A glorious being sat in an obsidian throne, in a large throne room, sipping on wine from a pure black glass cup. Her white hair glistened in the light emitted by a large glowing orb floating at the center of the room. Her crimson eyes were fixated on the female demon entering her abode. She smiled cunningly as the demon bowed in front of her.
"What do you seek, Mazikeen?" she asked in a crystal clear voice.
"I have something to report my Lady Lucifer." Mazikeen responded.
"And that is?"
"Asmodeus. He has aided in the rebirth of the Shadow Paladin, giving the Order leverage against us." Mazikeen sighed.
"Rise Mazikeen." Lucifer ordered.
Mazikeen did so.
"I know of Asmodeus' dealings in the mundane realm. Perhaps the rebirth of the Shadow Paladin might be what we were waiting for." Lucifer smiled and stood up.
A pair of brilliant white wings sprouted from her back, showing their full glory.
"Tell me Mazikeen, how do you expect us to go to the silver city if we don't open up to new possibilities? I kept that fool, Asmodeus alive because I know what he plans to accomplish might help me in many ways."
"In what such ways Lucifer?" Mazikeen asked eagerly.
"You'll find out soon enough. Tell Asmodeus to send his son to the Paladin of the Shadow. That should help me get what I want."Lucifer laughed sadistically.
" Yes my Lord,"Mazikeen bowed and hurriedly exited the throne room.
Lucifer walked towards the balcony of the throne room and smiled again as she looked at the nine levels of the underworld displayed before her.
" Almighty one, you call yourself. Watch me storm back into the Silver city to claim what is mine, God!" she laughed mischievously.
********************************
"Dante, wake up!" Rena shouted at Dante who had covered his head with a pillow.
"I won't go to school today!" he whined.
"Oh yes you will!" she threatened.
However, Dante didn't budge so she decided to use a trick she normally used.
"One, two, three..."
Dante stood up immediately. He had learned painfully to never let Rena count to five. He run to his bathroom and shut the door, leaving Rena giggling.
Oh how she missed their banter! Dante had been mad at her for three good weeks out of the six weeks he had joined the Soliel Order(almost a year in the Shadow fell realm), but he had come around soon enough.
In about two hours , Dante's car was on it's way to Lakeview High. When he parked it in the car park, he saw Luke waiting for him(Brian moved to Italy) , a worried expression all over his face.
"What's the problem, Luke?" Dante asked as he climbed out of the car.
One word from Luke was enough to make Dante rush into the school building.
"Fester!"
Sure enough, Fester was standing by his locker, surrounded by a small crowd. His eyes locked with Dante's and a vengeful smile formed on his face.He broke free of the crowd and walked over to the the gaping Dante.
"Hello Dante or should I say Shadow Paladin?" he whispered.
"What do you want demon?" Dante growled underneath his breath.
"Nothing much, hobo. Just an audience with you at three pm. Behind the school."Fester smiled and walked away.
" This is bad. "Luke said.
" I know. "Dante sighed.
Throughout the school day, Dante couldn't focus. He kept thinking about his incoming encounter with Fester. He had learnt in one of his classes with Rena that Fester was a demon who Asmodeus took pride in, mostly because of one thing.
He possessed one of the Ten Demonic swords, which were highly destructive weapons forged in the pits of Hell.
Three pm came faster than anticipated and Dante hurried to the venue for their meeting along with Luke. Fester was already there, leaning against the wall, waiting for him.
"I'm here." Dante announced.
"I know that." Fester smirked.
"If you want an apology, you won't get any." Dante declared.
"Oh I'm not here for apology. I'm here for revenge."
Suddenly, Fester closed in on Dante at an insane speed. He released a punch towards Dante's gut. Luke, however, caught Fester's fist, stopping the punch completely.
"Nice reflexes. Too bad, you're just a human." Fester laughed and punched with his other fist.
"Very predictable" Luke said as he caught the incoming fist.
"I like to give my opponent the benefit of the doubt."
Fester kicked Luke in the chest, sending him crashing into the outerwall. That was Dante's opportunity to attack. With an extraordinary speed, he shot towards Fester and jumped. He somersaulted mid air and landed behind Fester, throwing him a few meters away.
"Wow, impressive!" Fester stood up and brushed the dirt off his clothes.
"I know" Dante said smugly, a purple haze forming around him as he released his Arcaneum.
Fester laughed and started to transform. His hands became clawed, and a single horn formed on his upper right forehead.
"I am Mara, son of Asmodeus and today I am going to get the vengeance I so deserve!"