24. Rai

Chapter twenty-four

Rai

In For the Fight of Their Lives

T he portal felt cold on my flesh and it was powerful, pulling me through it so fast, my skin felt the velocity of the speed at which I traveled. It kind of stung. When I landed, I fell to one knee, panting and sweating. It was the most intense teleportation I'd ever experienced and I was at my height of strength because I had Azazel with me.

"Stop him!" I heard a demonic voice yell.

I looked up to see two demons coming at me, I could see their auras and knew they were high-level demons. Quickly, I stood up and conjured both of my weapons of choice. My gun and my sword. They flowed from my body becoming solid in the palms of my hands. My gun was badass, but seeing my new sword excited me. Both edges of the double blade were inflamed with fire that looked cool as fuck and deadly as hell. Which was where I was about to send all of these fucking demons.

I shot and they dodged, but with my enhanced speed, I swung, flames trailing my sword and I sliced through one of them, cutting him in half. His body turned into burning ash embers that floated to the ground. Ah, so the flames on my sword were Azazel's Hellfire—even better and cool as fuck!

"He's coming," Azazel warned and I turned, firing my gun, the flaming bullets hitting their target after he dodged the first two. The bullet caught the demon in his neck, black blood gushed from the ragged wound. Advancing, my body moving faster than I ever had in my life. I swung my sword, the flames of my blade flashing through the air as I sliced through the neck of the demon, severing its head. Both the body and head burst into ash, its flaming embers evaporating as what little was left fell to the floor.

"You're too late, Guardian," said the third demon.

"My god, that's Lilith," Azazel told me and I could tell that he was shocked. I checked her out. Long, braided, black hair, bronze skin, and lovely curves. She was beautiful and from what I knew, Lucifer had made her his favorite. Might explain why she had betrayed the others to side with him.

So that was what the empress looked like, Adam's first wife.

For the first time since coming to this place, I got a chance to take a look at my surroundings. Which I did quickly as to not get distracted. I had to kill Lilith. The location we were in was a scary place only because there was nothing around but whiteness and Satan's cell, which looked to be a pulsating black orb that now had a crack in it that glowed red.

"You couldn't stop us from getting the key from the Chosen One and you won't be able to stop Satan's rising." Lilith smiled in her wickedness. As she stared at me, I saw her black wings grow, the leathery-looking things had silver veining and sharp claws.

"She won't be as strong on this plane, she had to give up a lot of her power to come here, but do not hold back, Rai!" Azazel urged.

When he said that, I felt my back tingling, then I felt my flesh parting, the coolness being replaced by wings that grew. It didn't hurt, in fact, it made me feel even stronger. Next, I felt something flow from my skin. Armor the color of obsidian and glowing red edges. Holy shit, it made me look like a bringer of death with all the spikes. I loved it. Somehow, I knew this was my most powerful form. Like Darius when he faced Baal and the wings of Michael came out. Mine were black with glowing red veining and had sharp claws at the tip.

I watched as Lilith's eyes widened in what was obvious disbelief. "What are you?" she asked in awe.

"A badass Guardian of the Celestial Guild." I smiled "In other words, your death." I flew at her. She raised her sword, a silver one that looked almost as wicked as mine. Our blades clashed, and the sound of metal striking metal echoed throughout the area.

We flew around the area, our wings giving us inhuman speed and agility. I slashed and Lilith dodged, I shot and she narrowly avoided the bullet. Yeah, she was damn good. We danced this way, our movements so fast, I bet no human could see what was going on. The flames from my sword were bright as they flashed with each swing. The black orb began to shake now, the crack widening. I knew I had to dispatch Lilith before that door opened.

"Die, Guardian," Lilith yelled and charged at me.

This time, I ducked low, sweeping her leg and when her foot caught, she staggered and I shot. My bullet hit her square between her wings.

"Arggg!" Lilith cried out.

I fired more shots, the flaming Hellfire bullets moving faster than any normal bullet would. Her body twitched with each penetrating bullet until she dropped to both knees and then fell forward. Her body burst into flames to my delight. I'd just killed a fucking empress of Hades! My cock was a little hard, but I ignored it.

"Stay focused, Rai... Satan is coming," Azazel said.

"Can we stop it?" I asked.

"No."

I'd just fought three demons—all hella powerful—but I knew none of them would compare to the battle that was coming. Damn, I wished Darius was here.

"You have me, Rai," Azazel said.

I nodded and swallowed, then gripped my weapons harder as I watched the crack widen even more. The room shook, which made it difficult to keep my balance. I floated to avoid falling and when the black orb finally broke apart, Satan was revealed. My heart damned near stopped because... Holy Shit... Satan... Lucifer! My pulse was pounding so hard, I could hear it drumming in my ears. The smell of sulfur drifted up my nose and I wiped it to stop the tickle. The fallen angel was kneeling on one knee. His silver feathered wings opened up as if he was waking up. He had long, black hair that glistened in the light that was reflected all around us. His pale skin practically shined with luminance.

Slowly, he rose and I swallowed hard. Sweat poured from me and I felt a knot in the pit of my stomach. His armor was red and silver and looked absolutely stunning.

"Calm down, Rai. You must fight with everything we both have," Azazel said.

I knew he was right. Our very survival was dependent upon my ability to handle my damn business. I watched as Satan lifted his face and was taken aback by his sheer beauty. Silver eyes stared at me and his full lips parted ever so slightly in a smile.

Lucifer in the flesh.

He took one step, then another as he began to walk out of the cell he'd been in for thousands of years. The only thing standing between him and the humans of Earth was me.

Lucifer stepped out of the ruins of his cell and he stood about six feet, not as tall as I thought he'd be. I landed now that the whole area had stopped shaking.

He tilted his head. "So, they sent a Divine Weapon to challenge me?" Lucifer asked in a voice that was deep and full of seduction. It made me almost want to drop to my knees before him. I had to fight hard not to.

"Not to challenge, to kill," I said.

His wicked smile widened as a sword materialized in his palm, a golden one that glowed red. "You're different from the other Guardian I met thousands of years ago. Ade, was it? And his Archangel, Azrael."

The wounds I'd sustained while fighting Lilith were all healed now and I felt like I was on top of the world with the amount of power flowing through me. But I didn't let that go to my head. I couldn't. One mistake and it would be the end of us. I had to give Lucifer the respect he deserved as both a fallen Archangel and a former demon king of Hell.

"You should repent now, Lucifer, for after I kill you, your soul can return to Heaven," I said.

He scoffed. "Heaven... why would I ever want to drop to my knees and beg for forgiveness from a flawed father?"

"Hey, I don't have anything to do with your daddy issues. If you go back to Hell, just know, you'll be at the mercy of two Empresses of Hades," I told him and shrugged. "I killed your girl, Lilith."

He sneered. "You speak as if you've already won, mortal."

"I'm a Guardian with one hell of a demon Champion."

His eyes widened when I said that and he stared harder at me as if he could look inside of me to see who my Champion was. "Who is this demon you speak of?"

"Enough talking."

His eyes glowed red. "Yes. Enough."

***

He advanced on me faster than any demon I'd ever faced. My reflexes were damn good, but I still caught a cut from the tip of his blade on my arm.

"Turn around, block," Azazel said and I followed his directions in time to block a blow from Lucifer's downward slash. I shot and he dodged the bullet. I shot some more, my gun never needing to be reloaded. Lucifer spun and leaped between my bullets dodging each one. "Shoot ahead of him, then back."

Again, I obeyed Azazel and when Lucifer dodged the bullet that I had shot before him by jumping back, the bullet I'd fired rapidly caught him in the arm.

"Arg!" he yelled as smoke floated from the gaping wound.

I shot again, and he moved out of the way toward me. I sucked my gun's energy back into my body and combined it with my sword now. Making the ultimate weapon. The blade of my sword split to form the barrel of my gun as the hilt created the trigger. I charged at him, using both hands with my finger on the trigger of my gun sword.

My heart was racing so fast, I thought I'd have a heart attack before it was over with. My adrenaline rushed through me making me feel invincible. I trusted Azazel completely and let him guide me through this fight, using his powers to the fullest.

"Freeze him," Azazel said.

I held my hand out toward Lucifer as he ran toward me, but that didn't work.

"Go stealth," Azazel instructed. "Then teleport."

I did as he told me and I was so happy that because he was inside of me, the knowledge of the abilities he had was shared with me. I appeared behind Lucifer and slashed my sword, but he blocked it with his sword and then turned around.

"Nice try," he taunted.

Sweat soaked my clothes at this point, and the first signs of exhaustion were starting to plague me. I knew I had to push that all away. I couldn't slip up, not now. Again, we clashed, our swords moving so fast they were a blur. I caught Lucifer with a kick and he caught me with a jab, both of us falling back. I realized that we were nearly evenly matched as far as strength went, but I still had an advantage I thought. I was a celestial warrior after all. I spit blood on the floor, then attacked Lucifer again, this time using Hellfire balls as well as my weapon. He got blasted by one of the fireballs, the flames engulfing him. I knew they wouldn't kill him, but it was enough to distract him with pain, and when I saw my chance, I teleported behind him. I rammed my sword through his chest and he screamed. I then shot my gun sword repeatedly, Lucifer's body dancing with each powerful bullet.

"You bastard!" he yelled then pulled himself off my blade.

"It's not over," Azazel said.

"Fuck, it's not?" I asked, because I couldn't believe that Lucifer had more fight in him. I ran toward him, my sword poised to take his head when he yelled and a powerful blast threw me back into the air. My wings expanded and I caught myself and looked to see what the hell had happened.

Lucifer had transformed from his angelic countenance to his demonic one. He was ten feet tall, with glowing red veins that bulged beneath the leathery-looking black skin. His horns were black and protruded from both sides of his temples. He had large hands and feet with sharp, black claws.

"Stay calm," Azazel said. "Speed and agility are on your side, Rai."

I took several deep breaths and tried to stay focused. Nothing I'd ever trained for at the Guild had prepared me for this. I knew I was probably only alive because of Azazel. His ten thousand years of experience was everything right now.

"You will die," Lucifer roared and the sound of his voice shook whatever the hell this place was to its core. Everything vibrated. Everything about him was monstrous, even his voice, which no longer sounded human or seductive.

I split my sword into two of them and took a small bit of satisfaction to see Lucifer's eyes narrow. Both swords also had the ability to shoot my bullets, which I knew weakened him. I just had to capitalize on it. I flew over to him slicing as he slashed, his deadly claws narrowly missing me. Like Azazel said, I had to use my speed and agility as it was my greatest advantage. I ducked low and tried to slice Lucifer's leg, but he floated up, his black wings flapping, sending gusts of wind in my direction. He roared and a ball of fire shot my way, but I flew to the side, then teleported and reappeared, slicing Lucifer's face.

He screamed and swung, I dodged his blow, but not his wing, the tip of it stabbing my stomach, piercing my armor. I cried out and fell to the floor, my blood gushing from the wound that burned and throbbed.

"Rai!" Azazel screamed. "Get up!"

This was where my training helped. All of the times I'd been forced to fight even when injured. "Fight through the pain," is what Darius would tell me. "There is no pain." I had to hold it all in, the agony I felt. I could tell my body was healing itself, but it wasn't instant and if I took another blow like that, I could die.

Lucifer was on me, too, and I rolled out of the way before he could jab me with his claws. I fired my gun swords at him, the bullets hitting their mark as he was too slow to dodge them in that form. I climbed to my feet and rushed at him. Azazel gave me directions and with his help and using my own knowledge, trusting in my training, I attacked. Spinning to dodge claws, ducking to avoid another swing, then leaping high to slice off one of Lucifer's horns.

He screamed, both hands going to his wound as blood gushed between his fingers from his skull. It was now or never. I ran over to him, stabbing his chest with one sword and when he reared back, roaring in pain, I stabbed his throat with all of my might, the blade slicing through bone and flesh. Lucifer fell to both knees, which put him closer to my height. I pulled both swords out of him, combined them to become one larger sword, then I sliced before he could heal. His head flew from his body, blood splattering all over me.

Exhausted, I collapsed to the floor, my weapon, wings, and armor absorbing back into my body. I watched in glee as Satan's body... Lucifer's body burst into flames like all of the other demons. But instead of turning to ash, the demon part burned away, leaving his original angelic form behind. I looked at his severed head, the silver eyes still open and staring blankly. I grunted and held my stomach, my wound healing, but still very tender. Throughout the battle, I'd suffered several cuts and bruises, but those were healing too.

"It's... over," I panted in relief. I couldn't believe it... I had fucking killed Satan! If I wasn't so tired, I'd want to fuck Azazel, I was that stoked. Celebratory sex would have to wait. I'd done something no other Guardian had done before. Shit, I didn't even know it was possible!

All of a sudden, the room began to shake and glow bright white, then I felt a woosh! My body was sucked into an abyss and I screamed, not knowing what was happening to me. I was slammed against a hard surface, which knocked the wind out of me. I moaned and blinked to see that I was sitting on a hard wooden floor.

"Welcome back," said a voice I recognized.

I looked up to see the Magic Shop Owner smiling down at me. "Is it over?" I asked. I couldn't move yet. I was too wasted for that. No energy.

"It's over," The Owner said with a smile.

I nodded and released Azazel, his essence flowing from me in black smoke to form his beautiful face and body again. He lay on the floor beside me, panting. It would seem that he was just as out of it as I was.

"Is... is Monique... safe now?" I asked.

The Owner frowned and shook his head. "I'm afraid she will always be in danger from the demons. Her blood will call to them and they will seek her out if they need her."

I snarled because that shit pissed me off. Monique's life had been difficult enough thus far and now she had to live her life in constant fear from demons. Something had to be done. "Is there any way to protect her? Can we take the demon essence out of her blood?"

"She will die if you try," The Owner said, then he held up a finger. "I have given her a protection charm that should mask her aura from most demons. Seeker demons, however, will be an issue."

"Well, at least something will help. Are you sure there's nothing more than that?" I asked.

"Some things are just what they are," The Owner said.

This shop wasn't that great, in my opinion, if we couldn't save Monique.

"The Shop has what you need to put you on your path," The Owner said and that was it. Either he could read minds or he was just uncanny as fuck.

"You're back!" Monique squeaked.

I turned to see her running toward us. She slid into my arms and hugged me.

"Yeah, we're back," I said with a small smile as I hugged her back.

"Did you really kick Satan's ass?" she asked, a wide grin on her face, eyes as big as saucers.

I laughed and nodded. "But it wasn't easy, trust me."

"I bet. You two have been gone for three hours," she said.

I blinked, because everything happened so fast there, it felt like less than twenty minutes. "That's so crazy. Didn't feel like three hours to me."

"The Owner said the Sands of Time are different there," she said.

I smiled at her. "You seem in better spirits."

She nodded. "Yeah, this place isn't as scary as I thought and I can't believe other universes and dimensions exist. I kind of want to go to them."

I laughed, but kept my opinion to myself. I had enough to deal with in my own world. "I still can't believe we killed Satan," I said, because I was still in disbelief.

"You were the only ones who could," The Owner said. "That is what made your union so significant. It was God's will."

I looked up at him. "So, you think God wanted me to kill Satan?"

The Owner smiled, tipped his hat, then walked away.

"I don't like him," I grumbled.

Azazel chuckled. "He's not to be trifled with, Rai."

"Yeah, I figured since you even bowed your head to him," I said, then struggled to my feet with Monique's help. I then reached down to give Azazel a hand. "Let's go home."

"I can't think of anywhere else I'd want to be," Azazel said.

"I'm so happy you're back too," Monique said, then she hugged Azazel.

At first, Azazel was stiff, as if unfamiliar with the gesture, then he smiled and hugged her back. Yeah, he'd come a long way from the old demon he used to be.

We left the Magic Shop and as soon as Azazel teleported the three of us back home, I told Monique to make herself comfortable and that the guest bedroom was hers.

"What about you two?" she asked.

"We're going to sleep for like... a week," I said.

"Sleep... sure... in the same room," she teased.

I scoffed. "You know what... stay in a child's place," I playfully chastised.

"I don't mind if you two get busy." She grinned now.

"I just want to sleep."

"I'm actually good to go a round," Azazel said.

I turned to him and slapped his arm. "Stop it." I huffed. "Anyway, I need to call Darius to let him know about everything."

"Sleep, I'll tell him. You can barely stand, baby," Azazel said, then he picked me up, surprising me.

"Awww," Monique gushed, her cheeks reddening.

I didn't bother to put up a fight. I let Azazel carry me to the bedroom we were about to share and when he laid me on the bed, I dimly felt him removing my shoes before everything went black.