Nyx was upset as Jenneh came back to her after calling dark reinforcements.
"WHERE IS THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS?" interrogated Nyx.
"I... I know not where he is..." said Jenneh.
"I have to find him. If that demon is not found, I will bring impending doom and cover this world in blood and darkness!"
Suddenly, another demonic voice interrupted.
"It cannot be done, Nyx. Thou art responsible for thy failure to stop the Heavenly Host from interrupting our rites. Remember, I gave thee a deal. If thou hast succeeded, half of my wealth and power will be given to thee and thy cult. Thou knowest my rules."
"Selfish filth! Because I failed to stop that angel from infiltrating our cult, thou art not giving me more power? I accepted thy deal for thee to stop this immense greed thou hast!"
The demon showed in an intimidating guise.
The demon was seen as having four black angelic wings, has chains in both his forearms and forelegs, has sharp claws in both his hands and feet, wears a long black coat while exposing his handsome torso, has flaming eyes with large goat horns, and wears black trousers. He was handsome regardless of his form, and radiated a darker aura.
Nyx perceived him familiar, considering him as an archdemon, and therefore as her master.
"There can be only one Prince of Darkness, Nyx. And it is I."
"Saith the Devil who refuseth to give me more power to lord over a devoted cult responsible for worshipping both thee and me!"
"I never hesitate to give thee another chance, Nyx. Fail me once again, and thou wilt suffer my eternal wrath. And as for that outcast with the name of Nick, I want thee to order thy cultists to capture him, dead or alive. If the so-called 'faithful' people will protect him regardless of his demonic allegiance, they in actuality lost their minds."
"And I referred Nick as the Prince of Darkness, fiend. Not thee."
"That traitor. I am aware that he turned his back on us, the Infernal Legion, and chose to live in peace as a human. I won't give him more chances. Regret is always coming last for him. Now, for thee to get monitored, I entrusted Mammon regarding our aforementioned deal. Thou knowest my rules, Nyx. Do not give me incompetence!"
The Devil disappeared as a fading shadow, as Nyx was frustrated of such event.
Jenneh was terrified as Satan was having an encounter with her worshipped Nyx.
While the Unclean Spirits, Familiars, and even the hooded cultists chased Zen and Mana, another demon started mutilating the chasing demons.
A rain of blood and gore spewed in the forest canopy, as the cultists were astonished of his coming.
That bestial demon had a black body with goat horns, flaming eyes, sharp large ears, has his chest that showed glowing red cracks, each of his forearms and forelegs having glowing red streaks in its entirety, his spine having blood-red protruding horns running down, and a large pair of bat wings that unfurl.
His large ebony sword has a spine handle with a blood-red jewel on its pommel, has a hand guard showing a design of large demon skull with mouth wide open with a pair of bat wings, and his blade, full of demonic flesh, seemingly splitting into two in the middle to conjure another blade of red demonic energy.
That demon showed himself in human form as Nick, knowing that he used his form against both Maria and Belial before.
A cultist screamed in front of him.
"THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS! CAPTURE HIM!"
Nick remained calm, silent, and focused, while surrounded by the hooded cultists and necromancers, Shades, and even the newcoming Avarices.
The Avarices are gigantic horned beasts with six eyes. They had large tails, protruding spines, sharp claws on their hands and feet, and their stomachs had large mouths that when opened, contained A LOT of precious metals and gems. They are some of Mammon's minions, like the False Prophets being Belial's.
His longsword, Gehenna, shown to have an upper skull and teeth of a horned goat on either side, radiated with a red aura.
The cultists launched an all-out attack on Nick, only to be hit by an explosion from the fires of Hell around him. The Shades were also burned in the process.
The Avarices created boulders resembling gold ores, and threw them at Nick, only to be slashed in two and exploded.
The remaining cultists retreated to Nyx as the rest had power to reanimate the Soulseekers, some of the common demons in Hell.
Soulseekers are much like Inferi without flames, but they were donned with black hooded cloaks and carried scythes.
Nick threw his sword, and as it spun, the Soulseekers and the cultists had themselves beheaded with spewing blood on their necks. He caught his sword as it came back to him. As he prepared himself for the Avarices, Gehenna ignited in flames.
The Unclean Spirits, which were floating black-eyed spirits that wore black hooded cloaks and had pulsating veins all over their incorporeal bodies, distracted Nick with their screams resembling the screams of those who suffered in Hell. Once close, they used their sharp claws to scratch him, but Nick countered them by just his flaming sword, and finally rushed to the Avarices.
"So all of you were more like corrupt monarchs of the living, eh?" said Nick, still remembering his mindset.
One of the Avarices spoke up.
"What hast thou done, Prince of Darkness? Even our master, Satan the Devil, is who thou betrayest!"
"Even if I am a demon like you, I have a rational choice to spare human lives. It is about not my betrayal but my choice. My choice, for I, too, am a human being, just like the victims we fellow demons mercilessly tainted. The thing thou knowest not is, while humans are always subjected to conflicts with other humans, what is behind those conflicts is that our master, Satan the Devil, is using them for his guaranteed satisfaction in exchange of the loss of their sanity."
"Sin? Is that what thou art talking about? Who commiteth sins? A human being. Who maketh decisions that are against his or her reasonable will? A human. Humans only blame us demons for any evil incident that they themselves take part of! Thou shalt be ashamed of having a blood, or a soul, of a human!"
"And who induceth sins, then? A human or a demon?"
"The Devil hath nothing to do with the corruption of man. It was at the minds of these mortals, their immense desires for power and wealth drove them to their corruption!"
"What I have seen when we meet in Hell is reflecting what I have seen when humans take part in this material world. Thou art the manifestation of what thou sayest to me. Such desires for power and wealth humans have driven them to their greed when acquired. Hah! Thy words have favored me this time. Tell me, Avarice, dost thou think thou hast NO immense desire for more power and wealth while I know thou hast everything? Thou art not contented!"
"Try to insult me, Prince of Darkness, and thou hast nothing left once dead. Everything thou hast in this world, even in Hell, will be acquired by demons like us! Thou hast no place in this world."
"And thou hast no soul inside thee, which is why thou needest every soul from every slain victim. Must we compete?"
Nick charged against the Avarices and dodged the flaming boulders they fired from their stomachs, and successfully cut the head of one of them. The other Avarices smashed Nick's body to the ground, but he sliced the smashing arms.
As Nick struggled to get up in place, the sword absorbed demonic blood as he infused it with fire, splitting the Avarices into two through his slash. As a result, the demons exploded in boiling blood while Nick, exhausted and in pain, was immersed in it.
"Got much pain while beating them all up... I need a short repose..."
Maria and Gabriel appeared in a ray of light in front of Nick leaning on a tree.
"Nick, art thou feeling-" Maria attempted to ask him but was interrupted.
"I am fine. These gigantic demons were just pains in the neck."
Gabriel witnessed another wave of Familiars.
"Go to a safer tree, ye two. I will purify these spirits."
Using his scepter, he cast a powerful blast of holy light after praying. Surrounded by the Familiars, the blast of light set the trapped souls free from these demons. The Familiars' husks were turned to ash.
The Unclean Spirits also charged at Gabriel, invoking the archangel with fear.
"I have faith in Thee, and the people who trust in Thee."
Another blast of light purified the Unclean Spirits, with any element that corrupted these spirits fading away, leaving the souls free.
"To each human living here, thy sins will be cleansed by His mercy. He chooseth to save thy life from the fires of Hell. All thou needest is for thee to accept Him as thy Creator and thy Savior."
The peasants and knights that survived in the corruption of Zantrom safely headed towards an abandoned manor, since there was no sign of any incoming demon on that place. Together, they silently prayed inside.
Meanwhile...
"What happened to thee, Nick? Tell me." It was Maria who asked.
"Mammon hath summoned his demons to capture me back to Hell. Everything he classified as precious will be his targets as well."
Gabriel came back to them.
"Leo hath something to ask thee, Nick. Ye both must go back to Caldeum regarding this matter. Fret not; God hath summoned us fellow angels to keep the residents of this fief safe from spiritual warfare."
"How about the demons there? I am their primary target."
"This is dangerous for thee, as well as for Maria. We have sensed that the Devil is accompanying thy aforementioned Mammon to carry out such dark agendum."
Jenneh hurriedly ran towards Nick.
"Nick... my son... I..."
"Think not about me. Follow us and make haste. After that, we will talk." interrupted Nick.
And so they hurried to Caldeum as Gabriel was about to send another message.