Pestillence, Part 7

"Can't…give up now…" Pestilence weakly croaks out as he slowly loses consciousness.

Meanwhile, the bodies of Death and War continue fading, due to Aether's Apex Curse Master.

"Invincisphere!" War shouts as she creates a bubble around her, Death, and Famine, attempting to protect the three from Aether's Cursed Power, but instead, Aether's Cursed Power wraps around War's Invincispheres, which then begin to fade as well, just like War.

"NECROMANCY!" Death cries as dozens of skeleton arms begin to push themselves out of the ground and march towards Aether.

With another roar, Famine then launches a giant, monstrous fist towards Pestilence, but before Famine's attack can connect, Aether's dark-blue Cursed Power wraps around Famine, as her monstrous body begins to fade.

"Apex Curse Master!" Aether shouts as his dark-blue Cursed Power begins to wrap around Death's skeleton army as well, but there are too many skeletons for Aether to deal with, so while some fade away thanks to Aether's Apex Curse Master, others remain intact, punching, kicking, and grabbing onto the half-demon, doing whatever they can to mess with Aether's spell.

"Dammit…there are too many to deal with…" Aether weakly grunts. "DAD, HELP!"

Slowly, aroused by the pleading cries from his son, Pestilence pushes his weakened body out of his bloody crater in the Earth, and rushes towards Aether.

"I'm coming, son!" Aether replies as he charges Death's skeleton army.

"Poison Pores!" Pestilence shouts as he aims a hand towards Death's skeletons, but finds that he's unable to release his poison gas. "Dammit, I'm out of Cursed Power!" Pestilence cries.

"Dad, here!" Aether shouts as he tosses his father his lime-green katana, who snatches it out of the air.

"Thank you!" Pestilence replies as he uses Aether's katana to slice through Death's skeletons. That is…until Aether's dark-blue Cursed Power wraps around Pestilence as well, and his body begins to fade.

"Um…Aether!" Pestilence cries, and Aether turns to face his father. When Aether does, his eyes widen. "What's happening?!" Pestilence asks.

"I'm…sorry, father!" Aether cries. "I'm trying to trap every demon in Hell, but I can't control it! I…I'm trapping you, as well!" Aether's dark-blue Cursed Power around Pestilence the Four Horsemen, and the rest of demonkind begins to fade.

"NO!" Pestilence snaps, causing Aether to flinch. "Aether, my boy, you can't stop now! As you said yourself: your mother would never forgive us if we give up now! You must trap demonkind in Hell, even if it means that I have to go with them!"

"You're right, dad!" Aether exclaims as the Cursed Power wrapped around demonkind intensifies, in a giant rush of Cursed Power, obliterating the land around Aether. And then…Pestillence's body begins to fade.

"DAMMIT, THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING TO US!" Death roars. "I'M THE DEMON KING, I CAN'T BE BESTED BY THE SON OF A DEMON BELOW ME, WHO ISN'T EVEN A FULL DEMON!"

"It's because Aether isn't a full demon that he will defeat you now, Death!" Pestilence booms. "With the heart of a human and the strength of a demon, Aether…"

"IS THE DEMON GOD!"

"NOOO!!!!" Death cries as he, War, and the monstrous form of Famine fade as well, transported into Hell.

Pestilence turns to face Aether as Aether turns to face his dad, in turn.

"Goodbye, dad," Aether says, tears streaming out of his eyes.

"I'm proud of you, son," Pestilence replies, tears forming at the edges of his eyes, as well.

And then…he disappears for good.

Each and every last demon…has been transported to Hell.

Aether then drops to the ground, blood leaking out of each pore in his body due to the strain of taking control of the world's Cursed Power.

Aether…has died.

***

"GASP!"

Pestilence wakes up with a gasp then swiftly sits up and looks around. "CLARABELLA…AETHER!" Pestilence cries. But when he remembers what happens, tears begin streaming from the edges of Pestilence's eyes. "That's right. Clarabella and my son are dead. And I'm in Hell."

Pestilence then pushes himself up to his feet and observes his surroundings, seeing that he's standing in an icy tundra wasteland, known as the Ninth Circle of Hell, where the strongest demons reside; Treachery.

Pestilence wipes his eyes, sighs, then begins walking around. In the center of the icy wasteland, Pestilence spots Death, fully encased in ice. As punishment from the Demon God Aether, Death was frozen in ice in the Ninth Circle of Hell, War was drowned in a pool of boiling blood in the Eighth Circle of Hell, and Famine was tied up in the darkness and assaulted by demon hordes in the Seventh Circle of Hell.

Pestilence keeps walking across the icy tundra in dead silence, not knowing what to do. That is, until Pestilence spots something strange; a break in the icy tundra, like a crack in the Earth itself, which leads to a grassy plain.

Which leads to Earth.

A weak, mindless demon passes by Pestilence, as if it's attracted to the "crack" in the world. Pestilence hangs back, observing the demon. The demon then approaches the crack, extending a hand out to it. And when the demon touches the crack, it… disappears. As if it was transported to Earth.

Pestilence's eyes widen.

"That's it, a way to get home!" He exclaims as he scrambles over to the crack. But once he's standing in front of the crack; Pestilence pauses. "Clarabella and my son are dead…what do I have to live for on Earth? I may as well remain in Hell and accept my punishment for taking countless lives…"

Pestilence then slaps himself across the cheek.

"NO!" He exclaims. "I may not be able to do much for my family now, but I can at least bury their bodies!"

Pestilence then shoots his hand towards the crack, but when the two make contact…sparks fly as Pestilence is sent flying backwards, his back slamming into an iceberg behind him.

"Ow…" Pestilence groans as he slowly stands up and rubs his head.

"Pestilence, right?" A voice asks, and Pestilence peers up to see a pitch black demon approaching him. "One of the previous rulers of Earth…I'm a huge fan!"

"How…are you?" Pestilence asks as he stands up to face the demon.

"I'm Treachery, the ruler of the Ninth Circle of Hell," the demon -now known as Treachery- smirks. "You see that crack in the ice over there?"

"Yeah…" Pestilence answers as he turns to face the crack.

"That "crack in the world" is formed by the decaying Cursed Ability of your late son, Aether," Treachery explains. "Cursed Power disappears once its user is dead, and Aether took control of all of the Cursed Power on Earth to seal us in Hell. Currently… Earth is without Cursed Power. So slowly, over time, Hell will fade. The more time that passes, the more cracks will open up in Hell which will lead to Earth, and the larger they'll become, allowing for demons and Cursed Power to spread into Earth as it once had, restoring the Earth of its Cursed Power. Right now…the cracks are small, so only weak demons can slip through them. But as time goes on…the cracks will grow larger, so stronger demons such as yourself will be able to slip through."

"You just have to wait."

"Th-thank you!" Pestilence exclaims, but Treachery doesn't reply as he turns around and begins walking away.

"Clarabella…Aether…" Pestilence softly says as he turns back to face the crack between Hell and Earth.

"I'll be with you soon!"

***

Thousands of years later…

"Oh…where am I?" A woman groans as she pulls out her map and checks it. The woman looks from her map, to her compas, then back to her map, before turning back to her compas, then shoves the two back into her pockets. "Oh well! You can't have an adventure without getting lost!" The woman exclaims before continuing up her trek.

Currently, the woman is hiking up an unknown mountain trail, unaware of what's to come…

***

"Finally…at last…" the woman groans as she flops to the ground on top of the mountain range, soaked in sweat. "FInally…" the woman groans as she pushes herself up to her feet, then proudly places her hands on her hips. "I am the first person ever to scale the Hell's Jaw Mountain Range!"

The woman then peers to her side, seeing a man laying on his back on the ground, a couple of dozen feet away. The man is shirtless and shoeless, and has on another but a brown leather belt and ripped up black pants. The man has a very short, scraggly beard, and long, sweat matted black hair which falls to just below his head. In his hand…is a blood stained katana with a lime-green hilt. "DAMMIT!" The woman snaps upon seeing the man. "I ought to go give him a piece of my mind, stealing my thunder!"

The woman then storms over to the man, then pauses, when she sees that he's soaked in blood, and covered with slash and bite wounds. "Holy crap, was he attacked by a pack of coyotes?!" The woman yelps. "Hey, are you okay?!" The woman calls to the man, receiving no such answer. "Are you okay?!" The woman calls again.

Silence,

"Shit, he's bleeding out!" The woman cries as she rushes to the man, kneeling down beside him. The woman drops her large, heavy backpack to the ground then pulls out a medical kit, and begins assessing the man's wounds.

But then…the man's medium-blue eyes flash open as a burst of lime-green gas rushes out of every pore of his body.

"What…is this stuff?" The woman coughs as she waves away the gas. "Where did it come from?!"

Slowly…the man strains his body up and turns to face the woman. "You…my poisonous gas isn't killing you?" He weakly asks.

"Poison?" The woman asks. "This stuff's poisonous?"

"I must be too weak to create my toxins…" the man sighs. "But even still, no regular human should be able to survive my poison gas." Lime-green Cursed Power begins bubbling around the man's eyes, and when he turns to face the woman, he sees small traces of invisible Cursed Power bubbling around her entire body. "She's using Cursed Power to protect her body from my poison gas…" the man softly says to himself.

"You…you can use Cursed Power?!" The man asks.

"Curse wah…?" The woman asks.

"Nevermind…" the man sighs.

The man then pushes himself off of the ground, but when he does; his entire body begins wobbling. The man attempts to take a step forwards, but doesn't get very far before he crashes back down to the ground again.

"Dammit…" the man weakly grunts. "I have no strength left…I had to fight through hundreds of demons to get to Earth…"

"Woah, careful!" The woman cries as she rushes over to the man's side. "You need medical attention!"

The woman then brandishes a roll of bandages and attempts to wrap them around the man's wounds, who flinches and retracts his arm away from the woman.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" The man shouts, but the woman doesn't flinch.

"Why…not?" The woman asks as she raises an eyebrow at the man.

In response, lime green scales sprout across the man's entire body, causing the woman to yelp and jump backwards.

"D-d-d-d…" the woman stammers. "DEMON!!!!!"

"Are you going to eat me…?" The woman cries, as she begins trembling in fear.

"No…" the demon grunts as he attempts to push himself off of the ground, but fails when he crashes back down to the floor.

"Then what do you eat…?" The woman asks.

"Last time I was on Earth, I was fond of what you humans call…"steak and beer"," the demon weakly answers, causing the woman to raise an eyebrow at him.

"Last time…you were on Earth…?" The woman asks. "So you were on Earth, then went back to Hell?"

"Yes," the demon answers. But then she perks up. "You know what Hell is?!"

"Of course, that's where demons come from!" The woman answers. "Though you are the first one I've ever seen…"

The demon then jumps up and grabs the woman by her shoulders, causing her to flinch as he shakes her back and forth.

"TELL ME, DO YOU KNOW WHO "AETHER" IS?!" The demon cries.

"Of course, that's the first Pro Slayer who kicked the demons' butts and sent them back to Hell!" The woman answers as she jams a fist in the air. "Er…no offense."

"Oh…thank God," the demon replies as he lets go of the woman then falls to the ground, breathing out a sigh of relief. The history is all wrong…but at least my son got to die a hero…"

"Wait…your son?!" The woman asks.

"Yes, my son," the demon answers. "I am Aether's father."

"Wow…" the woman swoons as sparkles light up in her eyes. "You must have some interesting stories! Tell me them!"

"Sorry, I have things to do," the demon replies as he attempts to push himself off of the ground, but fails when he crashes back down to the floor.

"Judging by your wounds, you'll die within ten minutes if you move around too much," the woman smirks. "I'll give you first aid, but at a price."

"What's the price?" The demon weakly asks.

"I give you first aid…and you have to sit down and let me interview you!" The woman exclaims.

"I don't care…about first aid…" the demon weakly grunts as he pushes himself off the ground one last time. "My body will be fully healed in a few days."

"BEER AND STEAK!" The woman booms, causing the demon to pause and perk up. "Beer and steak, right, you said you were a big fan? I know a place where you can get the best beer and steaks in the world! I'll bring you there…if you promise to answer my questions!"

The demon's eyes widen.

"You…have a deal…" he weakly answers, before falling to the ground.