(Part Two)
Michele looked to his wings as he reached back to touch it. It really was real, and he could feel his hand grip it. But right now he had a job to do. He looked to some of the others who stared at him as he barked his orders, "I'm confused too but right now let's get back to defending!"
The group nodded as some stumbled their words in agreement before they started shooting at the group again. Michele took a hold of his rifle as he huffed and took aim. But just as he was about shoot, he stopped as he watched the linear patterns on his arm be covered in a glowing light. The light blue colour traversed down the path of lines down his arms as eventually it reached his rifle which was suddenly glowing, "My lord..."
Michele then looked up. And with a focused look, he fired a bullet. What came was a bullet encased in light that left a laser-like trail as it pierced one, two, three— an entire row of goblins as the bullet hole was much bigger than it should be. And with a little more excited look, Michele started to fire into the horde.
Nosgorath meanwhile was on high alert. As he observed Michele from afar, he could see the same magical-enhanced projectiles as that of the Ravernal Empire. This was way too dangerous. With a growl of annoyance, Nosgorath clenched his fist as the ground shook. An earthquake resonated through the lands as there was something coming out of the ground. Four towering rock monsters, as tall as five-storey buildings.
At this point the horde was now starting to be pushed back. The infantry and tanks below were starting to inch forward as they managed to tear through the horde especially with Michele's new ability. But then they stopped as they saw the monsters up ahead. Michele and his group decided to focus on the army ahead as the tanks then aimed at the rock giants. Despite them staggering, the rock monsters continued on.
Nosgorath floated behind the beasts as he crossed his arms. The explosion of the cannons were mighty but aside from some debris the monsters continued in. He was now readying his energy some more. But then he could hear a distant sound. Nosgorath furrowed his eyebrows as he looked up and watched as sudden grey wyvern-like machines flew by. And very quickly.
Gai and Moah stopped firing their arrows as the two watched the astonishing speed of the metal wyverns. And then suddenly as the wyverns quickly flew forward, light arrows were fired into the rock giants as debris of stone and pebble hailed onto the demons below.
Nosgorath went wide eyed. He couldn't say anything else further. He watched his monsters be decimated as the jets were circling around. "No no NO!" With a ball of energy, he launched some sort of explosion as the fire turned into a phoenix. It screeched out into the heavens as it started to fly towards the walls.
Michele looked up as he could see that their bullets were worthless. With narrowed eyes, the man then aimed his own rifle and started to fire at the phoenix. And just like that, the flaming beast screeched in pain as it fell to the ground before it dissipated into mere smoke.
Nosgorath clenched his fists. "You mere worthless roaches..." With a deep growl, the Demon Lord positioned himself into a ball as he descended into the ground to protect himself.
Tommaso eyed this and went wide eyed. Another flash of memories hit him. The same recharge Timutheus saw that lead to the deaths of so much of their men. The stage where they barely defeated Nosgorath on Rodenius. And with a voice of shaky determination, Tommaso barked his orders. "Dante, bring us forward!!"
"Huh? But we got orders—"
"JUST DO IT!" Tommaso yelled as he looked back at Dante. The blond man went wide eyed at the expression his best friend gave. He's never seen something like it from the normally quiet man. And with that, Dante brought his helicopter forward away from the line closer to Nosgorath.
Just as Nosgorath was about to finish his power up, he looked up to see one of the flying iron insects approach. And with no mercy from Tommaso, the gunner fired everything he could. Machine gun fire, missiles, it tore into Nosgorath as his body was being turned into a mess of holes and gore. Nosgorath fell to the ground and even so Tommaso didn't stop. Splatters of blood were being mixed into little dust clouds of dirt and snow as the Demon Lord was torn to shreds.
Dante watched this. This was enough, surely! The Demon Lord below was just bits and pieces at that point. So with that Dante called out, "Tommaso he's down!"
And yet Tommaso kept on shooting, a look of bloodthirsty vengeance on his face. Even some of the mindless demons couldn't believe what they were seeing. "Tommaso, stop!" And still he kept going. "TOMMASO!!"
At that point Tommaso stopped as the gunner panted a bit. He looked down to the shred up Demon Lord on the ground as there was nothing left than his visors. Tommaso shakily lets go of the controls while Dante behind him spoke. "Dude... you good?"
The demons looked back and saw that their lord was dead. And in fear, they started to retreat back to Grameus. Even the Topans and Italians behind couldn't believe what just happened. Moah, especially. "Oh my gods... The Demon Lord is dead!"
But just as they were gonna celebrate, the visors started to float. Dante quickly retreated the helicopter back away from the floating eyewear as everyone could suddenly hear voices in their heads.
'You may proclaim your victory, mere mortals... But no matter who you may fight along, whether it is with the War God Emissaries or every Elysian on the world, the return of the Ravernal Empire is inevitable. And to the War God Emissaries... you ought to watch your back.'
And quickly as it floated, the visors crumbled into the wind. And what was supposed to be a moment of celebration turned into tense uneasiness.
...
As the helicopters headed back into Tormeus, Dante looked forward to Tommaso who sat quiet in his seat. With a steady hand, he managed to land safely in their little base as once the rotors stopped, Tommaso was already on his way out. Dante furrowed his eyebrows as he quickly unbuckled and got out as well before he spoke, "Tommaso, man! What was that back there?"
"The guy's dead isn't he? I just did what we should do." Tommaso said simply as he hopped off while Dante followed.
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"No dude I mean that look you had on your face. You looked... pretty vengeful!" Dante said as he watched Tommaso start to walk away. "Tommaso talk to me man! You can't just keep ignoring me!"
And yet Tommaso just kept walking as he wanted to forget what happened as well. Timutheus controlled him and he knew it.
"Tommaso..."
Still he was ignored.
"Tommaso!"
'Just go away,' Tommaso thought.
"TIMUTHEUS!"
Tommaso froze in his tracks. His blue eyes were now filled with dread, suspicion, and then anger as he looked back at Dante. "You... how do you know him? Did you read my journal? I told you to keep your hands off it!"
"No, Tommaso, I..." Dante then took a deep breath. With that he rummaged in his pocket as he pulled out something. It was a ring. You could have sworn it was new. But the moment Tommaso laid his eyes on it, he realised what it was.
...
"Timutheus. You're the only other person I trust to keep this safe. And I've been getting reckless... I need you to hold this for me. It's my mother's ring."
...
Dante then shakily exhaled as he started to explain. "While you were in the hospital, I was placed on leave too. I wasn't on duty like I said. I wanted to find out what happened to you so... I volunteered to bring the archaeological team to check out the armour we saw. For a while we got lost. But when I separated from the group that's when I could hear voices leading to the armour..."
Dante then approached Tommaso carefully, holding the ring firmly as he spoke further. "When I got there, that mound was open for some reason. Tried touching the sword to see if something happened. Nothing did. But I... found this ring in the satchel. It was like, calling out to me. And when I touched it I... realised now. The truth." He said with a shaky smile now. "Timutheus... I found you."
Tommaso then stared at Dante. And as he observed some sort of little light cover the man's irises, suddenly he felt a lot more awake. And finally he spoke, "Darius... is that really you...?"
Darius couldn't help but chuckle, "I think so, Timutheus... I've been looking everywhere for you."
Timutheus didn't say anything else. As wave after wave of memories came crashing down on him, he realised how who he truly was. Perhaps he was both Tommaso Rosa and Timutheus Atticus Paullus, who hugged tightly Dante Quinto and Darius Horatius Quirinius.
"It only took like... about two thousand years," Darius said with a little chuckle as he kept Timutheus in his arms. "But I guess no matter who or where we are we'll always find each other no matter how long, huh...?"
Timutheus sighed shakily as he simply nodded.
...
11:32 PM, Italian Armed Forces HQ, Tormeus
Giuseppe read over the reports of what just happened. Today on the 21st of December, Nosgorath and his Demon Army arrived to the main wall of the Doors to the World. Thanks to the efforts of the Topans and Italians, they did not even manage to reach the city of Tormeus itself. There were no casualties thanks to the heavy fortifications provided save for some injuries inflicted on some soldiers on the ground. Nosgorath himself was killed along with tens of thousands of demons as the air force was chasing them down as of now into Grameus to ensure a swift and total defeat.
Nosgorath's death was caused by an AW129 unit that defied orders of a defensive stance and instead went to the Demon Lord on its own accord to kill him. He'd ensure that Tommaso and Dante wouldn't get into too much trouble. But what truly interested him was Michele Luca.
Michele sat across Giuseppe as the man still had his wings out and about. The linear patterns on his arm was no longer lit, instead resembling a golden coloured tattoo. The general looked up before he spoke. "Wow uh... who knew we'd have an angel in our midst, huh?"
Michele however looked rather troubled. "I still don't know how this happened... or what I am."
Giuseppe then looked to the side. Ironically, it was Hados's turn now to stare gobsmacked due to Michele as the older elf then regained his composure. "To put it frankly, mister...?"
"Luca."
"Mister Luca. You... are a Light Wing Angel. And I am aware that in your world, angels tend to be protectors or essentially the good guys. But... somehow you turned into a man from the Ravernal Empire," Hados said with a troubled look. "Now this does not mean we see you as an enemy. But this transformation of yours is rather shocking."
Michele sighed, "Yes I know. I don't even know where to begin with turning into... this."
Giuseppe then rubbed his chin. He then looked to Hados as he spoke, "Do you think this could be another case of reincarnation?"
Michele looked up. Reincarnation? If that was true that's such a major thing. Hados looked to a nearby table as he grabbed a thick book, part of the Topan Chronicles. The elf looked through the pages intently as his finger scanned the words and illustrations before he stopped. "Here..." He placed the book onto Giuseppe's desk
Michele and Giuseppe looked at the book. On it were ancient illustrations of the War God Emissaries. They were majorly injured and close to defeat but up above, an angel flew as it looked like it was aiming a spear that shot out a laser-like light that split a beast in half.
With that Hados started to translate the runes, "Unexpected aid came on the continent of Rodenius when the War God Emissaries were nearly defeated. A Light Wing Angel of the Ravernal Empire saw the wrongdoings of his homeland and assisted the ancient Elysians in their quest against Nosgorath."
Michele listened intently as so did Giuseppe. Hados turned the pages near the end. "And as the Emissaries were sent home, the Light Wing Angel had decided to join the humans back in their world to protect them of any threats. And so became that his legend of his protection shall spread..."
Michele looked up and spoke, "What was his name?"
Hados looked to Michele as he scanned back to the previous part. And with careful eyes he said the Angel's name, "Meikal..."
Michele then tensed up as he went wide eyed.
...
"Down with the Demon Lord, down with the remnants of the Ravernal Empire!"
...
"Come with us, Meikal. Even in our empire, there are people who desperately need your help."
...
"Oh blessed God be with His miracle, Saint Michael has saved us, praise be!"
...
"My dear Emperor, we've run out of the medicine you stockpiled... May Asclepius heal your wounds, heed our call to please aid His Imperial Highness, Imperator Marcus Aurelius."
...
Michele suddenly gripped the desk as the sudden rush of memories hit him like a punch to the teeth. He took deep breaths as his wings fluttered in struggle while Giuseppe gripped the man carefully, "Luca, Luca are you alright?" He said before he looked to Hados. "Shit this happened too with Rosa."
Hados pulled out a vial of water as he gently sat Michele back to make him lean against the chair while he spoke, "Here, drink this. The rush of memories can be tough to even the strongest man."
Michele quickly drank down the water as a massive migraine hit him out nowhere. He shut his eyes tightly as he shuddered from the sudden pain. Giuseppe then spoke. "Luca, are you alright? ... maybe it's best for you to head to the clinic."
"N-no I'm fine, I just... memories came rushing by w-when that name was mentioned," Michele said shakily before he took a deep breath.
"What did you remember?"
"I... was Meikal, the... the Ravernal soldier that defected. And then I went to Earth with the Romans and I... was apparently Saint Michael? And then I... remembered dying as Marcus Aurelius," Michele said. "This all sounds ridiculous I know..."
"No, it isn't ridiculous, Luca. Then..." Hados narrowed his eyes before he nodded. "It checks out. Light Wing Angels run on magical energy from their souls to their weapons. For you to be in a magicless world, it seemed to have taken a toll on your body. But now that you're reincarnated and back here in Elysia, you reverted back to your true self."
"... Fuckin' hell that's insane to think about," Michele said as he shakily stood up. "Yeah a-actually you're right sir I... I need some rest."
"No problem. Can you make it to the clinic?"
"I can. Thank you. But... One last thing," He said with a deep breath. "Nosgorath before he died, well, died died anyway... warned us to watch our backs. I'm just... nervous that something might happen suddenly."
"Don't you worry, son. Our forces are on high alert twenty four-seven. Whatever's coming, we will know." Giuseppe said with a nod.
"Alright... if you say so."
...
...
'Heed my call, I have reached my death. Finish your purpose.'