The sound of sloshing and crashing water played as the only ambience in this world. The only place higher than here were the mountains of Dwarhelven, the lip of another enormous mountain in Emvita, and finally, the place where the light and darkness emanated in the north.

The scarlet wings bled profusely into the caldera, forming a sea that never grew large enough to fill it. Red foam spilled from the center, cascading outwards and mellowing into the still, reflective sea of red where a lone figure stood.

Their eyes were sealed, and their pale hair was stained with patches of red. The Angel was adorned in crimson-plated armor. Knives and barbs ran across every inch of its lustrous surface like studs, but to Michaela, they appeared like the thorns of a headless rose.

Both hands rested firmly on the hilt of the half-submerged great blade. It was as though she was quenching the blade in blood. She didn’t seem to notice Michaela’s approach, but she would be foolish to believe this.

Uriel was one of Michaela’s strongest Angels. If anything, Uriel was already aware of her presence.

“My my. Oh my. Is this a dream come true, or did I accidentally recreate you?” Uriel laughed to herself, clutching the hilt of her blade tightly. “Since when was the Nexus able to resurrect people? The odds of you being who I think you are is incomprehensibly small. So, what brings an Aberration-like being to my abode?”

“Uriel. Enough. You don’t need to pretend to delude yourself further. You know who I am.”

“Do I? Am I supposed to believe that you’re alive? For all I know, you’re a leftover piece of my creator. My… Perhaps you’re a piece that I’ve always tried to reach. Isn’t it beautiful? The creator I remember would have praised me for my work. But you don’t seem too pleased.”

Angels rarely expressed emotions like shock or fear. They were designed as warriors in mind, so such emotions were lost to them. However, when they did experience these emotions, they would reveal them in irrational ways.

Uriel revealed her disbelief in her calm denial of Michaela’s resurrection. She would rather call her an Aberration than to admit that the real thing was standing before her. After all, Uriel believed that Michaela had died 15 years ago.

“A traitor has no right to receive the praise of their master.”

“Traitor? Aha? Me? Not you who chose humanity over us? Maybe you’re not an Aberration after all. That demeanor can only belong to you. Ah…”

Uriel’s eyes peeled open, and they quickly narrowed. She began shaking her head, laughing hysterically at the sight of her creator.

“Ahahahaha! You came back from the dead, and the first thing you do is admonish me? You’re too much, Michaela. Haaaah. Could it be that you’re here because of this?”

She kicked the flat edge of the blade. The resounding sound caused every feather on Michaela’s body to bristle. Even the sound the blade created was lethal. This was Uriel’s warning, but as expected, Michaela remained unfazed.

“Or are you here to get your revenge? I thought I did you a favor by killing that runt, but I can’t blame you. My creator… I think I know how you must feel.”

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“Oh? Elaborate.” Michaela was known as a person of many words.

But the ire in her heart caused her to condense it into few words that told Uriel everything she needed to know. Michaela did not come here to talk, and it seemed that the offhanded remark of her child had only worsened her mood.

Uriel was beyond elated to see Michaela make such an expression.

“Waiting 15 years for a failure of a replacement. The Amalgam is nothing like your daughter, no? Neither are you like my creator, yet it’s undeniable that you’re the same person. My creator would have sung me songs of praises for my work. Look at my children, Michaela. They’ll usher in a new era of purity for us. Isn’t that what you would’ve wanted? I’m doing this for you, my creator.”

Uriel laughed as she waited for Michaela’s response. She was hopeful that her creator would understand her. That she would finally praise her for enacting what Michaela refused to do. There was no sense of guilt in her words, and neither was Uriel apologetic for stealing the one thing Michaela loved.

“Creator? Michaela? Can’t you love me the same way you loved your daughter? I’m your daughter too? Look at what I’ve done for you? Isn’t this what you taught me? Haven’t I done a good job?”

Uriel’s eyes became crazed. She wasn’t asking for Michaela’s praise. She demanded it knowing that she had the upper hand. However, the words that came out of her creator’s mouth only caused her expression to darken.

“This isn’t the same world anymore. What I taught you was the rationalization of my own prejudice, and what I gave you was a tool to protect the people of Paradisio as part of my promise to ‘Her’. I made a mistake. I set you up for failure.”

“Failure…? And… Her? Again? Again…?”

Uriel began scratching her head. It was light at first, but it quickly devolved to her drawing blood from her scrapped scalp.

“Her, the Captured Star, the cursed Nephilim… and now what? The Amalgam? A vessel that’s not even blood-related to you? Micheala… I’m your daughter, but not once have you loved me! What am I to you!? What makes the Amalgam better than me!? I’m doing this for us!”

“I do love you.”

Uriel’s face suddenly brightened, but it was quickly replaced with seething hatred as Micheala drew out her False Price of Paradise.

“But I’m an Angel. Love… was never a concept I understood until now. So forgive me if I could never provide it for you. But if you still consider me your creator, then give me the liberty to make amends.”

“… By killing me?” Uriel laughed.

Michaela’s stoic expression didn’t change, immediately wiping the smile off Uriel’s face.

“I hope I didn’t hear that right –”

“Yes, Uriel. Blame me for all you want, but you’ve taken something precious away from me. And even now, you tried to meddle with the Amalgam… my one sole benefactor.”

“Her again!?”

Michaela cradled her blade as Uriel retrieved the blade from the sea of blood.

“Michaela… Is that what you believe? I can use the Amalgam to get your daughter back in a purer form. Everyone can have their own rose if the Amalgam hadn’t escaped from the Black Forest! There’s still a chance for you to redeem yourself to me! Let’s work together! We can strive for the elevation of mankind, just like you wanted! The cost is still the same! My creator! It’s just the elimination of older life –!”

A pale feather was fired in Uriel’s direction. Her blade, which was far too large to classify as a sword, moved faster than the eye could perceive. Uriel managed to cleave the feather in half. Had she been even a microsecond slower, then she would have lost an eye.

“… Why…? All because of that little Nephilim? ‘Her’… and the Amalgam. Hah…”

“Uriel. I came here to make my wrongs into right –”

Micheala swung her blade downwards and pointed it straight at Uriel. In the past, her face would have remained stoic and expressionless. But here, Uriel could see the conviction in her eyes. The flames that brimmed within was so full of life that it felt like the Michaela of the past had never truly lived.

“– And it begins with you – my greatest mistake!”

“… If that’s what you want… then I’ll just do it again! I’ll destroy everything you love! And I’ll make it so that you can only fill that void with us! The Amalgam… hahaha! So long as she dies, then what’s another 15 years for a new vessel!?”

The sparks of their clash were punctuated by the fluctuations of the light above Primus Ramus. Just as the Arbiter and Uriel locked blades, another more important battle had begun elsewhere.