War of Existence : - The Beginning of Saga

Airborne Skirmish

William was still in his chambers when a knock was heard from the door and he answered, “Enter.”

It was Rose. She stood before him and asked, “You called Captain?”

The old demon nodded and spoke, “Yes, I called you to evaluate on your performance in your first assignment.”

The Sliver haired demoness stood straight and listened attentively, “You used it again….didn’t you?” the man asked or rather stated. Rose’s eyes widened in fear and she tried to explain, “Captain, Lord Tor was in danger...” but it was clear that William wanted to hear nothing of it and raised his hand. The young Demon flinched and became silent.

William proceeded to speak further, “Reports even say that you hesitated to make the killing blow when you had the chance. Can you explain that?” he questioned sternly. As expected, Rose didn’t answer, just stood there silently and looked down in shame.

The Captain looked at her with stern eyes for a while before ultimately sighing and rubbing his temple in expiration, “This cannot go on, Girl. You are a Shadow Blade now. What you were before doesn’t matter anymore. As a part of the Legion you will have to commit.” He said softly with a tired voice.

“I’m sorry…..Captain. But I just…… I just couldn’t...” spoke Rose weakly. The old man looked at the girl in pity. He knew that she was not ready due to her special condition, but she was so eager to prove herself. He shook his head and spoke out aloud, “What will I do with you, Gir?.” his words were a bit harsh but the concerned undertone was still there. He remembers so how long ago he took Rose under his wing when no one else wanted to. She was not ready then…. And now, she was still not ready.

He would’ve spoken more but that thought went out of the window when the whole ship trembled because of a huge explosion. The movement had successfully flung him to the floor. He slowly stood up trying to pull himself together after the whole event that had disoriented him until another series of explosions followed.

“What the Void…” he muttered through gritted teeth.

The door of his chambers was suddenly thrown off its hinges. William immediately readied his maya power for retaliation but stayed his hand as he saw that it was none other than Tor, now fully armoured with a helm and declared, “Captain we have a situation!”

“Report.” William spoke rubbing his shoulder.

“We are being attacked by unknown forces; the ship has taken a few good hits. The star board wings are down and the Posterior Thrusters are barely holding up.”

William frowned at this for not many would attack a ship flying at the altitude they were in. So it made the Captain worried as he really didn’t want to believe who this ‘Unknown Enemy’ could be.

He asked with a serious face, “What of the Key?”

“Safe for now but the ship is getting torn apart.”

William’s face was getting grimmer with the passing second. The enemy was very strong if they could tear a Half mile long ship in moments. His idea who the enemy was getting stronger but still prayed that it wasn’t them. But if it was what he thought it was, they will need every help they can get, “Get the key to the hanger and ready an escape vessel. And bring our guests along as well.”

“What of the Mortal crew?”

William looked away with a hard expression, “Their sacrifice will be remembered.”

                                                                                     ---X---

Lucifer had half a mind to break the neck of whoever the man was that had came to their chambers after the explosion and outright accused them for the attack, but Lucifer kept his cool and followed a small contingency of Guards who were escorting them towards the Captain.

Soon their destination was in view, the main control room. The Captain was barking orders to his men as they were desperately tweaking with the control panel packed to the brim with buttons, levers and knobs. Lucifer was about to call William but he had to suddenly raise his hand to stop an incoming fist at his face. He scowled under Tor’s glare before speaking, “What is it now?”

“YOU DID THIS!” he roared throwing another punch, Lucifer stopped that hand too and forced the Brawler down with his raw force and the young brawler couldn’t help but ultimately submit to Lucifer’s far superior strength, yet that didn’t stop the others from surrounding them with weapons and Luna from igniting her arms in flames. Tor was still growling and trying his best to get free and attack.

“We really need to stop meeting like this.” said Lucifer sternly to the Brawler but it was clear that he would hear none of it.

“ENOUGH!” again it was William who put an end to their quarrel and Lucifer let go of the boy. Tor was infuriated and he yelled, “HE IS THE ONE WHO LEAD THEM HERE!”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” Replied Lucifer narrowing his eyes. Tor was about to attack again but William glared at him and spoke loudly, “Tor stand down! It will be better if we don’t fight amongst ourselves, not now of all of time”

Lucifer sighed and nodded. Tor folded his arms begrudgingly. The ex-angel voiced his question, “What news?”

“The angels have attacked.” He declared. Lucifer nodded, it was expected that the winged immortals would have found out about the key or at least get interested because of the power surge. Yet such fast reaction by the Angels worried Lucifer. It was fast, too fast for their own good.

“So soon? That’s….interesting.”

“Well we might just have a very shitty luck.” Replied William.

“Or a snitch. “ Growled Tor.

“Seriously kid?” exclaimed Lucifer but every other demon now seemed to share his view and was now acting hostile towards Lucifer. The blonde narrowed his eyes, but he understood that their mistrust was natural. The odds were far too bad to be a mere coincident. He knew he was innocent but the demons didn’t, and by hell would not let them hurt him or his friend.

“Stand down men!” barked William. The crew respected him enough to trust his judgement but were still weary. William spoke loudly, “Our ship has been compromised and we cannot afford the enemy getting their hands on the key. The Fate of our realm lays on our shoulder and by the void we shall not let these winged bastards get away with our only hope...” the men soaked up all these words in silence as their captain carried on, “The times are hard but have hope men. We now hold the key and nothing shall stop us. We shall carve our way through them and get the key to the heart of inferno where it belongs. Men, are you with me?”

All the demons gave a salute as response and stood in formation. William nodded and ordered, “To the hanger!”

Lucifer walked beside him and asked, “So what is the plan?”

“Get the key and get off this burning ship before the angels show up.”

“No retaliation plan?”

“My men are good lads. But most will not survive a real battle against fully trained Angels. I want to avoid confrontation and save as much as men I can.”

Another explosion shook the entire ship, nearly sending Lucifer to the ground but he steadied himself, “That seems highly unlikely, Captain.”

William’s gaze turned grim for a while, reaching into his coat he pulled something out. It was a double barrelled gun, about as long as his elbow. With metal barrel and wooden handle. He threw it towards Lucifer and he caught it. What surprised him was that, what looked like a mere mortal weapon was flowing with immortal Maya. It was an immortal forged weapon, the only physical thing capable of destroying an immortal completely. Lucifer looked questioningly at William. The old demon replied, “Should it comes to that, I will need every help I can get.”

While Lucifer appreciated and liked the gun but arming a man whose allegiance is neutral can be very well as outfitting an enemy in disguise. The level of trust William showed towards him was surreal, to the point it was starting to seem suspicious. But Lucifer simply nodded.

They met the team meant to retrieve the key, which was lead by Rose, at the rendezvous point. With the key secured, they now made their way towards the Hanger.

Reaching the hanger was not complicated because of the lack of resistance. Distance gun fires and screams were audible yet the lack of enemy forces was getting Lucifer on edge. He recognised the tactic and his gut churned with uneasy feeling. They might very well be walking right into a trap or an ambush and so his grip on his gun tightened. When the door of the Hanger was in view, William ordered two of his men to check the area and the Demons carried out the order without question. The area seemed clear but people were still vigilant.

“Secure the perimeter. Safety of the key is the primary objective.” Barked William.

“Zero enemy activity, Captain.” Reported Rose. William nodded and walked towards an escape vehicle. “Load the key; we are getting out of here…”

The mission was almost done. But it was easy. Far too easy. Something wasn’t right about that. It is never right. Lucifer’s every being screamed him of it.

It’s a trap! It’s a Trap! – His mind screamed. He suddenly pulled William away from the escape vehicle and yelled –“Everyone GET DOWN!”

True to his gut, the escape vehicle was now no more. It was devoured by an explosion made by Immortal maya blast, leaving nothing in its wake as it rocked the ship even more. Two men were killed by the blast and now rest had to take cover as a shower of energy attacks of pure Maya were hurled towards them.

“None of you filthy Demons shall escape!” announced a voice.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Even through the cloud of smoke and ambers, the golden glow of angelic armour was still visible in all its glory. Lucifer tensed because when the smoke cleared, there they stood, a full squad if angel warriors. He counted the enemy numbers and discovered that they actually outnumbered them at least three to one. A clear advantage in numbers but he was still weary. His eyes fell on their leader; he was bigger than the rest with a long red cape flowing behind him, showing his leadership. The leader’s winged helm folded back into his armour, revealing a man with long ebony locks and dark blue eyes filled with malice and bloodlust.

William seemed to have recognised the angel and cursed, “s**t, It had to be Azazel.” He muttered.

Lucifer didn’t know who it was but the way how everyone was visibly shaking made Lucifer think that this Azazel character must have quite a reputation.

“Demons….” Azazel declared with arrogance and confidence, “You have sinned against the supreme with your foul presence here on Cosmos. Surrender now and your end shall be swift.”

The fear in the Demons now steered into anger. The bravest and perhaps the most stupid amongst the rabble, Tor barked back, “Screw you BASTURD!” the Demons, now feeling braver, roared back in defiance.

Azazel smirked cruelly,“Such foul tongue, almost like a Mortal. No wonder your kind rots in Inferno like vermin’s you are.” To add salt to the wound, the angels snickered in response. Tor glared and snared as his helmet covered his face again. William was about to stop him but the captain was too late.

“Let’s show these bastards the wrath of Inferno!” he roared. The men roared back in approval and charged head on while the rangers* stood back and opened fire at the angels with ranged attacks.

Azazel smirked, “So predictable.”

The Angels at the front brought out their shields and made a shield wall.

‘Paladin’s*?’ Lucifer wonders. The ones at the back, probably Rangers readied their own ranged attacks and braced themselves.

Chaos followed.

William cursed out aloud as a Maya blasts went past his cheek, briefly burning his face. Things were going downhill. Many of his demon brawlers were taken down by the Angel rangers. Trying a head on assault seemed difficult but Tor proved him wrong as he reached the Angels and tour through their shield wall. Soon the Demon warriors followed.

Gabriel was amongst the angel Paladins in the wall formation. Paladins were immortal warriors with extremely high defensive capabilities. But still they couldn’t withstand a head on assault of a Demon Brawler. Getting thrown like a doll wasn’t a very nice experience. And when he gained back his senses and stood up, he realized just how fast the Demons were pushing them back. Azazel seemed to have come up with a plan fast and signalled the Angel rangers at the back of the formation. They responded by opening their white ethereal wings and hovered in the air. Once in an elevated position, the Angels unleashed a new weapon that the demons had not expected. It looked like a huge Gatling-gun with white angelic touches, manned by four Angels. They used the immortal-made machine to rain down a barrage of highly compressed Maya energy blasts with a very heavy impact force. It burned through their assault like a hot blade and the elevated position of the angels combined with its fire power, the demons were screwed. They had to break formation and scatter. They tried getting into cover but proved useless as the Maya tour through the mortal made material with ease. William was now very worried, having not anticipated such fire power in the angel’s arsenal. It was then he realized something, “Where the hell is Lucifer?”

                                                                                          ---X---

No matter how much of a jerk it sounded but Lucifer really had better things to do then get in the middle of two warring factions since the era unknown. It was cold and cowardly but he didn’t care. Luna’s safety was more important to him no matter how much the demons appealed to his ‘sense of honour’ and so here he was, with Luna   literally towed behind him, trying to get off this freaking ship.

“Luci, the fight is that way!” Luna whined pointing at the opposite of where they were going.

“I know.”

“Then we should be there!”

“No.”

“WHAT? WHY?”

“Because it isn’t our problem.”

Luna forcefully stopped and shot back, “We can’t just leave them here!”

Lucifer rubbed his throbbing temple. He knew it was gonna be hard to explain Luna about leaving the demons to their own, so he didn’t tell her and just slipped away in the heat of the battle. He wasn’t gonna risk Luna’s life on some demons he barely knew, even if they were hospitable enough.

“They can handle themselves.” Lucifer lied. Luna narrowed her eyes and it was clear as day that she wasn’t buying it. Lucifer sighed; he understood how Luna was feeling. The feeling and need to do the right thing but it was foolish of her. Luna was still too naïve and saw the world as black and white, still oblivious of the greys mixed in it.

“Kid, we have to go.” Lucifer he says again pressingly, sounding almost desperate causing Luna’s eyes to soften. She took a breath and said, “You still worried about me aren’t you?”

Lucifer felt like a boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar. It was true and so he nodded. Luna looked at him for a good while and, to Lucifer’s surprise, she started giggling.

“The Oh so Great and Powerful Late General is afraid for little old me? That’s so sweet…” she giggled. But then her giggle reformed into a caring smile. “You worry too much, Luci. I’ll be fine. You don’t have to be so worried about me all the time.”

Lucifer wanted to protest, to say something back, but against that smile of hers, he was powerless. He begrudgingly nodded. Luna grinned, “So, quite being a meanie and lets help our friends!” Lucifer scoffed at the word friend. Luna then added, “Besides, I would have run alone if you haven’t come along.”

Lucifer gave her a bewildered expression and asked, “You’re joking right?”

Luna gave an overly sweet smile as an answer, making Lucifer doubt that it was a joke.   

                                                                                         ---X---

Gabriel was quite disappointed at the demons. He expected them at least to be able to put up a fight but turned out that before their machine, which the angels affectionately called The Cleanser*, the demons were all bark and no bite. There they stood, cowering behind cover like cowards they were. Azazel seemed pleased with the results; the moral of their enemies was down and they were practically defeated. He declared – “I will give you one last chance Demons, surrender.”

It seemed all over for the demons. More than half of their kind was slaughtered and the angles had minimum casualties and were still advancing. William should have known that Lucifer would bail out on them. But cursing would not help them now. What they needed now was a miracle.

“Phoenix Barrage!” was what all heard before the area before the angels was engulfed in golden flames, Burning a few angels and forcing them to step back. Then followed a very loud gunshot which effectively took down two of the angels. All were astonished to see that it was in fact Luna with flames on her arms and Lucifer holding a smoking twin barrelled gun.

“Sorry for the delay Gentlemen.” He spoke giving the gun a twirl. Hope reignited in the hearts of the demons as they cheered in joy. Azazel was bewildered by the appearance of this man, but soon his shock turned into rage. “What are you doing you imbeciles? KILL HIM!” he roared.

Knowing that their leader’s temper was volatile, the Ranger’s immediately readied the Cleanser. William’s eyes widened and yelled, “Watch out!”

Lucifer acted and got out of the way. Luna however wasn’t fast enough and got shot through her shoulder. Lucifer cursed, grabbing Luna, he dragged her to cover. William closed in his position and said, “Is she okay?”

Lucifer checked Luna; the wound was deep but not exactly fatal. But she was out of the fight for now, no matter how much Luna stated otherwise.

Suddenly Rose came over and declared, “I can heal her.” The unlikely shadow blade used her healing arts to heal Luna even if William gave Rose a disapproving look.

William turned to Lucifer, “I was thinking that you had abandoned us.”

“Trust me really wanted to but….You have Luna to thank for.” Lucifer peeked over the cover but immediately ducked as a barrage of Maya blasts nearly blew his head off. “That’s new, Never thought I would see a day when angel’s of all would sport such weapons.”

William shot a few more blind fires at the angels before getting back into cover, “Indeed. We need to take that Gun out.”

Lucifer nodded and asked, “Any ideas?”

“Tried all, didn’t end well.”

Lucifer cursed. Rose came over reported, “Lady Luna is healed now.” True to her words, Luna’s shoulder seemed good as new. Luna flexed her shoulder and declared with a wide grin, “I have an idea.”

Lucifer already didn’t like it.

                                                                                           ---X---

  With the demons hiding behind cover, Azazel decided that it was now time to put an end to this little game. He was about to order his men to march forward but before they could, they heard a screech and next thing they saw was even more fire. Azazel had actually flinched given the Maya nature of the fire which was harmful for immortals. Next thing he saw was a Flaming Bird flying circles above them.  Azazel was surprised, “Phoenix? I thought we had exterminated all of them.”

During the confusion, they nearly missed the Demons making a break for them. Seeing the demons charging in fast, the Angels restarted the Cleanser. But before they could, a ball of fire came crushing towards them. However soon they learned that the Turrent was protected by a protective field and her Phoenix fire was rendered completely ineffective. She did however catch their attention. With them focusing on her, Luna had to perform various evasive manoeuvres to not get hit. With the initial plan failing, they now had to stick to plan-B.

With the Angels distracted, Lucifer rushed out of cover and made a dash towards the enemies. He was far faster and agile then the Demon brawlers, fast enough to keep up with the Angels firing Maya Blasts at him. Lucifer avoided all the attacks with ease and grace of a warrior with tremendous experience, making the Angels nervous. Before they even knew, Lucifer was on to them and had breached their defences.

The Angels panicked as the Blond tore through their shield wall with the strength of a brawler. They tried to stop him but his twin barrelled gun did the talking for him, “Damn, I love this gun. I think I’m gonna call you ‘Boom-stick*’.” But jokes aside, his main goal was to take out the Cleanser ASAP.

Lucifer’s progress didn’t go un-noticed as more Angels now were coming over to engage him. This was just wasting his time, but luckily his Demon allies got his back and returned fire to support him. It was more than enough as he glided through enemy and friendly fire and made his way towards the Cleanser.  

Gabriel gritted his teeth in anger. They had underestimated their enemy. Never had they expected such retaliation from the demons. Now the brawlers had reached them and were again pummelling them to the ground. The red haired angel wondered why was the Cleanser not firing and saw the Blond man was carving his way towards it. It was clear what the man was trying to do and Gabriel was more than determined to stop him, or would have stopped him if Gabriel didn’t have to raise his shield to stop an attack from a Brawler who got too close. The power behind the attack was enough to send him tumbling away. Gabriel stood up again and glared through his helm’s visor, while the Brawler, Tor smirked, “This is really satisfying!” Gabriel snared in response and took his fighting stance.

Luna was having a hard time avoiding the constant barrage of the Cleanser. There were several close calls but she had fared well so far. And her plan was working as well. The Angels were not ready for such sudden attack when victory seemed inevitable to them. Luna shot another fire ball towards the Cleanser but it proved futile as the machine was protected by a protective field. 

“Any minute now, Luci..” she mumbled.

“You got it, Kid.” Lucifer yelled. He had successfully reached near the Cleanser. With a mighty leap, he neared the gun. The Four operators were shocked at this but were convinced that the protective field would keep the man at bay. Lucifer smirked and pulled his arm back into a fist. He gritted his teeth and threw a hard haymaker.

The impact didn’t seem to work at first, but imagine the Angel’s surprise when the Barrier actually shook. And to their utter horror, Cracks formed on the Barrier.

“What? Impossible!” the angels yelled in panic. Luna gritted wildly as Lucifer pushed harder until eventually the Barrier completely shattered, shocking everyone.

“He destroyed it?”

“Impossible! Not even five Brawlers can do that!”

They ranted, Lucifer said nothing as he leaped once more and was on top of the machine itself. The Rangers, now officially terrified, tried to gun him down, but Luna acted before and burned the main operator. The rest three were quickly taken down by Lucifer. Pulling out his Boom-stick he shot the Cleanser down the Barrel and the thing went down in a spectacular display of explosion, with Lucifer landing safely on the floor and Luna perched on his shoulder.  Like a true Badass.

                                                                                            ---X---

With the Cleanser destroyed, the Demons roared in joy. Now with a new vigour, they attacked. A huge blow had been made towards the Angels, both to their body as well as their pride, especially to Azazel. Victory was so near yet seeing the demons getting an upper hand utterly enraged him. He had to quickly get out of the way as something big came flying towards him. The thing got embedded in the wall and upon further inspection; Azazel saw that it was the new boy Gabriel. The Brawler seemed to have done a number on him. Grumbling to himself, Azazel helped him out of the wall –“Careful there boy, wouldn’t want your daddy worried sick now would you.”

At the mention of his father, Gabriel glared at his direction but Azazel could care less. Now most of his men were down. The ones left were retreating as the demons advanced. William made his presence known and spoke out aloud, “It’s over now Azazel , you have lost.”

The demons cheered at this. While the angels glared but knew that the old demon was right. They had underestimated their enemy and now they had lost the battle. The demons were overjoyed. Their first victory against the angels was just too sweet. Yet Azazel had other plans.

“Have I now?” the Black haired angel chuckled darkly. There was a certain chill in his voice that sent the demons on edge, making them wary. Azazel ran his hand through his hair and spoke out aloud, “I wanted to save this for another time but……seems I have no choice.”

The Angel leader now stood in front of his men and cracked his hands, “Well, so be it!” with that he slowly un-sheathed the huge sword that was at his back the entire time. The sword had a black body with golden edges and a fairly large crossguard, a long golden hilt with red gem as a pommel. On the sight of the sword Lucifer froze. The demons were confused but William seemed to have recognised the sword as well.

“It cannot be….That’s..”

“The Sorrow breaker*.” mumbled Lucifer lowly.  

                                                                                          ---X---

A pregnant silence occupied the hanger as no one spoke a word. Azazel smirked and slammed the sword on the ground. The sword looked heavy but no one had expected that it would shake the entire ship. This confused as well as spooked the demons.

Tor being the bravest yelled- “So what if you have a fat ass sword! You’re going down!”

The rest of the brawlers who shared the same thought roared in approval and charged along side Tor. This caused William to go pale and shout, “NO GET BACK!”

Yet his cry was left unheard and they paid for it. Azazel readied ‘his’ sword as the brawlers closed in, they roared, their gauntlet flaring Maya like wild fire, ready to destroy everything in their path. The brawlers threw a punch with all their strength, wanting to finish the fight fast. This was exactly what the black haired angel wanted. With speed unseen in a weapon of that scale,  Azazel slashed with the huge sword. The mighty swing sent a strong gush of wind as the spectres could literally feel the sword sending a shock wave with its mere weight. As for the Brawlers, the Sorrow-Breaker cut through them like butter and the only one left alive was Tor and he too was sent soaring through the air and crashed violently into a wall, turning it into rubble and stunning everyone.

A groan came from inside the rubble and Tor slowly stood up in one knee, His armour was destroyed, his body was severely damaged but he was alive. Azazel blinked in surprise, “Oh , you’re still in one piece? Damn, that’s impressive. Unlike your comrades here…” the angel pointed at the severed parts of the brawlers which were slowly fading away like mist.

Tor held his wounded arm and gritted his teeth in rage, “You bastard!” he cursed while Azazel merely smiled cruelly.

                                                                                          ---X---

 “He destroyed them in a single attack? What is that sword!” gasped a very astonished Luna.

Lucifer was very silent the entire time as his eyes were overshadowed, making her nervous. William understood his distress and answered –“That is the Sorrow-breaker. Legend has it that it was the first immortal weapon forged by the Supreme themselves. Made in the ancient times when the immortals were at war with the Brutums for the survival of our entire race. The sword has fought and won so many wars we cannot even phantom. Worlds were broken with that sword; civilizations were made with that sword. That is ‘The Sword of the old’...” William pointed at Lucifer –“His sword.”………………………