Chereads / The Silver Raven (The Owl House AU) / Chapter 10 - Chapter 10: Croak in the Night

Chapter 10 - Chapter 10: Croak in the Night

The bell screamed for the final time as Nero left his last class. Ever since his recent visit to his aunt's house, he'd found himself looking out the window more often, finding himself lost in thought. He tended to daydream of the old times before that terrible Grom, and to top it off, he tended to have new ones of him fighting as he was now. He didn't know why, as it had been a while since he felt the desire to go demon hunting. It was almost like getting to meet a new family member, one who was much more open-minded and loose, was bringing it out.

Just as he rounded the corner to walk out of Hexside, he noticed a flyer of paper fall from the wall. It was a picture of Luz covered in Abomination material, waving at the picture taker with a smile. Above the image was the word 'BANNED'.

How and when did this happen? Nero thought. From the looks of it, he apparently missed a lot of things that had been happening lately. Seeing that everyone else was already leaving, he folded the poster and pocketed it, deciding that he'd ask Luz later when he saw her.

Walking out, he saw his mother patiently waiting and waving to him, holding her staff upright. "Hello my little raven! How was school?" she asked like she always did. Nero shrugged, not really saying anything. Usually he'd let out a 'meh' or 'whatever' since school days were so boring, but today was...average. He didn't know if it was because the subjects taught today were less dull or if his daydreaming blocked out all the boring stuff, but things were passable.

"In any case," his mother said, "Let's go grab some ice cream. Perhaps while we're there we can also discuss things like the Emp-"

"Actually Mom, I'm thinking I'll just walk home," Nero said, feeling pretty shitty as his mother's face froze.

"B-but we always go for ice cream on Tuesday after Hexside! It's been our tradition for years!" she argued, making Nero feel a bit worse. Ever since his first day at Hexside, Mom took him to get some ice cream the Tuesday after. He liked it a lot back then and begged her if they could get some more. Soon enough, it became a weekly thing they'd do every Tuesday after school. Even when his mother was at her most overbearing and even after the whole Grom fiasco, it was still something he liked doing, even if he didn't smile during it anymore.

Seeing the sad frown on her face almost made him reconsider, but from what she was saying, it sounded like she also wanted to discuss the Emperor's Coven...again. It was something she'd been doing a lot since the Covention. Sometimes subtly, and other times not. Aside from getting some alone time to think, he also wanted to avoid that topic as best as possible.

"Nothing wrong with making new ones," Nero shrugged as he tried to calm her down, "Look, nothing's wrong. I just want to take a scenic route home today. Plus I've been thinking a lot lately and it'll give me some time to do that."

"I take plenty of scenic routes," she said just a tad indignantly.

"Sorry Mom. Next time though, I promise." Nero assured her. Admittedly, he really didn't want to sit through any of his mom's talks regarding the Emperor's Coven, the benefits of joining thereof and such, but he'd sit through one later if it meant getting some time to think to himself now.

It took a couple minutes of convincing, but his mother finally caved in and said, "Okay, I suppose you can go on your own. Just promise me that nothing's wrong."

"I promise nothing's wrong, okay Mom?" he replied with some annoyance in his voice. Even in the times where he could kinda understand why his mom was like this, that didn't stop him from finding it frustrating to put up with.

As he walked away to Bonesborough, he heard his mom shout, "Be careful out there!" to which he gave her a casual wave and rolled his eyes. He was going to be walking through the safest place on the isles, relatively speaking of course, just to get some thinking time to himself, so being careful was pretty much the default.

"As long as we don't make a mess, don't touch anything, and never bring up that we did it!" Luz put on her best smile as she let out an awkward laugh. She felt really bad about lying to Willow and Gus like this, but they both looked so excited to get to do a Moonlight Conjuring. Learning that this was a once a year thing only pushed her to go through with it even more. She just couldn't bring herself to let them down, plus she really wanted to help them stick it to those jerks.

As she looked up at the moon, she tried figuring out a plan for how to keep Eda from figuring out what they'd be doing. But as she came up with at least 3% of a plan, she became distracted when she saw a familiar head of silver hair moving down the street.

"Hey! Nero!" Luz waved, catching the attention of Eda's nephew.

"Oh, hey Luz," he greeted with a casual wave as he walked up to her, "What's up?"

"Wait," Gus said as he looked up at the taller teen in awe, "Luz, you know Nero Clawthorne? As in, THE Ne-"

"Okay, stopping you right there," Nero interrupted, "So, I'm guessing these are your friends?"

"Yup! This is Willow," Luz said as she gestured to her first witch friend, who gave a kind smile and wave, "And this is Gus," she then gestured to the human enthusiast, who looked like he her when she was about to read a new Good Witch Azura book,

"Nice to meet you," Willow greeted.

"Awesome," Gus whispered.

Huh, so I'm guessing Nero's pretty popular at Hexside, Luz thought to herself, "So, what have you been up to?" she asked the older boy.

"Nothing much, just getting some time to think to myself," he answered before he reached into his pocket, "Actually, now that I ran into you, I was wondering on what this is," he then pulled out a copy of her 'BANNED' poster that Gus and Willow gave her. "I found this when I was leaving Hexside. Think you can explain what the hell happened?"

"Oh, uh..." Luz scratched her right cheek as she tried to explain, "Long story short, I sorta got banned after this whole Abomination fiasco and I really don't want to get too deep into it."

"And I unleashed vines all over school to help get her out," Willow added.

"Wait, that was you?" Nero asked with a surprised look, with Willow nodding in confirmation, "Huh, that was actually pretty badass."

"Thanks."

"And I was also there," Gus said, trying to play it cool, "I 'hi fived' some Abomination cauldrons and gave them time to escape."

"Pretty cool, uh..." Nero's face became confused as he said, "Goops, right?"

Gus' face fell, "Does my name really sound like that?" he asked her and Willow. Both of them gave him a reassuring smile and a pat on the back respectively, "I just hope it doesn't become a trend."

"Anyway, what are you guys doing? And where's Aunt Eda?" Nero asked.

"Oh, she's...uh, busy, but-"

"We're gonna do a Moonlight Conjuring at Eda's house!" Willow interrupted, still excited at the idea. Luz really couldn't bring herself to admit that it was a lie.

"Yeah! Wanna join? It's gonna be great!" Gus added as Luz slightly backed away from the two and stood just behind them.

"Yeah...the more the merrier and stuff..." Luz nervously said as she gestured with her hands, mouthing to Nero to 'please say no'. Nero looked straight at her and proceeded to grab her shoulder.

"Would you two excuse us for just a second?" Nero asked as he pulled Luz around the corner. The speed made everything around her seem like a blur as she stumbled at the sudden stop, "Okay kid, what's going on?"

Luz took a deep breath and whispered, "I may or may not have lied to them about Eda being okay with us doing a Moonlight Conjuring, but I'm hoping that she won't notice since she's going out for tonight, so please don't tell."

"Easy, I get it." Nero whispered back, "I'm familiar with going behind someone's back to do something else. Not exactly proud of it, but it's helped with some fun and catharsis every now and then." He then stood tall, briefly making Luz remember that he was almost as tall as Eda, "Most I can say is that you make sure she doesn't find out."

Luz gave him a short nod before she ran around the corner. But she briefly stopped herself and looked back, "Oh! Almost forgot!" she then ran back to Nero and whispered, "I know what I said earlier, but if you want to join, you can. Just got to figure out how to sneak you, Willow, and Gus in. Maybe after Eda heads out?"

"Thanks but no thanks," Nero replied, "I'm not really interested in that kind of crap. Always came off as baby magic to me."

Heh, like aunt, like nephew they always say, Luz humorously thought to herself, remembering that Eda called it the same thing.

"Plus, I kinda have my own plans for later tonight. Revolves around the whole 'going behind someone's back' thing I brought up. So you and your friends have your fun and hope neither of us get found out while we're doing it," Nero finished as he brought his reptilian finger to his lips, as if to say 'keep that a secret'. Luz understood and gave him the 'my lips are sealed' gesture before giving him a thumbs up. The two of them nodded to each other as Luz walked away from Nero and back to her friends.

"Sorry guys, but Nero's got other plans for tonight," Luz explained to them, "So it looks like it's just us."

"Aw man," Gus complained, "It would have been so cool to have him there."

"Yeah, but it'll just be us," Luz said as she started getting back to her plan to keep Eda from finding out about what they were gonna do, at the same time wondering what Eda's nephew was getting up to that he kept hidden.

It had been almost an hour since she left Nero to walk home by himself, and with each passing minute, she regretted it as she cooked dinner and chopped up food. Even with her son's nonchalance, a number of things could happen to him that didn't involve an infernal Hell lord seeking revenge against his grandfather coming after him. Any manner of beast could have just showed up out of the blue and gobbled him whole. There was an assortment of thieves and hoodlums he could have run into hiding out in corners, unseen from Conformitorium and Coven guards.

Keep it together Lilith, she attempted to calm herself, He's fine, wandering alone in Bonesborough. His personal musings meaning he's probably not paying attention to his surroundings, leaving him unprotected from potential kidnappings, robberies, sudden shifts in weather, accidentally stumbling on a painbow and turning inside-, realizing that calming down wasn't working, she poured all the sliced food into the pan and threw her kitchen knives into the wall before she pulled out the bird and started dialing her son's number.

Before she could push the final number, the sound of the front door opening was heard, "Mom, I'm back!" her son's voice came in from down the hall. Almost immediately, she tossed the bird away and ran down hall to greet him, sighing in relief as she saw that he was alright.

"Did you run into any trouble?" she asked.

"No, just a pretty standard trek through town, being honest," he replied as he went to lay down on the couch, resting his hands behind his head.

"Thank the Titan."

"Mom, don't you think you're worrying way too much?" Nero asked, sounding annoyed, "Sometimes I can get it, but how does a bog standard walk home warrant worrying over?"

"Look, there are plenty of things out there on the isles to worry about. Many of which can either kill or eat you!" Lilith said defensively.

"I think I can handle myself pretty alright." Nero yawned.

Lilith pinched the bridge of her nose, "Alright, well what were you thinking about while you were walking?" she then sat down on the adjacent seat, "You said you were taking the time to think. Anything on your mind?"

Nero's face looked away as if he was in thought, "Uh, I guess I was kinda thinking on the Covention and meeting my aunt for the first time. I mean, are there any other family members I haven't met yet?" he asked in an unsure tone. Lilith wasn't sure why he sounded so trepidatious when asking, but the question itself drowned out that line of thought.

"Well, there are your grandparents, Gwen and Dell."

"Why haven't I ever met them? Is this like your sis where you don't like them or something?"

"No! Nothing of the sort," Lilith hastily answered, "They were good parents and I'm sure they'd love you. We just...we haven't been in contact for a while, that's all."

Her son sat up and looked at her curiously, almost as if he was going to ask about them. Lilith prayed that he wouldn't ask any further questions about it. It was difficult enough for her to think about the subject, let alone talk about it. Thankfully, he instead said, "Okay, forget I asked anything," Lilith sighed in relief as he continued, "By the way, there's smoke on the ceiling."

Not knowing what he meant, Lilith looked up confusedly and saw that there was a cloud of smoke hanging above their heads. The way it moves indicated that it was coming from-

"Oh shit!" Lilith cursed as she ran back to the kitchen and saw that the smoke billowing out of the pan as well as a small fire. Panicking, she cast an ice spell and froze the pan, stopping the growing flame as she fanned away the smoke all while struggling not to cough. Walking up to the frozen pan, she used her magic to generate enough heat to melt the ice, causing a small puddle of water to drip to the kitchen counter. She looked inside the pan and grimaced at what she saw; it was a charred bird, the very same she intended to call Nero with.

"Well, looks like we're eating leftovers for dinner," Lilith mumbled as she tossed the entire pan in the trash and walked to the fridge, pulling out what was left of yesterday's dinner; Fairy stew with rice and cooked griffin meat. She warmed it up and poured two bowls just as Nero walked in.

"Do I even want to know what happened?" he asked.

"No." Was her immediate answer. She wanted to forget this embarrassing moment as soon as possible.

"Fair enough." he sat down at his seat across from her and started eating. The two ate in relative silence for a few minutes, much to Lilith's dismay. In the past few years, Nero tended to be fairly quiet whenever they ate a meal together. Before then, even on his worst days, he was rather chatty at these times, but these days there wasn't much of any.

While Lilith wanted to have a nice mother/son conversation, her attempts usually went nowhere. Granted, a lot of them tended to revolve around encouraging him to see what aspects of what covens he liked, which...wasn't really a subject he liked discussing. She tried shifting topics to other things, like interesting new poems she read or funny jokes that certain coven members told every now and then, but that never garnered his interest. She tried shifting to topics to his interests, such as action cartoons, comics, and games, all of which he could talk about non-stop when he was a boy. But they typically eluded her, so she couldn't hold a conversation very well when those were involved, and these days he didn't really talk much about them either.

However, much to her surprise, he said, "So...Mom, how was your day?" the question sounded incredibly awkward and forced, but it seemed he was making an effort to try and be more conversational.

"It...it went well," Lilith replied, still rather shocked, "There was a recent break out attempt at the Conformitorium and I was called in to handle the situation. Also, Kikimora tripped on a carpet, so that was a lot of fun to see," she smirked at the memory, remembering how hilarious seeing the rude little worm fall flat on the floor was.

"Oh yeah, she's that tiny red woman you keep complaining about," Nero said as he leaned back, "So, what exactly is her deal anyway?"

Lilith huffed, "Hell if I know. All I know is ever since I became the leader of the Emperor's Coven, she's constantly been a pain in my ass."

"Language," Nero snarked before laughing. Lilith's face heated up in embarrassment before she found herself slowly giggling along with her son. It was nice, seeing her son being happy again.

"In...in any case," Lilith said between laughs, "I'm gonna have to put up with her for tonight. I have to attend an important meeting with the rest of the coven heads tonight and it's going to be a rather long one, I'm afraid." And Kikimora and the Golden Guard were usually in attendance of these meetings. That meant almost six hours of having to put up with the little red roach and the brattiness of the coven's favorite 'genius teen prodigy', but at this point, she'd put up with worse.

"Wait, did you say it starts at 6:00?" Nero asked.

"Yes, why?"

"Mom, look at the clock," Lilith looked at the kitchen's wallclock and saw that it was now almost 5:00. She internally cursed as she threw the rest of her dinner away and ran to her room to get ready. Brushing her hair and teeth, gathering her staff, cloak, and mask, and dressing in her most refined attire. She ran out of her room and back into the kitchen where Nero was still eating.

Clearing her throat to get his attention, "Sorry, but I can't be late and need to head out soon. But before that, did I make sure to put everything on correctly? I'd rather not look a fool there."

"Not seeing the big deal. What you're wearing is literally the same thing you wear every day." her son said in a deadpan tone, "Besides the whole cape and mask thing of course."

"It is not! My normal dress is dark grey. What I'm wearing now is light black!" Lilith had no idea how her son didn't notice the difference between the two tones. This one was clearly meant for business engagements such as the one she was attending.

Nero just blankly stared at her, "Mom, I can tell you right now with complete and utter sincerity that there is absolutely zero differences between what you are wearing right now and what you wear every single day of the week."

Just before Lilith could argue any further and comprehend her son's lack of understanding in refined meeting attire, her hand felt a biting sensation. She pulled her sleeve back and saw that it was now 5:30. Poking the wrist demon's eye, she gave her son an apologetic look.

"Look, I have to go now. So just make sure you remember all the house rules, finish any homework you have, and be in bed by 9:30, okay?"

"Yeah yeah, I get it," Nero waved off in nonchalance. Lilith gave her son a quick peck on the forehead before running out the door and flying as quickly as she could to the meeting place. As she flew high into the air, she couldn't help but worry that something would happen while she was away. What if someone broke in and she wasn't there? What if a demon lord came to the isles and picked up his scent? What if he snuck out and went somewhere dangerous?

Lilith, you need to calm down and focus, she reminded herself, Nero's going to be just fine. You warded the house to block out any potential intruders, he understands all the rules and parameters for the house, you coated the entire house with every kind of potion and elixir you could make to mask both your scent and his, and he's never snuck out before, so what are the odds of him starting now?

Weird sneaking out to fight something nowadays, Nero mused as he used his magic to untangle the tree housing his sword. Despite it having been years since that Grom battle, he didn't feel the apathy he normally felt when he made an attempt to go devil hunting. If anything, he was actually feeling anticipation for a change.

With the tree fully opened up, he pulled out his saber, Red Queen. The blade looked similar to when he first used it, but finding and reinforcing it with whatever durable metals he could find and altering the blade's shape through metalwork had made it a larger, stronger, and single-edged. He'd removed the wings from the hilt of the blade and replaced it with a more circular version. His personal favorite modification was the specialized spell circle he casted on the hilt. If he twisted his wrist just right, the spell would react and ignite the blade for a powerful fire slash. Since the damage Red Queen could do with it exceeded what could be done without it, he started calling it Exceed. It wasn't perfected yet, but it was definitely something he intended to make good use of.

Hoisting the blade over his left shoulder, he started running through the woods to search for any quarry he could fight, the only light sources being the moon hanging above and his right arm. He had to admit he was kinda nervous, not only due to the ever present fear of his mother finding out, but also because he was about three years out of practice.

Better start getting some practice in then, Nero began looking for any demons he could find. They always tended to start coming after him as soon as he entered these parts of the woods, so it wouldn't take that long.

Okay. Where the hell are they? Now Nero was confused, wandering through a rather random part of the forest. Three years back, the places he'd trek through were teeming with monsters all too willing to rush at him and tear his face off. But now? Two hours into his hunt and there didn't seem to be much of anything. Basic wildlife was present, but none of the beasts that he'd read about, learned about, and fought previously were around.

"Talk about a shitty night," Nero muttered as he started to think to himself, wondering if now would be a good time to call it a night. If there wasn't anything now, odds were another hour of looking about wouldn't do much good either. At the same time however, if he did quit now and some good fights were just ahead, then he'd miss out on them, something he didn't want to do when he just started getting his drive to fight back.

Just as he was thinking though, he felt the ground shake beneath his feet, and a loud booming sound came from his right. As he looked, his eyes widened; out from behind the tree tops, he saw what looked like a massive geyser erupt from the ground. When it ceased, a tingling cold started falling onto him, drawing his attention upward.

"Snow?" Nero had trouble processing what was happening. This was nowhere close to the knee of the isles. Just how could it be snowing here? Before he knew it, he was running towards where the geyser had come from, wondering if this was the work of one of the demons from his book. He'd read about ones that could manifest massive amounts of snow or even control temperature with a mere thought, so it was a possibility, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions just yet.

He brushed past the last tree and stopped to see a large opening in the ground, screeches and whispers coming from down below. Crouching, he looked over the edge and saw a gathering of Cainas, all surrounding a large, white toad-like demon with two antenna that ended in feelers that weirdly looked like glowing women. Its entire back was covered in shards of crystalline ice and its eyes glowed a wrathful red that glared down in front of it. Nero followed its line of sight and saw that it was conversing with three people garbed in red robes.

"Couldn't you have summoned me somewhere with less humid weather?" Nero listened in on the toad's complaining, trying not to be grossed out how he spat bile with each word.

"We don't have the time or resources to do that," one of the robed people whined out. "In all honesty, we would have hoped to summon someone stronger than you, but the hell lords aren't heeding our calls. Why is that?"

"Probably because you fucking parasites aren't worth the effort," the toad snarked. Nero would have laughed if it wouldn't have blown his cover.

"Listen, Bael, regardless, we need all the help we can muster if we are to eliminate Belos," said the robed figure in the center. "Besides, don't any of your superiors care that one who shares Sparda's blood lives on the isles? This is their chance for revenge on his bloodline as much as it is our chance for vengeance against Belos."

Sparda? Nero thought.

"Fuck if I know. Last I heard from down low, Lord Berial was conquering more of Hell and was in the middle of a fight with Goliath's forces." Nero started tuning out the ensuing discussion between the robed figures and Bael regarding territorial disputes between Hell lords and something about how his brothers were seeking to elect a new leader. Didn't seem to matter where one went in Hell. The only consistent truth was that politics were utter bullshit.

Suddenly, a gaunt shadow loomed over him. He turned just in time to see a Caina preparing to split him open with its scythe. Thinking quick, he rolled to the side just as it brought the curved blade down and slashed at its head with Red Queen, decapitating the devil.

"Hey! What's going on up there!?"

The disgusting toad's voice called out and Nero looked down, seeing that everyone's eyes were now facing him. Sighing and seeing no point in the sneaky act anymore, he leapt off the edge and jumped down to meet the demons face-to-face. The Caina's all started circling around him, scythes at the ready, but not moving to attack.

"Yeesh, and I thought you were ugly looking up there," Nero said as he got into a fighting stance.

"Oh you little shit! Just who the hell are you!?" Bael snarled.

"Anyone else just glad that we didn't get got by the covens this time?"

"Not now Dale," the front most robed guy said to his accomplice, "We can't risk any witnesses. Bael, kill him so we can get to killing Belos."

"Do not give me orders, you stupid welp!" Bael yelled before facing Nero, "I was going to do that any...wait a minute."

The frog started sniffing the air, "This witchling smells weird," he said, much to Nero's annoyance.

"Okay, you're the oversized bog bitch, and I'm the one that smells like crap?" Nero levelled a glare at the demon, "Guess there's no accounting for-"

"That's it!" Bael screamed out before giving off an almost sadistic grin, "Step aside!" he yelled at the Cainas, who started dispersing, "The one who carries Sparda's blood is mine to kill."

Wait, he's talking about... Before Nero could process it any further, the toad breathed out a blast of ice, freezing him in place. Fuck, it's cold! Nero shook himself out of the ice with as much strength as he could muster. In a second, he was free as he let out a breath, the now freezing air making it visible, but Bael was missing. Where the hell did that bastard go? Suddenly, a dark shadow enveloped the area he was in. Eyes widening with realization, he ran and rolled just as a loud boom came from behind him.

"Okay, so you're faster than I thought," Nero grunted as he stood up and summoned an orb of flame, throwing a blast of fire right at the toad's rear end.

"OW! Damned little shit!" Bael yelled in anger as he turned around to face him, "That was a cheap shot!"

Bael then leaned back and fired a barrage of ice shards from his back. Nero ran straight for the demon, dodging every shard as it landed before using the final ice shard as a platform, jumping off of it and drawing Red Queen to slash down on the toad's ugly face. Unfortunately, the toad whipped his head around, using his antenna to slap Nero out of the air, knocking him a ways to the right.

"How pathetic! Is this really the best you can muster?"

"Cut me some slack," Nero shook the dirt off him as he stood up, "It's been a while."

"Well then let's see how you like this!" Bael then breathed in. Nero prepared to dodge another ice blast, but instead, the toad let out a powerful roar. Suddenly, the environment around him began to darken until he could barely make out the area he was in. He couldn't even see the stars or sky anymore. Two lights descended from above, revealing themselves to be the two female bodies that were on the toad's feelers. As Nero drew Red Queen, the two...whatever they were supposed to be started dancing strangely and letting out odd moans.

When they made no move to attack, Nero rushed in and slashed away at one of them. He slashed again and again, even unleashing two Exceed slashes on them, but the didn't seem too phased. If anything, they moved as if they were being puppeted.

"Wait a damn-" Nero was interrupted by a load and rancid breath coming from behind him. He reacted just fast enough to roll out of the lunging toad's way and deliver an Exceed charged slash to the demon's side.

"ARRGH!" Bael screeched in pain, turning to glare hatefully at him. The area lightening back up as he put some distance between the two of them.

"Aw, what's the matter toad? Can't take the heat?" Nero snarked with a confident smirk before looking down at Red Queen's hilt and saw that the Exceed's spell circle was on the verge of giving out. From how it looked, he could only use it a couple more times before he'd have to reapply the spell altogether. He looked back to Bael, who looked just about ready to lung at him in blind anger. In that split second, he looked at the toad's feelers, and an idea formed in his head.

"I will swallow you whole!" Just as the toad came down on him, Nero summoned an ethereal fist with his right hand and slugged Bael in the chin, knocking the wind out of him and making his antenna drop to the ground. Nero then grabbed one of the feelers and proceeded to spin around, increasing in speed until everything around him became a blur.

"Wait, stop!" Bael actually sounded like he was begging, "I...I think I'm gonna hurl!"

I better end this quick, Nero thought with disgust. Just as he was about to let go, instead the feeler snapped, sending Bael flying into one of the terrace walls. Nero looked to the limp feeler in his hand, ready to toss the thing aside before it began to glow. Nero's questioning was interrupted as the glow shrank and went into his right arm, which itself was now covered in the same light.

"What the hell?" Nero muttered, wondering what just happened. It felt almost the feeler was...absorbed? Taken in? Assimilated? Whatever it was, it strangely felt like it was a part of him now.

"You..." however, his musings were interrupted by the sound of dirt and gravel being blown away, forcing him to shield his eyes. When the dust settled, Bael stood once again, now looking 110% done. "I will not be bested by some infantile Sparda!"

There's that name again. Before Nero could think too much on it, a slimy tongue darted right out of Bael's mouth and wrapped itself around him. In the span of a second, he found himself being swallowed into Bael's maw. Thankfully, he was able to react just in time to slash at the tongue with Red Queen to get Bael to release him. He was still caught between the demon's teeth, needing to use his arms and legs to hold the mouth open alongside being forced to smell the rotten breath, but it beat getting eaten.

Okay, think Nero, he tried to come up with a plan to get out of his predicament, but he had trouble thinking between the teeth above and below him that were gonna bite down alongside being grossed out by the rancid air. He looked down, then he looked up before his eyes fell on his right arm and an idea came into his head. It was a completely stupid one, but if it killed this bastard, then he'd take it.

"Hey Frog Face!" Nero yelled out before taking his right hand and forming the largest spell circle he could, "Eat this!"

Suddenly, Nero was blasted far back by a burst of pure heat and light, leaving him rolling on the ground before he managed to gather his bearings and stand up, dusting himself off as he did so. Looking back up, he saw that the entire upper half of Bael's body had been blown to smithereens, leaving nothing but his charred lower half behind.

"Guess he couldn't beat the heat," Nero said. The air entered his nose as he said, "Ugh, great. Now I smell like toad breath." Now was a good time to head back home, if only because he really needed to wash this smell off of him before it scarred him for life. "He said that I have the blood of someone or something called Sparda, but who or what the hell is Sparda?" The most he could tell was that the name sure seemed to rile the demon up. Maybe he could try looking into it? There had to be something on Sparda that he could look into, if only to figure out what his connection to them was.

A distorted screech cried out from the bushes and Nero turned just in time to dodge a scythe slash from one of the Cainas that were present earlier. As he drew his sword, more rustling came from all sides, and soon enough, he found himself surrounded by an assortment of Cainas and Scarecrows.

Guess now that their boss is out, they're looking to get even. As Nero thought that, he realized he wasn't feeling the trepidation he felt when he started earlier that night. Instead, he felt only one thing; excitement. As the first of the demons charged at him, Nero flicked his wrist as he rushed forward, setting Red Queen ablaze with one thought on his mind.

Okay then. Let's rock!

"Seriously! Losing the higher demons we summon to the Emperor's Coven is bad enough, but now we lost one to some brat with a sword!?" Vindice was left utterly fuming as the fight wrapped up. Granted, they didn't have enough resources or time to summon a Hell Lord like Berial or Echidna, but Bael was one of the masters of the frozen wastes, and yet he was bested by a mere child.

"If it means anything, Bael did mention him having Sparda's blood," Dale piped up, "So the child must be a lot stronger than he was expecting."

Vindice remembered Bael's words and felt a smile come to his face. If nothing else, they now knew what the Sparda on the isles looked like. They could use that to call forth someone else to aid in Belos' end. Preferably someone stronger than their past summons. "What are the odds Hell will listen if we tell them we know who they're looking for here?" he asked.

"Uh, I think 50-50 sir," Dale answered, "At this point, we may be running out of options."

"Running out and being out are two different things. We just need to bide our time a little longer. Look through to see which Hell Lord from the lower circles would be most eager to face a Sparda." Vindice walked ahead of the three of them, "We will have our vengeance against the Emperor this time. I know we will."