"You're No Different… From The Monsters You Hate"- Ikari
————————————————————————*Hell Universe, Outside Of The Halls Of Hell*
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Aphira's mark of lust which was inscribed on her cleavage had glowed a dark pink color as she slammed Aaliyah into the ground.
Aaliyah had hit her head on the jagged ground, and flinched. ("F*ck!") she thought as she channeled her chaos energy and spirit energy all into her gut.
She had immediately thought to mix the two opposing forces together and set off a type of combustion inside her body which amped her physical capabilities past her already exceeded limits.
Aaliyah had ripped aphira's arm clean off and in a red blur dashed off just in the blink of an eye.
She planted her feet and hands on the ground and held herself up. And suddenly felt a stabbing pain in her chest, and coughed up blood.
She cursed in her head, ("goddamnit!… I can't keep doing this!"). Her eyes were half-lidded when she looked back up and saw aphira's arm already regenerated.
Aphira smirked, and licked some blood from her lips. "You're so beautiful Aaliyah… from where I'm standing right now you resemble a flower in its final moments before it withers away. Yet you still haven't truly bloomed yet."
Aphira continued as she slowly walked up to Aaliyah. "I'm not completely sure why, but seeing you in this sad state, stirs an emotion in me that shouldn't be there…"
Right when Aphira stood in front of Aaliyah who was still kneeling down, and looking up at Aphira with a blood stained face. Aphira had stopped in her tracks, looked deeply at Aaliyah's face and felt her face heat up and her cheeks turned a deep shade of red.
Aaliyah looked up at aphira's flushed face, and was clearly creeped out. ("What's happening to me?!… why- is this what humans call blushing?").
Aaliyah noticed aphira's confusion, and thought to herself. ("That's right… she's a demon, a personification of lust so it's safe to assume from her confusion that she doesn't know what love is…").
In this moment Aaliyah had took advantage of aphira's confusion of what she was feeling. She calmed her breathing and took a risk by dropping her guard to make her act more believable.
She softened her voice and asked, "You're blushing… why?"
Aphira moved one foot back as she glanced down at Aaliyah. Momentarily confused both by her current foreign feelings, and by Aaliyah's sudden shift in demeanor.
"Wha?"-Aphira
"You're blushing… people blush when they feel strong emotions". Aphira's face flushed even more, hearing Aaliyah's motherly voice made her chest rise and fall rapidly.
She was conflicted on whether to walk closer to Aaliyah after hearing her magnetic voice, or to carry out her mission and imprison Aaliyah.
("Goddamn us all!"), Aaliyah thought as she crawled closer to Aphira despite her injuries.
Aphira still conflicted and covering her mouth made no attempts to back away from Aaliyah, as Aaliyah reached out for aphira's hand.
After contemplating for a moment, Aphira took Aaliyah's hand. A gasp left her lips while she thought, ("her hand… it's so warm, and…").
In her mind, images of her mother Azura had vividly flowed. "Mama…" her voice was soft and childlike.
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In that brief moment, a loud explosion sounded off from the hall's of hell behind Aphira and Aaliyah.
The two turned their attention to the sudden commotion and saw a massive hole blown through the halls.
Kairei jumped out of Hell's halls carrying the pale, unconscious Sachiko in his arms. Two shadows in the form of serpents were extended from his back, and carried the unconscious asura and Athena while Kai flew off them all.
***
Aaliyah's attention was the brought to the inside of Hell's halls where she saw Selene down on one knee, clutching her stomach while she coughed up blood.
Aaliyah's eyes shook when she saw such a sight, and her confident stance from earlier was Shaken when she saw Eris and Avarus walking up to Selene.
("Shit, shit, shit!"). Was the only thought that flowed through Aaliyah's scrambled mind in that moment.
While Aphira was still distracted, watching Kai fly off. Aaliyah's heart pounded, as she then suddenly, her eyes dropped.
"?!"-Aphira
The area fell silent for a brief moment. Eris and Avarus even came to a stop to glance over at Aaliyah. Selene as well, her eyes went straight toward Aaliyah's sudden withdrawal.
Feeling a chill which ran up her spine. Aaliyah's shoulders tensed up and sweat ran down her face.
"M…Ma?!", Selene whispered.
Aphira who was still holding on to Aaliyah's hands, just looked at her down facing head.
She then tensed up. And turned her head to face the heart of Hell which was well over a city block away, and sensed an aura that felt like an ill omen.
She slowly turned her head back to Aaliyah who had begun slowly raising her head. She then tensed up to see Aaliyah's once dark grey colored eyes which had now turned black, with her pupils now crimson.
Aphira in that moment had remembered Kahal. The man who made a deal with the devilish Azura one thousand years ago during the blood war.
Suddenly, Aaliyah had pressed her fingertips onto Aphira's stomach. Right at her fingertips, five mini black spirals formed on Aphira's stomach, extended from the sudden black markings on Aaliyah's hand which resembled a black rose.
!!!
Aphira let out a piercing scream. One that sounded across the entire area, while she felt her own blood tearing her lower body from the stomach down apart.
Aaliyah's eyes kept flaring back and forth to their dark grey color, to their color resembling Kahal's eyes.
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This went on for at least twenty more seconds as Aphira's body began cracking while she remembered Aaliyah's earlier warmth. Her motherly voice, as she finally began to feel what love felt like for the first time.
***
She thought of her own mother Azura who never showed her any form of love and affection, and out of nowhere, she shed tears which went flowing down her eyes like a waterfall.
She began shaking violently as she grabbed onto Aaliyah's arm. Her lips trembled, struggling to release her choked words.
Her voice was shaky when she said, "p-please!… I don't want to die!".
She then began to start crying out for her mother who was sealed inside the inner circle of the heart of Hell, begging like a child for her mother to save and protect her.
This made Aaliyah's consciousness snap back. As her technique faltered.
"Wha-?"-Aaliyah
Immediately, Aphira's body regenerated as the space between her eyebrows creased with the Corners of her lips curling.
Her warm unnatural tears still spilled out, as her long light pink hair penetrated through Aaliyah's stomach.
Aphira gritted her teeth as her dark pink eyes glared sharply at Aaliyah's widened eyes before she fell to the ground, unconscious.
Watching from hell's halls, Selene cursed in a hushed voice, "dammit".
Aphira carried Aaliyah back to the prison pods located at the center of Hell's halls.
————————————————————————**Main Universe, Southern Tribe Center Section**
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In the desolate center section of the southern tribe, the moonlight shone upon Arai who sat in the center of the circle made by the four supreme war generals.
The northern tribe's supreme general Asami's personal black lotus division had all stood behind her, readying themselves for the upcoming battle in hell.
The short black haired cadet sidra had begun wrapping black bandages around her arms underneath her rolled up sleeves.
"Hey, Sis!"
The rapidly approaching voice came from the near distance. Sidra looked over her shoulder. The moonlight brightened her violet eyes when she saw a young boy aged around fifteen years old.
The boy had striking black hair, which hung over his black headband and went down to his black eyes.
Sidra stood up abruptly, and said. "Hiro?!"
The young boy approached Sidra, holding a long black staff in hand and came to a stop when he stood in front of Sidra who had a disgruntled expression.
Her voice raised a slightly when she asked him, "what the Hell're you doing here?!".
Everyone around them turned to face the young boy, all with the same question in mind. Who the hell is this kid?.
A couple bullets of sweat ran down the boy's face as he gulped and said in a low voice. "Big sis… you're going to the hell universe aren't you?" She snatched her staff out of his hand and strapped it to her back.
"You didn't answer my question, why are you not in the northern tribe?!… where are the guards who're supposed to be watching you while I'm gone?!", her voice shook with both frustration and concern.
Two sorcerers both male and female ran up and stopped behind Hiro, "Miss Sidra, I'm terribly sorry. Hiro had snuck past the tracking division's sensors and followed after you".
Sidra rubbed her forehead and sighed. "What the hell did I tell you about leaving while I'm not there?!.
Hiro stepped forward and placed his hand on sidra's shoulder, as he exclaimed. "You were going to go to the hell universe without even telling me!… why can't you just stay here where it's safe?!"
Sidra swiped his hand off her shoulder, Her voice raised above his. "Seven demons from hell invaded our world earlier, do you understand that?!… I trusted you to be smart enough to stay your ass in the village where it's somewhat safe, and not stupidly follow after me!"
Hiro flinched at her raised voice, his face turned sour.
***
He glanced over to their tribe's general Asami who had just stared at him with expressionless eyes. He clenched his fists at his sides and brushed past his older sister.
"You!… you're the reason my sister is always putting herself in danger!"
Hiro raised his hand out toward Asami and tried to grab at her. But Sidra stood in front of him and pushed him back. "Hiro!… what the f*ck are you doing?!… I'm not going to tell you again, take your ass back home and I'll talk to you when I get back, do you understand me?!"
Hiro gritted his teeth, he wanted to argue against his older sister's words but faltered, finding it useless.
The two sorcerer guards had grabbed his shoulder, before he shrugged them off and reluctantly walked off.
And under his breath he mumbled, "don't expect me to sit around and cry because you're doing the same thing that got our mother killed".
A single tear ran down his cheek as he walked off with the two guards.
Sidra's violet eyes shook for a moment. They blurred a little with unshed tears.
Asami glanced over at Sidra but refocused on Arai who continued to open a temporary gateway to hell.
The black lotus's cadet officer Hinari had put her hand on sidra's shoulder. She fixed her glasses and hesitated before she spoke in a hushed tone. "Are you okay Sidra?"
Sidra wiped her face with her sleeve and nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. Thanks Hinari"
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A crack in space right on arai's back had formed. And slowly opened showing a dark infinite space with a straight blue path.
Benjiro stepped forward, "it's opened. Every one hurry in!"
War general's asami, Kojiro, Yaku, and Kaida had all stepped into the space and ran across the blue spiritual pathway.
Asami's black lotus division followed behind her.
As they ran on the blue spiritual pathway, Asami ran next to Sidra and spoke in a grim tone of voice. "You have my apologies for the two guards I've assigned to watch your younger brother failing to do their job correctly."
Sidra's lips slightly poked out though she remained focused on the path ahead.
Asami continued, "but what I need you to understand… now that you're senior lieutenant has been killed just earlier, you have been promoted to lieutenant, which means that you must step up and assist me on the battlefield".
Sidra just nodded, while they all ran across the pathway that would lead to the hell universe.
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**Hell Universe, a little far from the jaws of hell**
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Kairei continued to fly toward the jaws of hell which were a "back door" to the hell universe Since the primary gateway was sealed off thirty eight years ago.
He still held the unconscious Sachiko in his arms, with the two shadow serpents which were extended from his back holding the unconscious Asura and Athena.
?!
He looked ahead, and saw Ikari dragging the unconscious Jason across the jagged grounds of Hell by his cape.
"Jason!"-Kai
Ikari had noticed Kai, and dropped Jason onto the ground. "That's a new face… you must be Kairei right?, from the Kuronami clan"
Kai had dropped down to the ground, on one knee. He gently set asura and Athena down and laid Sachiko next to them.
He looked at the inscription on Ikari's chest which read wrath. "Damn… if Jason couldn't even beat this dude, what the hell am I supposed to do?. Not to mention I have to look after Jason, that white haired woman, Asura, and Miss Athena all while fighting this guy"
Kai let out a sigh. "Gimme a f*cking break"
Ikari kicked Jason over on his stomach, and sat on top of his back. "So tell me kid. How is it that you, Selene, and my lil bro's mom escaped from hell's prison?"
Kai rolled his eyes while he thought to himself. "Lil bro?… is he talking about Jason?"
He then remembered how Jason's human DNA had been rewritten by Malum's demon DNA which made him a full blooded demon now.
"I understand now. So since Malum's dna is now part of Jason's body, I guess that does now biologically make Jason related to these bastards".
Kai got on one knee, and held his hands out in front of him, as the black on his robes exhaled dark smoke.
His eyes turned red. As he readied himself to attack.
"Hold up right there kid"
?!-Kai
Ikari sighed as he put his hand on his chin. "This cheeky bastard couldn't even give me a good fight, so just what can you do?".
Kai gritted his teeth.
***
Ikari continued. "When I fight I like to fight against someone who can push me to use my full power. It's just boring having to hold back against a weakling, that's not true battle"
He smirked. "If I fight against you of all people here. It'll be like a shark preying on a small fish"
Kai gritted his teeth, his vein visible on his forehead.
Ikari chucked, his half lidded eyes glared at Kai as he lowered his hand and slapped Jason's unconscious body a couple times.
"Just run on back to your cells and accept the situation for what it is".
"Who do you think you are?!… you're just a damned demon, rotting away in hell".
Ikari laughed out loud.
"That's true I'll give that to you, but in this moment…"
Ikari smiled with dark eyes as he pointed is thumb to his chest and said. "We're the hunters here".
————————————————————————Continuing in chapter 93, "were the hunters"
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