Against their pleads I turned around and walked away. They tried to stop me and pull me back but all they could do was grab the air that my illusions consisted of.
Eventually I reached the outside of the cave and met up with the angel of time. There we both flew up to prevent any further human interference.
"I am so sorry you had to do that. But if everything works out it will all be worth it."
"No," I replied while staring at the dark sky in front of us. "You are not sorry at all. This is what you wanted all along isn't it?"
Knowing that her words would not come trough to me she did not reply.
We pursued to fly over the ocean that led to Atlantis. I did not know if this was actually where we were going. Or if it was some place beyond that. However, at this point I could hardly even care.
After some time, we indeed reached Atlantis. And we were now following the long tunnel to the gates.
"You are still worried about them, aren't you? Trust me you don't have to be. At this point the angels I sent would have taken them to hell and they would be pretty close to the rift in space. They will be fine."
I ignored her words and just asked a question in response given that I did not want to think about them right now. "Why are we here?"
Alice sighed and blankly stared at the tunnel that seemingly endlessly stretched out in front of us.
"There are still people here. And whether we want it or not, they are destined to fall and have their souls taken by demons. Angels are not allowed to intervene and if we just leave them be they won't be able to survive the merging with hell. So, if that is bound to happen anyways, then it is better if the demon that takes their souls is you."
"And you couldn't even be bothered to ask if I wanted that? You could have at least tried to change that so called destiny."
Of course, she did not reply and kept guiding me trough the tunnel. Eventually we reached the gates that I now knew oh so well. With a mere flick of her hand the gates flung open, and Atlantis was displayed in front of us.
There was almost nothing left of the lands in front of the walls of the city. One could hardly tell that mighty ruins one stood in front of the gates. The tall grass that used to be there wherever you looked had been scorched away in the heat of battle.
"If you really think that there is no other way. Then fine, I will do it."
I took of and flew towards the remnants of the city that surprisingly still stood tall.
Flying over the city I could see how there were indeed a lot of people left. Some were scavenging for food while others were treating wounds or sharpening weapons.
I took a deep breath. Tough I still felt like it was wrong I understood that it was indeed necessary. Locking the gods away would surely not be easy and their souls were the necessary sacrifices for me to succeed. I could not place their lives above all the other worlds.
But still, was killing a large group of survivors' evil? They all had hopes dreams and thoughts, a will to persevere, to overcome. And I would be wiping that all away.
So yes, it was evil. The very moment I placed one thing above the other I was evil. I knew that there was indeed no place for tolerance or even consideration of the tough to look for another option. They needed to die by my hands.
I let the earth rise and made buildings crumble under my might. A gigantic mass of fire started to for above the heads of the people before it slowly dug itself in the ground melting everything around it in the proses. Even the flesh of the people who had no hope of escaping. Some of them had tried to take shelter in the remnants of the buildings. But all they did was just slowing their death down a little.
I did what Allice and I thought was best regardless of the effects it would have on these people. be it for better or for worse.
Once the ground had hardened enough to not give in under my weight, I walked down the melted wasteland that was now littered with the souls of those who died here.
I faintly smiled. Beatrice and Noah would surely have loved this outcome. They adored the idea of sacrificing everything for the so called good I was going to bring. Tough for all the people I had just killed I just the monster that killed all of them.
Once I was done collecting souls I came back to Alice.
"Do you have more of your dirty work that I have to clean up or can we move on now?"