Demon Busters 3

“Lilith…why?” I asked, more concerned about my relationship interests and feelings than about the heinous offense she had committed. Her state showed a full transformation, a testament to the fact that she had now been corrupted, and was technically a fallen angel.

She hadn’t just ‘fallen’ yet.

“Did I break your heart, Pas? I could tell you had a crush on me,” she said with a mocking yet sultry smile. Lust. One of the deadly sins that could allow her to inhabit my body if I fell victim to it.

“What?” I asked, surprised that she knew.

“It was quite clear, Pas,” Nathaniel said.

“Everyone could tell,” the Archangel added.

“That was why I came down, to prevent any amorous conversations,” Angel Gabriel said.

Damn. My secret crush was not really a secret after all.

“So, where do your loyalties lie, Paschar? Are you with me, your long-time crush and potential lover, or with these losers? The earth – it could be a very happy place for you and me to dwell as…”

She dodged my Swift Strike. The blade must have glinted a little as I had moved. “Your offer, tempting as it is, is not even considered. You’re the devil’s bride, aren’t you? That’s the only reason why you could go as far as releasing those demons under the cover of errands.”

“You…fool,” she hissed, raising her hand. “I’m going to enjoy using you.”

“You are beyond remedy. It’s time…”

I was cut off by a sudden chill that washed over me. My mind suddenly became clouded, but only for a moment. Then I began moving towards her…

I realized it all of a sudden.

I wasn’t moving. Wait, I was, well, my body was, but my consciousness wasn’t. Somehow, I was a spectator within my own body. Something else was using my vessel. Lilith smirked as I stood at her side.

“Now, my dear, finish them off.”

I tried to fight the movement, but my body was not listening to me. It was no longer mine.

I raised my sword and stood on tiptoe, prepared for my swift strike. The Sword of David, the legendary relic in my hand, had the ability to cut through anything – angel, demon, or human. As I got ready to move, a loud explosion stopped me in my tracks.

Nathaniel!

Suddenly I was back in control, and I turned immediately to look back at Lilith. Her form was disfigured, her right wing almost fully engulfed in flames and her right hand gone. Her hair was singed as well, but with a flap of the other wing, all the fires went out.

Nathaniel was behind her, smirking as he held a bomb as big as a basketball. His legendary C4, huh.

“Nathaniel, is C4 really the best to use, isn’t that a tad too much?” Archangel Michael asked, looking amused as he watched what was going on. He made it clear that he would not interfere with our battle until we died. We had to do our job.

“C4 can destroy a whole skyscraper in one blast. It only got 30% of her body,” he said, frustrated. The bomb was supposed to consume her whole. “The energy she’s giving off is foul and very much off-the-charts. This demon, she’s no ordinary…”

In a flash, Lilith was behind him, and as he froze, paralyzed by the shock of the action, she raised her wings, the feathers turning into metal talons. “Die!”

But I was there first, and our blades clashed. However, some of the overlapping talons piercing my knuckles and wrists. I had to use all of my energy to hold her wings at that position even as she tried to drill deeper.

“Foolish mortal, do you think that you can win a battle of strength against me? You are insignificant,” she said, pressing deeper. She would have torn off the whole hand, but the injury on her side had not been able to heal immediately. A fallen angel loses 70% of their regenerative abilities, and Nathaniel’s bombs were active cell destroyers, heating and denaturing new cells as fast as they were able to regenerate.

Aurum, the gold that was the blood of angels, streamed from the injury. It was tarnished with a bit of Plumbum – Lead, the poisonous blood of demons. I didn’t want that getting into my injuries.

“You’re nothing but a little imp!” she screamed.

“And yet, I was big enough to cause a distraction.”

“Wh…” she finally caught a sign of Nathaniel behind her, tucking the bomb under her wing even as I jumped backward with my arm.

As the bomb exploded, she drove her talons into his abdomen.

"Nate!" I screamed.

“Aaargh!” she screamed, and I looked to confirm she had been hit. No arms, no wings, and a huge chunk of her left bust gone. She bled deeply now, the left side of her face a patchwork of burnt flesh, Plumbum, and horror.

“All of her regenerative abilities are gone, Archangel,” Gabriel mused.

“Yet, she is still a supernatural being. It’s amazing how deadly these two are when they use their combo. But is the battle over yet?” He mused, smiling as he thought about how daring the fickle humans could go.

“Oh, it’s over alright,” I said. All I had to worry about was Lilith’s legs now, and that wasn’t a problem. What was a problem was the limp figure of Nathaniel.

“Your friend is a true martyr. Those metal wings were coated in Lead, and he’s got quite the dose,” she said, her body disintegrating to ash. “This body has failed me now, but I’ll be back, back for you! To kill you and rip your heart out of your body, as I have done your friend,”

As soon as she was disintegrated, her spirit hovered in the room, a demonic entity monstrous like no other. She had a voluptuous shape that was for sure, but that was a hard pass for me any day, any time – horns, slimy body, and red eyes and all. Soon chains wrapped around her flesh, and sizzling as they burnt into her skin, they dragged her down into an untold abyss.

“My friend…” I turned to the Archangel.

“Will live,” I heard Nathaniel say. Turning to look at him, he had an impish grin on his face and a golden vial in his hands. Was that?

“Ambrosia? You…” Gabriel said, his eyes filled with mock disapproval.

“The nectar of the angels. I saw him sneak one into his pocket when they first came into the reception. The nerve to steal in here of all places…” Archangel said, trying to remove the smirk on his face. Angels were basically incapable of anything hidden or secret.

“I was expecting the unexpected…” Nathaniel said, his excuse not fooling anyone.

“No, you were stealing,” Gabriel said, standing exhaustedly. “I have to put here in order and process the recent… development. You shall both leave the same way you came...Atara, I presume?"

"Urgh...Yeah," I said, remembering the detestable journey as the neigh sounded loud and clear.

"And Paschar..." The Archangel called out.

He was walking back towards the little teleporter that had brought us down. "Yes?"

"Do ensure that this is the last time you and the pyromaniac come here," He said, not even looking over his shoulder at me.

"I'll try," I said, walking back.

I couldn't see his face as I climbed the horse, but I could swear he was smirking.

THE END.