Ishim stood in the center of what looked like an abandoned fortress. Black flames circled around his body, but the only thing that was on fire was the giant stack of flammable materials in the corner. “Get out here!” Ishim shouted as he stomped on the ground. His eyes were red and strand of sticky saliva flew from the corner of his lip. He raised his hands towards the sky and screamed. His body turned into a black pillar of flames which quickly expanded in size until it pressed against the fortress walls. There were no soldiers on the walls—they had all gone down to report the situation when Ishim first arrived by riding a harpy—but screams, coming from underground, echoed through the air as the surface of the fortress walls and ground glowed orange, then red, before turning to sludge.
The flames crawled over the top of the fortress walls and began to spread to the outside plains as well. From the distance, Marossa was like an ice-cream cake left in the sun, the sides caving in on itself and melting outwards. Ishim laughed as even he began to feel the heat from his powers. His red skin turned even redder, and some blisters formed on his exposed regions. “Come out!” he shouted again as the black flames rose even higher into the sky, engulfing the screaming harpy that carried him to Marossa. Her body turned to ash in an instant, not even leaving behind a set of bones.
When the ground began to turn into lava, there was a moment when the air rippled and all the flames froze at once, and Ishim’s expression stiffened. The flames vanished, leaving behind no trace of their existence except for the glowing ground. Ishim screamed towards the sky, the skin on his face cracking and flaking off due to their lack of moisture. Once again, his wrath had been stifled. A hole began to form in the lava a few feet away from where he was standing, and Ishim lowered his head, glowering at the expanding void as lava cascaded inside.
Five figures rose out of the void, standing on a pillar of dark-brown earth that stopped seven feet above the lava-like surface of the city. Ishim was standing ankle-deep in the lava, but he didn’t seem to mind. Perhaps the nerves in his legs and feet had been eaten away. His eyes flashed as his expression darkened, blood oozing out of the cracks in his face. “It was you,” he said, his voice like a growling dog’s. “You forced Father to his death!” He pointed at Percy with his blistered hand.
Percy furrowed his brow. “The only people I have ever killed were those who violated the laws of our nation,” he said. His eyes were half-closed, and a thin layer of sweat could be seen on his forehead. “I cannot recall everyone who broke the law. Who was your father?”
Ishim laughed, causing the cracks on his face to grow even wider. “Anidun!” he shouted, causing Percy’s eyes to fully open. “I’ll tear you limb from limb and use your own fingers to dig your eyes out! If it weren’t for you, would Father have lost everything he had? No!”
“He might know where Melissa is,” Jones said, turning her gaze away from the laughing and crying angel below them.
“He’s insane,” Dinah said, furrowing her brow. “This is why we cannot have fallen angels running around.” Her left hand was in Andrew’s right, and the air was rippling around her body, spreading throughout the whole city. Even Solra wouldn’t have been able to create such a noticeable zone of charity, but to be fair, he didn’t have Andrew’s power of self-sacrifice to boost him.
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“Do you think this is part of Solra’s plan?” Andrew asked Percy. The five archangels discussed amongst themselves, completely ignoring the trembling angel who was standing in the lava. If they looked closely, they would’ve seen the ripples in the air slowing down as they approached Ishim’s body.
“To what?” Michael asked. “Sacrifice an archangel to destroy the fortress walls and make the surface into an area unfit for battle? He could do that with cannons.” The three archangels from the capital stared at Michael, a bit dubious about his claims. They still hadn’t seen the power of a cannon for themselves. Michael ignored their gazes and cleared his throat. “This isn’t Solra’s modus operandi. It’s too crude.”
“Then this man lost himself to wrath and rushed over here,” Percy said, his back facing Ishim as the five archangels stood in a circle. “But why?” He turned around to face Ishim. “Why are you mad?”
“Bastard!” Ishim shouted. His eyes were narrowed into slits as portions of his body began to swell. “Only I am allowed to kill you. How could you let one of your people die first!?”
Percy’s expression darkened. “Melissa died?” he asked as he grasped Andrew’s hand. Andrew transferred his powers to Percy instead of Dinah, letting the old man use his powers even in Dinah’s zone of charity. Like a branch on a tree, a separate pillar of earth shot out of the pillar the five archangels were standing on, knocking Ishim over onto his back. He screamed as the burning ground melted the armor he was wearing, fusing it with his skin. His eyes rolled towards the back of his head, but he gnashed his teeth and maintained his consciousness as his hands clenched into fists.
“She’s dead!” Ishim shouted and broke out into laughter. His laughter turned into wheezes. He whispered, “And you’re next.” His cracked and blistered skin began to shrivel up and wrinkle. Liver spots began to form on his body, as his hair—what hadn’t been burned off—lost its sheen and turned to dust. His bones cracked as his body seemed to shrink, his shoulders squishing together. Black flames poured out of his body and began to crawl along the earthen pillar.
Dinah gasped. “He’s burning his life,” she said as the ripples surrounding her grew stronger. They did nothing to impede the flames, and Ishim let out a weak laugh. His eyes had greyed over, and the majority of his teeth had fallen out of his mouth.
“Die with me,” Ishim said as he hobbled towards the pillar and began to climb it, ignoring the flames covering his body and eating away at his skin. Percy frowned and a spear of earth shot out of the pillar, impaling Ishim’s heart. The fallen angel cackled as blood dripped from his lips and evaporated in midair. His body turned to ash as the black flames consumed him and continued to travel up the pillar.
“Can you stop it?” Percy asked Dinah, releasing Andrew’s hand.
Dinah’s brow furrowed. “No,” she said and shook her head as the black flames climbed higher.
Percy nodded. “Cancel your powers,” he said. When she did, the pillar rose higher, leaving the flames behind. An earthen slide extended from the top of the pillar to the ground beyond the region of lava which also happened to be where Percy had created an escape route for the soldiers in case things went wrong. The five archangels slid on the slide before it crumbled to dust while the pillar remained standing, black flames melting it down. The black flames spread along the base of the pillar, softening the hardening lava.
“Evacuate,” Michael said, using his powers to amplify his voice as he shouted down the escape route Percy opened. Footsteps echoed along the ground as sweaty angels began to appear. Although the ground hadn’t melted all the way down to where they were staying, they had felt the heat. Soon, the remaining army had left escaped, and lined up in an orderly fashion, staring at the burning hellscape they had just occupied. And then a red goblin with two heads fell out of the sky, landing in their midst.