Chapter 36: Battling the Creator of Corruption - show her the Nephilim Blood's upgrade!
Last time on Darksiders: Frozen Assets
"Who could have given us such a welcome party?" Alito frowned.
"I know who those demons belonged to..." Death frowned as he turned around to face the pool. "You can come out now...Lilith!"
A succubus with devil horns on her head, green eyes, and ashen skin walked out of the pool of lava in a sultry fashion. She wore almost a black and gold dress with midriffs baring her belly button, two greaves with sharp teethes as her knee guard, and black-gold shoulder pads.
The curves and cloth wrapped sensually around her flesh, flowing off her hip foxily. Chains wrapped around her back extended all the way through her hip area and down in between her legs.
Her wings are upside down, just like Belial, only larger.
"Lilith..." Death frowned.
"Do you blame me for hiding?" Lilith chuckled. "You are Death. Where you ride, no one is safe, and not even your mother."
She continued, "And I suppose you two are the followers from Death; you don't look like you're from this world."
Both Chris and Alito's pupils shrunk in shock, although they quickly regained her composure seconds later and began scanning through Lilith's stats.
"So...you created the Nephilim?" Chris frowned.
"You are not...my mother..." Death snarled.
Lilith approached Death, cupped her face with her right hand, and Death slapped it away.
"Of course I do. Did I not create Absalom from the mingled dust of Angel and Demon? And from that first Nephilim, were not the rest formed?" Lilith frowned. "They were brothers to the Horsemen. Yet when the Riders slaughtered the Nephilim, only you showed remorse."
Chris and Alito stood quietly, suspecting there might be something related to Corruption, Absalom, and Lilith, although they knew that evidence must be at hand first...
Lilith looked at the Amulet fragments embedded upon Death's right chest.
"Why did you not cast the Amulet into the Abyss, as the Council ordered? Why spare their souls...if not to one day undo your sin?" Lilith smirked as she walked away.
"My sin?!" Death raised his voice in anger, his veins bulged through his temple and gauntlets, and his eyes flared orange with anger.
"This Corruption rises in Absalom! It rises from him like a black tide and you, 'Mother'," Death snarled as he pointed at Lilith, "must help me stop it! Where is the Demon Key?!"
Lilith gave a sly chuckle. "In Samael's keeping. But he is gone now, and the key has vanished.
Death looked down, shaking his head. Without the Demon Key, his brother would be lost...forever.
Chris and Alito, however, accessed Lilith's personality bank through heir improved Project Tundra's Arcane Social Enhancer Device and knew that Lilith had plans in mind.
"No thanks to her sly and wicked ways..." Chris frowned.
True to Chris and Alito's deduction, it did.
Death's right hand, where the Phasewalker resides, glowed bright blue and the Portal gun came out from it.
"Oh, don't worry, my child." Lilith smirked as she spoke in a mysterious, yet cunning manner; her hands crackling with arcane magic as she received the Phasewalker.
Chris's system began to beep inside Chris's HUD monitor her systems began analysing Lilith's energy signature.
Within seconds, Chris's eyes widened once more, but she gave a small smirk after.
"So...it finally comes to this...Then again, why am I not surprised?"
Alito too, gave a small nod - she knew about it too.
Lilith, not paying attention to what the two Maidens were thinking as she thought it was not well worth her time, transformed the Phasewalker into a Voidwalker. The Portal gun turned green, with the symbol of a clock upon its center.
"Time, like sin, may be undone." Lilith calmly spoke as she returned the green Portal gun to Death. "With this, you and your worthless followers can return to the past, to Samael's stronghold before his fall...and find the Demon Key."
Death looked at Chris and Alito as the two Maidens nodded.
"I only ask that when you and those followers reach the Well of Souls, you will answer your heart...and resurrect the Nephilims." Lilith smirked just as Death received the Voidwalker.
Death could feel the strong arcane magic that belonged to Lilith, but could also feel that the magic's energy signature felt similar to one black element...
Wanting to find out Lilith's aim, Death contained his anger by clenching his fists.
"So what brings you here...?" Death frowned.
"I was drawn to raw power...and no demon in any realm can match that of Samael. He could have ruled over us all. But now he is gone...and that destiny once again falls to my children. Bring back the Nephilims, and all of creation will be yours." Lilith smirked.
"At the cost of Balance, I suppose?" Chris and Alito stood beside Death.
Lilith's smirk faded. "What?"
Chris smirked, lowered her head, and began laughing loudly and clapped her hands.
"Bravo...Bravo! Lilith...you think your appearance can scare us, eh? Might I remind you that I have faced beings that are as strong as you, during my time as an adventurer since the age of 18 while honing the Project Programmes, and defeated them thanks to my abilities learned across the way?" Chris clapped.
"What is this? You're not scared of me?" Lilith frowned.
"Shall we...?" Chris looked at Death and Alito, nodded, and faced the Mad Queen.
"The Creator of Corruption - Lilith!"
Lilith's eyes widened as cold sweat broke into her once smooth face. Her smirk broke down into shock and disbelief.
"We have come across Corruption many times during our journey here; our Project Programmes systems isolated them for further investigations. You might ask why we are not affected...That is because Alito and I have overcome the Corruption in our dreams. I'm sure though you will not understand, but I digress." Chris showed a hologram of the results.
She continued, "Inside the Corruption there lays three energy signatures...One is the obvious, hate. Another became clear when Death medicated us with the Nephilim's Blood - the Nephilims themselves - since our systems isolated the blood and matched its biological signature to that of Corruption. The third and last compound has strong arcane magic that brings both Hate and the Nephilims' Blood to life. We do not know what it was, until our systems detected the same arcane energy signatures in you that were also present in Corruption!" Chris smirked as she and Alito pointed the finger at Lilith.
"Making you the Culprit!" Chris and Alito shot out.
"Don't think I'm ignorant to this...'Mother'...I am immune to Corruption's influence, thus I can detect an unusual arcane energy inside Corruption. I even felt that same arcane energy inside you moments after Chris and Alito found out!" Death clenched his fists.
Lilith looked at the three in shock while Alito stepped forth and continued.
"We all know that someone who knows the Nephilims evoke that 'Hate', so that it could be brought to life. You encouraged Absalom, and incited him into a rampage that helped him rallied the other Nephilims to rebel against Creation! You used black magic and reanimate Absalom's pure hate into Corruption when he dies." Alito crossed her arms and continued.
"You know that one day Death - who killed Absalom - will feel guilty for the mess he created! You know that the Well of Souls is the only way as a Nephilim's blood can restore the whole race. Thus, you devised a plan that would bring Death and the Well of Souls together...so how did you do it?" Alito looked at Chris and nodded.
"You looked for an opportunity, a chance to strike. That chance came when War was tricked into triggering the Apocalypse prematurely, no thanks to Abaddon breaking the six seals. You sent Straga to kill Abaddon, persuaded the Angel of Destruction to become the Destroyer in pretext that the Council will punish him, and commanded him to wipe off the entire Human Race! That caused War to be accused for Mankind's extinction, which in turn caused Death to search for ways to restore humankind. The Well of Souls requires the Angel and Demon Key, so you came here to encourage the Pale Rider in reviving the Nephilims instead of Humanity!" Chris frowned.
"W...What? How did you know about...about the Destroyer?" Lilith's eyes widened.
Chris presented two sound clips in a hologram.
"On my left is a sound clip taken when you're talking. After helping Nathaniel, Alito and I went to the Portal to Earth to ask if it knew who was responsible for Abaddon's defection. All we got is the sound clip on my right. According to the systems' analysis it turns out those two sound clips match!" Chris smirked as she showed Lilith the hologram of what happened earlier.
Flashback - After helping Nathaniel
"Someone must have tempted Abaddon to join the Legion of Demons. He could not have possibly joined the demons voluntarily..." Nathaniel shook his head.
"The Portal to Earth! We can ask the portal at the peak of the Spire about whose the perpetrator, right?" Alito shot out.
"Yes, the Pool knows all...but knowing it won't make much difference..." Nathaniel sighed.
"Well, we got nothing to lose, right?" Chris frowned.
"If you so please." Nathaniel nodded.
Upon reaching the peak of the Spire, Chris and Alito approached the Pool leading to Earth.
"O Sacred Pool of the Crystal Spire, your grand knowledge knows all...Please kindly tell us the one's responsible for Abaddon's defection." Chris and Alito spoke calmly.
As they gazed into the Pool, Chris and Alito saw Abaddon fighting against a legion of demons when a large hand grabbed the Angel of Destruction and crushed him to death.
The Maiden also saw War saying the Demon's name as 'Straga'.
The Pool quickly cuts to black as Abaddon plummeted into a black void, where a sly female laughter echoed the darkness.
"They knew...how did they...?" Abaddon spoke in disbelief.
"The best laid plans..." or so the humans used to say." the echoes grew louder.
"You...did this...?" Abaddon frowned as he took up his sword.
"You plotted and schemed to call us to this world. I simply took advantage of your initiative." the echoes replied.
"No..." Abaddon fell to his knees, shaking his head in despair.
"I will consider this an offering Abaddon - and you, my loyal servant. Join me, and take up the mantle of the Destroyer!" the echo encouraged.
"NO..." Abaddon snarled.
"Once the Throne learns what you've done, you will be cast down. Dragged in chains before the Council. You're already damned. So, I offer you this choice...Would you serve in Heaven? Or rule in hell?" the echo replied.
A huge surge of arcane energy imbued the Angel of Destruction and transformed him to a large scaly dragon with red skin, four devil-like horns, big jaws and teethes, and two big dragon wings. He had a long, reptilian tail behind his back.
The Destroyer was born...
"Now, return to Azreal. Persuade him to help us. Then...together, we will change the face of the universe. Muahahaha..." the echo cackled.
Flashback end
Death summarized. "So you incited Absalom with hate, reanimate his corpse with black magic into Corruption, wait for the premature Apocalypse to defect Abaddon into destroying Humanity, and wait for me to eventually figure out that the Well of Souls is humanity's last hope just so you can persuade me to resurrect the Nephilims using my guilt! My unfounded guilt!" Death frowned.
Knowing she had nothing to lose, Lilith clenched her fists as a powerful dark aura surrounded her curvaceous body. Her eyes no longer green, but an intense red. Her horns grew longer, and veins bulged out of her temple.
"So...you figured out my plans in advance...Lucifer had told me to persuade you and kill anyone should the truth about my eon-long plans is revealed. I am sad that I have to kill you...my son...No one will escape here alive!" Lilith materialised a long staff with two long horns and a crimson orb settled in between the horns. Its hilt has ribbed devil horns and spirals of scales covering the handle.
Lilith surrounded herself with black magic as she morphed her pair of wings into larger wings dripping with blood and darkness. Its wings were filled with scales, veins, and spikes traversing down it.
Her horns became very long and as curvy as a ram's horn. Her eyes glowed red as spikes grew out from the edges of her armor, and bat wings decorated her armor pieces. Two halo-like red rings surrounded Lilith in a formation similar to a neutron shell.
"No one... can bother in escaping here ALIVE! I will kill you, Death, and use your blood to restore the Nephilims back to life!" Lilith roared as a burst of dark magic threatened to lose the Trio's balance.
"This is it...one of the Three Major Demons of Hell...You ready, Chris and Alito?" Death frowned.
"I thought you will hesitate in killing your 'mother'?" Chris wondered.
"If she's willing to do this sort of despicable crap...she's not my mother! Not by any means! No mother would ever do that kind of despicable stuff...or else she is not a true mother at all!" Death's eyes glowed as she took out his Dual Possessed Scythe.
Chris scanned through Lilith.
Morphology: Lilith (Dominatrix Form)
Race: Demon Lord
Known as: The Bride of Lucifer, The Demon Queen, Mother of Monsters, The Mad Queen.
Element: All
Description: Known as the Mad Queen - a being of supreme Arcane Power, this foe knows all elemental attacks. Her signature ability - The Elemento Barrier, represented by the Halo's s around her changes colors corresponding to her element she will be.
Blue - Ice
Red - Fire
Yellow - Lightning
Purple - Darkness
Be warned, if you attack her with specific elements when Lilith is at the same color as your attacking elements, she can recover!
However, once The Mad Queen changes to an element, she will need three minutes to change element again. The arcane magic will spike up to a high level when she changes an element. HUD will provide warnings about when.
A being of extraordinary power, physical and magical, she can pulverized foes if not paid close attention well enough. Her teleportation is quick and her projectiles are strong.
Your systems might have been upgraded thanks to the Arcane Orb the Four Dead Lords imbued you with, and the Nephilim Blood medication, but she will be no easy foe, watch out - she is not called the Dominatrix Form for nothing.
"Alito!"
"Always ready, my Lady!"
A huge burst of icicle energy crackled around Chrism its intense pressure cracked the horned pillars and blew off the candles that decorated the room.
"Chris, ready?" Death nodded.
"Let's rock her world alight!" Chris shot out as they charged into the fray, with Lilith's Dominatrix Form charging towards them too.
Lilith changed her halos to blue, which prompted Chris to deactivate her icicle element and switch to normal arcane element.
Elemental Switch: Normal
The Mad Queen held her staff with both hands and summoned forth a sacred circle with a star symbol at the center.
"Etherion!"
Chris and Death saw a huge circle appearing beneath as huge barrage of ice burst forth.
Chris crossed her arms as she predicted Lilith's elemental attack would be ice.
"Tranquillity Orb - Ice Resist!"
Six orbs formed around Chris's body as they build up her already supreme resistance to ice attacks. The icicle shots struck Chris, but the icy Maiden still charged forth, shocking Lilith.
"What?" Lilith gasped. The Mad Queen thought she could dish some damage to Chris despite being an Ice element, as the former could absorb ice and heal herself.
Chris sensed an open window and kicked the Mad Queen in the kisser, unleashing a blast of bright arcane energy in the process and throwing Lilith into the far end of a wall.
Chris looked at both her palms crackling with white energy.
"So this is a part of the upgrade when the Nephilim Blood healed me from my heavy injuries...Elemental orbs to build resistance...Since I'm already resistant to ice, using the Ice Orb will cause me to develop complete immunity to it!"
Warning: The Orbs will be active for three minutes top and is unstackable with other elemental orbs.
"Shit...that means I have to be careful about what elements to switch into." Chris frowned.
Death successfully fought through the icicle shards with his acrobatic stunts, and unleashed Harvestor Revenge straight at the Mad Queen, who teleported promptly.
Lilith appeared a few strides behind them and charged up energy from her staff.
Chris's enhanced Cochlear Augmentations and Project Tundra's HUD picked up the rush of energy behind them. Death's hair also raised up as he turned around and saw Lilith preparing for her attack.
Lilith's Dominatrix spread her wings as two more orbs appeared on her left and right side each.
"With the knowledge of the Demon Realm, suffer for your Impotence! ETHER BURST!"
Lilith screamed as she unleashed the orbs straight at Death and Chris, covering the battlefield in a blinding light. Six burst of icicle-imbued ether burst through the battlefield, striking Death and Chris.
"Now I will deal with you...pesky Ice Maiden...what?"
Lilith thought that Death was defeated and only Chris was left. However, Death quickly moved behind the Mad Queen and took out a huge hammer with a large blunt, a spike on its hilt, and a spiky claw.
Before Lilith could react in shock, Death quickly charged up his fiery hammer, swung it, and sent the Mad Queen crashing to the same spot where she crashed on again!
Fire set ablaze Lilith's body, armor, and her Elemento barrier; fire being her weakness in Blue Mode. Scars and burns scathed her once seductive body, angering the temptress herself.
"You...bastard, how dare you hurt your one and only mother!" Lilith snarled in disbelief.
"Heh...the Mad Smith gave it to me when I helped him defeat the Abyssal Forge...surprised now?" Death frowned.
Chris scanned through the new weapon Death acquired.
Weapon Data: Abyssal Forge Hammer
Description: The Mad Smith is an ancient Undead Maker that was banished into the Shadow Lands, a realm between the Trees of Life and Death, because of his creation of a construct using the Abyss's dark energy. The mad Smith used this hammer to build the construct. Imbued with dark energy, the hammer can shatter even the thickest armor and set all it touches ablaze.
"How are you not damaged?" Lilith frowned.
"Heh...the orbs' ability in lending support to allies as well!" Chris smirked.
"You will pay for what you have done!" Lilith's Dominatrix Form concentrated her attack as streams of energy covered her Elemento Barrier, turning it red.
Elemento Mode - Fire
Lilith will absorb Fire and be resistant towards Ice, but weak to physical and water attacks.
"I need a minute there!" Chris hinted.
Death nodded as he summoned a murder of ten ice crows.
"You fool! You know clearly that ice can't hurt me much!" Lilith cackled as she drove them off with streams of fiery lasers.
"Thanks for the obvious, fuckface!" Chris smirked as she teleported near a distracted Lilith.
"Now's my turn! Force Strike: GIGA IMPACT!"
Chris's body glow as she charged upon a surprised Lilith, slashed the latter with all her might using a null-element Lifebane, toss her flying towards the other side.
The Icy Maiden then slammed the Mad Queen with all her might, blasting the latter towards the entrance door.
Giga Impact side effect - System has to recharge for thirty seconds.
"Death!" Chris nodded as steam came out from her ventilating systems at her back.
"Inferno Kreuz!"
The Mad Queen imbued her staff with fire from the Abyss and teleported straight towards Death and Chris.
"So the Nephilim Blood that healed Chris can bring forth buffs once her mechanical augmentations adapted to the blood's properties. What a turn of events, heh..." Death grunted.
Death stepped in front of Chris and crossed his arms.
"Aegis Guard!"
A huge barrier filled with arcane magic surrounded the Pale Rider and the Icy Maiden as Lilith slashed the barrier several times, twirled her staff, delivered an uppercut slash, and a cross slash.
The damage, though heavy, was mitigated through Death's extremely powerful Aegis Guard.
Lilith rose up to the air and charged up her staff once more.
"This should make your death a painful one!"
Chris, however, smirked at the last second.
The Mad Queen trapped Chris and Death in a powerful cage shaped like a devil's rose, and shattered it with a powerful fire blade attack.
Lilith smirked, "Your Aegis Guard might be strong, but my arcane is stronger!"
"Yeah?"
"What?" Lilith's eyes widened as she saw Death and Chris standing tall and proud, a strong red aura surrounded them.
Tranquillity Orb - Fire Mode
Fire Resistance up by 40% for three minutes.
Knowing that she still had nearly two minutes before her Elemento Halo was capable of transitioning elements, besides being badly hurt by the Giga Impact and Abyssal Hammer, Lilith teleported to the far end of the room and summoned four fireballs.
"Feel the heat! Solar Bomb!"
Chris's quick processes allowed her to calculate the distance between the fireball to them, the speed where the fire will travel, and the amount of damage it can deal.
Lilith threw two firebombs with great velocity, but Chris and Death anticipated the fireball's speed and dodged it.
The fire shockwaves, however, damaged the duo. They managed to stand their ground thanks to the Tranquillity Orb: Fire effect.
Chris moved in front of Death just as the next two fireballs were unleashed, taking the damage for the Pale Rider and standing strong thanks to the Tranquillity orb effect.
Both Chris and Death struck Lilith using their ice weapons - Lifebane and Dual Possessed Scythe, leaving Lilith cackling.
"You really believe that Ice can defeat Fire? I'm resistant towards it, you can't hurt me that much!" Lilith smirked.
"Lilith, since you're so clever, let me test you...What does fire do to ice?" Chris asked.
"Melt it to water, of course! Wait...NO!" Lilith's smirk faded to shock and horror as the huge amount of ice that inflicted on Lilith melted into water.
"I won't allow you to hurt any innocent beings using Corruption! With Ice comes the ability to control water - the element of calmness and determination! Calmness of Tranquillity - Trie Torrentia!"
Chris guided the streams of water with Lifebane and slashed the Mad Queen in extreme high-speed, dousing her fire-based armor with arcane magic water and further damaging Lilith!
Death switches his secondary weapon into a pair of curved hooks with skeletons on its jagged blade body, and brown, sharp hilts.
"Behold the power of the Executioner! Execution Blitz!"
Death quickly stepped in front a dazed Lilith and within seconds delivered high amounts of slashes upon the Mad Queen's critical area - waists, arms, legs, face, and even her wings! The curved hooks gorged Lilith's flashes and seared her bones, drawing massive amounts of blood with each strike.
Lilith screamed in pain, surprising herself; she was a masochist, however, not since Lucifer's punishment had she experienced pain that she actually feared.
Was it because her plan was revealed?
Was it because Death finally became stronger?
Was it because Death's respect for his followers made him stronger?
Was it because of the realisations of her creating Corruption that caused Death to fly into an anger she had not anticipated?
Was it Chris's determination to protect the innocent?
So many questions, yet so little time, Lilith's eyes flared with anger and frustration.
"I am a masochist...but this time you have truly made me incandescent with anger!" Lilith roared as she crossed her arms once more.
"Elemento Barrier: Lightning!"
Lilith's halos turned yellow because of the transition. Her body crackled with electricity.
"I will finish you! DEMONIC THUNDER!"
Lilith rose to the air and raised her staff creating massive amounts of black, woolly Cumulonimbus Clouds rumbling in the skies.
Chris quickly stepped in and pushed Death away, taking the lightning attack a second later.
Lilith smirked, believing that she got Chris overloaded with lightning.
Chris stumbled for a few seconds, and then stood her ground. Her body charred with smokes coming out of her body, armor, and ventilation units. Lilith, however, was shocked when she saw a smirk spreading over Chris's face while her charred hair hid her face!
Project Tundra: Electric Shielding ability activated - combining Sunder's Shielding ability for higher damage resistance.
Lilith's Elemento Mode - Lightning
Target is weak against Ice, but absorbs lightning.
Death, taking advantage of Lilith's shock, delivered a powerful shockwave straight at the Mad Queen.
Lilith managed to dodge the attack to her left, but failed to anticipate Death's quick teleport slash to his right. The ice element, imbued upon the blade body of Death's Dual Possessed Scythes, sliced through the sinew and bones of Lilith's lightning armor.
The Mad Queen keeled, allowing Death to land in a Harvestor Revenge and Twin Humanities one-two combo and inflicting severe frost damage towards the former!
Despite the charred burns, scratches, and bruises inflicted on Chris so far, her mechanical augments still worked fine thanks to the electric shielding and the medicated Nephilim Blood that passively improved her defence.
The Icy Maiden stood up, just in time for Death to appear behind a dazed Lilith. The pale Rider plunged his scythe on Lilith's back and did a suplex towards Chris, who promptly responded by delivering an uppercut.
The Icy Maiden's eyes glowed blue with determination as her aura grows stronger in resolve.
"Our resolve shall be there! Frozen Tranquillity: Trie Blitz!"
Chris punched the Mad Queen on her guts, slashed her left, right, up, down, unleashed a shock wave, then slashed left and right once more, unleashed a powerful energy shockwave shaped as a wedge that sliced through Lilith's body, and trapped her inside a frozen icicle.
The Icy Maiden merged her Dual Lifebane into a big Lifebane, closed her eyes, imbued Lifebane with a huge blue aura and, with a huge shout, delivered a slice across the icy prison. The Icicle shattered and sent Lilith crashing towards a wall once more.
Angered, Lilith unleashed another Etherion upon Chris and Death. However, instead of shooting electricity from the floor via a circle, Lilith created a six-pointed star and unleashed bolts of lightning energy.
Tranquillity Orb - Electric
Project Tundra: Electric Shielding ability activated - combining Sunder's Shielding ability for higher damage resistance and preventing augmentation shut downs.
Electric resistance up by 80% for self, 40% for allies.
Death swiftly moved away from the electric shots swiftly, deflecting some of Lilith's lightning attack with his Executioner Hooks. Lilith, however, teleported behind and continued her attack.
Chris, detecting a huge surge of arcane magic from Lilith, detected the latter's change in direction and drove a huge ice wedge shockwave down her belly. A concentrated group of lightning blast hit the Icy Maiden at the same time, causing the Icy Maiden to fall on one of her knees for a moment before getting back up, panting.
Lilith stood up, her wings frozen and tattered by the amount of damage inflicted upon her. Blood slowly seeped out of her belly, face, and her arms.
Death's body was charred and despite his resistance to pain, had burn wounds inflicted upon his chest.
"I will give credit where credit is due...you fight well!" Lilith panted, but smirked.
"Same to you...I thought a Temptress like you will just go off sucking people's cocks!" Chris cussed. "Seems you have more arcane power than I have imagined...I mean you even damaged me despite my elemental resistance. I still stand but...you fight well too!"
"Do you really want Creation so badly that you're willing to kill your sons by means of Corruption, take part in the premature Apocalypse, transforming Abaddon into the Destroyer, wiping out Humanity, and waiting for me to rescue War just so you could persuade me in reviving the Nephilims instead?" Death frowned.
"Humans...they are just nothing but misery and weakness, as what Absalom mentioned! Revive Humanity, and I assure you they will not survive the resurrection! With the Nephilims, we can prove that Demons are the rulers of Earth and all of Creation shall tremble before our might!" Lilith snarled.
"Misery and weakness..." Chris stood up, her eyes glowing blue with the Rune of Project Tundra glowing in her left eye. "Yeah right...you're judging the many by the sins of a few!"
"Who are you to judge what Humanity is?" Death frowned.
Lilith's eyes widened. "They all do nothing but greed! And greed is where I feed upon, together with cunning! Beside, Chris...you claimed you are not human...so what gives you the right to judge one too?"
She smirked as she transformed her Elemento Barrier into purple Halos - the Element of Darkness.
Chris chuckled as she looked down. "Lilith...I was once a human...But before I know the meaning of Humanity I forsook it for a selfish cause at the age of eight, not knowing that what I have disappointed my parents time and time again because I run away from my problems for ten years..."
She took a deep breath and continued. "Alito and I refused to do anything about it because we run away from my pain, wallowing in pity. Since the Fuschia's last will and seeing the peaceful lives of family torn apart by disasters, heartless murderers, and tyrants...we came to realize that we have to face our duty and not run away from it."
Chris grabbed her merged Lifebane as a torrential burst of ice surrounded her body.
Both Chris and her sentient Lifebane shouted, "And that duty, our duty...IS TO PREVENT ANYONE FROM BECOMING THE NEXT US BY STOPPING HEARTLESS MORONS LIKE YOU, EVEN IF PEOPLE MIGHT NOT UNDERSTAND US, AND EVEN IF IT WILL TAKE AGES TO FIND OUR DESIRED ANSWERS!"
Operational Mode: ENGAGED
Driver Level: 300%
Processing Level: Maximum
Element: Null
Tranquil Fury - On!
Lilith summoned four dark orbs around her body and covered herself with a red barrier.
"Worthless scums...return to the dust from whence you came!" Lilith's Dominatrix let loose a burst of arcane energy.
Death stood beside Chris, nodding softly...
"You're getting there, Chris...You're getting there in terms of finding solace...Once you find solace your clear mind will understand the answer you so wanted eventually."
Death clenched his Dual Possessed Scythes, deactivated its elemental properties, and bended his back slightly as he poised for the final rush.
Lilith charged up a powerful Dark Orb as she rose up and raised her staff. "I'm resistant to all elements...There's nought that way but despair! DARKNESS: ETHER BURST!"
Sunder's Ability activated - Shielding
Restrain Order: Deactivated
Using Operational Mode will cause weaponry systems to be down for 50%. Recovery needed is eight hours for restoration to full health. Future uses will have the body adapt to recover faster.
Are you sure, you want to go ahead with this function? Y/N
Chris and Lifebane chose the 'Y' option as the Rune of Project Tundra and Ventus glowed brightly with their intense determination.
The Aura created from their project programmes suddenly formed a woman's apparition with short black hair, two bangs on two sides of her face, and a ponytail from the back of her head.
The apparition also wore a kimono with sakura flower patterns and a big ribbon on her back. She was wearing a warm simper upon her face as she spread her arms.
"That must be the Kako Takafuji that Chris and Alito mentioned back in the Forge Lands...The Fortune Lady that gave them the Arcane Magic which requires the Project Programmes to control properly..." Death frowned.
Without a word, Chris sprinted over to Lilith's Ether Burst, braved the attack by sheer will, and surprised the Mad Queen by coming out of the Ether Burst, heavily damaged, but not as damaged as the aftermath of Lucien's fight.
Death, noticing the window of chance, sprinted towards a shocked Lilith, who raised her staff in a last-ditch attempt to block Chris's attack.
Chris's Lifebane clashed with Lilith's Dominatrix Staff, forcing a temporary dead lock between the two. The palace slowly losing foundation and was cracking under the immense energy build-up from the deadlock.
Death transformed into his Reaper Form, to negate the gush of wind caused by the deadlock, and sliced Lilith's wings off!
The mad Queen screamed in pain as Chris threw Lilith's Dominatrix away. Time came to a crawl as Chris's processing unit and senses heightened thanks to Operational Mode.
"Gefrorene Tranquillity: Augenblicklich Klinge!" (Frozen Tranquillity: Instantaneous Blade!)
Chris drew out her Dual Lifebane, slashed every sinew, bones, muscles, joints in Lilith's body, and reappears behind the Mad Queen. As soon as Chris joined her Dual Lifebane by the hilt, a sharp sound pierced the skies as waves of sword energy exploded within Lilith's body. Blood seeped out from the lacerations and stab wounds that Lilith received.
Reaper Form Death swung his Harvestor past the weakened Mad Queen, slicing her clean and ending the mad Queen's life for the last time.
Lilith's dying body slumped on the floor, slowly dissolving into the air, but not giving her last words of defiance...
Death...and you dreaded, cursed followers...you will never defeat Samael...Even if you do and attempted to resurrect Humanity, Absalom will see that unless you resurrect the Nephilims instead of the weak and pathetic humans...YOU WILL NEVER COME OUT ALIVE!
"Humans...you can't just simply judge a race with the sins of a few...You won't get it Lilith...because you have never been to a human world before, or never even live there..." Chris frowned.
"For War, Lilith...I will kill even you...my 'Mother' - who even now think you're still right for infecting your firstborn Nephilim with insanity and hate!" Death followed.
With a final scream piercing the heavens, Lilith dissolved into the air, ending the Mad Queen's reign.
"Finally...the one who caused Corruption...gone." Death sighed in relief, dusting his body while nursing his wounds with a bottle of green potion.
"We did it...One of the three major Demon Lords...gone. Seems we got rid of the one's...responsible for Corruption..." Chris stumbled and nearly fell on her back due to exhaustion and the damage inflicted upon her body.
Lifebane powered down to Alito and nearly fell too, were it not for Death holding them by their back just in time.
"I'm sure you can hold out, right?" Death hoped.
"Don't worry...Pale Rider. It is not as serious compared to the aftermath of Lucien's battle. Thanks to the Nephilim Blood increasing my augmentations...I can recover within eight hours with no signs of fatal injuries whatsoever. My body's cardio-system will adapt to recover faster after this..." Chris simpered weakly.
"You stupid fool...You tire yourself, yet you carry on despite all the odds." Death sighed and shook his head.
"We'd rather be a village idiot...then to leave an ally, that we came to respect, for dead right?" Chris shook her head.
"We want to see you make it through...To succeed in destroying Corruption and rescuing War, to prevent history from repeating itself. We neither want you to feel grief for your brother, nor do we want to see our world crumble in Corruption...We also don't want to lose...each other..." Alito followed weakly as she turned to Chris and simpered.
Death gave a dry chuckle. "Well...you certainly are more human than you thought. You have given me more consideration to respect Humanity now..."
Death moved Chris near Alito.
"Rest well, yer two Maidens. By the time you woke up, I will have gotten the Demon Key. We will rest up and get to the Well of Souls." Death scrolled through Chris and Alito's waypoint teleporter, highlighting 'Tree of Death'.
"Thanks...Pale Rider." Chris simpered as both maidens fell into a deep sleep.
"My thanks go to you, Pale Rider, for helping my Lady." Alito followed.
After Chris and Alito safely were teleported safely to the Tree of Death, where the Crowfather resided, Death stood up and faced the big door leading to a green clock-like portal circle. The Pale Rider took a deep breath and nodded.
"It's time..."
Thanks...Chris and Alito.
You make me realize that Humanity is something worth respecting.
Yes, Humanity has flaws...always have, and always will.
But you have taught me that for every flaw of a human nature...there will be someone like you.
Someone who is willing to protect the fragments of kindness in the world.
Someone who is willing to prevent history after suffering one yourself.
Then again, you will refuse to admit that you're a human, because of your guilt...
I'm sure that one day, there will be a group of people who will understand you both well enough to say...
'It's not your fault.'