The sky was red like blood and there were continuous sparks of white lightning cracking in it. The air felt different and there was also this stinging feeling around Hannah and Garin as they surveyed their surroundings. Also, from the surface, the water that flowed in the rotating river was as black as night and it just kept flowing in a circle with a giant architectural construction in the middle of it.
It was like a giant castle but it was unlike any castle that existed on Earth. It was taller than Mount Everest and a lot scarier. While the couple looked around, Cleo scanned the building to make sure that Summum wasn't back yet because that was detrimental to the success of the plan.
"What is this building?" Hannah asked as she looked upon the massive construction.
"It's where I grew up in. It's called Salem's Hearth and it's a lot scarier on the inside than it is on the outside. Summum carved out a massive chunk of her power to open a doorway into this realm and she's been hiding here for centuries, unable to be seen or detected by Verum," Cleo said as she continued scanning.
She looked through every single corner of the enormous castle and couldn't spot Summum.
"Good news! She isn't back yet which means our work will be a lot easier," Cleo said.
"That's good to hear but what about your siblings? How many of them are around?" Garin asked.
"There's about a dozen of them. The rest must be on Earth carrying out certain tasks," Cleo answered.
"So, which part of this building is Jasmine and Yelena being kept?" Hannah asked.
"At the very top. The highest room in the tallest tower," Cleo said and pointed at it.
"How do we get up there without being seen?" Garin asked.
"Just follow my lead and try not to make too much sound with the flapping of your wings," Cleo said and elevated off the ground.
"Stay close!"
She began to fly upward and they sprouted out their wings and followed her. They were here now and they needed to be careful so they wouldn't be seen by the Nephalems that were sure to still be in the hearth.
As they flew up, Hannah and Garin could feel a strong force trying to push them downwards the higher they flew and they held on to each other to combine the power of their wings so they could keep going.
"It's called The Mind Effect," Cleo began to say to them, "I'm sure you can already sense that the air is different here in Salem. That force that's trying to push you down isn't physical; it's mental and it's meant to keep non-nephalemic creatures from being able to reach the top of Salem's Hearth.
"Just stay calm and don't try to fight the push and you won't feel it anymore," she said.
Hannah and Garin did just as Cleo told them and they found it a lot easier to fly against the pushing force. They made it to the top entrance and they landed on the rocky floor just in front of a small door.
"Remember to stay close! We can't afford to be caught before we free my sisters," Cleo said.
She detached the relic that she had stolen before escaping Salem the last time and used her powers to activate it. It transformed from the volcanic rock that it looked like into a weird-looking bottle.
"Alright! Time to cloak us up," Cleo said.
She opened the lid and poured the contents of the bottle into her hand. It looked like sand but was glowing like pixie dust.
"What is that?" Garin asked.
"Granulated Concealer; one of Summum's powers that she extracted and gave a physical form. For centuries, Nephalems have used it on themselves while visiting Earth to hide from Verum and his angels. We used it to build houses, shops and many other buildings on Earth, including the one in Quaddick where I took you," Cleo said.
She poured the dust all over herself and on Hannah and Garin as well.
"Is something supposed to happen?" Garin asked because he didn't feel any different than before.
"Just try and be quiet, and don't let anyone touch you because that would break the cloak. We're invisible but we're still tangible," Cleo said as she walked over to the small door.
She placed her palm on it and it clicked open. She pushed the door and slipped in with the Celestials, ready to begin the next phase of the plan.
******
Lucifer was back on the rocky plain, somewhere in-between the realms of Heaven and Hell. He was waiting for God to arrive and was becoming impatient because he had been standing there for minutes.
He heard a noise come from behind him and when he turned around, he saw God standing right beside him.
"You sure took your sweet time," Lucifer said condescendingly.
"Let's get straight down to why we're here, Lucy. I have important things that I need to see to," God said.
"Okay, I would have preferred a little banter before we start but if you want to get into it right away, then sure," Lucifer said and moved closer to God.
"It seems that neither of our children can perform this task and win us the bet so we only have one option left; the one we discussed before, about taking care of it ourselves," Lucifer said.
"That won't be possible anymore, Lucifer. Perhaps, our entire bet won't even be possible as well," God said.
"What's this? Don't tell me you want to call it off. I haven't strayed away from the rules so I cannot allow it," Lucifer roared.
"This isn't about that, Lucifer. We have a problem and I've decided that it's probably about time that I told you the truth," God said.
"What truth?" Lucifer asked with a raised brow.
"The truth about my origin. You don't know everything about the beginning and for the sake of everything we know and have, it's probably best that you be informed about the possible threat that is about to befall us," God said.
"What is it that you're talking about, Jehovah?" Lucifer asked.
"That's kind of the thing. My name isn't Jehovah or whatever name you know. It's actually Verum and it is a name given to me by the only other being that was in my existence before I began creation," God began.
He began to explain it all to Lucifer and the devil held his breath as he was told the real truth about everything that was and everything that was to come.
.
.
.
Back in Quaddick, it had gotten very late and also very dark and Josh and Isabelle were fast asleep inside the house.
Sader was still outside keeping watch and for the longest time, it seemed like it was going to be an uneventful night and he was grateful for that because he wasn't looking to fight against a god.
Suddenly, he heard a rustle come from some bushes just in front of him and he instantly became alert. He pulled out the axe that Cleo had given to him and enlarged it. He walked slowly toward the bushes, ready to fight the dust if it were to attack him.
A small raccoon jumped out of the bush and ran past Sader which made him feel a little stupid for getting so worked up over a little rodent. He strapped the axe back in his belt and just as he did, from out of nowhere, he was struck by a large hammer right in his face and it launched him toward the building.
Sader crashed into the old wooden house and tore through it as easily as a hot knife would cut through butter. His body destroyed at least half of the house but thankfully, it didn't damage the bedroom where Josh and Isabelle were sleeping.
The couple woke up to the noise and destruction and didn't understand what was going on.
"Get up, Isabelle," Josh shouted in fear as they both got off the bed.
They made their way through the wreckage and just as they were about to exit the house, Sader burst out of the floor where he had been covered with piles of wood. The demon angrily looked around for who had attacked him but there was no one in sight.
"Sader! What's going on?" Josh asked him from some yards away.
"We're being attacked!" Sader shouted back.
"Summum did this?" Isabelle asked, surprised.
"It wasn't Summum,"
Just as Sader said this, he was attacked again, this time from the front and the back by both Kari and Zarif.
Kari struck him in the back with the hammer again and the force of it blasted him toward Zarif who caught him in midair and slammed him to the ground. Sader was badly hurt and as he tried to stand, he felt Zarif's foot stamp him back to the ground.
Kari walked over as well and the both of them stood over him.
"Hey there, brother. Did you miss us?" Kari asked as he looked down at Sader.
******
“Once again, Father, you have proven what I have been saying about you my entire existence. You put on this façade to your flock of angels and to Mankind that you’re this perfect, infallible, pure being of immeasurable goodness but that’s all just a lie. I’m painted as the villain whose goal is to disrupt the good things that you intend for the world but the truth is; YOU are the actual villain here,” Lucifer said to God.
“Mind your tongue, Lucy,” God said to him.
“No, I will not mind my tongue, Father. What I say is true and you know it. Everyone views you as this epitome of goodness and sees me as the embodiment of evil but they choose to turn a blind eye to the fact that I was born from you and if I’m evil, then that makes you evil as well. You can as well say that I chose to go to the darkness but, if you are completely light and you made everything, then how was I even capable of being the exact opposite of what you are?” Lucifer was angry but he was speaking rather calmly.
“I don’t care for your lectures, Lucifer. I only decided to tell you this so we could put the bet on hold until we know why Summum has returned and what it means for the balance of the physical and spiritual planes of existence,” God said.
Lucifer walked a few paces away from God because he couldn’t stand to be near him at this point. The news about Summum hit him quite hard and he wasn’t even sure of the best way to respond. For him, this was typical of his father. It was something expected because, from his perspective, God has always been the real villain right from the dawn of time.
“You are a fraud. You’ve always been a fraud and now, everyone will know it,” Lucifer said.
“And who’s everyone?” God asked, “Who are you going to tell, Lucy; Your demons? I couldn’t care if they knew. You have no means of telling every man or woman on Earth and my angels will also soon be made aware because when Summum finally makes her move, it will become interstellar public knowledge,”
God was ready to leave and was about to disappear but he turned to Lucifer to make sure that he was on board with the new development.
“Call off your demons and suspend any attempts to kill Hannah or Garin until we have more to go on. Do you understand, Lucifer?” God asked.
Reluctantly and unhappily, Lucifer responded, “I understand, but don’t think for one second that I won’t be making my own plans. I will not be reduced to a small and useless third wheel in this pending Celestial war,”
“And what makes you think Summum wants war? We existed in balance before creation,” God said, insinuating that his counterpart wouldn’t necessarily become a rival.
“If she’s anything like you, Verum,” Lucifer called his father by his true name for the very first time, “...then I’m willing to bet everything that she’s preparing for war. I suggest you prepare as well because all worlds will suffer.”
God turned away and disappeared out of the plane, leaving Lucifer alone up there.
The Devil was left to ponder the role he would most likely play in a scenario where two beings more powerful than himself will battle for total dominance. He knew he didn’t stand a chance which meant he would have to rely on his cleverness, his slyness and his mischievous mind to make sure that he doesn’t come out with the short end of the stick after the dust settles.
******
“We have to move, Isabelle,” Josh whispered to her while they hid within the ruins of the broken house.
“We can’t just run away and leave the demon out there on his own. They’ll kill him if we don’t do something to help him. Also, if he dies, there’ll be no one around to protect us from the God that literally wants to climb into us and make us pregnant with a Nephalem baby,” she whispered back.
“We can’t do anything to help him. If we try to, they’ll try to kill us as well. We have to run,” Josh said again.
“What if we CAN do something to help him? We can try to activate the time reversal power and turn back the clock before this attack even happened. That way, we’ll be able to warn him and he’ll stand a better chance than right now,” Isabelle suggested.
While Josh and Isabelle tried to figure out how to willingly use the time reverse element of their new ability, Sader was in a lot of trouble as he was pinned down and defenceless against his brothers.
“The time has come for you to pay for what you did to Gentel, brother. You didn’t think there would be no consequences, did you?” Zarif said to Sader, still stamping down on him with his foot.
“What do you think is best, Zarif; kill him now OR cut the relic off his arm so he gets called back into Hell to face Lucifer?” Kari asked.
“I think I very much prefer the latter,” Zarif replied.
With that being the case, Kari made his demon-hammer dissolve into nothing and from the dust, he materialized a demon blade in the form of a sword.
“Spread his hand out so I can get a clean cut,” Kari said to Zarif.
The demon used his telekinetic ability to hold out Sader’s arm against the ground and Kari was ready to cut it and the angel relic off.
“They’re about to kill him,” Josh made Isabelle aware when he saw the demons.
He and Isabelle still couldn’t willingly call out the reversal power. For some reason, nothing they were doing was activating it and Sader was running out of time.
Josh realized that they wouldn’t be able to cause the reversal to happen so he decided to throw caution to the wind and actually do something to help Sader. So…he stepped out into the open and engaged with the demons.
“Josh, no!” Isabelle said to him when she realized what he was about to do but it was too late to stop him.
“Hey, you two! Get your filthy blood-soaked hands off of him,” Josh yelled at the demons.
“Stay out of this, Human. We aren’t supposed to kill you but that doesn’t make you indispensable. I suggest you turn around and walk the other way,” Zarif said to Josh.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that so if you’re going to kill him, you’re going to have to kill me as well,” Josh said.
Kari and Zarif looked at each other in confusion. They almost seemed dumbfounded by the human’s stupidity but, they also found it quite amusing. To them, this was a clear case of a heightened and delusional sense of worth on the human’s part and they were more than willing to bring him back down to earth and remind him of his insignificance.
Zarif manifested a dagger in his hand and was ready to teach Josh a lesson and this made him and Kari both take their eyes off who they came here for.
The demon brothers were distracted by Josh’s engagement with them and didn’t realize that Sader was trying to escape. He had reached for his axe and grabbed it with his left hand. As he lifted the weapon, Zarif looked down and saw that Sader was about to strike him which made him react by using his dagger to strike back. Both weapons struck each other and the force of the impact caused Zarif’s dagger to fly out of his hand.
Kari attacked Sader and slashed at him with his sword. Sader quickly rolled out of the way and got back to his feet. They began to battle with axe and sword, slashing and swinging with the intent to kill. Sader was holding his own against Kari because he was better skilled but unfortunately for him, he was still outnumbered and had taken his eyes off of Zarif. The second demon grabbed him from behind and punched him so hard that his hand burst into Sader’s back and out through his stomach.
Sader gasped as he felt Zarif’s hand tear through his stomach and he looked down at his torso in disbelief. He fell to his knees, unable to remain on his feet. Kari saw what had happened and smiled evilly at a wounded Sader.
“Hold his arm out,” Kari said to Zarif.
The demon held out Sader’s arm and Kari swung his sword and sliced it clean off, along with the bracelet shield that was merged to it. As soon as the arm hit the ground, the earth underneath Sader began to heat up and break apart because the ground was about to swallow him back into Hell.
Meanwhile, Isabelle ran over to Josh who was taking cover behind a large chuck of wood. As she reached him, she saw that he was sweating and looked like he was in pain.
“Josh?” She called out, realizing that something was wrong with him.
She looked down at his body and saw Zarif’s knife sticking out of Josh’s stomach. He was bleeding badly and it didn’t look good for him. Not at all!