At the top of Sachrist's Holy Shrine, questions have arisen from their final discussion. These sudden facts about life and death and them being interwined has had them all confused.

Yonuro- What do you mean by that? The way we all die has been set in stone from the very beginning?

Sachrist- It has, yes. That's the one thing Mankind cannot change as mortal beings.

Aniik tries to make sense of this.

Aniik- And why say that right here right now? What's the point of all this?

Sachrist grins a bit and reveals his final intent.

Sachrist- Although death is inevitable and unalterable for mortals, the same doesn't apply to God-like beings like me. If possible, I don't want to kill you all. But that depends on your answer to my following question.

They all narrow their eyebrows and hear it.

Sachrist- Are you willing to change this World's foundations and help me alter the past?

Everyone- ?!

"Change the past?" They all think with their mouths are wide open.

Yulim / Kallian- That's insane...

Aniik- How is that possible?

Sachrist summons his Godly Item and shows them how it all works.

Sachrist- This Godly book, the Eternum Horonomicon, gives the bearer the ability to change their past and their fate altogether. It is an one-time-use kind of power which I will use to create a Parallel Universe in which Hisami doesn't die and the Barrier doesn't have to be created.

Sachrist says a blunt "However", waits for a few seconds and presents an obstacle that he needs to overcome to achieve this goal.

Sachrist- The Bearer and the Bearer alone can alter their "thread of life". If I were to use this power to change the past by altering Hisami's tragic life, yes throughout her life she'd be more happy, but the time of her death would still not change in the slightest. Even though she'd meet a less tragic death, her thread of life would still remain the same. Hisami's death cannot be prevented like that.

Ramael- And what do you want from us...?

Sachrist- I want you not to intervene with the process and let Hisami take that power from me, in other words, let her kill me. Once she becomes a God-like being, due to her omnisciene, she will alter her thread of life and make everything as it should be. The Barrier will never have to be formed, Hisami and I will live happily and everyone shall live normal lives.

To make his proposal more intriguing, Sachrist reveals a few positive things that would happen in this "cured" parallel universe.

Sachrist- Aniik, you won't have to go through any pain in your entire life. Due to how things will unfold, Aria and Aldrich won't contemplate to summon a demon in the Overworld, Aria won't become a Demonic Lord and you will be raised as a normal healthy girl. The life you have always wanted... Doesn't that sound good, Aniik?

Aniik widens her eyes.

Sachrist- Kallian, you won't have to spend not even a second in that holy shrine you despise. Yulim, you won't have to deal with the excessive fame you never wanted.

Sachrist holds out his hand and waits for everyone's answer.

Sachrist- So, what do you say?

Aniik, slightly brainwashed from Sachrist's touch earlier, is suddenly showing undivided obedience in contrast with her character. Sachrist's plan sounds genuine and humble alright, but something feels off. Yonuro has experienced this feeling in the past before. When something is too good to be true, then some part of the truth has to be conceiled. Sachrist is notorious for hiding the dark truth and manipulating everyone with humble lies.

So, just as Aniik is about to accept Sachrist's offer, Yonuro gets up from her chair and shouts.

Yonuro- Wait!

Everyone has their eyes set on Yonuro.

Yonuro- Something doesn't feel right... No, there are a lot of things that seem off. First of all, it doesn't sit right with me that all the inhumane things Sachrist did will end up being forgiven without any sort of punishment. It disgusts me...

Secondly, you say that the Barrier won't have to be created and everything will be back to normal. But that is impossible with how the World works. If everyone has a "string of life" and the only one which can be altered in your plan is Hisami's, then what will happen to all the lives you've brutally taken till this point with the Barrier and the Wars prior to that?

People except Hisami will have the same lifespan and the same time of death as in our Universe. In order for that to be true, they will have to be mercilessly killed in some other way, just not by your hand... This World you speak of isn't pure at all. It only is for you and Hisami. Isn't that right, Sachrist?

Sachrist- (...)

Sachrist can't find any reasonable lie to tell her at this point.

Yonuro- Thirdly! I think you intentionally skipped what happens to me and Ramael. Our fate in that "cured" World must be pretty tragic for you to not even mention us.

Ramael thinks what Yonuro just said and realizes why that's the case.

Ramael- In a World where the Barrier is not created, I would never have met Sachrist. Back then, when I was living with my mother, I was extremely unhappy. And when it all ended by my father's hand, who was then given life imprisonment, I was all the more depressed. I couldn't bear my life and was constantly thinking about ending it all.

The only thing that cured my life was, ironically, you Sachrist. My absolute love for you gave me a reason to keep going. So, in that altered universe, where none of this happens, I would be miserable for 400 years straight... And in the end, I'd never even meet Yonuro after all that, the most important person in my whole life...

"Yonuro...?" they all think. If that's how tragic Ramael's life would be, then what would happen to Yonuro in that parallel universe?

Looking back at her life from the very beginning, Yonuro widens her eyes. With tears slightly blurring her vision, she states her dreadful fate in that different World.

Yonuro- Only due to the Barrier did my english father meet my japanese mother and conceive me. Weren't it for that, then I... would have never been born....

Everyone gets up and frantically reacts to this revelation.

Ramael- What?!

Yulim / Kallian- That's messed up!

Aniik appraches Sachrist and asks him the following while staring deep into his soul.

Aniik- Is that true, Sachrist?

Sachrist- (...) I don't think that's the case. Yonuro should just have a different father—

Aniik- Swear on Hisami's life!

Sachrist stays silent for a long while. Aniik tightly clenches her right hand and looks at Sachrist with utter disappointment and disgust.

(...) Silence fills the room. They all start to give Sachrist death glares one after the other. Their fury is immeasurable. They almost fell for Sachrist's manipulations again. This egotistical bastard has never acted genuine in his whole life. His empty soul and his inhumane actions... They are all disgusted by him. Unanimously, they decide to finally bring him the justice he deserves.

The World will never be cured if omniscience keeps on falling in the wrong hands. They all need to stop him and cure the World from its most rotted nuisance, that being the Accursed God, Sachrist.

Despite how serious and stiff the aura around everyone is in this huge, ball shaped, ethereal-looking room covered in pure glass, Sachrist bursts into laughter out of nowhere.

Sachrist- Ah.. Ahaha... Why didn't I just kill you all right off... Hoping for you to cooperate, when I know you won't pretty damn well... What am I even doing?! Hahahaha....... Then there's only one way to settle this...

Sachrist summons his Godly book up in the air. The eye of omniscience shines brightly and it blinds everyone on the spot.

Sachrist- Ra' Men, may these kind words cover this spherical room whole.

As soon as everyone opens their eyes, they understand what is going on. To further protect his sister from this imminent catastrophical battle, Sachrist has created a spherical Barrier around the huge room. Everything that happens here, stays here. Consequently, he won't be holding back anymore. He's now starting to float in the air. His book does circles around him and the staring eye of omniscience constantly alternates between targets.

Ready for battle, Yulim, Kallian, Ramael, Yonuro and Aniik spread out and launch a final Attack on Sachrist.

——————————————————

Meanwhile...

Samei slowly approaches Zaiaku, more like the three people representing him. To the left, Alice, Geord's past lover who was thought to be killed by the Faith Organization, to the right the hidden character of Antonio, Samei and Ikki's homeroom teacher, Gidenir, and finally in the middle, the most important figure of the three, Kinako's old friend and rival, Harabalo. These individuals that make up the illusion of one person, Zaiaku, get ready and each one prepares their own unique weapons, a revolver, a sniper, and an automatic rifle.

Samei has never looked so serious before. She looks at Ikki for one second and asks him to give her his pistol. Ikki throws his gun towards Samei and she easily catches it. She then reloads this gun with her teeth due to all the wall-shooting earlier, and gets rid of the silencer.

Ikki, now scared without a weapon of his own, stands before the browny Geord. Not that Geord is not scared. He anxiety is easily noticed from the way his pistol moves up and down. Geord is not that used to fighting with a pistol, and his hands clearly convey his lack of experience.

If Kinako, one the Overworld's most notorious gunslingers, was killed just like that from Zaiaku, then Geord has no chance to defeat him, not to mention Ikki who's not even armed as we speak.

Their only hope lies with Samei. Her furious anger together with her impeccable fighting skills is the only way they deal with Zaiaku.

Samei suddenly speeds up her movement and starts firing with both pistols, while moving to the side of a wall. The enemy knew this was going to happen ages ago, and were ready to return fire while spreading around in the elevated, now mirrorless, platform.

Geord and Ikki run to the left side of the wall and find cover there. Samei tries to take a quick glance at the enemy but instantly moves her head back. A sniper shot from Alice breaks the side of the wall she was previously looking from.

Alice- Tsk*

Gidenir- You won't get a clean shot on her, Alice. Leave her to me. You deal with the others.

The moment Samei fires her last few shots of her magazine, Gidenir charges forth with his assult rifle and wreaks heavoc on the battlefield. Countless bullets are being fired and Samei doesn't get the chance to to answer back.

With a newfound heavily packed ammo storage, Gidenir continues shooting while also targetting Samei's morale.

Gidenir- Say, Samei! How many bullets are these? The answer is 2 to power of 6!

Samei tries to differentiate Antonio's image from Gidenir's in order to keep her mentality stable.

Gidenir- The chance of one bullet hitting you at random is 2%. Multiply that to the number of each bullet I shoot, what does that make?

Without facing him in the slightest, Samei loudly asks.

Samei- (...) 86,6%?

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Gidenir- Wrong! It' 100%, you delinquent studen!. As a punishment, I'll have to punish you...

Gidenir precisely throws a grenade that bounces off the end of the room and with an angle of 60 degrees, lands right next to Samei's hiding spot.

Gidenir- Math is undeniably essential, Samei!

Samei- Shit!

Samei runs forwards and jumps at the last possible second to avoid an otherwise lethal grenade explosion. Still hit, however she momentarily kneels down. And by doing that she almost loses her life.

Harabalo- You're wide open!

Harabalo presses the trigger of his revolver and shoots Samei's foot as she tries to dodge. In return however Samei aims for his lower right arm.

Both parties, in severe pain as they are, abandon their positions and find coverage somewhere else in the room.

Trying to move with one foot touching the ground, Samei is having trouble moving around. But so are his enemies. Harabalo was indeed earlier shot in the leg and his movement is also impaired. Gidenir has a hard time aiming with one hand and even though the bullets he shot earlier were countless, they all missed. And now, harabalo also has a wound on his right arm. All these small wins make Samei believe that she has a chance to beat them.

As of Alice, however, things are completely different.

A sniper shot almost kills Geord right off the bat.

Geord- Shoot! She's too fast!

Ikki understands the severity of their situation and wants to help out Geord. While Geord is making a scene with his pistol, Ikki runs towards Kinako's dying spot in order to grab the only weapon left available in the battlefield.

After dodging the next sniper shot with a slick slide dodge, Geord fires everything he's got at Alice. Even though he is close enough, all his shots mysteriously miss.

Geord- What the?

Ikki- I got it!

In order to avoid Ikki's shots while still pressuring her enemies, Alice closes the gap between her and Geord and uses him as a shield to prevent Ikki from shooting further. When Geord tries to punch her from this short range, only then does he understand why his shots missed earlier.

He is hesitant...

Geord- Alice...

Alice- It's been a hot minute, Geord...

Alice throws a side kick that hits Geord's back. Due to his musculinity however, he doesn't budge and he asks Alice a serious question.

Geord- Why did you join them...?

Alice laughs while still trying to knock him out with fists and kicks.

Alice- Isn't it better to be on the winning side?

Geord and only Geord notices a certain regret in her words. She said that almost as if she is not okay with how she does things. The way she said that felt pretentious and forced to Geord.

Geord- Please Alice, come to our side... I really don't want to hurt you....

Alice momentarily pauses, sheds one and only tear and says the following while preparing a powerful high kick.

Alice- It's not like I have a choice...

Geord is knocked down by that powerful kick but his words really did a number on her psychology and shook her up a lot. Alice would have loved to be able to join Geord, but she is too deep in the Organization's order. She can't turn back after so many years. She can't bear living a risky live for the rest of her life. She just isn't as resilent as Geord...

Alice- I'm sorry, but there's no other way, Geord—

Caught up in the moment and gripped by her emotions, Alice loses complete sight of her surroundings and forgets that Ikki is now free aiming, due to Geord being knocked back.

Ikki- A grave mistake!

Geord- Noo!

Ikki's bullet slightly gets off the target and misses. Alice takes this opportunity to reposition with her sniper rifle.

Ikki- What was that for, Geord?! I had her!

Geord- I know Ikki, but I think I can handle this by myself. Now that you have a gun, hurry up and help Samei. She must be having a tough time, two versus one with those monsters.

Ikki makes a deep nod and parts ways with Geord.

Ikki- Alright, be sure to deal with her. I trust you with this one Geord. I'll go help Samei.

Geord returns the nod and they both get moving.

On the other side of the platform, Samei is shocked to suddenly see Ikki running towards her and she almost took him for an enemy.

Ikki- Need a hand sister?

Samei- Oh god, Ikki. I almost shot you. Phew. Yes. I'll gladly take your offer...

As Ikki pats Samei's shoulder to show that she's got support, he notices her left foot bleeding and freaks out.

Samei- It's nothing. I'm getting used to the pain. I can still give it my all.

Ikki- But, Samei—

Samei- We don't have time for this! They're getting ready to shoot again—

Gidenir separates the two siblings with a barrage of bullets. No projectile makes contact, but they are forced to find new covers. Isolated as they now are, each sibling is confronted by one of the three Zaiakus.

Gidenir- Ready for private tutoring, Samei?

Samei- You're gonna pay for deceiving us all those years, teach...

On the other side of the wall, Harabalo meets Ikki.

Harabalo- Kinako's grandson... How amusing. You are the last and the youngest Alpha Heretic. With you two gone, this will be the end for your kind!

Harabalo points his shiny revolver at Ikki and they both get ready to fight.

Ikki- I'll make you regret what you did to Kinako...

————————————————————

Just like in Base one of the Faith Organization, Sachrist's Shrine is now a battleground among Angels, Demons and Gods. Unable to use them as pawns any longer, Sachrist needs to deal with them in order to make Hisami change her past and alter her time of death.

While airborne, Sachrist's Godly Book is circling around him and the Eye of Omniscience on its cover alternates among all the different targets, Kallian, Yulim, Ramael, Aniik and Yonuro, and fires a beam of Godly Essence at each enemy.

Almost everyone either sidesteps or ducks under the attack. Only Kallian is hit by the beam, but she doesn't seem to be injured that much at first.

At the next moment, though...

Kallian- Stop it, everyone! Don't do this to me!

Confused by her reaction, the others ask her what's wrong.

Yonuro- What's the matter, Kallian?

Kallian- I can't bear this! Ahhhhh!

Yonuro widens her eyes and uses her Holy Energy to swiftly move to the side of Kallian's punch.

Enthrawlled in Sachrist's delusions, created by the Eternum Horonomicon, Kallian has lost touch with reality. In her hallucinations, everybody is mocking and bullying her. Even her sister, Yulim, in this false reality, is menacingly approaching Kallian with bad intents.

Aniik- Careful! These attacks from Sachrist's book cause hallucinations.

A few other beams of Godly Essence target everyone, but due to Aniik's warnings, they avoid in time.

Yulim- How are we going to get Kallian back?

No solution is at hand at the moment.

Aniik- I'm afraid we have to immobilize her until we think of something.

Yonuro- Wait, I think I can save her.

Unlike Aniik, Yonuro has a plan to save her instead of just stunning her. Yonuro focuses on Kallian and orders the others to stop Sachrist.

Yonuro- Leave her to me. I've got a plan. You pressure Sachrist.

Everyone- Okay!

Everyone confronts Sachrist, whereas Yonuro runs towards Kallian while wispering something to Ramael. With their amazing communication and teamwork, Yonuro throws Ramael at Kallian's face and cuts off her vision. Ramael then, uses her body to completely surround Kallian as much as possible and then she tightly holds her in place. Yonuro closes the distance with one swift forward step and touches Kallian's head. She then performs an incantation that Sachrist wishes he had never taught Ramael.

Yonuro- Ra' Men. May these blessed words heal this tortured soul.

Ramael gets off of Kallian's head and then waits for her to respond. After sluggishly opening her eyes, Kallian's illusions are undone and she gratefully thanks Yonuro.

In the meantime, Aniik commands her demonic self to throw all ten of her Demonic Nails at the floating Sachrist. Sachrist holds out his right hand and lets the projectiles pierce his hand. Afterwards, he then directs his Godly Essence at his wounds to instantly heal them.

Yulim creats a thin, light bow made out of Holy Energy and shoots a powerful arrow at the omniscient God. Knowing he can't heal after such a powerful attack, Sachrist decides to blink to the right and instantly avoid Yulim's attack. Not letting him counterattack, though, Yulim uses up her remaining holy arrows that feed off of her energy to try and hit him at least once.

Sachrist easily dodges every single one of them, but he doesn't seem content with it. And after taking a quick look around, Aniik realises why Sachrist made that annoyed face. The arrows are so powerful that even when they miss and leave Sachrist unharmed, they instead damage the Barrier surrounding the room. For him that matters the most in this scenario. That being Hisami's safety.

Consequently, Sachrist decides to stop fooling around with range attacks and distracting spells any longer and returns to the ground. Knowing that Yonuro can counter the hallucinations, Sachrist takes more concrete measures against them. After landing on the Barrier again, he lifts his right foot and then stomps on the ground powerfully. A resonance spreads around from his location and travels throughout the spherical Barrier.

And then Sachrist utters an incantation that changes the whole area inside the Barrier. The arena changes nature and reminds the environment of the Underworld before the creation of the New World. In these extreme environmental conditions, the DNA of any Pure Angels (or Lingerians) becomes single-stranded (1 helix), resulting in extreme cases of chained cell apoptoses. This phenomenon widely known as the One-Minute-Rule, will end up killing the Angels inside the battlefield.

Sachrist- Hahahaha!

Yulim and Kallian are suffering the most have ever in their lives. Their life is ticking down and they are starting to literally disappear. Only Aniik and Yonuro can still fight back due to their Humanity. And even Ramael has a hard time to do so. If it weren't for her special Angelic Bond, she'd be on the exact same boat as the other two Pure Angels.

Yonuro- Hold on you two!

Aniik- I'll try to break the Barrier. Yonuro, keep Sachrist occupied.

Yonuro stretches a bit and deeply nods after aggressively posturing. Aniik taps her Demonic Ring and summons her Demonic Claws. Without letting them catch a breath, Sachrist takes the initiative and deals with Yonuro.

Sachrist- Let's see... Did you learn anything from your last loss?

Sachrist tries to punch Yonuro, but all his attempts to do so prove fruitless. So focused is she that his attacks are just impossible to hit her. A powerful front kick, yet Yonuro moves so fast that she is not only able to dodge the kick, but doing so with a forward step, which allows her to finally land a hit on Sachrist.

The damage inflicted on Sachrist's face is easily healed by his Godly Essence, but his frustration is apparent nonetheless. Even though he knows where Yonuro will move next, he simply can't dodge her precise, lightning speed attacks.

Yonuro- Come on, Sachrist. Is that all you've got?

Sachrist- Hah. So, Ramael transferred all of her holy energy to you. I see. I see. That's a bit annoying I'll admit.

Sachrist gets ready for another round. The One minute rule countdown has been ticking down for quite a bit and Aniik is desperately giving it her all to break the Barrier while Yonuro has Sachrist occupied. With continuous slashes from her demonic self, attacks targeting the Barrier are thrown one after the other, aiming to shatter it. Due to the arrows damaging the Barrier earlier, Aniik is betting Yulim and Kallian's lives on the possibility that Barrier has a reachable threshold of being shattered.

Aniik- It can't stand— forever... If I keep pushing through, It has to break soon...

Slash after slash, the Barrier breaks little by little. Yet the countdown gets past the 40 second mark.

Aniik- Com' on!

Yulim and Kallian are starving for life, Yonuro is exchanging startling attacks with Sachrist and Aniik keeps on slashing the Barrier.

Ten seconds remain, despite Aniik's slashes, the Barrier around the room is still intact, Yonuro cannot hold Sachrist off for any longer as he performs a powerful uppercut which leaves her paralyzed after falling down, and the sister Angels' lives are about to be extinguished.

Aniik- Please! Break!

Three, two, one— Aniik's prayers are answered at the last possible second.

"Black Fireball!"

A devastating, piercing, black fireball targets the Barrier and ultimately shatters it. The shiny light around it slowly vanishes and the Angels hold onto their lives.

"Did we make it in time?" the twin Demonic Lords ask with their appearances still slightly invisible.

"Is that..."

Akane, wearing a long purple robe with her left sleeve flying in the wind and with her right hand holding the Dark Sceptre. And Aoi, her twin Demonic Lord, holding the Diabolic Shield with both hands and her right arm touching Aoi's in an iconic standing pose.

Everyone- Akane! Aoi!

Sachrist- If only I had the time to do away with you earlier...

After such a clutch reunion, not only are two allies saved from Sachrist's tricks but two more have joined.

Yonuro- It is seven versus one. Give it up, Sachrist!

Sachrist makes a thinking pose.

Sachrist- Hm. Interseting. I have to stop messing around. I guess this is the time to get serious, isn't it?

All these inconceivables ways of attacking were just him trying out his newfound powers. Sachrist was simply just playing with his food till this point. Now that the odds of him winning have significantly dropped, his true capabilities shall be revealed.

Kallian- Th-This Barrier thing w-was just you messing a-around...?

Sachrist talks only to Kallian directly through her consciousness.

"Yes. I can do a lot more scary things, Kallian."

Everyone except Kallian charges forth with weapons ready. At the first sight of danger, Sachrist jumps back and then opens his godly lit up eyes. The eye of omniscience of the Horonomicon then targets... him.

Sachrist makes 20 identical clone-like illusions of himself.

Sachrist- Who has the number advantage now?

Eveyone gulps and gets ready to fight this unfavorable battle.

——————————————

To be continued...