His grip slipped, and his first instinct was to jump right back into it. However, the angel blocked him immediately. The Lord tried to reach out to her from the depths of his broken mind, but he was pushed away so forcefully that he ended up back in his mindscape. He yelled in rage, gritting his teeth together as the male returned to his human form.
He slumped into the seat, staring out the glass window that displayed various zones of the Underworld. His gaze quickly landed on the End Zone, where he last saw Vienna. His heart raced at the sight of demons emerging from the depths of Hell, clawing their way up through the rocks and bones before sprinting forward. He could almost taste the blood that was about to be spilled.
The angel blood.
Angels emerged from the now-empty space that once held the gates. With the Transition gone, they were now able to start the feeding.
"This is gonna be fun~" He mused.
"It sure is." The sudden voice of the Lord Goddess startled him. He swung his head towards her as she sat on the cushion beside him. Her wings curled behind her horns, and dark violet hair hung over her eyes. "This is gonna be pretty enjoyable. How much do you think will disintegrate?"
"Demons or angels?" He tilted his head to her, making the goddess chuckle.
"Angels."
"Hmm…" The Lord gave a sigh, humming to himself before curling his wings out and speaking. "I will have to say about fifty million or more. How many perished last time?"
"Over eighty-three hundred thousand for sure," the goddess quipped. "I counted the bodies myself!"
The Lord shivered with delight, licking his lips at the faint taste of blood. "More demons, I assume?"
"They kill themselves, that doesn't count." She nudged him, fluffing up her wings.
"A lot more angels were introduced in the past decades. There are what, over a billion new angels?"
"More for sure. I don't bother counting." She shrugged, leaning closer to the glass. "It's starting!"
The Lord turned toward the light, noticing how the demons were drawing closer to the gate—closer to where Vienna sat, crying pitifully. Angels emerged from the shattered gate, but the light was fading, indicating that none of the goddesses had yet revealed themselves. The Warrior Angels appeared, accompanied by a few Cupid archers.
The Lord mused to himself, they were bringing all of them out.
The first goddess that would appear would surely be the Warrior Goddess, along with the Heaven Wolves. He was getting too excited; a part of his plan was actually working out.
Losing control of the angel wasn't the issue, but it was still happening.
Heaven will fall, and all because of one, pitiful, broken angel.
. . .
—
So loud, so dark, I could barely see my own trembling fingers in front of me. My sobs died, just like the soft warmth that Janus had given before she faded away. Right in front of me.. by my hands..
The yelling grew louder, reminiscent of my training days when we were attacked by the enemy. The sounds echoed in front of me: swords being drawn, gruff commands spoken by similar voices. Then came the screeching, so close behind them that it felt as if it had cut right through my heart.
It should have sent a chill down my spine, but it didn't. Instead, it sent more anger.
I was essentially consumed by rage, consumed by the anger that followed me like a plague. It was a Hellbeing, running up behind me with its claws outstretched. Wings flapped along with the commands rising in my ears until I finally understood what had happened.
The Kult, the thing I used to kill Janus. I had it in my hand, moving quickly and swinging it forward. It sank right into the monster's chest, and it let out a soft wheeze, startled by the blade sunk into its chest. I pulled it out, feeling satisfied when it dropped to the ground lifeless.
The screaming grew louder, running up on me, and I accepted it. The Kult felt so heavy now; it felt out of place as I rushed forward with the end pointed forward. A demon came at me, its claws outstretched, which I ducked under to land the end of the blade inside its leg. A scream as I pulled it up and sliced the whole leg open. It dropped, a finishing blow inside its head, before I pulled it out for the next target.
Some got past me; others didn't get that lucky.
When I saw the swinging of blackened claws, the rapid beating of slimy wings coming at me to knock me over. I could let some of them nick me, jumping away from the wing that came out to strike me. I ducked, swinging the Kult around before landing it inside the monster's stomach. A scream, then silence.
I moved around, cupping my wings close together to get around the dead thing that fell over to meet my next target. It swung its claws at me, but I was too fast for any of them to nick me.
Hitting it right inside its head, pushing the Kult down to take it with me as I scrambled to be free. I landed a kick into the hilt that dug the blade even deeper until the monster stopped moving. Another soon replaced it, wrapping its long tail around my arm that held the Kult.
I felt the pressure as it squeezed, trying to make me drop the Kult. I held on tighter, refusing to let it fall and lose my chance. The monster knocked me over, while others ran after it, drawn by the sound of angels battling. I focused on the creature above me as it sunk its claws into my shoulder, and I struggled to stifle a scream.
I wasn't gonna let this happen-
I can't just stay here and take it!
The handle I had on the Kult changed. I flung it at the monster, and to my surprise, the Kult changed. It wasn't a sword anymore, but now a whip of some kind. It wrapped around the demon's neck, and the thing scrambled to rip it off, but I was already wrapped tightly. I squeezed it, severing the thing's head off.
More came, and I was more prepared for it. I gripped the handle of the whip, swinging it forward as it sliced right into three monster chests. I pulled it, taking them with me as I used their weight as a weapon against more coming up on the side. They fell down, I boosted my wings forward to land more hits, switching between the Kult's sword and then back to the whip, taking out demon after demon.
Screaming, and so much blood fell over my body. I could feel the pain pulse through my shoulder, the blood running down into my clothing.
I didn't want to stop. I wanted to keep going.
Another tried to grapple a claw around my neck, but I pushed my feet up to knock it away. It screamed when I ran the blade down its mouth and into its throat as its neck exploded.
More blood.
So much more blood.
The sound of wings ripping came over me. I had finished cutting down another demon when a wing came to my side and sent me flying. I took a quick tumble before finding my feet. A yowl came before the red beast jumped at me.
I rolled away, anchoring the Kult into the ground that was turning darker the farther I went to where the demons were coming from.
The monster kept jumping at me, forcing my hand to raise as it bit into the Kult with its dirty teeth. I could smell the death bearing down on me. I leveled my feet and pushed it off me with a harsh thrust. Moving the sword back, it changed once again as I threw it right into the monster's head. It landed on it, throwing both of them to the ground. I ran to pull it out, noticing how it had changed to a smaller blade that was sharp on all ends.
I switched between all the weapons, throwing them like they were guns before running to pick them back up and entering combat. Cutting away at the monsters, I could feel the stretch in my body, the pain coursing along my skin that was ready to burst.
So I didn't stop, I feared that if I took a break, I could really break.
Claws cut into skin, tails wrapping around my body and crushing bits and pieces together. I muffled out a few screams, lowering onto the ground to evade their claws before landing my own slashes into their chests. Their heads, any part of their body that leaked blood.
I was moving farther away from where most of them gathered, with danger all around me. Claws swiped at me, and tails lunged in my direction. I had to act quickly, using my wings to glide and maneuver through the air without losing my balance. I landed several hits, dodging to avoid teeth gnashing from the left, and leaping away as a claw came crashing down from the right.
So many demons, so much blood.
I kept up the same pace, only taking in the new sound when it was right in front of me. I could feel my body tense, my eyes widened at the sight of a colossal beast running forward. They looked like Heaven Wolves, but only darker; no life was held in their eyes.
They acted like machines, but their bodies were hot and definitely alive.
Beating wings knocked me back, and I sank into the dirt, gritting my teeth as the beast charged at me once again. I tried to jump away, spreading my wings to gain more freedom of movement. But this wolf was larger than the demons I had faced, much stronger. Its massive teeth jutted from its jaw, snapping dangerously close to my face.
I barely dodged its attack, breathing heavily as it prepared to strike once more. I rolled to the side and lifted myself with my wings, positioning myself on top of the creature. It attempted to bite me, and I gripped its fur; the coarse texture almost made me cringe.
It yowled when I dug the Kult into the base of its neck. I felt my grip loosen as it tossed me up into the air. I opened my wings, letting me fall right back into the same spot, but with the Kult pointed down and right into its body.
A deathly scream from the creature, it toppled over, and I struggled to get out from under it. A demon came to take its place, which I had to quickly swipe away from the dangerous claw. I tripped over myself, flaying my wings out and throwing the Kult into the demon's face. I scrambled back up, opening my hand until the weapon was back in my grasp and I could thrust it into another demon's neck.
I heard more gnashing of teeth, yowls from more of the enormous beasts with wings. Then, a few familiar sounds. Through the haze, I spotted the Warrior Angels with their Heaven Wolves, all of them fighting together. They were farther from me, closer to where I had started, as the demons began to build up in size. I got distracted when a yell caught my attention. Arthur was battling another demon far away from me, and Casey helped defend him.
I should be watching my surroundings… A beast snuck up on me.
I could feel a slight breeze on my shoulders, and I quickly kneeled down before teeth came to my side. I pushed the Kult into its head, feeling it rush away before it could sink fully in. I turned around, making my feet into the dirt to take a running start. The big head turned in the direction I was aiming for, biting right into my arm that held the Kult.
I screamed, quickly turning the Kult around to point the blade towards its muzzle and thrusting it in between us. I pulled, forcing the monster to release me. I landed on my chest, trying to pull myself up, when the beast came right back on me. I felt the teeth sink right into my wing, sinking jagged teeth until bones snapped.
I didn't scream this time; I could barely even force myself to release anything. I did try to pull, only to lose my breath when it pulled me back. It swung me around like I was a chew toy, ripping apart the bones that held my wing together. I finally found the strength to thrust the Kult into the ground to stop the beast from swinging me around. It gave the monster leverage to pull my wing right off my body.
It was painful, and so fucking hot.
The Kult in the ground was also uprooted. The wolf tossed me to the other side, and I couldn't stop myself from slamming into the rubble. I skidded along the dirt before finally coming to a stop. The excruciating pain seemed to engulf both my body and mind.
I didn't want to move. I didn't want to do anything but stay lying there and let myself bleed out.
No. I can't just give up like this.
If I can still breathe, then I can still fight.
It hurt to move, but I did anyway. I stifled screams of agony as I tried to lift my body off the ground. I could only get halfway up before the wolf came barreling right back toward me. It pushed me onto my back, digging my one wing into the ground and crushing my weight.
My first instinct is to use my hands and grab the front and bottom of the wolf's muzzle to stop it from ripping my head off next. The Kult had been thrown away from me when I was tossed away.
All I could do was hold, hold back the beast that was too close to my face. It reeked of death, my blood dripping back onto mt face, teeth larger than my fingers. It was coming closer, my strength was giving out, and it was inches away from ripping me in half.
My head dug into the dirt, body trying to wiggle free as my hands began to bleed from the teeth sinking into them. I was crying, tears and blood all over my face.
I didn't want to give up, I couldn't give up just yet!
I was gonna lose, teeth were too close-
Then it was suddenly ripped away. It threw me with it, tumbling around before I landed hard on my side. The distant sound of ripping skin, of loud thunder growls, forced my head up to witness Casper tearing the wolf apart. He pulled the skin from its neck, letting out a threatening growl as he stood over the enormous beast with his own larger body.
The wolf tried to fight back, baring its teeth at the huge pup, but Casper was much stronger; he finished the blow with his jaws digging into its skull. I shuddered, forcing my body to work and my legs to move. I had the Kult back in my hand, slightly wavering with the adrenaline fading.
I couldn't let it fade away yet—I had to keep going.
Casper killed the beast, turning to me with large, worried eyes. He ran towards me, and I stopped my body from swaying and dug my feet into the ground so I wouldn't fail.
Casper yipped. I moved forward, biting my skin so hard it bled. I jumped onto him, shuddering from the wavering weight behind me. Only one wing left, but I still had things to do.
Monsters to kill.
Casper knelt down to make it easier for me to sit on his back. He spread his large wings and jumped into the air, heading in the direction I wanted. I pushed my feet into his back, positioning myself so I was partially off of him as the Kult emerged. With my whip in hand, I swung it through the monsters that tried to fly up to engage us.
Casper was quick, using his large frame to dodge and weave around the demons that hurled themselves at us. I narrowly avoided a claw coming down toward me, retaliating by swinging my whip and landing a strike on the demon's face.
I could just feel the blood ruin Casper's white coat, but the pup didn't care.
Neither did I, as we hacked our way through the demons and wolves alike. Capser definitely had the higher ground against them, using his strength to overpower the beast so I could finish them with a blade through their skull.
Over and over, spilling so much more blood over ourselves. I didn't have to run around as much; all I had to do was continue thrusting the Kult, killing the monsters that came at us while Casper used his size and strength to do the same.
Even with the blood loss overtaking me, the slight relief I had when I didn't have to run around was good. For some reason, I felt the energy build up again.
The mere sight of flying limbs, of severed heads as Casper and I killed the monsters, sent my body over itself. I had forgotten about the missing wing, about the pain tearing through my limbs.
I focused solely on ending these monsters.