As Vali held Ludmila close to them, the two of them urgently flew up the Argent tower as they saw that the portal was activating, something which they HAD to stop before it was too late. If the things on Mars had been an example of what Hell had been like, then neither of them wanted it to get any worse.

After a short flight thanks to Vali's Divine Dividing, the two landed on the top of the building as they saw Olivia covered in blood, holding what they believed was to be the Argent Accumulator, glaring heatedly at them like they had ruined her favourite movie or something. "You will not stop me from claiming what I owed! What I was promised!" She bellowed at the two teens, an almost maddening glint in her eyes.

Vali of course, wasn't a fan of this as he stepped forwards, drawing his Yamato from its sheath. "Promised?!" He yelled out before pointing the blade at the enemy. "What is it that you gain from all of this Pierce, from Hell?!" he asked, but it sounded more like a demand than anything.

A demand that Olivia refused to give him an answer to as she shook her head, cackling dementedly like someone who deserved to be in a mental asylum. Given her age and appearance, neither of the two believed that to not be a fitting place for this crazy bitch. "You will never know boy, you'll just die like the others!" She bellowed, cackling like a hyena.

Something which quickly got on their nerves as Ludmila stepped forwards, pointing her Staff at the enemy as well. "Enough of this, I will send you to Helheim personally!" she bellowed, both teens quickly jumping forwards to get at their foe.

Not like Olivia had any fear of this though. "Hahahahaha! This is not the end! It's only…. The beginning!"

Before either of them could reach her in time, Olivia grinned like a dementia victim as she went and activated the Argent Accumulator. The entire object thus started spasming with the Argent energy inside of it, trembling whilst it opened up and walked backwards before she floated to the portal.

Something which caused Vali to roar with frustration at the fact that they had been too late to stop the Portal's activation. So close, they had been so close damnit! "Damn you Pierce!"

|Warning, vacuum air closing in. Please find cover.|

A robot announcer said that the air was closing whilst the large portal gradually grew larger, dragging everything within reach that wasn't nailed down into it to be sent into the dimension on the other side. Two such things were Vali and Ludmila, who kept doing their best to resist the portal's pull but dragged towards it regardless... before they eventually managed to grab and hold onto some railing for dear life.

Though, thanks to the growing portal, it's pulling strength also gradually increased as Vali gritted his teeth behind his helmet, struggling to keep his fingers locked around the railing. "Ggghhhh… hold…. On!" he yelled to his companion despite feeling the strength of his grip starting to fail on him, the pull gradually becoming too much for Vali to resist.

Something which could also be said for Ludmila who had begun experiencing a similar situation… although, she looked to be slightly worse off as one hand had already fallen off the railing as she tried desperately to hold on. "I'm trying!" she yelled back.

'Get out of there now, or else you'll be transported to hell!'

Albion's words filled his mind as Vali mentally called on Divine Dividing to see if he could divide the portal's power and absorb it briefly to reinforce his arms. However, even though this was something that would initially work, it didn't remain that way for long as it had been only a couple seconds for the Sacred Gear to reach the limits of what it could absorb. Eventually, the pull started to exceed the enhanced strength granted by his Sacred Gear, as well as his grip starting to fail him. "Can't….. Hold….. On….. much longer!" As he said that, his fingers were slowly to unclasp from the rail before it gave out.

"Ggggaaaaaahhhhhh!"

"FUCK THAT FUCKING BIIIIIIIIIITCH!"

With these two cries, both Vali and Ludmila got forcefully pulled into the ever expanding portal.

After what had felt like an eternity, Vali felt his consciousness stirring awake, resulting in him groaning as his eyes started to open. Although seconds into this, confusion filled his chest when he saw nothing but blackness around him, making him wonder if he was still trying to sleep and his body wasn't responding to his brain's orders. However, he soon got his answer when he found himself floating limb like a body floating in water, he had nothing on him, just like the day he had been born. Before he could freak out about that, Vali quickly collected himself before looking around to gauge his surroundings. Everywhere around him was blank, nothing but pure whiteness before a figure was closing in.

"Hmhmhmhmhm Hmmm interesting, very interesting."

Vali's eyes narrowed upon hearing the sound of a deep voice as he began to stand up before realizing that he was standing on nothing below him as he floated. "Huh….. where the fuck am I?" he muttered under his breath, although he got an answer once more.

"Why it's simple, you're in my place or rather realm."

Once again he heard that serpentine voice, causing Vali to look around before he saw a giant humanoid snake with black skin with red eyes, looming over him thanks to its superior size. When Vali stares at it he begins to feel immense fear on it that he doesn't know why. "Who… what are you?"

"Hmmmmm, it's been so long since anyone has asked me who I am, rather what I am. I suppose I shall tell you, I am a Great Old one, Yig, the father of all serpents."

At this, Vali's eyes widened as memories of his time learning from under Hathor came back to him. One of those included a brief lesson on the various religions that had existed since the dawn of time, and even as he struggled to recall which one this serpent was a part of, his mouth still opened to ask it questions. "A great old one, what are they?" he questioned drawing a hum out from the serpent.

"I shall indulge you, we are a group of unique, malignant beings of great power. We reside in various locations on Earth, and once presided over the planet as gods and rulers. You can say we are aliens from other planets."

Now that was something which Vali struggled to comprehend at first, before his face morphed into a look of understanding when he realized that this was, essentially, similar to his encounters with the TSAB personale and Fate. Each of them could be said to be alien in nature as well, so this shouldn't surprise him this much. "An Alien huh… wait, wasn't I supposed to be in Hell when Olivia activated the portal?!" However when Vali remembered what had happened before he'd wound up here, his eyes shot open with shock and dismay whilst he considered how he could get back and finally get that shit done as quickly as possible.

Apparently the Serpent derived some sick sense of pleasure from his mental state if the laughter that it went into was any indication, drawing Vali's attention once more.

"Haha, do not be alarmed. I merely managed to only bring you here in my realm where I can control time as it is."

Oh, THAT he could get, as Vali had learned from Hathor how there were gods who had their own realms like this one. "I see….. Then why did you bring me here?"

"Because I'm interested in you."

Now, that wasn't something Vali could grasp, the teen looking into the serpent's eyes with confusion and caution in his words. Although not a god, whenever something was interested in him that didn't necessarily mean anything good would come about from it. One good example would be the fox Goddess Inari who had returned to her domain following the whole Qlippoth Tree incident. Apparently, she'd used a lot of her power to help keep the barrier up whilst also aiding the Yokai forces in defeating the Demons, so she had to go rest in her Temple for a while. A bad example would be how various Devil factions would react to his existence and the truth of his lineage. There'd be a LOT of pointless tension that Vali wasn't really into, he preferred his current lifestyle thank you very much. "... What? interested in me?" he questioned, scowling as he wondered what could interest this thing about him.

"Yes, because you managed to defy every fate that was decided for you. You were supposed to go to the fallen angel, supposed to die in some places, changed other people's fate and helped them defy it."

After hearing it say this, Vali remembered the God of Fate who had visited him way back when he had been a child, his eyes hardening into a steely gaze as he stood proud before the large creature, looking up into its eyes without flinching. "... like I said to the god of fate, I get to decide on how my fate is, if fate tells me to die, I'll defy it because no one will control my fate because it's mine alone, no one will control me including you." he declared, his eyes burning almost like the pits of flames within a dragon's gut.

"...Pft, hahahahahahahaha! You amuse me greatly, boy! You have the pride of a dragon in you Vali Lucifer. To reward you, I shall say this: I am not the only one who is interested in you, there are others as well like Thog, Umr,, Sebek, Juk-Shabb and Mormo. I have decided you will be my champion."

Narrowing his eyes again, this time in confusion more than caution. "Champion? Why do you want me to be your champion Yig?" Vali questioned, wondering why this being had seen fit to do that as well as what it would stand to gain from making someone who didn't believe in religion in the first place into its champion.

"Because you interest and amused me with your determination, rarely anyone has the courage to say that to a Great Old one, and also you save some dragons like Valstrax who was supposed to die and Astalos, maybe a Great one but I care for all serpents that the dragons are a part of."

After hearing it explain this, Vali couldn't help his curiosity any longer. This resulted in him asking the following question with a tone that matched what he had felt inside. "... what do I gain out of being your champion Yig?"

"Simple, you may gain some of my powers, immunity to mind effect and madness effects, and other things you will discover later on. You won't be a servant of mine, I would only observe you as your journey amuse me."

After hearing this, Vali took a moment to think about it. While he didn't like the thought of being connected to someone else in ANY shape or form, he did believe that those kinds of benefits could be quite useful. ESPECIALLY in his situation with Hell as well as possibly when he confronted his Grandfather where Vali believed that he likely would have more than a FEW twisted plans going on. "... fine I'll be your champion but if you dare manipulate me, a Great old one or alien you are won't escape from my wrath." he eventually said after this moment of thinking. Although at the end, he still gave a warning while glaring at the serpent, not caring much for it's status or nature. Anything which tried to control Vali's life would get the boot, no matter what it was.

"Hehehehehehe definitely a pride of the dragons you have there. Now then, bear my mark as the champion of Yig the father of serpents!"

With that said, the serpent put its hand in front as an orb of green energy appeared before it shot to Vali's chest. The moment that it entered that region of his body, the silver haired hybrid hunched over whilst becoming goddamn IMMERSED within what felt like a sensation akin to being boiled alive within a pool of magma. "Gggaaaahhh!" A while later, the pain started to recede as Vali looked down on his chest, seeing that a cobra mark had appeared on his chest, signifies the king of snakes, and skulls around the cobra.

"It's done, you are now my champion. Now, it's time for you to go back, Vali Lucifer. Continue to interest and amuse me more."

With a single swipe of it's clawed hand, Vali was beginning to disappear before Yig was alone.

"li…..Vali…. VALI!"

"Ugh, you need to shout I'm up."

Now REALLY feeling like he was awake this time, Vali slowly and groggily rose his upper body as he sat up from his former position on some sort of rocky ground. After a moment of collecting himself, the teen looked around to which he saw Ludmila kneeling beside him in the japanese sitting position, a weird sight to be sure since she hailed from Asgard according to what he knew of her. "Why were you shaking me?" he questioned, narrowing his eyes at her. It didn't matter to him that she was a woman, if anyone were to touch him without permission he would have given them real HELL to pay, pun unintended.

However, unlike the majority of the girls he knew Ludmila didn't wilt even for a SECOND under such a glare. More than that, she even returned it with one of her own, multiple tick marks on her person as she gestured to the base of his neck with her index finger. "You were out for like 45 minutes! I've been trying to wake you up!" she yelled/

This prompted Vali to begin to remember the dream he had, as well as one specific detail about the Serpent father Yig telling him that it could control the flow of time in that realm, before he sensed something on his chest, which pretty much confirmed to him that the 'dream' that he had, had been real. "So it wasn't a dream." Vali said in a quiet voice before he looked around to gauge their environment. After all, since he recalled them having been dragged into a portal to Hell, he internally admitted to being curious as to what such a place would look like. As a result, Vali saw how he and Ludmila were in the midst of some kind of rocky terrain, with bones everywhere, blood just by him, the sky being orange with tints of red and the path he saw was rocks holding on to argent energy. He then raised his head upward and saw what looked to be… some kind of demonic skull, one with blood dripping on it. "So… this is the true hell." he murmured, somewhat impressed by how twisted this place looked. "I can now see what all the fuss was about."

Ludmila nodded her head in agreement, having done some breathing exercises she had been taught at a young age to use whenever she needed to calm her temper. She had a bit of one after all, and combined with the fact that she was in a position which dealt with a LOT of people capable of bringing that side to her out, she NEEDED some method to keep in control over herself lest she embarrass and humiliate herself in the supernatural world's eyes. "Indeed, the stories I heard from others that the infernal realm was truly a barbaric place where the sinners that committed the worst deeds in humanity." she remarked darkly, remembering the things which her father and the various gods had told her about this place.

If one were to ask her, their scariest stories only served to serve as an understatement to this place's looks.

Unaware of her thoughts but sporting a good idea as to their nature, Vali hummed in confirmation while nodding his head. "I see…. Well then, nothing good will come with us just staying here like sitting ducks. Let's explore a bit, until we find a way out of here." he suggested, getting a nod from his companion who agreed with his hypothesis, having come to a similar one himself. With that said Vali got up and walked forward before a demonic voice was heard.

"THE TRAITOR IS HERE."

"Traitor? How can there be a trai-wait… Lucifer was one of the devils who rebelled against Satan." Ludmila realized, wanting to face palm herself for forgetting that titbit of information which her father had made sure she remained aware of.

Something which Vali agreed with, cursing his sperm donor's side of the family for once again throwing him into the fire of the frying pan. "Shit, looks like they sensed me, better hurry then." he stated, before he and Ludmila quickly got moving once more.

They were stopped by the gate before Ludmila saw a skull alter as she was spurious before she pushed it with some effort before it went in as the gate was starting to open before it went down like it hasn't been used for a while. They entered the place and looked around carefully as they are cautious as some demons will ambush them or corrupt them as they are in Hell. as they are by the clife as some lands were floating there as they jumped to them carefully in order to not fall into the abyss down in Hell. As they landed, the duo went up the stone stairs as they saw a person that had deep red tissue for skin and a bone-like armor. The only thing left of their faces were the two sockets where their eyes once were, nostrils, and their mouth filled with unclean teeth. It sensed them before going to them as they grew sick at the site of the monstrosity.

"Ugh, what kind of demon is thi-?!" When Vali was about to punch them away from him, his eyes widened when he suddenly gasped, a sharp pain erupting within the confines of his skull. Following this as well as Vali falling onto one knee, his eyes shot open from their previously closed states as he saw a person was killing some people and another who was naked around a woman. These things flashed through his mind, although they remained as mostly incoherent images that he could barely make out, somewhat similar to videos shot with horrible quality… kind of like twitter videos, nwo that he thought about it.

Quickly, Vali pulled back and put a hand on his head with a sharp hiss of pain escaping his lips through a set of gritted teeth. Fortunately, the Demons couldn't get to him while he had been in this vulnerable state, as Ludmila had dealt with them quickly while they had been distracted. Only after the last Demon had been slain did she turn to the silver haired hybrid who had just begun his recovery from… whatever had happened to him. "What is it, Vali? What happened?" she questioned seriously.

Something which the teen barely managed to respond to during his recovery, panting to show his exhaustion from these events which he tried to make sense of. He DID manage to figure out what had happened though, based on what he had seen and mentally researching for leads till he found a plausible conclusion. "Their….. Sins… I can see their sins in life, how is that possible?" he wondered, though a faint flash behind him and a sudden weight on his shoulders whilst he stood upright again, told him that Albion had manifested his Sacred Gear meaning that he would be hearing the Dragon speak soon.

A fact which got proven to be true in the following seconds.

"Let me explain, when Lucifer was the right hand of Satan before he and the others betrayed him, he had the ability to see other people's sin and manipulate them to either do his bidding, turning them to demons or send other people to this place if their sins are great. You probably inherited this. Don't worry you can turn it off anytime"

Hearing that this was, again, something which was being caused by his heritage, made Vali want to puke in disgust. "Which is what I'm not hoping for." he said while scowling.

Ludmila however, had a different opinion on the matter, or rather she simply had more nonchalance about the whole thing. "Huh….perks of being a Lucifer." she eventually started with a shrug of her shoulders.

Not something which was wrong of her to say, though. Vali admitted this in his mind as well as verbally, all the while being thankful that this stuff wasn't enough to detract Ludmila's focus from the most important priorities. "You can say that, anyways let's go. Escaping hell won't happen if we just stay here wondering about my damn heritage."

"Agreed."

Following this discussion, the two of them finally moved on. As they went, Imps appeared as they took aim and fired at them with a HAR (Vali) and a Combat Shotgun (Ludmila), blasting them to pieces or shredding through their bodies like they were nothing but swiss cheese, Along the way, Vali had managed to kill one of them and the other was wounded badly before it died by the blunette woman's hand, looks like Ludmila was improving.

An Imp was running the other way before it fired a fireball as Vali dodged before he killed the Imp with a few well placed HAR shots. Then, a Hell Razer appeared near their position as it took aim and fired Argent ray at them, thinking that they would be caught off guard by it's surprise attack. Unfortunately for it this turned out to not be the case when not only did they dodge the ambush attack, but Vali also took out his chainsaw and closed the distance between them with Divine Dividing. He appeared behind it thanks to the speed and mobility his Sacred Gear provided, before he then cut it in half like paper when the Chainsaw travelled vertically down the body, leaving the body in a state similar to a mostly peeled banana. Afterwards, a Hell Knight appeared with a loud roar, prompting Vali to use the chainsaw again to take it out by slicing through it in a diagonal manner. However, one thing which he noticed was how it took a bit longer before he managed to cut from the shoulder to the bottom. 'The bigger Demons are harder to cut with the Chainsaw, got it…' The silver haired teen noted in his mind.

On her end, Ludmila saw two Imps coming up to her from multiple directions, prompting her to fire her Combat Shotgun at them. As one of the attackers died via gory explosion from the rounds that impacted it's centre, the other escaped and as it was running, Ludmila followed it to the bottom of the hell ledge as another of it's kind got into one of the floating lands before it fired a fireball at her. Sidestepping to the side allowed her to dodge it before she killed the imp by throwing her Staff like a Spear faster than it could react. Just as she made to retrieve it from it's position, Ludmila's instincts SCREAMED at her to dodge, but unfortunately she was too late and a hard hit landed upon her side, launching her into the air and slamming her into a nearby wall. "GGaahhh!"

Falling to the ground in a daze, Ludmila shook her head and quickly rolled to the side to dodge a Hell Knight's attack before she fired her shotgun… or rather she would have, but her eyes widened when she heard it click... which meant that it was empty. She quickly put the shotgun to her storage and flipped over another strike, using the momentum to flip through the air and land right next to her staff, picking it up from the perch it had made from her previous throw. "VALI, I'M OUT OF AMMO!"

'Shit! That's not good!' Vali heard that as he killed another Imp with his Chainsaw, cursing under his breath. Thanks to them being in hell, it wasn't like they could just resupply at the nearest Ammo shop or something, that could only happen once they were back at the base. Plus, its not likely that they would be able to find any ammo crates for their guns in Hell either, meaning that once these things ran out of ammo, then that was it for a long while. That was one flaw Vali had seen regarding the use of firearms, something which Nanoha didn't have to wordy about thanks to her Sacred Gear he believed… since well, recalling their battle with Urizen she must have been using up HUNDREDS of bullets back then without issue or slowing down, so maybe the Sacred Gear did something to generate those bullets for her.

But back to the situation at hand, knowing that Ludmila likely wouldn't last long without a good weapon, Vali quickly dropped down to the ledge and spotted said blunette, struggling with a Hell Knight before he took out his HAR. He aimed it at the creature's large torso area and fired at the

Hell Knight, the bullets slamming into it and stopping it's offensive against its current enemy. It then turned around and saw that Vali was firing at it, but before the Hell Knight could go to him it died from the bullets that eventually penetrated through it's body's defences and hit it in its vitals. The half devil, after seeing it go down onto the ground with what little remained of its torso, quickly went to Ludmila's side and threw his assault rifle at her. She took it without question as two demons appeared.

Each one looked to be the same, as they took the form of a tall, skeletal figure with pale, bloodied skin covering only the legs and upper torso. Blood and gore could be seen around the lower body whilst mechanical implants adorned the Demon's feet, knees and arms. The Demon had two grey eyes that lacked irises, and its skull was covered in blood. However, the demon's most distinguishable feature was its large engineered jet-pack, one which sported two large shoulder mounted rocket launchers whilst the center and back of the jet-pack glowed a bright orange.

However, the fact that this thing had ANY sort of jetpack at all caused Vali gape in shock at it, Ludmila having a similar reaction before they each had to jump to opposite sides to avoid a salvo of missiles it had launched while taking to the skies and hovering there. Though if one looked closely through it's rocket salvos, they would be able to see it slowly descending back down to the ground. "What the fuck, how did they recieve technology?!" Vali yelled as he switched to the Yamato and began hacking away at the rockets sent his way.

'I don't know but we have to act fast Vali!'

The demon jumped to the air with the jetpack and fired rockets at the two teens as they quickly ran to cover. It went to the ground and followed them as Vali took out his minigun which was not heavy(due to training with heavy weapons like the switchaxe [Glavenus]) and rained bullets at it as it took a while before it died.

On Ludmila's side she ducked under a Demon's swipe at her, before she fired her assault rifle at it. It didn't faze the demon a bit before it managed to pierce its armor before the demon then fired rockets at her again as she took cover. As it was firing rockets the demon stopped and ran to her as she did what Vali said aim and fire, she aimed her rifle and fired a headshot at the demon before it died.

Over on Vali's side, the said teen was panting due to the demons appearing left and right. Normally this wouldn't have happened so soon, but with the constant attacks coming his way and how he had to focus his Demonic Energy to maintain the barrier around him taxed the teen greatly. It didn't help that, in the actual Hell, his Armor's effectiveness had decreased significantly which made him believe that Demons in Hell were at their strongest, likely due to the amount of ambient Argent energy in the air. "(PANT)...(PANT)...dammit, if I had my magic… then I won't be tired as much..." Vali murmured under his breath, REALLY wishing he could use his powers more. He didn't like the thought of dying in this place either, not to mention it… gave him something to think about.

Throughout his training and all his battles, he had relied on his Demonic Power to help his body continue on some level or other. Even in his earliest battles where he had to use it to supply his body with nutrients and energy so it could continue to function through cross country travel. Even if he had hated that side of himself, perhaps he had taken the various benefits it had afforded him for granted back then, at least on some kind of level. That couldn't be just him though, perhaps a lot of beings did the same thing… meaning that if they were to wind up in Hell like him and Ludmila, then they would be SCREWED no matter how powerful or mighty they were. Once their energy levels were to run dry and the corruption began setting in, then it was only a matter of time before their fall and descent into demonhood.

Hell… really lived up to its namesake.

'It is too dangerous to even absorb Argent energy in hell. Remember what I told you?'

While he already knew that, Albion had decided to make SURE that Vali had known why trying to absorb argent energy in any shape or form would be a bad idea. After all, throughout his many hosts across the centuries, Vali may have been the most special… in multiple different ways. Not to mention the various achievements he'd made throughout the supernatural world thanks to his many gifts and talents, in addition to being someone who regularly conversed with him, listening to his old war stories like a grandchild wanting to hear of his old man's glory days. Not many youth would bother listening to such things and yet, here Vali was proving that the youth could still indeed respect their elders. Both him AND [Glavenus] liked that about Vali. "I know Albion… but is there any possible way for me to use Argent energy without turning into one of those damn nasty-looking Demons?"

'If I had the answer I would tell you Vali, but it's almost impossible. No one is able to use argent energy other than items, as a power resource. For now, you have to survive without magic, kind of like in those human wars where one second could end your life.'

He had vaguely hoped that something good might have come out of that question, but ever the realist and pragmatist Albion had to dash his hopes with facts."... dammit." As Vali cursed about this unfortunate and harsh but very TRUE reality, Ludmila eventually found him again and when she did so, the half Devil looked up in response to her approaching. When he did so, Vali saw that she too looked to be quite tired as they both put their backs to a nearby rock. "So… any ideas?" he asked her.

Though Ludmila had the exact same amount of intel as him which became evident by her response. Her breathing was more measured than his in comparison, but both of them felt it sufficient to note that the other had been quite winded by this venture of theirs. "Other than getting out of this friciking place no." she replied, before looking up at the dark orange skies which crackled with violent lightning, more so than even that which was generated by Thor's hammer Mjolnir. "And how can we even get out of the infernal place?" she wondered, breathlessly.

"... I don't know, but we have to keep looking Ludmila." Vali muttered back in reply as he glanced around at their surroundings, part of him being paranoid about the possibility of Demons ambushing them since it had happened multiple times so far. Even so however, the silver haired Hybrid still clung to the hope of escape, since there was meant to be a doorway to hell, then the fact that doors could be opened from both sides meant that there was a way to access it from here as well. That's what he wanted to believe, anyways. "I'm sure that there is a portal here somewhere in hell."

"I can help you, children."

They jumped as an elderly voice was heard before they looked around, trying to locate the source of it only to find little of anything. Each of them also had their weapons raised in case of an attack, their instincts and previous experiences with this place demanding that they do so. "Up here." When they were about to lower these weapons and sigh at their exhausted minds playing tricks on them , the voice spoke once more to confirm its existence as well as provide a means of direction for them to follow. They looked up and saw that an elderly man was behind some bars as he looked down at them.

Narrowing his eyes at the man, Vali became the one who asked the first question. "Who are you and how can you help us old man?" he asked, his tone laced with suspicion which Ludmila followed suit. The blunette held her Staff at the ready in case of a surprise attack, as while offensively it lacked the oomph that firearms did thanks to her lack of Magical abilities due to Hell's influence, she could STILL use it as a makeshift shield by blocking or deflecting attacks launched at her… though it didn't work a few times hence her exhausted state.

Nevertheless, the man didn't seem like he was offended by their tones or their demeanors, not one bit. In fact, they would dare say there was understanding coming from this man, something which had been the LAST thing they'd expected to see in a place as twisted as Hell. "I know how we can get out of hell children, you can trust me." He told them assuringly.

Didn't work out well with Vali, however, as he still kept his guard up and his Combat Shotgun pointed at the man. "And why should we trust you old man? You could be deceiving us for all we know, and considering where we are that's a higher possibility than ever." he stated sternly, only a single step away from pulling the weapon's trigger and blasting the man to pieces… if it turned out he lacked ammo, then he'd slice away at him with the Yamato.

Regardless of Vali's statement and Ludmila's silent judgement of him, the man still attempted to persuade them. "I understand that you have seen demons like these in hell, don't worry I give you my word that I won't break my trust, I promise." he told them earnestly.

Seeing that the man hadn't given up on trying to convince them, as well as the fact that they didn't have many other leads to go off on in their search for a way out of this cursed place, the two teens glanced at one another as if having a silent conversation. Something which only remained possible due to how long they had fought together, though it would almost be like second nature between Vali and the members of his group considering how long they've fought together. In the end, both turned back to him with Vali taking point for the two. "... fine. First off though, how can we get you out of there old man?"

When he heard that they would indeed trust him although their tones instantly told him that they'd kill him on the first sign of potential betrayal, the man heaved a sigh of relief. Perhaps it had been his own senile self hoping too much, but he had been wishing for some visitors to help him ever since he had first ended up here… and how he had ended up in this nightmarish place as a story all on it's own. Afterwards, he looked back down at them before proceeding to explain how to free him from his makeshift 'prison'. "First you need to find a key that unlocks these doors. If you can find it through Hell then this passage should-"

Other people like the gamers could go throughout an adventure to find a key, but not Vali. Nope, instead of doing something so stupidly convoluted and complicated which would likely lead him to being ambushed by more Demons thus wasting precious ammo, he activated his Sacred Gear, flew up to the bars holding the man prisoner within a cell like some european-style dungeon, and used his Yamato to cut the bars apart. After doing this and landing before the cell with his Sacred Gear vanishing, he saw the man in his entirety: looking like an elderly, balding man with indigo skin and gaunt features. He had pointed ears, a small mustache and beard, and wore exquisite robes… though they looked to have become ragged and in tatters thanks to living in Hell for a prolonged time, Vali theorized. Same with how dirty and rugged that the old man looked. The right half of his head consisted of a mechanical device with a lens in it, replacing his eye which Vali suspected had to do with some kind of injury he had suffered.

Currently however, he looked at what had happened just now with his mouth opened wide in shock. His hands and feet were shackled in chains, but Vali wouldn't be letting that remain the case for long as he cut the chains that were binding him in hell. "... or you could do that instead." he muttered in disbelief.

"Lets cut the chit chat old man." Vali said as the man felt the weight on his wrists that had been there for so long finally vanish, before he looked at the sword.

Upon doing so, his eyes practically lit up with awe, wonder and a kind of excitement that would better belong to a child rather than an old man. "Impressive sword you got there, young man. I can see that it's imbued with tremendous amounts of Demonic Power. That must make it a demonic sword, I see. Though it is not one of great renown, which confuses me slightly." he mused, mumbling in confusion whilst rubbing his beard.

Now THIS caught Vali's attention as he looked down at the newly learned Demonic Sword Yamato, which had been sheathed the moment that it's task had been completed. "Huh, didn't know that before…" He muttered in intrigue. Well, he had a feeling that this sword was Demonic in nature, as why else would a fucker like Urizen be able to use it as a means to protect himself? Maybe the sword had so much power that he could ONLY use it in that way, as if he really wasn't worthy of its power. Albion DID mention one time that these guys tended to be quite fickle with their wielders, only choosing those who were worthy of wielding their powers and transferring on a dime when a more worthy wielder showed up. Shaking his head, Vali then drew his gaze back to the old man. "But anyways, you said you know how we can get out of here."

Hearing that caused the man to snap out of his reverie for a moment, becoming stern and serious as he gave a nod of agreement. "Indeed I do, young man. It was only luck that I knew how I got here, no thanks to that damn angel." he told the smaller teen, a frown on his lips as he remembered something wholly unpleasant.

"Wait, angel?" Ludmila had arrived using acrobatics, jumping into the air, flipping about before landing beside Vali. As she stood straight, the blunette heard the old man say the word Angel, which she did NOT expect to have escaped ANYONE's mouth considering this place. "What do you mean by that?

This prompted the man to realize that introductions hadn't been made yet, making him turn rather sheepish as a result. "Oh I didn't introduce myself, yet. My name is Phineas, scholar and an inventor."

After this, Vali looked him up and down as he came to a realization about him. "You're a devil aren't you?" he questioned, though it sounded more like a statement than anything.

A fact which the man nodded his head at, though he did so with a rather complicated look on his face. "... yes, you can say that. However I'm not like those arrogant Devils, unlike them my family and I were honor-centered types. You see, I was the last of my family as I didn't join the descendents of the great Devils, too concerned over the Devil's future if they continued to do this. As punishment for not going along with their 'grand ideals', I was imprisoned for so many years that I lost my sense of time, but after so long I was freed by an angel named Raguel."

Now THIS caught their attention, especially Ludmila who exclaimed the following in shock. "What, one of the ten Seraphs?!"

The old man named Phineas nodded in response, his expression, or what was left considering the mechanical parts, set into a grim one. "Yes, young lady. Back then, he approached me as he offered a deal: to work with him to destroy the underworld and I would get whatever I wanted in return, an admittingly VERY attractive offer for any Devil as we are creatures of desire, but I nonetheless refused. Despite being imprisoned by them, I still cared for my species survival more than anything I could have wanted, which was something that he did not like. So, he and his fellow Angels tossed me into this nightmare, which I can reasonably say was even WORSE than where those Great Devils had imprisoned me. Though, because of this I managed to memorize the directions to how to get out of this place. My guess is that Raguel is planning to unleash Hell onto the underworld." the old man explained, frowning at this possible ploy that this Angel could be planning to achieve.

Both teens did NOT like the sound of that. They hadn't even been here for long and they STILL understood just how twisted this dimension really was. If this was true, then this Seraph REALLY had to hate the Underworld if he wanted to unleash THIS Hell onto their asses. Ludmila couldn't help but mutter under her breath though the two Devils in the area could hear her just fine. "Sweet Odin's beard, the heavens and Hell are working together now...!"

"Not sure that it's the WHOLE of heaven, mind you…" Phineas chimed in once more as he thought back on that day. He could still remember it as if it had happened only recently, especially the looks on the Angels' faces at the time. "From what I saw, it appeared as if they were guided less by their rules and more by their emotions, something which usually Angels aren't really known to do. That's more like the Devil's specialty, whereas Angels are meant to be 'pure' beings, these ones on the other hand, had NOTHING pure about them despite their appearances." he explained, sighing worriedly.

Meanwhile, Vali snarled at yet ANOTHER problem that he had been thrown at him for him to deal with. It was like the universe wanted to shit on him and throw constant hurdles at him to stop Vali from achieving his goal of murdering the rest of his twisted family line. "Shit there is always another problem there is, what's next?" he mumbled in discontent, refusing to surrender to the urge to snarl in frustration. Nothing good would come of it, not to mention the lessons of how to act around a lady provided by Marino kicked in at this moment.

"I should've known this."

Hearing his tenant, Vali arched a brow in the direction of his back, where his Sacred Gear manifested thanks to its spirit wanting to discuss with the rest of them instead of just Vali. "Known how, Albion?" he questioned, willing to hear another in-depth answer whilst Ludmila and Phineas paid extra attention, especially the latter since this was his first time meeting the White Dragon of Supremacy since he'd been imprisoned in this place.

"In the past one of my wielders encountered Raguel: the Archangel of justice. My wielder encountered him as he was slaughtering the Devils by the dozens, even including angels into the mix which had sickened him at the time. My wielder tried to stop him, leading to a massively climactic battle between them, but the Archangel proved to be too powerful for him at the time, to the point where my wielder almost had to resort to some… drastic measures to just even SCRATCH his defences. Eventually, the fighting was stopped by Gabriel who pleaded with him to spare my wielder. He did indeed spare my wielder under Gabriel's pleading, but I knew in eyes that he would not have stopped there. Something tells me that either he lets justice go to his head, or he has a personal grudge against Devils, but nonetheless someone capable of that would NEVER stop killing his enemies. If there was a comparison I could make, then he would be like an 'angelic' Kokabiel. I should've said to my past wielder to kill him once he had grown powerful enough."

"... so, to summarize we've got a crazy avenger angel on our asses to deal with. Just great." After Vali muttered that sentence out, a small silence prevailed over the trio as they proceeded to digest this information. It didn't last long however, as the sounds of footsteps told the two teens that Phineas had proceeded to head out, making them look in his direction which showed them the sight of him gesturing for them to follow him. "As much as this proves most alarming, we need to hurry children, before things get even worse for those in the Underworld. I'll guide you to the portal, so follow me."

"Is the experiment going well Grav?"

A pale-skinned man stood before a blue skinned man with red eyes and was a hunchback with long animalistic nails, looking quite stern with little or no emotion being shown on his features. Speaking of features, the man looked to possess short, black hair combed back, except one lock that hung down over the center of his forehead. He had a small, black dot just below his lower lip and above his chin. For an outfit, he wore a long-sleeved green robe that flared out at the collar, a white stole over this which had a clover shape on the back, and underneath, he wore a pair of black boots.

But what REALLY stood out about this man was how he had a single, golden colored halo over his head alongside the twelve wings that jutted out from the centre of his back.

"Yes my lord, Olivia managed to open a portal in Mars where we concluded that the Argent energy we gathered will soon be enough to open a portal from hell to the underworld."

The hunchback man reported with reverence, lowering his head to showcase just who held all the power between these two males. As for the halo-wearing man, the man looked like he was unaffected emotionally by this news, though his underling knew better than this since this was just how he normally portrayed himself as a… being of his stature. The hunchback man could still see it in the man's eyes even now, the same smouldering fire which had burned brightly ever since the great war so long ago.

"Good, once you have gathered enough energy, make a portal in their main capital 'Lilith' they call it, truly ironic that would name it after the woman who disobeyed father."

The man's voice, soft and tender like the purest velvet, remained laced with a coldness which rivaled the edge of a blade. Kind of contrasted with his prime and proper demeanor since, whilst he looked pure and holy on the outside, one might question if this was the same on the inside, too… Nevertheless, when the man spoke those words, one could only tell what he truly felt about the person whom he'd referred to by knowing him personally for an extended time frame, something which the hunchback man wasn't qualified enough to know. Not like he ever would, he bet considering the way that his master looked down on him and, well, pretty much everyone else aside from his own race secretly.

"Indeed my lord. However, it would seem that there's to be a problem with the plan, my lord."

However, the being didn't have the luxury of being able to ponder this for long as he had a report to deliver to the man, whose eyes narrowed in a way which made the blue-skinned being want to go pale and hide in the darkest corners of the universe.

"What could possibly be a threat to us? Especially when no one knows our plan..."

"Ranark had informed me that Olivia reported that someone with Divine Dividing has entered Mars to deal with the demons there."

The hunched man hastily shut his mouth after making this report, knowing just how sensitive the discussion of THAT creature was with his Master. After all, the two of them had a bit of a history to their name, one which WASN'T a polite one. Why, he bet that if the man had his way back then, then perhaps a longstanding grudge against him would have been born within the Heavenly Dragon as he would have killed it's host in a way to 'ensure' that he wouldn't be able to threaten him again.

"... Albion….. Should've known that you would eventually get in my way."

His sweating only intensified when he heard these words, the blue-skinned man making sure to try and look as small as possible. All around them, the surrounding atmosphere began to heat up thanks to the light magic which began to radiate from the increasingly irritated man despite his face remaining impassive. His wings fluttered a few times whilst his Halo trembled like it were responding to vibrations in the earth. As for the blue skinned man, he just lost the ability to breathe properly as he sweated bullets, feeling a heavy pressure slam on top of him to the point where it threatened to crush every internal organ that he had left.

"What should we do my lord? Someone on Earth managed to come to another planet and sooner or later he would inform the factions that hell is rising!"

Still, the blue skinned being knew that he had to quickly get things moving again or else he would be flattened like a pancake… alongside the majority of the surrounding areas. Thus, he decided to question the man about how he planned to resolve the issue, which sort of worked as the oppressive feeling in the atmosphere began to lessen slightly, alongside the gradual cooling of the air around him as the blue skinned man began to regain his ability to breathe, something which he SORELY missed despite being without it for a short time period. Meanwhile, the man himself cupped his chin with his hand for a moment, before he turned his head to the side.

"Hmph it doesn't matter Grav, I have a plan already set a long time ago."

Hearing this caused the blue skinned man to blink in confusion as everything returned to normal at last, however the curiosity he felt inside remained. Still, he had to be careful when asking the following questions, as otherwise his master might do to him what he would do to ANY disobeying subordinate of his. There WERE some nefarious rumors about him and his methods of 'disposing justice' after all, but according to his sources of intelligence these rumors never got any confirmation, and since he was still an Angel without any sign of falling, Heaven hadn't done anything about him.

"What is the plan my lord, send him to the deeper levels of hell? Capture and corrupt him?"

"No…. I have created a Titan powerful enough to be on the level of those so-called super devils but it doesn't have a soul."

Now THAT made the hunchback man want to raise his head in disbelief, but his sense of self-preservation won out and he kept his head hanging low. Still, the fact that his master had formed a TITAN of all things, a being which was said to be an older generation of the current Gods in some mythologies, threw him for a loop. He remembered how there were a small set of funds set aside for his master's personal use before, but at the time he hadn't paid too much attention to it. Perhaps THIS was what he was in need of those funds for, the hunched man wondered, though he didn't dare ask that in favor of another question, one pertaining to the Titan still but about another subject surrounding it.

"Hmmmmm... if you don't mind asking my lord, how can we find a soul powerful enough to be able to wield that much power?"

Wielding the power of a Titan was no small feat, in fact one could say that there were almost ZERO souls on this earth which could have the energy necessary to function as the core of such a being, not even the strongest of divine souls could create the necessary cores needed for such an endeavor. Thus, for his master to admit that there was indeed one such Soul in his possession and that he was confident in it's prospects, it really befuddled the hunched man.

"I have already found a piece of soul that will grow enough to fully form in it."

"What is this….. Piece of soul you have my lord?"

"Do not concern yourself with such matters. All you should be concerned with is preventing this 'boy' from exposing our plans to the Devils early."

"As you wish my lord."

"(PANT)...(PANT)...fuck, they keep coming every second when we try to rest."

Vali and Ludmila groaned to themselves as they stood in another section of Hell, surrounded on all sides by countless demonic corpses which belonged to all the enemies that had been brave or foolish enough to try and cross them. However, the sheer amount of corpses could rival that of landfills due to the sheer quantity of them that kept trying to get in the duo's way of escaping, thus the two of them had slowly but surely started to weaken from the constant fighting. It didn't help that their Guns had ran out of Ammo a long time ago, and for a time Vali's Sacred Gear had done wonders in keeping his energy levels high enough for him to continue battling without them whilst wielding Yamato, but that strategy only lasted so long due to it draining his stamina every time he used it. As such, he and Ludmila had grown CONSIDERABLY exhausted by this time.

For the first time in his life, Vali well and TRULY wished to have a break from combat for a while.

"Hold still young man, I'm almost finished."

Meanwhile, the man known as Phineas who had been truthful to his words, looked to be preparing what looked to be some kind of complex-looking Magic Circle on a spot of bare ground, one which pulsated a crimson red color much like the sigils that the two had seen along their journey through this place. According to him, it's purpose was to isolate the surroundings in a barrier so that, once the Demons inside were killed, it would take some time for them to be able to break through and continue their hunt for them.

The whole thing looked to be glowing brightly with demonic power, illuminating their surroundings as WELL as pretty much beckoning every Demon in their surroundings to come to this place and hound the living daylights out of them in an attempt to stop them from escaping their clutches. Something which Phineas had informed the two about beforehand hence why they had been fighting so much that they had been reduced to their currently exhausted states.

Whilst he panted heavily and mentally groaned as he heard the sounds of Demons nearby, Vali idly glanced at the older Devil with an arched brow, suddenly wanting to know something about him that he hadn't thought to ask previously until now. Better late than never, he'd say. "How….. can you possibly have demonic energy without being corrupted by Argent energy, old man?" he questioned breathlessly whilst preparing his Yamato and Divine Dividing. Since it's ability took away precious stamina, Vali had to figure out how to use it in… different ways, in order to maximise its effectiveness as a weapon. As a result, he had started using the two wings like they were their own prehensile arms, their energy feathers like blades which he used to impale his enemies or block attacks.

"Like I said my boy, I am an inventor. You see this device on my face? Not only does it preserve my Energy, but it also slowly reproduces it at a higher speed than my body can naturally, allowing me to survive in Hell for a time. However, this thing had been nearing the limits of its operability for some time now, if you haven't arrived here….. Then I would've been inevitably corrupted by this place."

At this, Vali's eyes widened in surprise for a moment, before he smirked to himself whilst Phineas began to direct a portion of the demonic energy he was supplying to the Magic Circle, towards him. "Huh….. so, you DO have some use after all, old man."

Phineas only rolled his eyes at him. "Hey, respect your elders, young man." he stated, engulfing Vali in the subtracted demonic energy which fuelled his reserves as well as healed his injuries. Since he was a Devil like him, this was possible and out of the two of them Vali had been the one who sustained the larger amount of injuries due to taking more hits for Ludmila, who'd already started slowing down from all the fighting. It honestly impressed him that she had managed to last this long, guess that her state when he'd found her was simply a one-off kind of deal.

As Vali was healed by Phineas they were at the cliff where on the left was a giant unknown demon there that they saw a passage there, which Phineas had told them that they're almost out of hell.

Speaking of the demons, they encountered two new ones, ones with their own battle styles, strengths and weaknesses. The first type had been called Cacodemon by Phineas, Demons which took the forms of large, spherical bodies crowned with horns that floated slowly through the air. Their most notable features had been their single green eyes and gaping maws filled with sharp, yellow teeth that take up the majority of their bodies. The top area of the Cacodemon is covered in red armor plates with spikes. Its fleshy underside was unarmored though, and displayed a bulge which was possibly an extension of the stomach to hold more food inside. The Cacodemons also had four stunted limbs that were considered useless.

During battle, these Demons had constantly proven themselves annoying due to them slowly floating above the battlefields they were encountered in, all the while spewing out Plasma orb while on the constant move. Every time battles had occurred during their journey, Phineas had to quickly get to cover as he was not a fighter but a strategist, therefore he helped the teens by informing them on how they could defeat the demons more quickly and effectively. Tactics which both of them admitted helped a LOT, since all they did was run and fire at them.

As for the second type, the scholarly Devil had called it a Mancubus: a large, grotesque creature and can be argued as being the most revolting of all the Demons. It bore a single green eye similar to a Cacodemon and a large, gaping mouth that constantly hung open with sharp, rotting teeth. It was covered in armour, possibly made from a chitinous material, with the armor covering its chest, shoulders and lower body, leaving its back and enormous, loosely hanging stomach exposed. The stomach displayed a large scar that ran down the middle which had to be kept sealed via a large clamp seen at the bottom, whereas the chest piece bore an orange glowing demonic rune. Covering the Mancubus' arms were two large chitinous growths with two orange glowing barrels that served as its main armament, sort of like makeshift turrets. The Mancubus also bore some kind of piping that lead from its upper back to its arms, possibly for the volatile goo it secreted to traverse towards its makeshift weapons.

Seeing these Demons, it pretty much confirmed it for Vali. Confirmed Phineas's theory about that Archangel who really wanted to destroy the underworld with this place. Not like Vali cared about despite being a half devil as they were always a constant annoyance to Vali as he personally had the feeling of what it means to be an outcast. However, like what Samuel had said, if they are done with the underworld, then it would attempt to absorb Earth which would force the supernatural world to reveal itself. Not something which Vali wanted to see either, it'd prove way too annoying to deal with.

Therefore, he swallowed his hatred and decided to do the underworld a favor, one being done by…. Helping them. After nearly surrendering to the urge to vomit at that thought, Vali and Ludmila then stood up as they no longer felt as exhausted as they had previously. Using as little energy as possible, Vali proceeded to reproduce Ammo for his various guns. Once his guns were fully loaded with demonic energy, Ludmila's too, they followed Phineas (who had finished setting up the barrier so they had less Demons to worry about temporarily) to where the passage went.

As the door opened up, the trio heard the telltale cries of Demons from inside, prompting them to ready their Guns whilst Phineas fell back. Over to the side, they went up the stairs and saw the appearance of a muscular, goat legged demon with slightly tan legs and hooves. It had a red upper body with a build similar to that of a Hell Knight, but bulkier… and taller. Currently, was what it looked like killing a bunch of people who the trio had recognized as sinners, people which they held no love for.

However, the moment that he saw it, Phineas' eyes widened in horror and realization. "A Baron of Hell!" he exclaimed.

Glancing behind him while summoning his Divine Dividing again, Vali arched a brow at the older Devil. "A what now?" he questioned.

This prompted Phineas to explain from his hiding place. "Barons of Hell are powerful, high-ranking residents of Hell. They're powerful enough to match an high class Devil, maybe even an Ultimate Devil at full power. But anyways, be careful those Demons are no pushovers."

"Alright old man, lets see how he can handle this."

Vali unsheathed Yamato as he ran to the Baron of hell as it sense someone was approaching but was too late to move as it tried to block with its hand but was cut off as it roared in pain before looking at Vali with hatred before Vali dodged a green energy and cut of its leg as it roared before it died. Vali looked at the blade in wonder. "This blade…. Maybe it can cut through anything."

"Maybe so young man but that theory isn't confirmed yet, only once you master this blade's ability then maybe it will show its full potential."

"... I guess you're right old man, where to next?"

"See that door there?" Phineas replied whilst he pointed at the then green pentagon door with the skeletons praying at it. "Through that door is the passage to where the portal is."

That explanation DEFINITELY served its purpose of lifting the duo's spirits. "Finally….. We can get out of this place." Vali and Ludmila sighed in relief as they went to the door which opened for them before going through the valley of the large demon teeth as they ignored it. They looked at the floating island before they carefully jumped across it, Vali carrying the old Devil along the way, before they jumped to the stairs and scaled up them.

Afterwards they walked onwards, killing some imps that were in their way, till they passed through the hell temple before it went down, Phineas pointed at where the portal was. "Over there is the portal to where those angels brought me here. But, I'm sensing a large amount of demons there to which I need to be careful, I'm sorry children but you're gonna have to do the hit and run strategy. Remember the tactics I told you about"

"It's alright old man, we'll tell you when it's safe."

"Alright, good luck then."

As Vali and Ludmila then jumped down each floating island, the place around them began to turn red as the demons began to spawn in. However, their numbers were nowhere NEAR the same quantity compared to previous instances, which proved to them that Phineas' barrier that he'd set up was doing its job properly. Along their descent, Vali pumped his Combat Shotgun and Ludmila cocked her Heavy Assault Rifle as Imps began to appear. Vali then killed one of the Imps via a simple blast to it's chest before running to another, killing another one that had been running and dodged a large fireball. As he aimed and fired at an imp behind him, Vali saw a Hell Razor and two Hell Knights appearing before him.

Before he could respond however, a shower of bullets fell upon the Demons thanks to some timely intervention from Ludmila, who then killed the Hell Razor, before one of the Hell Knights began to run towards her. Seeing this and knowing from past experience what their fists felt like, she quickly switched out her HAR to her Combat Shotgun as she aimed and fired at the legs, remembering Phineas tactics: shoot the legs where it won't be easy to catch you. The tactic worked, as the Hell Knight fell down to the floor, wailing in agony thanks to the holes in its legs. However, this didn't remain the case for long as she killed it with a simple headshot.

Back on his side of things, Vali dodged an attack from the other Hell Knight whilst switching his gun for the Plasma Rifle, quickly shooting plasma energy balls from it at the Hell Knight WHICH slowed down before getting close to Vali. Swinging it's fist, the Hell Knight expected to hit its opponent and knock him down, however Vali used his Divine Dividing to block it by curving the right wing in front of the blow, absorbing the energy from the attack before he switched to his Combat Shotgun and killed the Hell Knight via one quick blast to the chest that ripped through it;s heart.

Vali wasn't allowed a moment's respite however, as he had to dodge a ray of Argent Energy from behind. Afterwards, he looked behind him, killing a Hell Razor which had its body explode from a bunch of Plasma Rifle rounds. Two of those jetpack Demons, Revenants as Phineas had called them, appeared as they both jumped and fired rockets at Vali who then took cover and switched to his Minigun. He proceeded to wait for them to stop firing afterwards, before he got out of cover and rained lead bullets at them, managing to kill one but the other ran to him with the intent of biting into him.

However, before it could the creature's head got blown off, though not by Vali's actions even as he intended to block with Divine Dividing. Instead, it's killer turned out to be Ludmila with her Combat Shotgun. In their previous battles, Phineas had told them to always have each others' backs, because teamwork would help get the job done faster. An Imp was about to slash Ludmila's back before Vali dealt with it by shooting it to pieces with his newly switched to Plasma Rifle.

"Look out Vali!"

"?!"

Thankfully, Ludmila's warning helped him in time as he dodged an attack from a Demon, one which revealed itself to be a Mancubus as it fired go at him, before he and Ludmila rained bullets at the mancubus before it died.

Glancing over at her, Vali nodded firmly. "Thanks."

"No time for gratitude Vali!"

Once Ludmila gave her reply, a Baron of Hell appeared near them before running towards their position. Quickly, Vali rained plasma rounds upon it until it had reached them, to which he and Ludmila had to dodge like they were before a one hit KO move after the Baron of Hell had smashed the ground with a glowing green fist. A glow which came from Argent Energy no doubt.

As she switched out her Combat Shotgun for her HAR, Ludmila fired at the Baron of hell as its attention was gathered toward her. Seeing this, she turned and booked it to get some distance between them, though this didn't work out too well since the Baron proved itself to be much faster than it's size let on. As the Baron closed in on her, she dodged it's overhead smash and tried to fire at the Baron from it's left side, as the green energy was on its fist before it stopped. For a moment, Ludmila looked on in slight confusion, before the answer came in the form of the torso sliding off, revealing Vali behind the Baron with his Yamato unsheathed in a stance which she noted vaguely resembled an Iaido stance.

Afterwards they waited for a few minutes to conclude that they had defeated all the demons that had tried to kill them here.

Vali then spread the wings of his Divine dividing. "Stay here while I get the old man."

Ludmila nodded, knowing that he had better mobility than her with those Wings. "Got it."

With that, Vali flew off to where the old man was as she waited for a few minutes while looking around to see if demons would appear. She then looked up after hearing more wingbeat sounds, and saw Vali with the old man holding him by the shoulder before they landed to where she had been. "Impressive young man and lady. You managed to not only hold against a large amount of demons, but also worked together."

"Save the praise for later, old man. The sooner we get out of here, the better we all will be in the long run." Vali stated.

Something which Phineas agreed with him on. "True, alright see that door over there? That's the portal on how I got here."

At this, Ludmila had to smirk deeply in excitement, a smirk which somehow reminded Vali of ones which he would have whenever he had thought of a good fight against strong opponents. "Finally, we can get out of this accursed infernal realm." she declared.

Though, Vali just HAD to burst her bubble with the following words. "... I get the feeling that's not the last time we will enter hell Ludmila." he remarked, thinking about what they would have to do if they wanted to stop Hell from consuming Mars completely.

"... Maybe so Vali."

After begrudgingly admitting that this likely wasn't going to be the last time they'd see this nightmarish place, Vali and Ludmila went up the hell mountain to where they saw a door which they entered. Upon doing so, they saw multiple sigils on the wall and a pentagon on the bottom.

Phineas went to the middle and proceeded to use his demonic energy. "Alright children, according to the time when I was approached by Raguel, they teleported me to a planet called Mars for a deal which I told you about."

"That's where we are trying to head to Phineas."

Nodding his head at this, the older Devil then made the following declaration. "Alright brace yourself, it's gonna be a bumpy ride."

As he said that red lighting appeared on the middle and the sigils it activated it blinded them a bit before it disappeared, leaving the room alone again.

AN: Hello, hunter here, and welcome to a new chapter. We have continued on with the DOOM arc, with a character from a franchise I doubt many people would be expecting: the scholar from DMC Devil May Cry. It just sounded like a good idea since it fit with his source material, and this fic alongside our other joint fics are known to try and be original. Hope you like it, and see you next chap.

PEACE OUT!

They managed to get of hell, awesome!... My name is darklord bringing you another chapter of the story! For those of you who don't know who Phineas is, he is a character from DMC Devil may cry, not the DMC5 but with angels and demons. Vali is discovering more about the Yamato blade and soon he will reach its full potential like Vergil, but later on in the story. Alright thank you for reading our story, be sure to leave a review if you want and I'll see you next time!

GOOD LUCK!