Beginning at the conclusion of 'Heart'

Go Nagai and Emeralddusk's

The Devil Lady:

Ascendant

I

The wind seemed especially cold as Jun sat atop a wooden fence surrounding the quiet, peaceful neighborhood she dare not return to ever again. The raven-black-haired young woman watched over the countryside with a heavy heart, clenching a white robe that concealed her body against her aching heart. Night would come soon, and usher in a night colder than any other.

There's nothing left for me in this world, Jun told herself as she watched the wind sweep over the blades of grass of the plains before her. Kazumi is gone. She was all I had. She was all that kept me human…kept me alive. I couldn't even save her. Just like I couldn't save that little girl. She had to die to protect those who needed me. I'm sorry, Chika. And I'm sorry, Kazumi. You both deserved so much better. You deserved the whole world, Kazumi.

Mother and Father are gone too. I felt it about a month ago while I lay in bed. They died in their sleep at the hands of Devil-Beasts. The JSDF burned the entire house down to make sure the Beasts were dead. Grandmother and Grandfather passed away painlessly in their beds, as if carried away by a warm wave. They never woke up from their sweet dreams. I thank God for that.

As the sun set over the horizon, Jun watched the blue skies become ablaze with orange, scarlet, and yellow hues. Twilight had fallen. The young woman stood up, her body weighed down with sorrow, and felt the wind grow harsher against her. "Promise me you won't hurt anyone or anything ever again, Chiyoko," she had told the little girl who became like a sister to her. "Be a good girl, and do everything your grandparents tell you."

"Okay," the child answered in a meek voice. "I love you, Jun."

"I love you too," Jun warmly replied. "You don't have anything to be afraid of now. All the devils are gone. Just keep that eye closed and be a normal girl again. I'll never forget you."

As the memories parted like a dying fog, Jun found herself under a sky filling with stars as the sunset slowly faded. It was time to go. Taking one last look behind her, the young woman took in a deep breath, released it into a heavy sigh, turned, and walked away. She had told Chiyoko one last story before leaving her: Devil-Beasts and Devilmen still existed in the world. "The world would be a better place without any Devilmen," she sorrowfully declared to herself. "But those kids weren't Devil-Beasts or Devilmen. They deserve a chance at life. I have to be the last Devilman, and then the nightmare can finally end." Jun closed her eyes as her long hair blew wildly in the wind. Sharply she opened her eyes to reveal the otherworldly fire that had burned within her heart for so long. Tearing off her robe, the woman felt a great heat rush through and over her body as her muscles tightened, her senses sharpened, nails turned to claws, teeth to fangs, and the image of a human shattered to reveal that of a demon. Spreading her black, bat-like wings, the Devil Lady took to the skies as the light of the full moon glistened over her primal, beautiful body.

"Why are you doing this, Jun?" Kazumi's voice gently asked her beloved friend.

"Because I was wrong," the Devil Lady answered in her pure, human voice. "I'm not The Devil. It was Asuka all along. She deceived us all. I'm not doing this for revenge, or even for atonement. I'm doing this to save the rest of the world from her!"

"We were never demons or devils, Jun," Kazumi's angelic voice replied. "Remember that. And remember that I love you."

"I love you too, Kazumi," Jun tearfully declared. "I always have, and I always will, even if I could never say it to you before." Kazumi smiled, let out one of her childlike giggles, kissed her friend and sister one last time, and faded from the realm of the living. "Once Asuka is gone, then I can finally die," a lonely and broken little girl declared. "I'm ready now." Whoever I thought Asuka was, no longer exists. She tempted us all with golden apples. None of us knew she picked them from the forbidden tree. Now, it all ends.

The corpses of men, women, and children, some Beasts, others monsters, and some human at heart, lined the blood-stained streets of Japan. While the innocent rotted alongside the impure in the gulag Asuka and her pawns had built, the world grew darker. Above the pain, suffering, and death, Asuka, several secretaries, and armed guards sat down before the assistant to the President of the United States and his advisor. The small group reclined in a cool room filled with fresh fruits and alcohol as the earth below burned.

"Everything is ready, Miss Asuka," the assistant happily declared. "The President will make his announcement once you've given us the signal."

"Wonderful," the blond-haired woman answered coldly. "We thank you for your cooperation and faith. You can all return to your country. The burden lies with us now." Asuka stood up and walked towards the windows while the other congratulated one another.

Several times, the men glanced over at the woman, fixated on the chaos outside her haven, and saw small flickers of a warm light. For a second, they even witnessed what looked like a small choir of angels. Though they dismissed it within their hearts and minds as a trick of the lights or the influence of alcohol, they all believed it to be appropriate. Lan Asuka was, after all, the one they had prayed for.

"Come to me, Jun," Asuka whispered, sensing her beloved friend's arrival. "It's time to finish what we started, and never separate again." The blond-haired woman felt her heart begin to flutter before growing to a passionate and unending pounding.

As her bat-like wings tore through the sky, Jun felt her heart, though darkened by her Devilman form, begin to beat faster as her senses sharpened. The days when she and Asuka fought alongside one another, when Asuka praised Jun's beauty, and when their relationship, though complex and hostile at times, and their mutual presence was permanent all seemed so distant. A part of Jun longed to hear Asuka's voice over the phone as Kazumi listened unaware from her favorite spot on the couch. But those days were over now. The cold light of day had revealed the looming darkness Jun never noticed in those times. There would be no resolution, nor victory at the end of this battle. There was no one and nowhere to return home to.

Standing atop the gulag she had created for those she deemed unworthy, Asuka let the cold warmth of the moon warm her body as her white robe blew in the breeze. Jun would know where to find her. Even if she didn't, she would come for the children. On a neighboring island, a plane departed for Washington. It would be the last vessel to leave the ruins of Japan. "Can you hear me, Jun?" Asuka whispered to the night. "Deep down, you must have known this was inevitable. Our work is almost done. There's no need for veils or lies anymore. There's no one left to get in our way."

Her body casting its shadow before the full moon, Jun soared through the sky before spreading her wings, halting in midair, and lowering herself onto the rooftop where Asuka stood. Time seemed to stand still as two beings, one to the left and dressed in white, the other to the right, naked, and draped in black, faced one another as the city around them burned. Gazing into Asuka's cold yet beautiful blue eyes with her own fiery, yellow eyes, all traces of compassion and comfort faded away. The past and its lies were finally dead.

"It's so good to see you again, Jun," Asuka declared, her voice and expression cold as she opened her arms. "How wonderful of you to come to me in your true form."

"You know why I've come, Asuka," the Devil Lady gravely declared in Jun's voice.

"But do you, Jun?" the blond-haired woman replied with a smile. "I'm sure you believe you're here to kill me and save the world. The truth of the matter is, as it always has been, that you've come to give yourself to me." Jun's eyes widened before tightening into a vicious scowl laced with an angry growl no human could produce. "You can't save the world. You never could. Your kind can only destroy. But I'll be the one to deliver us from Sodom."

"The streets are covered in blood you've spilled," Jun coldly struck back. "You've never known anything about me. You never knew or cared for this world. You said so yourself that humans are nothing more than stepping stones for you. There's just one thing I need to know now. What was your goal? What did you think you'd accomplish with all this?"

Letting out a snicker through closed lips, Asuka closed her eyes and raised her head towards the sky. Suddenly, Jun witnessed a warming light form around her foe, paving the way for four-winged Cherubim, child-like Angels with hair as pure and bright as gold and draped with white wings like birds, and fiery figures scarcely resembling storybook angels to float around her. "Your true self made you a devil, Jun," the woman declared as the one she longed for attempted to block her eyes from the blinding light. "But I was born higher than those around me. Something truly good."

Within the breath of an instant, the light swallowed all, and faded to reveal a vast, flowing valley crowned with long, green grass, endless plains and trees bearing every multitude of fruit imaginable. Cool streams free of pollution flowed freely throughout the land as a sky eternally orange and red with the blessing of an ever-lasting sunrise glistened above. Looking around, Jun grew confused and troubled. Behind the two stood two trees separated by several feet. On the left, a tree composed of thick and flowing roots wrapped about one another until they sprouted leaves as green as the grass and crowned with ragged leaves as red as blood. From the outwardly attractive leaves grew apples running with fresh juices and beating like human hearts. Behind Jun was a tree taller than any other. Its exterior was nearly golden in color and flowing with endless branches and leaves greener than any other. Its fruit rested further than the reach of any man.

"Do you know this place, Jun?" Asuka called out. "Eden. This is where man committed his first sin. The first of many."

Glancing down at her clawed feet, Jun saw a white serpent slither around her legs. Quickly, she turned her gaze towards Asuka.

"But man didn't sin on his own, did he?" the blond continued with a degree of satisfaction in her voice. Jun glared at the woman she once considered her friend. "No, he had help from the beginning." Asuka's words seemed to summon a snake as black as a moonless night, walking on four thin legs coming to small, webbed, clawed finger-like toes, and gazing at Jun with very human eyes as red as fire and glistening with deep malice and hatred that went beyond anything human. The beast slowly climbed the tree behind Asuka, reaching its fruit, and dropping it into her open hand. "The fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil," she declared. "The first thing your father promised to man, Jun. Are you proud of it?"

"Go to Hell, Asuka," the Devil Lady snarled. "I don't know how you got these powers, but you're still the same beast you've always been. Think of all the innocent who have suffered under your hand."

"Yes, Jun, I have killed," the blond woman answered with a growing reverence. "But I am not the one who slaughtered children, former lovers, and those foolish enough to try to save you…"

"You drove me to kill them!" Jun screamed. "I didn't ask for this life, but you thrust it upon me! Because you were too weak to do it yourself! I've killed only to defend myself and those who loved. How many have you killed without reason? How many are dead because of your own selfish goals?"

"Sacrifices are necessary, Jun," Asuka replied as she dropped the apple from her hand. "The people had to learn of your kind. Yes, I fed their fear. But now, they will know salvation. They will see the impure and the unholy burn in a divine light." Roaring with agony, the serpent disintegrated within a second. Her mouth agape, Jun watched as balls of fire rained down on Eden, reducing it all to smoldering ash. "Because of you, and because of man, Eden was lost. And I was forced to live in a world that would never accept me. But from the ashes of Eden, I will build a new paradise!" Dust and embers quickly blew away to reveal a lush valley whose only pollution was a few pieces of rubble from a once-proud civilization. Now, all that remained were marble remnants. "This is our fate, Jun. Your kind will die, and I will ascend to a higher form of life. Demons will writhe and die time and time again in eternal agony while I lead mankind to a purer version of itself. The weak and unworthy will die, but the strong and the just will build a new Heaven in my name."

"What right do you have, Asuka?" Jun demanded. "You're no better than any of us."

Snickering under her breath, Asuka grabbed the shoulder of her robe and threw it to the wind. Jun's jaw dropped at the sight before her. Visions of Asuka's naked body had both danced and tormented her dreams for so long. But nothing in her dreams could compare to what she now saw before her. "Do you see me, Jun?" the woman asked as her bare flesh shined under the light of a new sun. Her skin was flawless and free of any scars or blemishes, her breasts fair and strong, her hair long, golden-blond, and flowing freely, and her genitals those of both man and woman. "Do you see the body I once cursed and hated? The body my parents despised and rejected? Because it is with this body that my destiny will be revealed. And you, my beloved Jun, will be the one to help me."

"What are you?" the Devil Lady demanded with a hiss.

"I am your opposite, Jun," Asuka proudly declared, her eyes dreamy. "I am the one who will save this world. But only you, Jun, one born of darkness, can make me whole. Lie with me, Jun. We have both desired it since the day we met. Even before then, we sensed the other. You do love me, don't you?"

Jun felt her body tremble as her pulse quickened and her heart began to pound violently. Her darkest desires from her most private moments began to come to a boil beneath her flesh as her legs carried her closer to the one she so longed and lusted for. "No," the Devil Lady begged of herself. "There is no love between us. I hate you!" Still, she continued forward until Asuka's breasts nearly touched her own. "I'll always hate you! I…I…" Asuka opened her eyes, which were now awash with a vulnerable and open desire. Her lips seemed to quiver as they glistened. Everything about her screamed for Jun. "I've always loved you, Asuka. Even as a child, I longed for you. I've loved you above everyone else. Please, take me. Make me yours." Stumbling forward, the Devil Lady felt her eyes begin to flow with warm tears as she neared her beloved. "You're all I've ever wanted. I love you, Asuka. I give myself to you." Jun finally reached Asuka, tightly wrapped her arms around her, feeling her beloved do the same, and slowly collapsed onto her knees, never easing up on her grip, as if to worship at the blond woman's feet.

"I love you too, Jun," Asuka declared as a wicked smile formed across her face. "Now, on your stomach." Like an obedient dog, Jun released her lover's ankles and pressed her belly into the grass and dirt. "Tell me you love me, Jun."

"I…I love you, Asuka," Jun declared, though her voice began to tremble. What am I saying? What is she doing to me?

"Roll onto your back, Jun," Asuka ordered as her long, flowing hair blew in the wind. "Give yourself to me." Unable to resist, the Devil Lady turned onto her back, her spaded tail lying flat in the grass. The blond woman let out a satisfied purr as her smile grew. "Spread your wings for me. I want to see you in all your glory, you beautiful fallen angel." As tears began to swell and flow from her eyes, Jun spread her bat-like wings as she screamed furiously inside herself. "Oh, Jun. You can't resist me. You never could. Submission was your way of loving me." Asuka knelt down on the grass beside Jun's body and leaned over her face. "You don't have to fight it anymore," she whispered. "Prove your love for me with a kiss."

Her heart pounding, the Devil Lady mustered enough strength to shake her head as burning tears flowed into the grass around her head. No! All the love I ever had for you is gone! It was never love at all! I hate you, Asuka!

"Jun, you don't have to fight anymore," Asuka assured her beloved. "You don't need to hold onto your beliefs, your fears, or the rules of the world around you. You can give in to me, mind, body, and soul. Let it all go, Jun. Kiss me now." Jun closed her eyes and slightly opened her mouth. Smiling a wicked smile, Asuka closed her own eyes, lowered herself slowly, and kissed Jun's dry, wanting, delicious lips.

Fight her off! Jun commanded of herself, though her words fell upon deaf ears. Please! Why don't I have the strength to fight her? Despite her will to fight back, the woman felt every fiber of her being longing for Asuka, even through the anger and knowledge of her darkness were still fresh in her mind. Everything wanted to surrender to her.

Pulling herself away, Asuka licked her lips to taste Jun one last time. "It's almost over, Jun," she declared as she threw her head back, flipping her long blond hair back and flaring out her breasts. "This final time, I ask for your body. Surrender yourself to me and fulfill your destiny. Then, Jun, you can finally rest and never wake again."

Jun's breath trembled as she inhaled heavily, her streams unrelenting. Feeling Asuka's breasts press against her own, the Devil Lady closed her eyes and cried out as she was once more violated. Everything flashed red before her mind gave her the mercy of darkness. Then, all that remained was an internal pain, like a raw nerve or a flesh wound.

After the pain subsided, Jun found herself back in Asuka's hellish utopia, lying on her back in pain. "Thank you, Jun," the blond-haired woman whispered before leaning down for one last kiss. Their lips met one another and gelled long enough for Jun to spit in complete rejection. "You filthy beast!" Asuka screamed as she threw herself back and rose onto her feet.

"I was never a beast," the Devil Lady whispered, her voice still quaking but rising to strength. "It was always you. Damn you, Asuka."

Calming herself, Asuka let out a scoff before smiling once more. "You've served your purpose, Jun," she declared. "Now, be gone. Paradise has no place for something like you. Have your rest."

Her eyes fixed on Asuka, Jun felt the ground beneath her shatter and give way. Unable to move, the Devil Lady could only watch as she fell for what felt like an eternity until she was swallowed by the Mouth of Hell. Before the light vanished, she heard the cries of familiar voices begging her to fight back. She couldn't save them: She couldn't save any of them. "I'm sorry," was all she could choke out before everything faded into nothingness.