The group staggered and looked up at the giant crimson-red ball of fire expanding in the sky with flame pillars extending from it and outstretching in various directions. As the crimson inferno sheathed the clouds and sky, a supreme winged figure descended from the firestorm.
After interacting with Nananiel and Naomi, it was hard to think of such celestial beings as just an “it.” The angel moved downward with elegance and emanating great power as the blaze above spread. She had scraggly, dark, champagne-blonde hair and a youthful, feminine, perfectly sculpted face. Beauty so flawless it was unnatural, a delight to look at as it was frightening, as it made one aware of their own inferior facial imperfections and the infinite possibilities of beauty. The angel’s wings were covered in gray-white feathers that projected outwards like spikes. She wore medallion-gold and bone-white body armor that outlined her shapely figure and held a flaming short sword in one hand and a round shield in the other. As the angel eyed them from above with her haunting, dead, all-red eyes, Zeke analyzed her and remembered Violet’s fight with Nananiel. The angel’s name was…
“Irin!” Isaac said and waved. “Good to see you here!” He let go of Ugo and shouted to the others, “Good luck.” He pushed his hands together quickly, and the eyed wheel re-materialized around him; then, two more wheels appeared, each overlapping each other, and opened their eyes around the rim. Isaac levitated in the center of the rotating many-eyed wheels, released a bright white light, and flashed out of existence.
“Did he just leave?” AJ cried.
“Cabron!” Ugo cursed.
Irin stopped at a speaking distance from the group.
“Naomi, what are you doing,” Irin said and snarled. “You know that there is somewhere you need to be, where you belong, and you’re out here playing around with humans, no less. Nananiel is a foolish, incompetent, poor excuse for a leader. Him freeing you was no surprise to me, but I never took you as a complete halfwit, as well. We have explained the danger you pose to humans, as well as everything else in the universe, time and time again.”
“Don’t talk to her like that!” Ugo said, swinging his fist up at Irin.
Irin stopped and stood still in the air, her wings frozen in animation. She stared down Ugo incredulously. “What did you say to me, you blasphemous reprobate?”
“You heard what he said!” Zeke joined in.
Bulging veins sprawled across Irin’s forehead as her red eyes glowed. “Watch your mouth, heathen filth.”
AJ pointed up at Irin. “We’re not going to let you put Naomi back in her cage!”
“Listen, humans,” Irin hissed. “Stop trying to fight for things that you don’t understand. It’s always the same with you lot. You fight amongst yourselves for frivolous reasons, and single instances can incite prolonged wars. You destroyed the beautiful environment surrounding you and greedily bled the planet dry of precious resources, and not even that was enough to unite you.” Pieces of Irin’s face broke off like clay, unveiling a molten surface underneath. “I never liked humans,” she said and growled. “When it comes to your Realm, I have always preferred the animals, such beautiful creatures. I even prefer the insects over the humans, but I don’t let that compromise my duties as an angel, which is protecting humanity. I have been doing it for centuries. That’s what it means to be faithful to a cause and to honor the position you were assigned to. Naomi understands her role, too, and that is why she’ll return to her cage.”
“No, I won’t,” Naomi mumbled as she shrank back.
Irin’s entire cheek broke off, and magma spurted out. She fixed on Naomi with smoldering scorn. “I held you after you were... created… if I knew how much of an insolent miscreant you’d turn out to be, I would’ve strangled you in my arms when I had the chance,” she said. “Do you understand what you are, child? It is your duty to go back to that cage as the abomination! Do I need to remind you of your origin?”
“Naomi isn’t defined by things beyond her control,” Zeke said. “What her parents did has nothing to do with her, okay?”
Irin slowly turned to Zeke. She flashed a crooked smile. “So, she told you,” she said calmly and then looked back at Naomi. “Catielleneth, you really are a disgrace. I had hopes for you. What were you thinking?”
“Naomi is her own person. Her legacy doesn’t matter! What matters is what she does now and for the rest of her life,” Zeke said and looked at Naomi as he continued his rant, seeing a younger version of himself. “That’s what she should be judged for. She shouldn’t do things only to prove that she isn’t like her progenitors, nor should she do things to be like them unless she wants to. What I'm trying to say is that her actions should be based on whatever it is she wants to do. She is whoever she wants to be and can do whatever the hell she wants!” Zeke paused for a moment and shot a glare at Irin’s crumbling face. “So, if she says that she doesn’t want to go… then she doesn’t have to go.”
“Wow,” Irin said. “Interesting. Did you know the Diagnostician has never been the first to die?” The skin around her mouth shattered and sprinkled down. “That’s because they’re usually smarter than the others and don’t make asinine comments like that, especially not before an angel.” She raised her sword. “It’s a shame that you’ll be the one to break that streak.”
The flaming sky spat out giant blobs of fire. “I, Power Chief Irin of the Second Sphere, will extirpate the Sixth Born of the Tainted Generation, Ugo Morata, and the Tenth Born of the Tainted Generation, Ezequias Rosario, as well as their accomplice Avery Dotson, and return Naomi to Maliel!” Irin announced with grandeur. “In the name of Virtue! For Father!”
“Here we go,” Ugo said, pointing his surgical knife toward the sky. He swung it in multiple directions, propelling electric slashes upwards. The grille of incisions met with the giant fireballs and cut through them, shaping them into smaller square wisps. They hit all around the garden, igniting the foliage.
Irin winged down to Ugo and swung her sword.
Blood spluttered out of Ugo’s chest, and in the next instance, he caught a shield to the face and was shot back.
Irin flew after him just as Zeke pulled up his mask and stretched his hand forward, sending threads of arteries and veins her way.
As she disappeared from the kindled clearing, the threads extended through the cinder-speckled trail she left behind.
As soon as the threads caught something, Zeke lost his footing. He was flying through the air, taking painful slaps of vegetation and branches to the face as cinders rained, singeing his skin.
His body touched the grass. He looked up and was in a new clearing, just as beautiful, even with the flames. His eyes caught Irin on her feet, scowling down at him. She glanced at the threads tied around her ankle.
Flames climbed up the blood vessels. Zeke panicked and thought as hard as he could; the vessels snapped off on their own, and he watched them reduce to embers. Before he could catch his breath, Zeke pulled himself back to his feet and stared her down.
Ugo stood on the other side, still with his surgical knife in hand, visible in Zeke’s eyeline. They exchanged looks. The concatenation of events led them to that very moment. Earlier that month, they were just a pair of high school seniors whose biggest worry was if a Black Souls 4 game was ever going to be made.
In just a couple of weeks later, they got stocked up on Mana, put on defense-enhancing apparel, and turned them into warriors ready to face off against an all-powerful battle angel.
After a subtle cue, they charged at Irin from both sides.
The angel attacked both at once. Zeke’s jaw connected with the scalding face of Irin’s shield. As he flew back, he witnessed Ugo flying away in the opposite direction with blood squirting into the air from a new laceration on his chest. They hit the ground simultaneously.
Zeke’s skin made a concerning sizzle. As soon as he got up, a flaming shield was flying at him.
He closed his eyes and ducked with his hands raised. He opened them again and looked up; red and blue threads stretched backward from his palms. He turned back, and the burning shield was wrapped inside a bicolored net of arteries and veins. Red on one side and blue on the other, with a dim mixture of both in the middle.
Angry flames boomed.
Zeke clasped his hands together and swung the netted shield at the charging angel. Irin plummeted to the side but didn’t make a sound. She got up quickly and squinted, not in pain, just pissed off.
The Diagnostician launched the shield at Irin again, and she blasted back. The piece of metal burned away from the capillary net and disappeared into the sky.
Irin’s wings pushed her off the ground. A bloody Ugo jumped high behind her, raising his surgical knife. He slashed nothing but air. Ugo tried again with a heavier swing. Irin dodged with another slick movement. When Irin’s turn came up, she thrust her sword, Ugo rolled out of the way, and the innocent tree behind became ashes. The Surgeon sprung up and cleaved off just a tip of the Power Chief’s wing. It was a hit worth celebrating as it made her squeal with rage, but then she readied another sword attack.
Threads caught her wrist. She looked at the red and blue angrily and then at the Zeke. He pulled with everything he had, sending Irin spinning into the air. Ugo slashed the angel mid-air, and she gyrated toward Zeke, looping the threads around her body.
By the time she made it to Zeke, her body was enwrapped entirely in the red and blue.
With a kick, Zeke sent her spinning back to Ugo. As the threads unraveled from her body, Ugo brought his knife up and was immediately intercepted with a flaming kick to the cheek. He went down.
Irin tossed her sword to her other hand and cut off her bindings. Switching up tactics, Zeke crouched and pushed his hands into the grass. The spider veins spread, and then red and blue entrails exploded out of the ground. They charged at the Power Chief.
Irin discharged a blazing aura, and the entrails became burnt dust.
The adrenaline within the brothers was still pumping as it motivated them to charge at her again and throw their fists, and Irin caught them each in her palms. Irin squeezed, and her face twisted with delight, watching the heathens groan to the pain. She released and grabbed the back of their heads, smashing them against each other.
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Black and red took over Zeke’s vision as he staggered backward. He blinked rapidly as his head rang painfully. When his vision cleared, he saw Ugo blasting right at him.
They collided and dropped.
Zeke pushed Ugo off him, got up, and extended a hand to him. Ugo took the offer and was brought back to his feet. They struggled to maintain balance.
Irin trod toward the blood-soaked brothers. With a look saying, I haven’t even got serious yet. She sped up, her blade burned more intensely, her wings expanded, growing twice their size, and her hair turned a strong crimson red.
“Oh, I’ve been slapped by high school girls way harder than what you hit,” Ugo said, picking quite the time to resort to trash-talk.
Irin’s armored boots ignited. “Stop running your mouth, you—”
Then, half her face combusted.
The explosion made her stagger to her knees and hiss with frustration. “Useless piece of… Those Cherubs! I told them to make the strongest Container possible!”
As the angel rambled and yelled to herself, shooting fireballs everywhere from her body, Ugo neared Zeke. He said, “She’s unstable.”
Zeke caught Ugo smirking. “What’re you thinking?”
Irin, who now just had half a face, arose as lava spilled from the opening. “Die,” she said and ran straight, dropping to a knee slide and sweeping the brothers off their feet with her wings.
The three got up at nearly the same time and turned to face each other. First was Ugo, who rushed Irin down with amateurish swings of his knife, not landing a single hit on her and launching electric slash projectiles in several directions. Irin forced him to stand still by driving her sword into his foot just as Zeke charged at her from behind; she took care of him with a powerful elbow strike to his forehead.
A screaming Ugo reached for the handle of the short sword that fixed his foot into the ground and managed to hold onto it for only a second. His screams aggravated as he pulled his hands back and shook them up and down.
Irin pulled her sword from his bleeding foot and said, “Heathens can’t touch my Eternity.” She went for the neck, and Ugo ducked just in time. Another swing came from Irin, and Ugo swung his electrified knife back. The metals clashed, releasing a small explosion of magical energy — a mix of white, blue, and red that pushed the combatants away from each other.
Zeke charged at Irin again, and she kicked him in the chest without turning back. He curled into a ball and was reduced to the role of a spectator, watching in agony as Ugo had a sword fight with the Power Chief. With every clash, their blades made deep clangs that reverberated across the fiery, green landscape. The electricity that coated Ugo’s seemed to grow after each swing.
Ugo didn’t last long against the angel, but it was boast-worthy, probably much longer than what most living beings could say they lasted. Irin ended the exhibition with a downward slash at his abdomen, and as Ugo fell back, she turned on her heel. Zeke’s eyes popped out, seeing the killing intent in Irin’s glowing red eyes. She hurled her flaming sword at him; he flattened himself on the grass but took a scalding cut up his shoulder anyway.
He inspected the wound. The blade had cut through his Healer’s Garb and shirt underneath, leaving a sizzling gash on his skin. Zeke got up while pressing a palm onto the wound, and Irin extended her hand.
The sharp weapon flew back, slashing Zeke’s side before returning to Irin’s possession. Ugo went for round two, and it turned out to be another short-lived sword fight. After several clashes, she slashed his face, and he dropped.
Ugo immediately started round three by getting up and trying again.
As they fought, Zeke looked down at the sleeves of his Garb and then visualized a thick vein slipping out of each of them. It worked. Now equipped with short whips, Zeke joined his tag partner by slapping Irin in the eye with his new weapon.
She yawped and pulled back.
“Awww,” Ugo exclaimed while making a smug look with his bleeding face. “Did that hurt the big bawd Power Chief?” He pouted at her mockingly.
“There was just more Black Magic energy in that attack than I was ready for,” Irin said, pushing the back of her hand into her twitching eye.
Ugo’s face grew even more smug as he crossed his arms. “Wow, so you aren’t always ready? I’m not gonna lie. That’s a bit concerning to hear, Karin.”
“My name is Irin! How dare you misname—!”
A volcanic eruption blew from the destroyed side of her face, making her fall.
“What? What was that?” Ugo said, turning his ear to her. “Did you say, ‘Erin’? Yeah, that works! You definitely look like an ‘Erin’. Your parents did a good job!”
“I don’t have parents, you moron!” Irin said, getting back up. “I emerged from the—” Bursts of magma fired off from her mouth, and she doubled over to cough out hazes of black smoke.
Zeke glanced at Ugo and picked up on the plan. “Mora, what are you talking about?” he said with a dead serious look. “She’s clearly a Caitlin,” he added and snickered. “I mean, look at her.”
Ugo rubbed his chin. “Hm. I think you're right, Mano. But hear me out… how about Alejandra?”
Another burst of magma broke out. What was left of Irin’s forehead was now gone.
“What do you say to changing your name to Alejandra? I think it suits you!”
Irin flew to Ugo and grabbed his throat. “I’m going to give you another chance to utter your last words.”
Ugo made his best shit-eating grin. “The angels in Celestial Blade are much cooler.”
“I’ve never heard of that Realm…”
“It’s a video game, stupid,” he managed to get out with his crushed throat.
Irin tightened her grip and shouted, “What is a video game?”
Zeke extended his hands and shot out as many veins as he could. They snaked around her ankles, waist, neck, arms, and wings.
But even with the constraints, Irin dropped her sword and was able to rocket into the blazing sky anyway with Ugo in her grip.
Zeke grabbed onto the veins being stretched out of his sleeves and was taken up.
As they ascended higher, Zeke defied what a past version of himself would’ve never attempted. He climbed the tangle of veins to reach Ugo and Irin.
Under the booming winds, he could hear Irin going off as she repeatedly punched Ugo in the face, “Try to run your mouth now, Tainted! Go on! What’re you waiting for? Try! Do it! Do it! Do it!”
With his eyes watering from the heat of the burning canopy above and his bones aching, screaming for a rest, he reached Irin’s boot and pulled his fist back. Red and blue threads entangled his fist, doubling its size.
End this.
Zeke punched the bottom of her boot, and a perfect mix of Irin bellowing and her bones crunching rang out, followed by a small, crimson-red explosion that blew the brothers away.
They nosedived to where they started, crash-landing painfully on the scorched grass.
An uneasy quiet followed, like the apprehensive moments before a nuclear bomb went off, and then a massive thud shook the earth.
Mere seconds after the impact, a charred Irin stood up. Half her face was gone, her forehead was gone, her red hair was singed, and her leg was bent awkwardly, molten rock leaking everywhere, but she seemed to be the type that if her arms were still good to go, then she was good to go. Her burning aura elevated, causing pieces of her armor to melt and peel off.
Zeke and Ugo sat up slowly.
“Fine then!” Her voice was now thunderous and magmatic. “I’ll just kill you like this!”
She bellowed once again with a noticeably terrible agony in her distorted voice. Her ruined body twisted and then released a fiery burst. A wall of lava formed around her.
Zeke felt the bruises under his coat healing, swelling decompressing, bones reconnecting, and the open wounds on his forehead closing, but the effects of the heat worsened. His eyeballs began to burn, and water, and his throat became dry and scratchy. He looked over to Ugo, whose mangled face was slowly healing, and noticed sweat stains forming all over his Healer’s Garb. He scanned the area, and everything was melting. The brothers stood up.
“Seriously, how is that, an angel?” Ugo shouted as he pointed at Irin.
The air became wavy as the lava wall closed over Irin. With the sky completely covered in flames, this was the closest thing they could get to experiencing Hell.
Ugo walked toward the wall of lava. He hissed and jumped back. Parts of his skin and Healer’s Garb were singed. “That’s crazy hot! Talk about Area of Damage. I can’t get near it.” He turned to Zeke. “Any ideas?”
Zeke looked away from the inferno and wiped the pool of sweat from his forehead. “We can’t fight that…” He crossed his arms and looked down to think. He could feel his temples scorching as he thought. He dropped his arms in frustration, felt a bump, halting, and then started patting his pants. Zeke stopped again and reached into the right pocket of his patterned pants.
He pulled out a piece of brain-like stone from his pocket. He stared in disbelief that the Communicator Lobe remained in his pocket throughout everything. An idea dinged in his head. Ugo noticed.
“What is it?” Ugo asked.
“I’ve got a really bad idea,” Zeke said.
Ugo glanced at the lava wall and shrugged, flecking sweat all around. “Qué será, será Mano,” he said. “Even if it ends up killing us. Anything beats being burned to death. Just do it.”
Zeke lowered his mask and raised the Communicator Lobe to his cracking, dry lips. He concentrated on the perfect image of Violet he had in his mind: Fourteen-year-old Violet clad in a striped shirt, a knit cardigan over it, black jeans, and sneakers, standing in an empty classroom, staring blankly back at him. “Violet...” he said, hoping that she was listening.
The Communicator Lobe glowed.
“Hi, Rulitos,” Violet’s silvery voice rang between his ears.
Zeke gasped for a moment. He shook his head and tried to focus. “I need a favor.”
“If this has something to do with your mother—”
“It doesn’t. Listen…” Zeke braced himself for the unpredictable repercussions this could have on the entirety of the universe. He tightened his grip around the Communicator Lobe. “Naomi is a half-breed. Half-angel. Half-demon.”
There was silence for a moment.
“Something like that can exist...?” Violet said. “Although, that explains so much...”
“Her true name is Catielleneth, and I need you to tell as many people as you can. I don’t know what Realm you’re in right now, but just share it with everyone around you, everyone you know, including the rest of the Tainted Generation, as fast as you can.”
“Oh, I see what you’re trying to do... how devilish of you, Rulitos. You’re showing progress already. I like it.”
“Violet, just do it!”
“I can spread the message far and wide and very fast. I have a spell for that. I’ll get right on it.”
The glow of the Communicator Lobe dimmed. Zeke and Ugo exchanged looks.
“Now what?” Ugo asked.
“We wait?” Zeke said.
The wall of lava erupted. Zeke and Ugo dodged a ball of magma that flew their way. It made a small crater in the ground.
“Shit,” Ugo said, staring at the crater.
“Ugo,” Zeke shouted. “If things don’t go right and we… I just wanted to say that I am sorry. I’ve been living with you for years, and I didn’t know how much pain you were going through. The things I’ve thought about you. The things I said—”
“Oh, shut up, Ezequias!” Ugo barked and flashed a smile. “I don’t care. You’re my best friend and my brother. It’s going to take a lot more than that for me to hold a grudge against you.” He extended a fist toward Zeke.
Zeke looked and made a fist of his own. He smiled and bumped it. “Thanks, Ugo.”
An ethereal scream ascended from somewhere in the garden. Zeke and Ugo lost balance and dropped as it continued. They covered their ears and endured the piercing sound.
The flames in the sky split and extinguished in an instant. A beam of gray flames shot into the sky. The screams multiplied into different voices.
Zeke and Ugo gave each other horrified looks.
“You don’t think…?” Ugo quavered.
A colossal monster grew from the burned foliage afar.