"Get out of the way!" Moxxie shouted in what resembled a battle cry.
The rebels defending the tower recognized his voice. They laid a single eye on him and realized who he was. It made the job of clearing the base of the tower much easier. Soon enough the only demons that were in their way were the soldiers put in charge of defending it.
It became very clear that some of them would have to remain on the ground. Trying to cram thirteen people into those cramped walls was only going to make the journey more difficult.
"We can't all fit in there," Morningstar said, seemingly reading Moxxie's mind, "Some of us will have to stay on the ground floor."
"If you give me your gun I'll stay down here and shoot some bitches," Angel Dust said, "I'm too tall to fit through that damn door anyways."
Morningstar tossed her gun to the spider-demon as he gripped it with an unnatural amount of hands. Vagatha, Angel Dust, and a handful of other demons stayed behind while the rest of them followed behind to the tower.
Moxxie pushed through to the inside, shooting the soldiers that tried to stop them. Millie, Blitzo, Stolas, and Morningstar, along with the pair of news anchors, followed him and Octavia inside.
"You remember this place?" Octavia asked half-heartedly, "I sure as hell know I do."
"You mean the place that landed us in jail? No, don't remember it at all," Moxxie replied jokingly, "You'll have to jog my memory."
The bottom floor was suspiciously clear of soldiers, far different than it had been the first time. Everything was exactly as it had been left. The pipes and machines were in pristine condition. Which meant Alastor must have gone through and done some repairs. A faint aroma of familiarity hit him, bringing back the memories of their first time inside the tower.
He and Octavia knew what spots to avoid now. They had a basic roadmap of the towering beast in their heads. The first ten or so floors wouldn't be an issue. Trouble wouldn't hit them until they got to floor fifteen. That was where the first ambush of soldiers had hit them during the first attack.
"You guys really broke in here?" Blitzo asked, "How the fuck did you guys figure that out?"
"Dumb luck and a lot of guns," Octavia replied, "Mostly the guns."
Moxxie used some of his bullets to destroy the lower levels of the tower. A scorched Earth policy was not one he normally believed in, but he didn't want to leave Alastor with anything. If he was going to die in that tower, then he was going to mess it up as much as he could before Alastor caught up to them.
The others followed in his footsteps. Stolas used the debris in his hand to whack away at various pipes and magical tubes. Millie and Blitzo did the same. Octavia used fireballs to blow out windows and other pieces of the structure.
"It's just as threatening on the inside," Morningstar said, "How did you guys get to the top exactly? Aren't there like…over a hundred floors?"
She was right. And he didn't think he had time to explain that most of those floors had passed in a blur of blood. Following that, they had climbed a fucking shaft cord up to the final ten or so stories.
He silently hoped it wouldn't come to that again. He didn't think he had it in him to make that climb again. Blisters and charred skin coated his hands. Climbing anything like that would make the skin peel off. And he didn't imagine getting degloved was a very pleasant experience.
Cries and wails of defiance mixed with agony pierced the walls of the tower, growing fainter and fainter as the group ascended. The first ten floors only showed them a few soldiers, which he and Octavia took out with exceptional ease. Their corpses were then tossed out the window through the opened windows to their side.
"I didn't know you were so good with a gun," Stolas remarked as Octavia landed a headshot on a soldier who was foolishly going without their helmet, "You seem to have learned well…"
Moxxie nodded, "She's been a killing machine. And we're gonna need to keep that up a bit longer if we want to get to the top."
Morningstar carefully stepped over a pool of blood, "Normally I don't like killing people. But I think it's justified this time."
"No shit, princess!" Blitzo barked, "Of course it's justified! These bastards have killed more people than all of us combined times then! We should throw these murdering fucks into the pit!"
"I support that!" Millie chimed in.
Behind them, Tom and Katie had been documenting the ascent, sticking to the back of the group to get the best shots.
That was, until a soldier snuck behind them and took Katie by the throat.
"Hey-!" Kate choked, "GET HIM OFF ME!"
Tom didn't hesitate to prove his worth to the group. He ripped a broken pipe off of the wall and shoved it through the soldier's neck before they could react. Moxxie could faintly make out the sound of his own gurgling while the man began to drown in his own blood.
"Damn, gas-mask!" Blitzo remarked, "Nice one!"
Tom didn't react, only picking up his camera and waiting for his shocked co-anchor to follow them.
Floor fifteen was their first run-in with trouble. And Moxxie knew it when a bullet hit the tip of his helmet and clattered to the floor below.
Octavia responded before he could, filing the intruder with lead and taking the ammo cartridges out of his belt. She handed one of them to Moxxie, which he kept in his own pocket. He was going to need to reload soon.
A flashing light temporarily blinded them, the power in the tower seemingly on the fritz. Moxxie didn't know if it was a true malfunction or something that Alastor had set up to disorient them. The only illumination came from the increasingly bright green glow that was coming from outside.
It meant they were running out of time.
More soldiers came out of the woodwork in an attempt to thwart their ascent. And Moxxie wasn't having it.
Millie came to their aid as ten more soldiers rushed them from the top. Despite having the high ground, Moxxie and Millie had much better aim. The bodies fell to the floor and down the stairs. The gunshots made Moxxie's ears ring. They didn't sound nearly as loud when they were outside. Something about the acoustics of the tower amplified the volume of the gunfire.
They weren't out of the woods yet, though.
Ascending another set of stairs, Moxxie heard a faint beeping sound. It was almost indistinguishable amongst the screaming and commotion inside. But he recognized it. And he could tell that Octavia did as well.
He spotted the black circle on the staircase before anyone else did. It didn't take him long to figure out what he was looking at.
"IT'S A MINE!" Moxxie shouted, diving down the previous set of stairs and urgently trying to get the others to join him.
The beeping increased in frequency. His blood went cold as memories of Qaburn filled his head. The deafening explosions that had nearly killed him.
A blast of air threw him forward coupled with an ear-splitting bang. His vision filled with smoke as he tumbled blindly down a stairwell with Octavia slamming into his back on the way down.
The screams of the others in the room followed. Bits of debris rained down from above as the stairs above their heads gave out. Pieces of machinery gave out and one of them slammed into Moxxie's left foot.
"FUCK!" Blitzo shouted from behind, coughing on the smoke that was starting to fill the room.
A pair of soldiers seemed to have been caught off-guard by the blast fell through the hole in the floor and impaled themselves on a sharpened piece of pipe sticking out of the wall. Their final gurgled cries died out as a falling cinder block crushed their heads. Moxxie shielded his face as blood covered the walls around them.
Millie crashed to the ground next to him. He breathed a sigh of relief to see that she was alive and still moving.
It only took a few minutes for the smoke to clear. Despite the pain in his left foot, he had emerged from the collapse unscathed. A burning sensation in his eyes temporarily blinded him as his tear ducts tried to desperately clear the debris from his vision.
"Thanks for the warning," Octavia mumbled, "A bit faster than last time, anyways."
"Yeah," Moxxie coughed, weakly rising back to his feet, "Is everyone alive?"
One by one, the others in the room raised their hands. Nobody appeared to be missing, aside from the staircase. Smoldering bits of building material and charred paint replaced the staircase that they had just been on top of. One more second on those steps and they would be a bloodied stain on the wall.
"That's gonna be a problem…" Millie remarked, mirroring what everyone else was thinking, "Any ideas?"
Moxxie walked up to the base of the shattered staircase. There was nothing left. The gap was at least ten feet high, far taller than either him or Millie. The only one that would have a shot at climbing the gap was Stolas.
Stolas seemed to know that. Seeing Moxxie's struggle to climb the gap, he pushed the imp out of the way and hoisted himself up over the staircase.
"You sure that's gonna hold?" Blitzo asked, "Don't want your feathery ass falling down there. I'm not fishing you out."
The prince only laughed in response. He was up and over the charred staircase before anyone else had a chance to offer a rebuttal. Aside from a few chips of paint crashing to the ground, the structure held.
A portion of the wall to Moxxie's right had been blown out in the blast. He had a chance to look out at the dizzying fall that awaited them if they slipped up. The entire prison was visible from their vantage point.
His awe in the view was interrupted by a harrowing thought.
Alastor had almost certainly seen the explosion. They had given themselves away by triggering the bomb. He knew just how high they were in the tower now. The mine had been put there not to kill them, but to give away their location.
Meanwhile, he caught Octavia staring nervously at the green glow coming outside which was only getting stronger. Alastor was looking at them. Some sort of dark magic was being conjured at his hands. There was a manic look in his eyes.
He was going in for the kill.
Stolas pulled Moxxie up the staircase first. Then Octavia. Everyone else came up in a collective lump.
"Guns out," Blitzo said, "There's gonna be more fuckers up here."
"Locked and loaded," Moxxie replied, never having set his gun down, "We're getting up there if it's the last thing we do."
Once they restarted their ascent, the lights began to flicker yet again. Something at the bottom of the tower began to shake. Even though he was at the lead of their journey, he couldn't help but feel apprehensive as they climbed. If there was another mine, or if something else went wrong, he would bear the brunt of it. His gun wouldn't do much against an explosive. He had learned that lesson in Qaburn.
"You think he fixed the elevator?" Octavia asked.
She had a point. The elevator shaft had been all but destroyed during their first expedition. Moxxie didn't have great faith in the cable's ability to hold their weight. Plus, Moxxie didn't have the strength to climb again.
"I hope so," Moxxie replied, "Because I ain't climbing that again. I'll take my chances with Alastor."
"I'd be careful saying that," Morningstar replied, "He might like that."
The next ten floors were uneventful. Some of the soldiers in there seemed to have already been killed. The wounds seemed to be self-inflicted. Their weapons were clenched tightly in their cold hands. Cowards had gone for the easy way out. Either they had come to their senses and realized Alastor was going to screw them over anyways, or they were afraid of the consequences of failing their mission. They had gotten an easier end than all of the demons in the pit. Them getting the easy way out after all of their despicable actions made him sick.
Millie spat at the bodies as they passed. If Moxxie had any saliva left in his mouth, he would have done the same. Octavia kicked one of the corpses on the way out as well. For such a skinny bird, she had one hell of a kick. The soldier's jaw instantly disconnected on impact. Minus some blood on her shoe, Octavia seemed unphased by it. Quite the change from the princess he had known at the start of their journey.
Now they had to pray for the journey to end.
Chance after chance had been given to them, and Moxxie didn't plan of fucking it up again. He had been the one to get them into the mess. He was hellbent on getting them out of it as well.
The two dim-witted anchors behind him bore some of the responsibility as well. What were they thinking, asking him such blunt questions about the man that had made hell borderline uninhabitable? Questioning a totalitarian regime on public television was a fool's errand. Tom and Katie were lucky Alastor hadn't killed them on the spot.
Moxxie shot a glance at the gas-masked moron behind him with the camera. He would have blown up at him on any other day. But they needed as much help as they could get. And if Tom could keep killing soldiers like he had been, Moxxie was okay keeping him around.
"Maybe you could put that fucking camera down and pick up a gun?" Octavia said to the anchors, "I know you journalists like your stories, but for fuck's sake."
"When your paycheck depends on videos like this, then we'll talk, sweetie," Katie replied with a patronizing tone, "So until then just shut your fucking mouth and be thaknful we're helping you."
The owl responded with a middle finger in the air. She recognized the necessity of having them around too. Their anger could be dealt with after they took care of the batshit-crazy dictator that was planning their demise.
"Well fuck you too, princess," Katie snapped, "Spoiled brat."
Stolas looked like he was about to blow a gasket, but Millie calmed him down. It was odd, how a woman that was on their side so eerily mirrored Alastor's words. Octavia was far from spoiled if Moxxie's impression of her had been correct. Katie was one to talk, using the crisis as a simple opportunity to get a shot. He understood why they had to do it, but he still found it in poor taste. Like taking a selfie in front of a burning building for clout.
Ten more floors, still no more living soldiers. Only their bloodied remains. Moxxie would have felt sorry for them if they were anybody else. He wasn't a man who treated death lightly. And yet he felt the slightest bit of joy at seeing the crimson bastards lying in a pool of their own blood. It felt as if it delivered justice, at least on a microscopic scale.
By the time they hit the halfway point, Moxxie was beginning to grow suspicious. No soldiers, no mines, nothing to surprise them. Their steps became increasingly cautious the higher up they moved.
"I feel like we should've seen something by now…" Moxxie said, "That's not crazy, right?"
"No, it's not," Octavia replied, "Last time we were hiding around the corridor by this floor. It's where we were ambushed."
Sure enough, there was a dent in the metal of a nearby pillar. Moxxie recognized it immediately. It was where they had ducked for cover from a two-sided ambush during their first expedition into the tower. Their guns had barely been enough to keep the soldiers at bay.
"Yeah. I wanna kill some bitches!" Millie said, her trigger finger clearly itchy. The attitude mirrored her actions during their kills on Earth. She was always eager to get her hands on a weapon and to take out their targets.
"Careful what you wish for," Morningstar replied, "I don't want to deal with that right now."
"None of us fucking do," Blitzo said, "It has to be some sort of trick."
Octavia pointed to the screaming, magical monstrosity outside that was Alastor, "I don't think it's a trick. I think he's just stalling. That doesn't look normal to me."
Alastor seemed to be growing. He was at least twice the height he was when they had left the prison. He was laughing maniacally as green beams and glowing lights began to envelop his body. There was a grand attack in the works. A final move to make sure that none of them left that tower alive.
They weren't going to let that happen.
Fatigue was slowly setting in as Moxxie climbed higher and higher. His body had already been through enough strain. The climbing was only making that strain worse. If he ever saw the comforts of home again, the first thing on the agenda was a hot bath.
"Feelin' the burn?" Millie asked as she noticed Moxxie's heavy breathing.
"Sorta…" Moxxie replied with an exhale, "I'll be okay. I'll survive."
Those last words escaped his mouth with uncertainty, and everybody in the room could hear it. Moxxie forgot for a moment that he and Octavia were supposed to be the beacons of hope. The two that proved it was possible to defy Alastor and live to tell the tale. In spite of their brushes with death, the two of them were still standing and breathing.
Whether they would stay that way remained to be seen.
-o
-o
"Keep an eye on him," Moxxie said, pointing to Alastor, "We need to get to the top before he's ready."
"How much longer?" Millie asked.
Given that they had only just passed the halfway point, Moxxie figured there was still a long way to go. Moxxie didn't want to tell them that. It would shatter their morale. Plus, they still didn't know if it was possible to even reach the top. For all they knew Alastor had blown up the upper stories in anticipation of another attack. He tended to learn from his mistakes.
"Just a few more floors," Octavia chimed in, "Once you see the orb, you'll recognize it."
"I hope so," Morningstar said, "We need those powers if we stand any chance against him. As great as yours are, Octavia, we're gonna need more. And I think you know that."
"Of course I know that. You're the only one that has any chance of standing your ground in a fight against him. It's why Edrich recruited you."
A sudden explosion from deep below the tower rustled the foundation again. Moxxie gripped a nearby railing to wait for it to settle. Last thing they needed was to fall down the stairs after coming all that way.
"I'm going to pretend that didn't just happen," Blitzo said as he regained his footing, "Up we go."
Moxxie snatched a few more ammo cartridges from the fallen soldiers. He passed them along to the rest of the group as they were needed. They had more than enough bullets now to take on whatever soldiers Alastor sent their way.
That was, if there were any still alive.
His question was answered with the sound of booming footsteps coming from the floor above them. They started up suddenly. Almost like the sound of a charging bull. Light fixtures shook and windows rattled as other footsteps joined in the chorus.
He heard his wife loading her gun before taking aim at the staircase. Blitzo and Octavia did the same. Moxxie stood farther back to act as support. He had always had an affinity for sniping. It seemed more sophisticated and dignified than a point-blank kill. And professional assassins had standards.
The rest of the group stood behind Moxxie, unarmed and waiting for the storm to clear. Morningstar was at the back of the group. Their ability to wipe out the next wave also held Morningstar's life in the balance. With no powers to help her, only a couple of their bullets would be enough to do her in.
"Keep Morningstar covered!" Moxxie ordered, "We can't have anything happening to her."
Angel Dust took a defensive position in front of her. Moxxie centered his crosshairs on the staircase and prepared to fire. He held his breath to keep his aim steady. The butt of the gun was placed against his cheek. Closing his left eye allowed for his dominant right-eye to take over. The scope was remarkably clear. It was to be expected. After all, he was using overlord-class weapons. Anything short of perfection would fall short of their standards. If there was only one thing he respected about Alastor, it was the attention he paid to his weapons.
Just then he spotted a foot rushing down the top of the staircase. He didn't hesitate in pulling the trigger, the deafening sound of a gunshot in the enclosed space kickstarting the ringing in his ears once again.
More bullets rang out as the soldiers struggled to get past the first step. Blood began to run down the steps like a waterfall. With each bullet came another dead soldier. Blitzo and Millie were dealing the most kills. Moxxie and Octavia were in second place. Meanwhile Morningstar, Angel, and the two anchors were forced to only watch. Tom and Katie were still recording. He found himself grateful that there would soon be visual records of their heist. It was a change of tone that would last for as long as they had the upper hand.
"EAT LEAD!" Blitzo shouted, barely audible through the gunshots and tinnitus.
Millie shouted something as well. Moxxie was unable to hear it as the Guard began to fire back. Despite having a vantage point on top, they were falling down like dominos. He had no idea how the "most terrifying army in the world" was being blown to bits by a bunch of imps and a Goetia.
A stray bullet from the Guard took out a light fixture to Moxxie's right. Morningstar flinched as the gas released a strong odor in the room while it mixed with the gunpowder. Nothing that Moxxie hadn't dealt with before.
"Back up!" Moxxie shouted to the princess and her makeshift security team, "This is gonna get messy!"
As it became clear that the Guard was being pushed back, Moxxie leapt forward. Point-blank was going to become their only option. He didn't mind it. He just hated that he was going to get blood on his face.
From the looks of it he wasn't alone. Millie and Octavia were drenched from head-to-toe. Blitzo was outright rubbing it on his face like it was some kind of moisturizer. Moxxie preferred to keep clean during his kills. But with the hour of judgment upon them, some personal sacrifices would be necessary.
Moxxie blew a soldier's head off through the side of their helmet's opening. Moxxie watched as the corpse fell down the stairs. Angel had taken it upon himself to hurl the bodies out of the open window. With them being well over forty stories up in the air by that point, anyone who had survived their gunshot wounds would be killed by the fall to the ground. Some of them seemed to be landing in the Pit of Fire. Served them right. They deserved to have a taste of the suffering they had inflicted on the others.
"I'm starting to see why you guys like this!" Octavia shouted, "There's a bit of a…rush…isn't there?"
"That's the spirit!" Blitzo hollered, "You're taking this like a pro!"
Another set of three soldiers were blown into next week by their bullets. Octavia had stopped using her powers since they ascended. It made sense. The last thing Moxxie wanted was for something in there to catch fire and add to their list of problems.
"That's my Via," Stolas cheered, "Just…be careful with that gun please. I don't want you shooting your eyes out!"
"I'm fine, dad!" Octavia shouted back as she blew one of the soldiers into next week.
Moxxie chucked at the remark, a brief distraction from the severity of their predicament. The wave of soldiers was dead within a couple of minutes. Once he and Octavia inspected the staircase for mines or explosives, they ushered the others to the top.
This time, Blitzo and Millie were placed at the back of the pack. He didn't like the idea of being separated from Millie, but someone needed to keep an eye out on their backside. A surprise ambush wouldn't be ideal. It also wouldn't be unexpected.
"Keep an eye out back there," Octavia hollered, "Alastor might have someone coming from behind."
"Don't worry, princess!" Millie responded, "They won't get to us as long as I have bullets."
Ten more floors. They were nearing the sixtieth floor within minutes. Moxxie's legs were growing heavier and heavier. The shaking of the tower only motivated them to move faster. Alastor was planning an attack on them. He could hear the screaming and laughter form outside. Their location had been given away. And for Alastor to wait so long meant he was planning something. Something big.
Something to give his twisted show the grand finale that he wanted.
Moxxie didn't doubt that there were cameras showing them their every move.
And yet, that didn't phase him. Because Moxxie had something to fight for. Alastor wasn't going to win unless it was over his dead body.
Whether that would come to pass remained to be seen.
While Moxxie and his comrades were climbing higher, Loona's morale and fighting spirit was getting lower.
Maya had been handed off to a section of the mob towards the back of the offensive. The poor bird wouldn't survive a second in the battlefield. Loona hated to leave Maya out of her sight. But the alternative was to watch her die.
Loona had joined Cherri and Husk by the base of the tower. There were enough members of the mob charging the inside of the prison. Moxxie and the others needed all of the support that they could get.
Along with their own trio, others from Moxxie's group had stayed behind to fight. Vagatha and a smaller demon that had introduced herself as "Nifty" had joined them. Loona didn't know how useful they would be in the fight. Neither of them had weapons.
Or, at least not yet.
Loona ducked down and tossed the two of them a pair of guns dropped by some dead soldiers. They picked them up and quickly got the hang of them.
"Nifty? Didn't know you were still kicking," Husk remarked, "I've been trying to drink away the memory of you for a long time. Nice to see you're still alive."
"I look forward to washing away the blood of the unjust," Nifty replied with a menacing tone, "Their souls WILL GET NO REST."
The woman's tone unnerved both of them. But that wasn't the issue.
The main issue was taking care of the soldiers that were trying to get inside of the tower. Loona knew that Moxxie was resourceful. With that being said, even the most clever of men could be caught by surprise.
Holding their ground was becoming harder and harder. Loona knew her way around a gun. But her forces were being overrun. Most of them had been focused on the prison. Loona had been under the assumption that Moxxie and the others would still be inside.
Cherri had tried to redirect some of their forces, but it had been of no use. The Guard was swarming them. The prison would be overrun within the hour. With Alastor gaining power and seemingly preparing for an assault of his own, every second counted. Loona was going to have to make due with what she had.
Wave after wave tried to force their way inside. An explosion near the midsection of the tower took some of the soldiers out with falling debris. Loona took it as a chance to catch her breath.
"We've got some coming from the right!" Loona shouted, "Cherri, get out one of those grenades!"
"On it," the woman shouted, hurling an explosive into the crowd of soldiers, "They won't know what hit them!"
Vagatha took up a gun of her own. She seemed to already know her way around her weapon. She bought them more time to plan as the front sections of the waves were wiped down. Loona knew that they couldn't survive on that alone.
She had to think fast. Moxxie and the others were counting on her to secure the base.
"These guys keep coming!" Husk shouted, "How many fucking soliders does this guy have?!"
"More than we can handle!" Loona shot back, "We're gonna have to do something else. Because this shit isn't working!"
She eyed the open door leading to the inside of the tower. It was going to be a risky maneuver. But it was either that or they would get overrun and leave the others open for an ambush.
"Go to the tower!" she called out, "Last one inside lock the door. If we hole up in there it'll buy us some time!"
"What the fuck kind of plan is that?!" Cherri said, "You wanna just give up?"
"It's not giving up. It's picking our battles! Now come on!"
Loona ran to the door and led the rest of their group inside. Husk was the last one to pass through. Bullets began to rain down on them before Loona was able to close the door. Windows shattered, metal dented, and smoke filled the air.
A final glance at the wave of incoming soldiers told her everything she needed to know. They had made the right decision. Ten more seconds on the outside and they would have been dead.
"Black the door!" Vagatha hollered as she placed a pile of broken pipes on the inside of the door.
Loona saw what she was doing and leapt into action herself. She took a piece of broken tile and began blocking off the windows. Bullets were already flying through the shattered glass by the time she covered the first one.
Husk and Nifty helped her as well. They used the debris from ruined machines scattered around the room to form a temporary barricade. It wasn't going to hold up for very long. But by that point all they were doing was trying to buy themselves time. The longer they could keep the tower secured, the more time Moxxie and the others had to do whatever the hell they were doing.
An explosion from outside threatened the integrity of the barricade. Loona was knocked to the ground by the force of the blast. The lights flickered and more of the loose pieces of machinery came crashing to the ground. She knew they were in trouble.
Moxxie, you'd better hurry up…
Because we can't hold them off anymore.
-o
-o
Alastor no longer cared that his prison was going up in flames.
In fact, his mind was only focused on one objective.
That objective?
Putting Moxxie and his gang of plebeians in their place.
The prison could be rebuilt. His magic could easily reconstruct such a complex building. He had done it once, and he would gladly do it again. The soldiers would dispel the charging mob soon enough. The gunshots echoed through the air as each body fell to the floor.
Vox and Valentino took up arms of their own and were sniping from the roof. Alastor had his own plans in mind.
The power of an overlord had yet to be seen in its entirety. Alastor had never before been forced to use the true extent of his magic. Constructing the prison and assassinating Lucifer hadn't even touched the halfway point. The people of hell weren't supposed to see what he could truly do. If he hid his true capabilities, there was no chance for any demons to overthrow him and plan.
He knew why they were rushing to the top of the tower. Everyone knew why they were doing it.
Their goal was the orb. The orb where Morningstar's powers were. It was the first time that Alastor had faced a true threat to his power. Morningstar had the powers inherited from a fallen angel. Those were ten times more powerful than anything a mortal could acquire.
Which meant he had to go all-out.
He could rebuild. Soldiers could be replaced. Power structures could be revamped. But if he lost his seat on the throne, it was all over. The people of hell had been forced to accept his authority and supremacy. Nobody would show him up like this. The kingdom that he had spent years perfecting was on the precipice of change.
And if there was one thing Alastor hated, it was change.
It would take him time to prepare his final strike. He had to wait for them to get towards the top of the tower.
After that?
One swipe of his hand would be enough to wipe the building off of its foundation. He didn't care about the damages by that point. As long as he was on the throne, it could all be rebuilt and revamped.
But if they somehow breached the top, it was all over.
An explosion went off around the tower's midsection. Alastor had planned it all. He knew now where they were. And he knew exactly how long he had to wait until he sent that tower falling to the ground. One-hundred and ten stories of tower being brought crashing to the ground in a fiery inferno. The rebels and their cause would be reduced to nothing but a pile of bloodied ashes.
They had walked right into his trap. The first mistake they had made was believing they stood a chance. He was an experienced man. He knew the only way to come out on top was to prepare for every scenario. Staying one step ahead of his adversaries was what Alastor did best. Methodical planning had gotten him this far.
Hubris had gotten the best of them. The rebels wouldn't make it to sunset.
Vox and Valentino saw the crowd making it towards the top floor of the prison. Alastor no longer cared. The mob could have them for all he cared. Their use had run out. He had no reason to keep them around anymore. The fact that they had lived long enough to work for him was a miracle. Letting them die was going to restructure the power in his favor.
"Sir! What do you want us to do?!" Vox asked, "They're coming for us!"
The fear on Vox's televised face was amusing to him.
"Nothing. You've served your time. Consider this your repayment. Repayment for the terrible jobs you have done. You belong to the mob now. They can have you," Alastor spat, "You are no longer of use to me."
Just then, a portion of the roof gave out. Vox and Valentino fell through the cracks. He watched as the two of them clung desperately to the edges of the hole. Gunshots rang out and scraped against their legs. The expressions of pain on their faces gave him great joy. Served them right for doing such a terrible job.
"Taa taa!" Alastor waved.
Vox and Valentino fell into the crowd below. Alastor grinned as their cries grew weaker and weaker with each gunshot. They had overlord blood in them. They could survive quite the beating. But with so many demons fighting against them, they stood no chance.
While his associates were being murdered, Alastor lifted himself into the air. The mob members fired at him from the ground. As if bullets could do anything to him. He laughed as each hit dissolved in the air before him. Nothing was going to get in the way of him one-upping the plebeians who had dared to attack him. They had thrown him a curveball. Something that had thrown his plan of an execution to the wayside.
It wasn't being hurled into the Pit of Fire, but they would still die if he had his way.
Another explosion rang up from the tower. It was the mine he had placed on floor eighty-five. They were getting closer to the top. The time to strike was now.
Letting out a battle cry, Alastor unleashed the full extent of his demonic powers.
He grew taller and taller as the magic did his work. The simple bullet shield around him turned into a ring of fire. The demons that dared to breach the roof of the prison were instantly incinerated. A deep rumbling started beneath his feet. Alastor had done what he had never done before.
Hundreds of charred corpses began to fall from the top of the prison. The ring of fire extended to the ground as well. The outside of the tower was soon neutralized as he sent out a searing blast of heat.
The roof of his precious prison soon went up in flames. The entire building was nothing more than a tinderbox. Whatever demons or soldiers were still alive on the inside were being burned alive. A chorus of screams rang out as the demons tried to escape. He watched some of the burning victims leap from the top levels and crash to the floor. If any of them survived the initial blast, the impact from the fall was going to kill them first.
Soon enough he was rising through the air towards the top of the tower. He was finally swooping in to collect his debts and teach those bratty demons a lesson. Anyone who thought they could defy him like that without consequences was a fool.
A sadistic cackle escaped his mouth. The time of reckoning was finally here. And nothing was going to get in his way this time. The tower would be nothing but a pile of ashes in a few minutes. All he needed to do was wait. Wait for the perfect second to strike and administer justice to a lawless bunch of vigilantes.
"Poor fools," Alastor chuckled to himself as he wiped out another wave of rebels on the ground, "They don't know what they've gotten themselves into. And you, the people of hell, are going to get a front-row seat!"
He rose slowly at first. Ten floors passed within a couple of minutes. He glanced through the occasional hole in the structure. Dead soldiers. Seemed like suicide. He felt no pity for their lives. They were cowards who had taken the easy way out instead of fighting to the death like he had ordered them too. Because of them he would have to destroy the tower to keep hell from falling into the hands of anarchy.
"Cowards!" Alastor spat, "You're not worth the blood on your clothes." He turned to the broadcast, "Take this as a lesson, citizens. Don't defy me. Because I always get what I want. It simply depends on how easy you want it to be. You rebels have chosen the hard way."
More and more floors passed in the blink of an eye. Before long, he was scraping the eighties.
The time had come.
The rebels would finally be no more.
And Alastor intended on making it as entertaining as possible.