At the Brink of Insanity

Chapter 27: The answer

The moment Lucifer and Mammon stepped into the jungle, they triggered series of explosions. Explosions started earthquakes, and earthquakes combined with explosions resulted in grave injuries for the two. Barely escaping another even more powerful explosion, Lucifer and Mammon unclasped their wings and got up in the sky, only to end up dodging light blue arrows of remarkable speed, which were shot their way.

"Leave a girl with Beelzebub and he'll turn her into a warrior!" shouted Mammon over the explosions. 

"Let's just kill that girl and end this!" shouted Lucifer back. 

Nodding back to the King of Hell, the duo launched towards the source of the arrows, Iris. They were already prepared for Beelzebub, knowing fully well not to let their guard down, because places like these were Bub's specialties and considering he had more than enough time to set all the traps he wanted and make the plans he knew would work, Mammon and Lucifer, no matter their combined power, knew Bub wouldn't be easy to conquer. 

More arrows came their way, this time both Iris' and Beelzebub's. Slowly, to normal human's eye even unnoticeable, arrows picked up more and more speed as they came, which also made the two to lower their position and fly through woods, just as Beelzebub wanted them to.

And there she was. Standing in the middle of the jungle with her bow in her hands, firing arrows at the demons as they came as if it was her regular daily activity. Since she was alone, it meant three things. One, Beelzebub was ready to strike any moment, two, he trusted her enough to leave her standing there alone, and three, she trusted him just as much.

Mammon sped up in order to land the finishing blow, hoping that he'll be faster than Beelzebub in reaching the young girl. The thing which surprised Lucifer though, was the fast when Mammon was only a meter away from slashing the girl, Beelzebub still hadn't appeared. For only a second, in the back of Lucifer's mind, he asked himself whether the girl killed him in his sleep, until he came to conclusion where Beelzebub was exactly. Right behind him.

A slash so powerful to destroy the whole rainforest was sent his way, and Lucifer was barely able to block it. At the same time, as the force of the slash threw him towards Mammon, Iris activated an ancient flame casting spell only few demons with high spiritual power were able to perform. The range of the explosion caught both Mammon and Lucifer, and while being burned by it would be enough to buy some time, Iris' spell was strengthened by Beelzebub's sealing one. The green chains the spell manufactured wrapped around the two demons, fully immobilizing them.

Unclasping his wings and grabbing Iris around her waist, Beelzebub launched towards the sky, flying towards the ocean, "It's time for us to retreat. You don't want to see those two angry, trust me." 

"Do you think we can even escape then? You are fast, but considering that you have to carry me, don't you think they'll catch up to us?" responded Iris.

"Oh, I'm sure they'll catch up." replied the second strongest in Hell, "That's why we'll find the solutions to this game of Lou's and win." 

"There's actually an answer?!" asked Iris as she felt a wave of heat coming from the spot they flew away from. Lucifer and Mammon had freed themselves and were coming to get them.

"Of course there is! Well, maybe..." smiled Beelzebub, "You see, this game was quite rushed with you guys unlike with the previous generations. There's a reason for that though," explained Beelzebub as he dodged a fire ball sent by Mammon, "tension between Heaven and Hell has drastically risen in the last three months. A war will break out most likely. That's why Lucifer even considered skipping this year's game and do it next year with you kids, but as you can tell, he changed his mind."