Ember Hertz/Plot

## Plot

### A Mere Human Arc

Ember makes an early appearance in the midst of Kazuki and Axel’s heated battle alongside her fellow assassins in their shared dorm room.

### Brazen Youths Arc

#### Ember vs Axel

Axel encounters Ember when he runs out of the dormitory’s building searching for Sherbet. Ember throws a fiery punch at Axel who blocks the attack. When Axel is struck and injured by a lightning blot conjured by Elliot's **Pandora's Box**, Ember offers to injure himself so they can continue the fight evenly matched. Axel stops her from doing so and summons Conrad to fight in his place before passing out.

Ember retreats from the battle after Elliot appears.

### Underworld Arc

Ember plays a more pivotal role in the Underworld Arc as Kazuki and his friends turned to her to exorcise Rouge’s soul from his body. However, something goes wrong and Rouge is ejected out from Kazuki’s body with her soul becoming reborn while Kazuki is thrown into an unknown portal. Rouge is initially uncooperative when telling them what happened to Kazuki but eventually relents and explains that he was most likely taken to her homeworld.

Ember shares a room with Sherbet during the party's stay at a tavern. Sherbet vents to the hellhound how she felt like she failed as Kazuki's bodyguard, causing Ember to reassure her that she isn't and that Kazuki is perfectly able to defend himself all on his own.

They finally find Kazuki and inform him of Rouge's disappearance as well as the destroyed grimoire. When Kazuki suddenly started glowing, Ember instructed everyone huddles around him and they are sent to Kazuki's Forever-still Space. Within the space, Kazuki explains them that this place was somehow connected to his past and that it’s like some kind of “undo button” is activated whenever an object is disturbed in any way. Ember recalls hearing about a place like this when she was younger and deduces that this still-space was made to be an exact replica of the place where Rouge’s life ended, causing a chill to go through everyone in the room.

#### The End

In the middle of searching for a new grimoire, Ember and Oralee bump into each other. Oralee is hysteric as she begs the hellhound to help her who takes her to a coffee shop where she can explain everything. The young demoness explains that Neo murdered Lita and now she going to die too. Ember reassures Oralee that she won't let her die and brings her to the Forever-still Space where she can be safe. Oralee suddenly collapses and screams that the ghosts have found her, the ghosts being the souls of the dead purgers of the fist generation with her mother being one of them. Ember saves her at the cost of her own, by transferring the souls into her own body through her Mark of the Beast brand. Ember bled black blood from every orifice on her body as she told Oralee that she's safe now. The hellhound reaches her hand out for the demoness who grabs, squeezing it tightly with tears in her eyes. The last thing Ember saw before was Oralee glowing as she transported herself and Ember back into The Underworld where she uses the magic coach to go to where Kazuki and the others were. Ember comes back to life as her and Oralee walk hand and hand towards Kazuki. Kazuki is relieved to see Oralee alive but the two other members of the Take-down Squad were wary until Ember told them not to worry and that she was their side. Oralee uses her powers as the Child of Light to transport The Overworld characters back to their homeworld.