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

Chapter 40: Demoness of the Night

Lily prepared to defend herself from the giant demon's attacks. The Prince of Sloth roared and rushed towards her. He had two hot iron spheres chained to his arms - the weapons which he swung at Lily at full force. Lily jumped aside and barely dodged the hit.

"Mom!" Incubus was worried.

Now Kerubiel too had grown concerned - Abaddon's true form wasn't weak at all. But he tried to stay calm, for he trusted in Lily's powers. He had once absorbed those powers, so he knew their limit, which, as he already was aware, did not really exist but depended entirely on Lily's soul strength. 

Lily swung her black moon staff and shot red rays at the opponent. She had already gotten a grasp of her moon staff powers. She figured they were controlled by her imagination - the stronger she imagined the hit, the mightier it would become for real. 

But those hits weren't enough to bring Abaddon down. He took the hits on his iron spheres, and then, swung them at Lilith:

"You are a nuisance! You have no wits of how to battle. Prepare to die!"

Lily jumped aside again and dodged the hits. She swung her staff and went on the offensive:

"I doubt you're as diligent as to calculate your attacks either. After all, as you've said, you're the prince of Sloth!"

"Fool! How you dare insult me?" 

Abaddon blew hellfire out of his mouth. Lily shrieked and raised her staff, not sure how to defend herself.

"Mom, look out!" Incubus cried.

As if by instinct, once Lilith imagined something protect her, a blue shield in form of a half moon emerged and defended her from the fire. She widened eyes at the apparition - she could create shields too?

"Looks like you've only now discovered that power. But no big deal, you're still trash!" 

Abaddon swung his iron spheres and blew fire at her. Lily raised her staff as before, but her shield couldn't take too many hits, so it broke. The demonic fire hit her. She screamed and fell, burnt.

"Mother!" Incubus got frightened.

Kerubiel clenched his fists in worry. He barely held himself from diving into the battle. He knew he should wait for Lily to recover her combat skills, so he waited.

"Hahaha! That's all you've got? Pathetic!" Abaddon laughed.

Lily coughed and stood up. Her arm had received a burn mark. She glared at the monstrous demon, and then looked at her staff:

This moon thing on my staff has to mean something. Why it is that Lilith's son was Incubus, the demon of nightmares? Why not some other sort of a demon? And this moon staff? It has got to tie in somehow...

A faint voice of Samael struck her in her conscience, as if a remembrance of the deep past she had never known as 'Lily' but rather as 'Lilith':

"Do not forget, Lilith - you are now the demon of the night, the moon, the darkness, and the deep slumber in which all creatures fall before the destruction strikes them. As my wife, you are the strongest demon there is, and only second to me in strength. Try to tame that demonic aura within you. I did not want to blight you with it, but unfortunately, until I find a way to remove it, you will have to bear with it. I am sorry, my love..."

The voice became vaguer and vaguer, until finally, it silenced. Lily realised she was still on the battlefield. Just as she came to her senses, she saw the iron spheres come at her.

"Ah!" 

She jumped away and barely managed to avoid the hit. Abaddon's mocking laugh sounded:

"Don't space out, woman! No time for that!"

So, slumber, night, and the moon, huh? Well then, if slumber, then be it slumber, lazy boy... 

Lily transformed into her Basic Ultimate form: her red-to-black wings glowed completely black, and the gem of her moon staff glowed red. Her eyes glowed red as well. She began singing in a serene, melodic voice. 

Abaddon grew confused since he expected something more energetic like a direct shot. But soon, he realised the true power of Lilith's chant - his eyes began drooping. He could barely hold himself from collapsing. He snarled:

"Ugh, you..."

Lily continued singing in her charming voice, which had no effect on Incubus, Kerubiel, or Amiel, but straightly affected Abaddon. The fiend growled, but then yawned and blinked - sleep was overtaking his conscience. He fell to the ground and began to snore. When Lily caught him asleep, she let out a siren-like chant and made his body explode. 

Incubus, Kerubiel, and Amiel widened eyes in shock - how the heck did she blast that giant demon to pieces with just a song?! Kerubiel chuckled and crossed his arms:

"That's the demoness of the night for you".

"My mom is scary..." Incubus gulped.

"She sure is..." Amiel agreed.

Kerubiel laughed at their remarks. Lily turned back into her normal soul form, accessed her body, and stood up as a human. She dusted off her clothes and looked at her astonished friends:

"Well, that's it. Let's continue our way?"

"You... You feel too calm about that fight back there..." Incubus blinked in a stupor. "How the heck did you defeat him so easily?"

"Well, I just remembered how Sammy told me in my Lilith life that I had become a demon of the night, the moon, the darkness, and the slumber. I figured that if Abaddon was a demon of sloth, he would best be defeated by slumber since it is the main weakness for all lazy people. So, I sang the Deathly Sleep Chant, which, apparently, I had known in the past. I made him fall asleep, and then poof, he exploded. The Deathly Sleep Chant is such a song that, if you fall asleep when listening to it (and it does urge you to do so), you will die".

Sweat poured off Incubus' forehead:

"Sometimes you scare me more than dad does..."

Lily laughed in response. She grabbed his and Kerubiel's hands:

"Well, let's go! Sammy's waiting for us!"

"If you awaken amazing powers like that on the way, I should doubt even my coming along was necessary," Kerubiel chuckled.

They continued their way on to meet the next obstacles.