"Let her go!" a stern, female voice shouted from the side.
Urd looked over to where the voice came from, only to see a sharp spear made of frigid ice coming towards her. She took one arm off of Belldandy and pointed her palm towards the spear. Black flames shot out, burning and melting the ice into nothingness.
Belldandy took this opportunity, catching Urd off guard. She transformed her own body into the form of green wind, swiftly swerving out of Urd's grasp with a huge gust. She rematerialized a few feet away from her sister.
"Wha…?!" Urd growled.
Belldandy looked over to the person who had saved her. She gasped, "!"
Hild raised both of her slim arms into the air as large bolts of black-colored lightning pulsated, "Your short lives end here!!"
Skuld, and the two angels behind her, closed their eyes in fear, knowing what was coming and knowing they were helpless to stop it.
"Hagh!!!" Hild screamed as she pointed her arms towards them, causing the bolts to shoot through.
Just when the attack was going to hit Skuld and the angels, two silhouettes swiftly flew in. One of the silhouettes had the wings of an angel and grabbed both Noble Scarlet and Holy Bell. The other silhouette was in the shape of a woman, who took hold of Skuld. The two figures rescued them all and took them out of harms way; the bolts of lightning crashed into the building where they once were.
"What?!" Hild shouted with disgust, "Damn them!"
Skuld noticed that she wasn't in any pain and felt the arms of someone around her. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up to see the woman who had rescued her. Her eyes lit up, "Peorth!!"
Peorth, dressed in her usual black and brown uniform, held the young goddess and smiled, "I'm glad we made it in time."
Skuld looked to the side of Peorth to see her angel, Gorgeous Rose, carrying Noble Scarlet and Holy Bell. Skuld smiled once again and looked back to Peorth, "Thank you Peorth."
Urd looked over to the woman who had saved Belldandy's life. She looked at her with the most repulsed look, "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I can't believe it!" Belldandy still gasped, startled, "Rind!"
That's right. Floating just a few more feet away from the two, was the Battle Goddess herself: Rind. She held her long, sharp axe at her side. Both of her battle angels were hovering behind her. Spear Mint, who had been the one who fired the javelin of ice, was on the right while her counterpart, Cool Mint, was on the left.
"It's nice to see you Belldandy," Rind stated with a slight smile.
Peorth and the rest of the group rejoined.
Holy Bell returned to Belldandy's side as Hild accompanied her daughter.
"Well, well, well…" Hild smirked, still in disgust, "Can you believe it? The Goddess of the Axe…The Great Battle Goddess Rind and her two battle angels…What a pleasure."
"The cavalry sure has arrived, hasn't it?" Urd mumbled to herself.
"I've always wanted to take on a Battle Goddess…Show me what you've got…!" Hild told her, gesturing her to come with her index finger.
Rind looked down below to see Keiichi watching. She could see the worry upon his face. She and her angels flew below to speak with him.
"Where the hell is she going?!" Hild complained.
"Rind…what is it?" Keiichi asked, as Rind arrived.
"This will be a fierce battle…We won't be able to protect you so, please…" Rind told him. Cool Mint flew over to Keiichi and connected with him. "Cool Mint will aid you now," she smiled.
Keiichi nodded, feeling much more reassured, "Be careful…" He looked up to see Belldandy watching him. "You too Belldandy!" Keiichi shouted.
Belldandy felt encouraged and smiled to him.
"Now…!" Rind said as she and Spear Mint returned to the battle. She flew to Hild, twirling her mighty axe above her head. She pointed it at Hild's neck.
Hild stepped back a bit and grew furious with the goddess.
Rind looked back to her comrades, "Peorth, Belldandy! I will handle the queen! You take care of the princess!"
"A-All right…" Belldandy agreed, looking over to her sister. She knew how strong her sister now was and still did not want to battle her.
Peorth comforted Belldandy by putting her hand on her shoulder, "I'll try not to hurt her."
Belldandy nodded with a smile, "Thank you Peorth."
"What are you two waiting for?! Let's do this." Urd said as she put her fists up. World of Elegance was right behind her.
"Skuld!" Peorth called.
"Y-Yes!" she replied.
"Can you and Noble Scarlet handle World of Elegance?" Peorth asked her.
Skuld and her angel looked to each other for a moment, then nodded, "Yes!"
"We're depending on you," Peorth said to her in a gentle tone.
"I-I'll do my best!" Skuld shouted determinedly, but still nervous.
"Be careful Skuld," Belldandy said.
"Let's go Belldandy," Peorth stated.
"Show me what you can do…" Urd grinned. Both Urd and World of Elegance pointed the palms of their hands at the two goddesses, firing enormous black flames.
Belldandy and Peorth quickly moved out the way.
Skuld and her angel flew behind World of Elegance. That's when Noble Scarlet shot a small blast of water at her, to draw World of Elegance's attention.
The devil hissed and snarled back.
"Come and get us!" Skuld yelled.
"Raarrgghh!!" the devil roared as she flew towards them.
"Yikes!!" Skuld screamed as she and Noble Scarlet flew away; the devil chasing them.
Hild teleported away from Rind very quickly, in order to get away from the sharp blade. She reappeared behind Rind and tried to blast her with an energy ball.
Rind dodged the attack by flying to the side. She took her chance and zoomed off towards the queen demon. She twirled her great axe into the air and then swiped down. Hild moved out of the way. Rind tried to side-swipe her, but the demon still dodged too rapidly. Rind was persistent and kept on trying. She tried to swipe her up, down, and from side to side. Even still, she could not get one blow in.
"Ha ha ha!" Hild laughed as they both stopped, "Is this all you've got? I expected more from the legendary goddess."
"I'll wipe that smug off of your face, demon!!" Rind yelled as she raced back into battle.
Peorth and Urd combated one another using martial arts skills. The two of them, high up in the air, kicked, punched, and dodged each other's blows. Peorth spun around and tried kicking Urd in the face, while Urd immediately ducked. Urd replied with an attempt at an uppercut, but Peorth moved back.
Urd was tired of using physical skills and decided to change the momentum. "Hah!" she shouted as she blew Peorth back with a blast of black flames.
"Ugh!" Peorth cried in pain as she was pushed back.
"Peorth!" Belldandy rushed over to her friend with Holy Bell right behind.
"Peorth, are you getting rusty? All that time in Yggdrassil and we seem to have lost our edge. Ha ha ha!!" Urd laughed.
"We have to detain her," Peorth said softly, "Then, we can try to reach her somehow."
"What do you plan to do?" Belldandy asked.
"Leave it up to Gorgeous Rose and myself," Peorth replied, "Then, it is up to you." Gorgeous Rose looked at her goddess and nodded in agreement.
Hild fired another blast of black magic to Rind.
Spear Mint stepped forward in front of her goddess to protect her by shooting another spear of ice at the oncoming magic attack. The attacks then collided, destroying one another.
"Thank you Spear Mint," Rind said.
"Hiding behind your angel? Is this what they call a Battle Goddess?" Hild mocked her.
"Spear Mint…Please assist me," Rind pleaded.
Her angel nodded.
The two of them raised their arms to the sky, preparing to chant an incantation. "Spirit of ice, who dwells within the most frosted of winters…" she began to speak. Icy winds began to form a large, round circle above Rind's body. Small ice shards, and icicles began to shape within it. "Befall to your servant now and pierce the coldest of hearts!" Rind continued.
Behind her, Spear Mint was creating another spear, preparing to fire it.
Rind finished the spell, "Arctic Blaze!!!"
When the final words were spoken, Spear Mint threw the large icicle into the magic Rind created. Once the spear went through, the ring of magical ice conjoined together with the spear to create dozens more. The immense, and vast icicles went hurling down towards Hild.
Hild managed to dodge most of them. Nonetheless, a couple did manage to breakthrough and hit her. "Agh!" she shouted as she was blown into a nearby brick wall, creating an enormous crater.
Rind and Spear Mint floated towards her with smirks upon their faces. "Feel the wrath of a goddess…" Rind spoke, with her arms crossed in front of her in a confident manner.
Peorth, with Gorgeous Rose behind her, hovered before the demon princess. The both of them stared down each other, waiting for the other to make the first move.
"Peorth, give it up!" Urd shouted with an arrogant smug across her face, "My power exceeds your own!"
"I suppose I'll have to prove your theory wrong then!" she replied, "Now, Gorgeous Rose."
The blonde-haired angel wrapped in rose vines floated over Peorth and drifted before her. She pointed the both of her arms towards Urd. Out of her palms, thousands and thousands of red rose petals flew outward, swarming Urd like a horde of locusts.
"Agh!! Ughh!!!" Urd screamed as she was covered by them and at the same time distracted.
Exactly what Peorth wanted. "Good job Gorgeous Rose," she smiled, "Now, we must contain her."
Gorgeous Rose nodded, affirming what her goddess said. She pointed her arms towards the streets below them. Her vines coiled around her arms and stretched down towards them. The green vines struck into the cement of the street and then plunged upward underneath Urd's position.
Urd finally fended off the mass of rose petals by blazing them with her flames. It was to be too late before she'd realized she wasn't out of danger yet. The vines lunged up from under her and enveloped her entire body, confining her.
"Urgh…!" Urd struggled to break free, "Get me out of this!"
"We'll try to hold her," Peorth said to Belldandy.
Belldandy nodded in agreement, knowing this might be her only chance to get through to her sister. She and Holy Bell flew across the air and over to the captive Urd.
The wind blew around, swerving their clothes and their hair. The only thing they could hear was the sounds of the gusts and the sounds of spells around them.
"Urd…" Belldandy began to speak softly.
"What do you want?! I swear to you when I get out of here…!" Urd snapped back.
Tears formed in Belldandy's eyes. She was deeply hurt by Urd's words. She looked across the face of her sister, seeing her crimson eyes and the new symbols upon her face. "U-Urd…" she said, "Even though…you may look different now…and you may be talking differently…I know that you're still the same Urd I've known ever since I can remember. When we were children…up until now."
Urd looked at her for a split second with the most sad face. It seemed it was affecting her. Nevertheless, her demon side was still overpowering her goddess side. "You think I care?! And, why are you saying this?! Can't you see that once I get free I'm going to kill you?!" Urd yelled back in the most condescending tone.
"I'm saying this…because it's true, Urd." she replied, "Urd is Urd. That will never change…"
At that moment, images flashed through Urd's mind. She began to see the same newborn child that her mother saw earlier. "Urgh…! Ugh…!! Ahh!!!" she screamed in frustration and confusion.
Hild stopped battling Rind for that second to see her daughter in trouble. "Urd, don't listen to them!!" she shouted.
"Yah!!" Rind shouted loudly as she tried to swipe Hild with her axe.
Hild moved out the way and then kicked Rind in the stomach. Spear Mint came at her, but she simply blew her away with a powerful black magic spell in the form of lightning.
"Spear Mint!" Rind cried.
Hild took the opening and blasted Rind in the chest with the same attack.
Rind was blown back, right next to her angel.
Hild flew up near her daughter, until Peorth flew in front of her to stop her. "Urd!" she called over Peorth, "Don't listen to her! She is a goddess! Don't you remember? They were the ones that lied to you and sealed that part of yourself away! Isn't that right?!"
Urd stopped her screaming, and began to return back her old demon self. She was silent as her eyes flared with evil. She had the most angry look on her face as she looked back up towards Belldandy. She no longer could see her as anything else but her enemy. "That's right…" she said, "They lied…They pushed you away…! They kept you away from me! And that is unforgivable!!!!" With those words, Urd's body emitted black flames and then combusted them onto the vines that enclosed her. Her power was so strong that everyone around her had to try and stand their ground from the intensity.
Skuld and Noble Scarlet, who had been battling World of Elegance, looked up to see the scene, along with devil. "Oh no…!" Skuld gasped, with her mechanical explosives in hand.
World of Elegance flew away from them and returned to her master.
"Hey, wait!" Skuld shouted.
Keiichi was on the sidelines, with Cool Mint behind him, watching what was going on. Both he and the angel had the most worried looks on their faces. "Urd, no…" he said softly.
"Urd, please stop!!" Belldandy pleaded.
World of Elegance connected back with Urd and began to do the same movements as her. The two of them raised their arms to the sky as dark and murky clouds began to form above them. The clouds pulsated with lightning.
"Yes! That's it Urd! Show them your power!" Hild smiled with pure delight in her eyes.
Rind and Spear Mint joined the rest of the group, along with Skuld and her angel.
Out of Urd's back, wings made of black flames materialized. They were no longer angel wings. They were devilish, bat-like wings.
"What's she doing?!" Skuld asked, frightened.
"She's going to use a demon spell!! A powerful one at that!!" Rind answered her. She was just as scared as Skuld was. She knew the goddesses were going to have to brace themselves.
Keiichi ran across the street and below the goddesses, along with Cool Mint. "Belldandy!" he cried.
She looked to him, "Keiichi! Get out of here!"
"Not without you!" he replied.
"Keiichi…" she said to herself softly. She realized he really did care about her. He was willing to stay here with her even in this catastrophic event.
"Spirit of torment, who resides in the souls of the devil!" Urd began to shout out, her voice echoing throughout the skies, "I, your servant, implore your malevolent essence! Power of hate, I call to you now! Become a pure manifestation of evil within my core! Use my body as your vessel!!"
"Prepare yourselves goddesses!! Ha ha ha!!!" Hild laughed evilly.
"Devil's Torture!!!!" Urd finished.
Bolts of black lightning struck forth from the clouds and hurled down towards Urd's body. They created a sphere of electricity around her body and, at first, slowly began to grow and intensify. Soon enough, and very quickly, it grew more rapidly exploding around Urd's body.
All of the goddesses covered their faces as the explosion occurred, their body hurling off in all directions, "Aggggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!"