"Die!" He kept stomping on Sab and GaLi's bodies, "I'll make minced meat out of you, die!"
"Ow, oof! H-Hey, you gonna just stand there or help us out!?" GaLi pointed me out of the crowd of onlookers.
"What the hell do you expect me to do?" I shrugged, a tad peeved he'd even suggest such an unchivalrous idea, "Haven't you ever seen a no-weapons dueling spar?"
"No!" He kept shouting incessantly, "What the hell even is that!?"
Oh, he's never heard of it. Wait, how come? Everyone in the world knows that much, right? There's always one on TV. Two people settle their differences by declaring a duel on one another. The one who declared it must abide by the rules set in place by the one who got it declared on him, simple as. Usually these are scuffles between friends that are non-lethal, but sometimes they might air a deathmatch with all sorts of weapons. Pretty chilling seeing a dead body there, but that's the entertainment industry for you.
"W-Well in any case, I wanted to say there's a clear weight class difference!" I shakily retorted, "Dammit, now I sound like I'm making up excuses, but it's a real thing!"
"Rahhhh!" The livid enemy picked GaLi off the ground, dealing a barrage of blows to him as he kept standing on Sab's limp, unconscious body... Wait.
"Sab!?" I looked down before gasping, "Oh no!"
We don't feel any pain or damage on the White parts of our body, but our golden scars make up for that tenfold. In other words, the one I should be focusing my attention on saving isn't the guy with a few scratches and a pinky, but the one with two giant rings on his waist that are getting stomped like crazy! Hold on a second, don't tell me he died...?!
"Stop it!" I ran it, wrapping my arms around the bulky enemy in a faint effort to try and get him to calm down, "We're no monsters! We're just like you!"
"Shut up!" He tried pushing me off, but I stuck on pretty easily, "Monsters or not, you creep me the heck out, so as soon as I figure out how to exterminate your kind, you're as good as gone!"
Having realized that the flurry of blazing fists he delivered to GaLi's face did nothing but consume his energy, the grudgeful angel thought to change his angle. Running off to the previously shattered building he destroyed, holding GaLi like a doll and having me wrapped around him like a sweater, the dude took the sharpest piece of glass and forced it down GaLi's mouth.
"No!" I shouted.
"Mgwak!? Mn!"
GaLi tried spitting it out, but it was too late. The man forced his mouth shut as he moved GaLi's jaw for him. Up, down, up, down in an endless chewing motion. I was worried for his life, but looking at GaLi's expression, it appears he was only acting to be in pain. Right, our insides must be invincible as well. I guess anything is fine so long as it's not golden. With the wink he gave me as a signal that everything was okay on his end, I used the situation to let go of the man and try and grab a piece of rock. This, however, was the wrong choice...
"Wanna try killing me back, ey!?" His terrifying smile oozed killing intent, "I'll be taking that!"
"Tch!" I gave GaLi the signal, "Now, do it!"
With a confident nod, GaLi spat out each shard of glass one after another. It was painful just to watch, honestly. Seeing such small, razor sharp objects shoot out of a person's pursed lips as if they were melon seeds... I'll be honest, I was gagging heavily and even had to look away. But I couldn't do so for too long, lest I miss the most crucial part.
"AAAAAAHHHH!" Our opponent wailed in pain, immediately lossing his grip on GaLi as he inspected his golden arms, "W-What did you-!? How...?!"
"Plot armor, bitch." GaLi dusted himself off as he spat out the remaining shards of glass, "Oh, and a little bit of prior research to really drive the point home."
An angel's biggest weakness is hitting their golden parts. In other words, the smaller the target is, the more prone they are to taking a battering. Given what we know about the reason behind them, it's pretty darn unfair of the Gods to give the people who've suffered the least long-term injuries in the Living World the most overpowered bodies, but it served us good this time at least. Indeed, the enemy had two very large areas we could use as targets—His arms. I imagine getting finely crushed shards of glass shot at such high speeds at one's weak point could practically paralyze them from the pain, so I gladly used myself as a distraction with that rock. It worked out great, and we somehow won the encounter.
"Right, Sab!" I turned around to look for him.
"You check up on his condition. I'll stick around here and ask this guy some questions." GaLi smirked at the sobbing injured enemy, "I bet we're gonna have a blast, you and I...!"
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"S-Shit!" The opponent was crying for his life, "I fucking hate this place! I fucking...! Eh?"
Staring dumbfounded at the reflection of his face through his gilded arms, he must have finally gotten the memo we were trying to tell him. There is no White Monster or whatever he feared we were, and even if any one of us was it, then he'd be one too. For now, he just kept staring deeply into his arms, mouth agape and Eyebrows raised up to his hairline.
"My face..." He muttered, "I can't see my face."
"...Go on, find Sab." GaLi shook his head at me, "I'm gonna have a real tough time getting any useful info out of this maniac, after all."
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"Sab. Sab?" I looked around the area he was last seen at, "Hey, did anyone see the guy that was just getting beaten up!?"
Dammit, he was just here a minute ago. And the people around us, I recognize some of them while the maniac was stomping Sab and GaLi like crazy. They definitely should've seen him get up and move if that's what happened, so why is everyone pretending like they're none the wiser?
"You!" I grabbed one but the shoulders, "I know you know who I'm talking about! Where is he!?"
"Gah! I don't know what you're talking about!" The random idiot feigned his innocence, "Seriously, back off! If I saw him, I'd tell you."
"But you did see him! And you too, woman!" I pointed out another one of the previous onlookers, "You were shouting for help while this was going on! If you wanted to be useful, you would've tended to the wounded guy!"
Seriously, some help these guys are! GaLi and I managed to focus the assailant's attention on us and get him away from Sab and them, so the least they could do is help Sab wake up or something! Ngh, he looked pretty bad back then... No, he's gotta be okay! Those stomps to his hoops looked painful, but nothing he couldn't handle! Just gotta keep on believing...!
"I-I dunno anything about that." The lady bit her tongue, "Eep!"
"You listen to me and you listen well." I threatened, firmly pressing on the golden spot on her left shoulder, "I don't know why you're hiding him away from me, but trust me, you don't wanna make me your enemy."
Feeling the pressure all too well on her shoulder, she immediately folded and spilled the beans. As it turns out, everyone here did in fact see Sab—which is obviously the case—but it's interesting to find out just how he disappeared.
"He got taken away!" She blurted out as everyone urged her to not say anything more, "I don't care anymore, I just wanna go home!"
"Shut up, woman! You wanna get us killed!?" The angry mob berated her, "We were clearly instructed not to say a word to them!"
"Let her speak or I'll beat you up worse than that guy did my friends!" I shot back, "I know how to make angels feel harm, just as a warning."
Hearing the truth in my voice, as well as finally seeing the pained expression on the woman's voice, they understood all too well that this wasn't a hill worth dying on. They were still unwilling to reveal anything themselves, but they at least let me talk to the girl in peace.
"So, from the top, now." I turned back to the girl, releasing the pressure, but still keeping my finger pressed on her gilded spot, "No false information, please. You know what happens if you lie to me."
"Y-Yeah, I know!" She was tearing up from the nervousness, "Y-Your friend! He was unconscious when you left him. A winged angel came by and took him away."
"What?" I cocked my head back.
"I'm telling the truth, so please don't hurt me!" She squeaked, "I know it sounds crazy, but the angel really did have functional wings! They were made of gold and-!"
"No, I believe you." I finally let her go completely.
"...Phew." She calmed down.
A winged angel swooped down and took him away... It's gotta be that guy, right? The guy we were originally chasing before we gave up on that. He definitely knows something about us even we ourselves don't, not to mention he's overall a pretty suspicious guy. Well, this is a problem. If Sab got taken by the winged guy, then he's as good as gone, and I mean gone gone. There's no way we can ever even hope to catch up to him without wings of our own.
"...Can anyone tell me where they went?" I turned to the nervous crowd.
"Mn... That way." One guy couldn't handle the guilt and finally pointed to a direction, "But you can't catch a seraphim. Those guys are faster than light itself."
"Seraphim?" I tilted my head.
"The winged angels." The more knowledgeable ones explained, "They proved themselves worthy and completed the prerequisites of ascending to seraphimhood. If you're keen-Eyed, you might even spot one or a few flying up in the sky on occassion."
"And how do I get wings of my own?" I pressed them for clues.
Surprisingly, this appeared to be as far as they were willing to stretch their knowledge. No one in the crowd knew the answer to my question, as signified by their absolute silence. Eventually, the woman I previously interrogated did give me something to go off of, at the very least.
"No one knows for sure, but maybe you could start by asking the Gods." She suggested, "If you go to their Abode personally, I'm sure they'd be more than willing to help."
"The Gods? Is it possible to see them directly?" I asked, "Not just their voices?"
"Voices?" They seemed just as confused as I was, "I don't know that, but they are very eager to help out anyone that politely gives a request. Surely they'll know the answer to your question."
"Great, thank you." I smiled, "So where is this Abode of theirs?"
The cheery, triumphant air around everyone quickly wavered as they realized the dilemma they had handed me. Awkwardly, they all turned their heads to the girl I was talking to, expecting her to break the news to me. Weakly, she lifted her finger in the opposite direction of where they previously stated the seraphim took Sab to. I see the problem here.
"Then... I guess I have a roadmap!" I giggled, "First I ask the Gods for a pair of wings, then I rescue my friend. Thanks, everyone!"
"Of course. We're sorry for not being of more use." One guy from the crowd apologized.
"This is more than I could ask for." I turned around again, "Alright, I'll go tell this to GaLi and we'll set off on-Oh come on!"
Now HE'S vanished as well! And not only him, but that insane assailant too! Did they get into another fight again? No, but we're not so far that I wouldn't hear them shouting and brawling. What the hell is going on in this place? Everything keeps getting messed up!