The air crackled with tension as the party engaged in a proper battle against Tiamat's true minions, and the sandy battlefield erupted into chaos and became a theater of fire, steel, and desperate survival.
Seph was a blur of murderous precision, his blade igniting with green flame as he squared off with a towering Hellspawn. Each strike was a masterful display of swordsmanship and violence, his Octaslash carving through the fiend’s scaled hide with relentless accuracy. He moved like a shadow, weaving around the creature’s snapping jaws and burning spear, striking at its vulnerable spots with ruthless efficiency. Within a few brutal but crucial moments, his Abishai was felled, collapsing into a heap of smoldering flesh at his feet. But as he turned, victorious, he found himself staring into utter chaos.
Yaang lay sprawled on the ground below the fort, blood pooling beneath him, his chest heaving as though he’d been hurled from the fort's roof. Above him loomed an Abishai, its wicked spear poised for the kill, jagged edges glinting with malice. Before the Draconic Devil could strike, Alan surged forward, shield raised high, his golden spell of healing pouring into Yaang’s broken body. The spell flickered with an unsettling green hue that made Yaang shudder, the divine energy and its source feeling foreign and unwelcome even as it knit his wounds together. Alan, oblivious to the eerie tinge of his magic and determined to not die immediately this time, planted his feet in front of Yaang, a living bulwark between his fallen comrade and certain death.
Stumbledore soared above the battlefield, his Pegasus dodging fiery blasts as he kept Daryl from trying to escape again, bound and away from the action. With a flick of his dark wand, he unleashed a flurry of Magic Missiles, the glowing bolts weaving through the carnage to strike true. Each impact gave Xerex and Luffy the openings they needed to fight back against the relentless assault of their own foes. Yet even Stumbledore’s aerial support couldn’t stop the blood from flowing. Xerex was stabbed badly, his armor darkened with his own lifeblood. Gritting his teeth, the bard muttered a hurried incantation, his own magic sealing his wounds, though his breathing remained labored.
Meanwhile, Luffy fought with his trademark ferocity, his strikes landing like thunderclaps against the Abishai’s armored form. His movements were brutal yet efficient, his resolve unshaken even as claws raked his rubbery side. With one final swing, he brought his fiend down, leaving its body twitching before it disintegrated into ashen goo. Without hesitation, Luffy spun on his heel, charging to aid Yaang and Alan.
Scanlan’s Hand materialized in a flash of sparkling purple energy, a massive spectral fist shimmering with raw magical power. Xerex directed it with precision, his eyes blazing with determination as the Hand slammed into the Abishai threatening him. The fiend roared in pain, each strike of the Hand pounding it deeper into the ground, forming a crater beneath its thrashing body. With a final, crushing blow, the spectral fist reduced the draconic fiend to a lifeless heap.
As Seph leaped into the fray to assist Alan and Yaang, his arrival turned the tide. With a flourish, his verdant flaming blade cleaved through the Abishai’s guard, his strikes relentless. Yaang, newly healed and brimming with vengeful energy, staggered to his feet and drove a sharp, raised piece of earth into the fiend’s exposed flank with a martial strike. Alan’s shield smashed into its chest, driving in the rock spike, and staggering it further, before Luffy’s devastating Gomu Gomu Bazooka drove it to its back, knocking it prone. Together, the trio unleashed a barrage of strikes that overwhelmed the creature, forcing it to shriek in agony before its form dissolved, banished back to Avernus.
The battle ended as abruptly as it began, the battlefield littered with the remains of their foes. Smoke rose from scorched earth, and the party stood amidst the wreckage, bloodied but alive. Their first test against the minions of Tiamat had left them battered and shaken, but they had survived.
Luffy groaned, as the draconic devils became molten goo. “Awww…they took their loot with them back to Hell. I wanted some armor.”
Yaang just peered at him. “You’re a Monk, Luffy…”
The straw hat raised in his direction. “Yea, you are too, and?”
Yaang just stared at him, the last member of the party to finally realize and reluctantly accept that he was, in fact, an idiot. “We don’t wear armor! Not heavy Hell Plate, anyway. Bracers. Cleverly placed ceramic weaves. Rings of Protection. That’s what we use for defense, y’know, that and our awesome martial skills!”
Ignoring the argument, Seph noticed another patrol of guards who saw the battle’s aftermath, and started running. The entire party looked at him, as he detonated them once again with a Giga Flare, and a mad grin. There was, Seph was finding, something deeply fun about blowing shit up. Now that he was off of Shinra’s leash, he was finally free to use his spells, what few he had, as he saw fit. It was liberating, and more than fun enough to block out memories of Cloud. For a time, anyway.
“Well, I’m properly spent after that fight. Again.” Stumbledore groaned, as he landed.
“Me too.” Xerex and Yaang said simultaneously.
“I could rest.” Luffy admitted.
Seph sighed in exasperation. “We can’t take another rest, guys! They know we’re here!”
Xerex shrugged. “They knew we were here before, and only sent four slightly more competent warriors at us.”
Yaang nodded in agreement. “That was probably most of their fighting power.”
“Besides…” Stumbledore said, cracking his knuckles. “Fucking Daryl never mentioned Devil Dragons! We should make him tell us everything he knows about this place. As we rest.”
Out voted, Seph swore, and sighed. “Alright. Fine. We’ll spend another eight fucking hours outside of this fort. Sure. Awesome. Letting Hellspawn have time to do shit always goes great. Good night, I guess.” He kicked a pile of dissipating Abishai goo as he descended back into their earthbended hidey hole.
The rest of the party brought Daryl back into the hole then, and tended to their wounds while Stumbledore, who was untouched, focused on Daryl. There was an uncomfortable silence, as the wizard straight up tortured the man, and seemed to enjoy it. The injured, good aligned monks spoke quietly to each other as they healed themselves and watched with disapproving eyes. Then, finally, the magical agony Stumbledore was inflicting ended, as Daryl finally broke.
Through broken cries of pain, he said, “Our leader…is the Duchess Starra…she’s a powerful Erinyes…” He laughed, coughed, and then spat blood into the sand. He stared at Stumbledore with genuine hate. “She would rip your pathetic party apart.”
Seph sighed, coming over then, and the group coalesced around the torture spot. “I guess resting was a good idea. A Duchess of the Hells is…a lot.” He said quietly, looking at their ragtag party. Though they were healed, the monks had holes in their clothing, Alan’s proximity to the Dragon Devil had properly scorched his garbage tier armor, Xerex had the same problem as the monks, but Stumbledore and Seph were mostly fine.
Luffy untied Daryl, while Yaang healed him with some waterbending and Chi manipulation. The monks shared a look, and Luffy spoke first. “That was barbaric, guys.” Stumbledore rolled his eyes, eliciting a flame-spitting snarl from Yaang. “If you want Yaang and I to keep helping you guys, we need to establish some ground rules. Like no torture!”
Seph glared at them. “Really? You’re trying to split the party over Daryl? Really?”
“You just tortured an unarmed prisoner. And the Wizard enjoyed it. So yeah, we need some ground rules, unless you prefer we turn your names and faces over to every guard we can find when we leave you guys.” Yaang snarled.
Seph got into his face. “The entire reason we’re here…is because of you, and your damned scales.” The symbol on his hand flared. “Why shouldn’t we just turn you over to this Duchess, take the reward, and fuck off?”
Yaang growled back at him, rising to his bait. “I’d like to see you try, pretty man…”
Xerex chimed in at this point. “Making a deal with a Devil of the Hells all but guarantees your soul gets sent there. Even if that’s not part of the deal. It is known.”
“ENOUGH!” Stumbledore shouted, magic sparks flying off him. He pointed at Yaang. “I’m the one who tortured him. For information. So we don’t fucking die, and end up the playthings of some sadistic Hellspawn!” He shifted the gnarled finger to Seph. “And you! You’re going through some shit, the way I heard it, so I can forgive you blowing people up every other fucking minute, but you need to tell us what the fuck is on your hand, and what higher power keeps empowering your spells.”
Seph huffed. “It’s none of your business.”
Yaang glared at him. “It’s literally all of our business. Dark deals made in your head for power have a habit of blowing up on the people around the one making them.”
Seph looked at the party, still irritated, but saw he was outnumbered. “I…don’t fully know.” He lied. “All I know is that whatever it is, is helping us. We’ve mowed through most of a fort with an encounter spell. This power saved Alan’s life! I’m not going to abandon it just because you guys don’t like the color!”
The party shared a look. Yaang glared at Seph. “Fine. Keep your secrets. When they blow up, they may well get you killed. By us.”
Seph snorted again, and then returned to his bedroll. Eight hours passed in silence. Not a single soul disturbed the battlefield above, and when the time finally came to enter the fort, it was abandoned. They descended into its lower tunnels, and with Daryl at the front, he led them through the traps, with the agreement that once they reached this Duchess of Hell, they’d set him free to fuck off to wherever he pleased.
Alan, who had stayed quiet since returning from death, healed the man, which increased his good will, but Seph saw how he looked at the wizard. Daryl was going to be a problem, and while he understood why the man would seek revenge, the wizard was useful to have around. Seph had discovered, through matches of chess, that he knew quite a lot of spells, and had even shared a few with Seph. Being a Psionic Sword Mage, he absorbed the knowledge with meditation and focus, though he couldn’t learn all of them. Some, it seemed, were beyond him at the moment. Eventually, they came to what was once a massive door, but it had since been blown apart by quite a lot of power. Behind it was a large, empty room with a large, empty, and mostly broken pieces of a coffin littering the area. In the center of the room was a massive straight vertical tunnel, leading even further into the earth, as it glowed ominously with a hellish light.
image [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/107dc055-197f-4c79-a8d4-bf5e3018e03b/diyju5e-6878de30-c077-469d-b291-32f6b9adda84.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzEwN2RjMDU1LTE5N2YtNGM3OS1hOGQ0LWJmNWUzMDE4ZTAzYlwvZGl5anU1ZS02ODc4ZGUzMC1jMDc3LTQ2OWQtYjI5MS0zMmY2YjlhZGRhODQuanBnIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.Ld7gXtIJfir6VDnzMA_Wcp_LPoYydYYFzuVQCSgrJ2o]
Stolen story; please report.
From the depths of the tunnel, the quiet party heard the sound of ominous chanting. Then, Daryl spoke. “Down there is where their Hell portal is. Along with the Duchess. I led you past the traps, now let me go!”
Seph gave the man a look of contempt. The allure of dominating him had long since faded, with how easily he kept breaking before their efforts. “Fine. You can-” He paused in his speech, as a low growl echoed up the long tunnel. Then, rather suddenly, their world was awash in Hellish flames. Yaang and Xerex managed to dodge out of the way, Stumbledore and Daryl weren’t close enough to the hole to be in danger, but Seph?
Seph had been right over it. Yet as the flames faded, there he was, Throngler drawn, and smirking. He hadn’t even bothered to move. “Adorable flames!” He taunted the creature. His right hand began burning with an all too familiar spell to the party by this point. And then, that same unsettling green light turned it into a Giga Flare. “Have some of mine!”
The burning green orb was simply dropped into the tunnel, but that gleam in Seph’s eyes was back again. The explosion went off, but rather than killing whatever was snarling at them, it instead decided to rapidly ascend the tunnel and with a roar of Hellfire and fury, the form of a mildly scorched Manticore twisted and empowered by the Queen of Avernus rose up from under Seph, and bit into him, hard, with the fangs of a lion.
This did not stop Seph from stabbing it with the Throngler, and the creature’s thick hide did little to impede the long blade. Stumbledore, irritated that it seemed fireproof, theorized that its mouth was not, and after flipping hastily through his spellbook, found one that could produce an oil slick. He raised a magical shield, as did Alan, as the creature breathed Hellfire on them once again. Once again, the monks dodged it entirely, and Seph laughed as he tanked it, though multiple attacks and flame breaths were starting to take a toll. Now properly visible, the beast was mostly feline, with a tail like a scorpion’s in that it had an exoskeleton. The tip was actually more akin to a spear, and also on fire. Blades of bone sprouted from each of the abomination’s forearms, and a pair of folded, burning wings were on its back.
Yaang and Luffy shared a nod, tag teaming with some masterful monk combos they’d theorized about as they rested. Luffy was calling it the Gomu Gomu Hammer, as it required Yaang to encase his fists in boulders, before Luffy then proceeded to beat the life out of whatever was threatening them that day. This rocky beatdown, and Xerex’s timely Scanlan’s Hand, still present from the fight outside, gave Alan time to heal Seph, but Seph seemed to barely notice his injuries. As Stumbledore called out the incoming spell, he had a wonderful idea for their own tag team attack.
The oil sphere launched, right as the Helltouched Manticore readied another forty foot cone of flaming breath, and as it gagged on the vile magical liquid, Seph was there, grinning like a madman. His Giga Flare launched, and the monks panicked, as they nearly also got crispy fried by the area of effect. It let out an ungodly screech as the flames burned its toothy maw and throat. In more pain than it had ever felt, it glared at the mortals, and then dove back into the tunnel to heal its wound, and report this intrusion to its master. Yaang, Xerex, and Luffy charged after it, eager to get stronger. Beating the Abishai had, somehow, made them more powerful after they rested, and Stumbledore claimed this was because of something only adventurers usually acquired, a form of measurable experience that, once it settled in one’s body, somehow made those who’d acquired it stronger than they were before. It manifested in different ways for everyone, but it was a known phenomenon of their world, and one of the main draws of adventuring, the other, naturally, being loot.
As the moral side of the party went down the tunnel, Seph, Stumbledore, and Alan, who was riding behind Stumbledore on the wizard’s pegasus, paused, shared a nod, and then looked at Daryl. “Our time together, is at an end, Daryl.” Stumbledore said, letting his true malice creep into his tone. Seph, upon hearing that, launched yet another Flare at him, smirking as he did so. A few days ago, he wouldn’t have considered murdering the man, after getting to know him somewhat and holding his life in his hands. Now, though, he didn’t care. He wanted that Manticore, and Daryl was a loose end.
The crispy fried pile of Human groaned as the Flare ended, and below, the other three realized their tank, healer, and magical DPS had not followed them down. Another roar, fiery and furious, echoed through the hundred foot hell tunnel, and Seph flew down without so much as another glance at Daryl. Nobody could long survive burns that severe. With a sigh, Stumbledore cut the loose end with a Magic Missile, as he and a deeply unsettled Alan dove into the tunnel as well.
As Derek felt the bolts of magical force pierce him and end his life, he groaned out a single word. “Re…venge…” It was an oath, and a prayer, an offer, to literally anyone that would listen, to help him gain vengeance upon this band of assholes.
With several cosmic eyes having been drawn to the party, yet another dark power of the world reached out to one of its members, or rather, potentially useful trash that could murder them and make of them a proper sacrifice, with a bit of enhancing and empowering. Derek traded his soul for the promise of vengeance to the slavering God who answered his plea, and his body faded away to nothing as a result.
At the bottom of the tunnel, the battle was actually going quite well. Seph had arrived in time to draw the beast's ire with a fourfold Throngling, while the monks and the wizard hammered it quite hard, and kept Xerex from being eaten. All the guards that would’ve normally helped it in such a situation were now reduced to ash, or occupied with the Duchess, so the five on one beat down was surprisingly easy, after how much it had damaged them up above.
Eventually, once it was weakened, Seph tried his hand at handling the beast, and though it was an abominable fusion of several beasts and warped by the Hells, the God’s own luck blessed Seph Yroth, and the Helltouched Manticore allowed itself to be bonded to this powerful, beautiful man forever more. As they took a short rest, it took a smaller, and much cuter form. About ten minutes into the rest, the chanting stopped, but since they were already healed up thanks mainly to Alan having enough time to spam his low level healing spells, they continued on.
image [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/107dc055-197f-4c79-a8d4-bf5e3018e03b/diy2xfr-f8e3de2e-1e95-4043-bd69-df8948245500.jpg/v1/fill/w_894,h_894,q_70,strp/seph_tames_a_hell_manticore_by_pokefan1337_diy2xfr-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTAyNCIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzEwN2RjMDU1LTE5N2YtNGM3OS1hOGQ0LWJmNWUzMDE4ZTAzYlwvZGl5Mnhmci1mOGUzZGUyZS0xZTk1LTQwNDMtYmQ2OS1kZjg5NDgyNDU1MDAuanBnIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTEwMjQifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.Nz0xLN_hPQYxdMC3st5-4b5IcCxO5YvQX8bRf9Qwm-w]
Despite how powerful it was as an ally, Seph had the Mantikitten, whom he had dubbed 'Cadet', stay back, in case they needed some timely backup. Devils liked playing tricks, but most tricks would not be able to handle being derailed by an angry Hellbeast As they came upon the source of the chanting, the party found yet another stone room. Filled with pews facing away from them and towards a massive floating portal flickering with the flames of Avernus. In front of this gaping hole in the planes, a spot chosen because time and space were, for some reason, weakened here, was a tall, red skinned woman with crimson hair, and a confident grin. She had the standard Devil characteristics as well, unmatched beauty, marred by the pointed tail, cloven hooves, and gigantic, flaring bat-like wings.
“My Queen…they’ve arrived.” The Duchess said, as her grin became unnaturally long. “Just in time, it seems…”
image [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/107dc055-197f-4c79-a8d4-bf5e3018e03b/diyjw3r-35f241f1-8499-4706-8551-d5a38fed26eb.jpg/v1/fill/w_894,h_894,q_70,strp/this_is_fine_by_pokefan1337_diyjw3r-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTAyNCIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzEwN2RjMDU1LTE5N2YtNGM3OS1hOGQ0LWJmNWUzMDE4ZTAzYlwvZGl5anczci0zNWYyNDFmMS04NDk5LTQ3MDYtODU1MS1kNWEzOGZlZDI2ZWIuanBnIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTEwMjQifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.svilGtiD13CXysGdkdYkpiitATobOc61HXgkQy0zKx8]
A gigantic burning eye filled with hate, true to Xerex’s song, filled the portal, briefly, and they caught the flash of a crimson draconic smirk as the head moved away, and another figure approached the portal. The dragon who came through was as beautiful as she was Hellishly warped by the plane she was now bound to. In life, there was no doubt this dragon had been lovely. Deep purple scales that sparkled in the light, and lighter purple wings, with the same effect.
Now, in death and rebirth, the Dragon Queen had made her fierce, the sheen of her scales was gone, but as the Duchess gave her long snout scritches under her jaw, her scales began to sparkle again. Her form just kept growing, as more of her was transferred through the Hell portal, until finally, the adult sized Hellfire Wyrm was through in all her glory. As one, the cultists fell to their knees, and shouted, in Draconic, “Moro Wah Sparkles!”
“Sparkles, dear…” The Duchess continued as she grinned at the party, “Burn them all.” The sparkling Hellfire Wyrm, smoldering with a malodorous sulfuric stench even as she filled the chamber, inhaled, and the party readied themselves for another absurdly large, heavily damaging cone attack. The party watched, in horrified awe as purple light ran up her chest and neck.
image [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/107dc055-197f-4c79-a8d4-bf5e3018e03b/diyjwjm-b19d2944-403d-4c94-ade1-6d6d5e667867.jpg/v1/fill/w_894,h_894,q_70,strp/sparkles_by_pokefan1337_diyjwjm-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTAyNCIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzEwN2RjMDU1LTE5N2YtNGM3OS1hOGQ0LWJmNWUzMDE4ZTAzYlwvZGl5andqbS1iMTlkMjk0NC00MDNkLTRjOTQtYWRlMS02ZDZkNWU2Njc4NjcuanBnIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTEwMjQifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.U3q9CinIXCnPpl5CP7yctQkY9bjaShS2xJTgeXRBRm4]
Then, several things happened at once. A massive, silver colored blur shot out of the portal behind Sparkles with a roar of his own. The party only got a glimpse of their draconian savior. Heavily muscled, armored horn to tail in platinum plate armor, which was thoroughly scorched, a winged crimson scaled Dragonborn wielding a massive similarly platinum greatsword radiating the punishing light of Bahamut leapt into the air behind Sparkles, just as Starra was turning to notice his presence.
With a masterful display of swordsmanship and strength, the Paladin of Bahumt shone like a silver Sun, and brought his blade down perfectly on the sparkling Dragon’s weak spot, between the jaw and neck. With a snarl of effort and a surge of light, the powerful paladin beheaded the dragon and landed in a three point stance, his body still burning from the oppressive heat that Tiamat’s lair, and most of the Hells, possessed.
Seeing the party, the Dragonborn roared at them, ending their state of surprise. “Kill the Duchess! I’ll handle the port-” His words were cut off by the enraged roar of an angry Dragon Goddess, a sound that made every being with ears recoil in pain, including her own minions. In a blur, Seph had Starra’s attention, and with a masterful display of eight burning green sword strikes in a row, she stumbled back from him.
A voice filled Seph’s mind, as he struck. “Bring her down…and I shall make you my Champion on this plane. The bearer of my will, and power.”
“I accept!” He answered, advancing fearlessly on the Erinyes. She raised her sparking whip to counter, but three Magic Missiles knocked her strike off balance. Then, Luffy and Yaang were there, flanking her, and all but guaranteeing they hit. Luffy focused his Chi to stun her with his Gomu Gomu Pistol, while Yaang began to glow with a platinum colored light that seemed to radiate from within his visible scales, and especially his eyes and horns. He took a perfect martial stance, his expression completely neutral as he focused on the Duchess.
The eye through the portal burned, turning Tiamat’s attention from it, as Bahamut, through Yaang, gave her a parting gift. The Dragonborn Paladin struck the portal with his holy greatsword then, dissipating both it and the enraged roar from the other side. For his part, Alan had called upon his God for a powerful area of effect attack on the cultists.
Instead of Pelor’s righteous flame, the divine flames that poured forth from him were as green as Seph’s. Exactly as green as Seph’s. The cultists were effectively stunned with divine fire, leaving them open to Xerex and Scanlan’s Hand, which had been up for all of their fights, as Xerex kept his concentration on it. Alan seemed more disturbed than proud about his efforts.
At that point, Starra stopped holding back. A massive wall of fire formed from nothing before them, ready to catch Seph, Luffy, and Yaang in its damaging flames, along with several not quite dead cultists. At that same moment, Yaang’s glow, and firebending, sent the flames back at her, not for damage, but to obscure her sight for a moment. His platinum radiance shone through the evil flames, his fists now encased in much more refined and reinforced rock gauntlets, and the beatdown that followed made those watching it, waiting for an opening to hit her as well, wince from the focused brutality in Yaang’s movement.
As Xerex mopped up Alan’s handiwork with Vicious words of Mockery, generally about how disappointingly weak the infamous Cult of the Dragon had turned out to be, the rest of the party watched Yaang in awe. He knew exactly where to strike the Devil, and did so without mercy, or even an expression. It was like he was possessed. A knee slammed into her solar plexus, and as she bent over in pain, an elbow came down on the midpoint between her wings as she slammed into the stone floor hard enough to shatter it.
Broken and bruised, Starra finally managed to attack, snaring Yaang’s throat with her sparking whip, which unnaturally straightened, to keep him at bay. Yaang continued forward, seemingly heedless of the damage the sparking whip was doing to his throat. Seeing his opportunity, Seph struck her diagonally along her torso and straight through her heart, eight times in the space of a second, and sealed his fate.
With a defeated shriek, the burning green flames engulfed her, and then spread to Seph as well. Yaang shook his head free of the whip as his state of being Bahamut’s avatar faded. Starra was reduced to flaming goo, and returned to the Hells, demoted, shamed, and now little more than another pitiful inhabitant of Avernus suitable only for torture. That was the price of failing Asmodeus though, and this wasn’t her first failure either. Second chances were rare, but no authority in all nine Hells gave out a third chance to fail, unless it was part of some greater scheme.
The paladin put a hand on Yaang’s shoulder and they spoke quietly as the party watched Seph Yroth become changed and enhanced by the green flames surrounding him. When they faded, he was standing, unburnt, with a single massive black wing jutting from his shoulder. On his hand, the object of his gaze, a massive, intricate black plate gauntlet encased his right hand, radiating an absurd amount of power. Seph could feel it, bonding to his hand and forearm, searing and piercing his skin, but it was not unpleasant.
Power surged through him, and after he got his bearings, he looked around at the party, who were staring at him with a mix of fear, dread, and anger. “It’s alright, guys. I’m fine. We won!”
Yaang just looked downwards and shook his head. “At what cost, Seph…”
“I don’t understand guys, we did it! We finally cleared this den of evil and stopped the Dragon Cult. What’s the problem?”
Stumbledore was frowning, but he had quietly eyed the power Seph was being handed with envy. “The symbol on your…Gauntlet.” He knew exactly who it belonged to, there were few living who didn’t, and now ‘Stumbledore’ saw his opportunity for power. All he had to do was follow Seph’s lead.
Seeing it properly now, the massive, heavily muscled paladin stomped forward towards Seph and snarled as he raised the man’s newly gauntleted hand, turning it so he could see the obvious symbol blazing with divine power carved into it. “Explain yourself, warrior! What exactly did you give up to acquire the Gauntlet of Bane!?”
Seph just smirked at him, as the divine gauntlet finished attuning to him, filling him with a surge of his patron’s power. His eyes burned sickly green as he wrenched his hand free from the Paladin of Bahamut’s platinum grip and said, “Everything.”
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(and for those wondering, here's what Yol pretty much looks like.)
image [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/107dc055-197f-4c79-a8d4-bf5e3018e03b/diwvb8r-7c404e62-52a1-4a62-b2c9-196fff145b42.jpg/v1/fill/w_894,h_894,q_70,strp/yol_toor_shul_by_pokefan1337_diwvb8r-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTAyNCIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzEwN2RjMDU1LTE5N2YtNGM3OS1hOGQ0LWJmNWUzMDE4ZTAzYlwvZGl3dmI4ci03YzQwNGU2Mi01MmExLTRhNjItYjJjOS0xOTZmZmYxNDViNDIuanBnIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTEwMjQifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.WvxWcOsUDM7Wy2NB08lxdtWrF5KiEuR7Phx8B71GPBI]