Chris just smiled weakly.

"...good." he said.

"Now, go." he told her.

"Stop her." he finished, flopping down again and coughing quietly, though she could see there was pain in each cough.

It seemed that he was suffering a fate arguably worse than she had been. Arguably.

But she had little time to ponder it, as she noticed Azari was still walking, and she needed to keep up.

Before her, she saw her niece. Kelly. And the young woman did NOT look happy. Before she could start to ream out Azari, though, she looked and saw that his pupils were crimson red.

And it wasn't HER mana.

Kelly had taken control of Azari's mind, and he was her puppet now.

Azari just stood there, now. His orders from Kelly had been fulfilled, and he was now awaiting new instructions.

But not from Vanessa. In fact, he wasn't even acknowledging her. He couldn't.

Unbeknownst to anyone in that complex, a pair of individuals had been watched the scene unfold on an orb of mana acting like a looking glass. They watched as Kelly rammed her sword through Vanessa's chest, and the male of the two sighed.

"Well, that's a signal if I've ever seen one." he commented, taking off a ring, and allowing his skin to turn black, with red cracks that looked like lava forming over it... as well as two horns to appear on his head.

"Time to make our entrance?" he asked the female.

"And what's the first thing you're doing?" he asked further.

He nodded in response.

"We shall." he said, taking her hand.

With that, the two of them disappeared from where they were, and appeared directly in the complex, at a 4-way intersection of corridors.

"I'm going to rescue Kelly and take care of that damn wood elf." he told her.

"We have any plans for this entire thing, again?" he asked.

"Or are we pretty much acting as individuals, and scramming when we need to?"

Her statement about God's patience having run out in regards to the place may have been said softly and gently, but the words sent a shiver down his spine. It genuinely scared him for a moment.

Those words meant trouble. And a lot OF it.

"Yes." he said.

He then took a small breath, and dashed off in the direction of Kelly and Vanessa. He saw Azari guarding the entrance to the sealed-off room, and ignored him for now, concentrating his mana in his hand, and slamming it into the door, causing it to swing open.

"KELLY!" he shouted in, hoping the deterioration of Vanessa's body hadn't started yet.

Azazel just cursed as Azari raced towards him, thorny vines wrapped around his knuckles.

"Fine." he growled, reaching out and grabbing the wood elf by the face with one of his hands.

"I was going to kill you anyway." he snarled, as his body radiated with hell mana.

"You were always under the protection of that damned contract, and it's a shame you die without knowing what real fear is, but whatever." he finished, as his clawed fingernails dug into Azari's head.

Then, in one movement with his arm, he flung Azari deeper into the room, and Kelly could hear the bones in his body break as he slammed into the wall with enough force to actually do some damage to it.

"Kelly, I'm here to help!" he exclaimed to Kelly.

"Come on, before Vanessa takes your life, even in death!"

Azazel just sighed as she kept her sword at the ready.

"Come on, come on." he told her.

"When you get out of here, I'm sealing this room again." he then said.

"I have someone else here that's helping me, and chances are she's prioritising helping your cousins." he said further.

"I don't want any of you to die here. You deserve to go home to your families." he continued.

"I swear on... I dunno, Kiah? Is that enough for you to trust me?" he asked her.

Azazel just sighed.

"I suppose that's the best someone like me can hope for." he muttered.

"I just don't want you to die to this damn dark elf death mist." he told her.

He then looked as Azari lay on the floor, motionless, but twitching slightly.

"...damn." he said.

"Guess I shattered just the right places. Looks like he's trying to move, but can't."

Before Azazel could respond, they heard Azari cry out. And it was a howl of agony. They heard his mental pain, AND his physical pain.

"Geez..." Azazel said. "I think he's feeling the pain of the broken bones, the mist, and the pain of losing the woman he loves." he told her. "Brutal." he said further as she exited the room.

He then followed and slammed the door shut, using his own mana to seal it temporarily.

"You're welcome." he told her.

"Now, you have a choice." he said.

"You staying here to try and help, or are you going home?" he asked.

Azazel was silent, before placing a hand on her shoulder.

"It's appreciated. But don't feel you are obligated to do this." he told her. "The sins of your forbearers are not inherited by yourself." he assured her further.

"You also raise a fair point about your mana." he added.

"...oh, and I was wrong. You don't have a choice of where you're going after this." he then said, the phrasing almost ominous. But before she could react, he continued. "You, as well as any other that Sariel deems worthy, will be taken to the Unit in San Diego for medical treatment." he said, his tone denoting that he would accept NO arguments here.

"Let's go." he told her.

And so they did. Admittedly, there wasn't a whole lot left to do, as Kelly, Evan, and Sammy were the priority rescues here... however, when they met up with Sariel, she had the twins with her, as well as Caelia, Ayla, and Chris. Evan and Chris looking the worst of the lot, but Chris a lot more so.

"...I've agreed to cooperate with authorities, and tell about everywhere else in the world Vanessa's left her mark, or has some secret bunker." he explained.

"Ah." Azazel responded.

"Sariel, are you going to take everyone to the Unit?" he then asked the archangel. "My mana isn't great for teleporting others as... uh... well, it goes through Hell." he muttered.

"If you want, I can start destroying this place and get a head start on it while you do that." he offered.