The yellow walls of the maze have been devastated by the black thorns. The floor was littered by mangled corpses and the spare space was starting to get occupied by the thorns too. And to think it all was just a mere few steps away from the entrance. Samukai was already dreading how it looked deeper into the maze. That is if anyone made it deeper than here. Which considering the amount of dead men was rather unlikely. Phantom and Noktum were constantly stopping after every few steps to both check the thorns and corpses. One thing that the dead had in common was a stab wound right in the chest and surprisingly the hole left in there was lacking blood as if it was drained. Which seemed to be the case as the same was happening to the blood on the ground.

- You know- samurai started- I don't think that touching them is a smart idea

- Oh come on, the worst case scenario I lose one of my six hands. Now be a dear and see if you can cut them down. I really doubt that any of us would fit through there- demon pointed at the bunch of great thorns which were blocking the way. Samukai drew Izanagi and slashed. Unfortunately the blade got stuck in between the vines, damaging them only slightly.

- They are sturdier than I thought

- Yeah, I feel like I'm hitting a tree- Samukai said after getting his blade free and repeating the strike. Phantom casted an abbadon, but it had no effect on the thorns. So they were of the dark attribute, that was good to know. Fenfir then came to aid the warrior, and by grasping the thickest branch with his mouth. As the samurai was slashing it, the hound was giving his all to pull it out by the roots. After a while of struggling the thorns have given up, immediately turning to dust once pulled out. With the path clear, Chaos could continue to stroll along the corridor of thorns, only to finally stumble upon stairs which lead even deeper into the darkness.

- So do you think that there will be any thorns on the lower level?

- I rather doubt it, but I can say that there is something down there. Though I can't say if the fact that it emanates the same aura as Necronomicon is good- now demon couldn't help but wonder if that was the special thing that Pharaoh had planned for them. A spell book perhaps? He wouldn't mind that.

Finally they stopped in yet another narrow corridor. Noktum increased the intensity of his flame. The vines of the thorns were breaking through the ceiling, which probably were those from before, digging through the walls and floor. Then in the walls were black blobs. Upon closer inspection they looked like blooming flowers. The magician slightly tapped one of them and quickly backed off as the black substance stuck to his finger.

- Noktum can you stop touching weird things? I don't want another scorpion after me- Samukai said as he came closer to the shadow in order to see how the black substance dripped down his finger.

- I'm sorry, but as a magician and student in arcane arts it is stronger than me- samurai only tilted his helmet. That was new to him. Noktum didn't really strike him as somebody interested in research, first the stars, now this, and even his interest in and even idolization in Phantom. More so he thought of the magician as more of a spell crazy person. But then again it wasn't really accurate either. Now that he was thinking about it, he really didn't know much about the shadow.

- I only hope that it isn't easily flammable- this broke Samukai line of thought.

- Huh?

- Were you listening to me?- samurai shook his helmet- Those things are probably blossoms. Which probably feed off by blood. Meaning that they aren't a spell. And that would explain why master didn't really know about them

- So you are saying that it is some sort of a flower?- Phantom questioned- Well my hate towards those weeds just keep growing stronger with each day

- Wait, if those are blossoms, then there have to be roots somewhere right? Unless they don't have any. Phantom, do you also think what I am thinking- samurai turned to face the demon.

- I can destroy the walls to find the roots?

- Close, but no. There has to be somewhere a room or something of the sort, in which those things are growing or at least have a mother plant. And if I was a betting man, I would say that it is probably on the lower level

- An interesting thesis, but Samukai, why do you want to find the room- this time Noktum questioned the warrior.

- I mean, we could use that room as some sort of orientation point. Not only that, I doubt that it wouldn't be connected, or at least in some close proximity to other "major" rooms

- Well if the smell of that aura will get stronger, then I guess you are right. So we just have to find the stairs or maybe even a lift. How hard can it be?

- Seeing how the rooms can rotate and maybe even switch places, honestly it might be tough. Let alone the possibility of traps

- We won't find out if we will be standing here, so let's go- demon said slithering in front of his team, traversing through the corridor, giving an occasional glance to the black blossoms. Just then an idea came to him. With the world gray only the blossoms gained a new color. While faint it undoubtedly was chaos. Of course, he should have expected that. And probably that was what Pharaoh had in mind. But just how some flowers were supposed to help them in the first place.

Samukai was carefully placing his steps, going right after Phantom, in order to not trigger a single trap. The arrows and spell casting doors were more than enough to make him wary of other possible ambushes. Next on the list probably were some golems. Speaking of golems, the matter of Noktum was still on his head. They have been traveling for some time now, and he only knew that the shadow studied magic because that's what he had to do. Granted that he himself wasn't the most open person, that would probably be Phantom but even then he would have some personal topics, yet Noktum was completely cryptic about himself. Was something troubling him? How should he approach him?

- You know, I have been wondering- Samukai started. This was the only idea to learn more about his companions in general that he had, but it could perfect to also learn more about the shadow- What will you do after we are done with our crystals hunting?- Noktum and Phantom looked at the samurai, which only hoped that his plan worked.

- I will probably enjoy my new position as the prince, kill some more angels and finally learn some supreme tier- as the demon mentioned, the tier samurai could gleam in his eyes. Obviously any self respecting mage would like to possess spells of such tier, thus it wasn't shocking that demon reacted in that way. Noktum on the other side remained silent for a longer while.

- Huh, I haven't really thought about it- magician finally said- I'll probably wait for another mission

- No, I meant like beside that, you know for yourself

- And I just said that. What else can I do?- this caught Samukai off guard. Right, Noktum was a golem, what else could he do? But to the warrior he never felt like a golem. Those were quiet, stoic, only following orders. And Noktum...was like that too. To be honest he never really wondered who the team he is in is composed. But now, he was rather suspicious of its members. If they truly were given to the Phantom by Lucifer, then why? Noktum was still pretty much a student, the warrior himself never was really loyal to that old demon, and why give a hellhound? It seemed weird to him. Under any rational thinking it was a great set up to fail. Then again why would Lucifer sabotage his own follower?

- but seeing a north star would be great! So what about you Samukai?

- Huh?

- You were spacing off again?- demon questioned- Look I know that you don't like those mazes but the faster we are done with it the faster you can be on the surface- warrior was lost. Noktum seemed cheerful, mentioning stars, so was his concern unneeded? Perhaps he should ask Noktum about himself some other time, and directly. Could he be called nosy? Probably yes. But in his own defense he wanted to know who was traveling with him. And also what was that wet substance that he stepped in. Looking down he saw a black root. In fact in the further part of the long corridor there seemed to be more of them.

- You think we are getting close to the mother plant?- samurai asked, wiping off the black stains of his boot.

- I hope so, otherwise this corridor will take us to another kingdom- demon said, burning some of the roots that were blocking the way. A few feet away from them was another staircase going down, covered by the roots. If that wasn't the sign that the plant was near, then Phantom really wouldn't know what else it could be. Carefully going down the stairs, the demon felt that the aura from the entrance was growing stronger, although he didn't like it smoke like smell. Such a smell usually never meant anything good. As they were on the last bunch of steps, Samukai noticed something in the air. Small, red orb-like objects were coming their way. Still wary of them, Chaos finally stood before the entrance to what could possibly be a room with the mother plant.

The room inside was spacious, Fenfir could easily fit in there. Its yellow walls have been long covered by the black roots which paid no mind on keeping them in a good state and thus many cracks on the walls have even spread to the floor and ceiling. In the very middle of the room was a fence that could have been more than two feet tall, or what they could see through the black roots that have fully covered it. The fence was probably supposed to be some sort of a container for the mother plant, but it didn't seem like it did a good job.

But despite all of that, the mother plant what was the first that eyes landed upon. Its great figure towering over anything made it clear that this room was its own kingdom, even if it was slightly hunched over to the left. The black roots that have conquered the entire part of the maze, all had their beginning in there, coming from the bottom of the plant. The great red spotted flower fit the top of the mother plant like a crown fits king, with its petals so plentiful that it seemed to endless of them. The mother plant was gently swaying, its roots pulsating and the red spheres were coming from the very center of the flower.

- That has to be the biggest flower that I've ever seen- Samukai said, carefully stepping into the room in order to search for other entrances.

- I don't think ever Hell has a specimen like this one- Noktum added, still gazing at the red petals.

- And thank Lord Lucifer for that- Phantom scoffed, waving away the orbs that came close to him. The aura was almost causing him nausea. That was the epicenter that much was clear. Now the question was, why did it have the same aura as Necronomicon? Perhaps its petals were used to make pages? They were quite big so it was a possibility, but probably it was something much, much worse than that. Giving in to the curiosity, demon slithered closer to the plant, standing beside warrior

Fenfir was baring his teeth and growling at the mother plant. Something clearly wasn't right.

- Easy boy, it's just a plant. It's not like it will eat you- samurai tried to calm down the hound, approaching him, but Fenfir had no intentions in going to the room. Just then a booming noise echoed in the chamber. Chaos took a look at the flower. It was straightening itself up, becoming even taller than before. Its petals curled themselves, creating an oval shape. The petals quickly returned to their former state and from the center of the flower erupted red mist filled to brim with the red orbs.

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- Don't breathe it in!- Samukai shouted as he ordered the hound to get low on the floor and covered his snout. Noktum curled himself and tried to cover as much as he could with his robes. Before Phantom could use his wings as a cover, the red mist long covered him and nearly filled the entire chamber. Demon wasn't really concerned about the mist. He was a demon after all, most poisons wouldn't affect him and those that did were merely an inconvenience. Although he doubted that it could be called normal. But he didn't feel sick. In fact he didn't feel anything. Or see for that matter.

It was darkness as far as he could tell. No mist, flower or even his team. Could the mist blind him? He wasn't expecting that. He cursed that he dismissed the curing and healing magic, maybe Noktum could help?

- Noktum, search in books for any spell that cures blindness!- demon ordered but was only met with silence. He couldn't be also mute, he could clearly hear his voice so being deaf was also out of question.

- Would you look at that, the snake has finally paid a visit- the voice came from the darkness. Phantom could swear that he heard it before. Of course he did, but how now? He turned in the direction from which the voice came. It didn't take him long to meet the owner of the voice. Even if he knew who it was, he still stood paralyzed. Right before him was another demon. His skin grey and purple. Or at least that were the colors it had in places where it wasn't torn off. The entire left side of abdomen was gone, revealing a part of shoulder bone and a hip. His bull-like legs seemed to be rotting. Taking his gaze upwards, the demon stopped at the face. It was gone. The part from eyes and up was gone.

- You look like you have seen a ghost- the decaying demon said.

- Mephisto... But...How...You should be dead! Long gone!- demon managed to calm himself enough to speak normally, yet he still couldn't believe his eyes.

- And we are. We have been waiting for you- "we"? To say that Phantom didn't like that would be an understatement. It was impossible, impossible. He saw his death, he saw his body burst into flames, so how?

- You seem shocked, why is that? After all we ended like that because of you, don't say that you have forgotten?

- Shut up! What "we"?! Explain yourself now!

- You still are as loud as ever- another voice joined. Phantom turned right. On the ground another was crawling towards him. His black body was hardly noticeable in the darkness, but his red eyes glowing with hatred made him stand out. The goat head with great mouflon-like horns was coming closer. He had to use his mighty arms to move around as his legs looked to be blown away, leaving a trail of blood after himself. He was in the same decaying state as the previous demon, if not worse.

- Oh Azazel it seems like you haven't forgotten him- Mephistopheles said with a grin.

- As if I could ever forget about that damn snake- his voice was hoarse as if he didn't drink anything since the past century- You truly have the nerves to show yourself here...was killing us once not enough for you?

- Shut your damn mouth! I have not killed you! It was your own fault!

- Of course we were faulty at trusting you- Mephistopheles voice was full of poison- And to think that to this day you continue to spit on our graves

- Damn bastard, I should’ve torn off your tail when I had a chance!- this time Azazel shouted- What did you get from that, huh? Lucifer's praise? Or more dirty work to do?

- It's clear that he still kills his own- yet another voice chimed in. This time it belonged to the great human-like gutted leopard lying on the ground. What once was a muscular figure now was only skin and bones. The leopard's fur was missing in certain places revealing sickly pale skin. Ose eyed the snake - That what he always did and just like he did with us

- It wasn't my fault! Why none of you listen to me!- Phantom's tone of voice seemed to change from aggressive to more like a plea.

- Because that simply isn't the truth. And you know it- the leopard was still maintaining the eye contact with the demon- If you hated us that much, you could have asked Lucifer to give some other demons as scapegoats

- Shut all of you! It wasn't my fault, it never was! I was simply following orders

- And your orders were to doom us all?- Mephistopheles couldn't believe his ears- If so, job well done. But you missed three other demons, right?- what other three demons? Only Lamb and Lilith survived.

- How many times will you blame me for your deaths? You should only blame yourselves. If you would follow my orders nothing would go wrong- Phantom felt as if he was being pushed against the metaphorical wall.

- You truly can't accept your own failure- Mephistopheles came closer to the snake- Only because of your own pragmatic vision of becoming an Iblis did we end up like that. But it looks like you don't learn from anything. How long will it take since they also die?

-Shut up! Shut up, shut up! Shut or I will... - the aggressive tone of voice returned to Phantom, but it quickly faded when the demon heard yet another voice chiming in.

- Or you will what? Kill us again?- Phantom froze. He couldn't turn around. De didn't want to turn around. Not now, not ever. Not when that voice was present. While he couldn't see his face he was sure that it was the palest it ever was. Demon then laughed slightly. Those had to be hallucinations. The mist probably caused it. He had nothing to be afraid of. Thus he could easily face the owner of the voice. And yet his body still refused to move.

- What's the matter snake, won't you talk to her? Isn't that what you wanted to do?- Mephistopheles crouched near the snake while Azazel and Ose continued to stare down at him. Phantom gathered enough courage to finally turn around and immediately regretted it.

On a small boulder resembling a gravestone sat a silhouette of a woman. Black, onyx like scales nearly covered her entire body, almost like a coat. The grayish scales went from her face and ended right above the bosom. Her red, snake-like hairs were gracefully resting on her right shoulder, slightly covered by her small, black bat wings.

- Why are you here?- her voice compared to others was not filled with anger. In fact there wasn't even an ounce of anger in her voice. It was rather sorrowful, slightly frightened even. And even despite that, her words seemed to hurt the demon the most - What else do you want from me?

- You believe me, you believe me right?- Phantom's voice at this point was almost pragmatic. If there was one person who wouldn't judge him, it had to be her- You know I didn't kill you. I didn't want any of that to happen. You believe me right? It wasn't my fault, right?

- If not you then who did this to me?- the demon turned to face Phantom. Right under the left breast was a great gaping wound. The blood around was already dry but even more was eager to leak once again. Phantom was no stranger to various wounds. He had seen much worse than this, but this time he couldn't bring himself to look at it.

- It hurt you know- her voice got quieter and started to break a little- I couldn't breathe and all I saw was you standing there, doing nothing...

- Abyzou, it's not like that. You know I wanted to help you

- Then why didn't you?- Phantom froze once again. He didn't know how to respond to that, he had no way to respond to that. This is what he always was asking himself, yet never was able to find a reason.

- Why did you leave me there? Did it all mean nothing to you...was I nothing to you?

- Abyzou, you have to believe me, it's not like that

- So how is it? How else can I understand what you did?- Phantom got closer to Abyzou, with a pained expression on his face. The demoness only turned away, not wanting to met his gaze.

- You didn't change, right? You still do the same. Does Lucifer mean so much to you? Was his order worth my life? Is his order worth their lives?- they couldn't really forgive him could they? Of course not, even to this day his failure was brought up to him. Huh, his failure. But it couldn't have been his failure. If it was then lord Lucifer wouldn't reward him. Then whose was it? The angels? These damned angels that killed everyone. Yet it was his task to lead that team.

- Abyzou I swear, it wasn't my fault. You know that I wouldn't do that to you, to anyone. I swear that this time it will be different. I'll show them all...

- But it was your fault. We all know this- Abyzou voice became much more judgmental- Why do you refuse to understand that? Pride? Lucifer? Or maybe you just always were like that. Always blaming others, but not yourself... You think if we never met our lives would be better?

- Abyzou, dear, I beg you don't say anything like that. I don't think I would make it that far without you

- You say that, yet I'm sure that I was never anything more to you than an obstacle. You would never say that, but you thought that- Phantom shook his head, but Abyzou kept on going- If you wanted to get rid off me from your life, you could just tell me to piss off...I truly was stupid wasn't I- Phantom remained silent. He couldn't understand why Abyzou was talking like that. He was grateful that she was with him for so long. He loved her, if it was different then it wouldn't hurt like that. But why was she like that? Was she mad at him? She had every right to be so, but it wasn't his fault. It wasn't, it couldn't be. Otherwise he would never forgive himself. He never did.

- Face it snake, you never really loved her did you?- Mephistopheles finally chipped, breaking the silence.

- SHUT UP!- demon hit the floor with his hand, startling the demoness. Shortly after he heard something cold and hard hit him right in the back of his head. His vision started to blurry as he felt someone's hands on his body, dragging him with great effort. He heard talking, but couldn't make much from it. The images of the dead demons were spinning around him, getting more and more distorted with each second. Before everything turned to black, he heard a feminine voice for the last time;

- You should be in that grave

Phantom woke up, frantically gasping for air and looking around. The yellow walls quickly reminded him of the maze. Where was he now? Where was Chaos? He faced the entrance to the chamber with the flower, which was slowly getting further. He felt something rough under his body. Stairs, is what he felt hitting him. No, couldn't be. Phantom turned around and saw a black figure dragging him upwards.

- Oh, you are finally awake. Everything's fine?- The concerned voice of Samukai was soothing to the demon in one weird way. Especially after everything that he heard before.

- Samukai! I think I've found the room!- the cheerful voice of Noktum coming from further in was equally soothing.

- Good job! Now how about you answer me?

- Fine, fine really

- No, no it isn't. I don't know who you want to fool, but not so long ago you were screaming, almost whaling and trashing all over the place. I don't know what that plant did to you, but it wasn't fine

- Can we not talk about this right now? I need a moment, please- whatever happened to the demon must have scared him. It was the first time that a samurai heard a please from him. Perhaps he hit a little too hard. But for now he decided to not push it too much. Phantom looked like he saw a ghost, and needed some time to calm himself- Say, how did you get me out?- demon quickly wanted to change the conversation. He doubted that he was ready to tell them about his vision any time soon.

- Well Noktum trapped the plant in the tomb. Trying to calm you down was what gave us the most troubles. I had to hit you right in the head to knock you out, I hope that I didn't hit you too hard

- That's the third time you have saved me... thank you- samurai froze, losing his grip on the demon tail, allowing him to stand up by himself.

- Yeah nevermind, I did hit you too hard. But you are welcome

- And I'm sorry for putting you in danger, again- Samukai was just getting more and more confused. Just what did the plant did to him?- It seems like I'm not cut for being a leader

- I wouldn't say so, but there's a lot of work to do- samurai said as he stepped inside the great chamber, hosting an equally great statue of Exodus hanged by the chains in its very middle. Noktum was already scavenging the area alongside with Fenfir. They were lively going from one side to another, searching for anything valuable. Phantom sat close to the great statue as Samukai went to help Noktum. It didn't take them long to find an old nearly destroyed stone altar. And on the stone altar was another stone plaque. Noktum picked it up and started reading it.

- It raised its hand and said; I bring forth wind to the temple of my to spread the word of the miracle that's about to come- once again the stone plaque was not clear, by what it meant. Despite being the forth one already, Noktum wasn't sure what they were talking about. Perhaps by taking their words literally they were missing some points? Nevertheless it wasn't of any help for now. As the magician was busy checking if there was anything more than that, Samukai was searching for the exit. He could only hope that it wasn't collapsed or blocked in any other way. After a while he finally saw stairs leading up. He could already feel the wind coming from the entrance. Carefully climbing the stairs he stopped at the second to last step.

- You should really see that!- warrior called out. Rest of Chaos quickly came to him. The entrance led to a cliff side. A gray stone made for the ground, one side of the cliff linked to another by many tightly put together stones, almost a hanging bridge. And at the very end of the other side was the temple. Hanging in the air, held up by the great chains which were coming from the upper sides of the cliff side mountains.

- Let me guess, wind?- Phantom questioned.

- Probably, and I'm not optimistic about it- Samukai answered, but before he could say anything more, a powerful wind came alongside a monstrous roar. It seemed like this time the elemental was already waiting for them. Chaos took a battle stance, preparing for battle.