The two faced off in a dream akin to that of reality.
They were still standing amidst the darkness of the ravine caused by Valeira's slash, but somehow.. the entire surroundings felt off.
Covered in the darkness, the Seraphim's face was now prevalent.
One was a lion's face, the other was a goat, and the one in the middle is a beastly and ugly face that was contorting in pain.
The black liquid pulsated on Her chest and was now existing on Her bloodstream.
That said, the blood of the divine was not that easily swayed by a foreign substance, but Death was a different thing..
The cells inside the Seraphim were battling against this so-called "Death Virus".
She thought and her instincts screamed for Her to end her opponent quickly.
But with Her Soul reserves down the drain and Her physical manifestation of the Soul being torn from the roots, the Seraphim had no way of fighting back!
All except for Her jagged claws that had already pierced through Valeira's body.
It was not a mere slash but rather.. it inflicted and enraged the emotions lying deep within a person.
And the Seraphim had already struck the Queen down with various slashes when they were falling down!
It would take a matter of seconds before she would have to succumb to an overgrowing sense of emotions, losing control of her identity in an instant!
It was a battle against time.
Either the Death Virus would succeed in killing the Seraphim first, or the surge of emotions would overwhelm Valeria first..
Nevertheless, even in a dream, these still took effect yet at a much slower pace as the Dream conjured by Valeira was but a mere fragment of reality - an illusion perhaps.. but also a representation of reality itself!
Time moves slower but the damage dealt by one another would stay in the real world.
The dust cloud dissipated and revealed the darkness engulfing each of their figures.
Valeira could discern a faint sillhouette in front of Her.
Thus, holding the black longsword tightly in her hands, she awaited the foe's attack!
Suddenly, the Seraphim jumped forward and commenced the battle!
Both of them had already exhausted their Souls and could no longer inflict attacks upon each other!
"Thou hast caused irreparable damage to tis Great One! The Sun God shall make thou pay greatly from thy sins!"
The unified and harmonious voice resounded in the encased darkness of the ravine.
Valeira frowned.
The Dream had caused the Seraphim to regain her sense of speech and language! Now, she could hear her unsightly voice once more!
"You selfish prick!"
She received the Seraphim's claws with a strike of her own, the black blade clang with it and sparked due to their clash.
As they exchanged blows, Valeira stated:
"Treacherous Seraphim, I know what your goals are and what you intend to do in order to achieve them!"
"Do tell, Foolish Mortal!"
The two screamed and words echoed in the darkness!
"You intend to ascend, using the innocent people of the kingdom for your own benefit! Is this really how Seraphims and Angels act? You are all supposed to rid the evil in this world, not cause it!"
Valeira sent out a massive blow to the Seraphim's side! But it was deflected easily by the Seraphim's sharp claws.
"Fret not Foolish Mortal! Mine goals transcend that of a human's capability. Thou could not hope to comprehend the objective and Path which we must tread upon."
She continued:
"This is for the greater good!"
"Lies!"
Valeira kicked the Seraphim's foot, making Her stumble as she tried to step back!
She fell to the floor and Valeira was already on Her, jumping towards the Seraphim with fast speeds and aimed the black longsword towards Her chest.
The Seraphim rolled over and dodged the attack.
However, Valeira saw this and immediately killed the ground, turning it into a lifeless ash that resembled sand.
The Seraphim lost her footing due to this and could not see the upcoming strike.
She received it with her claws but one of her fingers was cut off!
"You know nothing of Humanity! You treat us like we're just some type of play toy and a stepping stool for improvement. You treat human lives like they were cattle, waiting to be fed and slaughtered!"
While receiving the blows, the Seraphim replied:
"Humanity is evil, thou art delusional if thy couldn't see the collective chaos that humanity hast brought upon the world!"
"So what?!"
Bits of sparks lit up the darkness all of a sudden.
"You have no right to judge what is right or wrong! Especially when all you did was to slaughter millions of people by turning them into Faceless!"
"It is necessary.."
The Seraphim stepped to the side and used her overwhelming speed to strike down Valeira's back.
Valeira flashed her longsword behind her back and stared at the Seraphim eye to eye.
"How so?"
She pushed back the Seraphim's claws and jumped back.
The Seraphim let out Her harmonious voice:
"To ensure the survival of a mighty race, and preserve an anchor for the Almighty Sun God ! Thou knowest nothing of the secrets of tis world. Just a mere word would make thine body trembled like a groveling dog!"
"Even if it meant killing millions of people.."
"That is but a feeble sacrifice.."
Valeira stared at the Seraphim with deep anger.
"Then I disagree with your beliefs, both of our races could no longer coincide with each other."
Valeira carried her black longsword and suddenly appeared in front of the Seraphim, she killed the space between them .
Aiming to cut the Seraphim in half, Valeira spotted a fluctuation within Her Soul..
'Damnation!'
She stepped back and spikes that came from the Seraphim's body were suddenly let out!
It covered the entire room and Valeira was given no choice but to fight back..
Long-length spikes were sent out and stabbed every corner of the ravine!
Valeira fought vigorously to defend herself.
The spikes homed in on her body, Valeira slashed every single one of them and they all turned to pieces.
Her intuition and instinct screamed for her to dodge, and so she did.. by spinning and moving like the wind.
The Seraphim spoke:
"Such an evil could not exist in a world such as this one.. If only thou knew then thou would certainly wish for a better end!
"Even so.. we- must live!"
"For what exactly?! What is it to live for when evil already existed.
"Everything! And Nothing!"
The Seraphim was confused.
She closed her lips and ran straight through where Valeira was at..
"Thou makes no proper logic.."
It was only normal.. the Seraphims lived as a cognitive being which possessed high intelligence and was born with the manifestation of their' physical properties.
To understand human emotions and feelings is a lived-experience.. Throughout their lives, humans would gradually learn how to discover emotions within them that hadn't even started yet.
Some felt an overwhelming sense of bliss, while some still took it for granted..
Even the great "Seraphim of Feelings" could not learn basic human emotions..
She was as stoic as a Seraphim looked.
Valeira dodged the homing spikes which could very well be lethal if they hit her. Then, she rushed in while dancing like the wind and intended to kill the space between them.
But it was useless! The spikes itself serve as another medium to be killed, if she were to kill the space where they lay, then the spikes would get teleported closer to her.
So, she threw her blade towards the Seraphim with great force!
It was only normal for the Her to avoid the black longsword but Valeira had other plans.
Instead of waiting for the longsword to hit, she hid along with its shadow and used the Dream to twist some reality, turning the Seraphim's vision to be hazy.
The Seraphim sidestepped but instantly, Valeira was already in front of her.
She curled her right fist into a ball and sent out a devastating punch to Seraphim's abdomen!
But... a loud metal clang echoed in the ravine!
It didn't work!
The Seraphim laughed joyously and mocked Valeira for her futile efforts.
"Foolish! Thou art foolish to think that thy can damage tis Great One's body without Death!"
Valeira didn't reply but instead.. spun her body to grab something in the shadows..
That's right! She caught the flying black longsword with her left hand. Then, she used the momentum of their distance to perform a wide swing!
The Seraphim tried to block but it was useless! The acceleration and speed by which Valeira swung her longsword was enough to shatter Her claws.
With that wide swing, the Seraphim was pushed back against the wall, spitting out golden blood from Her mouth.
She was given no time to recuperate! Valeira already rushed in to deal a finishing blow!
Valeira stabbed Her in the chest, pinning Her to the wall!
"Tell me.. what do you feel right now?"
A simple but a condescending question.
The Seraphim gritted Her teeth in pain and the black fluid spread quickly throughout Her body.
For the first time in her life she felt... fear, but not just a simple kind off fear. That one She already felt back in their battle in the castle!
This time.. She felt true fear, a primal fear deeply engraved within Her!
She looked into Valeira's eyes and saw its cold and abyssal nature. It looked directly at Her Soul and acted as a judge between life or death.
That is when true fear finally struck the Seraphim.
There was one concept that the divine beings of this world feared the most. A thing so primal and ancient that it could be said to be the root of all evil.
In fact, every living being fears this very concept due to its inevitability. For in their end, one must meet the conclusion and finality.
Even gods feared this.. and hoped to conquer it.
But what could invoke such a hidden primal fear deep within the hearts of anybody?
"Death."