"Oh shoot...!" Sheep turned towards the window.
"Listen, we're gonna need the sword before we can... Oi!" Sab heard him open the window, "The hell are you doing!?"
"Tactical retreat!"
"How is that tactical?! You're only putting yourself in a worse position if you do that!"
"Fine, impractical retreat it is!"
"Not the point!"
Their panic was more obvious than ever as the severity of the situation set in. Elegy was put to sleep, the White Monster as well as Vastoria are about to attack them any second, and they're effectively blind so long as they're inside the room with them.
"Sab, grab my hand. I still have my wings, so we can-"
"What? Escape and leave them here?" Sab clicked his tongue.
His sudden shift in opinion was met with absolute confusion, however. Sab, someone who loudly proclaimed just a few minutes ago how he most wanted Elegy to die, was now advocating for him to be saved. Sheep struggled to understand why this phenomenon was happening.
"...Come on, it's not what you think." Sab frowned, "Ignoring Vastoria, that bastard and Hats are our only chance of survival. If we don't kill the guy hunting us down, we lose. We don't have a weapon, I have no fighting experience, and you'll die the moment you set foot inside the Shrine's barrier."
Everything he said was the truth. By all accounts, if they don't find a way to somehow kill the White Monster here and now, they will without a doubt lose against Energy. Regardless, Sheep found no logic in just making a mad dash at the White Monster without any sort of plan.
"Hmph." He grabbed Sab's arm and flew out the window.
"H-Hey! Put me back!" Sab kicked and thrashed, "Sheep, you bastard!"
Having flown a fair way up now, outside of the scope of the White Monster's deathly stare, they could finally open their Eyes without worry. Carefully craning them open regardless, they could talk about their next course of action with a lot more peace of mind.
"They're not dead, Sab." Sheep ultimately sighed, "If anything, trying to kill a legendary beast tailor made to be the bane of us Heavenly Beings is the dumbest choice we could make here. If we fall asleep as well, Migu will definitely die."
"...So you're saying we should just leave them here?" Sab asked rhetorically, "Fly directly to the Shrine?" He added, "And for what? So you could die the moment your body loses invincibility?"
"...If-"
"If need be, huh?!" He raised his tone before calming down, "Sheep."
"..."
"Shut. The fuck. Up."
Sheep was covered in bruises and wounds, and it's by no means an understatement that Migu dragged him away from death in the last possible second of his soul's existence. Sab is essentially alluding to the fact that he'll be left alone against Energy the moment Sheep enters the arena with him, as the wounds will eat him up the second he phases through the barrier even once more.
"Sab..."
"You don't get to lecture me." Sab shot back, "...At least I value my life."
"Are you... saying I'm disrespecting Migu's actions?" His blood pressure rose, "I ought to let you fall down, jackass...!"
"Do it." Sab shrugged, "See how far that gets you."
A few more seconds of awkward and tense silence between them only stood to prove Sab was in the right here. No matter how much Sheep wanted to give to save Migu, even going so far as to offer his own afterlife, the fact of the matter is—That just simply isn't enough. As it stands, they currently have someone with wings who can fly them anywhere they want to go, but if Sheep chooses to give himself up like this, then Sab won't even have that. Saving Migu will be an impossible feat, and given that Elegy, Hats and Vastoria would be stuck on the floating island, Sab won't even be able to team up with them anymore either.
"If you're brave enough to kill yourself, then at least make it worthwhile." Sab frowned, "Bring us down to the island."
"I can't."
"Afraid of going night-night?"
"It's not that... We'll lose no matter what."
"This implies there's a chance we win against that guy as just us." Sab tried to recall, "What was his name again?"
"...Energy."
Sheep was terrified. So much so that he couldn't even think straight.
"Then, riddle me this." Sab put it another way, "Which one's easier to beat? Two dumbass slowpokes who only know how to grapple and an immovable rock... Or an armed bounty hunter out to get us?"
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"...Tch." Sheep finally caved, "Fine, I get it already! I'll help you with the White Monster!"
"Booyah!"
"But first, we need a plan." Sheep nodded, "At the very least, tell me what to do."
"Hmm..." Sab thought about it for a bit, "Your task will be... To retrieve the serrated sword."
"Huh!? You're making me face off against Elegy!?"
"What's the problem? He's just an Apostle now, so he doesn't have Elegy's fighting skills or speed."
"B-But still!"
Sheep had the wings, but neither the strength nor courage to complete the look of a bona fide seraphim. Makes sense when you recall he's just a regular old defective shopkeeper.
"Okay, fine." Sab reassured him, "I'll lure the other two away outside myself! Seriously, if you can't even take care of one measly Apostle after all that, there really is no hope for you."
"Quit making fun of me!" Sheep steeled his resolve before swooping back down towards the island, "Ugh, okay. But you better not turn on me!"
"Nooo promises." Sab sang a tune.
"Promise me, dammit!"
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***
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"Remember, toss me off in front of the front entrance." Sab reminded him one last time before they parted ways, "I'll head inside first, you wait for me to lure them outside before swooping into the room where I'll hopefully lock Elegy in."
"R-Right, then it'll be a one-on-one between me and him... Ugh." Sheep felt uneasy.
Even after steeling his resolve, Sheep was still quite scared. It was up to Sab to lend him a bit of his strength.
"...Hey man, you don't have to do this if you don't want to."
"Really!?" Sheep gasped eagerly.
"You moron, hell yeah you're gonna do it!" Sab tactically let go once they were near enough to the ground.
"Gah, you lying...!" Sheep didn't have time to say anything before retreating to the safety of the skies once more, "Do your best!"
As Sab waved his cowardly friendly off, the deafening silence of the three White Monsters fast approached him. Sensing him the moment he made contact with the ground, it was Elegy and Vastoria who slammed the front door open.
"Alright, just like how Elegy taught me...!" He prepared himself before running right in between them, "Haha! This way, morons!"
"Slow as they were, it was a fact that they were navigating the mansion's layout way better than Sab was. After all, he could only afford to occasionally peek open his Eyelids before closing them shut for the next couple of seconds.
"Do-wah!" He slipped whilst running up the stairs, "Tch, I can recover from this..."
At the same time, he wasn't allowed to look behind himself to ascertain the distance between them. His goal was to return to Vastoria's room so that he could lock Gale inside. Sheep would thus enter the room through the window and try his best to retrieve the serrated blade from Elegy, whilst Sab would do his best to not fall asleep fighting Vastoria outside in the yard.
"Okay, the room should be... Ah, here it is! Hrk!" He panicked the moment he opened the doors, realizing the White Monster was waiting for him to return without moving from its spot, "Dammit, you were supposed to be behind me... Ngah!"
The very next moment, the Vastoria Apostle and the Elegy Apostle grabbed him from behind. One craned Sab's head up in a similar fashion to what happened to Elegy, and the other reached for his Eyelids.
"Ngh... N-No, stop it...!" Sab cried out, "STOOOOOP!"
His voice frail and scared, was overshadowed by a large explosion. No, rather than an explosion, it was the sound of a large wrecking ball slamming into the wall where the window was, sending rubble hurdling at the White Monsters.
"...Hgah! Not getting me today!" Sab used the situation to free himself, pulling the sword out of Elegy's scabbard and running out of the room, "Nice going, Sheep!"
"Shut up and go outside!" Sheep's voice could be heard hollering from outside.
Whilst maybe not a wrecking ball, it was in fact just as effective. Thankfully, Sheep's proactive choice to grab the large, heavy boulder from the yard outside and toss it at the house was a rousing success. However...
"Doof!" Sab hit something unexpected whilst he was running down the stairs with his Eyes closed, "Huh? What is...?"
"Oh, by the way!" Sheep shouted retroactively from outside, "The rock I lifted was the one keeping Hats pinned to the ground, so do watch out for him!"
"You could've told me that sooner!"
As quick as he was, Sab could not dodge the golden arms from grabbing him and holding him still. Behind him approached the three White Monsters, and one was in front. As it stood, Sheep couldn't save him a second time due to the distance between them. It was all but game over.
"Ngh... Shit, sorry about this!" Sab apologized, putting the serrated blade up to the arm that was holding him down.
It was a dire situation, and this action—no matter how deplorable it may seem—would save all of them. A Heavenly Being is composed of two parts—The White parts, and the golden parts. In the Shrine—where these two are inverted—you can lose your White parts. But likewise, outside of the Shrine...
" !!!!"
"I know, I know! It hurts, but bear with it!" Sab said through tears, "Hats, I'm sorry! But you would never let me go otherwise!"
Cutting back and forth like one would with a saw, he eventually lopped off the strong, pure golden arm. Sab fell to the ground right after the arm did, and with his newly returned freedom of movement, he turned around to swing the sword blindly at the opponents behind him. Whom he would hit would determine if this was the heroes' victory... or the White Monster's.
" "
"..." He held his breath.
" " Elegy said, "My God..."
Sab knew better than to open his eyes at this moment. After all, the White Monster has the ability to imitate others' voices. But it was Sheep's gentle touch that assured him it was alright. Opening his Eyes properly for the first time since the battle had started felt like rebirth. The first sight to grace him was a brutal one—Elegy stood there, torn between feeling proud or mortified. A large golden arm lay limp in front of his feet, with Vastoria's nigh lifeless body just beside it. Her neck was just barely connected to her body at this point, quite literally hanging by a thread. But somehow, so long as she wasn't inside the Shrine's barrier, she remained alive.
"This is..." Sab gulped, finally looking up at the White Monster's skull crushed to thousands of bone fragments, "The sword... landed...?"
"Nice job." Sheep was the first to praise him, "Just for today, you were the star of the show."
The White Monster was no more, and all of its Apostles were set free Heaven wide. The seemingly intransient rules of Heaven 2.0 were now changed thanks to Sab. A new frontier, one that allowed for two things—Freedom of movement during bedtime, and freedom of movement between districts. And all this without sustaining any casualties. This was their perfect victory, and everything had gone to plan.
"Sab actually saved us...?" Hats steadily grew a smirk on his face, one which naturally evolved into an excited grin, "Haha! High fi-!"
"Ah."
"Oh." He finally noticed, "AAAAAAHHH! MY ARM!"
Well, almost everything.