Hey, sorry for such a long wait, sports practice is a killer. Wake up at 5 in the morning, get ready and be at practice from 5:30 to 7:15, go to school which lasts from 7:30-3:10, then go back to practice which starts at 4, giving me no time to go home, and practice until 6 and be home at 6:30. So I'm basically at my school from 5:30 in the morning to 6:00 in the evening. I have enough trouble as it is staying awake to eat dinner. Please forgive that rant, but I'm quite upset over my schedule. Anyway, it's the second to last chapter! I hope you've been liking it so far, cause I've been quite pleased with it. I was hoping to make it to 20 chapters, but I'll probably just make an epilogue or something before making the sequel. Well then, on with the chapter.
Chapter 18: The Greatest Traitor of All
Lelouch and Diethard made their way through the third round, worried about the giants outside, which were ready to throw Damocles-sized ice chunks at them. Trying to break the tension, Lelouch decided to speak. "So, what's the third round for?"
Diethard noticed what Lelouch was trying to do and decided to play along, hoping that it would actually work. "The third round is called Ptolomaea, named after Ptolemy, who invited Simon Maccabaeus and his sons to a banquet shortly before killing them. This round is for those who betray their guests and souls here suffer more than the previous rounds because the responsibility of guests is one bestowed upon oneself voluntarily. Here, the souls are frozen everywhere except their faces, not their heads, just their faces."
Diethard then continued on about some of the souls sentenced here like Fra Alberigo, who sent soldiers to kill his brother after inviting him to a banquet. However, he stopped walking and both of them stopped walking when they reached the end of the third round, leading to another path on top of a cliff, wide out in the open.
"Well, you ready?" Lelouch asked.
"No reason for me to say no." Diethard sighed as both of them began running and, as if on cue, massive ice chunks began to hurl at them. "When I signed up from this, this was not what I was expecting!" Diethard shouted as an ice chunk hit the cavern exit, collapsing/destroying it.
"Same here. I thought the hardest part of this would be the fighting." Lelouch said as he ran on ahead, "Say, can't you do your shade thing, where you become intangible and can move freely? Isn't that how you're able to move up ahead of me without even following me?"
Diethard stopped and face palmed himself. "I can't believe I didn't think of that before. I'm such a fool. Well, bye Lelouch, see you up ahead" Diethard said while smiling for the last sentence before he vanished.
"Hey, are you leaving me here to run by myself now?" Lelouch shouted at where Diethard stood before sighing and continued to run before the giants locked into his position.
'Damn that Diethard, when I see him again, he'll wish he didn't agree to Michael's offer!' Lelouch thought as and ice chunk nearly fell on top of him. Lelouch managed to run fast enough to avoid and looked up to see the giant Diethard said is Ephialtes right above him grinning mischievously as he took another piece of ice and prepared to drop it.
'Damn, forgot that while going down the path, we were also going around the circle.' Lelouch mentally kicked himself as he almost slipped on the icy path he was on. Ephialtes then dropped a giant ice piece on top of Lelouch, too big to dodge. Lelouch jumped onto the cliff wall next to him and jumped off of it towards the ice chunk. While moving, he stabbed the ice chunk with his scythe, causing him to orbit around the ice chunk, like he did to the left and right heads of Cerberus. Obviously, though, the ice was too big for Lelouch to cut in half, so Lelouch stopped himself when he reached the top of the ice chunk. Lelouch pulled out his scythe and proceeded to run across the ice chunk as it crashed into the ground, breaking the cliff below, and the ice chunk itself. Lelouch jumped off the ice and back onto the path and continued to run. Fortunately, he didn't pass beneath any other giants and managed to outrun all the ice chunks and entered another cavern.
"Took you long enough." Diethard said, leaning against the walls of the cave. Thankfully, there weren't any holes in this cave for the giants to know their position in it.
Lelouch looked at Diethard with a 'shut up or die' look and then looked around the cavern of the fourth round. There were souls completely encased in ice and then distorted in inhumane ways.
"This here is the fourth round, Judecca, named after Judas, who betrayed Jesus. This round is for those who betray their lords and benefactors, the same round I was sent to."
"Not surprised, the only way for you to know so much of Hell is if you were sent down as far as you could be."
"Quite. Souls sent here are completely frozen solid and then distorted in very painful ways. For me…" Diethard shivered, thinking about how he was distorted, specifically, "…I'd actually rather not say."
"Fair enough." Lelouch said as they continued down the cavern until they reached the exit, or where the exit should be if the cave didn't end in a cliff. "Hey Diethard, how exactly are we getting to Lucifer's throne if there's no path?"
"Simple, jump." Diethard said with a completely straight face.
Lelouch looked at him as if he went crazy. "If I jump, I'll die. I mean, I don't even see the freaking bottom!" Lelouch said as he looked over the edge.
Diethard sighed. "I didn't want to do this, but…" Diethard began as he pushed Lelouch over the edge.
'Diethard, you bas-" This was all Diethard could hear Lelouch say before he disappeared into the abyss below.
"-tard!" Lelouch shouted as he looked down into the abyss below. At first it was a black and light blue fog, but then the fog cleared and Lelouch saw a bunch of giant, barbed chains in his path. "Nice try, Lucifer." Lelouch said as he pulled out his scythe and cut through the chains before he hit them. "Heh, if this is his last defense then he-" Lelouch tried to continue, but was forced to block a strike from an Arch-Demon.
'Damn, I can't fight them well in the air.' Lelouch thought as he heard flapping behind him and turned around to see not an Arch-Demon, but a Pest, a somehow familiar Pest. "Rolo? Is that you?" Lelouch asked to which the Pest flapped its wings in a way that made Lelouch understand it was saying 'yes.'
Rolo then positioned himself beneath Lelouch, to which he planted his feet on top of Rolo and got into his battle stance. "Now, then, lets' dance!" Lelouch shouted as two more Arch-Demons joined the current one. One of the Arch-Demons zoomed at Lelouch, but Rolo moved him out of the way and Lelouch managed to stab his scythe into its right wing, damaging it, but not enough to cause the Arch-Demon to plummet, albeit it made the Arch-Demon slower. The other two Arch-Demons tried to do a pincer attack against Lelouch, but he tapped his foot on Rolo's back and Rolo descended, causing the two demons to hit each other. Lelouch looked up, turned his scythe into a spear, and launched it straight at the two demons. One demon managed to get away from the incoming blade in time, but the other one took a blade to the face.
The damaged Arch-Demon attempted to sneak attack Lelouch, but Rolo noticed and turned around, making the demon see Lelouch's 'got you' smile as he shot a holy bolt from his cross at the Arch-Demon, stunning it long enough for Lelouch to cut off part of its left wing. With just half of its left wing and a barely functioning right wing, it was no wonder as to why the Arch-Demon began to fall down to its doom.
The third and final Arch-Demon rushed towards Lelouch, but Lelouch jumped over the attack and landed on the Arch-Demon's back, grabbing the horns to hang on. The Arch-Demon struggled furiously to get Lelouch off, but to no avail. Once the demon let up a bit, Lelouch quickly turned his scythe into a sword and stabbed the demon in the back. Lelouch then let go and allowed himself to fall, with his blade still stabbed into the demon, causing the Arch-Demon to be cut almost in half. Rolo quickly maneuvered to catch Lelouch as the last Arch-Demon dissolved to ashes.
"Now that was awesome." Lelouch said to himself as a giant spear made of fire and smoke zoomed passed them, causing Rolo to spin out of control and Lelouch to fall off him. Lelouch repositioned himself as he landed at the bottom of the pit, Lake Cocytus. Looking forward he saw a giant creature frozen up to his waist in the lake. It possessed three pairs of bat-like wings and three heads, one blood red and looking forward, gnawing on a soul head first. The one on its left was a sickly pale yellow that was looking left was attached just above the shoulder and was gnawing on a soul legs first. The third one was the mirror opposite of the yellow one except it was black.
The three headed creature looked at Lelouch before the red one swallowed the soul it was gnawing on while the black and yellow ones just spat theirs out. "Lelouch…" All three heads spoke at once, but it sounded like one voice. "…we finally meet, face to…well…faces."
"Lucifer…" Lelouch snarled. "…where's C.C.?" He demanded.
"Why…right here." Lucifer said as he lifted one of his clawed hands and held it out as C.C. materialized in it before he turned it over, letting C.C. fall to the ground.
"C.C.!" Lelouch shouted as he ran to her.
"Gees…" C.C. Managed to stammer out. "…what took you so long?" C.C. asked before she passed out. Lelouch quickly shined his cross on her, allowing her body to float up and disappear in a flash of light before he got up.
"Now, then…" Lelouch said as he looked at Lucifer. "Let's finish this. No holding back. It's time to finish this, once and for all!" Lelouch shouted as he pulled out his scythe.
"Yes, it is time I suppose, to finally reclaim my rightful place among the cosmos." Lucifer said as fire shrouded in black smoke appeared in his right hand which then turned into a spear. "What are you waiting for, the end of the world? Cause that will only happen after I destroy you." Lucifer sneered as he pointed the spear at Lelouch.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, because I don't intend to let you win!" Lelouch bellowed as he ran towards Lucifer to end the entire charade once and for all.
I originally thought of having part one of Lucifer's fight in this, but for some reason I changed my mind. I'll try my best to make it good. Hope you'll stick around to see it!