Ch33: The City Burns
When we got down to the northern side of Westmarch and into the flames, I immediately began to feel the heat on my body. It wasn't easy to be in an area full of flames and reapers all trying to kill ya, but there was one thing about these reapers that wasn't the same as before. They were actually AWARE of what had happened to them! "It's because we destroyed all of Malthael's main Soul Crucibles," Felarya said to me as I chopped off the head of a Flame Maiden, surprised when she reformed into a half demon/half human little girl. How did I sense demon in her? She had little horns on her head and she had small bat wings on her back.
"Okay, new rule: if we find and rescue another Flame or Death Maiden, then we send one person back to return them to the Cathedral, okay?" I asked. "Very well. I can escort this little one back to town," Tyreal said as he took the girl under his wing and led her back. "Okay, let's continue," I said as we continued down the path. We ended up encountering 2 other Flame Maidens, meaning I was all alone by the time I got to the clock tower where Urzael was. "I hope you're ready to be put out of your misery, Urzael," I frowned as I entered the burning tower and ascended the stairs, flaming boards and fiery debris falling behind me and sometimes in front of me as I went further up.
When I finally reached the top, I could feel it. Urzael was in this area. "HEY! FIRE ANGEL! IT'S FIGHTING TIME!" I exclaimed out loud. I then heard Urzael and saw him fall to the ground from above, his form full of muscle and flames. "Nephalem. You will see! Malthael will cleanse this world of the demon hoard!" Urzael exclaimed in a deep voice as he activated his powers. When he did, I immediately knew what to do. If his power was fire, then he obviously would be weak to water.
"Okay, hothead, let's see how you handle some melted blizzard!" I exclaimed as I sent forth a blizzard of freezing cold water right at him, the result actually being more than I anticipated. Urzael screamed in agony as the water poured onto him, steam emerging all over and his body actually turning into stone from my attack! "I'll be quick," I frowned as I then activated Disintegrate and cut Urzael's head right off of his body. But even though I did this, he didn't reform as a mortal. He simply disintegrated and his spirit returned to Malthael.
"Nephalem..." I heard Malthael as I saw his visage appear in front of me. "You can't do this kind of stuff, Malthael! Genocide is definitely NOT the answer! There are many good demons and limitless good humans! You are blinded by your evil ways! You're acting just as horrid as the Lords of Hell!" I exclaimed at him, actually making his visage shake his fist at me. "Do not... lump me in... with the likes of those monsters..." he said, his breath full of echoing rasps. "What would you call killing tons of people for no reason, huh? Sounds a lot like what a true monster would do!" I yelled at him. His visage then disappeared and I used Town Portal to return to town and assess the damage.
When I returned, I saw that the Revenant soldiers from before were actually being willingly purified by Tyrael, Celeste, Felarya, and even Cydaea! The people that came from being returned back to normal included small children, men and women of differing ages, and even a few small demons that looked to have been refugees of sorts. Some of them included Succubi and others were Imps, and some were even Deceiver snakes, both male and female!
"Um... well... I never expected that there would be demon refugees in Westmarch of all places," Leah frowned at me as I noticed that she had a small cut on her hand. "What happened to your hand, Leah?" I asked with a worried expression. Leah sighed and looked at me with a frown. "While you guys were trying to defeat Urzael, a few Revenant Soldiers came in that were still on Malthael's side," she sighed as she held onto her wound with a wince.
"I got cut from one of their swords and I was momentarily turned into one... but when it happened, I was able to fight Malthael's control... and apparently it was because your mother finished destroying the Crucibles in Caldeum, which broke the influence of Malthael on any reapers or Revenant created after their destruction... they even managed to turn Serena, Lilith, and Cydaea into Revenant soldiers, but they were more scared than anything," Leah frowned.
"I'm sorry..." I sobbed as I began to produce tears. "Why are you sorry? Nothing happened that would've killed me," Leah said to me. "You could've died though... been fuel for Malthael and lost forever... I don't know what I would've done if I lost the one I love..." I sobbed into her chest. "It's okay, Lisa... I'm okay. It's just a simple little scratch. Easily able to be healed with a health potion," Leah smiled as she consoled me, petting my head gently.
"Um, if you two are done being sappy now, we have the issue of trying to find out where Malthael is?" mom asked from nearby, which confused me a bit until I remembered that she had already finished getting rid of the Soul Crucibles in Caldeum. "Well, I know of a place where you can go to find out... though you may not like it," Zoltun Kuelle said as he approached us with a frown. "Hit us with your best shot," Serena frowned. "She is currently in the Blood Marsh. And you know her well... the Witch, Adria. Only she would be able to know where Malthael is," he said. "She isn't going to learn her lesson? Very well. It's high time we repaid her for trying to kill us all in the Keep," Lilith frowned.