New Allies

(OVERVIEW)

Diana nodded, wincing as she dragged herself towards a pillar and leaned against it.

"I thought that if I could capture Sirius myself and present him before my father, I could make things right", Diana explained.

"Is that so...?" Azrael asked absentmindedly. He'd taken out the spell book he had received from Samira and was flipping through it, searching for something.

"Although, I had the conviction to do what I wanted, I had no resources, no idea where Sirius was or how I was even going to capture him", Diana continued ,"But that's when I met Kathalia and the other ogres. Their entire clan had been struck down with a horrible disease and were in desperate need of healing"

"So you healed them, didn't you?" Abigor guessed ,"That's why they were even willing to die for you"

"Yes, you're right", Diana confirmed ,"I used what little divine strength I had at the time to heal them all. From then on, they'd helped me through my hardships and we all grew stronger together. I even promised them great gifts and a life of peace once we captured Sirius. But I guess that doesn't matter now..."

Diana began coughing up blood once again, her breathing becoming shallow. Samira knelt down besides her to heal her but she grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

"I...told you...", Diana whispered weakly ,"I don't need...the pity of a demon..."

Samira looked at her in surprise for a brief moment before pulling her hand out of her grasp.

"May Hel have mercy on the souls of my friends and I...", Diana prayed quietly and closed her eyes to allow the darkness to take her.

"Hazais-" Azrael chanted.

Diana opened her eyes in surprise as her pain vanished and her wounds healed. Even her arm regenerated completely, as good as new.

"Hey!" Diana shouted angrily ,"I thought i told you that I don't need your pi-"

"Shut up", said Azrael coldly ,"I don't give a damn about pity"

"Then why-?" she began to say but he interrupted her again.

"Although, I gave you a choice...", Azrael explained ,"I will not take no for an answer. I couldn't care any less about your friends, your hardships till now or what Sirius has done to you-"

He knelt down next to her and Diana gasped. The look in his eyes was one of pure determination and overwhelming strength. Azrael offered her his hand.

"What I care about right now, is you becoming my subordinate", he said simply ,"If there is anything stopping you from doing that, I shall tear it down. If you have any fears, I will take them for you. If you have any wishes, be it peace or whatever it is, I will grant it. Starting with this-"

He raised his hand towards the center of the room and chanted.

"Let the dead breath once more-", he chanted ,"May their souls return to their roots and let them trend the earth once again, Resumair gateway!"

The entire cathedral shook as a wide magic circle appeared in the center of the room. All the corpses of the ogres drew towards the circle before a flash a of light engulfed the entire room. Everyone in the room turned away and shielded their eyes from the blinding light.

When the light faded, Diana's mouth hang open in disbelief at the sight she saw in front of her.

Every single one of her ogre friends stood there, as good as new. Even Kathalia, who was looking around her in confusion.

"Where am I?", asked Kathalia ,"Didn't I die?"

"Kathalia!", Diana cried out in joy, with tears streaming down her face as she ran to her friend and embraced her ,"I'm so glad you're okay"

Kathalia patted her gently and just let Diana cry into her shoulder. The rest of the ogres surrounded them, hugging each other as well and weeping happily together.

•

(OVERVIEW)

Samira and Abigor stared at Azrael as if he were some sort of creature they'd never seen before.

"You went as far as to use your influence over death and create a whole new spell just for her...", Samira remarked ,"I thought the whole point of coming here was to make that priestess suffer for using us as her tools"

"Was it?" asked Azrael without changing his blank expression ,"When did I say that?"

Abigor sighed helplessly ,"There you go again, being unpredictable"

"You know me so well", Azrael smiled at him before turning his attention back to Diana ,"Hey Diana! I need an answer to my question"

Diana pulled herself away from Kathalia and the other ogres and wiped her tears. She walked slowly towards him and knelt down, bowing her head low.

"I, Diana, priestess of the sun-", Diana declared loudly ,"Pledge my unyielding loyalty to you for the rest of my life"

Azrael nodded in satisfaction ,"That's what I wanted to hear"

The ogres started muttering amongst themselves nervously. Even Kathalia looked uncertain about the situation.

"What?" Azrael asked them ,"You heard her. You are still her servants but she works for me now. Which means I'm your boss too. Unless, you have a problem with that?"

He left the threat hanging in the air as if daring them to speak up. However, no one said a word.

"Good. Now-", said Azrael as he stretched his hand out towards the podium, where the Gleipnir rose sat. The cube flew swiftly through the air and straight into his palm.

Azrael looked at Abigor and asked ,"Where's Fey?"

"She's been right besides me this entire time, of course", Abigor answered as he snapped his fingers. His illusions melted away and revealed Fey, standing on his right hand side.

Azrael offered her the cube and commanded ,"Release him"

"WHAT?!" Abigor, Samira and Diana all expressed their surprise.

"But why?!" asked Abigor.

"After all that effort it took to capture him in the first place...", Samira added.

"He shall kill us all!" shouted Diana.

Azrael kept a straight face and ignored all of them as he repeated ,"Release him"

Fey, unable to protest, did as she was told. She closed her eyes and focused, her hand hovering around the Gleipnir rose. Finally, with a small click, the cube expanded and out came Sirius.

He still wore the robes he'd been wearing when they'd captured him but this time, he was back in his original form. A tall young man with wavy black hair and blue eyes that sparkled like sapphires.

Sirius cracked his neck and groaned ,"I don't know why you let me out but-"

Suddenly, he charged towards Azrael so fast that no one could follow his moments.

"I'll be taking my leave now!" he yelled out as he swung his fist at Azrael's face.

BOOM!

The shockwave from the punch alone was enough to blow everyone off their feet.

Abigor quickly got back up and shouted ,"Azrael!"

Sirius smirked confidently but his smile quickly faded as the dust cleared. Azrael was holding his fist in his hand, inches away from his face.

"How did yo-?" asked Sirius in disbelief.

"Too slow", said Azrael disappointedly.

Sirius gritted his teeth in anger as he yelled ,"I'll show you slow!"

He pulled his fist back and launched a flurry of attacks at Azrael. Azrael didn't even bother to dodge as he easily blocked all the attacks with one hand.

"Such strength...", said Diana in awe. Even Samira and Abigor were astonished by the significant power difference between the two of them.

"How is this even possible?!" Sirius roared in frustration as he launched an axe kick at Azrael's head.

"At my current level-", said Azrael quietly he ducked under it and grabbed Sirius by his throat.

Sirius struggled helplessly as Azrael held him up. Azrael's gaze was cold and empty as he whispered to Sirius ,"you're too weak to even be a playmate for me"

Azrael then drew his other fist back and punched Sirius in his gut. Sirius face contorted in pain as he fell to his knees and retched on the ground.

Azrael merely stood there and looked him without a shred of mercy on his face.

"W-well?" Sirius asked, staggering as he got back up to his feet ,"A-aren't you going to finish me off for your precious new subordinate?

Sirius glanced at Diana and she glared back at him with an expression of nothing but pure hatred.

However simply Azrael chuckled and asked ,"You think I am kind enough to do that? What do you take me for?"

"Hmm?", Sirius blinked at him in confusion ,"Then-"

Azrael offered him a hand ,"I offer you the same thing I offered her-"

"Forget it!" Sirius instantly rejected the idea ,"You want me, a God, to serve you for as long as you live? You're insane"

"You know, there's a lot of things one can learn from simply fighting someone", said Azrael ,"When I first fought you, I felt the anger and frustration in your punches. Whatever feud you have with the other gods, it runs deeper than what's just on the surface, doesn't it?"

Sirius' silence answered his question for him and Azrael continued.

"Then why not serve me", Azrael suggested ,"Right now, you're just a shell of your former self with no hope of achieving anything on your own. But if you join me and serve me well, I promise to return you to your former glory and correct all the wrongs that have been done to you"

Sirius thought for a moment, staring at Azrael's hand hesitantly.

"Don't take me for a fool like my niece over there", said Sirius ,"I know that once I pledge my loyalty to you, it's for life"

"All the more reason why you should accept it", said Azrael with a smug smile.

Sirius chuckled before he accepted Azrael's hand and said ,"I, Sirius, the Dragon god, pledge my unyielding loyalty to you for the rest of my life"

"Excellent", said Azrael as he briefly caught Diana's eye. She looked unhappy and was about to say something but thought better of it and simply kept quiet.

"Clever girl...", Azrael muttered quietly to himself.

"You really know how to put on a good show, you know that?" said Abigor shaking his head helplessly.

Azrael simply shrugged with a small smile on his face.

"I just like doing what I want", he said.