Interlude 2.2: Submerge in lava, O noble blood
[Gabriel’s pov]
The tension in the atmosphere shattered as an eerie beam of light streaked across the hazy sky, leaving behind a macabre trail of rainbow hues. It was evident that the trajectory of the beam was twisted and contorted, a stark indicator that Uriel was not the source. The strange weakening of the artifact spoke volumes of the peril they faced. However, there was no room for contemplation; someone had to venture into the barren field.
"The ripple has weakened; time is of the essence," Andromalius urgently declared. The device had weakened on his end as well. Since I only required one of the poisoners on our side, Shin's enigmatic foreign magic was indispensable to nullify Camael's regeneration. A grim choice, it meant dividing our forces to level the battlefield.
"Lord Andromalius, I beseech you to lend support to the eastern flank. Their plight is direr than ours," I commanded him, my visage a reflection of grim determination. Andromalius, his faith steadfast, departed in haste.
With those words, we plunged into the final chamber guarding the eastern door. The air was heavy with a noxious stench—putrefying flesh, it seemed. Harpies were infamous for their maddening fixation on their loved ones, and these morbid piles of corpses evidently held great sentimental value for Camael.
"How repugnant, it's nauseating to the core," Shin uttered with a low, solemn tone. I reminded myself that this was his baptism into the crucible of full-scale war, not a mere usurpation or one-sided skirmish. In the prevailing circumstances, such abhorrent sights had become harbingers of a grim future.
"So, you've borne witness; this shall be the grim reality of such conflicts. This is why I clung to his vision of a better world," I said, attempting to infuse some semblance of hope into Shin's heart as a seasoned veteran addressing a fledgling warrior. I wished for Shin's thoughts to dwell on the promise of a brighter future rather than the ominous visions that haunted my own.
"By these hands, I shall manifest his resolve. Allow me to stand with you in this battle," Shin affirmed his unwavering ambition, clutching his sword with an unwavering grip.
"And so, you intruders have come to offer your lives," Camael's voice resounded with twisted anticipation amidst the mound of cadavers. Demons and elves lay among them, a cruel testament to her broken promise of sparing those who yielded.
"Do you harbor any parting words before we engage?" Shin began to speak, but Camael's relentless barrage of javelins abruptly silenced him. They descended mercilessly upon us, and only rapid parries with our blades provided scant refuge from this pitiless deluge.
[ venenatum praelium ]
The conquered corpses dissolved within the potent acidic field, amalgamating into a putrid mass, compelling Camael to ascend into the skies, employing her wings to secure a vantage point. Her incendiary javelins were persistently thwarted by our swords. However, the toll on our physical beings was undeniable.
As I rent my arm open, a torrent of blood surged forth, sufficient to activate the catalyst and summon my weapon, 'Spiculum.' Shin had also envenomed his weapons in a desperate bid to contend with the searing inferno, but it appeared to be a futile endeavor.
In the face of an overwhelming disadvantage, I could not help but dread the possibility of Shin perishing before he could fulfill his pivotal role. No matter how irrational or counterintuitive it might seem, I was resolute in ensuring our survival. A single drop of Shin's resolute will and my surging blood served as a meager lifeline—a temporal solution.
Beneath the toxic quagmire of poison, blood welled up, flowing ceaselessly until the corpses vanished entirely. It surged through apertures, serving as the signal for Kryos to unleash his sorcery.
Unendurable heat swept across the floor as the gases ignited upon contact with the looming blaze. My physical vessel suffered the accumulating damage, yet collapsing was not an option. I had to persist, for Shin, despite appearing battered and beleaguered, remained standing. And so, I must as well.
"The moon has succumbed to my blood, and despair shall be your eternal companion," I intoned with a solemn and forbidding tone, signaling the impending termination of this wretched existence.
---
[Andromalius’s POV]
The vexation caused by the cherubim's subpar mimicry grated on my nerves, their numbers multiplying to the point of becoming overwhelming. It wasn't until the third wave that I finally reached the eastern side of this accursed castle.
The absence of sound in the aftermath of the battle led me to believe it had concluded. However, the eerily deserted room told a different story. I had to confirm it myself, and the scene that met my eyes was nothing short of horrifying.
While not a sea of blood, the corpses of Ragnorr and Uriel lay intertwined, their hands clasped in their final moments. Stolas was reduced to naught but a pile of stardust and a tattered cloak. Even the mad heaven dog met a painful demise, its body in a state of decay.
"A bit late to the party, aren't you? Your arrival must mean something," Caim appeared beside me, his feathers withered, petrified by the plague. His eyes burned with crimson, devoid of any shred of mercy. Four wreaths of flowers adorned his wings, a tribute to the fallen.
"Caim... what has transpired here?" I inquired, though it seemed like a futile question, as no response came forth save for a bitter, agonizing scorn.
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"You have eyes, don't you, Andromalius? Cast your gaze upon the epilogue you've missed," Caim replied as he continued arranging the flowers, eventually placing them in a sort of makeshift memorial. The hero had sacrificed himself for the key to victory, the librarian had held the beast at bay, and the heroine had brought an end to the mad dog. All of it was witnessed only by the solitary jester.
"Are you a survivor like me? It seems likely, given your composure," I deduced.
"I am here solely at Gabriel's behest to assist you. It appears the crimson sky arrived too late for you," Caim's apology hung in the air, a long-overdue utterance.
"Too late for me?" Something snapped within Caim upon hearing those seemingly careless words.
"It's never too late for you, Andromalius. Snap out of it; this is the battlefield, not some playground for you and that insignificant liaison," Caim cried out, transforming what remained of his ashen feathers into a deep, pitch-black hue.
Caim's anger, directed at me for my inability to assist in their time of dire need or at the spell conductor, my nephew, was justified. However, the anger directed toward their majesty, who had toiled day and night only to be thwarted and ultimately failed, was unjustifiable. Those small hands had labored tirelessly and deserved recognition.
"That's preposterous. I have faith that their majesties never failed us. This is merely an error in ground support. There will be brighter days ahead," I retorted with a similar tone of indignation.
"And yet I stand here mourning my finest comrade, for it still believed in a crimson sky that never materialized," Tears once again welled up in Caim's eyes, the raven having endured enough loss for one day. Today, I found it in my heart not to continue to rebuke him.
"If I were in your shoes, I would abandon those dreams and return to the western wing. You might yet be in time to witness your son's final moments," Caim warned me one last time before taking charge of the fallen, treating each with care and reverence.
I hurried back, praying not my wings were not too late. Under the merciless, I hope only a shade to shelter those who are precious to me.
---
[Gabriel’s POV]
The searing heat bore down upon me, a relentless force that left me drained, my stamina exhausted but my resolve unwavering. By my side, Shin, mortally wounded, demonstrated the fragility of his magic, which had been depleted by the newly unleashed system devised by Mikhail.
In one final act to prove his competence, Shin blocked Camael's direct attack, a valiant effort that cost him his eyes. My own efforts fared little better as I struggled to keep him alive, fulfilling Lord Andromalius's wishes.
"Stay awake, your battle against fate isn't over. Don't you wish to hear your father's words once more?" I implored Shin to stay conscious, though my words did little to mitigate the merciless rain of Camael's relentless attacks.
In the midst of the final onslaught of javelins, Andromalius returned to our side, shielding us from the deadly assault with his colossal form. In that moment, I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the steadfast presence of someone I could call a brother.
"Lord Andromalius, what of the eastern battlefield?" I inquired, my hope hinging on a more favorable report. Shin remained encased in a water bubble, a fragile vessel for his healing.
"A complete wipeout. There shall be no crimson sky to shelter us. Retreat is not an option... this shall be our resting place, Gabriel," Andromalius spoke, his countenance grave. The twisted arrow signs on my amulet had long foretold that this battlefield would indeed become our grave.
"I am already aware, Lord Andromalius. It is acceptable. I have prevented Shin's condition from worsening," I said, gesturing toward Shin's frail form, his eyes ravaged by the fiery slashes, his wings reduced to smoldering cinders.
At least his physical appearance remained somewhat intact, except for those ravaged eyes—a consolation of sorts for a brother in such a pitiable state as Shin.
"Is that you, Father? I suppose I can at least have you here in my final moments. I beseech you only to bear witness, no matter how pitiful it may be," Shin spoke, summoning a facade of strength, for sentimentality had no place among those marching toward their inevitable end.
"I am here, though regrettably, a tad too late, my valiant warrior. Ascension to the great beyond beckons... it is foolish to seek refuge in this blazing inferno..." Andromalius turned away from the lifeless body that had once been his son, concluding the inevitable by gently closing his wounds with a final venomous drool.
"May I request something unheard of and unimagined, Gabriel?" Andromalius's words pierced through the ongoing barrage of attacks, his towering form still sheltering us from Camael's relentless javelins.
Trapped within the narrow corridor of the western wing, littered with corpses and discarded belongings, I dreaded what Andromalius had to say. I wished I had never heard it at all, especially in these moments when life seemed within reach of a different outcome.
"Take my heart and tear my soul asunder. Let it serve as your weapon to defy the wrathful sun," he beseeched, his words unsettling in their gravity.
"Will there be a cost?" I found myself muttering, becoming more like my brother in the direst of circumstances.
"Be as shrewd as you are then. Your soul shall be tainted by the venom of my existence, and both of us shall meet our demise. That is the cost I request of you, for life shall no longer be as simple as dreams," Andromalius chuckled, the damage from the unending onslaught taking a toll.
"I did not seek an easy end, but a meaningful one. I apologize for the past and for this..." With those words, I plunged my hand into his chest, the blue blood spattering before me as I carefully cradled his departing soul, eclipsed in my grasp.
I consumed it—the bitterness of his poisoned heart. I could feel myself suffused with newfound power, a relentless surge of energy coursing through my veins. Yet, it came with the caveat of a fleeting existence, a brilliant but ephemeral blaze in the vast expanse of time. In these precious, evanescent moments, I knew I had the chance to leave a tide-turning wreck on this battlefield.
Instead of severing, I summoned forth my authority—"The Concept of Strength." With this, I transformed the venomous poison that now pulsed within me into a weapon of unparalleled potency. The once-crimson blood beneath me lost its hue, as the emerald hue of poison began to take shape.
With unyielding resolve, I surged forward into the sea of javelins, an embodiment of vengeance. My sights locked onto Camael's vital points—the graceful curve of her neck, the delicate limbs that had wreaked havoc, and those fiery, maddened red eyes of the harpy.
I would take them all, staining them with the toxic green that flowed within my veins. My wrath, my envy, my pride—all merged into a triumphant requiem for our fallen comrades on this somber battlefield. The once-fiery bird was consumed anew, her rebirth submerged in the deluge of my poisonous tide.
I coated her raging flames until they dwindled into mere ashes, a smoldering testament to her once-formidable power. No trace remained of the harbinger of destruction.
As Camael's anguished cries gradually faded into silence, the relentless sea of blood and poison swallowed her. The faith of a thousand, a million, dissolved before the sacrifice of the few, the valiant three who had defied the very heavens.
The ground beneath us trembled as the rocky terrain began to crumble. My wings, once capable, lay dormant, and the poison had taken its toll on my being as my authority lost its luster. Regret was no longer within me, for I had fulfilled my purpose and avenged the fallen. But...
“Goodbye, Mikhail. I am sorry to leave you all alone like this…I can’t go on.” My last words…upon this world…is with him…after all.
The end