"...." Gabe was silent as she said that.

It was, quite frankly, the most roundabout response he could have been given. He really did not know how to properly take it, so he defaulted to aloof ambiguity. He figured that was safe right now.

"Fair." was all he replied with.

At that point, off to the side, Zeke and Angela returned, having used Zeke's mana, and Gabe sighed.

"Well, let the medic tend to your wounds." he told Erica.

"Don't need you developing complications."

Zeke looked shocked and worried about what had just transpired. He didn't even think of the effects of the curse on Angela. He was about to try and suggest something, before he noticed Gabriel looking... irritated.

Almost angry.

"...oh boy..." he mumbled.

"ENOUGH." Gabriel said in a booming voice, stamping his foot down and causing a visible golden translucent semi-circular bubble of mana to come out from him, spreading out and engulfing the kitchen.

"It's a neutralising field." he said.

"Now..." he said to Angela. "I believe you have a patient to tend to... yes?" he asked her, and Zeke could tell he was holding back the ire and impatience.

Gabe just crossed his arms over his chest, and waited for Angela to do what she needed to do.

She did, and it wasn't very long before Erica's wounds were tended to, dressed, cleaned, everything.

"And done." she said.

"Good, good." Gabe replied.

"Thank you." Zeke told her.

"Want me to take you back to the Unit now?" he asked.

Zeke looked over towards Gabriel, and looked like he was about to say something... but didn't. Instead, he grabbed hold of Angela's hand, and they both disappeared from where they were.

Once they did that, Gabe dispelled the field.

"Ugh." he sighed.

"Well, at least that's done." he said.

"What happened?" he asked her.

"During the flare up, and such." he then clarified. "How were you injured?"

Gabe wasn't going to lie, this trend of her not remembering things and being a blur was concerning him.

This couldn't be the work of the curse... could it? She HAD lived longer than anyone else in the past with it... was this part of its progression? Was this something that would have happened to the others?

He didn't know. And he hated that.

"I see..." he said.

"That's unfortunate." he commented.

"At least you seem to be all right now." he told her, looking her over.

"...Miss Edwards is quite the doctor." he admitted at the end.

Again, Gabe was silent.

He wasn't sure if this was supposed to be happening. Was it? Was THIS the fate of all those with the curse?

If so... he didn't like it. Not one bit.

"Anyway..." he then said.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her.

"Feel like you need to rest or anything?" he asked further. "Because odds are you'll need to take it easy for the next little while." he reasoned, gesturing to her fresh stitches.

The change was nigh-instant. Children started to either bawl loudly, throw tantrums, or started to run about with inexhaustible exuberance, people were crying intensely, laughing out of control, getting angry at each other... but it was a lot of the last one.

So much so, that, much like the incident in the café, fights started.

And one fight turned into a larger fight... which meshed with another fight. And soon enough, it was like a massive brawl, with security being called in, police on their way, or already there, and EVERYONE was out of their minds.

Except for a couple of people... arguably. Erica had remained sitting there, not even caring when she was shoved into the fountain. She merely stood up and walked out of it, sitting back down at it like it hadn't happened.

And Azazel had been there, grabbing something that Roxie had asked him to pick up while he was in the area. He'd been dodging and avoiding people, knowing this HAD to have been Erica's doing, and when he saw her at the fountain, he started to forcibly push past people.

"ERICA!" he called out to her.

"ERICA, HANG ON!" he said further.

Her tearing her arm away was so abrupt and violent, it surprised him.

And the spreading curse was alarming him.

"Erica!" he snapped.

"Erica, come ON!" he told her, before seeing JUST how bad she was.

"Oh... oh, no..." he mumbled.

"That's it, I need to suck some of that curse OUT of you!" he told her, grabbing her arm again. However, just as he started to drain her of her curse energy, a strange sinusoidal blade emerged from his chest, someone having stabbed him from behind.

He looked at the blade, before looking at the one who had done it, his eyes a mix of hatred and fear.

"Bal..phegor..." he stammered, as the demon withdrew the blade, causing Azazel to let go of Erica, and stumble into the water.

"Now that THAT pest has been taken care of..." Balphegor said, looking at Azazel, and then Erica.

"Shall we go?" he asked her mockingly.

"...." Balphegor was silent as he looked her over, and saw her obedience.

"...excellent." he said.

"You will make a fine addition to my army against Lilith." he told her, as he started to lead her through the mall, casually knocking out and injuring any that got close to them.

"And... hmmm..." he mumbled, looking her over.

"Yes, I think it should be complete and full." he finished, pondering something.

He just grinned as he looked at her, contrasting her with the ruins of the building.

"Beauty." he said.

"It's never permanent." he lamented.

"So... let me appreciate YOUR beauty... before you are little more than a husk for that curse to command." he told her. "Or... rather... a husk for me to command the curse with." he chuckled.

Unbeknownst to him, however, there was a third party that was privy this encounter.