Chapter 8:

Demons, Angels and the Beginning

The Descension of the Unholy Crusader


I shouted those words into the cells of prisoners. I know they longed for freedom and now the chance stands before them.
The Fallen Angel looks at me and says, "Do you really think you can lead a rebellion against the forces of Hell!? Don't you even hear yourself right now!? What if they turn on you? What will you do then? Banding demons, angels and fallen angels together is risky as it is! How in hell do you plan to do this!?"

I turn towards the Fallen Angel, "I said it before didn't I? This rebellion is the only chance for freedom. You can rot away in these cells, or you can grab your sword and take back your freedom by force! I'm leaving this place with or without you. I will do everything to escape back onto the main world. Even if it means devouring everything and everyone who stands in my way! I will not back down from this, I will not accept this Hell as my final resting place!"
The Fallen Angel violently grabbed me by my shoulders, "You do realize what happens if this fails right!? You do know that there's only ONE place to go after this!?"
I then grabbed the Fallen Angel by the throat and lift him up above the ground, "It's already too late for me to turn back now, I already drew first blood, now I'm going to finish what I started. If you want to stay in these cells forever then go ahead, but me and whoever else stands with me will leave this place! Even if we have to overthrow all of Hell doing so!"

I then released the Fallen Angel and he fell to the ground. He stood up before me and glared into me, I glared back and looked deep into his dark hood. He spoke up, "This is crazy.. This is insane. To take on all of Hell, it's ludicrous! Do you really believe there is a way out of this place? Do you really think you can find your Salvation? Do you truly believe there's a way out of here!?"
In all confidence I answered this, "I don't just believe, I know there is. The Lord gave me this second chance for a reason. I will use it to not only save myself, but to save others that help me in this conquest. I declare that here and now."
The Fallen Angel looked at me a bit, "It's been awhile since I've seen such hope in a cursed place like this. I've longed for Hope but found none, until now..."
He paused for a bit, then reached out his hand, "Very well then.. Please allow me to stand by you in this rebellion and show me this 'Salvation' you keep speaking about. If you truly know a way out of here, then I will follow you till the End!"
I joined his hand, "You know there's no turning back now right? You just declared war on the Rulers of Darkness."
He replied, "It was either that or stay caged in this Inferno. I think I chose the right answer. My Sword now belongs to you Crusader."

We released our grips, and I turned to the rest of the Caged Prisoners, "If anyone else desires Salvation, then take up your swords and band together with me! We are going to tear this place apart! Who the hell is with me! Let's fight for Freedom!!"
In a moments time hundreds of voices began to roar in the Prisons, the place completely erupted in noise and shouting! I looked towards Shizuku and she nodded her head at me. I shouted into the Prisons again, "The Bars are frozen in ice, those who break free will see freedom! Break free my Prisoners!"
One by one, I heard loud crashes and ice breaking in all directions! I then saw hordes of beings pouring into the long hallway. They all were rallying themselves and helping each other break free, but I saw something else. During the rallying, I felt tension begin to build, I saw monsters giving evil stares and also some not helping at all. It seemed like they were only helping their own! I saw disfigured monsters, giant beasts, dark hooded figures, and pure white hooded figures. The diversity of beings here, they come from all different backgrounds and places, but they all have the same goal, and that's to escape this Hellish Inferno!

The Fallen Angel looked at me and said, "This is crazy, these factions have held a hatred for each other for eons, constant war and bloodshed against each other. Now they are suddenly forced to work together."
I replied back, "These entities are all different from one another, are some of them from other places as well?"

He pointed forward, "Well of course! Did you seriously think that they were all the same?"
I reply, "I did, I had no idea, who exactly are these warriors?"
He sighed and pointed at one of the monsters, "Well for starters you have your Demons, they are beings who completely defected from Heaven and the Heavenly Principles, thus assumed hideous forms in contrast of their former selves. Demons can be in here for many reasons, but the main reason is usually insubordination and rebellion. There's a Hierarchy even in the Kingdom of Hell!" He then turned his finger to a dark hooded figure with iron armor, "You then have your Fallen Angels such as myself, they are entities who fell from Grace and currently without a master, we Fallen Angels kept our Heavenly Virtues and our bodies clean from Corruption." He then pointed at the white hooded figure with gold and silver armor, "Then you have your Angels, not much needs to be said about them. They are here because sometimes Demons take Prisoners after skirmishes and battles, they are endangered of becoming Fallen if they tread here long enough."
I nodded and asked, "So even the Angels of Heaven lie in this wretched place?"
He nodded and turned away, "I too was a beautiful Angel before my Fall, It was a devastating battle but I was lucky to survive.."

I didn't push him any further, seemed like a sensitive topic. I then lifted my eyes again to the Hordes of Prisoners.
I saw the Hordes of them pouring into the Halls and many of them already had weapons. To see them all come together for the same goal gave me hope, but knowing that they are enemies also brought me some worry. I waited for them all to settle down, their voices were too overwhelming. It took a little while but I think they are all ready. I turned and looked at all of them, there must've been around a couple hundred of them in this floor alone! I need to say something to rally them together, something that's going to raise their spirits and bring them together. Last thing I need is division in my Rebellion!

I looked at Shizuku and nodded my head, she smiles and raised her small fist at me. I turned back towards the newly formed rebellion and shout at the top of my lungs,
"Hear me! Today is the day of Salvation! Today we will go onto freeing every Prisoner and have them all join our ranks! Leave no man left behind! If anyone wants to join our cause, let them, we need all the power we can get. This is the beginning of something big! We need every Warrior to be on the same page, set aside your differences Demons and Angels for a Kingdom divided against itself shall not stand! Today we break the shackles and take the fight to the enemy! There's no turning back now! It's do or die, if we die then let us die fighting! If we live, then let's bring every Warrior with us! He who has ears let him hear! Who's ready to be set free!!!" I raised my fist in the air as I shouted this!

A deafening rallying cheer from the Rebels sounded through all the Halls! I heard some of them shouting things like, "Leader!", "Absolution!", "Salvation!", "Freedom!"       
I walked to Shizuku and said, "You ready to get the hell out of place?"
She reaches out her hand and says, "I will follow you till the bitter end, lead us to Salvation Jean Sinclair!"
I grabbed her hand and replied, "Yeah, let's do it together!"
I looked at the proud rebel warriors and shouted, "Let us march forward Warriors!"
I turned around and walked forward with Shizuku, the sound of thousands of soldiers marching were heard behind me.
These Warriors are MY army, no matter how different they are, they are joined together by one Thread and that's the Hope of Freedom! And that Hope will guide us until we are free! 

We marched forward and made it to the end of the Hallway and were stopped by a massive door. I walked over to it and looked at it, it was quite thick and I had no idea if I could break it. I had to break this in one shot to show these Warriors that I was competent enough to lead them. I drew my blade and closed my eyes, I began to draw all the strength from all over and packed it into my blade. My blade was massive and looked clean, it had rigged edges and a long handle. I reeled it back and in one fell moment, I slashed and the door exploded open!
*BOOOOOM*
The Warriors behind me began to cheer, "HAARRRRRGHHH!", "HOORAAAHH!", "HAAAAHHHHH!"
We walked into a large room with many stairwells. I walked further into the room and my Warriors followed behind. Not all of them were able to fit into the room but a good amount of them did. The decision is up to me, either descend lower or descend a level higher. Shizuku told me that a especially powerful Demon was held in the Floor above by itself. It was only one demon in there, how powerful could it be. I definitely need that for my Rebellion. I need to go there alone and talk to it myself, if I die then I don't want the others to go down with me, nor would I want Shizuku to get hurt. I turned to the Rebels and say, "Hear me Warriors! I'm going up by myself to meet the Demon in the top floor. I need you all to stay here and wait for me! I will be back shortly!"

Shizuku looked at me and denied, "What!? Go by yourself!? Are you insane!? I'm going with you! You don't know how strong that Demon is!"
I looked back at her, "Shizuku! I can't afford to put you in danger, I already dragged you into this, I don't want to put you anymore at risk!"
She grabbed my arm and said, "Jean! We are in this together! I made a vow to never leave your side no matter what! I am going with you whether you like it or not! Besides I know who's in there!"
I denied her again, "If we die then what is to become of them!? Please just listen to me!" 
She slapped me with her right hand.
*SLAP*
"I am going with you! Remember our promise! We are going to escape this Hell together! If you die, then I would lose it! I won't be able to live with myself and I will give up! I can't imagine losing you! Please let me go! If we are fated to die, then let me die with you! Don't let me die alone.. please.."

Her red eyes began to tear, I couldn't tell her no anymore. I did promise.. and we would have a bigger chance of survival if we are both there. 
I looked and her and gave in, "Okay Shizuku.. Let's go then, let's do this together. I am counting on you!"
She wiped her eyes and smiled, "Yes, let's go!"
I turned and looked at my army, they were all types of beings there, some with swords and chains, others bows, some with staffs and spells, and some only with fists. I raised my fist towards them and turned around. We began walking up and Shizuku grabbed my arm and held me close. I want to know how powerful this Demon is, I need to ask her. I stopped midway through the staircase and turned myself to her. 
"Shizuku how strong is that Demon up there? It seems like you know a lot about it?"

She lowered her head, "I don't know too much about her, but from the rumors and stories, she's a class of her own, completely unrivaled and unstoppable. From what I've heard, it took even the Sovereign of Limbo to join the battle to seal her once and for all. I don't know too much about it but I do know she's a sadistic, conniving and cunning demon with a thirst for bloodshed. It took the strongest to seal her and many were sacrificed in it. If we manage to pull this off, it will change everything. This rebellion would become realistic and even feared among the Principalities. With someone like her backing us, we can do almost anything!"

I smirked at this, "I didn't realize it was this much of a big deal, to have someone like that on our side will turn the tables. We need people like that, we need her on our side. Maybe we can convince her to join our fight for freedom?"
Shizuku shook her head, "I doubt it would be that easy. You don't know how corrupt and terrifying she really is. There's a reason why she was sealed by away herself and cut off from everything!"
I clenched my fists and walked up a few steps, then came to a stop, "Well I guess we can only find out then. We have to get her on our side by any means necessary."
I turned around and looked at Shizuku, and with all my resolve, I said back to her,
"I decided then, I will get this Monstrosity to join our fight, even if it means sacrificing everything to do so!"
Shizuku lowered her head, "I love the determination, but keep the extremism to a minimum please? I don't want you dying before seeing your own goal met."
I chuckled a bit, "Hehe, alright fine, but let's go, we shouldn't keep the demon bound for too much longer."

Shizuku nodded and agreed, she caught up with me and we walked forward up the staircase. The staircase seemed almost endless! We must've travelled up at least 500 steps before seeing the end! I looked down and was barely able to see my Warriors, hopefully we aren't gone for too long.
 As we reached the end, we were greeted with a massive door that seemed almost impenetrable! There were magic circles at 6 points on the Door, it looked like a seal to keep the door closed.
Shizuku inspected the runes and told me, "These seals are quite strong, but it's only to keep whatever's inside from coming out. However, we can just use brute force to open it from this side and go in. Can you open this door open Jean?"
I responded, "No problem your Highness." 

I then reached within myself and began to pack my blade with all the strength in me, I felt every fiber in my being awaken and all the power go into my blade, and in one instant, I released a devastating blow!