The aura released by Null after asking the question took on the deep maroon color of the second to last flame on this side of the star chart.
His question seemed to fall on deaf ears at first, but the imp before him was processing the situation one piece at a time.
After developing through absorbing the imps, lesser demons, hell bats, lava creatures, demons, Edmond had grown used to understanding the garbled language they spoke down here.
However, he had always retained some of his humanity as he thought in English and he had some semblance of companionship via the disembodied voice.
He had fought with it at first but figured it was just another punishment in his miserable new life.
Now though, the voice had quieted to empty silence while tears fell down from his pained and tired eyes.
"It'z me."
It was not long before Edmond realized the origins of at least the one who spoke to him. After all, Null still resembled his past self— albeit aged down some years.
The tears eventually evaporated under the heat of the environment and Edmond's own body temperature, but they never ceased until he gathered himself.
"H-how did you find me," he spoke carefully so as to be understood clearly.
Null eyed the rest of the crew who were looking at him to answer.
'Where to even begin,' Null sighed, "It's a long story, but what matters is that you won't have to brave it alone down here anymore."
"We were all killed one way or another on that day aside from Null," Klein said.
"But we were reincarnated into new lives and worked our asses off to gain what little power we have," Z'oelo added.
"Us two don't know the full story, but after being together for as long as we have, we won't hesitate to welcome another member of the crew," Theef gave his and Barter's Ruler's side.
"I see an aged mind in those eyes of yours," Barter's Ruler smiled, "It's been too long since I've been accompanied by someone that wasn't even half my age."
With the heartfelt advances of the crew directed at him, Edmond had no words after being subjected to the ill-natured, downright evil atmosphere of this side of the Hallowed Plane.
By this time, the remaining people of the city had fled to others in great haste while the vile highborn was distracted.
They had not even processed the fact that there were intruders in their plane as the fear of death plagued their minds.
Inside the partially ruined city, the crew alongside Edmond Zolial, the highborn imp, found a suitable resting spot inside one of the well-crafted mansions to catch him up to speed on practically everything they had been through.
Starting from the end of the world where Null met with Theef and fought the Creator to the fiasco on Planet Barter and finding the lost flames.
Edmond was hooked on every word as the only source of entertainment or other company he had were the bootlicking demons and the hysterical voice that had stayed silent the entirety of the duration of the retellings.
He had also told them of his time in the Hallowed Plane starting from the moment he ripped through the body of his mother and ate the corpses of his fallen brethren.
"To think I've been here for nearly five years. At least I now know for certain that Evangeline is out there waiting for me."
The crew had no idea the last moments of the two teachers, but they could piece together from the fragile state he was in that the thought of his lover was his primary reason for living.
"It really has been five years, huh," Null thought back on all the new things he had seen and gone through.
In response to his bout of nostalgia, the rest of the crew also evaluated the things that they each had gone through to reach the final flame in this part of their journey.
"You spoke of angels, correct," Edmond asked to shatter the lengthy moment.
"That's right. And judging by the radiant light emitted by the flame of Ms. Florie in comparison to your dark malevolent flame, she should be one of the angels in the other half of this plane."
"Hehe. Haha. Ahahaha! I knew it! In this cursed land there is only one thing that makes me sane. My sweet Evangeline is out there waiting for me."
The rest of the crew saw the craze in his eyes that now glowed golden in color and were shocked by the revelation.
"Your eyes... Are you saying that you can sense her from down here?"
"Of course! She needs me just as much as I need her. I'm sure she is just waiting for me to find and be with her once more."
Z'oelo took Klein to the side and whispered, "Is it just me or is the teach tweaking a bit?"
Klein gave him a look while saying, "Don't judge him like that. At least you had a family to call your own. Mr. Zolial could only be at the mercy of every bloodthirsty and scheming demon that he crossed."
"Good point," Z'oelo mused, "I've been through some shit, but this guy probably takes the cake."
"That's not even mentioning his family background back in our previous lives," Klein said cryptically under his breath.
Z'oelo did not hear that part and just went about being a spectator.
"Ahem," Null coughed to conclude the side chatter, "I'm sure that she's out there just as you said, but as it stands, we have no idea how to reach the Angelic Realm of the Hallowed Plane."
Edmond figured as much as he only had lingering thoughts as to the whereabouts of his missing lover, "To do that, I must possess the power to rule over this wretched place. And to rule over this realm, I need to consume more demonic essence."
Theef had already consumed some of the corpses of the imps and had a taste of the demonic essence.
'I guess the uses of the demonic essence are only with compatible creatures. But then why can't I take on the form of a demon?'
Seeing as growing stronger was Edmond's goal, Null had already prepared to give him the spirit energy to kick start a boost in his strength.
"If strength is what you desire, Mr. Zolial, then take my hand and I'll show you the power to surpass this hell and reach your beloved."
The navy-blue tentacles could be seen visibly in his palm moving akin to worms.
It was at this time that the annoying voice shouted unexpectedly, 'DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!'
Without pause, Edmond was barraged with no pause causing him to hastily grab Null's hand to appease the voice.
Once that was done, the voice died down but not before saying something outside of its 'character'.
'Demons are just a means to an end. True power lies within your grasp. Become the new Devil.'
Edmond had no idea what the voice was, but he concluded that it was there for his own benefit because what happened next changed his entire being.
Through the navy-blue tentacles, spirit energy traveled into Edmond's system to which he was burning up within a wave of purgatory flames.
"Back up if you don't wanna be scorched," Null yelled to the rest of the crew.
"Tch! Says you," Theef criticized while watching Null standing in the midst of the flames.
His milky white aura protected him from their dangerous properties while still pumping out spirit energy like none before, 'This guy's still taking in spirit energy like it's nothing.'
The more spirit energy he took in, the darker the purgatory flames burned and the more tainted they became.
'Something's wrong,' Null's stomach sank at the prospect of harming what was to be another member of the crew.
Picking up on his worry, Ego tuned in to what should have been another empowering.
Thankfully, since they were connected via the navy-blue energy, Ego could peek inside Edmond's changing body.
'There's something foreign in his system! It's like a parasite only it's taking over thanks to the influx of the spirit energy!'
'Parasite?! Can we stop it?'
'It's forcefully siphoning the energy from Mr. Zolial into its own separate body, only it's not physical. It's like a wisp of consciousness from a totally different entity. Sort of like...,' Ego stopped speaking.
'Almost like what?!'
'... like me.'