The Witch Doctors were able to figure out the best place to set the ominous jar. When they first saw it, they were disgusted. But, even they knew that a spirit trap was all they had for now. They could only hope that it was strong enough to hold the type of souls that it was to be used for.
"The closest one is through here," Sohar said while he led the way. The Fetish warriors hooted and clicked to each other, as they scrambled about him. When they hissed and got excited, it was only obvious that they found the target. They had arrived at a disheveled shack made of palm trees, bark, mud, and various vines to tie down fallen branches. An odd chanting was heard inside the weak structure.
"Now what?" Humbert asked, as Zayl held him in his hand.
"Set the trap here," Sohar instructed. The glowing jar was set down easily behind the shack. The Fetish clearly didn't like it. Mirdael hovered over his mate protectively, but he only watched.
"Calm yourselves," Moolara chuckled to the Fetish warriors. She clicked to them that it would be destroyed later. Hooting softly to them, the small warriors easily worked their way under the flooring. Kormac realized what they were doing. The tiny dagger points noiselessly made their way up to go right under the feet of the chanter. Moolara made a small whistle for the Fetish warriors to screech and shove the daggers up. The possessed man yelped and stared in dumb-founded silence when a wall crashed in from Imperael's foot.
"Great..." the Nephalem cringed. "he swallowed the stone."
"Die!" the crazed, deformed man spat out. He ran into Imperael's massive sword.
"Ah...ouch?" Byden seemed to grimace.
"Does he have anything of value on him?" Lyndon asked. "What?!"
"Once a thief, always a thief," Humbert snorted. "Who's next?!"
"Oh, come on," Lyndon grumbled.
"Let us check the trap," Sohar said. The Nephalem was quick to walk over to it. At the sight of a black dot swirling in the white misted jar, it showed the trap worked. Mirdael seemed to mutter something, but Moolara lightly touched his arm to show it was fine.
"Good," Lou-yu nodded.
"I may want to study that jar a bit more after it's used," Zayl admitted. Imperael easily wiped off his sword and moved off to where the next chanter was. Just by hearing the tone used, they all knew the stone was ingested. The jar was set down close by, and the Fetish warriors moved into position. This shack was a bit sturdier than the last, but it still collapsed in with Imperael's attack.
"That was a woman," Jozin sighed at the corpse.
"Was," Byden muttered at the disfigured form. "I couldn't even make out what that last one was. I know it was a male, but the type of demon? No clue."
"Doesn't matter. It's dead," Kalgor spat.
"Very true," the Nephalem agreed. "One more and then we go for the leader."
"Let's move," Vincent grunted and headed off with the rest. They approached another familiar shack with another chanter. But, this one was acting strained. With the other two gone, all of the shielding was done by this lone chanter. And, the deformed human male was too distracted with focus to attack the ones that finally killed him off. The moment he died, something was felt in the air. It was as though something fully shifted. Now was the time to strike.
"Hurry!" the Nephalem hissed and bolted after the excited Fetish following. They were led to a swamp. And it wasn't just any swamp in peculiar. Jozin tried to walk forward into the swamp with a look of determination, but Moolara stopped him with a raised hand.
"Look," she said and scattered a few blades of grass into the noxious waters. The plant matter dissolved. "This is poisoned land. One of the few left here. We cannot cross normally."
"Then what can help us cross?" Lou-yu asked. Sohar was already chanting softly.
"As the jungles are known to the undead protectors, the swamps have their own protectors," Moolara said. "We can call on them for aid."
"Well...what lives in poisoned water? I mean..." Byden frowned. Then the group paused, as the water began to churn to show a mass of vicious piranhas appear as a bridge.
"As you see, small things can live here freely. But, there is also the other that lives with them, too," Moolara explained. After this was said, a massive reptile leapt onto the bridge of fish to form the rest of the bridge. It seemed to hiss in agitation from being disturbed by the chanting, but it was intelligent enough to know that something was wrong. The group needed its help to fix what was wrong. It relaxed its massive, scaled head on the opposite shore edge, as its muscular tail settled to be walked on. The piranhas couldn't bite through the thick hide if they tried, but the massive reptile shared its meals with them. They respected the powerful beast.
"This is a Bogadile. A very intelligent creature that helps protect this land," Moolara chuckled at the speechless gazes of her comrades. "Hurry now! Sohar will keep it calmed. And, whatever you do, do not step on its head. It may think you are food."
"That thing is..." Lyndon seemed to gape with shock at it.
"I don't think it would eat you. You may not taste right from your stink," Greed giggled from Gurzick's crown. Then the Greed Goblin simply teleported across and waved at them.
"Why can't you do that for us?!" Lyndon scowled.
"I can do it for them, but not for you," Greed giggled again. Imperael smirked and teleported across next. He didn't think the reptile would have held his weight, anyways. Mirdael simply floated over the deadly waters and rested his gaze on his mortal mate. The Monk studied the muscles in the beast's back and already had a plan of where to step. At the offer of a teleport, the Monk shook his head.
"I will be fine," Jozin chuckled and easily walked across the massive reptile's back. A wary, red-eyed glare was given, but Jozin didn't give off any form of a threatening aura. Kalgor opted to go next, and Sohar maintained his calming chant to help the beast remain neutral. At the large chunk of salted meat tossed over in appreciation when the Barbarian made his way across, the beast seemed to rumble in thanks when it got snapped up. Byden was looked at now to cross.
"Okay..." the Crusader said and cleared his throat. He took in a deep breath to focus. He made his way across the living bridge quickly enough without a single threatening slip. He was amazed. Vincent simply walked across as though nothing was wrong. His wolf rejoined him from the shadows on the other side. When the Necromancer had to walk, Humbert was in hysterics.
"You'll drop me in its mouth!" the skull panicked.
"Keep talking. I just might," Zayl smirked.
"Can't you teleport us?" Humbert begged.
"If they walked on its back with no problems, then so can I."
"So, if they walked off a mountain, you'd follow, too?"
"If it saved the world, then yes," Zayl nodded. At Humbert's outburst of disbelief, the man thought. "If you say another word, I'll toss you into the swamp and let the piranhas pick at you."
"But..." the skull started. Then he grumbled and kept quiet. Zayl made it across smoothly after that, but the Bogadile seemed to hiss at Humbert in warning. The skull wisely kept quiet after that.
"Can this thing tag along with us? If it keeps him quiet, I'd love the company," Zayl grinned. The others began to laugh. As much as the Nephalem was amused, time was of the essence. The champion couldn't afford to let any more time pass, and the trek was quickly made across the Bogadile's back with no hindrances.
"Hurry up! We need to move!" the champion shouted at them.
"Go!" Moolara hissed at the others. Lou-yu managed to make it across next, though it was a bit unsteady at first when the piranhas shifted under the reptile. As much as he could have teleported, he wanted to prove that he could do this, too. Kormac muttered a bit of a prayer to himself and stepped foot on the scaly tail. At the sign of no odd movements, he made it across. Eirena easily made it over without a second thought.
"You are so cute!" she beamed at the Bogadile. It seemed to open its mouth at her, but it was in appreciation. It even allowed a small pat to its blunted snout. Moolara walked over next rather swiftly, and Mirdael was quick to hover behind her. Sohar had to be last. It was Lyndon's turn now. Imperael seemed to snort, but he was watching everything silently. He was doing this for Anaurael and Malthael.
"All right. I can do this," the scoundrel muttered to himself. The Fetish warriors chittered to each other and watched him try to cross. Then they hooted and ran across the massive reptile's back swiftly when he reached the middle of the scaly back. "Hey! Watch it! I'm trying to cross here!"
The Bogadile almost lurched with alarm at the outburst, but Sohar's calming chant kept it under control. Byden was hiding his laughter. Humbert was just sad that he didn't get thrown off. Lyndon was forced to use his crossbow as a balancing pole to finish the rest of the crossing. Sohar dropped the chant after Lyndon made it across, and the reptile quickly fled the scene. The fish soon dissipated, too.
"How will he get across?" Lou-yu frowned. Then he blinked at the Gargantuan that appeared for Sohar to carry him over the water. "Okay. Now what?"
"This way," Moolara urged.
"And, so you know, this land floats. The Bogadile is most distressed at the evil here. So, it will help in another way," Sohar said. "Where is the trap?"
"The trap? Ah...Hell..." the Nephalem grimaced. "I think we left it."
At the sight of a couple angels appearing to carefully deliver it, they all seemed to sigh with relief. Anaurael was always trying to help when she could. The angelic mates were quick to report anything that needed to be assisted with. Sohar looked around and gestured for a space alongside the main support beam of the structure before them. The trap was now set, and the angels vanished away.
The undead beast that Sohar summoned was quick to rush at the large hut in front of it to start smashing in the door. Imperael was quick to add his massive armored boot to the door to let it splinter in like paper. The Fetish warriors swiftly moved through the underside of the hut to start coming up from the floor. The sight of the once human man shocked them all.
"We knew him..." Moolara seemed to shiver.
"How?" the Nephalem asked.
"He was a respected Elder of our ways," Sohar sighed sadly. "I cannot feel him here anymore."
"His flesh was taken," she frowned. "His spirit is gone."
"Then we must take out his flesh!" Imperael said and dodged a clawed hand. The man's dark, thin frame was now overly muscled with the muscles splitting out of his skin from the rapid growth. His facial skin had peeled back from the lizard-like face that glared at them now. Horns had spiraled out to curl along the sides of the man's head. He lacked wings and a tail, but that didn't really matter. Spikes were decorating all the joints. Baleful yellow eyes with black pupils seethed at them with intense hatred. Fangs tried to snap at the massive angel before a massive fist smashed into the new demon's muzzle.
"Kill...all of you...!" the mutated human snarled.
"Sure," Kalgor grunted, spat on the ground and got into a spinning whirlwind attack. He started to pull the massive monster in to get cut down by the spinning blades. Sohar began to chant again in a back corner to stay out of the way. Moolara let the Fetish run rampant as distraction. There was one major problem with this demonic entity. It was fueled by pure Wrath. The more it was attacked, the stronger it got. Zayl was trying to keep the thing detained with walls of bone. Even though it lacked wings and a tail, it was moving by solid strength and hatred alone. Even magical attacks by Lou-yu were barely holding it back. This was a fairly powerful creature. It was even ignoring the arrows that dotted its back and limbs by Vincent's expert skills.
"The floor!" Byden gaped. It started to seep out poisonous water from the swamp. At the rumbling feeling of the floor and sounds of chewing heard, the Nephalem paled.
"Back up and away!" the champion warned. The water pooled quickly around the feet of the struggling demonic creature. Then a piranha leapt out of the water to latch onto a large calf muscle. More piranhas quickly followed suit. As the entity howled with rage, it was suddenly silenced at the sight of the massive Bogadile lurching up through the floor. The giant jaws snapped down along the malformed body easily. When the jaws fully clamped shut, the sound of crunching bones was heard. Then it shook the body to pieces before dropping it on the ground. Sniffing the mutilated body, it hissed and fell back into the floor. A few piranhas lingered to nibble at a shattered limb or two before relenting and going back down to follow the massive reptile.
"The jar! Quick!" Moolara urged. Imperael was greatly impressed by the Bogadile. He would be studying up on it for sure. He watched Vincent and Jozin appear with the jar to set it down carefully on the floor. The Nephalem dealt the final killing blow to the suffering man, and the Witch Doctors carefully watched the blackish red soul rise up from the body. The jar began to draw it in. But, it had other plans. The soul attacked Vincent. It launched right at him and sunk down into his chest to possess him in full. If it wasn't for his training to resist demons, he would have been overcome instantly.
"No!" Eirena gasped at the Demon Hunter's sudden struggle. Imperael was quick to reach over and grab the struggling Demon Hunter. He knew that Zynaurael was not going to be happy at all about this. He did the only thing he could.
"I'll fix him! Take care of that trap!" the massive Archangel ordered. He teleported Vincent to Heaven with him, and he took the struggling human to the Angiris Council chamber. On seeing his state, Itherael insisted he be moved to the Crystal Arch. It was done swiftly to let the human get held down between the glowing arches of Light. Auriel was ready to help bind down Vincent, if it got too bad. Anarius was now watching everything closely. He would intervene the moment it was needed.
"Vincent!" Zynaurael gasped and moved to his side. But, it was Darius that held her back.
"It is not safe yet," the powerful angel said. "Think of your offspring. Anaurael will help him."
"I hope she can," she whispered. She was extremely worried that whatever made up his Dark side would be pulled away, too, but she could only hope that it wouldn't come to that. She knew what happened with the Patriarch in Ivgorod. Imperius was very wary of this, but even Anaurael knew that she had to help him. He had Solarion ready. Izarius was ready to help slaughter the demon that appeared, too. The Fetish warrior was placed to show it was ready to spot the soul the moment it was freed.
"Will she be able to remove the demon, and only the demon?" Itherael asked Auriel.
"I am unsure. We can only watch and hope that it's just the demon removed," Auriel sighed sadly. "We must do what we can."
"Of course," Itherael nodded. He watched Imperius approach with Anaurael. Even he knew that Imperius was just as skeptical over things, but his primary thoughts were for Anaurael.
"I worry for you," Imperius muttered to Anaurael.
"Just be vigilant and help me do my duty. Our offspring will be safe," she smiled softly. He hugged her and released her. Tyrael was clearly on edge for this. The thrill of a possible battle was raging in his thoughts. When she walked up to the struggling Demon Hunter, she whispered, "Vincent? Can you hear me?"
"Some..." he whispered back and coughed.
"Focus on me, okay?" she said and carefully placed her hands on his temple. He nodded and shouted in pain at her cooling touch. She entered his mind easily.
What she found was a rapidly rotting forest. The corruption was spreading fast, and she focused to let Imperius's Light flare out valiantly. Then Anarius was able to reinforce her as his presence of Anu. This helped her even further. He was able to protect her this way, too. With Anu as her new torch, she burned away the corruption that tried to assail her. She pierced the darkness that tried to surround her. When she saw Vincent's mental frame, he was trying to fight off the demon in his mind. The demon was massive, relentless and trying to fully over-power him.
"No! It's too much!" he shouted. Then he paused when Anu's bright Light empowered him.
:FIGHT NOW!: Anu commanded in his mental state. The sensations of complete love, trust, and protective wrath filled him. Anaurael backed him up with her shining presence to weaken the demon even more. When the vile image finally left his mind, Vincent gasped from the hard fight. She hugged his mental frame like a sister to a brother.
"Wake now, my brother. Let us end this!" she said with a sharp nod. When he opened his eyes, her hair was shielding over him. Imperius was quick to kill the resurrected demon lord. The monster was no match for the entire Angelic Host bearing down on him. Anarius was able to trap the soul in a sphere of solid Light. He would protect Anaurael from the demon's presence.
The small Fetish warrior growled and glared at the imprisoned soul. It had to be removed from the High Heavens. Tyrael was quick to send down Izarius and Imperael.
"Where is the jar trap? Anarius has the soul trapped to keep it under control. Anaurael was able to save Vincent from corruption," Izarius said when he appeared.
"Thank Akarat!" the Nephalem gasped with relief at this news. "The jar is over here."
"We shall keep her far from it. But, I wonder. Is the Soulstone here?" Imperael asked.
"No. It was consumed," Kalgor said.
"That's right," Imperael thought aloud and sighed.
"Should I attempt to merge the soul with a stone in my possession?" Greed asked from Gurzick's crown. "It could be done."
"It could also be very risky. A weak soul to merge it with would be best," Izarius said.
"True. Make sure the girl is nowhere near me when I bring it," Greed advised.
"We can do that," Imperael nodded and transported to Heaven to report with Izarius.
"Maghda's soul is fairly weak. Her stone could work," Tyrael said.
"True," Itherael said. "But, let us consult with Myriam."
"Allow me," Malthael nodded and vanished. Zynaurael was rocking her mate against her with complete relief. She was grateful that his birthright Dark side was not corrupted at all and stayed with him. After a while, she took him to their Heavenly chambers to help him recover further. She wanted him nowhere near the demon lord's soul.
"I'll be fine," he whispered. She only seethed with protective fury at how weak he was.
"You will be after it's gone," she growled protectively. He couldn't talk sense to her when she was in this mood. It was the same for any angel. Anaurael was already taken to her chambers.
"Remain here," Imperius told her. "You have done enough."
"Okay," she nodded. He kissed her gently and set her in Izarius's arms. He would easily protect her. When he returned to the Crystal Arch, he saw that Gurzick had appeared with Maghda's Soulstone. Itherael, Tyrael, and Auriel were all keeping a close watch on how Anarius carefully fused the intruding soul to the stone. At the flashes of red given through it, Malthael was snickering.
"They are fighting each other. Let them fight," he mused.
"I'll hide this away again," Greed chuckled.
"We have three other souls that are trapped away in a jar," Imperael said.
"I shall have another stone ready. Are they weak souls?" Greed asked.
"Very. Gurzick was there for them," he nodded.
"Do so," Malthael nodded, too. Imperius gave his consenting nod with the others. Gurzick was quick to leave. It was likely that the jar would be smashed to free the souls to be trapped again, and Zayl was already planning to take various pieces of the trap to study. It would be useful to make other soul traps to help out, if something like this happened again.
"There may still be other Soulstones out there. We still need to find Diablo's soul. I am greatly irked that he is still not found," Tyrael muttered.
"Your concern is like mine," Imperius said, as he regarded him. Anarius thought over everything calmly and turned his gaze to the sun. The test to turn day into night in Heaven was next on his list. He was now preparing how to inform the Angelic Host of this rare event to see what happens.