Never before had Souta felt so much like a soldier.  Working parallel to the nearest squad of angel soldiers, he had advanced step by step.  It went without saying that he could not afford to plow into the enemy ranks, ripping into the demon horde like a force of nature.  Even if he could have given a good account of himself, he would have tired, and in this scenario he didn't feel like he could rely on the shaky alliance with the Army of Light to bail him out.  His fellow agents, once separated, did not seem apt to look back out of concern for his well-being, and he wouldn't have wanted them to.  Human or not, he could stand on its own--demonstrating that was the will of all men who stood with Gilgamesh.  Either way, his combined weapon made short work of the smaller demons who challenged him.  With Escre's sepulchral essence infused with Deluge, each sickly-green shot exploded into a spray of deadly bone shards, making each bolt a sort of fragmentation grenade.  When he'd noticed that the angels, thanks to the Charred Council's agents, had gained the upper hand, he used the distraction to make haste toward where Fenn and Lily were cleaning up.  The mausoleum -the point of interest around which this entire raging battled revolved- soon stood before him.

Late to the party, he hurried inside.  The telltale noises of shattering stone, tearing metal, and guttural growls told him he'd arrive too late to contribute, but he emerged into the main chamber just in time to see an unusual-looking Hatred give up the ghost.  [i]Surely that wasn't the 'boss' of Hell's forces around here?  If I remember correctly, they're only Tier 2.[/i]  His attention turned elsewhere, first with a degree of surprise toward the crotchety old sorcerer, then to the arcane artifact in his hands.  [color=teal]"Oh, is that the thing?  Hey, cool."[/color]  Souta debated whether or not to comment on the perceived anticlimax, but not only was there a good chance he just missed the fight, there was also a pretty good chance that the battle was only beginning.  [color=teal]"So, we have one half of the way in to the seal.  Hello by the way, Mr. Akoni.  We've still got one hell of a catch-22 to deal with.  If we just knew where that snake was, we'd be able to figure out what to do."[/color]

The smith banished his combined weapon, returning it to twin streams of water that faded into the runes on his hoodie.  He scratched his chin, the wheels turning in his mind.  [color=teal]"You know, given the amount of fighting going on on this island, I'd bet that there's a Gilgamesh team on the way or maybe here already.  If that's true, they're coming in a chopper, and that chopper's got the latest and greatest instruments the company's got to sense demonic energy.  It's a long shot, but if Gilgamesh is out there, we'll be able to tell if Sevrin's already gotten to the seal."[/color]  Still standing by the doorway, he crossed his arms.  By his body language, he was indicating that the agents should waste no time leaving this place with their prize.