by Eric Vall
The sudden halting of my momentum knocked the wind out of my lungs, but I was safe.
Or at least as safe as I could be on a razor-thin platform a thousand feet in the air.
I took a second to survey the area in front of me. I saw Liby and Cupi darting around in the sky as they hurled attacks down onto the Cultists and dodged their enemies’ spells. Out of my peripheral vision I saw a few of the cult members get tossed over the side of the building, encased in black flames.
Sia and Todd seemed to be holding out just fine.
I didn’t have much more time to admire the view because the concrete pillar stretched itself across the sky and hurtled toward where I was standing.
I leapt off the platform while I simultaneously created another just a few feet away. As I landed on the second barrier, a swish of air behind me let me know that I had moved just in time. I looked back over my shoulder and saw the concrete tendril turning in the air, preparing to follow me.
I raised my left hand and brought up another shield in front of the attack. The concrete pillar bounced off harmlessly, but I knew I couldn’t keep this up forever. Then I looked down at the flaming dagger in my hands.
The red Hellfire hadn’t been enough to shatter Azazel’s pillar, but maybe I was going about this the wrong way. It was up to me, Jacob Ralston, to end this war between Heaven and Hell, and I couldn’t do that if I was only relying on the powers of Lucifer. I needed to heed Raphael’s words and take on the powers of Heaven and Hell at the same time.
It was time to go Divine.
I closed my eyes and rapidly thought about all the things I was fighting for. The women I loved. My best friend. The fate of my entire race. The literal embodiment of all that is good in this infinite universe.
My entire body went numb for a moment, and then a feeling of gentle warmth grew up from the pit of my stomach. I opened my eyes and saw that I was now fully encased by a bright white fire, and my dagger was now glowing with a golden flame.
The tendril raised into the sky like a flyswatter about to smash an unsuspecting insect, and then it hurled its entire girth downward.
I refused to even flinch this time. Instead, I slashed my enchanted dagger horizontally at the stone pillar. There was a crack like thunder as my enchanted steel met animated stone, and then a brilliant white light burst from the tendril. Golden cracks appeared along the length of the tendril before it fell away like ash on the end of a cigarette. Quickly, I turned my attention back at the rooftop as the tendril retreated.
I could feel the powers of the Divine and the Demonic both fighting for dominance inside me, and their internal struggle made me feel, strangely enough, all the more powerful.
I stretched out my hand and created a series of purple barriers all the way back to the top of the Salesforce Tower. Normally, I could only create one or two at a time, but the power that surged through my body at the moment made me feel like I could do anything.
I ran across the makeshift bridge as I held my dagger at the ready.
Azazel sent another pillar of stone at me, but I made short work of it with my divinely demonic dagger. I reached the rooftop, and I leapt into the air at the demon. I unleashed a blast of white fire at the fucker, and he shrieked as it struck him in the chest and sent him tumbling across the roof.
He rolled out of the way, and my attack shot through the air and took out a handful of cultists near the far end of the roof.
“You think you’ve won because you can harness divine powers, but it will not be enough.” Azazel clicked his tongue. “As long as Lucifer has influence over the human race, we will stand a chance in this war, and once we have the Nephilim? Our master will rule over all of creation.”
A blur of red flew past the demon’s face, and a quick mist of his blackish blood sprayed into the air. Azazel grasped the fresh claw wounds on his face and then growled in anger.
“I guess we’re lucky these demons don’t know about social media, huh Jakey?” Todd snickered as he appeared beside me. “A Lucifer fan page could, like, totally reach millions of people.”
“I think just about everyone on Earth is familiar with the Devil, Todd,” I said with a chuckle.
“Lucifer!” Azazel screamed. “His name is Lucifer! And you’re going to pay for that with your life, you buffoonish little twat!”
Todd gasped. “Did he just call me a baboon?”
“Servants, come to me!” the demon roared.
“Good luck with that, Azazel,” Sia’s voice mocked.
“Look around you, bro,” Todd continued. “We’ve killed almost--”
From across the rooftop, I heard a couple screams that grew distant by the second.
“Correction.” Todd stuck up his hand. “We’ve wasted all of your henchmen. You’re fucked, bro.” Cupiditas and Libidine landed beside me and summoned their Hellfire right along with Sia and Todd.
Azazel looked around in panic for a moment and then froze. An evil smile spread up his lips and then he glanced over his shoulder at Jane.
The brunette was still chained to the railing at the side of the building, but she was angrily trying to break her bonds. Her eyes were glowing purple now.
“Not all of them.” The demon grinned and then snapped his fingers. A small pillar of concrete rose out of the ground and struck the links of the chain, shattering them to pieces. “Kill them, my dear,” Azazel commanded.
“Jane, wai--” I started, but the brunette had already hurled a handful of yellow daggers at my face.
Sia caught the attack in the air with her black flames, completely nullifying the threat. At the same time, Cupiditas struck Jane with a blue time-freezing spell, just to finish the job.
Liby, Todd, and I turned our attention back to Azazel, but the demon had other plans. He stomped his foot into the ground to create another pillar, and at the same time, he hurled a massive fireball at Cupi and Liby.
“Take him out, guys!” I commanded as I blocked the red Hellfire with my purple shield.
A pillar of concrete arose from the ground beneath Cupi, struck her in the face, and knocked her back on her ass. That was enough to break her time-freeze on Jane, so as Sia turned to catch Cupi, she was wide open to take a blast from Jane.
Though neither succubus was bad off, I was still pissed as I turned back to Azazel, even as I saw his body careen across the shattered rooftop.
“We blasted him real good, Jakey!” Todd exclaimed.
“Great, but he got Cupi and Sia.” I pointed to the two succubi who now laid groggily on the ground. “We need to-- Heads up!”
I scooped up Todd in my arms and barely managed to dodge an incoming attack from my left.
“Jane, darling?” Azazel changed his tone to be more kind. “I want you to kill Jacob. Don’t let up until he is dead even if your life depends on it.”
“How the fuck are we going to break that spell, bro?” Todd asked as we stood back onto our feet.
“I have no clue.” I shook my head as I knocked away another round of yellow daggers from the brunette.
“We have to kill him,” Libidine explained and pointed at the half-demon man. “Not that you needed any more convincing.”
Azazel hurled another blast of Hellfire at the curvy succubus, but Liby was able to take flight before it connected. That left him open, so I returned fire with a beam of white light, and the demon let out a wail of pain when it struck him in the shoulder. Then he screamed again when Liby’s daggers stabbed into his torso, so he took a few more shots at the woman in the sky.
I turned back to look at the mind-controlled Jane, who was now charging across the roof at me with her dagger drawn. She left herself completely defenseless as she moved, and I could have obliterated her if I wanted to but that was exactly what Azazel wanted. He wanted me to slip up and treat Jane like a regular enemy, to kill her with my Hellfire powers accidentally or maim her with my blade.
Not on my watch.
“Uh, you want me to sweep the leg?” Todd said n
ervously as the woman continued to gain ground.
“Hold your ground, buddy,” I reassured the imp. “Once she goes for the killing blow, I can take her.”
“Oh, I know you can take her!” He giggled. “I almost walked in on you two in the woods, remember?”
Jane let out an angry scream as she closed the gap and raised the dagger over her head. She swung it down with lethal intent, but I was able to side-step out of the way. The brunette took this chance to lash out at me with her other hand, now engulfed in red Hellfire.
Her attack didn’t connect, but I felt the intense heat pass inches from my right ear.
I took that moment when she was over-extended to grab Jane by the wrists to try to hold her, but she quickly engulfed her arms with red Hellfire. The flesh on my palms screamed as I pulled away from the brunette.
She now had a perfect shot at me, and she was at point blank range.
I tossed up a purple flame and prepared for the deadly blast, but Jane’s body lurched backward as she released the attack, and a massive beam of red Hellfire shot up into the San Francisco night.
“Get off me!” the brunette commanded with a voice that sounded much more demon-like than her real one. She spun around helplessly, and I saw that Todd was now sitting in her hood.
The imp was cackling as Jane flailed, but it didn’t look like he was trying to hurt her. Instead, he was lightly tugging at her long locks and tapping her on the head playfully.
The brainwashed woman continued to stumble backward until she hit the guardrail on the edge of the tower. She nearly fell over, but I tossed a barrier behind her to keep her on her feet.
Todd somersaulted out of the woman’s hood and then scurried across the roof. Jane tried to blast the little guy with her fireballs, but he was way too fast.
“Jacob?” Sia asked weakly from behind me.
I glanced back to see Sia slowly pulling herself off the ground.
“I’m sorry, Jacob,” the redhead moped.
“It’s okay, Superbia.” I nodded. “You did your best, but we’re not done yet. Are you strong enough to conjure up your black fire?”
“I think so,” she mumbled and rubbed her forehead.
“Good, because I need you to take care of that.” I pointed to where Jane was chasing the giggling imp. “Can you hold somebody in your spell without choking them?”
“Unfortunately not,” Sia shook her head. “If I’m going to capture her with my fear powers, you will have to end this fight quickly, or Jane will suffocate to death.”
“Wait, could we use those portable traps that Raphael gave us?” I questioned.
“They wouldn’t work.” Sia sighed. “She may be mind-controlled by a demonic entity, but she’s still a mortal.”
“What about on him?” I pointed to Azazel, who was still engaged with the airborne Libidine. “He’s in a half-demon form, right?”
“Azazel is too powerful for that sort of magic.” Sia shot the idea down. “A singular Key of Solomon isn’t going to do much.”
“Come on,” Todd’s voice shouted as he ran, “The Gatekeeper is supposed to be waaay more powerful than this!”
“Hold on…” I said as the lightbulb went on in my head. “Could we cross the streams? Metaphorically, of course?”
“Cross the--” the redhead started.
“It’s an Earth thing.” I waved my hand to push away the reference. “What I mean is, we have five of those portable demon traps. If we used them all at once, could that work?”
“I have no idea.” Sia shrugged. “You can’t overlay the Key of Solomon when it’s a drawing on the ground, for obvious reasons.”
“We have to try!” I enthused.
“Azazel is still a demon of the highest order,” Sia warned. “If we want this to have any chance of working, he will still need to be weakened first.”
I nodded. “Leave that to me.”
I pulled out two of the demon traps from the duffel bag, handed them to the redhead, and then slung the bag over my shoulder.
“Do it.”
Sia took one of the traps in her hand and then raised up the other. She squinted as she aimed at the dashing brunette in the robe, and then she blasted a whip-like beam of black Hellfire out of her palm.
The attack caught Jane in mid-stride, and she was frozen in place. She tried to mount a counterattack, but her magical abilities were rendered useless inside of the dark flames.
Now, the clock was ticking, even more so than before. I took off toward where Libidine and Azazel were fighting. As I passed Todd, I tossed him one of the traps.
“What’s this for, bro?” he asked curiously.
“We’re crossing the streams,” I said as the night wind blew through my hair.
“Sweet, bro!” Todd yelled after me.
As I approached the battling demons, the fucker in the robe was charging up an attack. Red Hellfire glowed around his hands, and then he tossed them at Libidine.
Not this time, motherfucker. I cast a brilliant wall of purple fire directly in front of him as he released.
Azazel’s eyes widened as his own attack blasted back at him, and his body was tossed backward.
“Catch, Liby!” I tossed the two remaining cubes into the sky, and the dark-haired succubus swooped over and grabbed them. “Wait for my signal.”
Azazel pulled himself back up to his feet and laughed.
“You…You really think you can still beat me?” He shook his head. “I’m the King of the Fourth Circle. Even with your Divine powers, even if I’m stuck in this mortal flesh, I’m going to rip out your beating heart and force it down your throat. Then I’m going to kill each and every one of your friends, all while you watch your life slowly slipping away. And then, once you’re in Hell with my demons? Well, that’s where the real fun begins.”
I felt my powers surge through my body as it was consumed with white-hot rage. I gripped the goat-headed dagger tightly and then waved an enchanted white hand over the blade.
This time, the spell seemed to turn the steel of the knife into a weapon of pure energy. The normally short blade glowed as it stretched, curved, and took on a cutlass-like form. I raised the shimmering weapon in front of my face and narrowed my eyes.
“That’s adorable, mortal,” the demon cackled.
Azazel clapped his glowing red hands together and then slowly pulled them apart. As he did so, the fucker’s massive broadsword appeared within the remnants of the flame.
“You still insist on using puny weapons against the Father of Warfare,” Azazel mocked.
“If I recall correctly, it worked out last time.” I spat, “or were you not the one who was banished to Hell for all eternity?”
“A stroke of luck!” Azazel snarled.
I smiled. The angrier Azazel grew, the more likely it was he’d make a fatal mistake.
“Stroke of luck?” I shrugged. “I beat you fair and square. How did it feel to be bested by a mortal?”
“Bested?” The demon sneered as he readied his broadsword. “I was simply caught off guard by your illegal magic.”
“Oh, come on,” I huffed. “Just admit that you got your ass kicked. Admitting you have a problem is the first step toward getting better.”
“Enough!” Azazel charged.
I lowered my sword into an offensive stance and then followed suit.
Once I was about five feet away from the fucker, I slashed at Azazel diagonally. The blow must have come faster than he’d expected because a look of panic flashed across his face as he pivoted to block. He was fast enough, but only barely, and as the metallic clash of steel rang through the air, he stumbled backward off balance.
I lashed out again and took a swing at the demon’s legs, but he propelled himself up into the air before my blade could make contact. This time he came down in an overhead swing. I took a quick step back and braced myself as I brought my blade up to catch his. As the two enchanted blades clashed, sparks of Hellfire and Divine light filled the surround
ing air.
“You’ll never beat me again!” Azazel snarled as he redoubled his effort to push through my defense and cut me in two. That was fine though, because while he was focused on me, he’d left himself wide open.
“You say that now, but I’m pretty sure you’ve already lost.” I grinned at him, and as he opened his mouth to reply, a handful of Libidine’s yellow daggers caught him from the side. The demon screamed in pain as the blast hurled him sideways across the roof like a ragdoll.
I raced after him, and as he scrambled to his feet, he launched a fireball at me. I batted it away, but I was pretty sure he’d meant for me to do that because he was already taking a home run swing at my head.
I ducked just as the fucker’s broadsword swished past my head, and then I thrust my sword up into his torso. A look of shock filled Azazel’s face as my blade burst through his stomach before punching out his back in a spray of dark blood.
“You think you’ve won?” he asked as his face twisted into a sneer. “This is merely a flesh wound!”
As Azazel brought his weapon down on my position, I dove to the left while wrenching my own blade violently sideways. The demon’s guttural scream filled the air as his entrails spilled out across the floor. Then the force of his own blow carried him forward, and as his blade clanged off the ground, he slipped in his own intestines and stumbled forward.
“How’s that for a flesh wound?” I clicked my tongue. “Because the way I hear it, stomach wounds are one of the most brutal and painful types of injuries a human can have. I save only the best for you, Azazel.”
“Fool!” the demon bellowed. “Even if you kill this mortal body here, I will find another way to return. I have loyal followers all across the planet who would jump at the opportunity to be my vessel.”
“See, that’s the thing.” I smiled at the asshole. “Your followers want to follow the most powerful being in the universe. If I defeat you a second time? Well, I hate to break it to you, but that guy’s gonna be me.”
“No…” Azazel’s eyes widened at my words.
“Oh, yes,” I corrected. “Oliver has already set things in motion. I’m going to kill you and then take away all of your followers. You’re going to rot in Hell, Azazel.”
