Ezekiel stepped back in terror as Asher's flaming feet scorched the broken ground beneath him, every stride igniting hellfire that devoured everything unworthy in its path. A haunting silence followed Asher's roar, broken only by the distant wails of demons being consumed by holy flames. His aura, once faint, now radiated divine judgment—untamed, vengeful, and righteous.
Asher's eyes burned with celestial fury, glowing like molten gold as he looked up into the blood-red skies of hell.
"Bring him back!" Asher's voice echoed, layered with a thousand voices—angelic, ancient, thunderous. "Or I'll burn your damnation from its roots!"
The ground cracked, trembled, and then split apart in a wide gash as a looming darkness emerged from the mouth of the abyss. A deep chuckle followed, rumbling like thunder and soaked in venomous arrogance.
From the infernal void rose the King of the Pit—Lucifer.
He was cloaked in shadows stitched with crimson flames, his wings larger than storms, his eyes twin suns of corruption. Horns curled from his temples like crowns, and the very air bent and cried beneath his presence.
"Well, well," Lucifer cooed, voice dripping with mockery. "The fallen heir of light dares challenge the ancient king of damnation?"
Asher clenched his jaw, his aura blazing, "You took what was never yours. You touched my beloved. That was your first mistake."
Lucifer smirked. "And your second mistake, my glowing child, was underestimating what hell keeps. Jeremy is no longer yours. He belongs to me now."
Ezekiel stood frozen behind Asher, trembling as the overwhelming powers collided in the air like opposing oceans. He wanted to help—he wanted to scream—but he knew this wasn't his battle.
Lucifer raised his arm slowly. "Let's test your resolve."
With a scream that ripped the skies, Lucifer released a black spear forged from the first curse ever spoken. Asher dodged it by mere inches, countering with a glowing whip of holy fire. The two collided in a shockwave that tore apart a mile of infernal land. Skulls shattered. Volcanoes bled.
They launched into the air, bodies clashing mid-flight—Lucifer's dark blade against Asher's blazing fists. Lightning struck every time they made contact. Asher spun through the air, kicking Lucifer through a mountain of bones, but the King rose immediately, laughing, flames licking his wounds.
"Your rage makes you powerful, boy," Lucifer grinned, flexing his claws. "But power without discipline is weakness."
Lucifer snapped his fingers—and the skies peeled open.
Descending like a meteor came Jeremy—but not as the boy Asher loved. He was armored in silver and crimson, eyes glowing red, his soul consumed by Lucifer's will. In his trembling hands was the Sword of Michael—a blade forged in the heavens but corrupted by darkness.
"No..." Asher gasped, staggering as the air left his lungs.
Jeremy hovered in the air, lifeless, enslaved, yet a tear slipped from his eyes.
Lucifer sneered. "Your beloved is mine. Kill him, Jeremy."
Jeremy shook for a moment. "I—I don't want to," he whispered, but the red in his eyes intensified.
Lucifer growled, "KILL HIM!"
With a war cry drowned in pain, Jeremy lunged toward Asher with the sword aimed straight for his heart.
Ezekiel screamed, "ASHER, NO!"
But Asher didn't move. He waited... and just as the sword was about to pierce his chest—
He caught it with one hand.
The blade trembled in his grasp, inches from his skin. His palm bled, but he didn't flinch. Instead, he did something that made even Lucifer's smirk drop for a second.
Asher leaned forward and kissed Jeremy.
A soft, deep kiss—not forced, not urgent—just a whisper of love that echoed through the darkness.
"I'm sorry I let you fall," Asher whispered against Jeremy's lips.
Jeremy's eyes widened. The red hue faded. The sword slipped from his hands, clanging against the molten ground.
Lucifer's scream split the realm.
"YOU TRAITOROUS SCUM!"
Asher looked at him, then down at the ground, where his powers boiled beneath the surface.
"You wanted to keep us here…" he smirked, glowing now with radiant light, "...but I was never planning to stay."
Asher opened his palm and whispered a divine prayer.
"Et daelum cadant... liberent corda… ab inferno…"
The ground shattered beneath them.
A vortex of light opened, swallowing Asher, Jeremy, and Ezekiel whole. They fell—falling through layers of molten reality, through hell's belly, screaming winds howling around them. Lucifer flew to stop them, but he was too late.
They vanished.
Back in the desolate battlefield, Lucifer stood above the smoldering crater, his face twisted in unrestrained fury.
He screamed.
Not a normal scream—but one that broke time and space, tearing the crusts of hell apart. The skies bled, rivers of blood exploded, demons howled in confusion as their realm quaked violently.
He roared, "HE ESCAPED ME AGAIN! AND WITH THE SWORD!"
The remains of hell trembled beneath his wrath.
Asher, Ezekiel, and Jeremy fell through the veil, slamming hard into the muddy grounds of a burnt forest in the mortal realm. The skies were grey. Smoke rose in the distance.
Asher staggered, gripping Jeremy tightly as they landed. Jeremy coughed, his body twitching from the remnants of Lucifer's control. Ezekiel landed beside them, covered in ash and bruises.
"Asher..." Jeremy croaked, "...I tried to fight it... he showed me things... things I couldn't bear..."
Asher held his face gently. "I know... you were never meant to fight him alone."
Jeremy sobbed. "I didn't want to hurt you."
"You didn't," Asher said firmly, eyes soft now, though the light still radiated behind them. "You came back to me, that's what matters."
Suddenly, Jeremy's body convulsed, a red burn forming on his chest—Lucifer's mark.
Ezekiel screamed, "He's still tethered to him!"
Asher narrowed his eyes. "Then we cut the tether."
He pressed his glowing hand to Jeremy's chest and began chanting, his voice trembling with divine power. Jeremy screamed in agony, his body arching—but Asher held him tightly.
"Come back to me, Jimmy—come back."
The skies roared above them. Thunder crashed as a beam of light pierced the red mark—and then—
It shattered.
Jeremy collapsed in Asher's arms, unconscious but alive.
Asher wept.
For the first time in centuries, the divine wept—not from pain, not from fear—but from relief.
Ezekiel sat beside them, his heart pounding. "You… you actually pulled it off."
Asher nodded slowly. "But this isn't the end. Lucifer won't let this go."
He looked at the skies, which were slowly darkening again.