VERSE VI
He knew the angel; in fact, he knew her very nature and ability. Though not able to speak nor see, he had been taught perception. An overwhelming skill that requires strong will and mental fortitude.
Yes! But his sister is around here; he can't foolishly act out, even though that's what the gods want. They probably did this to rip apart his very essence for living. The longing over those wretched years.
One thing had calmed his nerves: his sister never really saw anything. All she saw were but a tiny fracture of his past. And he is grateful, at least to Hecate.
Of course, he is aware Hecate was the only foreseeing deity that loved despair when the truth is revealed. She relinquishes it.
"Σωτήρ, carry on the will of God!" Her voice, a rousing melody meant to give hope even to the brokenhearted, yet it was accompanied by distasteful intent. Kato had carved out the underlying meanings of this statement.
But he had no wish to act according to God!
Surprisingly, they were referring to themselves as one entity. Stupid! Yet, they made him live, but of what use was it to live if his reason ceased to exist? Nothing! His reason is what kept him sane, sane all those disastrous years of slavery.
Is it now the slavery started? No! He had already been on it since his spiritual age turned 19.
The House of Omi! No matter how he tried to carve and get the secrets, to get the truth and delve out of such conspicuity, he found himself falling, still, even more.
He coughed out blood. He could neither see it, but he could perceive it. The mud draining his body's essence, yet waterlogged with it. How eccentric!
He took the sword before him, the sudden grip seizing his bones, keeping him stagnant only for a moment. This damn angel, Seraphina! Her voice still the same as the nature of her divinity. These deities knew what they were doing, sending a being who abhors him to be a guide. Quite lovely ploy!
He had killed her sister back then, back when he was still naive of the ploy at play. It's only natural she harbors such intent; it must have been a royal honor to be assigned to him. So she could torture him.
Using the sword to balance himself, he stood up from where he knelt—tranquility rested upon him. How did he know it was Seraphina? Well, she is the only angelic being that does not have a position amongst the archangels that can cause a small-scale timelessness, just to one precise area. That's how powerful her level of control is.
A high-ranking angel, yet rejected from the application of an archangel. What Seraphina never understood: Archangels are on a different scale, a level completely. And the strongest, Michael. He never ever wants to fight that one. He is like a direct holy god, if not amongst them. If he had deduced correctly, time was paused. Divine interference—he felt an increase in the angel's anger behind him; perhaps she was vexed.
Divine interference is the affirmation of the stoppage of time, as it was a nature of Seraphina.
Yet he cannot think, he shouldn't. The heavy chains implanted by the blades made him ache all over.
His heart was heavy, and his mind scattered. It has to be scattered. Divinity is divinity, after all. He can't think anything else! For a reason!
He swung the sword, the little crumbs of divine energy whisking off into timelessness. Each tread was agonizing and heavy, not because of the broadsword but the chains shackled and burned into his skin. Yet, he couldn't groan to express his plight.
A broadsword has to be one of the worst for him to use, yet in the realm of judgment, it has the shape of many.
He could sense Seraphina flapping her wings overhead. She should have four wings, since she is the sister of Ariel. He had never seen Seraphina, but only during conversations with Ariel or through paintings Ariel made.
Let his sister just be safe! Once she is, well..!
Kato is aware his perception is extraordinary, as he is able to fight, run, swim without eyes.
He has been trained as such. And he knew where Yuki was, but she was trapped in a falling time loop. Never reaching the ground, nor dying. At once, he ran. The mud, stones, and twigs piercing his feet, but he ran amidst it.
The pain to him was nothing, but the chains pierced into him seemed to rip out his back. He ran, still, avoiding trees and stumps.
As he got closer, the flames seemed to rage, even though it was dying out. And the chains upon him seemed to loosen.
Yet he would assume nothing. With a middle swing of the broadsword, the time loop was cut. He reached upon her, using his perception to sense the opposition in the figure of his sister. He raised the sword and struck it upon her.
His assumptions lived, as the long slender arms of Yuki parried the sword harshly, swinging it downwards to the muddy soil. Yes!
The heat of the flames grazed upon his legs and thighs, eventually burning off his ragged trousers. But he cared not; that was a minuscule matter. He swung the sword as quick as he could, in a diagonal slash. Yet it was parried once more, and the sword was swung upwards. But he would guard and fight dirty.
His arms and palms ached; the weight of the sword was enough to make him fall. He never liked using weapons to fight, but there is a reason he has to use this.
He parried a heavy punch from his sister's new pair of arms. They seemed to be fighting for her. Was Yuki unconscious, or could she not bear the thought of her brother doing this? No! That's not the case.
The white hellish flames fell upon him. The divine sword, he cut at the flames, yet it merely just offered a little comfort. The flames were now attached to the sides of his body, no longer clothing him. Legendary! This is incredible. He has his doubts, but he is aware of it. Yet he shall not think.
The chains were still bound to him, but they had paled, weakened in comparison to when they were implanted upon him. The burn of the flames was excruciating; it seemed to grieve at him with intense vigor. Gnashing his teeth, he used the divine sword to block another fist from his sister.
Swinging the slender arms to the side, he adapted the swing and precise movement of nunchucks, moving it swiftly amongst his fingers, he redirected the aim of the sword—he cut down one of her slender arms in a quick, clean manner.
He could feel the stare of Seraphina above him; she must be smirking with such disdain; her heart must be filled with joy. And he heard it, a cry that seemed not like his sister, but a multi-layered complex of godforsaken voices. Was she possessed? She sounded even worse than a devil? What has that? With a crackling thud, he was sent flying into the air.
His grip still firm on the sword, but his ribs ached him. He tried to move his arms a little bit, but his body would not let him do so. He vomited blood, yet he could feel no wheeze past his ears. A sudden jab to his spine, and he was struck to the muddy ground with blazing speed.
What! What was that?
His body tingled as he writhed in pain. His palm, wrapped tight upon the sword. He was sunk into the ground. He could sense Yuki's body; she was right above him. Was he buried into the ground with such a thud? He has to keep this minimal for a reason; he does not wish for an injury upon his sister. And this, is going quite well.
Perhaps now was the time! He stood up instantly, as if not in pain, as if his body and the flames upon him caused him no torment. What baffled him most was that this flame seemed to burn his own soul. Like a flame of damnation. Perhaps the reason for her sudden dehumanization. No! She accepted this, but for what reason? He stood opposite his sister. But she has grown taller, and he could perceive it. But he saw no essence in her, just vast emptiness and burning desire which fueled her objective and the flames. He wanted to chuckle, but he couldn't.
It is time.
He struck the sword to the ground. Before Seraphina could react, he cut open his thumb with his teeth, and stuck his fingers to her forehead. He could see the angel flying down, but he should waste no time.
"FEYR THON, ISA ERAS AN-EYD. LAGUL SÝSTUR. DAGAZ EHWAS ING-EIDENGARD." His sudden statement instantly enabled a rune of displacement. Seraphina, in a bid to kill Yuki, unleashed her divinity.
Yet Kato remained still, the rune swallowing his mental fortitude whole. One of the most stressful runes to ever use, but it's the only one he can use for this type of displacement, as it only consumed mental energy, not supernatural one.
At once, his sister's presence vanished despite Seraphina's immediate power.
It all happened in a flash, and it took her by surprise. Kato still stood there, waiting for Seraphina's punch upon him. He could feel her brimming with anger and seething pain. Yes! She failed to guide him on his so-called "first" assignment. Her divinity was indeed powerful. But now, he is rest assured. Yuki was safe; he has erased her presence and successfully placed her in another continent of Eidengard. He would come find her, but not now.
And Kato was struck to the soil, with a devastating blow to the head.
"You! Why won't you just do your damn assignment?" She stomped him, instantly putting out Yuki's flames upon him, targeting only his spine.
"You devil! You killed my sibling, yet you cannot kill yours!"
Yes... That's what Kato wants, her sudden outburst of anger. Let her keep doing it! "Well, I'm glad I still fulfilled my part of the assignment." Her solemn voice had an underlying tone. What! How is she glad! Why is she glad? No! Wait, she released her divinity at the same time he released the rune upon her. It can't be what he is thinking right now? Kato shot up from the ground, causing Seraphina to recoil, putting an end to her stomps. "Yes, it's what you think. You are aware of my capabilities. I could have destroyed your pungent sister within that runic moment, but I had even bigger plans in accordance with heaven." Kato could sense her energy brimming with passion, yet fear enveloped him. Not for the angel, but for Seraphina.
"So, she has been sent to where she belongs. Such a blasphemous entity has no right to live, no?" She struck Kato's abdomen, pulling him closer, her mouth at his ear. She whispered to him; "She has been sent to Nether, to the realm where she belongs." She pulled her arm from his abdomen, but he held it.
She knew he was cocky, but why would he tug upon her arm? Foolish man! Yes, he was a man. The body of a child was just a damn facade. His spirit is older than that. But she could not free herself from his grip.
"How lousy of you—" A sudden swing to the ground, she found herself in the mud. Amazement was much little expression that blazed in her veins. Anger seethed through her, but a skull-cracking blow was delivered into her face. Her vision blurred, and her ears ringing.
Her wings covered in filth, she saw a figure above her. Whom, whose purple runes from his abdomen shone greatly. Was she just punched by him? How? But the chains to heaven, aren't they?
Her eyes widened in horror! The chains had melted; they were no longer upon his skin. Was it when the flames were upon him? The flames of defiance? So all those dances, and abnormal sword movements were to destroy the chains upon him. But the chains were imbued with Hecate's divinity; she should have read his mind. Wait..., even she couldn't read Kato's mind back then. It was more of a blank slate.
She regained her balance and slapped Kato's face off his neck.
His blood, spilling upon her, getting into her glowing blonde hair. She has killed him, besides he failed his mission. When she gets back to heaven, she would inform the gods of such—
She immediately parried a strike to her head; swiftly to the side, she was met with another punch.
She could not comprehend this. Such a grotesque sight before her! A body fighting without its head? She flapped her wings, instantly causing massive wind which ravaged all trees, causing a devastating erosion. She subdued him, smashing his body into the massive erosion crater. To her horror, he held her arms. In a single moment, he delved her beneath the soil.
Her spine racked upon the hard rocks with crushing disdain. She was forced to vomit blood instantly, her golden blood, spilled upon the ground by the beatings of a mortal.
Sacrilegious! She won't accept this... she won't...
But her eyes met with an enmity, an enigma. Above her, his feet slowly crushing the bones between her breasts, the once cocky man, no, he was cocky no more. With an awful sight, his body was regenerating with precise structure. The source of regeneration: worms and maggots.
She released her strength, but yet, she could not move. She was frozen in place.
Horror, cold and alien, born from such the obscene nature of the grotesque sight: a mortal rebuilding itself, defying the laws that make him mortal. A stirring pain in her breasts that she was afraid of. For the first time since her encounter with Archangel Michael.
But this one was different, yet above her, he gave a definitive stance.
Like she was a sinner to be condemned, and she could not be free from him. His core has been destroyed; how does he possess that of the supernatural?
Was it? Runes? No, there are no runes that can be used with supernatural abilities, at least the ones she knows, and even those she knows of are numbers that could not be counted.
This has never been recorded before, and that's what feared her. The gods didn't even inform her about this. Her attempts to connect to heaven are all in vain, to no avail. No, she didn't want to think about it, but the truth was before her.
She looked up at him as he tore off one of her wings. She was struck with a spear, a spear of pain that aggrieved her.
With a resounding pound, she tried to ease away the pain by pounding her head to the rock.
"You—, you will pay for this." Yet it was empty; she could do nothing, and she knew it.
The man before her, how! How is this type of person referred to as Saviour? This is beyond a simple plan to gain a scapegoat of their sins? Do they wish to rise against existence? With this being? Yes! She could call him a mortal no longer.
Tears escaped her eyes. He ripped out her another wing, and she cried out loud. Her divinity, her divinity was dwindling. Her guess correct! The gods! They have abandoned her? Why? But she successfully did what they wanted? She sent the girl to the underworld and caged up her feelings of hate against him?
Against this being, Kato. The sudden reduction of her divinity was a clarification of her current state.
Lightning erupted from her essence, spreading through different patterns, scattering in the air. Her blood, the earth was drinking it, never satisfied and kept drinking. Pain so excruciating made her wail and plead; she found herself pleading to the man who she was meant to guide.
So why? Why has she... The high-ranking angel amongst those capable of fighting? She who was to become an archangel after she had completed her first mission as the Saviour—Her current reduced state.... Why has she been deemed and condemned as Fallen?!