Berith took his demons and retreated back to the park where he was summoned. He kept his word and kept all demons under his control from rampaging around the city.Matthew came back to the Tower to find the injured being healed and the dead being separated for being transported.
"How many did we lose?" He asked a soldier carrying the last body from the walls.
"Nineteen. 6 soldiers. The others were adventurers." The soldier said. without stopping his feet.
"They died heroes." Another soldier added, almost in tears.
Matthew found a place to sit and soon Faynn and Ffyr came to him.
"It worked." Faynn smiled at Matthew.
"Yeah." He took a deep breath, tired. "When he told me about the Scholar’s Mate I could see he was focusing too much on me. But you are truly impressive. Not even a demon duke could sense your presence." He praised the elven spy.
"Don’t forget about me! If I weren’t there it wouldn’t have worked." Ffyr said triumphantly.
"True." Matthew patted her head. "And what a great shot that was." He added looking at the soldier carrying a sniper rifle. "He really saved our asses there in the end."
"Do you think the demon will keep his word?" Claude asked, approaching Matthew.
Matthew looked at his dark blade. Berith called him Belial’s Chosen. He felt he owed the demon king a debt of gratitude. He didn’t actually know why, but it was a feeling he had.
"I think so." He replied, storing the sword in his Inventory.
Faralynn and Mia were the ones to come next after finishing talking with some other adventurers they fought side by side on the wall.
Mia sat by Matthew’s side and Faralynn took his lap.
"Is it over?" Faralynn asked, while snuggling against him.
"I think... for now. Maybe." He hugged her.
While they rested, the soldiers communicated to the army about the events that happened there.
When Mahmud arrived in the city with his troops, he went immediately to Obongo Park and met with the Red Rider. Berith kept his word and negotiated a peaceful retreat with the general.
In communication with the Presidency and Congress, they determined that they would cede a piece of unclaimed land to the demon duke until they could discuss and negotiate the terms of his retreat and where he should go.
Samil’s face was now stamped in all news channels and newspapers. He became the number 1 most wanted criminal in the country. The Cult of Paimon was now considered a terrorist organization world wide and every security agency and guild in the world were hunting them down.
His plans to bring down the Apocalypse became public and caused a real wave of panic around the globe.
That night was known in the media as The Hell on Christmas Eve and the adventurers who fought and died during that day were regarded as heroes.
Eric became blind, having his eyes burned out during the fight with the Marilith. His hands and the rest of his wounds could be healed with time and surgery. But reconstructing eyes demanded the Regeneration skill, which was kind of rare and expensive.
Vanessa recovered with no major consequences of her injuries. She just came out with a nasty scar on her head from the surgery she went through.
Sebastian woke up a week later in the afternoon of January 1st. He survived with great damage to his intestines and the loss of one arm.
Sarah cried copiously when he opened his eyes.
Marcus, his brother, and his father were also present when he woke up.
In spite of Matthew’s worries, Markus’ resolve didn’t falter because of his brother’s near death experience. Instead, it became greater. He decided to become a "demon hunter", in his own words. He would train very hard and become a powerful adventurer like Matthew to be able to hunt demons and prevent what happened to his mother from happening to other people.
Faralynn and Erin offered to cover all of Eric’s and Sebastian’s medical expenses, they just needed to wait for an adventurer with the Regeneration skill or a machine with it to be available.
Tylith was the one most affected by the news of Samil’s plans to bring down the end of days. Not because she worried about Earth, but because this meant that Samil’s next step was to summon Vine to Earth. And if the Black Rider came to Earth, he surely would go and seek out for her.
Michael called Matthew again on the 7th. Once more Tylith ran away, this time she went to the cathedral of South Port city.
Matthew went alone to meet her and Michael.
When he arrived at the cathedral there was a huge commotion all around. Several cops were there with guns at ready. A crowd was surrounding the building shouting to the demon to be put down.
When they saw him, the crowd roared in cheers. They recognized him from the media. The one called Demon Slayer by the Red Rider himself.
"Kill her!" One woman shouted from the crowd and her voice was repeated by several others.
Matthew tried to ignore them, but it was hard.
A cop approached him.
"Thank god you’re here." He said. "We don’t have the men to deal with a demon. You need to kill that thing. She just entered the cathedral and refuses to leave!"
A city that has been attacked twice by demon hordes would never see a demon with good eyes.
What was Tylith thinking, revealing herself like that?
Matthew entered the Cathedral, empty save for Michael sitting on one of the benches and Tylith knelt under the huge cross and prayed avidly. Her wings were open, her skin was red and her tail rested against the ground.
Michael gave Matthew a sad smile when he saw him.
"How is she?" Matthew asked.
"Not well at all." Michael replied.
Matthew patted his shoulder and knelt beside her. He waited for her to talk first. But after a couple of minutes in silence, he finally spoke first.
"Tylith." He called her.
She shivered listening to his voice.
"I know it’s hard, but everything will be ok." Matthew put his hand on her shoulder.
"No it won’t." She broke her silence. "He’s coming."
"He is." Matthew sighed.
"And when he arrives, no one will be able to stop him." Her voice shivered.
"If he arrives." Matthew said.
Tylith finally faced him with a questioning look.
"If we stop Samil, he won’t be able to come." Matthew explained.
"How do you plan to do it?" She said with an accusing tone.
"I don’t know. But I’ll find out."
Tylith scoffed and looked at the cross on the altar.
"How come you all are so faithful? Hell literally opened its doors to Earth and your god did nothing! Yet, here you all are praying for him, showing him all this love! I don’t understand it at all!" She screamed and got up pushing the big gold cross to the floor.
Matthew and Michael stayed in silence while she was crying. Neither of them were religious and could not answer her.
"I’ve been praying. But I can’t listen to him at all. He does not care about you! He does not care about me!" She shouted as if it was a curse.
Michael walked to her and hugged her. She hugged him back with all her strength and cried on his shirt.
"I promise you Tylith. I will stop Samil." Matthew said, holding her hand.
"That’s such a beautiful scene." A female voice interrupted them in a mocking tone.
They all looked up to see Lenore, the Erinyes, perched on one of the stained glass windows.
"Lenore." Matthew said her name in a disappointed tone. "What are you doing here?
"Well..." She said, flying down gracefully. "You let me go, but there are few places a girl like me can go with these wings." She mocked him. "So I came to find you."
"You want me to hide you?" Matthew questioned her.
"You were always very clever." Lenore mocked him.
"You’re really going to make me regret letting you go?" Matthew warned her.
"Sorry." Lenore put her head down.
"You just made it harder for us to take Tylith out of here." Matthew said.
"Let me help with that." A male voice said coming from the cathedral’s entrance. "I can hide both of them."
They turned to see Father Oluwafemi entering the cathedral.
"I was in the city and saw you on the news." He explained his presence.
"And what is your suggestion?" Lenore was sarcastic.
The priest ignored the demoness and approached Tylith, looking her in the eyes.
"You’ve been praying like I told you." He commented.
Tylith nodded.
"It’s useless." She added.
"Was it, really?" Oluwafemi smiled at her. "Then why have you come here? Why ask for his protection?"
Tylith was silent.
"Come with me, child." The priest said gently. "Let me show you God’s love."
Tylith took a while, but nodded her head. Holding Michael’s hand she allowed Father Oluwafemi to guide her outside the cathedral.
She expected to be received by a shower of insults and stones. She readied herself for the worst, but when she came out and looked at the crowd, they were all silent and stunned.
"What is going on?" She asked the priest.
He smiled at her.
"He answered your prayers." The priest said, pointing at her.
Tylith looked down at herself. Her skin was no longer red. It was tanned as if made of bronze. Her small bat wings now were covered in a perfect white plumage. Her eyes were now gold. Her tail was gone and a golden halo crowned her black hair.
Michael’s mouth was wide open by the sudden transformation. A miracle just happened in front of hundreds of people.
A demon became an angel by going through the portals of the cathedral, igniting hope to all who feared the coming of the judgement day.