The van continued driving until it finally came to a stop.
"Papers please," a human asked at the outskirts of Prosperia, about 30 miles southwest of Sorbella.
The human looked at the papers in shock.
"Hiding demons to transport to Sorbella. Please let us pass."
The human guards looked confused until one said, "let them pass."
The van continued for another few miles until it abruptly came to a stop.
"Everyone get out and run," the driver screamed in horror.
Gluttony used one of his fat fists to smash the van's front end. The two other vans skidded off the road and into trees, killing the drivers instantly.
Chaos ensued as all three vans back doors opened. It was a demon free for all.
Demons toppled over one another as they sprinted out the back.
Unfortunately for many of them, they were unable to survive Gluttony, James and Isaac (the other demon following the Getz) attacks.
"Propaganda!" Julius yelled and it temporarily disabled James and Isaac, allowing his mother and himself to distance themselves from the chaos. Unfortunately, they ran the wrong way.
"Who do we have here?" Gluttony said after licking his lips.
"Run, Julius. Don't stop. Don't look back. The more demons, people, anything he eats the more powerful he gets. I love you! Get to Sorbella!" Clarissa shouted.
"But… mom… I love you I can't leave," he said.
Clarissa used a supersonic blast to knock her son away as Gluttony continued tossing demon after demon into his mouth, easily shredding through their flesh and bone with ease. His eyes glimmered with power every time he ate.
"If there's any god or goddess out there… Please help!" Clarissa prayed. Gluttony grabbed Clarissa, snapped her neck and Julius screamed in horror.
"MOM!!!! NOOOOOOO!" He screamed. He scrambled to get on his feet and sprinted as fast as he could.
As Julius was sprinting, he heard Gluttony scream, "You're that demon traitor bitch, I'll kill you myself."
Julius stopped and turned to see what was going on.
'The King and Queen are here with Sera and another!' he thought as his heart filled with joy.
He knelt down and said a prayer.
"Athena and all the other gods and goddesses, please ensure my Mother's death wasn't in vain. She saved my life and protected me from following in my Father's footsteps as a pawn of Azazel. Please let her rest in Paradise even though she was born a demon!"
Julius wiped the tears from his face and heard Sora shout something he never heard before.
"Eye of Chronos!"
"Thirty seconds Brie and Sera that's all you have!" Sora yelled.
The rest of the world froze as Sera's hair went from black to white and she grabbed the demon elemental whip. Brie cast several ice shards that impaled Gluttony's large gut. Sera used her supersonic speed and got in as many whips as she could.
"Retreat!" Sora yelled.
'Release,' he thought.
Time began flowing normally again and Gluttony was heavily damaged. Black blood oozed from his wounds. He grabbed the two last demons and ate them, which only slowed down his bleeding slightly.
"What the fuck was that?!" Gluttony screamed in pain as he teleported to Azazel.
Sora hugged Julius tightly as he cried in horror.
"My mom! All those demons! I was useless! Fuck!" Julius cried.
Sora knelt down and looked him in the eyes with a kind smile.
"I'm sorry we didn't get here sooner but had your mother not prayed, we wouldn't have got here at all! It felt good to give that sin a beating!"
Julius still cried. Brie and Sera both hugged him.
"You did everything you could!" they said.
"Wait, you're my teacher's daughter!" Julius exclaimed, wiping tears from his eyes.
"You know what her demon art is right?" Sera asked with a friendly smile.
Julius shook his head no.
"It's foresight. If your mother brought you, that means your mother knew the sacrifice she was making. Were you on a journey from Obsidian Hallow?" Sera said emphatically.
Julius shook his head yes.
"We were being followed for the past few days. My Father is a general in the army. We lied and said we were going on a human trapping mission," Julius said while trying to calm himself down.
"Sora, we need to help the demons out. We need to make this trip for them a safe one. There were three vans and only one demon is alive. They shouldn't have to risk their lives for freedom! I know I've only been awake for a few days, but it's the least we can do," Brie said with a kind smile.
"You really mean that?" Sera said with a smile.
"Of course I do. I'm just glad we finally beat a sin. Pride nearly killed us and Wrath kicked our ass a while ago," Brie said.
"Pride and Wrath are on another level. They've been given the most power from Azazel and whomever he keeps behind the shadows," Sera said.
"Celeste take us home," Sora said with a smile.
Celeste finally became visible and gave Julius a friendly wave.
"No. You do it. You need to work on your teleportation without using the seal. You did a great job getting us here," she said politely.
"Those eyes… are you a goddess?" Julius said with a bow.
"Yes, I am," Celeste said with a smile. "Your mother is in Paradise. Don't you worry she'll always be with you," Celeste said while pointing to his heart.
Julius felt a warm glow in his heart. He wasn't sure if it was real or he imagined it.
Sora teleported the group to the mansion.
"Where is everyone?" Julius asked. "Don't you have the horned lady, the Uthra dude and the vampires?"
Brie laughed. "Something like that. They're probably in the dojo. We train a lot."
"Well, I want to join your party!" Julius exclaimed enthusiastically.
"Not yet buddy. You're too young," Sora said while patting him on the head.
"Propoganda!" Julius shouted and stared at Sora.
"Eye of Lockheart!" Sora whispered.
Julius stood in a daze smiling. Brie grabbed him and put him on the ground in an awkward position.
"Release!" Sora whispered.
"What the? I was with my parents, how the hell?" Julius said, clearly confused. "My demon art had no effect and how am I on the ground?! How the hell did I end up sitting like this?"
Brie giggled. "Not quite sure."
"Let's train you up at a school for the gifted. We can have Celeste build one. Sera, are you willing to teach the class for now for demons?" Sora asked politely.
"Of course," Sera said while slapping Julius on the head. "Trying to attack the King is a good way to get yourself killed!"
"I was just trying to prove my worth," Julius cried.
The rest of the party heard the commotion and headed upstairs. After hearing what happened, they all agreed to create a school and setup safe check points for the demons trying to travel to Sorbella.
"What do we do with Julius?" Celeste asked. "Not like we can just give him a house and say go live alone at 15 years of age."
"Julius, would you like to stay with us for now?" Brie offered politely.
"Yes. Thank you so much. Do you have anything to eat? I'm starving."
"Come with me," Sera said.
They made their way to a refrigerator in her room. She took out a pound of human flesh and told him, "Eat up."
After finishing their meal, they quickly returned to the living area.
"Sora, I think you need to buy a crematorium," Brie suggested.
"Won't people want the ashes?" Sora asked.
"I swear you'd think this guy lived 5000 years ago or something. No one cares anymore. They all know where we go when we die," Sasha joked while rolling her eyes.
"Ok, go buy one under your name Levi. Take Sasha with you," Sora ordered.
"Celeste lets go work on building this school," Sora said excitedly.
******
"What the fuck happened to you?" Azazel said as he healed Gluttony.
"Not sure my lord. One minute I was slaughtering demons and having myself a nice meal. I felt really powerful. Then it's like time froze and Sora showed up and Sera and Brie somehow kicked my ass while standing right next to Sora," Gluttony said, frowning. "Sorry my lord I don't usually fail."
"Pride, get in here now," Azazel demanded.
"Yes, my lord?" Pride asked as he laughed at Gluttony. "Pathetic."
"When you fought Sora, did anything weird happen?"
"Brat tried to freeze time but it didn't do much," Pride shrugged.
"Well apparently he's getting better at it, damnit!" Azazel said as he kicked Gluttony and sent him flying into the wall.
He teleported Pride and Gluttony out of the room.
"He gets stronger Azazel. Tread carefully," her golden eyes shined as the goddess spoke.
"I think it's time he and I had a little chat," Azazel said with a smirk.