The possessed Senator's words hung in the air for a moment. Nobody said anything, or even bothered to move, for reasons Alain was uncertain of – whatever Leviathan had just told them, it clearly carried some weight to everyone else in the room but him.

Finally, Sable took a step forward, her eyes wide with shock.

"You're lying," she declared. "Az… he couldn't-"

"Is that what he's been calling himself in this world?" Leviathan asked, shaking his head. "In any case, that matters not – the truth is that, indeed, he is the greater demon Azazel. He may have gone to great lengths to conceal that truth from you, but that does not mean it is not the truth, whether you are willing to accept it or not."

Leviathan motioned to Az's body. "Even now, his soul has returned to the Underworld, and is awaiting another summoning. I can sense it – his contract is not yet fulfilled. He is bound to you, daughter of Lilith." He cracked a small smile. "To think one as great as him would allow himself to be bound to a child of night as lowly as you… my, how the mighty have fallen. And to what end? It cannot be a simple defiance against his mistress, not that I expect an answer from any of you; his motivations, whatever they are, are likely beyond your comprehension at this point in time."

"Then why tell us all this?" Alain demanded. "The man is dead. Are you truly so petty that you're willing to sully our memory of him like this?"

"Only his physical body lies dead at this moment," Leviathan countered. "A greater demon, even a treasonous one such as him, is not so easily defeated. And as for the why of it…" Leviathan grinned, showing off a row of sharpened teeth in Senator Silvera's mouth. "Is it truly so hard to believe that I hate the man so much that I would take joy in turning his friends against him in their final moments?"

"How petty of you."

"Call it what you want, human – it matters not to me. All of you are dead, anyway. Now, do you intend to go down fighting, or are you planning to make it easy on me and-"

Leviathan didn't get to finish his sentence, as Alain suddenly fired a series of shotgun blasts directly into his head, emptying his Winchester in the process. The greater demon reeled back, and for a moment, Alain truly thought the consecrated buckshot had managed to put a dent in his defenses.

His hopes were suddenly dashed when Leviathan simply whipped around to face him again, half of his head blown clean off, his brain exposed. As Alain watched in morbid fascination, Leviathan's flesh and bone stitched themselves back together, pushing the remains of the buckshot pellets out as they did so.

"I see the Church has progressed since I was last on Earth," Leviathan noted. "Consecrated projectiles moving faster than sound… whatever will they come up with next? Ah, but time grows short – unfortunately, I must be leaving you now, and-"

"M-master!" one of the cultists suddenly cried. "Please, a request from your faithful followers!"

Leviathan turned towards the man and nodded. "Speak."

"Allow us to deal with the apostate and her two disciples for you! They have insulted your honor with that attack – we beseech you, allow us to fight on your behalf!"

Leviathan thought for a moment, then grinned that same wicked-looking grin. "Very well. Do not disappoint me, my faithful."

With that, Leviathan finally came down from where he'd been floating in air, landing behind the cultists. He turned and began to walk off down another hallway by himself, all while the cultists rounded on Alain and his grip. Alain instantly bristled, pulling one of his revolvers out and thumbing the hammer back, while Danielle cycled the action on her rifle to chamber a round.

But before any of them could get a shot off, gunshots rang out from the hallway behind them. Several cultists fell, cut down by well-placed rifle fire in a matter of seconds. Surprised, Alain turned back to the hallway, only to find Father Alex and several of his priests rushing towards them.

"You three, get out of here!" Father Alex shouted. "We'll go after Leviathan!"

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"What?!" Alain shouted. "You can't be-"

"Just go!" Father Alex shouted as he rushed past Alain, still firing his rifle as he went. By now, enough cultists had been cut down that the remainder had started to break rank and try to escape, leaving just a few enthusiastic true believers behind to be shot to pieces by the advancing priests. Alain tried to call out to Father Alex and his men once more, but to no avail; they disappeared down the hallway, leaving just the three of them there surrounded by dead bodies.

As distasteful as he may have found it, Alain knew better than to turn his nose up at the opportunity they'd just been given. Instead, he turned towards Sable, a grim expression on his face.

"Can you carry Az's body?" he asked.

Sable was taken aback. "Alain-"

"Can you do it?"

Slowly, she nodded. "Yes."

"Good." He let out a tired sigh. "…We're heading back to the start of the spire. We need to put some space between ourselves and Leviathan."

"Why?" Danielle questioned. "What are you planning?"

"Truthfully? I don't know yet, at least not exactly. But I do know one thing." Alain looked down towards Az's body, his expression narrowing.

"Whatever we do, we're going to need him for it."

XXX

The three of them faced absolutely no resistance as they moved back towards the beginning of the spire. It wasn't hard to see why – no doubt the demons outside were still focused on massacring civilians and generally causing chaos, having been emboldened by the sudden appearance of one greater than themselves. The remaining cultists, meanwhile, at least what few were left, were almost certainly converging around Leviathan himself.

All told, Alain wasn't surprised when they were able to move through the interior of the spire without incident. It was slow going, as Sable was still carrying Az's body with her as she went, but eventually, they made it back to the start.

Alain peered through the doorway, and was not surprised to see the entire city in chaos. Plumes of thick black smoke covered portions of the city, curling up into the crimson sky above. Blood continued to fall like rain down onto the streets below, and demons kept clawing their way up from the scars in the roads and out of the craters left behind by lightning strikes. And through it all, Alain was just barely able to make out the occasional gunshot or pained scream.

Slowly, he pulled himself away from the door and looked back towards Sable. She'd set Az's body down on the ground and was fussing over it, all while Danielle continued to stand nearby, clutching her rifle and looking nervous.

"I'm… I'm sorry," she muttered. "I just… he was going to kill my father-"

"Perhaps it would have been better if he had," Sable growled. "Your knee-jerk reaction may have just damned the entire world to complete ruination."

"Hey," Alain interrupted, getting both of their attention. His gaze narrowed. "Don't start with that now. We need to be focused."

Sable let out a tired sigh. "You're right…"

"Okay," Alain confirmed. "Sable, what do you need to bring him back?"

"Assuming he can even be brought back in the first place-"

"Leviathan said he was waiting to be summoned again, and that the terms of his contract weren't complete yet."

"You of all people should know better than to take his words at face value, Alain," Sable growled. "I'm willing to try this, if only because we have no other options at this point. We need Az back, if only to tell us exactly what Leviathan is planning and how to stop it. But to answer your question… let me see your knife, Alain."

Alain obliged, pulling his knife from its sheath and handing it to Sable hilt-first. He wasn't surprised when she suddenly took the blade and dug it into the palm of her hand, but he was when she began to press the blood against Az's face. After a moment, he realized what was going on.

"You're using a rune," Alain surmised.

Sable nodded. "This is old magic, passed down to me from my mother. Its purpose is to summon a familiar from the Underworld to do one's bidding. The blood serves as a binding contract with whichever demon agrees to the summoning conditions."

"And you think this is enough to get Az back?"

"I know it is, because this is how I did it the first time." She turned her attention back towards Az's corpse, frowning as she did so. "Of course, the initial casting of the ritual was supposed to summon a lesser demon, not Azazel himself… I have no idea why it presented him to me the first time."

"So you can't control who it gives you?"

Sable shook her head. "Not the first time. But now that we have his body here, I'm hoping that tilts the odds in our favor."

"Okay. What's the worst thing that can happen if you're wrong?"

"Hell if I know, Alain. You want my best guess? Worst case is that a completely different demon possesses his corpse instead, and we have to put him down a second time. But I have no idea if that's actually the case or not."

Sable stood up, handing Alain his bloody knife back. "Be ready with those guns," she warned. "We have no idea what we're getting out of this. If it really is a lesser demon, or even a greater demon, then we need to be prepared."

Alain and Danielle both nodded, then readied their long guns. Sable took a breath, then rested her hand atop the blood she'd smeared across Az's forehead, and began to chant something under her breath. Alain couldn't tell what it was, but it sounded like she was reciting some strange spell.

For a moment, there was nothing, but then, the room was filled with an explosion of black. It consumed the torches laid out across the walls, snuffing them all out instantly, and plunged the entire floor of the spire into shadow. Danielle let out a frightened yelp, while Alain stood his ground; lightning strikes outside served as a source of illumination, revealing Sable and Az's corpse still lying there. He kept his weapon trained on Az's head as best as he could, waiting just in case he needed to start shooting.

Then, after a few seconds, Az suddenly sat bolt upright, and took in a deep gasp of air. Alain tensed, his finger hovering over his shotgun's trigger, but he held his fire.

And he was thankful for that, as Az suddenly turned towards Sable.

"No offense, my lady, but what took you so long?" he asked.

Sable didn't respond. Instead, she rushed forwards, throwing her arms around him. Az seemed surprised by the gesture, but after a moment, reciprocated her hug by placing one arm around her. It only lasted for a moment before she pulled away, and the two of them stood up. Right as he finished rising to his feet, Az wiped the blood off his head, then turned towards Alain and Danielle, giving them a nod.

"We don't have much time, so I'll keep this short," he warned. "I owe you all an explanation, and now Leviathan has seen fit to reveal some of the secrets of my contract to you three, I am no longer bound by portions of it, and am free to discuss them."

"Az-" Alain said, only for Az to shake his head.

"Like I said, we don't have much time," he urged. "Listen for now, please. All will be revealed in due time."

They all didn't hesitate to give him a nod of affirmation. Az took in a breath, then began to speak.