Aurea looked at her right hand covered in cuts. She had reached her limit because her regeneration ability had started to slow down. She couldn't wield the handleless sword anymore because of that, so she could only use her fists and claws to fight Hanessi. Thankfully, the Demon Princesses were strong enough to fight Hanessi in his current state, so she didn't have to push herself to the limit.
"Get some rest, who knows how long it will going to take to wear him out," Beldathiel said as she landed on the lava with her bare feet.
"Is Jeanne going to be alright in there?" Aurea asked as she watched Zherlthsh burn Jeanne with [Hellfire] and then Sapphira wrapped her red cloth-like wings around Jeanne's body and stabbed her with hundreds of spikes over and over that came out of her wings.
"Only Mykel who knows if Jeanne is alright or not, and we can't show any mercy toward Hanessi because the faster we defeat him, the less she has to endure," Beldathiel answered and watched Hanessi collapse, but then Nefarath stabbed his arms, legs, and shoulders from behind with her spider legs. She tore them and pulled them off his body.
Kiersha used her eternal ice and put Hanessi inside so he couldn't regenerate while being eaten by frostbite at the same time. The Demon Princesses didn't feel a single pity and didn't hesitate to torture Hanessi even though knowing he shared his pain with Jeanne.
Beldathiel looked at the dice in her right hand and decided to use it to put Hanessi in his weakest state. She rolled the dice with her life as the bet, but she lost the bet which only meant that he was still too powerful for her.
Mykel brought her back to life and told her to not do that again. She understood and decided to just give orders to her sisters from behind.
"Princess, allow me to help," Zasalamel said as he went to his knee. "My job is to torture souls that are sent down here if that's what the Princesses are trying to do, I should be able to help now because of Hanessi's current state," Zasalamel explained with his head lowered.
Beldathiel heard about Zasalamel's skill from Luciel, but she had never seen it before. In fact, none of them had seen Zasalamel's way of torturing souls since he did it underneath the ground. She then accepted his request and let him handle the situation while the rest of the Demon Princesses walked back.
"I'm sorry, but I have to break the ice, Princess," Zasalamel said as he looked at Kiersha.
Before Kiersha could warn Zasalamel that it would be impossible to break the eternal ice, Zasalamel swung his whip and then swung it at the ice. The whip wrapped around the ice and he easily broke the top half the moment he pulled the whip with his left hand.
Kiersha was shocked, and she realized that she might have underestimated his capability.
Zasalamel threw his sickle and stabbed Jeanne's body right above her left chest. Suddenly the sounds of chains could be heard from above. They all looked up and saw hundreds of chains coming out from the ceiling with a hook at the bottom.
Zasalamel sickle was similar to the [Dagger of Soul-Marking] that Mykel possessed. The difference was the sickle prevented the soul that had been struck by it couldn't move.
They were watching from behind and eagerly wanting to know what would happen to Hanessi. Then the hooks and chains flew down toward Hanessi and hooked the body.
Zasalamel whipped the whip that made a high-pitched noise that made their ears ring. He then whipped Hanessi and suddenly all the hooks and chains started to rip and tear the body. Weirdly enough, they didn't see any blood or wounds, but Hanessi was screaming in pain.
It was Zasalamel's skill called [Soul Dismemberment] which allowed him to directly attack or damage the soul. The purpose of that skill was to force the soul to succumb and made them obedient to him, as the Keeper of the Soul.
Zasalamel kept whipping Hanessi and it appeared the hooks and chains started to rip and tear the moment he whipped Hanessi. He was commanding the hooks and chains with the whip that he held.
All the Demon Princesses were dumbfounded, amazed, and thrilled by his method of torture. Their eyes and mouths were wide open and wanted to try the same method as him in the future. Aurea on the other hand, she didn't have the heart to imagine what Jeanne felt.
"Rest assured, Princess Mazikeen. I'm not hurting the Goddess because her physical body isn't affected by this. I also only feel a singular soul that I'm torturing because the hooks are like my fingers. Her soul should be alright and I believe she should be able to overcome the power that's pushing her away," Zasalamel said as he kept whipping Hanessi.
"Are you certain?" Aurea asked with a worried expression.
Nefarath, Kiersha, Lilith, and Sapphira glanced at Aurea and looked at the expression she made.
"Yes, Princess," Zasalamel answered with confidence.
"But you're whipping her body though," Aurea asked as she judgingly stared at Zasalamel.
"It must be done..." Zasalamel answered reluctantly.
(Inside Jeanne's body)
Jeanne was laying in the pitch-black room and barely conscious thanks to the screams she had been hearing the past hours that made her awake. She didn't know what was happening outside, and he didn't really care since she was grateful enough that the pain she felt had ended except for the stinging pain that she felt in her chest.
"(Jeanne, can you hear my voice)" Mykel's voice faintly could be heard inside her head.
"(Mykel...)" Jeanne replied and she sounded so weak.
"(It's almost over, can you try to move?)" Mykel asked.
"(I can't... Mykel...)" Jeanne was on the brink of crying. "(Please... save me...)" Jeanne started to cry and sob.
Mykel didn't respond to her cry for help since he couldn't do anything at that point. He couldn't give any skill to her because if he did, Hanessi could use it and take advantage of it.
"(I'm sorry that I made you through hell like this, Jeanne. I'll personally being you back and take care of you once it's done, so you have to do this part on your own and find your way back in)" Mykel said. "(I'll grant every request that you want when you came back. Isn't it what you wish for? To be standing equally with me?)" Mykel asked.
Jeanne stopped sobbing and slowly opened her eyes after she heard that question. She realized that she could see her own hand right in front of her face. She then slowly stood up and turned around. She was surprised when she saw a dot of light that came in and lighted up the pitch-black space a bit.
"(I saw a light, Mykel)" Jeanne said in disbelief. "(Is it over)" Jeanne asked as she chuckled a bit.
"(Not yet. Wait for a bit more. Everyone is trying to weaken Hanessi's soul until he can no longer do anything)" Mykel answered. "(I'll tell you when to reach that light. I need to make sure your soul is superior to his soul so you can devour him. Just like how I devoured Lucifer's soul)" Mykel explained.
"(Yes, I understand)" Jeanne wiped her tears with the back of her hands.
(Underneath Gehenna)
Hanessi didn't even have any energy left to scream after being tortured by the [Soul Dismemberment] skill. His eyes were empty and he couldn't even regenerate the wounds of the whipping anymore because he had exhausted his power.
"I don't think he can do anything thanks to that sickle. He can't leave and he exhausted all the power he has," Beldathiel said as she looked at Jeanne's body condition.
"It's a shame, these skills that I borrowed from Mykel, I wanted to try and use them," Nephilim said as she stared at the two papers that floated in front of her.
'What kind of skills that you take from Mykel?" Lilith asked as she approached Nephilim.
Nephilim giggled mischievously. "Sister, can I use it on him? It should be fine, right?" Nephilim asked Beldathiel.
Beldathiel looked at the papers and then looked at Nephilim with a stern look. She then sighed and nodded her head as she walked to the side.
Nephilim tore one of the papers and then looked at Jeanne's arms which were being chained and hooked. She squinted her eyes and suddenly both of Jeanne's arms disappeared instantly.
Zasalamel was shocked and turned around to look at Nephilim because he knew exactly what skill it was and who owned that. He then saw Nephilim's arms were disappeared as well, and he knew it would happen since that skill had a very high chance of harming the one who used it.
"Your kidding, right?" Nephilim asked as she looked at her shoulders in disbelief.
(In the Empyrean World)
Mykel chuckled when he heard Nephilim's rant after she used the [Nihilikinesis] skill that she borrowed. Luciel was startled that she suddenly chuckled.
"What's wrong?" Lucifer asked from her throne.
"Nothing," Mykel answered as he sighed.
"Let's back to the topic. You haven't answered my question," Lucifer said as she stood up and then walked down the stairs.
"I can't guarantee you that she will cooperate, but either way, it doesn't matter. She can only choose between losing her power soon or later, and nothing in between," Mykel answered.
Luciel wasn't convinced and judgingly stared at Mykel because she didn't know what he was thinking. He never told her any details of every plan he had which made her a bit annoyed and irritated. She thought he would speak up his mind and shared them with her after what they both had gone through, but it turned out she was wrong.
"I have a lot of plans that I have in mind and plans to prevent those plans from failing. So telling you about my plan would be a waste of time talking about it now before I decide to proceed with one of the plans," Mykel said as he stared Luciel in the eye.
"We can discuss this matter later," Mykel sighed since he could see the disappointment in Luciel's eyes. "Right now is the time for Jeanne to take over her body," Mykel said.
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