Trees and animals lacking life suffered together in a withered forest that the demon hunters walked through. All-except Noel-kept quiet during their path to the Plagued City, which was visible in the distance. A horde of demons, greater than even the one Cain led, secured the outskirts. They waited. They knew demon hunters would arrive.
"So, boss, how are we gonna do this?" Noel asked. "Looks like too many demons for us to handle."
"Yeah. There's a lot less of us too," Vera added.
"Indeed. I doubt us battling them head-on will be in our favor," Miyazaki remarked.
Lucius was silent. The only thing festering in his mind was what he would do to Deimos once he got ahold of him; an unturned chapter of his life that would be laid to rest once he laid him to rest. Michael was also silent, until a deep breath preceded his words.
"There will be no 'us'. All of you have suffered enough. That is my fault. I can't undo what happened, and I am not expecting you all to forgive me so easily. What I can do is ask that you don't fight this time. Once we get there, let me worry about the demons."
Noel's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Michael, you aren't about to fight all of those demons yourself, are you? You'll be killed. We forgive you, man. You don't have to do that, y'kno-"
"Let me worry about them." Michael's head turned to glare at Noel over his shoulder, revealing that his eyes had shifted from light brown to a brilliant gold.
"Hey, your eyes?" Vera was the first to question them. "What's up with those?"
"You'll see very soon," Michael answered while facing forward.
"Do you need a weapon, Michael?" Miyazaki asked.
By now, the demon hunter group had been close enough to the rotten city's outskirts for the demon horde to notice them and begin running at them. They were colossal demons that towered over a human complimented by abominable appearances. The demon hunters felt as though they were in the crosshairs of a vile stampede, and Michael was their only wall.
The hunters clutched their weapons, but their leader was unarmed and relaxed. He had only one word for Miyazaki:
"No."
Michael unveiled an inhumanly muscular body by letting down the top half of his robes. He then cracked his knuckles, indicating his weapon of choice. He took a few steps towards the swarm, then gradually entered a sprint towards them, diving headfirst into a swarm of demons.
The demon hunters watched in utter shock, as-with speeds quicker than the eye-Michael tore the demons apart one-by-one with his bare hands. It was a symphony of brutality. He did things such as tear off the arm of one demon and turn another's head into a red mist with it. Mangled and fading demonic bodies were flung out of the crowd by the second.
And he wasn't touched a single time.
"Sheesh. Hey, they call him the strongest for a reason," Noel remarked.
"Yeah, but why did he hide this power when Cain attacked?" Lucius asked.
"Beats me. We should ask 'em when he's done."
"Hoooly shit," Vera muttered in awe.
"He's bleeding! Finish him!" one of the demons called out.
And it was that demon Michael made an example of. Golden wisps flowed ethereally from his body as he blitzed past every other demon, making a beeline towards him.
"You are mistaken. This is not my blood."
The demon could only register that Michael had placed a hand on his chest before he was burned from the inside-out, reduced to nothing-not even ashes-in seconds. Brilliant flames erupted from every orifice on his face; he only had time to let out a scream of agony before it was silenced forever.
"Holy shit," the demon hunter group said in unison this time.
"You don't seem to understand," Michael called out to the remaining demons with his back turned, "this is not a fight you can win."
He turned and pointed a finger gun at the scattered demon crowd, who began rushing at him with their egos challenged.
"I suppose I'll have to teach you."
Massive amounts of ethereal light gathered at Michael's fingertips with a lulling sound. The power he brought forth, however, caused the area to tremble violently. Only then did the demons realize what they were up against. They tried to turn and flee, but Michael would not let them.
"Eternal Light. Righteous Vengeance. Thrust into damnation all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls."
"Is he doing a prayer mid-fight?" Miyazaki questioned.
"Heavenly Art..."
The demons' valiant efforts to escape for their lives were in vain, for Michael's final word was a bell that rang the end of their vile existence.
"Purity."
The ball of light was fired from Michael's fingers with a furious quake. The demon hunters could hardly stand. Its size was such that no matter which direction the demons ran, it engulfed them. It ripped apart the ground it traveled across, and when it rammed into the remaining demons, the demon hunters watched as their body was dismantled into nothingness.
And when all demons were wiped from the face of the Earth, the Heavenly Art faded away along with Michael's glow. He stumbled around for a moment while holding his head as though he were hungover. He looked towards his demon hunter group with an assuring smile and waved at them.
"Don't smile and wave at us, dude, what the hell was that?!" Vera asked with a unanimous agreement from the rest of the group.
"Uhhh... magic?" he responded with a shrug.
"Unbelievable," Miyazaki muttered while shaking his head.
"Michael, you shot a big-ass ball of light that just-ppsshshhhb-those demons. We saw it."
"It was cool, wasn't it?"
Noel sighed. "Yeah. About the coolest damn thing I've seen."
"I agree. Now, can we look for Deimos?" Lucius asked.
Michael nodded. "Yeah, we-"
His response was interrupted by the labored breathing and footsteps his ears picked up from behind, for his back was facing the Plagued City's gates. The demon hunter group collectively gasped in shock as they watched from afar a man stumbling towards Michael while clutching his chest.
The man who lost his heart.
Virgil.