FAR AWAY FROM THE DESOLATION, in his goth and defiant dark habitation, Israfel stepped out the sted doors of his manor and into the cold dusk fields. The wards were down. His witches had tried, but s, Mephistopheles was a tireless viin. It was up to him now. The only man between a vengeful god and a mortal girl. He was between a cock and a hard ce.
[?? Don''t You (Forget About Me) – Simple Minds.]
"MEPHISTOPHELES!" Rafel called up to the ck skies in a loud voice. "Get down here and let this be settled in the way of hard men, a fight into death."
Mephistopheles, a bald bronze giant of a man, tore across the clouds at Rafel''s voice, flying with quick speed that made hairs stand on the neck to the earth below.
He floated just a foot over the wiry Wyrd grass beforending on his feet. Like his fixer who he''d sent before, Meph was bare feet. He began walking slowly for Rafel and speaking as he did, "You really think I came here to what... give you a fucking duel? After all those months you made me wait to have my prize? I''m not fucking stupid.
Typhon was, and what easy prey you made of him. I warned the prideful wanker."
"So?" Rafel challenged.
Mephistopheles smiled darkly, "I think I''ll take my chances with all of you."
His red eyes slid to the four women who padded out the mansion and down the steps to stop behind Rafel. He looked curiously at all of them, but halted on Ravenna. Mephistopheles spoke directly to Rafel.
"Ah, there she is, my green-eyed jewel—still asely as ever. I''m shocked this one hasn''t deflowered you already. For being such a nice host to my prize, I''ll do you a favor and make your death quick."
When Rafel still stood rigidly between him and Ravenna, the god of deception sighed audibly.
"You need to understand Israfel, you have no chance against me. Despite your Apollyon status, your are still not [Divine] ss. I AM S-RANK. You are a level below, not even Third Infernal Circle I hear? You might want to call upon your Auntie for this one, though I doubt she''ll answer your summons on this even of Holocaust."
Rafel didn''t hesitate to catch the veracity behind the bald man''s smug remark.
"I AM NOT nning to summon her."
"You didn''t ask the right question: why wouldn''t she?" Mephistopheles winked.
"Enough rambling, Meph! Are you nning to do something about your idle ims anytime soon? If so, you and what army?"
Mephistopheles''s ck face shimmered in gross delight, as unearthly light, green and menacing as the bog of Nokmaar—an alligator infested swamp, shrouded his entire figure. He replied to Rafel, "You, Israfel, above all else should know I do not need an army. I am one of my own. And it would be my utmost pleasure to defeat Hel''s beloved champion."
Annabelle gasped behind Rafel''s spartan stature as the god of deception glowed a brighter green. His form grew and he began to divide into multiple selfs. The speed at which he did so was so hurried that he appeared as a blur of shifting bodies. Within seconds, Mephistopheles had a thousand likenesses of himself spread across on the moors in front of the Manor.
His doppelgangers looked exactly as he did. It was impossible to tell the true [Prime].
Rafel grinded his teeth at the sight.
"Coward."
But he knew not to underestimate Meph. All images of the Archdemon had appeared virtual and perhaps seamless to reality, but they were equally powerful in [Prowess] and [Ability]. Amongst the hundreds of bald, ck, and caped warriors stood the real form of god: Meph [Prime].
Cora stepped out from the other girls to stand close at Rafel''s side. She said, "The monster means ill, Your Grace, but we always knew this day woulde. What are your orders?"
"It''s simple, take this." Rafel held up a ck gambit card with Lilith''s [Purple Rune]. "—and get Little Raven as far from this ce as you can."
Cora swatted the card away from his grasp. It fell to the t Wyrd grass under the tenebrous skies.
"I''m gonna stop you right there. We ain''t running! NOT EVER, my lord. Now, I ask again, what...are your orders?"
Rafel took her warm face in his hands. "I do not deserve you, Corazón."
Cora was just starting to reply when the nearest likeness of Mephistopheles screamed a high bellow and lunged a ming arc of green mes at them. Rafel dove right under the fiery st, acting as a shield for all four women. The [Nether Fires] burned rapidly across his clothes. He was scorched aze in the wrath of the fire. It melted all of his clothes away.
His pale skin and pecs shimmered into the twilight and his red hair came tumbling down.
Rafel turned with an anger that made his demonic eyes burn out with arduous fire. His pupils oozed and began to drop volcanicva.
"You motherfucker!" He boomed out loudly, catching the doppelganger who had assaulted him by the bald head.
Out from his mouth, Rafel poured a river of [Hellfire] into the gripped ck face. Skin melted like wax under his dragon breath. Rafel didn''t close his mouth until therge head was a ckened skull and the skull withered ash. A headless body with steam pouring out its burnt neck dropped limply from his grasp.
Rafel was shirtless and in full demigod glory as he rattled to his inner divinity.
"System, equip all [Divine] arsenals within pocket dimension!"
[Ding!]
[First Equipment: LEGENDARY DRAGON MAIL!]
[Ding!]
[Second Equipment: FULL EPIC SPHINX ARMOR!]
[Ding!]
[Third Equipment: DIVINE ATLANTEAN TRIDENT!]
[Ding!]
[CHARM: Divine Resurrection Amulet!]
[Ding!]
[Correct Alignment and Integration with Hostplete!]
Rafel artfully stroked the blue silver trident in fast circles in the air. Manning his huge Warframe was a prime golden Sphinx armor. His feet were battle sandals of the quickest pace. On his head was a helm of radiant energy. He felt his mana core pulsing with red energy and the Charm amplified his intrinsic infernal capacity.
[Ding!] His system chimed finally.
[Power Levels are at + 1000 percent.]
"My orders," Rafel bossed back to the four radiant girls behind him, who were equally now appareled in battle wear. Cora''s blue [Enchantress] tunic sparkled like her iris. "—burn the narcissistic prick to the ground," he finished.
With a charging war cry, Aya Naamah rushed out first. She impaled her ck poison fingernails in the jugr of one of the doppelgangers. The likeness of Mephistopheles bled red down her forearm. Telepathically, Rafel urged the gorgeous subus to ensure the others evade the line of fireing from the [Prime].
It wasn''t long before there were dozens of scarred, wounded lookalike piles of an Archdemon running up from the porch steps of the manor into the vast moonds fringing the northern forests.
Rafel was upied with three furious ones, hurling mes at him, and didn''t notice when Mephistopheles Prime shot up to the sky and lifted up his ham hands to the ckness. He conjured up a spitting ball of fresh red lightning. The cracks of elemental electricity struck the air like whips of a horse master. The Prime sent it hurling down, right towards the mansion.
"Noooo! My Coven is in there!" Cora pushed a dying foe off her, running for the mansion''s sted doors.
She was a smidge second toote.
Right at the final step into the grand home, the force of the fireball hit.
BOOM!
The screeching impact was so great it knocked the wind out of Cora, sending her back the distance she came in. Shended heavily on the grass with a thud that rattled blood in her ears. For that brief second of blinding white light, followed by a tumultuous and shattering implosion of energy, everyone paused the fighting to stare up at the Manor pop into an atomic mushroom.
The sound of the st hit a millisecond after.
It broke like several doses of aligned thunder. Cora clutched to her ears on the ground and gritted to stifle her sobs. Fragments of the most ornate cedarwood, and shards of fine opal ss rained down from the above. The smoking pane of Rafel''s grand piano hit the earth close to his feet.
Pervading the burning atmosphere more than the smell of thick choking ash was the stench of burning bodies.
Emberfall, in all its marvelous goth magnificence, was razed to the ground. Mere ashes in the passing cold winds of winter.
"No. No. No. NOOOO!" Cora''s gargle as she struggled to rise off the ground became a squeal, and then full-blown yelling.
Rafel removed his helmet at the sight of the shattered bits of his home. The gilded helm thunked to the t grass under his battle sandals. The force of the st had knocked the wind and consciousness right out of Ravenna, Aya, and Annabelle. They ally on their sides in the ashen ground, beautiful faces cloudy with pouring ash.
Rafel looked in the charred remains of Emberfall: wood sticking out the ground, ck stumps of bejewelled heirlooms, their gold melting in the small fires, rare gems of ruby and jade steaming with heat, and then more shocking, eight forlorn bodies in the raze.
Their limbs stuck out, ck burned to a crisp. It was horrible.
It was Cora''s entire coven.
"YOU BASTARD!"
Cora grabbed FROSTBLADE off Rafel''s right arm and ran for the remnant lookalikes, standing dumb and bald on the field. Her blue striking eyes were set for the one in the center. The [Prime].
"Nay, Corazón. Wait!" Rafel tried to stop her.
But hisely, levelheaded chambein was gone. In her ce, a vengeful [Dark Witch] yearned for a pound of flesh. With the [Divine] Trident of Antis, she spliced the doppelgangers in her way until she got to Mephistopheles Prime.
She struck out with the three spikes, aiming for the area between his eyes.
Mephistopheles, the real Archdemon caught her charge with a tired effort. His green eyes showed he only humored her.
"A for effort, darling," he spited. "But I suppose anyone would be aggressive... seeing how I just incinerated your entire coven."
"ARRRGH! YOU FUCKING CUNT!" Cora yelled.
With his free arm, Mephistopheles curled his fingers around Cora''s throat. He lifted her up to meet the corruption in his pupils, several inches off the ground.
"Little girls shouldn''t be in men''s fights, don''t you agree?" He strangled her with his monstrous arms.