Ch39: The Battle With Death
"So... what you're saying is that we're stuck with having voices that sound different? For the rest of our lives?" Leah asked in a slightly deeper voice, since Cain went into her body. "Not the rest of your lives. Just until Malthael is dead. Once that happens, we will finally be able to rest in peace..." said the voice of Aiden from within Hael, which she groaned at. "I still have no inkling as to why you chose my body... I hate anything relating to my parents, you included..." Hael frowned at Aiden, her voice not really changing much, just getting a slight echo to it. "Think of this as my way of apologizing for my hand in all of these events unfolding. You don't have to like it if you don't want to," Aiden frowned as we finally reached the homestretch. The walkway to the Heart of the Fortress.
"But what would happen to me? I'm not exactly from this world, and I bloomin' died! So... would I move onto the other side in this world?" Ortensia asked in Aria's body. "That... I do not know... I know that there is some kind of spell out there that can revive the dead that have moved on in their normal forms, but it requires a user of Blood Magic," Asheara said, her words hitting us like a brick wall. "Shit... so we need Adria's help if we want you to be revived, Ortensia... fuuuuck..." Serena groaned at the thought. "That language is very uncouth for a little girl," Hakan said in my head. "Hmph!" Serena scoffed.
We then finally found the portal to reach the heart of the fortress. "Let's go..." I said as we all touched it and we appeared in a battlefield on the other side. A battlefield of circular form with the souls of many different people coating the edges of it. "So... Nephalem... you come to wager the world's outcome..." Malthael's voice sounded as he appeared before us in a shroud of mist. "Kill me... and the world lives... kill you... and all those with demon blood shall die... it all comes down to this... I warn you... nothing... can surpass... death..."
It was then that he grabbed his scythes from his sides and rushed forward, his swipes quick and agile at our human forms, which we tried our best to dodge while I hit him in the face with a Disintegrate ray, which managed to push him back and almost off the edge of the arena. "What... is this?..." Malthael asked when he touched his face, only to feel his burned robe. "You may be imbued with death, but we can play that game just as well, monster!" Aria exclaimed as she sent a pillar of ice at Malthael, the result being something that made me shocked. It passed right through him!
"Uh..." Aria gulped as Ortensia said "SHIT!" Malthael tried to send a breath of death at Aria, which Hael quickly blocked with her body. "No you don't... rival..." Hael growled as she took a 1-handed bow and shot a flurry of shots at Malthael imbued with the power of death. The shots connected into his robed body, making him spew souls from where they hit. "Now time to finish this!" Serena growled as she did something I never expected that she could still do. She lengthened her claws just like she did when she was an imp and sliced Malthael's wings right off of his body!
"GRRRAAAAGGGGHHHHHHH! ! ! ! !" Malthael exclaimed at this as his body became cloaked in a bright white light, all the souls surrounding us rushing into him and, with each soul that went into his wounds, a small explosion happened within him. "NNNOOOOO! ! !" Malthael exclaimed as one more soul rushed out and connected with him. It was one that I never expected to see dead: Captain Hail, the captain of Bastion's Keep. Once his soul connected into the fallen angel's body, Malthael finally bit the dust!
Malthael's body exploded in a bright flash of blinding light, the souls all around us and inside of our bodies leaving near-instantly... all of them except Ortensia. She was fighting it. She was fighting to stay with us. "Rgh!... I need to stay longer!... Seal me in somethin'! PLEASE!..." she exclaimed as it looked like she and Aria were both trying to prevent her from moving on. "I got it!" said a voice from behind me that I never expected to hear in this realm. It was Covetous Shen! And what did he do when he suddenly appeared? Began to chant a spell in some strange dialect and, the result of it, Ortensia's spirit left Aria and went directly into the jewel: a Royal Ruby.
"Wha... what the... where am I?... It feels quite cramped wherever it is..." Ortensia said, her voice being echoed from the gem itself. "I... I can see you in there..." I gawked as I looked inside of the gem, seeing that Ortensia was whole inside of the gem. She was extremely tiny in the gem, but she was also revived completely! Her look? She was white with blonde hair in braided pigtails, a cup size of D, and a scar on her face from a stray fencing sword in our one match for the gold. "Your friend will need to stay in the jewel for a good 24 hours before she can be effectively revived, but she will be revived... the only downside is that her size won't increase with her," Shen frowned. "Wait... so I'm going to be doll-sized forever?!" Ortensia asked in anger. "Why couldn't we just go after Adria instead?" Lilith asked.
"Because she died by the hands of her own Blood Golems. I took a trip down to those very ruins to find the Jewel of Dirgest with Cydaea's help, and we succeeded in destroying it. But we also saw the corpse of Adria being eaten by her Blood Golems. So she couldn't help even if she wanted to," Shen frowned. "Well... it's better than stayin' dead or stayin' in the body of an angel that thinks I'm a demon," Ortensia frowned. "Okay, so we just have to wait 24 hours until we can return home, right? Hey, we can FINALLY have a break! In fact, I say we have a party after this victory!" mom exclaimed. "Oh hell yeah! Who wants to go back and tell everyone the good news?!" Leah smirked. All hands were raised and all agreed.