[Ishmael]

It was beautiful.

We tumbled down from the sky, kicking and biting and clawing and each other. Well, I was doing all of that. The angel tried to keep distance, preferring to swing with his lance and keep me at bay with his explosions of light.

His eyes were no longer focused on me; his irises grew big with fixation at the lives that dwelled below.

Below us was the war I escalated and summarily abandoned. There was a stillness in the combat that may not have existed for centuries; their attention focused on our entrance. The masses below grew quickly as we barreled down upon them. I could see their stupid expressions; mouths agape as they watched the apocalypse land on their heads.

And apocalypse I brought.

A gnashing of teeth and claws descended upon all in reach as our bodies collided with the surface. An explosion of pure energy rocked the world, shaking the ground and filling the sky with a blinding light.

Thousands died in the contact. They were vaporized by our combined mana that overwhelmed their bodies and popped them like an overfilled basketball. Blood and viscera created a tidal wave that washed over the world, bringing crimson waters lapping up against the rumbling mountain.

I rose to my feet and wiped my mouth with the blood of the sacrifices that so kindly gave up their lives to bring me back to full. I made a move to slay the nearest demon, but noticed that they were still in rapture.

Mikha'el stood with his arms spread open, as if he were inviting an embrace that the world was unworthy of. Serenity caressed his face as warm eyes glowed to all he could observe and a thin smile curved his lips upwards. Many of his followers dropped to their feet while the rest watched in shock of what had just occurred.

Only one person moved in the moment.

"You will not escape here alive!" Vendetta screeched as she bolted towards the final angel, her body blistering and boiling with a level of jubilation that I had never seen before from the woman. "There will be no Heaven for you!"

It was clear to everyone how foolish that attack was and I would not move to save her from that decision. She would have been better served letting me take care of the rest, but there would be no excuse if the demon of vengeance didn't try anything. Who would she be if she didn't try?

Nothing.

Mikha'el didn't try to avoid the attack. He didn't need to. Instead, his outstretched arms wrapped around Vendetta's body and clenched her tightly to his chest.

Vendetta wriggled around and tried to burn Mikha'el with her fire, but the angel was far beyond such attacks being effective. His eyes drifted down towards Vendetta; they were filled with a deep and profound sadness.

"You've been wronged. I feel it in your heart. You must have felt so lost and miserable."

"Of course I have!" Vendetta raged. Her fires washed over Mikha'el's body and melted several demons that surrounded the pair. "It was you and your ilk that did this to me! Your false tongues! Your hypocrisy! Hell has no room for the faithful! What gives you the right to use the words of the good, the words of God?"

"I am from that place of great good and I did not find God there, just more torture and deception. I have determined that it is my duty to rectify this wrong. I have come to save all of you."

"Lies!" She hissed. "Even if that were true, you consort with the ones that hide behind your symbols and use them for evil! I cannot trust an afterlife created by hands that are dirtied by shaking the hands of those bastards, no matter how clean they were originally. They will only continue to be unrepentant to their wrongs."

"Who said that they were going to be unscathed?" Mikha'el asked with a soothing voice.

Vendetta's body went rigid and her skull-covered face turned to look directly into the angel's.

"What did you say?"

"Who said that members of my cohort will be free from repenting for their actions?" Mikha'el restated. "This place is full of the wicked. Only those that know true anguish towards their misdeeds will be permitted to step forward into my bright future. Otherwise, there is no purpose to my actions. You are all deserving of forgiveness, but not in your current forms."

Vendetta looked in my direction. I didn't know what she wanted from me. There was no way to guarantee if what he said was true. There was no way to determine what level of madness had poisoned his mind or if these words of genuine comfort. Either way, he had said the exact words she had longed to hear. Everyone will be accordingly punished before they can see the light and that being his ally did not spare you from that.

"Would you like to see what that looks like?" Mikha'el asked. "The future that we deserve?"

Exhaustion, the last gasps of an inner fight that had gone on for too long and an external force that was insurmountable. If it was going to be hopeless to overcome, why not indulge in those curiosities? Why deny the lifeline that you always sought?

"I would."

Vendetta's flames extinguished. More than that, Vendetta extinguished entirely. Where the demon once stood, there was only a flash of light.

"You are all welcome to see it," Mikha'el said to the observing demons, his voice booming to seemingly cover the entire world in his voice. "You don't have to struggle; to fight in this perpetual war any longer. Allow yourself to close your eyes and slip away. When you open them again, you will find something better. Even if you have committed unspeakable wrongs. Even if you despise me as an enemy. Even if you do not worship what I worship. I will save you. I will build a better future for all of you. I will save you."

Instantly, a wave of demons disappeared from existence. Not just all the demons that followed Mikha'el, but every type of demon from across the battle. Those that remained looked at each other in shock before several others disappeared as well. I could see a band of light shimmering around Mikha'el. I couldn't see his stats, but I knew that they were skyrocketing.

Instantly, I casted [ICBM] into the nearest group of demons. Their flesh evaporated and their stats flew into my own body.

I couldn't stop there. I had to kill more than Mikha'el got his hands on. I started to rampage into the demons, friend and foe alike. My claws and teeth and fire ripped the life away from any demon misfortunate enough to be in my path at terror.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Gaze upon my final opponent," Mikha'el ordered, pointing at my violence. "This is what you will be if you continue to remain here, fuel to an insatiable beast. He will not stop here. We will break into every realm until there is nothing left to eat. I can feel the souls die endlessly within his intestines, hopeless to ever escape until I slay him."

Several demons disappeared before I could dig my teeth into them. I had to become faster, my attacks had to hit more and more if I wanted to keep up my pace.

"I know that you have committed wrongs that have necessitated your punishment," the divine being continued. "However, you are all still humans, aren't you? Are you really designed to endure so many centuries of pain and violence? Don't you want to slip away into my serenity as this battle reaches its conclusion? I will not raise my weapon. Choose for yourselves."

Swathes of demons disappeared in an instant. I was not surprised by this decision. It told me that we all shared a similar craving towards the void. My idea of the cessation of existence would be a welcome one.

However, I was not winning any popularity contests in the moment. In a battle of words, I would lose. I didn't care if I was made to be the villain. I did not care if I was reviled as I dragged my victims into the open maw of my ravenous ability. I just had to win.

My eyes widened as a demon appeared before me. I nearly dropped to a single knee in respect for him. I could not be so brutish to such a man. Instead, I cast near endless amounts of [ICBM] to take out my opponents at range.

"Did you kill Wrath?" He asked with a booming voice, willing success from my answer.

"I did, Master."

"What did you think?"

I looked at the horned demon with sparkling eyes. I felt like a kid who was about to explain how his football game went to his dad.

"He was glorious. We fought without abilities or stats or magic. We clubbed each other's bodies and made each other bleed mortal blood. It was unlike anything that I felt since I came down here."

"I am so filled with envy that I want to strangle you. Instead, I will give you my life. Use my power to win and see whatever future it is that you want. I will die without regret."

I wished that I could have venerated him more for his sacrifice, but I lacked the time; something I would try to punish Mikha'el for later. With the brutish hands of someone rushed into killing, I delivered a [Bomber] directly into Master's throat. My mouths swallowed him up and sent him to a realm he did not deserve.

Surprisingly, he was not the only one who bared their neck for me. Standing there, in his pristine suit, was Charles.

"I'm only doing this because the alternative is much worse," he said. "You cannot allow him to neuter us, to steal away all that made this place worthwhile."

I did not regard his kill with the same veneration. His body tumbled into my stomach to nourish me further.

Others from my faction allowed themselves to be swallowed up. Allowed was a tricky word there. Herzblatt and many of the Opportunists were receptive to Mikha'el's words. But, the most ardent amongst them would never allow their future to be placed into uncertain hands. I only killed them because Mikha'el refused to do it himself.

Even then, I was still woefully behind. Not only did the entirety of Mikha'el's followers and those that served the Chivalrous Demon willingly allow themselves to be subsumed into the angel's might, most of the other demons chose to walk that same path as well. Only a few stragglers remained, those that were too indecisive to make their own decision. Even the choice of leaving it into someone else's hands were too much for them to bear. It was my privilege to take that decision for them.

Quickly, the battlefield and much of the realm itself was evacuated of life. Mikha'el and I stood alone in the open. I readied my stance to attack him, but he seemed completely disinterested in fighting.

"Is it just me left?"

I ripped my head to the side to see a lone swordswoman walking across the stones towards us. Her body posture was slumped, depressed. Her appetite for life had waned and my stomach contorted with not often felt guilt towards the scene.

"I detect the graces of my cohort, the Chivalrous Demon, upon you," Mikha'el greeted. "Are you here for salvation?"

"If only what I wanted was held within that promise," Yoshitsune answered softly before she turned to look at me. "Go on, do whatever it is you were going to do anyways," she invited. "I have nothing more to say."

I rose my hand to finish the task, but it did not slash down across her neck. I lacked the appetite to kill her again.

"Do what you think is best," I answered. "I will still hold my end of the promise."

She stood silently for a moment. Neither Mikha'el nor I spoke a single word to influence her decision. The world was perfectly silent, a brief reprieve before the end of all things. It was only now that I felt how stagnant the air was, how suffocating it all felt.

"I want to feel peace, even if just for a moment," she said. "I'm so tired."

"Then have your peace," I answered with a smile. "There's nothing left for you to worry about."

With that, she was gone.

"Is it truly peaceful?" I asked my enemy while still staring at the place she once occupied, debating whether or not to use Control's gift to undo everything that Mikha'el had just achieved. "Is the place that all of those people went to what they hoped for?"

"It will be kind, for now," Mikha'el answered. "I want them to know what they can know before I take it away. Only those that have true regret in their heart may bask in that eternal jubilation and those that have felt it once only for it to be taken away will suffer far greater than if I never gave it to them at all. I would not worry about that woman, she has a good soul."

"If all they know is bliss, what happens when the inevitably become numb to it?"

"For someone who becomes immune to bliss, there can only be oblivion for there is nothing left to experience."

"In that, we agree," I said with a nod, allowing him to retain his ability if it meant Yoshitsune could feel that brief peace. "Let's finish this."

"Not so fast," Mikha'el denied, placing his hand up. "We have done an incredible thing, breaking the barrier between the pinnacle and the realm below. We can go further. We can save more people from this endless toil."

Mikhail summoned his cross and smashed into the ground with all of his might. I didn't even need to help as the rocks snapped in half. A crack passed from the impact all the way up the mountain with a thunderous roar before the entire world split in two.

Once again, we were sent spilling towards the realm below. This time, the impact of our fall ripped through the dimension like a bullet through a piece of paper, piercing it and ripping it apart and sending us directly down to the neck one.

I watched the Hell Express go by before we severed the magical connection. The vehicle derailed and plummeted with us. But, our sheer energy in such a low level space dismantled everything instantly, leaving us in a black space with nothing else in it.

"How beautiful," Mikha'el commented. "All of that turmoil, all of that suffering, taken apart piece by piece by the two of us to leave nothing but bedrock. Look at this space, isn't it wonderful? A canvas that can build anything. Even nothing."

"We've talked enough," I said. "It's time to finish things."

"Of course," Mikha'el replied. "However, Grace tells me you were once a soul that tried to be faithful."

"I was," I answered. "Until I saw for myself what hands built this place. You question it as well, the divinity that created this place?"

"I possess no further questions about the divine hands that crafted us," Mikha'el said with a tone of absolute certainty. "Creation is complicated and the metaphysical is even more so. Even if Grace didn't shape my soul, she saved it. No matter what the truth may prove to be, I have made my decision; the decision that will save us all."

"I think we should just skip to the nothingness," I replied. "What's the point of joy when it will be demolished without memory?"

"Then you didn't want her to know a moment of joy because it was meaningless?"

I stood there, my jaw tight. What did true euphoria feel like? Was it like the wonderful kills that fade away? What was it to be washed in it? And, would Yoshitsune thank me if I let her experience it, even if it meant nothing to me?

"Since there is a shred of doubt inside you," he said, pressing his hands together to form a prayer. "I am mandated to do this."

I heard a rumble behind me. From the ground sprouted a massive crucifix made of pure light. It illuminated the empty space, casting light on our desolate battlefield.

My body began to contort. My arms spread out. I tried to resist. I tried to bite them, break them; anything to get myself out of this contorted position. But, it was to no avail. I began to rise up into the air and be attached to this ancient form of execution.

I could feel myself being dragged into a new realm. A sun appeared, blindingly, with gusts of hot air and whipping sands that blasted my body. I was sent to exile in a great desert.

"This will be your opportunity to reflect," Mikha'el said through the sky. "If you still wish to fight, then you will die upon your return. If not, say the word and I will bring you to the light."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.