Ch12: Leoric's Messed Up Manor
It didn't take long at all for our group to break through the Kazrah barricade and make our way up to Leoric's manor, the sky beginning to cover with clouds as we entered the giant building. Upon entering the complex, we were immediately met with Cultists, Hellions, and Overseers. They lasted no less than 2 seconds each against our attacks. "Okay, let's go up these stairs," I said sternly, all of us doing just that and then exiting the door to the open area. It was there that we saw a whole group of cultists and Hellions conversing with Maghda.
"They're unstoppable! No mortals could slaughter our brethren with such ease, not even if they are zombies!" exclaimed one of the cultists... the moment he spoke however, I cast a Meteor spell directly in the middle of them, the impact strong enough to not only destroy every one of the damned creatures, but also blow open the gate and destroy some nearby pillars as well. "You are a very persistent pest, Nephalem. I'll give you three that much," Maghda growled, her tone sounding very displeased.
"If you wish to free the Fallen Angel, you might as well be sticking a sword down your throat. The gauntlet down to the torture chambers will kill you if my cultists cannot," she growled. "You just spilled the beans AGAIN! You are such a moronic excuse for a witch it's not even funny anymore!" mom exclaimed at her. "RGH! You will all pay by Belial's Wrath! I will make sure of that," Maghda growled as she retreated her image and we all proceeded downwards into the mad slaughterhouse of Leoric's torture chambers.
And torturous they were. Not so much a labyrinth this time around (seemed it didn't happen like that AT ALL!), it was still full of fire pits, cultists, inferno zombies, ghouls, and even more cleaver traps than usual. But the cleaver traps posed no threat to us at all, since I was able to chill their apparatuses with my ray of frost to the point where they ran out of juice altogether! "Heh! One more plus for us!" Serena cackled as she mounted our one zombie dog and we charged forward and into the next level. What was the next level? Not another gauntlet, but a prison area instead.
Upon going a bit more forward, we were approached by a spirit. A spirit who was holding onto her decapitated head. It was Leoric's long-lost wife. "Who are you?" mom asked her. "I am Asylla. Once Queen to our beloved Leoric, before madness turned him to kill everyone he saw as traitors, myself included," she sighed, her head actually sighing in her arm's grasp. "That's horrid... to think that I actually decided to help the monster that turned Leoric into a monster... of all my past lives, Andariel was the one that I regret the most," Serena growled, her words shocking my mom greatly.
"Y-Y-You were one of the 7 Lords of Hell?!" mom asked in bafflement, probably hearing about them from Deckard when she stayed behind that one instance. "Ahem!" Asylla exclaimed, getting their attention again. "The way to your kidnapped ally is currently blocked by the Jail Warden's magic. If you can release my servants from their cursed existence by smashing the skulls of their corpses, the Warden is certain to appear and try to kill you. I have no doubt in my mind that you can kill him first, however, Nephalem trio," Asylla said to our group.
"Wait... that's the second time that someone has called me a Nephalem. First it was Maghda and now you say it as well... is there something that you aren't telling me?" Serena asked as we all four ventured forward to the various jail cells that housed the green, restless spirits. "Nephalem are born from the power of angel and demon combining into one. But other than that, they can also be born from Nephalem parents. And since your new parent, this Wretched Mother, is a Nephalem, you are one as well," Asylla said as we freed the first two spirits with ease.
"What?! Who dares?!" asked the voice of the Warden upon me doing so. "Whoa... I'm a Nephalem... wicked cool!" Serena smirked happily as her barbarian headgear lopped to her right eye a bit. "But what about you being Andariel again? I learned from Deckard before he died that Andariel was the only Female evil and that she was the Maiden of Anguish... how were you one of the 7 Lords of Hell?" mom asked her. "Well, my first parent was actually Belial himself, who gave birth to me and ordered me to stay with the Lesser Evils and plot to rule over all creation... that is, until I teamed up with Diablo, only to realize after being slain that I would be reborn as something OTHER than a Lord of Hell," Serena explained.
"And Belial... according to what I overheard from the Witch, Maghda, during her presence here, she is under service of this Lord of Hell, correct?" Asylla asked as we only had one more spirit to go. "Yes. And since we have unfinished business with that old bag, we're going to pay her and Belial a visit after we have finished our work here," I frowned to her. "A great goal if ever there was one," Asylla smiled as I freed the last of the spirits and it was then that the Warden appeared before us.
"You will die!" he exclaimed as he swung his axe at us, only to have it destroyed by Serena's deadly claws. "Hah! Now to finish you off," mom smiled as she spat a large acid ball all over the warden, his form disintegrating forever, including his bones. "You have done a great deed, Nephalem. I trust you will do what is right in the end," Asylla smiled as she and her other spirits evaporated into the air, going to the afterlife to live eternally happy.
"Okay, now let's continue onward. I can smell the near the bottom of the next staircase... as well as the old hag herself and a deadly Hellish assailant," Serena growled as her nose scrunched up. "What kind of monster is it this time?" mom asked. "It's called the Butcher, one of the most powerful demons under Belial's command. Maghda will probably force us to fight him in battle before we reach Tyreal," I frowned. "Well, if that's the case, BRING IT ON! ! !" mom exclaimed. I was starting to get proud of mom finally allowing herself to do some killing, but we both knew that, when all of this was over (and I rescued Leah from turning into Diablo in Act 3) that we still needed a plan. A plan on how to return home.