"The root of all evil doesn't always have reason or purpose"-Kahal
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Tengu's attention was caught by the sudden flow of spirit energy which filled the halls of hell.
His expression remained indifferent as he kept his palm on the pulsing crimson heart of Hell.
"Feeble minded fools."
The prideful patch faced demon descended down through the celling of hell's halls, and immediately stood between the backward praying priest, and Kaida.
The praying priest opened his eyes which were now glowing pure white as he watched the approaching prideful demon.
"The priest of Shizuka village… what business does one such as yourself have here in hell?"
The priest remained silent, and stared indifferently at Tengu. The sight of the calmed priest made Tengu feel a sudden sense of irritation.
"Forgive me if I'm misreading your expression, but are you looking down on me perhaps?"
The priest slowly stood up and chuckled. He gave a genuine smile toward the demon and replied:
"Well how else would a messenger of our Queen speak to those below the heavens?"
Seeing the priest's genuine expression made Tengu feel a sudden surge of rage that made his skin crawl.
Though he managed to keep his composure, inhaling deeply, he looked straight at the priest and said:
"I'll take my time… and soon you'll know the wrath of the god you should bow down to."
In an instant, the priest stomped his foot and suddenly a giant white translucent avatar which had giant black prayer beads around its neck loomed over the priest's body.
"Miss Kaida, please take that woman and go with mister Kojiro and Yaku."
The priest silently commanded his faithful avatar to slam its giant hand down onto the prideful demon, which sent a crushing shock throughout the hall.
Smoke scattered around, which made Tengu look around the hazy area with his hands still in his pockets.
Suddenly, the sound of the priests voice filled the misty area. Once more, he begun reciting a prayer while speaking backwards.
In the next moment, two colossal white hands manifested on both sides of Tengu and immediately smothered him.
The priest grunted as the colossal hands began to be pushed back by the space that surrounded Tengu who simply scoffed.
"How disappointing… to think you almost made me believe you could harm me for a second."
Tengu began levitating in the air. And as he stared down at the priest, the prideful demon held his hand out and in an instant, red and black particles formed into the shape of a crimson blazed sword.
Red electricity sparked around the blade as the patch faced demon swiped downward toward the priest's colossal avatar.
The power in the blade was enough to form cracks in the priest's avatar, and split right through Hell's grounds far from the halls of hell.
Once the scattered smoke cleared, the priest's colossal avatar had managed to clasp the sword between both its giant hands.
'Hmm'
Sweat raced down the priest's forehead as black cracks crawled up the avatar's forearms, and in the next instant the avatar had shattered completely.
"Damn."
'Oh heavens, forgive my foul language'
The priest clasped his hands once more, and begun reciting a prayer while he spoke backwards. This made the prideful demon shoot himself like a bullet toward the praying priest, but he was too late.
Tengu's eyes darted and noticed two rows of giant prayer beads which spiraled around him. They spun quicker each passing second and cut through the walls of Hell's hall, making more dust and debris fall.
The speed at which the prayer beads spiraled sent a sound like a chime that echoed throughout the hellish halls.
Tengu's body suddenly stiffened. The prideful demon grimaced as he noticed a displeasing sensation in his tightening skin. His muscles began to violently tremble, while his veins begun to snap like thin threads.
"Wha?!"
In the next moment when he looked up, the priest appeared in front of him like a streak of black light. The prayer beads around the priest's fists shined with an intense white light as he dove his fist into the prideful demon's patched face.
Tengu let out a pained shout, as he felt every muscle in his body tear apart in an instant. The priest's punch sent a shockwave that completely destroyed a wide chunk of hell's halls which also made the priest's own hand shatter upon contact.
Tengu was sent flying backwards and he immediately collapsed to the ground. Now completely paralyzed, but still conscious.
***
"Like I told you, mister demon… your sinful pride is what caused your downfall."
The priest slowly walked toward Tengu and as he prepared to land the finishing blow, a sudden spiral of hellfire enveloped the demon's body and in an instant, he vanished.
"What devilry?…"
***
After a few dark moments, Tengu suddenly found himself inside of a round red space of pulsing flesh, which wrapped around his body and rapidly began to heal his body.
The prideful demon was breathing heavily and soon heard a voice which came from no particular direction.
"Tengu, my eldest child. Why-ever must you be so reckless in the face of certain death?"
Tengu gritted his teeth at the sound of the voice, and replied:
"Forgive me, mother. That priest was a mere momentary delay, but soon you'll be freed from your seal, you have my word."
The prideful demon found himself down on one knee, with his fist brought to his chest. After a distasteful sigh, the voice said:
"Your brothers and sisters await you, my child. Hurry along, my desire to see what has become of my children after one thousand years, grows impatient."
Once the voice fell silent, Tengu's body was once again enveloped in flames. In an instant, he found himself at a thick tree which contained the unconscious body of Aria, and his sleeping siblings who were all connected to the tree.
Once he approached the tree, suddenly a card marked "Death" had shot right past him. Tengu groaned and looked over his shoulder to see the graceful supreme general Kojiro of the western tribe, and the dubious supreme general Yaku of the east.
"One after another, you feeble minded fools just keep interfering…"
Tengu slowly turned to face the two men, and said in a grim voice:
"I grow weary of your constant… what's the term you humans use… badgering?"
The dubious general Yaku chuckled, and threw another playing card at the demon. The card halted in front of Tengu, as if space itself caught the card.
Tengu inspected the card and asked:
"You don't seriously suggest that I have the time for childish antics?"
Yaku was surprised at the demon's human-like vocabulary, but he also cursed under his breath at the low effort it took to stop his attack.
"Come do as I ordered you to do and kill these pests."
A sudden arm reached out from the ground in front of the two supreme generals, and what crawled out was a demon with an exposed ribcage and two hooves.
"Cain. Slay them."
The demon immediately grasped the two faces of the generals, and in an instant he chucked the two outside and tailed after them.
Tengu flew to the top of the battered tree; and stood still.
"The eleventh hour draws near… no more distractions."
Seven roots from the tree connected Tengu's body to the rest of his six siblings. Inside the tree, Aria's body reacted.
Back at the hall's of hell, the crimson pods which contained everyone began to ripple in response to the great battered tree.
The rippled pods began extracting the chaos energy from each person contained. Which made the heart of Hell pulsate in response to the reverberation of chaos energy.
And back inside of the battered tree, while she remained unconscious, her body responded. Her eyes opened and shined a blinding white glow, which made Tengu grimace.
"Time to come out… mother."
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Continued in chapter 99: Eleventh Hour
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