Make The Angel Scream and the Devil Cry! (Part 1)

"Could it be...my room?" It was highly unlikely, as Deniel had absolutely no memory of this place. Not even deep down. Not to mention, based on what he heard from the Virtue Knights, there were other Nephalem. Right next to the crib was a small wooden table, and on there was a small glass picture frame. Deniel quickly approached it, and saw it was also covered in ice. However, this ice was weak, and was more like frost. So Deniel was easily able to take his hand, and brush it away. In the picture frame, there were three people. Arianna, Deniel could easily tell it was her, a grown man with black hair and a dirty blonde in the front, and a baby being carried in the woman's arms. Arianna looked surprisingly happy, and the man looked happy, too. The baby was oblivious, having its eyes closed, and was probably sleeping. Deniel took a closer inspection at the male, and recognized him: "...Dad!?" It looked almost exactly like Diabolos the way Deniel remembered him. Except there was one thing missing: his eyes weren't red. Instead they looked...blue. Similar to Arianna's. Deniel almost slammed the photo back down on the small table, and backed away. He covered up his mouth, and felt tears swell up into his eyes once again. Just what was going on here? Mom...dad...just who are you guys? And why are you doing this!?


Deniel fell backwards on his behind once more, and pretty much scuttered to the nearest wall in the room. He looked around the room, and in his vision, everything began to thaw. He was almost hallucinating. In his vision, he saw the room as it used to be. A decorated carpet floor, an unfrozen crip, unfrozen everything. There were several toys on the floor, but that didn't matter. Before him, he saw a mother, and a father. The mother had a baby in her arms, and then she put it right in its crib. The baby made a few giggling noises, and held on to its mothers fingers with its tiny hand before it eventually let go. It gave out a high-pitched yawn, and started to fall asleep. The mother let out a small laugh, and kissed the baby's foreheard. "Good night, my little angel." The husband, a much larger man, then put his hand on the baby's forehead, and gave it one small stroke of approval. The both of them looked at each other with a smile, and the woman hugged her husband. "He's a beautiful child, isn't he?" She asked before she took her husbands hand, and they both exited the door. That's when Deniel's vision suddenly ended, and he was back in the frozen Citadel. He shook his eyes awake, and looked around. He remembered where he was, and what he had to do. He quickly scurried up on his feet once again, and to the door.


All of this was seen by Arianna on her frozen throne, save for the vision. But she was far too amused from Deniel's reaction. "My, my. It looks like some little brat can't handle the truth. Hahahahahah!"

Stats:

Deniel hurried out of the room, opening the door as fast as he could, and closing it. Arianna thought of his reaction as amusing, and was enjoying the torment that the Nephalem might have been feeling on the inside. "Mmmm. Let's put up another knight for him. Just to make everything worse. Charity, it is now your turn to give! Give a swift death! Hahahaha!" Arianna was truly enjoying the little game that she was playing with Deniel. He was almost halfway through her knights, and to her, but she could care less. That only meant that she could play with him more and more. The closer he got to Arianna, the more power she could have over him. "I'm going to have a lot of fun with this one. Perhaps much more than the last one."


Deniel only got down the hallway a couple of paces before he forced himself to stop, sliding on the ice. At the end of the hallway, where the living room door was, was another Virtue Knight. His armor was red, trimmed with gold. The unique features on his armor was that he had two horns atop his helmet, and angelic wings on his back. Four of them, in fact. Also on his back, between his wings, was a large, golden two-handed sword. Deniel remembered the last time he fought a Virtue Knight, he was wounded quite a bit. And if this was stronger, in order to make sure that he didn't get hurt too much, Deniel might need to use a Full Body Take Over. The knight drew its sword, and Deniel saw that in the middle of the sword, were several symbols:  チャリティ

"You...what Virtue Knight are you?" The knight stabbed his two-handed broadsword in front of him, and crossed his arms. "I am the Knight of Charity, Nephalem! And my gift to you is swift death!" Deniel burst out laughing pretty much right away. "Hahahahaah! AHAHAHAAH! GAHAHAHAHA!" The Knight remained still, and since his face did not exist, emotions from him couldn't be seen. When Deniel finally stopped laughing, he sniffed a few times, and calmed himself down. "Ahhh...you Virtue Knights. You're great. Look pal, I need to get to my mom. So, I'll make this quick." The Knight of Charity remained relatively unmoved, until it finally picked up its sword once again, and held it out to Deniel. "Come, then! Nephalem! Face swift death!" Deniel smirked, and then his body began to radiate Holy Energy. He never planned on using his White Angel Take Over until he got to Arianna, but these Virtue Knights were too strong for a default form. And a Partial Take Over would be a waste. So Deniel's only solution was to use a Full Body Take Over, and end this as swiftly as possible. The Holy Energy surrounding Deniel began to grow in size, soon spreading to near the Virtue Knight. The Knight, however, remained still. He did not make a move, and only awaited Deniel to do so. Eventually the Holy Energy from his bdy found itself surrounding Deniel completely. "White Angel!"

Stats:

The Holy Energy vanished from existence, and Deniel was left standing as the White Angel. Similar to the Virtue Knights, his body was covered from head to do in armor. Mostly. It was glorious white, shining armor with golden trims all around. There was a small gap at his waist to his thighs on armor, and his shoulders to his arms where his biceps were. His body had several jewels on it, with sapphires on his knees and wrists, topaz on his chest, emerald green eyes, and a sapphire horn on his helmet. His armored was layered, with small points at the end of each peace, particularly on his legs. And on his back was a pair of glorious wings. There were yellow interiors, connected to an outside of feathered wings. At Deniel's sides were two sheathed katanas, another form of Nidhogg: Vita and Mors. "Oh? You think yourself to be The White Angel!? The only true White Angel is my Misstress, Arianna! Come! Show me your power!"


"As you wish..." Deniel almost whispered that response. He sounded very confident, regardless. He took one step forward with his right foot, and then suddenly he was gone. In an instant, he appeared right behind the Virtue Knight. Both of his swords were drawn, and Deniel looked as if he had just cut with his swords like scissors. They were on each of his sides, held out behind him. A moment passed after Deniel reappeared, and then, the Virtue Knight's armor was shred into a million peices. Not literally, but his flurry of attacks, particularly aimed at his chest, completey annhiliated his armor. There were about twenty in total, although it took Deniel only about seven of them to do the actual damage he wanted. As the Knight's armor was destroyed, shred, bent, twisted, and crushed, Deniel sheathed Vita and Mors, and finally turned around. Deniel scurried through the corpse of the knight, and found yet another key. This one was red, although it looked like some of the paint was fading off of it. "Hmph. Too easy."


When Arianna saw the scene unfold, and heard Deniel's reaction, she slammed her first down on her armrest again. She looked furious, and her voice was almost a scream. "GRRR! YOU STUPID LITTLE BRAT! YOU THINK YOU'RE SOOOO POWERFUL!? JUST WAIT YOU LITTLE SHIT! YOU'LL DIE! YOU'LL DIE HERE, AND NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY!" Arianna spoke and screamed so loud, that from the living room, Deniel could faintly hear her. He couldn't make out what she said, but he could definitely hear her screaming. "Heheheheeh....looks like Arianna is pissed off." Deniel felt a rush of joy, almost, making his mother angry. That meant that she was getting frustrated, and Deniel was starting to push towards victory. Deniel almost ran across the foyer, to the door he couldn't open earlier. He put the key inside, and attempted to unlock it. Sure enough, this time, it worked, and Deniel could proceed through the Icecrown Citadel once more.

Stats:

The door didn't lead to another room, but rather a staircase. Unlike the frozen spiral staircase that lead up to the Knight of Chasity's room, this staircase seemed much more...decoratred. There was a frozen red carpted, and it looked like an entire row of people could it on it. Deniel darted up the staircase without hesitating for a moment. Once he got up far enough, the staircase stopped, and then turned ninetey degrees to another small staircase, meaning it was attempting to stay in the same spot.This entire time, he realized, he had been on the first floor, and still needed to ascend to...whatever one Arianna was on. His bulky white armor clattered and clanged with every footstep he took, and eventually he reached the top step. Deniel was greeted by yet another large room, although this one looked drastically different from the very first one. It seemed much like the entrance to a sanctuary and more like...a ball room. This room that Deniel came up to was massive, huge! He could barely see the ceiling above him. And even the, it had a huge chandelier on top of it. It had a dome shape to it, and all around the room were tables and chairs. On one side was a platform, a stage, probably where a live band was played. And the center of the room, there were no tables or chairs. It looked like it was a dance floor of some sorts. This wasn't a citadel...it was a castle! Or a mansion! And Deniel had a good idea on who its former masters were, but he wasn't going to jump to any conclusions just yet.

"Tch! This one is thinking TOO MUCH! Knight of Diligence, destroy him!" At the very center of the ball room, was yet another Virtue Knight. Deniel was seeing a lot of these guys lately, and frankly, they were starting to tick him off. Arianna mentioned that there were seven of them, and this guy was number for. The ice around him began to crack, and he, too broke free of his frozen prison. The Knight of Diligence had something different about him than the other three. It was that instead of a cloak masking a non-existent face, it was a helmet. He carried a one handed sword, and a dagger, strangely enough. On each of his thighs, where his armor was, were the symbols: 勤勉. One for each leg. His armor was a brownish color with gold trimmings. And he had no spikes on his armor, but it did look a lot more...curvy, and round. Like it was lighter in some ways. Regardless, it was another opponent for Deniel to face."Nephalem it is time for you--" "To meet your end. Yeah, blah, blah. Can we just get this over with?" Deniel's reaction didn't so much as annoy the knight, as he was unaffected, but it annoyed Arianna.

"You cocky little brat! Diligence, show him true power!" "As you command, my Mistress!" The knight held his one-handed sword in his right hand, and his dagger in his left. Deniel drew both Vita and Mors, and the battle was on.

Stats:

The fight began with both figures clashing against one-another, with only one sword. Deniel used his left hand, while the figure used his right hand that carried his one-handed sword. Deniel and the Knight of Diligence jumped away from each other after the first hit, and clashed once again. During the second clash, Deniel finally used his right sword, and that attack managed to hit. Not only that, but he had backed it up with a Silencing Strike. With the Knight's one-handed sword preoccupied, his dagger was no match for Deniel's katana. So Deniel's attack got past his defense, and cut him from his shoulder down. The impact was strong enough to send him flying back, while Deniel remained in place. The Silencing Strike was coated in his Holy Energy, causing a sufficient amount of bonus damage to occur. This damage was applied on top of Deniel's normal attack, which itself was quite a sufficient amount of damage. "Impressive, Nephalem," the Knight of Diligence observed the large gash in his destroyed armor, and then looked back up at Deniel, "But now it is time for you to taste some of MY Magic! Hiyah!" The Knight held out his sword, but nothing came out. Deniel sat there, completely unfazed, and aware of what had happened. The Knight attempted a second time, to no avail, "What is happening!? What have you done!?"

Deniel looked at his right katana, as if he were confused, but in reality, he wasn't. Underneath that helmet, his pale lips were smirking. "You have tasted a small fraction of the Power of the White Angel." Deniel then dashed from his spot and appeared in front of the knight. He slashed his swords in an X formation, both of them cutting deep into the armor, while another one of them further strengthed the one from earlier. Now even more of Deniel's power seeped into his body, and he began to notice it. The Knight gave a gasp of pain, and he jumped away from Deniel, who did not follow him. Deniel had only swung his sword three times, and already he had nearly won this fight. The Knight then noticed that his jump back was quite...slow compared to his others. And he also felt weaker than he was before. It wasn't significant, but it was definitely noticable. "You...what have you done to me!? WHAT ARE YOU!?"


Deniel held up his bulky and white armor colored arm to the Knight from a distance. He still held his white Katana in it, so it was as if he were challenging him with his blade. He remained silent for several moments, until he spoke. His voice was proud, mighty, and thundered throughout the ball room. "I am the son of the White Angel Arianna, and the Black Devil Diabolos! I am Deniel Decayuss Thorman! The Nephalem!" The Knight stood there for a moment, but had slowly begun to laugh. Deniel did not realize what was so funny, nor why he was laughing when he clearly had the disadvantage. Once the Knight had finished his laughing, he was on his guard, ready to fight once again. "You are not the Nephalem, arrogant boy. There have been thousands of your kind to exist already. None of them have ever become True Nephalem. And neither shall you..."

Stats:

"Those are big words coming from someone who is about to LOSE!" Deniel's temper had gotten to him, and he made a rekcless move on the Knight of Diligence. Deniel tried an uppercut against the knight, but suddenly found that his attack did not hit him. Instead, Deniel felt a stab go through him coming from his back. The Knight had impaled his dagger inside of Deniel's back, and left it there. "Even if you do manage to defeat me and my brothers. You shall never defeat our Mistress. Many Nephalem fail against us, many more have never come close to killing her. What makes you think you stand a chance!?" Deniel reached behind his back to try and grab the dagger out of himself. There was no avail, so he simply left it there. It's not like he felt too much pain coming from it now, anyway. But that would prove to be Deniel's biggest mistake. He turned around to try and fight the Knight, but he was not there. Deniel felt a sting come at his side, and when he swung the way he felt it, the Knight was once again not there. Deniel looked all around the room, and every time he found the Knight, he disappeared once more. Deniel was eventually cut in three places at the same time, and he had no idea what was going on. He was moving so much slower a second ago? Why was he going so fast now?


Deniel then began to blindly swing around himself, hoping that at one point or another, he would hit the Knight of Diligence. However, there was no avail. Not only that, but the Knight had managed to hit him twice while he was swinging, which showed that his strategy was not working at all.

Up on her throne, Arianna was bearing witness to this fight, and she was enjoying it a lot more than the last few ones. She laughed and crossed one leg over the other as she watched in amusement. "Hahahah! You Nephalem...you always struggle with the Knight of Diligence. Are you lacking in intelligence? Regardless, my last four knights far surpass the strength of the first three. Should you even pass Diligence, Patience, Kindness, and Humility will surely stop you. Hahahah!"

Deniel finally had enough of getting hit, so he activated one of his spells with Vita and Mors to make sure he didn't. "SILENCING SPREE!" Time around Deniel suddenly froze, and the Knight of Diligence was seen going in for another attack against Deniel. Deniel turned around, and looked at him. Nothing seemed sucpicious, or different. The reality was, time was not stopped, it was just that Deniel was moving so fast that nothing could keep up with him. He gave the Knight of Diligence a single cut, and in that moment, everything was moving back at a normal pace. ...Even the Knight.

Deniel could suddenly see where he was going again when he tried to come at him again, and Deniel parried his attack. "Oh...I see what's happening."

Stats:

"What's going on? How are you hitting me?" Deniel gave a smirk underneath his helmet, and understood completely what was happening. The Knight regained his speed, but Deniel knew exactly how to counter it this time. Just before the Knight came in for another attack, Deniel activated another spell, one that would silence the Knight once again. And just as Deniel had Silenced his ability to use Magic, he was right in front of him. Deniel took Vita and Mors, and cut three times, using both swords at the same time. He cut horizontally one way, then went the other, until finally he came down with a vertical strike. Six strikes in total, on top of the ones he had done already, was too much for the Knight of Diligence. Not just that, but Deniel's cuts were so powerful, they had managed to not just cut through his armor, but literally cut him into peices. The armor split like a piece of cake being cut, and Deniel was there as the victor. Deniel held one of his swords up in triumph as the multiple bits and pieces of armor fell to the ground beneath him, but he was tired. Underneath that helmet, he panted very cold breaths. He had won, but it definitely sapped some energy out of him. However, up in Arianna's throne, she was furious.

She smacked her fist down into her armrest again. "Grrr! YOU ARROGANT LITTLE BOY! I'll show you! I swear you won't have that cocky attitude for long. Mark my words, my Knights, or myself will get you!" Arianna's anger was swelling up, but she had soon calmed herself down. She remembered what Knight was next after the Knight of Diligence. The Knight of Patience. "Hahahah...almost no Nephalem can make it past Patience. And with your anger, you never will, you wretched brat!"

Back down in the ball room, Deniel sheathed both Vita and Mors back inside of their scabbards, and scurried through the cloak of the deceased knight for the key to the next room. He hadn't checked for any locked rooms, but he had a feeling that there was a need for another key. Sure enough, Deniel found a key. This one didn't look special at all. It just...looked like a rusty old key. Deniel saw there were two exits for the room: one of them was a door that lead backstage, while the other of them was a pair of double-doors that was at the far end of the staircase upon entering. Deniel figured that the key opened that door. He walked over to the icey doors, and sure enough, the door opened. On the other side looked like a normal hallway in a normal house. Except it was frozen over. But Deniel could see past the ice in his visions.

He saw wooden walls, with beautiful designs carved into them. A wooden floor with a red, gold laced carpet. And the various doors inside of the place lead to different rooms. Guest rooms, kitchens, rest rooms, and even some rooms lead up to individual towers.

Spells Used:

The very first hallway was structured in several corners. Just ahead of Deniel was a door leading up to a spiral staircase, and in turn a tower room. To the left of Deniel when he hit the turning point was a window. A circular window in which a person could peer out into the land below. And to his right was the longer part of the hallway, with three rooms total. Deniel took a left to start off, and he gazed below him. The second floor was much higher than he thought, until he realized that he wasn't on the second floor: this was the third. He had skipped one on his way up here. "So...this is where you two lived?" Deniel asked himself. Suddenly, Arianna's image came on the window he was looking out on, which made him jump and get on his guard. "I see you've figured it out. All Nephalem before you have simply ignored it. Yes: this belongs to your father and I. We once lived here together." Arianna could not read Deniel's expression, since it was hidden underneath a helmet. "And why is dad not here now? Why is this entire place frozen in ice!? WHY ARE YOU KILLING YOUR OWN CHILDREN!?" Deniel raised his voice sharply at the last part. It was infuriated him the most. Why? Why would a mother and a father create so many children, only to have them die? At their own hands?

Arianna remained silent after his question, and her projection just faded. Deniel was left alone in the Icecrown Citadel. He clenched on to his fist, but abruptly turned away. He headed down the longer part of the hallway, and opened the first door. There were two doors on the left, and one on the right. The right one must have been a larger room. When Deniel opened it up, inside he found almost nothing. Except for a huge quantity of crates containing supplies. "There muse have been used to supply the parties...my mom and dad at parties. And why did they own this place anyway? Who are they?" Deniel closed the door, and looked at the other two doors. They were both plain old guest rooms. No photos, no clues to Arianna or Diabolos's identity. Probably for special people who they allowed to stay, but nothing more.

Deniel headed all the way down the hallway, to the far end of the room, where he opened the door to the next room. The next room looked like a dining room. There was a large, spiral staircase at the far end of the room. At the center of the room, almost directly in front of Deniel, was a long, frozen dinner table. It looked big enough to hold at least 30 guests. This room was unlike the rest, for it wasn't closed off by walls, and it was as long as the one that lead up to the ball room. And then, on both ends of the room, weren't walls, but they lead directly to two separate rooms. On the right was a library, and on the left was a kitchen. It seemed dangerous to have those two on the same floors, but Deniel wasn't going to harshly judge Arianna or Diabolos from the design. "Okay...so these two weren't just rich. They were like...filthy rich."

Stats:

Another vision had entered Deniel's mind. This one involved Arianna and Diabolos once more. The ice melted, and Deniel could see it all from where he was standing. The chefs on the left part of the room were working hard to prepare the best meal possible. There were many guests sitting at the table, each of them looking like princes or princesses...he didn't really care. Whatever. The lirbary was to their right, but no one seemed to notice or care. Then the chefs carefully laid out the food on the table. All kinds of things, and delicacies. A gourmet dinner at the very least. Then, at the far end of the room, down the spiral staircase, came a couple. Linked together with their arms, it was Deniel's mother and father. Arianna and Diabolos. Diabolos, surprisingly looked happy and satisfied. And Arianna, against her husband with her arm linked in hers, felt safe and secure next to her husband. "Ladies and gentlemen! I welcome you! After a fine night, let us all relax together, and enjoy this meal!" After that, the vision cut off. Deniel didn't see anything more, but it was plenty for him. Diabolos spoke in a powerful voice, but it had a large sense of friendliness in it. He seemed to have an irreplacable gentleness in his voice, something that could barely be described, only understood.

Deniel made his way past the dining table and up the spiral staircase. If, in his vision, Arianna and Diabolos came from the staircase, then he was getting closer and closer to their room. Then he may or may not be able to get some answers to his questions. When Deniel came up to the next floor, he estimated it was around the fourth or fifth floor. The citadel itself probably had ten different levels, but Deniel estimated the main building only took up six or seven of it. The last three were probably made up of towers on different levels. "The question is...where mom?"

"Patience Deniel, patience..." Arianna muttered to herself up on her throne. A smirk developed on her face, with the irony of what she said. Deniel was coming up to the Knight of Patience, and this was the one that she doubted Deniel would ever get past. When Deniel walked up the steps, he came to another hallway just like the last one, except it had a different amount of doors. This one had four doors, but that wasn't important. What was important was the knight standing at the very end of the narrow hallway. Encased in ice, his ice cracked, and he was free. His armor was grey with golden trimmings, just like the rest. His unique gimmick was the bulkiness of his armor. He had a lot of it, on, and each and every piece looked like it weighed a hundred pounds. Another thing that stood out was the fact that he was sitting down, in a meditative position, unlike standing up. But even upon cracking his ice, he drew no weapon, nor said a word. He sat there, meditating.

Spells Used:

Since the knight didn't speak, Deniel did. "What Virtue Knight are you?" Deniel asked him, expecting an answer. There was a brief moment of silence, but still nothing happened. "I said: What Virtue Knight are you...?" Once again, there was complete silence in the air. The only thing Deniel could hear was the chill wind of the Icecrown Citadel. Deniel's eyebrows furrowed a bit beneath his helmet. "WHAT VIRTUE KNIGHT ARE YOU!? ANSWER ME!" He seemed to be getting mad for no reason at all. He was just getting annoyed because the knight seemed oblivious to him. But that was impossible, because his ice cracked once Deniel got there. Deniel just decided to hit this guy and get it over with. He held his two katanas at his sides, and charged straight for him. He raised his swords up, and brought them down onto the knights shoulders. But just before he could make contact with it, Deniel suddenly found himself flying back with a huge amount of pain entering his body. "ERRRGHHH!" Deniel landed on his back and skid several feet. He got up almost right away, and went in for another attack. This time, Deniel tried stabbing him right at his helmet, but once again, he was sent back flying with a huge amount of pain in his body. "Alright! Have a taste of magic!"

Deniel skidded to a stop this time, and then used one of his most powerful spells. He charged up two orbs made of Holy energy on the tips of his swords, and then held them both out. Each orb was launched off of his sword, and reached the knight in no time. They both detonated in a small, but very powerful explosion of Holy Energy, and their shockwave cracked the ice surrounding Deniel. He gave a smirk under his helmet, thinking that it did the trick. Arianna, on the other hand, was also smirking up on her throne. "He's hopeless. He's going to die here." When the smoke cleared, Deniel was suddenly surrounded in his own Holy Energy, and it all exploded on him. It hurt like Hell, which was ironic because as far as he could remember, he was immune to his own Holy Energy. He landed flat on his back, and barely managed to stand up after that last attack. The Knight of Patience was still sitting there, meditating, and Deniel was getting angrier and angrier.

"You son of a bitch! You think you're sooooo cool!? Just sitting there!? I'll show you, you bastard!" Deniel took several limping steps toward the knight, looking like he was going to go in for another attack. Meanwhile, Arianna, up on her throne, let out a huge burst of laughter. "Hahahahah! This is even better than I thought! That's right, Deniel! Walk to your doom! Hahahahah! DIE!" Deniel got closer and closer to the knight. Both of his swords, Vita and Mors, were still drawn. He looked like he was going to strike once again...when he did the unexpected.

Spells Used:

Deniel sat down. Right in front of the Knight of Patience. He sheathed both Vita and Mors inside of their scabbards, and mimicked the meditative position of the Knight of Patience. Underneath his helmet, Deniel closed both of his eyes, and began to meditate. He sat there, in complete silence, just like the knight. Up on her throne, Arianna gave a bit of a frown. "Tch. Well, that's disappointing. It seems he's figured it out." Arianna placed her head into her palm, and watched with complete boredom. Now that Deniel had figured out the trick to defeating the Knight of Patience, she had absolutely nothing to watch, really. She just had to wait, and wait, and wait until he finally made another move. Arianna's attention from her vision of Deniel was pretty much gone. She started to look at other things, such as her own nails, her dress, and her hair. Since her attention was away from Deniel, she couldn't see what he was about to do.

After meditating for several minutes, Deniel abruptly stood up from his meditative position without warning or notice. He made his way over to the Knight of Patience, but did not attack him. He just reached inside of its cloak, and pulled out his key. "You're meant to be an obsticle. Any Nephalem ore person that is too dumb or angry to figure it out dies from you doing nothing. Otherwise, you're the easiest one." The end of the hallway that the knight was standing on split into another two rooms, but Deniel wasn't concerned about those right now. The door right in front of him was a double-door, just like the one he first entered from. And to him, that only meant one thing. As he pushed the key inside of the hole, he suddenly heard the knight behind him, "Please...kill her for me and my brothers, Nephalem. Free us."

Deniel turned around to look at the knight, but he was gone. Not entirely. His armor was empty, as if Deniel had actually managed to kill him. All Deniel did was give a nod to the empty suit of armor, "I will. I promise." Deniel turned the key to unlocked the door, and walked inside. Just as he expected, it was the room that belonged to his mother and father. Arianna and Diabolos. It was decorated similarly to the living room, with a few tweaks here and there. At the far end of the room where Deniel entered, there was a fireplace with a frozen fire in it, just like the one in the living room. Instead of multiple couches being there, though, there was just one. With enough for two people, and a coffee table in front of it. To the right of the firplace, at the center of a room, was a king sized bed, with curtains tied to its four corners, but also frozen over just like everything else. Just above the fireplace was another frozen framed photo, but it was much larger than the one downstairs. To the left side of the room, there was an open door that lead to what looked like a bathroom, a personal one for the castle's masters. And then at the corner of the room was a work desk, most likely for Diabolos. Next to the bed was another door, most likely leading to a closet, and a very large one at that. The room was quite huge, and it seemed to be perfect for a couple to share. What Deniel was most interested in, however, was what was behind the photo.

Stats:

Up on her throne, Arianna stared blankly into the screen. She looked at Deniel, and the room he was in. Memories flooded into her head, but that did not matter to her. "Humility. You are the last knight standing. Finish off this boy, or let him taste my wrath." Deniel almost ran up to the fireplace, but he wasn't interested in that. He grabbed on to one of his swords, and drew it from its scabbard. He threw it up at the ice-encased photo, and let the bilt smash right through the ice. As the ice cracked and shattered, his sword came bouncing right back into his hand. Underneath the sheet of ice was a photo, containing a male and a female. Deniel recognized the both of them to be Arianna and Diabolos, but they each wore something distinct. Arianna wore a glorious, white wedding dress, whilst Diabolos wore a handsome black suit next to her. Arianna seemed to be almost clinging on to Diabolos, with one hand in front, and one in back. Diabolos held on to Arianna from her shoulder, since he was much taller than she was. What stood out was the fact that Diabolos did not have the blood red eyes that he was known for, and Deniel. They were sky-blue, just like Arianna's. "It looks like their wedding day." What made Deniel's curiosity peak was Diabolos's eyes. Why were they so different? Was it just a disguise? And why were they married....out in the open? A relationship between a demon and an angel was forbidden. Getting married like that would certainly have them get caught.

Deniel's trail of thought was suddenly interrupted when he heard ice shatter behind him. When he turned around, he saw the final Virtue Knight burst out from his imprisonment. Unlike the rest of the knights, his armor was not a certain color trimmed in gold. It was pure gold, from the looks of it. There were four large angelic wings on his back, sticking out of his cloak. On his head was a halo, symbolizing the angelic power within him. For his weapon, he held on to a staff, but one with a blade at the end, so it was much more like a spear. The spear had two blades, with a small circle between them, and in that circle was a very small ball of holy fire. The holden knight pointed his spear at Deniel, "Nephalem! I am the Knight of Humility! If you seek to battle my Mistress, you must defeat me as your last challenge!" Deniel had gotten on his guard, but he did not feel comfortable fighting in this room. Not the room of his mother and father. No matter how much he hated them, fighting in their room and risking the destruction of their property was too much for him. "I'll fight you anywhere but here, Knight! This is the room of my mother and father! And under no circumstances will I risk damaging it."

The knight had already started walking towards Deniel, and even passed him. The knight pushed in a certian brick in the fireplace, and once he did, a secret passage had begun to open up just beside it. There was a frozen staircase, but there was something different about this one. It wasn't a staircase that had been frozen it was....an ice staircase! It was made of pure ice! As if it were created after the building. "Come, then. Meet your end."

Stats:

The knight had begun walking up the staircase, without even checking if Deniel was following him. The knight must have known that there was no turning back for the Nephalem now, and would follow him no matter how he reasoned the situation. Deniel followed in the knight's foosteps, although lagging behind a bit. The Nephalem knew this might be the toughest fight he faced so far, so he braced himself for something climactic and rigorous. So far, most of the knights had their own tricks and gimmicks that he had to exploit in order to get past, but he doubted it was the same with the Knight of Humility. This was the one thing standing between Arianna and a challenger, and it was no doubt that she left her strongest guardian. Then Deniel suddenly stopped in his tracks, and froze in the staircase. Up ahead, the knight had kept on walking. "Hold on a second! There's supposed to be seven of you! You're only number six! Where is seven?!" For the first time, the tall and proud knight had actually stopped, and looked back at him. "You mean Kindness? Follow me and find out." The Knight merely turned around once more, and continued up the staircase. Deniel paused for a moment, and followed the knight once more.

Upon entering the room, Deniel found that it was also made up of pure ice, not frozen over. And it was a very plain room, too. It was circular, pretty much like an arena, with literally nothing else in it except one at the far end of the room. There, the Knight of Humility stood, but also yet another knight. This one was a female, with pink armor trimmed in gold. She stood at a much shorter height compared to the Knight of Humility, and he truly was a giant, with womanly curves on her body, and that is how Deniel was able to tell. "Sister, let us defeat this foe...together." The woman standing beside him drew a sword and shield, but what was different about her from the Knight of Chasity was that she was left-handed. She held her sword in her left hand, and her shield in her right. As the both of them readied their weapons, Deniel readied his. "A two versus one? Fine by me! I'll kill the both of you together!" All three of them dashed for the center of the room, just like all of the other fights. And just like the other ones, their weapons collided in a huge shockwave. It was fortunate that Deniel had two swords, Vita and Mors, to counteract the two weapons that they had. The spear and the other sword.

Deniel picked out his first target to be Kindness, since she was the weaker of the two. If he could take out the weaker one, then he could focus all of his energy on the strong one. Following the collision, Deniel was the one to make the first offensive move. He concentrated his strength against the Knight of Humility for a second so he could shove him away, and use both of his blades on the Knight of Kindness. He slashed with both swords at once, and then performed a spiral attack, cutting with his swords diagonally with each revolution. Her shield was not just for show, however, as she managed to block all of his attacks.

Spells Used:

After his failed attempt at assaulting the Knight of Kindness, both Humility and Kindess attacked Deniel from both sides. The Nephalem aligned his body horizontally to the two of them, and parried each of their attacks with his swords. Just after his parry, Deniel charged up his Heaven's Meteors spell and launched them from his swords, at almost a point-blank range to the knights. The Knight of Humility was seemingly unaffected, whilst the Knight of Kindness skid back a bit. That just showed that she was the weaker one of the two, despite having a shield. As a result, Deniel went after her once more. He tried a different approach this time with another attack. He extended both of his swords out, and came dashing in for a stab. Just like Deniel predicted, she easily blocked it with his shield, but following up with that, Deniel used his wings for a temporary flight right above her. "Over here!" Using both of his blades when he landed behind her, Deniel swung his entire body around, and hit her with both blades like a baseball bat. His aiming was perfect, as she ended up colliding with the Knight of Humility. Despite her being his sister, he simply ignored her and shrugged her off, preferring to go straight after Deniel. The two of them collided, but he made a very smart tactic.

When Deniel cut with his blade, he had it go between the small gap of the spears, so when that happened, he twisted it to disarm Deniel. And following that, he stabbed his spear right at Deniel's ribcage. It stung Deniel quite a bit, and peirced straight through his armor for the first time. He began to bleed, but he abruptly socked the Knight of Humility right in his face, and grabbed his sword that was trapped in his spear. The Knight dug his spear out of Deniel, and the two of them began to have a clash between weapons. Despite the fact that Deniel had two weapons, and he only had one, he still held his ground very well. Deniel tried to go in for strikes two at a time, but he always somehow managed to block them. Likewise, Deniel managed to block the knight's strikes, too. The two were going at it so fast that nothing but a blur could be seen with their asssault.

Meanwhile, while the two were going at it, The Knight of Kindness got up on her feet once again, after having the back part of her armor grazed. She witnessed her brother and the Nephalem clashing, and wondered how she could make her move. Figureing it out, she ran behind Deniel and her brother, and went right in to backstab Deniel. Since he was so focused on fighting the Knight of Humility, Deniel did not see it coming. He felt a huge sting of pain in his back, and looked down to see a sword stabbing straight through. Since his sister had hit him, the Knight of Humility had stopped attacking Deniel, and awaited his death. "Hmph. All Nephalem fall before us."

Stats:

"Well today...I'll be an exception!" "What?!" The sound of metal shredding through other metal was quickly heard as Deniel spun his blades around several times. His blades cut straight through their armor, and gashed parts of it wide open. He cast the both of them aside, but went straight for the Knight of Kindness first. He had already hit her a few times before, now it was time for him to finish her off. "You're going down!" Deniel snarled at her. She was right in front of him, and the two of them had their feet planted on the ground. She held up her shield to block his attack, but for the first time, Deniel got around it. He stabbed Vita and Mors straight through her shield, and flung her up into the air. Deniel followed her up, and let loose his assault. He cut from both of his swords repeatedly, countless times, and at blinding speeds. The only thing that could be heard was his swords tearing through her armor. Right, left, right, right, left, right left, left, left, right, left, right. One swing after another, Deniel managed to finish her off. Finish her off with one last move, that is. He impaed each of his swords into her back, one near her waist, the other near her upper back. And then, he brought her entire body apart. He brought both of his arms and swords away from each other, and that caused her armor to be torn in half like paper, with Deniel's blades holding on to each end.

He didn't care if it looked brutal, because it was just an empty suit. Just like the rest of the Virtue Knights, she was an empty suit underneath. Deniel landed on the ground with a loud thud, and he flung each part of her corpse to opposite ends of the circular room. Now, all that was left was him and the Knight of Humility: the last Virtue Knight standing in his way. "An impressive display of skill, Nephalem. But there is nothing angelic about your brutality." The Knight of Humility held on to his spear with both hands, and pointed it at Deniel. All Deniel did was stance himself with both of his swords. He crossed his arms across his chest, which in turn caused his swords to cross as well. "I could say the same for your 'mistress'. Arianna murders countless Nephalem, you say? And so do you? I would say countless is an exaggeration, but maybe she can't tell the difference between a Nephalem and a warrior at this point. Regardless, I do not believe there is anything angelic or holy about her...or you." The two of them stood there for a bit, locking gazes. Deniel's eyes underneath his helm, and the non-existent eyes of the Knight of Humility under his golden helm. "Hmph. Clever boy."

From out of the Knight's spear, shot an inferno of Golden Fire. Deniel was caught off-guard by the sudden attack, as he was expecting perhaps another weapon attack. But now, the Knight was finally showing Deniel his Magic. Gold, or Holy, fire. It hit Deniel dead-on, and he could even feel the intense heat underneath his armor. The fire was so powerful it slammed Deniel into a wall, and the Knight of Humility was already approaching him. The tip of his spear was coated in his Holy Fire, to add a much more powerful effect to it. But instead of stabbing Deniel, he cut him using the spear's blade, straight through his armor.

Stats:

"TASTE THE FIRES OF HEAVEN!" As the flame-covered spear gashed through Deniel's armor and on to his skin, he let out a much more painful cry at it. It was much louder than his previosu ones, and it hurt him more than anything he had faced so far. Blood started to leak out of the wound, on to his armor, and on to the ice beneath his feet. The Knight of Humility went in for another attack, but Deniel wasn't going to take it. He kicked the Knight in his stomach to send him flying away at least ten feet, so he could catch his breath. Deniel panted from the pain delt by the blow, but he also smirked at it. "Finally. Someone worthy of feeling my power. Get ready." As Deniel stood up tall, and proud despite the gash created by the spear, his body suddenly burst into an inferno like state of Holy Energy. It surrounded his entire body, and its glow reflected off of the ice. The Knight of Humility responded by doing the very same action, but only with his Golden Fire. The two surrounded their bodies with their Magic, and it grew, and grew. It grew to the point where their Magic divided the room in half: on one half was Deniel's Holy Energy, on the other half was the fire of the Knight of Humility. Despite all of the fire, the ice did not show one sign of melting. Abruptly, the two powers faded away, and Deniel and the Kngiht clashed once more.

They were teleporting all over the room, away from each other and in front of each other. Each time they met, their weapons clashed, creating a loud clanging noise that echoed in the room, but also a shockwave. The shockwave didn't seem to make the ice budge one bit, as it was frozen solid. Suddenly, the two of them stopped on either side of the room, and began to channel a spell.

"Silencing..."
"Fire..."


"BURST!"

Deniel emmited an enormous quantity of Holy Energy from his body, and the Knight of Humility had done the same thing with his golden fire. Their attacks met in the center of the room, but neither one of them seemed to overpower each other. Eventually, both of them had just combined, and then exploded against their masters. Deniel and the Knight of Humility were each hit by their own spells, combined with the one of their opponent. "Grrrr!" Deniel sheilded his eyes under his helm with his arm against the blinding light of the explosion, and to try and reduce the force that came right at him.

Up on the Frozen Throne, Arianna was enjoying almost every second of this fight. When the explosion had happened against Deniel and her Knight, she laughed more than she did before. "Hahahahah! I could watch this all day! Two of my sons fighting to the death. It is glorious!" Back in the arena, when the smoke had cleared, Deniel and the Knight were each against a wall on the ends of their rooms, slammed into it from the force, with both of their armors smoking from the intense amount of heat and Magic that was radiated.

Spells Used:

The two of them shoved themselves off of their walls, and stood up to each other once more. "Well played, Nephalem. However, I will not let you make it to my mistress! You shall fall before me!" The Knight swung his spear, and surrounded his body in his Holy Fire once again. Meanwhile, Deniel was walking straight for him as well, "You are the strongest of the Knights. But just like your brothers, and sister, you're finished!" Deniel surrounded his body in Holy Energy, and decided it was time for him to end the fight. He knew from the start he was going to be the victor, but he had to admit that the Knight of Humility was a very strong warrior, and a challenge considering what he had faced so far. However, Deniel was stronger than all of the Virtue Knights. Even if they did take him on all at once, he had a few tricks that would result in their defeat. The two of them met at the center, but for the last time. The Knight of Humility went in for the first attack, which Deniel deflected. Deniel went in for a jab, and that set his plan in motion. Just as he predicted, the Virtue Knight used his earlier tactic of trapping Deniel's sword in the small gap of his spear. But instead of him disarming Deniel, it went the other way around. Deniel twisted the knight's arm, cuasing him to let go of his weapon. Deniel flung his weapon across the room, and before he had time to go get it, Deniel gave his last attack.

Deniel swung both of his blades diagonally from the Knight's right shoulder to his left hip. Then he swung horizontally from left to right with both of his blades at the same time. One blade was plenty to cut through his armor, but two of them at a time provided way more damage than before. Still, Deniel wasn't done just yet. Deniel planted his feet firmly on the ground, and held both of his blades out completely horizontal. Then he turned his right blade to face the Knight, and his left one to face away. "This....IS IT!" Deniel spun himself with an insame amount of speed and momentum. In just one second, he made several revolutions, with each one his blade cut through the knights armor. But that was just the beginning. Using his wings, and his speed, Deniel brough the Knight up into the air with him as his blades relentlessly cut through his armor.

Up on her Frozen Throne, Arianna frowned a bit at Deniel's move. "Hmph. Over already? How dull..."

When Deniel and his opponent were high in the air, Deniel finally finished it off with one last cut from his right blade. This one sealed the deal, by using the previous cut to split the Knight of Humility right in half, and send him crashing to the ground. All of this happened in just under five seconds. Deniel slowly descended to the ground, using his wings and flight to slow down his descent. He landed with no noise, and looked around him. The corpses of the Knight of Humility and Kindess were but cut in half, with many parts of their armor scattered across the room. Deniel heard behind him the shifting of ice, and he saw that the jaw-like doors leading up to the Frozen Throne were open for him. And he heard Arianna's voice echo: "Come, my wretched son! Face your doom!"

Stats:

Deniel hurried up the steps to the Frozen Throne, sheating Vita and Mors as he went. He did not want to waste a single moment of time, as he could slowly feel the power of his White Angel Take Over fading away. He was getting closer and closer to his limit. As Deniel ascended the steps, however, he suddenly felt a heavy burden weight down on him. It was as if gravity had gotten ten times worse, slowing down his steps and increasing the force he had to put into it. Not only that, but suddenly, on the walls of ice surrounding him, hit numerous scenes of his lives. Nightmarous ones. The scenes of the people of Bellum stoning him, and then him burning to the ground. The scene of him losing to Senji, and the crowd booing him. The scene of his body being cut bruised, and tortured for experiments, while he was wide awake. He could hear his own screams through his head, the laughter of the 'nurse', and the pain inside of his body. It's Arianna, it has to be! She's testing me! Deniel felt the gravity weight down on him as he ascended the staircase. And the visions had gotten even worse. Now they were not just on the wall, they were right in front of him. With him. He was ascending the staircase, passing the room he was being tortured him. He took several more steps, and felt his armor being pelted by stones. He tried to scurry up two more steps, but suddenly felt his body being pouded to the ground. He looked up to see the monstrous figure of Senji.

The giant growled down at him, but Deniel got up anyway from the weight of the gravity. He went up the steps more and more, with the visions getting worse and worse. He could hear them echo through his head, and see them wherever he looked. Even below him, he saw the burning infernos of the village he destroyed. "Monster!" "Bastard!" "Your mother is a whore!" "You son of a bitch!" "You deserve this torture, remember that! Hahahaha! You naughty little boy...you're just like your father!" "DIIIIE!"

Deniel finally had enough of Arianna's illusions and games. He had enough of her in general. He sprinted up the stairs, ignoring the heavy weight and visions. "GRRRR! ENOUGH!" He called out, shutting both of his eyes tight. When he opened them again, he was no longer on the staircase. It was behind him. He was a in a vast, frozen room, made purely out of ice. It was huge, looking almost like an arena, just without the stands. Deniel was unable to see the ceiling to this place. All around him was ice, and at the far end of the room, was Arianna the White Angel, sitting atop her frozen throne. "Mom..." Deniel whispered to himself. Her Frozen Throne was decorated with angelic wings on the back, and it looked unnecessarily large for her. It was made purely out of ice, with her sitting on its chair, cross-legged. Her Lacrima Vision that she had used to watch Deniel was no longer there, as she was face-to-face with him at last. Deniel noticed that beneath his feet, the ice was so thick, he couldn't even see his own reflection, nor what was underneath.

Stats:

Deniel was now in the same room with her. Something that hadn't happened in over ten years. "Well...it seems you've finally made it, Deniel. Probably the fastest Nephalem so far." Deniel scowled at her under his helmet, but that wasn't enough. His helm started to glow a blue color, similar to his Holy Energy, and he let it suddenly fade away so she could see the look on his face. Underneath his helmet, his skin was more pale than usual, his hair was white, and hsi eyes were a sky-blue color similar to hers. "Ooooh....I haven't seen that scowl in a while. Not since you said...what was it again? 'I'll make the angel scream, and the devil cry'? Hahahahah!"

"Laugh all you want! I swear I'll make it so!"

"Oh? And how do you plan to do that?" Arianna narrowed her eyes at him, but she also smirked. She knew that she was getting to his head, and she already did from his earlier endeavours. She was just going to make it worse and worse until he broke. "I'll let you know later. For now...I have to know...WHO EXACTLY ARE YOU?!" Arianna's look grew much more grim and ticked off than her previous one. She stared at the ground for a second, and then back at her son. With a sigh, she switched the positions of her legs being crossed. "You're going to die, anyway. I suppose there's no harm in letting you know." Deniel, across the room, stepped to the center of it so he could hear and see Arianna much more clearly. "We'll see about that..." Arianna ignored Deniel's remark, and begun her story. "Your father and I were not always an angel and a demon, no. We probably never would have fell in love that way. We were both once human, you have probably guessed right now. I loved that man since I was a teenage girl, and I knew I would marry him someday. And we did...and we had this entire castle to ourselves. We lived our lives together, we hosted balls and parties for friends, and this entire place was ours. Naturally...like any other married couple, we decided we should have a child of our own."


~~~~~~.~~~~~~


"How did the test come back, darling?" Diabolos and Arianna folded their hands together, just at the entrance to their castle. They were in the very first living room Deniel had entered. The one with Arianna's framed picture on it. Now that it wasn't frozen over, everything was unveiled. The carpet was a dark, crimson color. The furniture and the chair were nicely decorated and designed, and the fireplace had an elaborate artwork carved into it. "Positive, Diabolos! I'm....I'm pregnant!" The two of them cheered and embraced each other with a hug, which also lead into a very quick kiss.

Deniel saw all of this envelop before him, but that still didn't answer so many of his questions. "This child.....was it....me?" Deniel heard Arianna's laughter once again, but this time it was with a much more mocking tone. "Hahahahah! No, you idiot! Keep watching."

Stats:

Deniel did as his mother asked and kept watching the visions before him. The next scene, after Arianna and Diabolos kissed, showed a no longer pregnant Arianna, with her husband Diabolos. The two of them were sitting in the two-person couch in front of the fireplace, and Arianna was cradling in her arms what looked like a baby. "A beautiful, healthy boy, Diabolos..." The two of them looked happy. Very happy that they had their first child. The next few visions were more of images rather than scenarios. They were images of the boy growing up. From a little kid, to an even bigger kid, to a teenager, to a young adult. The child has slicked back blonde hair as a young adult, with pure sky-blue eyes just like the two of his parents. His appearance looked....somewhat angelic. During the scenes of him as a teenager, he was seen practicing swordsmanship with his father Diabolos, and working out. And as a young adult, it showed. He had a very muscular body, similar to his father, and a very healthy figure. The three of them were all seen, linking arms, with the shorter mother Arianna holding on to her son as if he were still a child, and the father Diabolos having his arm around him, like two men. That's what he became. A man.

"Seems perfect...a house like this, and parents like that. What happened, mom?"

"The worst thing that could ever...I loved that boy, but he betrayed me and your father."

The next scene shifted, to the grown boy stabbing his father in his back, peircing through his chest and through his heart. Diabolos gagged and fell to the ground with blood pouring from his chest. "You...son of a...." The first son laughed and kicked his father's corpse aside. Arianna, who was in the same room, screamed and wept. "Wh-Why...?" Those were the only words that could come out of Arianna's mouth as she looked up at her son. His sword was bloodied, and so were his hands. And right in front of her was her husband, passed away. Her first son just smirked and shrugged, "With the two of you gone, me and my buddies can take this whole place over. I can see it now! A harem of women, plenty of drinks, and infinite wealth! Hahahahah!" And then, without hesitation or mercy, Arianna's very first son broughth is blade down on her, and killed his mother, too.

The vision faded away, and Deniel was looking straight at his mother again. "...That's it!? You kill all of your children just from that!?" Arianna laughed at her son once more and shook her head. "Of course not. There is more to this story." As Arianna told her story, there were images this time instead of a moving vision. "Well, it turns out there was an afterlife. I was reincarnated as an angel. And I was happy, to a certain extent. I wanted to be with Diabolos once again, and this way we could spend an eternity together...but somethign went wrong. I learned that Diabolos did not become an angel...he became a demon. For a sin he had committed. I had no idea what it was. He was a good man, but regardless, I was filled with deep sadness. I was to spend an eternity alone, without my husband, and while my son was still alive, doing as he pleased. I couldn't believe that we were angels, yet we would do nothing about the wicked people in the world. So I decided to do something myself..."

Stats:

The vision shifted to yet another one in motion. Deniel saw Arianna and Diabolos's first son, with a lot of friends and women. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, right on the couches that Arianna and Diabolos shared their own moments. But suddenly, the door burst open, and a woman entered. She wore a long white dress, hugging her womanly curves and buxom figure. Her blonde hair reached down to below her waist, and sky-blue eyes. On her back was a pair of white angelic wings, and when she entered, everyone in the room looked at her. Her son...with two naked women around his arms. "MOM!? You're supposed to be dead!" Arianna stood there momentarily, looking at her son with disapproval. And for almost the first time in her life, a frown developed on her face. "I am....and so are you, my wretched son!" On her elbows, two blades made of Holy Energy formed. Arianna had no combat experience, but she didn't need it. She slaughtered her son, his friends, and each and every whore that they were with. Her dress was drenched and stained with blood, along with her face. It was over in seconds, and as she looked down at the corpse of her son, she felt tears well up in her eyes. She screamed and dropped to her knees, "WHY?! WHY DID IT COME TO THIS? ALL I WANTED WAS A NORMAL LIFE...How did it come to this?" Arianna crawled up to the couch she and Diabolos used to sit on together, and hugged her knees.

"I wept. And I wept. And I wept. I never thought I would live in such misery. I thought I would never see my husband again, and my only son was dead. I have no idea how long I cried. And as I did, everything began to freeze around me." Several images instilled themselves in front of Deniel. As Arianna cried while hugging her knees, ice slowly radiated from her, and to the surrounding room. Very soon the entire room was frozen, and soon the entire house of her husband was completely frozen, becoming what is now the Icecrown Citadel. "I thought I would cry there forever, and it seemed like I did. Until one day..."

The vision morphed itself into a new one. As Arianna wept, the door behind her burst open, showing Diabolos passing through. His eyes were blood-red, but everything else remained the same. His figure looked much more muscular than he was as a human, and he wore a jet black armor set, with a cape behind him. He was panting, and upon entering, Arianna jumped. She remained hidden behind the chair, and heard nothing but armor behind him. The clattering footsteps echoced against the hollow icy room, and she was cautious about who it was. She slowly turned her head in the chair, and was stunned to see her husband. Immediately all sadness exited her, and she almost jumped out of the chair into Diabolos. "Diabolos!" She wrapped her arms around him, and he was just as surprised to see his wife alive as she was to see her husband. "I can't believe it's really you..." "Arianna....I....you..." Both of them were at a loss for words, so they shared it with a kiss instead. And as they did, then the visions faded completely, and Deniel once again found himself in the Frozen Throne.

Stats:

"So...dad was reincarnated as a devil? That's why his eyes are now red? And that's why I have them? But that still doesn't explain why you kill all of your children. That was just one!" Arianna laughed once again. The visions were over, but her story wasn't. "Hahahahah! You sure want to know a lot, my wretched son. Yes, it's true that he was only one. But he wasn't the only one. Diabolos and I did not care that angels and demons were forbidden to have children. I loved that man, and I wanted another son. However....we were cursed with having Nephalem. The first one tried to kill us. And then the second. And then the third. And so on. Diabolos trained me in combat, and the two of us never found a worthy opponent. Until we realized...you Nephalem are. Each and every one of you are immensely powerful, and it is your destiny to try and kill us. What do we say? Bring it on! Hahahahah! Now it is your time, Deniel!" After hearing Arianna's story, Deniel was having some second thoughts about battling his mother. Perhaps he could work it out, or convince her? None of this seemed right. "Hold on, mom! I don't want to kill you! We don't have to do this I-...I..."

"Spare me your lies. Whether you want to or not right now is irrelevant. You are a Nephalem, and it eventually becomes an instinct for Nephalem to kill their parents so they can become True Nephalem. We just entice it to bring it early...because fighting my sons and daughters is fun! Now come, Deniel! Come at me! Try and kill your mother, and take the first step into becoming a True Nephalem! Hahahahah!"

Deniel never believed her, but when she brought up becoming a True Nephalem, his desires to kill her were once again fueled. He remembered the day she and Diabolos gave him up. He remebered the day they wanted to kill him. He remembered all of the torture she put him through while coming here! Most important of all, he wanted power! He needed more power. A True Nephalem...the ultimate form of creation! Power! Infinite power! "Fine! I'll kill you mom, just like I said I will! I'll make your sorry ass weep as much as you did when you thought you lost dad! You whiny little bitch!" Even for Deniel...what he was saying was low. But that did not matter to him right now. He was consumed with rage and anger, and only wanted his mother to perish. however, he looked down at himself, and found that his White Angel form was slowly fading away. It glowed blue, and some of the parts started to come off of him. "What's happening?" Nidhogg had finally opened his mouth as his master's powers were slowly fading away. In a certain way, that is. "Your power is diminishing. You've been in that form too long, and cannot sustain it even more."

"What!? This can't be, Nidhogg!"

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It was. Deniel's White Angel form vanished from timing out. For the very first time, it was not under Deniel's will. He realized that Arianna's story took up quite some time, and that's also what caused it to fade away. As Deniel's armor disappeared, and looked up at his mother in rage. "You cowardly bitch! Now look! You only did that to stall off my powers! Just so you could win!" Arianna scoffed at Deniel, and snapped her fingers. A wall of Holy Energy surrounded Deniel, and then closed in one him. It engulfed his body, before completely fading away. Deniel immediately felt all of his Magic Power restored, along with his body being in a healthy condition, as if he just started his adventure. "Are you happy now, whiny brat? I planned to heal you from the start. It wouldn't be fun fighting someone so weak." Deniel's White Angel Take Over was once again activated, but at the cost of no Magic Power, and he felt as good as new. "Now that's more like it! Nidhogg! Let's kick her ass!" Deniel drew both of his twin katanas, Vita and Mors, and pointed the one in his right hand at his mother. And for the first time Deniel had been in the Icecrown Citadel, Arianna slowly started to rise from her throne.



She was laughing, but it was more of a low chuckle as she rose. And as she did, two angelic white wings came out of her back. And then two more. And then two more. Arianna had six wings total, with three on each side. And as she rose from her throne, she and Deniel completely vanished from where they were. Each of them clashed in the very center, with Arianna using two blades made of Holy Energy just as she did in the vision Deniel saw. Each of them attacked each other several times, only to have the other deflect or block it. They both flew back to different positions, and clashed at different parts of the room. Each time, none of them seemed to gain the advantage. And every time the two of them met, shockwaves were sent throughout the room against the ice. Upon flying back, Deniel charged Holy Energy into his sword, Vita, and went in for Arianna again. "Silencing Strike!" Arianna, in response, changed her blade. Instead of a blade of Holy Energy clashing with Deniel, a blade made of ice did instead. Deniel was surprised by her ability to use two completely separate types of Magic. Not only did she block his attack, but it froze right over his Holy Energy, trapping it and destroying it. Arianna used Deniel's surprise to her advantage by sending her heel into his stomach. Her strength was enough to knock him back, and send a more powerful shockwave throughout the room. Deniel flew back into the walls of the Frozen Throne, cracking the ice.

Recovering himself, the son of White Angel pushed himself off of the wall and back down on to his feet. He looked Arianna, who still remained in the air. "Ice Magic...And Holy Energy?" Arianna smirked at him, but did not laugh. On her right hand she formed a small bit of Holy Energy, while her left one started to freeze over with pure white ice. "Not just any ice, my boy. Ice Devil Slayer Magic! I was reincarnated as an Angel, and that is the Magic I chose to learn!" The White Angel lifted up her hand covered in ice. Beneath Deniel, shards and spikes made up of Holy Ice pierced right under him, impaling his arms and parts of his legs. And immediately after that, the shards around him grew needles, which further pierced at his armor. Arianna could not see what happened, and she wasn't expecting a victory. What she did not expect, however, was for Deniel to have minimal damage....but that's what she found out. The ice started to crack, and then shattered like glass. Deniel was still standing, with not a single scratch on him, nor bleeding. He had been damaged, but it seemed very minimal. "What!?" Her son looked up at her, and his body glowed with Holy Energy. "Ice attacks have minimal effect on me....and Holy attacks even worse!"

He launched himself from where he was standing, straight at his mother. His swords glowed with Holy Energy, and on his way to his mother, Deniel began to spiral himself. He launched a galaxy-shaped torrent of Holy Energy at his mother. She raised her eyebrow at it, and with minimal effort, swatted it all away with her hand. But once she did, she left herself open, and that's what Deniel took advantage of. He appeared right in front of his mother, and cut her with both of his swords at the same time in an X shape at her stomach. The swords cut through her, but not too deep. Her blue eyes widened at Deniel's attack, and just before she flew away, she put her hand on her son's stomach, marking him. "Tch!" The force was enough to send Arianna straight into the ground, but not nearly enough to faze her. Blood oozed out of the wound and on to her dress, but she could care less. When she landed, she snapped her fingers, and Deniel seemed to explode with Holy Energy. "Gaaaaah!" He flew up high into the ceiling from the force, but since the Frozen Throne's top was so high, he still couldn't hit it. Through the smoke he couldn't see Arianna, but he knew she was on the ground. And with all of his speed, he flew down there so he could attack her again. "You bitch!"

Arianna knew of her son's recklessness from watching him. She predicted he would come down after she let loose her attack, and she was prepared.

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Once Deniel had gotten past the smoke, he could clearly see what Deniel had laid for him, and it was a trap. She had charged up Holy Energy into each of her palms, and once she saw Deniel through the smoke, she fire a very powerful beam right at her son, almost from a point-blank range. The Holy Energy consumed Deniel, and it hurt, but it wasn't enough to stop him. He still fought on, and through Arianna firing the beam, his balde came out of the Holy Energy, and cut her once more. "What!?" This one went from Arianna's shoulder down to her chest, and spilled much more blood than last time. It was enough to make her grunt, and her beam immediately stopped. Beneath it, Deniel's armor showed, smoking from the intense power, but still in tact. He tried to go in for another cut, only to have Arianna dodge it. He chased after her, and the two clashed several times more. Just like the beginning of the fight, they fought with their blades to no avail. It was obvious that only Magic would be able to determine the victor, because when it came to their speed and skill, they were seemingly equal. Deniel brought his blade in from below, only to have Arianna block and deflect it. She tried stabbing Deniel with both of her Holy-made blades at once, and he knocked them away. Then the two of them flew away from each other, only to go back in and have their weapons collide once again.

The Icecrown Citadel still retained its structure despite all of the collateral damage and shockwaves that had been happening with each and every blow. Deniel was impressed that Arianna could make ice that was so hard. Even though Magic was the factor that would determine the fight, it was far from easy for one of them to hit the other. Arianna tried yet another beam to Deniel from across the room, but he dodged it with ease. Deniel charved up his Heaven's Meteors attacks on his blades, and launched both of them at Arianna. But she evaded them both like dodgeballs. Damn it! Nidhogg, we'll never win this fight! Deniel spoke to his sword in his mind as he tried cutting Arianna from a horizontal way on the ground, only to have her leap right over him. She appeared behind him, but before she could strike, he blocked her attackw ith his other sword. Have faith in yourself, Deniel! Vergil had faith, and so do I! You can win! Deniel would have nodded at his sword if he wasn't so preoccupied. "Take this!" Deniel came at his mother while spinning with both of his swords in a bladestorm. She only held up her two blades on her elbows, and blocked all of Deniel's blows. "Pathetic! HIYAH!" She made a careful swing right at Deniel's head with her blade between one of his blows. She was so fast, he could beat him spinning around.

The blow was powerful enough to stagger Deniel, and she made every use of it. She hit his armor in his stomach area with her fist so she could send him flying away and on to his back. Once he had landed, Arianna was already above Deniel. She slammed her heels down into his stomach, making him gag and cough blood through his helmet. "I'm not done yet!" Arianna ascended herself high up in the Frozen Throne room, and cast a very powerful spell. From out of her back, twelve shots of Holy Energy fired. Each one shot outwards, until they all curved in right on Deniel, making contact with him from his back and sides. They were strong enough to send him flying back up into the air, straight to his mother. He was still fazed from her blow to the head earlier, but the one to his stomach had made it even worse. When he finally reached his mother, she looked him dead in the eye and smirked. "You're finished." She created a lance made out of Holy Energy, and threw it straight at Deniel's chest. It peirced through him, and sent him all the way back to the wall. During each second that Deniel flew, he felt surges of pain go through his body, as the lance sent shockwaves of Holy Energy into him.

It didn't make sense to him...how could his own power cause him harm? Once Deniel landed on the ground, the spear detonated in a powerful explosion of Holy Energy. This dealt the most damage out of anything Deniel had ever felt before, and it left his body in a critical condition. The explosion was finally enough to crack Deniel's White Angel armor. It wasn't enough to destroy it, but there were cracks, dents, and charred marks all around. Arianna though the fight was finished after the explosion happened, so she laughed once more. "Hahahahah! Just like all of my children! You fall before me!"

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Arianna slowly, but gracefully started to descend back down to ground-level. And once she was there, her heels clicked on to the ice, and she started to walk back to the frozen throne. But just before she got to it, she heard a loud clanging sound right behind her. She froze in her tracks, and slowly looked behind her. She saw her son, up off the ground, and still alive. He barely was, however. His helmet was completely gone, too broken for him to wear. Most of his armor was cracked, and some of the feathers on his wings had begun to molt. But regardless, he was still alive. "I'm not done with you yet...you bitch..." He panted very harshly as he spoke, and his words were sometimes barely understandable. Arianna frowned at him, and created her blades made of Holy Energy once more. "Hmph. You should have stayed down. Or left. But now, you will--" Arianna coughed up blood as she felt the fist of her son go straight into her stomach, and send her knocking back into her Frozen Throne. She collided with it, hearing her own spine crack from the impact, but not break. Deniel appeared right in front of her, and grabbed on to her shoulders. He butt his head straight into hers with all of the force he could muster, damaging the both of the slightly, but he didn't care. It didn't deal too much damage, but he just needed to get that out of his sytem.

"THIS IS THE END FOR YOUUUUU!" Deniel grabbed his mother by one of her arms, and threw her up into the air. He drew both of his blades once again. He used some of the Energy he gathered throughout the Icecrown Citadel to once again be given the chance to use his Silencing Strike. His sword was surrounded in Holy Energy, and he flew straight for Arianna. Arianna was still confident she could win, so she just tried to dodge Deniel's attack. But when she did, she found that she was slower than she had been, and Denie's attack connected. What!? Deniel had cut deep into her skin, and it hurt more than it ever did. Now Arianna's mind and heart began to race. She was panicking, and she had begun to doubt that she could win this fight. "Arianna the White Angel! Your time has come!" Arianna recognized that voice. She knew it from somewhere, but couldn't remember. Not that she had time to think. Now that Deniel had silenced her connection to Magic, and his Purify stacks had slowed her down to the point where he could get away with attacking her, it was all over. Deniel cut her from beneath with a blow so powerful it sent her sky-high once again. He chased after her, and just before she reached the ceiling, he beat her to it, and cut her back down all the way towards the ground. Diabolos....help me...

"Divine Wrath!" Time suddenly stopped. At least from Deniel's point of view. From Arianna's point of view, while she was in mid-air, she suddenly felt as if she were cut a thousand times. And that was almost accurate. Deniel's Divine Wrath spell made him go faster than anyone could ever go. And he used it to cut his mother like a pig. He cut her once. Twice. Three times. Four, five, six, seven, ten, fifteen, twenty times. All in one instant, Deniel cut her that many times, but he wasn't over. He positioned himself right in the center of the room, and charged up Holy Energy on his hands. Just as his Divine Wrath spell finished, Arianna could see him once again. "The Light of Dawn!" Deniel unleashed his Holy Energy in a glorious burst that flooded the Frozen Throne, and cracked the ice just like it did his armor. The Holy Energy caused Arianna to scream from its power and pain. Deniel had made the angel scream. It was high-pitched, and sounded like she was in complete misery and pain. Just like he wanted.

It was like a storm that had hit. It came and went. Once Deniel's spell was over, Arianna was on the ground, almost dead. He slowly descended his way down to her, and landed on the ground. And just as he did, he de-activated his White Angel Take Over. Holy Energy from it faded away almost like the wind, and Deniel was left standing. Black clothes and hair, red eyes, and his regular old katana. "Hmph...good riddance." Deniel was prepared to walk away, thinking Arianna was dead. But suddenly, he heard her gasp for air. She was still alive. He quickly turned around and put his hand on Nidhogg, preparing to strike her down once and for all. "Deniel...come here." Her voice was much more soft and sweet, despite it being weak from her suffering so much damage. Deniel was cautious about it, but he came to her anyway. She was flat on her back, with her wings gone. Her dress was torn with all of the cuts, and she was leaking a lot of blood. Deniel knelt down next to her, and picked her up by the back of the head. "What is it?" Arianna's sky-blue eyes looked into Deniel's red ones, and she tried to muster a smile.

"All I ever wanted was what a mother really wants. To raise kids, and see them grow up strong...part of it came true, but never complete. They all tried to kill me, but they all perished. First the hand of Diabolos, but then I started to get a sick, twisted pleasure out of it. And now...I regret it." Tears welled up in her eyes, and she started to weep just like she did when she thought she was without her husband. Deniel couldn't figure out why, but he suddenly felt sorry for hurting his mother in such a way. He felt a deep sadness go into him. "M-Mom...I..." "Shhh. Hush now, Deniel. You don't need to say anything. My dream has come true..." She put her hand up to Deniel's cheek, and caressed it as if he were a baby. Deniel closed his eyes, and felt the warm embrace of his mother for the first time. "My own boy has grown up to become a handsome young man. I couldn't be more proud. I hope you sleep tight tonight, Deniel...my little Nephalem. Please...don't...don't challenge you father. But no matter what happens remember: I love you, Deniel." And with that, life escaped Arianna's eyes, and her body.

Her hand fell from Deniel's cheek on to the ground, and Deniel was left holding the corpse of his mother, with blood on his hands.