Part 692: Healing Barbatos
Far-Future Era. Noon, Day 20, AJR. Melodia.
Cassiel’s massive armored form moved far too quickly for how heavy and cumbersome it looked. She flapped her wings and lunged at Belial, swinging a greatmace made of light at her as if it were a toothpick. When Belial leaped to the side to evade, the mace struck the ground and sprayed a cone of dirt out in a huge circle. In truth, the mace was a weapon so heavy that no human could lift it even an inch off the ground, yet Cassiel defied this rule not because of her bodily strength, but because the mace was formed of light energy she could control with her mind.
She cheated the laws of physics!
Her armor was the same. Though it was made from ‘mere’ strands of holy energy, it was tougher than demonstone, with an intricate internal structure that absorbed the impact of blunt blows and resisted the impaling strikes of sharp weapons.
Belial’s fingers turned into claws of bone. Her arm snapped out and stretched, raking Cassiel’s armor as she tried to grab onto any gaps in the armor and rip it apart piece by piece. She failed. The armor was too seamless, and her efforts left only the shallowest of scratches on the armor’s surface, scratches which immediately vanished as the armor healed itself with Cassiel’s internal energy.
A brutal and fast-paced melee commenced. Cassiel sometimes chased Belial and tried to kill her (within reason) while other times Belial’s brutal strength struck Cassiel and sent her flying! Her armor might be hard and her mace capable of inflicting great pain upon an adversary, but Belial was a living weapon. She had strength greater than Bael in his prime, the ability to heal herself, and ways of stretching her body to evade attacks with unnatural dexterity. By comparison, Cassiel’s heavy armor was a giant target she could not use to evade with much ease.
Deep and heavy footprints had sunk into the ground around the arena. Cassiel’s 7-foot-tall armored form stomped the pavement with brutal force, leaving imprints deep enough for a fully-grown-man to feel inadequate if her were to step into them. These also created a slight tripping hazard, which turned into Cassiel’s undoing! She stormed toward Belial to try and deliver a final attack, but her foot half-stepped into a deep groove she had left previously, and this was enough to make her lose her footing. Cassiel cried out as she tumbled forward and fell face-first to the ground, momentarily stunned.
Belial leaped on top of her back, stretched her arms and legs around Cassiel’s armored limbs, and began to constrict her like a cobra.
"Submit!" Belial shouted.
"I won’t! Uaaahh!" Cassiel roared.
She struggled mightily, but being able to somewhat manipulate the laws of physics by altering the weight of her equipment was nothing compared to Belial’s vastly superior strength. If Belial were wearing the armor, she would move and attack even faster, since she was a far stronger entity!
After a few seconds, Cassiel’s armor started to groan in protest. She wriggled and wiggled, trying to break free of the spiderweb-like stretchy limbs that bound her, but she failed to break free.
Thirty seconds later, her body went still. Cassiel sighed.
"…I concede."
Belial smiled. "That wasn’t so hard, was it?"
She unwound herself from around Cassiel’s limbs, then hopped off the armor, allowing Cassiel to de-summon it. Cassiel looked tired and glum from losing to Belial again.
"Why can’t I beat you?" Cassiel asked while plopping on her butt and staring at the ground. "I’m so weak now."
"You’re not weak at all." Belial said, as she took a seat next to Cassiel and gently massaged her back. She’d been doing that a lot, recently. "I’m just a bad matchup for you. I have tens of millennia of fighting experience, my body is much stronger than yours, and I also know exactly how your powers work. I can counter you much more easily now."
"How strong are you compared to Emperor Crow?" Cassiel pressed.
"Hmm…" Belial hummed, looking off into the distance. "I’m not entirely certain. The last time I fought Crow was during the Energy Wars as part of a mock exercise."
"So you don’t know how strong she is?" Cassiel pressed.
"I do. Sort of. But only vaguely." Belial answered. "Crow is known as the most physically powerful Emperor. Her physical strength is likely higher than mine, and her durability was considered close to Bael’s, so in terms of taking and dealing damage, she’s a powerhouse. However, her defense is overstated. She’s durable because of her feathers, which are harder than demonstone. They form a powerful set of natural armor around herself, and they can be launched and controlled remotely."
Cassiel appeared intrigued. "Like drones?"
"Sure. Like drones." Belial confirmed. "But if I were to seriously go against Crow, it’s not clear which of us would win. I’m much more agile than Crow, and good at avoiding damage. I can stretch my body and move in unnatural ways, allowing me to feint hard against my enemies. I can heal myself and my allies, but Crow cannot. If push came to shove, I could enter my True Succubus form, and I would probably be on par with her physically."
"True Succubus form?" Cassiel said, trying to imagine what that would look like in her head.
"I harden my skin to stone, grow a pair of wings, and my defensive ability rises sharply." Belial explained. "But I can’t heal or stretch my limbs while in that form, so there’s a tradeoff."
To emphasize her point, Belial changed her body shape. Her skin turned dark grey, with a rocky texture covering it, and stone wings growing out of her back. Cassiel’s eyes glinted with awe.
"That’s your True Succubus form?"
Belial shook her head. "No. I just shapeshifted to look like it. Changing my form is exhausting and leaves me vulnerable once I revert. It’s a measure of last resort, and doesn’t always work. I used it against Ose during Stormbringer, but I still lost."
Cassiel seemed to understand. She nodded.
"So do you think if I fought Emperor Crow, I could win?"
"Why the fixation on Crow?" Belial asked. "Of all the Emperors?"
"Because I killed Emperor Red Raven." Cassiel said softly. "Of all the demons who exist, I imagine none hate me more than Crow. I ran into her inside the Core a couple of weeks ago. Luckily, she didn’t notice my Heaven’s Shroud. If she had, I’d probably have died without being able to protect myself."
Belial deeply frowned. "If that’s the case, then we have to be more careful. We cannot allow your identity to leak. I should look into building an underground training area- or perhaps we should contact the Phoenix. Training in a slightly time-accelerated realm will give us more privacy. I’m sure Henry will have a few Legionnaires inside the Cube."
At this point, the Cube had become humanity’s worst-kept secret. The demons knew of its existence, as did the Volgrim, but locating it was impossible, at least for the moment. With Tarus II destroyed, the Cube had departed the system, and none could locate it through any means below the Cosmic. It was hidden inside a dimensional tunnel, and the one entity capable of sensing it, Founder Dosena, had lost her powers.
"You’re probably right." Cassiel said. "Of the two, I think the Cube would be the best-"
"Incoming!" Soleil suddenly shouted, startling Cassiel and Belial both. "A Cosmic Energy signature just appeared at the Warpgate. It’s a Demon Deity!"
Her senses toward this sort of thing were even superior to Belial’s. By the time Belial would have sensed the Demon Deity’s approach, it would have been too late.
Cassiel immediately grabbed her Heaven’s Shroud. She morphed her body back into that of an ordinary human, then hurriedly tucked the shroud into her shirt. At the same time, Soleil shifted her form to a human woman and took a seat on the ground, lounging casually as if unaware of what was coming.
Moments later, an Astral Body tore across the sky at ludicrous speed. It locked on to Belial’s position, then rushed toward her before abruptly stopping less than ten meters away.
The newcomer was a woman wearing black robes tightly winding around her body. Her pitch-black eyes glowed with the light of the Void. She was Vespera, the Demon Deity of Quasars.
"Belial!" Vespera said, as she levitated before the succubus. "You must come with me. At once!"
Belail stood up. She glowered at Vespera. "And why would that be? This is Melody’s world. You dare not try to kidnap me here."
"It is a matter of great importance." Vespera replied. "We require your healing powers. The situation is dire!"
"Whoever it is, just throw them in the Blood Pits." Belial said, crossing her arms. "I’m not your personal nurse."
"You do not understand the gravity of the situation." Vespera hissed. She levitated closer to Belial and lowered her voice. "The one who needs healing is a Demon Deity. The wounds he suffered will affect our ability to fight off the Plague. It is in both our best interests to help him."
Belial blinked. Her posture softened a little. "Who was injured?"
"I cannot say. Not here, not publicly." Vespera answered. She suddenly glanced at Soleil, then at Cassiel, as if noticing the presence of two bugs crawling on the wall for the first time. Her gaze especially lingered on Cassiel, due to her proximity to Belial. She was standing right next to her.
"These two are my maidservants." Belial said. "Anything you can say to me, you can say in front of them."
"They are human. They are not worthy." Vespera spat, before returning her attention to Belial. "Now hurry and come along. Or would you rather allow a close friend to perish due to your obstinance?"
"A close friend?" Belial repeated, her heart suddenly chilling a couple of degrees. "Who?"
Vespera sneered. "Are you coming, or not?"
Belial hesitated for another few seconds before her obstinance visibly deflated. She nodded. "Alright. Take me there, then. Cammy, Serra, I’ll return later."
Cassiel and Soleil nodded respectfully, then bowed at the waist.
"Yes, mistress." Cassiel said, playing up the part of an uneducated servant girl. "We will await your return."
Belial nodded gruffly, then allowed Vespera to grab hold of her with Void energy and levitate her into the air.
Before they departed, Vespera glanced at Cassiel. "I didn’t take you as the type to use servants, Belial."
"It’s Samantha." Belial immediately replied. "And I have my… needs… that my girls fulfill. It’s none of your business."
"Ohoho, so it’s like that?" Vespera sneered. She took off into the air, but for a brief instant, a sensation of shock went through her body as her powerful Cosmic sense casually scanned Cassiel and Soleil one last time. She immediately closed her mouth and steadied her expression. Belial didn’t notice the anomaly.
The two of them rocketed away. After they left, Cassiel frowned, ever so slightly.
Vespera took Belial to the Warpgate, which brought them to the Core. After that, they transferred to Numaria, and this immediately raised alarm bells for Belial. After all, the Deity of Numaria was Auger! Had he been struck by an enemy? And if so, who?
"It’s not Auger." Vespera said, quieting the voices in Belial’s head. "Remain patient. You will see."
If Belial was being honest with herself, she found it rather obnoxious how Vespera, a young upstart who became a Deity through a stroke of luck, lorded her presence over Belial. When Belial fought the angels in the Ancient Era, Vespera was not even spawned yet. When the Energy Wars raged, Vespera was little more than a Baron on the frontlines. Belial was thousands of years older than her, but Vespera acted like she wore britches too big for Belial to comprehend.
It was truly irritating.
The two women flew quickly through the sky. Belial’s eyes widened in horror as she saw that the world of Numaria was on fire as far as her eyes could see. Much of the forest had been flattened. Infernos raged, and the few demons who specialized in water magic had been assigned to Numaria to try and put out all the burning trees.
Soon, they drew close to a mountain, one which looked like it had once been tall and fearsome, but now was shattered and broken. Belial could tell with a single glance that something had crashed into and destroyed the mountain. It was probably 1/5th its original size, with a massive impact tunnel leading deep into Numaria’s underbelly.
Vespera took Belial underground. She set Belial down and gestured ahead with her chin. "Follow me. Move quickly!"
Belial nodded. The two of them started running through the somewhat narrowed corridor at the speeds only high level demons could achieve, and within less than a minute, they drew closer and closer to an aura so powerful and suffocating that Belial started to feel afraid. Whatever was down here, it dwarfed the aura of Auger, which she had sensed many times since his ascension.
Finally, they arrived inside a cavern that had been deliberately hollowed out. Several demons, none of them below the rank of Emperor, stood waiting as Belial appeared.
Emperor Crow was standing at the back, nearest the entrance, and was the first to say something when Belial emerged inside the room. "Ca-CAW! Took you long enough! Hurry! He’s dying!"
"Belial, over here!" Yardrat shouted, his astral body levitating a few feet off the ground.
Belial walked further into the cave and approached a body that was immediately familiar to her.
"Uriel?! She’s alive??" Belial asked, bewildered.
Auger appeared at Belial’s side. He squeezed her shoulder reassuringly.
"Not Uriel. This is Barbatos. Pure and simple. Somehow, he has regained control of his body while also ascending to the rank of High Cosmic. I need not tell you what a fortuitous outcome this is for demonkind, but we must know what happened and how he escaped the clutches of the Plague. He passed out before he could tell me. Heal him, Samantha. I beg of you!"
Belial nodded. Barbatos was a good demon. He was slow to anger, and absolutely worthy of being the highest ranked among their people. Even if Uriel took over again, Belial felt that Uriel had changed a lot after spending time with the humans. She might not go on a genocidal rampage.
"Where is Serena?" Belial asked. "I can heal the body, but if he has any injuries to his soul…"
"No worries." Yardrat said. "I’m already bringing Serena and Leeroy here. The two of them should be able to help you recover Barbatos’s energy."
And so, with that in mind, Belial got to work. Dozens of powerful Demon Emperors and Deities watched from the sidelines, whispering to one another while she concentrated and started working to heal him.
Unbeknownst to her, Vespera had moved more to the back of the room. A deep frown was playing upon her face. She massaged her chin repeatedly, muttering under her breath with signs of obvious agitation.
"Vespera." Demon Emperor Hamir whispered. "Is something the matter?"
"Perhaps…" Vespera whispered, before lowering her voice even further. "When I picked up Belial, I made a distressing discovery. She had two humans in her entourage, but one of them appeared to be wearing a Heaven’s Shroud."
"What? A Shroud? You’re certain?" Hamir asked.
Another nearby demon perked her ears up. Emperor Crow subtly turned her gaze to look at Vespera. She kept quiet, listening while pretending not to hear their discussion.
"Someone named ‘Cammy.’" Vespera said, her voice shaking. "That was her human name, at least."
"Cammy?" Hamir asked. "As in… Camael? Is it possible?"
"So many other Archangels have survived, perhaps the old witch herself did, too." Vespera said. "I will speak to Auger of this matter soon. The only reason I didn’t immediately make a move was because if she was indeed Camael in disguise, she could pose a threat to me, especially my mere Astral Body. Also, that world is Melody’s stronghold. I wouldn’t want to draw her attention."
"No, you made the right choice." Hamir whispered, gently touching her arm. The two of them hailed from the same Hell and had known each other for millennia. They were intimately close. "We now know to look for a human named ‘Cammy’. What is her human appearance?"
Vespera described Cassiel’s shouded look, and Hamir nodded seriously. "A brown-haired young woman and her black-haired friend… I don’t imagine Camael would appear young, but perhaps she altered and improved upon the original Heaven’s Shroud. It would certainly make us suspect her less, and explain how she evaded capture all these millennia."
"If Camael is alive, do you think this has anything to do with Barbatos reappearing here and Uriel now seemingly dormant?"
"I am not certain." Vespera admitted. "All of this is quite… worrying. I sense a grand plot may be at play."
While she and Hamir continued to swap theories, Emperor Crow’s breathing became irregular. She looked around, realizing nobody was paying any attention to her. Auger would certainly want to make a speech about Barbatos’s survival later, but that wasn’t of any importance to Crow.
It’s her. It’s that angel I found in the simulation. Not Camael. Heaven’s Daughter! The one who kiled my HUSBAND!
Flames of rage erupted inside Crow’s mind. It became more and more difficult for her to contain her smoldering rage.
"Yo! Crow! You good, sister?"
Crow turned to see Emperor Fae standing a short distance away, looking at her with a smug smirk.
"I am… fine." Crow hissed. "I believe my last ritual imbalanced my mana. Excuse me. I must depart."
"Sure, whatever!" Fae laughed. "I’ll let Old Man Auger know!"
"Please do." Crow said.
She turned and stormed away. Only Fae knew she had left. Belial was completely unaware.
As she left, Crow thought of several things.
It will take Belial time to heal Barbatos. He is a powerful Cosmic. Her mortal magic will be ineffective compared to its usual potency. Additionally, Auger will want to bluster about the so-called fate of demonkind, thus keeping Belial even longer. I have a window of opportunity before she can return to that angel’s side.
Crow stepped out into the smoking Numarian hellscape. She flapped her wings and leaped into the sky, taking flight as she raced back to the Warpgate.
Heaven’s Daughter! Your life is MINE!
…
At the same time, sweat dripped from Belial’s forehead. She wiped it off and breathed heavily.
"The wounds are severe." Belial grunted. "I’m healing Barbatos, but the progress is slow. I haven’t sensed any holy energy inside of him. Maybe Uriel isn’t inside his soul anymore."
"Or she’s gone dormant." Auger retorted. "It fits the pattern."
"Maybe, but then again, maybe not." Belial countered. "Auger, is there even one entity in the Milky Way that could maim Barbatos this brutally? Look at how powerful he is. He looks like he took on a group of equally powerful enemies and barely survived by the skin of his teeth."
"An Apex Cosmic would be capable of bringing Barbatos to this state." Auger confirmed. "But such an enemy would be more likely to kill him. I just don’t know… once you heal him, we’ll hear the full story."
Belial nodded. She doubled her efforts, straining mightily as her pitiful mortal magic slowly put together the much tougher, much more vitality-filled bones, tendons, and blood-veins that comprised Barbatos’s body.
Two entire hours passed. Leeroy and Serena soon arrived, helping Belial heal the other components of Barbatos’s injuries, namely his brain and soul. Eventually, Barbatos stirred. He was far from fully healed, but he had enough vitality to rouse himself.
"Uhh…" Barbatos wheezed.
"Brother Barbatos." Auger said, dropping to one knee while resting a palm on Barbatos’s chest. "How are you faring?"
The former Duke of Steel slowly opened his eyes. They were now glowing bright red, but still had an aura of weakness to them. It was clear he was far from well.
"Fooled…" Barbatos said weakly. "We were tricked. My brother… Artorias… he… he was…"
"Artorias?" Belial asked. "What about him? What happened?"
Barbatos slowly closed his eyes. His breathing became shallower.
For a time, nobody said a word. They started to think their sole High Cosmic had fallen back into a coma.
But then, with his eyes closed, he began to speak.
"Raphael… it was.. him… his plot…"
And so, Barbatos began to narrate the fate that had befallen him.
His story would contain a shocking tale that upended everyone’s knowledge of the galactic order.
They had all of them… been deceived.