Chapter 257: THE TIGHT ROOM part 2

Joseph's eyes saddened at the sentence,

But to not worry his sister,

he smiles nonetheless.

He then destroys the black vines covering the room,

And noticed quickly the warm temperature.

He gave deep breaths as he destroys the rest,

And when he sees Belphegor, called out but to no avail.

He then saw no better option but dive there himself,

And entered hesitantly, the demon's nest.

His heart was beating fast,

And his sweat continued to drop.

He heard quickly the bug's growls and shrieks,

and understood now,

why he don't want them back.

"I told you not to come."

Belphegor said, rather upset.

Joseph felt a bit irritated of the lack of thanks,

But felt a bit sorry for the demon,

when he saw his lack of limbs.

"My sister and I owe you our lives,"

But he did not dare respond.

Joseph's eyes then locked on his missing ears,

And realized, why he doesn't seem to hear.

He felt scared all of a sudden, as he can't afford losing more body parts,

"Tsk, losing my arms is more than enough!"

The black vines then quickly covers the hole,

Trapping him together with Belphegor.

"There's no backing down now, Joseph.

I told you not to come, but you went.

Just make sure that you don't regret this.

Because at this rate,

I'm already weak.

Your safety and mine,

I could never guarantee."

Joseph nods and readies his stance,

But soon noticed something more bizzare.

The room stinks a lot and smells like dead people,

And when he glowed to look,

felt very awful.

Lots of women were on the ground,

And a familiar corpse was placed on the further side.

A cabinet that was filled with runes and scribes,

Was also covered with ever blinking eyes.

"And I thought that we're only dealing with the bug,

But eh, this is a horrible smell!

I'm surprised you didn't cut your nose as well!"

Joseph whined, as Belphegor sighed, certain all he was blabbering about were complaints.

"Be serious, Joseph. Your sister is not here.

If you don't focus now,

You may never escape."

The angel gulped as Belphegor strikes,

But the bug's next move, only took him by surprise.

The bug started singing its sleepy song again,

Making Joseph panic as he couldn't cover his ears.

Belphegor, who knows that cloth itself won't work,

Tried to catch Joseph when he dropped on the floor.

Joseph, who had woken up from Belphegor's heavy breathing,

Quickly realized the danger of the monster they're dealing.

He quickly stabs himself in order to stay awake,

Surprising Belphegor of how good Joseph could take.

"Erggh...if I was a demon I would have cursed a hundred times now,"

Joseph comments as he feels his blood pour out.

He then felt thankful not cutting his ears out,

As he soon heard the bug approaching from above.

He rose his bladed arm and the bug could only scream,

Making the smaller insects from the bloor burn and beam.

Joseph felt his feet burn from the radiance,

And Belphegor could only pull him back.

The moment his sword exits the bug's flesh,

Its allies calmed down as well.

"So...this big bug...

That can phase and blend on its surroundings,

And command troops to do her bidding,

She's the queen."

Joseph soon burns the floor himself,

Making the little bugs melt away.

The Queen bug soon tackles the angel enraged,

As Belphegor pulled her from the tail.

"The...room, is getting tighter,

My summons...are...getting fewer,"

Belphegor laments,

As he looks for a reason to seek escape.

The angel soon headbutts the Queen's head,

Making her seek revenge.

The Queen opened its mouth to bite his head,

Only to be met by something horrid in taste.

The Queen soon realized that she was biting on Belphegor's slimy summon,

A poisonous slug that he had been saving from before.

Belphegor then smiles at Joseph's actions,

"Thank you for being a good bait,

now my plan went in succession."

Belphegor soon pulls the bug with all his might,

Making Joseph have enough space to escape its grasp.

"The bug almost killed me!!!

I was worried you wouldn't care!"

"I'm sorry but I can't hear you,

So whatever you say, I'll be unaware."

The Queen became furious of the damage she was dealt,

That it quickly turned towards Belphegor, and attack.

The demon was pushed to the wall and his face wrinkles in pain.

But in determination to defeat the monster,

Kicked the bug away.

...

Joseph kills the remaining troops the bug has,

Its stupid allies did not dare dodge him, because they're attracted to light.

He swore he could almost laugh,

Witnessing them foolishly burn and die.

He then sees the cabinet and realized its significance,

And soon wondered why it was so protected.

"What does this house? Her eggs?

Would it be a good idea to destroy this as well?"

The eyes around it soon turned into mouths,

Shouting and warning the guardian around.

The bug soon screams and plays her song,

But since Joseph's adrenaline was high,

He wasn't affected at all.

"I still feel the pain on every inch of my body,

No way I could sleep that easily."

He says mockingly at the bug,

As he then tried to open the cabinet,

it's so worried about.

The bug was so busy singing that it didn't noticed Belphegor's vines,

Which quickly pierced her, from front and behind.

"Die you monster! Die!"

Belphegor angrily stabs it, too many to count at that time.

"Joseph! I got him!"

"It's a her, but yeah!

Now please I beg you to keep it that way."

Joseph soon wonders why the cabinet keeps shutting,

Until he realizes the importance of the runes.

He reads it and realizes it was a default spell.

That could only be released by the knowledge of someone like Azazel.

It was asking for a specific formula.

Which even Joseph, has no idea.

He feels mortified knowing that he was just there,

While Belphegor was busying himself.

"Hurry up, Joseph!"

"Don't rush me! I'm trying!!"

In great frustration, Joseph kicks the cabinet,

Making it fall and shatter,

Until he heard something break.

Sounds of hollers could soon be heard,

Belonging to an angel, a demon, and a reaper.

Joseph was very much stunned,

"Uh...is breaking whatever's inside, bad?"

The scent of the broken amulets soon made the bug more desperate,

That it hollered and wriggle, and tried more to get away.

"Joseph! Get out of its sight now!

It became more furious and I can feel my arms lose its grip!

Remember, I only have synthetic limbs.

It's more challenging to hold it in place now,

get out before it gets away-"

But before Joseph could move an inch,

The bug already ran towards him.

It opened its mouth and even if Joseph tried to escape,

It managed to bite on his blade.

Since it was attached to him like muscle and skin,

He was held up in the air.

His heart was abusing his rib cage,

Truly nervous of what was to take place.

Belphegor saw the room tighten twice the rate,

And he quickly summoned more, hoping it wouldn't be too late.

He then looked above and saw Joseph crying,

And was reminded of all his lost siblings.

"I can't lose more...I can't."

So he quickly flew towards the bug's back.

Joseph was already flying, but he couldn't pull his blade away,

The bug with its bite, then pushed him to the ceiling,

He winced in pain, and tried to stay up despite the feeling.

With the great impact however, he undeniably broke his wings.

And after his blade broke by the force of its teeth,

He was about to fall and die,

Until he felt a strong grip.

Belphegor quickly throws him to the ground,

As he distracts the beast,

"Get out, now!"

"But the bug!"

Belphegor may not hear his reasoning,

But he knew it didn't matter,

He'd die if he stays,

And he won't be able to protect him.

"The amulets are destroyed,

It's what it's defensive about.

And with the task fulfilled,

You can get out."

"But-"

"Get out before I can't keep this room spacious enough.

Get out if you want to help me back."

Joseph's eyes tantalize,

And he slashes the vines with his remaining blade.

He gets out and reunites with his sister,

But soon notices that the vines soon recovered.

"He trapped himself again!"

Zeharah says in disbelief.

"Calm down sis,"

"How can I calm down?

Why isn't he leaving?"

"There's still a bug he's about to defeat.

If it gets out,

Who knew what could be?"

"That man! I'll go in!"

"No, don't! He said we help him by not coming in."

"That doesn't make sense!

He certainly-"

"Sis, stop it!"

Tears soon fell from her brother's eyes,

"If I could help him, I wouldn't have left.

But I'm just...I just kept being saved!

I can't...I...we can't do anything but wait."

"Tell me, what happened?"

"Sister...I think I could predict his fate."

Zeharah's eyes widened,

And she was about to slap her brother's face.

She stops mid-air however,

Seeing her brother's broken wings and blade.

She hugs him instead,

Apologizing for not being there.

Joseph could only cry in frustration,

As Zeharah forces herself to look at the positive side of the situation.

"Everyone keeps dying.

I feel sick of it all.

Yet despite the chances however,

I have high hopes for Belphegor.

He had lived for centuries, you know?

Even stronger than us both.

Surely a bug won't kill him.

He's going to make it out,

So we shouldn't have worried."

"But what if he wanted to die?"

Zeharah soon lost her smile.

She recalled how much his eyes looked.

Full of pain, full of sadness and longing.

"He'll live. Just hope.

If he wanted to die,

He wouldn't have lived this long."