Brother Oblax Claré was never much for laughter and smiling.

As a child, Oblax had known instantly that he was not like the others around him. Before he began his time as a brother of the empty church, Oblax had been one of three siblings. Jexeb and Raush were his older siblings and he had despised their existence. They weren’t broken like he was and that injustice burned in Oblax’s heart, removing any room for other emotion.

They were a mirror to himself, a cracked reflection of what he might have been. Raush’s cheeks were just like Oblax’s, so when he smiled, it shone a light on Oblax putting his facade on and baring his teeth. Oblax had the same eyes as Jexeb, except Jexeb could use his eyes differently. When Oblax plastered his pretend smile on his face, his eyes did not shape like Jexeb’s did, so their parents seemed to just know that Oblax was broken.

However, Oblax had something that no one else seemed to.

At first, the young boy had no words or concepts by which to understand this intrinsic part of himself. It wasn’t until he was taken to the church by his father one day, an attempt to bond with a son who could not form such connections. Instead of patriarchal love, Oblax found something deeper. In that stone room, surrounded by the colour light filtering through the glass, Oblax saw a world he could love.

When his parents said that, no, he would not join the church but instead work the family farm - a pathetic acre or two in the middle of nowhere, Oblax found another, deep part of himself. He lashed out and the world fell apart, torn apart by an overwhelming, as yet unknown, fountain of magic. When he was found by the church in that ruined home, he was not questioned. Of course he wasn’t. At that point, Oblax had worked out exactly what was different about himself and why it made him better than others.

Oblax Claré was the luckiest man in the world.

Now, through that luck, brother Oblax Claré was in heaven.

The surroundings were less than desired and if Oblax himself had been in charge of the decoration there would have been more stained glass than skeletons. However, there could not be any doubt that he was currently in a place of divinity. Oblax had felt the pull of the divine since the first moment he had laid eyes on Shin Boh Tahn. Like a choir of the heavenly host, he could hear a call to follow this man who reached out his large, warm hand to a scared child covered in blood.

Now that patience and hard work was coming to fruition. The pieces were falling into place. Oblax would claim the spear, so that he might stand at the right hand side of his master, so that their divine might could cleanse the land of suffering. He had corralled the monster that Po Khan had become, both before this chaos and now, in the catacombs of the labyrinth.

He had waited patiently while his master toyed with the Guan children below. The sceptre, one of the two holy relics of the church, was grace itself. No wound could be found on Oblax’s body, nor on Steel Fever when the healing energies were directed at him. Shin Boh Tahn was taking pleasure in making the children fight an undying enemy.

More than once, the pope of the empty church healed the Guan children below. This game could go on and on for hours and Oblax knew he would be enraptured by every moment. What divinity he was witnessing from on high with his master! A trial of faith for the children and the monster. Oblax made sure to clamp every moment into his memory so that he might write down this event and deconstruct the meaning behind it.

The large Guan boy was creating armour and protecting the girl. Oblax’s lip twitched as he remembered the way the girl had looked at him. Yurie’s eyes had bore straight through him. They reminded him of his parent’s eyes. With satisfaction, Oblax watched as Guan Po Kahn, or Steel Fever, attacked with explosive force. With dense mana, Steel Fever swung a fist into Hyun Soon’s defence and then ignited the mana.

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Such self-destructive fighting was normally impossible to maintain. However, the creature seemed not to care. It was simply Steel Fever’s own good fortune that the pope had deigned to grace it with combat.

The world was bliss. The demon queen was slinking around somewhere, Shin Boh Tahn had said. Oblax tried to look for any sign of the danger but he knew there would be none. Something would hold her up and stop her from interfering. Such was the confidence that Oblax had in his luck.

A confidence which wavered when the combat below was nearly interrupted.

When Oblax realised who had caused the disturbance, though, he simply smiled. “That, my lord, is Guan Fa Lian. Sister to the wielder of the spear and heir to the lands of Guan, most likely.” She had infiltrated the area and was apparently waiting to attack Steel Fever. “Shall I intercept?”

“I think… no. Stay, the creature can continue.” Oblax knew the look on his master's face. He had felt it on his own. As a child, Oblax had enjoyed finding whatever insects he could and pitting them in mortal combat against each other. This was exactly that, simply on the scale befitting the holiest man on the planet. Once again, Oblax was stunned and filled with adoration that he had found his place in the world.

With wonder in his eyes, Oblax watched the movements and listened to the chant as Shin Boh Tahn worked a new weaving. Oblax watched as the sceptre glowed a pure, white light which focused on Steel Fever below. Fa Lian had attacked while Oblax wasn’t looking but it made no difference. She was powerful but so was her opponent, doubly so with the empowering effects Steel Fever was receiving from above.

It seemed, however, that the explosions were drawing the flies.

Another flea jumped into the fray. Guan Ah Dan. The child who felt like divinity. Oblax had not quite worked out why that was, or why Ah Dan’s ability to heal was equivalent to the sceptre, but seeing him here just made sense. The boy was more connected to this situation than anyone but Oblax knew. He had originally planned to have him heal Guan Yo Shen, who would then gift them the spear.

That hadn’t worked. Oblax had given up on the boy, yet here he was, on the eve of Oblax’s ascension. He looked to Shin Boh Tahn and saw a look of understanding that Oblax cherished. The whip was raised his in the air and fell with grace. Oblax felt a golden mantle fall over his own shoulders and knew without a doubt that he was blessed. He could feel it in the muscles that now sang songs of worship.

“Go forth,” spake the pope of the empty church, “go forth and retrieve the Spear. Go with my blessing.”

So Oblax did just that. He felt the boon giving him strength and with the courage it gave him stepped from the podium. The plummet was faster than Oblax expected and he landed heavily. Yet it was as though the ground itself was a blanket of feathers. He felt nothing. Even as he saw that his leg was twisted underneath him, he felt nothing but rapturous excitement.

It was impossible to stop himself from giggling. He was just so giddy. The grisly background was all but invisible to Oblax as he focused his eyes onto Guan Ah Dan. His leg righted itself without requiring even a thought. Oblax chastised himself for thinking that Ah Dan’s power could compare to one iota of that of Shin Boh Tahn. He would not be so foolish again.

It was right then, as Oblax decided he would never be foolish again, that Ah Dan’s fist connected with his throat. Without the feeling of pain, Oblax was simply left with the result. His windpipe was shattered and blocked, his head was shaking and his lungs were flailing uselessly. However, before panic could set in, the healing mist filled Oblax’s lungs and rejuvenated him.

Oblax lost himself in the numbness. Somewhere in the haze, he thought he could hear himself cackling and laughing, his voice saying that he felt no pain. With frightening ease, Oblax swept the world away with his magic. Two huge claw gouges appeared in the world and Oblax knew the fight would be over.

Except it wasn’t. Impossibly, Guan Ah Dan dodged. He loosed useless attacks, slicing blades of pinkish purple energy which cut Oblax’s skin down to the bone. Unfortunately for Ah Dan, he would need to do far more than that. Oblax wondered whether even losing a leg completely would slow him down, or if he would regrow it and be allowed to press onwards.

He may have taunted Ah Dan but Oblax’s mind was not truly there. He was lost to a euphoria that obliterated conscious thought. He swung his arms through the air, tearing and clawing away at space itself, yet never managing to land a hit on Ah Dan. The frustration of this little dance was beginning to break through the happiness Oblax was experiencing. This only made him even more desperate for Ah Dan to be out of the way.

He was no longer needed. Nothing was needed but for Oblax to break through Ah Dan and his minions and claim the spear. Ah Dan threw nearly lethal attacks at Oblax again and again as the priest waded through them, avoiding none of the incoming assaults because he did not need to avoid them. Oblax did as he was commanded and simply went forth.

Finally, Ah Dan had been pushed back to the great wall of bone that surrounded them in a wide oval. There was no escape now. Oblax gathered energy, pooling the tingling sensation over and over again. A simple swipe of his hand was enough to kill anyone until now, Oblax had never needed to extend himself like this but somehow it also felt good.

With all his might, all the religious fervour he could create and all of the desperation to do what was asked of him by his master, Oblax threw his largest attack. As though the paw of a titanic beast swung through the space, everything Oblax could see before him was obliterated. A huge chunk of the skeletal army had been turned into nothingness and Oblax’s laugh erupted from his throat.

He, of course, didn’t see Ah Dan disappear before his attack had been launched, nor did he see him appear on the podium above.