Knock Knock!

(OVERVIEW)

Although it had taken a while, Azrael had finally managed to excuse himself from his group of fan girls. He walked around the vast ballroom, greeting his other guests and chatting with some of the popular demon nobles.

"Excuse us, your highness" said a taunting voice behind him.

Azrael turned towards the voice. A tall man wearing a silk green suit bowed at him with a sly smile on his face. A girl stood by his side. She bowed as well, her beautiful face expressionless.

"Ah", said Azrael as he excused himself from the demons he had been talking to and faced the two ,"Greetings to you, Felfir, Demon of Greed"

The two raised their heads.

"I am honored that you would mention a name so lowly as mine, your highness", said Felfir.

"Of course", said Azrael ,"I am merely acknowledging one of the Seven Deadly Demons of Hell"

Felfir smiled smugly ,"My gratitude, your highness. My daughter and I simply wished to congratulate you"

Azrael glanced at the girl. She curtsied in her snow white dress. Her beautiful white hair was braided into a long ponytail and her crystal like eyes glinted in the light of the ballroom.

"Congratulations on your 5000th birthday, your highness", she said without a hint of emotion at all.

Azrael smiled and nodded at her ,"Thank you, Samira. You look stunning as always"

Samira's cheeks turned red but she said nothing more. Alvah suddenly appeared and bowed to Azrael then to Felfir.

"Forgive my interruptions", said Alvah as she glared coldly at Felfir ,"Her majesty asks for you at once…my lord"

Those last words sounded forced. Azrael stifled a laugh at that.

"Oh dear", said Felfir, not seeming worried at all ,"I wonder what her majesty would want from someone as lowly as I. Come, Samira"

Azrael watched the three as they walked towards the throne. Azrael glanced upwards before grabbing two goblets of nectar from a passing waiter. He walked out of the ballroom and through the corridors to an open balcony overlooking the demon city, Deauis.

[*Deauis: the capital city of Hell. Home to all the Demon nobles and other higher ranked demons.]

Azrael swirled one of the goblets and took a sip.

"The city looks lovely tonight", Azrael mused out loud ,"Doesn't it, Abigor?"

At first, nothing happened.

Then…

A single, glowing, blue butterfly fluttered down from where it had been sitting and turned into a handsome looking teenage demon dressed in a blue and white suit.

He had shiny blue hair and dazzling blue eyes to match. The boy stood next to Azrael and took the other goblet from him.

"I thought I had finally fooled you", Abigor complained and he took a sip of his nectar.

Azrael laughed ,"Of course not. I've felt your presence from the time the party began"

Abigor cursed ,"Damn you! Just wait, I swear that I will surprise you one day"

"I look forward to that day", said Azrael.

"Anyway", said Abigor ,"May I just say that you and Samira's acting is really top notch"

"Ha ha", Azrael rolled his eyes.

"I'm serious", said Abigor with a smile ,"I know how much you two hate the seven deadly demons"

"Those bastards are nothing but headaches", Azrael muttered ,"Anyway, report?"

Abigor set his goblet down, his expression grim ,"Everything is ready"

He took a black ring out of his jacket pocket and offered it to Azrael. There was a gem on it that kept changing colors randomly.

"The best space storage ring I could find", said Abigor proudly ,"I've loaded it full with food, clothes and all the magic items I could find"

"Thanks", said Azrael as he took it and put it on.

"Azrael", said Abigor ,"Why are you doing all this? You have everything you need here, and more"

"Everything I need", Azrael said ,"But nothing that I want"

Abigor sighed ,"You really wanna find your father that bad?"

"You know I do", said Azrael with a determined expression ,"It's my reason for living"

"And what about Samira?" Abigor raised an eyebrow at him ,"She's going to freeze me to death once she finds out you're gone"

"Tell her that this was something I had to do", said Azrael. A pair of jet black wings sprang out from his back ,"You coming?"

Abigor nodded and a pair of dark blue wings were on his back in an instant. They took off at high speed, flying north of the city.

It wasn't long before Abigor pointed down.

"There"

He was pointing at a large clearing in the distance.

They flew down and folded their wings. Abigor closed his eyes in concentration, his hand raised. The ground began to shake.

A huge pair of obsidian black doors rose from the dark soil, towering menacingly in front of them. It had ancient images of the past, present and future engraved on its surface.

Abigor stumbled but Azrael grabbed his arm before he could fall.

"Arghh", said Abigor as he steadied himself ,"I forgot how much mana is needed to summon these infernal doors"

"You should have let me do it", said Azrael, looked at him with a look of guilt on his face.

"Trust me", said Abigor with a sly smile ,"You're gonna need you're mana for this part"

"What do you-", Azrael began to ask, but then he noticed it.

One of the engravings was pealing off the door and a huge demon stood in front of them. He was almost as large as the doors themselves and he carried no expression on his gruesome face.

On his back, was a large double edged longsword. Azrael and Abigor watched as the demon grabbed the hilt of his sword and unsheathed it, releasing an aura of terror and ruin.

The demon eyed both of them ,"Which of you has chosen to summon the doors of the underworld?"

"That would be me", Azrael answered before Abigor could say anything.

The demon looked at him for a few seconds before lowering his head slightly.

"Greetings to the heir of the throne", he said flatly.

"I see you are well informed", Azrael said.

"You are mistaken, my lord", said the demon ,"I was merely created to see the truth behind every being"

He tilted his head and looked at Abigor.

"Which is how I know that Lord Abigor was the summoner"

Abigor flinched slightly but said nothing.

"So, a being who can see the truth behind everything", mused Azrael ,"You're Abaddon, the demon of ruin and destruction, aren't you?"

Abaddon nodded, his face still expressionless ,"And the guardian of the doors. For what reason have you summoned them?"

"I wish to travel to the mortal realm", Azrael declared.

Abaddon shook his head.

"The only way for demons to enter the realm of mortals is to have a summoning contract", he explained ,"As for the doors, only a select few may pass and my lord is not part of those few"

Azrael eyes glowed darkly ,"I guess that changes today then because I am going through those doors, one way or another"

"Very well", said Abaddon and he hefted his sword ,"I must mention that I have yet to be bested in battle by anyone but my master"

"That shall also change today", said Azrael with a cold smile.

He charged forward, instantly closing the gap between himself and Abaddon.

That didn't even faze Abaddon and he swung his sword at Azrael. Azrael barely managed to duck under it and launched a kick at Abaddon's head. However, Abaddon easily dodged it swiftly. 

Azrael quickly stepped back ,"You're faster than I thought you would be"

"The same can be said about you, my lord", said Abaddon ,"As I mentioned, there are not many who can keep up with me"

"Hmm…", Azrael looked at his hand ,"So 30% isn't good enough, huh?"

"30%?", Abaddon raised a brow.

"Let's try that again-", said Azrael and he disappeared.

Abaddon's eyes widened ,"How-?!"

He suddenly tensed and raised his sword, just in time to block Azrael's punch. The impact caused a shockwave and cracks appeared in the ground around them.

BOOM! 

CRACK! 

Abaddon gritted his teeth as he struggled to push Azrael back.

"I shall not…yield!"

He thrust his sword out, pushing Azrael away. Azrael landed a few feet away and smiled slightly as he watched Abaddon trying to catch his breath.

"Wh-what kind of magic was that?", Abaddon stammered ,"Even my own strengthening magic isn't that effective"

"Magic?", Azrael tilted his head ,"I don't think you know how to use those eyes of yours"

He put his hands in his pockets walked slowly towards Abaddon.

"Who said I used magic at all? All I did-"

Azrael once again closed the gap between them in an instant, suddenly standing right in front of Abaddon. He leaned forward, whispering in Abaddon's ear.

"-was increase my normal power output by 10%"

A look of fear passed across Abaddon's face.

"Im-", he stammered and backed away from Azrael ,"Impossible!"

"Ha ha ha, you thought I was using magic?", Azrael laughed at the idea ,"Don't worry"

He held out his hand and a ball of dark purple flames appeared, flickering hungrily and sinisterly. A sinister smile shone on Azrael's face.

"We can try that too"