As the energy of the Pride Ring flooded into Zac, he found himself growing increasingly angry at these bugs who dared contest him for his territory.
Raising his head, Zac looked down at the demons who dared challenge him.
"This is your last warning, bugs. Be gone and never appear before me again," Zac growled, not seeing these pathetic sinners as worthy opponents.
"You ssstand no chance against my greatessst creation!" Sir Pentious hissed as his Egg Bois pulled a lightly damaged steampunk-looking weapon from the rubble. He ordered them to mount it and aim it at Zac's chest.
The weapon had lines of light spiralling toward its tip, where two pale golden-white wings were painted on each side. The snake let out a mad cackle.
"I have infused it with holy steel, so today will be your last!"
"Fire the railgun, code-named Heaven Splitter!" Pentious shouted, pointing at Zac. "You won't be so smug after this!"
The weapon charged, its energy shifting from red to faint golden-yellow.
Zac snorted. "I see you have chosen death. I must admit, snake, you have piqued my curiosity with your contraption."
Frank the Egg Boy slammed the firing button. The lights flashed, dimmed almost completely, then shone brighter than ever.
A burst of hellish energy mixed with impure holy energy shot forward.
Everything went silent, as if the world itself was holding its breath.
Zac condensed all the void energy he could muster on such short notice, compressing it into a deep black sphere outlined faintly in purple as space folded inward.
Just as the black hole formed, the beam slammed into it.
Strangely, there was no sound only the void devouring the energy, growing slightly larger each passing moment.
Then, with a sputter, the machine powered down, its lights flickering before dying as smoke poured from its frame.
"Holy shit," everyone watching and those participating in the fight uttered in shock.
"Now that's cool," Loona said aloud to Blitz.
To regain some of the energy he had spent, Zac bit into the black hole and swallowed it piece by piece.
It didn't fully restore him, but he felt lighter and more energized.
I didn't know I could do that… interesting, he thought.
Without warning, Zac lunged forward, clamping down on Cherri Bomb and shaking his head violently, killing her for now.
"Little bugs, see? Your useless weapons have no chance of harming one such as myself!"
He then tossed Cherri aside with the force of a small truck.
She slammed into a building wall, leaving an imprint as cracks spread across the surface. She slid down, barely conscious.
"No, Cherri!" Angel shrieked, spraying his tommy guns at Zac.
Zac turned his attention to Angel Dust, raising his scaled hand to crush the spider demon. Seeing his fate approaching, Angel shut his eyes, expecting the worst.
But nothing happened.
Angel opened his eyes to see Charlie of all people holding up the dragon's massive paw.
"Out, now!" Charlie commanded as Angel scrambled away.
"We are going to talk about this later, but first…" Charlie muttered in annoyance before shouting at Zac, "We don't need to fight! We'll withdraw look, is this really worth it?"
The massive dragon halted his strike, intrigued by the newcomer, who seemed familiar.
"Go on," he rumbled deeply.
As the newcomer rambled about stopping the fighting and learning to get along, Zac struggled to place her like an itch he couldn't scratch.
Then it clicked.
Charlie the Princess of Hell, with too much optimism for her own good. The reason it took him so long to remember one of the main characters from Hazbin Hotel was that he hadn't finished the series in his past life. Season two had just released when he died, though he had finished watching Helluva Boss the night before.
Shaking off the memory, Zac refocused on Charlie as the rational part of his mind regained control.
"So, if you could kindly allow me to take my residents home, I would greatly appreciate it," Charlie said hopefully.
"What do I get out of it?" Zac replied, his deep voice shaking the remaining intact windows.
Charlie sighed. "It's never easy, is it?" She shook her head. "You want this territory, right? If you stop this battle, I'll acknowledge you as its owner."
Zac thought for a moment before answering, "Sure, I agree but I also want a favour. Deal?"
Charlie considered before replying, "First, I'm not giving you, my soul. But I will owe you a favour as long as it doesn't conflict with my morals. I won't hurt anyone for you. And if I see fit, you will come to my aid." She extended her hand.
Zac shifted back into his humanoid form and shook Charlie's hand.
As they agreed to the contract's terms, the deal manifested. Zac's power flared into existence deep crimson and void-black energy dancing like flames around his feet and horns.
Charlie's horns emerged, her eyes glowing red as her tail appeared, her hands darkening with golden-red energy.
"Then a mutual deal has been made," Zac said, releasing Charlie's hand as his power settled back under control.