Linfer turned his attention away, and what he saw made his heart sink. What had been, moments ago, an open field, was now a sea of skeletons and monstrous creatures, their numbers overwhelming the horizon. He felt panic rising, his breath catching. Even at their peak, they would have had little chance of survival. But now, exhausted, they were doomed.
He sighed heavily, lifting his eyes to the immense globular eye that observed them from the sky. "We're so dead..." he murmured, unable to see a way out.
Uriel slowly turned his head towards him, his face softening despite the gravity of the situation. There was a sweetness in his eyes, a kind of strange peace that contrasted with the chaos around them.
"It was an honor to fight by your side... even if it was brief," Uriel said in a broken but sincere voice.
Those words struck Linfer's heart. He awkwardly stood up, clutching his mutilated arm, his teeth clenched in pain and confusion.
"Hey! What are you talking about, man? We'll make it out," he said, but his gaze betrayed a growing uncertainty.
Uriel shook his head gently, his expression filled with sadness. "No... If we both stay here, we'll die. But you... you have someone waiting for you."
"What do you mean?" Linfer asked, a dull panic rising within him. He didn't want to understand.
"You have a woman... and a son. Be a good father, Linfer," Uriel replied, his voice filled with a tragic sweetness, as if he had already accepted his own fate.
"But—"
"There are no buts," Uriel cut in firmly. "If you won't do it for yourself, do it for Zitish. Imagine her losing the one she loves and the one who raised her during her childhood. She wouldn't recover."
Uriel's words pierced Linfer's mind like a dagger. He now saw the determination in his ally-friend's eyes. Uriel had never been so sure of himself. His sacrifice was a certainty, an irreversible choice.
Uriel slowly stood up, removing a golden chain earring. He offered it to Linfer with a tender expression. "Take this," he murmured. "It's an artifact that will teleport you directly to Iustitia."
Linfer, overcome with emotion, let out a frustrated sigh, his hands trembling as he accepted the gift. Tears threatened to blur his vision, but he held them back. No one, not even his mother, had ever been this close to him, and even willing to sacrifice themselves. When he was just a Blood Devil, he didn't care about dying, but now that he had discovered true happiness, reciprocal love, a child to be born, and a true brother...
Meanwhile, Belzebuth's frigid aura invaded the air, making each second more unbearable. The monsters and skeletons were drawing closer, like an inevitable wave.
"Uriel... thank you, my brother..." Linfer whispered, his throat tight, knowing there was no turning back. Uriel nodded, a sad smile illuminating his tired features.
"Go... and live for them," Uriel replied in a trembling voice.
As Linfer reached for the golden chain, the atmosphere suddenly charged with an electric energy, almost suffocating. And as if it were a mask, the sad face smiled, tongue out, showing its three piercings.
"[The Law: Absolute Causality]."
Instantly, the golden chain began to grow, duplicating, multiplying at a terrifying speed. Linfer, shocked, didn't move, unable to comprehend what was happening. The chains began to bind his body, one wrapping around his neck, pulling him back, others immobilizing his ankles, his wrist, his mutilated arm. A final chain pierced his chest and coiled around his heart, compressing his breath and vital energy.
"What... but... what's happening?" he stuttered, panic rising as his body was inexorably restrained.
The ensuing pain was indescribable. It was as if his very soul was cracking, breaking under the pressure of this invisible force. He felt like he was drowning in a sea of fire, every movement a torture. And worse still, his perception was distorted. Up became down, left became right, and reality itself seemed to twist under the weight of Uriel's law.
"Uriel! What does this mean!?" he screamed, his voice trembling, disoriented, but he received no answer.
Through his heavy eyelids, Linfer could barely make out Uriel's face. He saw it blurred, but the sound of his evil laughter was clear. Each burst of laughter resonated in his mind like a betrayal. That laugh pierced his soul.
"These impious beings are really idiots, as much as they are infamous," Uriel mocked, shaking his head.
A portal opened immediately, and at the end, Linfer caught a glimpse of Raphael's silhouette. The look the latter gave him was filled with disgust.
"TRAITOR! I SWEAR THAT—"
"And what are you going to do? Die, you shitty Inferno."
Uriel, without losing a moment, crossed the portal, avoiding the imminent fury of Belzebuth who was approaching. He had abandoned his so-called brother-in-arms to a certain death, leaving Linfer at the mercy of the chains that were slowly crushing him. Linfer, consumed by hatred, clenched his teeth, breaking his jaw. To stay conscious, he pierced his own tongue with his fangs, letting the metallic taste of blood flood his mouth.
He tried to fight, to regain control. He attempted to invoke his Crimson Flame, but nothing happened.
'While I think about it, I never told Uriel about my law. How did he know exactly how to counter my powers? ' He then thought that the chains were draining his blood, breaking the mana usually so present, now completely escaped him. He was cut off from everything.
"Fuck... they got me..." he murmured, the reality of his betrayal crashing down on him like a hammer.
He then remembered Zitish. The one he thought he loved. The one who had supported him to become a better person... or so he had believed. The pieces of the puzzle fell into place, each memory becoming an open wound. How had she manipulated him into letting her have his wendigos, causing the total destruction of his loyal soldiers? How could she have led him down a path so far from the one he had always walked? The former Blood Devil, sower of terror and chaos, was now paralyzed by a visceral fear of death. Humiliated and betrayed.
"Zitish... she too... so it was all a trap... even after five years, she never came back..."