Arnhild swallowed her saliva. She stood in just another room of the Eagle's Fortress. A subterranean room used as one of the command centers of the Golden Dawn. One of the most fortified locations on the entire estate.

There were tables and chairs scattered around the room. And before her sat a massive circular table at the room's center. It was adorned as a mosaic, showing the exact map of the labyrinth of Crete. Colored figures represent people and movements.

The figure that was supposed to be a Prince of Hell had disappeared. What was displayed as seven humans disappeared. Four of the Golden Dawn's warriors had escaped as well.

Standing around the table was an assortment of officers and soldiers, each scanning and studying the table carefully.

Her eyes widened as her gaze on the screen focused.

"Where is it? Where'd the demon go?" she asked, her golden eyes scanning over the entirety of the map.

A man at her side stammered. "I- I don't know. It's just suddenly gone," he hesitantly said. He wore a white uniform, instead of the regular cloak.

A man in a black cloak cleared his throat. He sat in the corner of the room. He smiled as he approached Arnhild. "If I may, Commander... The demon and his opponents are likely in an Enclosed World."

The boy looked at the man shocked, saying, "B-but that impossible. If they had a spatial mage of that caliber, we would've known. It's not like-"

"We've summoned two Princes of the UnderWorld. The first in some subterranean cemetery and the second in a labyrinth on a minuscule island. Belphegor was killed without a single casualty. The same might happen again."

Every head in that room turned to the origin of the voice.

"Vice Commander Arnold?" a uniformed man asked as he noticed his entrance. "What are you doing here?"

Arnold ignored the question and put his hands in his pockets as he began walking towards his sister. He leaned close to her, asking and whispering, "Who gave the idea to summon a Prince of Hell in such an obscure location?"

"I did."

Arnold furrowed his eyebrows in confusion before letting out a frustrated chuckle. "Arnhild, my dear sister. If one wishes to threaten and destroy the realms, you cannot simply cause minor damages to-"

"It isn't about the damage, Arnold." She smiled.

"It's about the message we're sending. Trust me, brother. This will work the way we intend it to," she said, with a smile.

Arnold spat out a sigh and forced a smile onto his face. "Of course, sister. I have faith in you after all. You will be the one to change the course of the universe."

"Thank you." She pulled her cloak's hood over her head.

"Atlas," she began. "Get ready. Today, we'll show humanity the might of the Golden Dawn."

Atlas smiled, clenching his fist and placing it onto his heart. "As you wish, Commander."

She nodded. "Now then," Arnhild muttered. "Who should I bring for today?"

- - - - -

With a blinding flash of light, Alexander's dull sandstone surroundings turned into a beautiful green landscape and an azure sky.

He swallowed his saliva as the wind brushed against him. This was Anastasia's Enclosed World. A New World. "This is amazing," he mumbled.

He spun as he noticed the man beside him. He wore a hood over his face, connected to the white cloak.

The man groggily mumbled to himself, asking questions of what happened and how he got here.

Being outside a certain radius to enter an Enclosed World could have problematic effects, Alexander supposed.

Alexander whacked the soldier with his still-sheathed sword. As the latter collapsed, Alexander let out a sigh. He turned, gazing at a tall stone wall surrounding the massive castle. "I've never even heard of something like this," he mumbled.

'Though it is too bad we were dispersed around here.'

Think, he urged himself. He shut his eyes and stood still.

"What the hell are you doing?" Liam asked.

Alexander instinctively clenched his fists as his eyes burst open.

"Just trying to sense the others. There's still more Golden Dawn guys, y'know."

"Yeah, there should be a few more. I took out two, myself. And from what I can tell... Anastasia's right by Lumiel. And Lumiel's headed after one of them, I think," Liam told him.

"Alright, perfect. Now, all we gotta do is find the damn monster, right?"

As Lumiel faced her white-cloaked enemy, she swallowed her saliva. Her skills for sensing magic energy weren't perfect, but she understood something was wrong with this guy.

The cloaked man began to smile. "What beautiful skin you have," he muttered, his teeth growing to fangs, his skin shifting to a pale scarlet.

'I... I messed up.'

"That's right. Asmodeus, at your service, m'lady," he said, taking a bow. He ripped off the stark white cloak, unveiling his crimson skin.

The demon had talons instead of nails, and curved horns on its head, poking above his long, black hair. His eyes glowed like burning coals and his fangs shined like polished ivory. He wore grey-black leather armor that contoured to his body. The demon was thin and tall, but no more than seven feet tall.

This was Asmodeus, the second Prince of Hell, the demon of lust.

Lumiel grit her teeth, nervously swallowing her saliva.

"What marvelous eyes you have, too," he muttered.

Small sparks of light began to gather around Lumiel's hand as the demon began to grin.

"I won't hurt you just yet. First... Tell me where your companions are. You know, the ones with the holy swords. I sensed three of them. And one in particular... one of them was something special."

"Whether it was just him or the sword he wielded... I'm not sure. What I do know is that he's quite an anomaly. Something I haven't seen in a long time."

His smile widened. "Even so... That one child created an Enclosed World of this caliber. Maybe this generation is something I can enjoy."

Alexander's eyes widened. "Liam. Where did you say Lumiel was?"

Liam furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't know, but she should be around there."

Alexander mumbled curses to himself before swallowing his saliva. "We gotta go. Follow me."

Lumiel launched a ray of light at her demonic opponent. Another. And another.

She cursed to herself, as she gripped her extended wrist. 'I thought light magic worked against demons! So why? Why is he still-'

Anastasia appeared in the corner of her eye. She had ran through the stone corridors that surrounded them.

"Stay back, demon!" Anastasia shouted as she swiped her arm. The ground underneath Asmodeus suddenly shifted, as he was flung to a nearby wall.

But he stood up almost immediately. "I see. You're this world's creator. Still, you can't hurt me with such puny force. Please, try harder."

"Bet."

Lumiel smiled. "She's finally getting serious," she chuckled. Lumiel ran off the side, disappearing behind another stone wall.

She smiled as she stared at the near pitch-black storm clouds that loomed over them, rhythmically crackling with thunder.

Rapidly, she swung her hand down, bringing down a massive surge of lightning aimed at Asmodeus. The lightning burst with an echoing boom of thunder.

All Anastasia could see was a thick cloud of ash and dust, the remaining of the stone floor that the demon stood upon.

She spat out a sigh. 'I know I got stronger and everything. But there's no way that actually worked.'

"It seems you truly don't know who I am," he said, his voice piercing the veil of dust that surrounded him.

'I knew it.'

His talons thickened, the horns on his heads elongated, and his grin widened. "I can shift my body to suit my needs. If I need to survive underwater, I give myself gills. If I need to hunt prey, I can become a predator. If I need to survive an attack with minuscule power like yours... I can survive without an issue."

"I can't be killed like this," he said. "I'm a Prince of Hell. Only demonic and holy magic can affect me. So then... Where are those who wield the holy swords?"

A golden blur shot out the side.

Asmodeus smiled, stepped to the side, as a golden spear struck the pale stone wall beside him. Cracked stones burst from the wall.

Liam's feet skidded across the stone-tiled floor. He swallowed his saliva, before thrusting the blade at the demon.

The demon parried with nothing more than his forearm, keeping himself safe with the leather armor surrounding it.

"Two sneak attacks right off the bat, huh? I like it."

"Ascalon!" he shouted. The golden spear flung from the wall into Alexander's hand. It began to glow with pale yellow light before shifting into a sword. It retained its silver blade and golden hilt.

"We can end this. Right?" Liam asked Alexander, readying his sword.

Alexander nodded, their eyes meeting for a moment.

"You again?" Asmodeus asked, scratching the side of his head. "We've met before, haven't we?"

Alexander furrowed his eyebrows."What?"

The demon took in a deep breath. "I'm not exactly sure myself, either. But something about you... You're familiar."

Another surge of lightning ripped through the sky, bursting the ground where Asmodeus stood.

Again, no effect.

Alexander burst forth, attacking the demon with an assault of slashes.

Liam did the same. No matter how they or the demon moved, they fought with everything they had. With every attack, one tried to get behind him, while the other tried to get in front.

Even as their own movements sped up, so did the demon's.

Asmodeus deflected all of their attacks with ease. The demon's fluid motions blocked, redirected, and countered each and every one of the duo's attacks. Asmodeus slammed the side of his fist into Alexander's face. With that single armored strike, Alexander was flung through several stone walls.

Truly, each Prince of Hell could adapt at such a frightening rate. Both Belphegor and Asmodeus cornered the Virtues in this way.

Alexander's tired, ragged breaths were followed by coughs carrying blood. His vision was blurred, his clothes tattered, as he punched the ground. 'Not again, dammit. Not again!' he thought, his eyes beginning to shut.

'I thought I had gotten stronger... But I'm still lacking!'

From the corner of his eyes, he saw the dark armored silhouette. "Oi. I'll give you 10 seconds to get back up. Don't go dying on me just yet."

Alexander grit his teeth as he grasped his knee, pushing himself back up. "Are you kidding?" he said, wiping blood from his mouth. "I'm just getting started." He brought the sword up, readying himself for another attack.

The ground began to rumble. With the echoing sound of someone snapping the fingers, Asmodeus' arm burst in a burst of radiant scarlet.

Another explosion burst off his leg. And another gleaming sphere of bursting flames to the next arm.

That could only mean one thing. Leonard Eldar.

Alexander smiled.

So did the demon, unfortunately.

Within the smoke and ash, the demon remained unfazed. As blood dripped down from his gaping wounds, as he barely managed to stand on his singular leg, his eyes met Leonard's.

He had been standing some fifty feet away, within a corridor of stone.

Leonard spat out an exasperated sigh. 'I tried to cut off his limbs like Alexander did with Belphegor, but I guess this is different.'

The brown-haired boy scratched the back of his neck as he nervously chuckled. "Well, this is worse than I expected. Guess this guy really is stronger," he mumbled, staring at the massive wave of energy that surrounded the demon.

Out of all the Virtues, his sense for picking up magic energy was probably the highest. And what he saw... That flame-like glow of energy, warping even the surrounding air...

All he could do was swallow his saliva and steel his nerves for what was to come.

The bones that were peeking out of Asmoedus' wounds began to stretch. Elongate. And surrounding those bones were muscle fibers and blood vessels. The disgusting process continued with a distorted sound.

Flesh and bones had been healed. Or rather, replaced. Even the leather armor that was wrapped around his body was reformed and restored onto him.

Alexander winced as he sucked air through his teeth. "That's not right," he mumbled.

At a flick of his wrist, the silver sword began to glow before shifting into a golden spear.

Alexander shot up, the golden spear glimmering in his hand. He shot his arm out, the spear ripping through the air in a golden blur.

Asmodeus smiled, thrusting out his hand to block it.

The silver speartip plunged itself into his hand. And nothing more. No more than half of the speartip burst past his hand.

With the amount of force Alexander had put into it, he intended on ripping the demon's face clean off. "Dammit," he muttered, lowering his hand.

"That was good. Annoying, but good." He gripped the shaft of the spear, pulling it from his hand, and tossing it to the side.

Alexander stared at the demon. The demon that just touched a holy weapon and remained unscathed.

Asmodeus smiled. "Oh, yeah. To explain how... Well, I just touched the wooden part," he chuckled. "Nothing more. No special power for stuff like that. Simply touched the one part that didn't affect me."

'This guy talks too much,' Alexander thought. He grit his teeth, before slamming his foot into the ground.

He turned to Anastasia. "Earth-shaking doesn't work here?"

Anastasia shrugged her shoulders. "Enclosed Worlds have different rules, I guess."

Alexander swallowed his saliva. "Guess I gotta get in close," he muttered.

"Here," Liam said, holding out Durendal to Alexander.

Alexander turned to him. "What-"

"I'm not that great with weapons. I know you're better with your fists... but that doesn't seem like the logical course of action. So take it."

He nodded. "Thanks," he said, gripping his sword with both hands.

The demon was confident.

'I'll use that against him,' Alexander had thought in the seconds prior. He dashed at Asmodeus.

"Leonard," he said, leaning closer to him to whisper.

"Yeah?"

"I have a plan. I'll need a screen of flames for a few seconds. Nothing more."

All it took was ten seconds for Alexander to explain. Lightning for deterrence, light for distraction, and flames for limiting movements. And now, Alexander and Liam as the vanguard.

And with that, Liam smiled.

He charged in first. Claws extended from his fingertips as an orange glow embedded itself onto his body. His skin grew darker as his movements gained speed. And his eyes... His eyes seemed to glow with fervent light.

Alexander swallowed his saliva. He hadn't expected Liam to move and attack so quickly. If they were to fight one on one, Alexander knew he would lose that fight.

That's when Alexander realized. This whole time Liam had barely been using his affinity. Nothing more than physical power and energy enhancement. With that magic of his... he could be far stronger.

Even so, the demon gripped Liam's arm right before the claws struck his eyes. He gripped the boy's wrist and drove his knee into Liam's chest. He smiled, tossing him to the side.

"Now!" Alexander shouted, dashing at the demon.

Again, scarlet flames burst around the demon.

All that stood at the center of those flames were Asmodeus and Alexander.

Alexander's arm shot out as he thrust the holy sword.

"Too slow!" he laughed, slamming the side of his fist into Alexander's wrist, a mere second before the blade touched him.

Durendal bounced off to the side.

Liam's magic energy swelled up, bursting in the air. The demon turned his head at Liam. His eyes widened as he saw that the boy hadn't moved a single step from where he last saw him.

There was only a fraction of a second before he realized what they had planned. But that fraction of a second was all it took.

As Asmodeus' head turned back to Alexander, the Demon-Born smiled, uncovering Ascalon from the cover of his cloak. 'I can do this!' he told himself.

He took another lightning-fast step to close the distance. And then... Alexander gripped the leather hilt with both hands, as he plunged the holy sword through the demon's armor and through his chest.