"What do we do now?"
As Yuso stared down Father Laurence, Gabriel, and Rosaline, not one person dared to make the first move, initiating the fight.
Father Laurence's eyes narrowed at Yuso, practically scanning the redhead's form entirely—searching for something. To the elderly man, Yuso was strong, scarily so. He may not have been there to witness the battle in Ryakudatsu, but the lack of trees around them was disturbing. Especially in such a short amount of time.
However, after quickly observing Yuso's form, Father Laurence's aged eyes met demonic. Father Laurence's expression was steeled. It was the eyes! A curse. For the elderly man, it was a shame to see such a blessing be perverted in such malevolent ways. In other words, turned into a curse.
"It's the eyes," Father Laurence informed Gabriel and Rosaline, "he has a curse that gives him his power." The elderly man gritted his teeth at that, for it was people like Yuso who ruined the Gods' great gifts.
With his hand already wrapped tightly around the hilt of his sword, Gabriel immediately brandished Excalibur in his hands, revealing the shiny, golden-silver steel blade to Yuso. The nation's last true blessing.
While Gabriel and Rosaline had brought out their weapons, Father Laurence stood dubious, his eyes glued to Yuso. More specifically, his red hair. He had never gotten a good look at the male previously—but the sight before him irked him greatly.
'Impossible!' Father Laurence claimed to himself, finally removing his eyes from Yuso.
Standing mere meters away from the holy trio, Yuso stood in lethargy. It surprised him that they had found Master's base, the past sight of the torn cover on the tree returning to the redhead's mind. No matter.
"Be thankful I removed the trees, it gives us more room to fight, yes?" As Yuso commented, Father Laurence's teeth began to grit.
"Filthy heathens like you only want to spew blood and gain power. All while using what the great gods graced us with!" The elderly man declared, his sleeves swaying with every movement.
Yuso's eyelids lowered slightly. "Because of those gods, mass corruption and war ensued. They tampered with humanity, perhaps the most impetuous species, and granted them power."
Before the elderly Laurence could reply, Gabriel stepped forward, "They wanted to advance humanity! Form us into better people! Those wars, they were only caused by people like you!"
"Don't be foolish! The gods had managed to govern the actions of every man, treating them as if they were pawns. Before any gods had touched down, the nation was balanced. But when the presence of deities came, it divided the people!" Yuso proclaimed, his visage becoming slightly unhinged.
"However, one day—a man decided that he no longer wanted to be enslaved by the tenets of a god's society. He single-handedly swept away every god, one by one. He became the definition of the Devil." Yuso further informed.
Suddenly, Yuso's Shirugeto began to spin rapidly, his palms glowing a vibrant red. Gabriel and Rosaline gripped their weapons tighter, the muscles in their body becoming tense.
"I plan to become the successor of that man…" Yuso raised his arms, his palms facing the three before him. "... I plan to become the successor of Lucifer!"
*SHOOM!*
In a plethora of bright red flashes, five pentagrams surrounded Father Laurence, Gabriel, and Rosaline.
"Gabriel!" Father Laurence called out to the golden-blonde-haired male beside him, "Excalibur! Use it to deflect the curses assault!"
Gabriel nodded. Without a moment's notice, spikes protruded from the pentagrams, all directed at the three.
"Hah!" With a yellow glow encompassing the length of the blade, Gabriel dashed at breakneck speed and sliced at every pentagram with Excalibur, successfully destroying every spike and magic circle surrounding them.
Gabriel smiled as he lowered Excalibur, looking around for any remaining pentagrams.
"Yeah!" Gabriel hollered giddily, flashing his teeth with a bright smile.
Gabriel's smile disappeared as Excalibur began to shake. Then suddenly, as if the sword gained a mind of its own, it pushed itself to the side.
*TING!*
A pentagram had been launched at the Gabriel, but Excalibur quickly prevented the flying red circle of magic from reaching him.
Father Laurence smiled at the sight. "Gabriel! I knew you could wield Excalibur!" The elderly man exclaimed proudly. "Once the sword identifies itself with its owner, it protects them from any danger!"
"Wait!" Rosaline yelled abruptly, "where is he?"
Behind Rosaline—*SHOOM!*—a pentagram flashed into existence, enabling Yuso to dash out of it with a spike protruding from his palm. The redhead went for a quick jab at the silver-haired woman but was quickly avoided as she hopped away, throwing one of her knives at Yuso.
Yuso reacted quickly, dodging one of the incoming knives and clutching onto the chain that was connected to the hilt of the knife, yanking it toward him, successfully managing to pull Rosaline toward him.
"If I can get you out, then I'll only have to worry about the child." Yuso asserted as he quickly raised his leg, applying magic to the limb, and landed a swift kick to Rosaline's stomach, sending her flying backward a few meters.
"Rosaline!" Father Laurence called out to the silver-haired woman, watching as her body landed violently into the dirt and collided with the fallen trees.
Just as Yuso's eyes moved to Father Laurence, a battle cry was elicited out to the world.
"RAAH!"
*SHING!*
Yuso barely managed to dodge as Gabriel appeared behind Yuso in a flash, slashing at the redhead with brimming rage.
"KAH!"
Excalibur then began to shine brightly—*BOOM!*—blinding Yuso as it released a powerful explosion. It didn't matter if Yuso had dodged the first swing; this second attack was inevitable. However, to possibly block some of the impending explosion, Yuso formed a massive pentagram as a shield.
That sword, Yuso thought as he quickly found his balance upon landing back onto the ground. It was an impediment.
"That sword won't stop me, child. You will submit to death whether you like it or not!" Yuso swore as he sprung forward, leaping into the air by filling his legs with magic once more.
A crimson-red chain shot out from Yuso's glowing palm, then was planted into the ground beside Gabriel. Yuso then clenched his fist to grab onto the chain and pulled himself forward, landing a solid kick onto Excalibur as Gabriel used it as a barrier.
A knife suddenly flew toward Yuso while he was still off the ground, prompting him to swat it away with a pentagram-covered hand. Hopping off of Gabriel's sword, Yuso looked beyond the blonde teenager and spotted Rosaline returning to the fight, yanking her knife back into her grasp with the chain.
With Rosaline getting near, Gabriel shouted, "He creates portals of some kind! They seemingly store weapons inside! Along with being able to transport himself!"
Acknowledging the new information, Rosaline nodded with her eyes locked on Yuso, sliding in the dirt to stop herself. "From what we've seen, we need to be wary of our surroundings—he can spawn them anywhere, it seems."
Gabriel angled Excalibur to point at Yuso, glaring at the redhead with extreme acrimony. However, he made sure to refrain from inducing his actions with pure anger. "So stay keen—he's one guy! We got this, Rosaline!"
Yuso remained still. He could see the uncertainty in their faces, how on edge they feel.
"I can see that you're struggling on deciding your next move, so I'll give you an incentive," Yuso suddenly began to reason.
Raising his hand toward the sky, Yuso formed a massive pentagram—his eyes rotating clockwise as it flashed into reality.
"Fight me," Yuso started, "or be crushed to death."
Suddenly, a giant boulder came into view, falling out of the pentagram at a rapid pace, making everyone's eyes widen.
"Choice is yours."
Father Laurence eyed the giant boulder falling from the sky, his mind racing. "He's forcing them on the offense… narrowing their time to plan out their attacks." This isn't turning out well.
"Gabriel, use Excalibur on the boulder—I'll fend off Yuso for the time being," Rosaline yelled hurriedly.
Gabriel stared at the falling rock above, adorning a resolute expression. "All right!" The golden-blonde-haired teenager steeled his emotions, forcing Excalibur upward.
He only has so much time, the boulder was getting closer to the ground with each passing second.
A few meters away, Rosaline was rushing at Yuso. She gripped the chain of her knives, pouring her Aura Sense into her weapons. A purple glow began to radiate off of each knife attached to the chain.
With a forceful push, Rosaline tossed multiple knives toward Yuso, prompting the redhead to dance around every incoming attack and run toward the silver-haired woman.
With a fierce launch, Yuso jumped forward and threw a punch toward Rosaline. In response, she slid to the side, using her palm to strike right under Yuso's arm. As Yuso was momentarily discombobulated, she pulled each knife from the ground by yanking on the chain and, with a spin, wrapped each one around Yuso's body, ultimately restraining his movement entirely.
"Die, you heathen!"
With those words of aggression, Rosaline pointed her palm toward Yuso and created her strongest beam possible, trying to blast Yuso back to where he came—Hell.
Breathing heavily, Rosaline gazed at the giant root that was left indented to the ground from her blast. It cleared out any fallen tree in its path.
"Quite the experienced fighter," Rosaline's eyes widened at the familiar voice, whipping her body around, "but your prowess is just not enough."
*SHANK!*
"Grah!"
Blood flew from Rosaline's mouth as a stone spike from Yuso's hand found itself lodged in her abdomen, forcing her to grip the unsuspecting spike in pain and retaliation.
Rosaline pushed with all of her might and separated the spike from her abdomen, nearly falling down as she walked backward, away from Yuso. The blood had stained her outfit, sticking to her skin as she caressed her wound.
In the distance, Gabriel's eyes were dilated, observing the fight between Yuso and Rosaline as he kept Excalibur raised above him. His head swung up, glaring at the falling boulder.
"Come on!" Gabriel yelled at Excalibur, "Please! Come ooooon!"
Yuso started walking toward Rosaline, making her stumble and drop her knives in an attempt to back away from the redhead.
Rosaline tried reaching for her knives on the ground, but before she could grab onto the chain connected to the knives, a pentagram appeared and swallowed them, leaving Rosaline stranded and unarmed.
"What happened?" Yuso examined Rosaline with a monotonous visage, "is your faith not strong enough? Did your prayers not go through? Or were you too weak to back up your outrageous beliefs?"
"S-shut up!" Rosaline demanded, blood leaking out of her mouth as she forced words out from her throat. "I'll never listen to the words of someone who believes in appropriating murder!"
In a fit of rage, Rosaline used every last bit of strength she had and pushed herself toward Yuso, her palm facing the redhead in hopes of blasting him once more.
However…
…Yuso gripped onto Rosaline's forearm, his palm glowing brightly once more as his grip tightened around her arm. Suddenly, Rosaline's entire arm disappeared, prompting Yuso's hold to fall and his hand to retract to his side.
"You never had the power to stop me, you knew that." Yuso patronized Rosaline, looking down at her as she fell to her knees.
Rosaline's expression showed true horror as she looked to where her arm used to be. What was this power? Just by merely grasping her arm, Yuso managed to make it disappear just like that? Truly horrifying.
Yuso then extended his left arm out, his black kimono's sleeve dangling loosely from his arm as he wrapped his fingers around Rosaline's neck, lifting her up and off the ground with relative ease.
Gabriel and Father Laurence both watched in fear as Yuso held Rosaline by the throat–imagining the worst of outcomes.
Gabriel non-stop pushed for Excalibur to do something, anything to stop the boulder so he could prevent everything around them from being crushed and save Rosaline. But, as time slowly passed, his hope began to dwindle.
"Come on! Hold on, Rosaline! I'll save you soon!" Gabriel hollered, every muscle in his body tensing as he forced magic into Excalibur.
Yuso tilted his head to the side slightly, gazing at Rosaline. It was weird—feeling emotion, that is. He almost felt merciful, but, at the same time, it felt necessary. So, to keep pace, Yuso did what he believed to be needed.
"You fought valiantly, but it's time for you to submit."
With Yuso's parting words for Rosaline, the redhead snapped her neck—quick and painless. Dragging it on would've been barbaric.
As Rosaline's body fell limp to the ground, Gabriel's body froze momentarily, almost forgetting the dire situation he was in. This didn't seem right. They were supposed to be somewhere safe, hidden from the heathens of the nations until the time was right to come out.
Not…
…This.
—Flashback—
Ten Years Prior:
A seven-year-old Gabriel could be seen sitting on the edge of a table, a towel wrapped around his tiny body snuggly. Miniscule water droplets dripped off the edges of his face as he sat silently inside of a huge church.
He didn't know where he was. Previously, he was lost, waiting for death in the outdoors. His parents had recently passed away during an expedition as warriors for Ryakudatsu. Shortly after, he had lost his home. Not being able to keep up with the place as a small child, he was kicked out. The village's greed went to great lengths, and it's only just affected Gabriel.
Ryakudatsu's old ruler died of an illness, taking a massive toll on the village. But recently, a new minister had arrived.
However, as Gabriel was stranded in the rain, two figures had walked up to him. An old man and a silver-haired woman. He had no clue as to who they were, but they unexpectedly gave him shelter, food, water, and so much more.
Presently, as Gabriel sat on the table inside the—what he was told—Montgomery Church. A door suddenly opened and in came the silver-haired lady.
"Are you ill, child?" She asked gently, placing folded clothes beside Gabriel. They were warm and the right size for the golden-blonde-haired child.
"N-no, ma'am," Gabriel replied in a weak voice. He's most likely cold.
Noticing Gabriel's shivering, the woman spoke, "I'll go set the fire. Those clothes are clean, please change into them to prevent any future illness'."
And she did exactly that, setting a fire for Gabriel to sit by in comfort. The clothes were also comfortable.
As the lady was placing new wood into the fire, Gabriel glanced at the woman and her blank expression. She had never smiled, nor frowned, Gabriel noted.
"What is your name?" Gabriel inquired abruptly, making the silver-haired take her hand away from the fireplace and pause.
"Rosaline." That was all she said, standing up and walking away.
"Where are you going?" Gabriel questioned, watching as Rosaline began to exit the room.
Rosaline turned around for a split second. "Don't worry, Laurence and I will return shortly."
She then left quietly.
Laurence must have been the name of the older man, Gabriel presumed.
XXX
Ever since that day, Gabriel has been under the care of a man named Laurence and Rosaline.
It turned out that Laurence was the new minister, as well as the head of the Montgomery Church, promptly giving him the name 'Father Laurence.' But as time continued to pass, Gabriel only referred to Father Laurence as 'Father,' more or less out of familiarity.
Currently, Gabriel was outside winging a Jo Staff as practice, training for what Father considered to be important for the future. Gabriel was then told that he could be transformed into the one that would go on to save the nations from their sins, all beginning with faith. Gabriel took that to heart. Since his parent's death, the world has only ever seemed unfair—immoral. No set of code.
That was what he thought until he discovered religion and the gods from up above.
Everyone potentially having the same standards, same beliefs, and correct morals sounded like heaven on the three nations. It seemed possible, especially with Father. They'd do it, change the nations. One day.
"WAH!" Gabriel hollered as he suddenly fell. A surge of pain began to swell from within his ankle, making it hard to stand.
"Gabriel!" A voice in the distance called out. It was Rosaline.
Rosaline quickly ran up to Gabriel kneeling as she inspected his ankle. Sighing, she noticed the issue—he sprained his ankle. She swiftly scooped the now twelve-year-old Gabriel into her arms and headed to the Montgomery Church.
There, she tended to Gabriel's ankle with utmost care. Delicately wrapping bandages around his ankle.
"Thank you, Rosaline." Gabriel expressed gratitude, looking at his ankle.
Rosaline backed away from Gabriel's ankle, looking at the blonde-haired child softly.
And, to Gabriel's surprise, a small smile was on her face.
It was so kind. He always wondered how to make Rosaline smile, and he still doesn't know-how. But one day, along with all of his other ambitions, he'll make her smile. Smile like Father, smile the people of his village.
Smile like a person with hope!
—Flashback End—
Gabriel stood frozen, the shadow of the boulder covering the entire area. Any second now and it would collide with the ground.
His golden locks concealed his eyes, tears slipping out and falling down his face. Similar to the rain that fell on him on the day he was rescued by Father Laurence and Rosaline. Both of them.
"Gabriel, please. It didn't work." Father Laurence declared in a near whisper, calling out to the blonde meters before him.
Gabriel didn't move an inch. A foreign emotion swelled up and felt ready to explode. He didn't know what to do. He failed to remove the boulder. He left Rosaline to fight Yuso alone.
Suddenly, Gabriel's eyes shot open, shortly followed by a curdling scream.
"RAAAAAHH!"
*BOOOOOOM!*
A yellow beam was then shot toward the sky, colliding with the falling boulder in an instant. It almost appeared as if the beam could reach heaven.
Reflexively, Yuso formed a single pentagram as a barrier, watching as the power of Excalibur roared through the nations.
The boulder didn't stand a chance, because as the beam dissipated, no remnants of the falling rock could be seen—all of it disintegrating immediately. Gabriel slowly lowered Excalibur, his head craned toward the ground.
Yuso eyed Gabriel, awaiting any further actions. But all the redhead got was the coldest glare a teenager could muster.
A glare full of killing intent.
XXX
Miles away, Imawashiki could be seen walking outside on one of the castle's walls; typically where one of the Furusato Unit members would be when they're on the lookout.
Recently, with Kiyo being brought back to life, Imawashiki has had a lot on his mind. Some good, some bad. It was quite the experience—being able to bring back the dead. It was also slightly traumatizing for some. However, they'd just have to ignore their feelings.
Imawashiki then came to a sudden stop, spotting something off in the distance. The fiery butler squinted his eyes as he whispered, "... The hell?"
Adorning a serious look, Imawashiki vanished into a swirl of fire.
It was quite a surprising sight because off in the distance, a massive beam could be seen shining brightly.
XXX
Hey! Emotional enough? Hah! This story is pact-full of way more traumatizing experiences for these characters! But how will they happen? Through death? Through the truth? Or through the way of life? Find out by staying tuned for more!
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_