Re: Timeless Apocalypse

SHOO!

Samael let out a low growl and pushed forward, lunging towards Uriel with unmatched ferocity, his burning orange pupils narrowed in pure focus.

He reached Uriel, then swung down at his neck, immediately going for a lethal attack.

"You’re too eager."

Ivory radiance blinded Samael for just a split second.

When he regained sight, his blade hit nothing but air, Uriel standing mere inches away from him, having easily sidestepped the attack.

He could barely believe he missed, but before he could try to understand how Uriel had managed to move so fast without using his fleshy power, he felt a palm land on his chest.

And with that palm, there came a wave of soft, docile energy that danced across his skin, sank into his flesh, and dug into his bones.

It didn’t hurt at all. In fact, he almost felt stronger.

The wave of energy was so harmonious it fooled Samael’s cores, and they mistook it for refined natal aether. The gates of his cores opened up and—

"Argh!"

—he made a mistake.

The wave summoned by Uriel’s palm was...gigantic. It was an ocean of energy so vast not even Samael’s dual cores could handle it, even with the growth they had gained from the Wolf Will.

Even in spite of it being mere Iron-grade energy.

KAH!

Samael felt his cores crack, and deep agony surged from his depths, nearly shutting his mind down. He staggered back, but just as he tried to recover, he found that his body was impossibly heavy.

So heavy he was frozen in place.

The ocean of energy had nearly shattered his cores, but after that, his cores had shut down. So where had the energy gone?

It had spread across his body, nestling in the layers of his flesh, within his cells, within the fibres of his bones and the folds of his organs.

’What? How?!’

It was a callback to one of the simplest and earliest concepts Uriel had learned about aether.

Docile aether was harmless.

When an ascendant supercharged parts of their body to attack, the attack wasn’t stronger by virtue of being charged with energy—it was stronger because the energy sat in their limb and thus made it heavier.

It was that simple.

So when the energy settled across Samael’s frame...he became so heavy it was impossible for him to move.

He became so heavy his bones whined and nearly shattered, his flesh tearing under the strain and his mind wailing in pure pain.

WOOOO!

A piercing wolf’s howl echoed, and behind Samael, a large spectral projection appeared, a blood wolf that sought to tear and rule over all things.

The Will raged within Samael’s body, and the energy within him broke into motes of radiant light, finally freeing him.

"..." Seeing this, Uriel shook his head.

By doing this, Samael had given Uriel access to chaotic aether.

’How disappointing. I was hoping he’d be more clever.’

WHOOOSH!

Uriel waved a hand, and the motes of light surged from Samael, rushing to wrap around his own palms. Then he stepped towards the boy, uncaring for the Wolf that loomed behind him.

SHI!

Having regained his mobility, Samael didn’t waste time and let his aether flow wildly, massively enhancing his fleshy power.

An ashen aura coated his blade, and he stepped forward just as he swung laterally at Uriel’s waist.

KINK!

Uriel slapped the blade away with such force that Samael’s guard was instantly torn open. But more than that, from the blade Uriel had struck, an echo of chaotic energy snaked toward his body.

Samael found his body infested with chaotic energy, just like Uriel had been in the Ivory Desert, and just like that, he couldn’t use aether anymore.

"Argh!...no!"

Rage flickered across Samael’s gaze, and he was pushed back once more, thrown off balance and sent tumbling, his mind clouded by pain.

No matter what he did, it was countered. No matter what attack he tried to launch, it was broken, then used against him.

No matter how much he tried, he was pushed back and suppressed, again and again.

A part of him almost felt like it was natural. As if, under the might of the Circle, of the Ouroboros, it was only natural that his will would be inadequate.

In the face of the Circle, not even Fate could stand, so who was he to try? It was only—

Rage flickered deep within Samael, and he broke the train of thought that had invaded his mind.

The Wolf Will wrapped around his mind once more, protecting him from the passive essence of Uriel’s overwhelming Will.

He finally managed to regain his footing and—

PAH!

A loud smack echoed.

His head twisted so sharply, a surge of heat rising in his neck so rapidly that he thought he had lost his life for a moment.

PAH!

Another smack sent his face flying the other way, his nerves burning in pain from the sudden and violent movement.

Slowly, his head panned back, his eyes widening in pure shock as he met Uriel’s gaze.

Rage, shock, confusion, betrayal, humiliation, madness—they all clashed in the unstable boy’s mind, consuming him whole and fueling the wrath of the giant that stood behind him.

The more angry and mad he got, the larger and more corporeal the spirit became, and the more of the Wolf Will’s abilities Samael gained.

Uriel looked at him, and then he smiled. He looked up, staring at the threatening Wolf that only sought to devour him.

His smile widened.

"..." He sighed. "It hurts, hm?"

"Do you feel it? The shame? Self-loathing? That thorn that pierces into your heart and empties you of all your essence."

Samael’s pupils trembled, and his breath quickened.

He didn’t even notice that Uriel’s aura flickered, nor did he notice himself fall into the embrace of resonant dominance.

"It defines you," Uriel said slowly. "We are born of the earth, not the skies. What defines us is the filth that contrasts our merits."

"You are nothing more than your failures and shortcomings, you understand? Strength, wisdom, wealth, happiness—it means nothing."

Samael’s vision flickered, and he found himself in a void of infinite darkness. Within that darkness, Uriel’s voice echoed like a melody of the heavens.

The void was empty as Uriel’s words echoed again and again, and with each echo, Samael’s breath only grew more and more erratic, his eyes watering and his will faltering.

The darkness in front of him blurred, and suddenly, a blade appeared in front of him, mere millimeters away from piercing into his face.

He stared at the blade. He stared at death.

"But that is what Prometheus gave us the flame for. So you could burn the filth of your earth and use it to forge armor within which your clay body could lay."

"So that you could add wings, however profane, to your back, and soar. So that you could leave a land of scorched marks behind and touch the stars at least once."

"But as you live on the earth, if you burn it, then so will you."

A pause.

"To soar, you must burn. You must spark the flame of your own agony."

He couldn’t see Uriel anymore, but he could almost feel him smile—like the most profane of primordial devils and the most holy of ancient angels. He felt his aura deep within him.

It stank of temptation. It was horrifying. It was beyond him.

"So, tell me, Samael, will you burn?"

The void shook.

And high above, a gigantic Ouroboros appeared, looming with the same indifference it always did.

"..."

Samael didn’t know what Uriel had done to him, but he could feel it.

He had to make a choice.