Through the black vortex created by the Eye of the Truth, Albel and others were able to transport straight to the entrance of the Time and Space Lab. Before the party could gather themselves to check out the surroundings, they were quickly taken notice of by about half dozen of Demon guards who were guarding the entrance point.
"W… WHAT? MORTALS?" One of the demon guards yelled, totally taken by surprise. "H… how the hell did they get in here without our confirmation?"
"H… how! DISPOSE OF THESE INTRUDERS AT ONCE!" Another demon guard yelled, signaling others to rush towards the party. "And activate the security alarm!"
"S… stop, my fellow brothers!" Jeiuce quickly rushed forward to plead to his fellow demons. "Listen well to my words! Asmodeus is a puppet, being manipulated by another being who claims to be god… a man who is only using all of us for his own purpose! We must not fight each other, or fight the mortals… what we really need to do is to join together and overthrow those tyrants!"
"E… eh? Jeiuce? You're… with these mortals?" One of the demon guards asked, confused. "What nonsense are you speaking? How dare you speak ill of Lord Asmodeus?"
"And why should we listen to YOUR words?" Another demon guards sneered, getting ready to attack. "You have just lost all credibility and respect by joining up with those lowly beings! You have defiled our demon race by doing so!"
"You do not understand, it's the only way we can defeat - " Before Jeiuce could finish his sentence, one of the guards charged at him, getting ready to slash at him with his sword.
"CRESCENT MOON FLASH!" Albel yelled as he quickly swung his Crimson Scourge forward in a wide arc to send a crescent moon-shaped energy wave towards the rushing demon. The energy wave vertically sliced the demon in half, a split second before he could hit stunned Jeiuce with his attack.
"Forget it, your people will not listen to us. They will not be convinced." Albel told Jeiuce, stepping up to battle rest of the demon guards that were surrounding them. "Which means that we're just going to have to force our way in."
"But… Alright. Very well." Jeiuce initially hesitated, and then reluctantly agreed. "I suppose we have no other choice."
"KILL THE TRAITOR, AND THE REST OF THE MORTAL INTRUDERS!" One of the other five guards yelled, signaling everyone to attack the group. The guards jumped high in the air towards Albel and Jeiuce, preparing to strike down on them with their sword.
"TWIN SLASH!" Raditz yelled as he quickly jumped up to dispatch one of the guards before he could strike downwards. "This is foolish! You're not the ones we want to fight!"
"BLACK SABRE!" Jeiuce executed his spell to send a deadly dark energy disc towards two other demons who happened to be lined up. The energy disc easily sliced through the two demons, cutting them in half from the torso. "Rest in peace… please do not think ill of us…"
"HWAH!" Roger grunted as he tossed one of his chained Axes swiftly towards another demon. The Axe decapitated his head before he could react, as it dropped down and rolled along the floor.
"DIVINE… WRATH!" Tynave rushed toward the last demon to execute the maneuver taught to her by Nel. With a flash, Tynave proceeded to deliver a series of bone-crushing punches and kicks to the demon at a blurring speed. Before the demon could realize what had just hit him, Tynave thrusted her claw upwards to hit him with a jumping uppercut, finishing him off.
"That's all the ones here. Let's get out of here before more of them come after us." Albel said while unsheathing his sword, determined to continue forward without a moment's hesitation. "Alright, where do we go from here?"
"I know the way around a little, from my escape from the lab." Maria said, pointing towards the door ahead of her. "Past that door, we'll find a room with stairs leading up to the next floor. The containment lab is located on floor 5, but I do not know much more than that..."
"This lab has 10 floors in total, and like the woman said, the main containment lab for subjects is located on floor 5. You'll most likely find your captured comrades in there." Jeiuce explained. "We should be able to find Asmodeus at the top floor, where the main research facility is located. The security alarm disables all elevators, so we have no choice but to take the stairs."
Suddenly, at that moment, an evil voice from above interrupted them.
"Hahahaha… you fools do not need to make your way all the way up top to find me…" The voice sneered, as a demon materialized out of thin air above them. "As the owner of this facility, I think it is only proper that I greet you visitors at the entrance, instead. The entrance to your eternal damnation!"
"That voice…" Jeiuce said, as he slowly raised his head to look up. "So he's come for us…"
Everybody looked up, to see a menacing red-coloured demon descending down from above. The demon had the curved horns on both side of his head, with a long, arrow headed tail trailing from behind him. It looked just like a generic devil that one might expect from those old Earth demon stories.
"I have lost all contact with both Romero and Saphiro…" The demon said, as he descended down to the floor. "I am assuming that it was all your doing, if you were able to come all the way here. I must admit that's a quite an impressive feat."
"W… who is this guy?" Roger asked, pulling out his axes to get ready for the battle. "Another one of those top-rank demon henchmen?"
"No. You are standing before the ancient King of this dimension." Jeiuce explained, as he stepped forward. "This is Asmodeus. The one that is responsible for manipulating our entire world into starting this war."
"So THIS is the Demon King Asmodeus? The same one from 700 years ago?" Raditz asked, sensing a powerful, evil aura like no other emitting from him. "So I guess history is about to come full circle…"
"Hmph. So I guess the rumours about you were true, Jeiuce. You indeed ARE a traitor." Asmodeus sneered, as he slowly walked towards the party. "By betraying us, you have defiled the name of our great, honourable demon kind. And what's worse… you have even decided to cooperate with these mortals! This is all truly despicable, Jeiuce… Do not think for a second that such treachery will go unpunished."
"You're the one who have defiled the name of our great demon kind, Asmodeus!" Jeiuce retorted, fuming with anger. "Abusing your title and power to mislead us into this foolish war… and also by shamelessly serving someone of another being… you're truly nothing but a puppet!"
"Could you not speak any more foolishly? Do you even know of who we are serving?" Asmodeus asked. "He is the god of this world… the creator of all. His orders are absolute. He has promised us a new world where us demons will rightfully reign supreme, and all mortals were to be exterminated in the process."
"You've gone mad, Asmodeus. You actually believe that he is our god? You believe such nonsense?" Jeiuce yelled back angrily. "That is ridiculous… he is no less a mortal than the ones you see here. His goals are not realistic, nor logical… can't you see that he is using you for his own benefits?"
"I am the living proof that he is indeed our god. As you can see, his greatness has granted me with second life, godlike powers, and have made other impossible things possible." Asmodeus explained. "Furthermore, there is absolutely nothing wrong with his decision in annihilating such despicable kind from this world… it is 700 years overdue, and now, we will finally be able to achieve that goal."
"Whatever this imposter may claim, we are the ones who defeated the REAL creator of this world two years ago." Maria said. "And it was back then we learned that all beings are strong enough to freely live on their own and make their own decisions, as they please. No one, even the creator, have the right to make the decision on whether we should live or die!"
"What blasphemy… So… you indeed ARE the ones who have committed the unforgivable sin…" Asmodeus said, as he slowly stepped up. "First, your kind entered our world to ambush me 700 years ago, and now, you even defy the will of your creators, your own gods… you're all of the same despicable race which commits such acts of ruthless aggression, and that is exactly why your kind need to be eliminated! Such crimes cannot go unpunished…"
"… It's true that it was our people who ambushed you to retrieve the virus from your body, but there are bad people among any race…" Raditz said with a serious face, as he stepped up to speak to Asmodeus face to face. "And our ancestors had made sure those criminals from Fargett paid for their crimes back then. Besides, it still doesn't justify how you still invaded our world many years before that, and how you tried to destroy our entire world and kind! YOU were the ruthless aggressors, not us!"
"Wait a minute… you're…" Asmodeus suddenly froze, staring closely and carefully at Raditz. "You're… YOU'RE THE ONE WHO… KILLED ME 700 years ago!"
"No, I'm not. I couldn't ever measure up to the great Ratix Farrence, the one that had slayed you 700 years ago…" Raditz said, first looking down on the floor in thought, then looking sharply back up right into Asmodeus' face. "But I, Raditz Farrence, his descendent, will do whatever it takes here and now to stop you once again! And this time, we shall purge you from this world for good!"
"Yeah! It was you people who nearly wiped out our Featherfolk kind from Roak 700 years ago!" Reen yelled as she stepped up beside Raditz, more determined than ever. "I won't let such genocide… such tragedy, happen to our world ever again!"
"I see… so you're the descendents of those from 700 years ago…." Asmodeus commented with a sly smile. "Perfect. By killing you all, not only will our wish of great Demon world come true… I'd also be taking my revenge! HAHAHAHA!"
"Heh, a fool who is driven by revenge and selfish goals…" Albel said with a grin, realizing that he was once guilty of that, as well. He had finally realized how foolish he was back then, and how much his purpose had changed now. Albel took one quick glance at Clair, and then stepped up and unsheathed his katana to fight. "That is exactly what's going to be your downfall… I now know that there is no way we will lose to the likes of you. So cut your crap, and bring it, maggot!"
"Hahaha… I've also had enough listening to your nonsense." Asmodeus said, as the aura around his body grew bigger and more powerful. "Well then, I suppose I should prepare my final offering to the god in light of our new Great Demon World. AND YOU SHALL BE THAT VERY OFFERING OF WHICH I SPEAK! DIE!" Right at that moment, Asmodeus quickly thrusted his palm forward, to shoot out a massive blast of energy.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Albel yelled as everyone quickly jumped out of the way to avoid the large energy blast. As the blast rocked the floor of the Time and Space Lab with massive impact, Albel quickly rushed forward to shoot out his palm right in front of Asmodeus. Albel yelled "PALM OF DESTRUCTION!" as his energy attack blasted Asmodeus and sent him flying backwards. Before he could hit the wall, Lancar rushed at him to execute a long string of powerful spin kicks to juggle him high in the air. Before Asmodeus could even have a moment to gather himself, Clair ended the combination attack by jumping up and grabbing Asmodeus to drive him back down to the ground while yelling "SPICULE!" Clair drove Asmodeus' body right into the ground while being surrounded by fire, creating a spectacular explosion upon impact. Clair jumped right back into her ready stance, as Asmodeus laid down in the rubble, motionless.
"Did we get him?" Lancar asked, as he walked up to the pile of debris that Asmodeus was in. "We hit him with all we got there…"
"We have surely dealt great damage to him…" Clair said, as she remained in her ready stance to wait for Asmodeus to get up. "If he is able to get up, then one more string of attacks from us should be able to finish him off for good. Everyone, be ready."
"Man, that was EASY!" Roger yelled in triumph, as he pumped his fist to celebrate. "Heh, and THIS was the head honcho? What a joke…he was so weak that you guys didn't even need my help this time!"
"Incompetent mortals… you don't even know the kind of power we are up against." Jeiuce said, as he raised his voice to yell to Asmodeus. "Stop fooling around, Asmodeus… get up and fight us for real."
"Heh, not bad, Jeiuce. You were smart enough to not fall for it unlike rest of these mortals…" Asmodeus said to shock of everyone, as he simply jumped back up from the rubble, unharmed. "You're a demon, after all."
"S… shit…" Raditz stood in the spot, frozen with fear. "That didn't do anything to him, at ALL!"
"Beh…" Albel grunted, as grasped his katana even more tightly. "This will be tough…"
"Show us your real power, Asmodeus. There is no reason for you to waste time." Jeiuce yelled out, as he stepped up to fight him. "Show us your real form."
"Heh, I was looking to have some fun first…" Asmodeus sneered, as he dusted himself off. "But I guess you all can't wait for your deaths. Very well then… I SHALL SHOW YOU MY TRUE POWER!"
As soon as he finished his sentence, Asmodeus began gathering tremendous amount of energy around his body as he slowly grew bigger in size. The ground started rumbling violently, as his horns, muscles, and fingernails all grew much bigger. A huge evil eye suddenly appeared in his midsection, as an Omega sign also appeared on his forehead. After it was all set and done, all the fighters stood back in fear, not knowing of what kind of power to expect from this intimidating 10-feet tall demon.
"This… might not have been… such a good idea… Jeiuce…" Reen trembled, stepping back in fear of this new, powered-up Asmodeus. "gulp"
"If we are going to defeat him, we would have had to fight his true form sooner or later." Jeiuce said, as he pointed out his spear towards Asmodeus to prepare himself. "We might as well fight it right away and get it over with."
"He's right. If we can't defeat him as this state, then we most likely will not be able to defeat whoever is behind him." Maria agreed, as she got her gun ready. "And believe in yourselves… we can defeat him. Just think about all the enemies we have been able to defeat so far."
"That's right!" Raditz also agreed, his eyes locked on Asmodeus in determination. "If our ancestors were able to defeat him before… we can do it as well!"
"Heh heh… if you think that I am the same as 700 years ago, you're sorely mistaken." Asmodeus said as he gathered energy in his palms. "Now, get ready to witness the true 'gift of god'… the power which is not of this world!"
"You think that is going to scare anyone? All that have fallen before me have all claimed the same crap as you!" Albel yelled, as he started charging towards Asmodeus full speed. "And you will suffer the exact same fate as them! EYAAAA!"
Before Albel could slash him, Asmodeus quickly slid back to evade his attack, then hit him away with a powerful double-handed energy blast all the way back to the wall. Jeiuce took this opportunity to thrust at Asmodeus with his spear, but Asmodeus again simply evaded it and grabbed the spear from the side. Jeiuce struggled to get his spear free with no avail; instead, Asmodeus tossed the spear to the other side of the room along with Jeiuce, sending him right into Albel who was struggling back up. With a sickening crash, the two went down, badly hurt.
Clair, Tynave, Raditz and Lancar all dashed towards Asmodeus to attack him, surrounding him from all sides. After evading all their attacks, Asmodeus hit them all back to the wall by emitting a wide ring-like energy from around him. Roger and Peppita both tried their Flying Torpedo and Dream Hammer attack respectively, but they both missed Asmodeus who was quicker than anyone had ever expected from a monster his size. Asmodeus then simply kicked them both back, as if he was kicking away a soccer ball.
"GRAVITY BULLET!" Maria yelled as she shot out a large, slow-moving energy ball towards Asmodeus from behind. The energy ball hit the demon multiple times, and succeeded in knocking Asmodeus couple of feet back. Furious, Asmodeus GRABBED the energy ball, and tossed it back towards Maria. In surprise, Maria partially evaded it, but it still sent her flying back down to the floor. Asmodeus took that opportunity to lunge at Maria who was down hurt, but Maria made a desperate counter at the last second with Laser Blast, by shooting a laser beam around in front of her that exploded upwards to knock unsuspecting Asmodeus back down temporarily.
"Heh… not bad for such a frail little mortal…" Asmodeus sneered with a sickening smile, not hurt too badly from Maria's attack. "I can see why you were asked to be captured…"
"Ugh… his strength is… unbelievable…" Maria mumbled while holding her side, trying her best to get back up to her feet. "Is he… also powered up by our genes…?"
"METEOR SWARM!" "HAIL ORB!" Right then, Farleen and Reen both used their attacks that they had been charging the whole time. Furious shower of Meteors and Hail Orbs fell on top of Asmodeus, which were able to stun him in the spot for a little while but not enough to deal significant damage to him. Annoyed at the combination attack, Asmodeus countered with his Burst Eruption move, in which he slammed the ground in front of him with his fist. Two powerful blasts of energy geysers suddenly erupted in front of both Farleen and Reen, who had been standing many meters away from him. Both were knocked away by the powerful geyser of energy, down on the floor and badly hurt.
"Ugh… You're gonna have to do better than that!" Albel struggled back up, and yelled to once again relentlessly charge at Asmodeus. "DRAGON ROAR!" Albel shot out 5 blasts of red energy that was shaped like and charged with the spirit of the dragons. Asmodeus had to struggle in parrying off the energy blasts, but succeeded in doing so. He immediately countered by charging shoulder-first into tired Albel, sending him back down to the floor.
"You pests are actually much stronger than I expected…" Asmodeus said huffing for breath, quite tired out himself with fending off all those relentless attacks. "But it's clear that my powers are far beyond those of yours. Now, let me end all of your lives instantly in appreciation of your efforts." Asmodeus suddenly charged a large, red fireball above his head which grew bigger and bigger. "HELLFIRE SPREAD!" At his command, the large ball of fire exploded, sending smaller balls of deadly fire towards everyone.
"Ugh… FLASH WHIRL!" Raditz struggled back in just in time to execute his own maneuver, sending scattering balls of energy that managed to home in on all of Asmodeus' fireballs and neutralize them just before it hit everyone.
Meanwhile, Meena could do nothing but stand back and watch the party struggle against the wrath of Asmodeus. Feeling that she needed to do something to help, Meena kneeled down to pray, using her Fairie Light spell. Surrounded in a cloud of sparkling dust, the magical Faeries healed and soothed everyone's wounds, allowing them to get back up and continue fighting.
"What the… where did that healing spell come from?" Asmodeus yelled, looking around to find the source of the spell. After a few seconds, he spotted Meena hiding out in the corner of the room. "Of course, there was one more little one I forgot about… so she's the main source of their healing…" Asmodeus commented, as he suddenly raised his hands towards Meena to execute a spell of his own. "Before this annoying fight becomes any longer, I shall end her life right here and now."
"He's trying to attack Meena!" Raditz yelled, dashing towards her to help. "Meena, Hide! I'm coming to help!"
"AHHH!" Meena cried out loud, covering herself helplessly.
Noticing Raditz rushing to help her, Asmodeus first simply hit him back with an energy blast to knock him out of the way. He then chanted a spell for a few seconds, then pointed towards Meena and yelled "WORD OF DEATH!" A dark, menacing grim reaper suddenly appeared over Meena, as it pulled back its scythe to strike at Meena.
"No…" Farleen yelped helplessly as she kneeled down weakly. "That's… an instant death spell, and she's already trapped…"
"There is no escape." Asmodeus sneered, smiling proudly. "Say good bye, little girl. DIE!"
"AHH!" Meena yelled while looking away, as the grim reaper swung his scythe down to pierce her right through the heart with it. Everyone froze in despair, cursing themselves for not being able to do anything but watch her die.
However, Meena just stood in the spot covering herself, still breathing after the grim reaper attack. After a few seconds, Meena opened her eyes to look around the room, which had become deathly silent. "What's… going on?" Meena asked, confused. "Did it… miss?"
"H… how?" Albel asked, dumbfounded that Meena was able to somehow survive the attack. "How did that little brat survive?"
"I… impossible…" Asmodeus muttered, astonished that his attack didn't work. "It can't be possible… there is not even an ounce of evil in her soul?"
"What happened? Did I fight off that scary monster?" Meena asked, staring at her hands confused. "Is it really gone?"
"Hmph. Who would have thought…" Asmodeus muttered, as he began charging massive energy in the huge eye on his midsection. "If that's the case, then I'm just going to have to destroy her completely… SOUL ERASER!" At his command, a massive, white energy beam bursted out from the big eye, shooting it towards where Meena was standing. "AHHH!" Meena once again could only yell out loud, as the energy beam got closer and closer to disintegrate her.
"UGH!" Jeiuce grunted as he jumped in to pull away Meena from the deadly Soul Eraser attack just in time. The energy attack just barely missed them, as it pierced right through the wall of the Time and Space Lab, far out to the open space of Daemonium.
"T… thank you for saving me, mister…" Meena mumbled, as Jeiuce let her go from his grasp. "You saved my life…"
"Heh… now I've seen the lowest of the lows, Jeiuce… now you're out saving a little KID?" Asmodeus scolded him, walking slowly up to him. "That is just repulsive… an insult to our demon race… I'll have to eliminate you first then… I cannot stand looking at your face any longer."
"Bah… Don't get me wrong… I only saved this kid for our benefits…" Jeiuce muttered, as he got set to defend himself from Asmodeus. "She's… UGHH!" Before Jeiuce could finish his sentence, Asmodeus quickly lunged at him to deliver a running elbow right on his chin. Jeiuce was sent flying backwards, down and out for the count.
"Ugh…" Jeiuce groaned, about to pass out. "… No…."
"This is it, traitor. It's time to purge your soul in eternal darkness…" Asmodeus said, walking up slowly to downed Jeiuce. "Begone!"
"Not so fast!" Lancar yelled, as him, Raditz, and Tynave rushed to protect him from the fatal blow. Asmodeus was quick to react, knocking everyone back with a simple swipe from his tail.
Meanwhile, Meena just stood back with tears in eyes, helpless. 'I… I'm… just becoming a nuisance to everyone… aren't I… everyone is getting hurt in trying to protect me…I'm just getting in their way…' Meena thought to herself, her hand slowly clenching into a fist. 'I have to do something… I have to help somehow… I have to…"
Suddenly, a strange, white light surrounded Meena's body, as her eyes slowly closed. She kneeled down, and began to pray. After a few seconds, her eyes flashed open, as she quickly got up and yelled, "ANGEL FEATHERS!" The same strange, white aura homed in towards all of her comrades, covering them like a graceful dove protecting her nest with its wings.
"What the hell?" Albel blurted, surprised at the white light suddenly surrounding him. For some reason, he felt much lighter now, and much stronger. "Is this that kid's doing?"
"W… what power…" Maria said, astonished at her enhanced powers. "I feel… so much more powerful…"
"Me too!" Raditz yelled, getting up and looking more confident than ever. "So Meena did this?"
"Hehehe… I guess that kid just did another one of her tricks…" Asmodeus said cockily, not at all concerned by what was transpiring. "Try whatever you want… it will not matter in the end…"
As soon as Asmodeus finished his sentence, Jeiuce quickly got back up from underneath him to blast Asmodeus back with his Shadow Bolt Spell. Asmodeus staggered back up from the sudden powerful attack that he didn't expect, and Lancar and Tynave were both quick to capitalize on the opportunity. Lancar immediately hit the demon high up in the air with his Uppercut, as Tynave jumped up in the air to execute her Sakura Attack. After a long series of punches and kicks, she blasted the demon back down on the floor with her Spirit Attack, and Roger nailed him on his way down with his Raging Helmet attack. Asmodeus was sent crashing onto the wall, slow to get up.
"Arrgg… how did you mortals… all of a sudden… get so much more powerful?" Asmodeus muttered, shocked at the turn of the events. "What the hell is going on here?"
"This is… unbelievable!" Lancar yelled, astonished at how much powerful he was now. "I feel almost… superhuman!"
"ENERGY ARROW!" Farleen executed her spell that sent dark energy arrows homing in on Asmodeus. The Energy Arrows once again knocked the demon back senselessly, and Peppita used her Kaboom attack to hit him with a rotating energy ball that rotated around her. Asmodeus fell down to the floor, and then quickly got back up, absolutely furious.
"H… HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN? I'M THE ONE CHOSEN BY THE GOD… TO BE THE NEXT RULER OF THE TWO DIMENSIONS…" Asmodeus yelled out loud, gathering more energy on the big eye in his midsection. "I'M A SUPERIOR BEING… I CANNOT BE MADE A FOOL OF… BY FEW OF THESE LOWLY MORTALS!"
"It looks like the tables have turned, fool!" Albel yelled, as he dashed into Asmodeus to attack him. "It's time to feed the maggot his own words!"
"SOUL ERASER!" Asmodeus yelled, shooting a massive energy beam towards oncoming Albel. Albel quickly dodged the beam by jumping over it, and he swung his katana down to execute his Head Splitter attack. Asmodeus tried to dodge the attack, but couldn't get away in time from Albel's now superior speed. "ARRRGGGGG!" Asmodeus yelled in pain as the downward katana strike missed the demon's head, but cut right through his arm, instead.
"Damn, I just missed him…" Albel grunted in disappointment, as he got set to attack fallen Asmodeus once again.
"Ugh… heh…" Asmodeus smiled looking almost psychotic, as he quickly grabbed Meena who happened to be near him. "If I kill this girl… your powers… will be… GONE! HAHAHA!"
"NOOOO!" Meena cried, trying to free herself from the demon's grasp. "HELP!"
"DIE!" Asmodeus yelled as he swung his arm back, split second away from pulverizing Meena with his claws.
"LEAF SLASH!" Clair quickly executed her teleporting move to appear in front of Asmodeus, slashing him away from Meena with two spinning attacks. Albel took this opportunity to dash in and execute his Illusion attack; Albel made 4 slashes in a cross-shaped pattern right onto Asmodeus' body, then followed up to deliver two more spinning slashes. The big demon staggered back, cut up badly from Clair and Albel's attack.
"This is my chance… Oh great grandmother Elise, please lend me your power!" Reen yelled, as she flied high up in the air surrounded in a blue aura. "Purify the demon soul! NIBELUNG VALESTI!" A bright, blue wave of energy shot out from Reen's hands towards Asmodeus, as it spread in a circular wave across the entire room to burn the demon away. "AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGG!" Asmodeus screamed in pain, as the light began to suck his demon powers away from him.
"THIS IS FOR ALL THE FELLOW DEMONS THAT HAVE SUFFERED MEANINGLESS DEATH BECAUSE OF YOU! TAKE THIS!" Jeiuce yelled, as he jumped up to finish up on Reen's Nibelung Valesti attack. He tossed his spear right into the midsection of Asmodeus, right through the big eye.
"Ah… AH…AHAHA...HAHA!" Asmodeus started laughing like a maniac, still alive. He pulled the spear out from his midsection, tossing it away, and then once again staggering around aimlessly. He was surely moments away from meeting his death.
"If I'm… going to die… you're… all… coming with me!" Asmodeus yelled, as he gathered immense aura around him. "HAHAHAHA…."
"No! He's trying to self-destruct!" Jeiuce yelled, well aware of what Asmodeus was trying to do. "Stop him!"
At that time, Raditz happened to be the closest one to Asmodeus. 'This is it… you're the only one who can do this now!' Raditz told himself, as his body suddenly became engulfed in a blue aura. "EYAAAA!" Raditz yelled as he charged towards Asmodeus to deal the final blow, as his eyes flashed and turned blue in colour.
"7-STAR… TWIN SLASH!" Raditz jumped up to deliver an upward slash right across Asmodeus' chest with his aura blade, and then came down for a second deadly slash downwards on his body. As he landed back down on the ground, he fired off two shots of powerful plasma energy from his sword, ripping right through the heart of the demon.
"What Irony…. to… lose… the exact… same… way… as 700… years… ago…" Asmodeus muttered his last words, as he kneeled down and finally humped over on the ground face first. The Demon King Asmodeus had finally been slain for good.
"Huff… Huff…" Raditz struggled to gather his breath, as he kneeled down from the floor, from exhaustion. "We've… killed him. I can't believe it… we just did… what our ancestors did… 700 years ago. We've killed the demon king…"
"I find it hard to believe myself…" Jeiuce agreed, looking down at Asmodeus' dead corpse. "His power was beyond anything I have heard of before… he was indeed worthy of the title of the Demon King… but we managed to kill him. Somehow…"
"It's all thanks to Meena…" Farleen said, walking up to Meena with a big smile. "I don't know what kind of spell you used, but it gave us such a tremendous boost in… everything! Thank you Meena, we couldn't have done it without you!"
"I just wished I could be of help somehow…really really hard…" Meena said, confused. "I'm still not sure of what I did, but I'm just glad it worked! But we should thank Mr. Devil, too! He saved my life!"
"Heh, maybe you're not such a bad guy after all, Mr. Jeiuce." Roger said, with a grin. "I wish you could be… undemonized… or something… somehow! So you could really be one of us!"
"Hmph, don't speak such nonsense. The only reason I saved the girl is because she is of a big asset to us." Jeiuce said coldly, without a trace of emotion on his face. "I'm still a demon, and nothing will change that. But until the end of this mission, I have no choice but to cooperate fully with all of you. If that means I have to save a helpless kid, then so be it."
"Speaking of the 'end of the mission', we're almost there." Albel said, as he looked up to the stairs leading up. "There is one last guy we have to take out. That so-called 'God', or whatever he is."
"There is also that Blue-haired boy who wasted us at Shrine of Kaddan…" Lancar said, with his arms crossed. "But with all of us here this time, if we do happen to run into him again, I think we can beat him!"
"Hmph, I'll make sure he'll pay for his crimes." Albel said, clenching his fist. "It's because of him that thousands of people in Airyglyph are now dead, as well as in Aquaria..."
"Yeah… but for now, our focus should be on that 'god' guy, right?" Reen asked. "As long as we get rid of him, everything should fall in place!"
"I have a really bad feeling about this… who could this 'god' be?" Peppita asked, with a concerned look on her face. "Could it be… the 4D beings?"
"Based on all that I have heard so far, I guess we can't rule that out anymore." Maria said, as she walked towards the stairs leading up to the next floor. "But we have closed off all connections to the 4D world… so it should technically be impossible. Still, I suppose that it could be someone from Sphere, or something like that. Either way, this 'god' is no ordinary being, that's for sure."
"And we must not forget about Lady Nel, Fayt, and Sophia." Tynave said, reminding them that they were still captured somewhere in this building. "Let us hurry so we can rescue them before it is too late!"
"Tynave is right. We have not a moment to waste." Clair agreed, hoping that Nel, Fayt, and Sophia were all safe. "Let's get going."
"Alright, let's move!" Albel said, as he ran ahead in front of everyone up the stairs leading to the second floor. Everybody else ran behind him, to continue up the Time and Space Lab.
Chapter 56: The Unwanted Duel
Albel and others progressed through the floors 2 through 4 of the Time and Space Lab with minimal trouble. The demon guards on each of the floors had received the news that the King Asmodeus was killed, which dealt a serious blow on their morale. They knew that they were now leaderless, and that they now had nobody to turn to. Many of the Demon guards actually ran away upon confronting the group, and those who resisted quickly suffered the same fate as their superiors.
"The demon army is in chaos, it seems." Maria said, looking around the green and grey interiors of the Time and Space Lab. "It looks like killing Asmodeus has done wonders for us. This way, we avoid most of the unnecessary fights."
"Exactly. Without a leader, everyone is now in a state of confusion and fear… most would not be so haste now to challenge us." Jeiuce agreed, punching in the code number for the door to the next floor. "It is my wish to minimize any casualties for us demons, so this works out best for everyone involved."
"Man, how did you Demons build such high-tech place as this?" Lancar asked, surprised by the advanced facilities of the Lab. "I know you guys have knowledge and everything… but where did you get the raw materials and all that for building this place?"
"This lab is actually not of our creation…" Jeiuce explained, as he walked up the stairs to the 5th floor. "It is the device of the mortal race called the Moorians, just like the Soul Transfer Device, and also that relic you hold called the 'Eye of the Truth'."
"The Moorians made THIS place, too?" Raditz asked, surprised. "Man, why did they even come to the Daemoneum in the first place, anyway?"
"The Moorians… The descendents from the ancient days of Earth… the people of the now non-existent Mu Continent, which disappeared thousands of years ago…" Maria said, recalling her old Earth history lessons. "It is said that Moorians were very technologically advanced people… before the Mu Continent sank to the bottom of the sea, it was said that some of them flew to Planet Roak, to find a new home."
"That's right… oh yeah, I remember the bit from the ancient memoirs, too…" Raditz said, remembering what Ratix had said in his old memoirs back at the Mt. Metox cave. "He said that Moorians created the 'Eye of the Truth'… so that they could go back home to Earth one day."
"And they somehow reached the Daemoneum, instead…" Reen said, deep in thought. "You know what, I know they are our ancestors and everything, and I don't fault them for wanting to go home, but if you think about it, they're the whole reason why the war broke out in the first place… and they're the one who created all those machines too! If it wasn't for those stupid machines, there wouldn't have been wars, and Albel wouldn't have been…"
"Enough." Albel said in a low voice, stopping Reen from finishing that sentence. "There is no need to dwell on what has happened in the past. People make mistakes, and others suffer because of it… that's what history is like. It's inevitable."
"Yes, Albel is right. And besides, if it weren't for these machines, none of us would have ever met." Clair agreed, smiling back at Reen. "Let's focus on what we can do here and now, to correct our ancestor's past mistakes, instead of criticizing them. So that less people will suffer in the long run."
"Hehe… yeah you're right." Reen agreed, calming herself down. "Sorry, it's just that sometimes, it's too frustrating to understand and accept..."
Everyone finally arrived at Floor 5, where the main containment lab for the subjects were said to be in. Maria directed everyone to the containment chamber, taking the lead.
"This is the main containment chamber. It's the place I escaped from." Maria said, looking around the tubes for Fayt, Nel and Sophia. "Fayt and others should be contained in one of the tubes here somewhere. Let's all split up and look for them."
"Wow, this place has so many containment tubes…" Farleen commented, looking around. "I didn't think that this place would be this huge…"
"How… grotesque…" Reen commented while covering her face in horror, looking at various failed test specimens that were contained in the tubes. "I really hope they didn't do this to your friends…"
"These are only monster specimens… it's quite different from the experiments they do to humans." Jeiuce explained, looking through the containment tubes. "I'm pretty positive that they would not have done anything this drastic to your friends."
"I think I've seen some of these monsters on Roak before…" Peppita said, looking at a big lizard-like beast contained in one of the containers labled 'Lizard Axe'. "It's gross…"
"That is because some of these monsters gets deployed to our dimension by the demons." Maria said, turning to Jeiuce. "At least that's what it seemed like, anyway. Am I correct, Jeiuce?"
"Hmph." Jeiuce merely grunted, not giving an answer.
After about 5 minutes of quick searching, everyone gathered together to discover that Fayt, Nel and Sophia were nowhere to be seen.
"So, I guess those three are not contained here." Albel said. "This could only mean one thing… they must be at the top floor."
"That's the most likely explanation…" Maria "Which means, this 'god' is really close to unleashing his or her plan, whatever it may be. It looks like we have even less time than we think. Let's all hurry to the top floor, then."
"But it's strange…" Farleen commented, confused about something. "There should be three opened tubes for Fayt, Sophia, and Lady Nel, right? But we found two from this side of the room, and two from the other side… which means there were 4 vacant tubes in total… how can that be?"
"There could have been another subject they captured, who knows." Lancar said, hurrying up to the next floor. "There's no time to worry about that. Let's go already!"
"Okay…" Farleen agreed, getting a bad feeling about all this.
The party hurried up to the 6th floor, which happened to be another one of the storage rooms for equipments and such. Though the room was relatively dark, everyone got through to the other side of the room without a problem, not meeting any demons on the way. However, as they got to the doorway to the 7th floor, they saw a demon sitting down by the gates, curled up motionlessly.
"Heh… I didn't think that there would be no guards on this floor… that would have been too simple…" Albel said, unsheathing his sword. "Let me do the honours."
"No, that will not do." Jeiuce stepped ahead of Albel to walk up to the demon, which was still motionlessly sitting down. "I shall try to convince him to make way for us."
"Hmph. The hard way, huh?" Lancar said, with his arms crossed. "But I suppose it's better for us to not fight anyone until we get to that god guy…"
"My fellow demon, I am Jeiuce." Jeiuce introduced himself to the demon that was still sitting motionless. "I have come here to overthrow the tyrant that is using us for his own benefits. I do not wish to fight with any of our brothers... Please cooperate with us and let us through."
"…" The demon showed no reaction to Jeiuce, still curled up.
"Maybe he is hurt?" Tynave asked, confused on why the demon wouldn't respond. "Or perhaps he is already dead…"
"Hey, did you hear me?" Jeiuce asked again, as he tried to get the demon to pay attention to him. "I'm… w… wait a minute… you're…"
At that moment, the demon suddenly rose up to blow Jeiuce away with a thunderous kick to the midsection. Jeiuce was sent flying in pain, crashing into number of boxes stacked on the other end of the wall. "Ugh…" Jeiuce groaned in pain, totally caught by surprise.
"Hmph… I had a feeling it wouldn't listen…" Albel sneered, as him, Raditz, and Lancar all rushed towards the demon to take the demon out. "Make way, scum!"
"SHOCKWAVE!" The demon yelled to shoot out a low-flying shockwave along the ground to unsuspecting Albel, Raditz, and Lancar. The three were nailed precisely by the Shockwave attack, as they were sent tumbling to the ground in pain.
"That's… not a demon…" Jeiuce got up slowly, to inform everyone. "That's…"
Clair looked up to examine the dark, mystery figure, which began to look strangely familiar. It had a slim figure, and was wearing long black boots, black shorts, and a black shirt with yellow outline at the edges. Looking further up, she saw a scarf around the person's neck, and discovered that the person had short red hair…
Suddenly, Clair got a bone-chilling feeling down her spine. This was…
"It can't be…" Clair mumbled, trembling in shock. "You can't be…"
Before Clair could finish, the person jumped towards Roger and Reen to kick them away with a powerful spin kick. As everyone else stepped away, the person immediately turned back to Clair, glaring menacingly at her with sharp, green eyes.
"…Nel?" Clair asked softly, still somewhat refusing to believe that it was actually her best friend standing before her. Nel did not respond, and quickly jumped towards Clair with her twin daggers out to attack. Clair barely deflected away the dagger slashes from Nel, but then got knocked away with a thrust kick.
"I can't believe it…" Peppita said, as she turned to Nel to look at her. "Miss Nel, it's me! Peppita! From two years… AHHH!" Before Peppita could finish, Nel mercilessly executed her Shadow Wave attack, knocking the Circus girl away.
"Ugh… have you forgotten about us, wench? It's us!" Albel slowly got up, trying to reason with Nel. "What's wrong with you?"
"ICE DAGGERS!" Nel threw her twin daggers charged in ice energy towards Albel without any hesistation, which Albel could only barely dodge.
"So… this is your friend?" Reen asked in annoyed voice, slowly getting up. "She's not very nice!"
"LIGHTNING CHAIN!" Nel yelled, as she shot numerous bursts of lightning where Reen and Roger were standing. Both dodged the attack, and Reen charged her orbs in order to make a counterattack. "RAVEN…"
"NO, PLEASE STOP!" Clair yelled out loud, pleading with Reen. "Please do not attack her!"
"Miss, it's me! Don't you remember? I'm the handsome Menodix you rescued from Duggus… ARRG!" Roger yelled in pain as Nel knocked him back with her Firebolt spell. Jeiuce then quickly stepped up in front of her, with his spear held out, ready to battle.
"So this is one of your comrades that you were looking for…" Jeiuce said, not taking his eye off Nel for one second. "Sorry to inform you this, but she has been possessed."
"Possessed?" Clair asked, still dumbfounded. "How can we return back to her normal?"
"We can't." Jeiuce replied, with a bitter grin. "There is no known way to reverse the process, if you don't know who possessed the person in the first place."
"Then let's look for the person who possessed her!" Clair suggested, as she slowly got more vocal. "We can't fight her!"
"That sounds like a good plan, except that the person who possessed her is probably past this door, up in the 10th floor." Jeiuce told Clair. "And there happens to be a person here who won't let us past the door. So you see, it's pretty out of the question."
"But still! Jeiuce, please don't fight her!" Clair pleaded her heart out, trying to convince Jeiuce. "She's my best friend, and our comrade!"
"I apologize that I have to battle such a dear friend of yours, but it must be done if we are going to save both of our worlds." Jeiuce said, walking slowly up to Nel who was getting ready to attack. "Besides, do you know how many of MY comrades and friends that I have been forced to reluctantly kill so far?"
"But…!" Clair yelled, running in to stop Jeiuce from attacking.
"DEMON FANG!" Jeiuce yelled as he swiped his spear towards Nel to send a rapid shockwave along the ground towards Nel. Nel simply dodged the attack by jumping up, and then dived down towards Jeiuce to knock him away with a diving kick. With Jeiuce down on the floor, Nel quickly turned to Tynave and Farleen, standing close to her.
"Lady Nel! It's me! Farleen!" Farleen tried her best to make it known to her superior and her trainer, as she was also reluctant to make any attacks. "Your favourite stu… AHHHH!" Before she could finish, Nel knocked her subordinate away with a diving elbow right into her midsection.
"No… Lady Nel…" Tynave muttered, as she reluctantly got in her ready position to defend herself. After forcing Tynave to block all of her dagger and kick attacks, Nel used her Whirlwind spell to knock her back to the wall, unconscious.
"Err… you will need to do better than that to beat me, mortal!" Jeiuce yelled as he got back up and charged right back at Nel. Nel simply dodged the spear thrusts from Jeiuce with her lightning-quick speed, then yelled "MIRROR SLICE!" to execute a long combination of deadly slashes with her daggers. Jeiuce struggled to block off the first 5 slashes, but the 6th slash went right through Jeiuce's left forearm, slicing it right off with a spray of blood. "UWAAAAAA!" Jeiuce let out a blood-curdling scream, as he held his now handless left arm in extreme pain.
With Jeiuce stunned in pain, Nel jumped up high in the air to charge herself in a big ball of electricity. She yelled "SPLITTING SKY!" as she shot a deadly wave of electricity towards Jeiuce, which shocked and burned him non-stop for 5 seconds. "ARRRRGGGGGG!" Jeiuce screamed in agony as he dropped down to the ground unconscious, smoke emitting from all over his body. "…"
"DAMN! I knew she was strong, but how did she take out Jeiuce with such ease?" Lancar asked, dodging her slashes and kicks as best as he could. "What kind of experiments did they do on her anyway?"
"Ugh… it's most likely the experiments by the demons which have indeed granted her with such inhuman powers…!" Maria muttered, as she was the latest on the list of receive Nel's assault. "Nel, it's Captain Maria… of the Dip… AH!" Maria yelled in pain as Nel knocked her gun away from her hands with her Flying Guillotine attack. Maria tried to defend herself with her Triple Kick attack, but Nel dodged them easily and knocked her back with a kick of her own.
"FLYING GUILLOTINE!" Nel yelled, as she threw both of her Twin Daggers together right at Clair. Clair stood in the spot frozen, still spaced out in shock.
"AIR SLASH!" Albel used his Air Slash attack just in time to deflect the Flying Guillotine off before it could hit Clair. "Clair, gather yourself!" Albel yelled, to wake Clair up from her shocked-mode. "Don't just stand there! She won't hesitate to kill you at her current state!"
"Um…" Clair backed off and stepped away from Nel, but was still reluctant to fight her. She did not want to fight her best friend. Not for real, and certainly not to the death. Was there really no way to revive her?
"I'll freeze her in place somehow, and we can think of something after!" Farleen yelled out, as she called out to Albel and others. "Keep her away from me for a while!"
"Will do…" Raditz agreed, stepping in front of Nel to fight. "But it will be pretty hard to do so without hurting her…"
Albel, Raditz, and Lancar all fought Nel in order to keep her occupied away from Farleen for a few moments. However, it was tough; Nel's powers had grown so big that even three of them together had trouble handling them. With three of them on the losing end, and with Nel about to charge her Splitting Sky attack once again, Farleen finished her spellcasting, yelling "DEEP FREEZE!" A cloud of cold, frigid air appeared above Nel, as it descended down and soon encased her in a large block of ice, unable to move.
"Yes! We have her contained for now!" Farleen yelled cheerfully, as everyone slowly gathered themselves back up. "Let's go beat the god guy first, then maybe we can…"
Farleen had spoken too fast. The ice block in which Nel was in suddenly started shaking, then shattered in hundreds of pieces. Nel had shattered the entire block of ice from within, without much effort.
"Wha? That… that's impossible!" Farleen mumbled, astonished by the fact that Nel broke through the ice block like nothing. Nel, completely unharmed, immediately jumped towards Farleen and knocked her out with a spinning back kick.
"DAMN! What do we do?" Raditz asked in frustration, as him, Albel, and Lancar all were back to fending off Nel again. After a few moments, Nel completely overwhelmed all of them with her Lightning Chain attack, shocking and burning them down to the ground.
"U… ugh…" Albel groaned, slow to get up. "How the hell are we supposed to… beat her without going full out?"
At that moment, Clair lifted her head and looked at Nel with a sense of determination. Clair walked up in front of Nel, and to everyone's surprise, went in to her ready stance to battle. "I shall be Nel's opponent." Clair said, telling everyone to stay back. "Please, let me take care of her."
"You're going to take her on by yourself?" Reen asked, baffled. "No way… you're joking, right? She's way too strong for one person!"
'I might be the only one who can return Nel back to normal… I have to be the one who has to fight her'. Clair thought to herself, as she closely studied Nel's movements so she could read when she was about to attack. "I'll figure something out." Clair assured everyone. "I also know how Nel fights better than anyone else… So do not worry, she will not be able to beat me with ease."
"If you say so…" Reen replied, running away from where the two were standing. "But be careful!"
Clair and Nel stood face to face, with the room deathly silent. Both fighters were trying to read each other's movements carefully, looking for an open room to attack. A cold sweat trickled down Clair's cheeks, really not sure of what to do. Though Clair and Nel were both pretty close in terms of fighting skills, Clair had always been little better of the two over the years; though Nel was stronger, Clair had always been able to win most of the practice duels she had with her in the past with superior tactics and composure. Nel was little hotheaded at times, after all, easily losing control of her emotions and composure. However, it was a different story now. This Nel did not feel any emotions, and could not even recognize that it was her best friend that was standing before her. This was not the Nel she had known from the past.
"HI YA!" Nel yelled, as she finally lunged towards Clair to slash at her repeatedly with her twin daggers. Clair barely managed to deflect them off, but was then blasted away by her Firebolt attack she did point blank. Clair got knocked back, rolling along the floor in great pain.
"Ugh…" Clair moaned, as she struggled back up to defend herself. "…Nel! It's me! Clair… your best friend!" Clair pleaded with Nel, trying to somehow get her to regain her memory. "We came here to save you… please get a hold of yourself!"
"SHADOW WAVE!" Nel yelled, executing her Shadow Wave attack in attempts to cut Clair with her Dark, sharp energy waves. Clair again barely dodged the attack, but was then met with a vicious diving kick from Nel out of nowhere. Clair was sent flying into a column of boxes in the corner, crashing right into it. Numerous boxes fell on her upon the fall to hurt Clair even more, but Clair refused to give up; she struggled right back up, determined to somehow return Nel back to normal.
"Nel… please… I know you haven't forgot about me, or rest of us…" Clair spoke softly, stumbling along in great deal of pain. "Please… snap out of it…"
"…Intruders…must be killed…" Nel said in a robotic voice, as she dashed right into Clair once again with her elbow out in front of her. Clair was hit right back down to the ground from Nel's Charge attack, about to pass out completely. "Ugh…" Clair moaned, things getting hazy in front of her. "…Nel…"
"I can't watch this! It is foolish… there is no way you can beat her alone!" Albel yelled, dashing in towards Nel. However, Nel was quick to see Albel, and simply knocked him back with her Lightning Blast spell. She immediately turned back to Clair, determined to finish her off. Nel jumped high above the ground, and then dived towards fallen Clair to kill her with a diving dagger attack.
'Is she going to really kill me…? Am I going to be killed, by my best friend?' Clair wondered, as the view in front of her got hazier and hazier. She had no energy to get out of the way now. Clair could do nothing but look at Nel and wait for her to dive down to end her life. Just about giving up completely, Clair suddenly saw two flashes coming from somewhere in Nel's face.
'What can that be?' Clair wondered, as Nel got closer and closer to impaling her with her diving dagger attack. The flashes were just reflections coming from the big, circular earrings that she was wearing.
'Wait a minute…' Clair suddenly thought, suspicious of something. 'Earrings?' At that moment, something clicked immediately in Clair's mind. Nel had never been the type to wear much fancy jewelry; she had always been a really conservative type, and even if he was to ever wear one, there was no way that she would wear such a big, tacky earring.
"That's it!" Clair yelled, as she quickly reached back to her twin daggers. "It has to be those earrings!"
Nel was split second away from impaling Clair, about 3 meters away from her in the air. Right at that moment, Clair thought 'Please… let this work…' as she tossed both of her daggers towards Nel's earrings, as she would do with her Ice Daggers attack. Traveling at blinding speed, both of Clair's daggers pierced through both of Nel's earrings with remarkable precision, shattering them away completely. "AHHHHH!" Nel yelled in pain, as she dropped to the floor from the impact, unconscious.
"Ugh…" Clair moaned, running up to fallen Nel. "Nel… NEL! Are you alright?"
"…" There was no response from Nel. Though she was still breathing, she was in an unconscious state. Meena immediately casted her spells to heal everyone back to normal, as everyone gathered around Nel.
"She is just passed out from the intense mental trauma from the brainwashing device." Maria said, examining her. "She looks like she should be alright, but it might take a while for her to come out of this comatose state."
"So… it was the earrings…" Albel said, examining the broken pieces of earrings on the floor. "Who would have thought they'd use something like this to brainwash her…"
"So that's the technology they used…" Jeiuce muttered looking at the broken pieces, holding his handless left arm. "There are so many things they have been hiding from us… who knows what other kind of devices they might have made."
"Clair, how did you figure it out?" Reen asked, curious on how Clair knew that it was the earrings that controlled her. "There is no way any of us would have known that!"
"…T…that's right!" Tynave said, finally realizing how she figured it out. "As far as I know, Lady Nel… never wore earrings."
"Yeah, she's always been boring like that… she hardly wears any jewelery!" Farleen said, with a little smile. "But to realize something like that so quickly… you'd have to know the person really well. I guess you two really ARE best friends, Lady Clair!"
"Yes, indeed." Clair said while holding Nel, smiling back. "I'm just glad that I was able to get her back to normal."
"So Nel was used as a guard…" Lancar said, lifting her from the floor so that the group can continue on. "But we still haven't seen Fayt and Sophia. Let's keep going so we can find them, too."
"As he says. Let's continue." Albel said, walking up the stairs to the 6th floor. "Prepare yourselves. This could be our last battle..."
Chapter 57: Stubborn Pride
The twelve warriors made their way through Floors 7 to 9 without any trouble, much like how they progressed through from Floors 2 to 5. The demons mostly ran away from the group, knowing that they stood no chance in beating them. At last, they arrived at Floor 10, the top floor in which the main research facility was located.
"We're finally here…" Clair said, heading down the hallway towards the entrance of the lab. "It's time to meet the man behind everything…"
"Yes. We shall meet this imposter god, and destroy him for good." Jeiuce agreed, as he stepped ahead. "I'll kill him even if it means that I have to… UGH…" Jeiuce grunted, holding his left arm that had been cut off by Nel's Mirror Slice.
"I'm sorry, mister…" Meena apologized, hanging her head low. "My spell wasn't strong enough to heal your wound…"
"You sure you're going to be alright there?" Raditz asked, a bit concerned. "I can't believe she actually able to cut through your arm like that…"
"I don't expect anyone to heal a wound like this… ugh…" Jeiuce said, trying to withstand the pain. "And I'm still good enough to fight, so just worry about yourselves…"
"Alright, we're here." Albel announced, seeing to the large door at the end of the hallway up ahead of them. "The lab is surely past that door. Let's… huh?" Albel stopped, as he suddenly got a chilling feeling in his heart. "…"
"What's wrong, Albel?" Maria asked, seeing Albel clutching his chest. "Are you still hurt?"
"No… I'm fine… it's just that…" Albel muttered, looking around him. "…Never mind." For some reason, Albel could feel that something VERY familiar was heading towards this direction, something he could literally feel in his soul. He would usually think that it would be his intuition, but this was something completely different. He was so sure of this… sure that something he knew was heading this way. However, Albel didn't say anything, because no one would really understand.
"What is it? You can tell us, Albel…" Clair asked, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Is something… bothering you?"
"It's nothing…" Albel said quietly, turning back to the door. "I just…"
Right at that moment, a demon suddenly appeared out of nowhere right in front of the group. The demon had long white hair, a pair of black wings, and looked really beat-up. "Ugh…" The demon grunted in pain, as he looked up.
"It… it can't be…Saphiro?" Jeiuce stuttered, recognizing the demon that was standing in front of him. "We… killed you…"
"Beh…" Albel cursed, as he immediately unsheathed his katana. "The maggot still lives?"
"Heh… you think… you could beat me… that easily?" Saphiro struggled to speak, clutching the area where Albel had pierced through earlier. "I refused to be… killed…by a lowly failure… like you…"
"You think you can somehow beat us in the state that you are in?" Maria asked, taking out her gun. "You're near death, Saphiro. You stand no chance."
"Let me be the one to finish him off…" Jeiuce said, as he stepped up to kill off Saphiro. "You're like that scum Asmodeus… you need to be eliminated for the sake of our kind…"
"Heh… hehehe…" Saphiro suddenly started laughing out strangely, as he slowly got up. "You think… I'm going to fight you like this?" Saphiro looked over to his side, where a body of another demon suddenly appeared. It was the corpse of Asmodeus, whom they had beaten earlier.
"That's… the corpse of Asmodeus!" Raditz yelled, not knowing what to expect. "Heh, what good can he possibly do for you now? We've already killed him…"
"W… wait…" Jeiuce mumbled, as he suddenly started trembling. 'Saphiro… YOU'RE NOT POSSIBLY THINKING OF…"
"Heh… yes, Jeiuce… that's exactly what I am going to do." Saphiro replied with a menacing smile, as he put his hand on the body of Asmodeus. "Whatever it takes… to beat you… inferior beings…" A large amount of energy suddenly gathered up in Saphiro's hands, as he began to do something to the lifeless body of the demon king.
"You're a fool, Saphiro! Using such unproven technique… YOU WOULD EVEN THROW AWAY YOUR OWN LIFE TO BEAT US?" Jeiuce yelled, running ahead to stop Saphiro from whatever he was doing. "EVERYONE, STOP HIM!"
"Hehe… HEHEHEHE…" Saphiro laughed like a maniac as both him and the corpse of Asmodeus became covered in a bright aura. The aura deflected away oncoming Jeiuce, as the two auras converged into one in a bright flash. Everyone covered their eyes, then slowly opened their eye to see what was standing before them.
What they saw was a monster, mixed in appearance of both Saphiro and Asmodeus. It had Asmodeus' huge monstrous body, with Saphiro's black wings on his back and silver hair flowing out from his head. In his hand was Saphiro's Flamberge sword, burning more brightly than ever.
"Yes… hehehe… I have to be the one that ends your lives, even if it means that I have to sacrifice my own life…" Saphirodeus said, covered in unimaginably powerful aura. "This is a matter of pride… I cannot be beaten by your kind. I AM THE ALMIGHTY SAPHIRO… I SHALL BECOME THE NEW DEMON KING!"
"Beh… such foolish pride…" Albel said, realizing that he was once like that as well, and knowing how foolish this all was now. "What the hell did he just do?"
"He… merged his soul and body with Asmodeus…" Jeiuce muttered, fearing what was about to come next. "An unproven technique… which supposedly allows for unimaginable powers… but the host body usually can't withstand such power… it doesn't live long…"
"What? We've already had enough trouble beating each of them separately…" Raditz said, unsheathing his Aura Blade. "And now you're telling me they've MERGED?"
"We have no choice… we have to fight it." Maria said, taking her fighting stance. "It's either us or him… one of us will not survive this time."
"I guess you haven't had enough, filthy maggot!" Albel taunted, as he fearlessly dashed towards Saphirodeus to attack. "I'll make sure I put you away for good!"
Before anyone could get to him, Saphirodeus slammed his Flamberge sword right down to the ground, creating a massive explosion around him while yelling "ARMAGEDDON BLAST!" The explosion sent everyone back flying, dealing massive burn wounds to everyone. Everyone stayed down, defeated by the massive attack.
"A… Ack…" Albel muttered, trying to get up. "N… no…"
"Hehe… even you mortals cannot compare to my powers." Saphirodeus said proudly, charging up another attack. "You somehow beat me before, and also defeated Asmodeus, but there is no way you can match up to both of our powers!"
"U…UWAAA!" Albel suddenly let out a war cry, as he used his remaining energy to thrust his katana right through Saphirodeus' midsection. The katana pierced right into the demon's body, just like how Albel did at Urssa Lava Caves.
"… Heh, How do you like that?" Albel asked, shoving his Crimson Scourge deeper and deeper into the demon's body. "Don't think that you can be off guard against me and get away with it!"
"Haha… HAHAHAHA!" Saphirodeus burst into laughter, as he just simply took the katana right out from his body, without showing any reaction. "This is amazing… I can no longer feel pain! I am now truly invincible!"
"Damn… this is beyond… anything that I could have expected…" Jeiuce said, as he slowly got back up to his feet. "Such power… we really don't stand a chance…"
"Ugh… we've come too far to give up now…" Lancar said, as he lunged into Saphirodeus to attack. "Let's all go at him!"
Everyone attacked Saphirodeus ferociously, using their strongest battle skills and symbology they each had to offer. However, even the ones that connected didn't do much to him; he was now impervious to pain, and he had completely lost his mind. Saphirodeus plowed through the swarm of attacks, to hit everyone back one by one. Before everyone could recover, a symbol flashed on Saphirodeus' head as he gathered dark energy around him. He yelled "DIMENSION DOOR!" paralyzing everyone with the dark wave of energy first then teleporting to slash at all of them simultaneously with an energy wave slash. Everyone went down, incapacitated.
"This is great… THIS IS AMAZING… WHY DIDN'T I DO THIS BEFORE?" Saphirodeus yelled in joy, mesmerized with his own power. "I'M NOW THE STRONGEST BEING IN THE UNIVERSE! I HAVE ACHIEVED MY DREAM!"
"Ugh…" Jeiuce mumbled, on the brink of passing out. "You've… gone… mad… Saphiro…"
"Haha… I might have now even surpassed power of god himself!" Saphirodeus said, flying high up in the air. "Hehe… he shall be next… after I am done with all of you!" A symbol again flashed brightly on his forehead as the black feathers from the wings started flying around everywhere around him. He gathered tremendous amount of bright energy on his forehead, then turned to the group and released it while yelling "ETHEREAL BLAST!" Unlike the previous encounters, Saphiro had finally succeeded in getting the deadly attack off this time. The wave of energy shot towards the fallen group, on its way to disintegrate them completely.
At that moment, a symbol suddenly flashed on Maria's forehead, as she quickly got up.
"WE WILL NOT GIVE UP!" She yelled, as various patterns of white symbols appeared around her. The symbols came together to create a wide shield around everyone, neutralizing the Ethereal Blast attack.
"What the…" Saphirodeus blurted, baffled that Maria was able to stop his attack. "How could you block that attack… oh… right… you possess the same powers…"
"She has… manifested…" Lancar muttered, still down on the floor. "Maria…"
"We will not be stopped by the likes of you!" Maria yelled, still in her manifested state with symbols surrounding her. "We will survive!"
"Hehehe… confident, aren't you?" Saphirodeus asked sarcastically, as he once again prepared the Ethereal Blast attack. "We'll just have to see who is stronger then… hahaha! This time, I shall come at you, FULL POWER!"
Maria just stood quietly, as Saphirodeus gathered massive amount of energy on his forehead once again. "BEGONE! ETHEREAL…" However, before Saphirodeus could unleash another Ethereal Blast, his body started trembling violently. "Ugh… UGGGGHHH…."
"W… what the…" Albel wondered, as he slowly got back up to his feet. "What's going on?"
"WHAT'S HAPPENING… WHAT'S HAPPENING TO MY BODY?" Saphirodeus asked in pain, back down on the ground, as his body continued shaking violently and uncontrollably. "WHY…"
"He's… losing control of his power!" Jeiuce yelled, realizing what was going on. "This is our chance! Get him!"
"UWAAA! DOUBLE SLASH OF FURY!" Albel yelled, as he took the opportunity to lunge at Saphirodeus to hit him repeatedly deadly slashes from his katana. "U...UGH…" Saphirodeus was sent staggered back, temporarily immobile.
Maria took this opportunity to unleash her ultimate attack. She loaded up a single gigantic bullet in her gun, and then pointed at Saphirodeus to shoot it at him. Maria yelled "ALTERATION DEVICE!", changing the properties of the shooting bullet with her powers of alteration. Symbols began appearing around the trajectory of the bullet in a circular pattern, as it engulfed the bullet in a white light. "GWAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Saphirodeus screamed as the bullet pierced right into his body, and stayed in there. After a few seconds, there was a blinding flash of white light, which then scattered into thousands of little sparkles of light that eventually faded away.
As everyone gathered themselves to figure out what happened, they realized that Saphirodeus was now nowhere to be seen; he had been wiped clean, disintegrated completely by Maria's attack. Maria kneeled down, then fell face first to the floor, passing out in exhaustion.
"That… was… unbelievable…" Raditz muttered, stunned by what he had just seen. "Miss Maria… did that?"
"That was… the same move she used to destroy the Battleship Invisible… many years ago…" Lancar said, as Meena healed everyone back to full health. "It was her powers of Alterations that manifested..."
"I still can't believe a mere mortal like her were able to destroy that monster…" Jeiuce said, as everyone went over to Maria to try to wake her up. "Now I can see why they wanted her power…"
"I'm glad… I was able to somewhat control my powers… there…" Maria said to the surprise of everyone, as she weakly tried to get back up.
"Maria, are you okay?" Clair asked, rushing over to her. "Don't overexert yourself!"
"No… it's okay… I'll be fine…" Maria insisted, managing to weakly stand back on her own two feet. "We still have one more enemy we need to… defeat…ugh…"
"That definitely took a lot out of you… you're in no shape to fight right now…" Lancar said, supporting her up. "But I'm glad you manifested when you did… if we got hit by his attack, then we would have been toast."
"What happened, anyway?" Peppita asked, confused. "Why did that demon stop attacking?"
"He… couldn't handle our powers." Maria said, weakly walking ahead. "He was genetically enhanced with the destruction gene… and the alteration gene… much like Fayt and I… however… unlike us, his body couldn't control it like we did…"
"That makes sense…" Lancar said, lifting still unconscious Nel from the floor. "Maria and Fayt have been living with the gene imbedded in them from their birth… and the demons got imbedded with them only recently. Their body couldn't handle the change."
"He had also essentially killed himself when he merged himself with Asmodeus' body…" Jeiuce explained. "Using such suicidal technique… he was truly a fool."
"Hmph… driven by his stubborn pride and hunger for power…" Albel said. "It was a fitting end."
"Do you think there is more people who got embedded with those special genes?" Roger asked. "That could be trouble!"
"There's only one way to find out." Albel replied, as he walked toward the big door up ahead of him. "Our answer lies beyond that door. So let's go in and find out the truth behind all this."
Everyone followed Albel to the big door at the end of the hallway, at the top floor of the Time and Space Lab. They entered the door without any hesitation, bracing themselves for what was to be their final battle.
