Gabriel, Nico and Mak are hearing footsteps descending the staircase that they have walked not too long ago, they have taken positions in order to fight, the steps were getting closer and closer, everyone was on edge at this moment, Gabriel, despite the fact that he has faced many opponents couldn't help it but feel a bit uneasy to he imminent battle, Nico was prepared for anything, his long history of combat was obvious by how calm he looked in this situation, Mak was as scared as any living thing could be, his position was the furthest from the staircase, with weapons drawn they awaited to see who was descending, that's when something strange happened.

All of a sudden, a second sound of footsteps, they could now distinguish a second pair of footsteps, there were two people walking down the staircase, all three of them exchanged looks to make sure that they all were on the same page, as of now, they only knew about Ozymandias, no one mentioned an accomplice, it's finally time, in the next seconds the first person descending would be visible, they couldn't believe in their eyes, it was Renata. Somehow she has wondered at the chappel's basement, everyone was shocked to see her there, Nico made a sign for everyone to ignore it and to not make a move, not long afterward there was a second person walking down, Renata was standing at the end of the staircase, like an inanimate object, the other person wasn't familiar, a foreign guy, an old man, bald, with long sideburns, he was wearing a green sweater and khaki pants, there was nothing wrong with his attire, you couldn't distinguish him from a typical old man walking in the streets.

Without hesitation, Nico left his cover and made himself visible to this man.

Nico-Ozymandias Grzegarczoyk, the Vatican has come to put you down.

Ozymandias-What? How did you find this place?

Gabriel also followed Nico's move and appeared there.

Gabriel-What have you done to her you piece of shit?

As soon as Ozymandias noticed that he is outnumbered, he shoved Renata to the side, almost like a doll, she didn't react at all, he was now ready to make his move, he placed his hands on the ground and channeled something, a sudden light appeared and now there stood a creature between Ozymandias and Gabriel who is now in the front line with the demon axe resting on his shoulder, the light vanished and there stood a gigantic black wolf, Ozymandias found a moment to get Renata and drag her to the altar, the wolf attacked Gabriel who was the first person in sight.

Gabriel dodged the attack and made a swing with his axe, the fur of the wolf was so thick that the axe stuck in it, it took no damage from the swing, Gabriel loosened the grip on the axe's handle and proceeded to punch it, the force of his punch was enough to stagger it, Nico run to chase after Ozymandias, that's when another creature appeared before him, this time it was a long snake-like creature.

Mak-(This guy has summoned a dire wolf and a titan boa in seconds, this is insane, he must be a master summoner, what's happening with Renata though?)

Mak was still hiding behind cover while Gabriel was fighting the dire wolf, Nico released all of his combat equipment and took on the snake, it's attacks were too fast for a normal human to dodge, thanks to Nico's training, he was able to barely move out of danger, he dodged the snakes lunges at the last second while also trying to hit it with his sword, the Sword of Night, his plan was to blind it and then use the Aegis of the Gorgon, he couldn't just use the shield as that would leave him standing in front of a monster many times faster than him. Gabriel was still trying to put some damage on the wolf, with his axe now resting on the floor underneath the monster he had to use his fists, Nico didn't let him carry any of his usual arsenal, despite that he also had the Draconic Gauntlet with him, he used it multiple times and the gauntlet protected his arm flawlessly against the wolf's bite, with his superior speed, Gabriel was able to punch the wolf again and again to the point of it starting to look rough, he clearly has delivered some damage to the monster. After exchanging many blows, he managed to get ahold of his axe once again, this time he channeled the energy to his legs and arms, with lightning speed he delivered a crushing blow on the top of the wolf's head, splitting it in half, the fight didn't take more than a couple of minutes, Nico was still struggling with the snake though, he couldn't get a solid hit on it with his blade as it's speed was much greater, Gabriel joined him to help, he stood by his side.

Gabriel-Let's both try to hit it, once I pin it down, you use the shield.

Nico-Yeah.

Gabriel was able to dodge the snake's attacks with ease, he used his axe to strike it, with the axe swings he managed to peel parts of its scales from the body, the snake hissed with anger, Nico found the perfect opportunity to use the Aegis of the Gorgon and the petrifying ray turned it to a stone statue, Mak was amazed by how effective of a weapon that shield is, Mak also tried to figure out what was happening to Renata, she seemed hypnotized, something didn't add up, why was she even there with Ozymandias? Why would she help him? With their opponents beaten, Gabriel and Nico moved closer to the altar where Ozymandias was performing a ritual, with the ritual already in place and the demonic statues vibrating, it was obvious that Ozymandias had already begun with his plan.

Nico-What are you doing with the girl!?

Ozymandias-Isn't it obvious, paladin? I am sacrificing her soul.

Nico-Her soul doesn't belong to you, as a warlock you should know that you can't strike a deal like this.

Ozymandias-On the contrary, paladin, this soul belongs to me, it was constructed by me after all.

Mak-(That's it! That bastard has replaced Renata's soul, the necromantic spell wasn't to alter her memory at all, it was a forged soul inside her body, the girl that I spoke to, was fake. What has happened to her soul then?

Mak had many questions to ask but Nico got there before him.

Nico-What do you mean? Speak, you filthy demon worshiper!

Ozymandias-The soul of the girl is dormant inside this body, this girl has been in my control for a long time, the procedure to offer her soul took me a couple of months to perform, it's thanks to you that this is happening right now, I didn't expect you to find this place though, as soon as I heard there were foreign people here looking for the chappel I knew. Did you think that your asking of the chappel would come unnoticed by me? I figured that you would show yourselves here sooner or later, pigs of the Vatican, what I didn't expect though was to find a Holder here.

Ozymandias' eyes and voice were filled with fear, he looked almost frightened of Gabriel, he trembled like a madman.

Mak-(What?)

Gabriel-What?

Nico-What are you spouting, warlock?

Ozymandias laughed as he was now in the hands of Gabriel and Nico, he explained his previous statement to them.

Ozymandias-You didn't know? How would you know? The Vatican has been keeping secrets from you as well, hasn't it? You are too small in this game, Paladin, there are forces much worse than demons and angels in this world, ancient forces that you could never comprehend!

Nico-You don't make any sense, are you going to resist or will you come in peace?

Ozymandias-You are too late anyway, the girl's soul has already been offered to the "asset".

Mak-(Asset?)

At that point, a big black portal appeared in front of Ozymandias, it sucked him inside, no one could understand what happened, the portal sucked in both Ozymandias and Renata, a moment later appeared a shadow, the shadow took form, it was a serpentine creature with wings, Mak instantly identified the thing and informed the rest of them.

Mak-It's a Wyrm!

Despite Mak's warning, neither Gabriel nor Nico turned to run, they both held their ground as the Wyrm materialized in front of them.

Mak-This is beyond stupid! Wyrms are powerful draconic demons from Belials domain in hell, they are akin to dragons for fuck's sake, they cannot be harmed with magic and their scales are able to withstand the heaviest of attacks, I never expected something like this, the warlock offered his own soul and Renata's to summon this thing, it's going to destroy the entire town!

Gabriel-Then we better kill it now.

Gabriel made the first attack, his axe bounced off the body of the wyrm, no matter how much strength he put behind his swing, he tried to hit it multiple time with no effect, Nico wasn't able to follow Gabriel's movements at all, no amount of training or experience could bring a normal human to that level, Nico knew at that point that Asano's report was true, Gabriel had in fact killed a Raiju barehanded.

Gabriel's attacks were ineffective against the Wyrm, the tough scales on its body made it almost impossible for the axe to cut through, Nico also tried to use the Aegis of the Gorgon multiple times, the petrifying ray wasn't powerful enough to capture the Wyrm, while Gabriel was trying to keep it occupied, Mak was trying to figure a way to harm it. It's tough scales rendered physical attacks useless and it's a known fact that it's immune to any type of elemental attack, that theory was proven by Gabriel himself as he tried to also hit it with his fire attacks, he threw fireball after fireball to the Wyrm, every attack was just repelled back by the scales, Gabriel tried to use the chaos magic he got from Tamika but that also just bounced of the Wyrm's body, at this time, it wasn't important to know about Ozymandias' plan, Mak was overwelmed with questions as to why he would sacrifice his life so easily, a man who was trying to hide from the Vatican for years, he cheated death so many times just to give up in a moments notice, he didn't have the luxury of time though, for now he has to think of a way for Gabriel to kill the Wyrm, many things crossed his mind, the Holy Hand Grenade was one of them, the amount of damage it could do was akin to a nuclear bomb, both of these options weren't viable for the situation though, even if they had such a powerful weapon, it would destroy the entire town and them as well, Gabriel's punches weren't strong enough to damage it and the demon axe was also too weak, his fire attacks proved innefective an the light attacks also wouldn't work, Mak was trying to figure a way to beat it from his recolection of knowledge, he can't really find a way to kill an enemy thought to be on par with dragons. Dragons were probably the strongest creatures to ever walk the earth, even demons feared the power of dragons, Wyrms were an experiment of demons for replicating the power of dragons, even if they didn't exactly achieve at replicating it perfectly, Wyrms share many of their traits, Mak was clueless at to how Gabriel could damage the Wyrm, much less deliver a killing blow. Nico was also out of the picture, at this point none of his attacks from any of his weapons could do anything and he didn't have enough physical strength to damage it either, all of them knew that at this point it was on Gabriel's hands to kill it. He used every type of attack he could think of, Mike also tried to do his thing,

Mike-(Let me handle it.)

Gabriel was dodging the Wyrm's bites for the most part while also having an internal conversation with Mike.

Gabriel-(There is not enough time, last time I let you take control, it took a couple of minutes before you could fight, who knows what's going to happen while you are taking control?)

Mike-(I have measured the creature's defenses, I could easily penetrate them with one of my attacks.)

Gabriel-(Last time you smashed a whole valley, that would harm Mak and Nico, the entire town will get destroyed.)

Mike-(But we will live.)

Gabriel-(Just keep funneling energy in me, this is no time for jokes.)

Mike-(I will not allow you to trash this body, Gabriel. If it comes to this, I will unleash everything I have, even if it means to destroy everything.)

Gabriel was trying to convince Mike to not go overboard with his energy, last time he did, the amount of collateral damage was immeasurable, Gabriel couldn't afford for something like this to happen now, he wanted to join the Vatican and have a better life, that could not be accomplished if Nico was dead and Mak was also a huge help to him, even if denied it, he needed his guidance. Mike didn't care what would happen to anyone but Gabriel, to him, survival was the only thing that mattered.

While Gabriel was talking with Mike, his movements became a bit slower, despite the fact that he managed to dodge the Wyrm's attacks up to this point, the split second that he lost his focus to try and convince Mike costed him in reaction time, the Wyrm managed to bite his arm and thrash him around until it pulled off Gabriel's arm, blood was spewing everywhere from the stamp that was left in Gabriel's left arm, Mike focused the energy to regenerate his arm, the regeneration was instantaneous, Nico and Mak were shocked as to how quickly the wound was gone and Gabriel's arm reformed. Gabriel stood up and tried to punch his foe again, this time he used the thunder powers he got from the Raiju, the punch delivered a strong shock to the Wyrm's body rendering it immobile for a split second, Gabriel though that he finally found a way to damage it, Mak also witnessed the thunderous attack and had a different idea.

Gabriel used his thunder powers, again and again, the stun effect was useful but the Wyrm didn't show signs of any pain, it just recuperated from the shock each time. Mak yelled at Gabriel and told him about his idea, while he thought about humanity's most powerful weapon, his mind followed that reasoning, he remembered another weapon of human technology that was also extremely powerful and could do concentrated damage of calculatable scale,

Mak-Gabriel! Railgun!

Mak was referring to the railgun, a powerful cannon type weapon that utilizes electromagnetic energy to propel metallic ammunition at incredible speeds and delivers a huge amount of kinetic energy, the elemental attack itself might not be able to harm the Wyrm thanks to its immunity but a strong physical attack would be able to damage it and not harm the surrounding area. Gabriel heard Mak's words and he pulled a couple of pocket change he had, he asked Mike to use his sense of energy to try and pump electricity to his arms, he placed his arms in the shape of a gun barrel and Mike tried to do the calculations of how much electric energy to push through, he failed, the coins scattered at the walls leaving behind small holes, the penetrating power of this attack was incredible, Nico also did his part, he threw his sword at Gabriel.

Nico-Use it for ammunition!

Gabriel held the Sword of Night with one hand at the handle and another at the blade, he asked Mike once again to try the attack, in a matter of seconds, the current passed through Gabriel's body recreating the effects of a powerful electromagnet, the sword left Gabriel's hand at incredible speed, it shattered all of the bones in his arms and ripped away the flesh at the edge of his hands, he used his bare hands as a canon barrel to launch the sword like a bullet, the speed of the projectile was so strong that it shattered a couple of scales from the Wyrm's body, the shockwave of the attack threw it back several meters and left it dazed, that's when Gabriel remembered what Nico told him earlier, the fact that he used his thunder powers on this artifact made him recall what he told him earlier, how the amount of energy he put inside the artifacts could make them blow up, he took the oppurtunity to grab his axe once again, Mike also knew the idea that he had, Gabriel grabbed his axe and leaped on to the body of the Wyrm that was now dazed from the impact of the previous attack, he found the spot where the sword knocked off the scales and then he sliced with his axe, he created a deep wound on the Wyrm that was now trying to recover from the shock, he promted Mike to use as much energy as he could on the axe, the axe started to shine brightly and overheat, Gabriel grabbed Mak and run to the stairs, while the three of them were running up the staircase they heard the explosion, despite the fact that Gabriel wanted to see the explosion, he couldn't risk leaving Mak and Nico behind, he didn't know the size of the explosion it would make after all.

After a couple of seconds, they went back down the stairs to witness the aftermath of this plan, the axe had blown up the Wyrm, the armored scales on its body created a protective shield holding the explosion inside, the only thing left now was the exoskeleton of the Wyrm, the entire thing was hollow from the inside, the explosion that was triggered inside the body of the Wyrm had turned every inch of its body into minced meat and the fact that the scales held the explosion inside left the surrounding area almost intact, the explosion was contained inside the scaly armor of the Wyrm, now with just a huge pile of Wyrm scales, they have managed to kill it. Mak turned to Nico and said,

Mak-Holy shit, what was your guy thinking?

Nico-I don't know, Ozymandias had devoted so much time running and hiding from us, I can't believe he would throw his life away just to unleash a mindless monster to a random town in Mexico, I am clueless as to his reasoning.

Mak-Me too, I don't understand what was the point of this ritual, I would understand if he had tried to use it and render chaos but he decided to sacrifice himself.

Gabriel-Maybe he was just insane.

Mak-I don't think so, a man with such talent, why? Why would he throw his life away? It makes no sense, he had so many options, he could bargain for power, wealth, he could contract Belial for everything but he just summoned a creature without any plan of controlling it. What did he know that we didn't?

Nico-He mentioned something else, he called Gabriel a Holder, what was that about?

Gabriel-No idea.

Mak-I don't know, what I know is that Ozymandias would have been able to defeat you easily, what was you plan, Nico?

Nico-What do you mean?

Mak-Ozymandias was able to summon powerful creatures with the snap of his fingers, you would be no match for him alone. He could have just killed you and carry on with his business.

Nico-That's...Possible, what troubles me is that the moment he saw Gabriel, fear struck his mind, he sacrificed his life without hesitation.

Mak-It's possible that he could see Gabriel's strength and tried a plan of last resort.

Gabriel-What did he mean by that "asset" thing?

Mak-I can think of an explanation, Ozy had an accomplice after all.

Gabriel-You mean there are more enemies?

Mak-No, I bet his plan was to summon this creature and gift it to someone.

Nico-But why?

Mak-Why would he die for that? That someone wasn't a friend, it must be his master.

Gabriel-Master?

Mak-Think about it, like a soldier following orders, a devout follower would sacrifice himself for his master.

Nico-I don't have any information about something like that, not that I doubt your judgment, you have proved to be wise but since the Vatican hasn't issued anything, we can't follow your guess.

Mak-Yeah, I doubt we need to worry at the moment, if the Vatican hasn't picked up on anything it shouldn't be important.

Gabriel-So, what now?

Mak-We did what we came to do, I guess we should go back, the only problem is how to prove that we dealt with Ozymandias.

Nico-There was no way to subdue him, we also don't have his body, if my word isn't enough to convince the higher-ups, nothing will.

Mak-Right, we should pack things up. By the way, can I ask for a favor, Nico?

Nico-What is it?

Mak-Could we salvage the exoskeleton of the wyrm and put it in your bag?

Nico-I see, you want to make armor out of it.

Mak-I am not an expert, I just thought Kevin would like to mess with some of this stuff.

Nico-Fine, I would love to work beside someone wearing that armor, don't forget what you said, Gabriel, I will arrange for your position in the Vatican first thing as I return.

Gabriel-Thanks.

Nico gave his bag to Mak and Gabriel, Gabriel used his strength to rip off multiple scales of the Wyrm's remains, he placed enough material in the Bag of Holding to make about three sets of armor, since Nico handed the bag to him to carry it, he found an excuse to also put the book he picked up earlier about Consentual Possession, he planned to unpack everything back at Kevin's. Now with Ozymandias out of the picture, things seem to go well for Gabriel, when Nico arrived and announced that he was from the Vatican, things got weird, Gabriel and Mak were sure that they were in for some punishment for what they did during their trip to Japan, as it turns out, Nico requested their help, with current events, Gabriel now counts Nico as an ally, even if Mak has some second thoughts about the report Nico sent, he also considers Nico more of a friend than a foe, for now, he is going to arrange for Gabriel to work for the Vatican as a free agent. That way he can work under the jurisdiction of the Vatican on the condition that he must answer when there is a summon, Gabriel viewed that as a win-win situation since he wasn't able to actively change the things he wanted, so far he has meddled with things that directly affected his life, now he will be assigned mission to carry out, Nico has given his approval and said that he will support and teach him, things seem to be going well for Gabriel.