It was around midnight when he reached the borders of the queen's lair. It was surprisingly silent and unusually empty. Spider demon lairs were usually crawling with hatchlings at nighttime.

- Something´s wrong, he thought to himself.

As he ventured further into the queen's lair, he noticed the remains of dead demon spiders. They all showed signs of being slain by swords, many swords. But this was only the cuts of normal iron swords, no magical swords as far as he could see. He kept walking forward into the darkness until he saw a huge bonfire burning brightly inside the midst of a huge chamber further down the tunnel.

- No, this can't be! They´ve already been here... It's too late.

This was all he managed to think before he heard a loud yell and the familiar sound of over fifty men approaching in chainmail from behind him.

- There he is! The man with the golden hair and glowing demonic eyes! Summon the paladin! A knight yelled.

- The paladin, Ichigo thought. I should´ve known that he´d come here in person!

Ichigo couldn't manage to escape before he heard the familiar sound of a thousand bells chiming all at the same time. The paladin had appeared right in front of him, out of the very air with his sword drawn, ready to attack. The paladin cast a spell as he swung his sword towards Ichigo. He couldn't move! He felt the cold grasp around him, freezing him to the bone. All he heard was the paralyzing sound of the paladin's voice:

- Sohekra!, the paladin yelled.

This was the power of the sword which the angels had bestowed upon him, Leviathan.
It was covered in pure white flames and the very air around it froze. The slightest touch from this sword would freeze a man solid.
The wielder of the sword was Arthur Auguste. Ichigo had fought him many a time. He was an honored man of the Golden Palace, blessed by the Archangel Gabriel. He was a mortal whom was able to put up a fight against Ichigo. And not many mortals did so. This was the reason Arthur was hunting him. Because of his demon blood, he was a disgrace to this world and not allowed to walk the earth among mortals. This was what the order of the Golden Palace believed, at least.

Arthur made his move and Leviathan sliced through Ichigo's shoulder, leaving him with a fatal wound that to mortals would be deadly, but not to Ichigo. Ichigo mustered all his power into one single spell, a spell so powerful that it would heal his wounds, damage his enemies and let him get away, all at the same time; his true form.

- Keth'kra thelu daimón!, Ichigo managed to squeeze through his teeth despite his paralyzed state.

The air around Ichigo started to darken and his eyes began to shine in a bright green as he disappeared into the darkness. Seconds later, he stood before them, two heads taller than before. Two massive horns stuck out of his forehead and two huge bat-like wings emerged from his back. His skin was pale and his hair long, and golden. His chest was naked and he was covered by black fur waist down and from elbow down, it even covered his hands. There were now thick black claws where his nails once were and a long naked tail as pale as his skin whipped through the air.

The wound on his shoulder was long gone. His demonic sword Belphegor seemed to have grown in power as well as its master, as this had also grown to match his size.
Ichigo burst into a demonic, wild laughter as he said:

- It's nice to see you as well, Auguste!

He swung Belphegor at the paladin and his followers. Arthur barely dodged the attack, but over half of the followers were slain by that one attack alone, some were cut in half while other were torched to death by the all-consuming black flames, which Belphegor continuously emitted.

Ichigo looked at Arthur, his face cracked up in a broad smile, exposing his long sharp fangs. A moment after, he disappeared.

- DAMN YOU, DEMON!, Arthur yelled as he fell to his knees in despair.

Half of his men were dead and the demon's attack had hit him as well, even though the angel's power should´ve protected him. But he wasn't that sad about the loss of his followers, only their shortened number saddened him. He knew exactly where the demon had run off to, the once so mighty Onyx Castle. All that place consisted of now was broken walls, ruins and a single tower which was still standing. But it was the perfect hiding place for a demon. Due to the dark powers that still lingered among the ruins, it was a perfect place for a demon from the netherworld. Arthur knew that the place would slightly empower Ichigo, but that didn't bother him.

- If the coward is so scared that he hides from me in such a place, so be it, he thought.

- Those old lingering powers won't save you anyway, demon!