*Azami*

The demoness was Piedad all this time? No, that can't be. Though my ability to detect demons wasn't all that great in those years, I didn't sense anything amiss with her. Then, why is she claiming she's Piedad? To mess with my head?

Mammon snickered as shards of amethyst marble danced around her left hand. "Die, prince!"

I leaped into the air and formed a shield made up of white crystals around me. The marble disintegrated upon hitting my barrier.

"I won't die! At least not until I rid this palace of your disgusting presence!" I formed more white crystals, this time shaping them into a jousting lance. With my brand new weapon pointed down, I slammed the ground, unleashing a shockwave, which shook the entire room. It was a good thing that Dad made sure the pillars were built sturdy, else I would've wrecked them.

The demoness chuckled as the dust swirled around her. "You're far too young to defeat someone my age. Now, kneel, boy!" she yelled. Her left knee slammed against my shield, breaking off chunks of crystal.

I thrust my lance forward, but she dodged.

The demoness laughed. "You aren't using your angel tool anymore? Do you have a death wish, boy?" she asked as she turned the dust around her into swords.

"At one time, I did, but not right now!" I yelled, pulling my lance up from the floor. A wave of marble and concrete rose up and clashed into her swords.

Mammon vanished from view and reappeared behind me just like the other demon. I smiled and thrust my knife behind me. She jumped back in shock, narrowly avoiding getting stabbed.

"Don't underestimate me, Archdemon of Greed," I said, spinning around.

She smiled. "You are indeed Osamu's brother. But like him, you will succumb to me!"

I gasped. "What do you mean by that?"

Her smile widened. "Your brother is currently my puppet. He should be killing his youngest daughter and allies by now!"

A silver aura crackled around me.

"Second heaven?" the demoness said with an amused smirk.

"I'll wipe that smug look on your face!" I yelled. I went around her in the span of a second and stabbed her. Or so I thought, hard stone prevented my knife from piercing her skin. Instead, I got a roundhouse kicking into the throne. "Ugh, this is not how I wanted to sit down."

"Still the wisecrack, huh?"

I pushed myself up. "Of course. Joking around helps numb the pain," I said, dropping my crystal shield in front of the throne.

She scoffed. "Why are you letting go of your shield? You need it now more than ever!" A large black tail emerged from her cloak, zipping toward me quicker than one could blink.

The tail went flying back toward its owner.

"What was that? It repealed my attack with equal force," she asked calmly as she slashed the ground with her tail to slow it down.

"Divine Protection," a soft voice called out. A purple-haired, white-winged being descended from above.

"So this is Parvati," the demoness said, narrowing her eyes at her. She glanced at my knife, which was bathed in blue light.

"Go, Parvati, destroy the demon!" I yelled, swinging my knife forward. Parvati transformed from a petite woman into a tall, multi-armed giantess with multiple swords for hands.

"Parvati's a djinn?" Mammon asked, jumping back as my guardian slashed the ground and lurched at her.

"You will pay for insulting my master!" Parvati yelled as she slashed the air.

Mammon formed a stone barrier to block the incoming razor wind. "She's a lot stronger than I thought!"

"Scared?" I asked, sitting back down on the throne.

"Fool," Mammon said, holding a hand forward. The ground exploded around Parvati and pulled her down. "Sink!"

"I will destroy the demon!" Parvati yelled, stabbing the ground with all six of her scimitars. The force thrust her into the air. She lowered her head and slammed her feet against the ceiling, crushing it, but not before using it to throw herself at the demoness.

"Careful now, Parvati is very persistent," I said, snickering.

She glared at me. "So it seems." She let out a scream as a dark orange aura flared around her.

"Second Hell?" I said, leaning forward.

"Why the shock? We're ancient beings. Of course, I know how to use these forms," Mammon said as her body grew bigger to match the size of my djinn. "After all, I am thousands of years old!"

"Careful, Parvati!"

"No need to worry about me, Master," Parvati said, stopping. She held her two arms forward and two back while the remaining two she pointed straight out.

I jumped up. All of my djinn's points were guarded except for below and above.

"Protect from above and below!" I yelled.

Mammon laughed as the floor underneath me cracked, taking the throne and me down. "You should be concerned for your own well being, child."

"Master!" Parvati yelled, turning to look at me.

I spread out my winds and flew, but something kept me from flying up. The rubble had clumped together to form a whip and wrapped around my leg. Mammon tried to pull me into the dungeon underneath the throne room.

"Don't lose focus!" I yelled as Mammon dashed toward her.

Parvati grimaced as Mammon punched her in the stomach, sending her flying through the roof.

"Parvati!" I yelled, slashing the earth chain, but it quickly reformed. My control over the earth wasn't enough to break it either.

Mammon let out a crackle. "Look at you. You were all smug a moment ago! Oh, how the tables have turned!"

I gritted my teeth and reached for my yellow beaded necklace. "Do your thing, Lakshmi," I whispered. One moment, I went from struggling to escape the ground whip to sitting on the throne in a room semi-restored.

The demoness's eyes widened as I jumped out of the throne and flew up. Mammon looked down and noticed that she was back to her original form. "You rewound time? No, that can't be. If so, I probably wouldn't remember. Wait, an illusion?"

"Want to see if I'm an illusion?" Parvati asked before slashing her repeatedly.

Mammon's tail wrapped around Parvati's left arms and raised her left leg and arm to shield against my djinn's attack on her left flank. Not that the latter did much. She let out a scream as her arm and legs were chopped clean.

The demoness let out a scream and threw my djinn at me. I held out both arms and caught her and used my aura to push me forward, avoiding being sent flying.

"You insolent fool," Mammon said, grabbing her right arm's stump. The entire throne room turned into dust and spun around me.

"Prince Azami!" some guards yelled.

"Get away from here!" I yelled.

"You will die too!" Mammon said, holding her hand forward.

"Lakshmi," I whispered. Once more, the room reverted back to normal.

"Not again!" Mammon said as Parvati slashed her. This time, she failed to grab my djinn's arms with her tail. She let out a scream as she was turned into mincemeat.

"Too bad that's not the end of you, "I said, flying over.

"If you had this ability, why didn't you save Conrad and me?" Mammon said as she vanished.

I gritted my teeth. If it were possible, I would've used it. Sadly, it only works in the immediate area. I was out looking for a way to save my son when he passed away. Likewise, I wasn't around Piedad when she passed.

"Who are you really?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at her. "Are you really Piedad?"

She demoness smiled as the black dust floated upward.

"Parvati!" I yelled. My djinn jumped at it but was sent flying by a powerful shockwave.

The demoness' body reformed back to normal. "I already answered that."

"Don't listen to her. She's not Piedad!" a familiar voice called out. My eyes widened as I saw my older niece open the golden doors.

"Setsuko? What are you doing here? You should be in Xeleria with Rosalba!" she yelled.

Setsuko laughed. "Yeah, Rosa told me to go rest, but I couldn't do it. Something told me there was trouble brewing back home. It appears that I was right."

I laughed. "That sixth sense of yours is powerful."

"Thanks, Uncle. Now, help me dispatch this demon so that we can free my dad."

"You figured it out?" Mammon asked, showing off her sharp teeth to the princess.

"I'd long suspected that you were involved. Dad had been acting weird for a while now. Something dark and sinister tended to hang over him. These past few days, it seemed like he had reverted back to the way he used to be when I was little. Your control slipped, didn't it?"

"Die!" Parvati yelled, bringing down her swords on Mammon before she could answer.

The demoness turned back into dust and reformed behind her.

"Away with you!" she yelled, blasting my djinn into the wall.

"Parvati," I said, flying toward her. I grabbed her arm and saw she reverted back to her petite form.

"Sorry, Master," she mumbled.

"It's fine. You did a lot. Rest for now."

Parvati nodded and vanished, returning to my blue bracelet.

Mammon turned to look at Setsuko once she made sure my djinn was not an issue. "You're right, Princess. But your father is hardheaded. His pride ironically made it difficult for me to use him. But this war helped greatly. If it weren't for Takeshi saving him in Abyssia, he surely would've resorted to using my power to escape. Thankfully, the abysmals gave me another opening to use."

"I knew that my little brother wouldn't succumb to you that easily," I said, grinning. "Now, release him!"

"I won't. I still have many plans for him." She stared at Setsuko, who remained quiet. "While I'm surprised to see you here, I am glad."

I stopped in my steps. "Why?" I asked.

Mammon's eyes fell on the amulet around Setsuko's neck. "I need the rest of Valencia's soul. I'd managed to take a part of it when I seized the dying Piedad's body. Unfortunately, the rest of her soul passed on before I could completely engulf it."

I gasped. So her body is Piedad's?

Setsuko sigh. She appeared behind the demoness slammed a meteor hammer against her back, sending her flying outside of the throne room.

"Woah," I said, whistling. "You've gotten strong."

"Thanks, Uncle. Now, stop gawking and help me exorcise her."

I scratched my head. "I don't know how! I'm not an exorcist. Not to mention, it seems that she left."

Setsuko stared at the distance and clicked her tongue. "If only Nori were here."

"Nori?"

"He's a boy who seeks to be a priest. According to my sister, he has strong holy arts despite not being an angel. He dreams of being a priest."

I gasped. "He's not?"

"He's a Kyuu Hyakuian."

"The clan that rules Kyuu Seishin? That's in Xeleria," I said. Then that makes him similar to Miki. That guy also dreamed of being a priest. I gasped. "Miki!"

"Huh?" Setsuko asked, looking at me as if I were crazy.

"I know someone similar to that Nori boy. He might be able to help us cleanse the palace."

Setsuko smiled. "Really? That's great!"

"We should go pay him a visit. He told me that he lives in the west."

"The west, huh? I'll go look for him!"

"Wait! It's dangerous! I should go, and you stay here in case Mammon returns."

"I'll be fine. I've been there before! Besides, you did a good job at keeping that demoness at bay by yourself."

I gave her a wary smile. "Parvati did most of the work, and she's exhausted."

"Guess that we could go together. It would be easier to find him."

"And the palace?" I asked.

"It's not that important. Our ancestors lost the old castle when the Seven Hill Knight betrayed them. We bounced back from that. If that happens, it gives us an excuse to clean house."

I frowned as I followed her toward the golden gates. "You're talking about the nobles who side with Itou?"

She nodded. "Yes. Dad's been trying to dance around that issue, but getting rough with them might be our only chance to stem the rot in this country."

I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Listen, violence isn't the solution to everything. My dad made things worse by employing it to solve his perceived ills."

"So we standby and do nothing while our country rots from the inside?" she snapped.

I pulled my hand back. "If you aren't careful, you might end up just like them."

Setsuko averted her gaze. "I don't want that, but what do I do? My dad's way of dealing with it doesn't work. If we continue to let it fester, it'll overtake us. And by us, I don't just mean our family. Livelihoods have become increasingly difficult, and the rulers have done nothing but make it worse with the laws and treaties they've passed. It would actually be better if they did nothing at all. That way, the people can pick up the pieces."

I ruffled her hair. "You'll find something out. Just be sure to surround yourself with people you can trust to tell you the truth, even when you don't like it."

My niece laughed. "Like Serrano?"

"He tells you your truths?"

She scratched her face. "Yeah, Serra's not afraid to tell me when I'm doing something wrong."

I laughed. "Really? I remember when he was afraid to speak to you when he was little!"

Setsuko giggled. "He's changed. I think for the better. I don't want a yes-man as a husband," she said, putting her hands on her hips. Her smile vanished, and her eyes became sad. "Let's go." She spread out her orange eagle-like wings and took to the air.

That face. Can Setsuko sense that Serrano's in trouble too?

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter ^_^. Overall thoughts on the story thus far?**