August and Azazel didn't take the fallen Angel's threat lightly, leading to their simultaneous disappearance. One bearing a faux Blackened Blade, the other a destructible robot with a soul—this would be child's play for Captain Azrael of Retly's brass.
Having anticipated a lower attack to begin the assault, the Angel's fingers caught the incoming Blade with maximum accuracy. He'd intended to the slash to behead him from below, but now the Crow was a sitting duck. Or rather, that's how it seemed to Azrael. Snatching his mock katana from the winged enemy's grasp, Karlo stepped back, seemingly dancing on the square tiles scattered below his soles.
Azrael was entirely ignorant to the fact that was pacing in a circle, continually chasing the Detective by walking sideways. August smirked as he'd watched the battle from below.
'If I attack now, it SHOULD end him instantly! Then again, that's not a fact-based assumption so it's entirely possible I could miss or just borderline injure him.' August clicked his teeth, leaning back against the rooftop's verge 'I honestly can't believe I held a one-sided mental argument. Well, on the bright side, now I know that I should wait for the signal instead of jumping right in. That being said, hurry up, Azazel, and find me an opening already!'
While the Reaper silently wished for the Crow's triumph from above, the latter of the duo continued pacing. That was until Azrael's vein reached its height—and gave off the illusion it was about to pop! Growling as his hand grabbed the hanging sheathe against his waist, the Angel Captain screamed.
"FINE THEN! You wanna clash blades? LET'S DO IT!"
Azazel halted pacing and aimed his sword ahead, Dark Determination burning at his azure pupils' centers as he glared forward. Despite the serious tone this fight held with the way it held his possibility for perishing, the masked Detective smirked.
"Let's dance."
Once the Angel Captain muttered those words, it had begun—the fight had started.
Azazel wasn't the one to run ahead, though. Instead, the Captain rushed forward, leaving a gust of wind in his wake. He clashed with Azazel, but instead of loving into place, he slid to the side after their swords left sparks. The Crow adjusted his positioning, and went on the defensive, now holding his Black sword with one hand. Azrael slashed at his enemy's face from below twice, however, his attacks were easily thwarted once Karlo repositioned his sword to block those reckless slices.
Noticing a demonic glare in the Angel's eyes, the Crow hummed, and then returned to using both hands for his katana's handle. As the moonlight shined upon them, Azazel twirled around, having the blade spun around his body with him—his neck, more specifically. With the sword's length, not only was he able to do enact this attack easily, but it threw the Captain back and onto his defenses.
One slash against his sword left sparks, causing Azrael's teeth to clench, and then another mere second later. His blade flew out of his hands and into the air, but he magically caught it. Instead of easily holding it at the handle, the tip pointing to the sky, he reversed his grip and let the steel aim toward the ground. Rushing ahead, he immediately leaped into the air to kick his opponent in the chest.
Karlo blocked this attack but was sent sliding across the ground's tiles regardless. Looking to the sky, there dove his winged enemy with his blade in tow. Raising his sword, allowing their blades to momentarily clash, the Captain spun away, only to go for a beheading. But then, Azazel vanished—or more accurately, he ducked at an insane speed. Leaving vanishing afterimage as he continually swiftly moved, Karlo's speed engulfed his arm. Thanks to his innate strength and the accumulated speed throughout his punch, the attack was insanely successful.
Not only did the Angel Captain receive a blow to the ribs, but he was sent flying back down the street with no control over how he flailed. The Crow held no mercy in his eyes—for he hadn't even swung his sword once, and even so, he remained a formidable fighter.
"Go," he commanded.
Azazel's voice left August, still atop the rooftop, puzzled.
"Huh?" The Reaper asked.
"Go forward! Don't stop until you can't fight anymore!" The Crow ordered his white-haired partner with a momentary upward glance.
And just like that, they both understood the Crow's intentions. Not only would the Reaper join the fray with those words, but the two of them would clash together to defeat the Winged Captain once and for all. At times like these, when obliterating evil with the man he titled 'brother', he couldn't help but smile as he held the hood that hid his head.
"LET'S GO FOR THE WIN!"
And with that, the two vanished—having run ahead to finish off their winged enemy.
Halfway down the street, Azrael sat up in the crater he'd formed upon his landing. Scratching his head, he slowly stood up, dissipating the surrounding smoke prohibiting his vision with a single wave. And as his vision returned to normalcy, his black eyes widened upon seeing their imminent bodies rapidly speeding down the road.
'They're… BOTH coming for me?'
He didn't have any more time to react before he was surrounded by more smoke, the byproduct of Azazel's arrival once he skidded to a halt. The Crow stood before him, angling the Blackened Blade as it slid across the ground to his face. Azrael felt their blades instantly clash as he raised his sword to block the blow. But their swordplay continued, Azazel pressed further, allowing Azrael's feet to rapidly move in sync with the Crow's.
From above, blue sparks filled the surrounding smoke cloud, only piquing the Reaper's intrigue further as he scaled the rooftops. Azazel and the Captain were akin to blurs, slashing their swords from side to side, hoping at some point that one of their slices would cut the other. The Crow grunted after diverting another slash—and then kicked at the Angel's knee. Sending him to the healthy knee, the Captain seethed, inhaling the air from his gritted teeth.
That was before he spotted the incoming Blade designed to split him in two. Raising his sword to defend himself, the Captain rolled away and went for the Crow's open side. Intending to thrust the metal fully into his opponent's flesh, Karlo's eyebrow raised and his leg quickly followed. Seconds before the Angel's blade could stab him from his blind spot, Azazel's foot stepped on the steel, effectively locking his arms to the ground.
There was nothing left for him now—that was what Azazel thought. Instead, the Captain's wings retracted from his spine, and with a simple windy gust, the smoke had disappeared. Clenching his teeth at this sight with an irritated look over his face, his lips parted.
"AUGUST!!!!" The Crow screamed.
"All you had to do was ask!" The Reaper replied.
As if an Angel descending from the Heavens, the Reaper leaped from his perch and pounced toward him. Just before he could land on the ground before himself or beside Azazel, Azrael's wings flapped. The oddest thing occurred before his eyes, however. Inhaling all the wind in an area and then directing it toward someone else, specifically the Crow, should've sent him flying.
That was until he'd realized he no longer had those wings—the pain hadn't settled in yet. The Reaper had torn off his angelic wings, permanently grounding him once he carelessly threw them to the floor.
"Man, you're weak. I didn't even have to step in and help you," August commented, throwing his hood back.
Some seconds of silence persisted courtesy of the Crow's silence, for August hadn't turned to realize his partner was scratching his chin.
"Somethin' wrong?" The white-haired man asked.
"Yeah. Do you have any quarrels about dissecting this 'Angel' limb from limb?" Azazel asked while removing his Crow mask.
"Uh, not really. Can I ask why though?" August was scratched his nape while questioning Azazel.
"If this thing is an Incarnated Artifact lien Natalia or me, it's possible that he could have angelic blood. And you remember what we can do with that when implanted into a human, right?"
The implications that Azazel's hypothesis held were exponential—leaving even August's eye to widen. In this New World, where Requiems beside Alex were erased from existence, humanity's innovation ceaselessly continued.
"You don't mean…" August said.
"I do. If we obtain Azrael's angelic blood, it could very well be possible to create another Requiem within Riot's ranks."
The immovable duo of the Reaper and the Crow beat the Angel Captain Azrael. Upon his defeat, the discovery they make holds the potential to tip the balance of the Riot-Retly War in their favor.
To Be Continued.