Kimberly fell on her back, her little body twitching slightly from the pain. Amber was the first to react, quickly running to check on her friend as the rest of the world simply observed, dumbfounded— even the Demiurge himself stopped, eyes wide open and mouth agape, completely aghast at what he had done. Was the girl okay? Had he really…no, there was no way she could have died from a mere hit, right?

“She’s not moving…!” Yelled Amber in a panic, clinging to the girl’s body. “Kimmy! Kimmy please wake up…!!”

Enrico had seen children die before, their frail little bodies succumbing to the powerful influence of the Cooordinator Spires, and it had never bothered him a bit. But to feel the responsibility clinging to his back, his very own hands stained with guilt: it shook him as nothing else had in a long while.

Maybe that’s why he couldn’t see a crying, enraged Amber jump at him almost at the same time, little fists sinking into his old visage. They screamed, practically roaring like wild beasts trying to reach Enrico’s neck.

“What have you done, you bastard! You hurt her! You hurt her!” Amber was completely possessed by a rage she had never felt in her life, her fists balled so tightly that her knuckles hurt with each trembling hit that connected to the old man’s chest. Her friend, her best and only friend, she was…

She didn’t even want to think about it, maybe with the hope that the girl would suddenly wake back up at the last moment.

The Demiurge stumbled a couple steps back, little punches failing to do much more than wake him up.

“Get off me, wretch!”

Little punches, kicks and bites, both girls may not have a lot of strength but the spite behind everything made every hit sting a little harder. Enrico grabbed Amber by the hair, pulling the girl off and throwing her to the side.

Gabrielle stared at the body on the floor, her attention fully grabbed by Kimberly’s little neck completely twisted in the wrong way. A new emotion flooded her, her palms grew sweaty and sticky with uncertainty as her eyes tried to find any emotion, any hint of life in her bully’s eyes. But there was none, the skies now had a new angel flying high.

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“Kimmy…”

She had never liked the girl. Out of everyone, Kimberly had to be the one person in the Chapel that made Gabi’s life the hardest, and yet right then her heart was squeezed by grief. Why? Why did she stand up for her now of all moments? Was that part of the trick? Was this a part of the trick as well, trying to make her feel bad? No, she wasn’t naive enough to really blame the girls for that much.

Anger pushed through her veins, making her blood boil and burn on her hands. She could see the man turning his back on her, once again barking orders to the nuns. Baraqiel was still unconscious, they were probably unable to endure being pulled and swung around like a ragdoll like that.

“Listen to me, you little brats! You will do what I say when I say it, or else there will be more of you laying on the floor right now!” The Demiurge had decided, in his desperation, to simply embrace this sacrifice and exploit it. “I want all of you to go back inside of the Chapel and wait for me, right now! You hear me!?”

Gabrielle’s eyes went from Baraqiel to Kimberly. Could they end up just the same?

“I don’t want a single complaint coming from any of you! We will finish my project right now, so I want you all to be quiet and stay put!”

“Pssst.”

But then, in the middle of the man’s speech, something whispered to Gabrielle’s ear. There was a movement in the corner of her eye. She sneakily turned around, looking back into the shed: the old wooden Mallet demanded her attention. It was enraged, just like her! Indignant by the man’s actions! Thirsty for revenge…

“Let’s teach him a lesson! Quick!”

This had to be the first time that the mallet didn’t intimidate her at all. Her hands practically moved on their own, reaching into the old shed and grasping the handle and squeezing it tight. She looked back at the Demiurge, who continued screaming at the terrified girls. And for the first time in her life, Gabrielle knew for certain what she had to do.

“None of you can stop the march of my progress, for it is the march of Jericho’s salvation!” The man continued to shout, taking a single step toward the girls. Arianna and Alejandra stepped up, trying to shield them from the man’s ire, but they were shaking all the same. “You are nothing but tools for our triumph, you hear me!? Nothing but tools!”

The mallet felt so light, so easy to wield. Its head flew in a single swing, following Gabrielle’s sudden warcry and sinking straight and true into the Demiurge’s side.

“LEAVE THEM ALONE!”

Hell broke loose then. The girls took that as a chance to run and scatter in all directions, while all nuns but Sister Marina followed them. Enrico fell on his knee for a moment, feeling blood rushing to his mouth in a loud cough, while his beloved assistant rushed to his aid.

“How dare you!? You little devil, get away from him!”

Gabrielle didn’t hesitate. The moment the elder nun was within her reach, the mallet swung again and hit her like a baseball, pushing her frail body away with a single slam. Marina could feel the bones on her right arm shake and break, a loud scream escaping her lips as she rolled on the floor.

The girl was growing bolder, panting from exhaustion that she simply couldn’t perceive as her body took a full turn and she tried to give a final coup de grace at the Demiurge’s face.

But then, the man’s huge hand simply caught the mallet’s whole head at once. Gabrielle gasped, seeing how the man squeezed so tightly that the wood cracked and broke under his fingers, splinters flying around and away. She couldn’t react fast enough to that fist, flying straight to her face in that second.

In a single moment the whole world turned upside down, and then darkness consumed her consciousness…