Chapter 199: Angelfall.
—Evel PoV—
They crawled down below, the curse of that damned dragon. Crab monsters, cursetaceans, and now the Angel’s Demise. Arrogant! Who did they think they were? Mere remnants of an opponent we’d already beaten and killed. They would not be our demise. They would die, just like their creator did.
I ripped the arrow off my body, took aim, and then fired. I flew lower and angled my arrow to take out a whole line of them. I rose back up right after, but not before suffering the indignity of one of those crabs landing a single insignificant swipe.
I judged the weak creature guilty of the highest sin of attempting to harm an angel, and executed it with an arrow straight from the heavens!
I searched along that black beach for any more of those mildly stronger cursetaceans. Monsters that were not only a problem because of their troublesome and vile vengeful magic, but were also strong enough to threaten our armies on their own. Otherwise, I and Adamo should never have been bothered with such tedium. Our subjects needed to come up with a better solution, but they couldn’t, hence why I was here. Toiling for the ungrateful scum that claimed to worship us fully.
Even now, they stayed far behind while their angels suffered in their place! An unending surge of curses coursed through my body for every one of these crabs that I killed. Pathetic attempts, again, so easily healed and purified. I was a holy angel, and they were not my match.
But they still dared. Day after day. It continued to cause me such pain. It was more than they should’ve ever dreamed. The best thing they could’ve done was to just kill themselves and die, but in these crabs there was no virtue to be found.
I ripped another arrow off my ribs, and delivered to these ungrateful creatures the same holy judgement that I’d done so many times.
~~~
—Back to Haell PoV—
“Ow,” Grandpa groaned as we materialized within the underground bunker, and he hit his head on the ceiling. It was a very cramped squeeze as Arx, Moonwash, Elfrafim, and Luine were also here.
“Looking good, Haell,” she smirked at my appearance.
I rolled my evil eyes. “You said that before, dumbass.” I’d had to teleport people in one by one.
I was currently wearing a stylish bright green armor in different shades. It was created from the gems and metals we’d harvested in Geonesis, along with the carcasses of so many powerful dead creatures. All of them related to wind in some way, particularly in the realm of keeping it away. Moonwash did not work on it alone, as we sought help from Heartnail, who was only all too happy to help us prepare for a face-off against an angel. I and Moonwash still did most of the forging, but her advice was indispensable. I was grateful.
Arx was given similar armor, though it was only for the frontal half of his sleek body, and clamped on painfully.
“It does look good!” Grandpa laughed in his own gleaming armor that did leave more than enough room for him to maneuver, especially along the back. It was his greatest set, and the one he’d worn on his most historic battles. “I can just imagine the legends and the plays and the paintings that will be made of this day!”
I… didn’t argue, and just smiled at his vision for the future. I would’ve preferred my very dark-themed cursed armor, but this bright green one was certainly a statement. I’d tell everyone about how my grandfather loved it, and how he fought valiantly beside me this day.
“Alright. This way.” Luine ushered us into a wall instead of the steep tunnel that was definitely too small for some of us to fit through. The point was to dig our way through to our destination, and Arx immediately began the work by shifting dirt rapidly with his mandibles. The rest of us took out enchanted shovels, while Moonwash used straight up earth magic to speed things along, and prevent the new tunnel from collapsing right on top of us.
And so we dug. We dug and dug and dug for what must’ve been days. It was good that we all liked each other’s company, as we chatted about the most random of things. From our favorite books, to what we thought about every New Granderan councillor, or the royalty from the north.
I stared at my grandfather for a moment, but decided that this line of conversation was just fine. We’d already had many long chats. There was no point spending the commute to an amazing hunt wailing in sadness.
A bunch of ferretis (ferocious underground ferrets) attacked us because we drew too close to their nest, but we just killed them and had ourselves a nice meal. It wasn’t the first nor the last we would be attacked along this journey. We could only cook our prey properly tin this space thanks to magic and our extraordinarily powerful bodies.
I nudged Arx at some point, when we’d gotten closer to our destination.
“Oh, Haell. Hi.”
“Yes. I’ve been here this entire time.” I chuckled. “You alright?”
“Yes.” He paused. “Well, okay. I’m not. I’m still nervous. I’ll reveal myself to the world today. There would be no going back.”
“I get it. At least in part. I hid my identity once too.”
“But it isn’t just me who’ll never go back. It’s the whole inhex race!”
I only nodded. We knew this. We always did.
Sure enough, Arx’s posture eventually firmed, and his own bottomless wellspring of rage finally rose to the surface. It was the grief of an entire species.
Just in time, as the earth had already turned looser. We finally started to truly go up, once it was just sand.
Our heads broke into open air, and we took a moment to take in the sparse shrublands around us. Arx was the last to surface, but not by too much. He pulled his body out of the ground, and now stood defiant in the middle of enemy territory.
I could already smell the curse in the air.
The deathshore was near.
I glanced back at Luine before we could rush off, but she’d already turned her cloak inside-out to be the same color as the sand.
“I’ll be fine.” She twirled one of her many wands of illusion magic. We had a really good supply now. “Now get going.”
I nodded and didn’t argue further. We broke into a light jog that had us eating through the monotonous terrain at a rapid pace.
“I’ll kill her,” Arx growled softly. “I’ll kill that angel.”
“Hear, hear!” I cheered. “Let’s kill them all!”
“Drive them from our world!” Grandpa agreed. “There is no future for anyone if they truly take over.
“They’re terrible!” Elfrafim slid in.
“I wonder what Mutations they truly have,” Moonwash only wondered atop Arx. “They can be so different, and have many different forms.”
I was curious too, but we could unpack that later. The terrain rapidly swept past at the pace we set. I took an easy shot at an Edengarian scout who just happened to be in our path, but I knew we wouldn’t get all of them. We passed by one of their scattered bases, and then another. We had no time to go killing all of them. What we had to do was outrun any message, for who knew how Evel would react if give any actually forewarning. I came across an Angel’s Demise(cursetacean), and it was only the first of many. Neither of us attacked the other. Some of them were half dead already, pierced by arrows larger than most spears. The shrubbery around us gradually disappeared completely, as even the brow sand turned gray and cursed.
I felt a sudden and pervading sense of danger! My body moved before I could understand what it was. I swung Devilcalibur, and it clashed with an arrow that sent me buckling. Elfrafim came in with the force of a tornado, and it was only though our combined efforts that the projectile was safely tossed away!
But there was no time for us to rest.
I immediately sprang back up, and jumped atop one of Arx’s claw. We engaged the enchantments on our armor at the armor at the same time, and immediately felt the wind shift around us. My friend flexed, and then shot forward like a jet streaking through the air. We were going so fast, that the wind shrieked around us anyway, despite the armor we were wearing. Another arrow streaked towards us and hit Arx right in the face, but he kept going! He did not let that stop him from snapping his one arm forward and tossing me like a sling!
I felt the pressure try to flatten my body as I traveled even faster. My blood sliced through my own skin so that it could begin leaking through the plentiful hidden gaps in my armor. My wings snapped open to propel me harder. I caught a better look at our target, the angel Evel.
She was larger than my grandfather. Her flesh textured like the coiling roots of a tree. A bright halo. Massive feathery wings. Golden-white skin. One hand like a human’s, articulate. The other arm had a bow growing out of it. Spikes were growing over parts of her body. Those were her arrows, and she already had one nocked and pointed right at me!
I swerved, but only barely. My entire left arm was taken by the blast, but that was fine. I reached Evel, and she dodged my great slash, but not the spray of blood.
I grinned and kicked at the air to arrest my momentum. I did it again, along with a flare of my wings, to truly come to a stop. She turned on a dime and shot another arrow at me, but this one I fully dodged through my unexpected aerial agility and good wit.
My thick tail turned me right around to face her, and I adjusted course. She pulled out another arrow from her thigh, as the others she’d spent were already growing back.
I spoke diplomatically, instead of all this terrible bloodshed.
“Purge my wings and desecrate the source. Purge your own and do the same.”
I flapped my wings one last time, before they fell apart in biomantic fury. Evel stumbled in mid-air and wildly missed her shot. I took another 2 charging steps with my hoofshoes, completely depleting their power. It was enough as I raised Devilcalibur with both my arms and swung down. The angel blocked it with her bow-arm and it held somehow, but she was sent crashing down into the ground anyway, with her decimated wings reduced only to its bare rotting skeleton.
Mine were gone completely, and I kept futilely healing the stump as I fell after her.
~~~
—Grandpa Golex PoV—
They, who deceived Shanayah.
They, who took away my friends.
They, who changed my life forever.
The angels who ruined everything!!!
I flipped my earth-enchanted shoes on, and began running the moment Arx and Haell took off. Elfrafim jumped onto my greatsword, and I swept it wide and fast to launch her like an arrow. Moonwash got on my shoulder, and then I pushed my body past the limit to make it in time. It no longer mattered how I might injure myself, it no longer mattered if I would never be able to fight again. This was my moment, and I would not let it pass like I have everything else! The pain in my body would only fuel my rage and regrets, just like how I’d seen Haell do it!!
“Purge my wings and desecrate the source. Purge your own and do the same.”
She delivered. My granddaughter always fucking did. The angel of my nightmares came crashing down from the lofty skies. And Elfrafim was already there to pressure her!
The two engaged in a flurry of exchanges. The much smaller elf flitted around the arm and bow of the angel that tried to swat her down. A thick throng of cursetaceans climbed out of the waters to join the great army of them already here on the black shore. They rushed in a fury, and Evel was slowed and bogged down by their pincers. Carapaced bodies slammed into her from all sides, and impaled themselves upon her many spikes. Evel tossed them away, but suffered from their vengeful retaliation for every one she hurt. Elfrafim managed a good clean hit on her half-ruined wings, the ones that were in a constant cycle of death and rebirth. Evel screamed in frustration, and just jumped away as she tried to take flight on those broken wings. Thankfully, my elven friend was fully locked in, and she jumped right after the angel so she could smash that bitch back down into the ground right in front of me!
I’d finally caught up to the fight.
Evel got up, but my greatsword was already streaking towards her before she could block. I got a good clean hit on her torso, and she grunted in pain as she took a single step back. My arm rang in discomfort, still vibrating upon being rebounded by her bone. I’d drawn some of her golden blood, but didn’t manage to break through her ribs.
Evel swung her bow-arm at me, and I hurriedly defended, but I was still tossed away!
“Fuck…” I groaned. I blinked and saw that Elfrafim had already descended back down to contain Evel for the moment. I instantly got up, for I knew that we were still outmatched. My sword joined her staff in pummeling the angel between us, but every swing of the angel’s limbs remained so fast that I could barely react. Each blow was so heavy that I was staggered by every one I deflected, no matter how good my technique. Her malformed legs might have spikes, and I had to make sure I didn’t get impaled. Those same spikes could protect her vitals at a critical moment!
There was no room for a counterattack. Even the dense mass of Angel’s Demise scurrying around us failed to prove enough of a hindrance. Any damage we dealt was healing, including her wings that were slowly getting better. The long cut I managed to make on her torso was long gone. Elfrafim herself flowed gracefully around those cursed crabs, able to dodge or deflect everything with room enough to maneuver, but I knew that one just one good hit might be enough to instantly finish her off. My friend had to be more conservative with the chances she took, as she danced around a thinner knife’s edge than me.
Fortunately for us, we weren’t alone in this fight.
“DAMNATION!”
My granddaughter arrived, and she struck with enough force to make Evel curse. A wave of curse shot out, and even I suffered a few small tiny cuts. This was her magic, her anatomic mastery, heavily restrained against her allies.
Evel quickly recovered, but the new line of mangled flesh running across her torso wasn’t so easily healed like mine. Golden blood turned dark and rancid as the decay took hold. She punched at Haell, but my granddaughter deflected the blow away no matter how hard she was pushed back. Evel’s bow-arm came swinging next, and Haell’s tail flicked powerfully to pivot her body hard. She rode the blow and smashed into the sand, where she only instantly got back up! I taught her that! Some of it, anyway!
I caught a glimpse of Haell’s ruined stump of a wing, also desperately trying to rebuild itself like the angel’s, but far less successfully. I and Elfrafim used this chance she’d given us to make sure that Evel’s wings suffered just as much. Sword and staff decimated the bone and forming feathers, so that she may never fly again!
“ARGH! You imbeciles!” Evel turned around and struck us in a wide arc. The two of us were tossed away, Elfrafim much further than me. I glanced back at my friend, but neither of us were seriously hurt as we saw it coming and had purposefully rode the force. Evel screamed as she was drenched in hellfire, and she snapped off one of the arrows on her back. Haell scored a good hit on her side, but the angel only slammed her bow-hand against me, staggering me once again. She then slammed her arrow forward instead of shooting it like I thought, and its sharp tip tore a chunk right out of my chest!
It was only Elfrafim’s intervention that fouled her aim and prevented me from immediately dying.
Arx suddenly barreled across the air and crashed into Evel like one massive projectile. The angel was tossed away, stunned and surprised. Cursetaceans swarmed over her prone form, joined by a greater mass of demonic curses. I pulled myself forward even as my lungs leaked out, for we did not dare miss this chance.
My sword scoured the angel’s face. Elfrafim’s staff bruised and kept her off balance. Haell tore great chunks out of her in wounds that took so much more of the holy magic to purge and heal.
Moonwash took a pause in healing Arx’s great wounds to lend us a hand.
“Frost-Creeping-Slow.”
“Water-Tidal-Rush.”
“Frost-Ice-Bind.”
“Frost-Creeping-Slow.”
“Frost-Creeping-Slow.”
Frost spread across Evel’s body, and she slowed as promised. Water from the nearby ocean rushed in and swallowed us for a single moment. The next, ice crystals had formed all over Evel’s joints and body, hindering her movements. They broke, but the next set of talismans quickly followed, and the chill seeped deeper into her body. None of us allowed this chance to pass as we continued to tear Evel to pieces. I and Elfrafim took to the front as Haell created a terrifying black flame. It shot right into our enemy, and she screeched like a dying pig as it began to fully envelop her.
We only pushed harder. It felt cathartic to tear chunks of flesh off this angel. I finally knew how Haell felt. But Evel could so easily heal from what damage I and Elfrafim could do. So we remained as support. We allowed for my granddaughter to pile on the damage. To do what she was good at. To show her strength.
Evel continued to thrash against our assault as she burned, for she would not go quietly. Even the angels deserved to struggle til the very bitter end. It was to be expected.
We suffered grave wounds from even her glancing blows. I could hardly hear a thing from violently the wind reacted to how she was moving. Our armor broke, and blood poured from the gaps. At least Haell could heal herself, and even extend to us a measure of that kindness.
Pain spiked in my mind, and my entire left arm went off flying. I gritted my teeth and held my greatsword with my one remaining hand as I continued to smash it into the hateful Evel. A numbness struck that limb, and it was quickly spreading to the rest of my body, but I firmed my resolve and held on. This was my final fucking battle, and I would not fall until it’s over!!!
Elfrafim was struck by the tip of Evel’s bow, and she fell to the ground screaming as her right leg bent in all the wrong ways. The burning angel plunged her arrow into the elf, and her other leg went flying. I pulled her out of there and tossed her away, where Moonwash caught and stabilized her. Haell picked up the slack and began pummeling away at the angel, often sacrificing parts of her body to keep up. She’d lost another hand by the time I returned, but in her case it would swiftly heal. Evel was tossed into the ground again, writhing, for Arx had rejoined the fight, and this time for good. His forelimbs dug into her and decimated great swathes of flesh. I aimed for the joints, and prevented her from getting up as long as I could. Haell bashed her heavily cursed greatsword right into the woman’s head over and over and over, stunning her and taxing her already fraying mind. It took so much longer than I assumed for her to mount a resistance again, as the damage had piled up so much, that her healing was now struggling to keep up. Haell’s curses continued to pour into the angel, and I knew that those powers could heavily inhibit healing.
Evel’s hand whipped towards me, and I failed to react in time, but that was fine. I marched forward and stabbed my sword deep into her heart, as she did mine. Arx clamped his mandible into her bow-hand, and wrestled the angel woman to the sandy ground. I went down with them, further impaling myself upon her thorns. I tilted my head up atop my deathbed to see Haell angrily splitting the angel’s skull open until the brain spilled out and burned.
That’s my girl…
I closed my eyes, and felt the darkness creep in.