The first thing Maou noticed was that he was no longer in his own body… or perhaps he was… whatever the case, he seemed to be floating in a black mist. He retained his devil form, yet he saw nothing around him. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and tried to drift forward, through the darkness. He came upon several bars of light that seemed to form a cage, and just past the bars of his prison, Maou saw a dark figure, standing before two windows. The figure turned and grinned at him, revealing black hair, black eyes and fangs, yet it also had horns protruding from its head, one of which had been sliced off. It was Maou, except it wasn't. It was the darkness from within him, rising to take control. Maou, the good one, battered against the bars of his cage, but to no avail. The bars glowed brightly and with a flash, he was cast back into the dark mist.
"Son of a… how am I supposed to get out of here," Maou asked himself.
"There is no escape."
The black eyed Maou had turned to face his caged counterpart, smiling evilly as he gripped the bars of light that blocked his twin's access.
"You are taking the back seat in this little venture… you kept me sealed away your entire life, considering me to be useless and demeaning. I kept us alive when you were young, I gave you the tenacity to rise above any other demon and become a king! And you locked me away when you had no use of me! You threw me into a dark pit with nothing but your most crippling doubts and fears and you left me there to rot!"
"What are you," the red eyed Maou asked, glaring at his evil clone.
"I am your demonic instincts. I am your true nature… but I am not without mercy. You have been given much more freedom than I! I gave you a clear view of me as I prepare to destroy those you once called friends! You can watch, helpless, as I annihilate them! And along with them, I think your will to fight will leave as well, you'll give in to me, cause I will be all you have left."
"I don't think so," Maou said, smiling and looking past his counterpart to peer out of the windows that were his physical eyes.
The evil Maou turned and he saw an angel coming for him, wings wide and purple blade poised to pierce right through him. The blow met, and the sword passed clear through Maou's physical body as Urushihara sliced into his Overlord. The blow entered Maou's consciousness, where the two Devils were talking, and it rang against the bars of Satan's cell. There was high pitched note of metal on metal, but the bars remained where they were.
Lucifer took a breath and turned to look at his king, but he was horrified to find his attack had done nothing, Maou's eyes were black as ever and he looked positively thrilled as he stepped toward Urushihara.
"Light will not save you now," Maou growled as he swiped a clawed hand at the fallen angel, causing him to be thrown back into Suzuno, who caught him with her hammer, and threw him bodily back at the Devil with a heavy swing.
Alciel leapt forward as well, digging deep to find his courage.
'This is not my king,' he thought to himself as he shot several beams of emerald energy at the Devil.
Emi, however, was frozen. As all the others took action, Emi could barely move as she stared at the black eyed being before her. He was hunched and his clothes were in tatters as they hung about his muscled frame. He looked almost exactly like he had in her nightmares, regal, yet evil and powerful beyond belief. Emi's legs turned to jello and her gut twisted itself into knots as she shook, her fists clenched. It had seemed like only second ago their lips had been pressed together and they had been entwined in the throes of passion. So why was she so horrified this had happened? Why did this make her quake in her shoes and want to drop her sword, which had manifested itself with Emi's sudden and incomprehensible fear.
"Maou," she whispered to herself, wishing the man within the Devil could hear her lamentation. She turned and found Bernael leaning against the wall, smirking as he watched the Devil fight his friends.
"Geez," he said, "I never thought very much of the guy… maybe that was wrong of me, after all, he is the Devil. Still, why are you so afraid, Emilia?"
Bernael's violet eyes bored into Emi's as she realized he was speaking to her. She turned to face him, her sword heavy in her hand as she wet her lips in preparation for a response.
"I'm not afraid," she said weakly, her voice filled with what she knew to be fear.
"Denial," Bernael asked, sensing her emotions, "what is there to deny in this situation, Hero? Denying your fear, or is it something else…"
The snarky fallen angel of Darkness narrowed his eyes at the Hero, his smirk widening as he dug through her emotional muck with his power.
"No, not denial of your fear… denial of the Devil? What," Bernael asked, raising an eyebrow, "how are you denying the Devil? He's real, you've been stalking him for a while now, haven't you?"
He rubbed his chin and thought hard as he continued to dig around in Emi's head. She tried to shut him out, but he already had his mental probe firmly lodged in her cranium.
"No, denial of… what is this… wait!"
Bernael snapped his fingers and Emi jumped, almost expecting energy to shoot from his fingertips and smite her.
"You in denial of the Devil, cause you regard him and Maou as separate individuals! That's rich! And what is…"
Bernael's eyes widened and Emi felt him search through her recent memories, including those in which she and Maou had kissed. The fallen angel giggled slightly, the pitch rising and falling until he was laughing maniacally, wiping away tears as he doubled over and clutched the fractured pillar next to him for support.
"Holy shit- HAHAHAHAHA- OH MY HAHahahahHAHAAAAA! That's just-HA- oh good god, this explains a lot! Haha, and it's so sad as well! Who'd have thought that you and the Devil would ever fraternize like that," Bernael hissed, still giggling slightly.
"Shut up," Emi said, her voice surprisingly hard.
"Oh, Emilia, what would the Church say if they could see you now? The Hero and the Devil, together and happy! How many kids are you guys having then, hmm? Will you hang up your Sacred Sword and take up the ladle and the butter knife to feed your abominable offspring? Will there be demons throwing shit and shanking each other at your wedding as Satan and you fornicate on the altar?! I swear, you humans are disgusting. And to think you're half angel… ugh, I feel myself getting sick just thinking that you and I are related!"
"Shut up you bastard," Emi said quietly, her sword no longer shaking as she stepped threateningly at the fallen angel, who continued to look smug as she kicked her way through the rubble toward him.
"What will you do, Hero? I can feel the darkness within you, it is much more than I usually get to manipulate… I'll enjoy turning you into my puppet," Bernael said holding out a hand and using his mental presence within her mind to establish dominance.
Emi felt the darkness within her rise. It was horrible, but on the other hand it was also relieving, like a cool, refreshing drink of water after a walk through the desert. It was nice to have all of her horrible feelings cast to the forefront of her mind, where she could find and categorize them appropriately, rather than letting them eat away at her. Emi's eyes turned black and the Evolving Holy Sword's blade became stained with darkness as well, though her footsteps continued as she walked toward Bernael.
"Stop right there," he commanded.
Emi felt the darkness within her surge to obey, but Emi wrestled with her own demons, forcing them to heed her will. They were hers and hers alone to control. Emi stopped, one foot raised to step forward, twitching as she fought a fierce battle in her own head. There was a moment where she feared she would lose, but then the foot came down, and after a few slow, shaky steps, her pace was resumed.
"What the- STOP," Bernael shrieked, waving a hand and commanding the evil within Emi to obey.
"What's the matter," Emi asked, grabbing Bernael by the scruff of his tattered Italian sports coat and pulling him dangerously close to her, "something not working like it should?"
"Your Darkness is mine to control," Bernael said savagely.
"No," Emi said, her face contorting to a look of frightening anger, "this is my darkness, not yours. This is my pain and suffering at the hands of the church. This is my disdain for demons, this is my loathing for people like you who abuse their power to subjugate others, and this is the spiteful vengeance I hid away from the world so I could act as the perfect hero. I wasn't born without emotions, I buried them so that I could do what was right. I put everyone else ahead of myself, and not once did I get a thank you, not once did anyone tell me good job, these things were expected of me. I was never to be selfish, or angry, or scared, or outraged. I was supposed to keep these things under lock and key… but now you've let them out, and they don't feel like doing what you want. You see, underlying all of that negativity, there was a deep, intense loathing of authority, and those who try to impose it upon me. I may be the Hero, but this is a rare opportunity for me to let loose. This is the time to be selfish, and I won't let you control me!"
Emi dragged Bernael around, and she threw him bodily across the room, but his wings opened and caught his fall, allowing him to control his flight and alight upon the ground the right way up. Too late, he noticed Emi had followed him, with her sword held high over her head as she bounded towards him. Bernael focused his power, and he willed the Hero to go boneless. Her darkness struggled against him and after a moment of uncertain freefalling, she regained her self-control and swung at him, cleaving the pile of fallen bricks he'd landed upon in two. He leapt off the pile, staring with fear at the Hero, who looked an odd combination of angry and happy, as if she'd accidentally pulled the pin on a grenade in a room full of her worst enemies.
Sadly, even with Bernael distracted by Emi, Maou was still having trouble distracting his inner demon as it sought to destroy his friends. More than once, there was a close call where he thought he might have seriously hurt one of them, but then they were rescued by one of their comrades, and together they struck at him from all sides. Suzuno used magic combined with her hammer in an attempt to lay waste to the Demon King, but her hammer struck his aura of black and red power and bounced off. Alciel remained at a distance, hurling piles of debris and rubble at his lord and master, while Urushihara and Raphael fought together, using every trick in the book to try and help the devil regain his control.
"Get a hold of yourself, Satan," Raphael said, slamming a fist of red power into the Devil's shield, "we need you to come back to your senses!"
"I'm trying," Maou shouted, staring into the windows and wishing his friends could hear him, "I'm trying! Just hold on!"
Maou threw himself against the bars. He figured magic would likely set off its wards, so he simply used his muscles upon them. They did not budge beneath his impossibly strong grip, and Maou almost let out a groan of despair as his muscles bulged and his tendons popped. He gritted his teeth and felt as if his arms might tear from their sockets before he finally let up.
"Struggle all you like," evil Maou said, not taking his eyes from the battle, "there's no way to stop me now! When we are done here, we'll have to thank Bernael for releasing me… before we kill him and take his power. Bratty angels have no place in our utopia!"
"Everyone has a place in my world," Maou answered his dark twin, "everyone! We will all live with love in our hearts! We will co-exist and progress further than ever! I won't let you ruin all that we have worked so hard to achieve!"
Maou retreated from the bars, and he whipped about quickly, throwing a barrage of glimmering red power at them. He willed every ounce of power he possessed to beat against the cage relentlessly. He felt pain flow through him as the enchantments of the cage took effect, causing him to almost fall to his knees in agony. The black eyes of the evil counterpart looked over his shoulder, a hint of playful malice upon his face.
"I told you already, there's no use. I've been working on that cage since I was first locked away. It was designed to counter every kind of magic. Nothing will break through it. You can try anything you like, I won't stop you. It is futile."
The black eyed Maou cracked his fingers and flexed his muscles.
"Now, let's see what this body of ours can do, shall we?!"
With a frighteningly fast strike, Maou lunged forward, and he bowled over Raphael as he fought to penetrate Satan's shield. The force field threw the angel back and he hit the wall with a crunch. A blast of green light smote the shield, and the Devil turned, casting a glittering black eye upon his general, Alciel. A tense moment passed, and Maou used his mind to engage in a battle of wits. Back and forth their mental probes flickered until Alciel's eyes rolled back and he fell to the floor, his power dimmed. His tail faded and his fur with it, he once more became human, leaving Urushihara and Suzuno still fighting. They rushed in for a double attack, but their blows went straight through the area where Maou had been. A shadow appeared behind them, and the two rather petite people turned, only to be lifted into the air by their throats, their legs kicking uselessly as Maou's dark eyes bored into theirs.
"No! Lucifer! Suzuno! Fight me off! Dammit, fight me you idiots! Don't just let me win," Maou hollered through the bars as he watched his friends slowly suffocate. Slowly but surely, their faces purpled and their limbs stopped moving as much as they struggled to breath. Suzuno's cheeks were streaked with tears, and surprisingly so were Urushihara's. Maou couldn't watch, he turned away, not able to bear the shame of his actions.
Thud.
It was a strange sound, like a dull, piercing sound, and Maou looked to see a black blade protruding from the chest of his physical body. He dropped Suzuno and Lucifer as the malign Maou growled and frowned. The blade was pulled from the Maou's chest, and he turned to find Emi there. She looked radiant and beautiful to the Maou within the cage, but her eyes were blackened and dull. She frowned at him, her lip curled in a feral snarl as she shook the blood from her blade.
'Emi,' Maou thought, 'no.'
But she couldn't hear him. She growled at Maou, and without warning, she began to slice away at him. He dodged, this way and that, as the dark twin evaded her attacks with apparent ease.
"Get a hold of yourself, Maou," she said loudly, slashing out in a wide arc and sending out holy flames that beat against Maou's skin and made him cringe and cower before her.
Within Maou, the dark entity growled as he glared at Emi through the windows of his eyes.
"So, this is the Hero, huh? I suppose I can see why you fell for her," he said quietly, picking a spot on his chin, "she is actually pretty attractive when she's beholden of the Darkness… maybe I should try to score with her… after she'd dead, of course!"
"You're a sick fuck," the caged Devil said as he gripped the bars of light that kept him from seizing control of his body, "I mean, I thought I was bad because I fell for her, but I didn't know my demon side was into necrophilia."
"One simple rule for that," the evil Demon King said happily, "if the body's warm, it doesn't count as necrophilia."
If Maou hadn't been so intensely scared for his friends, he might have actually laughed at how suddenly his dark side had gotten excited over the thought of Emi's corpse. Still, he did all he could as he silently worked the bars of his prison while his evil counterpart fought Emilia the Hero.
"My, my, the Hero Emilia, all grown up… You look good enough to eat," Maou boomed as he fought against Emi, sparks flying as she cut through his magic projectiles.
"Maou, can you hear me," Emi shouted as she slashed at the energy fired in her direction, "get a hold of yourself!"
"She still has control," Maou realized as he gazed through the bars to stare at Emi's pitch black eyes.
Sure enough, as the body Maou had been taken prisoner in turned and moved about with dizzying rapidity, Maou thought he saw a prone figure with dark hair and a tattered black suit lying still upon the floor, but before he could make it out, the images whirled again, and suddenly Maou saw a figure with waist length red hair with her back to Maou. The caged Overlord shouted, but it was both too late and futile, for she couldn't hear him. The vision of her came closer as the malevolent Devil willed the body to charge forth, catching the Hero unawares. She turned just in time to see the Devil lunging at her, arms outstretched. Her nightmare flashed behind her eyes again, and with one deft movement, she was caught by her throat and pinned against the wall, where she kicked and struggled as the Devil grinned and bared his teeth, his black eyes boring into her own.
"Die, Hero," the Devil hissed softly into Emi's ear.
And for a moment, she felt herself wanting to give in.
'Let it end,' her sore body cried out.
'Give in to his strength,' her doubt seceded.
'Submit to no authority,' her selfish arrogance shouted, 'you are the Hero! No evil can better you, FIGHT!'
Emi's sword had faded, her fear had driven her concentration to its breaking point and she had no weapon. But still, her urge to fight boiled within her. Her inky black anger pulsed through her like venom and she growled at the Devil, even as he tightened his grip upon her throat. Her vision dimmed, stars danced before her eyes. She gripped the Devil's wrist as he held her in place against the stone wall and with a sickening crack, she wrenched the wrist so hard that it broke. The Devil howled like a banshee and dropped Emi, who fell to her knees at his feet and massaged her throat, trying to restore her breathing.
"I was gonna make your death quick and painless, so as not to ruin your good looks… not anymore, DIE HERO!"
Maou kneed Emi and she cracked her head against the wall, her vision going black for a moment and her body rag dolling from the blow. Satan stretched out a hand and pulled back the Hero's hair, kneeling with her upon the floor. Blood trickled from her wounds; it drizzled from the corner of her lip and from under her hair. She looked at the Devil with narrowed eyes as she breathed heavily, watching as he slowly raised a fist to strike her. The fist was pulled all the way back, the blow would surely be the last thing she saw before losing consciousness. Was this the end of Emilia the Hero? For what seemed like eternity, the fist hung suspended, and Emi didn't think much of it until minutes seemed to have ticked by with no change in their positions. Emi's breath came in shuddering gasps as her lungs cringed from countless bruises to her abdomen. The fist hanging above her menacingly began to shake, and Emi looked into the face of the Devil to see a great struggle.
Maou couldn't sit by and do nothing. He simply couldn't, he shook the bars of his cage violently and he called out for Emi, abandoning all pretense of disdain for her, he shouted her name as he watched her being choked by his own hand.
"EMIII!"
"DIE, HERO!"
"NO!"
Maou had always considered himself above his base demon instincts. He wanted nothing to do with them, and he left them behind with no consequence, until now. It was for the good of demonkind that he cast aside his basic desires of the flesh, right? But now Emi was in danger, and Maou wasn't about to let himself hurt her. Maou reached through the bars of his prison, and with a tug he spun about his alter ego; his red, glowing eyes matching his malign twin's pitch black ones.
"What are you-"
"You are my darkness," Maou said grimly, "that means that you're me. I've denied you for far too long, and I'm sorry about that, but it's time to stop."
The evil Maou made to push away, but he was enveloped in Maou's embrace, seemingly powerless before him.
"I won't be locked away, again!"
But even as Maou tried to make him and his counterpart one and the same, his twin pulled away and fought against him, suddenly becoming erratic and hysterical.
"Don't put me back in the darkness," he shouted, pummeling Maou, "I won't go back, I'd rather die!"
"This isn't me putting you in a cage," Maou said as he fought the urge to let go of himself, "this is me accepting you for what you are, no, for what WE are!"
Maou felt something change, and when he looked down, he saw his alter ego bound to him by chains of shadowy black and crimson power. Almost as if he were on a leash, the black eyed Devil was slowly but surely pulled towards the caged Maou.
"We are not the same," he retorted, swiping at the hazy cords connecting him to the imprisoned Devil, "you locked me away, I became my own person! I don't need you!"
"You do too, just as I need you," Maou said, feeling the cords pull him closer with that very statement, "we are one and the same, I get that now! And if you don't submit to that reality, nothing will ever change, we'll be locked in here like this forever! Is that what you want, an eternal stalemate? You may not want to go that far, but my friends' lives are at stake and I have no problem playing the martyr, even if I get stuck with you forever."
"You would give up on everything, turn your back upon your demon subordinates, just to make sure I can never take control," the black eyed Satan asked.
"I would," Maou said firmly.
"Liar," Satan said coldly, letting loose a wheezing giggle.
"No, I mean every word. I'm taking a leaf out of your book, I'll take you down, or I'll go down with you, your choice!"
"ARGH!"
With Maou's proclamation, the chains binding the Devils together tightened and their bodies collided, yet they did not meet at all. They struck, and then dissolved, becoming a fusion of the two beings. A moment of hurried reassembly passed and Maou was revealed within a roaring inferno of dark energy. He had horns, hooves, and muscles galore, but his eyes were their usual red.
"Now, you gotta make sure you can keep your anger under control," Maou was saying to himself, "but if you find that we're in danger, feel free to give our enemy hell!"
"Even if it's the Hero," a sly voice asked within his head.
"If she's actually killing us, sure, yeah. If she's just slashing around and trying to intimidate us, let me do the talking, you'd escalate things further than they needed."
Now that Maou had regained control of his mental affairs, he once more took control of his physical form.
"Alright, let's see what this baby can do!"
His cocky attitude didn't last long, for as soon as he was once more enveloped in his own skin, he found himself with his fist ready to pulverize the Hero. She glared at him angrily, but something must have changed, because her angry look slowly faded, and it was replaced with a concerned stare. Her eyes were slowly drained of their darkness, leaving Emi's eyes green and warm, like a prairie in the summer.
"Maou, are you back," Emi asked quietly, as if afraid of the answer.
"Yeah," Maou whispered back, his human form reappearing as he stopped the flow of magical energy from within. He reached out towards Emi, unclenching his fist and placing a firm but gentle grip upon her chin. He turned her head and swore to himself.
"Geez, looks like you overdid it," Maou said.
His hand was slapped away and Emi shot him a death glare, though her face was suddenly hot and very red for some reason.
"You overdid it," she said with a huff, crossing her arms and looking away, letting her anger chase away her embarrassment.
Maou said nothing, but Emi's words stung him more that any physical trauma he'd suffered that night. He cleared his throat and stood, looking around.
"Sorry," Maou said lamely, turning away from the Hero, "where's Bernael?"
"There," she said, pointing over to where the fallen angel lay upon the floor.
Maou approached, and to his surprise, he found the angel to be severely beaten. Emi's injuries were nothing compared to Bernael's, it was almost the personification of the saying 'you should see the other guy.'
"You sure did a number on him, Emi."
"M'lord!"
It was Ashiya, recovered from his magic induced sleep, which had faded as soon as Maou had become one with himself.
"I apologize profusely my lord," Ashiya said, kneeling deftly at Maou's feet, "if I had not been so focused upon our goals, your demonic side would not be so attention starved. If it please you, I would even go out in search of a virgin sacrifice for your excellency!"
"A virgin whatnow!?"
"He was kidding Emi! Kidding! See, hahaha," Maou said loudly before turning and giving Ashiya a warning look, "right Ashiya?"
"Um, yes, hahaha ha…ha."
"You better be," Emi said angrily, standing up and glaring at the demons before her.
"Yeah, I wouldn't bother to try and find any virgins here, right Emi," Lucifer asked pointedly, emerging from the rubble of the museum with Suzuno's arm over his shoulders and his arm around her waist. Perhaps it was all the talk of virgins, but Suzuno's face was quite red and she looked at everything except the man holding her hips as they staggered towards the group.
Emi, on the other hand, summoned the Holy Evolving Sword, Better Half, and waved it violently, before pointing it at Lucifer.
"Are you trying to say something, Lucifer," Emi growled.
All of them were tired, bruised, beaten, sore and ready for a bath and a good night's sleep, yet Emi suddenly looked hardwired and ready to whoop some angelic ass.
"Well, I'm just saying that you're probably a bit busy keeping tabs on a certain demonic household to really go out and find yourself a guy. And out of everyone here, I think you'd make the best virgin sacrifice."
"Why you-"
Emi swung her sword and it arced over Lucifer's head as he ducked, dragging Suzuno with him. She glanced to her right as they dodged the blade, and she found her face within close proximity to his. There was a roguish smile upon his face, yet he looked so calm and confident in the face of Emi's attack that Suzuno couldn't help but feel her heart skip a few beats. All of that happened in a matter of seconds, and when they stood back up once more, Suzuno leaned on Urushihara more heavily than before as her heart strained to keep the blood rushing to her head.
"You alright, there," Urushihara asked, looking at Suzuno with a rare sign of genuine concern.
"Ye-yes, I'm fine, just a little light headed," Suzuno replied, waving a hand back and forth quickly.
"Everyone is alright then?"
It was Raphael who spoke as he emerged from the dusty clouds of rubble that obscured the features of the shambles around them. He looked relatively unharmed, as his residual power must have been healing him.
"Everyone seems to be," Maou said, looking at the angel with unease. Raphael may not have been overly powerful, but everyone was so drained they'd probably fall over from a prod to the back of their heads.
"Well then, where is Bernael? Is he dead."
"Nope," said a weak voice, "just hurt a lot… still alive though!"
"What a shame," Emi said, "I wailed on him like nobody's business. You angels sure are tough to kill."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Urushihara said.
Raphael left in the direction of the voice, and he came back minutes later carrying the angel under one arm like a sack of potatoes.
"You sure that's Bernael," Lucifer asked casually, smirking at the damage done to Bernael's previously handsome face. It had been beaten severely, and was barely recognizable. Blood was splattered about his face and he looked like he was missing some teeth. His fancy suit was in tatters, his dark hair was a rat's nest and he looked like a bum.
"Hi guys," Bernael said.
Everyone simply glared at the angel, who now looked small and demoralized, rather than his pompous, regal self from before. With a thud, Raphael dumped him upon the floor.
"Ouch, I'll just… wait down here then."
"What should we do with him," Maou asked.
"I say we destroy him," Ashiya said grimly, "he is the worst kind of being, sire. I believe he is an evil mastermind of sorts…"
"What," Maou asked blankly.
Sure, Bernael was an asshole, but an evil mastermind? That didn't seem to add up, and everyone gave Alciel a strange look, but he simply huffed and crossed his arms.
"Sire, he takes advantage of any weaknesses and exploits them. He locked me in a suit of armor, and he knew about my claustrophobia," Ashiya said loudly, pointing at Bernael as if pointing out a witch to simple village folk.
"Your claustrophobia," Maou hollered, "are you kidding me? I've told you that's all in your head! You make it sound like he killed your family!"
"Sire, I must disagree with you-"
"I think Ashiya has a point," Emi said, crossing her arms and glaring at the fallen angel, who did not meet the Hero's eye, "he deserves to die."
"But-"
"That choice is not yours to make, Emilia," Raphael said shortly.
"See Emi," Maou said, "be reasonable."
"I am. Bernael is responsible for hundreds of years in intentionally caused sorrow, anger and hatred. He's been feeding off of it for centuries. If that's not a good enough reason to warrant the death penalty from Heaven, I'll do the deed myself," Emi said hotly, drawing her sword.
"You'll do no such thing," Raphael said again, "he is not your concern. He is a fugitive from heaven and he will be judged by those in power."
With a snap of Raphael's thick fingers, Bernael vanished in a swirl of white mist that glowed with holy light. The Devil, the Hero, a Clergywoman, two Demon Generals, and an Archangel all stood in the ruins of the Edo Tokyo Museum, and stared at each other, their eyes flickering between one another nervously. After a moment, Raphael held out a hand. Not to the Hero, who was half-angel herself, nor to the clergywoman, who'd devoted her life to the Church, but to the Devil.
"It was… quite the experience working with you, Satan. Rest assured, I bear you no ill will. And I'll consider your involvement in this minimal; as such it will be omitted from my reports."
Maou grasped the angel's hand firmly, making eye contact and trying to smile through the pain that coursed through his body from the battle.
"Likewise. It was an honor to meet another Archangel… you have to be the nicest one I've ever met. Who will be judging Bernael?"
"Probably Ignora," Raphael said, his smile flickering for a moment, "anyway, thanks for all the help! I'll see you all again, I'm sure. I'll be coming back to finish my investigations with the Tokyo Police Department, and after that, I'll likely take a cushy job as a patrolman, so no speeding you guys!"
"Hey," Urushihara said, "thanks, I owe you one."
He held out a fist to Raphael, who was glowing in preparation for his teleportation. Raphael looked quizzically at the fist, before hesitantly sticking out his own. Urushihara smirked and gently punched his knuckles into Raphael's. With a flash of light, the Archangel was gone, leaving everyone else to deal with the mess that was the museum.
It was fortunate that night was still upon them, as Ashiya and Urushihara soared across the skies back to the Fony Inc. building in search of a source of magical power to help them with reparations.
"That was fun," Suzuno said quietly as she took a seat upon the steps outside the museum with Emi and Maou. The morning breeze was cool and crisp, and no hint of the sun had crept over the horizon as they awaited the return of the Demon Generals.
"How was that fun," Emi asked, raising an eyebrow at the short, blue haired clergywoman.
"Well, compared to our other encounters with angels, that one went quite well," Suzuno said, "though it is sad to think an angel died this night."
An intense silence followed that statement as they all pondered the death of the fallen angel Beliel, whom had died just before turning over to their side.
"She's in a better place now," Maou said quietly, looking up at the stars.
"That's so corny," Emi said, "how do you know she's in a better place?"
"You heard Raphael, Beliel is in paradise!"
"You sure are gullible, good Sadao," Suzuno remarked.
"It's not gullibility, it's a simple matter of justifying her death," Maou explained, "I hope she is in a better place, I hope she's flying around with big, feathery white wings and I hope she's free of all the pain and sadness she carried throughout her life. Is it so wrong of me to want something nice to happen to someone who was constantly beaten down?"
"No," Emi said finally.
"No, there is nothing wrong with that at all," Suzuno said quietly, following Maou's gaze to the stars above them.
Urushihara and Ashiya arrived at the building of Fony Inc., heading right back to Bernael's office in search of a power source. They landed and their wings withdrew as they sealed their powers away for the moment. Urushihara surveyed the ruins of the shattered gargoyles and whistled.
"Damn, did you do this?"
"That was Bell," Ashiya said dismissively, "I would never create such a mess, I'd have obliterated the gargoyles with magic and left nothing to clean up. That's how I function, you know."
Ashiya had a point, he was not just economically efficient, he was efficient in everything he did. During his invasion, of Ente Isla, rumors spread of a 'Scourge' that had swept away all before him. That was Ashiya, destroying entire cities and leaving not even a speck of dust. The Demon General Alciel struck fear into the hearts of many with his cruel and deadly time management skills; he was certainly not an opponent to be trifled with, but all Urushihara heard was a back handed insult to Crestia Bell.
"She may be a bit messy, but I don't mind a mess," Lucifer said, "and if it weren't for Bell, you'd still be locked in that suit of armor."
Urushihara jerked a thumb over his shoulder at a stand that only had a pair of metal greaves mounted upon it. Ashiya gulped and conceded the point before leaving the main office and going through a carefully disguised doorway.
"This looks promising," Urushihara said.
"This looks troubling," Ashiya said quietly.
In this room, which was decorated as one might have been two hundred years ago in Edo, there stood countless historical artifacts. Swords, spears, gemstones, gold pieces, and just about anything else you could possibly dream of finding in a dragon's hoard.
"Looks like we beat the final boss and got the loot, seeing as I did the majority of the work, I get the XP."
"What," Ashiya asked blankly.
"Nothing," Lucifer sighed, "but what do you think, if we took all this gold, could we move out of the Villa Rosa and-"
"Do not even think of touching that gold!"
Urushihara was stunned and suddenly dropped the tile-like piece of stamped imperial gold that he was about to pocket. Ashiya sighed and turned to look at Urushihara, who was still bent over the pile of riches.
"Lucifer, do you ever stop to think?"
"Not when there's a fortune involved."
"That gold could've been cursed! Think before you touch! And besides, we can't take any of it."
"But-"
"Where will you say you got it, hmm? How would you explain your mysteriously acquired fortune of Edo period gold, you imbecile!? Leave it and help me find a source of power with which we can fix the museum, daylight is almost upon us," Ashiya said hurriedly.
"Got that covered,"
Urushihara said quickly, picking up a huge gemstone and cradling it in his arms. It was roughly the size of a human head, but it was remarkably heavy and it almost tingled with power. When Lucifer picked it up, it sent out a sharp static discharge that shocked him, but he said nothing of it.
"Yes, this looks similar to the one that powered the gargoyles," Ashiya said, gazing into the crystal's ruby depths.
"Then let's head back."
Urushihara made for the door for a moment before Ashiya reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder, turning the fallen angel around to face him.
"Put it back," Ashiya said angrily, "you get no souvenirs."
"Fine…"
Lucifer pulled a piece of gold from his pocket and tossed it back onto the pile before turning to leave once more.
"And the other pocket?"
The fallen angel sighed disgustedly and pulled out a golden medallion with an egg sized emerald set into it. He tossed it back onto the pile of treasure, held the power gem over his head in surrender and walked out of the room, followed quickly by Ashiya, who had half a mind to shake Lucifer by the ankles until all of the treasure he'd taken fell from his pockets. The Demon King and his Generals, whom the Hero adamantly blamed for the destruction of the museum, even though it was Bernael's fault, repaired it with the power within the gem taken from the fallen angel's office. Pillars reassembled themselves before lodging into their positions holding up the ceiling, the holes in the walls and roof were mended and the priceless artifacts were restored with magic. After that had been done, they worked to scour the area, searching for people who may have noticed anything unusual. They erased memories, fixed outlying buildings damaged in the fight, and made it so that by the time the sun hit the roof of the museum, there were no traces of a conflict. Suzuno took the gemstone and then left for Fony Inc. to clean up her mess while everyone else made their way back to Maou's house. The train ride was spent staring blearily into oblivion, and occasionally throwing hard, tired looks at people who openly gawked at the group of young men and women who were dressed like vagrants, and in some cases seemed to be covered in blood. They had healed their wounds with the gemstone as well, but the power of emotional distress couldn't wash away the blood that had dried to their skin.
After leaving the Sasazuka station, they walked for a bit until they reached Castle Overlord, which was now beautifully enveloped in the light of the rising sun. And there, sitting upon the steps and looking tired, sore and downtrodden, was Chiho. When she heard voices, she could scarcely believe it was her friends, but when she heard them speak as they got closer, it became clear that it was them. She climbed the steps and from her vantage point, she could make out Maou, Emi, Ashiya, and Lucifer... but no Suzuno. For a moment, tears welled up in her eyes, but then a voice from behind her made her jump with fright.
"Whatever is the matter, good Chiho?"
"Suzuno!"
Chiho embraced the young looking woman, who blushed for a moment before returning the hug. Suzuno had flown down from the sky and landed behind Chiho just as she'd noticed her absence.
"I thought you were hurt for a second!"
"No, just had to take care of a few loose ends," she said airily, though she looked like she was on the verge of falling down from exhaustion right then and there.
"Come, let us go inside and make tea, we have much to discuss and the others will need something to keep them on their feet."
Hello Heroes, Devils, and Clergyfolk. Hello shippers and hello fanfiction, it's been a little while, sorry for the wait! Now, I have a few things to discuss with you all. First off, I will address the reviews of the story. A huge thank you to Dreamingflower for her continued support and interest in the story. Also, thanks to her I managed to get my hands on volume three of the Devil is a Part Timer light novel, so yay me! She also points out several flaws in my writing, plot holes and the like... I have no excuse for them other than I needed a villain and I had to make someone evil in order to fulfill a scene I had in my head. Another review stated that Bernael is overpowered... fuck yeah, he is! I think Bernael and Beliel, while temporary and unimportant antagonists, were actually a lot of fun to write for me. Bernael's powers were also going to be much stronger that I actually implied, as I was going to make him draw upon the infinite darkness of the universe, in which we are simply specs of light in a yawning void. Think about that before you say he's overpowered! Again, thank you all for your reviews! They let me know that other people share my passion for fanfiction! I have an easter egg in this chapter, too, did anyone find it? It was a vague reference to the DIAPT! abridged series on youtube, created by Grimmjack69! In this series, it is implied that Ashiya and Maou are scoping out Chiho for a virgin sacrifice, it's hilarious and I highly recommend watching it. Also, this is not the end of the story guys... not quite yet. This is simply the end of the 'Bernael Arc'!
Now, onto the music, which I enjoy sharing with you guys while you read!
In general, there are a few songs that seemed to fit Emi in her 'evil' state... they are as follows
www. youtube watch?v=U8D2lM618zs
www. youtube watch?v=Ej8or-DfrIY
And for Maou's darkness...
www. youtube watch?v=pKUKlkB8zYo
And finally, a little tribute to the people of the story, for suffering through my abuse...
www. youtube watch?v=p53pDNodxHE
And the episode of the abridged series with the virgin sacrifice reference... watch the entire series!
www. youtube watch?v=RDtaVdXMAiU