When Uriel heard the Red Horseman utter the words: "No, not alone...", she knew what that meant and even so, she couldn't shrug off the anger and the fear she felt. Those words meant that the other three were on their way, and it was true. A blinding light encased the spire War fought and killed the Destroyer and three figures appeared near her. Uriel looked at them in terror as they slowly revealed themselves. One was a woman, with purple hair, yellow eyes and pale skin, another had black hair and wore a helmet and the last one was the most familiar to the leader of the Hellguard: Death. They were the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the Charred Council's most powerful enforcers and the last remaining Nephilim. Each of them was immensely powerful and had unique abilities that put them far above the other servants of the Council. Before she could say anything, Uriel noticed Death approaching her:

"Greetings, Uriel. So, the Hellguard stands tall! That's good news, amidst all this misery."

"Horseman... I..."

"There is no need for words, Uriel."

The Pale Rider turned his masked face towards the rest of the remaining Hellguard members:

"You've done your part in this and for that, I am grateful. But now, as the Seventh Seal was broken, we'll take over. You are free to return to the White City and the other realms of the Light."

Uriel couldn't believe her ears:

"What? But... we are exiled! How can we return to the White City knowing what we've done?"

A voice was heard from amidst the clouds:

"You did nothing, my dear. We did everything. Me and Abaddon."

A tall Angel, wearing a long, blue cloak descended to the spire.

"Azrael... What are you doing here, traitor? If you wish to help your friend, the Destroyer, see that you are now too late!"

War approached Uriel, who was pointing towards the corpse of Abaddon:

"No, Uriel... Azrael was coerced into this conspiracy by Abaddon and while his fault is no lesser than Abaddon's, he partially redeemed himself by helping me take down the Destroyer. You are right to be angry but right now, we need to keep our heads clear."

"Exactly. Uriel, I know what I've done and I deserve all your hatred and even more, but right now, the Destroyer's death means nothing if we don't find a way to cleanse the Earth of Demons."

"And how do you propose we do this?"

"First, we need to reconvene elsewhere, somewhere where we can plan and talk outside of the Charred Council's reach."

"Why?"

War and Death exchanged looks to one another and the Pale Rider spoke:

"Because the Council is corrupted. They knew what Abaddon did and used War as an assassin in order to take him down. They knew War would never agree to their plan and they decided to make everyone believe he provoked the Apocalypse."

Fury couldn't believe it:

"What? How do you know of this, brother?"

Azrael coughed:

"You will find all the answers you seek, Fury. But now, we have to hurry. I will take all of you, like I said, to a place outside the Council's reach."

One of the Hellsguard Angels spat:

"Why should we trust this criminal and traitor? For all we know, he may be in league with the Prince of Lies himself, like his friend, the Destroyer, was!"

Some of the other Angels agreed with him and an argument started before Uriel intervened:

"Enough! I understand your fears, brothers and sisters. But right now, we are the only force capable of mending the wound caused by the traitors to Creation. Remember our oath, when we became Hellguard. We swore to protect the Light and cleanse the evil from Creation. If that means I have to work with Azrael and the Horsemen, I will happily do it! But after all this pain and tragedy, after one hundred years of never ending war, I understand if you want to go home. All of you who want to return to the White City, do it. But if there is any within your ranks that wishes to continue our fight, join me!"

The Angels stopped arguing and the one who spoke earlier approached Uriel:

"Yes... I want to go home. Sorry, Uriel, but my blood craves the light, craves the peace of our realm. Understand this..."

Some of the other angels agreed with him. Uriel closed her eyes and nodded, dissapointed.

"Do as you wish, Hael!"

Hael approached Death:

"How do we return home?"

"There is a portal that links Earth to Lostlight. It was the portal I used to come here and recover the Rod of Arafel. If you go through it, you will arive at the Crystal Spire. From there, use the Tree of Life to go to the White City."

"Hear that, brothers? We can go home! I'm sorry, Uriel..."

"Go home, Hael."

Hael took out a map and had Death mark the location of the portal. More than half of the Hellguard present left with him, leaving Uriel with little over twenty warriors.

"We are not like Hael, mistress. We fight with you, until the end!"

"Thank you, my loyal friends. Now, Azrael, what is our next step?"

"I will try to teleport all of us to Eden, even though I believe it's almost impossible. After I helped War reach the Tree of Knowlege, the Serpent Hole closed behind us, so..."

"Don't fret, Angel of Death..."

Death approached Azrael and, after taking out a small rock from his pocket, he handed it to the Angel:

"What's this, Death?"

"A rock from Eden. I took it after our battle with the Nephilim eons ago. This piece of stone is the only part of Eden existing outside that realm. If you concetrate enough on it, you can teleport us there."

"Incredible... I should try."

"Know that it will take some time and you should not be disturbed. Uriel, have your Hellguard protect Azrael, as he will be unable to defend himself if Demons attack during the ritual!"

"Yes, Horseman. Did you hear it? At your post!"

"Yes, milady!"

The Hellguard encircled Azrael.

"In the meantime, Strife..."

The Rider of the White Horse, silent until now, approached:

"Yes, brother?"

"I recovered your pistol from the Forge Lands. Take it, you'll need it!"

"Why, Death... I didn't expect this from you! Thank you, kind sir!"

"Here. Your second pistol. The Maker Ulthane gave it to me."

"Oh, happy days! I can't even put it into words how happy I am to have such devoted siblings by my side!"

Fury sighed:

"Yes, we... know about your gratitude. By the way, how did you lose your weapons to the Makers?"

"Umm... long story!"

"Well, tell us. We have time before Azrael completes his teleportation ritual."

"Ah... Do you remember when the Council sent me to the okarim realm? The one that was enslaved by Demons?"

"Yes, we know."

"Well... In my efforts to liberate it... I kind of destroyed the Succor of the Ages and..."

"You did what?"

Death's face under the mask would become even more livid than it normally was. The Succor of the Ages was a Maker artifact that was gifted to the okarim ages ago. It was the source of their incredible healing power.

"You do realise that without the Succor, the okarim will be exterminated?"

"No, no... Well, I do but it's not a problem because the Maker Ragnol, who inhabited the okarim world, repaired it but... the price he asked for was pretty high."

"Your pistols..."

"Yes. And before you so kindly gave them back to me, look at what I had to use!"

Strife showed the small green gauntlet he wore on his right arm, which had three holes in it. Death laughed:

"The Tempest Gauntlet. This was in the possession of the Soul Render of Korgas. How did you take it from him?"

"Ugh... He gave it to me but... I had to kill a sludger for him..."

The three other Horsemen started to histerically laugh at the expense of their brother. The sludger was a type of gigantic worm that squatted beneath the soil of the Demon realm Korgas, ruled by the powerful entity known as the Soul Render. The sludger was considered to be the foulest creature in Creation, having all kinds of noxious substances covering its giant body and its stench was said to be able to be felt from one hundred miles distance.

"Why are you laughing about? It's not like I'm the only one who does business with Demons. Death, you did have to kill that Leviathan for Vulgrim, isn't it?"

"Yes, but not a sludger!"

Strife was visibly angry but he sighed and put his pistols in the holster. Soon, the voice of Azrael boomed across the top of the spire.

"To me, friends. We shall teleport immediately!"

The Four Horsemen, Uriel, the Hellguard and the corpse of Abaddon soon were encased in a blue light and dissapeared from the battlefield.