“You lied to me again,” was the first thing he said when Galileo could finally spare enough attention to speak. His hurriedly erected barrier was cracked and nearly shattered despite his best efforts.
“Isn’t that a part of our relationship at this point,” Quinn chuckled, though she appeared strangely relieved.
“So, why did you decide to do this?” Galileo enveloped Quinn in a protective layer. It was not too powerful, but it was more than enough to ward off the radiation he had already began to feel.
“I have made a bet with Wisdom,” Quinn smiled at Galileo, stepping closer and pulling him into her embrace, “This was her Magnum opus. A plan that will bring salvation to humanity. The bet was whether you can survive the catastrophe, and I am glad you did.”
“What was that thing,” Galileo looked around at the obliterated debris burning as far as eye could see in every direction. The power he just witnessed was unbelievable. Had Angelica not delayed the explosion his barrier would not have held.
“We came to call it Dying light,” Quinn took a step back from Galileo, “The strongest weapon that humanity has ever constructed, and one it had hoped to never use.”
“What do we do now?” Galileo asked still marvelling over the immense power released without magic.
“I will honour Wisdom’s dying wish,” Quinn said, “I will make you kill the Archangel if she is even still alive and then become your leash so that you can never hurt humanity again.”
“Sound reasonable,” Galileo laughed and beckoned, “Follow me then, she is not far from here,” they walked among the blazing debris, Galileo clearing the way. Soon enough they arrived deeper into the crater as the mushroom cloud was forming above their heads. Once again it was only Galileo's versatility that allowed to them to even see in the storm of dust.
“Over here,” he said and waved his hand. His power expanded and the dust was pushed away in a large sphere around them, revealing the battered and broken angel in front of him and Quinn. In Galileo’s eyes Angelica now appeared exactly like Quinn if he ignored her gilded blood and dim wings. A testament to how much he had been changed by the woman next to him. Angelica was sitting down, holding a single gilded feather as well as a golden bead. Her body was a terrible mess of countless injuries and mutilations. The fact that she did not have even the power to recover those wounds was proof enough that she was already on the brink of death.
“You did it again,” Angelica said, crying, “You took everything from me again,” she looked at the two items in her hands and put them into her mouth, perhaps as to hide them from Galileo.
“I did nothing,” Galileo smiled at her, “In fact, I had been completely unaware that this was even planned in the first place. But now looking at the situation, that bead was the Godseed’s essence, right? In other words, he is dead. That renders our little contract voided.”
“You are right,” Angelica said as she surprisingly stood up. With a leap she must have put all her power into she disappeared from sight. However, Galileo was prepared for that and forcefully halted her midair, still quite a distance away from Quinn she had originally aimed at. Although Galileo’s reserves also took a hit by defending from the explosion he was nowhere near as bad off as Angelica who took the brunt of it. At that moment he was in absolute control. In a situation where angelica could not even retaliate.
“Do you have any last words?” Quinn asked, staring at Angelica.
“Damn you,” Angelica’s eyes glittered and something changed. Her hand which should have been firmly held by Galileo’s magic moved. Suddenly her wings regained their glow and even extended, growing twice their original size. Her wounds recovered in an instant and her power grew tremendously.
“Apotheosis?!” Galileo was startled as he saw those changes. That should have been impossible. Angels could not reach Godhood, their very nature forbade it. They were merely tools and weapons to be wielded by their divine lords. They were created in the way that they simply lacked even the minimal necessary potential. Yet apotheosis was the only explanation Galileo could find for her sudden increase in power.
As Angelica’s power kept increasing he realise what had happened. The reason why Galileo though that angelica was always hiding her nature was simple: Her gift. Though Angelica always claimed her gift was to receive the gifts and power of willing saints Galileo had uncovered something else when he had studied her. Her gift was not to receive, but to take. To take all she desired and to make that which she pillaged her own. Her gift was that of devouring.
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Since she didn’t have the potential to transcend, she stole that right from the Godseed. That was the only conclusion Galileo could reach and it made even him slightly startled. That was unimaginable and he had no idea it was even possible. Yet that had clearly happened right in front of his eyes.
Realising that he would not be able to suppress Angelica, Galileo attempted to quickly land a killing blow with a spear of his green flames. That was easily deflected by Angelica’s hand. A little known fact about the Gods was the so-called Transcendent frenzy. A state of extreme empowerment that newborn Gods temporarily entered. Since it had already begun Angelica’s power had increased exponentially compared to her past self. Without any further resistance she flew right through Galileo’s restricting magic and obliterated Quinn’s frail form in an instant.
Galileo’s heart ached to see her die, however, he had taken precautions. He had been very conscious of Quinn’s mortality and general weakness, so he had naturally made absolutely sure that he would not lose her. With his power even resurrection was feasible, especially if he had expected it was a possibility and made sure to properly store the information about every fibre of Quinn’s being into his mind. He would be able to bring her back as long he survived the encounter. Although Angelica was far more powerful than him at that moment, Galileo had his regalia and was confident he could at the very least live through it if he stayed on the defensive. Once the Transcendent frenzy was over, Angelica would enter a weakened state, one made especially potent by her near death before the Apotheosis. It would be easy to track and finish her then.
“I am well aware that I still cannot kill you despite all my power,” however, Angelica just stared at him instead of attacking, “So I have decided to do something far worse. To make you suffer the same way I did.”
Galileo was slightly confused at first. Angelica should have realised that he would have taken precautions. Then, for the first time in several millennia, he felt a shiver run down his spine. He delved into his mind and searched what the information he had stored about Quinn with the possibility of her death in mind. And when he found the place where it should have been stored he realised that it was empty.
“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!” Galileo shouted, too stunned to think clearly.
“I had been in your close proximity for 2000 years,” Angelica laughed from the bottom of her heart “constantly enveloped by your power. To the universe we might as well be considered kindred spirits. It was not difficult to offer it one of your memories among the sacrifices of my Apotheosis.”
Galileo numbly stared at Angelica for a few more moments when the stun finally left and was replaced by incredible sorrow and rage. Emotions he had not felt so intensely during his entire long life. He charged at Angelica, abandoning the logic which had always guided him ever since he had learned to walk. Immediately they descended into a flurry of blows and magic among the burning rubble. Both of them fought like complete lunatics, uncaring for their life as they purely focused on the offensive.
As he was being pushed back Galileo’s rage and fury slowly weakened. Instead, they were replaced by much more solemn sorrow and despair. He recalled the days he spent with Quinn, the coffees and talks they had shared as well as the fact that they were gone forever. He recalled her sharp wit and their countless matches of chess and with utmost remorse realised that in the end, he would never be able to defeat her. As he was being pushed back and weakened by the injuries covering all portions of his body Galileo’s green flames dimmed. He stopped resisting, waiting for his coup de grâce. At that moment he was feeling at an absolute loss.
And when that feeling overwhelmed him his flames reignited with vigour seen never before.
His skin and flesh peeled off as the pulse of remnant power pushed Angelica back. Beneath that shed shell appeared Galileo’s new form of a raging inferno. He had become an Avatar of fire. Incarnation of flames. His entire form was now brilliantly green, burning with a glow which surpassed the sun. There was just a single exception: His eyes had become grey and lifeless.
He looked down at Angelica, seeing only a worthless worm. If her power was multiplied by a hundred through apotheosis, than his had increased millions of times. She could no longer even withstand his presence, much less resist him. It was humiliating that such a being even dared exist near his newfound power. That feeling of humiliation then turned to wrath and with it ignited his previous feelings of loss, sorrow and despair. He turned to the very incarnation of fury. Not against that worm at his feet, but against the progenitor of his grudge. In that moment of insanity, he felt unmatchable anger against the entirety of the universe and wished for nothing less but its utter and total destruction as redemption for daring to take what was his.
And when that desire flared in him, his frenzied power followed.
The world perished in the blink of an eye, cities disappearing before their inhabitants could even scream in pain, the crust melted away like butter thrown into molten steel and the fiery core below was devoured just as fast. Despite its nature as a ball of flames, the sun was incinerated in a single flash and so were the remaining planets. But that was not enough. He wanted to destroy more and more. His next target would be the stars. As those destructive thoughts rang, Galileo’s consciousness gradually faded away.