"I understand." Ruby nodded, "You don't want him to become that torture master again. You're afraid that he will completely collapse."
"No." Sam looked into Ruby's eyes, "I mean, he really can't do it. He can't complete this task. Something happened down there, Ruby. He is no longer the same person as before. He is not strong enough."
Ruby's eyes flickered. "What about you?"
Sam's eyes became firm. "I will. I will complete this task for him. I will let Alastair speak."
Ruby walked up to Sam, stretched out her hand and gently stroked his cheek. Her fingers were cold, with a hint of the devil's unique chill. Sam did not move away, but lowered his head with complicated eyes.
"It's okay, Sammy." Ruby's voice was so gentle that it could drip water, "I will help you. Let's find Dean together and solve Alastair together. Nothing can stump us."
Sam took a deep breath. "It's been weeks. I need it." There was longing and struggle in his voice.
Ruby smiled. "You look reluctant."
"Do you think I want to do this?" Sam raised his head suddenly, his eyes filled with pain, "This is the last thing I want to do - but I need to be strong enough. Strong enough to protect Dean, strong enough to kill Lilith, strong enough to stop all this."
Ruby sat astride Sam's legs, lowered her head and kissed his lips. Then she pulled out a sharp knife from the sheath on her ankle and cut her arm without hesitation. Black, sticky blood flowed from the wound, exuding a pungent smell of sulfur.
Sam's eyes instantly became blurred. He lowered his head eagerly and sucked the demon blood from Ruby's veins. Ruby stroked his hair and raised an imperceptible, cold smile at the corner of his mouth.
Dean slowly walked into the area where Devil's Trap was. His steps were heavy, and every step he took seemed to be stepping on his own heart. He put down a metal pallet full of tools, and the pallet collided with the ground, making a harsh sound that echoed in the empty warehouse.
Alastair raised his head and saw Dean, showing a ferocious and proud smile. His teeth were yellow, and his eyes were full of cruelty and teasing.
"This is really a serious and emotional scene." Alastair said with a smile, "I shouldn't laugh, but... I mean, are they serious? They sent you to torture me? The little boy who cried for mercy on my torture rack?"
Dean said nothing. He picked up a scalpel and shined it under the light. The cold blade reflected his pale and distorted face.
"You only have one chance. One chance." Dean's voice was hoarse, "Tell me who is killing the angels. I want a name."
"Do you think I will tell you all when I see these scary toys of yours?" Alastair sneered, "Don't tease me, kid. I have seen more torture than you have ever seen in your life."
"Oh, you're going to tell me everything, no matter how." Dean said, "I just don't want to get my shoes dirty."
He held the scalpel and walked towards Alastair step by step.
"Now answer the question."
"Otherwise? Are you going to beat me up?" Alastair tilted his head, as if looking at a clown, "But then again, maybe you don't want to. Maybe you are scared. Afraid of becoming like that again."
"Am I not here?" Dean said.
"Not exactly." Alastair's eyes became sharp, "You left part of yourself in the abyss. Let's see if we can reunite you two, okay?"
"You will be disappointed."
"So far, you have never let me down." Alastair smiled even wider, "Come on. You must want revenge for everything I did to you, right? For all the poking and torture. Huh? No? What about... for everything I did to your dad? I can still smell him. The smell of blood."
Dean clenched his hand suddenly. The handle of the scalpel was deeply embedded in his palm, and blood flowed out from between his fingers and dripped on the ground.
"Tell me your name, Alastair." Dean's voice was as cold as ice.
"Your father has been on my rack for nearly a century." Alastair ignored Dean's words and said to himself, "You can't delay it forever. John·Winchester. He has earned a good reputation for himself. A hundred years. After every interrogation, I will give him the same proposal as I gave you. If he picks up the knife, I will put down mine."
"Shut up." Dean's voice was trembling.
"But he says 'no' every time," Alastair lamented. "Damn, I just can't beat him. I've tried everything, but John... he's made of something unique. English Xiong's material. Then Dean came. Dean·Winchester. I thought I was going to meet the same challenge again. But daddy's little girl, he gave in. It only took thirty years."
He looked at Dean, his eyes full of ridicule. "Oh, after all, you failed to become the kind of person your father wanted you to be, right, Dean?"
Dean threw away the scalpel and picked up a syringe filled with holy water. He rushed to Alastair and stabbed the syringe into Alastair's neck.
"Ah--!"
Alastair let out a scream of pain. The holy water burned his skin and bursts of white smoke came out.
"Holy water? Please!" Alastair gasped and said with a smile, "Little grasshopper, you have to be a little creative to impress me. To me, this is like being bitten by a mosquito."
Dean looked at him, and the last trace of warmth in his eyes disappeared. They became cold, hollow, without any emotion.
"You know, Alastair?" Dean's voice was terrifyingly calm, "Even in Hell, I can dream. Over and over again, do you know what I dreamed about? I dreamed about this moment. Believe me... I have a lot of ideas."
He picked up another tool on the tray, a sharp peeling knife.
"Let's get started."
Outside the warehouse, Castiel leaned against the wall, listening to the shrill screams coming from inside. His face showed a painful expression, and his eyes were full of struggle and self-blame.
Suddenly, the lights overhead flickered.
Anna appeared in front of him.
She was wearing a simple white T-shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and a pair of white canvas shoes. Her hair lay casually on her shoulders, and her eyes were clear and firm. She looked like an ordinary human girl, but the aura exuding from her body told Castiel that she was an angel.
"Anna." Castiel said in surprise and doubt, "Your human body has been destroyed."
"I know." Anna smiled, "But I think I am a nostalgic person. I relied on some old friends, and then..."
"You shouldn't be here." Castiel said, "We still have orders to kill you. Uriel has been looking for you."
Anna smiled and shook her head. "Somehow, I don't think you will do anything." She looked around, "Where is Uriel?"
"He went to receive revelation."
"Yeah." Anna nodded, "Now, I respect your professionalism. Why do you want Dean to do this? Torture? Is this God's job?"
"He's doing God's work." Castiel whispered.
"Is torture the job of God?" Anna asked, "Stop him, Cas, please. Before you destroy your only real weapon. Dean is the only hope to stop Lucifer. You can't let him collapse completely."
"Who do we have to question God's will?"
"Unless it's not his will."
Castiel suddenly raised his head and looked at Anna. "Where did that order come from?"
"I don't know." Anna shook his head, "Maybe it's one of our superiors, but it's not him. Who is murdering the angels? Your beloved Heavenly Father, do you think He wants this? Do you think He would ask you to do this? Do you think this is justice?"
She looked into Castiel's eyes and said word by word, "What you feel now is called doubt. These orders are wrong, you know it. But you can do the right thing. You are scared, Cas. I was scared before. But we can do it together -"
"Together?" Castiel interrupted her, "You and I are not the same at all. You have fallen. Let's go before Uriel comes back."
"Cas..." Anna wants to say something else.
"Let's go." Castiel turned around, facing away from her.
Anna sighed. She took a deep look at Castiel and then disappeared.
Castiel stood there with confused eyes. He raised his head and looked in the direction of the interrogation room. The screams inside were still continuing, each one louder than the last. Something in his heart was slowly breaking.
Dean took the dagger that could kill demons and immersed it in a bowl of holy water. A layer of white foam appeared on the blade of the dagger.
Alastair was covered in wounds and was breathing rapidly. His skin was burnt by the holy water, and there were bloody wounds everywhere. But he still had that damn smile on his face.
A water pipe on the ceiling was dripping water. The water droplets fell to the ground "tick-tock, tick-tock", just on the edge of Devil's Trap. The water droplets slowly washed away the Enochian runes on the ground, and the color of the runes became lighter and lighter, gradually becoming blurry.
No one noticed this.
"It's that little piggy knife." Alastair looked at the dagger in Dean's hand and said with a smile, "I'm still wondering where it went. Do you really think this can make up for you? Can it relieve you? Oh. It's so sad. It's really sad. Sad, sad."
He looked at Dean, his eyes full of pity. "I carved you into a new creature, Dean. There is no turning back. You will always be the torturer who picked up the butcher knife in Hell."
"Maybe you are right." Dean raised his head, his eyes empty, "But now it's my turn to carve."
He raised the dagger and stabbed Alastair hard in the shoulder.
"Ah--!"
Alastair let out a heart-rending roar.
"That's it." Alastair gasped and laughed, "Deeper. Deeper. You like this feeling, right? That sense of power. That feeling of holding someone else's life in your hands. Just like in Hell. Admit it, Dean, you enjoy this."
"Shut up." Dean said through gritted teeth.
"Tell me something damn, Dean." Alastair's eyes became strange, "The real reason why Lilith wanted you to go there in the first place."
Dean's heart skipped a beat. "I told you to shut up."
He stabbed Alastair again.
Alastair coughed and coughed up a few mouthfuls of black blood. But he smiled wider. "There's something stuck in my throat. I think it's my throat. Well, buckle up, because I'm just starting to have fun. You know, it was supposed to be your dad. He was supposed to start all this. But in the end, it was you."
"What to turn on?" Dean couldn't help but ask.
"Every night, the same proposal, remember? Same as your dad." Alastair looked into Dean's eyes and said word for word, "Finally you said, 'Count me in'. Oh, the first time you picked up my razor, the first time you cut open that crying bitch... that was First Seal."
Dean's face turned pale instantly. He took a step back as if he had been struck by lightning.
"You're lying." His voice was trembling, almost inaudible.
"'It is written, First Seal will be broken when a righteous man sheds his blood on Hell. When he is broken, the seal will also be broken.'" Alastair recited the scripture with a pious expression on his face, "We must break First Seal first before we can break the others. This is the only way for the dominoes to fall correctly. Knock down the one at the front."
He smiled triumphantly, watching Dean collapse. "When we win, when we bring Apocalypse and burn this earth down, we will attribute everything to you...Dean·Winchester. Trust me, kid. I won't lie about this. This is a... religious belief for me."
There was a "clang" sound.
Dean The dagger in his hand fell to the ground. He stood there with dull eyes, as if he had lost his soul. The whole world was spinning and collapsing in front of his eyes.
Although I had guessed something before, the feeling of having someone say it myself was still different.
Alastair slowly broke free from the iron chain on his hand. He looked down at Devil's Trap who was washed away by the water on the ground, and showed a cruel smile.
"Well, it seems that God is on my side today."
With a sudden force, he broke all the iron chains. The iron chains fell to the ground with a clang. Alastair walked down from the pillar and walked towards Dean step by step.
Dean backed away and hit the cold wall with his back. He was trembling all over and had no strength to even raise his hand.
"No..." Dean's voice was as thin as a gnat.
"I don't think you're lying." Alastair said with a smile, "But even if the devil wins, you won't see that day again. You should call the plumber to fix the pipes. You still have a lot to learn, kid. So come to class early Monday morning."
He punched Dean in the face.
Dean's vision went dark and he fell to the ground.
Alastair grabbed Dean by the collar, lifted him up, and slammed him against the wall. Dean spat out a mouthful of blood, and his consciousness began to blur.
Bai Haorui ran quickly along the corridor. His clothes were stained with dust and blood, and his face looked a little tired, but his eyes were still sharp. He followed Uriel's remaining holy light aura for two and a half states, and finally found the abandoned warehouse.
Suddenly, he heard the sounds of fighting and screams of Dean coming from the interrogation room.
Bai Haorui's expression changed, and he immediately increased his speed and rushed towards the direction of the sound.
At the same time, Castiel also heard the movement inside. He was startled and immediately opened the door and rushed in.
Seeing Alastair beating Dean, Castiel roared angrily, white holy light erupted from his body, and launched an attack on Alastair.
Alastair turned around and pressed Castiel's forehead with his hand.
"Ah--!"
Castiel let out a painful scream. His body began to glow, and the sacred energy overflowed uncontrollably. Alastair's palm seemed to have a huge suction force, sucking away his angelic energy bit by bit.
"Oh, silly little trick." Alastair said disdainfully, "Now, I really wish I knew how to kill you. But I can only send you back to Heaven. Rest well, little angel."
At this moment, Sam rushed over from nowhere and rushed in.
He raised his hand, and his eyes instantly turned pure black. Powerful dark power burst out from his body, and the temperature of the entire room suddenly dropped.
"Who is murdering angels? How do they do it?" Sam's voice was cold and emotionless.
"Do you think I will tell you?" Alastair let go of Castiel, turned around and looked at Sam, with a sarcastic smile on his face, "How dare a half-assed monster who drinks demon blood dare to show off his power in front of me?"
"Yes, you will."
Sam clenched his fist fiercely.
An invisible force lifted Alastair up from the ground, and then nailed it to the opposite wall. Alastair struggled and wanted to break free, but Sam's strength was far beyond his imagination. He could only be nailed to the wall like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, unable to move.
"How did the devil kill the angel?" Sam asked again, walking towards Alastair step by step.
"I don't know." Alastair said, "By the way, we didn't do it. We didn't do it."
"I don't believe you."
"Believe it or not." Alastair said, "Lilith was not involved in this matter. She will not kill seven angels. Oh, she will kill a hundred, a thousand. But she will not use such a stupid way. Come on, if you can, send me back. I want to see if you have the courage."
Sam's hand began to glow. Black light pulsed in his palm, exuding destructive power.
"I am stronger now than before." Sam said, "Now I can kill people."
"No! Sam, don't!" Castiel shouted weakly.
But it's too late.
Sam pressed his palm on Alastair's chest.
"Ah--!"
Alastair let out a terrified scream. His body began to burn, and black flames emerged from his skin and quickly engulfed his whole body. After a few seconds, Alastair turned into a pile of ashes and scattered in the wind.
The room suddenly became quiet.
Dean fell to the ground and lost consciousness. Castiel also knelt on the ground weakly, gasping for air.
With a "bang" sound, the door was knocked open again.
Bai Haorui rushed into the room. When he saw the scene in front of him, his pupils shrank suddenly. He immediately ran to Dean and squatted down to check his injuries.
"Dean! Dean!" Bai Haorui called softly.
Dean had no reaction. His face was as pale as paper, and his breathing was so weak that he could hardly feel it.
"Cure him. Miracle, cure him now." Sam shouted at Castiel, his voice full of anger and anxiety.
"I can't." Castiel shook his head, "I was drained of too much energy by Alastair just now. I don't have enough power to perform a healing miracle now."
"It was you and Uriel who made him like this!" Sam roared, "Because you can't even watch a simple Devil's Trap! If Dean has any shortcomings, I will never let you go!"
"Shut up, Sam." Bai Haorui said without raising his head, his voice cold, "Hel Dean up first."
He stretched out his hand and slowly injected a wisp of purple-gold True Gang into Dean's body. True Gang was warm and mellow, flowing through Dean's limbs and bones, stabilizing his breath that was about to dissipate. Dean's breathing gradually stabilized, and his face became slightly better.
Sam looked at Bai Haorui with complicated eyes. He opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing. He walked over, and together with Bai Haorui, carefully helped Dean up.
"This whole thing is meaningless, do you understand?" Sam looked at Castiel and said, "It's not the devil who did it. It's something else that's killing your soldiers."
"Maybe Alastair is lying." Castiel said.
"No." Sam shook his head, "He didn't. He didn't need to lie about this."
Bai Haorui:
It wasn't the devil who did it... Who could it be? The only one who can kill an angel is another angel. Could it be... that there is really something wrong inside Heaven? Uriel...
The next morning, Dean was lying on the hospital bed, wrapped in bandages, still unconscious.
Sam was sitting on the chair beside the bed, his head lowered, not knowing what he was thinking. Bai Haorui stood by the window, looking outside with cold eyes. The sun shone on him through the window.
Suddenly, the air in the room fluctuated.
Uriel appeared in the room. His left arm was completely healed, not even a scar was left. His eyes were still cold, scanning Dean on the hospital bed, and then fell on Castiel.
"Castiel." Uriel said, "I have received revelations from my superiors. Our brothers and sisters are dying, and they... they want us to stop hunting the demon responsible."
Castiel suddenly raised his head and looked at Uriel in disbelief. "What?"