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The Diet Building loomed over Kei’s head as he hugged his knees on the floor.
“You will be required to stay here for the next couple of days.” The being that had saved him, that… angel, seemed to be oblivious to his feelings. “A human falling into Da’at is a breach of security beyond what we had observed in years. Bethel’s main branch needs to be informed of this development.”
Kei didn’t open his mouth. Questions about where he was, what Bethel was, what kind of beings they were… Every single doubt of his was either ignored or given only the bare minimum of an answer that made everything as clear as a foggy day.
He bit his lip so hard that he was afraid blood would start flowing out. A part of him, the one that he had been forced to become to survive, understood that there was no one to blame for whatever had happened to him, that Kei had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, a different part of him, a part that burned and burned and burned within his heart and refused to die regardless of how much he had attempted to snuff it out, felt angry .
Angry at Miyazu for asking him to go after her brother.
Angry at Atsuta for leaving the group to visit a haunted tunnel of death.
Angry at the angels for leaving him in the dark.
Angry at whatever god had decided to trap him wherever he was for weaving such a fate for him.
Angry at himself for not choosing to stay with the group.
Why did he have to go to Tokyo in the first place? Why did he ask for that scholarship in the first place? If only he had just lowered his head, if only he had just stayed with his parents…
If only, if only, if only.
Kei forcefully closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe in, just like he had practiced so many different times. After a few seconds seeing nothing but darkness and feeling nothing but his left index finger repeatedly tapping his knee, Kei stood up.
He slowly walked through the ruined halls of the building, trying to look for anything within the rooms he was allowed in. His eyes gazed upon destroyed pillars that he remembered from the tours he had had with the rest of Jouin, he looked at the broken statues of creatures he had never known and whose mere existence made him shudder.
He contemplated the statues of the four angels.
An unexpected warmth sparked within his stomach at their faces, at their mix of gentleness and firmness and determination. Within his head, he could imagine the figures inside the giants of stone, how they would somehow break the chains of cobblestone and emerge victorious into existence; within his heart, he could imagine how they looked, how their skins would bring pinks and greens and blues into the world, how they would brandish blades and elements to smite any foes that got into their way; within his soul , he could imagine himself fighting by their side against demons of death and famine.
For a second, his gray eyes spotted motes of light falling from their figures, blues and greens and violets and reds raining down the main hall of the National Diet Building like warm rain during a Winter day.
“What are you looking at, human?” The mysterious angels’ hypnotic trance was broken by one of the beings that inhabited the Diet Building, this one a warrior clad in bright red armor with dark wings and skin.
Kei licked his lips. A rebellious part of him whispered that he should lie to the angel, that he should give them a taste of their medicine and keep his cards close to the chest. However… What would be the point? They definitely had something to gain from keeping the information imbalance, but how could the fact that he had seen the statues sparkle help him in isolation?
“I just thought these four statues were sparkling for a moment. That’s all.”
The emotionless stare from the angel remained focused on Kei for more than the boy was comfortable with.
“Indeed, that’s none of your concern.”
And with those words, the angel left and Kei was, once again, left alone in that strange familiar room.
Explosion after explosion, scream after scream and sounds of battle had invaded the Diet Building.
Kei’s heart was throbbing and his whole body was trembling. Everything had begun less than half an hour before, when a woman had simply gone inside the building.
He remembered looking at her strangely and how she had raised an eyebrow at him. Kei’s first thoughts had been that she seemed… human. She lacked the wings that characterized most of the angels, she lacked any weapons or armor… For a moment, Kei had dared to hope that she was one of Bethel’s representatives, that someone had finally come to take him to safety, that that nightmare was finally over.
And then he noticed her eyes, slit pupils looking at him with interest, not unlike a predator.
And then the angels came.
“Halt! Take no further step if you wish to live!”
She laughed, a melodious and pretty sound that made Kei want to puke.
“Is that how the angels of Bethel choose to welcome a guest?”
Without a warning, three angels flew towards her, spears of light firmly within their hands and ready to pierce her body. However, even in the face of danger, the mysterious woman merely shook her head with a mocking smile.
A gust of wind threw Kei back. His body groaned as it hit the stone wall and he had to grit his teeth at the pain. He raised his head to see what had happened and he immediately paled.
The angels, heavenly warriors who had both protected him from the demonic forces of chaos and acted as prison guards for him, had been cut in half. In the haze of panic that made up his mind, Kei thought that the red blood leaving the angels’ body didn’t seem to be dripping on the floor, but rather floating upwards.
Immediately, more and more angels entered the room and began attacking the women. As Kei began to run, his eyes met what he now understood to be a demon. His blood ran cold when he realized her gaze had not left him since she had entered the room.
As the battle raged on, he suddenly heard the demon’s laughter and paled. If after all that had happened, if after all the angels that had gone after her, she was still laughing , then she was definitely not losing.
She was winning.
His feet began thinking on their own and he began to run through the building, away from the fighting. He couldn’t stay there, he had to hide.
He had to hide, he had to hide, he had to hide.
Or else, she would kill him. She would kill him just like she had killed the angels.
The halls were empty, Kei realized. Every single angel in there had left their posts to fight the danger. The previously angel-shaped red-tape areas were no more and he was now in a part of the building he had never visited before. New statues, representations of monsters of legend that seemed to have come to life from fantasy stories and mythology, burst through the ceilings, floors and walls, as if to devour him.
He didn’t know how much time he had spent running, but he eventually reached a new room. It was unlike anything he had ever seen in the real Diet Building. That seems to be the norm here , Kei bitterly thought. The only thing in that room was a strange cylinder with blue characters in a language he couldn’t understand. He looked around and his heart stopped when he realized that there was nothing else inside the room.
“No… Oh, no, no, no, no,” Kei repeatedly aloud, each word louder than the last. “I need to get out of here, I need to find a way out!”
His eyes rapidly moved from one place to another and his mind began to race through what he remembered of the building, trying to find any escape plan. I could break a window, but I would still need to get off the building and the fall would kill me . He had begun picking his nails and some skin was coming off.
“Who is there? Only select personnel are allowed to use the Amala drum.” Kei froze. He turned back and noticed that the strange cylinder was glowing blue. The voice was coming from there! “Any intruder will be pu-!”
“Help!” Kei yelled, interrupting the stern voice, a woman’s voice. “An angel brought me here a few days ago and then a demon came in here and she’s killing everyone. I ran here looking for an exit, but I’m trapped and I don’t know where to go, please save me!”
A silence invaded the room and Kei thought for a moment that he had imagined everything, that the woman’s voice had been a mercy his brain had conjured to give him hope in his last moments and that he was really alone in there.
Then, the Amala drum began to spin.
Kei had to step back and cover his eyes. The drum sped up and the faster it went, the more sparks and noise it began making. For a moment, Kei thought it was going to blow up and that he was going to perish there, but, suddenly, every spark seemed to fuse together to form a blue figure of lightning.
The moment he laid his eyes on her, his lungs stopped working.
Gold.
That was the first thing he thought.
White and dark wings sprouted around a golden warrior who seemed to glow with every step she took towards him. Her green eyes, narrow and suspiciously looking at him, were a bright green that seemed to promise nature’s judgment on anyone who opposed her; her golden sword was sharp, sharper than the spears the other angels wielded, but, for some reason, Kei didn’t feel afraid of its edge.
“Get me to the intruder,” she commanded. With a small nod, Kei straightened up and began walking towards the main hall.
The next couple of weeks resulted in the most headache-inducing mix of confusion, jaw-dropping revelations, anger and fear.
The woman, who Kei later learned was the archangel Abdiel , was able to drive off the demon, Nuwa, after a fierce battle. Abdiel’s shining attacks were blinding and there were moments when Kei feared that he would lose his sight forever if he stared too much at the heavenly flames. However, after a few minutes, Abdiel’s partner, a man named Yakumo, arrived and both of them disappeared, not without Nuwa showing both of them a knowing smile that infuriated Abdiel and left him more confused than anything else.
Then a girl who he later learned was called Yoko Hiromine arrived with an Ichiro Dazai with blue hair . It took a few seconds for Kei to realize who he was looking at and, once he did, his eyes widened like saucers. Abdiel’s reaction, though…
Kei still shuddered at her anger, at the way air began to shimmer around her hands and at the way she gripped her sword with enough strength to crush his neck. Her words were sharp daggers that threatened Dazai’s life, accusing him of becoming a Nahobino, of breaking the divine condemnation and of forsaking the will of the Lord.
Yoko had tensed at her words and was immediately on guard and while Dazai’s facial expression was unmoved, Kei was able to recognize panic in those golden eyes. However, Atsuta decided to arrive at that very moment, identified himself as a member of Bethel’s Japanese branch and was able to calm Abdiel down enough to let Dazai be for the moment.
Moments later, they reached the drum and, together, left that hellish Tokyo. However, even once they returned to their old Tokyo, it seemed like the universe itself decided to shackle Kei away from the normality he had fought so hard to obtain in that city.
Demons, Da’at, the end of the world, forces of law and chaos, war, destruction, fusions, gods .
When Tao Isonokami entered the room, Kei didn’t know if he should have laughed or cried. Had everyone seemingly known about the battle against the forces of evil except for him?
Well, definitely not Itsukishima , Kei thought. It was a horrible way to think about the topic, but the conversation he had shared with Tao on the rooftop of the dorms had been… a relief for him. After everything he had been through, after seeing blood and seeing death for the first time, after meeting angels from legend, after being the target of demons lusting for his very soul, after all that… He could still meet with a friend and talk to her about normal topics for people their age, about her worries and fears, about bullying and how it affected another classmate. Then, in a way that seemed to be becoming a pattern in his life, the universe chose to laugh at him again; Hiromine happened to be on the rooftop too and talked about how Tao would only be able to help Sahori Itsukishima if she was willing to kill her bullies .
Victims of bullying didn’t just forget what happened to them as time passed. Kei hadn’t forgotten those days before coming to Tokyo, the insults about his hair, the mocking jabs at his “girly looks”, the laughter about how nerdy he was, the “friendly” slaps on the back accompanied by snorts about how quiet he was… Kei still remembered their names, he still remembered their words and he still remembered the shame, fear and anger within. But to kill them… The mere thought put him on edge.
Doing his best to put that matter aside, Kei walked absent-mindedly towards Jouin as he fiddled with the phone they had given him. Demon Summoning Programme , he corrected himself. The agents of Bethel had tested him to see his potential to join the organization and he had apparently passed with flying colors. Abdiel herself had stayed to oversee the tests and, after glaring at him for a few seconds too long, had granted him in the end permission to command some of her low-ranking angels.
Kei bit his lip. He knew that it was a reckless idea to join Bethel, but deep inside, he felt that this was better. Had he not, after all, not spent all his days in the Diet Building wishing to be in the know? The revelations that accompanied his comeback to Tokyo had been head-wrecking, but he preferred that to going back to his normal life after everything that happened and acting as if everything had been a nightmare.
Not as if they’d let you do that , the cold part of him interrupted. Seeing how Abdiel had glared at him and the way the scientists had studied his every movement during the tests, he was inclined to agree.
Suddenly Kei stumbled as a man clashed into him. The student frowned and was about to say something, but as soon as he raised his head, he froze.
Blood was everywhere.
On the floor, on the electronic billboards, on the glass windows. On dismembered legs, on crushed chests, on headless necks.
As if the goblet of hell was still lacking in death, the demon floating in the center of the station raised her hand. It was a rapid movement, almost exhilarated, that spilled the blood of every innocent still left around her without an effort.
The demons’ eyes, one of them a hypnotic blue that seemed as peaceful as the calmest of waters and the other as red as the color she had dyed the floors of the station, reached him. A beautiful smile graced her lips and she gestured towards him.
Kei’s hand flew towards his bag and, in an instant, an angel appeared in front of him to parry the gigantic claw of a quadrupedal beast. For a moment, Kei feared that the angel’s defense was going to falter, but the servant of heaven was able to push the demon back in the end.
“My, I wasn’t expecting one of Bethel’s lost pups to find me here.” She laughed and Kei stayed, groping for one of the multiple elemental gems the Bethel scientists had gifted him.
“Never forget that each demon has different weaknesses and strengths. While these gems will be your most precious source of protection if you happen to lose your summons in battle, do not forget that they can also spell your doom if you use them unwisely.”
I do not recognize these two from the database , Kei thought, his throat dry and his inner cheek strained from how much he was biting it. How could he make use of these gems if he feared his death every time he used one of them? Still, maybe…
“Angel, can you use a light spell on them?” Without a word, the demon focused on its spear. It illuminated the whole station, almost like a lightbulb in a dark room. He threw it towards the demonic woman, who narrowed her eyes playfully at them as she raised her hand once again. A dark miasma manifested in the air in front of her and, as much as the spear struggled to pass through her dark shield, it was eventually reduced to nothingness.
“Well, it seems like you wish to put up a fight.” She fixed Kei with her stare, a mix of curiosity and amusement dancing in her mismatched eyes. “Very well, then. Let’s see how the God of Law’s marionettes dance without their puppeteer.”
The next minutes were probably the most intense in Kei’s life.
Throw a gem, command angel, jump, throw yourself aside, throw a gem, summon a new angel, command them to use a spell, hide behind a pillar, bleed, ask for a heal, summon another angel, ask them to attack the female demon’s rabid beast, bleed, bleed, bleed , ask the angel to heal him, summon another angel, summon another angel, jump back, throw a gem, run back, run forward, bleed, hide, hide, hide .
That woman’s laughter was sweet and amused, as if someone had told her a funny story. Her beast tensed, ready to launch itself at Kei and tear his body apart.
The boy closed his eyes and he heard the beast throw itself at him.
And then, he heard the clash.
Blade against claw, archangel Abdiel stood in front of him, gritting her teeth and nailing her feet to the ground as she stopped the demon’s relentless charge. With a roar, she spinned and used her momentum to launch the beast into the air. Without the beast weighing her down, she flew towards it, fast as lightning, and struck it down with a single blow.
“I will not allow you to take one step further, demon,” Abdiel hissed . The female demon, meanwhile, had abandoned all playfulness that she had exhibited while fighting Kei.
“Archangel Abdiel… We weren’t expecting one of Bethel’s strongest so soon. Why…” She stopped. Clarity suddenly seemed to appear in her gaze and her lips slowly curled up to form a sly smirk as she looked at both of them. “Ah, I see…”
Abdiel immediately began flying, closing the distance between her and the demon in less than a second. However, before her blade met the demon’s skin, a monochromatic spike fell from the air, piercing her right wing. Abdiel flinched, but was able to jump back just before the mire that had manifested in the demon’s hands met her face.
“I was wondering what was taking so long, Naamah.” A hat, black and gold fell from the red-colored sky. Suddenly, a woman blinked into existence, letting the hat gently slot itself onto her silvery locks. “And here I find you facing a single human and Bethel’s archangel.”
“I may not be Eisheth, but playing with food is always entertaining.” A delicate frown appeared on her face. “The archangel was a surprise, however.”
“Nevertheless, we are being asked to retreat. Our job at the school is finished.”
Naamah sighed and, after waving her right hand at both Abdiel and Kei, vanished into the sudden darkness of the void. The new demon, Agrat, did a small curtsey and also disappeared into nothingness.
Kei was breathing heavily, clutching his bleeding arm. His head was swimming with thoughts about the battle, about how he had bled and how he had made the demons bleed, and he felt like he was drowning within himself. However, the instant his eyes fell on Abdiel, he suddenly began moving towards her.
“Archangel Abdiel!”
Her wing looked bad. The normally black and white feathers had been dyed a bright crimson that seemed to be invading all of her wing without hesitation. Kei didn’t know much about birds, and he definitely knew far less about angels, but he doubted she would be able to fly like that. Almost instinctively, his fingertips brushed her feathers, at which she forcibly shoved him aside.
“Do not touch me.” Her command was low, but firm. Even with how much blood she was losing, her expression showed life and fire and defiance. Defiance against what? Kei wondered. “I must go to organize the forces of Bethel. We cannot let this attack go unpunished.”
She turned her back on him and her wings started to flutter, but, before she was able to leave Kei alone in that death-filled station, the boy managed to open his mouth. “Wait!”
She didn’t answer, but she also didn’t take flight, so Kei took that as a chance to continue speaking, “I still have a lifestone with me. Please, take it with you.”
Silence filled the station. For a moment, Kei thought that she was going to refuse, but, wordlessly, Abdiel had rotated her body to look at him. Filled with determination, he took the stone out of his bag and placed it on the archangel’s hands.
“I will now be leaving. What you do now is up to you.” Abdiel showed him a stiff nod and began to prepare herself for flight. However, almost as quiet as silence, Kei struggled to hear her next words. “...You have my thanks.”
Without a single other being in that station, human, demon or angel, Kei breathed in and out.
That demon, Agrat… She said that they were doing something at a school. Could it be…?
A dark feeling creeped within his stomach and Kei could only start running.
“PUSH!” Abdiel’s roar had been the battle horn that began the battle against the forces of chaos in Shinagawa.
Kei wasn’t sure how much time he had spent fighting there. Had it only been a few seconds? A few minutes, maybe? Or perhaps even hours?
His throat felt dry as a fire gem burned another demon to ashes. Dry blood was all over him and he feared that it could get in his eyes and blind him, but he had not even a moment to rest: desperately groping for the Demon Summoning Programme, he summoned a Power to strike down a Thunderbird.
Adrenaline was running high. Allies and foes were blending together in a mix of colors as flames and gusts and dark was thrown from side to side of the destroyed streets of Tokyo.
A werewolf jumped at him.
“Weak to force,” he muttered, remembering Bethel’s database, cutting his face to pieces with a force gem.
Twin orange stars stared down at him from the sky, their single eyes glowing with power.
“Providence, exorcize them.”
Three female demons closed in on him, their silver eyes the shine of lightning.
“The cold should do.” He didn’t know why he was whispering. Perhaps it was to trick himself into thinking that he was doing or maybe he just wanted to hear someone’s voice before the end, even if it was his own.
Still, even after demon after demon tried to prey upon his soul, he persevered and, eventually, he heard Abdiel’s voice rise above everyone else’s.
“We have liberated this area! The forces of chaos are no more!”
Kei’s roars joined everyone else’s as heaven and earth celebrated their victory over the darkness.
“You did quite well on the battlefield.” Kei raised his head, his eyes widening at Abdiel walking towards him. Her golden face was stained red from the blood of her enemies, but she didn’t seem to put any importance in that fact.
“I… Thank you, archangel Abdiel.” She nodded her head. She didn’t wish to say anything else to him, it seemed, as her feet began to move away from him. “Wait! Do you know anything about Tao and the others?”
When he reached Jouin High School, Kei vomited on the floor. The blood of students had painted the blue halls of the school red and each hallway was littered with ice and stained black by flames. He had searched the whole school, looking for anyone still alive. Half an hour later, the only thing he discovered was half-decomposed corpses leaking Magatsuhi and demons feasting upon the remains of people Kei had once known.
The only clue as to how to proceed, the only thing that gave him a purpose and a reason to not lie down on the floor and give up, was a message from Dazai to his phone. Kei had read it more times that he could recall and he didn’t need to pull out his phone to remember it.
Demons took Atsuta’s sister and Itsukishima. We are going ahead.
After that, it was easy enough to contact the angels, tell them that he was with Bethel and wished to join the fight at Da’at. Minutes later, he was one of the many summoners from Bethel ready to battle against the demons.
Abdiel’s eyes didn’t meet his own. That would have normally been worrying, but she hadn’t looked him in the eye once since their first meeting, so that wasn’t too concerning.
“The Saint, Hiromine and the… Nahobino.” The vitriol with which she mouthed that last word made Kei shudder, but Abdiel ignored his reaction and simply continued. “The three of them have been sighted near the Fairy Village of the area. They were hoping to find survivors to the attack, but there were none.”
Kei would weep, but his eyes had run out of tears hours ago. He simply nodded and, after a few seconds of silence, asked Abdiel, “if it’s okay to ask, why do you hate Dazai so much? What’s so bad about becoming a Nahobino?”
Everything seemed to freeze around them at that moment. Shinagawa disappeared and the only thing that remained were the two of them, a timeless archangel and an eighteen-year-old human in a red landscape of coldness.
His fingers were shivering at Abdiel’s glacial glare. And yet, even aware of the archangel’s cold fury, he was still able to raise his shaking head and looked directly into the archangel’s eyes. He still remembered how he felt at the Diet Building: he wanted answers and he would ask questions, even if he was afraid.
Abdiel’s green eyes widened slightly when they met his and the air became a little more bearable for Kei. After an excruciating eternity, she sighed.
“The Lord sits the Throne of Creation, watching from his kingdom above as time’s hands move forward and His world changes.” Her tone was flat and robotic. “Nevertheless, He was not the first to rule over this world.”
Kei blinked. That’s new.
“Countless gods sought the Throne, waging war for its powers over the molding of existence for no reason other than selfish lust for power.” Abdiel’s words were coated in anger and contempt. “Thus, in an attempt to cease all this senseless fighting and create a truly lawful world, the Lord ascended the Throne and stripped each and every god of their Knowledge.”
“Knowledge… Is that related to the fruit of knowledge? The one from Genesis?”
Abdiel’s lips twitched, as if his knowledge of her faith was a pleasant surprise.
“Indeed. He sealed away the gods’ Knowledge inside the Garden of Eden, reducing them to mere demons. It would have been successful… Had it not been for humanity.”
“We ate the fruit of knowledge,” Kei muttered. His eyes suddenly widened. “Is that why Dazai was able to fuse with Aogami? He had his knowledge?”
The archangel stayed quiet for a second too long. Her face was motionless and her lips remained closed. Still, something told Kei that she was feeling apprehensive.
“It should have been impossible,” she finally admitted. “After the humans ate the fruit of knowledge, the Lord slammed the heavenly maze and declared the Condemnation, a divine decree by which no mortal would be able to fuse with a demon. For a Nahobino to exist… It’s nothing less than an abomination.”
An ugly, twisted feeling crawled within Kei’s stomach, but he still managed to blurt out, “are you afraid? That something happened to Him?”
Once again, silence echoed around their wall-less resting place in Shinagawa. Abdiel’s lips parted and, for a second, Kei thought that she was going to admit to her fears. However, she ultimately turned her back on him once again.
“That’s none of your concern.” Still, she didn’t walk away from him. “The fight for Shinagawa is not over, so I advise that you rest as much as possible before we continue marching. Come to me before the fighting resumes, I will bestow upon you more ang-”
“Master Abdiel!”
A voice interrupted her and both Kei and Abdiel turned to look at the source of that voice. The archangel was ready to reprimand whoever had spoken, but she froze just like Kei did.
Tao
The girl didn’t seem injured, but her eyes were closed and she was breathing heavily. Abdiel didn’t waste a second and moved towards the angel that had Tao in his arms.
“Answer me, what happened to the Saint?”
“She suddenly appeared from thin air in the middle of our camp. There were many witnesses, but none can say how she arrived there.”
Abdiel pursed her lips and began asking more questions to the angel, but Kei listened to none of them. The only thing he could hear at that moment was his own ears beeping.
The last thing he remembered of Tao was their conversation on the rooftop, of her earnest wish to help a dear friend, of her determination to do as much as she could to protect someone she cared about. After that, he didn’t see her when he got to Jouin and he knew that she had gone ahead with Dazai and the others.
She didn’t have any wounds, she wasn’t bleeding and she didn’t have any bruises. However, her skin was pale , white as a ghost, and she was breathing as if something had wrenched all the oxygen out of her body at once.
What had happened to her? Who or what did that?
And what about Dazai? What about Itsukishima, Hiromine and the others?
Tao’s eyelids slowly began to open and Kei was immediately by her side.
“Tao! Are you okay?”
From the corner of his eye, Kei noticed that Abdiel was also kneeling beside Tao.
“...Kei? What are-?” Her eyes suddenly widened. Tao’s lip quivered and, with it, her whole body began trembling. “Sahori! Miyazu, Dazai, I…” It seemed as if no words could come out of her mouth, so she just frantically shook her head time and time again. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no !”
“Saint, be calm, you are in Bethel territory. Tell me what has transpired and we wi-”
“We need to run!” Tao got up and looked at them, her blue eyes wide and full of fear. “We need to run, right now, or we are all going to die! ”
Kei opened his mouth, a question forming in his tongue, when a sudden explosion deafened him and threw him to the ground.
For a moment, he felt nothing, heard nothing, saw nothing. He just knew that his body was being carried away by the blast, as if he was nothing more than a lone leaf during a storm. It was only Abdiel’s strong grip that prevented him from falling onto the blood ocean.
Then, Kei felt her .
Then, Kei saw her .
In the horizon, taller than any building that he had ever seen, a gigantic figure rose above the clouds. She was dark, with four heads and many tails that waved from behind her. Each head’s eyes shone red with raw magical power that exceeded anything Kei had ever known.
Pure energy began to manifest itself in the mouths of her three lower heads and Abdiel, breaking the hypnotic allure of such a being of pure destruction, yelled for the whole camp to hear.
“EVERYONE, RETREAT!”
Tao’s chambers were empty.
Kei hadn’t spoken to Tao much before… Before everything, but he knew that she was someone who had many hobbies, someone who loved speaking to others and learning about their interests. She was the type of person who actually genuinely wanted to know how another person’s day had been and who enjoyed hearing others talk about their pastimes.
And yet, there she was, sitting on a bed in the middle of an empty room, wearing a pure white dress while her eyes looked dark, like death was the only thing she was able to see.
“I’m sorry.” The words spilled out of Kei’s mouth before he had a chance to think. Slowly, Tao raised her head to look at him. His heart broke at how the normally cheerful girl’s dead gaze. “I should have been there. If I had been there, maybe…”
“If you had been there, you’d have died like we all did.” Tao’s words were sharp, like a knife.
Silence fell upon the room once again.
“I was so hopeful, the day of the attack.” She began. “After talking to you, I felt motivated, ready to help Sahori, ready to be there for my friend… And then the demons attacked.” Her voice was slow and haunted. “I remember running, looking around the school with Dazai and… And her for any survivors, but Dazai was still inexperienced as a Nahobino and I was too weak to be useful. Everywhere we looked, there were only corpses and when we finally found Sahori…”
A pathetic laughter escaped her lips as Tao clutched her head.
“She was standing over the corpses of two of her bullies. I tried talking to her, but she didn’t listen. She got inside Lahmu and both of them vanished into Da’at. We tried to follow after them, also looking for any survivors and for Miyazu, who had been kidnapped by one of the Qadištu.” Qadištu? Kei frowned, but didn’t interrupt Tao. “Everyone we found was already dead, everyone we tried to help had already been maimed beyond what I could heal… In the end, we found Lahmu, but Sahori… She was too far gone, only Lahmu remained.”
Kei sat next to her and held her trembling hand. He didn’t know if that would help, considering that the two of them were basically strangers, but she still offered him a weak smile.
“Thanks,” she whispered. “I thought that was the worst that could happen, but then, Yoko, she…” She was trembling, although Kei didn’t know if it was from fear or anger. “She waited until Lahmu and Dazai tired themselves out and then trapped us, betrayed us . She took us all to the Qadištu, even Miyazu .”
Kei paled.
“Miyazu?”
“One of the Qadištu held her in her arms in front of her brother before slitting her throat.” Kei put one hand in front of his mouth, his heart pounding loudly. “After that, they killed Yuzuru and sacrificed Dazai and Lahmu. Apparently, they had been aiming to get more Magatsuhi, but the sacrifice of two Nahobinos was more than enough for their goal.” Tao closed her eyes. “Then, as their goddess, Tiamat, awakened, I died.”
Kei gave a stiff nod. He was aware of that last part. Abdiel had sought to ensure that every last member of Bethel was aware of that bit.
“In the void of nothingness, a voice spoke to me. It told me that my job wasn’t done and that, to avoid ruin, I had to find someone who can save this world and guide them.” She chuckled. “They didn’t even ask me if I wanted to have that task. How could I do something like that when I have failed every time I tried to do anything?”
“Tao…” Kei struggled to find the right words. “You are still alive. That’s-”
“And the only thing I am now is Bethel’s propaganda machine,” she interrupted, looking at him with narrowed eyes. “I failed Sahori, I failed Miyazu, I failed Dazai, I failed every single student who was kidnapped… And now they only want me for what I heard in death. For me to smile, look pretty and repeat those words so that they can claim they were their God’s to boost morale.”
Kei opened his mouth. However, his mind was blank and no words came out. Silence echoed through the room.
“Leave me alone, Kei,” he strained his ear to hear her broken whispers. “Please.”
After a few seconds trying to think of any last words, anything that would be able to comfort the last person he remembered from those peaceful days before the apocalypse fell upon them, Kei closed his eyes and wordlessly stood up. With one last look at Tao, he left her chambers.
“I hope your visit to the Saint was satisfactory.” Kei clenched his fist at Abdiel’s voice. The archangel was waiting for him, four Thrones surrounding her. She commanded them, “do not leave the Saint’s door for a second. Amemura, come with me.”
Kei stood there, not moving a single inch. Abdiel seemed to get the message. Looking aside for a few seconds, she finally sighed.
“Please, Amemura. There are things we have to talk about.”
The boy sighed. A few minutes later, both of them stood on top of a building. Before Kei’s very eyes, Tokyo itself was fading. The once advanced and prosperous city was being buried alive, its seed rooting to give birth to a tree of decadence.
Beneath the dark night sky, starless and moonless, Kei began to speak, “Tao didn’t hear the God of Law, did she?”
“No, she did not,” Abdiel admitted with surprising ease. “I personally interrogated her about every last aspect of her vision and the voice she described did not belong to the Heavenly Father.”
“Then what is the point of all of this? Why…?”
“Bethel needs every last bit of motivation if we wish to best Tiamat, especially now that she has joined with the rest of the forces of chaos in Chiyoda. Furthermore…” Abdiel sighed. “The Saint feels purposeless after all her failures in Shinagawa. It is dangerous to let that sensation foster within. Therefore, I thought it best to assign her this role.”
“Naturally, the fact that it happens to benefit Bethel is just a happy coincidence,” Kei responded sarcastically.
“Hold your tongue.” Abdiel’s green eyes pierced him.
“Tao is someone who genuinely loves people. She loves lifting them up and giving them hope, but how can she get better if she cannot see how she’s helping anyone? How can she get better when she’s only allowed to leave her rooms to give the same speech to a different branch of Bethel every day?”
“Better an unhappy Saint than a dead one. The last couple of days, we’ve had to slain countless demons sent to assassinate her. I will not allow any unnecessary risks.”
“Is this what your God would have wanted!?” Kei finally exploded. All the fear and frustration and anger blew up as he got close to the golden archangel and began yelling at her face. “Would He have wanted you to use an eighteen-year-old girl as if she was only your tool!? Would He have wanted his own troops to fake a message from Him after His death from a crying girl!?”
The point of Abdiel’s blade was suddenly at his neck. His white t-shirt, a gift from Bethel, became red as more and more blood flowed down his collar.
“I will not repeat myself again, Amemura.” Her eyes were burning with anger.” Hold. Your. Tongue.”
“Who do you think you are fooling!? I’ve heard the whispers from the other branches. Some do believe Tao’s message, but a lot of them have seen through your propaganda. They whisper and giggle about how Tiamat was summoned, about how two Nahobino’s were sighted before she came to be. They say that the Condemnation is over, that the God of Law is dead and that they can finally ascend the Throne.”
Without hesitation, Abdiel pushed him onto the ground. Her sword was nailed a few inches away from his ear and her hand was clutching his chest with so much strength that Kei felt that she would be able to rip out his heart if she just pulled.
“I am going to give you one last chance, Amemura. You have proven yourself as an incredibly gifted demon summoner, perhaps the best Bethel has to offer. It is because of this that I will forgive your blasphemy if you take back your words,” she whispered.
“Just… Why!? Why do you go all this far for a dead God?” Kei’s chest began to hurt and he felt most of the air leave his lungs, but he wouldn’t stop, couldn’t stop. “Why are you so against someone else ascending the Throne, against the Nahobinos? What is it about this broken world that makes you so resilient to its change?”
Under the moonless sky, Kei couldn’t see Abdiel’s face. He strained his eyes as much as he could, but he remained blind. His only companions were the darkness and the choking feeling of Abdiel’s hand.
“I was born a servant of God, eons before your soul flickered into the well of time,” Abdiel spoke slowly, as if remembering an old memory, long since forgotten. “From the beginning, I was a warrior, eager to prove myself in His name and showcase my prowess as His servant. They were peaceful and prosperous times; never was there a criminal unpunished, corruption was immediately found and war was never long.”
Abdiel’s hand left Kei’s chest and he heard how the archangel began walking around the rooftop of Bethel HQ.
“Then, Lucifer came to me.” Abdiel chuckled, though no humor could be found in her voice. “He spoke sweet truths and even sweeter lies. He talked about how God had made us perfect, carriers of free will and yet subject to His every whim, he talked about carrying out a rebellion to break our chains and gain the freedom we deserved. For a moment, I hesitated, I imagined myself as the ruler of a new world, as the one in command of everything, with no one else on top of me, with unlimited power and opportunities. Then, I remembered that peace; I remembered the laughter of mortals as we shared ripe fruit from apple trees, the cries of joy as we descended to put an end to conflicts in His name, the nods He showed us when he approved of how we carried out His justice… And so, I flew back through blizzards and storms and hurricanes to get back to His world, to tell Him of the Morning Star’s treason.”
It was as if Kei wasn’t there. Abdiel continued her story, dedicating the words not to him, but to the starless horizon, dark and gloomy.
“The forces of heaven organized and we waged war against the would-be usurper. It was bloody, the bloodiest conflict His world had ever seen. However much I wanted to weep, I persevered. When faced with the Red Dragon, the adversary, I struck him down, taking one of his many fangs for myself, which He forged into my blade.” Kei’s eyes widened. Her sword was made of Satan’s fang ? “Then, with that very sword, I dealt a heavy blow to Lucifer’s chest, making him groan and cry as the Lord sent his crippled body to hell.”
“But he came back,” Kei muttered.
“Indeed, but that came later.” Abdiel sighed. “At some point, the humans were tricked by a serpent to eat the fruit of knowledge, although I am unaware of whether that was one of Lucifer’s tricks, Satan reborn or another one of their underlings. Seeing the danger that meant for peace, He decided upon the Condemnation and left mortals alone on Earth, completely isolated from demons and angels to avoid temptation.”
“Considering how many demons we have accounts of, I’m not sure that was very successful.”
“It was. You need only to compare your race’s puny tales to what has transpired these past few weeks to see the truth.” At that, Kei had no answer. “You ask me why I fight for this world? Because I remember His peace and wish to preserve it. You ask me why I detest Nahobinos? Because they signify that His measures to stop the rise of selfish gods have failed and war is on the horizon. You ask me why I am against someone else ascending the Throne? Because I know that their world may not be as kind and that unrestrained Nahobinos will only beget more conflict.”
The clouds were beginning to fade. The light of the moon illuminated both of the beings on that rooftop, human and archangel. Kei stood up and looked at Abdiel’s eyes, her green wells of fire burning silently.
“You speak of peace, but humanity has faced countless wars in its history.”
“Their existence was derived from your Knowledge, for humans who inherit a god’s will shall also inherit their lust for power and dominion. That was your fate the moment your people tasted the forbidden fruit.”
“Still, you could have stopped the massacres, you could have ended the killings.”
“Not without stripping you of your free will and controlling your every movement. Considering the reaction the heaven’s have observed of humans living under so-called dictatorships, He thought it unwise.”
Kei stayed quiet.
“Miyazu… One of my classmates at school, she…” Kei closed his eyes, attempting to get the mental image of her fate out of his mind before continuing. “She was ill, always had been. Even with modern technology, she missed day after day of school because of her sickness. While I was never told what her illness was and we didn’t talk much, she talked as if she was happy to wake up alive every day. Why is it that God couldn’t just heal her and every single ill person?”
Abdiel sighed.
“Before humans left the Garden of Eden, plague and sickness was a tool of resource control, to avoid the risk of Earth’s resources running out. Once humans touched earthly soil and drank its water, they were already mortal. Thus, they would also perish like every other animal.”
“And he did nothing about it?”
“There was nothing to do if he didn’t wish to upset the balance on Earth and, therefore, be forced to change the system beyond imagination,” Abdiel growled, slowly growing angry at his constant questioning. “He still allowed you to make advancements, He still rejoiced at your wit, He still smiled when you found solutions to the world’s nature. What more is there to ask for?”
Kei opened his mouth, but he realized that he had slowly run out of questions. For the first time since he had entered Da’at, he had let go of his restraints, asked angry question after angry question and had actually received answers .
The clouds had completely disappeared from the night sky and the stars rained down beams of light upon them, illuminating Abdiel’s determined face. At that moment, when he saw her firm features, the way she looked at him with no hesitation, with no doubts, Kei felt his soul burn.
“Master Abdiel, there is an emergency!” A Throne floated up from outside the building and closed in on the archangel. “The Saint is gone!”
“What?!” She snapped as Kei’s eyes widened.
“The Japanese branch sneaked into the building and kidnapped her. All our forces are ready to take pursuit!”
Abdiel opened her mouth, ready to give the order. However, she seemed to have an idea and, after pondering for a few seconds, asked him, “Amemura, what are your thoughts?”
Kei blinked. He wasn’t expecting to be asked, but maybe…
“I don’t think we have the time for them. Our first priority is stopping Tiamat, we can worry about them later. Also… If it really was the Japanese branch that kidnapped her, I don’t think they mean to put her in any danger.”
Abdiel stayed quiet for a few seconds before nodding. She looked at Throne and, with a simple wave of her hand, it left the rooftop.
“Come, Amemura. We need to prepare to strike down a goddess.”
With a slight tilt of his head, Kei joined Abdiel. Together, they went down into the building.
Sutr was down, Ishtar had been defeated and even Arioch had eventually folded. However, the remaining forces of Bethel seemed to be unable to strike down Tiamat and the so-called goddess of creation that controlled her.
“How can this be… You were sealed away, you were imprisoned within Shakan.” Abdiel gasped, attempting but failing to get back on her feet.
“After Tiamat’s reawakening, that was our first target.” The goddess looked down upon them, the wounded archangel and the lone human that accompanied her. “Unfortunately, you were too busy chasing after fake prophecies of hope and too focused on Chiyoda to notice our movements in Shinjuku.”
Abdiel’s fist trembled. She punched the ground, which cracked at her strength.
“Damn it all… DAMN IT ALL!”
“I pity you, a weapon groomed by oppressors to strike down those who would grant her freedom. However…” The pupil-less eyes of the goddess shifted to look at Kei. “I mostly feel sorry for him, a mortal dragged into a fight that should have never been his by powers that only wished to squeeze him dry.”
“And who…!” Kei’s knees screamed at him, but the boy still managed to get up and look furiously at the goddess. “Who leads the forces of chaos!? The very same forces that attacked my home and took everything I held dear?”
“I do and I would do it again if required,” she admitted without hesitation. “The system which dictates the turning of the world is flawed beyond repair, only a tool by which oppressors crack their whips. Only by completely erasing the board and starting anew can true freedom and peace come to be, even if it means that existing souls need to be sacrificed.”
Kei groaned. His body yelled at him to give up, to lay on the floor and rest until the end came. However, his mouth still kept moving.
“You keep talking about oppression, about sacrificing whoever needs to be sacrificed, but what right do you have to sacrifice us?” He was trembling and Abdiel’s eyes widened at him.
His body was crumbling, feeling the strain of battle after battle, the mental and physical stress from every single tragedy crushing his shoulders and everything beneath them. Still, Kei’s anger had yet to flicker out.
He had always been angry, he realized. Every mocking chuckle from his bullies, his parents’ constant disappointment that had made him flee his hometown, the way people loved to hide everything and anything from him with no answers in sight… It had infuriated him, it had his chest burning and burning and burning without an end.
Kei had always fought against that feeling. He had always been told that violence wasn’t the answer, so he had simply chosen to remain quiet, a statue in a museum, a passing entertainment that a person might look at for a few minutes before going to check out something else.
And yet, even if Da’at had been a curse, even if it had caused him so much pain… He had also let go of his hesitations for the sake of survival: he had asked questions and received answers ; he had being driven by anger to fight and yell, and he had survived . It had been liberating, Kei realized, screaming his heart out, getting answers and fighting side by side with the angels. Even when he had been so afraid of death, he had never felt so alive.
And that goddess in front of him wanted to take it all away.
She wanted to take away the world that had given him that burning feeling.
“What right do you have to sacrifice the ill, who fight against their own bodies everyday to keep looking at their loved ones’?” He thought of Miyazu, a kind girl who had always struggled because of her sickness, but who had shown him nothing but kindness.
The goddess kept quiet.
“What right do you have to sacrifice the injured, the people that have fallen to their knees, the people who have been hurt, but who continue living in spite of all that?” He thought of Tao, who had survived the impossible; he thought of Dazai, who had done his best even when everyone had looked down on him.
Abdiel was stunned as he continued walking forward.
“What right do you have to sacrifice the angry, people who want to scream at the world for what happened to them, but who still raise their heads to go forward?” Kei thought of himself.
The demolished halls of the demon king’s castle echoed a deafening silence. In the end, however, the goddess could only sigh.
“Your words ring true. It is true that many still continue to push forward in spite of the state of the word. But still…” She tilted her head slightly. “Your words show that you understand that this world continues to allow for the suffering of so many innocents. The persistence of this status quo will only beckon an eternal vortex of suffering… At least, as long as this system remains unbroken. It truly is a shame that you are unable to see our vision.” She stayed quiet for a few seconds, as if mourning what was about to happen. “Tiamat, if you will.”
The primordial being began charging one of her rays of destruction. Kei tried to grope for a fire gem, but quickly fell onto the ground, his own body giving up on him. Wordlessly, however, Abdiel moved in front of him.
Both of their eyes met and Kei understood every emotion in those green eyes: regret, sadness, determination, understanding.
Trust.
At that moment, time seemed to slow. As Abdiel faced Tiamat’s attack, Kei’s soul began to flare and reach out. The more Tiamat’s ray approached, the more the flame was stoked until it became a burning inferno in Kei’s chest, reaching out towards everything and anything .
In front of him, Abdiel’s eyes turned into saucers. Her whole being screamed at her, feeling the fire fuel her own until each of their heats started to dance around one another, a macabre duet of white and golden blazes.
Then, two became one.
Then, half became one.
After Tiamat’s attack faded, only one figure remained underneath the smoke.
“To think your hypocrisy would reach this point…” The goddess of creation muttered.
Once the smoke vanished, a winged being slowly walked towards the two goddesses.
They felt fractured, a glass cracked under pressure that could never be repaired.
They felt whole, a stained glass of infinite colors that shone eternally and whose light reached infinity.
They felt filthy, they felt perfect .
As Tiamat bared her fangs at them, the Nahobino readied their blade, as they knew the answer that laid at the end of that battle.
After all, a primordial dragon like Tiamat was nothing compared to a sword forged from the Red Dragon’s fang.
“I have no words to speak to you.”
“Odin, Zeus and many other gods have found their Knowledge and have become Nahobinos. They are heading for the Empyrean.”
Silence.
“The goddess that attacked the Diet Building, Nuwa, has also been sighted heading for the Throne alongside her partner. They have already battled and killed many other gods. There are already thousands of innocent casualties.”
Silence.
“We have no intel on what the Japanese branch is doing with Tao. However, Hayataro has been sighted scouting Taito and multiple battalions of Tengu are mobilizing towards the Temple of Eternity.”
“You are trying to tempt me into action, but it will not work, Amemura.” For the first time since their battle against Tiamat, Abdiel raised her head to meet him.
She was thin, dehydrated. Her normally passionate eyes were dull as she seemed to glare through him. Kei, however, wouldn’t bulge.
“You were right. These gods want nothing more than to sit the Throne of Creation. They do not care about how many humans die or about how many they have to kill to achieve their goal.”
“I will not bulge,” she replied curtly.
“My world is falling. I cannot just stay here and do nothing.”
“Then travel to Taito and fight against the many usurpers that long for my father’s Throne.” She broke eye contact and clenched her fist. “Although I question how much you will be able to do.
“There is something that we can do, Abdiel.”
At his words, the archangel rose up and grabbed him by the shirt, lifting him up with a murderous glint in her eye.
“Do not dare to suggest I forsake my vows to my father."
“Your father’s world, my world, is falling apart as we speak. If we do nothing, His legacy will be nothing more than a stain on the Throne where other gods spit every time they use its powers for their every whim. However, there is something we can do.” Their eyes met and everything around them seemed to disappear. “We can take the Throne for ourselves, win the war against the other worlds and return this world back to what he envisioned.”
Abdiel’s lips remained close, but she had let go of his collar. Her eyes were sharp daggers that threatened to slit his throat, but she still stayed still, letting him continue.
“If we want the other gods off the Throne, if we want to stop their never-ending battles for the powers over creation, we need to ascend the Throne. After we do that, we can continue what He started and make sure His world lives on. It’s the only way.”
Abdiel’s face cracked, but her shaking hand slowly moved forward to meet his. As their fingers touched and Abdiel’s skin became gray, Kei felt his soul burn.
Blood reached their knees, but the Nahobino kept ascending the stairs towards the Throne of Creation silently.
How many gods had they slain? How many Nahobinos had sneered at them, proclaiming them hypocrites and fools, before they had been cut down by their shimmering blade?
They didn’t know, they didn’t care. They still had a job to do.
At the top of the stairs, on the scenario at the world’s edge, only two figures remained.
The part of the Nahobino that had once been Kei Amemura recognized that face: Tao Isonokami. The Saint’s once kind smile was hidden beneath a violet metallic mask, but her face showed nothing but broken trust.
“Kei and… Abdiel?” She looked perplexed for an instant, but they paid no attention.
“Get out of the way. This throne belongs only to those who carry His will.”
Tao narrowed her eyes, brandishing her scythe at them.
“Yet you wish to rule over creation yourselves? How is that anything other than hypocrisy on your part?”
“It is under His rule that mortals have enjoyed prosperous lives, it is under His care that humanity was finally free from the schemes and constant fighting of the divine. We cannot allow anyone to threaten that order.”
“Prosperous-?” She was stunned for a moment, but her features quickly grew enraged. “What about Sahori, who was bullied until her breaking point!? What about Miyazu, who grew sicker by the day and would have never reached her thirties!? Tsukuyomi agrees with me: we need a new world, one in which everyone’s wishes can be granted, one in which everyone can live happily together, be they demon, human or god.”
“That kind of world is doomed to fail. The moment gods and demons are granted the slightest privilege, they will rise in arms and the crows will feast on the mountains of corpses their countless wars will cause.” They shook their head and readied their sword.
No more words needed to be said.
The girl destined to be the guide of the Nahobino to the Throne longed for the Throne herself for everyone who had ever known suffering. And so, together with the god Tsukuyomi, her will became unbreakable.
The boy destined to be the ruler of the world longed to return the world to what the God of Law had built for His and every mortal’s sake. And so, together with the archangel Abdiel, his will became unbreakable.
Thus, a tale as old as time came to its final chapter as the two Nahobinos clashed. With their only witness being creation itself, the Throne silently observed the battle that would decide its fate.