Chapter 37 - The Show Will Go On Finale

Noctis gasped with a shock and pain when the cavern pressed harder into his back. He looked around the tiny cavern with the most dim of light coming off his halo crown, his desperation for freedom so massive he continued to cry out for help while continuing to hold up the crumbling ceiling of the mountain they were trapped in.

"ANYBODY!?"

The hole he and Michael had fallen into was a literal cavern deep in the outskirt mountains, full of perpetual darkness that crawled ever so closer even in his dimming light, much like the shadows Alastor would use to spy on others. Only this darkness was mocking, even terrifying with whispers of hate and hunger reaching to them while the cavern rumbled over his breaking back. Bodies both decaying and stale piled all around them, sinners of a forgotten history that made the man hitch his breath.

"Oh god…..these are….." he couldn't bare to tell himself what this was.

The ground was littered with adults, children, even babies or rotting flesh or skeletal remains. Clothes were tattered beyond recognition or simply decayed with the wearer. As the light of his halo crown spread a little due to his fear, the eyes of many were fixed on him with the most lifeless and terrifying share of horror.

He wasn't bothered by the crushing weight of the cavern now as he looked around with the whispers growing stronger. Though when he did look around he memorized against his will the terror in each face that was still intact.

"It's them." He whimpered.

And it was. Every sinner. Every hellborn. Man or woman or child. This cavern was a graveyard by tens of thousands and hold in piles of bodies that could reach the ceiling. He and Michael had been blasted into what could be described as a dump site for the deceased that fell every extermination.

With each breathe he took he felt himself losing grip of his cracking calmness while the light of his halo dimmed again, leaving an eerie glow in the eyes of the bodies that stared at him.

This place was no honorable site to behold. It was dedicated to purposely dump off the remains of Adam and his fun every extermination day.

"Oh god please…." He cried and looked up, ignoring the dust settling into his eyes. "SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP US!"

And just like his hopes dwindled more when nothing responded, save for the whispers earlier that made the hair on his neck stand up.

"I'm sorry." He cried, dripping his tears onto the almost lifeless Michael but bearing a different person in thought. "I'm sorry Pentious. I'm sorry I couldn't be there."

His cries were soft and echoing in the darkness, nobody to pity or comfort his failure of ending Adam and being so foolish as to let his own grief dictate his actions.

But did he honestly deserve pity for letting himself end up in this situation?

"Dammit." He whimpered through clenched teeth. "I have the power and I fucked up so bad. I let everyone down."

He didn't notice how the whispers grew louder or that the shadows from these piles and piles of bodies were creeping closer. He was slowly being encased in the darkness Adam had made with the unlucky victims of extermination day. And as he lost himself to the grief he only one thought come to mind that would endlessly creep over his withering spirit.

You gave your life to protect me….. you died probably protecting everyone...and I can't even save one damn person with all the power I have... you're more human than I can ever be….. Pentious….

The darkness slowly began to eat at the light of his halo-crown, eating away the protection that kept himself and Michael alive... until he opened his blurry eyes and felt icy cold hands cup his face. A sinner….. a soul…..a succubus man….. had formed in the darkness with the light it consumed and showed its last horror of life being the fear it felt from dying to the exorcists.

The darkness creeped around closer and Noctis was face to face with this soul that whispered incoherent words in a rapid fashion. Noctis took a deep breath, despite the lump of fear in his throat. He managed to see beyond the terror a man who was robbed of life and tossed like trash.

He could see the pain while more of them started to rise out of the blackness.

"Judgment." The soul said weakly to Noctis.

"What?" Noctis asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Are you that stupid?" A voice echoed in the darkness, taking his attention from the growing souls.

The figure in question pulled himself out of the darkness with most empty of eyes to be seen. His familiarity had Noctis almost lose his grip of holding up the rubble when he saw this man coming closer. There was no mistake who he appeared to be without all the power and changes.

Noctis blinked at the figure and asked, "You're me?"

"I thought it would be obvious after how much has changed," the figure implied while the same soul kept repeating judgment to Noctis. "But I'm the you that could be everything."

"What?" Noctis said questioningly.

"You seemed surprised." The copy said as he circled Noctis like a predator. "Poor you is acting so pathetic all because you think you've lost."

"Think!?" Noctis barked at the etheral figure. "I know I've lost. Look at me. I'm holding up a pile of rocks in a mountain."

"Okay. So?" The copycat chuckled and gestured to the surroundings. "You've dealt with worse things and had no power back then."

"Your point?"

"My point?" The copycat enunciated before laughing in the darkness.

He somehow moved through the soul and sent shivers down Noctis' skin with that emptiness in his eyes.

"My point is you forgot what made you so powerful before you had power!"

This didn't make any sense to Noctis but he was too afraid to defy himself when the cavern was full of these corpses and souls that were boring into him like the copycat that smiled so tauntingly.

"You were never human, and you never will be." The copycat taunted him so menacingly. "And everyone will die because you forgot yourself. You got so hyped up in your own bullshit you thought you needed to be a hero. But look at you now, scared and helpless with no one to came save you or the archangel you swore to save."

Something about this felt off to Noctis. This thing, this version of him that acted so inhumane, so opposite of him, it was like something of seeing himself in a mirror as it smiled with jagged teeth.

He knew somehow after a moment of thinking, and laughed bitterly at the copycat.

"You're my inner demon, aren't you?"

"Inner demon?" The copycat laughed heartily, and zoomed around the darkness just for fun before appearing in front of Noctis once more.

It added so clearly yet so hauntingly the truth.

"No—" he cupped Noctis cheek and tilted his head to the left, making an audible crack. "The leviathan is the culmination of Angel and demon power, thanks to god."

"Ok. So?" Noctis jerked away.

The truth was bittersweet, but the truth nonetheless.Said copycat licked its cracked lips and breathed in his response.

"I'm the other half. I'm your inner devil"

Noctis didn't know what to say to that, except gasp with realizing just how little he learned from being taught by the speaker back then.

Meanwhile in Heaven

The entirety of Heaven watched and waited to see what this dark development was about between Noctis and this makeshift of himself in the cavern. With Sera was every supportive memory and piece of knowledge of her time about Romna and his growth, now weighing on how Noctis would react to the situation he was in.

At the moment the council was in a rage from seeing a handful of exorcists come free from Adam's control and start helping Charlie and her friends fight the superpowered Adam that was beating them all down one by one. Not even Lucifer had the capability to handle a monster with so much holy power at their disposal.

Raphael was the first to express his anger when slammed his fist and said, "That disgusting pig was controlling so much!"

Emily looked up to Sera, wondering what this hollow version of Noctis meant and why it appeared at such a critical moment.

"All those souls." Sera said with guilt, knowing this was partly her fault.

Uriel hummed with thought as he stared critically at the orb, watching with a theory in mind as Noctis and his counterpart argued.

"Could he be….."

"What are you thinking, brother?" Raphael asked and watched Uriel stand up to circle the orb.

"Uriel, please sit back down." Sera said politely but was ignored by the archangel.

Something about was making Uriel think harder than he had in a long time, harder than when the first flood happened on earth. But this…..this confliction between a man and his past self was unheard of when it was the first witnessing ever.

"Power….. growth….." he hummed and scratched his chin.

"Maybe it's his old self?" Emily suggested.

Uriel remained silent as those words echoed in the back of his head, his eyes widening with fast understanding to the reason behind why Noctis was struggling so hard to save Michael and stop Adam.

"What is it?" Sera asked, and the archangel slowly turned his attention to her with a haunted look about him.

He stared only at the high seraphim and breathed the words of his fearful thought.

"He's been holding himself back, clinging to who he was."

Sera gave him a puzzled look and asked, "And why would that be a problem?"

"Because he was never mortal in the first place." Uriel answered.

The epiphany didn't touch everyone like it was expected to, save for Azrael who had an understanding to what the archangel was implying while they continued to watch with all of heaven how this makeshift shadow of Noctis was still putting him down during the growing numbers of souls in the cavern grew.

"It's his mind." Jophiel said it before anyone else and looked to Sera.

Uriel nodded and breathed deeply before he explained to everyone, "He lived a mortal life so he is shackled by his own mentality that limits his power."

"How do you break it?" Sera asked, believing that a little bit of magic would help Noctis in the long run.

Gabriel stepped up from his seat as the conflict on the orb played continuously with the makeshift copy now drilling every known factor of the war into his mind.

He spoke rigidly, "You can't. He has to break away from his own limitations."

Everyone turned silent and watched the orb again, hating how this turned out but still with hope that Noctis could overcome this trial of himself.

Emily was the most frightened of it all despite her injuries earlier from Adam, and the most hopeful for reasons both selfless and selfish. She watched so intensely her wings fluttered with anticipation to seeing how Noctis was arguing with this other person of himself. She clutched her hands together and prayed silently with so much need and want in her soul it was too much for her to bear alone.

Her need became tears of desire to have a family, a whole family with her sister and the nephew she never knew at their sides. She wanted everyone to be safe and happy, per her duty as an angel of joy and for own happiness to blossom.

But most of all she wanted to finally have a connection with Noctis.

"Please….please…..please…."

The archangels remained steadfast but lacked composure to the situation when Noctis was losing the argument to himself. This shadow of his laughed and taunted to carelessly as the cavern rumbled again with the already broken man struggling more to keep the ceiling up.

He was almost to his knees…..

"There must be something we can!" Gabriel slammed his fist against his part of the table, his heart raging to intervene.

"We can't step in." Jophiel spoke up as she glared at the orb. "Noctis has to overcome himself."

"But he doesn't have to alone!" Gabriel argued.

A heated debate started breaking out amongst the council but Emily tuned it all into silence with the finish of her prayer and a thought that came to her when she heard a low thump below them.

She looked down in the midst of Sera stepping in to calm the council and found the citizens in the room were humming and thumping their feet in unison with sparks of light released off the marble. They faded as fast as they were conjured, but this gave the little seraphim an idea when the humming was getting louder. She watched and followed as their feet thumping made pulses of light that stretched out of the very spire of their authority and made all of the heavenly realm share the same motion.

She could then hear everyone doing the same thing outside.

"Everyone stop!" She screamed at the council, making them freeze from her rare occurrence of a raised voice.

"Emily what's wrong?" Sera asked, and watched her sister fly out of her seat.

Emily descended with haste and faced the citizens after she made her landing.

"Louder everybody!" She yelled.

The citizens listened on the spot, and stomped in their rhythm even harder while a few cherubs were chanting a musical tune that seemed to be an inspirational choir.

"Come people! He needs to hear us!" She yelled even louder and turned to Sera. "Everybody needs to help out by—"

"Emily you're in no condition to be moving." Sera interjected and grabbed her sister gently.

Emily was having it though when the fate of the realms depended on Noctis. She yanked her wrist of Sera's grip, with a determination unseen when she was all about joy, defied her sister by encouraging the citizens more.

"Everyone. Come on. We can do this!" She emphasized by moving around the council room with her wings to make the council members stand. "Everyone join in. We can help Noctis."

"How!?" The council said in unison, before slowly turning their gaze to Jophiel who started leading.

The council didn't understand why they would be joining hands like this with the citizens. But after with a little perspective they understood one by one from their turning gazes the magic that was pulsing underneath their feet.

The humming and stomping grew louder with the people, and finally with the council coming together to match the pace. Their cooperation was magnifying the these pulses of light that brightened all over the heavenly realm. Heaven itself was actually pulsing brighter and stronger the more the angels became in sync.

"Come on Sera. We can do this!" Emily extended her free hand while grasping Jophiel.

Sera wasn't so sure if any of this would be any good for her struggling son or at all helpful in freeing the realms from Adam.

But what did they have to lose?

With a heaviness in her heart, Sera grasped Emily's hand and started stomping with her people as they all watched her.

"~Evil…" The citizens started off. "~It chains us down, tears the spirit around, and puts us all on our knees ~"

"That's it everyone!" Emily cheered, feeling the magic get stronger. "Keep going!"

"~Evil…..~"

"~It can tear at your heart.~"

"~Make you feel like hope has no start~."

"~But there always is....a way to hope~"

"Come on Sera. Do it!" Emily jumped excitedly despite her injuries and began to glow like the rest of her people, shimmering with gold like the pulses.

The magic started to spread on Sera as well and she couldn't believe how warm it was and liberating of her fears. It coursed her, tingled her skin and seemed to drown every negative thing she felt. Most of all it gave back that fire inside she thought was but an ember that exploded for but a moment when Noctis fought Michael the first time.

Her maternal instincts.

She took in a breath and tried, mainly for herself as a mother. And by her own surprise she synced with her humming people that started to background in choir with her.

"~He may be the terror of the day and the night~"

"But you gave us the right to scream~"

"PUSH, NOCTIS!" The angels shouted together, helping Sera liberate herself and find her voice again while Emily cheered for her.

"Keep going! Keep going!"

Sera looked down again to see the magic pulsing faster, and found some bit of confidence before raising both her voice and her heart.

"~Save us today, give us tomorrow ~"

"SAVE TODAY AND GIVE TOMORROW~"

Back in the mountain

"So is that it!?" The copycat asked as he circled around Noctis, watching the sweat just puddle. "Are you gonna just quit because you can't accept yourself!"

"I did accept myself!" Noctis screamed, his legs shaking from the intense burning.

The copycat deepened the blackness in his eyes and laughed at Noctis, spitting so tauntingly in his face and grabbing his chin in a harsh grip.

"If you accepted yourself then I wouldn't be here!"

Noctis hated this, he hated how powerless he felt from fighting himself and mountainous weight on his back while Michael started to have raggedy breaths.

"What's your point?" He growled before yelping in pain of the weight shifting.

"My point!?" The copycat stepped back and gestured to the souls and corpses. "Is you're not human!?"

"I know that!" Noctis barked. "I accepted my old life when the speaker made me fight Romna."

"BUT YOU DID NOT ACCEPT YOURSELF!"

Noctis froze and let that sink in as the weight pushed him down to his knees, leaving so little space for Michael to breathe. He looked up to his copycat and the souls that were still repeating the word 'judgement'. It dawned to him what the copycat was trying to beat in his head, and it felt so obvious.

The copycat smirked and nodded, but it was easier said than done.

Noctis shook his head though and showed fear at the answer in front of him.

"I can't….."

"And why not?" The copycat asked in a surprisingly gentle manner. "Because you think you'll lose yourself."

Noctis hated how readable he was. He scowled at…..well himself for being right and reluctantly nodded.

The copycat sighed and shook his head. He looked up to the ceiling that was coming down more and starting to give out.

"Who was that hellhound that sacrificed herself to protect you?"" He asked, surprising Noctis before their glances met again. "Didn't she have you make a promise that you're now breaking?"

Noctis remembered those words. How could he have ever forgotten that hellhound who was the closest thing to a friend he ever had. Not Angel Dust, Not even Husk being the closest thing to a wisdom-giver, but that one hellhound who died protecting Max when she served Valentino, who did more for him than anyone after Lyoria came back.

"Moira….." he remembered her kindness and love.

"What were her final words?" The copycat asked.

Tears flowed out of Noctis, his memory as clear as the light peeking through from someone or something digging into the hole that broke him and Michael into this cavern.

"Noctis!" He heard Carmilla on deaf ears with Razzle right behind her in roaring as they tore the opening frantically.

He remembered the words of this hellhound and felt a warmth in repeating them.

"Be the best dad and the strongest alpha for Max ."

The copycat smiled and nodded before they both stopped to hear heavenly voices echoing in the room.

"Seems they continue to carry faith in you." The copycat said and glared back at Noctis. "Question is: You gonna keep your promise or just let Adam win?"

As if Noctis needed any more motivation after remembering how much Moira did for him. He didn't need another reason to keep going while the heavenly voices got stronger and Carmilla was becoming more clear in the light of the hole.

He looked down at Michael again as strange golden pulses receded into the mountain and to his body. He thought nothing of it though and gave himself one more push against the collapsing cavern while Heaven started screaming together.

"Come on Noctis!" He screamed at himself, his legs shaky as every bit of his strength took getting back on his feet. "COME ON!"

"Noctis!" Carmilla yelled after looking inside.

She gasped at all the souls surrounding her son and chanting judgment while this strange choir of heaven got stronger with the pulses. She still couldn't reach Noctis or get inside but she could see that something had triggered him to start pushing against the crumbling ceiling.

Back at the battlefield

Adam roared as he lifted Beezlebub off the ground and slammed her, causing a fissure that shook everyone off their feet. He laughed at the enraged sin being in pain and pressed his foot to her chest just for emphasis of dominance.

"Where's your husband now!?" He taunted, completely unfazed by her claws thrashing against his leg.

"He's coming back and he's gonna kill you!" She snarled before his hand grabbed her ears.

The battle was not going as planned for the rebellious sinners and demons that continued to unite against the first man. Beezlebub was one of the few still fighting even when Adam was tormenting her body with the harshest slam of her head into the hotel rubble before he dragged her across the ground.

Charlie and her friends were trying their best to make some dent into the battle but the power of Michael had proven to make Adam what they believed to be indestructible when the freed exorcists couldn't even scratch him with their blades.

Lucifer was starting to tire out and feel powerless with how memorable and traumatizing the grace of Michael was, and now his own child had to experience the helplessness he had felt when Heaven cast him out. This was something he prayed in Charlie's childhood for many years to never happen but here it was and he could nothing to stop Adam.

"There's got to be a way to hurt this dicksniff!" Blitz yelled out of the blue after diving behind some rubble to avoid a beam from the cackling angel. "Anybody got any ideas!?"

"Our best idea got blasted away with Michael!" Husk yelled back from his own hiding spot.

"Getting low on ammo!" Angel Dust bellowed from a pile of exorcists bodies with Moxxie nodding in agreement when his shotgun was out.

"Got any ideas!?" Loona at Stolas before they both ducked from a random beam.

"If I had an idea do you think I would be hiding!?" Stolas barked at the angry hellhound just before blocking some debris with his magic. "We can't do this without that boy!"

"Noctis will come back!" Vaggie argued, but even she was having a hard time believing that. "He has to!"

"Get off her!" Charlie screamed and threw her trident at Adam after he pressed his foot into Beezlebub's throat.

Nothing but the clink of its metal came from how it bounced off Adam, but it was enough to get his attention from choking the sin of her breath. Vaggie was thankfully fast enough though to dive in and sweep Charlie into her arms and take to the skies while the freed exorcists kept on the assault.

"We can't win." Vaggie said with an almost hollow tone. "Charlie we need to—"

"No, we are not giving up!" Charlie interrupted as she was held bridal style, her determination as fierce as her love for Noctis. "Noctis is coming back!"

Vaggie didn't understand how the woman she adored could still cling to hope when they were now dodging through the air to avoid being vaporized by Adam.

What did she know that the former exorcist didn't?

"Charlie how—"

"Dammit Vaggie, look at your wrist!" Charlie demanded and showed her own, displaying the shackle that bound them both to Noctis.

Vaggie almost hitched her breath in surprise when she looked at her own piece to find the bond they made with Noctis was pulsing with a golden energy never seen before. And that's when it her, Charlie didn't just know that Noctis was still with them but could actually feel him.

And she could too.

"Do you think he's….."

"Yes I do." Charlie nodded firmly and looked over Vaggie's shoulders to the outskirts mountains. "He's not dead."

Back at the mountains….

"Is that all you got?" The copycat laughed as Noctis lost his footing and almost fell to his knees again. "Is this what it means to be human, to fall when things get hard?"

Noctis had so much to say. God he had so much. His mind was on Michael though and all of heaven singing to him as he tried again to lift the impossible with his inner devil being so taunting through the pain of his every fiber while the souls started to press with him.

As the magic pulsed stronger, so did the strength to lift a mountain in his hands. One by one the souls of those Adam suffered had pressed their own hands to the crumbling rock and started to push with him.

"So what if you're me?" Noctis spat at himself, ignoring the jagged smile and laughter. "I know who I am! I know I'm meant to be! I know what it means to be human!"

"And what is it!?" This inner devil screamed, muffling the watching yet screaming Carmilla that tore the hole open more and more. "If you know it and yourself so well then say it!"

"IT IS A CHOICE!" Noctis screeched.

His muscles burned like fire and every wound endured from fighting Michael seemed to tear open the harder he pushed through his limits. But he wasn't alone anymore, he had so many there to help him as the ceiling started to rise.

Meanwhile in heaven the display of strength became everyone's strength with how inspiring the pain of perseverance empowered the angels.

"He's almost there!" Emily cheered to the point of her voice cracking. "Higher everyone!"

And higher they sang with Sera leading, bringing her voice to lead over her council and citizens while the magic of heaven pulsed rapidly with their togetherness.

"~Can't we have just one more chance!?~"

"~To understand what it means to be human~"

"~Can we learn to love, to forgive, to be more than ourselves!?~"

"It's working!" Emily screeched with joy as the orb showed Noctis starting to glow with the souls around him. "IT'S WORKING! KEEP GOING EVERYONE!~"

"Evil may be forever~"

"~But humanity brings you to see~"

"~The people who can't see past their sins~"

"~And dares you to save beyond yourself~"

"Can we have that chance?~"

"Can we try to see what it means to be human?~"

"This is it. Everyone together!" Emily pressed on for the last bit of their togetherness as the orb showed Noctis and the souls doing the impossible by lifting the entire ceiling off himself and Michael.

Everyone, both in and out of the spire took a deep breath and screamed it together.

"~YOU CANNOT LET HIM WIN WHEN HE IS A MAN OF SIN!~"

One final stomp was made and the glow exploded from Noctis. This brilliant light consumed him, Michael, a stunned Carmilla and Dazzle, and the souls before the magic took its grasp and made them all suddenly disappear.

"Where did they go!?" One of the archangels yelled in the gasping background.

It left the entirety of heaven speechless while the orb shifted to the battlefield on its own, which left the copycat to disappear into the darkness of the mountain when there were no eyes on him.

But not before shifting back to his true and injured form, leaving a static-like chuckle as he held the wound Adam put on his chest.

"Good boy….."

Meanwhile….

"I'm gonna have so much fun erasing this shit-realm." Adam cackled while firing beam after beam at the remaining cannibals.

Charlie and Vaggie ducked behind some debris as they watched more sinners be vaporized, but there was nothing they could do.

"He's not gonna stop." Charlie said through clenched teeth as the shackles of their bond burned brighter than ever.

"Those exorcists aren't gonna last much longer!" Vaggie added with the princess agreeing.

Both girls peeked over to see the freed exorcists starting to falter one by one until they were regrouped. They were injured if not mangled and completely fatigued from using every ounce of hatred to fuel their assault.

"Consider this your discharge!" Adam laughed and swat these few warriors away with his wings.

The supercharged angel gave terror when he raised his hands over his head and collected his own energy into a ball of sickly light that cracked and hummed overhead, mounting to the size of a car.

"Permanently." He added.

The freed exorcists were backed into a corner of the hotel remains while the Hazbin and helluva gang were frozen by the overwhelming energy that ignited to a ball of fire in Adam's hands while Lute watched with glee.

She knew exactly what this was and relished what she believed to be an honor to witness when it hasn't been done in thousands of years.

"Do it, sir!" She encouraged happily while her sisters, those who were still loyal, questioned if this was necessary. "Smite the traitors before you end this war!"

"Oh fuck me with giant dildo…." Blitzo gawked at the giant ball of fire as it grew more. "He wouldn't dare….."

"He would….." Moxxie said with loss of his will to fight. "It's over….."

"Dad…" Charlie looked to her father for hope but saw him trembling at the power of his brother.

What she didn't know was this had been deep trauma from his personal experience with Michael and it had stricken him motionless with fear when remembering how it took that much power to make him a fallen angel.

Charlie looked to Beezlebub next but was found without any hope from the sin when Loona and Stolas were helping her sit up and heal after the beating Adam gave her.

All she could was look up feel her heart be still at the moment Adam was preparing to through it.

"DIE YOU FUCKING COCKSUCKERS!"

There was nowhere left to run or hide from this genocidal power as it pulsed once in signal of being ready. Everyone who was still alive found someone else to hold onto as the heat of the fireball started licking their skin.

"Vaggie…." Charlie could only look away and cling to her fallen lover.

"I love you, Millie." Moxxie whispered in her ear.

Even Blitz found his place with Stolas while Loona didn't really have anyone except Beezlebub.

The cannibals braced together with Rosie and watched as Adam readied to throw it. But he stopped at the feeling of a bullet that bounced off his neck, and scowled in that direction.

"Who the fuck just shot me!?"

All eyes turned in the direction of the gunfire to find it was an exhausted Angel Dust, glaring defiantly and pointing his now empty tommy gun.

"You?" Adam grinned from ear to ear and loomed over the shaky pornstar. "You still think you have a chance?"

Angel said nothing to those words as he stood there bravely against Adam like it was not something new to him. Truth be told it wasn't new to him at all when he had his body broken and mangled before by Lyoria. Standing up to monsters was something he started to get good at just for the fact of being sick and tired of always being scared.

"Nothing to say?" Adam asked with his hands still raised. "Fine then. Tell that baby bitch boy of Sera's I said hi."

Charlie then stood up and rushed over the pile of rubble before Vaggie could stop her. She threw away her shield and sprinted as fast her legs would do. Adam had locked in on the still bravely defiant Angel Dust and threw the ball with every intention of wiping this battle from history.

However, as everyone screamed for her to stop, Charlie shoved Angel Dust out of the path and looked to the fireball closing in so fast it reflected in her trembling eyes.

This was it for her, no escape and no means of protecting herself while Angel Dust looked up from the ground in shock and fear of the princess being so foolish as to risk her life for him.

He was ready to go. He was ready to die for them and bit a little time if possible. But Charlie just had to let herself be a hero with no way to avoid this golden fire.

Everyone screamed Charlie's name as she shut her eyes and braced for the inevitable with only three words.

"I need you…."

Adam's laughter boomed across hell again, "FUCK YOUR REDEMPTION PROJECT!"

He watched with Lute and his exorcists bearing the same excitement as the fireball started to brighten on her form, touching her with just the radiating heat.

Suddenly before the fireball had made impact, it was completely cast away by a beam of light that consumed Charlie and spread across hell while souls upon souls swarmed down and gathered across all of pentagram city.

This beam blinded everyone while it cast across hell with streams that stretched like arms and washed over all the destruction and carnage.

The results of fighting Michael washed away in this light and all the corpses around the hotel turned into sparkling dust that blew away. Anyone who was injured had felt their strength return in this bright warmth and their wounds seal somewhat.

"No. What the shit is this?" Adam spat as he tried to see past his arms that covered his sight.

"Charlie!?" Vaggie yelled out, squinting to see if she still alive.

"What's with all the dead people?" Blitz asked as he watched them bow to the light.

Without warning the light dimmed just enough to reveal Charlie floating above a star that formed behind her. It ignited into a golden fire and consumed the grounds but did not burn while forming into a person that shaped into carrying Charlie safely in their arms.

Adam felt sick to his stomach when he remembered this star on its first birth, and instinctively stepped back when it finished to reveal the last person he expected to be alive.

"No…" he clenched his teeth. "No….no….no…."

"Is that—" Beezlebub didn't get the chance to finish when a bewildered Carmilla appeared from another light while carrying Michael on Dazzle's back.

"Holy shit." Husk was even surprised by the entrance, but ultimately smirked at the display. "Not bad kid."

"Charlie…" a familiar voice breathed.

Charlie opened her bloodshot eyes to find her heart taking flight when the one face she wanted to see stared down at her so calmly. She could almost flood the grounds with the tears she wanted to gush after realizing she was being carried like the princess she is.

"Baby?"

Noctis only nodded and set the princess down with the most gentle brush of his wings on her cheeks afterward.

"Way to make an entrance asshole!" Angel Dust huffed and ran back to the group, already knowing it was about to get ugly.

"How are you…." Charlie could only touch him to see it was not at all a dream or an illusion. Her mate was here and he was very alive and different.

"Should we be concerned?" Moxxie asked Beezlebub but only got the most smug grin from her.

"THIS IS BULLSHIT!" Adam roared and went into a tantrum, stomping his feet on the ground. "WHY WONT YOU STAY DEAD!?"

Noctis ignored that and looked back to the freed exorcists that were still in stunned silence of his presence.

Until one said, "He has come back."

Then another, "He had returned."

And finally the most hopeful of their small group, THE SERAPHIM LORD HAS RETURNED!"

"Noctis.." Charlie paused to drink in his newly formed angelic armor. "How did you….."

"Step back baby." He said gently, but it wasn't a request.

Just as he was about to teleport Charlie back to the others he snapped his attention to Adam and blocked the beam that came suddenly by wrapping her in his wings and using them to shield. To Charlie's awe and suprise they had instantly scaled over completely and saved her from being vaporized.

"Your wings." She gasped at the silver brilliance that reflected Adam's sneak attack into the stormy sky.

Nobody missed witnessing this power dynamic as it finished with Adam about to have a mental breakdown when he dropped his hands and scowled at the two.

"I am going to make sure you stay dead." He growled, unbeknownst to Lute and his remaining exorcists backing away not in fear of his fury but the fact they finally pushed the battle to this point.

"Not sure myself." Noctis admitted with deep ponder at staring at his own hand.

He wasn't sure what changed inside himself but he couldn't be anymore grateful while their friends and family gawked at how new armor disappeared from his body.

His calmness remained after he glared at Adam and released Charlie, sending her back to the others with a snap of his fingers.

"But whatever changed, I'm not gonna waste it."

Everyone circled Charlie and looked over for any wounds or injuries, but like the them she was healed mostly and felt her strength had come back from Noctis and his light.

"Okay what exactly happened with that fuckhead?" Cherri Bomb spat out as it was her best way to express confusion.

"Simple." Beezlebub snickered with dark glee at Noctis taking a stance. "Whatever was holding him back, he broke through."

"Guess that means he finally grew a pair and accepted himself." Husk muttered to himself.

"I heard that." Noctis said to surprise the drunk demon, glaring back over his shoulder with a smirk.

Husk flinched but scoffed to try and hold onto his facade of being the cynical drunk of the group, but it didn't help hide the smirk he had when he looked away.

Noctis turned his attention back to Adam and said with cold finality, "Look around you, Adam. These are the souls of the sinners that died to your fun."

True enough Adam recognized some of these scowling sinners that festered all of the city and hotel grounds. They were all watching and waiting with furious hunger for his suffering while Noctis cast away the last bit of his new armor to fight in the same torn clothing Carmilla gave him the other day.

"And now they're gonna watch." Noctis finished and tightened his stance.

Adam sneered at that but had sweat fall down his cheek when Noctis was now completely open without that new armor. It was expected for the seraphim lord to use his power and make the scales appear again, but something was off and it made even the first man a little nervous.

"Why isn't he transforming or wearing that armor?" Carmilla whispered scathingly to Beezlebub after laying Michael comfortably on Dazzle.

Beezlebub giggled quietly and shook her head at the confused overlord.

"Because he wants to fight Adam on equal ground— Man to Man."

————————————————————

"Oh this is gonna be good!" Vox laughed as his drones took surrounding the entire city and hotel grounds.

He snapped his fingers with a small crackle of electricity and commanded his broadcast to reach all of hell. Every tv, every phone, every computer, it reached to each sinner that was still alive and checking their devices.

In an instant the arrogant tv demon was surged with power coursing his circuits while the ratings jumped again to his cheerful broadcast. The sinners who had avoided the destruction from earlier were staying in the darkness of their safety and watching with intention of seeing if their lives would remain or end.

"Demons across hell!" Vox laughed on every screen. "Let's watch some quality television! Let's see who comes out on top!"

He shifted his viewers to focus onto the live recording after fixing his network channel to broadcast the showdown to come.

"You better win." Velvette hissed with worry her tone she wouldn't admit to, keeping herself to her spot on the couch and away from her colleagues.

"THE FIRST MAN AGAINST THE SERAPHIM LORD!"

————————————————————

"I guess this is it." Emily said quietly, looking up to Sera for anything to calm her nerves.

"Can he do it?" Azrael asked with a darkened look about himself. "Even when his power isn't mature."

The council went into a questionable murmur about Noctis and his capabilities. Yes they witnessed his change and his growth so far but he was still not mature to his power.

Sera held a deep silence when her fellow angels looked to her.

They waited impatiently for her to speak.

Slowly she smiled warmly and nodded without taking her eyes off the orb.

"Yes. My son can win. He is ready now."

Emily's eyes widened at how Sera sounded beyond the years of her restraint of Adam and his tortures. It was like a weight had been lifted off her elder sister and the leader she remembered Sera to be had come back from the darkness.

She was standing tall and proud with not just hope but certainty, and it gave the injured seraphim the power to match her and watch the orb.

"Everyone be silent." Sera commanded with a hushed finger to her lips. "It's about to start."

Jophiel was even surprised by this side her oldest friend, and smiled proudly before a whisper escaped her lips.

A hush of her own words that broke her away from the standards of her own vocabulary.

"Kick his ass."

————————————————————

"Should we help?" Moxxie asked before he took a questionable step toward Noctis and Adam.

Loona stopped him though with thrusting her hand in his path. She didn't break her view from the two standing off in silence but her posture said enough to Moxxie that this fight was not just about heaven and hell but for so much history that revolved around Noctis.

Moxxie looked up to the glaring hellhound that remained deathly silent, a very rare thing about Loona when she always had something to say. It was enough though for Moxxie to step back and understand this wasn't just about protecting others. For Noctis it was about establishing his place amongst both heavenly and hell and making it known he was not just there to fight Adam but to show everyone he was taking his title seriously.

He is The Leviathan and it is his duty to protect the realms from one another, and he was going to do that now.

The thousands of souls around Hell watched as the tension rose with Adam giving a hateful growl, his muscles tight with energy crackling like lightning.

Noctis only smirked and said cooly, "Here we go...FULL THROTTLE!"

"Full throttle?" His friends questioned in unison.

In a sudden act of his own, Noctis floated off the ground for a moment with his aura flared before he took off into the sky like a rocket thanks to his wings.

"TRY AND KEEP UP FATASS!"

Adam was taken aback by this rude comment and sudden flight. It enraged him to the point of lacking thought process when he flapped his own wings and soared after Noctis like a hungry predator.

"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE BITCH!"

Adam took to the sky as well, and the entire battle was halted still on both parties now watching the air.

The battle for Heaven and Hell had begun….

Soaring like two missles across the already damaged city, Adam chased Noctis relentlessly with beams of light that arced and scattered behind Noctis as he dodged and weaved in his flight through the streets. Explosions could be seen and heard from all districts as he kept leading Adam with said explosions trailing behind.

"DIE!" Adam roared.

"Fuck him up!" Vaggie yelled, completely out of character with everyone suprised by her words.

Of course it was embarrassing but she brushed it off with her hard demeanor coming back.

"I can say shit too after today." She snipped with crossed.

Charlie didn't say anything but giggled at how Vaggie was secretly rooting for Noctis by tapping her foot impatiently as the battle became not Carmilla's focus.

The overlord was taken away from it by the ringing of her phone inside her leotard. Quickly she took out the broken device and answered it when the cracked screen revealed to be Odette.

"What is it?"

"We have a situation." Odette answered with a brief pause of Clara cursingin the background. "Some exorcists tried to break in."

"Okay. So?" Carmilla asked rudely.

"Mother…." Odette had an edge of tension in her voice. "The primordial killed them."

Carmilla went quiet and snapped her eyes wide open to that answer, before she dropped her phone.

Back over the city, the chase was getting too chaotic for Noctis to tolerate when every beam he dodged would impact and exploded against buildings or on a street. Sinners were still in hiding or running from cover and right now he needed to focus on ending all this before Adam did irreparable damage to the city.

Finally he turned back but kept flying away at a slower pace to cancel the beams out by swatting them away.

It was now or never.

Knowing the furious zooming Adam was locked onto him….

"Time to power up." He told himself and started to force the changes in a rapid fashion.

He screamed louder and louder until the scales formed on his chest and wings, and with a final burst of tapping into the leviathan he finished the first phase with said scales in his hair and wings.

As soon as he did, Noctis blocked a haymaker that blew him back but quickly recovered with speeding to the first man to clash their forms. They bounced and made shockwaves again and again before a clash of fists that was almost too fast for the sinners to see.

Everyone who was still on the streets was watching and cheering once they realized Noctis wasn't just the human Vox put a bounty on months ago or another angel sent to kill.

He was protecting them, he was defending their right to exist, and most of all he was showing that someone in this damned realm wasn't going to let things go the way they have been.

"Mommy what's going on?" A small imp asked while tugging on the dress of his mother.

Said mother was filled with a strange emotion at the fight as it grew more intense with Noctis actually doing damage.

Perhaps for the first time in her life she was feeling hope while shedding tears.

"That's the seraphim lord, baby." She answered, picking up her little one as they stayed hidden in an alley. "And he's protecting us from Adam."

"Why?" The little imp asked as other demons started gathering together in the streets.

The imp mother almost choked on her words when she held her little tightly and watched with awe.

"Because there is some good left in hell."

The fight took a turn when Noctis tilted his head from a fist and countered with a straight uppercut that dizzied Adam for a moment.

This was the time Noctis needed to back away and harden his defense before Adam drowned deeper in his hatred and acted on it by lunging.

But again Noctis dodged and stunned Adam with both pain and realization of how serious he was. He had ducked and spun his back to Adam while thrusting a donkey kick that connected. The very breath was knocked out of Adam by the hell in his abdomen and only going to get worse.

"Does it hurt?" Noctis asked harshly and spun again, over the first man this time and dropkicking full force.

Adam was still in a daze and didn't process the connection of his jawline before plummeting into the streets with his mind all over the place.

But unfortunately for him, the ground beneath everyone's feet began to shake when Noctis landed fast and distantly.

"Good. Now you're gonna feel their pain!"

Noctis thrusted his hands up and screamed as if powering up while a ball of gold formed overhead and filled the air with intense heat.

The ground beneath them rumbled to this energy before the ball was absorbed into his wings. Nobody knew what this meant until all six of them thrusted forward with his hands and he screeched with a terrible release of this energy that exploded from the feather tips and his fingers.

"HEAVEN BARRAGE!"

"What?" The dazed Adam said before it happened.

Suddenly he was backed into an already crumbled building and assaulted by streams of continuous light that exploded and burned against his skin. Adam was pinned and suffering from this intense attack that felt like an endless release of bullets, giving him no room to even think.

Angel, who was on his phone, watched with some of his friends as Vox kept the broadcast clear for all of hell.

"Holy shit!" He exclaimed. "Guys he ain't fucking around!"

"It's like he snapped." Charlie gulped, as she looked to Vaggie. "Should we be worried?"

Vaggie smirked and shook her head at the princess while the fight became the sole focus for everyone. Even the still Adam-Loyal exorcists were perched at the hill edge and watching their leader as if it was the most important thing in the world.

The cannibals wouldn't even dare pick at the angel corpses, and watched from their side with Rosie while the explosions brightened.

"No babe." Vaggie answered confidently. "That's our mate, and he's finally ready like we wanted."

"I still say it's bullshit that god would make someone that strong." Blitz complained and earned himself a smack to the back of the head by Loona and Stolas. "OW! WHAT THE FUCK!?"

"Hush." Stolas quipped and turned his attention back to the fight. "Show some respect."

Back at the fight, Adam had regained his senses and went back into his blind hatred with a scream while using Michael's power to bubble himself from the attack that burn multiple spots of his form. He took in a breath and launched himself to Noctis, who saw this coming and went right back into the air to lead him away from the people.

Their combat turned into a blitz of raw speed with Noctis taunting and baiting the first man while Vox's drones were trying to keep up.

"They're moving so fast." Charlie commented as she leaned over the crouched Angel Dust to see the broadcast.

"How is that possible?" Husk asked before flinching at another shockwave of the clash.

"It's not impossible." Lucifer crossed his arms and pouted. "And as Vaggie said, his power is uncharted territory."

"FUCK HIM UP BABY!" Beezlebub bellowed, wolf-whistling to Noctis.

"DESTROY THE TRAITOR, SIR!" Lute screeched, earning some hateful glances from the demons.

The two warriors reappeared high over the city with the same intentions, burying themselves deep in the already formed storm and casting raw energy. They thrusted beams at one another and caused an explosion that was absorbed by said storm after they stopped wasting their power.

But now it had taken a turn for the worse.

"What the?" Noctis looked around to the lightning and tornadoes forming around.

His attention was almost taken by this but he quickly snapped back to the fight when Adam tried to hit him. Barely and lucky, Noctis dodged and spared Adam to confused him with the use of hiding in the lightning infused clouds before he went on the assault.

Using it to his advantage, Noctis appeared from the closest cloud and overwhelmed Adam with a barrage of punches to the stomach before knocking him back.

Adam had enough when he was knocked back again and roared to the skies while Michael's energy exploded outward and gave him a boost, magnifying his size and power.

Noctis wasn't sure what this would do but he wasn't letting his guard down after Adam shimmered with a golden outline and charged at him.

Suddenly he was bounced around by the first man with each haymaker that rattled his arms and blew through building after building. All he could do at the moment was block when the mildest counter meant releasing power that could do more harm than good.

"Dammit." He grunted after crashing into Vox tower, his body pressed into the north wall.

He was trying to think of something fast when out of nowhere came a familiar voice that rang out in his ears.

"Noctis you have to hurry."

Noctis was startled by the voice in his head as he felt his body press harder into the wall from Adam's assault.

"Speaker?"

"You must hurry, my child. The longer Michael is without his grace the sooner he will die. You must hurry and finish this."

Back at the hotel Carmilla was calmer after collecting her thoughts from what Odette said over the phone, but her attention turned to the wheezing Michael that latched onto her wrist. She could see it was now taking a toll on the archangel when he color was almost gone and the skeletal-like appearance was getting worse than his own breathing.

He was dying…..

All she could do was look back to the fight as it changed again with Noctis bucking the enraged Adam away and screeching at the top of his lungs to fully transform. It was painful but he was determined to end this fight with haste.

And so he went on the assault with even more savagery that surprised Adam after seeing the full force of Noctis taking on the rest of his transformation features.

Unable to hold back, Noctis zoomed to Adam and delivered a combination of haymakers to the jaw and skull before bringing his heel down with flip that made Adam fall once again.

"Incoming!" Moxxie screamed after they all witnessed Adam coming in hot with Noctis on his trail.

Everyone rushed away and dove behind any form of cover just before Adam crash-landed and got right back up in a frenzy that he was being so easily bested. He thrashed and screamed again and again as Noctis landed and took a defensive stance, boring his deadly glare into the first man.

"I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

"No, you won't." Noctis responded coldly and then shouted at everyone. "All of you stay back! He's my responsibility!"

"But Noctis—" Charlie was interrupted by her friends pulling her back when she tried to defy by running around the rubble.

"Let him handle this!" Husk ordered with no room for argument.

"Charlie stay back!" Vaggie ordered as well.

But said princess fought against their holds on her arms and screamed to be let go. That is until Angel Dust spun her from the fight and made her look right at him.

"Knock it off, toots. Noctis has this."

Charlie stopped, as she was surprised by Angel Dust and how strong he felt about the felt. She had expected him to be on her side but here he was holding her back and watching the fight continue, as if he knew something she didn't.

"Angel….."

"Watch." He said.

Charlie wasn't sure what had the spider demon so certain but she trusted his judgment, and watched with the others.

Adam sprinted to Noctis while the entire crowd of the hotel battle made space, his feet leaving small craters as he carried energy in his hand with intention of erasing Noctis.

"I WILL NOT BE BEATEN BY SOME REINCARNATED BITCH!"

Noctis waited patiently for Adam before darting around the combat mockingly. He dodged and weaved in a swift dance motion thanks to Carmilla and her teachings.

"This is pathetic!" Noctis taunted, judging the first man and swiping the energy away back from Adam's hand.

It connected and created a smoky explosion with Adam not letting up as he rushed blindly.

He was somehow at a disadvantage though with Noctis being so quick that he spun sideways and kicked the first man in his mouth. He effortlessly knocked teeth, spit and blood right out of Adam's mouth before jumping back.

"You may have Michael's power but you're still fat and slow!"

"Fuck you!" Adam spat and wiped his gushing mouth. "What are you!?"

"That should be obvious, dumbass." Blitz said rudely with his arms crossed, smirking at the beligerent angel as Noctis hardened everything about himself.

"Who I am is obvious." Noctis stated, and pointed at the shaking Adam. "It took me awhile to come to grips with it, but you already know who I am."

"Bullshit. You're not him. You're not Romna!" Adam spat defiantly.

Noctis, to everyone's surprise, spoke confidently with no room for second-guessing or hesitation, as if he finally faced the reality of his life.

"No I'm not, I am his reincarnation. For reasons unknown I was brought back from the dead and remade. I was given friends and a family beyond my own understanding for so long."

He looked back to Carmilla. "But now I know exactly who I am, and it's not because Sera created me."

Carmilla smiled and nodded just before he faced Adam again.

In one burst of energy he flared his aura and pressure, frightening Adam briefly with his strong declaration.

"I AM THE SON OF CARMILLA— NOCTIS SERAPHIM CARMINE!!!"

Adam flinched at that declaration but recovered knowingly this battle wasn't going his way. He readied to fight again but was stunned like the entirety of hell when Noctis reappeared under him in a burst of speed and launched him across the battlefield with the most driven kick to the chin.

"Holy shit!" All of heaven and hell exclaimed in unison.

"Damn!" Husk dropped his flask again while they all watched Noctis chase Adam like prey. "I'm starting to pity that asshole."

"FUCK HIM UP BABY!" Angel whooped.

Adam landed on his feet and was so angry that his sense of danger was completely gone at this point.

"WHAT THE FUCK WILL IT TAKE TO KILL YOU!?" He roared and thrusted his palm with bursts of wild energy scattering at Noctis.

Noctis just smirked and dodged every blast in closing of their fight, sliding on the trails of said energy and even grabbing the last one in his hand.

"Have a taste of your own bullshit!"

"What?" Adam cringed at the blast being redirected at him.

"This is for Pentious!" Noctis shouted, throwing the blast right back at him.

The explosion was instant and so was Noctis with his determination to put Adam down. He attacked without giving Adam a moment to recover by following up with a swift and precise combo of punches that blasted through Adam's body and sent him flying again.

"That's it baby! That's it!" Vaggie was cheering and whooping with Angel Dust. "Don't let up! Make it hurt!"

"Adam!" Lute was terrified by the overwhelming difference in power and couldn't move from her place.

None of the loyal exorcists could. It was as if Noctis had somehow made their own bodies freeze from the power he displayed while his combo continued with haymakers that had Adam bouncing across the ground.

Charlie was in tears as she watched her mate show just how powerless Adam was.

"This is really happening. Extermination day is gonna stop for good."

"Yeah toots." Angel said as as he gently squeezed her shoulder and watched. "Our boy is making it happen."

Charlie's eyes were gushing at this point before she hugged the spider demon tightly and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"GET HIM BABY!!!"

Noctis grinned evilly and stopped his assault after Adam stood up completely off-balance and stricken with fear and rage.

"DAMN YOU!" Adam bellowed, then suddenly flinched when Noctis did the unexpected.

In a display of dominance and sheer wanting of showing his power off, Noctis flexed his muscles and flared his divine aura as strongly as his power allowed before launching himself again with a flap of his wings.

"What's he doing?" Charlie asked, looking at her father who was watching with a cheshire grin on his face.

Noctis zoomed into Adam's space before more energy could be used, and he began to hit every vital spot of the first man who could only scream in agony.

Lucifer chuckled and became mildly proud of the boy for his efforts.

"Well Char-Char, he's about to end it."

Charlie's eyes widened just as Noctis came to his closing finish before he looked back to the city and the hotel. He glared with knowing he did the right thing making some distance and quickly infused both of his hands with his divine power.

He then looked right back at Adam and flapped once more to increase his speed, making it impossible for Adam to lock on and counter.

"THIS IS IT!"

Before Adam could even blink, Noctis thrusted both palms against his chest and poured all the energy inside with a crackling aura that floated Adam high into the air.

"What's are you doing!?" Adam twitched and writhed uncontrollably, feeling his entire body fill beyond its limit as Noctis leapt back.

"Just this!" Noctis crossed his arms out in front and manipulated all the energy to collapse. "THIS IS FOR EVERY SINNER YOU MURDERED FOR ALL YOUR DAMN FUN!"

He thrusted hands and wings into the air and screamed as high as his voice would go.

"RETRIBUTION!!!"

"That's a spell in the heaven grimoire." Lucifer cackled from his spot on the rubble.

The energy in Adam collapsed altogether to the center of chest and hummed before a massive explosion shook all of hell and blasted everyone off their feet. All that could be seen in the distance was a literal mushroom cloud and golden fires that burned all around as Charlie and the others covered their eyes from the dust.

"Damn!" Blitz exclaimed. "A little overkill ain't it!?"

"Not in this case." Millie laughed.

"Is he okay?" Loona asked just before a smoking Adam crashed into the center of the battlefield.

Noctis was too far behind either and landed gracefully on his feet. Everyone thought it to be finally over until Adam struggled to get back up while Noctis fell to one knee panting heavily.

The celebration was cut before it could begin when the others saw Noctis sweating profusely and trying to maintain his transformation.

"Noctis!" Charlie didn't waste any time and ran through the crowd and the souls to get to him.

"Charlie!" Vaggie yelled and reached but it was too late.

Charlie had used her own powers to teleport in a swirl of fire and reappear next to Noctis with her hands on his arm.

"Baby what's wrong?"

"Tired…." He panted so hard he had drool falling from his lip. "So…..tired..."

Charlie could see it wasn't just a struggle but a damn fight for Noctis to maintain his transformation when it kept flickering in and out. He wasn't just exhausted but almost drained from wearing himself down to keep the assault going on Adam.

And then it hit her like a freight train. Power didn't mean anything if you had no experience, and Noctis was journeying through this uncharted territory alone when nobody had the knowledge to guide him.

"Oh shit." Lucifer lost his sense amusement and saw that Michael's power had saved Adam from death while Noctis had used so much to end it all.

"You gotta be shitting me." Angel Dust couldn't believe it either when the charred first man was still breathing and getting up on shaky legs.

"This motherfucker just won't quit." Husk grunted in annoyance.

"You…." Adam coughed blood but pushed hard back onto his feet before flaring again. "I WILL FUCKING END YOUR EXISTENCE!"

"How is he still standing!?" Carmilla snapped in confusion.

"Motherfucker!" Blitz whined after thrashing at the air with his fists. "Why does life hate us!?"

Moxxie gave the impression a deadpan stare and asked, "Do you really need an answer to that?"

"Shut the fuck up, Moxxie!" Blitz snapped at that sarcasm while the only brave Angel rushed over to Adam.

"Sir!" Lute cried out and began to check on him "Sir we need to retreat. You're heavily wounded!"

"What?" Adam spat, making her flinch.

"Sir look at yourself." Lute pointed out his almost completely charred robes and skin. "You're barely standing because of Michael's power. We need to retreat and rethink our strategies."

Retreat, a disgusting word in Adam's vocabulary that made him bristle underneath his burnt skin. He didn't want to accept it, he wouldn't accept it, he would not run away and be seen as the one defeated in battle after millennia after millennia of being the one who called all the shots in heaven and hell.

"No."

"No?" Lute questioned.

"I said no!" Adam shoved her away and used what bit of energy he had to soar into the air. "I WILL NOT RUN FROM THESE COCKSUCKERS!"

"He's not giving up?" Beezlebub questioned before a massive explosion of Adam's aura collected in the hand he raised.

In a blinding flail of his tantrum, Adam burst the entirety of Michael's grace throughout his body and crumbled the ground beneath with just the pressure alone his body released.

"What now?" Noctis growled.

It was evident that Adam had separated himself from all his senses when he used Michael's power to soar high into the air with all the energy now collecting together in his hands. Panic started to rise when dust and debris was collecting in this slowly growing ball of holy energy that massed into a blackness that made even Lute concerned when it was being constructed with so much hate and malice.

"I AM GOING TO KILL YOU ALL!"

"Sir you can't—" Lute was unable to finish her sentence but in the end yelped when she was slapped by the same aura that collapsed around his energy.

"DON'T INTERRUPT ME BITCH!"

"He's lost his mind." Stolas gasped at the overwhelming power in Adam's fingertips and looked to Noctis as Charlie helped him up.

"Noctis you have to do something!" Said Princess told him, watching the energy grow bigger than what Adam tried the first time.

All Noctis could was look up and clench his teeth after collecting his breath. He had no choice now but to give it everything he had before Adam built up enough holy power that would surely wipe out all of hell.

It was now or never.

"Fuck it." He panted and clenched his fists. "Charlie get back."

"No!" Charlie defied that order with pressing herself to him.

For whatever reason she pressed her lips to his, and cling with so passion in said kiss that it almost felt invigorating for the seraphim lord.

"Not the time for that!" Blitz bellowed and looked up again to Adam. "Seriously you two, not the time for kissing and fucking!"

Adam laughed at the scene with a sneer.

"What? Having one more kiss before I erase all you fuckers!?"

Charlie finally parted herself from Noctis and nodded with a firm grab of his hands, watching the divine power crackle like lightning around his form.

"We can do this together." She told with such determination it was like seeing a new woman.

Noctis wanted to argue. Hell, he wanted to shove her away and do this alone. But Charlie had other plans for that when everything about their relationship fell to this.

She turned and pressed her back against his before letting her own power rise, glaring up to the first man.

"We can do this." She enunciated.

"Right." Noctis agreed, even if it felt foolish to have her life risked as well.

"Charlie no!" Vaggie yelled but was held back Lucifer himself just before the moment came. "What are you doing!?"

"Letting them try." The King of Hell implied, confusing the former exorcist.

The sinners, the souls, heaven, everyone watched as Noctis raised his fists high and then flexed his body and power and power with a rising aura that seemed to ascend to the skies. He screamed and pushed both his exhaustion and doubts aside to force the overcharge spell to draw out again while Charlie quietly raised her own power as high as she could make it go.

It might not have been much thanks to her neglect and apprehension of learning her own demon magic, but it was enough to make everyone across both realms gasp and see that she was more than just some bubbly princess when the aura started to mix like the day their blood did in the shower.

"What is that?" Millie asked excitedly, as said mixture almost knocked the wind out of Adam.

"It's...in sync." Beezlebub said with a hint of jealousy on her voice. "Their energies are similar."

"That's rare." Lucifer commented with a cocky smile, proud that his daughter was more than she let on.

Finally Charlie began to scream with Noctis as their energies crackled and arced all over like a lightning storm, creating a somewhat look-alike barrier that destroyed the ground beneath them.

"Oh fuck you!" Adam spat, grinding his teeth in irritation.

"Why's it orange?" Loona asked curiously, only to have Lucifer shrug in his own confusion.

"Who knows. That's just they're color."

Vaggie was speechless, she'd never thought Charlie to have this much power or potential hidden beneath when all she knew to be was a kind and gentle demon that hated fighting. It opened not just Vaggie's eyes but also her heart to understand that there was something beyond the loving princess she knew, but a humble being that was willing to use her everything to protect everyone she loved.

Finally the screaming stopped and both lovers ceased their combined buildup of energy, leaving the battlefield in an eerie silence of anxiety and trepidation while Adam finished with his own charge-up.

He didn't even bother running his mouth this time. Truth be told he simply had enough of this fight and simply grinned as the corrupted ball of Michael's power sparked and hummed readily to end things.

"Ready?" Noctis asked, receiving a nod from her.

With that reassurance, Noctis cupped his hands over Charlie's and drew them back as their energies channeled together in a brilliant light of gold and red.

He braced his footing first, and then helped Charlie do the same.

"This is it, Charlie. You can't hold back."

"I know." Charlie agreed as the cupped energy brightened with Noctis speaking the spell he had in mind.

"JUDGMENT....BREAKER..."

Adam wasted not one more second and throw the oversized ball down at them with certainty that it would smite all of hell.

"DIIIIEEE!!!"

Charlie could feel herself shaking from terror of the massive ball coming down, but she had to swallow it and muster the courage to stand with Noctis. She trusted him for this, for all of heaven and hell, and most importantly with her own life.

Finally Noctis thrusted his palms out with Charlie to follow, and the two them screamed together as their energies exploded in unison and soared into the air like a beacon of light that cast over hell.

The collision was strong and dangerous with the ground shaking as Charlie's hellfire pushed back with Noctis' beam, causing a shockwave that rumble the entire realm and had the entirety of Heaven on the edge of their seats.

"Come on guys, push!" Emily cheered and bounced in her seat.

Sera on the other hand couldn't believe it, even with so many eyes as part of her true form. Her son, reincarnated or not, still had this much power to spare and was unleashing everything he could from pulling on the leviathan deep within.

She never understood why Romna chose to be a divine beast. She didn't fathom his reason behind giving himself to god to become something greater when all she wanted to rule as mother and son.

But seeing this boy, this reincarnation that loved a mortal life, it dawned to her why Noctis was here and now.

"You saw his spirit." She said to herself and looked to the ceiling. "Is that why you had him brought back, sister?"

Back on the battlefield it was a torrential clash of energy that tore the ground apart around Noctis and Charlie while their friends and allies were taking cover behind another shield made personally by Lucifer and Stolas.

"Charlie, you have to let go!" Noctis yelled as the ball pushed harder against their combined power. "You can't let yourself be afraid anymore!"

Charlie flinched at that, for it was easier said than done when she spent her life being not just afraid for herself but for everyone she was working so hard to save. Fear was common for her and it was like a parasite that festered in her heart. It ruled her, it controlled her to being the gentle creature she is and now it had her doubting her own capabilities when she could see that their power was failing.

"Noctis I can't—"

"Yes you can!" He interjected and braced his footing. "Listen to me. I'm scared too. I'm always scared but I refuse to let it control me."

Such words were mildly inspirational to the princess when their efforts had them knocking on death's door. She pushed back but very little and tried to find that same courage.

"Look around you." Noctis snapped. "Look at all the souls that are watching. They are the victims of Adam and his cruelty. Doesn't that make you angry!?"

Charlie was frightened by the idea of looking away when the massive ball was getting closer, but she couldn't resist the temptation when all of Adam's victims were right there and watching with the same lingering hope her friends had.

All their pain, all their anguish, she couldn't resist see it in their eyes and how badly they wanted to pass on. Even the children who were prey to extermination day were somehow in tears as they looked to her for salvation.

But could she do it?

Suddenly her attention expanded when she saw some of these souls were still carrying babies. Actual, literal babies that were silenced by Adam and his exorcists when they cried.

And every single one of them, to Charlie's horror, had the same markings they endured when they were robbed of their living.

"No…."

"It's okay to be in pain. It's okay to be angry." Noctis continued talking to Charlie as the truth behind every death ignited her power, making her slowly form her horns again and the flames burn hotter. "But you can't let yourself be chained by it, Charlie. DO WHAT I DID WHEN LYORIA HURT ANGEL, AND EXPLODE!"

She flinched at those words but knew he was right. Charlie had to do the unthinkable and let herself be angry for the first time in her life and let it out.

"Just die already!" Adam bellowed, pushing the ball harder against the beam.

Something shifted in Charlie at that moment, something akin to the hatred she had for extermination day. She brought her attention back to Adam as the flames of her power started to condense and ripple around Noctis' beam.

"You…." She growled as her eyes turned completely red. "You won't get away with all this!"

Adam recoiled at her words but grit his teeth and gave it one last push, making the orb start to touch the ground and put hell in a panic.

She was ready though.

"Do it now!" Noctis ordered.

All her sadness, her anger, her pain, everything that was bottled inside Charlie and she completely emptied herself of this feelings in one powerful screech with Noctis. Her power was like her emotions, raw and intense with so much to give as her power merged completely with Noctis' and created the impossible.

The beam had suddenly turned orange and expanded so widely it consumed Adam's attacked and soared, engulfing him next in a burning blaze of raw light that blasted its way into the sky.

Charlie didn't know what to do when she could hear Adam's screams slowly dying out while Lute was in a panic of watching her leader disappear before her very eyes.

It didn't stop there though. No, this beam of their climbed higher and higher until Heaven itself was shaking and every angel watching both the orb or from outside saw this magnificent attack arch right next to their heavenly domain.

Doing so though gave Sera a damn good idea just how much Charlie had been holding back, and it scared her more than anything.

"Hot damn!" Angel Dust gave a low whistle just as the beam started to shrink. "Did anybody know Charlie could amp shit up like that?"

Nobody knew, not even Vaggie or Lucifer who were both gawking at their beloved princess that stopped with sweat pouring off her chin and a serious need for a rest after using so much energy.

"Not bad." Beezlebub hummed with a grin and her arms crossed. "Who knew the little creampuff had that much power in her."

All loona could do was stare with her jaw hanging. She had a a lot of work to do to deal with the competition of being in what she believed to be Noctis' pack.

Or in this case, in her perspective, be his omega.

"It's…..over?" Charlie asked herself before the realization that Adam was gone had finally hit her.

All that remained was his halo that fell bounced across the ground to Lute's feet. She couldn't believe it, the man she would follow anywhere was truly gone and all the remained was his dimmed out halo.

"Yeah bitch!" Vaggie cheered, breaking out of character to flip off Lute and the remaining exorcists. "SUCK IT!"

Everyone was surprised by her boldness, well except for Rosie who found it endearing after all the trouble of today.

"We did it." Charlie was crying happy tears now and spun to Noctis to enjoy more of that intimacy in victory. "Noctis we did. We—"

She gasped and froze, and not far behind was everyone that saw what made her heart almost stop.

"No." Carmilla said to herself and sprinted over.

"Oh shit." Blitz muttered and was right behind her with his team.

Lastly came the rest of Hazbin to follow, rushing over to see the damage that had been done.

Noctis was completely powered down but still standing with bruises and deep cuts all over his form. His eyes were completely white as a sign of lacking consciousness but somehow he was still standing and breathing in agony of his wounds.

"Baby?" Charlie reached to touch him but stopped herself midway when she was scared of doing something bad.

With only silence between them, Charlie could do nothing watch as he fell back into the arms of Carmilla and Lucifer, and was gingerly laid into the dirt with Stolas exhausting himself as is by examining his form with the grimoire.

"What happen?" Carmilla asked the goetia prince, watching him stare intently while his hands weaved over the wounds.

"He used the overcharge again and it almost tore him apart."

Charlie felt sickened by those words as the battle had yet to come into cheer while the remaining cannibals and the freed exorcists watched something else happen. Behind the Hazbin and Helluva gang the souls of the sinners began to wither away while Michael's grace started to return refill his form to its full life.

Though the battle had been won, there was still many grievances to deal with, and most of it being a very guilt-ridden archangel that sat up on Dazzle's back and watched as Charlie took a step back from the group tending to Noctis.

"Tore him apart?" She gasped, feeling it was somehow her fault.

Unbeknownst to them though, a very grieving and furious Lute scowled at Noctis' unconscious form. She picked up a nearby blade and slowly stumbled to them with intention of of malicious thinking. Physical pain for her was numb from the loss of her precious Adam, and it was pronounced in how she ignored what blood was spurring from her arm again.

"You…..vile…..filth….." she hyperventilated, seeing only red and tightening her grip. "You...traitor..."

"Uh oh." Angel said after he looked up to find the the angel getting too close. "Uh guys….."

In a last ditch effort the vile Lute lunged with a flap of her wings and raised the blade to give the killing blow. She disregarded her own position and the consequences of of killing a divine beast, all for the sake of having her own thirst for vengeance filled.

She was flying closer and closer while everyone reacted as they should, ready to defend Noctis while the remaining exorcists were watching their now highest commander through her life away.

Or so they thought….

The blade had been grabbed in a familiar hand and Lute was completely immobilized by the other that retained the same red and black from before. She gasped and gagged for her as the culprit snarled like the demon she is, showing the monster that came out briefly from when Stella made threats at the goetia palace.

"Charlie?" Vaggie said worriedly.

And indeed it was Charlie, her body almost shrouded in this power she showed before. She growled and hiss at the flailing Lute before slamming her into the ground.

She wasn't done though.

"Get away from my mate." She ordered, and kicked the angel so hard she flew back into her remaining exorcists that caught her.

"Holy shit." Everyone said in unison even the freed exorcists that circled Charlie protectively.

Lute was quick to recover and about to go into a frenzy over this, but felt both the malevolent power and witnessed it with how Lucifer had enough of the of her for one day.

Tears stained her face as she looked broken by the fact that she couldn't avenge her superior, and held onto his halo tighter after the fact Lucifer caught her attention by moving so fast it was like a blur.

He definitely had enough with how he show his demonic nature to the broken angel that looked up to him in fearful defiance.

"Take your little friends—" he paused briefly to emphasize his operation being gone by roaring with flames spitting from his mouth. "AND GO HOME!"

He finished with a soft but clearly mocking, "Please."

Lute glared up at them before she picked up what was left of her dignity and her soldiers.

Knowing she was outnumbered and outgunned, the bitter order for her people was all she could give.

"All exorcists retreat!"

Using this humiliating defeat, Lute took to the skies and flew weakly to the portal whilst glaring back at the unconscious Noctis.

"You're gonna die, divine beast."

"What's that?" Blitz remarked sarcastically with a hand to his ear. "Couldn't hear you over the ass-beating you got."

Lute twitched but held herself back from making another mistake. She flew off with her surviving forces and retreated through the Heaven portal.

Finally everyone could just relax and sigh.

"I need a dozen painkillers." Blitz sighed before twitching in pain to a pop in his neck.

Stolas sighed as well but snapped to attention when he remembered. "Oh shit. Michael…."

Everyone looked back to the archangel, only to find him standing and back to his full form after the last bit of his grace gave him full color in his blackened hair.

It was assumed that another angelic showdown was about happen when Michael snapped his fingers to make his blade return to its sheath and glared intently at the group for tending to Noctis. He was even brave enough to approach with Lucifer being the first one to step in the way when too close to Noctis.

"Shit…." Cherri snipped, knowing this might end badly.

"Dad, don't." Charlie pleaded quietly, but her father was determined to stand his ground against his own brother.

Heaven was watching this silent stare down transpire and frankly it had many of the council members scared at the thought of the rivalry coming alive a second time. Sera dreaded it the most when she had to clean up the mess the first when Lucifer was cast out of heaven but left behind scars that wouldn't be forgotten.

——————————————

"What do we do?" Gabriel asked Sera, but her attention was taken by a sudden light forming in the center of the council.

Before anyone could understand what was happening, a figure rose and emerged from the light to be just as confused and disheveled by his new location while the scene down in hell was still on Lucifer and Michael.

"Is that….." Jophiel couldn't believe who it was.

"Who….wha…." The bewildered snake stammered, not even realizing he was now an angel. "Where am I!?"

The entire council and its citizens inside gawked as he turned to a flabbergasted Sera and an excited Emily that could smile any wider.

"Oh….hello….."

"PENTIOUS!?" They all screamed before Sera passed out in her seat.

——————————————

"Fuck….." Blitz groaned silently, knowing he was out of ammo.

All they could do was surround the unconscious Noctis and wait to see what would happen between the two brothers that stared deathly at eachother.

"This is bad." Angel whispered to Husk, who was trying to muster any play cards left in his arsenal.

Beezlebub didn't dare move from Noctis. Sin or not, she knew better than to stand with Lucifer against the archangel, and frankly she didn't want to leave Noctis' side when her magic was just as helpful for Stolas to heal Noctis.

Loona on the other hand…..

"Loona, No." Millie whispered urgently, holding the bristling hellhound back by her tail as she snarled and stood over Noctis protectively.

"Charlie, what do we do?" Vaggie whispered.

Charlie didn't know what to do at all, not when it came to this…..

"Back off brother." Lucifer warned.

Michael narrowed his gaze at that threat and raised his hand…..

To Be Continued…..