The Guardian Angel (The Guardians of Nine Heavens #1)

Chapter 38: The Invaders

Amongst the crimson flames and skulls of hell, was a red lava cavern, where painful shrills of the fallen angel sounded from. That cavern was the dwelling of Archdemoness Layla - the direct descendant of the Black Energy and the heiress of the infernal kingdom.

To the red stone wall, Samael was chained, stained in the divine blood which had mixed with the blackened blood of his demonic energy. It meant he was wounded right in the core of his being. Mammon and the four other princes of hell - brothers of Layla and Samael - sat nearby with vicious grins on their faces. Layla had grown her red claws and would stab Samael every now and then. She seemed rather irritated:

"Ugh surrender already! You are a demon, a part of us!" 

She pierced his chest with her claws, making him bleed and yell. Samael breathed hard from exhaustion, but the spark in his cold eyes never faded.

"You will have to break your arm before you get my core out. Once I break these chains, I will make you regret, demon".

"Whoops, a correction - if you break those chains". 

Mammon smirked while playing with a card in his hands. The other princes laughed.

"Surrender, Satan! You cannot overpower us in your condition!" Layla pricked her claws deeper into Samael's flesh, making him shriek again. "Just look at you - you were born to be our king, bearing two powers along with two names: Lucifer, the lord of pride, and Satan, the lord of wrath! But what have you become? A worthless angel dumped into the trash by the heavens!"

"You are not worth my spit," Samael glared at her with his icy-blue eyes. "Your lords are trash compared to the weakest angels!"

"Shut up!" Layla stabbed him even deeper, making him cough blood. "Give up! No one's going to save you. They don't care about you!"

"I don't hope for anyone's coming... I'll break loose and cut you up on my own".

Two low-level demons broke in:

"Lady Layla, we have four intruders!"

"Huh?" 

Layla and her brothers started. Layla grew enraged: 

"How you dared let them in? Who the heck are they?"

"We tried to prevent their invasion but the leader's penetrating skills were higher than our defence!" the demons shivered once beheld their queen's wrath. "They are led by Lord Kerubiel, the Eye of Heavens. The group consists of the angel of innocence - Amiel, the prince of nightmares - Incubus, and a strange demon girl in a human body".

Samael widened eyes - they had come for him? Who the heck was a demon girl in a human body_ Wait, they didn't mean Lilith?!

Don't tell me they gave her those demonic powers back?!

Shivers ran down his spine - how could that brat Kerubiel break his promise? When the heck did he even arrive on the earth to help_ Wait, they said, Amiel? That little angel was here too? How come? Wasn't she the guardian of that little boy Johan_ No way, so Johan was Kerubiel?!

That damn brat, he hid his aura so I wouldn't detect him! Just what game is he playing at?! He knew Lilith couldn't control her powers! But... 

They did not say 'demon girl', but 'a demon girl in a human body'. Did that mean she had actually got a hold of those powers? He couldn't believe it - she was a human soul, how the heck could she get a hold of those infernal powers?

While he brooded over the matter, Layla got so enraged that her entire body emitted infernal flames:

"You morons! Tell all the divisions to stop them!"

"Huh? No need to get so worked-up over some wimps, big sister," one of her brothers - a tall young demon with long black hair - chuckled and stood from the sofa. "I'll go stop them. I doubt they'll be a match for me".

"Huh?" Layla looked at him, "Oh, alright, Abaddon. Go and take care of those fools at once! I'll try to tame our stubborn brother, meanwhile".

"Wee!" 

Abaddon unfolded his red demonic wings and flew out of the cavern.

"I could never think he would be the one to volunteer..." another demon prince - a grumpy man with long green hair and vile yellow eyes - muttered.

"My, my, let him be... He's got too bored, it seems," Mammon adjusted his glasses with a smile. "He went to have a little fun. Besides, he knows it'll be easy and effortless".

"I sometimes envy his stupidity - life would be a lot easier".

Mammon chuckled at his brother's remark. Meanwhile, Samael endured the infernal pain in silence now, since his thoughts had focused on another matter:

Lilith, please don't do something stupid out there, you little fool...

His heart had sunk with worry as he imagined the dangers his little wife would have to face.