45

After the brief meeting, Ezra went to work immediately, not because he had any fear or respect for his father but because he had a special mission he had to accomplish.

His father. He hated calling him that. He always felt a slight twinge in his heart when the demons called him Lucifer's son, like it was some kind of honor. He obviously had no choice but to accept it, the last thing he needed was for the subjects to disrespect Lucifer because of him. He didn't need any form of attention from him at all.

From afar, no one would notice the black cloaked figure that walked among the crowd, even when Ezra stuck out like a sore thumb. Humans walked around to do their different tasks, every single one ignoring him like a plague.

The humans could see him because he wasn't fully a spirit, but that didn't mean that they didn't sense there was a dark aura that surrounded him and it wasn't because of the cloak and his evil glare.

Ezra walked faster, he would have used his powers to reach his destination quicker but he didn't want to cause unnecessary attention.

Today was not the day. After a long stressful walk, he turned into a dark corner occupied only by rats and poor children. They reached out to him, begging for money with silver plates on their hand. All he did was glare at them and they scampered for safety.

With a satisfied smirk, he walked away from them and took off a glove from his right hand. He frowned as he did so, the memories of how he got those gloves flooding his senses. It was the major reason he hated Lucifer.

A sigh escaped his lips and he snapped his fingers, immediately he disappeared. Ezra would have sworn he heard a plate clang on the floor before he completely vanished.

When he had control of himself again, he was standing in an empty space or at least that was how it seemed.

With a wave of his hand, the empty space began to fill up with images and before long, a long staircase appeared before him.

Ezra began to climb calmly. The higher he went, the clearer the space became. Soon after, he was at the top of the stair and a large community stood at his front. Right at the center, stood five legions of demons waiting for him. He smirked and nodded in satisfaction. It was good that they did not have to wait for him to do their work. Heads would have been flying by now.

He scanned the crowd. The demons that were for made for battles had no faces and they had no definite form, the only thing that gave them shape was the thick black smoke that kept swirling around each other.

Even though they had no shape, they could take the shape of humans and even angels and they could form weapons all on their own. On top of that, they could growl and shriek without any lips. And only the generals could speak.

Ezra cleared his throat and looked up, a large barrier demarcated this realm and heaven. From where he was, he could see warrior angels with their spears and swords hovering around probably waiting for any demon to stray away so they could strike them down.

It was impressive, how coordinated the angels were, the angels he saw from where he was and the ones on earth were the only ones he had seen and they never disappointed. It made him laugh most times whenever he heard reports of how ruthless the angels were to his soldiers. But still, unlike other days the barrier was not surrounded with as many angels as before. Lucifer was right.

Ezra looked back at the demons in front of him and they stared back or at least that's what he felt they did.

"You have one simple task". He started, then he pointed upwards.

"Get up there and kill as many angels you can. Almost all have gathered for their special tournament so this should be extremely easy. Look out for Michael and his warriors though. If you're caught, I will not save you".

He only heard growls in response.

Ezra looked up again. He needed to do something to weaken the barrier at least. Even if the angels that put up the barrier were very scanty, no matter how strong his soldiers were, those angels were stronger.

He sighed and raised his hands towards the barrier. Reddish flames appeared on his hands and with minimal effort, he released the flames. He took off the other glove with his teeth and repeated the same action. This time, the barrier started to open and he could see the angels struggling to keep it closed.

He turned sharply to the demons. Why weren't they moving, did they want the angels to call for backup?

"Well?". He half yelled. "What are you waiting for? Start killing already!" They needed no other instruction as they rushed towards the open space with ear splitting roars.

***

The tournament had already commenced and the tug at Azaliah's chest increased. She clenched and unclenched her fists and took deep breaths. The swords and spears that clanged below the audience seat only worsened the feeling that was building inside of her.

Her eyes darted towards the sides of the arena, searching for the guards. She then looked at Michael, who was smiling at the contestants like a proud father. What was he even doing here? Shouldn't he be keeping watch? Why was everyone so nonchalant?

She tapped him on the shoulder and he turned towards her. The smile on his instantly vanishing when he saw the fear on her face.

"Azaliah…what is it?" He asked. Azaliah dug her fingers into her palm.

"Michael…something doesn't feel right". She said quietly. Michael's eyebrow shot up and when he was about to reply her, someone distracted him.

"They are on the last round Michael, this is the fastest contest we've had". Beth said with a smile. Michael nodded at her before facing Azaliah again.

"What do you mean?" There was no playful hint in his tone and Azaliah was grateful for that. She knew she could trust Michael to be serious in this situation.

"Don't you feel it? The darkness?

When she said this, Michael's face paled for a second then he stood abruptly. She watched him scan the entire arena with determination. Soon after, his eyes glazed over and she knew he was giving orders through mind link.

He turned to face her afterwards.

"I just asked some angels to check the barrier". He told her.Azaliah nodded in response.

After a while, none of the angels Michael gave an order to had returned. His stance then became defensive and his eyes had a hint of anger and even fear in them. By this time, they had gotten the attention of the angels who sat with them. Beth walked up to Michael and he whispered something in her hair.

She later turned to Azaliah, the same fear evident in her eyes. What was happening?

"Whatever happens, You must protect her. They must not get to her". Michael said to Beth in a hushed tone. Azaliah stiffed when she heard him and she struggled to keep still.

The cheers of the crowd indicated that the tournament was over and the winner had already emerged. Azaliah stood up before the others and her eyes searched the crowd.

"Azaliah? Is something the matter?" She heard Nahamani ask but she wasn't interested. The cherubs surrounding them looked at her with worry and confusion etched on their glowing faces. The feeling had increased again and she felt like the source was much closer.

Michael came closer to her, his hand clutching a large sword. Finally, he felt it. He held Azaliah's right hand and squeezed it lightly. The cheers of the crowd began to echo in her ears and in just a split second, she saw a glint in the empty space before a large spear came flying towards her face. She closed her eyes, unable to do anything except wait for it to pierce her. But Michael caught it when it was inches away.

This time, the whole crowd seemed to notice the massive twisted spear close to her face and they all went silent. Just then, loud shouts echoed from every area and black smoky shapes began to enter the arena, attacking whoever they came across.