A/N: Here it is, the final part of Demonic Incursion!
Sorry about keeping you all waiting, but hopefully the action ahead was worth it. I definitely had a load of fun writing it.
As always, I look forward to your review and any suggestions you may have, and I'll see you all next time!
For a devil, conflict was a part of everyday life. Be it physical or emotional, with rivals or even family, elder devils in particular always found a way to stir up conflict between one another. This was no different for the elder devils that found themselves a member of one of the four great houses of the Demonic Realms. For the longest time, even in the earliest days of the empire, Houses Satan, Beelzebub, Lucifer and Diablo would constantly argue over the best path for their people to take. In recent years since their existence was made public knowledge to humanity and the other sentient species of the world, they argued over whether they should reach out to them and spread their influence to the other species or if they should keep themselves closed off from the rest of the world.
The majority of the four houses seemed to relish the idea of making use of the other species, House Diablo and a great number of the smaller houses, in particular, saw great potential in this prospect as they had already been hiding amongst humanity for many centuries. House Beelzebub, however, wanted nothing to do with such a foolish endeavour. They thought that allowing other species knowledge of their people would taint their great empire. They had dealt with another species before back in the empire's early days, their now eternal rival, the angels, and that had eventually led to a war that lasted over a thousand years, up until the birth of human civilisation. House Beelzebub feared that they would make the same mistake again, especially with concerns of the technologically advanced humans that seemed to dominate the surface world now.
Recently though, through the spies of his great house, the current Lord Beelzebub had found that the current ruling house, House Satan, made plans to send an ambassador to the human domain of Japan to improve relations, the emperor going so far as to send his own granddaughter to achieve this goal. Lord Beelzebub refused to let this happen, he would not let devil-kind make the same mistakes that their ancestors had with the angels, and to that end he commanded his Legion Commander, his only son, to take a small force of their most skilled warriors to ambush the young Lady Eisheth when she was most vulnerable and take her into their custody. If need be, he would silence her for good himself.
With a star-filled sky hanging above them, the forces of House Beelzebub were busy firing blasts of chaos energy into the human-run inn they were attacking in an attempt to bring it down as it continued to snow heavily. It was taking longer than they had anticipated, but it was only a matter of time before either Eisheth and the surface-dwellers were forced to escape from the collapsing building or be crushed under several tons of rubble.
Looking over the battlefield floating several metres in the air, a trio of elder devils watched on as the operation progressed. At the head of the group was an older male, presumably the leader of the House Beelzebub forces, wearing a very ornate set of deep green Chaosium armour which had large pauldrons with golden devil horns on them and an angular helmet decorated with golden trimmings with his natural green horns arched around the crown of his head with the elongated tips pointing upwards. He also wielded a large two-handed claymore with demonic runes carved into the centre of the blade. The other two devils to his side, one male and the other female, were both wielding simple spears and wore more basic armour like most of the other soldiers in their force, the only difference being that they were lined with gold trimmings as well.
The leader hummed to himself as he surveyed the battleground they were fighting on. "It'll only be a matter of time until our enemies are flushed out like the rodents they are." He said in a deep booming voice which was slightly distorted by his chaos energy.
"Yes, it won't be long until we claim our prize for Lord Beelzebub," The younger male responded in acknowledgement.
The she-devil of the trio looked over to her superior with concern in her deep green eyes. "Commander, we've not heard back from Azmani and her group yet. I wish to go look for her whilst we have the chance to do so."
"Your sister's wellbeing is none of your concern right now, Amari. You will stay by my side until further instruction," The older devil told her in a stern tone.
She looked back at him in shock and wished to protest. "But father-!"
"That is an order!" He shouted back furiously.
Amari clamped her lips at his outburst and broke eye contact with him with a look of unease on her face. "…My apologies, Commander…"
The group stayed silent for a moment before they sensed a strong concentration of chaos energy from within the building. They looked towards the front of the building and could tell that there were at least two separate signatures amassing by the other side of the entrance.
"There's no doubt, it has to be Eisheth Satan," The young male said out loud.
The commander concentrated on where they were coming from. He could tell for certain that the first signature was, in fact, Eisheth Satan, though the other one was too strong to be one of her bodyguards. What concerned him wasn't the strength of the signature, but the fact that it felt somewhat unnatural to him, something he had never sensed from any other devil. Suddenly the energy signatures spiked and the front of the building was blasted open by a large burst of chaotic energy from inside. The blast flung his nearby soldiers back several feet and even before the dust had settled, Eisheth, along with the surface-dwellers had forced their way outside onto the snow-covered grounds just as the Inn began to collapse in on itself. With the group finally out in the open, the commander finally locked his gaze on the other chaos-bearing individual that was accompanying their target.
His eyes widened in surprise as he saw the form of a human bearing a katana, but there was no mistaking the fact that he was no mere human. The slit eyes surrounded by black sclera, the chaos energy coursing around his body, there was no denying that he bared the blood of the elder devils as he had already cut several of his soldiers down.
"…A half-breed…" The commander muttered under his breath.
While he was distracted, a female soldier flew up to the group as quickly as her wings could carry her. "Commander!" She shouted, earning her their attention. "We found Lady Azmani!"
The older devil looked towards the newcomer with a look of agitation at being disrupted so brazenly. "What is so urgent that you're willing to distract me from this important matter?" He asked with little patience to be had with the soldier. "She is able to handle herself."
"But Commander," She responded with some hesitation, almost as if she couldn't believe what she was about to tell him herself. "your daughter… she's dead…"
His eyes widened in shock at the soldier's grave news. Azmani was always a strong woman in his eyes, but despite her reckless behaviour he refused to believe that she could be killed so easily, especially at the hands of surface-dwellers of all things.
Amari and the younger male looked at the she-devil in dismay, horrified by her words. "…No… That can't be true…" She said as she tried to hold back her tears. "…She's my twin… there's no way…"
"I'm afraid so, Lady Amari," The soldier replied despondently. "It looks like she was stabbed through the chest by some sort of longsword."
The older devil felt a sinking feeling in his stomach at those words. He looked back down at the battlefield once more and locked his gaze on the half-breed. He had lost his strongest daughter tonight, all because of him. At that moment he felt hated like he never felt before.
Their forces were starting to take their toll against the surface-dweller in close quarters. The younger male was starting to lose his patience and shouted his commands to the soldiers below. "Ascend to the skies and rain down the power of chaos upon them!" He commanded in a furious tone, determined to avenge Azmani. "Avenge my sister's death and wipe this filth from the face of existence!"
In an instant, the devils on the ground backed away from their adversaries and took to the air on their bat-like wings. With enough distance between them, they extended their free hands and started to charge up bolts of chaos energy to fire at the surface-dwellers.
Back on the ground, MON forces now found themselves in a position where they were open to attack with little to no means of retaliating as they began to regroup. "Damn, what do we do now?!" Blare shouted in frustration.
"I can use my powers to try and shield us!" Yukio replied with worry.
"There's no point, it'll be brought down in no time against such firepower!" Eisheth exclaimed, frustrated that they were forced into such an undesirable situation to begin with.
Yuuto regrouped with the others and took up a defensive stance. As he did so, he looked up and inadvertently locked eyes with the commander of this demonic force, though as the devil furrowed his eyebrows, the blonde was unaware that he was focusing all his fury solely onto him.
"STAND DOWN!" The commander shouted with all his might.
His forces paused and looked back to their leader in confusion, all unable to understand why he had decided now to bring their attack to an abrupt halt.
The young male looked to the commander in shook, unable to comprehend his command. "But father, we can finish them off-!"
"I said stand down, Azeal!" The older devil responded in anger.
Azeal flinched for a moment, but he soon calmed down and nodded in response. "Yes, fa- I mean, Commander."
With that, all the devils retracted their chaotic energy back into their bodies, holding off their attack for the time being. Within moments the commander descended to the ground and landed with some force as his gaze never broke from the half-breed.
Yuuto felt a cold shiver run down his spine, now realising how much danger he was truly in.
Now that the commander had grounded himself, he removed his helmet, revealing his tanned weathered face with a thick but neatly trimmed green beard and short green hair which was starting to recede. "I am Azion Beelzebub, Legion Commander of my house and son of Lord Berial Beelzebub. I have been requested by my lord and father to take Lady Eisheth with us; lay down your arms and I'll promise most of you a quick and painless death." He said to the group whilst holding back his anger against the half-breed as best as he could.
"Commander Azion," Eisheth spoke up as she lowered her spear to her side. "you have some nerve trying to negotiate a surrender on our part after such a brazen attack on this inn." She told him with a hint of venom in her tone.
"My apologies, Lady Eisheth," He answered cordially, despite the tense situation. "at least this way I can guarantee your safety until I deliver you to my lord."
"And what does your 'lord' want with me?"
"That is none of your concern," Azion replied with a hint of agitation. "House Satan may be the ruling house right now, but it does not speak for the entirety of our glorious empire, House Beelzebub least of all."
"What does House Beelzebub hope to gain by severing contact between the Demonic Realms and the rest of the world?!" The she-devil shouted in anger. "Our empire's resources a dwindling, we have much to gain by negotiating with humanity!"
"The Demonic Realms has lasted millennia on our own and it will continue to prosper without the interference of outsiders,"
Eisheth couldn't help but give the commander a scornful look. "Ignorant fool…"
"Now, I suggest you turn yourself in, otherwise I can't guarantee your-"
"Hey!" Yuuto interjected in annoyance, gaining the ire of the commander once more. "Don't go forgetting about us now. We've already taken out a fair number of your forces already, so I'd suggest you show us some damn respect." He continued while he tried to hold back his temper.
Azion furrowed his eyebrows as he locked eyes with the MON agent once more. "You, half-breed." He said as he pointed his blade towards him. "Give me your name." He demanded.
The hybrid took a deep breath as he lowered Black Lotus and held it to his side. "My name is Dagon Diablo."
The old devil's chaos energy intensified around him and his claymore at hearing his name. "…Diablo… So, the rumours are true then." He then lowered his blade once more as his temper grew. "You're Baal's spawn."
"Trust me, I probably hate that fact more than anyone else right now," Yuuto replied, now mentally cursing his father for the position he was in right now.
"You would be surprised," Azion said as he tightened his grip around the hilt of his weapon, his fury unwaning. "Baal Diablo is a very hated individual in the empire, but that is beside the point. Tell me, are you the one responsible for the death of Azmani Beelzebub?"
The blonde kept his eyes locked with that of the commander's, thinking back to when he encountered the now dead she-devil in question. "Yeah, I confronted her. I gave her the option to leave with her life, but she gave me no choice. It was a matter of survival."
Azion's chaotic energy intensified immensely at the half-breed's admission of guilt, causing all the surface-dwellers apart from Yuuto to flinch in reaction. "That may be so, but it does not excuse this crime you've committed against my family." With that, the commander started to move towards the target of his fury.
"Father, what are you doing?!" Azeal shouted with a look of confusion on his face. "We can simply wipe them out now!"
"No…" Azion replied in a grim tone. "…I shall take care of matters personally." With that, he held his claymore in a reverse grip before slamming the tip into the ground in front of him as a large burst of chaos energy emanated from it. The devil's chaotic aura intensified even more as it extended several feet around him, his gaze never leaving that of the half-breed. "Dagon Diablo, I challenge you to Vor'narroth!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.
Yuuto looked back at him in confusion. "Vor'narroth?"
"It's a duel to the death," Eisheth answered from behind him. "it is a time-honoured tradition amongst the warriors of my people, and it's considered a great disrespect to refuse such a challenge."
The hybrid looked back at her with a slight look of annoyance. "Of course, it is…"
"There has already been too much blood spilt in this battle," Azion spoke up to get their attention. "if you accept my challenge then I can guarantee that the lives of your comrades will be spared, provided that they too honour the rites of Vor'narroth."
Yuuto looked back at him sceptically. "And how do I know if I can trust your word after your threat earlier?"
The old devil merely smirked back at him. "I may be your enemy, but I am a devil of honour. You have my word."
"He's right," Eisheth spoke up once more. "he may be as ruthless as they come, but I have never known him to go against his word. You can trust him."
The MON agent had a bad feeling about this, but at this point, he understood that it was either accept the commander's challenge or be blasted to oblivion by chaotic power. With that, he locked eyes with the old devil once more before he stepped forwards and thrust the tip of Black Lotus into the ground in front of him with a burst of chaos energy. "I accept your challenge, Azion Beelzebub."
The rest of MON were shocked by his decision. "Stud, you can't be serious!" Blare shouted in protest.
"Yeah, this is crazy, even for you, Beesh!" Zombina added in a panic.
"Me Love!" Lala yelled in desperation. "Ye may be strong, but this foe is like none ye have ever faced!"
"She's right, Medjay!" Raia interjected. "And besides, you're still getting used to your chaos powers! This is hardly a fair fight!"
"I know," He replied as he looked back to them with a serious look on his face. "but if I don't accept, then we all die anyway. I'm not taking that chance with your lives on the line."
Eisheth felt a pang of guilt, feeling that she had inadvertently forced the hybrid down this path. "Dagon, you don't have to do this for me."
"I'm not doing this just for you, Ei," He replied. "I'm doing this for everyone's sake."
The she-devil couldn't help but smile back at him as her cheeks went red. "Of course, that makes perfect sense."
Yuuto nodded back at her before he returned his attention towards the commander. "What are your terms?"
"So, you do possess some honour then," Azion commented. "if I win, your group are to hand over Eisheth Satan to us without resistance, otherwise they forfeit their lives."
The hybrid didn't like that last part, but he could hardly argue against it given their situation. "And if I win, Eisheth stays with us and your forces are to retreat with you dead and wounded. Does that sound reasonable?"
Azion nodded back at him. "I accept your terms." He then looked over to his son. "Azeal, I want you to preside over this duel and make sure no one else interferes."
The younger male nodded at his father's request. "As you wish, Commander." With that, he moved to a position where he was in between the two warriors and raised a hand. "The rite of Vor'narroth has been enacted! Anyone who is not involved will step away immediately and anyone who dares try to interfere will be executed on the spot!"
In an instant, the forces of House Beelzebub backed away and made room for them, though Amari was slightly hesitant to do so for a moment before she too reluctantly did the same.
Eisheth looked towards the MON agents and non-combatants. "Let's move back, we don't want to get in their way."
As the majority of the group did as they were instructed, the young reaper was somewhat hesitant to do the same. "But Yuuto is in danger, how can ye agree tae this?" She asked the devil with great worry.
The she-devil moved to her side and placed a hand comfortingly on her shoulder. "Don't worry, I believe that your boyfriend has what it takes to take on Azion. Let's just hope he's able to realize that potential."
Lala wanted to protest, but she could tell that she was telling the truth. "Let us hope that ye're correct in yer assumption."
"Lala," The pair looked towards Yuuto looking back at them with a confident smirk on his face. "don't worry. This will be over before you know it."
The dullahan couldn't help but give him a loving smile in return. "Then I shall trust ye. Please, be careful."
The hybrid gave her a thumbs-up "Will do."
With that, both Lala and Eisheth turned away from him and made their way to meet up with the others. Yuuto then turned his attention back to the commander and held Black Lotus in front of him with both hands, readying himself for the battle ahead. Azion readied himself as well as he held his claymore in both hands and held it to his side as he pointed the tip of the weapon towards the half-breed with his wings now unfurled.
Seeing that both of them were ready, Azeal took to the air to get out of their way and readied to oversee the duel to the death. He took a deep breath before he swung his arm down, signalling the start of the duel. "Let the rite of Vor'narroth commence!"
At that very moment, Azion propelled himself forward at great speed towards his adversary. Yuuto was almost caught off guard by the devil's blinding speed and just had enough time to position his katana to block the oncoming attack. Azion thrust his claymore forwards, aiming for the hybrid's torso, though he only succeeded in striking the centre of his foe's blade. The force of the strike sent the hybrid skidding backwards along the snow-covered ground but was able to stay on his feet. Without missing a beat, the commander used his wings to leap into the air and attempted to swing a downwards strike at him from outside his field of view.
"Stud, above you!" Blare shouted in a panicked tone.
Yuuto already knew what was coming as he sensed a surge of chaos energy coming towards him from above. In a split-second just before the claymore was about to strike him, he used a surge of energy to propel himself away from Azion in a flash, almost as if disappearing from sight. The devil's sword struck the ground hard, sending snow and dirt flying from the impact. With the commander's side expose, Yuuto propelled himself from where he had dodged to and held his katana in a reverse grip in his right hand, ready to strike at the commander. Azion could sense him coming and pulled his claymore out of the ground effortlessly before turning to face the half-breed holding his weapon in front of him to block the strike. The blonde swung at him and Black Lotus struck at the blade, sliding across it effortlessly as sparks of chaos energy and metal flew from the strike.
"You'll have to do better than that, Diablo," The commander said to him in a mocking tone.
They both readied themselves and started striking at each other with blazing speed, their attacks seeming like a blur to the naked eye. They were able to deflect each other's attack despite the blinding speed they were swinging at each other, the only real damage being when their strikes grazed the ground as they cut deep gouges from the snow and earth around them. Unable to outmatch each other in speed, they simultaneously went for heavy blows targeting the other's torso. The ensuing blast from their chaos-empowered strikes colliding with each other flung them away from each other. With the newfound distance between them, they both took a moment ready their guard, preparing themselves for just about anything.
Amari looked on in surprise. She knew that her father was a capable warrior, one of the best even, but she was shocked to see that her sister's killer was able to match him blow for blow in both speed and strength. "How is that half-breed keeping up with Dad?" She said out loud with worry. "My father should've taken him down already."
The soldier from before was standing next to her as she continued to watch the conflict, surprised by what the half-breed was achieving. "I'm not sure, Lady Amari, but that half-breed is certainly a skilled warrior himself. It would explain how he was able to overpower Lady Azmani."
"You don't know that," The daughter of the commander responded in denial. "We all knew how reckless she could be, that half-breed must've gotten lucky."
"Then I'm sure we'll be enlightened to the truth soon enough,"
Meanwhile, Eisheth and the MON group couldn't break their gaze from Yuuto as he held his own against the elder devil commander, much to their surprise, though a certain zombie couldn't help but smirk to herself as she watched her friend giving the devil a hard time.
"Check it out, Beesh is totally kicking that guy's ass!" Zombina proudly said out loud.
Blare couldn't help but smile at the comment. "Stud just loves to show off, doesn't he?"
"Don't start cheering just yet," Eisheth interjected with a worried look on her face. "I'm fairly certain that Azion has been holding back up until now. This fight is just getting started."
"But we canna give up hope," Lala replied with determination as she held her hands to her chest tightly. "I just know that me Love will overcome this trial, he has tae."
The she-devil looked over to the dullahan and gave her a sad smile. "I just hope you're right."
As the pure-blood devil and the half-breed continued to stare each other down, Azion couldn't help but smirk at his adversary. "I must say that I'm impressed, most pure-bloods would have difficulty lasting this long against me. I dare say that I've underestimated your capabilities."
Yuuto was breathing heavily as he held his defensive stance. "Do you always make a habit complimenting the people you're trying to kill? The last thing I'm concerned about right now is earning your praise." He replied in an irate tone, feeling that the commander was secretly mocking him.
The devil scoffed at the response. "Take it as you will, but I think it is only right to warn you that I've only been using a fraction of my power up until now. I wished to see what you were capable of."
The hybrid sneered back at him. "The fact that you even considered holding back at all just pisses me off."
"Then allow me to correct that," In an instant, Azion took to the air and got to a safe enough distance before he stretched out his left arm and coalesced a bolt of chaotic energy in the palm of his hand. "consider this the start of our real battle."
*Sigh* "Not this shit again," Yuuto muttered under his breath in annoyance.
Azion started firing a number of chaos bolts at the half-breed with hate-filled eyes, forcing the blonde to dodge all of them as best as he could. Despite being able to avoid most of the blasts, the commander was able to aim a blast just behind the half-breed, the resulting explosion sending his foe tumbling to the ground. Yuuto tried desperately to stagger to his feet but as he was doing so, Azion took the time to charge up a larger bolt of chaos energy before firing it at him. Yuuto was only able to get up on one knee as the projectile came hurtling his way. The hybrid looked up in horror as the large orb of chaos energy was closing in on him, ready to vaporise him into dust. As if on instinct he held his katana in a reverse grip and held his right arm in front of him, bracing it with his other arm as he intensified the chaos energy around him. In an instant, a small barrier of chaotic energy manifested in front of him moments before the projectile struck at it and exploded, blasting the nearby area with pure chaos energy.
"Yuuto!" Lala yelled in a panic.
"He's alright," Eisheth said to calm her down, despite her being worried for the hybrid's wellbeing also. "I think he was able to defend himself in time."
They looked back to the battlefield and saw a huge plume of smoke where Yuuto had taken the blast. Soon the smoke started to clear as the onlookers could start to make out a faint chaos barrier that was barely holding in front of where the MON agent knelt. The barrier eventually broke down as the smoke fully cleared with the hybrid knelt on one knee alive and well, though the defence he put up hadn't protected him from all the damage as the top layer of his combat fatigues from the waist up had been severely shredded, only just managing to protect its wearer. Azion looked down in shock, surprised that his foe had survived the attack.
Yuuto eventually lowered his arms to look up at the devil commander with a smirk on his face before he ripped off the top layer of his ruined combat fatigues and the remnants of his Kevlar vest, leaving him only wearing a black tank top on his chest and a pair of now tattered fingerless gloves on his hands. "Is that the best you've got?" He asked Azion in a mocking tone.
All the other MON agents were glad to see that their only male member was still in one piece, some of them letting out whoops and cheers.
The elder devil commander, on the other hand, was furious to see that his opponent was still breathing. "You dare mock me in the middle of Vor'narroth?!"
The hybrid finally stood back up and readied Black Lotus once more, still glaring at the devil with his ever-present smirk. "It's not like you were going to try and kill me any less than you were earlier, so I'll take my chances."
Azion was furious, he had planned to take out this half-breed quickly and be done with this whole mess, but he had proved to be far more resilient than he had anticipated. Finally losing his patience he held up his claymore above his head and started charging it with chaotic energy until it was glowing bright red. With a furious yell, he flew down to the ground at great speed and swung down his weapon to fire off a fast-moving narrow torrent of chaotic energy that ripped the ground apart underneath it. It was hurtling towards Yuuto at incredible speed and he just barely had enough time to dodge to the side as it rushed past him before exploding right behind him. Yuuto was knocked down to the ground by the blast but was able to get back on his feet quickly, though not quick enough as the commander flew towards him with his claymore poised to thrust at his torso once more. The blonde just barely raised Black Lotus up in time to deflect the strike away from his chest, but the claymore was still able to slice the top of his right shoulder open, eliciting a scream of agony from the MON agent.
"Dagon!" Eisheth shouted in a panic.
Lala was angered by what had happened and manifested Crescent Shadow with a look of determination on her face. "I canna stand by any longer, Yuuto needs our help!" As she stepped forwards though, a small bolt of chaos energy struck the ground in front of the dullahan and stopped her in her tracks.
The pair looked up to see Azeal still in the air with his open palm aimed right at them as he stared down at them with furrowed eyebrows. "This will be your only warning, do not interfere."
The young reaper stood there with tears running down her cheeks, frustrated that someone would try to stop her while her Love was in great pain.
"I know how you feel, but this will be all for nothing if we try to save him now," The she-devil next to her said as she was equally frustrated with the current situation. "we have to trust that he'll survive this."
Lala wanted to protest, but she knew that Eisheth was right. Yuuto was putting his life on the line to keep them safe, but it would be for nought if she tried to save him now. With great reluctance, she dematerialised her scythe and observed the duel once more, now mentally praying to whoever was watching to keep her one and only love alive.
Yuuto meanwhile was trying desperately to lift the claymore currently imbedded in his shoulder as the devil standing over him put all his strength into trying to dismember the half-breed's arm. "You might as well surrender your life to me now, Diablo. Your death is inevitable." Azion said to him with a sickening grin on his face.
The MON agent gritted his teeth hard as he endured the pain in his right shoulder, but he was struggling right now to stop the commander from taking his arm. That's when he noticed that his defences were wide open, too focus on making him suffer. He was able to erect a barrier before to protect himself, now he wondered if he could use his chaos powers to blast the devil away. With nothing else to lose the hybrid extended his free hand and thrust it towards the commander's exposed breastplate as far as he could. He then charged his hand with chaos energy before letting off a blast right at the devil's chest. Azion was shocked by the sudden attack as he was flung back from his opponent with great force. He bowled over himself before righting himself mid-air and landing on his feet with his wings unfurled. Now that he had some distance again, Yuuto quickly placed his free hand over the wound on his shoulder and shocked it with chaos energy, hissing through his gritted teeth as he did so. After a moment, he removed his hand from his shoulder, his wound now cauterised as he pointed his blade towards the commander. The devil breathed heavily as he looked down at his chest in surprise, seeing a large dent where the half-breed had struck him.
Azion looked back up at his foe and furrowed his eyebrows in anger. "What, in the name of the Seven Sins are you?" He asked in both astonishment and frustration.
Yuuto returned him an icy cold gaze as chaos energy intensified around his body and his katana. "The one guy you shouldn't have messed with."
In an instant, the hybrid charged forwards with a burst of chaos energy with Black Lotus poised to strike at the commander. The devil immediately took to the skies again just before his foe's weapon swung down at where he was stood moments beforehand. Now in the air once more, Azion charged his claymore with chaos energy, ready to strike down the half-breed with another bladed projectile. Yuuto wasted no time as he surged chaos energy into his legs before leaping into the air towards the airborne devil. The commander swung his blade down and fired the projectile towards his foe, but the MON agent used a burst of chaos energy to propel himself sideways to narrowly avoid the strike before it blasted apart the ground underneath. Failing to hit his foe with his chaos blast, Azion raised his weapon to block the incoming attack, though he was surprised when he didn't feel the half-breed strike at his sword. That's when he felt a sharp pain in his left wing. The devil looked to his side to find that his foe had swung an overhead slash at his exposed appendage, seeing that it had been cut down the middle, severing it in half. Unable to keep his balance in the air any longer, the commander fell to the ground with some force, landing in the small crater that he made just moments ago. The half-breed landed several feet away from him soon after before he turned around and readied his weapon once more. Azion was on his hands and knees as he looked back at his now crippled wing with blood dripping from where it was severed. There was no way he'd be flying again after what the MON agent had done to him. He focused a surge of chaos energy to cauterize the wound before getting back onto his feet, propping himself up with his claymore.
The commander sent a hateful glare towards his foe, his fury growing ten-fold as chaos energy intensified around his entire body. "You'll pay dearly for that, boy. You will know suffering beyond imagining before I'm through with you."
Yuuto gave him a steely gaze in return as he switched his katana to a reverse grip and placed his free hand against the bottom of the hilt before he raised the weapon in front for his as chaotic energy intensified around it and his whole body. "I think it's about time that we ended it." He said to the devil with a sense of finality.
"…Damn you…" Azion muttered under his breath before he started sprinting towards the half breed, his claymore now poised to stab at him as he charged forwards. "DAMN YOU!"
Despite the devil charging at him with the intent to kill, the hybrid held his ground with Black Lotus still held in front of him, his gaze never breaking from that of the commander's.
"Stud, be careful!" Blare yelled with worry, wanting desperately to survive this duel.
"You can do it, Beesh!" Zombina added in an attempt to cheer him on.
Eisheth worried to herself as she watched the MON agent stand his ground against one of the most talented warriors of the Demonic Realms. "You're so close, Dagon. You can beat him." She thought to herself as she subconsciously clenched her fists.
Lala clasped her hands together tightly under her chin and clamped her eyes shut with tears trickling down her cheeks as she prayed for his wellbeing. "Please, Yuuto. Please put an end tae this threat and come back tae me with yer life intact." She muttered to herself, hoping for the best for her boyfriend.
As Azion neared the half-breed, he thrust his blade forwards, aiming directly for his chest. Unfortunately for the devil, he left himself wide open, an opportunity the blonde wasn't going to pass on. Yuuto thrust the edge of his katana towards the side of the claymore, deflecting it away from his chest. He then let off a blast of chaos energy from Black Lotus, blasting the enemy's weapon to his side whilst simultaneously opening up his defence. The commander's eyes went wide with shock as his chest was now exposed to a counter-attack, and before he could react, the hybrid pointed the tip of his weapon towards the devil's chest and surged forwards with a burst of chaos energy from his feet and thrust Black Lotus right through his opponent's Chaosium armour and through his chest. Azion froze in horror at the sharp pain going through him as he started to feel his blood starting to fill one on his lungs and spill out his wound.
"FATHER!" Amari shrieked in horror at seeing her father impaled by the half-breed's weapon.
Azeal also looked down at his father in shock, never imagining that he would ever be beaten in battle.
Even the members of MON, as well as Ms Smith, Yukio and Haruto stared at the sight in disbelief, surprised that the hybrid had bested the veteran warrior of the demonic force, though they were relieved to see that he had survived the duel despite the odds being stacked against him.
Azion dropped his claymore to the ground as his body started to feel weak and now coughing up blood, his body only being held up thanks to the half-breed that had stabbed him in the chest. "No… This can be happening…" The devil muttered to himself as he struggled to keep himself conscious.
Yuuto was frozen in place with Black Lotus still impaled through the commander's chest as he held his body up, his eyes now clamped shut with tears rolling down his cheeks. "I didn't want this, but you gave me no choice." He said to the devil as he tried to keep himself composed.
The devil continued to cough up blood as his body leant over that of the half-breed's. "Despite my hatred towards you, I must admit that you fought admirably. I can now see how you were able to best Azmani…" He then took a deep breath, despite the severe pain it caused him before speaking up so everyone present could hear him. "I will honour the rite of Vor'narroth and keep my side of the bargain, Eisheth Satan will stay in your care and the forces of House Beelzebub will retreat from this battlefield as promised…" He then lifted his head and locked eyes with his son. "…Azeal… You will honour my last wish and see these terms fulfilled…"
The young devil looked down at his dying father and tried his best to keep his composure as he nodded in response. "Yes, Father…"
Azion nodded weakly in return before returning his attention back to the MON agent. "…Now, Dagon Diablo, fulfil the rite of Vor'narroth and put an end to this old devil's misery…"
Yuuto did his best to recomposed himself whilst still holding the devil up. "Of course, I hope you find peace on the other side."
With that, the hybrid tightened his grip on the hilt of his katana and sharply twisted his weapon in the commander's chest, immediately bring an end to Azion's life. The devil's body went limp afterwards and the MON agent pulled his weapon free from the corpse as he continued to hold him up. He tossed his weapon to the side towards the other MON agents and grasped both hands onto it before lowering the now dead devil onto his back gently. Once done, the blonde took several steps back from the body and towards where he tossed Black Lotus, leaving plenty of room for the soldiers of House Beelzebub to tend to their now dead Legion Commander. Azeal and Amari wasted no time as they rushed to their father's side to mourn for him.
The she-devil knelt to his side and clasped both hands to his limp hand, now holding it to her chest as she started sobbing to herself. The young male knelt to the other side of the body and placed a hand over his father's chest with his head hung low. "You were the best of us, Commander. You will be missed…" He muttered to himself, trying to stay composed. After a moment he stood to his feet once more and spoke up to his comrades. "Soldiers of House Beelzebub, gather our dead and wounded. We make haste back to Hell as soon as we are able to."
Without question, the forces of House Beelzebub saluted the young devil in response before scattering to find the bodies of their fellow soldiers
During this whole time, Yuuto kept his head held low, unable to bear making eye contact with either Azeal or Amari. He may have been fighting for his life, but it didn't make him feel any less guilty for the lives he took tonight. He was still surprised by the fact that he had survived this duel to the death with such a strong foe, he couldn't help but wonder how strong he would become if he was able to achieve this despite his lack of experience with his chaos powers.
"Diablo,"
The hybrid looked up to see the children on the commander looking at him with cold stares. "We will honour the deal you made with our father," Azeal told him as he continued to bore his eyes into the half-breed. "but know that this is far from over. The lives of my father and Azmani, as well of those of House Beelzebub that were lost in this battle will be avenged someday."
Yuuto kept his gazed locked with that of the male devil for a moment before furrowing his eyebrows at him. "I never asked for this, and I have no plans of dying any time soon, but I'll be waiting." With that, the MON agent turned away from them and started walking away to meet up with his group, only stopping for a moment to retrieve his weapon. He may have won this battle, but he feared that in the long term that he had potentially started a war that he feared he couldn't win.
It didn't take the forces of House Beelzebub long to gather their dead and wounded, and once they had gathered all their forces a number of their soldiers had used their chaos powers the create a large magic seal underneath them. In almost an instant the whole force had disappeared in a flash of red, the only trace of their existence being the carnage they had left in their wake. It wasn't long after when the sun started to rise, and now a convoy of police vehicles and a couple of ambulances arrived at the scene of the now ruined onsen as the snowstorm started to subside. Now in his base form once more, Yuuto found himself sitting on the stairs of what remained of the Sno Ball Inn with his head hung low in thought. He knew that in the end he did the best he could to keep everyone alive, and he had succeeded, but he couldn't take his mind off of what the commander's son had told him. There would be retribution for his actions and the fact that he didn't know when to expect it was what worried him the most.
"Hey, Beesh,"
The hybrid looked up to see Zombina standing in front of him, now only wearing her tank top from the waist up as she looked down at him with a warm smile on her face. "How're ya holding up?" She asked with a hint of concern in her voice.
The blonde let out a heavy sigh in a vain attempt to relieve his current stress. "I've felt better, I just feel lucky to be alive right now."
The redhead couldn't help but chuckle at his response as she sat down next to him and placed a hand on his back. "If I were in ya shoes, I'd be super stoked right now. Not many people can say that they took down an elite demon warrior single-handedly."
"Maybe, but I have a bad feeling that it'll end up biting me in the ass," He responded as he felt himself deflate slightly.
"I wouldn't worry so much, Beesh," The zombie said as she started to rub his back reassuringly. "I doubt that the ICEP is gonna let those assholes get away with what they tried to pull."
Yuuto mulled the thought over. "It would be nice, but I doubt that the ICEP would have any real sway on devil politics."
"Just be glad that politics aren't our concern. Just take out the trash that tries to cause trouble like we always do and I'm sure we'll be just fine!" She exclaimed with a toothy grin.
The hybrid couldn't help but smirk back at her. "I'm glad that one of us can be so optimistic."
Zombina gave him a warm smile in return before she pulled him into a hug and rested her chin on his shoulder. "Well, whatever happens, just know that I've always got ya back, and that's a promise."
Yuuto soon returned the hug as he wrapped his arms tightly around the zombie's waist. "Thanks, Zee. It means a lot to me to hear that."
After a moment, the zombie broke away from the hug and stood to her feet once more, giving him a toothy grin as she did so. "Well, I'd better go check up on the others. I'm sure you've got enough on ya mind without me hounding ya." With that, she left to check in on her squadmates, but not before waving at him. "See ya later, Beesh!"
The blonde wave back at her in response. "Take care."
With the redhead now gone, Yuuto stood to his feet and stretched his arms above his head, trying to clear his mind of unpleasant thoughts. He had enough to worry about without concerning himself with what was happening in the Demonic Realms, he would be moving in with Lala soon and he still had a ton of paperwork still to do in regards to that.
"Dagon,"
The hybrid looked to his side to find Eisheth looking at him with a warm smile on her face. He was surprised that he hadn't sensed her coming, but he guessed that it was down to being distracted by his own problems. "Hey, Ei." He replied as he returned a warm smile of his own. "How're you holding up?"
"Quite well considering the circumstances, but I believe I have you to thank for that," She said to him with slightly reddened cheeks as her spade-tipped tail swayed leisurely from side to side.
The MON agent rubbed the back of his neck at the compliment. "I was just doing my job, so don't worry about it."
"I'm fairly sure that demon-slaying isn't in your job description," She said in a slightly joking manner to help ease the tension by a fraction. "but seriously, I owe you a great deal for saving my life. You risked your life to protect myself and your friends back there, and I'm not sure how to repay you."
"I'm just glad that you're alright, and I've would've done that for anyone,"
Eisheth's cheeks went a brighter shade of red at his comment. "You certainly are an interesting individual, Dagon. I'm certain that modesty such as yours doesn't exist back home." She then looked back behind her to see an armoured SUV with several TALIO agents waiting on standby, as well as a few House Satan soldiers sent as reinforcements just in case of another attack. "I'll be heading off to Tokyo soon, but I wanted to say thank you for everything that you've done so far before I leave."
"I should let you get going then, I don't wish to hold you up any longer than I already have," With that, Yuuto was about to take his leave. "I wish you all the best, Ei."
Before he could excuse himself, the she-devil reached out and grasped hold of his wrist tightly. "Wait, there's one more thing."
The hybrid looked back at her in confusion. "What is-"
He was abruptly cut off as she pulled him in close and pressed herself against his chest before she cupped his cheek and forcefully pressed her lips to his. Yuuto's eyes widened in surprise as he subconsciously triggered his devil mode, now frozen there in shock at the sudden act. Eisheth seemed to be enjoying herself as she wrapped her tail around his waist and started to caress his cheek with her thumb. For the MON agent, the act felt like it lasted for ages but after a moment or two, the she-devil eventually pulled away from him, giving him a seductive look as he continued to stare back at her gobsmacked.
"Consider that my reward for your efforts earlier," She said to him sensually as her tail swayed from side to side once more. "and on top of that, I'm willing to teach you a thing or two about how to control your chaos powers, though you already seem to be a natural at it, Regardless, you'll be seeing a lot more of me." With that, she turned around and started to make her leave, though she never broke her gaze from his. "Till next we meet, Dagon Diablo."
Even after the she-devil was gone, Yuuto was left there with his jaw hanging open and still in his devil mode. True, he had saved her life, but he didn't make a habit of expecting people to make out with him just because he protected them. "What the hell just happened?" He thought to himself with a bewildered look on his face.
"Me Love?"
The hybrid flinched at those words and slowly looked over his shoulder to see his loving dullahan girlfriend staring back at him with furrowed eyebrows and a dark aura around her that was similar to the one that Ms Smith would usually emit. From his perspective, the young reaper looked extremely miffed at him.
"Would ye care tae explain why that woman was flaunting her feminine whiles at ye whilst ye did little tae resist her charms?" She said to him while she was seething with jealousy.
The blonde quickly turned around and started flailing his arms apologetically. "Hey, I'm the victim here! She was the one who through herself at me and caught me off guard!" He shouted in a panic.
The jealous look Lala was giving him soon morphed into one of a child sulking as she rushed over to her boyfriend and wrapped her arms around his chest tightly. "But Yuuto, ye should nay ever need another woman tae satisfied yer needs! I've told ye before that I'd be willing tae give ye all o' me, body and soul!" She yelled in a whiny tone with tears running down her cheeks as she tightened her embrace.
Yuuto's face was starting to turn a light purple due to oxygen deprivation caused by the young reaper currently crushing his chest with her embrace. "Lala, I appreciate the offer," He wheezed out as he struggled to breathe. "but do you mind loosening up a bit? I can't breathe…"
"Hey, Stud!"
The hybrid was distracted from his current situation to find Blare, Raia and Kasumi staring at him with various looks on their faces.
"You really are starting to become quite the heartbreaker, aren't you?" The hellhound asked with a teasing look on her face.
"As I said before, we really can't take our eyes off Medjay for even a minute," The mummy added in an equally teasing tone.
The empusa, on the other hand, shook her head in disbelief at what she witnessed between him and the elder devil moments earlier. "You truly are becoming a womaniser, how shameful." She said in disappointment.
Yuuto was starting to get irate with their false accusations. "OH, GIVE A GUY A BREAK ALREADY!"
Despite the trials they had just been through, it seemed like it wouldn't take long for things to go back to normal, though unbeknownst to the members of MON, this would only be the beginning of their issues with the Demonic Realms. Only time would tell if they would be ready for the challenges ahead of them.