Hovering under an evening sun that does not shine with the grace of His Most Holy, but with heathen powers and sinful attention, Bezaliel coolly regards the mortal beneath them. This poor, lost child; forced to grow in such savage lands.
Bezaliel can only guess at what the child was doing before they arrived. By the distinctly human blood and bits of gore trailing down their bare chest, cannibalism is what comes to mind.
Unfortunately, such tidings do not surprise him when he stands in lands that know no true God.
So when he raises his hand to smite the mortal down with His Light, Bezaliel only mourns for them; that they must live such indignity away from the guiding hand of their Lord and Creator.
"Kon."
Bezaliel's instincts flare just a moment too late before a sudden force bites into his waist. It barely draws blood, but the shock of it is enough to stun him in place, and when he looks down, he sees some manner of large, fox-like creature that he knows not to be alive.
The others around him react just a moment after him, and none hesitate to destroy the heathen creation.
However, right before they can release any attacks, he is there.
Bezaliel's eyes widen as the Human blurs into being in the air right in front of him. He only manages to cross his arms before his face in time to receive the impact.
The fox creation collapses into ink at the same time, leaving no vector for stabilisation as Bezaliel is flung straight down. He drags through dozens of trees until finally impacting the foot of the mountain.
What? Such strength in the hands of a Human? Has he received heathen Blessings?
"Y'know, I could be wrong," the Human begins to speak. He stands on the air without a care, surrounded by Bezaliel's sisters, though he looks at none of them. "But isn't there some passage or other about how stealing is bad? Or is that s'posed to be a 'do as I say not as I do' kinda thing?"
Bezaliel ignores the Human's words as he dusts himself off and rises back into the air, seeing no attack forthcoming.
"The will of the Lord is absolute," Adriel responds for him, her speartip not wavering from the Human's throat.
"Didn't he flood everything and kill everyone because he goofed up the first time 'round or something? It's been a while since I read your texts, and I'm kinda out-of-date in the wrong direction, so sorry if I'm misremembering."
Adriel moves to retort hotly, but Bezaliel stops her. They are not here to debate heresy.
"Who are you?" Bezaliel asks once he is back even with the Human.
"This one is known to others as Ō-Narauko-sama-ue," the Human formally answers, bowing in a way that seems more mocking than honest by the smirk. "I am The Strongest Sorcerer. Nice to meet you, Bez-chan!"
Bezaliel stutters slightly at the 'nickname' but ignores it. "Are you insistent on obstructing the path of the Lord our God?"
"Pretty much, yeah," the Human nods, far too casual.
"Very well then," he says to him before turning to his sisters. "Retrieve the object."
"You really think I'm just gonna let y—"
Narauko's dry words are cut short as Bezaliel shoots forward swinging a spear of Light.
Just like the previous scene but in reverse, Narauko barely brings his arms up before he is sent hurtling down, crashing through a Torii gate and into the upper stairs.
Then the Human laughs.
///
Narauko
///
Holy shit, I felt that!
Bez-chan hits hard! Nice!
Hopping back up, I take stock.
The femangels— I should never think that again. The female angels have all entered the shrine, so that's not great. Bez-chan is still up ahead, clearly preferring to just cover for his companions than pick a fight.
Boooring~.
But eh, whatever. The sun is shining wonderful warmth of my skin that feels like encouragement, a literal Angel from the Bible is in front of me ready to fight, and he is actually strong.
What more could I want right now?
"Divine Dog. Nue. Ice Bear. Go do heresy. Don't forget that teamwork makes the dreamwork." I don't know why I am talking to Shikigami, but I do not plan to stop.
The three of them start rushing for the shrine to fight Bez-chan's friends, which naturally Bez-chan doesn't want to allow.
However, I have been improving. Slowly but steadily, I'm growing the number of Shikigami I can keep active at once. It's actually surprisingly hard to get past five.
Still, it's enough.
"Great Serpent."
The snake thrusts from my shadow like a coiled spring, snapping into place too fast to see it move. Bez-chan still manages to avoid the initial thrust, but I figured he would which is why he doesn't manage to avoid me when I emerge from my Shikigami's underside shadow.
"BOO!!" I can't help but scream at him as I throw another punch, which may, perhaps, ever-so-slightly contribute to why I was left entirely unprepared for him to catch my wrist, twist around to body check me with his hip before throwing me straight down with all the force of a canon.
Owwwwwwwww.
Damn. I am realising that I am entirely unused to having to take a fight seriously. Oops?
A spear of Light follows quickly after the impact, and I make to rise and move but let it pierce me through the stomach and pin me back down anyway. Because clearly I need to get my head back in the game, and the original root of my fighting style has always been deception.
Which is honestly pretty ironic since I'm so shit at lying.
Which is why I continue to struggle against the spear, as if being impaled is really as big a deal as it should be. I even feel blood rising through my throat, which is just perfect, except for the fact that I nearly start laughing when I cough up the blood.
Blehhh~ I'm dying~.
A light flutter of feathers beside me heralds the approach of Bez-chan, who moves to stand by my head, looking down on me as if in judgement.
"You are careless, Narauko. You possess great strength, yet you use it so recklessly. I would give you one final chance to find redemption for your wicked Soul. Surrender yourself unto the mercy of the Lord. Your strength is great, but it is unguided. Come with I so that it may be put to use serving a greater pur—ack!"
Bez-chan's rousing speech is interrupted when I, with eyes still bleary from 'weakness', abruptly burst into movement and throw a punch straight at his knee that shatters it with a crisp snap!
I can't help but laugh a little as I still barely avoid a retaliatory Light spear trying to behead me. Focus. The Light spear in my chest shatters into motes with only an exertion of Cursed Energy.
My left snaps out after his swinging arm to keep it out of the way any maybe block the other too, as I step in and throw my right into his gut, but a wing blocks, and this time he is braced enough that my punch doesn't send him flying at all.
"Your strength is abnormal," Bez-chan grits out before continuing the exchange. He tries to grab my extended arm and is too slow, but he smoothly transitions the movement into another block with one arm and a punch with the other.
"Yeah well you smell funny!" Is my witty retort, and I can only laugh more as the words catch Bez-chan off-guard enough for me to land a punch square on his face. I didn't even really hold back, but he only stumbled back a single step from the hit. He's tough.
Still, an opening is an opening.
I surge after him, keeping one hand close to my chest in a fist while the other snaps out seeking a liver shot. At the same time, I pull on my Technique and take command of his shadow, twisting it into a spike spearing up into his back.
See, I have noticed something interesting.
Bez-chan gives me a feeling like he's even stronger than Setsura and Kazuro are, but despite that, his body is only a little bit tougher than I remember Kazuro's being. There's still a gap, but not enough to explain the feeling I get.
Which either means that Bez-chan is holding back, which I doubt since he clearly doesn't have the psychological profile of someone who would do so. Leaving only the alternative, that he's more of a ranged specialist than close-quarters.
In simpler words, his power likely comes from his Holy Magic rather than from his body.
And what does one do when they are surrounded by physical attacks and their strength is in Magic? Simple.
They explode. Omnidirectional burst to clear space. It's a basic tactic because it works.
"Enough!" Bez-chan yells as his Holy Energy floods his body and bursts out in a wave of pure power.
My close hand snaps forward, the shadow within my fist rapidly expanding as two words leave my throat.
"Reflective Tortoise."
The wave of golden energy that leaves him immediately impacts the shield of diamond in my hand and bounces straight back, impacting Bez-chan with enough force to send him rolling across the floor while I remain untouched.
"Hashtag; outplayed. ...Nah, that didn't come out as cool as I thought it would. I need to work on my one-liners~."
Bez-chan doesn't respond, unsurprisingly. He just bounces back to his feet, visibly haggard but mostly okay. His leg is still broken, he's bleeding about the hip and now from the nose as well. So he clearly can't heal, at least not quickly anyway. But he's mostly fine.
Dude can fly anyway, he doesn't need legs.
However, before our fight can continue, the shrine besides us explodes outward in a shower of splinters as two Angels surge into the air with Nue following close behind.
Luckily, I was only told to fetch Ame-no-Ohabari. I wasn't given any instructions about ensuring the shrine remains in one piece. Phew., safe~!
Bez-chan's eyes widen and he instantly shoots into the air, not holding back his power in the slightest as he moves.
"Great Serpent," I quickly intone, only to be blinded as a great, arcing lane of golden Light erupts from Bez-chan like a tide, washing over my Shikigami as it forms and instantly erasing both my snake and half the mountain in front of me.
Tch. Now I only have one instant-summon.
Naturally, I dispel Nue before Bez-chan can kill it too, and already I feel Great Snake's essence latching onto the bird, so there is that comfort at least.
Taking the moment that Bez-chan is clearly using to ask about the missing Angel, I crack my neck and pull forth my Touki, letting it flow freely over my skin. At the same time, I crouch down and press a hand against my shadow, reaching through to lay my palm against Ice Bear's back.
An arctic breath leaves me alongside an ocean of Cursed Energy and then?
Ice.
A glacier erupts from the earth, climbing as tall as the mountain I stand on and then twice again in mere seconds. Compared to the minute it took my new deer to grow a single tree, the gap that needs to be reached for a Spell to match an Innate Technique is quite clear.
I shake the thought away. One of those Angels is holding Ame-no-Ohabari.
I really need to relearn how to take things seriously. I blame Tamamo, she's corrupting me.
Worth it though.
A sudden grin finds me as a bolt of inspiration strikes. Probably because of the thought of Tamamo, but I just had a funny idea~.
///
Bezaliel
///
A breath of exertion leaves him after annihilating Narauko's snake creation, but Bezaliel ignores it. Just as he ignores the bird as it fades into strange shadowy ink and how he ignores the ice when it comes.
His attention is entirely on his sisters as he rushes to their side. He barely pays mind to the object of their mission being held tightly within Adriel's arms.
"Where is our sister?" He immediately demands of them, and Adriel is quick to answer, her eyes brimming with unshed tears and alight with the burgeonings of wrath.
"Those creatures," she spits the word out, and a spike of pure panic shoots down Bezaliel's spine as he sees the tips of her wings flash black for just a moment. "Killed her! We must eliminate this heathen from this world!"
"Adriel," he begins, his voice as soothing as he can make it, even as he feels Narauko doing something down below. He feels claustrophobic. He has recognised enough that he cannot ignore the human, but he also cannot let another sister Fall. He chooses what matters most. "Adriel, you must calm your heart. Recall the warmth of our Father in Heaven. It is okay to grieve, but we must not allow our grief to stray into wrath. We must not, Adriel. Please."
She looks at him, and it feels like only this time that she actually sees him, and he sees as those unshed tears begin to fall as the wrath fades and leaves only sorrow behind.
"Y—"
Bezaliel spins around on the spot and delivers a punch infused entirely with the Heavenly Wrath of God.
His fist, alight with Holy Light, punctures straight the Narauko's chest, leaving the human hanging off of his arm with eyes wide in shock.
"Careless," Bezaliel says, his eyes cold.
And then Narauko's shock turns into a smirk and all Bezaliel can see is a swan???
It takes up his entire vision– no, his entire perception. All he sees is this swan, staring at him. Giant black eyes surrounded by the purest of white.
And then the moment passes and on his outstretched fist sits a single swan, while on his back is the weight of a man.
Bezaliel doesn't get the time to process this fact before he is rocked forward by the force on his back, and he twist only in time to see Narauko kick Adriel in the stomach so she goes spinning through the air.
"Damn, I feel kinda bad," Narauko mutters as he looks at Adriel's distant figure, idly twisting a sheathed sword around his hand.
Ame-no-Ohabari. The object of their mission.
Bezaliel's other sister moves before he can speak, and so he has no recourse but to follow.
She leads with a flurry of strikes with her Light Spear, and Bezaliel creates a sphere of arrows around the Human and launches them all at once. His eye twitches when that only makes the Human laugh, but that does not stop him from launching a separate, muchstronger beam of light at his heart.
Narauko kicks Bezaliel's sister away into the dome before creating a domed barrier of his own to block the arrows. Bezaliel's beam pierces straight through and he bends it after his actual target, Narauko's wrist.
Not having expected the target, Narauko is late to react, but the wrist is a hard target to hit and he still pulls away fast enough. Which is when Adriel comes barrelling straight through the damaged barrier and into Narauko's back, swinging down with a spear of light.
It hits his arm and doesn't cut through, but it does break the arm and knock the sword loose, straight into the arms of their other sister.
Far too late, Bezaliel notices the hue of her wings.
"Heathen filth!!" Bezaliel's sister screams, and his heart fills with grief as he watches her wings Fall as she grabs Ame-no-Ohabari and draws the blade without an ounce of hesitation, filling the air with the weight of power. "Die!!"
"I don't think—" Narauko begins, his tone of warning, but he does not get to finish before Bezaliel's sister truly screams. A sound no human could make. One of pure, animalistic, inhuman anguish.
They can only watch as she ignites. A flame that engulfs her entirely and burns hotter than it has any right to do. The sounds she makes, he knows will haunt him for the rest of his years.
And then it ends, almost as soon as it began, but he cannot bring himself to move. He just watches as the sword flies back into its sheathe before allowing gravity to reclaim it.
He just watches as his sister's ashes drift away with the wind.
"...Holy shit. I'm going to have nightmares. I guess Ame-no-Ohabari doesn't like being woken up, huh?" Despite his words, Bezaliel is surprised to hear some genuine grief in Narauko's tone, and he is surprised again to see that same grief reflected in his eyes. "Are you familiar with the sunk cost fallacy?"
He is not, and he is curious. Just as he is curious about how this human can summon creatures from his shadow or even control Bezaliel's shadow.
But he is distracted from having to answer by the sound of heavy breathing, and he turns half in a panic to see Adriel hyperventilating beside him, staring without seeing at the spot their sister stood mere moments ago.
And then she too, screams.
Not a moment later, she is lunging straight at Narauko as if her mind is that of the beast. Her face a visage of savagery, her scream a bottomless well of hate. Narauko matches the movement by pulling some Cursed artifact out and pointing it at her.
And Bezaliel has a choice.
The object of their mission lies in the earth below. He could claim it. Complete the mission. Return to the Father with his Will made manifest.
Or...
Or, he could move to protect Adriel instead. Pull her out of this mission. Save her, at the expense of God's Will.
He knows what the answer is. There is only one; her wings are already turning black.
There is no saving Adriel, but she could serve well as a distraction in her final moments. Better she die serving the Almighty than she live in His Disgrace.
The Will of God is absolute and above all things, and so his path is obvious.
So Bezaliel moves to do as he has always done. He chooses what truly matters most.
He flies to Adriel.
///
Adriel
///
Dead.
That... noise keeps ringing through her mind.
Dead.
Over and over and over and it won't go away. She's lost two sisters, and neither of them will stop screaming at her.
Dead.
Adriel tries to breath, like she has been taught, but she just can't. Her breaths come short and fast and out of sync. Over and over, that noise replays. Over and over she sees them—
Dead.
A sound claws its way through her throat. It contains no words, nothing articulate at all. Just raw, pained emotion. Rage and grief and wrath and sorrow and Hate. It claws free of her like the birthing of a beast, and Adriel has no control of it as she throws herself at the heathen responsible.
They're dead.
She doesn't make it halfway before Bezaliel tackles her backwards and holds her tightly so that she cannot move.
He killed them.
She ignores him. Doesn't see him. She just claws and she scratches and she gnaws and does whatever it takes, but his arms to not release her. Whatever else happens, she does not see it, too consumed by... by everything.
He killed them and now they're dead.
Another sound leaves her. A wail different in pitch, a refusal as Bezaliel flies away. Pulls her away from righteous vengeance. She screams to the air of the injustice, even as tears flow from her eyes like rivers.
He killed them.
Eventually, the fight does leave her. Only when her arms run out of strength to claw, when her legs run out of strength to kick, when her throat runs out of air to scream. Only then... Only then does she slump into Bezaliel's arms.
He will pay.
But her mind... her mind does not stop. Does not tire. That noise, it never leaves her—the screams. They echo, echo, echo. Over and over. They don't stop. She sees her sister's flesh melt from heathen Magic and the image never leaves her eyes. She sees her sister's flesh torn from heathen monsters. Over and over.
It is his fault.
So even if her body fails her. Even if she can do nothing but be carried away from that man, Adriel's mind does not stop. Not until it crystalises on a singe, unwavering goal with cold certainty.
Adriel will kill that man.
No matter what it takes.
///
Narauko
///
I am in a sombre mood.
I take back the compliments I gave Inari-sama. This isn't fun at all. I actually feel even worse. I kind of love it though, so I guess I don't take back the compliments.
Great Serpent is dead, which isn't too bad since it's just flown into Nue now, but that doesn't mean I'm happyabout it.
I summoned a new Shikigami, which is cool, but probably not smart to do so whimsically.
Most of all, I just feel rather horrible. A very human part of me just wants to blame them for it. To take the easy route and ignore responsibility. It'd be easy to do, because were they serious?
Who invades a foreign land to steal our shit without having the decency of hardening their heart to whatever sorrows might follow them? If you're willing to kill someone then you should be willing to die. Taking a life should hold the same weight on your Soul as losing your own life does. To value the two differently is unfair.
It's like they've never been in a fight before. I'd never hesitate to kill a fellow Sorcerer because I know that they are warriors. It would be an insult to coddle them. An insult to their pride and their honour to imply that they would head into battle unprepared for death.
So why did the Angels cry? I mean, I understand why.
But like, compartmentalisation is a thing, right? Bez-chan at least has a proper head on his shoulders.
He didn't say as much, but he chose his friend over his mission, and he didn't look at me with so much hatred. If anything, it felt as if he understood me.
A tired sigh leaves me.
Today has sucked major ass. First I get disappointed by my peers and then this. It was supposed to be exciting and fun. Bez-chan barely got to show off, I'm sure he had more power to spare. We barely got to fight.
Instead, I feel like I killed two civilians with wings and now I feel horrible.
So yeah, a big part of me just wants to say 'What did you expect to happen?' and move on, but I don't want to be the kind of person to brush another's grief off so easily. I should have recognised their mindsets sooner and acted appropriately. Other than Bez-chan, the rest only needed to be chided, not killed.
Another sigh leaves me, and I take a moment to lift a small square of paper up to my eyes.
Addy-chan's hate-filled gaze meets my own.
Another stolen moment, and I can't help it...
I can't help but love it.
Somehow... that is what I grieve the most, and I'm not even sure I understand why, or if grief is even the right emotion.
I put the photo away with yet another sigh and move down to Ame-no-Ohabari.
I won't lie, I am so incredibly tempted, but difficult as it may sometimes be to believe, but I do actually possess some restraint.
Seeing a literal Angel from the Bible melt down to ash in horrible agony is a rather potent object lesson in why it would be a bad idea.
"Tempestuous stick," I mutter at the Kami, too tired to really care about offending.
I cast a brief glance about the mountain, or what's left of it anyway. It would probably be gone entirely if Bez-chan didn't leave early. As it stands, about half of it is still there, so y'know. Could be worse.
I also take the moment to dispel the giant wall of ice.
Divine Dog reminds me of something else, and I take another moment to grab that first Angel's corpse. I have no idea what I am going to do with it, aside from not letting Kamo-Sensei know about it, but I can figure that out later.
Then, still too wrung out to really care about propriety, I close my eyes. My senses fall into my shadow, recalling what I did to teleport to Kamo-Sensei that one time. Only this time, I search for the abode I met Inari-sama within.
The main reason I could teleport to Kamo-Sensei in the first place was because I am so familiar with him. Luckily, Inari-sama's place is pretty fucking hard to forget, so it's easy enough to find.
A small touch of effort later and I am rising from the ground right before the front doors of Inari-sama's pavilion. I was going for inside, but I guess I'm not allowed.
The servants don't so much as twitch.
I shrug and just go inside, walk up the stairs, and I do actually knock. I'm tired, not stupid.
-Enter-
That's still as freaky as ever.
The door opens, I step in. Inari-sama smiles, I don't, for once. The door closes.
"Narauko-kun~! You did a wonderful job~! Yet you seem upset, why?"
"Other than the leader guy, those 'Mushin' were not fighters. Not really. Of course I feel bad."
"Don't be silly, Narauko-kun~. Those Mushin do not require mercy. They are dolls made to serve an ego. Personally, I think you could have been a little bit harsher. They came to violate poor Ohabari-dono you know~?"
Damn. I figured it, but she really doesn't have a shred of mercy for them. Somehow, I find myself thinking less of her.
Inari-sama's eyes narrow slightly just as I have the thought. I don't bother to defend myself or make excuses.
I have a photo in my pocket that is all the reason I need.
She grieved. That's all that matters. Not affiliation or race.
I killed her friends and she grieved for them.
I just wanna go to bed and get the nightmares over with.
"Come now, Narauko-kun~," Inari-sama's tone remains the same playful hue, but there is a coolness to it that wasn't there before. "This is hardly the first time you have killed non-combatants."
It feels like a needle to the heart to hear her say that.
"Yeah," my voice is unfortunately soft. "And I still cry about it. Experience doesn't dull pain, it just teaches you not to react to it. I am sorry, Inari-sama, but whatever issue you have with Angels, I do not share it. She grieved, Inari-sama."
The Goddess sighs.
"Oh Narauko-kun," she says, and it feels almost as if there is some genuine sorrow in there. "My poor Sorcerer who feels too much; I rescind my words. If you keep allowing yourself to be weighed down by these burdens, you will eventually become unable to stand."
I can only shrug at that, and I manage a sad smile.
"It is my Curse."
Her smile matches my own, and it feels so terribly understanding.
"So it is."
No more words are forthcoming, so I take another step closer and offer the Kami out to her, but Inari-sama just pushes it back to me instead.
"Keep him. Ohabari-dono has gone too long without being swung."
"I'd rather not be melted."
Inari smirks. "Hence why you shall be receiving a practice blade. Suzaku will provide you with more details. Go now, Narauko-kun. You should rest."
I open my mouth to respond but she snaps her fingers and then I'm standing in front of my temporary room in the Imperial Palace.
...Alright then.
I could use a nap.
///
Tamamo-no-Mae
///
After Narauko's showing and subsequent ditching, the competition continued as normal. It was even fairly interesting to watch.
Without the overwhelming presence of Narauko, the Sorcerers could properly show off, and it ended up being a rather close match. In the end though, Minamoto no Yorimitsu was just too fast for the Onmyōji to properly deal with, so the win went to the Jujutsu Sorcerers.
Of course, a lot of the festive ambiance was rather offset by Narauko's actions. Comparison has a way of making even the most impressive achievements seem trivial, and it was plain to see for all the difference.
Regardless, it was fun, and seeing Narauko show off and the reactions that followed it left her feeling a certain way. Which is why Tamamo was sitting again in his room when Narauko's presence abruptly appears outside the door.
However, her sultry smile quickly shifts into a look of concern as he steps past the threshold and he looks tired. His kimono is draped over his waist, leaving his blood-soaked torso bare, and he sets down a sword that tickles strangely at her senses by the door.
"Welcome back, Narauko. Is something the matter?" Tamamo asks as she rises to greet him. A wave of her hand leaves him clean of filth, and he smiles and meets her halfway, where they slip into a gentle embrace.
"To be honest..." he only speaks after a moment of holding her. "I don't really know. I feel bad, but the emotions are all so new that I am enjoying it even though I'm not. It's confusing. I just need to sleep on it; I'll be fine in the morning. So, stay with me?"
"Of course," she whispers into his shoulder. "Always."
Something in him untenses with her words, and Tamamo silently guides him to the futon for the night.
It isn't the fun night of pleasure that she was expecting, but this isn't so bad.
And so, Tamamo holds Narauko close, brushing a hand through his hair until he drifts off into slumber. She watches him sleep for a while after that, simply enjoying the peace of it, before closing her own eyes and joining him in rest.
She dreams of deer.
///
A/N: He~llo! Dear readers!
I have no idea what I'm doing I'm going fucking insane.