"The guiding light of the Lord is within us. Together, our bodies, minds, and souls will be purified from evil as we praise and glorify Thy name."
A night after Leo said his prayers and meditated, Jenneh showed remorse in front of Nick outside the chapel.
"My son... I... I can explicate all this..."
"I have no need of such explication. I knew how thy cult works. This remindeth me of something Lilith and the seven demons before me had done. They made me a gruesome demon. Now most cults still stand firm for their own dogmas. Yet, they express their faiths through complex blood rituals and sacrificial lambs. The brutality still remaineth upon us." explained Nick.
"It is not true, Nick. The demon we summoned hath nothing to do with-"
A beautiful woman with black hair and light skin, wearing a black dress and a ruby tiara, grabbed Jenneh's back, leading the latter to turn back on Nick.
"Lydia..." Jenneh became paranoid that encounter.
Meanwhile...
Sol, alongside Draven, was seen leading his templars to the abandoned castle.
"The Empire of Zantrom was once led by the late emperor Herod. Now, after his death, no one dared to succeed his reign. All other barons shook in fear even through Herod's presence. Thou seest, he expanded this empire through a fief-wide carnage, and he ordered infants dead when deemed unworthy. I suspected that his loyal sorcerers found a way to resurrect this despot. These sorcerers that wore metallic necklaces that contain pentagrams, wearing black robes and acting like dark priests that were forbidden in every fief. Herod must have sought vengeance at me. AT ME! Now I have to take him back to where he deserved. Will ye trust me?"
"YES, OUR KING!" The crusaders responded.
"I knew we are all blessed by the Lord our God, that we will fight for what is right for the empire! I knew that some of us, or maybe many, imbue such holy powers as a result of such divine blessing and of our indomitable faith! Now, once we suspect anyone that may serve Herod, bring them to justice!"
"My king, it seems that we are usurping Zantrom in such a way. Herod still easily stands a chance at any of us. He is more skillful. A lot of our fellow friends betrayed us due to his immense charisma. How can we undo this conspiracy?" doubted a templar.
"This time I ask thee, are we standing for the conspiracy, or for our faith?"
"We all stand for our indomitable faith, my king!"
"Great. And we all can do this together in our quest to vanquish evil in our empire!"
With all templars convinced, they willingly hailed Sol.
"Long live the King!" They chanted repeatedly.
Later, they searched for the entrance of the abandoned castle. But they heard numerous footsteps. The watery moat was also seen with few bubbles on the surface.
The low moans were heard, along with indistinct chants that seem to be reanimating the dead.
Sol's army remained silent.
"Keep an eye on anything around thee." the feudal lord whispered.
"Let fear not consume any of us." added Draven.
Suddenly, the ground spewed hands from below, later showing heads.
The Soulseekers and the Crawlers also appeared behind walls.
Now, the necromancers mentioned by Sol directly confronted them, alongside Abyss Knights.
These accursed knights were living corpses endowed in heavy rusted armor, showing a glowing pale mist inside. They carried swords, axes, maces, flails, and shields, much like Sol's templars.
"Thou hast come to witness the resurrection of our only king - Herod." spoke one necromancer.
"Where is thy king?" asked Sol to the necromancers.
"He sat on his throne already. He will wait for thy return. But first, he sent us to aid thee on thy imminent death."
"So be it."
Sol culled one of the necromancers, leaving the latter bleeding to death. In response, the necromancers invoked vengeful black spirits to come to their aid.
"Do not be distracted by bad spirits. Believe in God's will! Attack!"
The knights shielded themselves from possible stabs from the necromancers, inflicting them heavy strikes and blows in return. The black spirits were slain by the holy power of the crosses.
The Crawlers and the Risen were no match for Sol's army, for the slow movement of the undead gave them an advantage, suffering from the thrusts of the swords and oozing with gore until they collapse.
The Abyss Knights charged at Sol's army, with each side exchanging bloody strikes and heavy blows.
But inside, Herod, now the king of the undead, was alone in his throne. He was seen with thin, pallid skin, white hair, no visible lips, has significant joints on his elbows and knees, wearing a black royal cloak, and carrying his rusted sword.
"Thou hadst come to my castle once again, old friend. I know thou wast sent by my oppressors to kill me twice." said he, in a low, grim voice.
Sol was already in front of him, but close to the exit.
"Thou wast only resurrected by the occult. Thy evil remaineth... supreme in Zantrom." replied Sol, alone.
"Sol... the Baron of Caldeum... I remembered how I was overthrown by thee. No wonder how many barons of this fief will believe in thy stand."
They both witnessed the clanging of swords from both armies.
"I will finish what thou hadst started." Herod initiated by drawing his sword.
"I will let thee not control any fief for thy personal prosperity, Herod! No wonder why a lot of guests despise thee before!"
"Hahaha... Thou art too late! Thy insipidity will be the death of thee!"
Enraged, Sol drew his sword, went toe-to-toe with Herod, and both came prepared by a single contact between their swords.
They exchanged blows after blows, blood after blood, as Sol thrusted his sword at Herod's bare chest after his right arm was wounded.
Outside the chapel, Lydia and Jenneh had a wild confrontation, with the former calm and composed, and the latter frozen in fear.
"Get away with this woman, Nick..." pleaded Jenneh.
"Nick, listen to me. I was the one who birthed thee." responded Lydia.
"What have I-" exclaimed Nick but was interrupted.
"That woman was responsible for dragging thee out of Hell in the first place through a flawed summoning."
"A flawed summoning? How about that woman was responsible for using the emperor and her son to her advantage? Nick, this is brutal..."
"How am I not knowing about anything ye two say about me? Thou knowest... I know not who I am anymore..." replied Nick, who left.
But the two ladies did not give up.
"Nick, listen to me. Thou knowest that Jenneh is only a surrogate to my role as thy mother. Thou art born from the depths of Hell... from me! Yet thou chose to turn back and start thy own life as a mortal? Shame on thee, Nick." exclaimed Lydia, who faced him with fiery eyes and a twisted voice.
"Nick, I raised thee as a human in which Lilith significantly lacked. I had read her tales since her failed relationship with Adam. In thy case, she only used thee for the demons to acquire power from thy human blood, all for the glory of the Devil. No wonder thou keepest taking her bait like Eve at the apple before!" countered Jenneh, who started to redeem herself.
Lydia, enraged, threw her tiara and tore her gown. She grew a pair of large black horns that curled downwards and sidewards, sharpened her claws, lengthened her hair, enlarged her breasts and butt, grew a large pair of wings and a whipping tail, and was immersed in blood after her nude transformation, as Lilith, the Mother of Demons.
"At first I see thee as a goddess, Lilith. But if thou believest that I took Nick from thee, get me not wrong. I have seen what I have seen from thee. Thou art a whore, Lilith! Thou art a whore!" said Jenneh, who was becoming more paranoid rather than enthralled at Lilith's appearance.
"A whore, Jenneh? Heh... Before, Eve took Adam from me. Now, thou takest Nick from me! If thou thinkest that I use my son in order for Satan to get what he wants from us, then thou art the one who is wrong here! I protect Nick from the false minds of worthless mortals like thee!"
"ENOUGH!" screamed Nick, forcing himself to become a demon once again.
Lilith and Jenneh were even dreaded by Nick's appearance as a demon.
"Nick... what hast thou done..." responded the Mother of Demons.
"The demonic monster that I have become... it came from thee." replied he.
"But the sane human thou already hadst been... it is still in thy choice, Nick... wilt thou follow the crooked path Satan led thee to, or wilt thou follow the straight one thou walk alone on?" sobbed the cultist.
"Thy commandment saith that I must honor my father and my mother. But this time, how can I honor Lilith as my mother if she was behind the endless hell I have living? ANSWER ME!"
"I cannot, Nick... I cannot do that as of now, lest demons will use thee once again for the glory of the Infernal Legion. Let God answer that for thee for now..."
"How darest thou... Now get out of my sight..."
"Remember this day, Nick, that thou wilt realize that my decision to raise thee hath nothing to do with the Infernal Legion. I will leave for thee to reflect thyself." Lilith left both Jenneh and Nick after her final message.
Sol continued to parry every swing Herod directed at him.
"Thou deservest not to be my equal, and not to be hailed as my successor!" intimidated Herod, while swinging his sword.
"Thy greed consumeth thy reign! Thy arrogance dominateth thy soul!" replied Sol in response.
As both their swords came to contact with each other, both Sol and Herod used all of their strengths in an effort to strike each other.
But they were met by radiant light rays at the windows.
"We have won, Herod. The spirits thou enslavest deserve rest. And each of us has the guts to reign an empire, but the people despise a leader who is selfish, greedy, and using the code to his own advantage." reminded Sol, and kicked his abdomen.
Sol then thrusted his blood-immersed sword between his abdomen and his chest, with blood from Herod spewing from his body to the floor. He then knelt while perspiring and feeling exhausted.
He then saw Draven and twenty remaining templars at the entrance, bathed in blood while kneeling at him.
"May God bless thee all..." spoke Sol in exhaustion and success.