Unknown Location
Emil was waking up from a deep sleep. His eyes started to open.
"Where am I?" Emil said.
Emil looks around. He's standing in a large throne room that was dimly lit. Emil immediately recognizes where he is.
"Wait, I'm in Father's throne room?! How did I get here?!" Emil asked himself.
Emil felt something in his left hand. Emil looked down and his eyes widened, it was a broadsword covered in blood. Emil turns his forward and gasps at an unsettling sight. Two men, dressed as nobles were brutally killed. Emil knows who they are.
"Cezar, Martin…" said Emil in shock.
Doors break down and soldiers in armor rush in and see Emil standing before the murdered men. The soldiers yelled in shock.
"Unbelievable! Lord Cezar and Martin were murdered by this half-breed!"
"You damn dog! You'll pay for this!"
"Seize him!"
The soldiers charge in to restrain Emil. Emil resists.
"Get off me! Let go, let-" Emil spots a familiar looking man.
The man has corpse-like pale skin, red eyes, and long blonde hair. He wears a black long coat, a white button up shirt, gray trousers, and black shoes. He was horribly injured, his face was bruised and has a black eye, his upper body has several gashes, and was holding his stomach, covering a wound. Despite the pain he was in, he was smiling deviously. Emil's face turns into one of intense anger and hatred.
"LUCIEN!" Emil screams out with murderous hatred before the soldiers apprehended him.
At that moment, Emil's eyes open and his body jumps in a cold sweat. He immediately looked around, no soldiers, no blood, nobody was there. He was in an empty room with no one there.
"A dream, just a dream…" Emil says, taking deep breaths of relief.
Emil tried moving his arm but couldn't. He finds himself strapped to a bed by leather belts.
"The fuck?!" Emil said in shock.
"Did you have a nice sleep, Hound?" A creepy voice spoke aloud.
Emil immediately turns his head and his eyes widen at the man who spoke.
The man's appearance is that of a skinny man in his late twenties with sharp eyes and long and slightly wavy hair which is a mixture of black and blond. He has long slits of his eyes and a shallow smile. He wears a crimson robe with a distinguished design which heightens the creepy aura coming out of his body. This is MacGregor Mathers, Bishop of Sirzechs Lucifer.
"MacGregor, great. Just the last person I wanted to see," said Emil.
"Still disrespectful as always. I truly pity Lady Rosa for having taken in a rabid mongrel like you," MacGregor insulted.
"Fuck you freak!" Emil shouted. Emil shift into bats. The belts restraining him morph into hundred of leather leashes that caught the bats. He tries to turn into mist, and belts glow blue. Emil's mist body then returns to the bed. "What the hell?! Why can't I get out!?"
"Of course you can't escape you dumb mutt. These belts were magically enchanted by me to prevent you from escaping. Now stop struggling, you'll only hurt yourself. I personally don't care if you do, but Lord Lucifer ordered me not to harm you in any way," said MacGregor, sounding disappointed.
MacGregor walks up to Emil's bed. MacGregor snaps his fingers. More leather straps appear and wrap around Emil's forehead, locking him in place.
"Hey, what the hell are you doing?!" Emil asked, trying to move his head.
"Lord Lucifer told me that Peter tampered with your memories. He's ordered me to examine your memory and find out where Lady Rosa is," said MacGregor.
MacGregor places his hand over Emil's forehead and a magical glyph appears. Emil's eyes widened as images of a massive fight in Gremory territory flash in his mind.
Devils attacked Rosa when she was meeting with fans of hers after a Rating Game. Everything was fine until an explosion from outside the building went off. Many innocent people were badly injured. Some of the Devils that attacked the building were powerful, but seemed mindless as they just attacked anyone without thought to who they were. Rosa and the Sins fought against their attackers and killed most of them. The survivors immediately retreated once they realized that they were losing. Just when the dust settled, Rosa and the Sins turned to see another individual. Then, everything's blank.
MacGregor removes his hand from Emil's forehead.
"Interesting, it seems young Peter placed a barrier over your memory of someone. Do you have any idea of who that was at the end?" MacGregor asked.
"How the hell would I know? I don't remember anything," said Emil.
"Ahh… but I know you do. Before you were knocked unconscious, you told Lord Lucifer that you knew the identity of the one who led the attack on Lady Rosa," said MacGregor.
MacGregor places his hand on Emil's forehead again and looks through his memories again. He sees the memory of Emil interrogating the criminal who gave him Ivan's name. MacGregor removes his hand.
"So his name is Ivan Hin. That must be the same man I saw at the end of those memories I saw," MacGregor raises his hand up to his face and a glyph appears on his hand. "Lord Lucifer, it's me MacGregor. I have the name of the man who led the attack on Lady Rosa."
"Good MacGregor. Who is it?" Sirzechs says through the glyph.
"His name is Ivan Hin. His race and appearance are still unknown. Emil has a barrier around the memory of what he might look like," MacGregor explains.
"I see. Continue with what you're doing MacGregor. Remove that barrier immediately. I want to know everything about the man who tried to kill my sister," Sirzechs orders.
"At once, Lord Lucifer," said MacGregor. MacGregor cuts off communications and looks back at Emil. "Now let us resume where we left off."
MacGregor places his hand back on Emil's forehead to examine the barrier.
"AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!" When MacGregor tries to remove it, Emil yells out in pain. MacGregor stops, making Emil quiet down. Emil was breathing heavily.
"I see, this barrier is heavily ingrained in your mind, and if one were to remove it forcibly, it will cause pain for the subject. And it seems only that the one who cast it can remove it safely. Heh heh heh, how unfortunate… for you Hound," said MacGregor with a wicked smile.
"Shut up. Hearing you talk your mouth off is worse than this. Just get back to the torture so I don't have to hear you talk," Emil said in a raspy voice. His face was covered in sweat.
"We're finally in agreement on something, who've thought…" MacGregor commented. MacGregor resumes in removing the barrier in Emil's mind.
"AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!" Emil's screams of pain could be heard throughout MacGregor's tower.
[Meanwhile with the four Sins] Underworld - Outside MacGregor's Tower
Ivor, Aaron, Peter, and Albert teleport several miles away from MacGregor's Tower. The area they arrived in was in a mountain range.
"Why do we have to enter through the front door exactly?" Ivor asked.
"Because, MacGregor's Tower isn't a normal tower. It's a building constructed by his own magic. He can control every aspect of it and can sense if someone is trying to teleport inside. The last time I tried to enter without his permission, he teleported me into an arena filled with Cerberuses. The safest place to enter is the front door," Aaron explains.
The group fly over mountains to where MacGregor's Tower is, with Aaron leading the group. After some time, Aaron's eyes widened and immediately spoke up.
"Everyone get down!" Aaron said before flying straight towards the ground, with everyone following suit. Peter spoke up, sounding annoyed.
"What are we doing Aaron-HHMP!" Aaron immediately covers Peter's mouth.
"Quiet all of you, we're not alone," said Aaron, motioning his hand towards the tower.
The boys looked around the corner to see an army of Devils surrounding MacGregor's Tower, both on the ground and in the air. The tower appears to be made out of stone that stretches up to four clock towers high with a door that has a barrier with a glyph on it.
"Seriously, why are there so many Devils here?!" Peter asked.
"I didn't think Lord Lucifer would summon the military to try and catch us," said Aaron before summoning binoculars.
"How many guys do you think are there?" Ivor asked.
"I'd say around a thousand is my best estimate," said Aaron, looking through the binoculars. He then notices a soldier pull out a pocket watch. "They're carrying watches on them. It's not possible to sneak in without alerting them."
"Great, this is becoming more of a hassle now," said Albert.
"Quit complaining Albert," Aaron uses a communication circle to his ear. "Lance, can you hear me?"
"I'm here, what is it?" Lance said through the circle.
"We're outside MacGregor's Tower but the place is surrounded by an army of soldiers," Aaron explains the situation.
"I see, do you need me over there?" Lance asked.
"Albert, are you able to hypnotize all the soldiers?" Aaron asks Albert.
"Yeah, but I can't do that and fly over to the door at the same time. Someone has to fly me over there so I don't lose my concentration," said Albert.
"I got it, I'll get us over faster than you can blink," said Ivor confidently.
"Okay, let's do that," said Aaron.
"Wait! What happens if the soldiers decide to enter the tower?!" Ivor asked.
"Don't worry about that. MacGregor doesn't let just anyone into his tower. The only ones allowed into his tower are the four Satans, their peerages, and Rosa. Anyone else risks death if they try, and I doubt that's going to change when we break in there," said Aaron.
"When I'm finished here, I'll get to MacGregor's Tower as quickly as I can," said Lance. The communication circle vanishes.
"This is gonna suck…" Albert complains.
Albert raises a hand to his head and activates his Sacred Gear and places all of them under an illusion. Ivor brandish his wings (threes pairs of wings), and grabs Albert and flies him over to the door quickly. Ivor drops off Albert and returns to the others to bring them over quickly in under ten seconds.
"This barrier is quite strong. Peter, help me dispel it," said Aaron.
"Got it," said Peter.
Both Peter and Aaron raise their hands and a magical circle appears over the glyph on the door. The two Devils were overriding the magic of the barrier with their own to allow them to enter the tower. Albert then falls to his knees.
"Hurry up, I'm starting to get tired…" Albert said, sounding tired.
"You're always tired, Albert. We're almost done," replied Aaron.
The glyph eventually disappears and the Sins quickly open the large doors. The Sins rush inside, with Ivor grabbing Albert by his collar to drag him in. The illusions placed on the soldiers were removed and one soldier went into his pockets and pulled out a watch. He noticed the time was different.
"Sir, the time on the watch is five minutes ahead. The Sins broke into the tower!" said a Devil soldier.
"Good, just as planned. Everyone take your positions, we'll capture them on their way out!" The leader shouted. The soldiers move around to face the tower, readying for a fight.
[Back with MacGregor and Emil]
"AAAAUUUGGHHH!" Emil was screaming loudly in pain as MacGregor continued to remove the barrier inside Emil's mind. Emil's body was covered in sweat.
"I should've muzzled you if I'd known you'll howl this loudly. This barrier is stronger than I originally thought," said MacGregor, sounding frustrated.
He then stops suddenly, turning his head to the side.
"Well, it seems I have some unwelcome guests in my tower," said MacGregor. He turns and walks towards the door. "Time to activate the defenses it seems. Don't worry Hound, we'll continue our session soon."
MacGregor leaves the room, leaving an unconscious Emil alone.
Entrance
The Sins were inside the tower.
"(Yawning) That's it… when this is over, I'm sleeping for a week," said Albert, yawning loudly with his eyes closed.
"Take your beauty nap later Albert, we have a problem here," said Aaron.
Albert opens his eyes and looks around. His eyes widened at what he saw.
The inside of the tower had multiple different doors of various sizes and appearances that span along the walls that reach the top of the tower.
"You gotta be kidding me!? Is Emil really behind one of these doors?" said Albert.
"This is ridiculous, how the hell are we going to find Emil in this place!" Peter yelled in frustration.
Before anyone else could speak, a magical hologram of MacGregor appears in front of them.
"Of course I've spotted some rats sneaking into my home. Although… it seems I'm missing two of them," said MacGregor.
"MacGregor, it's good to see you after so long. You must be busy if you can't welcome us in person," said Aaron.
"Ahh… the little crow. It seems you have the intelligence and decency to use the front door this time."
"As much as I love intricate break-ins, you certainly don't make it easy. Might as well just use the front door if it's that difficult."
"That's the idea. Nobody likes having their home being broken into. I thought that after Lady Rosa saving your pathetic life would change your lawless ways. But here you are, breaking and entering like the criminal you are."
"I am a changed man. Meeting my King was the best thing to ever happen to me. I will always be eternally grateful to her. My body, heart, and soul is all for my Lady Rosa." Aaron places his hand over his heart.
"As obnoxious as always. I'll never comprehend why Lady Rosa chose you and the other Sins to be her peerage. And don't think I don't know what you are doing right now. I know you're trying to distract me while you're sensing where the Hound currently is."
"Oh… is that what I'm doing? I'm just curious about the interior decorations. Did you renovate your tower just for us?" Aaron asked.
"Since you're curious, I'll humor you. The doors you see before lead to separate dimensions. Some doors lead to the same place, while others are trick doors with nothing on the other side. And one of these doors lead to I and the Hound." MacGregor explains.
"Interesting, you trying to separate us so you can capture us individually?" Aaron asked.
"Maybe, you'll just have to find out for yourself," said MacGregor before the hologram disappears.
"Okay Aaron, what's the plan here? Because I'm not going to fly around and start opening doors that lead to trap rooms," said Albert.
"Well let's think this through one step at a time. The fact that MacGregor isn't here to fight us means that he's doing something more important right now," said Aaron.
"Which means that MacGregor is still trying to remove the barrier I placed in Emil's mind," Peter spoke.
"Exactly, and with how many doors are here, it's most likely that MacGregor just started to work on removing the barrier in Emil's mind or is having more trouble removing it. So he set up his tower in this way so he can stall for time," stated Aaron.
"Okay, makes sense so far. But how do we find Emil in this tower?" Ivor asked, with his hands on the back of his head.
Aaron walks up to a specific door that looks wooden. He places a hand on it and feels magic coming off it.
"MacGregor is right. Some of these doors do lead to traps. But some doors don't have magic coming from them. Ivor, as the fastest of us all, your job is to start from the top of the tower and open the doors that don't have magic behind them," said Aaron.
"I thought MacGregor said nothing would be behind them," Ivor replied.
"Yeah, but he could easily be lying about that and have a passage that leads to him and Emil," said Aaron.
"Alright then, see you when I get down here," said Ivor. He summons his wings and flies at inhuman speeds towards the top of the tower.
"Okay, the top of the tower is covered for the most part. Now for the bottom, Albert!" said Aaron.
"Oh great… what do you want me to do?" Albert said, sounding annoyed.
"Don't worry Albert, your job is simple. All you need to do is summon multiple illusion duplicates of yourself and have them open the magical doors to see if Emil is behind them," said Aaron bluntly.
"What part of that plan sounded simple to you?" Albert asked with his hands on his hips.
"It's smart. You send you clones to open up doors to confirm whether there are traps or not. That will save us on time and is the safest plan for when we inevitably fight MacGregor," Aaron explains.
"Easy for you to say, I'm the one who'd be doing the most work," Albert complains.
"I know that you aren't used to working too much, but put it this way; if you put in the extra effort to find our fellow peerage member, think of how pleased Lady Rosa will be when we reunite with her. You want to make Rosa happy, don't you?" Aaron said.
Albert looks at Aaron and takes a deep breath.
"Fine fine, I'll do it. Let's just get this over with," said Albert.
Albert's eyes glow purple and multiple clones of himself appear by the dozens. These clones were made with minimal magic to be cannon fodder.
He silently orders them to open the doors that have magic coming from them. The clones open the doors and immediately disappear. After a minute, Albert spoke up.
"This set of clones were all extinguished," said Albert.
"Keep going, me and Peter will open the magic-less doors," said Aaron.
"(Sigh) I hope Lance is having a better time than we are," said Peter as he and Aaron start opening doors.