The rooftop of the Obsidian Tower had become a battlefield of cosmic proportions. Lucifer, his hands still planted firmly on the floor of the rooftop, looked up in awe at the line of crimson-robed figures standing between him and certain doom.
The Crimson Oath had arrived, and their presence alone seemed to push back the tide of chaos pouring from the portal.
There were seven of them, each unique in their stance and the aura of power they exuded.
At the center stood a tall, broad-shouldered woman with silver hair cropped close to her scalp. Her crimson robe was adorned with intricate golden embroidery, marking her as a high-ranking member of the order.
To her right, a lithe figure twirled a staff made of what looked like solid moonlight. The hood of their robe was pulled low, obscuring their features, but there was a feline grace to their movements that suggested inhuman heritage.
On the left, a burly man with a thick beard gripped an enormous war hammer, its head glowing with runic inscriptions. Despite its apparent weight, he hefted it with ease, a mountain of muscle and determination.
The other four spread out in a defensive formation: a pair of twins wielding matching crossbows that fired bolts of pure energy, a willowy individual whose hands danced with threads of multicolored light, and a stocky figure carrying what appeared to be a book bound in metal and chains.
The silver-haired woman – clearly the leader – spoke, her voice carrying over the din of battle with supernatural clarity.
"Lucifer Morningstar, Ezra Rhys, Margot Chadwick. The Crimson Oath stands with you. Continue your work – we'll hold the line."
With those words, the Crimson Oath sprang into action.
The silver-haired leader raised her hands, and the air around her shimmered. Reality itself seemed to warp and twist, forming a barrier that pushed back against the encroaching horde of monsters.
The barrier burned their flesh as they tagged against its force, trying to overcome it.
The staff-wielder moved with impossible speed, their weapon leaving trails of moonlight as it connected with creature after creature.
Each strike seemed to unravel the very essence of the monsters, tearing them apart and sending them back through the portal in streams of dissolving matter.
The hammer-wielding warrior let out a battle cry that shook the entire building. He leapt into the fray, his weapon creating shockwaves with each impact.
Winged demons were sent flying, their alien anatomies crumpling under the force of his blows. It all looked like a one sided slaughter.
The twins moved in perfect synchronization, their energy bolts finding weak points in even the most heavily armored monsters. They fired with mechanical precision, never missing a shot, their crimson robes swirling around them like wings of flame. Evading this attacks was useless.
The figure with the glowing threads danced at the edge of the battle, weaving a tapestry of light that seemed to rewrite the laws of physics wherever it touched. Gravity reversed, time slowed, and space folded in on itself, all serving to confound and trap the invading forces.
Finally, the one with the book stood firm, chanting in a language that hurt the ears and blurred the vision. With each uttered phrase, pages of the book fluttered, releasing sigils that burned in the air before slamming into the largest of the creatures, banishing them back through the portal.
Ezra and Margot exchanged a look of relief and awe before refocusing on their own battles. The arrival of the Crimson Oath had turned the tide, but the fight was far from over.
Ezra adjusted her grip on the Monsoon blade, its water form shifting to a wickedly serrated edge. She moved to support the staff-wielder, her blade complementing the moonlight weapon with deadly perfection.
Together, they carved a path through a group of shadow-creatures that threatened to overwhelm one of the twins.
Margot found herself fighting alongside the burly hammer-wielder. She produced a set of gleaming clockwork gears from a hidden pocket, each one humming with potential energy.
With precise throws, she sent them spinning into the fray. The hammer-wielder seemed to understand her what she was doing, timing his strikes to connect with the gears just as they reached their targets.
The resulting explosions of kinetic force and temporal distortion reduced even the largest monsters to scattered atoms.
Lucifer, still kneeling at the center of the roof, felt the energy he was feeding the tower building up to its peak within the Obsidian Tower.
The entire structure thrummed with power, windows vibrating in their frames and steel supports groaning under the strain. He gritted his teeth, pushing himself to the limit.
Just a little more...
With the arrival of the Crimson Oath and the power he had witnessed, he was confident in their ability to contain the chaos at least until he closed the portal.
I didn't know the Crimson Oath packed this much power. He thought. It would be wise to stride carefully.
During his little mental reverie a deafening roar split the air, momentarily drowning out even the chaos of battle.
All eyes turned to the portal, where a truly massive shape was beginning to emerge. It defied description – a writhing mass of tentacles, eyes, and gnashing teeth, all somehow hinting at a geometry that the human mind couldn't comprehend.
The silver-haired leader of the Crimson Oath strode forward, her voice resonating with authority. "Kal'shemazoth," she named the monstrosity. "Third Elder god of Asmodeus. You are not welcome here!"
The creature – Kal'shemazoth – seemed to focus its attention on her. When it spoke, it was not with sound, but with a psychic pressure that threatened to crush the minds of all present.
WELCOME? I NEED NO WELCOME, LITTLE ONE. I AM ENTROPY. I AM THE END OF ALL THINGS. AND I AM HUNGER.
"What the actual fuck?" Lucifer exclaimed, eyes drawn to the creature. "Things like these exist in hell? How come I knew nothing about them..."
That's when it's struck him. He was overthrown for this very reason, the inconvenience of him not giving a fuck about what went on in the depth, and only concerned with his own matters.
***