Hundreds of human-like monstrosities emerged from the dark alleyways of buildings. The veins on their dysfunctional bodies oozed a disgusting purple glow and their mouths frothed with slobber, like a wolf with rabies. Bloodshot eyes, tearing skin, shredded clothes, and even the way they walked and snarled enhanced their grotesque bodies.
"So the bomb was just the fireworks for your entrance," Kuro said from the castle's balcony. "I see you still have no problem with killing."
"Why should I," Lust questioned, a fake innocent smile on her face. "Pawns aren't pets, they're tools. You use them to get what you want, then you dispose of them before they become a threat to you."
"Man you've got serious trust issues Lust."
"Oh dear, it seems that you've forgotten my name already. Don't you remember me Kuro dear? My name is Hina! Hi-na~!"
I unsheathed Wrath from his scabbard and fully brought out his power. His black flames engulfed my body and wings extended from my back, with an bitten apple engraved on one of them. That symbol finally started to make sense to me. This must've been that rogue power that I was feeling. It really was my own.
"The power of a Sin, borrowed from the Son of God," Lust snarked. "Oh, the irony. If only 'he' could see you now. The disappointment on his face would be priceless!"
"Are far as I'm aware, the guy hated me," I barked at her. "I don't really care what he thinks. He can hate me all he wants, but I'm not listening. He's dead anyways, so good riddance I guess."
"Be careful about this one Hiro," Wrath said to me from within. "She's a newer Sin just like Shana, but she's much stronger than Greed."
I could see Xylvia and Leonna running to me with Shana in tow. Shana's wounds were already healed.
"She ok?" I asked.
"Yeah, she's fine," Xylvia said. "Just a little winded."
"There everywhere," Leonna muttered. "Fighting off these Corrupted will be tricky."
While the numbers of the Corrupted greatly outnumbered us, from what I heard they were pretty easy to deal with. However, they remained stationary, right below Lust.
"Hey, Hiro." Shana spoke up.
"What's up Shana?" I asked.
She suddenly grabbed my hand and wrapped it around her neck. I was about to question what she was doing, but then she quickly went into her blade form, but my hand didn't have a firm grip on her, so I accidentally dropped her.
"Oh, s-sorry." I quickly apologized.
"Hrm! You're so clumsy!" Shana pouted."
"But, what are you doing? I know you're fine, but I've never fought with you."
"You'd say no if I asked, so I'm making the decision myself."
She had me there.
"Just deal with it! I'm fighting with you and that's final!"
"Ok ok, please don't be mad with me!" I panicked.
"So adorable." Xylvia muttered.
"By blood or not, he really is her father now." Leonna said.
I sighed deeply.
"That's so adorable," said a cutesy voice that, surprisingly, came from Lust. "Oh Kuro, why couldn't that have been us? A happy marriage with a healthy child in a beautiful house on the countryside. How nice would that have been?!"
"You were unstable, obsessive, had no care for anyone, and always trying to kill someone," Kuro said. "You're not exactly my type."
"Oh, but that's not what you said back in our world. Remember that day we were captured, and had to witness that gruesomely scary death?"
Her voice suddenly did a maniacal change from innocent, to horrifyingly chilling.
"You were so scared, it was adorable. The way you shook with every step taken, you're breathing spiking every second, you're heart beating rapidly. I just…couldn't help myself. A girl has wants to you know."
Kuro remained silent.
"What you wanted was control, not love," Kirino spoke up. "I would never have given him up to someone like you!"
"Oh, and you're not the same way," Lust asked, her voice suddenly changing back to an innocent one. "From what I remember, didn't your parents adopt him after his grandparents died?"
"What's that got to do with anything?" Kirino asked.
"All that time you had to get close to him. To take advantage of his weak mind. He was depressed, which made it even easier for you. Time. The one thing you had that I didn't. If only we switched places."
"No, that's not true. I just…wanted to help him. That's all. I-I never-"
"Stop it," Kuro suddenly said. "Don't let her do it to you again Kirino."
Suddenly he disappeared. And then-
*SLASH*
He pulled out a blade and connected it to Lust, but she was also ready with her own dagger.
"I have many regrets from my human life, but the one thing I regret the most…was giving you a second chance. I should've snapped your neck that day."
"Yes~! That's it," Lust said, a crimson blush suddenly enflaming her face. "That's the face I want to see~! That face…so full…of a killing intention~! I…can't control myself~! It's too good…too hot…too…much~! …NO!"
Her eyes nearly rolled all the way back before she quickly knocked Kuro back with her dagger and backed off a little.
"No, you can't lose your composure," she said to herself. "You're so close. You can't afford to make a mistake. Especially not right now."
Close…to what?
"Forgive me," Lust said after composing herself. "I nearly lost sight of my endgame. Anyways, I'm losing patience, so let's get this started already!"
*BURST!* *SHINK~!*
The ground suddenly shook below me and-
"BLEGH!"
Black, rotting sticks that looked like tree branches stabbed through my sides. I coughed blood in response.
"Drop those swords." Lust said.
A black, moldy color spread through my veins, making my limbs feel weaker and weaker until I eventually dropped both Wrath and Shana. They both quickly turned back into their original forms to fight.
Everyone around me shouted my name, dread and anger written across all their faces.
"I believe you and your little gang dubbed these creatures as 'Screechers' correct," Lust chuckled at me. "Quite the accurate name I must say. These thing are my little happy helpers who go across the universe to end certain worlds. On a global scale, you might as well take your own life. On a universal scale…"
Her chuckle suddenly turned sinister, evil, like a mask belong pulled off her face.
"…not even the thought of going to heaven will save you."
"No, don't tell me…" Kuro started to say.
"Hmm~? Right on the money! We're gonna destroy any planet that has even the slightest remembrance of this cursed religion. Nobody will remember us. We'll be free to slaughter anything while the humans kill each other off."
"I don't understand," Kirino exclaimed. "What about the war?!"
"Hmm~? Oh, the war? Yeah, he doesn't really want that. He just wants revenge."
Who is "he?" The old Devil?
"What worth is the universe when hope is taken away from it?"
A hoarse voice from an older man came from right behind Lust. His face was wrinkled and scarred, eyes golden, but dark, hair blond, but musty and messy, huge angelic wings that were majestic, but grey.
"No…" Kuro muttered.
"Hello old friend," the man said. "I'm sorry for the whole banishment thing, but I couldn't just let you have any power you know. Seeing you succeed is the last thing I want to happen."
"Micheal…how could you…?"
"Wait, it was you that banished him from heaven?!" Kirino exclaimed, shocked to her core.
"That is correct Devil," Micheal said. "His source of power had to be cut off somehow."
"That doesn't make any sense! How can you banish him when he's the king?!"
Micheal turned to Kuro, who was still trying to process everything.
"Kuro, listen very well to what I'm about to say. I may have given you the title, but I never gave you the key. At first, I wanted to wait until you were ready, but as time flew by I realized that what I was doing was all for nothing…"
"All…for nothing…" Kuro muttered. "How is that…possible?"
"When you've witnessed everything through my eyes, you'll see why I'm doing this. So much hope, lost. Just like that. In the blink of an eye, someone that everyone looks up to, the beacon of hope, the King of Heaven, our savior, even he ended up playing right into the hands of Lucifer himself. And this boy…"
Micheal's index finger was pointed at me. It felt like a dagger was stabbing me in the chest.
"…was the catalyst that started it all…"
"But Micheal…he's human," Kuro muttered. "They make mistakes. I was human, so I know that."
"That may be true, but making a mistake that exceeded even God's expectations is the highest crime that exceeded all the way up to the Red Strings of Fate."
Micheal then turned to me.
"Why…why couldn't you have just left that tree alone," he asked me, his eyes watering, full of hatred. "You were special. You were selected to lead the human race to Earth. To have children with your partner and show them the beauty of the new world. But you threw all of that away."
"His mind was corrupted by Lucifer, Kirino said. "He's a human. He didn't know better. Besides, you're no better! Look at all the corrupted behind you! Do you really think they wanted to end up like that? You used their emotions against them!"
"They're nothing but trash that should be used as tools for war. Look at them. Their minds so fragile. So easy to manipulate, yet difficult to understand. They question everything and have such a hard time accepting anything."
"They're humans! Their minds are curious. Of course they want to know everything! That's their basic structure!"
"You're right. They'll do anything to gain knowledge. Even betray their own creator. That is why they must be destroyed."
Suddenly, Micheal and I were face to face. He looked composed, but I could see the evil dripping from his pores, the anger bleeding from his stare. He was full of so much hate that it hurt to look at him.
"I'll start with you." He said with a sinister smile, the same on that Lust had.
*SHING!*
"Do it. I fucking dare you."
"I don't care who you are. Your blood will spill if you even touch him."
Both Xylvia and Leonna surrounded Micheal, their power and weapon drawn at him.
"Hmm. You dare challenge an archangel of heaven," he asked them.
Suddenly…
"Hmm…"
He just stared at the both of them. For a long time, he simply just stared…
Then…
"I see. You three really are something special. Always managing to find each other without fail. His curse truly is powerful."
The curse? The one that Kuro mentioned?
Every limb in my body felt like it was burning alive. Whatever this Screecher thing is, Kagashi was right. It was definitely no joke.
"What if I were to kill you," Micheal suddenly said to me. "Would another storyline begin? Would those two die as well? Oh the possibilities are endless."
Xylvia and Leonna were about to attack, but-
"I don't think so." Lust said.
With a whiff of her hand, the two were sent flying into the castle along with Shana and Wrath, who were affected by the Screechers poison. The doors opened for them, then closed after they were inside. Then, she summoned a spherical barrier around Kuro and Kirino. They couldn't break out.
"You know, for being leaders of the realms, you guys are pretty weak." Lust chuckled.
"Now then…"
A felt something change around me. I couldn't see it, but I definitely felt it.
"I have to hold my end of the deal for Hina, but she doesn't want the you with a soft heart, she wants the dark, twisted you. The you that slaughters without thinking. The you that loses his temper very easily. The you…that's completely insane. You shall be sent through the universe, witnessing many dreadful things, then come back centuries later with no remorse for anything. You'll be broken beyond repair. Goodbye…Adam. Oh, and I thank you for helping us find another Sin. We'll be sure to take care of that group you were with."
"No…wait…don't…" I muttered. But the poison was to strong for me to even say anything.
"Bye Bye Hiro!" Lust waved at me.
Micheal then grabbed my neck and shoved me backwards. I thought that I was going to hit the floor, but instead-
*CRASH!*
The sound of glass breaking reverberated in my head. The reality that I saw in front of me turned into fragment shards of glass that scattered everywhere, then disappeared. I was all alone. Not a glimmer of life was anywhere near me. Nothing but a black void surrounded me. Few trickles of glowing light were in the space above me. I reached out to it, but could never get closer. If anything, I was drifting further and further away from it…