuro smiled, a kind smile that Inari hadn't seen till now. It caught her off guard, until that moment she'd always assumed that Akuro was a cold hearted demon in a boy's body, but now she had second thoughts about him. Now she wanted to know who he was, who he really was, and what he'd become. She smiled back. For the first time in a long time, she felt that she could trust someone, if only just a little.
"Is it just me or am I third-wheeling here? Can we cut the crap and get going? I highly doubt the authorities would be understanding of our situation." Darius said.
Akuro's face went expressionless again. "Yeah, good point. Come with me, I've got a place we can go."
Inari looked at Akuro. She was shocked at how fast he seemed to shut off his emotions, and now she sensed his coldness, but now she knew, deep down, he had a good heart. She just felt it. Or maybe it was just confusion and curiosity.
"Akuro." She said. "What will we do about Adeline and Onoma?"
Akuro looked up at where the two Deities had stood atop the building. "We will deal with them when the time comes." He answered. "Now let's get going."
•
•
•
Emma sat on her couch crying, a picture of her parents held in her hands. 'They're gone..' she thought helplessly. 'What am I supposed to do now..?' She felt a hole in her chest, like someone had reached in and tore out her heart.
A knock sounded from the door. Emma sat up and wiped her eyes. 'That must be Akuro.' She thought as she got up to answer it. She walked down the hall to the door, turned the lock, then swung it open, doing her best to smile. To her surprise, and disappointment, it was not Akuro.
A beautiful, filled out woman stood at the door instead. She wore a soft, kind smile and a white dress. Her hair was long and silver and her eyes were also a metallic silver that seemed to shine.
"Hi, my name is Lilly, it's nice to meet you. I'm a friend of Akuro."
•
•
•
"Here we are." Akuro said as he and the others approached Emma's house. "Come on in. I don't know if she is home yet, she took off a while back in a hurry." He opened the door and went inside, Inari and Darius following suit.
"Fancy." Darius said as he entered.
Akuro walked down the hall, and as he did he felt a strong presence in the air. He stopped once he reached the living room. Sitting on the couch with Emma was a woman with white hair and silver eyes, who turned and smiled at him. His eyes narrowed.
Emma gave him a sad smile. "Akuro, we were just talking about you. Lily says she is a friend of yours."
"Yeah. Lily." Akuro said darkly. "Can you give us a moment to catch up, Emma?"
Emma looked confused at first, then rose from the couch and nodded. "Sure thing." She walked up to Akuro, brushing her hand with his as she passed by, not that Akuro noticed it.
The woman kept a soft smile plastered to her face until Emma was gone, and then it turned into a dead glare.
"So you're the Deities who killed Gallatine, huh?" She spoke.
Akuro grew tense, as did Darius.
"Gallatine?" Inari asked.
"That's the name of the demon we fought earlier." Darius explained.
"Who the hell are you?" Akuro asked.
"I sure hope you don't kiss your mother with that mouth." The woman joked. "My name is Lilith, but you can call me Lily. My lord ordered me to kill you all as payment for the loss of his general."
Akuro stepped back, his black scythe appearing in his hand.
"Ooh the God Slayer, huh? Good choice, kid. That's my kinda weapon. I'll have to take it off your corpse when I'm done with you. But, don't worry, I don't want to fight you. Yet. I just wanted to meet my new playmates before I put you to the test is all." Lilith smiled.
"Why did Gallatine go after Akuro?" Inari asked.
"Hm, that's a good question. The kid is pretty weak if you ask me, but I am guessing it's because of his aura." Lilith answered.
"My aura?" Akuro inquired. "What's so special about my aura?"
"A long time ago there was a demon named Azazel. Or, he would be better known in your day and age, as the Grim Reaper."
Akuro froze in shock as the room went silent.
"You, boy," she pointed her black nail at Akuro, "Have his aura. The aura of Death. As to why Gallatine went after you, it's because Azazel was the original king of hell before our current lord. Even if Gallatine was supposed to serve our current master, his loyalty still lies in his old master, who disappeared without a trace nor a cause many years ago. Gallatine had been awaiting his master's return for a long, long time, and when you emerged he assumed you were Azazel. That is why he came after you." Lilith scowled. "In short, boy, you are a cheap rip off of the one true king of death."