Grand Quest
Azazel gazed out at the multiple squads of devil soldiers hustling to their current assignments. The fallen angel wished they were making good progress on the search for the Sith Lords, but he had a feeling that the search isn't going well. Many of the soldiers lacked adequate sleep from the constant search missions, evident by their bloodshot eyes and diminished alertness.
Azazel turned around and walked back to the headquarters of the makeshift base he and his men made out in the Underworld wilderness. There were many devils walking in various directions, and as Azazel strode along, two devils were walking towards him going the opposite direction, close enough to where Azazel can overhear their conversation. The two soldiers were so engrossed in their conversation that they never noticed Azazel passing nearby.
"I don't get it," said one soldier. "Why don't we just find the Sith's general location and then bomb the whole area?"
The taller soldier replied, "Because we don't even know their general location. And I know what you're thinking, but we can't just go out and bomb the entire Underworld."
Azazel was surprised that his subordinates are already thinking of extreme ideas, but he ignored the comments and continued on towards the HQ. The Governor General is on his way to meet with one of the battalion commanders for an updated status report, and after an additional two hundred feet of walking, Azazel arrived at the large HQ tent.
The commander turned around and said, "I'm assuming you're here for another status report, sir?"
Azazel nodded. "The same drill as usual."
"Would you like to hear the bad news or the worse news first?" the ultimate-class devil asked.
Azazel hesitated, this is the first time he's been notified of "worse" news.
"Let's hear the bad news first," Azazel requested.
"All of our search teams have returned with negative results on their missions, and no intel clues were acquired either," said the pure-blooded devil. "Fatigue is also taking a toll on our men, thus we will need to decrease our search rate to revitalize the troops back to optimal efficiency."
"Many of our soldiers' eyes do look like pissholes in the snow," Azazel acknowledged. "Now let's hear the worse news."
The commander stated, "Three patrol squads from the 8th platoon were attacked by unknown hostiles while escorting their respective search squads. Sixteen of our men were killed and several others were injured, and the small enemy group retreated before we could deliver a counterattack. Our squads believe it was a targeted ambush, as though the hostiles were trying to impede our search efforts."
"Could they have been devil separatists?" Azazel questioned.
"Unlikely, sir," the commander answered. "Their uniforms did not bear the mark of the rebellion, and unlike the separatists, these attackers were well-trained and very organized. Furthermore, the enemy group consisted of devils and other races such as fallen angels, Asgardians and even vampires."
Azazel shook his head in disbelief. "Asgardians and vampires? You're sure it's not the Khaos Brigade?"
"Our witnesses were fairly certain that the group wasn't Brigade terrorists," the commander confirmed. "Their outfits didn't match those of the Khaos Brigade and their tactics and combat styles were completely different."
Azazel pondered on the details, then said, "I'll need to relay this information to Asmodeus. Keep me updated on any new traces of this militant group or the Sith."
"Yes sir," the commander replied.
Azazel left the HQ tent and walked to his personal tent nearby. Once he arrived, the fallen angel sat down on the wooden chair next to the cheap coffee table. He spawned a magic circle on the table that showed the silhouette of Falbium Asmodeus.
"Good day, Azazel," the Satan greeted. "Any luck on tracking down the Sith?"
"None yet," Azazel replied. "And to make things worse, a few of my battalion's patrol squads encountered a hostile group of militants that ambushed them while escorting the search teams. The battalion commander told me that the enemies were neither devil separatists nor Khaos Brigade terrorists, and they're skilled enough to kill and injure several of my soldiers."
"Was this a random or planned attack?" asked Asmodeus.
Azazel explained, "It seemed to have been planned, and the nature of the attack suggested that they were trying to hinder our search efforts."
"This is quite troublesome," Asmodeus frowned. "Some of my army's search squads have been stalked by unknown suspects, and when my teams closed in, the suspects were gone. I believe these stalkers are apart of the same organization as your attackers."
"Great, so they're in multiple locations," Azazel complained. "This makes everything a lot more difficult."
Asmodeus then said, "That's why I want to double the search teams' patrol escorts. Even if that means our search rate is reduced; we cannot afford to lose more search teams in combat than necessary."
Azazel sighed. "I guess we don't have much of a choice."
Unbeknown to Azazel or Asmodeus, Cao Cao and his Order of Bane are off to a good start with disrupting devil search efforts. After Tenebrous and Plagueis's grand orders were declared, the Order of Bane was now on the verge of harassing every mythology taking part in the hunt for the Sith Lords. As Azazel continued to talk with Asmodeus, the fallen angel thought back to what those two soldiers said about bombing the Underworld, and he was starting to think of it as not all that bad of an idea.
Governor's Hall, Grigori
Darth Tenebrous studied Governor's Hall through the spaces of a bush, as did his escort of forty soldiers from their own hiding spots. A large building similar in appearance to an American Smithsonian, Governor's Hall is the main administrative center of the fallen angels named after Azazel's rank of Governor General. The building is located in the heart of the Grigori (fallen angel) territory of the Underworld, and it is the place where Azazel, Shemhazai, Baraqiel and the other founders of Grigori assemble to make important decisions and pass legislative laws.
From the Order of Bane's current intel, a power container is supposedly stored somewhere inside the building, but no one in the Order knows whether it's Great Red's power or not. Tenebrous had read one of Darth Bane's journals handed to him by Cao Cao (which the human had taken from the Sith Sanctum before it was destroyed), and the journal contained all the information Bane uncovered about Great Red's power. Tenebrous learned about the power's appearance and how it felt through the Force, but he would need to get close to it to be able to study it on an atomic level. The Bith could sense a magical power deep within the building, but he can't tell exactly what it is.
Tenebrous looked over at the task force captain and said, "Order your men to infiltrate the main floor, I will take the upper levels."
"Yes, Lord Tenebrous," the captain replied.
The Sith Lord departed immediately and closed in on the building; he did not want other people slowing him down. While using Force speed to accelerate himself towards his target, Tenebrous thought about things he would not want to think about with his apprentice nearby. Thankfully, Plagueis is off on his own mission elsewhere.
Tenebrous was thinking about his secret apprentice Darth Venamis. A younger male Bith Tenebrous trained during his spare time, Venamis was designed to eliminate and replace Plagueis should the Muun become weak and unworthy. Venamis had been trained extensively in learning Plagueis's combat style and being able to counter the Muun's every move, and Tenebrous believes that Venamis will likely succeed over Plagueis should the Muun's death be necessary. Tenebrous's violation of the Rule of Two is the first violation in centuries where the Master trained more than one apprentice at a time.
Tenebrous had given Venamis several tasks to accomplish in his absence, so the younger Bith was likely off doing those tasks back in their home galaxy. But Tenebrous couldn't help but wonder if Venamis noticed his disappearance from the galaxy through the Force, and if so, he questioned what Venamis was doing in response to it. Venamis is a smart person, but he still has much to learn about the intricacies of the Grand Plan. Tenebrous feared that Venamis may be off doing things that could possibly hinder the Grand Plan's progress.
Tenebrous put those worries aside and focused on the task at hand. He was now climbing the outer wall of the building and approaching the roof of the building's lower portion. After raising himself over the roof's edge, Tenebrous used Force-enhanced jumps to leap onto the various layers of pillars that decorated the building's upper portion. He then leaped through a window at the top floor and infiltrated Governor's Hall.
Tenebrous can sense many people in the building, hundreds in fact. Some of them are the task force members that were now sneaking around the main floor, while the rest are potential hostiles. Tenebrous narrowed down the power container's location through the Force, and he carefully snuck through the upper floors while disabling security cameras. After descending the stairs of eight floors, Tenebrous found himself inside a vast chamber that contained expensive paintings, jewelry and artifacts stored inside many display casings. He walked through the aisles of treasures until he came across a locked vault along the back wall. Tenebrous could sense the power container behind the vault door, and while approaching the vault he also sensed the presence of a sensor system monitoring it. Tenebrous halted before entering the system's detection radius, then he used the Force to disable the system altogether.
The Bith continued walking again until he stood a few meters away from the vault door. Tenebrous put a hand forward and used the Force to crush the thick vault door and tear it off its large steel hinges. He then tossed the hunk of metal aside and stepped inside the room that had nothing but the power container on a tall stand. As soon as Tenebrous laid eyes on the power device, he knew it wasn't the correct one he was looking for.
According to Bane's journal, the power of Great Red has a red hue and glows so bright that it's hard to look at directly, but the one in front of Tenebrous is light blue and not hard on the eyes. The Bith still wanted to check its atomic composition and energy signatures to make sure that it's truly not Great Red's power, so he put his hands on the device and peered his senses into the energy field within. He would have had a very hard time scanning it from a distance because the magical power is highly energetic and unstable, and even with his hands on the device it still took him some time to scan its atomic makeup. Just like its appearance, Tenebrous discovered that the magical power isn't that of Great Red according to the journal.
That doesn't mean it's useless though. Tenebrous believes that the device can help him or his allies in other ways, so he decided to take this unknown power with him. Clipping the box to the straps on his dorsal utility pack, the Bith walked out of the vault and strode across the chamber floor.
Tenebrous suddenly stopped when his Force senses told him that something is wrong. He expanded his awareness down to the lower levels and perceived the beginning of a battle on the main floor. A moment later, loud alarms went off throughout the entire building including the chamber Tenebrous was in. His task force was spotted…
The Bith can sense a few hundred people making their way to the chamber he was standing in. He was about to flee, but Tenebrous changed his mind. After all the time he has spent in the Underworld so far, he hadn't fought anyone yet, and Tenebrous was itching for a fight. He also saw this as an opportunity to learn about the combat prowess of mythological beings. Fallen angels entered the chamber through several doors along the walls, and some arrived at the balcony overhead. More soldiers piled inside while two notable individuals directed the company.
"Secure every square foot of this room, we cannot let the invaders reach our treasures!" Shemhazai shouted from the left door entrance.
Baraqiel had just arrived at the balcony when Shemhazai spoke. The fallen angel soldiers scanned the room between the display aisles and along the outer contour. The many aisles of treasures and fortunes blocked a lot of the view across the room, so they did not spot Tenebrous right away. But when they finally found him near the back wall, everyone halted and stared in disbelief.
Tenebrous calmly looked at the many bewildered faces, his eyes and alien appearance frightening everyone in the room. Nobody knew who he was exactly, but the sight of the Bith's lightsaber hilt and dark side eyes identified him as a Sith Lord. Soldiers that had their weapons drawn did not fire a single shot, and the soldiers who didn't simply stood there not knowing what to do. Shemhazai didn't know what to do either, and he looked up at Baraqiel in the distance for suggestions.
Baraqiel swallowed hard, then said loudly, "Open fire."
Many fallen angels exchanged concerned looks in response to the order.
A squad leader questioned the order. "But sir, what about the treasures?"
"Forget the treasures!" Baraqiel yelled. "Kill that Sith Lord!"
Just as Tenebrous activated his lightsaber, dozens of energy bolts from magic spears and tridents raced towards him in a sea of firepower. The energy bolts travel far slower than blaster bolts from Tenebrous's home galaxy, and not knowing this fact initially, Tenebrous almost overextended when deflecting the first bolt with his lightsaber. After deflecting the next group of bolts, his lightsaber sequences have adjusted to the slower speed and were now in perfect sync with the energy attacks.
Energy bolts were deflected at the ceiling, floor, walls and treasure casings while others were redirected back at fallen angels. Soldiers at the front were dropping dead one by one and casings exploded in spectacular waves of shattered glass and material. Tenebrous then moved to the opposite side of the room with such speed that he seemed to have instantly teleported. At his new spot, he continued to study their combat tendencies while casually deflecting more energy bolts.
With more soldiers falling to the ground dead, Shemhazai and Baraqiel decided to attack with their own magical powers. Shemhazai spawned several light spears from the left side of the room while Baraqiel prepared his holy lightning from the balcony. Tenebrous slapped away light spears with his lightsaber and dodged others, all while deflecting the continuous waves of energy bolts. Baraqiel sent a powerful bolt of holy lightning down at Tenebrous, but the Bith emerged at the opposite side of the room far away from the bolt. While Tenebrous deflected and dodged more energy bolts and light spears, Baraqiel unleashed another bolt of holy lightning that was absorbed in Tenebrous's left hand with the Force power of tutaminis. Tilting his hand to the side, Tenebrous released the stored holy lightning as two bolts that killed two soldiers to his left side.
Shemhazai took a moment to look at all the wounded and dead soldiers in the room that lost a lot of its valuable treasures, and he decided to change tactics and take matters into his own hands. After Tenebrous absorbed Baraqiel's next holy lightning bolt harmlessly on his lightsaber, Shemhazai charged forward while shooting a quick wave of light spears at the Bith. Tenebrous deflected and dodged the spears with contemptuous ease, and at that moment Shemhazai spawned a light sword in his hands for close quarters combat. At the same time, Tenebrous grew tired of toying with the fallen angels and now decided to end the battle quickly.
Unfortunately for Shemhazai, he mistook Tenebrous's passiveness as a lack of fighting ability, but little did he know that the Sith Lord was actually studying their combat competence and treating the whole fight as a mere training session. Shemhazai was enveloped in a storm of red Force lightning shot from Tenebrous's left hand, and the lightning's energy immediately lifted his body off the ground and slammed him into the wall overhead. Shemhazai's corpse landed in a heap with his bones seemingly turned to dust. The Vice Governor General was killed instantly on contact, and his smoking body alarmed everyone still alive in the room.
Many soldiers began to retreat while others tried to evacuate the wounded. Baraqiel remained still, traumatized by the abrupt and brutal death of his close friend. Tenebrous deactivated his lightsaber due to the absence of energy bolts being shot at him, then he turned and looked directly at Baraqiel standing near the balcony railing. The Bith took a few long strides, then jumped and soared through the air at Baraqiel.
The Cadre backed away several steps and watched Tenebrous land on the balcony with strong posture. Baraqiel charged up his holy lightning and shot a powerful bolt at the Sith Lord's torso. Tenebrous used tutaminis to casually absorb the lightning bolt and redirect it back at the fallen angel who wasn't expecting his own attack to be used against him. The bolt knocked Baraqiel on his back after striking him in the stomach; Baraqiel's lightning can kill a high-class devil or injure an ultimate-class devil in a single strike, so he felt a considerable amount of pain. The fallen angel gazed at Tenebrous with beads of sweat streaming down his face.
"You and I are going to have a quick discussion," Tenebrous said with a menacing look on his face.
Lucifaad, Underworld
Darth Plagueis peeked around the corner of an old brick apartment at the north end of Lucifaad. He waited for three city police officers to leave the front gates and check out for the night. Plagueis was getting ready to infiltrate the Lucifaad Congress Building where, according to gathered intel, a power container is stored. Just like Plagueis's previous mission where he found the power of Sephiroth Graal, he has no clue what magical power device is stored in the Congress Building. Once the three officers left their posts, Plagueis turned the corner and sped towards his target.
Lucifaad is arguably the Underworld's most unique city. It was the original devil capital ruled by the original Lucifer, and although Lilith is the current devil capital, Lucifaad is still the most sacred devil city. Its cultural and historical importance is so great that no clan can have any influence on it, unlike every other city that belongs to a clan territory. Even Lilith is influenced by the clan in which the current Lucifer came from before taking the Satan title. Since Lucifaad is free from the monarchial and aristocratic powers of the devil clans, the city is instead run by a mayor and a city council who are elected democratically.
After the Great War when Lilith became the new capital, the Four Great Satans at that time made Lucifaad the only democratic state in the Underworld, and mixed with its newfound autonomy, the city became the Underworld's version of Hong Kong. The mayor and city councillors have a lot of power over the affairs of their city and the Underworld since only the four Satans can override anything that goes on in Lucifaad. It is said that the mayor of Lucifaad is as powerful and influential as the head of the Bael clan.
Plagueis was now past the perimeter fence of the Lucifaad Congress Building, the place where the mayor and city councillors of Lucifaad come together for legislative meetings. Unlike Tenebrous, Plagueis did not request for a task force to accompany him on his missions because he believes he can accomplish more things on his own. That decision proved useful when he infiltrated the building through a large air vent without further ado.
Plagueis carefully crawled through the air vents inside the ceiling of the first floor. He did not travel anywhere specific though; ever since he arrived at the complex, Plagueis couldn't recognize any power devices through his Force senses. This concerned him a bit since he was able to feel the power of the Sephiroth Graal before he even entered the building it was stored in, but he never let it bother him. Plagueis knew that the powers inside each container have different properties and energy signatures, meaning that some may be harder to detect than others.
The Muun quietly removed the screen of a vent opening over two security guards who were working on the night shift, and after reorienting himself, Plagueis dropped to the floor feet first. He landed right in between both guards, and with awesome speed and precision, Plagueis snapped the spine of one guard with a chop to the back of the neck. Looking at the other guard, Plagueis twisted and unleashed a kick that caved in the man's chest and sent him flying down the hallway. The Sith Lord then grabbed both bodies and tossed them in a small storage room to avoid them being spotted in the open.
Plagueis continued down the hallway and turned right to ascend a flight of stairs. He was somewhat surprised at the lack of security forces inside this building, especially compared to the building that housed the Sephiroth Graal device which was crawling with armed guards. After climbing four floors, Plagueis opened the door and snuck down the new hallway. He briefly blended in with the shadows to avoid detection from three guards passing by, then he used Force speed to arrive at his intended destination a lot faster.
Plagueis now found himself inside the Congress Building's legislative auditorium, the building's largest room centered right in the heart of the complex. He expected the power device to be hidden in here somewhere, but he could not sense its presence. Plagueis then thoroughly scanned every floor of the building for the power container, but unfortunately he could not sense it anywhere.
"A decoy," Plagueis thought.
With the apparent significance of these power devices, Plagueis realized that some of the containers may be located somewhere else; false intel used to mislead anyone trying to find them. Another possibility is that the power device was recently moved to another location, and the intel he received from his agents was outdated.
Plagueis was about to leave when he received a premonition about the future only minutes from now: emergency alarms echoed through the building hallways and three groups of young devils searched for intruders inside the auditorium. Plagueis knows that he and his Master no longer need to hide from the world since they have an army at their disposal, and he wondered if Tenebrous decided to reveal himself to his enemies. Plagueis was interested in talking with the devils that will soon search the auditorium, and after deciding to stay and wait, Plagueis walked over to one of the seats in the third row and sat down in the darkness. The Muun could sense a person entering the storage room where he hid the two bodies, and a few moments later the emergency alarms went off.
[…]
Saji sighed while staring at the ceiling. "Dude, I'm so bored."
Issei said from the other end of the couch, "Why don't we play some cards?"
"Do you even know any card games?" Kiba chuckled.
Issei replied, "I've played a few games of blackjack before."
"Which means you probably suck ass," Saji joked.
Issei and his friends were relaxing in the guest lounge of one of Lucifaad's finest hotels. Merely hours ago, they had just finished another scouting run with the devil military, but Azazel took them away from the battalion for a two-day break. He realized that Issei, Rias, Sona and their peerages needed some rest like a lot of the overworked devil soldiers, so Azazel brought them to this hotel. Lucifaad is the closest major city to where the scouting missions are being run, so it was a quick trip for Issei and the others.
Azazel opened the doors of the guest lounge and walked while talking to someone on the magic comm.
"Azazel? I thought you were going back to the search area," said Rias.
The magic circle next to Azazel's ear disappeared. "I was just about to leave when I got a call from the police. Someone has broken into the Congress Building."
Sona mentioned, "If the police called you about a break-in, it must be pretty serious."
Azazel nodded. "Two security guards were brutally killed, and their bodies were found inside a storage room. The building's security team is searching for any suspects, but they haven't found anyone yet."
"Then let's help them!" Issei suggested.
"I was just about to ask you guys that," Azazel smiled. "I'm going over there myself, seeing how understaffed their security team is. And I can tell that you guys are itching for some action."
[…]
Plagueis calmly waited while the building's small security team searched for him. Eventually, the three groups of devils he envisioned opened the doors to the auditorium and walked into the black room.
"It's awfully dark in here," Xenovia pointed out.
"Keep your eyes and ears sharp," said Rias, "the intruder could be anywhere."
Issei, Rias, Sona and their peerages searched around cautiously from the small lighted area that was illuminated from the lights beyond the door entrance. They stepped a bit further into the room until they heard a voice coming from the shadows.
"Who are you expecting to find?" Plagueis called out from his seat.
Everyone halted and quickly turned in the direction of the voice.
"A murderous jerk," Saji answered. "Probably a devil separatist."
"The first remark is accurate, but the second one, not so much," said Plagueis.
Plagueis rose from his seat and walked into the light to reveal himself. Everyone froze in awe at the sight of the alien Sith Lord, each one of them observing his elongated head, dark side eyes and other Muun features. From fear and prior knowledge, each devil knew not to provoke the Sith Lord in any way, or else they may suffer from consequences that they may not be able to fight off.
"Y-You're a Sith Lord…" Tsubaki faltered.
"Yes," Plagueis stated. "I am Darth Plagueis, the most recent addition to the Banite lineage."
There was a brief moment of silence before the next person spoke. Nobody dared question his alien appearance.
"Why are you here?" Issei asked with a furrowed brow.
"That I will not answer," Plagueis replied.
"Then answer this," Akeno demanded. "Why are you destroying the Underworld?"
Plagueis thought about his ambient energy, then replied with a cruel smirk, "My Master and I thought about how appropriate it was for the dark side to be hiding on such a beautiful planet. We could suppress our powers, but we want the dark side to spread as far down as the planet's core."
"You monster!" Ingvild shouted.
"Am I a monster, or am I simply stronger than others?" Plagueis remarked. "Is it truly unjust for me to display my powers to the world when power is all that your society values? I've done a lot of research on your mythologies, especially this 'Underworld', and every bit of it fascinates me. For centuries, your kind fought and quarrelled for power to fulfill their dreams and desires, so much so that the sport of the millennium is the Rating Game. And as soon as someone oppresses your world with their power, just like your kind has done to the humans of Earth, you cower in fear and cling to your arrogance."
Plagueis paused to gaze at their stunned faces, then continued, "Your society does not understand the principles of power. When you obtain power, you must also have the strength to keep it. The weak will try to usurp your rule; an event that is currently unfolding. And from the looks of it, the strong will be ousted."
"There's more to life than power," Kiba argued back. "At least we're not corrupted like you Sith."
"So misguided," Plagueis mocked.
Plagueis could sense a magic circle form in one of the devils' hands. Rias had a hand hidden behind her back with a circle that was linked to the military forces that Azazel brought with him.
"If you think your soldiers will stop me, then so be it. Let them meet their fate," Plagueis declared. "I want you to return to your leaders and tell them how foolish they all are. Perhaps with time, they will learn the truth of the universe and see things the way they are. But for young ones like you to learn, time alone is not enough. To truly understand, you must be given a small taste of the dark side."
At Plagueis's last words, devil soldiers flooded through the entrance behind Issei and his friends. The Muun sprung forward with blinding speed and attacked the soldiers with his bare hands. He crushed the head of one soldier then plunged his fists through two torsos, turning around to smear the faces of Issei, Ingvild and Xenovia with his filthy hands. Plagueis then ripped off the arms of two soldiers and killed them with their own limbs, turning to smear the clothes of Saji, Ruruko and Tomoe with blood. Plagueis continued to smash skulls, tear off limbs, snap necks and plunge his fists through armored torsos, all while weaving his way through the three peerages to paint their bodies with his bloody hands.
Hardly any time had passed when Plagueis killed the last soldier and returned to his original spot in the room. Issei was drenched in the blood of the fallen soldiers, as was everyone else. Their faces were covered in splotches and marks and their clothes were ruined with stains and streaks. Few of them had barely moved during the attack; it happened so fast that it was all a blur of motion with no time to react. They all stood still and silent, traumatized beyond anything they experienced in the past.
Issei and his friends saw the gore and blood of battle several times before, many of them having suffered their own battlefield injuries as well. But what they never thought possible was for them to be drenched in someone else's blood and guts…to taste a person's blood in their mouths and smell it off their own skin. The killings alone were extremely brutal, and having bodily fluids turned on them were beyond the peerages' imagination. And the fact that it was the blood of allies made their anxiety ten times worse.
The set of doors at the opposite end of the chamber opened, then rushed in Azazel and four soldiers. The Governor General's face went pale when he saw his pupils soaked in blood.
"RUN!" Azazel shouted. "I'll hold him o-"
With a strong downward sweep of his hands, Plagueis brought down 80 meters worth of building on top of Azazel and the soldiers so fast that they couldn't perceive what had happened. The roof of the back half of the room had collapsed completely, and so much of the building came down that the outer parts around the auditorium started to creak and groan. The debris crushed the four soldiers to pulp, but it is not known whether Azazel is still alive or not.
"Azazel!" Issei cried.
Rias pulled on Issei's arm. "Issei, we have to go!"
"I'm not leaving Azazel behind!" Issei yelled back.
Plagueis used the Force to start piling slabs of stone and concrete in the form of a staircase. The gaping hole at the top of the building is very high up, and Plagueis admitted that nothing else short of a jetpack will get him out.
"Come on Issei, we need to leave!" Saji shouted.
Rias and Kiba pulled Issei back while military reinforcements stormed through the entrance behind them.
"All of you need to evacuate, now!" exclaimed the squad sergeant.
The three peerages ran out of the auditorium while the devil reinforcements closed in on Plagueis. The Sith Lord had just finished piling debris when the squads opened fire on him. Plagueis dodged energy bolts while leaping up the stages of the makeshift staircase, making his way higher through the ruined floors of the building. Once he reached the top, Plagueis jumped onto the exterior roof and ran in the direction of the city border.
He jumped from rooftop to rooftop across the streets of Lucifaad, doing so for kilometers until he reached the city's perimeter wall. Lucifaad always had a defense wall that surrounded the entire city, but it was heavily reinforced during the past few years. The ancient city is at the border of separatist-claimed territory and just inside loyalist territory, though it is still autonomous and only answers to the four Satans. The separatists have Lucifaad as a primary target because if they capture the city, loyalist morale would be severely crippled due to Lucifaad's cultural and economical significance. As such, Lucifaad's outer wall is constantly under fire from rebel forces.
Plagueis grinded to a halt on the roof of the last building before the perimeter wall. The space between him and the wall is huge, too far for him to make it in one jump. While analyzing his surroundings, perimeter forces spotted him on the roof, and they responded by sending four hovercraft his way. The vessels operated on magic and looked like miniature barges with a pilot controlling each one at the rear. A dozen devil soldiers were stationed at the front and middle part of each craft, and the soldiers of the closest vessel opened fire at the Sith Lord with their spear-like weapons. While deflecting energy bolts with his lightsaber, Plagueis made a hand gesture that brought the vessel into a dive, sending it crashing into the ground.
The next two magic craft opened fire, this time moving to Plagueis's flanks while ascending higher above his head. Before they were able to move to his sides, Plagueis reached out with his hands to send both craft hurtling towards each other, resulting in a mid-air collision that destroyed the vessels. The last vessel tried approaching the Sith Lord with quick changes in direction at an altitude below the rooftop. While the soldiers opened fire, Plagueis let the vessel get close enough to him so he can jump onto it at the right moment. Once it took a sharp turn to the right, Plagueis leaped into the air while firing a burst of blue Force lightning that decimated the pilot and the twelve soldiers. After landing in the center of the craft, Plagueis quickly moved to the helm to take control of the vessel. The hovercraft was badly damaged by his Force lightning, and its magical engine was on the verge of cutting out. Plagueis used whatever life was left in the engine to elevate him over the perimeter wall and fly him out of the city.
After flying for a few kilometers, the engine gave out. The vessel began to glide over the landscape, and it was losing altitude fast. A moment before impact, Plagueis jumped out of the vessel and used the Force to quickly slow his speed and hover a few feet above the ground. Setting himself down, Plagueis briefly looked back at the wreckage, then left the scene. He sped across the Underworld landscape as a ghostly dust devil in the direction of the Mundane.
Asgardian search party, Underworld
Elsewhere in the Underworld, a large Asgardian search platoon was looking for any signs of the Sith Lords. Odin had ordered them to enter the Underworld and begin searching.
"Send search teams 3 and 7 to Sector Delta," said the Asgardian captain. "We need to cover as much ground as possible."
"Yes sir!" replied the junior officer.
Once the young man left, the captain returned his gaze to the many Asgardian soldiers scattered across the plains. A few moments later, two unexpected visitors appeared out of magic circles.
"Need a hand, Captain?" said one of the visitors.
The Asgardian turned around and saw Shiva and Vishnu hovering a few meters above the ground. He marveled in awe at their glorious armor and felt happy to receive their aid.
"I sure do," the captain replied.