Apostles of Doom

Okay, it was true there were a few other details. Their scrying equipment was quite remarkable; they had completely analyzed the fortress and found several weaknesses. It was so remarkable, in fact, that it had him rethinking some of the defenses at his own sites. That being said, it was still a seriously overused and blatantly pathetic plan.

Of course, Sam suddenly thought to himself, no one in the Abyss would even be capable of imagining that someone might try such a brain-numbingly simple-minded plan. In fact, they might actually overlook it as a possibility. That caused Sam to raise an eyebrow. Could these nitwits actually “under-think” an archdemon? This just keeps getting more interesting. Much better than another mountain-climbing expedition. He was so happy he had stumbled upon these poor lost souls.

The Inferno

“Verify that defensive shields are in place,” Captain Cranshall ordered.

“All battle station shields are at optimal strength,” XO Stevensword reported.

“As we, hopefully, get close to our target, one question still puzzles me,” Barabus said to Heron in the chair beside him.

“And that is?” the wing arms master asked.

“You are here to serve justice and the writ of law upon this demon,” Barabus stated.

“Indeed,” Dante said from the chair on his other side. Barabus gave him a glance and a nod before turning his head back to Heron.

“So what do you plan to actually do when we confront the demon?” Barabus asked.

“Serve up justice, execute our writ, of course,” Dante replied once more unhelpfully.

“Yes, I get that, but in physical terms, what does that mean? Are you arresting him and taking him back for trial? High justice?”

Heron nodded and started to speak.

“Exactly,” Dante interrupted.

Barabus rolled his eyes while facing Heron, who gave him a tight smile.

“If he will surrender, then we will bring him back for trial. If not, we are authorized to either contain him and bring him back, or if that is not feasible, we will try him here and then execute him,” Heron said.

“How would you contain him?” Barabus asked, in shock at that thought. “My suspicion is that he is no simple fourth-order demon.”

“We have the ability to contain an archdemon, if need be,” Dante told him.

That caused Barabus to rotate and face the chancellor. “You do? When he is already standing before you? Not summoned?” The arch-vicar general gave the chancellor a suspicious look.

That caused Dante to frown. “In theory. I admit it might be a bit tricky; we’ve never actually done it before. Not for an archdemon and not on an unsummoned demon, but in theory, it should work.”

“I see,” Barabus replied. He did, indeed. That option was most definitely not going to happen. He turned back to Heron. “So you have the weapon capacity to destroy an archdemon in the Abyss? Keep it from regenerating?”

“We have a couple of options on the table. Obviously, we won’t know for sure until we try them. No one has ever tried to slay an archdemon in the Abyss, as far as I know,” Heron replied.

“Except for Sir Samwell,” Dante interjected. “He said he pursued an archdemon into the Abyss.”

“Yes, but as I recall, he ended up in the creature’s dungeon, where he was tortured,” Heron replied.

“Although he did survive, so… I have no idea. We will have to get his opinion,” Barabus said.

“Assuming of course, the knights are not captured during their mission,” Dante noted.

Barabus closed his eyes for a moment. “Well, he’s escaped an archdemon’s lair before; we assume he can do it again. It may just be a while.”

“CSO Halferth, lower the cloaking shields,” Captain Cranshall ordered.

“Let us see what happens now,” Heron said, staring forward at the main viewing screen as the image of the fortress suddenly became much clearer as they revealed themselves.

Mount Doom: Fourth Period

Tom sighed as he made his way into his bedroom. He was just returning from another training session in the Oubliette. He was not sure how much had penetrated; he had still been feeling rather high. He supposed that was the term. He shook his head, remembering his late night musical dance number, or whatever that had been, in the library, communing with a set of robes.

It did seem to help a bit. He had practiced a few times after returning the robes to their storage case. He was able to make Edwyrd’s skin appear rune-tattooed and baggy. It was a start, he supposed. He would need to get Antefalken to give him some pointers, perhaps tonight, but for now he needed to rest. He had gotten very little sleep last night before the Oubliette crew had come pounding on his door for more training sessions.