Make The Angel Scream and the Devil Cry! (Part 2)

"Greedy to die, I see."

The events that took place during Deniel's charge were so swift that he almost did not see them. As he closed the gap between him and the Maiden of Lust, Diabolos got up from his throne and went down into the arena himself. He leaped down from his throne almost right on to his son, grabbing him by his face and pushing him down to the ground. The force exerted on him was enough to cause Deniel to collapse, and also the hardness of the arena to temporarily knock him out. As Diabolos took his palm off of Deniel, he felt something tingle up inside of him, as if simply touching Deniel caused his body to react in some way. He stared down at the face of his son, with his eyes closed, and his body barely breathing. "What the Hell is wrong with this kid?" Diabolos turned towards his Lieutenant, who was writhing in pain and agony. Deniel's assault could have easily killed her, and it seemed like it did. She was barely clinging on to life. "Get her healed up. Leave Deniel here. He still has his options..."

Just as Diabolos commanded, Lust was carried out of the arena and tended to, while Deniel was left there in his knocked out condition. Diabolos could have easily gone in for the kill, but that was unlike the Black Devil. He had no interest in such cowardly ways. Nearly an hour later of waiting, Deniel finally showed signs of waking up. His pure red eyes lazily opened, and as the hazy gaze reminded him of where he was, he quickly stood up as if all deprivations of sleep and fatigue had vanished. He noted that Lust was no longer there, and that he was alone in the arena. Immediately his gaze turned towards Diabolos atop his throne. He saw that Lust was still alive and well, but she had taken a much less arachnid form. She now looked like a beautiful human woman, one that resembled his mother very closely, but still did not look exactly like her. Despite looking like his dead wife, Diabolos paid no heed to her, much to Lust's dismay. "Awake I see, Deniel." Despite being knocked out...he was alive. That could easily result in a lot more trust towards Diabolos, but Deniel was still skeptical. "You didn't kill me. Why!?"

Diabolos rolled his red eyes. Deniel was being excessively difficult and stubborn about all of those. "Because you won your fight, technically. And I interfered. You may still chose to move on, or take a break." He had been knocked out, but his strength was still very much there. And he was eager to get more action. The reason for his earlier outburst was that Lust looked a lot like a bug, one of Deniel's greatest fears, and her voice reminded him of someone he would rather forget. "I chose to continue. Bring on your next Lieutenant!" Deniel saw as one of the shadowy figures stood up, and exited the throne area. The next Sin Lieutenant.

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"Greedy to die, I see."

Staring into the dark void of the dark hallway that lead into the arena. He heard much softer footsteps coming out from the hallway, but also much faster ones. In addition, he also heard the sound of....shoes. Boots, more like. No....they weren't boots. But they weren't anything regular, either. When the Lieutenant showed his face, he was the most human of them all. In fact, that's what he looked like. Just a normal human. The Sin Lieutenant was dressed and presented very handsomely, wearing a business suit with a brief case and his hair neatly combed and slicked back. His eyes looked to be a dark shade of ocean blue, and his gaze seemed to pierce anything that it stared at. He stared at Deniel very sternly, with the brief case that he carried slung over his shoulder. "Good evening, Nephalem. I am the Master of Greed." Of course. Greed. That's what he was. It was no wonder that he seemed to be a man of business and...money. But Deniel was more so curious as to what a master of greed could attain in combat skills.

"Now...shall we?" Greed flung his suitcase over his shoulder, and opened it up. A blinding light radiated from it, causing Deniel to shield his eyes from the extreme amount of light. It lasted for only a few moments before fading away, leaving Greed standing in a huge suit of armor along with a giant broadsword. The armor it self was a jet-black color, showing absolutely no revealed part of greed, not even on his face. For his face was also a piece of armor, shaping itself to be that of a hound. It's jaws were shut tightly, and its eyes were glowing red. What could be made out to be eyes, anyway. A distinct feature was its lack of eyes, but instead a glowing red design on its helm where its eyes should be. Matching the armor was a giant black cloak that was worn by Greed, and a massive broadsword, even more massive than Deniel's Armageddon which he had on his back. Greed held his black broadsword across his shoulders, with only one hand at that. This was quite unexpected, as something as massive as this was the last expectation Deniel had for a Sin Lieutenant named Greed.

Greed swung his sword from his shoulder and placed it right in front of him. It was so large, that he held his arm above his shoulders just to hold on to it. "Are you ready, Nephalem? You have never faced a Demon as strong as I am." Drawing Armageddon from his back, Deniel gave a very low bellow from his throat. "I'm not just a Nephalem. I am the Black Devil." Underneath all of that armor, Greed's eyes furrows. "That title..." he began, picking up his sword with both hands and bringing it past his shoulders in preparation for a swing. "BELONGS TO MY MASTER!" His booming voice matched with his massive strength and the size of his sword was enough to make the entire Obsidian Palace tremble from his power.

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"Greedy to die, I see."

In an attempt to block the massive swing, even from a distance, Deniel held up Armageddon in front of him, using his other hand at the back of the blade to put more strength into his block. But regardless of how much he put in, he was overwhelmed and overpowered by the force of Greed's swing. The exerted force was enough to not only knock Deniel back, but also leave a huge gash across his chest. Gritting his teeth, he pushed himself off of the wall that he was slammed into, and spat out some blood that had been caught in his mouth. Putting both hands on Armageddon's hilt, Deniel ran towards Greed, who raised his sword and brought it down at Deniel's direction. Deniel was no where near Greed, being at the other end of the arena, but regardless, he still felt the massive force of the blow crash on to him, bringing him to his knees and swiftly to the ground face-first.

Quickly pushing himself back up, he stared menacingly at Greed who just slung his massive blade over his shoulder once more. He held out his armored hand towards Deniel, and taunted him: "Come on! What's wrong?" Spitting blood out of his mouth, Deniel grunted as he stood up to his feet once more, struggling along the way. For once a Sin Lieutenant was giving him some trouble. Closing the gap between them as swiftly as he could, Deniel went in for his first attempt to an attack against Greed. However, instead of doing anything about it, Greedy merely stood there, letting Deniel's sword go straight for his armor...and merely skid it. Despite the power of Armageddon, all it could do was make a scratch across Greed's dark armor, instead of actually piercing through it. Deniel tried again, this time going for a much more vulnerable area such as the neck. And even though he poured every last ounce of strength into it, Greed's black armor just rebounded Deniel's attack, bouncing right off it without doing any harm. Not giving a chance for him to fall back, Greed stepped forward with a thundering footstep and bashed his hound-like head of his armor straight into Deniel's. The jewel atop Deniel's forehead and his crown shattered to pieces, as well as cracking the head of his crown.

Deniel flew all the way back to the other side of the arena, drops of blood trickling down his forehead and on to his face. He growled as he looked at Greed, who, again, simply remained there. He was behaving a lot like Envy, except that Greed was much more...invincible than Envy was. Even with his hardest attack Deniel couldn't pierce through his armor, and it seemed that no matter what he did, he could not block any of Greed's attacks. "It's not something to be ashamed of. Most Nephalem don't get past me." Deniel growled at him again, panting immediately afterwards. The fatigue of battle was starting to get to him, but he couldn't afford to get tired. Even after defeating Greed, he planned to proceed towards the next Sin Lieutenant.

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"Greedy to die, I see."

Giving a glance at Greed once more, he noticed something with his armor. Narrowing his eyes, it was a little tough to see it from here, but there was no doubt about it. There were gaps at some of his limbs, patched up with cloth to hold the armor together, but colored black to try and blend in with the rest of it. Obviously Greed did not want anyone to notice it, but Deniel had. Everything has a weakness. Even that armor. The real question for him now was how to get past his attacks. They hurt like Hell, and he oculdn't afford to take too many even if it meant risking victory, because he would also be risking defeat. Only one idea came to his head, and it was a risky one, but he had no other choice. Sheathing Armageddon on his back, Deniel dropped on to all-fours like a feral beast, and skid his hind legs several times. A snarl escaped his nose as he darted to Greed on all four of his limbs, using each and every one of them to give him a boost. Despite looking silly, it did work to make him go a bit faster than he was normally capable of. Greed, on the other hand, was quite unimpressed with Deniel's efforts. He did not know of Deniel's true intentions, and thus underestimated him. Pulling his sword from his shoulder and gripping it with both hands, Greed raised it high in the air, and brought it down vertically at Deniel's direction, creating a shock wave out of the sheer force exerted on the blade.

Deniel, on all-fours, tumbled to the side, dodging the massive swing and running further. Greed scowled underneath his helmet. Deniel figured out the secret to his attacks. You're not supposed to parry or block them, you must dodge them. Gripping his sword again, Greed sent out a horizontal one this time, before spinning himself around and leaping into the air to bring his blade down in a diagonal swing. Deniel dropped on to his stomach briefly to dodge the horizontal one, and for the diagonal one, he made a very weird motion, leaping up very briefly and spinning himself around. He was now close enough to Greed to where he could do his finishing blows. He put one hand on Armageddon, and jumped up right above him. Greed held up his sword with both hands to block Deniel's attack, but Deniel wasn't coming from above to attack. Faking him out, once he landed on the ground, he brought his sword below him, and swung upwards, right at the joint location between Greed's arm and elbow. The attack was powerful enough to sever Greed's right arm, his dominant one. And the one that happened to carry his sword. Widening his eyes underneath his helmet, Greed let out a howl of pain as his arm dropped to the ground, along with his sword.

The metal clanged against the True Obsidian, before silencing itself as it stayed on the ground. Deniel was far from finished with Greed, but Diabolos saw this as enough to call off the match. Rising from his throne, he let his voice thunder through the arena once more: "Enough! You are the victor, Deniel!" Deniel already had his sword ready for the next attack, but with a grunt, he lowered it, but not without giving Greed a kick at his stomach. "You're one lucky bastard." Greed recovered from Deniel's attack, and with the match over, his armor glowed and moved off of him to his left hand, forming back into the brief case. Greed stared at Deniel with his dark blue eyes, filled with hate. "You...you disgust me, Nephalem." He said before turning away from Deniel and exiting the arena. Before Diabolos could even ask him, Deniel glared up at his father and stated: "I chose to continue! Bring on the next one!"

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"Taste defeat, Gluttony."

Making his way to the other side of the arena, Deniel heard the footsteps of the next Sin Lieutenant approach the arena. These ones sounded heavy, just like Sloth's had, but something about these ones seemed much...bigger. No, not bigger. They sounded heavier. And he heard the sound of multiple feet on this beast. The shadow of the massive beast approached the entrance of the arena, and that's when Deniel saw it. Perhaps the most grotesque and monstrous looking of all the Sin Lieutenants...he was truly an abomination. He was a large bag of flesh, oddly shaped, with an immense amount of fat on its body. It possessed four very tiny legs that held up its massive body. At its stomach was a huge, gaping mouth with bloodied fangs and crooked teeth. Its shoulders were also mouths, almost like an animal's one, stretched out with skulls atop them. It wore a helmet concealing his face, but Deniel could not imagine the horror behind it. There chains on its body, two connecting from its pierced nipples to its back, joining together with another two that clung to its stomach area with claw-like ends. It was almost painful to watch. "Nephalem! I....I am the Lord of Gluttony." Of course...it was Gluttony. The way the monster spoke seemed as if it were struggling to speak, and it was barely audible as well. It was a mixture of shifting saliva sounds as well as low grunts.

Deniel's face appeared disgusted, as well as his thoughts. Now that's just gross... Gluttony sealed its front mouth shut, and seemed to struggle for a brief moment. And then, in a sudden burst, spew fourth a large quantity of green acidic bile. It splashed all over the arena, but luckily for the crowd, they were spared of it. The only one who was not was Deniel, who took a full blast of the green acid. It seared on his skin, and burned his black scales more than anything he had felt before. In addition to that, it completely grossed him out. He felt like vomiting, but needed to keep himself strong in the presence of his enemy. With a growl, Deniel opened his mouth, and let out something from his own. He used his Shout of the Devil spell, sending out an enormous beam of Unholy Energy straight at Gluttony. The monster opened up its gaping mouth, and practically swallowed Deniel's spell whole. To Deniel's surprise, he saw the whole thing happen, but that's not all that happened. Gluttony turned its back to Deniel, and from out its rear end released a gas, a toxic one.

The damage that the poison could do was no Deniel's concern. His body was naturally resistant to it, and he felt almost nothing from the toxic material. It was the stench...its horrible stench that caused Deniel to stick two of his claws up his nostrils to try and block it. He gagged and coughed, trying not to breathe it in, but it was no use. "YOU'RE FUCKING DISGUSTING!" He couldn't hold his rage in anymore. This creature was...vile. The most vile and unmannerly being he had ever met. Gluttony only bellowed a deep laughter, spilling its acidic material once more from its stomach mouth as it turned around. "I thank you, Nephalem! Guaghaaghagahghah!"

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"Taste defeat, Gluttony."

Deniel was in no mood to tolerate the response given by Gluttony. He felt his dignity and pride getting worse and worse as he was brought to his knees by the stench. "NO! I'M SERIOUS! HOW CAN SOMETHING SO DISGUSTING AND VILE LIKE YOURSELF LIVE!? HAVE YOU EVER LOOKED IN THE MIRROR!?" Almost forgetting that was intended to be a battle, Deniel seemed to be taking this more as a way of humiliating him rather than defeating him. The poison emitted by Gluttony did not hurt him, nor did the gas, but the only thing that seemed to be happening was grossing him out. Glancing up at the thrones, Deniel could see his father, and some of the other Sin Lieutenants, getting a good laugh out of this. He heard their differentiated laughter, but the one that stood out the most to him was Diabolos. It suited his age and how he looked very well, and out of all of them, he seemed to be getting the biggest gag out of it. "Hahahahah! Could this mighty warrior meet his end from humiliation! Huahahahahaha!" Giving a very harsh growl, Deniel picked himself up and unplugged his nose. There was no use trying to hide from the scent, and if Magic attacks didn't work, then Physical attacks would.

Growling once more, he drew Armageddon from his back, and seemingly vanished from where he was standing. He moved as fast as he could, appearing right behind Gluttony. All Deniel did was cut off the small harness of chains that linked together Gluttony's body, and watched what happened from there. Gluttony's obese body suddenly began to gurgle and boil on the inside, showing on the outside that something was wrong. Deniel flew over Gluttony and landed at the center of the arena, watching as the scene unfolded. To his surprise, Gluttony suddenly exploded in a mass of his green bile, along with his blood, guts, and insides. Deniel shelded himself using his hand and sword from the vile material, but was surprised. This was far too easy to defeat, and Diabolos did not stop him. Gluttony appeared to be dead, and Diabolos surely would have called the match off if his Lieutenant was in danger. Then suddenly, a shadowed figure made its way to Deniel in a flash, grabbing hold of his face with clawed, gloved hands, and smashing him into the ground. Shortly after, the figure placed its boot right on Deniel's chest, and Deniel's red eyes peered into the blackness of a double barreled shotgun.

Looking up at the hand that held it, Deniel saw who Gluttony truly was. He didn't know how or why that beast there earlier even existed, but Gluttony looked much different than the monster. He had a much more humanoid figure, looking almost like one save for the pale blue skin on his face. His body was covered from head to toe, with spiked biker books, leather clothing, gloves with armor plates on the back of them, and a mask that covered from his pointed nose up to his forehead, showing only his mouth. His mask did not shield his hair, only the front part of his face, but his blonde hair was forced to be spiked backwards due to the mask. Its eyes were red, and a long tail came from behind it, extending several feet. "Hnhnhnhnhn! Surprise! This is what I really look like!"

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"Taste defeat, Gluttony."

"What the Hell!? How!?" Deniel wasn't left completely helpless down on the ground. He still had Armageddon in his right hand, and Gluttony made no attempt to secure that. So despite the shotgun pointed right at his face, he was more concerned as to what just happened. He also noticed that another shotgun was held in Gluttony's other hand, slung over his shoulder. "That thing you destroyed was just a puppet. I love to see how warriors like you react when faced with it. And it's hilarious! Hahahahah!" Gluttony suddenly took the shotgun away from Deniel's head, and his boot off of his chest. "Get up! I don't like finishing off opponents with surprises." Practically obeying him, Deniel stood up from the ground and spat a few drops of blood on the ground. "It's not like that toy gun could kill me, anyways." Gluttony gave no response to Deniel at first. Standing where he was, Glutton was at the center of the arena, and he instantly pointed his shotgun up to the volcano's eruption hole, and pulled the trigger on his shotgun. A wide, powerful beam of pure black Magic Energy was released from the shotgun, going skyward and beyond. The shot lasted for several seconds, and even from where he was standing, Deniel could feel its massive power.

Gluttony finished his shot, and took a glance back at Deniel. "We'll see about that. Hnhnhnhnhnhn!" The laughter of Gluttony was quite unusual. It was always with a smirk, but he never completely opened his mouth. It was as if he were laughing with his mouth closed. Very odd. He reached his side of the arena, where the guts and pieces of his puppet's corpse remained. He kicked one piece aside, and swiftly turned around and pointed both of his shotguns at Deniel. "Let's dance." Immediately he fired the two of them at the same time, sending that same beam of pure blackness at Deniel. Deniel managed to avoid it by jumping out of the way to the right, and he started to spring for Gluttony. He expected him to be yet another one that tried to keep his distance, but was a complete joke when it came to close quarters combat. Gluttony remained in place, and fired at Deniel once more. The Nephalem jumped over Gluttony's shot, narrowly avoiding it. Surprisingly it did not last as long as the first one, and even though he was coming straight for him, Gluttony made no attempt to move out of the way.

Just as Deniel got in close enough, he pulled back Armageddon, and then unleashed it in a devastating blow to Gluttony's neck. "This is it!" The broadsword collided not with Gluttony's neck, but rather the backside of his shotgun. Despite the effort he put in, Gluttony perfectly blocked Deniel's attack with the backside of his shotgun. Gluttony pointed his other shotgun at Deniel's face, and pulled the trigger. Ducking underneath his attack, Deniel cam back up with a more devastating swing, going above his head and going down on Gluttony's. The demon blocked with two shotguns this time, with one beneath the other, and angled one to be pointed at Deniel once again. He pulled the trigger, forcing Deniel to back off and away from him. He backflipped to the center of the arena, but as soon as he recovered, Gluttony was once again right in front of him, shotgun pointed at his face, and trigger pulled.

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"Taste defeat, Gluttony!"

Once again, a powerful beam of Black Energy shot straight out of both barrels of his shotgun, consuming the entire body of Deniel. He held down the trigger for several seconds, and released it. Deniel was still standing there, almost completely unharmed, much to Gluttony's shock. Once he pulled the trigger, Deniel activated his Shield of the Black Devil smell, covering up his entire body in Unholy Energy and negating most of the damage from the attack. With Gluttony caught surprised and off guard, Deniel seized the opportunity, and thrust Armageddon right into Gluttony's stomach. It was a spot that he chose specifically; since he represented Gluttony, why not go for the stomach? The massive sword impaled Gluttony's stomach, but very quickly did the demon dig it out by backing away, and go to recover his position. Coughing blood heavily, he dropped down to one knee, clenching his stomach. "Impressive, Nephalem." In spite of his attack's power, Gluttony was back on his feet very shortly, and no longer clutching his wound. Once again he pointed both shotguns at Deniel, with one of them overlapping the other. "Let's see how you do against this! Rapid fire!" Based on the name, Deniel knew exactly what was coming. Pulling both triggers at the same time and holding them down, Gluttony's shotguns released a torrent of beams, one firing almost immediately after the other.

The very small arena was practically consumed with the amount of beams that he had been firing. It seemed that after every 1 he fired, 5 more came out. Deniel did his best to dodge the first ones, but quickly found himself very overwhelmed. He dodged them, one after the other, with almost no time to think or react, just on pure instinct. Left with no choice, the Nephalem swiftly clapped both hands of Unholy Energy together, and swung them down. A nova of Unholy Energy consumed the blackness of Gluttony's rapid fire, and overpowered him. An insane amount of Deniel's Unholy Energy assaulted him, knocking him off of his feet and down on the ground. "GAAAAAAAAH!" Through all of it, Deniel could still hear Gluttony's cry of pain. Out of pure survival instincts, Deniel managed to dodge his Rapid Fire, and live through it without a scratch. Gluttony, on the other hand, was unable to dodge Deniel's attack, and once all of the Unholy Energy faded, he was there, on the ground, but already pushing himself up. He was bruised heavily, and the pain didn't stop from there, but he was still going. Deniel glanced up at Diabolos, as if to inquire him that Gluttony was finished fighting, and that Deniel had one. Diabolos gave no response, however, indicating that Gluttony wasn't finished with Deniel yet.

"Well played, Nephalem. Truly you are strong!" Gluttony stated as he struggled to stand up. Both shotguns were still in his hands, as if he wasn't going to let go of them no matter what. He put one of them underneath his armpit to hold on to it, and from out of his pockets, he pulled out four black crystals. He opened up his shotguns as if to reload, and loaded the crystals inside of each shotgun, two crystals for each one. He pointed one shotgun at Deniel, and had his clawed finger in the trigger. "If you manage to best me once again like this...you win. GO!" Pulling the trigger, Gluttony's shotgun shot not just one beam, but 16.

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"Taste defeat, Gluttony!"

Due to the range that Deniel was at, despite the amount of beams, he was left with room to dodge, but not a whole lot. He found a very narrow gap between two of them, and used that. Just as soon as he came out of it, Gluttony pulled the trigger once more on the other shotgun to fire sixteen beams once again. He was just toying with Deniel, since he could have easily shot more times than that. It was a mere demonstration of his power. Dodging by just a hair once more, Deniel needed to act fast, so he gave no time for Gluttony to fire another shot. He needed to end this here. Fast! FAST! I need a spell that's fast! Acting purely on instinct once more, Deniel's foot collided with the True Obsidian floor, and he dashed, faster than he had ever gone as the Black Devil straight at Gluttony, and just before the Sin Lieutenant could fire another shot, Deniel was right in front of him for a brief moment, and then the next moment, he cut Gluttony's chest, appearing right behind him once it was complete. On Gluttony's chest, five cuts in the shape of a pentagram formed, and blood gushed out of it like a waterfall. Diabolos held up his hand in the stands, and called out: "The victor is Deniel!" Deniel was still in shock from the amount of power Gluttony had. If he was this strong, then what about the last two? He managed to get through the Sin Lieutenants now, he wasn't going to give up.

Gluttony stood up, clenching on to his chest and stomach, and walked past Deniel. "You're good, Nephalem. Perhaps you will be able to make it to Lord Diabolos after all..." Gluttony's sentence struck a bit of fear into Deniel's mind. He only managed to win that fight based on instincts and sheer will, he barely did anything to outwit him, and he certainly wasn't that much stronger than he was. What about the other, last 2 Sin Lieutenants. What were they like? As Gluttony exited the arena and Deniel made his way over to the other side, Deniel noticed something that had begun to happen. The audience and the throne seats began to move back...the arena was getting bigger. Almost five times bigger than it was before. Now it seemed like Deniel was a long ways away from the other side of the arena, and he wondered how the audience would be able to see him and the fight. Then he noticed the Lacrima Visions in front of the throne seat, as well as the audience stands. "What's the meaning of this?!?" Deniel had to shout so that his words could reach Diabolos.

"These next two fights will require a lot more room than usual..." Deniel scowled at his father. "THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN USEFUL LAST FIGHT, YOU KNOW!" Even from where he was standing Deniel could hear the booming laughter of Diabolos. "That's why I didn't do it, dumbass! But these next two, and myself, require as much room as possible." There wasn't really anything Deniel could do about it. So he just growled and looked at the other side of the arena, awaiting his next opponent.

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"Taste my Wrath."

Heavy footsteps. The footsteps of the next Sin Lieutenant were heavy just like the last one, and Sloth. Unlike the last few Sin Lieutenants, this one didn't take his sweet time getting out. He showed himself to Deniel almost immediately. He was a massively built red-skinned demon. Perhaps what most would expect a demon to look like. His body was heavily muscular, there were two massive red demonic wings on his back, he wore armor with molten lava inside of them on his shoulders, two horns atop his head moved backwards, as well as red tentacles going from his chin down near his chest. Although he wasn't gigantic, his sheer proportions and body shape made him seem like a very intimidating foe. He walked on two goat-like legs, with hooves on the back of them, and they went backwards instead of forward. There was also an armored kilt around his waist to cover up...whatever was down there. His eyes glowed orange, radiating hatred and anger. "And what Sin Lieutenant might you be?" Despite being faced with a heavy opponent, and the odds not being necessarily even, he remained calm. Deniel's body felt like it was on fire. It stung in so many places, and the pain never ceased. But regardless, he had come this far, and he was going to prove to Diabolos that he could handle all of his Sin Lieutenants consecutively, proving his strength and worth to his father.

Deniel glanced up at Diabolos for a moment, before looking back down at the Sin Lieutenant. Despite the question, he didn't seem to respond. "I'll ask you again. What Sin might you--" Deniel was suddenly faced with an enormous red palm right in front of his eyes. The demon made its way over to him without being tracked, grabbing on to his face and smashing him on to the ground with the back of his head going first, while shouting the word: "WRATH!" Shortly after being forcefully pummeled to the ground, Wrath lifted his hove up, and brought it down towards Deniel's chest. Reacting just in time, Deniel used Armageddon, gripping it by the handle with one hand and supporting the back of the blade with the other, to block the stomp. Deniel struggled heavily to keep up Wrath's foot. The red demon started vengefully down upon Deniel. Wrath put more force into his foot, slowly gaining the advantage over Deniel. The Nephalem, thinking fast, put as much strength as he could to one push, putting Wrath off balance. Deniel scrambled up, and gave a quick jab at the demon's side. His sword cut through its flesh and into its rib cage, but Deniel took his sword out almost right away, and it was a good move by him too.

Very shortly after being impaled by the blade, Wrath swung his enormous fist in the direction of Deniel, barely missing the Nephalem thanks to his quick reflexes. Just as Deniel finished jumping away, he soon found himself face-to-face with the red demon once more. Reacting based on pure instinct once more, he bent his spine backwards as far as he possibly could, narrowly avoiding a direct hit to the face. Using his bend as momentum, Deniel performed a full backwards somersault to dodge another hit coming from Wrath, one that he predicted rather than actually knew was coming.

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"Taste my Wrath!"

Just as Deniel finished his somersault to dodge one of Wrath's attacks, he found another one coming straight at him. Wrath was surely relentless, and Deniel didn't want any of these attacks hitting him. Based on the demon's sheer size it looked like it could hurt, and he couldn't imagine what kind of true strength lay dormant within him. Trying something that wasn't dodging, Deniel held Armageddon right in front of him to take the blow for him. Wrath's fist was impaled right in the sword's tip, and went quite deep. He did not seem fazed, however, and with minimal effort did he dig his own fist out. Let me give you a word of advice, Deniel. As Deniel dodged another relentless assault by Wrath, he could hear his father speak to him in his head...just like Nidhogg was capable of. You will never outmatch Wrath in brutality. It's best you find an alternative to defeating him. As much as he didn't like having to take advice from his father, Deniel had a feeling he was right. So far Wrath wasn't able to hit him, but he didn't want to be hit. He couldn't imagine how much damage a single blow would do to him. Wrath suddenly stopped assaulting Deniel, giving him a little more room to catch his breath.

The one who seemed to be catching his breath the most, though, was Wrath. The beast panted heavily, taking one deep breath after the other as smoke emitted from its nostrils. "YOU...ARE...ANNOYING!" The beast shouted at almost the top of its lungs, taking have breaths between each word. And once Wrath had finished the last word, he smashed both arms into the ground, creating a shock wave powerful enough to send Deniel flying high above the arena. "HOLD! STILL!" As Wrath flew up to catch up with Deniel, holding still was the last thing Deniel could do. Carefully and quickly avoiding Wrath's attack, Deniel maneuvered his way behind Wrath using his wings, and transformed Armageddon into its scythe form. Wrapping the scythe around Wrath, Deniel swung his body in a spiral motion, causing his scythe to first cut deep into Wrath's flesh, before flinging him back down to the arena. Deniel himself slowly descended down to the ground, and just as he did, he knew what was going to happen. Preparing himself, he held out Armageddon in its sword form right in front of himself, and concentrated. The moment he saw Wrath move from where he landed, he extended Armageddon. Sure enough, he impaled Wrath right in its stomach area as the monstrous demon was going in for another blow.

Having the advantage, Deniel held Wrath up like a harpooned whale, and extended Armageddon further. Then he smashed Wrath down on the arena several times, swinging him around, before ultimately finishing it off with one last crash to the ground. And then there was...silence. As Deniel pulled Armageddon back to its initial position, there was complete silence in the arena. He was surprised that the crowd gave no reaction, and Wrath hadn't done anything yet. You have made a grave mistake, Deniel.

Notes

Stats:

"TASTE! MY! WRATH!"

"What?" His father's voice catching him off guard once again, Wrath almost exploded out of the cloud of smoke and debris created by his impact. His fist, for the first time, made contact with Deniel's stomach, and it was unlike anything that had ever hit Deniel before. Humans would describe it as, "Getting hit by a train." As the massive fist pounded his scales, even if it was just once, he felt several rib bones crack, shatter, and impale in his own lungs. His abdominal muscles ached, and his stomach made it feel like he was going to vomit. One punch was all Wrath did to demonstrate his power, letting Deniel fly across the arena into one of the walls. The impact of the wall made everything worse. He felt his spine crack, as well as some of his back rib bones, and although there was no damage to his skull, his crown atop his head had begun to crack, both in the front and the back. Deniel could hear Diabolos laughing more so than usual. "I warned you, Deniel! You piss off Wrath too much, and you will die!" Deniel saw Wrath standing there in the center of the arena, breathing harder than it ever did before. Smoke came out of its nostrils like chimneys, and it felt as though Wrath was on fire from its rage.

"Guess what, dad?" Deniel gagged as he pushed himself off of the arena's wall. He fell down to the ground, on both of his knees with his insides on fire. Blood leaked from his mouth, and he coughed up a great amount of stomach acid. He clenched on to his stomach, and stood up. "The same goes for me!" Transforming Armageddon into a scythe once again, Deniel sprinted straight to Wrath with rage slowly filling his heart as well. As Wrath went into attack Deniel once again, Deniel performed yet another somersault, this time over Wrath's head. When Deniel reached his shoulder area, he straightened himself out, and gripped Wrath by the neck using his sword. It was enough to cut through the flesh, but not enough to decapitate him. However, that is not what Deniel was going for. Carefully slamming Wrath down, Deniel used Armageddon's scythe as a way to hold Wrath by his neck on the ground. A seemingly foolish idea, Diabolos wondered exactly what Deniel was up to. Wrath could have easily escaped that...and it seemed like Wrath was about to.

Placing his firm hands on Armageddon when he hit the ground, Deniel attempted to lift the scythe...but could not. Trying again, with much more strength, Wrath still was not able to. Deniel stood there, watching as Wrath attempted to lift up Armageddon to no avail. Every time it seemed Wrath would be able to successfully lift it, it just got heavier. Suddenly Wrath felt something strike it across the face. Looking up in complete rage, Deniel saw the face of Deniel, sharing the same face as his master...and he looked pissed. Hitting him once more, this time much harder, Deniel practically roared in rage right into Wrath's face. "You're finished!"

Notes

Stats:

"Take Pride in defeat."

Deniel continuously hit Wrath in his demonic face without mercy or stopping. It seemed as if his punches weren't doing anything at all, until he began to go faster, and harder. Soon he could feel the shattering of Wrath's skull at his fist's impact, and he knew he was dealing some real damage. He could do this all day, until he managed do kill Wrath by pounding his skull in, but Diabolos would not allow then. Hearing his father's voice once more, Deniel stopped punching Wrath: "You are victorious, Deniel!" Blood was oozing out of Wrath's nose, and even from its eyes and mouth. Deniel reached for his scythe, and removed Wrath from its restraints. The monstrous creature stood up with its clawed hand over its nose, and gave Deniel a look in his eyes. "You...are strong." It said calmly before exiting the arena. Sheathing Armageddon on his back, Deniel felt battle fatigue and exhaustion consume his body. He dropped down on one of his knees, and the pain from Wrath's earlier blow entered him once more. He temporarily ignored it from his rage, but now that he had calmed down, he felt miserable. His stomach was on fire, and so were the rest of his muscles. He had a massive headache, and felt like he was going to collapse any second now. Choking on breaths, Deniel gave a sudden vomit on the arena floor, and the sight of it caused him to vomit again.

"Judging by your condition, I think it's best you take a--" Deniel's voice cut off Diabolos's, almost as loud as he could. "NO! I WILL FIGHT! I WILL CONTINUE!" Deniel drew Armageddon once more and used the massive broadsword as a way to help himself stand up. He struggled heavily, with his legs shaking from fatigue. His vision was blurry and hazy, and he could barely see anything but darkness. Diabolos narrowed his eyes, hesitant on letting the last Sin Lieutenant enter the arena. Without his master's approval, and only on Deniel's answer, the last of them stood up from his throne, and exited to the arena. Diabolos became worried for Deniel's condition. The Nephalem was struggling to stand up, how did he expect to take on his strongest Sin Lieutenant? Although he wanted to kill Deniel himself, if it was his son's choice to die by Pride's hand, then so be it. Or maybe I'll just step in for the kill at the last second. Hahahah! Diabolos sat himself back down on his throne seat just as soon as his last Lieutenant entered the arena.

Deniel was no longer concerned with footsteps or being able to tell how big the new Lieutenant was or...whatever. All he could think about now was staying alive and kicking this last one's ass. He could have very easily have taken a break or asked to be given the opportunity to heal himself, but he had something to prove. He wanted to prove to Diabolos just how strong he was. He was strong enough to consecutively defeat all of his Lieutenants. Deniel nearly collapsed from exhaustion again, using Armageddon to hold himself up. Deniel, are you sure about this? There's still time to call off the match. If you don't, you'll die! Nidhogg, too, was worried for his master's well being. He took a serious beating earlier, even if it was just one punch, and Deniel seemed to be in no condition to fight. "Positive, buddy."

Notes

Stats:

"Take Pride in defeat!"

Glancing up at the arena's other entrance, Deniel saw that the last Sin Lieutenant didn't take his sweet time getting out. He was already there, standing tall and proud. He appeared to be a normal human, except for some assets. He wore black and white clothing with golden designs on them, as well as red cuffs on his sleeves. His hair was golden blonde, and long just like a woman...like Arianna. On his back were both angelic and demonic wings, five for each. On the right side of his body were five feathered white wings, and on the left side were leathery bat demonic wings, five in total. On the back of his head were two smaller wings of each kind, totaling up to six. There was a purple marking on the left side of his eye, looking almost like a lightning bolt. His sky-blue eyes, similar to Deniel, seemed to stare down at him in pity. "Greetings, brother." The Sin Lieutenant said very briefly. Deniel fell down to one knee again, but struggled his way back up. "Brother...?" Deniel panted through heavy breaths. The Lieutenant nodded. "I am Pride. The last of the Sin Lieutenants and...a Nephalem. I am one of your brothers, but I chose to serve my father rather than die." Deniel gave a brief laughter, only to have it interrupted by a gag of blood. He let the liquid flow out of his mouth and on to the arena floor, mixed up with his stomach acid vomit, and then said: "Oh yeah? Why? You take pride in killing your own kin? Seeing them die at the hands of your daddy?"

Pride spread both of his wings out wide, and slowly started to ascend into the air, "Your insults mean nothing. Soon you shall be dead like the rest. I survived because I am not a fool." Gagging once more, Deniel laughed at Pride as he struggled to stand, but pointed Armageddon straight at him anyway. "Bring it on, brother! You'll fall like the rest!" Frowning, Pride gave a wave of his hand, and instantly there were five orbs of Chaos Energy surrounding Deniel. Chaos Energy...Deniel recognized the substance, having used it before. Attempt to flee from the five orbs, Pride snapped his fingers, and instantly there was a massive explosion of Chaos Energy throughout the entire arena, even coming to Pride. The Nephalem used a Chaos Energy shield that surrounded his body so he could protect himself from the explosion. "Pathetic..." The purple explosion quickly faded away, but Pride did not expect to see Deniel as a vaporized corpse. That spell was hardly a B rank one, and did not expect too much damage. Once everything was cleared, Pride could see Deniel. His body was smoking with the intense damage that had been done to it, and there were many more bruises on him. "IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT!?" Deniel taunted pride. He made no move to counter attack his brother, but still tried to retain his image of strength.

Pride was not fooled by the faulty behavior. He knew his brother was on the last strings of his life, and was more than happy to see it come to an end. The purple Chaos Energy surrounded Pride's arm as he raised it up, "Vanish." He bluntly stated before swinging his arm. A large cut of Chaos Energy made its way straight towards Deniel, and the Black Devil stared up at it with his red eyes. "DENIEL! If that attack hits you, it's over!"

Notes

Stats:

"TAKE PRIDE IN DEFEAT!"

Lifting up Armageddon with both hands, Deniel mustered up every last bit of his remaining strength, and used one of his spells, Strike of the Black Devil, to cut Pride's slash of Chaos Energy in half right down the center, narrowly avoiding it.  Just as he did, Deniel's Black Devil Take Over de-activated itself for a fraction of a second before turning back on, and he could feel himself weaken a little bit. "What's going on?" Deniel coughed and gripped Armageddon with both hands, as if ready to strike. "Your Full Body Take Over is about to expire. Unless you win now, you're dead, Deniel!" Dead...that word flashed into Deniel's mind, and before his very eyes. It was as if he didn't realize it until now. He was almost dead. His Full Body Take Over was fading, his strength was dwindling, his fake heart was racing, his body was in a miserable condition. Unless he did something now. He was going to die. "No!" Deniel's voice echoed throughout the arena like thunder, and as he refused to die, an inferno of Unholy Energy surrounded Deniel, fueled by his rage and instinct to survive. He transcended his limits. As if he were completely healed and reborn, Deniel raised Armageddon with both hands, and jumped high into the air, going after Pride.

"A futile attempt..." Pride merely said as he opened his palm in Deniel's direction. But as if he couldn't keep up with him, Pride suddenly felt the blade of Armageddon sink into the flesh of his stomach. He looked to see Deniel was already at his location, with Armageddon impaled in Pride. Quickly digging the blade out of him, Deniel slashed Pride as hard as he could, sending him darting towards the ground. Just before Pride reached the ground, Deniel did before him, holding up Armageddon for pride to be impaled on, along with the force of Deniel's previous attack. The Black Devil then threw Pride off of his blade, and but not before cutting his backside just before he reached the ground with a thud. With his inferno still burning, Deniel quickly went over to Pride, grabbing him by his long hair, and holding Armageddon to his neck. "STOP!" Deniel heard Diabolos's voice once more, and he looked to see his father standing up from his throne, with the rest of his Sin Lieutenants at his side. "You are victorious, Deniel. Let him go." Staring at his father with anger, Deniel reluctantly let go of Pride's hair, and then suddenly dropped to his knees. The inferno that fueled Deniel suddenly faded, and he could barely keep himself up. He fell to the ground, just as Pride stood up with his body bleeding and wounded.

"Right now, dad! I can kill him right now if you please!" Pride charged up his index finger with Chaos Energy, and pointed it at Deniel's head. Deniel could feel rage enter his body once again, but it quickly died off. He was now powerless. "You...bastard..." Deniel assumed Diabolos would let Pride do it. Pride stared down at Deniel, with his blue eyes filled with pure insanity. Deniel stared back at him with his rage-filled red eyes, and awaited his end. But just as Deniel thought the end of his life would arrive, Diabolos grabbed on to Pride's wrist, and lifted his son's arm up and away from Deniel. "You will do no such thing." And without hesitation, Diabolos slammed his fist into Pride's gut, knocking his son out. He then stared down at Deniel, whose vision just started to fade as his eyes closed. And his Black Devil Take Over disappeared from his body, leaving him as a bloodied passed out body...and then everything faded, with only his last memory being Diabolos smirking at him.

Notes

Stats:

"..."

The droopy eyes of Deniel opened for a fraction of a second, catching only a giant blur. When they opened once more, things become a little more vivid, but not entirely. He also began to feel something around his body. Something warm...and wet. Water. Hot water. Opening his eyes a fourth time, he saw almost everything in front of him. He was inside of a hot spring, with his dad Diabolos right in front of him, sitting in the water. Deniel was also in the water, with his clothes missing. Swiftly shaking his head, the Nephalem stood up in alarm, water around him, "Woah! What!? Where am I!?" Diabolos had been waiting for Deniel to wake up, but the suddenness of what just happened caught him off guard. "Woah! Woah! Calm down ya' little shit!" Panting, Deniel tried to calm himself down...he didn't know where he was. In fact, his last memory was a bit of a blur. He sat back down in the warm water of the hot spring, which felt much more relaxing now, and looked uncomfortably at Diabolos. He wasn't too fond of being naked in a hot spring with his father...especially one he hated.

"What happened, Dad?" Diabolos relaxed both of his arms against the rocks that were behind him, and stared up at the lighted ceiling. "You passed out. Not that I can blame you. You seriously whooped ass out there. Hahahah!" Deniel felt the discomfort itching into his skin by the second. He hugged himself in the water, and backed away from Diabolos, who made no move to try and get any closer, but he did question. "What's the matter, Son? Something bugging you?" A lot was bugging Deniel, actually. But he decided to get the elephant in the room out first..."Why haven't you killed me yet, dad? And why are you doing this for me?" Diabolos laughed at Deniel's question, as if it were a pointless interrogative statement. "Why not have some father-son bonding time? Plus I'm not going to fight you when you're weak as Hell and about to die. That's for cowards." Narrowing his eyes at Diabolos, Deniel crossed his arms across his chest instead of simply holding himself. "Father-son bonding? Please..." Diabolos laughed at Deniel's remark once more, and even went as far as to splashing a bit of water at him. "Hahahaha! What's wrong with that? You're going to die anyway, and I haven't really been there for you at all. So why not spend your last few hours with you?"

"And what makes you so confident that you'll be able to kill me?" Deniel was starting to stir up the hornet's nest. But he wanted to test and see if Diabolos was true to his word. If he taunted and questioned him as he did, would he ever break? "Because I've seen you fight several times in a row, in different situations. I've been able to measure your strength. And I also have resolve on my side." Deniel narrowed his eyes further, and raised his eyebrow. "Resolve?" Diabolos looked up once more, and then back down at Deniel, with a grim expression on his face. "Yes...to avenge my wife!"

Notes

"..."

Silence filled the room they were in. Diabolos's angered red eyes looked straight into eyes that resembled them, ones that were filled with concern and suspicion. "You really loved her, didn't you?" Diabolos's frown only got worse, and he scoffed at Deniel. "Of course I did. What part of your dumbass mind thought I didn't!?" Ignoring Diabolos's rude comment about his intellect, Deniel inquired: "How did you two meet? And who exactly were you before you were...married? And a Devil. Give me your side of the story." Letting out a long sigh, Diabolos stared up once more, and said: "Where do I begin...? Diabolos wasn't always my name. But I forgot what it was...I can't remember. I don't know why. Anyway, before the land of Iceberg became the frozen wasteland you know today, thousands of years ago, it was one of the leading farming nations in all of Earthland...and I was the son of quite a rich and wealthy man. My dad...I forgot his name, too. But...I remember her. Arianna..."

Deniel's curiosity started to get the better of him. Arianna never told him this much about the two of them. She only told the part of the story where they fell in love and married. ...But how did they meet? "Since I was a kid, she was meant to be my personal servant until I died. I don't know how my parents convinced her to do something like that, but that's what it was supposed to be. My personal servant, nothing more..." An image flashed in Diabolos's mind. One where he and Arianna woke up like any other day.



Diabolos slept in his own room, and a very grand one. He was around eight years old by the time the memory started. A little kid he was. He still had his short black hair, although the dirty blonde bangs hadn't fully developed. There was a small sign of them, but not a whole lot. His room was highly decorated and filled with toys, anything a kid could ever want, as well as his own personal library and workplace. He was to inherit all of his father's belongings, so he had to know how to deal with it...even at an early age. As Diabolos awoke from his slumber and climbed out of his enormous bed, there was a knock on his door. "Come in!" Diabolos was only dressed in a pair of black jeans with his shirt off. He made his way over to a grand window at the side of his room, right opposite to the door. He stared down into the sunlight green plains below, with the beautiful area that surrounded his father's...castle. The door opened, and a little girl around his age, but shorter than him entered. She was blonde with sky blue eyes, and she wore a black and white maid outfit. She entered shyly, not bearing to look Diabolos in the eye. "U-ummm....M-Master. I-it's time for you t-to...ummmmm..." Diabolos stared back at the little girl that entered, a little irritated, but excited. "Train!?" The girl shook her head and continued, "N-no...umm....e-eat your breakfast..." The boy seemed relatively unamused and disappointed. Training was his favorite part of the day.

"Fine. Whatever. I'll be down there momentarily." She closed the door behind her, and quietly shuffled to the shirtless Diabolos. "U-umm..M-master I...you....you should...put a shirt on." Diabolos seemed relatively uninterested, and didn't get why he had to. "Why? You're not the boss of me, Arianna!"

Notes

"..."

"Arianna was originally my servant, you see. My personal one. A maid, if you will. I was never supposed to fall in love with her, much less marry her. But...we did spend a lot of time together. Even training. I remembered I always beat her, and she would just sit there and cry." Diabolos laughed briefly, and Deniel even gave his dad a smile. Knowing how he met his mother it....it brought a sense of comfort into Deniel. One that didn't see him as a bloodthirsty monster anymore. "We had our first kiss when we were around ten years old...she was still shy. And I didn't know I loved her. It wasn't until we were around fifteen did she stop becoming so shy around me and I...I realized that I loved her. And we didn't tell my mother and father until we were eighteen. They weren't happy about it at first but...eventually they warmed up to her. And at a young age, Arianna and I married." Diabolos gave a warm smile to himself, something Deniel hadn't seen. Apparently talking about that made his father happy. Deniel no longer felt a huge disconnection between the two of them...just like he did with Arianna. When he learned who they truly were, they didn't seem like such horrible people anymore.

But Diabolos's expression suddenly turned grim once more. "But you killed her, Deniel. And for that...I need to kill you. I can't wait for you and I to get into the arena...and for me to rip you to pieces!" Deniel frowned back at Diabolos, and suddenly neither being no longer felt sympathy for the other. Diabolos suddenly stood up, completely nude, and Deniel did the same. Both of them scowled at each other, and Diabolos harshly told him: "Get your shit together, Deniel. You have an hour. Don't waste it. Your clothes should be back in your room. And as for your katana...we had to get it to your room in a much more impractical way, but it's still there. I'm guessing only you can lift it?" Deniel nodded, and Diabolos exited the hot spring, leaving Deniel behind. "See you then, son." And with that, Diabolos exited the area, leaving Deniel alone.

Deniel didn't wait too long to get out, just around five more minutes. Wrapping a towel around his waist, Deniel navigated his way through parts of the Obsidian Palace, mainly through the hallways, until he finally found his room. Entering, he found his clothes just as Diabolos promised, neatly washed and folded. Deniel first put on his black boxers, before slipping into his shorts, and then his black t-shirt. He placed each of his feet into his boots before finally finishing it off with his coat and glove on his left hand. He used his right hand to style his hair back to its initial position, spiking the very back while brushing down the front and the sides. Nidhogg was left on his bed just as Diabolos promised, and Deniel couldn't be more happy to see him. "Deniel! You're alive! I can't believe it! You...you reckless kid!" Deniel smiled at his sword as he picked it up, and held it in both hands as he sat down on his bed. "Nidhogg...sorry for worrying you. I guess I got a little bit carried away."

The two of them then talked for about forty minutes about what had happened while Deniel was out, and apologized to each other. Diabolos gave him an hour...and his time was soon up. "So...it's time, now?" Deniel nodded at Nidhogg, and looked up just as Diabolos had done. He didn't know why his dad did it so often but...now it seemed he got into the habit.

"Time to kill Dad!"

Notes

"Make the Devil cry!"

"Let's do this!"


Deniel practically jumped up from his seat on his bed as he walked over to the door of his room within the Obsidian Palace, and slowly opened it. Pure True Obsidian surrounded him as he walked along the red carpet that lead him to the ultimate fight of his life. He could see nothing but the blackness of True Obsidian as his boots softly banged against the red golden trimmed carpet. It was his gateway into Hell as he made his way over to the arena...

Diabolos had several of his servants prepare him for his battle, although preparation was not needed. He knew he was going to win. He saw his son fight against his seven Sin Lieutenants, and there was no doubt in the Black Devil's mind that he would live to see another day, while the corpse of Deniel would be at his feet. Regardless, he wanted to strike as much fear into Deniel's heart as he possibly could, so his servants prepared his armor. Pure black plated armor that covered his body from his neck all the way down to his feet. There was only blackness to be seen with it...two massive heavy pauldrons made Diabolos's shoulders to appear much more massive, as his hands were inserted into gauntlets as black as the night sky. Then a chest plate that covered both his front side and his back was put together at Diabolos's torso, right above his clothes, before greaves were placed at his legs to cover them as well. Diabolos's body was well-protected, but this armor served no purpose to protect him. Only to make him appear as grand as possible. A red cloak was strapped to Diabolo's shoulders, that ran all the way down near his ankles. The Black Devil was ready to kill his son Deniel.

Escorted by no one, both Deniel and Diabolos began to enter the arena at the same time. The two of them made their way past their respective waiting rooms, before heading down the hallway. As the two of them approached, the Seven Sin Lieutenants seated themselves upon their thrones, not accompanied by Diabolos for the first time. As the Black Devil and his son proceeded down the hallways, angels began to weep at the sheer magnitude of the battle that was about to take place. One of the most evil creatures to ever exist...about to wage battle with his strongest son to date. Deniel felt his fake pulse rise and race as the light of the arena was just a few feet ahead of him, and a rush of adrenaline and excitement entered Diabolos's mind. The Black Devil, and his son...then entered the arena. At the same time.

The black clothed Nephalem gazed upon his father, covered in black armor as if he were a Knight of Pure Darkness, a force sent from Hell to wreak havoc. Diabolos's intent for his armor had succeeded, striking a little bit of fear into his son's heart. But regardless, Deniel was determined, determined to win this battle and retain his toughened image. No words came out of the mouth of either of them, as they stared each other down. Although inside of an inactive volcano, a small gust of wind was created...from the sheer magnitude of both of their powers. Making the first move, Deniel's body ignited in Unholy Energy just as it did the day before, but only this time, his body was invisible underneath. An inferno of Unholy Energy surrounded Deniel, and a few feet out and away from him, as transformed himself into the Black Devil. After only a few seconds, Deniel emerged with his Full Body Take Over transforming his appearance. Black scales covered his body, and his face appeared to be filled with rage, along with his abomination of a broadsword on his back. Deniel took in a deep breath, and let out a roar. It was a roar that had a sense of humanity within it, but still sounded like a beast nonetheless. This roar shook no one or anything, and as Deniel finished, he saw that Diabolos approached the center of the arena, clapping and laughing.

"Not bad...Deniel. But let me show you how it's done."



A brief moment of silence. And then, there was lava. First it surrounded Diabolos's feet in a very small circle, and Deniel noted the position he was in. He was directly underneath the volcano's hole. Just as the lava surrounded Diabolos in a circle, it suddenly erupted in an inferno of lava, in a cylinder shape, spiraling upwards towards the sky. The volcano was inactive because he was its eruption. As the intense heat covered the arena and into Deniel's face, it grew more intense. The lava spiraled and circled Diabolos, as it spewed outwards and on to the land of Sin from the outside. Just as Deniel thought it was going to stop, it got more intense. The cylinder of lava extended itself out a few feet, but just enough to where it was going out of all of the volcano's top. Then...blackness. A sudden blackness of evil and unholiness corrupted the lava, turning it into a Black Lava...unlike anything Deniel had ever seen before! And beneath this black lava, Deniel saw the red eyes of hatred and rage. The eyes of Diabolos the Black Devil, open up. It struck fear into Deniel's heart, somehow, just by staring at them. And as those eyes opened up, the lava very quickly exploded in a blinding light, fading away entirely. Diabolos was left standing there...transformed into his true appearance. It completely resembled Deniel.

Black scales. Red eyes. Crown with a jewel on the center. Claws. Bug-like wings. Boots with extended soles. Armor on his shoulders. Armor on his chest. Horns on his crown. All of it resembled Deniel, except a few inches taller. And yet...Deniel could almost not bear to witness his own image. Not only that, but on Diabolos's back was a sword sheathed...that perfectly resembled Armageddon. Diabolos closed his eyes for a brief moment, and as he opened them, he let out a roar. A roar that was much more fierce than Deniel's. A roar that had no sense of humanity, mercy, goodness, valor, virtue, love, kindness, or happiness behind it. A roar that was impossible to mimic by any other living creature. A roar so powerful it shook the arena, and knocked Deniel back into one of the walls as the winds and vibrations of it gathered up in the arena and circled around like a tornado. The audience and the Sin Lieutenants were protected. And upon seeing their lord transform, the audience of demons cheered, roared, and snarled. But no roar from them could ever match up to Diabolos's frenzied cry. It lasted for several tens of seconds before ending, and once it did, Deniel got back on to his feet. Diabolos stared into him with hatred in his eyes, and all Deniel could do was stare back in fear. The battle had begun.

Notes

Stats:

"Make the Devil cry!"

Still dumbstruck in his own fear, Deniel made no effort to block or counter Diabolos's first attack. It's not like he could, anyway. Diabolos immediately closed the gap between him and his son, and the very first thing he did was bash his head straight into Deniel, headbutting him and causing the jewel and crown atop Deniel's head to shatter, whilst Diabolos's remained in tact. "You don't deserve this crown!" Gripping one of the horns on Deniel's crown, Diabolos flung his son over his shoulder towards the center of the arena, with such force that the crown came clean off of Deniel's head, showing the spiked black hair underneath. Diabolos stared at the false crown, and then dropped it on the ground, before shortly smashing it under his heel. He gave a sinister grin as Deniel tumbled on to the ground, but slowly stood himself back up. Armageddon was still sheathed on his back, and he didn't dare draw it. He was too scared of Diabolos, and his father could see it in his eyes and his posture. Closing the gap once again, Diabolos gave Deniel a fist straight into his stomach, launching him sky high, out of the arena and the volcano. "GO FLY!"

Deniel felt a sharp sting of pain into his stomach, and very shortly after that he felt his body pierce through the hair, out of the arena. He was soon up into the cloudy skies of Sin, and could see almost all of the land below. "Get a grip, Deniel!" Nidhogg, as Armageddon on his back, witnessed how his master was being tossed around like a rag doll. Shaking his head, and attempting to shake the fear from himself, Deniel used his bug-like wings to stop his flight, and then he drew Armageddon from his back. He pointed it down, straight towards the arena, as Unholy Energy surrounded the sword and himself. Deniel launched himself from where he was, spiraling himself with Armageddon, clenching on to the sword with both hands. "Drill of Armageddon!"

Back down in the arena, Diabolos stared up at the sky, with one hand placed over his eyes to shield them from the light. "Huuuh..." He saw a very faint twinkle of redness, until suddenly a huge barrage of Unholy Energy entered back into the arena, impaling Diabolos at his stomach. Diabolos gagged as Deniel's drill penetrated his flesh, and sent him straight towards the wall. Even when Diabolos collided with the wall, Deniel kept it going. Diabolos let out a brief laughter, "Hahahahah! Very good, son!" Diabolos placed both of his hands around Deniel's sword, and then using all of his strength, pushed so hard that the Unholy Energy surrounding Deniel shattered like glass, and his spell suddenly stopped. "But not..." Diabolos slammed one foot onto the ground, and grabbed Deniel by his wrist. He swung his son around around several times, before flinging him into the air. "GOOD..." He followed Deniel into the air of the arena, and smashed him down to the ground with both fists, "ENOUGH!"

Deniel gagged at the force of Diabolos's hit as blood poured out of his mouth. He never felt something so powerful before, and something told him that wasn't even the limits of Diabolos's power. Diabolos jumped off of Deniel, watching as his son slowly got up. Deniel saw that his attack against Diabolos had only punctured his skin, but nothing more. A small bit of blood trickled down Diabolos's stomach, but did not faze him. Diabolos drew the sword that resembled Armageddon from his back, and waited for Deniel to get up. As he did, he looked at Diabolos's sword, and then at his own. "How did you--" "Armageddon was modeled after my sword. Ragnarok. Who do you even think forged Nidhogg, anyway?" Deniel felt fear enter his heart once again. Diabolos made this sword for him? "No way! That can't be true! Why would you--" "So I can see you wield it against me one day. And consider it a gift for all the birthdays and Christmases I've missed. Now, come on!" Deniel was on his two feet, with Armageddon drawn, while Diabolos had his sword Ragnarok drawn as well. Now it was on to the swords.

Notes

Stats:

"Make the Devil cry!"

The two figures, with both of their swords drawn, circled each other. Very swiftly the beetle wings on each of their backs began to rattle, and at the same time each of them looked back at their wings and said: "I hate bugs."
"I hate bugs."

Both of them were slightly stunned by them speaking at the same time, and then smirked at each other. Naturally, Deniel made the very first move against Diabolos. Raising his sword up he slashed down at his dad, with his father blocking the move relatively easy. Diabolos followed up the parry with a strike from below, to which Deniel deflected and went in for a jab. Diabolos very easily avoided Deniel's attack by twisting his body to the side, with Deniel's blade passing right by him. Bringing his blade back, Diabolos saw an opening, and went in for yet another cut. However Deniel was much more agile than Diabolos had anticipated. Deniel leaped right over Diabolos's head, before swiftly going in for a horizontal strike. To Deniel's satisfaction, the blow landed, cutting Diabolos's flesh once more. At first satisfied with the hit, Deniel very quickly regretted his decision, as he heard Diabolos not grunt, groan, or sound angry, but instead laugh. "Hahahah! Good one!" Diabolos turned to Deniel, but did not strike him. Deniel was dumbstruck with fear once again, but instead of assaulting him, Diabolos held his arms wide open.

"Attack me, Deniel. With all of your strength. And I will show you the true difference in our power!" Surprised by the sudden cockiness expressed by Diabolos, Deniel saw this as his chance to perhaps do the most damage as he possibly could to Diabolos that could help win the fight. Clenching on Armageddon's hilt as hard as he could, Deniel brought the sword up into the air, exclaiming: "Fine! Your mistake, Dad! Eat this!" With every ounce of strength Deniel could muster from his body, he cut through Diabolos's shoulder, all the way down to his waist, in the most devastating attack possible. Likewise when Deniel's blade cut through his skin, flesh, and muscles, his strike slowed down. But once he finished it, blood poured out of Diabolos's body, but all the Black Devil could do...was laugh once more. "Hahahah! Watch....HOW IT'S DONE!" Diabolos gave a slash so swift that Deniel couldn't even keep up with it. It was also the exact same way Deniel cut Diabolos, from the shoulder all the way down to the waist. But this one from Diabolos...was unlike anything he felt before. Not only did Deniel spill more blood, the cut was also deeper, and he felt an immeasurable amount of pain. Widening his eyes, Deniel let out a cry. A cry of pain, a pain that he had never felt in his entire life.

Diabolos watched as his son screamed in pain, and briefly swung his sword to wipe the blood off of it. Even while Deniel screamed, he spoke to him as if he were listening. "And there you have it, Deniel. You'll never be able to defeat me like that. The difference between us is immeasurable. No matter how much power you can gain, you'll never be able to stand up to me." Turning his feeling of despair and sadness along with pain into anger, Deniel let out a cry of war, and then began to relentlessly slash at Diabolos. He first gave him a stab to the stomach, and then a horizontal followed by a vertical slash. The Black Devil merely stood there, taking all three, before he stopped the fourth. "You still don't get it..." he quietly said to Deniel. His bare hand stopped Armageddon, and even with both hands on his sword and all of his strength, Deniel's couldn't budge Diabolos's hand. "You are not going to win this, Deniel. Not in a million years."

Diabolos used his free hand to give Deniel a sucker punch to his stomach, making the Nephalem gag and cease pouring his strength into his sword. Diabolos took this opportunity to perform one of Deniel's signature roundhouse kicks, straight into his jaw. "I don't care!" Said Deniel as he grabbed on to Diabolos's boot that was just about to collide with his jaw. "I'll win! I have to!" Diabolos became annoyed with Deniel's unnecessary heroism and need for victory. But he still had plenty of ways to show the Nephalem victor was impossible. "Very well! Bring on your fists, son! I will show you what true skill and strength are!" Deniel let go of Diabolos's boot, letting him drop it to the ground, and sheathed Armageddon on his back. Each one raised his fists. Deniel was the first one to attack, with a simple punch to Diabolos's face. But instead of blocking, dodging, or counter attacking, Diabolos did the same exact motion, colliding his knuckles with Deniel's. The younger of the two then brought his knee towards Diabolos's stomach, only to have it stopped by Diabolos's knee as well. Deniel brought his knee and his fist back swiftly, performing a round house kick to Diabolos just as his father did before, kicking his leg high up.

Deniel felt his foot collide with something, but it was not Diabolos's jaw. It was his father's foot. Deniel swiftly jumped back in hopes of not getting counter attacked, only to see Diabolos do the same. "What!?" Deniel charged back it with both of his fists at the same time, only to see Diabolos do the exact same thing. Deniel's surprised face looked straight at Diabolos's, with a cocky smirk. "I know how you fight!" Deniel and Diabolos shoved each other away, with Deniel drawing his sword. Diabolos did the same, and as Deniel came at him with a series of slashes, Diabolos blocked them by performing the exact same slashes at the same time...colliding at a perfect point. Even with Deniel's jab, Diabolos's sword blocked it on the very tip. "Even swordplay! I can mimic your every move!"

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Stats:

"Make the Devil Cry!"

Deniel retracted his sword, and Diabolos did the same. "That's impossible! How!?" For once, Diabolos did not laugh at Deniel. He only sighed, as if he were disappointed in the boy. "You have much to learn, Deniel. How old are you?" A little bit stunned by the question, Deniel thought about it for a second or two, before answering him. "Nineteen." Diabolos sighed once again, and shook his head. "And there you go. Not even in another hundred years will you best me, Deniel. I've lived far much longer than you have. I've lost count to how old I am, and how many generations of Nephalem Arianna and I have gone through. I've faced my children so many times that I've ascended to a level in which no Nephalem could ever best me unless he has trained for thousands of years. But of course...you're all too reckless to know that." Diabolos scowled at Deniel, and then swung Ragnarok in a circular motion in one of his hands, before pointing it at his son. "Normally I would give my children quick and painless deaths for amusing me...but you killed Arianna. You deserve to suffer! Now come on!" Diabolos went in for another attack against Deniel, with Deniel narrowly blocking his blow. He went in for a second one, with the same result. After the two blocks, Deniel took advantage of the opening, and gave a swift cut to Diabolos once again.

But just like every other time he tried attacking him, Diabolos only laughed at what was supposed to be pain. He swiftly grabbed Deniel by the arm, and then began to swing and toss him around like a rag doll. He smashed Deniel on the ground one side, and then flung him over to the other, repeating this action several times, each time Deniel feeling an immense amount of pain with the force Diabolos put into each swing. After only around five swings or so, Diabolos flung Deniel into the wall of one of his arenas, staggering the Nephalem. Deniel knew what was coming up next, so he prepared himself to block. And just as he expected, Diabolos closed the gap between the two and already got an attack in. If it weren't for Deniel's instincts and knowledge of Diabolos so far, the attack would have connected, and left Deniel grievously wounded. Jumping away from Diabolos and the wall, Deniel found himself at the opposite end of the arena, with Diabolos not following him. Deniel decided that he should try another spell with Diabolos, so he opened his mouth wide, and took a deep breath in. "Shout..." As Deniel breathed out, a Magic Circle appeared in front of his mouth, causing his breath that he launched out to become a huge beam of destructive Unholy Energy.

"Of the Devil!" The exact same move. Diabolos did the exact same spell Deniel had, conjuring up an even greater amount of Unholy Energy into his mouth before spewing it out. There was no doubt that Diabolos's shout was much stronger than Deniel's, easily overpowering his in a matter of seconds. And not giving his son the chance to evade him once again, Diabolos closed the gap between the two, and cut his son another time.

Notes:

Stats:

"Make the Devil cry!"

I can't win... Those were the first thoughts that entered Deniel's mind just as Diabolos's blade cut through him, creating an X shape when it crossed with the first. Deniel attempted to fall back, but knew it would be futile. He escaped Diabolos by going to another side of the arena, dropped down to one knee, and clenched his fist. Diabolos swung his blade to wipe the blood off and made no attempt to go after him. Deniel clenched his chest, and panted like a dog. Nidhogg! What do I do? I can't win! Deniel pleaded to his sword for help, as he was the only one he could go to. He saw no chance of winning, yet he asked if there was. Think, Deniel! What do you lack that he has? Ludicrous. And useless. After all they had been through, was this the end? Deniel found Nidhogg's advice utterly useless, and thought this was his hand. In response to his sword, Deniel yelled to him in his mind: EVERYTHING! HE HAS EVERYTHING! ...Everything. Deniel noticed that he was clenching on to his chest. The spot where the horrendous scar created by Vergil was. Why would Vergil do such a thing for him? It served no usefulness in his life ever. But Vergil was able to predict when Deniel was 'ready' to take on his mother and father. ...That was it! Deniel found the one and only way he could win this fight.

As Diabolos's heavy footsteps approached him, with his sword drawn, Deniel got up from his knee and had Armageddon ready. He could feel the strength between him and his Take Over just one thread away from being snapped, which meant he had to do this without getting hit. "You're finished, Deniel!" Diabolos said as he raised his sword, and swung it. Deniel slid directly under Diabolos, giving off a quick strike at the armor around his chest. Diabolos, of course, felt no pain as his armor protected him, and when Deniel got to the other side, he swung again. Deniel ducked under it, and gave another swing at Diabolos's armor, while also cutting a little bit at his stomach area. Diabolos kept on attacking, only to have Deniel dodge it every time and go for his armor. What was he up to? His dodging was getting very annoying and irritating to Diabolos, so he increased the force and speed in which he tried attacking his son. Eventually Deniel's attacks were enough: Diabolos's armor around his chest area fell down to the ground, shattered in pieces.

"What are you up to, Deniel!?" Diabolos insisted, demanded for his son to explain what he was doing. Deniel sheathed Armageddon, and held up his fists for his father. "Come and find out, Dad!" Diabolos sheathed Ragnarok, and clenched both of his fists, accepting Deniel's challenge. "Very well, then!" They went in for each other, Diabolos mimicking Deniel's attacks once more. Deniel needed to make sure Diabolos was doing it, so he started off by doing several punches, all of them colliding with Diabolos's exact moves, and then he gave off one last kick. Their heels collided with each other, and then they both jumped back. And that's when Deniel went in for it. He got down low, and dashed for Diabolos. The two of them got very close to each other, and Diabolos saw Deniel's hand going for his chest. So...he's going to try that? A bold move. But futile. I'm faster, and stronger! Just as Diabolos expected, as Deniel went for his heart, Diabolos's hand already pierced straight through Deniel's chest and found...nothing. "What!?" Just as Diabolos's arm finished going all the way through Deniel's chest, searching for his heart, Deniel pierced his arm straight through Diabolos's skin, going through the wound he created earlier. He got past Diabolos's scales, muscles, sternum, and gripped his heart with all of his strength. Deniel's hand also went straight through his dad's spine, piercing it and having his hand come out of the backside of Diabolos, with his heart clenched into his hand. And without hesitation....Deniel crushed it.

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"Make the Devil cry!"

The very moment Deniel pierced through Diabolos's chest, grabbed his heart and ripped it from the vessels that held it in place, and crushed it under his grip, Deniel could not believe his ears. He heard Diabolos give out a groan of pain. For the first time, he did not laugh. It started out as a groan, before quickly erupting into a yell, a very manly scream, even. Meanwhile, Deniel made no sound. For when Diabolos's hand went into his heart, he found nothing. Quickly taking his hand out of Diabolos's wide open chest, Diabolos's hand slipped out of his, and he fell down to his knees. Due to the amount of damage that his Take Over suffered, Deniel's Black Devil Take Over deactivated by covering his body with Unholy Energy, and then vanishing. He was in his normal clothes once more, although they were very tattered and worn out, with wide cuts open in his shirt and blood dripping out. Deniel's scarred chest was revealed, with a hole inside of it. For the first time: being heartless became useful. Not just Deniel, but Diabolos returned to his human appearance once more, with the crimson coat, boots, black and dirty blonde hair, and normal red eyes. His armor was gone. Diabolos panted in pain as he slowly went from his knees, all the way to his back, gripping his chest in pain. "You...HOW!?" Deniel stared down at his own open chest, and placed his hand over it. "Vergil..." was all he said. Diabolos's eyes widened, seemingly recognizing the name.

He then gave a quick laugh before it was interrupted by another gag of pain, blood coming out of his mouth as he did. "So...he decided to screw me over like this. Do you know how Vergil really is?" Deniel gave a silent shake of his head. Diabolos crawled a little closer to Deniel, and placed his firm grip around Deniel's scrawny leg. "He's your brother! Dumbass!" Deniel stared down at Diabolos in alarm, "My brother, but I--" Diabolos quickly interrupted Deniel with a smirk on his face; even in his last moments he still wanted to make Deniel suffer for what he did to Arianna. "Killed him!? Like anything else? I should have guessed. Hah! Because that's your nature as a Nephalem. To kill, kill, and kill! You'll never be anything more than a killing machine, and a worthless littl--" Deniel got down on his knees in front of his father, and slapped him as hard as he could. "Shut up, Dad!" Deniel could feel anger swell up inside of him, but it swiftly turned into sadness and despair. Tears filled up Deniel's eyes in moments, and were dropping to the ground. "You're a selfish, ignorant old bastard! You assume that all I want is power! You give me up at birth, even! Why!? Just because my brothers and sisters wanted to? Have you and mom ever thought that perhaps it was best that you two died?! Or maybe if you didn't make me suffer so early...I could have loved you guys."

Diabolos groaned and sighed to himself, still clenching on to his chest. "Jeez, of all the types you had to be, you had to be a cry-baby. Worthless little bastard..." Deniel slapped Diabolos again, like a little kid hating his father for the first time. Although his smack did no avail, it did get Diabolos's attention. "That's exactly what I'm talking about! Why can't you just accept me as your son!? Anything! Can nothing I do satisfy you? Why does it always have to be 'power this', 'fight that', and 'kill these'!? Why!? Even in your last breath, why can't you just give me all I've ever wanted...a father! A father to be proud of me!" Deniel could say no more. Tears poured out of his eyes, and he closed them both shut. He grabbed on to Diabolos's torso, as if to call to him for help, and clenched it. Diabolos, in the meantime, felt a strange connection to Deniel. Something he had for a brief moment before...when he was born. Coughing up his last breath, Diabolos knew exactly what he was feeling. Humanity. Feelings. And fatherly love. In his last breath, he proclaimed to Deniel: "Hey, Cry-Baby!" Deniel opened his teared eyes at his father. Diabolos took the hand off of his chest, and gave Deniel a quick thumbs-up. A smile entered his face, as he closed both of his eyes. "You've grown strong! I'm proud of you!" Deniel saw tears coming out of Diabolos's eyes. Two of them. One for each eye. And with that...his breath ceased. He stopped clinging on to life, leaving behind a lifeless corpse in Deniel's arms.

"Thank you, Dad..."

Notes

"I made the Devil Cry!"

Deniel had done it. In the last moments of Arianna the White Angel, she screamed in pain from her defeat. And in Diabolos's last words, he cried. Not necessarily in the way someone would imagine, but he had done it. He accomplished the impossible. And as he sat there, cradling the corpse of his father into his arms, he almost completely forgot about the surrounding demons. It wasn't until he heard the murmur and whisper to each other about what to do did he remember them. He looked up in alarm, letting go of Diabolos's corpse. This wasn't good. With their master dead, the Seven Sin Lieutenants could do as they pleased, and Deniel was far too weak to take on even a single one of them. But instead of being attacked, Pride stood up from his throne, along with the rest of them. They all went over to the edge of the balcony that their thrones were on, with Pride speaking: "Nephalem! Brother! What is your name?!" Deniel looked at them, drying up his tears as fast as he could. He scowled, and wiped them from his eyes, before letting his voice echo through the arena: "My name is Deniel Decayuss Thorman! The son of Diabolos the Black Devil, and Arianna the White Angel!" Pride lifted his arms swiftly after Deniel finished: "All hail Deniel! HAIL DENIEL!" No...that wasn't what he wanted. Deniel didn't want them to worship him or turn to him for leadership. He was hoping to intimidate them, or them to let him go. But quickly after Pride, the Seven Sin Lieutenants did the same, raising their right arms and telling the demons to hail Deniel.

The demons in the audience swiftly followed their lead, and soon there was a roar of: "Hail Deniel!" barraging the Nephalem. He quickly shook his head, and tried his absolute hardest to remain tough and cold Very soon the hailing died down, and Pride spoke once more: "Deniel! With Diabolos dead, you are our new leader! You are the Black Devil now! We are yours to command!" Command them!? That was insane! He stared down at Diabolos's corpse, as if he asking him what to do. Deniel thought quickly..."You shall wait!" His voice was louder than before, and he made it sound as commanding and intimidating as possible. "Wait until I return! I have unfinished business in the rest of Earthland! Pride, you are in charge until I return!" That seemed to satisfy the demons enough. They all cheered, roared, and howled at Deniel. The Seven Sin Lieutenants nodded at each other. But before anything else could happen, Deniel held Diabolos's corpse in his hands, and pulled out the lacrima Vergil had giving him. "Let's go home, dad." With a squeeze, Deniel broke the Lacrima forever, but teleported Diabolos and himself back to Vergil's shrine.

Everything was the way Deniel had left it. Arianna's corpse was still inside of her coffin, with plenty of room for Diabolos's body. But in Deniel's condition, and with Diabolos's corpse bloodied, he still had plenty of work to do. So he got to it. The very first thing Deniel did was fix himself up. He rested, washed himself of his battle fatigue and filth, and put on a fresh pair of clothes. Then he began to prepare Diabolos for burial. Using some of Vergil's left over lacrima, he managed to patch up Diabolos's wound, and fix up his clothes. He noticed that the armor Diabolos wore in the arena was gone...but he did not know how. He looked better in his crimson cloak, anyway.

Notes