Bloody Odyssey

Heavens.

Alfonzo's eyes widened in deep bewilderment, his gaze fixed on the figures floating high above — Dax, Madeka, Nadia, and the Angel — all of them wreathed in overwhelming power that made the very air tremble with reverence and fear.

I will reach this height someday.

His fists clenched tightly until his knuckles turned white.

I will not lose.

Passion burned fiercely in his heart, hot and unwavering, a vow forged in the crucible of this chaotic night.

"What is that thing?"

A young guard shook violently in his boots, too terrified to leave the dark alley where he hid. On the ground around him lay his fallen comrades — still breathing, but broken and bloodied. Their eyes stared blankly into nothing.

He clutched the single necklace hanging from his throat with trembling fingers.

If not for this… I would be dead.

Alfonzo turned to face him.

The young guard's eyes widened in terror and desperation. But before he could move or think, Alfonzo vanished — gone as if he had never been there.

The guard collapsed onto his backside, heart hammering.

He clenched his head, eyes wide with raw panic. "No, no, no, no, no…"

With this much chaos consuming the city…

Elo!

Terror deeper than anything he had ever felt crashed over him like a tidal wave. He scrambled to his feet, snatching up a fallen weapon, his hands shaking around the hilt.

Please… please be safe.

He stumbled through the destroyed alleyway, half-blind with fear. Corpses littered the path. Buildings had collapsed into smoking craters. The moon above was the only light — pale, cold, and indifferent.

Then he heard the screaming.

Little kids.

He rounded a corner and froze. Five or six children huddled around the lifeless body of a woman, her chest soaked in blood, eyes still open in death.

"Mama Mary…" one of the children whimpered, voice small and broken.

The guard took one hesitant step forward, then stopped cold.

Elo is all I have…

He turned his back, guilt tearing at his chest.

"Don't worry, everyone!"

A child's voice rang out — loud, clear, impossibly brave in the face of horror.

"I will protect you! Go hide!"

The guard froze. He knew that voice.

He moved forward just far enough to peer past a large crater. His heart shattered.

A little boy with beast ears — soft grey wolf ears — stood at the front of the group, gripping a wooden stick with both hands, pointing it defiantly at one of the blood monsters emerging from the rubble.

"Elo!"

The guard's scream was filled with pure dread. He ran toward the bloody figure with no regard for his own life — but he was too far. Too slow. The bloody entity had already begun moving toward the little boy, drawn by his courage, his fear, his life force.

Then an alien figure appeared.

It stepped brutally onto the monster's face, pointing Blue Death — now transformed into its base form — directly at the creature's head.

"Two is enough."

Click.

The monster's head exploded in a gruesome spray of gore. It fell lifeless to the ground, twitching. But Alfonzo did not stop. Through his alien eyes, he fired again, the shot tearing through the monster's chest and destroying it completely.

He turned.

The beast-man guard stood behind him, blade pointed coldly at Alfonzo's face, hands shaking violently.

"Beast man?"

Alfonzo gently moved the blade away with one finger.

"I'm surprised your kind lives in this city."

He walked past the man toward the little boy and reached out to touch the child's head. But the beast-man father quickly stepped between them, hiding his son behind his legs.

Alfonzo's hand paused. He looked at the father's terrified eyes, then at the boy's — bright, curious, and unafraid despite everything.

He retracted his palm.

"Find a safe place for these kids."

Alfonzo turned to leave.

"May I know the name of my benefactor?"

The guard stepped forward. For the first time that night, fear gave way to something brighter — hope.

Alfonzo paused.

"…I am a knight of the House of Fall. I have no name. My name is Fall."

He walked away. Each step was heavy with purpose.

"Welcome to the era of the Fallen."

His tone was calm and resolute.

"The Blood River will be handled by us."

Up above, Nadia faced the Angel.

Her hair was dyed crimson, not just with blood but with raw power. Her aura had completely changed. Her eyes were different — cold, empty, devoid of emotion. It was as if part of her body had been hijacked by something ancient and merciless.

She had no emotions in her eyes.

Just like Dax on a normal day.

She looked over the world below, ignoring the Angel entirely. Through the chaos, the death, and the screams rising from the city — she felt nothing.

"What are you loo—"

The Angel appeared meters before her.

Before he could finish, his wings were gone — severed cleanly and now held in Nadia's palms like worthless trophies. She threw them aside without a second glance. His descent began.

"What… what just happened? I'm falling…"

Nadia stretched her palm outward.

Memories flooded her mind — not her own, but the sword's. Countless lives. Countless deaths. Every soul that had ever been cut down by Cil. She lost count. There was no hesitation in the blade.

She whispered unknowingly, voice hollow.

"The blade doesn't hesitate."

She appeared again.

Her edge separated his waist from his torso in one clean, merciless stroke. The Angel crashed meters away from the city, creating a deep crater beside the walls. Dust and debris exploded upward.

This can't be real.

The sudden surge in power just because of a sword. He moved nimbly, as if his body could feel no pain, using his hands as legs while dragging his severed lower half. Blood splattered everywhere.

My regeneration is weakening… My connection to God is severed.

He looked up at the figure descending toward him.

Is this my end?

She was gone — leaving only an afterimage and a crack in space. She reappeared high in the sky, holding the Apostle/Angel by his hair like a broken doll.

She faced Dax.

A smile of a deranged lover spread across her lips. She placed the blade against the Angel's neck.

His eyes locked onto the true enemy of his god. At this moment, he felt no remorse.

"Kya kya kya… Son of the vessel…"

He looked up at the stars.

"Ooh, you could have let me eat this child as an infant."

Dax smiled.

"The gifts I have for you."

He leaned casually on Madeka and waved his hand.

Behind him, the gates to his lab opened — wide, hungry, and waiting.

Nadia began to saw.

Slowly. Deliberately. Decapitating the still-living head from its body as they both fell into the mouth of Dax's domain.

The gates closed.

The city grew quieter.

And somewhere in the darkness, a wolf-boy clutched his father's hand and wondered why the sky had finally stopped screaming.