"Vastoria!"

"Crap, no!"

She lunged at Energy despite being wounded herself. With the state she was in, none of us were even expecting her to get up at all, much less join the fight. But goddammit, now she's the one being targeted! Come on, body, move...!

"Goodbye." Energy raised his mighty hammer above his head, swinging it down on her with a great deadly force, "...Huh?"

Despite hitting her square in the face, the mallet merely bounced right off without her even so much as sustaining a scratch. Truth is, Vastoria played her part perfectly. Her throwing herself at Energy was done in a specific direction and angle, in a way where he would end up on top, and she...

"She made her head just barely phase through the barrier!" Sheep realized it too, "Now's our chance!"

He ran to try and steal a weapon or two from him, but Sheep just couldn't reach for it no matter what. Energy was raised in an environment that probably valued social distancing, so he's definitely keeping his personal bubble wide against him.

"Jackass, was everything you told us a lie!?" Sheep wrestled him with all his might and anger.

"A lie... Sheep, I didn't lie to any of you. Not once." Energy calmly replied, "But you have to understand why I'm doing what I'm doing."

"I understand you, so it's about damned time you understand me!" He managed to land a hit somewhere in there, "Energy, we don't have to do this!"

As the two battled on, allowing Vastoria to safely roll backwards and out of the barrier completely, she could breathe a sigh of relief for only a moment before feeling a familiarly horrifying chill run down her spine. Closing her Eyes and ducking to try and protect her face as much as possible, she realized she was now trapped with a White Monster preying on her.

"V-Vasto... ria!" I still could just barely prop myself up, my body still tingling all over, "Ghk! You two, call a truce!"

Regardless, my pleas fell on deaf ears.

"Truce, with this guy!?" Sheep spat at the idea, "I'd rather d-Ough!"

"Great, that's just what I wanted to hear." Energy grinned as he unleashed a flurry of punches, "Time to end this."

Taking out his trusty mallet, he swung it centrifugally in front of the now dazed Sheep. Once, twice, three times... He kept incrementally increasing its speed until it was akin to a fan blade. Bringing such force to Energy's body would definitely prove fatal. Dammit, don't make me do this...!

"G-Gramps, don't make me choose between my friends!" I begged, cried even, "Vastoria is outside with a White Monster attacking her, we need to get her inside!"

"Migu... I thought I told you not to call me that." He craned his head eerily towards me, all the while inching the spinning mallet towards the helpless Sheep, "Besides, why should I care? Half the work is done for me then."

He's not listening...! Dammit, what do I do? Sheep, he needs to move, but after getting his teeth bashed in by this ass of a fallen angel, I don't think he'll last for much longer! I... I-I'm sure he'd understand if I went to go help Vastoria. Right, it was Gale who helped me last time, so even though it's gonna suck, I can just get sent back in her stead... Wait, that's it!

"Go for Vastoria!" I advised, no, demanded from him.

His arm slowly came to a halt as he at least heard me out.

"I thought for sure you would choose to let him go first." Energy was impressed, "It seems you may yet have a chance in my era."

"I don't want your rotten era!" I shot back, "Listen, if the White Monster eats Vastoria, she'll be dragged back to her home!"

"...Away from me." It finally dawned on him, "Good job, my descendant! You've successfully stalled this ordeal for a moment longer! Don't worry, though, 'cause that's all you'll get."

Asshole... Gah, Sheep! He's lying on the ground half-unconscious, but he's alive. Unlike outside the Shrine's barrier, he can bleed like any regular human now. And boy is he bleeding!

"D-Did... Did we win?" Sheep twitched his bloodshot Eyes open.

"...I'm gonna drag you out of the barrier now." I lifted his torso by the arms, "Thank you, Sheep. For everything."

"Oi, don't say that like they're your last words to me..." He contently closed his Eyes.

"Then don't say that while raising a death flag."

"Death flag... Cheh, who are you, Gale?"

The melancholy chatter we made in this brief moment of the calm before the storm almost made me forget that out here, Energy was fending off White Monsters from reaching Vastoria. Somehow, I succeeded in getting him to agree to help us, if only for this brief period.

"Sheep, don't open your Eyes no matter what." I warned, "Hyup! There, I stuck the mandible blade next to your hand. Hold onto it with all your might so that the Apostles don't drag you away while we're dealing with Energy."

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"Migu..." He did as he was told, "I feel better now that my body's numb again, thanks. Though, I might not be able to hold out if a White Monster does attack..."

"That's good, too. You'll be sent far away... from him." I glared back, though still keeping my Eyes squinted for safety, "For now, rest up. We'll need your help inside the Shrine."

"Cough, cough!" He choked on some blood as he turned to the side, "Heh, wanna know the funniest thing?"

"Huh?"

"This..." He said in between coughs, "Is still way better than retail."

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***

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Returning inside the Shrine's safe zone, I opened my Eyes to see a bruised Vastoria being held up by the ruthless hitman himself. He gave me a cold gaze, knowing I did all I could and still failed.

"Well, one should always expect to have to work for their game." He figured.

"Hunting analogies? Is that all we are you?" I scowled, "Just animals waiting to be hunted down?"

"Migu..."

"You asshole, to think I'd meet such a psychopath in Heaven of all places!"

"Migu."

"Stop, you're embarrassing yourself!" I hissed, "What are you doing, trying to gain sympathy now that you're about to kill us!?"

"Migu!"

Tired of my tirade, he pointed his stake to Vastoria's neck, shutting me up almost immediately. With a peeved look on his face, he began his damned monologue.

"You're my family." He said plainly before sticking the knife inside Vastoria's neck anyways.

"NO!"

"Khack!" She splurted blood out, drowning in it, "Gahck! Khack!"

"Let her go, let her go!" I pushed him aside, holding her head steady, "Vastoria...!"

"...Gha-"

She looked at me with those Eyes once more before succumbing to her wounds. Her heart was silent, not even a single beat. No, it could just be that her heart stops beating once she enters the Shrine...! Vastoria, you still gotta live, come on!

"Then, ready to join her?" Energy put the bloody stake to my nape as I grieved for her, preparing to slam it clean through me as well with the swing of the mallet, "I... I'm sorry."

"Sniffle... Huh?" I shakily craned my head back to see such regretful tears streaming down his cheeks, "You... You're serious?"

"I don't know whether or not I knew my family down there." He said in between sobs, "But I knew I was definitely alone up here. You, Migu... I never wanted to do this to my family!"

He's actually sobbing. Tch, wimp! Don't try and justify all this shit you pulled on us by feeling bad about it! Those tears though, I don't doubt they're real...

"Hngh!" I mustered up all my strength to push off him and rush Vastoria's body to the outside, "Ngah!"

"Hey, she's dead! Stop that!"

"I'm not...!" I shouted through tears, "I'm not letting you mutilate her body any more!"

By now, the blood bubbling out of her throat had completely stopped, meaning she definitely stopped breathing. But if I could just get her outside, it could at least freeze her body's state in numbness. She... I at least want her to go without feeling any pain.

"Migu!" Energy threw the stake directly at me.

"Crap, not gonna make it!" I realized.

I made ample distance between us with this headstart, but his throw would definitely hit me. It was that perfect, I don't even think I'll feel the moment of impact. No, I need to try! Vastoria... She needs to make it out of here...!

"...Hm?" I heard screaming coming from above.

"FUUUUUUUUGHHHHH!!!" Sheep yelled, diving at near light speeds with Vastoria's wings he borrowed.

"No way, but if he does that...!" Energy realized something.

Much like slamming your fist into jello, Sheep contorted the barrier's anti-flying forcefield to the point where he almost touched the ground on the other side. That being said, it was enough to make it right between me and the stake, and since it hit him "outside the barrier", it merely dinked off of him. Immediately after, however, the force field elastically returned to its original shape as it sent Sheep flying in the direction we came from.

"He got away...! And with the wings too!" Energy fussed as I safely succeeded in dragging Vastoria in, opening her Eyelids and letting the White Monsters take her back home, "What are you doing now!? She's dead!"

"Maybe." I walked back into the barrier decidedly, "But even if there's the tiniest chance she's alive, this way she can stay safe in her home."

"Migu..." He actually applauded my handiwork, "Not giving up, I see. Good on you, but what now?"

"Now?"

"Your friends are gone, you and I are alone." He explained, "You're out of weapons, and I've plenty more to spare. I won't be crying over that stake, don't worry."

"...You still don't get it, do you?" I said with a solemn stare, "I didn't re-enter the ring to fight, I came here to talk."

"What's there to talk about? Your best bet was to open your Eyes against the White Monster and run back home yourself, but you instead had Vastoria take it." He groaned, "Face it, you're out of options! And maybe your actions did save them, but what good will it do if you're dead?"

"Ah, so you are a hypocrite." I smirked, "I swear, it's like an unwritten rule for senior citizens to only judge others without looking at themselves."

"I told you, I'm not ol-!"

"Gramps, when the Gods told us to kill Sab, we refused."

"W-What?"

"We refused, so they sent you to kill us. But even you should know how it's much more troublesome to kill all of us than one of us."

"Obviously. Get to the point!"

"The point is... Help me reach the bottom floor." I extended my hand, "Sleeping on that bed will advance time. It might not mean much, but surely that change will help someone. Besides... Vastoria and Sheep are in dire need of some treatment."

"...And if the Gods sic someone else on me?" He chuckled.

"We'll have your back." I nodded, "A human spared might save your skin later, but a dead man sure won't... Right?"

Staring blankly at me after I used his own words against him, he paused for an uncomfortably long amount of time before bursting into laughter. Slapping his knee, he couldn't help but feel an overbearing sense of pride well up within him.

"You really are something, you know that!?" He wheezed and wheezed, "The dead don't help, is that right? And yet here I was about to add three to that group."

"You're smart enough to know the Gods won't follow through with your wish." I shook my head, "And even if they did, how would you know?"

"Right, I'd be up here anyway." He sighed, "Fine, four was getting to be crowded anyways."

"You're actually gonna say that after personally culling half of our team?"

"Others can save your skin if you use them as a distraction while you run away." He stated.

"Huh!? You mean that's what that saying was referencing!?"