Chapter 7: The Storm part 1
"Talking."
'Thinking.'
Locations
Noises
Malpas stood with the entire force that he was assigned as a co-leader of, their assignment was to halt the devil forces from encircling their sector of the city. Malpas didn't know of Issei's location and couldn't rely on Hanibal as he remained in the medical ward.
He would have healed him if not for an order that was given to him from one of the Cadres who informed him that must not use his healing abilities unless it is absolutely necessary. For someone like Hanibal who has power that surpasses Malpas it would have much more difficult to heal him.
That however was in the past and couldn't be changed, the only thing that mattered now was protecting the flank. He might not have had much confidence in himself, after being casted out of Heaven he stopped believing in himself and became one of the many lost lambs until he met Issei.
Issei was a beam of hope and the promise of a better future after the war is over, dying was not a matter of if but of when. Malpas knew that he also knew that he was responsible for the men that stood behind him as well.
"Follow me," he commanded as the spread his wings and flew into the air. The fallen soldiers followed; they quickly made their way towards the front line.
Standing some distance away was a massive force of devil soldiers, each of them armed and ready to clash with the Fallen Angels. Malpas was busy discussing the plan with a couple of high-ranking soldiers.
"If we prepare defenses such as bomb traps and light spear ambush positions then we can wear them down before counterattacking with our own soldiers." Advised one of the soldiers as they used some spell to observe the devil forces from afar.
Malpas took note before looking over toward the other soldier, this one had a more eager expression.
"I believe we should meet them in open combat, light bombardment would nullify their defenses in order for us to engage in close quarters." The other soldier shook his head in disappointment.
"Our forces aren't large enough to engage the enemy head on like that, we need to lower their numbers as effectively as possible. My squads and I will not be placed into a suicide mission." The soldiers began to butt heads until Malpas interfered.
"Enough out of the two of you, without Issei here there will be no offensive measures taken. I want traps and ambush point erected as soon as possible; those are the orders." Both soldiers nodded before returning back to their squads.
Malpas was surprised by his tone and response as he was never one to be somewhat harsh, perhaps spending too much time with Issei and Hanibal has caused his once pure soul to be tainted. It wasn't any concern to him, there were times that he needed to act like a leader.
Soon enough the fallen soldiers had implemented many ambush positions and traps whilst the devil forces remained staring them down from afar. After learning of the Satan Leviathan's presence most of the forces panicked as such a powerful enemy could wipe them out without even thinking.
If it weren't for the Cadres claiming that they will face the Satan whilst the army engages the rest of the devil army with assistance from the other Cadres, there could have been problems. Malpas was lucky enough to be assigned to not engage anywhere close to the Satan.
They waited behind their lines, the enemy just over the horizon. Malpas was a defender as his powers were more well suited, a shield of light capable of stopping the attacks of people stronger than him. He was a healer, but training has given him the chance to become a protector.
Suddenly five large demonic circles appeared in the center of the battlefield, each aimed directly at the positions of Malpas and his men. Each of them possessed an orange crest with two blades at the center, the mark of the devil army.
Malpas watched as the circles began to gather immense amounts of demonic power, his instincts were going off.
"Everyone down!" he shouted as the demonic circles shot an immense amount of demonic power towards them in the form of concentrated beams.
As the attacks were nearing towards them Malpas put both his hands forwards and focused his magic in front of everyone.
A massive white shield then formed in front of his side; the attacks made contact with his defense.
The sheer power behind them was causing cracks within the shield as Malpas was trying to keep it stable. The strain on his face displayed the sheer power of the attack and pure will that he had to keep it from hurting anyone.
Malpas began to be pushed back as his feet were digging into the ground, yet he did not falter. He knew that his shield would protect everyone, it had to.
Malpas spread his wings out and began to flap them in order to gain some ground against the attack. It was still difficult as the shield was cracking, and the ground wasn't as stable due to the immense number of shockwaves that the attack had caused it to shake violently.
Some of the fallen soldiers watched as their leader was struggling, they couldn't help him due to the power difference but that wouldn't keep them standing still. One of the high-ranking soldiers decided to stand up, he then pointed towards the magic circles in the sky.
"Everyone, get ready," he then threw his light spear at one of the demonic circles. It flew through the air before it struck one of the demonic circles, it had little to no effect at all.
'Those must be from devils ranking Ultimate-Class, but there aren't any nearby.' The soldier then looked back over toward the devil forces. He noticed how they weren't moving from their positions, it looked as if they were waiting for something.
The devil attack then died down, Malpas's shield had nearly caved in fromthe sheer amount pressure that he had up against it.
Malpas fell to one knee, it was clear from his heavy breathing that he was exhausted. Using the shield did require a lot of power but keeping it up against such a powerful attack costed a lot more than he was willing to put out.
"Lord Malpas, the devil forces are still waiting on the other side, I don't think they are going to attack us." The fallen soldier then helped Malpas stand back up, the weight of his superior was more than expected.
"That means we should prepare for any possibilities; all we have to do is wait for Issei to get here." Malpas then pointed towards one of the soldiers that was watching the enemy force.
"You there, I want you to go find Issei. Tell him that the enemy is preparing something that we have no intel on." Malpas fell back down, his body wasn't suited for war.
The soldier nodded and took off, Malpas sighed as his magic was feeling drained.
Scene Break
The constant sound of explosions happening across the city alerted them that the devil army under Leviathan were ready for war. They still didn't have intel on what their enemy was planning or what would be directed by the Cadres.
The battlefield was being turned into a wasteland as more and more explosions rang out, buildings collapsed, and the underground sewage system was exposed. The city was no longer a point of interest as it appeared the devils were keen on destroying it.
In the center of it all Azazel and Kokabiel stood across from the Satan Leviathan who had what appeared to be Ultimate-Class devils behind her. The stood across no more than ten meters away as the battle raged on around them.
The pressure from each of them blocked out any magic attacks that landed nearby.
"Leviathan, on behalf of the Grigori I request your surrender," spoke Azazel in a joking manner. Making only himself laugh internally. Kokabiel continued his death stare at the Satan as he wanted to get into the fighting but was stopped by Azazel.
"Still as dimwitted since the day you fell from Heaven. Only such a pathetic existence such as yours would try and make humor at such a time." Leviathan stared down Azazel before turning her attention towards Kokabiel.
"You killed my son Kokabiel, the fool thought he was capable of leading an attack and got himself killed." Leviathan didn't seem to show any thoughts towards the death of her son.
Azazel stepped forward.
"So, you decided to get revenge, right? I mean, if my son would have been killed by the person in front of me then it wouldn't take long for someone to guess what would happen." He seemed to be laughing at himself, Leviathan was not entertained.
"You won't be laughing soon when I decide to rip your offspring apart in front of your decapitated head as we celebrate the death of the Grigori." Leviathan's tone had turned colder than absolute zero.
She began to release a blue aura, matching for her control over water. Azazel and Kokabiel had responded by releasing their own to nullify the effect.
"It's just you here, right? The others are busy with God and the rest of the angels. Your outnumbered, get a dose of reality." Azazel released his wings and tucked them behind him, Kokabiel did the same.
"That would be the case if I was the only powerful devil that was here, I made sure to bring enough Ultimate-Class Devils here with me." She then snapped her fingers.
Azazel and Kokabiel looked around as the sky began to be blocked out by massive amounts of demonic circles.
"What the hell is this?" asked Kokabiel. They watched as an enormous amount of water began to flow out of the magic circles. Azazel and Kokabiel jumped out of the way in order to not be crushed by the immense amount of water that Leviathan had summoned.
All the water began to swirl around the city causing an immensely powerful whirlpool that completely leveled buildings and caught any poor soul that failed to get out of its path of destruction. Azazel and Kokabiel then shot towards Leviathan and her brigade of Ultimate-Class devils, both intending to stop the attack from killing any more than it probably has.
Scene Break
Whilst the fight was raging on Issei was stuck in his own predicament as he found himself surrounded by an enemy force that infiltrated the city.
After being awakened by the sounds of explosions Issei rushed outside as the battle was in full swing. He tried to find Malpas but was shot down by a devil soldier.
He hit the ground hard, the impact had left a small crater and scratches on his armor. After getting back up Issei had found himself surrounded by numerous enemies that possessed high power. His mind was focused on fighting the devils that surrounded him, but natural instincts had wanted to run to avoid the danger he found himself in.
Issei chose to summon two swords of light and held them up in a defensive manner. The devils who were cladded in black armor and possessed masks that resembled monsters with ram horns, they looked down from the roof tops at Issei.
His mind was already in a state of alarm as he made a life-or-death decision.
'This is bad, there's about ten of them.' I was surrounded, the only way I knew out of there was to fight. I have been cornered or put into bad situations multiple times so far, but this was much more then back then.
These devils were different from the others, their auras were much stronger. Their uniforms looked familiar as well. I remember seeing them before.
One of the devils then jumped down in front of me, his trident was aimed at me.
"You, fallen angel. Your death will bring us victory against you pitiful angel rejects, get ready." The devil soldier then motioned some signal. I backed up as the other devils began to jump down, I looked around in horror as each exit was blocked.
I released my wings, hopefully that would make them more cautious when approaching me.
The devil in front of me laughed.
"We know who you are Son of Azazel, the Satan Leviathan has ordered a bounty on your head. We are here to claim it." The devil soldier then charged me with his trident, I used one of my swords to stop his attack.
What he said was off, the Satan Leviathan put a bounty on me. I didn't know why she would do that.
"What do you mean by that?" I had asked him.
"All she told us was that she wanted revenge for the death of her son, by killing you it would weaken Azazel and allow us to take advantage." His expression turned to a more battle hungry grin.
"Goodluck trying."
As we stood in a stalemate, I noticed how strong the guy was, he must have been as strong as Malpas if that was a normal attack.
I quickly brought my other sword forward to break apart from this, but before it could meet the devil it was stopped. I shifted my attention over to see that another devil had joined in.
'Shit.' I forced both blades into the ground before launching myself into the air. I had to think fast as the others could jump in at any time.
Suddenly a sharp pain began to shoot through my back as I was sent flying back into the ground. I looked up to see another devil above me with his trident aimed down towards me. I put my wings away and backed up against a wall, it may not be the best decision, but I refuse to be killed like this.
'Leviathan, she must have heard something about her son.' I summoned a spear and threw it in between the devils that had stopped my swords. They both hit it directly causing it to go flying in the distance.
'They must be those bastards me and Hanibal found a while ago, the devil special forces.' I released more of my aura as the reality of the situation made itself apparent.
I was a cornered beast trying to fight off the hunters who backed me into a trap, there was no easy way out. Not with that barrier I didn't notice go up, that may have been the reason I was caught off guard.
I summoned another light sword; this one had a lot more power put into it. It glowed vibrantly as the heat around it began to suffocate the air.
"Kill him." Three devils then shot towards me at the same time, I quickly ducked the tridents aimed at my chest. I brought my sword up in a swift motion, two devils backed off. One was unlucky as his trident had got caught in the wall behind me.
My sword swiftly cut into his abdomen; he began to scream in pain. I the used my free hand to punch him in the face which sent him flying into the others who didn't catch him. I pushed forward by targeting one of the others who tried to stab me.
He stopped my sword with his trident, followed up with a leg sweep. He fell over but caught himself with his hands and used the motion to kick me hard in the chest.
I was sent flying through one of the buildings, as I was still in midair, I released my wings to catch myself. I watched as the other nine began to fly into the air. I challenged this by propelling myself even higher.
I was able to beat them speed wise, after flying a few miles about the ground I angled my wings and summoned another sword. Two of them had lined up behind each other, I took the opportunity to start spinning rapidly.
As Issei began to spin the devils took notice and began to spread out, they had been informed by witnesses from the assault on the Grigori about some abilities he had used. Each of them then summoned a demonic circle in front of themselves to act as shields.
Issei then collided with one of then, his circle didn't hold as Issei's aura was too much to bear. The devil tried to evade the attack but had lost one of his arms in the process. Before he could react Issei drove his sword through the devils back.
The others then began to blast Issei, he couldn't dodge the attack, so he used his wings to cover himself. The combined bombardment was pressing him into the ground, even with his wings being stronger than a normal fallen angel they still weren't invincible.
Slowly his wings began fail as they were taking on heavy damage.
Issei then began to summon an immense amount of energy below him, sparring enough to keep his wings from collapsing. They heat around him began to catch the surrounding wooden buildings on fire, the devils took notice of this and backed up slightly.
Issei then shifted over onto his back with the concentrated aura moving to the top.
"Firebomb," shouted Issei as the aura then detonated above him. The power being it forced a shockwave that sent the devils flying out in multiple directions. The buildings were reduced to ash and rubble, Issei however was left in the crater from ground zero. His armor was now broken in multiple part, his face was covered in dirt and scratches.
His body was damaged, but he still had enough energy to get away, he could feel the damage to his wings. Some were burned and broken as others were completely shattered. They may not be useable at the moment but all he had to do was find Malpas.
Issei quickly made his way into a large building that was not far from the site of the detonation. He made his way into a room and fell back against the wall. His legs were weak and shaking, those devils were much stronger than he anticipated.
Scene Break
Back with Malpas he was busy leading his men into battle against a significantly larger devil force, clouded in his white aura Malpas was fighting hand to hand with one of the stronger soldiers that challenged him.
The devil soldier tried to hit a roundhouse kick on him but was stopped by Malpas who put an arm up to block the attack before pushing it away and landing one of his own on the devil. The devil was sent flying away but managed to catch himself.
Malpas quickly summoned a light spear and charged the devil, the devil dodge before focusing his power into a small orb at the palm of his hand. Malpas noticed it and grabbed ahold of the devil's arm, he tried to stop him by stabbing with the light spear but was stopped as the devil grabbed ahold of his arm inches away from being impaled.
"Impressive for a fallen angel, you look like the type to cower behind someone." The devil gave Malpas a nasty gnarl.
"Tch, I can't stand here with you. I have to find him." Malpas pulled the devils arm in before headbutting the devil as he was forced closer.
They broke apart as the devil began to hold his head, Malpas threw a light spear at the ground in front of the devil.
The spear then exploded, causing great harm to the devil. Malpas looked on as the devil appeared from the dust with part of his skin burned and melted. Half his face was disformed as the skin continued to burn.
Malpas quickly summoned another spear and threw it into the devil's chest, the devil couldn't react and killed by the spear. His body disintegrated as the light burned his body away.
Malpas then looked over toward the soldiers not far from his right, they were being overwhelmed by devil forces. He tried to go over and assist them, but he saw that the other sectors in his defense were being overwhelmed as well.
Panic began to set in as he didn't know who to help.
'Oh no, Issei where are you. I can't do this alone, not without you or Hanibal.' Malpas's face conveyed an immense amount of distress, nervous sweating began to drench his armor. He never had to command a force let alone by himself, he was the type to follow orders.
Malpas quickly looked in between the two sides that were being pushed back, unknowing of what to do. His lines were breaking, and his men were being killed all around him.
Whilst caught in the moment Malpas failed to notice a beam of demonic power flying towards him. It was closing in on him as he turned his head to face its direction. He noticed it moments before contact, he closed his eyes as it was about to make contact.
Shin
Malpas slowly opened his eyes after a few seconds, he was confused why it didn't kill him. Much to his shock someone was standing in front of him. A familiar black armor and aura stood unphased as the attack meant to hit him was dispersed by a magic circle. That feeling of the wind before a ferocious storm flowed past him, there was no other person with that aura.
"Hanibal, your back." Malpas looked on in shock. Hanibal turned his head to the side and smiled.
"Medical Ward got flooded by Leviathan, I made it out unlike the others who drowned." Hanibal then focused his aura into the air, dark clouds began to form above them.
Everyone near them stopped fighting as they looked above as rain began to sprinkle from the sky. Malpas could feel Hanibal's power continue to grow, compared to Issei Hanibal could match him toe to toe evenly.
Unlike the specialized training that Issei was given and the power he was born with Hanibal had to earn it all. Hanibal had lost his parents in the war not long after he was born, after that mess he was sent to live in the nursery where he was one of hundreds.
Once he was at a suitable age, he was sent to the military barracks where he saw the harshness of the war. Some fallen would return with injuries or missing limbs. Some never returned at all, those were replaced by new ones for years.
His reputation had changed over the years as he was once a ruthless monster who didn't care if you were friend or foe into a war machine on par with a cadre.
That's what Issei had told him about Hanibal not long after they first met in the mountains years ago. He never asked Hanibal directly since they were opposites, in all terms it would be difficult to be friends without Issei holding them together.
Malpas watched as the clouds began to swirl in different places, the wind was becoming violent as more power was poured into Hanibal's magic circle. The sky was turning black as the weather was changing, it felt more like a thunderstorm than a battle within the Underworld.
At once three tornadoes began to form in three different positions among the frontline. They quickly began to force the devils to break formation to avoid their powerful grasps.
"Where's Issei?" asked Hanibal as he continued to force power behind the attack.
"I don't know, he was speaking to Lord Azazel earlier. He was supposed to meet me here when the battle started." Both fallen looked disappointed as their leader and friend was nowhere to be found.
"I guess I'll take over for him, until he gets back." Hanibal turned away mid-sentence, there was a noticeable amount of pity. Malpas didn't recognize it.
Hanibal pointed over toward a group of fallen who seemed injured.
"Make sure any wounded are taken care of, I'll deal with any enemies that try to oppose us." Malpas nodded as he rushed towards the fallen soldiers, Hanibal watched Malpas run over.
The feeling of wanting to end it all lingered in his mind, but those were quickly extinguished as a new power was approaching him from beyond his tornadoes that were ravaging the devil forces.
Hanibal looked onward until a figure in all black with a demonic mask with horns was seen holding a spear with a bronze-colored tip that was glowing the same color. He watched as the devil began walking towards him.
Hanibal lowered his hand and summoned a sword of light in his right palm, his vision never shifting from the devil in front of him. Even with the rain that was making it more difficult to see Hanibal kept his focus.
The devil stopped; he then slowly aimed his spear towards Hanibal. Hanibal smiled.
"Bring it."
Scene Break
Even with the aid of Kokabiel Azazel found himself having difficulty facing Leviathan and her brigade of devils. The fight had been causing shockwaves of power to disrupt the environment where it was not controlled.
Azazel faced Leviathan head whilst Kokabiel fought the other devils who supported her. After the water attack Leviathan switched to using pure demonic power, at its fullest concentration it was capable of annihilating someone with its aura if they couldn't bear it.
Luckily it wasn't as pure as she could have produced it, her mind wasn't focused on the fight ahead.
Azazel put up a magic circle as a beam of demonic power shot towards him, he nullified it before summoning an immense number of light spears above them.
Leviathan looked up, at that moment Azazel threw them down at her. She released her wings and shielded herself with them, Azazel's light spears broke apart after failing to pierce through them. He then summoned another spear in his hand.
Leviathan put her wings up and aimed a ball of demonic power at Azazel, he then threw the spear towards her. Leviathan seen this and fired the ball of demonic power, both came in contact and exploded. Both leaders had to shield their eyes as the explosion blew past them, the fragments of the ground could be seen scattered around them.
Azazel seemed annoyed by this display.
"What's it gonna take to kill you already?" he asked as he summoned another volley of light spears above them. The sheer number of light spears resembled the night sky of the human realm, an endless galaxy of stars.
"You won't kill me Azazel, if you even had the chance another Satan would take my place. As long as there are more devils being created by Lucifer then we will have the advantage over you who's people have to rely on their enemies since natural births are difficult for you." Leviathan was smiling, this raised flags for Azazel.
"Devils can reproduce the natural way, but Lilith's flesh is far more effective. We're hoping for a super devil soon, that way we can have a tool capable of rivaling God." Azazel kept a sly expression as he summoned a sword of light in his palm.
"Even if you could produce a super devil, why would it choose to follow you maniacs?" Azazel homed in on Leviathan.
"It's our nature, and it would follow our path of destruction."
"Rivaling God though, I don't see that happening. Not with anyone that the devils can create."
"We'll just have to wait for the Antichrist then, I'm sure Lucifer is working very hard." Leviathan then summoned two massive orbs of water beside her.
Azazel quickly threw the volley of light spears down towards her. Leviathan threw one of the orbs to stop them.
The spears got lodged in the water, after a second, they detonated sending water everywhere. Azazel quickly threw the spear in his hand; Leviathan launched the orb to counter his spear.
Both detonated, the stalemate continued to set in between them.
"This isn't getting anywhere now, is it?" asked Azazel as he began to charge his aura. His body was surrounded by a golden light that matched his bangs.
"I assume holding back on each other wouldn't settle this little score of ours. Personally, I'm more interested in something else." Leviathan turned her head to face the city, in a part of it where an explosion had reduced the area to ash. Azazel noticed this and flew up to her face.
"I feel the same, Lucifer would have been a better opponent then the brat that attacked us. It seems devils from your clan are defective." Leviathan's aura then rose significantly, this causing the nearby soldiers to watch.
"Let's end this." Leviathan then began to glow a dark blue color; her entire body being covered in light. Azazel quickly backed up as Leviathan's form began to shift and transform into a large serpent, its total size was enormous around fifty meters long.
Her body was covered in dark blue scales with her underbelly being more of a sandy color. Her head possessed twelve horns around it, her jaws were riddled with massive fangs giving her the resemblance of a dragon. Along her body were fin like structures, her spine was covered in jagged spikes.
Azazel flew into the air and summoned two light spears his golden aura radiating brilliantly.
"The true form of the Satan Leviathan, a desperate monster nearing her end. Feared by those who sail the seas and dwell the ocean. A creature believed to be lurking the oceans waiting for some forsaken ship to near it. Armageddon may come early." Azazel forced an immeasurable amount of power into his light spears.
His expression shifted from being cautious to being battle crazed.