A number of students of St Anthony's School, Los Angeles, have been sent on a trip to Hong Kong just prior to the handover to China in June, 1997. These students include the Devil Ambriel, in her mortal guise of Sam Hardcastle, together with her thrall, Emma Lieberman. On their first day in the city, they are taken to the top of Victoria Peak for one of the best views of the city. A student Ambriel has never seen before approaches her and addresses her by her celestial name. He is glad that she is in Hong Kong since she will be instrumental in the fate of the world. She will learn more if she returns to the Peak at midnight. There is a commotion when it is discovered that Isobel, a student Ambriel was sharing a room with, has disappeared. There are signs of a struggle and the police are called. Ambriel overhears them saying that Isobel is not the first child to go missing and, so far, all the children have been taken from natural areas, parks, hiking paths and so on…

Azariah, a Scourge, has received a message from the fallen Fiend Ahrimel, asking him to come to Hong Kong to aid him. However, when Azariah arrives at Hong Kong airport, he is taken to one side by a customs official. The official addresses him by his celestial name, explaining that Azariah has an important part to play in the fate of the world and that he will meet others like himself if he goes to Victoria Peak at midnight.

Aristarchus, a Malefactor in the guise of microchip designer Charlie Windran, is working in his office in one of Hong Kong's many skyscrapers, when he hears a tapping on the window. Guadium, the fallen cherub, is hovering outside. His master, the Malefactor Nathanael, has crafted an item that he wants Aristarchus to take a look at. He wants to meet Aristarchus at midday on the following day in a warehouse in Mong Kok, opposite a noodle house. Having dismissed Gaudium, Aristarchus then receives a message on his computer. He also has a part to play in the fate of the world, as do four others, and he will meet them at midnight on Victoria Peak.

Belltraacten (John Ridley), a Defiler, is in Hong Kong scouting for new talent (and thralls). He meets goes to meet an agent who then gives him the spiel about how he is important to the fate of the world. Belltaracten is reluctant to be a part of this, but the agent then mentions a powerful artefact, which the Defiler will have the opportunity to possess, and Belltaracten agrees to go to Victoria Peak at midnight. The agent and the contents of the office then disappear, leaving Belltaracten alone in an empty room.

The Slayer, Azazel, has possessed the body of LAPD Homicide Detective Eddie ‘Tequila' Chan. Eddie Chan, with his partner Detective Sam Spade, was investigating the murder of Sally-Jo Hemmings, a twelve year-old girl who was shot and then had her hands cut off. He believes that this is related to a drug shipment her father, Ryan Hemmings, was involved with on behalf of South African drug boss Justin Vaughan. Two of Hemmings' lieutenants were also killed - Gareth Saunders and Richard Wade. In a firefight at a private airstrip, Spade is injured and Hemmings escapes, travelling to Hong Kong. Wade, believed dead, is also seen boarding a plane to Hong Kong and Azazel, as Chan, is sent to follow them. Arriving at Hong Kong airport, Azazel is met by HKPD Inspector Katie Lao, who takes him to headquarters. While she retrieves the case files, Azazel meets a man called Jones who offers him tea and greets him by his celestial name. He is told of his destiny and how he will meet others at Victoria Peak, though there is one of the selected five Jones does not trust. He also advises him to investigate the recent kidnappings.

The five fallen angels gather at Victoria Peak, though Azazel remains hidden from the others. Introductions are made by the other four, but Azariah's declared name does not ring true. At this point, a group of individuals from the Hollow Sun Brotherhood arrive, declaring their intention to cleanse the world of demons. One causes his staff to become wreathed in flame and takes a swing at Azariah, but Ambriel uses her angelic voice to cause the mortals to stay their hands. Azazel, hiding in the undergrowth, shoots the leader in the leg. This causes another of the Brotherhood to hurl a heat blast in Azazel's general direction, but it misses and Azazel shoots him as well. Ambriel steps forward and quickly negotiates a ceasefire. They agree to meet the brotherhood at 3 tomorrow afternoon in a cafe in Tsim Sha Tsiu and the Brotherhood leave with their injured.

Aristarchus then threatens to kill Azariah if he does not tell him his real name. Reluctantly, Azariah whispers his celestial name to both Ambriel and Aristarchus and Azazel steps from the shadows. He recognises Azariah as being Richard Wade, one of the drug dealers he is hunting, but for now he says nothing. Azariah then hears Ahrimel crying for help in his head. Belltaracten and Azariah follow Aristarchus, who uses his powers to find the quickest path to Ahrimel. Azazel and Ambriel stay behind to investigate the site of Isobel's abduction. They find a scrap of cloth with the symbol of the Hollow Sun Brotherhood on it and follow a trail that ends abruptly, as if the trail's creator had taken to the sky…

Aristarchus, Azariah and Belltaracten arrive at a warehouse. Ahrimel is trapped inside, bound by a pentagram and being torn apart by a prayer of banishment. Aristrachus uses his lore to drop a winch on the pentagram, disrupting the magic and then he and Belltaracten assume their apocalyptic forms to scare away the members of the Brotherhood. Ahrimel, however, is too badly injured and his mortal body dies in Azariah's arms. Before his spirit leaves, however, he warns them that Nathanael's bottle could undo all creation if it falls into the wrong hands and promises to see Azariah again in Las Vegas in six months time. He also tells Azariah that his fall was no accident, but was part of some master plan…

The five fallen angels then regroup at a coffee shop to review their findings. The lack and white movie on TV is interrupted by a newsflash showing a huge earthquake in Los Angeles and a figure hovering in the sky over the city, a figure that can only be Lucifer himself…

Azariah tries to contact his thrall in Los Angeles, but discovers that he cannot. He contacts his thralls in both Portland and Las Vegas and asks them to investigate for him. The five fallen than agree to meet at the noodle house opposite Nathanael's warehouse at half past eleven. Ambriel sneaks back into the hotel where the school party are staying. They have gathered in the common room to watch the news. All phone lines into LA are down and the teachers are trying to arrange transport home, though this is proving difficult. All of the students are instructed to stay in the hotel and wait for news.

Azariah goes looking for somewhere to spend the night and ends up in a church. The priest there offers to put him up for the night and they discuss faith. The priest despairs over his dwindling congregation, but Azariah, revealing his angelic form, convinces him that there is still hope. He grants the priest healing gifts and gains a thrall. Leaving in the morning, Azariah is accosted by two men working for Justin Vaughan and he is taken to see the drug lord in his penthouse, decked out with various ancient art treasures. Vaughan offers Azariah (whom he believes to be Richard Wade) a chance to redeem himself by delivering both Hemmings and a shipment due at Kwai Chung docks at midnight. Vaughan shows Azariah Gregory, one of Hemmings' associates who has been tortured and beaten. Gregory is released into Azariah's care and Vaughan grants Azariah use of a Mercedes. Azariah tries to convince Gregory to help him, but the man is terrified because Hemmings has threatened his daughter. Azariah takes him to a local hospice and leaves him in the priest's care for the time being. He is about to make his way to the noodle house to meet the other fallen when he is arrested by the Hong Kong police.

As the others gather in the noodle house, Azazel gets a call from Inspector Lao informing him that Richard Wade is under arrest. Azazel goes to assist with the interrogation - and to get Azariah out of jail. In the interview room, Azariah, as Wade, makes a deal with Lao and Chan. He will deliver them Hemmings, Vaughan and the drugs in return for which Lao will lose the paperwork regarding his involvement in this case. Azariah is allowed to leave, but the HKPD will be watching him. Azazel gives Lao the cloth he and Ambriel found on Victoria Peak and Lao sends it to the lab for forensic analysis.

Aristarchus enters Nathanael's workshop while Ambriel and Belltaracten act as lookouts. He notices that the lock has been torn apart and proceeds with caution. Inside, the workshop has been wrecked with shattered artefacts strewn everywhere. Nathanael is in several pieces on the floor having been dismembered. Gaudium, the fallen cherub, makes his presence known and explains that this is the work of the Devourer Arael, with whom Nathanael was creating something inside the bottle. The bottle itself was bigger inside than out. Arael tore Nathanael apart with his bare hands, devoured his spirit and then stole the bottle. Having no master, Gaudium agrees to work for Aristarchus.

The five fallen keep their rendezvous with the Brotherhood at the coffee house. Azazel locates a booth away from the others. Three o'clock passes by with no sign of the Brotherhood, but at half past, four of the fallen - Ambriel, Azariah, Aristarchus and Belltaracten - notice a force pulling them down to the ground. Ambriel and Azariah are able to resist, but Aristarchus and Belltaracten are stuck fast to the ground. Three Brotherhood members with machine guns burst through the front door and Aristarchus assumes his apocalyptic form. Bullets fly as both Ambriel and Azariah hit the ground. Ambriel avoids the worst of it, but Azariah is badly injured and lies bleeding behind a table. Bullets bounce off of Aristarchus' metallic hide. Azazel draws his gun and shoots one of the Brotherhood in the chest and he falls, coughing blood. Belltaracten goes apocalyptic and another of the Brotherhood flees before his terrifying voice and beauty. The third drops his gun in terror and Aristarchus shoots him, reaping faith from his soul as he dies screaming.

Belltaracten realises that there must be other Brotherhood members nearby in order to sustain the binding prayer that holds him to the floor. Aristarchus spots the group partly hidden in a curtained alcove and hurls a table at them. They flee, but Azazel tackles and arrests one as he runs past. Then he phones Inspector Lao for backup.

THREE

While Azazel goes with Inspector Lao to the police station to interrogate the suspect, the others go back to Aristarchus' apartment. Here they check various internet news sites and discover reports of a 'giant bird' that is kidnapping girls. Aristarchus is able to clean up the photos and Gaudium recognises the 'bird' as Arael, the Devourer that killed Nathanael. The also hack into the website of the Hollow Sun Brotherhood, where they discover references to the Grail Knights of America.

Azazel and Inspector Lao question the Brotherhood member they have arrested. He believes that all demons are evil and must be killed. He denies having anything to do with the kidnappings. Azazel is, however, able to learn the location of the Brotherhood's temple. After the interrogation, Azazel takes Katie Lao out for lunch and then she invites him back to her place.

While Aristarchus goes gambling and Beltaracten leaves to conduct business of his own, Azariah goes to see Gregory at the hospice. Gregory agrees to help Azariah and Azariah, in turn, empowers Gregory, gaining a thrall in the process. From Gregory, Azariah learns the details of the drug shipment, arriving at midnight the next night. He passes on the information to Azazel.

The following night, the HKPD stake out the Kwai Chung container port. The Fallen also keep watch. A number of cars arrive, forming up on two sides of an open space and their occupants step out. Two of the smugglers enter a large container and Vaughan and his bodyguard, Yue Hwa, representing the buyers, follow them inside.

From her position, Ambriel hears voices coming from a stack of three containers. Crowbarring open the hatch on top, she forces her way inside. The interior of the container is carpeted and there is another hatch leading into the container below. Via a third hatch, Ambriel reaches the bottom container where she discovers the kidnapped girls. Using her lores to calm them, she eagerly contacts Azazel to appraise him of the situation.

Azazel and Inspector Lao are sneaking closer to the container Vaughan is in. However, Azazel is distracted by Ambriel's voice in his ear and is thus spotted by the smugglers. Gunshots are fired and soon bullets are ricocheting wildly off of the metal containers as the police and the smugglers target one another. Folding his wings, Azazel steps sideways beyond the veil…

Aristarchus and Beltaracten start towards the sounds of violence when they are attacked from behind by Hemmings and an associate. Reeling from the blow, Beltaracten staggers back, but Aristarchus acts quickly, taking control of Hemmings pistol and causing him to shoot his associate. Beltaracten then blinds Hemmings and takes his gun for himself.

Reappearing behind the smugglers, Azazel fires two shots, killing one of them and badly wounding the other. While Vaughan flees, Yue Haw adopts a martial arts stance and approaches Azazel. Azazel shoots the bodyguard in the shoulder, but Yue Hwa then knocks the gun from his hand with a spinning kick. They trade blows briefly, but Yue Hwa is the superior martial artist and forces Azazel back against the side of the container. Lying on the ground at the Slayer's feet is the suitcase of money Vaughan and Yue Hwa brought with them to pay for the drugs. Grabbing it in both skeletal hands, Azazel hefts the case and brings it down over the bodyguards head. Yue Hwa collapses to the ground, out cold.

Azazel races from the container, but then stops short. Vaughan has grabbed Inspector Lao and is holding a gun to a head. Warning Azazel not to follow him, he forces Lao into his car and then drives off.

The lid of the container Ambriel and the kidnapped girls are in slams shut and the container begins to move. Outside of the container, the other Fallen see Arael grasp hold of the container with his massive talons and then, with a beat of his feathered wings, carry it aloft. Ambriel hammers on the hatch, but she cannot force it open. Assuming his apocalyptic visage, Aristarchus bellows across the docks, challenging Arael to a duel. Too proud to refuse, Arael drops the container and swoops back towards Aristarchus. The container hits the water hard, knocking everyone inside off of their feet. Then the real panic begins as water begins to pour inside…

Azazel steps beyond the veil once more, this time reappearing in the back seat of Vaughan's limo. Vaughan slams on the breaks and Azazel is thrown forward, but he takes advantage of this to lay hands on Vaughan and activate his decay ability. There is a gunshot and Azazel thrown back by the impact. The smoking gun is held by Inspector Lao. Katie Lao admits that she has been working for Vaughan for some time. She has a drug habit that Vaughan supports in return for information. Grinning, Vaughan raises a hand. It is clad in a metal gauntlet, one that Azazel recognises. It is part of the armour of Schatenkoji, the Ghostsmith. Schatenkoji was a Malefactor who enslaved human souls and used them to power his artefacts. His memory is despised by Slayers. Clenching his hand into his fist, Vaughan activates the gauntlet and Azazel finds himself unable to move. Worse, he can feel his soul being drawn out of his body and into the glove…

Aristarchus, murky fluid spilling from his ancient war wound, is locked in fierce battle with Arael. The Devourer calls on his most bestial aspect as his teeth and claws rend Aristarchus' iron hide. Flashing blades, sharpened needles, whirring saws - all these and more emerge from secret compartments within Aristarchus' armour and tear through Arael's fur and feathers, but no sooner have they made these wounds then the flesh starts to knit back together. Battered and blooded, Aristarchus struggles on, but he can feel his life ebbing away like sand through his fingers…

In the water, Ambriel takes charge of the girls, calming their panic. Together they begin to work on opening the hatch, but the water is already up around their waists. Fingers scrabble uselessly on the metal as the water rises to their necks, but still the hatch refuses to open. Then one of the girls disappears beneath the water…

Azazel appeals to Katie Lao, trying to reach the good person within, imploring her to help him, to make the right decision. The gun wavers in her hands.

Aristarchus staggers backwards, falling to one knee. He tries to rise, but he no longer has the strength. Arael's claws flash in the light of the moon.

A gunshot rings out.

Ambriel shields her eyes from the moonlight as the hatch on the container is ripped away. Azariah is standing on the other side and together he and Ambriel are able to get all of the girls into life rafts before the container is completely submerged beneath the water. In the raft, Isobel Avery, the kidnapped girl from Sam's school, pledges her allegiance to Ambriel.

Arael's head disappears in a cloud of red mist. Beltaracten, clutching the gun he took from Hemmings, stands behind him. A dark mist, Arael's spirit, rises from the body. Aristarchus reaches out to it, but it slips through his weakened fingers. Beltaracten is stronger, however, and he draws the spirit into himself, consuming it to make certain that the Devourer can never rises again.

Vaughan's eyes glaze over and then he slumps in his seat, blood trickling from the bullet hole between his eyes. The gun drops from Katie Lao's trembling fingers. Tears stream from her eyes almost as fast as words of sorrow and apology flow from her mouth, but Azazel calms her. He will give her strength, he promises her, strength to walk the long road to redemption. The pair kiss beneath the stars.