I do apologise for not explaining myself more with this story but the fact is, a year ago when i published it, i had absolutely no idea how to properly use Fanfiction. In fact i had begun writing and publishing this story on deviantart since January 2022. Anyway, i hope you all enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 35: Empathy and Courage
All Yuichi Kitano, Crusader of Wind could see was black.
That wretched woman had almost split him in half down the middle. Pure hatred and outrage filled the core of his being as he recalled, falling on the ground with tremendous force in four pieces, having being deprived of his left arm, leg and wing in one swift movement. How could he have lost to that traitor so easily?! He literally held her life within his claws. He was moments away from killing her and yet there he was, split into four pieces, taken out with a single blow.
"That filthy bitch….. How could she have done this to me so easily?! How could i have lost to such a wretched trait-" He cursed in his mind, only to stop upon realising that he was thinking. And that meant…..
All at once, both the yellow eyes on his owl head and the red ones of the face engraved into his chest snapped open. He then gasped for air and promptly lifted himself from the floor from which he was lying into and sat on his knees, having realised that he was still alive. Breathing heavily with both his owl head and the face on his chest, he took a quick look at his surroundings, a room surrounded by bright grey walls with a green floor, with many computers and machinery on its left and right before he looked at his hands and managing in surprise, through several more gasps "I…. I still live?" seeing and feeling that he no longer missed both his left arm, leg and wing.
He then saw that there were scars on where his right arm and leg connected to his body as Satoru's voice came "You should consider yourself lucky, Mister Kitano. Had Miss Izumi arrived even a few second too late, you would have died." with a hint of dissappointment in his voice, while looking at him with his trademark sinister smile. He stood a few meters away in front of him, before what appeared to be what remained of a window made of bullet-proof glass, now shattered with Higa and Izumi right behind him on his right, while Atun, still in his human disguise, stood on his left. And right in front of them was Nike, the angel-like demoness lying on her knees, with her hands tied behind her back and looking downwards with a detached expression on her face. Said window faced towards an absolutely massive circular room that was at least twenty meters tall, with a diameter that was three times that height. The room had a white floor, blue walls and was illuminated by a cluster of about twenty lights right at the center of its ceiling and it could only be accessed by a three meter tall red door that stood at the exact opposite of the room in which the Crusaders, plus Atun and Nike stood, which was situated a good ten meters above the ground of the much larger circular room.
With a look full of contempt, the Crusader of Fire glanced towards the owl beast and admonished "You really were an idiot, Kitano. You had that woman's life on your fingertips and you still managed to lose, simply because you wanted to prolong her suffering." he then paused, a mocking grin making its way on the grey face engraved on his chest as he mocked "Utterly ignoble, even for you."
The owl beast stared at his colleague in disbelief as he mockingly lectured him before the face on his chest twisted itself in anger and he roared "WHAT WAS THAT?!" while promptly springing back up on his three toed raptor-like feet. He then pointed his left index clawed finger at Higa and called him out in outrage "You have some nerve saying that to me, when you just stood on the sidelines and did nothing!"
In response, Izumi turned her head towards Kitano and coldly narrowed her blood red eyes towards him before taking her turn coldly admonishing her colleague "You dim-witted fool. Higa was fulfilling his task of protecting Master Satoru and you failed to accomplish yours. And after all this time you still prefer to find fault in others, rather than accepting the responsibilities of your failures? You really are still nothing more than a spoiled brat, Kitano." she mocked him with a grin that matched that of Higa in terms of derision and contempt. After all, he was the youngest of the Crusaders and before becoming a beast, he used to be nothing more than an ordinary high school student.
And with those words of ridicule, the Crusader of Wind had reached his breaking point. Baring the teeth on his chest face towards the swan beast in outrage, Kitano seethed "You bitch…." before roaring "NOBODY CALLS ME A SPOILED BRAT AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!" but as he began to charge towards the swan beast and attack her in retaliation for insulting him, a five fingered hand firmly gripped his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.
"That's enough. Arguing solves nothing." came Kotura's gruff voice, causing Kitano to turn towards the vulture beast, who had stopped him before he could do something as stupid as attacking one of his own comrades because of his short temper. The Crusader of Lightning had somehow managed to drag his wounded body back into the mansion, until he was able to recover enough to fly again and reach this room where he, along with Kitano, was healed by Izumi. So infuriated and focused on getting back at the swan beast, was he, that he had completely failed to notice his presence.
"But…." began Kitano, only for the humanoid vulture beast to forcefully grab him by the feathered scruff of his owl head's neck and forcing him to look in his red eyes. The Crusader of Lighting then proclaimed admonishingly "Have you already forgotten, Kitano? We have all failed in our first attempt to conquer this world and, with Higa's exception, have all lost to our respective opponents. You should be grateful that Izumi took her time healing your sorry ass after that damned Demon Bird nearly cut her heart in half." his blood red eyes coldly narrowed towards the ones on Kitano's chest face, while the swan beast and the eagle beast, looked on with a look of indifference. And as the Crusader of Wind noticed, to his surprise, that his colleague had a noticeable C shaped scar on the right side of his abdomen, Kotura continued to discipline his fellow Crusader by stating "As far as i'm concerned, you and the others are all free to tear each other apart once we've finished wiping all of mankind off this Earth but right now we can't afford to be divided by such insignificant arguments. You're just as important to the boss's cause as the rest of us, so if you're really that desperate to vent out your frustration, at least do it in battle, not because you're so full of shit, that you can't even stand being admonished for your failures."
Kitano was left thunderstruck and ashamed by those words. His comrade was right: he coudn't afford to let his short temper hinder his and his fellow Crusader's efforts, even if he coudn't stand being belittled by Izumi and Higa due to him hating just how full of themselves they were and how they carried themselves with such arrogance. He could only look away in shame and reply "Y…. You're right. Sorry about that." with an equally ashamed tone. As far as he was concerned, Kotura was the only one he ever called a friend and he was right. As much as he hated the eagle and the swan, Kitano coudn't allow his dislike of the both of them to get in the way of his loyalty towards Satoru. He owed the young beast everything. Had he not given him this new purpose, he might have even died out of boredom. Literally.
Kotura's cold gaze softened before he let the owl beast go, and as Kitano began to walk at the other two bird-like beasts's right, he turned towards Izumi and codly pointed out "And as for you, Izumi, don't get too cocky just because of that healing ability of yours. You seem to have forgotten that you also lost to that woman several months ago. You're the last person who should belittle others for their failures given that your own ability over the dead, whom you are so proud of, failed you in battle not once but twice." the swan beast simply scoffed in annoyance and turned her head away, facing once more towards the broken window of the room, while an amused smile made its way on the face engraved in Higa's chest.
"Mmph. I had forgotten that Kotura could be so inclined to discipline others. Not that his composure should surprise me, given that he used to be a member of the Self-Defense Force before he joined us. He really is more than just a mindless brute." mused the Crusader of Fire to himself in his mind as he glanced one final time at the vulture beast coming at Kitano's side in front of the shattered window. Indeed, in spite of how much he loved fighting and how much he loved to outright crush his opponents in battle, Kotura was much more intellingent than what his brutish appearance suggested. It was the results of years of serving in the Japanese Self-Defense Force, even rising up to the position of lieutenant, until he became disillusioned with humanity after becoming a beast, after witnessing just how low some people had fallen during the crisis.
Surprised, Atun turned towards Satoru, who stood on his left, in front of his henchmen and remarked "I am impressed. I did not know that some of your followers were capable of such self-control. It is a quality that even some soldiers of the Demon Army were lacking."
The young beast turned his head towards him and, with his trademark sinister smile, explained "I know they can be quite unprofessional at times, but their belief in our cause is unshakable. They are compelled to follow me because they have no other purpose in their existence except creating a world that can better suit them and the rest of their kind. The world we are currently living in is defective, polluted and ravaged by mankind, used and exploited like a tool to satisfy their selfish desires. That's why it must be reset and the only way to do that, is to eradicate the human race. Only then, will it be able to return to its original, natural splendor."
Although remaining silent and with her head facing downwards, Nike was appalled by Satoru's words. She wholeheartedly opposed that cause the young beast preached. What could be fulfilled by pointlessly shedding more blood? How would the death of so many more innocents solve all the problems and inequalities of this world?
"I see. But even then, i must ask: what will they do, once your so called "Crusade" will be finished? What would their next purpose in life be? For that matter, how do you plan to live the rest of your existence in a world without laws, ruled only by the strongest of beings, where the balance of power would be constantly shifting? Would you really find satisfaction in such world?" asked Atun, the question actually causing the smile on Satoru's face to vanish. It had been a while since the young beast had been this surprised and truth to be told, he had never really thought about how he would live the rest of his existence once humanity would be extinguished and the beasts would finally build their righteous kingdom. But he had no time for such thoughts right now: there was a mission he had to fulfill and he vowed to himself that he would do everything in his power to see it to the very end.
Suddenly, the red door that stood on the other side of the massive circular room, the only means of accessing it, was suddenly blown away, its two parts being violently flung in opposite directions. And right out of the rubble created by the door being blown away, came none other than Akira and Jun, confused at first to have ended up in such a massive room after making their way out of the rest of the corridor from which all those people were held. All at once the eyes of the Crusaders, plus those of Atun and Nike were upon them.
Both of them immediately froze in shock, their eyes widening upon spotting Satoru, all of his henchmen alive and well, along with two people who almost seemed human, were it not for the silver haired man's red facial markings and the blonde woman's angel-like wings, in a room situated ten meters above from where they were standing. But most importantly, said winged woman, with her hands tied behind her back, who was looking at Akira with pure disbelief, for some strange, unexplicable reason looked familiar.
"W… Who is that woman?" was the question that pounded his mind, not understanding why a woman that looked like an angel straight out of the Christian Religion was right before his eyes. Not only that but her face looked a lot like that of someone he once knew….
In the meantime, somewhere else in the mansion
(OST: "Devilman OVA soundtrack" the track that plays from 1:10 to 2:17 = watch?v=WNZKCp5EDPc&t=137s )
Sirene had hoped to end her battle with the serpentine, flower headed demoness quickly but she was in for quite the nasty surprise when she found her speed evenly matched with that of Lilith. In less than a second she found herself being struck by one of Lilith's fists as she tried to strike her from above after launching herself in the air with a flap of her wings, only for Lilith to swiftly extend her left arm at an impressive speed as if it was made of rubber and punch her straight in the chest. The arm continued to extend as it drived Sirene through the ceiling, punching another hole in it, close to the one blasted by the Demon Bird when she rescued all the captive beasts.
The demoness ended up back in the ground floor of the building, in the midst of yet another of those corridors with the dark pink floor and yellow walls. She didn't have much time to recover after falling on her back after being driven through the ceiling by Lilith's flexible arm, which bruised her body slightly, as the black clawed hand at the end of said arm gripped the edge of the hole it had created and returned to its original length, thereby allowing Lilith to easily jump through it and onto the upper floor. The flower demoness then used her tail to launch herself towards Sirene in attempt to immobilise her, but the Demon Bird, with a vicious, toothy grin appearing on her lips, swiftly rose back on her feet right as Lilith was mere inches away from grabbing her,caught her fellow demoness by the face in her left hand at precisely the right moment and proceeded to slam her by the back of her head on the ground.
Lilith grunted in pain as Sirene slammed her head on the floor with so much force to actually create a small crater in it, but before the Demon Bird could ravage her body with her talons, Lilith roared "THINK AGAIN!" and the flower on her head opened up, changed color from orange to pink and her petals turned into spiky tentacles which promptly began to extend themselves towards Sirene at high speed. Taken completely by surprise, the Demon Bird managed to avoid being skewered at point-blank range by teleporting backwards before even one of those dozen spear-like appendages could even graze her.
She reappeared several meters away in mid-air, with Lilith's pink tentacles still being propelled towards her, but this time she was ready. Using her talons, she cut every single one of them apart before they could even reach her, except for one that raked her left side, just beneath her breast, scraping the flesh away.
Gritting her teeth and ignoring the pain as crimson blood began to fall from the missing flesh on her side, Sirene brought her hands together in the front, aimed for Lilith and fired an yellow beam of energy, aiming to take her out in a single attack. But the flower demoness simply smiled wickedly and her entire body became engulfed in her purple aura as it dissappeared, mere seconds before the beam could erase her from existence, instead detonating in an explosion that shaked the entire mansion, its shockwave alone causing many of the columns close to it as well as the ceiling to begin collapsing.
Cursing under her breath, Sirene blasted a good portion of the falling rubble before it could fall on her with her telekinetic bolts and she began to fly towards the collapsing ceiling, smashing her way through it. By the time she had finished flying throught the two upper floors of the mansion and emerged through the roof, she looked at the results of her attack and saw that part of the left wing of the mansion had completely collapsed.
But she knew that even that would not have been enough to put down Lilith, even if she had been caught by all that debris, due to her ability to manipulate her body's own anatomy, courtesy of her plant based biology.
"Where is she?" mused Sirene to herself as she hovered in mid-air, looking around left and right, wondering where she had gone. She gasped as soon as she heard the sound of teleportation behind her and just as she began to turn…
"GOT YOU!" exclaimed a confident Lilith as she proceeded to wrap her hands around Sirene's body from behind, immobilising her in a bearhug. Gritting her teeth in anger, the Demon Bird had just about enough time to notice that the many dozen of Lilith's pink head petals that she could turn into spear-like tentacles and extend them to skewer her enemies, had now fused together to form a pair of rudimentary wings, which allowed her to fly for brief periods of time, before the flower demoness once again became enveloped in her purple aura and dissappeared, taking Sirene with her.
Just as they reappeared on the roof of the mansion, Sirene managed to free herself by delivering a backwards headbutt into Lilith's face which briefly stunned her and forced the demoness to clutch her face with a pained groan and let her go, allowing the Demon Bird to jump away from her by a few meters before, with a roar, she lunged towards her opponent once more, intending to cut off Lilith's head with a single swipe of her right talons, but the demoness had already anticipated this move.
With another wicked grin, she crouched and swiftly slithered towards Sirene just as she leapt in the air to strike her down, passing right under her and taking her completely by surprise with her speed. With their positions now reversed, and firmly holding onto the roof with her hands, Lilith proceeded to extend her green serpentine tail towards a wide-eyed Sirene and it coiled firmly around her legs, immobilising them. The Demon Bird could only stare with a look of pure shock as Lilith effortlessly lifted her up in the air by almost a dozen meters with her flexible and elongated tail, now more than a dozen meters long, before she proceeded to slam her body back on the roof of the mansion left and right for a total of six times, shaking the entire building due to the astonishing force Sirene was being slammed with, a force that would have shattered a human body with just a single slam. And with the sixth and final slam, Lilith finally let Sirene go and, after ricocheting once more on the roof, she managed to stop herself by firmly planting one of her hands on the surface of it.
(Soundtrack ends)
Having fallen on her left knee with her body heavily bruised by the punishment she had just received and with some blood leaking out of her mouth, the Demon Bird had been left utterly astonished. She did not expect Lilith to actually give her this much trouble. Having fought at each other's side during the war against the forces of Heaven, Sirene knew that the flower demoness held a vast array of powers in her arsenal but she had no idea that she was actually this fast, courtesy of her serpentine tail, let alone capable of such astonishing physical strength. She had underestimated her, believing that much like the Swan Beast from before, she relied more on her powers rather than on her physical strength and speed.
Clutching her head with her black left hand, Lilith soon felt blood coming out of her nose. Despite not showing it and ignoring the pain, Sirene's headbutt had done quite a number on her face and head. Despite managing to slam the Demon Bird around like a ragdoll with her tail, she now found herself having difficulty standing up, due to the concussions the headbutt had caused. But after looking at her hand covered in blood, Lilith turned her crimson eyes towards Sirene and, with her trademark sensual smile, complimented "As expected from a warrior of your caliber, Sirene. Any lesser demon would have been left unconscious by that last attack, if not outright killed instantly. I see that even after all these eons, your strength has not diminished in the slightest." while retracting her tail back into its normal length and closing her head flower back up, which returned to its normal orange color.
Returning the smile and rising back on her feet in spite of the several bruises on her body, Sirene replied "And i must commend you too, Lilith. I did not think of you as someone who would take the time to improve on its strength and speed. Perhaps i was wrong to think of you as a mere parasite who steals others's souls and enslaves them to its will." her voice respectful but at the same time taunting. Lilith's smile dissappeared from her fucsia lips however, as soon as the Demon Bird taunted once more "A pity that your talents are so wasted in the servitude of someone as foolish and selfish as Atun."
With a scowl forming on her face, Lilith spat back "And what right do you have to judge him, when you acted the same way towards Kaim? He and i are not so different. We are both driven by the unsurmountable force that is love and just as he gave away his life for your sake, i would not hesitate to do the same for my l-." offended by how Sirene had insulted her lord….
Only for the Demon Bird to cut her off before she could finish by roaring spitefully "DON'T YOU DARE COMPARE YOURSELF TO HIM! Kaim would have never stooped as low as robbing another member of his kind of its freedom for the sole purpose of settling some petty feud!" her face twisted in pure anger, causing Lilith's entire face to fill with pure shock due to the sheer, unbridled indignation in Sirene's voice. At the same time as the sounds of thunder intensified, the sky darkened, and the rain began to fall all around the two demonesses, soon covering their bodies in water and everything around the mansion and beyond, leaving nothing untouched.
(OST: "Feudal Society = Bleach Soundtrack )
The flower headed demoness could only look at the one before her with her eyes wide open and her lips apart in dismay as Sirene bared her teeth in fury, clenched her hands into fists and demanded, her voice filled with utter contempt and outrage "How could you, Lilith?! Nike cared about you! She thought of you as her friend! How could you do this to her after everything she has done for you?! You should be ashamed of yourself!" while pointing a finger towards her, causing Lilith's crimson eyes to shake and her lips to quiver in shame and guilt as she remembered her encounter with her two days ago. At once, all the memories of the time she spent with the angelic demoness, all the fond memories they had shared, from witnessing and admiring the beauty of the prehistoric Earth, to discussing about the demons they respectively admired, to just playing with each other, came back with full force. No matter how much she tried to deny it, no matter how much she felt more comfortable knowing that Nike had forgiven her for robbing her of her freedom after she confessed that, had Amon asked her to do the same to someone else, the angelic demoness would have done the same, the Demon Bird was right. What she and her lord, Atun had done to Nike was unforgivable. She had betrayed her friend, used her as a pawn in a larger scheme, robbed her of her freedom, and for what? Just so she could help the demon who had stolen her heart, settle his feud with Amon? Did she really sink as low as this, for something that in the end, had proven itself to be unreachable, given that Amon had been completely taken over by that human and therefore, no longer truly existed?
Overcome by remorse, the shock on Lilith's face gave away to sadness and guilt as she screamed "YOU THINK I ENJOYED IT?! Did you really think, even for a moment, that i took pleasure in what i and my lord did to her?! Nike was the first being who ever treated me with kindness! She was the only one who understood my pain! What do you think i felt when i had to imprison her in that tower?!" she paused, pointing at said tower before wailing "WHAT DO YOU THINK I FELT WHEN I HAD TO BETRAY OUR FRIENDSHIP JUST TO FURTHER MY LORD'S GOALS?!" her voice filled with so much anguish and self-loathing that all of the fury and indignation in Sirene's face dissappeared in an instant, replaced by pure shock and incredulity as soon as she saw tears beginning to fall from Lilith's crimson eyes, mixing with the rain that fell on her
Her blue eyes shaking in disbelief, the Demon Bird called out "Lilith….." all the anger dissappearing from it at once, replaced by disbelief and astonishment as the demoness in front of her turned her head away and shut her eyes as even more tears began to fall on her cheeks before she weakly managed through sobs "You…. You, of all demons should understand my pain….. The pain….. Of wanting to be loved… By the one who conquered your heart… Only to be ignored…..To never receive such feelings back…..To live your entire existence knowing that you will never experience such joy….." while putting her hands on her chest and clutching it tightly, her heart aching in anguish and remorse. Finally, she managed to look Sirene in the eyes again, before tearfully asking her "Tell me, Sirene….. Would you…. Would you not have done the same for Amon had he asked you to do such a thing? Did you not have the same feelings towards him that i am harboring towards Atun?"
Sirene's eyes and lips widened in realisation and her heart sank. Lilith was right. She had fallen in love with Amon. With the exception of Kaim, no other demon had ever managed to conquer her heart the same way he did. But, much like Atun, he never returned the feelings the Demon Bird harbored towards him, always seeing her as a dear friend just like Kaim, nothing more. She then looked at Lilith, at her tears, at her face twisted in grief and anguish and saw a reflection of herself, of the woman she once was and all at once, her lips quivered in sadness and as her beautiful azure eyes trembled, the Demon Bird hesitantly began "I….. I…" her heart for the first time in her existence being filled with an emotion she had never before felt, something that demons, by their nature as violent and bloodthirsty creatures should not feel. But as sentient beings, even they were not incapable of feeling it.
Empathy. The ability to understand someone else and their feelings.
She understood Lilith's pain perfectly. She had been through it before her. It was what led to her death, as she tried in vain to bring Amon back. And now she could finally see Lilith for what she truly was: a woman that longed to be loved. Finally, as her wings fell on the ground, she lowered her head downwards and answered sorrowfully, "Yes… I would have done the same for Amon… I…. I loved him with all of my heart…" a single tear falling from her left eye, "Forgive me….. I had misunderstood you… I failed to see that you and i have shared the same pain, until now….." she apologised to Lilith after reopening her eyes and looking at her, this time in pity.
"Then you know that i did not have a choice. It truly broke my heart to imprison Nike, after everything i shared with her…." declared Lilith as she stopped crying and straightened her body, her voice still filled with much self-loathing "But….. If all of what i have unjustly put her through…. Allows my lord to get what he wants…" she continued, looking away for a moment before rounding her crimson eyes on Sirene's, now filled with determination and declaring, without any regrets "Then it will not have been for nothing!" after remembering that Nike had forgiven her for what she did.
Which caused the Demon Bird to gasp, having realised that Lilith was willing to walk the same path she had walked before her which had led her to her death at the hands of Akira. But if she was that willing to do so, then…..
"No! You must not make the same mistake i did! You will find only death at the end of your path!" begged Sirene in great concern, while extending a hand towards her, futely reaching out for her, but her plead fell on deaf ears.
"Wrong! Once Atun will have fulfilled his revenge, he will finally open his eyes and there will no longer be anything between our love! And that is why i must do this!" declared Lilith resolutedly but with clear sorrow in her voice. A part of her didn't want this, but there was no other way. Even if Amon was no more, the death of the one who had stolen his body, would have surely fulfilled the Demon Hero's desire for vengeance. Only then, with no other purposes left in his existence, would Atun have opened his eyes and finally realised what she felt towards him.
"Please, Lilith! It doesn't have to end this way!" pleaded once more Sirene, not wanting to see history repeat itself, not wanting to see another woman dying for the same reason she died.
"No more words, Sirene! I have already chosen my fate and if you only have things to say and nothing else….." she began, her face hardening, while pulling her arms back, spreading her fingers, and preparing to lunge towards her. Finally as she launched herself towards the Demon Bird with her tail, she proclaimed "THEN LET US FINISH THIS!"
Reluctantly, the Demon Bird spread her arms, took a stance and, with a solemn and regretful face, sorrowfully spoke "Forgive me…." as she lunged towards the flower headed demoness, disheartened to have no other choice but to strike her down.
(Soundtrack Ends)
But before the two demonesses could clash once more, they both sensed something so powerful that made both of them stop. Sirene's azure eyes widened in shock at the overwhelming pressure she suddenly felt "What…. What is this?! What is this monstrous power i have just felt?!" she muttered, her mouth agape, and looking towards the back of the center of the mansion, realising that it came behind it…. And under the ground.
"Fufufufu….." chuckled mischieviously Lilith, causing the Demon Bird to look once more towards her "It seems that my Lord has finally decided to enter the fray." causing Sirene to gasp once more in shock, her blue eyes shaking "No…. It cannot be…. How can he…." she muttered, her voice faltering as she took a few steps backwards while shaking her head left and right.
In response, Lilith's smile grew even more and she confidently and grimly declared "Your senses do not deceive you, Sirene. That power you have just sensed, belongs to my Lord, Atun. I feel bad for those poor Devilmen…. The way things are, they do not stand a chance against him."
Back in the underground room
(OST: "Princess In Captivity: Bleach Soundtrack )
Nike coudn't believe her eyes.
Before her, a good ten meters down, her beloved Amon was right in front of her, not having changed in the slightest in all those eons. Even more astonishingly was the fact that right besides him stood a yellow-eyed, powerfully built woman that looked almost exactly like him, down to the head-wings, tail and red facial markings.
"A-Amon?" she called out in disbelief, causing both Akira and Jun's eyes and lips to widen in even more disbelief, especially the former, who had noticed that the woman somehow looked familiar.
"Her face….. Why does she look so much like Miki?" thought Akira to himself, not believing what his two eyes were seeing and not understanding why that woman's appearance not only resembled that of Miki, but also made him feel… weirdly nostalgic. Almost as if he had known her his entire life. Meanwhile Jun could only look with horror and dismay as the same monster who robbed her of what she treasured the most, along with all of his henchmen, including the owl beast she had cut down earlier who now stood behind his master, as if he was never hurt in the first place, was alive and well in front of her.
Finally realising that her eyes were not deceiving her, Nike cried out in distress "AMON! PLEASE! YOU HAVE TO HELP ME!" only for the two Crusaders of Fire and Ice, who stood right behind her, to hold her still in place and for the latter to cover her mouth with one of her three-fingered hands, muffling her cries for help.
Then, Satoru came at her right and, with his trademark sinister smile and his hands in his pockets, began "We meet at last, Amon. My allies have told me so much about you. Truth be told, i was looking forward to this." his voice as wicked as ever, amused to see just how similar the fabled Demon Hero looked to that treacherous woman.
While Jun froze, her golden eyes shaking in a mix of disbelief and horror upon seeing the one who had taken so much away from her, a cold and spiteful look made its way on Akira's face as soon as he saw the young beast in the visage of what would normally pass off as an ordinary human kid, wearing ordinary human clothes befitting of an eight to ten year old kid. But no ordinary young human boy would have eyes filled with such malice and ruthlessness, accompanied by an equally sadistic and wicked smile. Nor would any speak in such a calm, collected and eloquent voice, a sign of high intelligence, something no human at such a young age would usually be capable of. Thus, he relaxed his posture and spoke "You're Satoru?" pausing, before letting out a short laugh "Ha! You're even smaller than i thought you would be!" a taunting smile forming on his lips as he insulted the leader of the Crusaders, while Jun looked at him in astonishment, not believing that he had the guts to provoke him.
But that only served to make the disturbing smile on Satoru's lips even wider and he remarked "Such arrogance for a traitor of his own kind. What i heard about you was true then. I can see now that you and that woman besides you are not different in the slightest." causing Jun to gasp and turn her gaze back towards him.
Baring her teeth in unbridled fury, she roared spitefully "AND I SEE THAT DEATH HAS TAUGHT YOU NOTHING!" while Akira looked at her with slightly wide eyes at how enraged she was. Even though he had already seen her like this before, she was never this angry. He figured out from her voice alone that she harbored a great deal of hatred towards that monster in a kid's visage and for much more than just imprisoning so many people and purposelly starving them to death just to force them to join his ranks.
Amused, Satoru rounded his eyes towards Jun and declared "It is you who hasn't learned anything, Jun Fudo. Even after being used by those humans as a hunting dog for so long, after having your head filled with lies and after finally learning the truth about the woman who made you what you are, you still refuse to accept your true nature? Even after all of that, you're still wasting your potential, fighting for the sake of such a weak and stagnant race?" his statement causing Jun to gasp and her golden eyes to widen in shock. He knew. He knew that she had found out the truth about Asuka.
"H-How did you….." was all she could mutter in disbelief before Satoru continued "Isn't it ironic? This place is where the same woman you so blindly followed tortured and experimented on so many of us without a shred of remorse for the sole purpose of becoming a God, enslaving all life-forms on this world under her will and robbing them all of their freedom, long before she even came across you, all to keep us from evolving and take our place in this world. And you were oblivious to it the entire time as you kept slaughtering those like you left and right, without a second thought." while Akira simply looked at him with a calm, spiteful and solemn expression, having finally gotten his confirmation that what he and Jun had seen in the laboratory before the dungeon filled with all the cells was all the work of the same woman who made Jun what she was.
For a moment, Jun could only avert her gaze from the young beast and look at her clawed hands with her eyes shaking in guilt, recalling everything she had done, all the blood she had spilled while under Asuka's influence, believing all along that what she was doing was right, as long as she would keep protecting those she cared about. But the reveal, not too long ago that she had been used all along and had been purposely turned into a monster just so she could be used as the final ingredient in Asuka's evolution almost broke her, were it not for Akira comforting her.
Meanwhile, Nike could only listen in shock, not believing what she had just heard. That woman besides her dear Amon, who looked so much like him, used to be human? And the hatred in her voice….. Just how much did these monsters hurt her?
Wanting to know the answer to that question, she closed her eyes and, using her psychic powers, she searched through the memories of the two beasts who were holding her in place and covering her mouth. She was renowned among her kind for her psychic powers, which were second only to those of the mighty Psycho Jenny, said to be so powerful to knock even the strongest of demons unconscious by merely gazing in their eyes and overloading their mind (or, in other words, their brain) with much more information and visions than it could process. One of the many abilities Nike possessed, was being able to obtain the memories of others simply by touching them or by being touched by others.
But not too long after doing so, her eyes snapped wide open in shock and had, her mouth not been covered by Izumi's hand, she would have gasped in horror. Among the many visions she had seen there was one…..of a sacrifice. Of the death of a human girl. Of a dying declaration of love and protection. Of that woman holding the lifeless body of said human girl tightly and crying in grief.
"Considering all the people she hurt and all the lies she fed to you and countless others, can you really call me evil? Unlike her, i took it upon myself to lead our kind in its quest to achieve its freedom, while-" continued Satoru again, completely oblivious to what Nike was doing but before he could explain more about his motives and beliefs as well as further justify his actions…
(Soundtrack Ends)
Akira interrupted him mid-speech by crossing his arms over his chest, charging up a blue orb of energy in front of his forehead, and firing a Devil Arrow towards him. The young beast's brown eyes visibly widened in surprise, not expecting something as brazen as this, before the arrow-shaped projectile was promptly intercepted by a bolt of lighting from Kotura that destroyed it a few meters before it could reach his master and his allies, who were just as taken aback as he was, with the exception of Atun, who looked at what his lifelong rival had just done with amusement.
Pulled out of her recollection, Jun just stood there, her jaw dropped in disbelief and her golden eyes shaking in pure astonishment, struggling to believe that Akira had actually done that. Nike, with her captors no longer covering her mouth, due to how taken aback they had been, could likewise only look with great stupor and awe, having realised that the one she had fallen in love with was still just as brave and daring as ever.
"You sure do like the sound of your own voice." he mocked, not the least bit intimidated by what Satoru was saying and all the more enraged by the fact that such a smug and overconfident prick caused so much pain and suffering, while relaxing his posture "But no matter how much you try to justify it with your ideals, all you really want to do, is take over this world and rule it as you see fit. But hasn't it occured to you, that it's not what everyone wants, not even those of your own kind? A world like that can only be achieved through immeasurable bloodshed and sacrifices, and for what?! Just so selfish, smart-mouthed scumbags like you can do whatever they want without a care in the world?!" he continued to lecture the young beast, his voice filling up with more and more anger and outrage the more he spoke, before pointing his left index finger towards him and declaring, "You don't care about your kind at all. It's all about you. Both you and your so called "Crusade", are a joke." pausing as a wide taunting grin made its way on his lips before mocking "Then again, you are still just a brat so i woudn't be surprised if your brain's still too underdeveloped for you to understand that." causing all of his henchmen to gasp in pure incredulity, not believing that he actually had the gall to call him a fool, while Atun smiled in even more amusement upon seeing that his life-long rival had not lost his pluck and audacity even after all this time.
As Higa, Izumi, Kotura and Kitano all bared their teeth towards him out of pure anger and spite for the nerve he had insulting their master, Jun could only look at him speechless, her breath taken completely away. She had been left in utter awe at how he had absolutely no trouble insulting not only the same monster who had put her through so much hell, both physical and psychological, but even the very cause he stood for.
"Akira…" she thought, her admiration towards him having reached its climax: she could tell from the look in his eyes alone that he didn't fear Satoru in the slightest. No, he saw him as nothing more than a deranged fool, someone who was too full of himself and who had become so infatuated with his power that he could not see the wrong in his own ways, in other words, no different from all the monsters he had fought ever since he first became a Devilman. Seeing the lack of fear and doubt in his eyes, filled with nothing but courage and determination made her realise once again why she had fallen in love with him. No matter all the horrors he had been through, his heart was still the pure one of a human. He represented everything she once was, what she felt she could no longer be after losing her beloved Kazumi. But now…..
Satoru's wicked chuckle pulled her out of her thoughts "Hehehe….. You are even more entertaining than i thought you would be." he remarked, causing her to look back towards him, this time with a spiteful and resoluted look. Akira's words had restored her resolve, made her remember what she was and that, no matter how much Satoru tried to get into her head or how much she thought that she could never be human again, she would never allow herself to sink as low as him, to become the very same monster he is, no matter everything she went through. No matter everything she lost.
"But i'm afraid that it's time to get down to business." declared the young beast, before glancing towards Atun and stating "And a friend of mine just so happens to have a score to settle with you, Amon." as the disguised Demon removed his jacket, the only piece of clothing that he wore on his upper body, before he leapt from the window and landed on the floor of the circular room on one knee after a ten meter drop, without so much as a scratch, startling both Akira and Jun. No normal human would have been able to jump from a height of ten meters and land on the concrete below without a single injury, let alone, cause it to crak by the sheer force of the impact.
"Hard to believe how far you have degraded, Amon. Killing your own kind is one thing, but for the sake of those weak humans?" spoke Atun as he slowly got up "You truly have thrown away every last shred of honor you had." he declared mockingly as he rounded the azure eyes of his human form towards those of Akira.
But before the confused half-devil could reply, an incensed Jun, bared her teeth, rounded her golden eyes towards Atun and condemned "You have some nerve speaking of honor after everything your kind has done! Wasn't it enough for you demons to slaughter all those people back in your original world?! How can you still even desire such a thing after you brought your own extinction upon yourselves?!" her voice filled with outrage and disgust at the nerve the disguised demon had to speak of things such as throwing away your integrity.
Atun's smile grew even more as he looked at the woman besides his arch-enemy, amused to see that the fabled Devil Lady had the temper to match her strength and intimidating physical appearance. Thus, he gleefully remarked "Mmph. As fiery and undaunted as i expected. That attitude befits you, Jun Fudo…. Or should i say…. Devil Lady?." putting more emphasis on the last two words just to taunt her, causing her face to twist in even more annoyance due to the provoking way he spoke that nickname which, at best, she only tolerated and, at worst, disliked for making her feel less human than what she already was. Then Atun turned towards Akira and remarked tauntingly "You have found yourself quite the powerful and zealous partner, Amon. A shame that someone like her would follow a fool such as you."
Angered by those words, Akira bared his teeth at the disguised demon before him and insulted back "Says the one who follows a fucking child! Who the hell are you anyway?!" while pointing at him, demanding to know who he was.
(Ost: "Akatsuki No Chikai – Rising Sun = Yu Yu Hakusho unreleased soundtrack = watch?v=caO3IDNZnlQ )
A purple aura of energy began to surround the disguised demon's body before Atun, with a wide grin, replied "Don't tell me you have forgotten, Amon. How could you forget everything after all the battles we have fought?" and all at once his voice deeped, his eyes closed and he began to assume his true form, with the aura of energy spiking in all directions, actually creating a gust of wind in front of the two Devilmen who were forced to cover their heads and chest with their arms and firmly plant their feet on the ground to avoid being thrown away due to how powerful it was.
But it didn't prevent Akira and Jun from watching in shock and horror as Atun's body and muscles doubled in size, tearing apart the rest of his human clothes as a pair of large black feathered wings, reminiscent of those of a raven sprouted from his back. Red feathers covered his upper legs, shoulders, front of his arms and even the sides of his face, leaving most of his chest and face, whose skin had taken on a lavender color, bare while yellow eagle like scales covered his lower legs that ended in three recurved eagle-like talons with a fourth one emerging from the heel, essentially giving him grasping feet similar to those of Sirene, as well as the back of his arms and hands, that now ended with five black claws. Rather peculiarly, on each of his elbows there now was what appeared to be a three fingered hand armed with similar looking recurved talons which faced backwards along with a pair of two eagle digits arranged in an Y shape on the sides of his abdomen and a pair of four that adorned his shoulders, the outermost three ending with claws that faced downwards and ran along the shoulder while the innermost fourth's claws were curved upwards, like a pair of tusks. Finally the demon's head has taken on quite an ornate design: a pair of black feathered wings, reminiscent of those of a raven sprouted from its sides, a secondary pair of pupiless yellow eyes appeared on the brow along with his main eyes and his purple skinned face was framed by no less than three more of those eagle-like digits ending with black talons.
With his transformation completed, the humanoid demon with avian features, who now stood nearly three meters tall, towering over even Akira, opened his main eyes, revealing them to have a yellow sclera and black pupils and, with a wide and confident toothy grin, spread his arms and proudly declared "How could you forget about the mighty Atun, one of the strongest and proudest warriors of Demonkind!"
Akira and Jun could only take a few steps back and look in a mix of shock and terror, especially Jun with her wide, shaking yellow eyes and her mouth agape, at the demon's true form. With his majestic raven-like wings, ornate head and eagle-like arms and legs, Atun looked like a creature straight out from Greek Mythology but unlike Sirene and Kaim, his appearance was much more intimidating and frightening. And what really terrified the two Devilmen was the purple aura of energy that had surrounded his body as he took on his true form, dissappearing only after he finished transforming. They were able to glimpse what appeared to be tremendous power just by sensing it.
"Such monstrous power…. For a moment, i felt…. Overwhelmed… Terrified even…." was all Jun could think, so overwhelmed by the power she had sensed, even if it was for just a moment that she found herself frozen in fear, her golden eyes shaking in terror. She had never sensed such frightening power before, not even from Asuka or from the gigantic form Satoru had taken during their climatic battle several months ago "Who is this Atun?!"
"What the hell was that?! He almost threw both of us off the ground just by transforming?! And that name…." muttered Akira to himself, shocked by what he had witnessed and by memories suddenly materialising in his mind as soon as the demon before him gave away his name. All at once, in his mind, he saw images of several battles in which Atun was either his ally or his enemy. He figured out that those were some of Amon's memories.
Atun's voice pulled him out of his thoughts "I have waited so long for this moment." spoke the Demon Hero as he raised his left hand in front of him with the palm facing upwards, before clenching it into a fist and declaring "Now i will finally be able to avenge all the brave warriors that died by your treacherous hands! With these fists of mine, i will prove once and for all who the strongest and most noble hero of Demonkind is!" while Satoru and his henchmen watched from behind, with a confident and wicked smile on their lips, eager to see the demon they had allied themselves with in action for the first time.
"Amon… Please, be careful…." Was all Nike could think, hoping that things would turn out alright.
(Soundtrack Ends)
