Chapter 37: Death vs Samael - The Lord of the Black Stone!
He was a reaper travelling through countless worlds and among the many worlds he had been to, Earth was the place where his presence was felt the most.
Yet his job never seemed to involve understanding humans at all. It was just waiting until a particular human's life was up, took out his Harvestor, and off with the victim's soul to the Land of the Dead.
There was nothing to empathize about, nor could he understand why the people are feeling grief at all.
All the times Death had been on Earth, his reasons were simply 'for the balance'.
He never cared for them, nor did he ever understand why people feel grief when someone dies.
He simply killed dying humans just for the sake 'of the Balance', or at least that was what the Charred Council told him to do.
He was always portrayed as the villain, being blamed upon for someone else's death, and being blamed upon for inflicting unfairness towards family, loved ones, or even a group of innocent people.
He ignored the pleas of the innocent, but he knew he was not the villain; he was simply carrying out the Council's orders.
That was, until Chris and Alito appeared.
Despite being of different magnitude, both Death and the two maidens shared one thing...
Grief...
Guilt...
And most of all...sorrow.
Then it all hit him - there was more to humans then being things to reap when their lives were up.
Chris and Alito, despite their refusal of admitting humanity, had showed Death about the values of being human more than his time on Earth.
The Nephilims certainly deserved to die; they were heartless murderers conspiring with Lilith after all.
But what about the humans that were innocent to began with?
What about the humans who were fighting for a good cause?
They did not deserve to die, were they?
Why then...? Why did the Charred Council want Death to kill the innocent beings?
Was it clearly for the sake of the Balance?
That was when it hit Death, like a bus slamming on a tall and solid tower.
"Your precious Balance only serves to stay its hand."
The pale Rider never came to know the importance of this sentence until Corruption strikes, attempting to thwart his plans of reaching the Well of Souls and rescuing his brother War.
The Charred Council knew about Corruption all along, yet they never told him about it...Why?
"Your precious Balance only serves to stay its hand."
Again, it was that same damn reason...Balance.
The Charred Council simply accepted Corruption as a part of life, as a part of Balance...
If Death simply accepts Corruption as a part of life, he would have given up right now; Corruption brought nothingness to balance life, right?
WRONG.
How wrong he was...
Since Chris and Alito came along, Death finally knew the true meaning of Balance...
Chris's world grew peaceful despite the social indifferences, and that was only between otakus and people who dislike the moe culture. Nothing more; Chris and Alito, along with the socialites they met along the way, could solve it.
Death's world did not grow peaceful; instead, it grew a fuck load more chaotic.
Stocks falling...epidemics everywhere...natural disasters plaguing everywhere...terrorists rampaging and inflicting fear upon everyone...unemployment...death of a loved one...war because of political issues.
But that's okay right? Because the Charred Council knew, that Balance was about life and chaos balancing each other out.
WRONG AGAIN.
What if Balance was something abstract, and not just about Life and Death, Good and Evil, Light and Dark?
What if Balance's main ingredients were just Heaven, Hell, and Man?
What if...the Charred Council's perception of Balance was wrong?
What if...Balance need not be so complex after all?
Yes...balance need not be so complex.
By what methods did Chris and Alito partake in to maintain the Balance in their world?
Preventing history from happening to the innocent beings.
Protecting the innocent beings from heartless evil.
By the Charred Council standards, Chris and Alito would have not understood Balance at all.
Yet, what did that apparent 'lack of understanding balance' got their world into? Exactly...
Peace.
Solace.
Calm state of mind.
Happiness.
Most of all...Balance.
One thing is for sure...the Charred Councils were wrong about Balance...
For once, Death had cleared his mind.
He would rescue War, restore Humanity, and challenge the Charred Councils about the true meaning of Balance.
Death knew that he would be killed, but he would not care.
It was time to step it up, and stood up for himself.
Death silently thanked Chris and Alito; his respect for humans grew even more.
Edge of Black Throne
The statue of a big demon with a pair of huge, upside-down vampire wings, two ram-like horns, scaly skin, and a wrinkled demonic face eroded away into the vortex from afar.
"Samael is close..." Death frowned.
Death charged up a bright green energy, tore a void right in front of a circle with Phasewalker, and jumped into the portal.
The ruined area changed into a dark red room with statues of Lilith, Lucifer, and Samael upon the room's interior.
Devil horns grew on ribbed pillars, and fire torches lit up the blood-colored room. Sitting upon the throne laid the Blood prince himself, Samael.
He had many names - Red Wanderer, Lord of the Black Stone, the Demon Prince, and the Strongest of the Demon Realm.
Samael's eyes glowed yellow as he sensed the Pale Rider's unsanctioned arrival via the Phasewalker. He clenched his fists.
"So...the Council sends only one Horseman...even to the past." the Blood Prince spoke in a deep, gruff voice as Death traversed down the stairs from the side.
"No, this visit is...unsanctioned. In fact, no one knows you are here." Samael smirked.
"Not a soul. Now hand over the key, it can be our little...secret." Death frowned.
Samael chuckled softly and soon disappeared in a puff of black smoke. Death quickly drew out his dual Possessed Scythe and poised for battle.
However, the Blood Prince quickly appeared behind him and lifted him with telekinesis. Death's flesh stretched, sending cold sweat down the Pale Rider's forehead as he winced in pain.
"Huh...Pitiful..." Samael grunted as he threw the Pale Rider towards the other side of the throne room.
"Flawed castings from a perfect mold. Absalom was always stronger than the rest of you..." Samael taunted and teleported in front of Death to attack, just in time for the latter to pick himself up and quickly locked the former in a deadlock.
Blades and arms clashed as the Throne Room's rocky floor cracked from their sheer power.
Death stared at the Blood Prince. "You'll find me...strong enough...Samael!"
The Pale Rider's eyes glowed as he unleashed a powerful burst of arcane magic to break Samael's attack. The Blood Prince stood his ground and laughed heartily.
"Yes. You have overcome many obstacles to stand here before me." Samael boasted as he teleported back upon his mighty throne. "But sometimes, the hero dies in the end. Ask your brother."
"So this place happens during the one hundred years of War's imprisonment, huh?" Death frowned.
"Will you surrender the key, or must I take it?" Death grew exasperated."
Samael signalled Death with his right index finger and gave a smirk once more. "Well...I think we knew the answer..."
The bridge connecting the platform Death was standing on and Samael's throne disappeared with the latter's command.
Death quickly summoned three ghouls once more, luring the Blood prince successfully. The Pale Rider unleashed a powerful shockwave behind Samael's back, causing the latter to keel over.
The Blood Prince quickly teleported back to his throne and summoned three scorching fireballs, which Death dodged easily.
Knowing that it was all a set up for Samael's quick teleportation attack, Death quickly summoned three ghouls again and barely dodging the Blood Prince's teleportation slash.
The Blood Prince smirked as he homed in upon the pale Rider with his Teleportation Claw, but the Pale Rider quickly dodged the attack to the side. Samael glared at Death and delivered another Teleportation Claw once again, barely missing the latter were it not for Death's quick roll dodge.
The ghouls exploded and Death launched another shockwave from his Slice of Death, but Samael teleported back towards his throne, causing Death's attack to miss.
Death frowned as he managed to dodge the Blood Prince's teleportation Claw once again. The Pale Rider swung his Dual Possessed Scythe straight towards Samael but the latter teleported immediately in front of the former with dive bomb. The Pale Rider barely managed to dodge towards the right as he dodged Samael's following cross-slash with a back flip yet again.
Two consecutive and hair-raising close shaves of dodging Samael's quick, but strong crush claws, Death sensed an opening and moved in for the kill. Unleashing a Twin Humanities, Death successfully landed strong hits towards the Blood Prince and keeling the latter once more.
Samael teleported back to his throne and cackled as he summoned five fireballs; threw the first two fireballs at once and another two next.
Death strolled past the Fireballs handily, and quickly summoned three ghouls, all while noticing the fifth fireball vanished into thin air.
Quickly sensing something is amiss, Death managed to dodge roll away from Samael's teleportation punch towards the ground.
Samael pulled out his fists but ghouls' slash attack distracted him, and a huge sonicboom from Death's armblades struck him once more.
The Blood Prince roared in anger after failing to land a hit on Death throughout the battle.
"You have improved...way better than I imagined!" Samael frowned.
"I hate it when I have to say, 'I told you so!'." Death grunted.
Samael teleported back to his throne and sat on it, his right arm rested upon his right cheek as he lay lazily. The bridge connecting the battle zone and Samael's throne materialised again.
Knowing that Samael was trolling him, Death still charged on full force and delivered a full on cleave with his possessed scythe. A wicked grin etched upon the Blood Prince's face as he blocked the cleave attack with his left hand, parried it, and pushed Death back with a powerful, fiery shockwave. Scorching fire burned upon Death's flesh as he quickly turned and saw Samael appearing behind him, getting ready for a punch.
The Kinslayer, however knew full well about Samael's attack and quickly evaded Samael's charge with a super backward somersault.
The Lord of the Black Stone teleported back into his seat, clapping his hands.
"Bravo...bravo! You anticipated my attacks, but that is only round one! This time...I won't let you have it easy..." Samael smirked as he raised his right hand and pulled the platform where Death is standing on near him.
"Now...for round two!" Samael roared as his fists burst with demonic flames and crackled with lightning.
Death though had anticipated Sameal's increase in attack and grunted slyly.
"Look who's talking." said he, as he summoned three ghouls and somersaulted his way backwards.
Samael roared and unleashed a powerful sweeping slash upon the ghouls with his electrically charged fire fists, destroying them with one hit, but Death acted quickly and unleashed a powerful sonicboom from his Slice of Death.
Samael teleported back to his throne and smirked.
"Trust me...it ain't over...Burn in the Abyssal Flames of Hell - Magma Crusade!"
Death looked down, saw ripples of yellow energy surrounding him, run around in a large circle, and promptly dodge roll when the circle became bigger. A huge surge of towering fire erupted from the ground soon after.
Ripples of yellow energy continually tailed Death as tower after tower of energy erupted from the ground, but Death successfully dodged them all when the tailing circle became big each time.
After ten rounds of the Magma Crusade, Death landed on his feet, only to see Samael grinning as he appeared in front of him. Death, however, managed to do back flips twice in a row before Samael could land a powerful electrically charged punch with a short, but powerful shockwave that crackled the floor around him.
Samael then punched the ground, unleashing streams of electrically covered magma from the pool of lava surrounding the battlefield upon the Pale Rider.
Death waited until the last moment, when several streams of magma gathered and rained upon him, and dodged it. Another stream appeared from the other side shortly after and Death dodged towards the opposing side. Two streams from both left and right appeared behind him but Death did a back flip high enough to dodge Samael's backstabbing slash once again; the Pale Rider anticipated it all along.
Both Samael and Death clashed their weapons once more, with Death barely managing to get the upper hand by pushing Samael away. Flurries of slashes soon inflicted upon the Blood Prince as soon as Death grabbed the window of opportunity with both hands.
Samael roared and teleported back upon the Throne, raising his hands and flaring up.
"Destruction Awaits - Chaotic Hellfire!"
Seven rings of fire surrounded Death, who stood below the center ring, within close proximity. Death however, managed to jog away from the ring of fire just as it concentrated and unleashed the Tower of Fire.
As Death successfully dodged the fire ring, another group of seven rings surrounded the Pale Rider, but he managed to evade it quickly. Throughout the next seven waves, Death barely evaded the rings of fire tailing and exploding around him.
After unleashing Chaotic Hellfire Samael teleported into the battlefield, but Death quickly summoned three ghouls to lure him once again.
Samael punched the ground, unleashing another shockwave that caused the ghouls to explode.
Death quickly took the slight delay and unleashed another cleave upon the Blood Prince. Samael teleported behind the Pale Rider, but the latter quickly turned around and swung his Possessed Scythes towards Demon Prince. Samael appeared beside him and Death responded by another swinging slash, but the former teleported shortly after.
Death took a deep breath looked behind him and saw a rush of air behind him. Striking the hot iron, Death managed to merge his dual possessed scythe into a large scythe, turn a one-eighty, and managed to second-guess Samael's position - at his back.
Samael's eyes widened as Death inflicted a large gash upon his wrist and chest.
Surprised, yet enraged at Death's ability to second-guess his attacks, the Blood Prince charged upon the Pale Rider, and slashes upon slashes ensued upon the Palace of the Black Stone.
In the end, Death managed to second-guess Samael's appearing quickly beside him, transformed into his Reaper Form, and slashed the Blood Prince four times on the trot. The resulting intense arcane power and force sent Samael crashing upon his throne seat, where spikes that made up the throne impaled through his side chest and wings.
Blood started flowing out of his wounded body slowly as he eased himself out of the spikes and sat upon the throne, exhausted an surprised.
"You...you have certainly grown stronger than I have imagined. I bet the Death of this timeline would be certainly surprised...You win, for now..." Samael frowned.
Death powered down from his Reaper Form and approached the Blood Prince.
"Are you going to hand in the Key now?" Death frowned.
"Well...if you can state your reason...perhaps I will." Samael frowned.
After telling the Blood Prince about getting to the Well of Souls, and his upcoming battle with Absalom...
"Hmmm...Interesting. Perhaps you'll succeed after all." he gradually regained his wicked, anticipating smile as he materialised a big, black key with a skeleton hold and four 'bits'.
"Either way...it will be quite a show!" Samael smirked as Death picked up the Key, but returned to his usual frown yet again.
"Just know this, Pale Rider...it won't be long before we will fight again. You have better give me your best short, Rider, or you will be toasted; I have not even released of my powers yet. Reviving Humanity though, heh, I'm certain that those weak humans will not stand a chance." Samael frowned.
"What makes you think so?" Death wondered.
"What more do you think the End War is for? Nothing more than a battle to decide which faction rule over Earth...Be it the cunning of demons, the justice of the White City, or a mixture of both from humans, the End War is just a worthless battle for bureaucracy to decide what method of ruling Earth is better. But us demons will win this pointless scuffle in the end." Samael replied.
"Really? Because I have heard about Demons becoming evil for the sake of being evil, you know, like most fantasy clichés." Death grunted.
"That is why they fall. That is why Demon Lords like Belial will not live long. He's evil and greedy for the sake of being evil and greedy." Samael grunted.
He continued, "Humans are similar to us; cunning and despicable. I will never understand why the Charred Council wants to let humankind participate in the End War. The Council's laws, their code of Honor, and the Balance are something I will never respect. We will show them that we demons are stronger than the humans' cunning are! Until then...enjoy your victory..." Samael smirked.
"We shall see about that then." Death crossed his arms.
Samael cackled as he vanished, leaving no traces of him behind.
"Good...I will be looking forward too." Death muttered as he looked at the Demon Key in all its glory.
"Well...this is it...Time to knock Absalom in his skull!" Death clenched his fists, anticipating the rematch.
"Trust me Samael, you have no idea how resolved I am right now...I will make sure my new respect for humans will shake your once cunning smirk, for humans have something you demons do not have..." Death grunted.