158 The Final Act Part 9

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(Aden's P.O.V)

"This magical array is special. A normal one would put you within short distance of where Blood is but depending on the strength of the magic wards where he's being held captive, might be a few hundred meters or even miles." I nodded as Zatara explained.

"What makes this particular formation unique is that it turns your body into a ray of energy, allowing you to move through the layer separating our reality from hell, undetected and closer to Blood than a normal realm transmission spell."

"What about the wards?"

I questioned.

"I was getting to that. The magic coats your body and turns it into formless and neutral mystical energy allowing you to oscillate in the same vibration frequency of the wards. So that means..."

"I'll be able to slip past the wards without restriction. Furthermore, it saves time. I wouldn't have to look for Blood, I would just spear right to where he is. That's brilliant Zatara."

I complimented.

"Hmmm." Zatara hummed in appreciation. "Yes yes, quite brilliant. You can thank Nimue fir that, she came up with the idea." His face changed a little.

"But...it's not all good news. For starters, this might not be a direct route to hell. Due to the nature of the spell, you will have to cross through a few dimensions bordering our reality before you get to hell, which I theorize is a few realms away in general placement. And you will be particularly...eye catching."

He paused to let that sink in. The trade off was honestly good. This way, I could get Blood and Cerial out before anything else, which was the main objective of the mission. Dealing with the Hell-Lords would go over smoothly if I didn't have to worry about the two of them.

"Let's do it." I confidently said.

Zatara then handed me a brown parchment of paper square in shape.

"And this is for?"

I wondered, accepting it.

"A way out." I raised my eyebrows in question.

"I am aware of your portals so this is just in case something goes wrong. The parchment contains a magic formation. The ink used is made from the ashes of an Okami tree, an extinct but incredibly mystical tree whose roots can stretch and grow past this realm into others. If you tear it, the spell will activate and short of a truly powerful being far above the level of the Lords of Order and Chaos, no one can stop you from leaving."

I eyed the simple parchment, turning it over in my hands to see a shimmering rune inscription on one side. It looked beautiful in its construction, with precisely drawn lines, curves and edges.

"This must be very valuable." I observed. "It's practically a life saving tool, thank you."

I wasn't going to be dumb and refuse it.

Zatara nodded with a solemn smile. He knew the time had arrived and was probably wrestling with the decision to knowingly send a minor to a dangerous place.

"Thank you Aden. And...forg..."

I cut him, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"It's fine." I smiled reassuringly, "I got this."

Zatara stepped away from the circle and immediately, his persona changed. He was now the sole magician in the Justice League. A powerful individual that had battled the worst of the worst. His experience shone through his hand movements.

Zatara had allowed Zatanna to stay behind and watch and I could feel she was awed just as I was by how expertly Zatara was controlling every smidgen of his powerful magic reserves. The incantations this time were made in a language I didn't understand. His voice flowed, commanding reality to bend to his will and reality listened.

The array below me lit up in a red light. Power flowed through the whole structure, forcing me to tone down my energy sense just to avoid the extreme sensory input. Before long, I felt an energy clad my form in its entirety and a click sort of went off. Instantly, I felt weightless as if I was floating in a cloud. The last thing I saw was Zatara's grim and serious eyes then I was falling.

Well not falling exactly, more like hurtling or shuttling through a myriad of realms. Most of whom were just crazy, incomprehensible spaces of existence. Some made sense. And a few stood out particularly. One of which was beautiful. A land dominated by a wondrous environment, filled with greenery, impossible creatures and a faceless figure whose features unravelled into sand, leaving behind two statements.

"Be Careful. I'm watching."

Then I passed through a grayish space where my body was rendered timeless and eternal. A place of great suffering. The only thing I spotted was the shocked look on the figures of what appeared to be humans, then I disappeared into a couple more realms that made no sense to my awareness. A realm full of swirling clouds and vortexes of different colors, I could feel had I stayed there...I would have become a part of the wondrously beautiful dimension.

I crossed over into another strange realm. This time a beautiful figure that called onto every debaucherous thought and lust traced my movement through the folds of space. The only thing I got from him was the feeling of being watched, by golden eyes.

"Oh...A New plaything...See you soon. I hope you survive, little brother."

The thought was funneled into my mind along with an unnerving laugh, then the presence disappeared and with a soft pop, I finally breached the layers of space into a grayish and dead realm.

The air was both sweltering hot and chillingly cold, despite the fact that I was in an ethereal form. That's how hell felt like. My senses spread out far and wide and if I had eyes, they would have been wide with shock. Wow...this shit just got real. Hell pulled out all the stops for this one.

Over a billion energy signatures appeared in my senses. All of them more powerful than Red Arrow in base physical parameters alone. Half felt stronger than an Atlantean and a quarter were on the Justice League level. That was just from the aura of strength they put off. A small fraction on the other hand were stronger than Superman. Thankfully that was a very small fraction. Then a handful of them, that I could only detect due to concentrating my spiritual sense on the black castle all the demons were gathered before, were much more powerful than Doctor Fate. I'm willing to bet those are the Hell-Lords.

My trajectory was aimed for the centre of the demon horde, after carefully spreading my energy sense out to understand why...I found out that the party had begun before me. Etrigan was fighting as best he could against a torrential wave of unending demons. He stood defiantly on the bodies of dozens of demons, dark blood pooling around the smoking area. His mouth spewed flames that spread out to keep the demon's away, while he swung a huge sword to attack those who made it past the fire.

A unique behemoth of a demon, standing at a crazy 50 meters, stomped his way towards him, wielding two giant swords, both dripping with hell flames. Tusks that speared from the bottom of it's jaw to it's face, along with the claws and sharp teeth made this particular one look more menacing than even the rest. Problem was, in a party comprising of over a billion demons, I could spot a couple thousand of this type of demon. Well time to make an entrance.

(A few minutes ago) (General P.O.V)

A cloud of darkness swept through the room, whispers trailing behind it in an ominous cacophony of different voices mixed together to create a truly scary being.

It stopped a distance below Lucifer, who barely gave any indication on it's presence, content to watch through the balcony as the demons grew restless and more inpatient. Fights were already breaking out and it was amusing to the high tier being to see them mindlessly battle just for the sake of it.

Maze was the only one to acknowledge Azazel's presence with a slight cock of her head. She was not in the least bit impressed by the Hell-Lord. To her it was clear what he wanted.

"My Lord...I have a request to make."

The cacophony of voices went silent as one grim one, spoke from the cloud of darkness. Eyes and mouths started sprouting from deep within, making the already eerie visage of one of the strongest beings on hell even more unnerving.

"Well... don't keep me waiting. Get on with it."

Lucifer answered. It grated Azazel to be spoken to with such utter disregard. And judging from the royal consort's face, he could feel she was ridiculing him. He was Azazel goddamit! He could command an army of trillions! The demons near the palace were simply but a small small small tiny portion of the forces of hell. Why should he take second to one such as he?!

Azazel however said none of that. His voice was level and supplicated as he stated his intentions.

"Our forces call for...an appetizer before the full course meal. They demand the blood of the son of Belial, to sate their bloodlust while we wait for the alignment and the toll of the last hour, to execute the Angel in defiance to the silver city and Him. For a unified hell...I believe this to be the favorable course of action."

There in was the start of the scheme. Azazel and the rest of the... interested parties knew that Lucifer did not want the angel defiled, ravaged and killed. It wasn't a matter of good or bad...it was a matter of pushing for it in a way that made him oppose them.

To that effect, Azazel could highlight his stubbornness as incompetence and traitorous to the general public, plunging the whole dimension into disarray once more. That would open up the avenue for many of the plans they had for the earth to continue on without a hitch. The best thing was that everything was turning out perfectly. The Morningstar either choosing to follow their demands, veiled as suggestion or not was of little consequence. All that mattered is that all roads led to the same result. Chaos.

Heaven would not be silent if an angel died on hell. There would be concequences. And hell would not be silent if the angel didn't die. It was a win win.

"The dirt on the bottom of my shoes."

Lucifer calmly replied.

"What do you mean, your majesty?"

Azazel questioned. A second passed, then Lucifer turned to face the demon Hell-Lord.

"That is where you are. Beneath the dirt on the bottom of my shoe." The Fallen angel smiled in amusement.

"You believe yourself clever enough to outsmart me Azazel? Where do you get the defiance to stand before me with your poorly hidden intentions and plans to undermine my influence?"

The air started getting heavy. Azazel felt pressured deep to the core of his being but just as quickly as the pressure had come...it disappeared.

The Demon felt true fear. It was easy to forget that behind that facade of unassuming demeanor...he was no doubt facing someone who could undo him and his with merely a glance. Lucifer had a winning smile

"Fine...do it. Offer the rhyming demon up to the crowd. Let of not be said that I am not a gracious and generous lord."

Lucifer suddenly said.

"My Lord..."

Maze looked at him askance. The Morningstar waved her off.

"It's fine Maze." He grinned while staring at the sky, his eyes flashing red. "If anything, it's perfect timing. Azazel...do what you must."

He threw behind him. Azazel studied the Morningstar's back for a second or so, before disappearing.

A couple of minutes later, Etrigan found himself standing on a raised platform in the middle of a ravenous, bloodthirsty and murderous horde of his brothers and sisters. The rhyming demon's face split up into an excited smile. A dull colored and wide bastard sword, that was slightly curved at the end appeared in his hands.

"Now this, is my kind of fun."

He didn't waste time with a rhyme. Instead he shouted and ran forward jumping up to battle the sea of demons. And the waves rose up to meet him.

The battle went on for a few minutes and the rhyming demon had wracked up quite a number of dead foes below him. However strong as Etrigan was, the numbers were nothing to scoff at. And sooner or later, he knew he would be overwhelmed. He just wanted to have as much bloodshed and mayhem as he could before that eventual reality.

"It's time Maze. It is time for the Final Act."

Lucifer spread out his hands, the ashy clouds covering the skies of the realm seemingly parted before a ray of light speared through. Too bright for anyone to miss. The ray spoke of power and potential. A small smile appeared on Maze's face, mirroring the one on Lucifer's.

"Well I'll be double damned...the kid actually pulled through."

Lucifer laughed as the ray of Light landed on a particularly large demon, splitting it apart from head to toe.

"Trust me Maze...you are about to witness something you have never thought possible."

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It took 9 chapters to get here. Oh my god 😂