The Soul Domain trembled.
Thousands of ghostly chains filled the battlefield like a forest of death.
At the center of it stood two figures.
Alex
and
Azrael.
Both injured.
Both refusing to fall.
Azrael slowly walked forward, dragging his massive scythe across the ground.
The metal screeched against the black stone.
"You should already be dead," Azrael said coldly.
Alex wiped blood from his eye.
"I get that a lot."
Azrael stopped a few steps away.
His glowing blue eyes examined Alex carefully.
"You've lost too much blood."
Chains of souls began rising from the ground again.
"You can't win inside my domain."
Alex looked around the battlefield.
The screaming souls.
The chains tightening around him.
The overwhelming pressure.
Then he smiled.
"Good."
Azrael frowned.
"What?"
Alex raised his sword again.
"If it were easy…"
"…it wouldn't be worth taking."
Suddenly—
BOOM!
Alex's demonic aura exploded again.
Dark red flames surged across his body.
The power of Wrath erupted violently.
The chains around him shattered.
Azrael's eyes widened slightly.
"You're forcing more power out of your body?"
Alex laughed.
"Why not?"
His voice became darker.
"My body can break later."
He rushed forward.
Their weapons collided again.
CLANG!
The shockwave shattered dozens of soul chains.
Azrael swung his scythe again.
But Alex dodged and slashed across Azrael's side.
Blood spilled across the battlefield.
Azrael jumped back immediately.
For the first time—
His calm expression cracked.
"You're insane."
Alex grinned.
"Maybe."
Then he pointed his sword at him.
"But I'm still standing."
Back on Earth
Gabriel suddenly screamed.
The pain was worse than anything before.
It felt like his entire body was tearing apart.
Bones cracked.
Muscles burned.
Blood filled his lungs.
Gabriel fell onto the chapel floor.
Nyx barked anxiously beside him.
The shadow wolf circled him protectively.
But the shadows around Gabriel began reacting violently.
Darkness flooded the entire chapel again.
Shadow spikes burst from the ground.
More than ever before.
Fifty.
Sixty.
Seventy.
Gabriel forced himself to breathe.
"So much pain…"
But instead of collapsing—
He absorbed it.
The pain flowed into his body like fuel.
The shadows obeyed him more easily now.
Nyx's body grew larger again.
The wolf now looked like a massive shadow beast.
Gabriel slowly pushed himself up.
His silver eyes glowed faintly in the darkness.
"So this is what happens…"
"When Alex fights someone powerful."
The curse wasn't just transmitting pain anymore.
It was transforming it.
Into power.
Gabriel wiped blood from his mouth.
Then whispered quietly.
"Keep fighting, brother."
Nyx growled proudly beside him.
"Because every battle you survive…"
Gabriel's shadow stretched across the entire chapel.
"…makes me stronger."
Hell
The battlefield shook again.
Azrael stood breathing heavily now.
Alex had forced him back multiple times.
Something that should have been impossible.
Azrael wiped the blood from his side.
"You're pushing your body beyond its limits."
Alex shrugged slightly.
"So?"
Azrael raised his scythe again.
"Then I'll finish this."
The entire Soul Domain trembled.
All the chains gathered together.
Thousands of screaming souls wrapped around Azrael's scythe.
The weapon grew enormous.
Azrael's voice echoed across the battlefield.
"REAPER JUDGMENT."
The sky above the domain darkened.
Even the demons watching from afar felt fear.
Alex looked up at the massive attack.
Then smiled.
"Finally…"
He raised his sword.
His Wrath energy exploded even stronger.
"Now this is a fight."
Far Away — The Throne of Hell
On his throne…
Lucifer watched silently.
The burning mirror showed Alex facing Azrael's ultimate attack.
Lucifer leaned forward slightly.
His golden eyes gleamed with interest.
"Yes…"
His voice was soft.
"Show me."
His gaze shifted briefly to another image.
Gabriel standing inside the chapel surrounded by living shadows.
Lucifer smiled slowly.
"Both of you."
The King of Hell whispered like a god observing his creations.
"Grow stronger."
Because the war for Hell had only just begun.