"Come on, come on, come on!" Lars whispered through clenched teeth, seat rolling down his brow whilst kneeling next to the motionless Theseus. He had his hands hovering over his various torso wounds, a magic circle hovering over that said area in front of him as he attempted to heal Theseus's body. It was actually a fucking miracle that Theseus had clung to life for as long as he did, evidence by the weak energy signature still persisting according to his senses. Heck, Lars could even sense several organs still functioning as a sign that his body was struggling to cope with the new condition it had found itself in…

And it was losing.

"Fucking dammit!" Lars cursed himself as he strained himself as much as possible to apply power for the spell. Unfortunately, he was not well-versed with healing magic or restoring any part of the body due to focusing on more espionage and trickery-based tactics. His healing abilities were mainly restricted to healing lighter injuries like scratches or bruises, or fixing parts of his main magic. Right now, all he could do was just prolong the fatally wounded Theseus' life for as long as he could till he could come up with something… of which there had been little progress.

Worse still was that they didn't have much time left. Their little 'window of golden opportunity' was rapidly closing and if he didn't get the 'gift' ready for the grand finale than everything would have been ruined. Lars had given up way too much to allow the plan to fail, what's more he knew that this would be a once-in-a-lifetime chance for him to achieve his goals, if this failed then Lars didn't know if such a chance would EVER come his way again. He REFUSED to give in and let this pass him by! He REFUSED!

"Fucking hell, just wake up already for God sake-OW!" Lars began to swear to the heavens, before wincing at the sharp headache that spiked within his mind for saying God's name. He always hated that aspect of the system those damn Angels used, but then again there wasn't any way of changing it so he could only endure. Gritting his teeth while trying to think of a possible solution, Lars glanced about while weighing his options.

He could take Theseus back to the Hellsing manor and have him seek medical treatment there. Through his own investigations and research, Lars knew that they had recently recruited a Doctor who seemed quite competent at his job, and had a history serving with the Military, so there was a liklihood they would be able to save the blonde man. However, the problem was that it would take too long for him to be healed. Even if he were to try and take him, the wounds on his body will take a toll on Theseus and most likely kill him.

He can't inform either of Theseus' leaders either, because its too risky, dangerous and time consuming in a time period when they had too LITTLE of it to act. He didn't have time to think of what's going to happen but, his previous investigations had allowed him to accurately deduce that the Hellsing branch were probably still in the middle of fixing the damage those Night Lords did to both the City and their own. Then there was the irritated Shinto faction who would be asking them questions about what was going on, none had made a move yet but that wouldn't be the case for long. Lars knew it wasn't something of a coincidence that the Night Lords had arrived here for the lols, they had seemed to him like scavengers and bullies, to which from his experience those types of people usually had methods behind their mad actions. It might have been Zolgear's intention to cripple Hellsing's forces and make his move now since they were significantly weakened and wouldn't be much of a threat. Whats worse is that they wouldn't be able to respond in time to this developing crisis, meaning that they had to make do with what little they had.

Damnit! That bitch Zest screwed things up badly for them!

As much as he wanted to pin everything on that robot of a woman who had just came out of nowhere, Lars also felt the shame of not having predicted her actions beforehand. As someone who had years of manipulation under his belt thanks to his occupation, he should have known beforehand that Zest would somehow get in the way of his plans, she had never trusted him even when he worked with Zolgear to track down Mio's location over the years. But he hadn't and thanks to that, they had been unable to prepare for such a folly. A rookie mistake on his part, but that just served to annoy him all the more.

This was what he got for getting too 'excited' before the grand finale could be served to him.

Whilst he continued to lament his recent failures while rummaging his brain for any other possible solutions, his gaze landed on something atop Theseus' body. Leaning forward to allow himself a closer look, Lars bore witness to various water drops being absorbed into one of the blondes' wounds. In the following seconds, Lars noticed the wound beginning to close up, not by much but enough to be noticeable.

This made Lars narrow his eyes behind his mask while looking around the blond haired male's figure before seeing it also had wet marks around him. Putting two dots together, his eyes widened in realization. "Of course! How can I be such a fool!" Lars shouted in realization. He just now remembered how the name 'Theseus' belonged to a famous Greek hero, the one who founded the kingdom Athens and the one who crossed the labyrinth, killing the minotaur.

Another important factor was that Theseus was also the son of the Greek God Poseidon. The Theseus before him was the descendent of that same original Theseus, and knowing a certain detail about Greek Demigods of Poseidon…

"Tch, all or nothing!"

Taking his chances and knowing that there wasn't any time to waste, he looked towards the nearby lake before back to the wounded boy. He grabbed Theseus under his armpit and dragged him to the lake. As far as he can tell from assessing his injuries, most of it came from the spears that Lars had lodged into him earlier. There were literal holes in his body that one could see through to the ground, but many of his vital organs were mainly damaged, not destroyed. Lars had intentionally targeted non-vital areas in his attack, intending to only weaken him till Theseus fell unconscious. If things had gone to plan, he'd have then shipped the guy off to Zolgear then pulled out the popcorn.

However, the whole thing with Zest had complicated things, and much more damage had been done to Theseus' body. Most apparently, was the fact that his left arm looked to have been broken in all sorts of different places, making it almost a miracle that it was still attached to him. It literally looked like a tube of toothpaste squeezed dry of every drop right now, the sight causing Lars to shudder with phantom pain sensations traveling up his own left arm. He did NOT want to be Theseus right about now.

"Grrrh! Rrrrrhhh!" Nevertheless Lars grunted in force as he painstakingly dragged him through the dirt towards the lake, leaving a bloody trail behind him. Once he was at the river, Lars flung the guy inside of it creating a massive splash on impact. Lars got out of the lake and saw Theseus blood flowing out from the said male's body into the water itself, almost akin to being dissolved from the river flow.

Meanwhile Theseus stayed still in the water for a while, deeply submerging beneath the surface like it was trying to pull him into it's embrace. That is until Lars began to see how the water was reacting to him by swirling around Theseus form, responding to the dire situation and how wounded the King of Sharks was. It confirmed Lars' thoughts, Theseus WAS the descendent of the original Theseus, King of Athens.

It swirled around the motionless body for quite a while. The sight of it caused Lars to remember something told to him by his teachers. "Blood is the ultimate resource of the human body as well as water. Blood is water and water is blood. The two main resources a human needs." Lars muttered profoundly as if he was giving a lecture to students in their classroom. Blood was also water, as he could remember from the bible how the Christian God had ordered Aaron to place his staff on the water where the Pharaoh Ramases was swimming at, turning blood into water.

So what's happening now was that water was turning into blood, nourishing Theseus while healing his body.

By the time the water had finished closing the holes in his torso, the blond hair boy opened his eyes before shooting up into the air as water began to splash around him. "(GASP)!" A shrill gasp escaped Theseus, the male now standing upright while his feet remained submerged under the water. Hunching his back, the male put his hands on his knees as he gazed towards the ground. "(PANT)." heavy pants left his lips, the male trying to get his lungs regain the ability to breath calmly once more.

Back beside the lake, Lars saw that Theseus looked all good and began to walk down. "That was very reckless of you Theseus." Lars reprimand the blond hair boy, Theseus got his breathing controlled before slowly turning to Lars. "Do you know what could've happened if I hadn't figured out that water could heal you due to you being the descendent of the orignal Theseus? As far as I can tell you were even very lucky to begin with. Consider this as a favor for yo-?!" When Lars was about to finish his lecture, he halted mid speech, his jaw falling open at something about the male that prompted him to suddenly step back from Theseus in horrified surprise. "Oh…dear lord." Lars whisperered, stunned disbelief seeping from his words like water spewing forth from gaps in a damn wall.

Theseus hair covered his entire face from the wetness of the water. "What…is it?" he questioned in a hoarse tone, due to how his lungs were still adjusting themselves.

Lars didn't answer to the Shark King, too stunned to properly react.

In an attempt to find out the cause of this for himself knowing that the other male was useless currently, Theseus put his hand on his face as he attempted to wipe the water from it… that is, before he stopped. That brief instance of connecting his face to his hand, made him feel that something had changed DRAMATICALLY about it.

Not to mention that when his fingertips made contact with his flesh he could feel some sort of 'hard' feeling instead of normal flesh, resembling that of something recently exposed to fire.

Slowly he attempted to use his other hand as well to try and get a better feel despite the sharp pained hisses it had elected from him before, but he couldn't feel it for some reason. No matter how many times he tried, his arm just wouldn't obey his brain's mental commands to move, not even a finger twitch which caused the male's brow to twitch in irritation. Although that alone sent a sharp painful spike through him that made him wince.

Looking at his other hand for the cause, Theseus' lips twisted when he saw the limb… how truly busted it looked and in that moment he became IMMENSELY grateful that he couldn't feel that linb right now. His whole WORLD would have become an inferno of pain if his pain receptors in that arm were working properly. "Oh."

The moment he saw it, flashbacks got triggered in his mind revolving around those last few moments before he'd conked out. When Zest had thrown a literal boulder on top of him, Theseus had raised his now busted arm out of reflex. Additionally, he had instinctively sought out the closest source of power he could grasp… which hadn't been his own energy reserves for once unlike what one might think. Instead, he'd pulled water from the nearby lake to form the shield, blocking most of the boulder impact.

However, because he could only bring so much of it to keep Zest unaware of his actions, as well as the time constraint of a few seconds resulting in only a small ovular water shield, it wasn't too effective in protecting him. As a result, while it stopped the boulder from completely turning him into a pancake it DID crushed his arm into its current state from the strain and as for his face, it likely got damaged during the whole thing.

That explained why his condition was the way it was currently.

Even as he made that short 'oh' utterance, Theseus' upper face remained hidden behind his long hair, shielding the damage from view. Because of this, Lars couldn't see what the blonde's emotions were right now nor could he tell what he was thinking. However from what the Demon was able to deduce a bit from his sluggish-looking body language…..well, he'd be forgiven for assuming Theseus to not be too happy right now. One might assume the guy felt like utter shit currently, slipping beneath the ocean of sanity and into madness' infernal depths.

After a moment of silence, Theseus opened his mouth to speak. "Lars…Take me to where Mio was last seen." His tone, although slightly stronger and a bit shaky, still carried that hoarse tone to it. This had been the most fragile, weak and uncontrollable state that Theseus had ever shown to anybody ever since the Apocolypse, and in Lars eyes he had never seen the male sound so vulnerable before.

Unbeknownst to the man, not even Meredith had seen this weak side of Theseus, not even when he berated her during that ambush incident.

Despite that, beneath the weak and fragile surface, lay a deep rage inside of him that betrayed how he was currently barely keeping his sanity to a thread.

Fortunately it wasn't long before Lars got out of his shock, the cause being when he heard the blond hair boy told him to take where Mio was last seen. Although in the following seconds, his disbelief began to quickly ebb away to give rise to the dismay born from the words that had reached his pointy ears. "Are you…..are you out of your fucking mind?!" The moment the dismay had fully realized itself, Lars retorted angrily at Theseus's stubborn actions. "They probably already started Satan's awakening ritual! The girl cannot be saved anymore, she's gone! She won't be the person you've been protecting, in her place will be the literal demon princess of Hell itself, commanding over the forces of chaos and darkness!" Lars exclaimed.

While he remained silent and didn't face him, Theseus still paused in his brief stride away from the Demon to show that he had begun listening.

Good thing he did, because Lars wasn't done since he pointed his right hand at the state of Theseus broken one, as well as his former wounds. "You're not fully healed! You may no longer have those holes in you anymore, but your arm is broken like shit! And your face…..your face-I cannot imagine! If you go there, you WILL die and I can't be there to help you! Nor can Hellsing itself! You can't face those demonic forces all by yourself in this state!" Lars shouted at Theseus.

Silence dominated the lake whilst Theseus thought about the demons, though not the ones that Lars had been referring to. No, the ones HE had thought about came from the Apocalypse, the time they destroyed everything he held dear. He remembered it all as clear of day, there was never a day when he didn't recall those vivid scenes of horrified screams as Demons descended down and had their way with everything in sight, be it man woman or child. Gender Equality took a whole new meaning that day, and Theseus felt certain that NOBODY wanted to see it that way.

Then he thought about how Mio was the princess of Hell itself. She had the potential to go over there and rule those horrid creatures, the same ones that took practically everything held dear to him, and likely start causing mass carnage with a side dish of suffering alongside immense agony for desert. He knew she never wanted something like this, just by being around her he had seen enough to be convinced of that, so even though she had a 'dark' potential inside of her he never hated her for it. Instead, he had found himself empathesizing with her since she had grown up in the same way he'd done, having a normal life and relishing it though likely not as much as she should have.

But then it all got ripped away from her by forces beyond the both of them, by powers beyond either of them in scope and in scale. It almost felt like the universe just wanted to fucking ruin their lives forever, never to grant them the reprieve they most desperately craved. Now, she seemed on the brink of losing everything she'd struggled hard to obtain, before she could even get strong enough to defend herself despite their best efforts to train her.

In that moment, a memory played out in his mind of a conversation once held between him and his aunt Chisato, one pertaining specifically about this exact situation.

Heed my warning. If Mio starts to have those traits similar to her ancestor, then you have two options: either convince her to return to normal, if that doesn't work then you'll have to end her life. The choice will be on your hands Theseus.

His aunt words echoed on his mind, the choice was in his hands right now: whether to either save Mio from her total corruption, or…..kill her.

The thought of killing her left his mind rought with unsettlement, a wave of discomfort sending chills down his spine. In any other circumstance, Theseus bet he would've chosen the option to exterminate a Demon without a second thought, especially when she had the potential to become a threat on par with Alucard. Mio may be half human, but she was also a Demon like those who had taken everything from him. Even after the initial talks they had part of him still resented that side of her, the hate that came from the despair he'd felt from the Apocolypse.

Now, he felt no longer wanting to choose the option of killing the redhead.

Eventually, he choose to speak once more. "I don't give a shit or fuck what happens if I live or die. I don't care what has happened to me, that tanned bitch tarnished Hellsings pride, my pride were besmirched the way they were. I will not let this go unpunished, my comrades would share this view of mine." he declared, glancing back towards his companion with a look of extreme ferocity.

That look did the job of sending Lars into a fit of gobsmacked shock, the man stepping back from the intensity alone as he tried to come up with another reason to halt Theseus' advance towards certain doom.

That is, until he realized that the Shark King was just too stubborn to ever back down from a fight, even in his current state. A madman was what he was, him and the rest of Hellsing's members.

Lars was about to give in Theseus's orders, but before that something in him compelled the Demon to ask one last question. "Then tell me this Theseus. How can you feel like you can stop a literal descendent of Satan, the ruler of the dark world? Do you even have a plan?"

"Its not that how I feel. Its how I KNOW I will." Theseus ominously responded, his eyes beginning to glow dangerously whilst his tone sent deathly chills into Lars' spine.

Later

Outside of the castle where the fiery red and black pillar was happening, a magic circle suddenly conjured itself into existence at the said building's entrance. From there, the figures of Lars and Theseus could be seen manifesting into existence there, the two of them looking ready for the conflict that was about to happen.

From there, they saw the pillar of demonic energy happening causing Lars to wince. "Tch, looks like its already starting…" he mumbled under his breath. "The awakening ritual has several conditions that need to be met for it to succeed: the participant needs to have no more attachments, and needs to be in an extreme state of agitation. Zolgear must have done something horrific to her for Mio to succumb so quickly."

Theseus, hair still shadowing his face, ignored those words and good thing he did, for if he had listened then he felt like he likely would have pulled a similar stunt that he'd done back when being ambushed by the Hero Clan. Nevertheless, he still got the gist of it by looking at the pillar and sensing the vast emotion within the pillar itself… the male could figure out that it likely had something to do with his apparent 'demise' as that fit the bill the most on how Zolgear could get away with shit like this.

Mio would have never willingly given in to the man who ruined her life, no way no how.

Shaking his head, Theseus did his best to rearrange his broken left arm into his coat pocket to keep it from flapping about. Perhaps staying in the water could have helped him reset it to normal, but he didn't have the time needed for that to happen.

"Then its best we hurry, we're wasting time." Theseus hoarsely declared, though one could tell that his tone was getting better each minute, showing his gradually recovering strength. He needed to seek medical attention and a proper doctor or healer to fix his face, but that would come only AFTER everything had been sorted.

Watching the coat-wearing male proceed forward with his right arm swinging back and forth, his coat fluttering behind him as he walked, Lars shook his head with exasperation. "You're literally looking for death aren't you?" Lars commented on the insanity that was Theseus' next actions.

The said male briefly paused his stride to glance back at the devil, using a single glowing emerald eye. Literally looks like a swamp monster that came from the swamp. "I don't look for death, death looks for me instead. I will not run away from it even if it looks at me with its cold eyes." Theseus said to Lars. He then started gesturing towards the castle. "In any case, you best start doing your thing, we're on a tight shift after all. You know THOSE TWO won't stand idly by much longer." he stated, and despite himself Theseus let out a bloodthirsty smile.

"I know what to do Theseus, you don't need to remind me." Lars said to him, now majorly unnerved by that smile.

As for why it unnerved him so, Lars swore that he was staring at the face of a literal incarnation of death itself, instead of an injured moron about to go kill himself. He'd experienced this several times before, but he never got used to how being around ANY member of Hellsing just made him feel like he's on a tightrope, caught maintaining a careful balance to avoid tumbling into the jaws of the beast below.

Nevertheless, just before he was about to leave and head off what he's about to do he spoke to Theseus. "I normally don't do this, but heed my warning. I know how much the girl means to you, and while there might still be time for her to be saved, if it's too late….. You will have to stain your fangs with blood once more,and this time it will not be out of satisfaction." Lars warned Theseus.

The blond-haired boy did not respond to Lars. He didn't need to, for he knew all too well what he meant by staining his hand with blood. He'd done it plenty of times by this point, to the level where he became practically nonchalant about committing mass genocide if it were declared of him. It was like how soldiers would gradually become numb to the act of killing another human being after repeating it so many times, a sad but true reality one had to accept. War, conflict in general, made monsters out of those who take part, and in Theseus' case he willingly became this way, so he knew full well that this night would be stained with blood.

Either his own, Mio's, or Zolgears.

Even so, there was just something about the thought of killing Mio, that sent these waves of previously mentioned discomfort through him. The thought of her blood on his hands, dripping down his claws and fangs didn't fill him with the pleasures that it normally would when butchering his enemies. It confused the heck out of Theseus. 'Why am I feeling this? Its as if…. I care for her?' Internally widening his eyes at such a thought,Theseus violently shook his head to wipe out such heretical thoughts from existence. It didn't help that his cheeks had turned a slight pinkish color as a brief wave of warmth smothered his heart thanks to them. 'No! I don't care for her! I don't! I am an agent of Hellsing and I care not for even if a single infant dies or even multiple children! I don't have any feelings for Mio!' he roared, rejecting any sort of romantic intentions towards someone who was part of the race that had taken everything from him.

Unaware of his increasingly chaotic thoughts, Lars began to disappear by sinking into a magic circle that had formed on the ground beneath his feet. As he did so however, the man gave one last statement to his companion. "I won't give my high hopes for you, but I can say this at least: good luck Theseus. You will need it to save Mio. You're her sworn protector after all."

With that said, Lars finally disappeared into the Magic Circle completely which then vanished out of existence, leaving Theseus alone in front of the castle. He stared at the spot where Lars used to be for a brief moment, before raising his head to gaze upwards at the energy column. As he gazed at the energy pillar, Theseus pursed his lips together while mentally preparing himself, having been stricken with a very… specific sensation. One that implied that the following events would be taking a toll on him, both mentally and physically.

'Whelp, this is it… no turning back now…'

Ominous thoughts aside, Theseus took a loud breath before proceeding to stroll forward and pushed through the castle gates. He would have gone further by entering the building itself, if it weren't for the familiar voice that broke the silent ambiance.

"It would seem that Lars was not an ally to lord Zolgear, nor to Lord Satan as well." A feminine voice spoke from above him. Briefly tensing mid step, Theseus' gaze shot upwards towards the space atop him. This allowed him to see that the source had been Zest, the blonde woman floating in the air while looking stoic and casual. Slowly, she began to float downwards to the ground while adding the following. "You are like a cockroach that's hard to kill, but even a pest like you can be killed eventually."

A feral snarl escaped the blonde male's lips. "Spare me your filth, bitch." Theseus spat out to Zest, his face crinkled with the rage he was feeling. "I'm not that easy to kill. Even if you stake my heart, pierce my head, cut off my limbs or take my heart out nothing can stop or kill me. I'm unstoppable." He sneered, glaring up at her through his bangs.

Upon placing her heeled feet on the ground before the male, Zest released a scoff aimed towards Theseus' declaration. "Such a bold claim, but one full of lies. Its a foolish declaration. Everyone dies when they are killed. No one can escape from the grasp of death, it is inevitable." Zest said to Theseus.

In response to her insults Theseus merely rolled his eyes whilst flicking his good arm to the side, making electricity crackle around him when he drew on his Sacred Gear's power in preparation for the upcoming brawl. From the looks of things there would be a fight coming and as much as it brought his inner beast great JOY to have another shot at busting this bitch's skull open, Theseus didn't like that he had to fight in his current condition so soon. He didn't know what his current limits were, and facing Zest in this state wasn't ideal.

He brought out his bolter pistol and was about to go into full BOE form, if he had not a strong sting of pain from his internal organs, making him grit his teeth as blood was coming out of his mouth. Spitting out a mouthful of blood while thinking mentally. 'Shit! What the fuck…?!' The male thought in shock at what had happened, his eyes bulging while veins popped on his forehead as a sign of the strain the maIe put himself under. 'Tch! Damnit, looks like I can't use my BOE form for some reason. My internal organs must be too damaged now, which would mean that my BOE form requires my body to transfigure my internal structure…that makes sense.' Theseus deduced. Internally frustrated at himself but he cannot delve into it for now.

Zest saw this and put out a mocking smirk aimed at Theseus. "Look at you, pathetic. You can't even do a single thing because you're weak and powerless. It's even a wonder you're still alive, a miracle that you can even walk, Maybe Satan only bestowed upon you the pleasure to witness the rise of a new lord of Hell."

In response to Zest's mocking tone, Theseus made a second pair of arm on his left side of his body while internally wincing at the change of his body before ignoring it. Looked like partial transformation was still possible albeit painful. Flexing his good hand, he made his Trident appear in a flash of light.

Ignoring this action, Zest continued her mockery of Theseus, pointing a degrading finger towards him. "Your broken, crippled, and utterly powerless against me. You couldn't even avoid or recognize a trap set for you. You're just a weak little boy, alone. How can you even fare against the forces of darkness?" she sneered, her cold dark gaze bearing down on the blonde male as the two stood opposite one another.

This time, however, much to Zest's surprise all of the previous rage displayed by the just vanished, instantly. Like it had never been there in the first place. In it's place, a sense of pride and mockery arose from Theseus, who gained a sinister slasher smile whilst his eyes began to glow brighter, a matching chuckle escaping his lips. "Lady…who says I'm alone?" he questioned rhetorically.

'Huh? What is this fool…?' Initially, Zest blinked in utter confusion about what he meant by not being alone. It looked clear as day to her that the boy had came here alone without any help, and from what she had known through the spies Zolgear had in his employ, the boy hadn't even summoned any Familiars to aid him. Yet, there was this new confidence emitting from him like a swirling vortex, a new sense of malice that she hadn't felt from him previously… it reminded her of a newly sharpened blade newly released from its confines to be bathed in the blood of one's enemies.

She made to rebuke him further, if it were not for the fact that she got her answer anyways. Not from Theseus though, but from someone who fell down from above. That person clearly intended to slam into her, but Zest had quickly jumped back at the last minute after sensing the person's killing intent. After sliding to a halt and looking back to where the person had landed, she saw that smoke had obscured the person's form from view, though this didn't last long as a pair of wings, bat wings which hinted at the demonic identity of the new attacker to the blonde woman, unfurled and flapped once. As a result, the smoke dispersed immediately, revealing the attacker's form to her.

To her surprise it was Maria, the succubus. But instead of her usual loli-like form, she had entered into a new one. In this form, she resembled a fully grown adult woman in her mid twenties, sporting a curvaceous figure combined with large breasts and legs that were tall and slender. Her hair now reached her waist in length, alongside her horns growing slightly longer. Additionally, her arms were concealed behind a pair of long arm sleeves that began at the biceps which looked rather poofy, like those from noblewomens' dresses in olden times. Alongside them, she now wore thick black gauntlets over her forearms and hands, her Tail having increased its length.

"Whoa, Maria…" Theseus whispered under his breath, his lips still smirking yet one could see slight shock behind his current bravado. Now THIS was a sight he did not see coming, when he had said what he did he had expected a sneak attack from the Succubus, but this was taking things on a path he did not anticipate.

As for Zest, she did NOT look amused in the slightest at this current development. "Damn you…" she mumbled, having quickly figured out the situation as she glared heatedly at the Succubus. Said Succubus with her current form, simply smirked smugly at the other woman while doing a sexy pose as if standing in front of a camera. "To think that you would dare usurp Lord Zolgear's compassion…"

"Oh, stuff it!" Hearing the word 'compassion' escape Zest's lips made Maria think back to similar displays of the emotion she'd seen over the years of hiding. That wound up resulting in the silverette dropping her 'cutesy' persona and adopting a rather furious one, the woman glaring right back and darting forwards like a bullet. "There's not a single compassionate bone in that dusty old man's body! Not even in bed!" she screeched, her right fist reared backwards.

Zest snarled, already taking to the skies above to avoid the attack. She glanced down after ascending to about 60 feet, glaring at Maria when she slammed into the space Zest once occupied, creating a small dust cloud on impact. "I'll have your life for insulting my master!" she bellowed, throwing her right arm downwards after conjuring a set of basketball sized boulders and launching them down towards the cloud. "Perish, Succubus!"

"Not today!"

Maria, having sensed the attack coming towards her, gripped her fists ready and took to the skies once more, throwing several punches that smashed the boulders upon impact. Below her, she saw through her peripheral vision several long spikes made from earth rush up to try and impale her. However, she didn't let that stop her and promptly pushed her wings to their limits in her task of climbing towards Zest's location. She intended on delivering some much-deserved payback for all of the 'sessions' Zolgear had made her take part in; a good punch to that bitch's face would be a good start.

However, what she didn't expect was for Zest to point her arm down at her and summon another magic circle. The Succubus' eyes widened when she saw how dust particles had formed around her, making her briefly wonder where they had come from before recalling the boulders she had destroyed. 'So she intended for them to be destroyed from the start…!' Maria thought seeing the particles come together into a set of cuffs connected by chains. They promptly opened up and launched towards her arms intending to clamp onto them and restrict her movement.

Not if she could help it, however.

Just before she could retaliate against her opponent…

"You forget about me, bitch?"

"?!"

Immediately Zest's eyes widened when a shadow loomed over her from behind, a large one that enveloped her form completely. She glanced behind her with slitted, distressed eyes to see the hollow green ones the shadow sported… as well as the Trident that had its tip surrounded by a sphere of water.

SMACK!

"Guh!"

After raising it high, the Trident got brought down onto Zest's left shoulder making her cry out in dismay from the force applied to the blow. It had been enough to crack bone, as evident by the sounds made upon impact, the pole section practically bending itself thanks to the wielder's strength. That said wielder turned out to be a grinning Theseus who had been surrounded by winds keeping him suspended in the air.

The Blow sent her downwards… right towards a charging Maria who had dodged the cuffs thanks to their creator losing focus and therefore, being unable to continue maintaining them. Maria's eyes widened in bloodlust as she reared her arm back… and slammed a vicious, downright BRUTAL right hook smack dab into Zest's face.

SMACK!

SMACK!

CRASH!

Not satisfied with the punch even as it made a massive indent into Zest's cheek, Maria followed up with a front flip that allowed her to slam her right leg's heel into the top of the woman's head. The blow felt just as vicious as the first one, almost enough to make her skull cave under it as Maria swung her leg downwards, launching Zest smashing into the hard dirt beneath the two.

Upon impact, the blonde woman's form created a massive dust cloud thanks to the force applied, one that promptly shrouded her from view.

"Two solid hits… doubt that they'd finish her off though." Theseus commented, narrowing his eyes at the dust cloud. He could sense Zest's energy signature within, and it didn't seem like it was finished yet.

Maria, having sensed the same, nodded her head in agreement with a rare look of grim seriousness on her face. "Yeah… but this isn't the time for you to worry about her." she told him, and when he glanced at her with an arched brow for an explanation the succubus pointed towards the Pillar… or rather, the vanished pillar since there was nothing there. "Look, the pillar's gone, meaning Mio's been fully awakened. There's not much time left, so leave Zest to me. I can handle her, and afterwards I'll teleport her to Hellsing's dungeon." she told him, her gaze urgent.

As much as she wanted to know if her comrade would be alright ESPECIALLY when she noticed the injuries he sported (they almost gave her a heart attack and exposed her position earlier), she had to make sure to follow the script. Everything had been going according to plan so far, so she couldn't afford to risk it all now.

Hearing all of this made Theseus snarl, knowing that the silver haired woman (man, it felt damn weird to call Maria that of all people, but then again she definitely had an adult's mind) had a point. They didn't have long left, and he would be damned if Mio got played by that crusty old Demon after all he had put her through. "Alright then… but first…"

HUG!

"?!"

In an instant, Maria gasped when she felt Theseus wrap his sole good arm around her waist and pull her in close for a hug, the male being careful not to let his Trident puncture her or hurt her in any way. Thanks to her new form, she had found her chin placed on Theseus' shoulder as the male held her as best he could given that one of his arms' looked to be busted up. "A-Ah… Theseus…"

"You did well… protecting Mio for all this time…"

Those words got out of Theseus' throat as the male pulled back moments later, a look of understanding and pride shining behind his eyes. The male also let out a small smirk, twirling his Trident in one hand showing the skill he had with said polearm. "Remind me not to underestimate a Succubi's willpower, it's a thing of beauty… just like you, now that I think about it." he mused, chuckling before tucking his legs to his chest and kicking them downwards. This resulted in him shooting forth towards the castle, or more specifically the hole that the pillar had generated. He figured that would be a quicker shortcut than just simply going in through the front door where possibly many traps lay waiting for him.

Maria was stunned for a while now, her gaze fixed upon where Theseus had once been, unable to comprehend what just happened. Theseus was usually cruel to her and annoyed by her antics but deep inside, despite her never witnessing it, even HE actually cared for Maria as well. The blond hair boy never threw her out(Well except for the times she snuck into his room to make lewd recordings of him and Mio, or whenever she tried sneaking into the bath with him) of the manor or told her to stop. Hell, multiple times she had assumed he had been reaching his limits regarding tolerating her and had been seconds away from permanently kicking her out of the Hellsing building, but instead Theseus had blindsided her in that recording when he showed how much cared to her, assuring her in her sleep every time she had night terrors.

Her mouth became a thin line before it turned into a frown. Closing her eyes, a tear slid from her left one before she said the following. "You idiot…..why do you always have to be so reckless…why do you always make it so…..dramatic?" she whispered to herself. She remembered the state of his face…..how far he would willingly go in order to save Mio. He's always risking his life for them, not like a knight in shining armor but the way he sometimes acted resembled a Cassanova. Although she bet he would vehemently refute such notions, especially when she recalled his reaction to Issei's accusations.

It was like he was purposely making her fall in love with him or something with the way he treated her…and the thing was…

It was working.

BOOM!

Her reverie got disrupted when Maria heard Zest getting out of the debris. She glanced down at the smoke before shaking her head and prepared to jump towards her before she whispered the following under her breath. "Only you can free Mio from her father's grip... She trusts you the most Theseus, you're the only one who can save her. Don't let Mio fall into the Umbral Plains..." She whispered before she jumped towards Zest.

With Theseus

Theseus flew through the hole that the pillar had made, the male landing right in front of where the pillar had been conjured. After landing in a crouching position, the blonde raised his head towards the space before him, finding that he was just in time to see Mio about to head to the occult magic circle on the ground.

'Not good!' the male thought with eyes widening both in shock, as well as slight awe at the form that Mio had taken thanks to awakening her powers fully. The male wasn't even close to her and he could feel the ambient demonic power emitting from the redhead woman… and he could DEFINITELY call Mio a woman with the more womanly figure she sported. Even though she'd been a woman of early 20's in age originally, now she felt even more so.

Nevertheless, the male couldn't be too impressed by how cool and badass it looked, that form rang many alarm bells in the blonde's mind. From what he had seen in that moment, Mio didn't look like she was going to slaughter Zolgear in retribution for his crimes which implied that she had fallen under some kind of spell, one either cast by the Demon himself or her own power that had placed her in an intoxicated daze. Neither of them promised anything good, especially with the way that Mio seemed to be placing a lot of attention on what looked like a portal, of which he did NOT think would be a good idea.

Therefore, Theseus made the following proclamation faster than the eye could blink, faster than his brain could even process what had happened.

"STOP!"

Present

Now in the present, Theseus' voice echoed out the castle hall, stopping the demonic ascended Mio from continuing on her path towards the portal.

Even Zolgear jumped in surprise when he heard the mighty shout, not having expected such a thing happening now of all times though he didn't take long to realize the situation. The grandson of Asmodeus turns around and became surprised, shocked to see Theseus standing there with his face covered by his hair. Zolgear points at him in surprise. "YOU! How are you alive? I saw you being pierced right through your chest and crushed! How are you still alive?!" Zolgear demanded, his eyes being veiny with how large they'd been bulging and his teeth being gnashed together in angered frustration. Several veins bulge across his bald forehead to further express his rage at the intervention.

Meanwhile, Theseus ignored him and instead focused his attention on Mio, as if she were the only thing that occupied this vast dungeon room. The redhead in question didn't turn around or even pay any attention towards him, simply staring at the portal as if she were in some kind of robotic trance.

"This isn't you Mio. You're better than this." Theseus declared, his words echoing throughout the castle with a strong conviction.

Zolgear bristled at how disrespectful Theseus was being, nearly making to reprimand the male for his tone towards Satan's daughter… that is, before he began thinking about what they were. It didn't take him long to figure out what Theseus was trying to do, causing Zolgear to glance urgently towards the motionless Mio. "Don't listen to this corpse boy, your highness! He's just trying to stray you from the path meant for you since the day you were born!"

"He wants to use you Mio." Theseus calmly said to Mio's back, once more ignoring the Demonic old man. "That guy's trying to make you into something which you're not. So stop being ignorant and listen to me!" Theseus points at Mio with his index finger. "This isn't who you are. You're not a bloodthirsty monster, you're not a ruthless person! Don't become who I am right now!"

"Your majesty, his mouth only spews out false words. He's wrong, you are the rightful ruler of this world! Destroy him immediately!" Zolgear almost commanded Mio with his words, pointing his staff towards the Shark King

Theseus dropped his stance and calmly stood as his coat fluttered due to the pressure and wind-generated in the room. It became clear to him that his words weren't reaching the woman which gave him an idea of just how intoxicated by this power she now had that she'd become as a result. If he didn't change his tune and come up with something to help bring her back to her senses, then a large bloodbath would ensue in the human and supernatural worlds which would not bode well for anyone. Personally, he gave zero fucks about such a thing happening, if anything it promised a rather fun time for him as the Shark King… but this wouldn't be something Mio wanted at least in his opinion. Their many conversations and the time they'd spent together showed him as much, he believed.

Wait a minute… belief? In his opinion…?

Aha! Perhaps THAT could work!

"Is this what you really want?" With his new plan in motion, Theseus made the following proclamation towards Mio, not even afraid of taking a step forward. He still ignored Zolgear who looked on the verge of casting a spell as he paid full attention towards the demonic redhead. "Let me ask you this, is this what Mio Naruse wants? I am not asking the human girl nor the demon princess. I am asking 'Mio Naruse'. You have the freedom to choose your own path, whether you choose to listen to me, or anyone else." Theseus proclaimed, placing a hand over where his heart would have been.

"..."

Silence resumed its reign over the somewhat destroyed dungeon. Mio still didn't pay attention to him, still staring at the occult magic circle in front of her. It's as if she didn't even acknowledge the blonde's presence.

Zolgear sees this and laughs out loud. "You fool! Do you actually believe that our princess would listen to a commoner's word like yours? Hah! You are a bigger fool than anyone in the face of dirt! Look at our highness! She only stopped because of you! Thanks to her awakening, her fake self was destroyed and was replaced with her true form, the real princess of Hell itself!" He proclaimed at Theseus while spreading his hands out like a pastor in a church. He let out an uproarious bout of laughter alongside a look of sheer madness while facing up towards the sky.

At this point, his voice grew grating enough for Theseus to start twitching his brow before he glanced at him as if he were looking at an ant or a disease.

However Zolgear didn't care, favoring continuing his monologue. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I have planned this for thousands of years! Ever since I discovered the existence of the real demon king, I have searched world wide for any living demonic descendents tied directly to the original Satan himself! Nothing could stop me from achieving my goal! Soon, the false devils shall know a higher existence! Those lowly life forms will be wiped out from the face of the entire world, no they shall be wiped from EXISTENCE! Let there be chaos! Let there be destruction! Let there be despair! Let all evil be unleashed toward the world and remold it into our very own image!"

Theseus simply glared harder at the raving lunatic of a Demon, not at all affected or terrified from Zolgears proclamation. A wimp or a coward would cower over an evil villain's monologue about the world being destroyed, or perhaps just a regular person growing up under a peaceful neighborhood. Nevertheless, That was just 'false' propaganda to make people more afraid than necessary, or to frighten them to the point where they'd be too scared to make any kind of move.

Not him though, Theseus just glowered at the old man's form while generating a water sphere over his free hand. He then shot it to the space above Zolgear's head, causing the said Demon to promptly shut up and allow Theseus to speak back. "Mio, let me tell you something. I am not like those pathetic shounen characters from those comic books who tell you what is right or wrong. Those are just like what that old fart said, false words. Instead I will say this." the blond hair boy waved his hand across. "It doesn't matter who you choose to follow, light or darkness. It's all the same. It doesn't matter what choice is right or wrong. You decide what is right, you decide for your own future and your destiny. You carve your OWN path, woman! Use whatever means you see fit! This is YOUR life, Mio! NOBODY ELSE'S!" In an attempt to put his money where his mouth was, Theseus stepped back instead of going forward to show her that he wouldn't try to force her into what path she would take: good or bad, evil, destruction, chaos.

After some intense moments of silence where Mio didn't move an inch, Alucard's heir feared that he hadn't done enough for Mio and Zolgear thought he had won since he saw how Mio hadn't paid attention to Theseus or his words. That is, however, until the daughter of Satan finally gave a response. She glanced back at him with one of her eyes before focusing her gaze back on the portal.

Even though it shouldn't have, seeing that made Zolgear very nervous and afraid he was losing control. He feared losing his grip over the demonic girl, especially since she hadn't yet fulfilled her purpose. Sweating in nervousness and in fear, Zolgear once more attempted to convince the redhead girl to go over to his side of things. "D-d-d-d-don't listen to him, my liege!" Zolgear exclaimed, his expression wrought with panic alongside the sweat rolling down his forehead. "Go forth and fulfill your destiny as the Demon Queen! Ruler of all creatio-"

BAM!

"ACK!"

Having had enough of the elderly Demon's shit, Theseus raised his fist and created an enlarged version of it made from water over Zolgear's head. Bringing his good arm downward as if trying to bonk something, Theseus brought the water fist down atop his foe's head, smashing Zolgear into the ground.

"Shut up. You're pissing me off." Theseus snarled at Zolgear before shifting his attention back to the demonic Mio. He put his palm upward as if presenting something to Mio. "Let me ask you one last time. Do you want to become the one thing you despise: your father? Do you want to inherit his legacy? Or do you want to be your own person?" Theseus calmly ask Mio one last time. Not outburst or try to hopelessly create false promises, merely using his own words instead.

"..."

Again, more silence reigned supreme throughout the area with neither party making a move. Then for the first time since she had become this way, Mio flicked her tail about behind her before finally taking some decisive action…

By lifting her head up, her eyes glowing like searchlights before she turned around fully and swung her tail. Actually, she did this several times with the limb moving fast enough to resemble a blur. As a result, it wound up slashing several times through the occult magic circle like a hot knife through butter, destroying the portal which sizzled for a while before making a small explosion.

Zolgear stood up and witness Mio destroying the magic circle. Horrified and shocked at this development, the Devil began to scream in a fit of hysteria. "NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO! THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! IT SHOULDN'T HAVE! I HAD EVERYTHING PLANNED OUT! I MADE SURE EVERYTHING WAS PERFE-"

SHING!

"Huh? What?" Pausing his rant at the sudden feeling of weightlessness, Zolgear became confused just after a moment when he suddenly couldn't feel his legs. He looked down and saw that his legs were no longer supporting him, in fact everything seemed a little bigger than normal. Looking around, he noticed his legs scattered throughout the dungeon room which only further confused him as to what had happened.

Only when he looked back to the demonic Mio who leered at him as if she were gazing at a mere bug, did he finally realize what had happened… like the fact that her Lance and Tail tip were covered in blood wasn't enough of an indicator. At that point, the pain finally overridden his brain and forced an almost banshee-like scream from his lips. "AAAAAAHHHHHHHH! MY LEGS! MY LEGS! MY LEGS!" He shouted in pain, blood spewing out from the stumps that were once his mobility limbs, forming rapidly growing puddles beneath the man that spread around the floor.

As he screamed like a pathetic little bitch, the sight caused Theseus to smirk to himself, taking an almost sadistic level of pleasure at the Devil's plight. However, it soon vanished when he remembered ANOTHER crucial part of this plan he'd been following. To that end, he held his remaining good hand up and made a magic circle appear before him. "It's done. Zolgear is all yours." He said to the magic circle which he then swung his arm forward, prompting the magic circle to float downwards to the ground before him. From there, the magic circle flared brightly to which the familiar figure of Lars gradually rose out from it.

By the time that he had fully emerged, Lars looked ahead where Zolgear was shouting and screaming like a siren. He saw the blood on Mio's lance, despite her new appearance he wasn't afraid of her nor did he feel terrified. The fact that she showed no aggression towards him nor did she radiate any kind of killing intent set his mind at ease, despite the form she was in implying that she had completely awoken her demonic blood. He glanced at Theseus before taking off his mask, revealing a more devilish appearance. He smirks at him. "You never fail to amuse me, King of Sharks."

"Don't keep yourself waiting Lars or else she might steal your kill." Theseus reminded Lars.

A chuckle of amusement left his lips, but nonetheless Lars nodded his head in acceptance knowing that Mio had every bit of right to end the Devil they all hated. Speaking of which, he turned and walked forward towards the fallen Zolgear who looked to be expanding his power to try and cauterize his stumps and therefore prevent blood loss. Along the way, his eyes gradually gained a sharpened gaze resembling the edge of a blade, a ferocity rapidly growing like fanning flames.

At this point the teary-eyed Zolgear opened said body parts, showing his tears of pain. "Why? Why is this happening to me? I've awakened your demonic bloodline! Please tell me why?!"

"It's simple Zolgear." Lars declared, raising his hand upward. Seeing this, the silent Mio mimicked Lars' actions with her lance, the two pointing directly at the fallen Devil. Both Lars and Mio began pulsing with their power, each power surging through their respective hand and Lance. "Retribution."

BOOOOOOOM!