"Elegy..." Sab's voice rose in anger, "Elegy, I've been quiet about your damned ideas this long because they seemed to be working out pretty well for us..."

"And they have been."

"Until you got Energy killed because of one."

Elegy had no rebuke. Oftentimes the hardest argument to win against is the truth itself.

"Why don't we save this for after we find the others?" Elegy tried to de-escalate, "Once we have their reports, we'll know for sure. Maybe the brain we saw doesn't even belong to Energy in the first place."

"That's a weak sauce retort, you know? I thought you would at least try to sound convincing." Sab sighed back, "We both know the chances of that being the case are less than miniscule. How about instead we face the facts and you face this ass-kicking instead?"

Both sides had a newfound power with them—namely, the wings of the cherubim. Though they were both pretty inexperienced in their uses, it at least upped the dimensions of the brawl that was to take place here. But Elegy knew better than to let this happen.

"It was a mistake on my part, but not one of ill intent." He explained.

"Does it even matter what the intent was anymore?" Sab furrowed his brows, "Results matter, Elegy, not the road you took to get to them. Fact is, your little whoopsie got our teammate's soul permanently destroyed. Just how many more of those cases will we have to endure before it becomes worth it?"

Harsh words arose from the unstable Sab. After getting his intestines smashed through by a mind-controlled Elegy, he really didn't want to have to do any more dangerous stunts. His teammate standing before him, however, seemed to be just the perfect magnet for those, so a change in management simply had to be made.

"You're not gonna let this go, are you?" Elegy got serious.

"Never planned to, at least."

Wings spread on both sides, ready to pounce at any moment.

"Y'know, I think I get why the Gods dubbed you the Catalyst for Heaven's Fall." Elegy smirked, "Sometimes people like you come along who just can't listen to reason unless some sense is knocked into them."

Sab was left flabbergasted by this comment.

"Reason?" He repeated, "So you're saying I'm the unreasonable one here?"

"Look at yourself, speaking in paradoxes." Elegy retorted, "Only the results matter, huh? If that's the case, then we should be proud to give away our lives to achieve it."

When it came to pure logic, Elegy had Sab beat. It was this common sense that showed the exact difference in their experience. As battle hardened as he was, Elegy knew to keep a calm head at all times. The primary goal of a fighter is to avoid conflict, after all—or at least the unnecessary ones. Sab, however, was still a bit wet around the ears in that regard. All he knew was what he was given, yet his anger denied him to find out the rest of the context.

"Hey, back off." Elegy ordered.

"Or what?" Sab walked towards him, his wings still spread menacingly.

"You'll get yourself hurt, don't do this."

"What?" Sab shoved his former friend to the ground, "I'm just blowing off some steam like you said."

The first to get angry is often the loser in any battle, but the only exception is if the one who's angry manages to anger his opponent. If that happens, it's anyone's guess as to who would come out on top. Elegy, however, remained firm in his belief as he stood up to dust himself off.

"Up for round two already?" Sab shoved him to the ground a second time.

"...You're wasting our time." He got up again.

And then a third time, Elegy got pushed to the ground. As it stood, this would have gone on for a while had Elegy remained calm as he was. But right now he had a timer to beat, and for that to happen he'd need to let go of his zen state. On the next push, Elegy caught the hands as if they were moving in slow motion.

"Here comes-!" Sab's heart stopped, "Guh!?"

"Like I said, there exist people who just can't listen to reason until you beat them to a pulp." Elegy spread his wings as wide as they could go, "These types of people can scorch the world with their ambition, you know?"

"T-The Hell are you...!?"

"Ah, but they can sometimes be really annoying." Elegy thought about it, "Like when they purposefully waste precious time with their rage boners."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

By this point, the wings were primed and ready. All Elegy had to do was twitch his shoulders and Sab would be squished flat between them. Alas, the time for dodging and evading was over. This was gonna sting, and Elegy had long stopped caring for mercy.

"Have you ever considered that, while you were busy accusing me of your nonsense, the others might have needed us to be there for them?" Elegy finished it off with a rather crude idea, "Sab, you know, if by the time I'm done beating the crap out of you and we come to find out this scuffle ended up costing Migu and the others their lives..."

"S-Shit...!"

"Yeah, you're right to swear at this moment." Elegy nodded, "If that happens, I'm gonna do all the things I'm gonna do to you now, but ten times worse."

Immediately after, Elegy clamped the wings down on his opponent from both sides. Such strong force broke the sound barrier like it was as thin as a bubble, the strength of the blast carved a long and wide rift in the clouds they stood on. As for the person unlucky enough to find himself in the blast's epicenter...

"Just remember, Elegy." He smirked, spreading his own wings right back at him, "Everything you can do, I can do too."

Likewise, he had smashed his friend with his own cherubim wings. Like a slap battle for the ages, this duel commenced with a rather loud array of attacks.

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***

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Still holding onto each other, their clothes and hair blown back in a disheveled disarray, the two stared each other down without hesitance. As the the more experienced brawler, Elegy knew to make the next move before his opponent could get a second smack in.

"Ngh!"

A headbutt to the nose sent Sab struggling to regain his footing. With his legs getting crossed in an unnatural position, he fell flat on his back only to get picked back up by the collar.

"There are two ways to deal with a battle hungry bastard like you." Elegy explained, "Option number one, I let you whale on me until you've had your fill."

Sab returned a snarky reply, "Ngh... Sounds like a plan."

"If you think that sounds appealing, wait 'til you hear the latter." Elegy smiled, "Option two, I beat that thickheaded ego out of you until you're too demotivated to even lay a finger on me."

This time lowering his wings for an uppercut, Elegy braced them both for an aerial assault for the ages. Sab was not as amused.

"Yeah, I think I'll stick to option one." He groaned, "Ghk!"

Elegy's wings kicked them both up high, quickly slamming back down to murk Sab while he was in the air. As Elegy was still holding tightly onto his collar, this in turn didn't actually slam his opponent back into the ground. Rather, all it did was spin them around into a 360. The flip served to disorient the one taking the hits, while allowing the attacker full control of his next moves.

Sab desperately blocked with his own wings, "Freakin' stop!"

"Whoa, didn't expect you to catch that." Elegy praised him, only to wind up a blazing fist immediately after, "Too bad I got hands, though."

Smashing his face in with a knuckle sandwich, Elegy was constantly making sure to aim for the nose each time. Unlike when fighting mortal humans, he knew that he could go all out with a guy like Sab. In fact, he was grateful to have such a hotheaded friend willing to let himself get thrashed like this so easily.

Left wing, right wing. Left fist, right fist. A stern knee to the abdomen. Left, right, down, up, left, left, up, right, left into right... The attacks didn't let up for even a second. Elegy was making sure this angel would be sore even with this indestructible body of his. Sab just couldn't compete.

"A bit of that! And a bit... this! Haha!" Elegy mocked him, "So, did I finally break your spirit?"

Sab barely moved his lips to mutter something. His sullen Eyes and defeated demeanor showed no signs of resistance anymore.

"...tard."

"Hm? You said something just now?"

"Yeah, I did." Sab grabbed his opponent's wrists, "You ought to handicap yourself, bastard, 'cause this shit ain't fair!"

Finally managing to keep the hands still, Sab sliced down with his wings, removing both of Elegy's arms from the elbows down. Going for brutality over mercy, he showed just how much he wanted to beat Elegy at his own game. But this counterattack meant so much more than what he had originally assumed.

"M-Moron...!" Elegy quivered, staring him down with Eyes wide open, "Wounds dealt with the golden wings don't heal..."

Immediately, a sense of dread, uncertainty and regret began to set in for the immature Sab. Now unlike before, he understood that his actions actively and purposefully jeopardized their revolt against the Gods. As the only real fighter in their gang, Elegy was supposed to be the vanguard leading them to safety by protecting them from the Gods forces. Just like with Hats though, now his dexterity and strength has been rendered nearly null.

"I concede." Elegy took a long, deep breath.

"H-Hey, wait...!" Sab followed him down to the ground slowly, "I didn't mean...!"

"You won, I lost. That's all there is to it." Elegy shrugged, "I gotta say, that was a smart move on your end. Gahh, I should've been paying more attention!"

Despite everything, though, he showed discipline and patience above all else. Elegy wasn't mad that he got his arms lopped off, yet he was instead praising Sab for his bravery.

"Elegy, please listen."

"I think I get why you're the Catalyst and not me." Elegy continued, his smile mimicking that of a proud father, "This marks the third arm you've chopped off already. It's permanent too, yet you showed no signs of hesitation."

"I know, and I'm sor-!"

"Don't be." He added, "If you're gonna bring about the Fall of Heaven, then it's better if you only stop to think about the consequences after the fact."

A very optimistic point of view from the experienced Elegy. Though he was now highly impaired without any hands, it's a fact that he still has the shoulder-elbow parts intact. The cuts were clean too, so there was hardly any bleeding before they became stubs.

"Good news is, my wings are just as versatile as my hands were, if not more." He chuckled, "You better show that same resolve when facing off against the Gods, or you're getting another smack from these bad boys!"

"Y-Yeah..." Sab looked down before jolting, "Wait, what do you mean when I face off against them!?"

"Well, you don't seriously expect me to be the one to do it now, do you?" Elegy's laugh echoed far out around them, "Now come on, I can only carry a few of these extra wings with these stubs. Let's go find Migu and the others."

"Urk..."

Rather than feeling bad about intentionally injuring his friend during a fit of rage, Sab was now feeling more regretful because of the extra work he put on himself. To make matters worse, he ended up losing the arms during their flight to district G.