Elegy ran until the sky had turned pink. Around him even the clouds disappeared as his mind adjusted to the cherubim's domain. A small part of him worried this was nothing more than a trap to lead him astray, but he knew there was no risk in meeting up with the cherubim. After all, his Wildcard status would protect him from demotivation.

"Halt, ye who enter." A soothing female voice beckoned him, "Just kidding, welcome back."

"Tch, should you be making light of the situation you're in?" Elegy groaned, "Cracking jokes while your life's in jeopardy..."

"There is no risk now, for you are here to protect me." It revealed itself, its uncanny appearance a mix of Red and pink, "We meet again."

"Don't get it twisted, my plan remains the same either way." He crossed his arms with a pout, "I'm just making sure everyone survives until the end."

The cherubim blinked seductively, "Even me?"

"See, now you're getting it twisted."

For the amount of panic in the cherubim's voice earlier, it really does seem to have calmed down significantly now that Elegy is around. Sab is supposedly going to be making his appearance soon as well, and when that happens, it's Elegy's job to keep him from killing the cherubim.

"Phew, if I had known I'd still have ample time after the fact, I wouldn't have rushed down here as fast..." He laid down on the soft ground beneath him, "Let's kill some time while we wait for him."

"Ah, do you suppose a game would be satisfactory-?"

"Cherubim, I need you to tell me how to save Vastoria." He stared directly at it, "My way."

It gulped. The very protector of Heaven 2.0, guardian of the Heavenly Beings itself, was too terrified to even let out a soft whimper. Despite its title, it saw its own fate get cut short by Sab of all people, and now even has to bow its head down to its former adversary, Elegy. For a being that consistently preaches how fates are inescapable and unchangeable, it sure did find itself in an unexpected twist.

Telling him now would only serve to motivate him to cause more trouble, but the cherubim's figurative hands were tied. No matter how it sliced it, there was no other way to appease him and get him to stay here and protect it. With a long, drawn out sigh, the cherubim revealed the real truth behind his plan.

"To be completely honest, your plan is far too childish and naive to work."

"Eh?" Elegy paused, "W-Wait, childish?"

"Dissolve the metal in the pickaxe and mold it into a golden neck for Vastoria." The cherubim recalled, "To begin with, this material is night impossible to break, and the heat required to melt something like it would have to rival that of a Divine Sun."

"Divine Sun?"

"A Sun personally created by the Sun God, Ouroboras." It elaborated, "Mind you, even if you did somehow accomplish this, you'd need to mold it. Something like a neck isn't as simple as making a cylinder out of gold. You'd need to chart out airways, pipes, vocal cords and even parts of the tongue. It's simply too complex a job, hence why even the Gods automated it with a machine."

"And that machine was the bed inside the Shrine..." Elegy sulked.

Nothing like the guilt of knowing you yourself are the cause behind all of your problems. During the fight against the Queen Bat Roach, Elegy had to call in some help from Hats and sacrifice the bed so they could defeat it. It worked, but in doing so the bed got completely destroyed, never to be seen whole again.

"Sorry about that." He felt nothing else could be said.

The cherubim giggled, "You should be apologizing to yourself more so than me, in that case."

"But is there really no easier way, then?"

The cherubim paused to think for a moment.

"You're not exactly on the wrong track, per se." It admitted.

He blinked, "I'm not?"

"Well, as outlandish as the idea sounds, it's probably your best shot at fixing Vastoria's state without going about it as how the Gods intend it."

Although highly improbable to pull off, the cherubim still commended Elegy greatly for thinking of such a well-thought out plan. This also served as a great segue into the cherubim's next topic.

"Though, I highly doubt the Gods would be willing to listen to you." It smirked, "Me, on the other hand? I harbor no villainy toward any of you. I am nothing if not a neutral advocate of peace and protection to all."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"I see, in other words, you're willing to help us do it." Elegy nodded.

"But remember, this won't work if Sab ends up killing me." It explained, "And though the Gods are correct in their assumption that I won't die from a simple beheading, I fear that what that man has in store for me is far more lethal."

Such scary words are being used to describe that Sab of all people. For the record, Elegy had never once considered him a threat—neither to his own team nor their adversaries. There was that one moment where Sab personally killed the White Monster, but even then it ended up losing Hats his arm.

"E-Eep!" The cherubim whimpered, hiding its face behind its wings.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Elegy furrowed his brows.

"B-Behind you!" It yelped, "He's here..."

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***

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Lo and behold, the second Elegy had turned around, he saw a figure walking towards them in the distance. A lone man, one without any golden parts to speak of. As expected, Nerys didn't seem to be with him this time. An odd sight, for certain.

"Don't worry, I'll handle it." Elegy solemnly nodded.

From afar, Sab caught a glimpse of Elegy before waving over to him with a harmless smile. This only served to confuse him more, yet the cherubim's pure feelings of terror quelled Elegy's doubts.

"Yoohoo! Elegy!"

Elegy hollered back, "Oiiii!"

The more Sab approached them, the more Elegy's heart began to race. Does Sab not yet see the cherubim? Shouldn't he be angry at it if it's his fate to kill it? If so, then why is he only reacting to Elegy?

Suddenly, a grim idea appeared in Elegy's mind—possibly, this was all a trap. The last time they saw each other, Elegy understood that Sab and the others were taken control of briefly by the cherubim to be told to stop their delusions. Chances were this Sab was still hypnotized, so to speak, hence the lack of a reaction to the cherubim. Now it all made sense, Elegy had to act fast before something really bad happened.

"S-Stop!" He put his hands out.

"Huh?" Sab did as he was told, "Elegy, what's up? Boy, I'm so happy to see you again, after we split up-"

"Don't come any closer, stand over there!" Elegy demanded.

Sab was dangerous, yes, but not to the cherubim. In this moment, Elegy had found himself trapped between two enemies on both sides, and though he wanted to move aside, he knew better than to make any rash moves. Anxiously, he felt the sweat off his brow fall as he began this life or death conversation.

"Sab, did you come here from the Gods' Abode?"

A simple question, but one that could easily prove all of his doubts if answered properly. If the cherubim kept him near the area to be used as a pawn, then the answer should be "No". Of course, saying yes could only either indicate lying or remove a bit of suspicion from Sab, both possibilities having already been accounted for.

"Man, I don't even know." Sab brushed him off casually.

"Huh?" Elegy paused, "Eh? How do you not know which way you came from?"

"Dude, all I remember is being told to stop my nonsense and leaving you guys alone. Then I wandered around for a while before realizing it was kind of a dick move to just up and abandon you, so I came back. By the way, where are the others?"

So he never left. Odd, given the cherubim stated he was teleporting around using the Abode's powers. Or possibly this was all a fabricated lie as well. Because he gave an unexpected answer, Elegy has to think up new routes the conversation can follow on the fly. A bad situation to be put in, but he has no choice.

"They're all doing their part." Elegy brushed off his query, "Anyway, Sab, if you wanna help, then go in this direction and you'll eventually spot the Gods' Abode."

"Ehh? Come with!" He invited him.

"I got something I gotta do over here." Elegy glanced back at the cherubim, "So you just go back to district G and uhh... Oh yeah, we're still looking for Nerys, so you can just help us find her!"

"Eh? But she's standing right behind you?"

Another unexpected answer. So Sab began to see the cherubim's head as Nerys. This must be why he doesn't seem too scared to be around them. No, right now Elegy can't be trusting a single word that's coming out of this guy's mouth. The fact that he's trying to lead Elegy away from the cherubim is also not helping his case.

"Sab, go back to the Abode and enter and exit until you step out into district G." Elegy glared at him from their distance.

"Hey, don't get snappy with me."

"Sab-!"

Suddenly, a strong force pushed Elegy's back, shoving him towards Sab. The cherubim, perhaps? Either way, it didn't amount to much—thankfully Elegy had prepared for this double crossing and properly distanced himself from Sab.

"Eh? But if that's the case, why is his face right in front of mine?" Elegy muttered to himself.

"G-Guhhh..."

"Sab? You alright, buddy?"

"Guhhhack!" He choked on some blood.

"Sab! Oh my Gods!"

Elegy was scared and confused. Why were they within inches of each other, why was Sab's expression so grim, why wasn't he saying something, and now—why is there blood coming out of his mouth? Finally, Elegy had steeled his resolve to look down and find all his answers bundled into one.

"Ah, this wasn't a trap for me." He uttered, pulling out a bloody fist from Sab's abdomen, "I'm the one being controlled by the cherubim."

"Ghuuuhhhh...!" Sab struggled to breathe as he fell to the floor, a hole punched clean through his stomach.

"That push earlier, it wasn't from the cherubim physically shoving me..." Elegy craned his head back to see the empty expanse glare back at him, "It told me to kill him. It ordered me and then left when it saw its chance."

Sab was still bleeding out profusely on the ground before him. Without any form of healthcare or first aid, those wounds would undoubtedly lead to death. Yet, they were surrounded by nothing but pink skies and clear White clouds. All alone for miles on end, with only the two of them to rely upon, Elegy could only stare blankly at his dying friend, constantly muttering the brilliance of their enemy's cunning.

"The cherubim protects those who want to be protected..." He muttered to himself, "And to those who wish to die, it says onto them—die, for I shall help you achieve said goal as well."

Another blink and the mind control was cut off. Elegy was now made fully aware of his actions towards Sab, and left with nothing but the aftermath of the situation he had no say nor intention of doing, he silently stared down in internalized agony. The Staples of Heaven won once more.