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Chapter 52

Masked nature: Part IX (last)

Danger extinct

Satan's eyes slowly widened. Tears ran down his face. Ange screamed his name. The others' eyes widened. Blood ran from the fire demon's mouth as his body leaned backward, relaxing into the chains' squeeze. Blood covered the chains and ran down his chest, to colour the whiteness of his shirt. Lisian's smile slowly faded. His hands started trembling. "S... S... Sa... tan..."

The chains disappeared as Satan fell toward the ground. Ange gasped. He pierced through shadows and flew toward him. He caught him and jumped on the platform. He laid him on it and placed a hand on his face. His eyes flashed wide, staring at his empty crimson eyes, after the whiteness in it disappeared. He grabbed him by his shoulders. "SATAN! WAKE UP, SATAN!"

Silence greeted his answer. Ange gasped in horror. He gritted his teeth, lowering his head. He stood up, a dark aura surrounding his body. His hair went black. His wings went black as his eyes turned completely back. His shredded shirt disappeared, showing a spell in his back. Ignis stared at it, shocked. "What's that?"

The spell broke and disappeared. A black cloak surrounded Ange's body. A black spell appeared on the left side of his face. He stared at Lisian, enraged. "LISIAN!" Darkness exploded from his body as he flew toward Lisian, a staff in his hand. Ange gasped, crying heavily. "YOU KILLED HIM!"

Lisian's eyes widened. He gasped, as Ange pushed his hand into his chest and wrapped it around his heart. "I'LL RIP YOU APART!" Ange's gaze went darker. His eyes slowly widened, feeling a touch in his neck. He gasped, falling forward. Tharros caught him. He emotionlessly stared at the darkness surrounding him and moved his gaze to Satan.

You know, he's...

Tharros glanced at Lisian's shocked expression.

He carried Ange and flew back toward Satan. He started reviving him and healing Ange. The spell on Ange's back returned as the darkness around him disappeared. Lisian cried out, as a dark aura exploded from his body.

"Cage!" His eyes widened, as wood branches started imprisoning his body. Madera glared at him. "Calm down! You're destroying everything!"

Aluben smiled, feeling someone patting his shoulder. "Long time no see," Nebula grinned. "We should pass some more time together! We should take more naps together!"

"No, thanks, I'll pass. There's always Hiz..."

"Yeah, I love that guy..."

A black aura surrounded Lune as black thorns appeared from the ground and swallowed the shadows. Aliquam smiled as a hundred shadows jumped toward him. He clapped his hands as the time stopped around him. He started walking away and whistling as a wind orb blew them away. Solute glanced at Satan. "He died?!"

Lisian yelped, as gravity started crushing him. Varitita sighed. "Now, this is troublesome. I was chilling at home!"

"Ah, Taurus has arrived too."

"Taurus?"

"Yes, they'll help with avoiding the destruction. They'll re-build everything destroyed."

"Ah, right... they're earth guys..."

"Never mind that." Madera glanced at Ange. "What happened to him?"

Neige stood near them. He stared at Lisian with a cold expression. A snow tornado wrapped around Lisian, leaving him frozen.

Satan slowly opened his eyes. He saw a red aura surrounding him. He stared at it, eyes half-closed.

He tried to touch it as the light faded away. He fell to the ground, panting. He glanced up. His eyes widened, seeing the angels torturing Lisian.

"STOP IT!" His voice echoes it the entire citadel. The angels glanced at him. Satan stood up slowly. His wings appeared as he flew toward Lisian. He stood in front of him. "Lisian..."

Lisian smiled brightly, seeing him alive. He held him tightly, crying heavily. Satan held him back.

"You don't hate me, ri..." His eyes slowly widened. He gasped, blood running from his mouth. Satan lowered his head. "I don't..."

"NOW! ILIOS!" Ignis pointed at Ilios, who nodded.

He pointed a hand at the sky as a yellow circle appeared on it. The sun appeared above the storm. Ilios gritted his teeth, trying to make it shine brighter.

The clouds started fading slowly. Tears ran down Lisian's face. His hands fell to the sides as he leaned forward, on Satan's hold. Satan yanked the scythe out of his brother's back. He flew to the ground, carrying him. He laid him on the ground and held his hand. Blood slowly covered the ground. Lisian smiled weakly, his wings breaking. "Th... ank... y... you... Sa... tan," he whispered.

Satan bit his lips, lowering his head. He gasped, crying silently. "Lisian, why have you done all this?"

"I d... on't... know," the red substance ran from the corner of Lisian's lips. He started panting. Satan stared at the gashes in his torso, eyes watering.

Lisian's gaze softened. "C... Can you... do s... s... some... thing, Sa... tan...?" His placed a hand on Satan's cheek and pushed him forward. Satan pushed his fangs into his shoulder, crying.

Lisian took out his amethyst pendant. "K... Keep... it?" he muttered. Satan held the pendant with his both hands, nodding.

Lisian smiled weakly. "Re... member... Sa... tan..." He coughed blood. "I... will... a... al... ways..." He gasped, throwing up blood. He crossed his fingers with his brother's. "Pro... tect... you," his voice went fainter. The angels surrounded them. The sun started appearing from the clouds. "Bec... cause I..." Satan rolled his head to the side, resting his head on his brother's chest. He stared at him, tears running down his face. Lisian smiled. "I... lo... ve... you... d... dear... lit... tle... bro... ther..." He ran a hand into his brother's hair and held him, crying silently. "I'm... s... sorry..."

Satan bit his lips.

"I'm s... sorry!" Lisian gritted his teeth. "I'm... sorry!"

Satan held him back. "I forgive you," he whispered.

Ethan's gaze softened. "Tha... nk... y... y... you..."

His hand fell to the side, covered with blood.

"Th... ank... you..."

A blood pool surrounded the demon brothers.

"S... S... Sa..."

Lisian breathed Satan's name, slowly closing his eyes. His head leaned to the side.

Satan lowered his head, falling silent. He held Lisian's hand. He smiled bitterly. "Thank you, Lisian..."

Ilios clenched his fist, as the sun made the storm vanish into a blinding and warm light. He fell to his knees, panting. Ignis helped him to stand up. "Good job..."

Ilios smirked. He glanced at Lisian. "Is he..."

Ignis lowered his head.

Everyone exchanged sad looks...

Ange sat down, placing a hand on his face. "What..."

"He's dead, Ange..." Tharros glanced down at the angels. "It's over..."

Ange lowered his head. He smiled weakly. "Even though... I wanted to... I wanted to apologize so badly."

Tharros smiled sadly. "He was just being used. He was a casualty, that's all..."

Ange gritted his teeth, looking away.

-o-

Rin glanced around, his flames fading. The storm has stopped. The demons around him started disappearing, one after another. He blinked, confused. "What the hell is going on, here?"

Yukio glared. "They're all vanishing?"

The sunlight appeared from the clouds, burning the shadows...

Rin's eyes widened, hearing a crack. He grabbed the crystal and stared at it. The diamond cracked again.

Mephisto smiled, spilling another cup of tea. "Looks like things have settled down, up there..."

Shura crossed her arms, staring at the sunlight.

The exorcists smiled brightly. "It's over! And we had no casualties!"

Rin smiled weakly. "Right... No one was dead..."

Suguro patted his back. "What are you wandering about? Be happy! Those filthy beasts are dead!"

"Yeah..."

Shima smirked. "They just got scared and they run away home after seeing us! We're the strongest, after all!"

Izumo smiled, crossing her arms. "For once, I'm okay with you..."

Rin lowered his head.

"Rin," Yukio placed a firm hand on his shoulder, "You seem down," he presumed.

Rin smiled sadly. "N-Not really..."

"You're not good at lying!" Yukio smiled back, "I can see it in your eyes."

Rin looked away. "Did we really do something?"

Yukio crossed his arms.

Rin clenched his fists. "They're all celebrating like crazy. But did we really do anything worth celebrating?" muttered Rin," All we did was running around like fools and shooting one demon an hour. It wasn't something important. Was it really us who made all these demons vanish?"

Yukio thoughtfully stared at the ground. He glared at the demons disappearing as the sunlight touches them. "It's the sunlight," he whispered.

Rin blinked, "The sunlight?"

"Yes, since these demons are shadows, as the sunlight touches them they vanish. Since we had no electricity to turn the lights on and the storm was so strong, we couldn't have any light. Contrarily, we had darkness which empowered these demons," analysed Yukio.

Rin slowly nodded. Yukio smiled. "But of the storm maker was a demon. Then, he must have been killed by now."

Rin's eyes widened. "Killed?"

Yukio nodded. "This is a high scale attack. I don't think whoever the one who cast it has been joking. Actually, I think he's been trying to seriously massacre us. And for the one who killed him..."

Mephisto glared from the glass. "For the one who killed him... There's only one person able to do it."

"Who?" Shura took a step ahead.

Mephisto smiled widely, glancing at her. "If my hypothesis is correct, we might see him again..."

"I have no idea who can kill him. It's just too much hypothesises for me! It's as if we're building a castle on the point of a nail!" Yukio laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "More importantly, this crisis has passed, right?"

Rin grinned and nodded.

Yukio's gaze softened. He patted his shoulder. "Go with your friends. I'll go report to Mephisto."

Rin nodded and joined the others. Yukio's gaze darkened. He rushed to Mephisto's office in a burning speed. He broke into the time demon's office without knocking. "Mephisto!"

Mephisto and Shura glanced at him.

Yukio clenched his fists. "What's the meaning of this? That was clearly from Gehenna! What happened, Mephisto? What are you planning?"

Mephisto smiled. "I sorry to deceive your doubts about me but unfortunately, I don't have a single idea about this invasive attack."

"What?"

"I told you; this was more than unpredictable. I received no information about this," Mephisto sighed, "But, I don't think this can be Satan's doing. He's a fire demon, after all. And then he's probably dead by now," he lied, again, "Listen, don't think too hard! You'll never get to anywhere," he crossed his arms, "But, one person can give me a coherent, satisfying explanation."

Yukio's eyes flashed wide as he took a step forward. "Who is that person? I'll find him right away!"

Mephisto started laughing. Shura glared at him. She knew that behind his maniac laugh, something always lurked.

Mephisto sighed, wiping away his tears of laughter. He then eyed Yukio, his lips parting with a wide smirk. "Can you go to heaven for me? I'd appreciate that."

Yukio blinked, raising his eyebrows. "Heaven?!"

"See? It's hard! It's so hard!" Mephisto shrugged, "A demon will probably die when he set foot in heaven. He'll die even while opening a portal! That's why the strength of five is required!"

"Mephistopheles..."

Everyone's eyes widened, hearing a voice. Mephisto sat on the desk, crossing his legs. "This is familiar..."

A long and brown-haired, green-eyed man appeared in front of him. He was wearing gold armour and carrying a thousand wings. His hair reached to his ankle, tied in a low ponytail. He emotionlessly stared at Mephisto. "Please, come with us..."

"Us?"

Pisces and another female appeared behind Aries. The female wore a mask. Pisces had a playful smile on his lips.

"Someone asked to see you..."

To be continued...

...

After a long fight between the two brothers, Satan killed Lisian. Ange showed a mysterious power but has been quickly stopped by Tharros. As Lisian died, the storm stopped thanks to Ilios' effort, and the storm also died in Assiah. As Yukio and Mephisto started an argument, three angels appeared before Mephisto and asked him to come with them, under the request of someone...

...

What will happen next?

Find out in the following chapter!

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