Somehow, someway, the Gods of Knowledge and Meditation died. No, it makes perfect sense how this is the case; most angels that had to endure those deafening decibels felt like they were going to pass out. In other words, the sound was so loud that absolutely no human could ever survive it.

"Dey be ded?" Nerys poked Selz' cheek.

I ran in circles, "Oh my Gods, oh crap...! We just killed the Gods!"

"Oi." Nerys pouted, "Maek no mistaek—Oi' kill'd 'em."

Seriously? It doesn't matter who did it, dammit! And besides, weren' you supposed to be a devout follower? What kind of a religious person kills their own Gods!?

"What frickin' ever!" I shouted, "O-Oh right, in moments like these you perform CPR, right!?"

"What's that?" Hats tilted his head.

Geez, even I don't know for sure. Uhm, chest compressions, filling their lungs with air, the likes. No wait, isn't this just for drowning victims? Tch, dammit Migu, no time to think about the details—these Two absolutely mustn't die!

"O-Oye!" Nerys twitched, "Ye' inta' dead men, lass!?"

"Quit with the jokes, if these guys die who knows what's gonna happen to everyone in Heaven!" I shouted, kneeling next to Pry to give him mouth-to-mouth, "Breathe, dammit!"

Once that didn't work, I began chest compressions. I heard somewhere that it's okay to apply enough force to even break a few ribs. Still, either I'm extremely weak or their human bodies were made sturdier than I'd expected. Point is, I heard no cracks, breaks or fractures, nor did he begin to breathe again.

"..."

"The Hell are you two standing around there for like idiots!?" I pointed, "Come on, get Selz!"

Hats and Nerys quickly snapped out of it, rushing to follow my instructions and do the same to Selz that I was doing to Pry. Hopefully even one of them wakes up, since I imagine they'd have the ability to revive the other in some way. They're Gods, after all, they have to have it!

"Migu..." Hats said with ragged breaths.

"Keep going, we can't give up!" I gave Selz a few slaps on the face.

"Lass." Nerys put her hand gently on my shoulder, "They be long gone."

It was only after she said this that it finally clicked in my head. I stood up, looking at the two cold corpses lying motionlessly in front of us. The Gods were dead, and we killed them.

"H-Huh!?" I shoved her away, rushing to Selz' side, "He's...!"

Putting my ear up to his mouth, I could feel the lightest bit of airflow coming out. In other words, he was breathing again. Phew! I was about to cry, dammit...

"Eeeeeeeeegh..." He let out an audible exhale.

"Think that's jus' his soul leavin' him." Nerys crossed her arms.

"He stopped breathing again." Hats sighed.

"..."

"......"

Suddenly, a loud trumpet sound erupted from his throat.

I fell back in surprise, "Gahhh!"

"Cut eet off!" Nerys cupped her ears.

"Please stop!" Hats begged him.

For whatever reason, Selz's body started to let out this horribly loud sound. Almost like he had heard him, Pry began to do the same soon after. Now they were both creating this trumpet-like sound from their bodies, and we were directly in the line of fire.

I covered their mouths, "Shut up already!"

"Mph-!"

Eh? That worked?

"Tch, wot nau?" Nerys sat down on the rooftop we were on.

"We need to find Elegy." Hats suggested, "He'll know what to do."

"Not a chance he's anywhere near us." I looked down, "Last we heard he seemed pretty busy with his own things. Even if he's finished up with it, it's gonna take a long while before he comes over."

I noticed something funny about my palms by this point. Obviously, covering their lips was always meant to be a temporary solution, but it was something else. They felt heavy.

"I-I can't move my palms!" I worried, "Guys, help me out here!"

"Migu!" They sprung to action.

As if stuck to Their faces, my hands just wouldn't budge free. It took all three of us pulling me away to finally free my hands, but it meant the trumpet sounds began again.

"Dammit, wake up already!" I cussed my hands out, "It's like they're encased in concrete; they're too heavy to move around in!"

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Bah!" Nerys slipped.

"What's wrong!?" Hats turned to her.

"B-Boye..." She gulped, "Oi' cannae moov me legs."

In short, utter pandemonium. We quickly figured out that the sound the dead Gods were creating and our partial paralysis was interconnected. Hats was the only one who still had full control of his body, so I had to make a difficult decision.

"Migu?" He looked at me raising my leg.

With stern kick, I sent him flying off the top of the roof. His scream almost made me tear up, but there was no other way. I don't like harming my friends, but given the situation there was just no saving us. I'm sure, if I told him to save himself and go find Elegy, he would undoubtedly try to bring us with him... But it's already too late for Nerys and me.

"Miguuuu~!!"

"Tch, th' boye' didn' deserv dat." Nerys groaned.

"He's the only chance we have left." I chuckled, "I don't know what's gonna happen to us, but if he finds Elegy, I'm sure they'll figure out a way to fix all this."

"Lotta faith ye' got in arr' mateys." Nerys smirked, "Ah, can't moov beloo me neck."

"Faith, huh? Nah, but do we have any other options?" I joked, "Oh, me neither. Guess that's it for us."

Hats, Elegy... Sab. Please save everyone.

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***

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"I got it!" Elegy shouted.

And just then, another set of trumpets roared. With each consecutive horn, Heaven 2.0 became more and more petrified. As if weighed down by pure concrete, the men couldn't even fly with the powerful cherubim wings anymore.

"Sab! Toss me the wings!" He yelled.

"Huh!? How many?"

"All of them!" Elegy shouted, "Quickly!"

Figuring they didn't have time to waste, Sab followed the orders he was given and attached as many wings as Elegy could fit on his back. Wings are really powerful attachments in Heaven 2.0 that allow an angel to soar the skies, but one really doesn't need more than a single pair before it gets reduntant. If a single pair can carry a multitude of angels, then why would anyone ever be so wasteful as to equip more?

"Gahh!" They shouted in pain.

"W-What did you lose?" Elegy asked worriedly.

"Can't feel a thing below my torso!"

He could still wave his arms around, so it hadn't gotten to his shoulders, but Sab knew he was probably done for after this. Whatever Elegy had planned in his head, he had to hurry it up with the execution.

"Alright, your wings too!" Elegy put his stubs out.

"B-Bastard! What do you even need them for!?"

"Oh shut up, not like you can make use of yours anymore anyways."

Sab understood he was being left behind. His Eyes sunk back in fear.

"Y-You're leaving me here...?" He gulped, "For dead?"

"Sab, give me the wings!"

In the distance, another wave of trumpets set off.

"Sab, we don't have much time!" He kept insisting, "I'm not leaving you, I need your wings!"

Sab blinked, his voice quivering from the uncertainty, "Y-You're not gonna leave me behind...?"

Just then Elegy lunged at him, stealing away the wings from his friend. No, he didn't lunge, he couldn't. His legs didn't work anymore, there was no way for him to generate the power necessary for such a move.

Just then, it struck him—Elegy was using his plentiful wings to move. Wings weren't alive, nor were they connected to the rest of his body. They were galvanically connected, in other words—he pushed himself off the ground with them serving as extra limbs.

"Sorry about this." Elegy muttered, lifting him up with the wings with ease, "You're gonna get petrified, there's no stopping that. Hell, even I'm not so sure if I'll be fully conscious from this point on... But I'm not gonna leave you behind."

"You won't be conscious?" Sab worried.

"Once my head gets petrified, the wings will fully take control of my body." Elegy explained, "There's not a scarier fate I can think of in this moment, but we have no choice. Wings function based on commands you give them—move like this, move like that, flap, strike, rotate."

Sab dutifully listened to the explanation. Still, he couldn't for the life of him understand where Elegy was coming from.

"Dude, what does this have to do with you stopping those damned trumpets?"

"You still don't get it?" Elegy looked toward the source of the sound, "I simply gave each wing a command—One will always hold onto you, these two down here will function as replacement legs that will take us to the source... And the rest will be tasked with fixing the situation."

"That's...!" Sab groaned, "An extremely vague request."

"Heh, so you realized it as well?" Elegy chuckled, "Yeah, chances are this little living suit of armor isn't gonna work out as I'd hope for it to, but by giving it a long-term task, I can at least rest easy in knowing everything will turn out okay."

The Gods were dead, their bodies producing the trumpet sounds that were petrifying Heaven 2.0. Until they reach the Gods and get them to stop, Sab and Elegy, as well as the rest of Heaven 2.0, will all remain living statues.

"Then, shall we get going?" Elegy began to walk peacefully toward the sound.

"You're not gonna hurry to get there?" Sab inquired.

"Will it make a difference?" He replied, "The second another horn goes off, we're both getting put to sleep. Whether I rush or not won't matter."

Sab looked down before recalling a painful possibility.

"...Wait, how sure are you that the wings won't just stop moving the second you get your head petrified?"

"If that happens, hmm..." Elegy thought about it briefly, "Well, guess that means we reached the bad ending. Heaven 2.0 will have, for some reason unknown to us, been frozen over for all eternity."

"And that doesn't scare you?"

"Mn." He shrugged, "Not like I'll be conscious to mourn it."

Such a lax resolve. Either Elegy succeeds or Heaven 2.0 is doomed. It was as if he couldn't care less for the world in general, but Sab knew better than to believe him to be so shallow.

"Your Eyes are darting around all over the place." Sab smirked, finding a bit of relief in this fact.

"Huh? No, that's..."

"You 'are' scared." He let out a chuckle, "Eyes are a human's most important body part; they're windows peering into one's soul... and right now, they're the only body part you can move normally."

"Nuh uh, I can move my ears too." Elegy shared a fun little party trick.

Sab kept looking at him.

"Does that confident, carefree mask ever crack?" He wondered to himself.

The silence that ensued cut deep for both of them. Just then, Elegy's voice echoed around the two men.

"Of course it does." He looked back, "When my family's safety is on the line, that mask shatters into a thousand tiny pieces."

"Elegy..."

"But know this, Sab." He pressed on fearlessly, "This mask is here not to keep a smile on my face, but on the ones' around me. I'll stop smiling the second I'm the only one left."

"Is that so?" Sab's Eyebrows shot up in surprise, "So you're saying you know Migu and Energy are alive?"

"I'm saying I'll make it so." He smirked, the resolve in his Eyes burning as bright as brimstone, "You're right, Eyes are the most important part of a human—without them you can neither dream nor witness your dreams become reality."

"How profound." Sab nodded as the last wave of trumpets approached, "But you know, Eyes can show us some pretty nasty nightmares too."

"That's a choice, dreams and nightmares... And you already know which one I'm picking!"