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Worth

Ammon kept dodging Abellor's far-reaching attacks, causing more damage to the library. He wished he know how to deflect it. He wanted to keep the damage low, but he knew that if he took the attack to himself, it would be disastrous to him. He did not know anything about the attack or Abellor's abnormal ice powers.

There was also that unknown language Abellor murmured, then shouted. It was as if he was trying to tell Ammon something, but from what it looked like, he was doing incantations for his spell. Ammon did not believe that's the case, but he had no way to find out except knocking Abellor into his senses.

Meanwhile, outside the library, Itresil and Belial noticed the evacuation of the library, and the growing ice that came out of the front door. They looked at each other and realized something was wrong.

"Malkar," said Itresil.

"Ammon," said Belial.

They both said the names in unison before they quickly dashed towards the library. As they approached the ice, Belial and Itresil let out a strong breath of fire towards the ice. It did not melt them. Belial then upgraded his fire to hellfire, and the dark red fire slowly melt the ice, but it was still not enough. He quickly knew what the ice was.

"Fuck! It's an ice demon," said Belial while keeping his hellfire strong.

"An ice demon? You mean, it's the fourth circle this time?" said Itresil. "Just how many allies Barbatos have?"

"Either way, we can't melt the ice with conventional hellfire. We need to break through with our own strength."

Itresil was already considering using her ground shatter technique to split the ground, but then when she saw the ash hounds running around the library, she stopped.

"Shit, there's too much collateral damage," said Itresil. "I can't risk killing the hounds to get us inside."

"Why the fuck do you even care?"

"You may have still had that demon ruthlessness in you, Belial, but I don't have that anymore. I cannot risk civilians!"

"Oh, fuck that!"

Belial then punched and shatter the ice shard in front of him. He smiled to himself and quickly punched and kicked the ice blocking his way to Ammon and Malkar. It was, however, a slow progress. Even with Itresil's help, it was still a slow progress. Whoever was conjuring the ice inside, they were intent on keeping the fight to themselves.

Inside, Ammon took the fight to the air when he opened his wings and started flying. His mobility increased somewhat when he was flying, and he had also practiced aerial combat naturally. If he could use the same strength he exhibited during the fight with the vampire before, he could knock Abellor out.

Abellor clearly tried to dodge, but Ammon found the strength to kick Abellor with a flying roundhouse that knocked his enemy away. He apparently underestimated his strength, for the kick caused Ammon's adversary to fly in such a speed that when the impact came, he could break his neck.

Of course, his worry was not founded, as when Abellor crashed to a nearby bookshelf, he did not seem to stop abruptly. Instead, he was cushioned by some ice he made, cracking the surface he was supposed to crash into. The 'cushion' turned to spring, and he opened his wings and kick the ice behind him, quickly returning to Ammon and crashed into him.

Now as they were clutching each other, Ammon could see Abellor's expression. It was desperate and like a tortured soul. He kept saying something with an unknown language. He did not recognize it as a surface world language, either. What was it? What was Abellor trying to tell him? Was it a taunt? Was it a call for help?

"(You are not making sense)!" said Ammon while keeping his grip. "(What are you trying to tell me, Abel?!)"

Abellor seemed to listen, for his expression changed. But then, his actions proved otherwise. Abellor kicked Ammon in the guts, causing Ammon to winch in pain as Abellor twisted in mid-air, letting out a force that hit Ammon square in the chest. Ammon was ready to feel the stinging freeze that he thought would happen to him.

Except nothing happened, which surprised him. Ammon saw that, aside from a not-so-deep cut, nothing happened to him. He did not freeze like the ash hound caught by Abellor's attack. Was it him, or Abellor was trying to hold back?

Either way, it was far from knocking Abellor to his senses. He must try a new strategy. The confined library building was hard enough for Ammon to fight given that he could not fly high enough despite of the place having a high ceiling. He needed to get out, but the only space big enough for him to fly through was the front door itself. There were windows, but they were too small for him to go through unless he was folding his wings. In addition to that, the ice had blocked his exit, and his lanky and light body designed for flight would not be able to break through the ice. In fact, he would break his neck! He was not a brawler like Belial or a dragon like Itresil.

He also knew that Malkar was also in that library, trapped with the other ash hounds not escaping the library in time. Ammon took a quick glance to Malkar and the hound helping him. They were frozen solid, but he held on to his belief that both were still alive. He just had to finish the fight, preferably also keeping Abellor alive. He had a lot of questions for the demon bat.

He was aware of the danger involved. Abellor was a good fighter, but he never had any indication of ever had knowledge of any kind of magic, much like the other demon bats. Ammon thought that he may be a vampire like him, but this was clearly not a vampire's ability. Of course, Ammon could try and mind-control Abellor when he had a chance to bite his neck and drink a little of his blood, but he had to risk it.

He took the risky route and used a momentary lapse in the attacks to fly towards Abellor. But then, in his hasty attempt to get to his old friend, Ammon forgot that Abellor could still fly. Thus, Abellor dodged the attack by flying upward, then kicked Ammon's back. It wasn't hard enough to break his back, but it was hard enough to make Ammon yelped in pain. The force of the kick made Ammon changed his flight trajectory, and he quickly crashed on a table that quickly broke due to the force.

Stunned by the pain from both sides, he was unable to move when Abellor swooped down, held his neck with his feet, and look at him face-to-face. Ammon, still stunned, saw Abellor still murmuring the unknown words.

"(What...are you...trying to say?)" said Ammon, straining his words as he was being choked. "(What is it...Abel?)"

Then, as he started to lose consciousness, he heard voices that was whispering to him. Slowly, however, he could understand what they said.

"(Draw the blood)," said the voice. "(Draw the blood and let the knowledge be yours)."

Ammon did not understand that, but he knew what 'draw the blood' meant. He was a vampire, so it made sense if he tried and bite someone in the neck to draw blood, right?

With renewed intensity, he furled his wing, punching Abellor's face with his folded wing-arm, then broke free of the choke. He did not waste this opportunity. He quickly twisted his body and kick Abellor but did not let go. His grabby feet held Abellor to the floor like the demon bat did, but he did not want to choke him. No. He wanted to bite him.

Opening his mouth to show of his fangs, he inched closer to Abellor's neck. Then, he sunk his teeth into Abellor's neck, causing the other to yelp in pain.

He then felt the cold blood surged into his mouth as he sucked his old friend's blood. It was like sucking an ice cube. Then, suddenly, as he heard Abellor's weak murmur, he slowly begin to understand what he was talking.

"(You're being set up)," said Abellor. "(You made a mistake)."

"(What mistake? Abel, what mistake did we do?)"

"(You...bit me. You shouldn't do that. You should've kept your curiosity in check. He's playing on your curiosity)."

"(Who?)"

"(Barbatos. You...you should've killed me before I...)."

"(I can't kill you, Abel. Even if you're killed, you're still his slave!)"

"(I know. I was already dead once)," said Abellor while still struggling under Ammon. "(I can speak to you, but I cannot speak our language. Only by gaining my knowledge that we can speak)."

"(Are you warning us?)"

"(My body...is not my own. My maws...only speak what the dark prince desire. I...I'm sorry, Ammon)."

"(Then fight him! You can fight him, Abel! Fight back!)"

Abellor seemed to try his best, but Ammon knew that he could no longer control his body. Abellor's word of caution was actually another trap for some unknown reason, but it was a trap nonetheless. Still, Ammon could not stop his mistake, and he seemed to gain something out of it, so this time, he should help Abellor.

He wanted to know how to break him free of his conditioning, but apparently, it was useless. As they fought in the small space, causing more and more ice piling up around them, Ammon had to make a choice. He could keep convincing Abellor to fight back, or to hasten his freedom by killing him there and now to save his other friend, Malkar. But he did not want that, not after so many years had passed since he saw Abellor, a kind and generous demon bat who helped him understand the ash priest's scriptures. But he knew he had no other choice.

Ammon remembered how to defeat a vampire from what Malkar did before, by impaling said vampire with a stake or something resembling it and then cut his head. He knew that the demon bat would not die from just the impalement, as Alhen's friend did not die, but instead was made a slave zombie by Barbatos. So, cutting his head off was the only way to defeat Abellor and stop him.

He kept telling Abellor to fight against the conditioning, but Abellor had been trying to convince him to kill him by showing how dangerous he was. Just then, he apparently found his way by dashing towards Malkar and the ash hound, both frozen in place and unable to move.

"(I can shatter my own ice into pieces, Ammon!)" said Abellor rather hesitantly. "(If I...shatter the two of them, they will die!)"

Like before, his desire to fight and protect his friends fueled his determination to attack without hesitating. As Abellor got ready to use a hammer formed from his ice to destroy the frozen Malkar, Ammon made a mad flight dash towards his old friend, shouting as he pushed the similarly light Abellor towards an ice surface. This attack was fast enough and strong enough to cause significant damage to Abellor, who coughed out blood as he crashed. Ammon, regaining his senses, then realized that he also inadvertently impaled Abellor through a rather sharp ornament, through his chest.

Abellor seemed dazed. The attack was fatal, but he did not immediately die. In fact, while he was hurt, he seemed to still be able to say something while coughing up more blood. With a raspy voice, he said, "(Thank...you, Ammon. I'm sorry)."

"(No...I'm sorry)," said Ammon as tears started trickling down his eyes. "(I want to know you better, Abellor...and possibly save you. But you gave me no choice)."

"(You have no choice to begin with. Just please...end this misery. Cut my head and sever the connection to Barbatos. But before you do so...do not regret what you've decided, Ammon. Always look forward...and keep...fighting. You can defeat him. I know you can)."

"(Is it his word or yours?)"

"(Your...judgement)," said Abellor with a weak smile. He then slowly covered his eyes as his life slowly got out of him, and he sighed his last breath.

With a heavy heart, Ammon knew what he had to do. The ice around him had not thawed yet, so Abellor's lifeless body still had control. His brain was still acting for Barbatos, and so he should stop this by decapitating him. He took a knife out of his waist pocket with his flexible legs, and said, "(Life to death. Ashes to ashes. Join the Ashen Lands and be the guide for those who are lost)."

Then, with a swift roundhouse kick, the sharp knife cut through Abellor's neck clean off. Before long, his head slid down as blood gushed out of his neck. Abellor's head the bounced on the ice as they started to melt, which also let his body fell to the floor.

Ammon grabbed Abellor's head and closed his eyes, before cradling it in his wings. He silently said, "(Thank you, and goodbye)" before he put his head down, upright, on the floor. He then sniffled and wept on his friend's dead body as Malkar looked. Malkar did not want to say anything towards Ammon, even though he was grateful that Ammon saved him from freezing to death. He was then helped by the ash hound to get out of the destroyed library.

Outside, Zardes, Belial, and Itresil helped the other ash hounds to safety. Belial and Itresil were trying to get in by destroying the ice, but then the ice melted, and they quickly turned their attention to the civilians. After they were done, they saw Malkar and an ash hound coming out of the library. Malkar was shivering and needed Zardes's body warmth to return to normal.

"(What happened in there?)" asked Zardes towards the ash hound helping Malkar.

"(A demon bat showed out of nowhere and start attacking another. I think he held a grudge or something. Anyway, the other one saved us all)."

Zardes walked into the library and saw Ammon sitting near a decapitated demon bat body, sniffling and with tears trickling down his bat face. The emotion was enough for the hellhound to know that the other bat was someone he knew.

He then walked towards Ammon and patted his shoulder, sympathizing with his sadness. Ammon looked towards Zardes and said, "(Must this go on? Must I kill more of my old friends to finish everything?)"

"(I'm sorry, Ammon. I really am)," said Zardes. "(I suppose we can't let his body stay like this. We must bury him)."

"(No, don't. Cremate him)," said Ammon as he stood up. "(He may have lost his ways, but he's sill a priest. Ashes to ashes, as they say. Life is born from ash, and it will return as ash)."

"(I understand. Anything we can do?)"

"(Nothing more than taking his body out of the town and burn it to ashes)."

"(Yeah. I'll go get Belial)."

Ammon stayed with the body while Zardes walked out to meet Belial and explained to him what happened inside. Zardes also asked for Belial's service when they'd burn Abellor's body. While he seemed reluctant, Belial nevertheless agreed.

Later that day, after wrapping up Abellor's body and taking it out of the town, Ammon stood in front of the body. He took a nearby ash and put it on top of the wrapped body before he prayed. No one could hear what he was praying, however. Afterwards, he walked back to the group, towards Belial, and said, "(Thank you)."

Belial nodded and walked forward. He then used the hellfire from his palm to burn the body. In only a minute, the whole body burned down into nothingness, leaving only a patch of burnt ashes to mark where the body was.

"(Gehen, if you please)," said Ammon. Gehen nodded and, using his ash manipulation magic, blew the burnt ashes away as if there was wind.

"(I never knew Abellor well)," said the demon bat as he saw the burnt ashes. "(I know he did not even remember me aside from name, but I know he's a kind and loving demon bat who fall victim to the machinations of the prince of darkness. I only hope that he's the last Vessel to die, because I don't want to take anymore of their lives. I...)."

He paused, trying to find words to say. After contemplating for a while, he said, "(I swear that I'll finish this quickly. We must make haste and free the rest of the Vessels. Does everyone agree?)"

Everyone, even Belial, nodded silently.

Ammon then nodded in response, and everyone left where the body once lay, now nothing but ashes. Ammon knew that his spirit was now tied to the land, as did the inhabitants of the Ashen Kingdom that died. He did not wish to find more of them like this, however. He needed to fight, and save others, both to stop Barbatos and to preserve his kind.

They walked towards the city, saddened and hollow after an apparently bittersweet victory.

***

"(I'm so sorry to hear that, young Ammon)," said Alhen after he heard the news. "(I'm sure he's in peace, now)."

"(No one is going to be in peace if we fail)," said Ammon. "(But thanks for the sympathy. I really need it)."

"(Then I think you'd agree to let Gehen trained a bit more in Ashen Sorcery? I know you're eager to continue, but you also need to know that you're rather unprepared)."

"(Yeah. I know)," said Ammon, rather sure about it. "(I need to rest, too)."

"(Then my home is your home. It's rather big for a single ash hound to live in, anyway. Stay here for a while and prepare yourselves. I have a feeling that after this town, it's the point of no return)."

"(I suppose so)," said Zardes. "(Will the people of this town accept us after what we did?)"

"(What you did is to save them from being killed by a crazed demon bat. No offense, young Ammon. Basically, they'll think of you all as their saviors. Besides, no one was killed)."

"(Not one?)"

"(I've checked with the guards here)," said Alhen. "(Well, except one who was shivering cold)."

Ammon remembered that an ash hound was hit by the projectile attack. He thought that the attack was dangerous, but apparently Abellor still had his own free will enough to lessen the impact of his attack. If he was out of control, the library would be in worse shape, and the three remaining hounds in it would die. While Ammon could still fight and defeat Abellor, the outcome would be vastly different.

He then sighed in relief, yet another surprise came to them. As Ammon sighed, he let out a soft burst of ice-cold air that was rather uncontrolled. As a result, the ice-cold air froze the jerky he was holding, surprising him when he tried to eat it.

His yelp of surprise was not unnoticed, however. Belial noticed Ammon's actions and said, "(What are you doing?)"

"(I don't know. The jerky turns cold and hard to bite)," said Ammon, showing the piece of jerky he was holding. Belial was quick to realize that the jerky was frozen and looked at Ammon with a surprised look.

"(Ammon, you...you froze the jerky?)"

"(What? No! How can I do that?)"

"(That jerky's frozen)."

"(Well, it could just be put under the ashes for too long. They do that around here for refrigeration)."

"(No one would eat ash-covered jerky!)"

Their conversation quickly took the attention of the rest of the group. They turned to Ammon, then to the frozen jerky. The first hound in the group who realized what it meant was Zardes, as perceptive as he was. He snatched the jerky off Ammon's wings (he had no hands, so he held things with the claws on his wings) and said, "(This jerky is frozen, not just cold. The ashes around here do not freeze stuff. Right, Alhen?)"

"(No, we don't. If that's the case, this place will be like the cold hell)."

"(See?)"

"(But I can't freeze things!)" said Ammon. "(You mean, that jerky was something I did)?"

"(No, it can't be a coincidence. Your old friend was also using ice magic like an ice demon, but you never used ice before and never fought him with ice, as you claimed. What did you do during the fight, Ammon? I need to know)."

"(I fought him with my life, Zardes. I did whatever I could to save him, but I could not!)"

"(I know that already. I mean, something specific. What did you do? Describe everything)."

Ammon then described the fight as he could remember it, including the part where he impaled and decapitate Abellor and when he bit Abellor after an unknown voice prompted him to do so. After that, he could understand what Abellor was talking about, and also the warning involved in it.

Zardes, who listened intently, sighed and said, "(Ammon, I know things are bad for you now, but you clearly fell for the trap)."

"(Abel did say that I was not supposed to know how to understand him, because he was not talking with his own free will)."

"(Exactly the point. That fight with your friend was not to try and stop you from rebelling, but instead to power you. For some reason, you gained the abilities and knowledge of a Vessel you've bitten. It can only mean one thing. Barbatos was filtering you out)."

"(Filter?)"

"(By eliminating unworthy Vessels, he could finally find the one true Vessel that he could use, one that fought back and who had the power and the knowledge of the other Vessels. He was capturing Vessels to test them in a long battle royale to determine the one that he would take over and-)"

"(Wait just a minute. You mean, we are working for Barbatos and Asmodel at the same time)?" interrupted Belial. "(We helped Asmodel to defeat me or Barbatos, but we also help Barbatos by killing his minions. This is more like a no-win situation to me! We lose either way!)"

"(That is why we need to pick the lesser of the two problems)," said Zardes. "(I know you won't like it, Belial, but we need to finish the journal with your brother's help. I don't like it, either, but his plan has been in motion for almost a thousand years!)"

"(I know, I know)," said Belial with a sigh. "(I've been as ignorant as I am. Might as well finish what we started and think of the problems later)."

"(Things have happened, so there is no use regretting it)." Zardes then turned to Ammon. "(All we can hope to do is to finish it before it's too late)."

Ammon nodded, agreeing with Zardes. Things had not been working towards them lately, especially after they had been involved too much with the politics of the Fifth Circle. It all started with a rather innocent decision to pursue knowledge, which unknowingly sprung a trap a thousand years in waiting. The Ashen Kingdom, the Infernal Texts...they were all simply items of interest for Barbatos and Asmodel, respectively.

They only need a group of curious individuals to spring the trap, and things went according to their plans.