"Sir, the super soldiers are ready." Mephistopheles bowed to him. "We have hundreds ready to launch against the enemy." He grinned.
A group of tall armor-plated soldiers stepped forth. They held silver axes with spiked wiring over them and holsters around their waists. Horns with fractured skulls stood atop them like ornaments. One fell to his knee and bowed his head.
"Your lordship, we are ready for battle. Just tell us when to strike." He spoke softly. His eyes kept to Lucifer's feet when a chuckle echoed.
"You all look so powerful! I must see you in action against these angels." Lucifer swung his arm back, it extended and smashed through the windows. "Now go take them out!"
The soldiers charged forth and leaped out of the blimp like parachutes. A pair of wings sprouted on each one as they trailed after angels. Light beams struck them but the soldiers shrugged each projectile off with ease. One swung an axe and tore through several angels with it. Another swiftly decapitated one and kicked its headless body into a crowd. Blood soon flew across the air and splattered against their armor while they swarmed the remaining angels.
"This is what I wanted to see. The angels dropping like flies with their fresh blood covering my men like war paint." Lucifer laughed. "Consider this a preview of what's to come."
"Sir, what shall we do against that spaceship? Our men report that humans are there and have been killing off many soldiers." Raum spoke.
Eblis approached him with both hands behind his back. "And these guardian angels seem to be a hassle, too. Not to mention the pillars of light raining down on our forces."
Lucifer shook his head. "Prepare the hellfire lasers for the guardians. Try to damage that ship along with them." He inhaled. "And speed up these blimps!"
"Of course, sir. I'll get the laser ready." Mephistopheles hurried off. Eblis followed him as Raum stood in place. A guardian flew toward them when the super soldiers blocked it. The angel attempted to swipe them away but missed as its shield got cracked. Before it continued, a deafening blast fired from the blimp and ripped through the air. Heat waves washed over the skies and penetrated the guardian. Hellfire engulfed it with a sphere similar to a star. Another laser fired and struck the other guardian down. The soldiers quickly finished them off as they fell into the abyss.
"They must really think we're weak if these guardians can't take hits like that." Lucifer crossed his arms and stared into the sky. A volley of light pillars emerged and rained down on the blimps. They swayed from side to side as the demons regained their balance. "Huh, I'll be ready to silence those damn trumpets once I get up there." His eyes glanced over at the Nexus ship when a laser fired and slammed into it. Hellfire swooshed over it before it died down.
Mephistopheles returned with a wide smirk across his face. "The laser is doing better than expected. That ship is still up but not for long." He adjusted his gloves and pulled them down.
Lucifer waved to him. "Hit it again so we can enter Heaven without any more opposition. I also want the other generals to gather the hell hounds." He flopped down in his chair and scraped his nails against a cushion. Within seconds, a laser fired when a massive shield formed in front of the ship. The hellfire dispersed as Lucifer narrowed his eyes. His tail pierced through the chair and smacked at the floor.
"Apologies, I will increase the firepower." Mephistopheles vanished while the blimp shook.
Far away from them in the Nexus ship, Eren stood in a dark room. Piles of demon corpses lay before him with weapons littered out. A few Nexus soldiers were among the corpses as he closed his eyes. He exhaled when the sound of boots stepped its way toward him.
"Captain, we can't take another hit from that laser! Our shields are about to break and if hit we'll surely perish." A male soldier said.
"I have a plan but it may be risky. Can you get the others to lower the pressure in our tanks?" Eren replied.
The male soldier's eyes widened. "The tanks!? But our engines may fail at this height if we go down in pressure."
Eren cleared his throat and adjusted his hat. "That's why I said risky. We have a few minutes left before that laser strikes again. Hurry!"
"Yes, sir! I'll go inform them right this second." The soldier dashed away and left the room.
"This looks bad but if we can survive then we still have a chance. Lucy and the others may have to escape some other way though." Eren stepped over a demon and reached a chamber room. Weapons stood on racks with ammo and bodysuits. An image of soldiers from different squads hung on his mirror when a rumble shook them. He held a hand to the mirror and unzipped his bodysuit. From the right side, blood dripped to the floor as a wound emerged on his arm. The ship quickly descended when a knot formed inside his stomach.
"Eren, the ship is descending rapidly. We are monitoring the engines but so far no problems." A soldier spoke from the other side of the door.
Eren held the wound on his arm and squeezed it until blood oozed. A jagged blade popped out from it as he tossed it away. He winced and flipped a screen on when a camera powered up. The laser fired from the blimp but missed them by a few inches.
Good, we'll be covered by clouds so they can't aim again by then. We'll have to stay low until the shields recover. Eren rubbed his head and eyed a photo of Hanna. I hope you're not dead for my sake. Losing you would be a huge loss for Nexus...
***
Hanna opened his eyes when he noticed chains over his arms and legs. Sio along with Gwen, Skylar, Yuno, and Ember was chained up across from him. A wave of trumpets cried out above them when shadows passed by the window. He attempted to stretch his arms but the chains halted his movement.
"Ugh, well I wasn't expecting to be under tighter cuffs but these do the job." Hanna eyed the room slowly when he spotted a closed door. Statues of angels stood by each side with doves hung above them. An oval carpet caught his attention and shadows shuffled across it from the other side.
"Where are we?" Sio asked. "This looks like a storage room or something." His eyes adjusted when chatter from the other side alerted him.
Yuno sniffed at the air as her ears reddened. "I can smell five figures. Three are very strong and two are under them." She whispered.
Hanna clenched his lip. "Damn, they took our blasters and other weapons, too. Is there a way we can get out of these chains?" He tugged at the chains on his legs and gritted his teeth.
"These chains are too tight for me to rip apart." Ember exhaled as she shook her head.
Skylar held both hands up. "And I can't manifest lightning or I'll wind up hurting you guys in the process."
"Well, I have something they can't take away or suppress. My nine tails." Gwen flashed a grin. "You five will have to step away from me while I gather energy." She clenched her fists while her legs trembled. The group backed away when an orange aura emanated from her body. Six tails formed behind her as the chains rattled. With a slight inhale, Gwen snapped the chains in half before she huffed.
"Heh, looks like they didn't think of every little thing." Sio grinned at the others. Once Gwen freed them all, he peeked out the window and narrowed his eyes. "There's a ton of angels outside with weapons. Not sure why they do."
Hanna joined him when his heart dropped. "T-That's kid soldiers! I recognize them from Healean's school." His face grew pale. "We gotta find out what's going on. I also need to call Nexus again."
Yuno cracked her knuckles and motioned to the door. "We can't escape from that window. Let's focus on catching the guards off and go."
A large explosion outside shook the room when they gathered by the window. Screams of terror echoed as angels scattered between the buildings. Large shadows stretched across the entrance when bloody demons entered. Balls of hellfire crashed into buildings and incinerated them into ash within seconds. Silver axes reflected light at them before Hanna stood back.
"Right, we should get them by surprise and find our weapons first. Going outside will be chaotic with the demons here." Hanna said.
Sio soon held his finger to the door when a bolt of lightning blasted it open. "Let's go team!" He rushed into a living room with the others close behind.
Zadkiel's eyes widened. "How'd you get out!? We had those chains made to combat any non-angel beings!" He stood up with Cameal and Haniel.
"Sorry, we'd love to stay and chat but there are hordes of demons outside." Yuno replied. "We're not staying in here while they run rampant."
"Demons, huh?" Haniel held a hand to his chin. "Samael was assembling an army earlier but how did they break through this block?"
Cameal peeked outside the door when Lucius and Evanes stumbled into the room. "They're not lying. This group of demons is easily besting our soldiers."
Evanes scowled at them. "What are we going to do? We can't keep watch and defend this house either."
"I say let them go. They can help thin the numbers while we stop any from reaching the higher blocks." Lucius responded.
Haniel slowly nodded to him. "He's right. Lucy's on her way back so we don't need the leverage anymore."
Sio raised an eyebrow. "I guess when chaos is in full swing then plans go out the door. Can we have our weapons back? We can't fight demons without them."
"Here, I'll also get the light barriers gone." Zadkiel tossed them blasters. "We're also heading out."
"If we run into Lucy then we have to continue the actual mission." Cameal grinned. "Time to make others suffer now." He, along with Zadkiel and Haniel flew out of the house.
Evanes groaned to himself. "I don't agree with this but whatever!" He stormed out of the house.
Lucius glanced back at the group and quickly followed after Evanes. Hanna trailed after them when he spotted dozens of armored demons destroying statues. They noticed Haniel summoning a lance with a blue aura. Cameal held a silver hammer while Zadkiel carried gauntlets over his arms. The trio clashed with the demon soldiers and easily cut them down.
"Looks like they got those scary demons covered." Skylar stood beside Ember. "Where do we go from here?"
"I say let's head down. They would've mentioned if Lucy was already back to where they needed her." Gwen smiled.
Ember nodded as she flexed her muscles. "Okay, we can get a move on with them distracting the demons."
Hanna held his blaster close and led the group down a flight of stairs. There laid corpses of angels and demons blocking a few steps. Shock waves with heat waves swept the area. A massive rumble from above followed with trumpets playing. The skies darkened before light pillars rained down upon the blocks.
"I can smell a lot of dead people here." Yuno scrunched her nose up. "This is a war beyond what I've seen."
"We just need to find Lucy among the ruins and get out." Sio kept sprinting down the stairs. "If Nexus isn't here then we'll use Hanna's ship."
Hanna glanced back at him with a grin. "Sounds good! I hope for the best when we come across her again."
***
Lucy punched a demon away while it splashed into the water and fell off the ledge. She shifted her head to the right when light pillars struck nearby buildings.
"Woah! Do they not care about friendly fire?" She asked.
"Seems to be the case. There are too many demons around to let soldiers fight them." Lilith stood by her and stared up at a flight of ruined stairs.
Ignis crossed both arms and inhaled. "Good thing I have flame portals to use or otherwise we'd have to keep jumping across gaps." He held his hand out when a figure suddenly approached them.
Senovisa emerged from a fire with a hand behind him. "Ah, if it isn't Lucy and her friends. Did you get the target we asked for?"
"Yep, we sure did. Leviathan's right here." Lucy stepped toward him and retrieved the soul orb. She held it toward him with a frown. The orb lit up with a bright blue as hellfire swirled from inside. "Now give me my parents and friend back!"
"A deal is a deal but there's something I need to tell you. Lucy have you ever felt—" Senovisa froze when he spotted armored demons stepping toward them. A slight smile flashed upon his face when an image of a skull flickered through his head.