Dantega:Volume 4 Chapter 9
(PART 3)
The battle of Armageddon has been underway for hours now, ignoring the din of horror surrounding the Earth’s surface like a blanket of writhing insects, Trojia has her eyes solely on Ubica.
Ubica has killed so many people she has lost the ability to think of the lives he’s taken as anything more than a statistic.
Ubica is such a force that he is killing off Heavenly Beings without even clashing swords with them, it's as though his mere presence is enough to kill them in bulk. He viciously strikes down thousands of enemies at a time before they could even realize he was there.
This overbearing strength of his is what he is made of.
This is the closest thing to an absolute being of pure energy there has ever been.
The world crumbles under his force.
All of his attacks are manifested forms of energy from the evil of every human that has ever lived stored in Dantega.
If anything, this is evidence of man’s ugliness enacting its sweet revenge on those responsible for creating it.
To get a proper grasp on this battle, one must know who the ones fighting are.
On the side of Hell, are demons fighting alongside humans that have allied with Ubica.
And on the side of Heaven, are humans that God allowed to join him, along with past humans who died and are now fighting alongside the light. Lastly, there are Heavenly Beings.
There is a difference between past humans, Heavenly Beings, and Angels though.
To put it simply, Heavenly Beings are in direct contrast to Hell's Demons.
They hold many different forms of many different animals but are all a hybrid between humans, almost as if they were the first prototypes of man that were determined to be flawed and eventually paved the way for the final design. A horse with a man's body, a man whose arms are the wings of a dove or a man with a lamb's head, these are the types of beings that are the equivalent to Heaven as Demons are to Hell.
Just because the beings of such immense strength are fighting, it doesn't mean that the living humans hold no threat. They all have modern weapons such as guns and bombs, and in the sky are fighter jets, drones, helicopters and bombers the best human technology can offer. Trojia had no clue what these things in the air were when she was first thrust into this dark world, but now she can discern which killing machine is which by hearing the sound of their exhaust as they fly overhead.
The destruction the thousands of airplanes caused on the ground is something she could never have imagined in what she now considers her past life, the lights and sounds of the blasts followed by the concussions they cause are deafening.
The poor people below are being blown to nothing by ATGM missiles or brutally shot full of holes by 50 caliber bullets.
On any battlefield that uses modern technology to fight, the sounds are as horrific and frightening as war can get, but when the numbers of people fighting are in the billions it turns into a scene in which the world has never seen.
This is violence on a scale never thought possible.
Ubica leaves his army behind and runs through the crowd of ruin as he makes his way into the center of Heaven's Army, with simple swings of his sword his enemies turn to ash.
He's walking like a fire burning everything that is in his way until he reaches an area similar to the eye of a hurricane.
He is standing on bare land surrounded by a sea of white, the white being all of Heaven's Army, it is as though they all have spread out specifically for this moment. And it becomes obvious that this is the case once Ubica looks a few hundred meters in front of him and sees the sight of his opposite and 144,000 Angels standing atop of Mt. Zion.
The time for small fries is over, Ubica's battle now rests solely with the Son of God and his Angels, and this brings a wicked smile upon his face. These Angels are the people who never swayed away from the shepherd's path, the most righteous of man that avoided the temptations of evil.
In other words, these are the so-called perfect beings.
Not every person who dies and goes to Heaven becomes an Angel, people like Saints and Biblical figures like Moses and Solomon have transcended their human forms into a higher being. The story’s of these people are etched in the books of the past, their physical being has returned out into the light of day once more.
Amongst those Angels, are the ones that hold the title of Arch.
Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael.
The three strongest Angels fly above in the sky triumphantly as they stare down on the Antichrist.
Gabriel, is the angel that blew a trumpet blast that initiated the end of time and the general resurrection at the Last Judgment. He is the Angel who's job as the messenger to man succeeded in changing the world in many ways, and as an Archangel his words are absolute.
The wind of the sky blows his light blue hair and his white robe sways in unison as he blows his trumpet once more. He then preached to all who live on the Earth, and to every nation and in every tongue, every man on the planet hears his voice as he says loudly,
“Fear God, and give him glory. Because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens and the Earth, the sea and the springs of waters.”
Ubica scowls at Gabriel's voice, he speaks as though this is the moment of their victory.
After Gabriel's words, the voice of another Archangel is heard, this one has long flowing black hair and bright turquoise eyes who goes by the name of Raphael.
He spreads his arms and declares, “Fallen is the False Prophet! She who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality.”
But what does Raphael mean when he says she has fallen?
The answer comes when a light shines from under Raphael's feet and the limp figure of a girl is seen floating from the mass of Angels up towards him. It is Messor, Ubica can't tell if she is alive or not and watches in anger as Raphael cradles her limp body in his arms.
Ubica grits his teeth and a darkness spews from all around him.
“..."
His legs begin shaking as his hate causes his vision to become blurry at the mere sight of his Idol in that Archangel's arms.
But before he moves those legs to attack, Micheal finally speaks, both to Ubica and to everyone else in the world.
“Anyone who worshiped the Beast and his Idol, and received the Mark on his forehead or his hand... Will also drink the wine of the 'Wrath of God', which is mixed in full strength in the cup of his 'Anger'. And he will also be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the Holy Angels and in the presence of the Lamb.”
Micheal stops and looks to Jesus, he then points out in the distance at a massive crater in which a certain Angel named Abbadon created at the beginning of the battle.
Micheal holds a spear in his hand in which its blade is in the form of a cross about a meter high and a half meter across with a red ribbon tied across the middle of it.
He points his spear out at the crater and sends a flame that lights up the already crimson sky in its direction. The flame enters the crater and expands violently as if the air in the abyss was combustible, the fire burns so hot that the heat is felt on Ubica's face from almost a mile away.
“And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever.” Micheal continues, “They have no rest, day or night, this is the punishment of those who received the Mark of his name.”
“That's enough.” Ubica says as he swings his sword, he stabs it into the ground and addresses all who stand before him. “We've all had enough of your so called punishments. Your unjust God has fooled you all into arrogance, your judgements on my followers will now be returned to you tenfold."
The Angels look at him with pity in their eyes as if he is some kind of cornered animal bearing its fangs, feigning strength to keep itself from being devoured.
These looks cause Ubica to smile, excited to see the moment they realize just who is the one truly in charge here.
“You're looking at me all wrong. There's no fear in your eyes.”
He slams his hand down on the but end of his sword that sticks into the ground, and in an instant the sky is blotted out and the entirety of Mt. Zion is engulfed in a pitch black sphere.
The light that shined from the Angels is no more, they are all stuck in an individual state of isolation.
The only thing they can see are themselves, all others have disappeared from sight.
Just like how Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael addressed everyone in the world with their voices, Ubica does the same to everyone in this large sphere that spreads miles wide.
“You are all so arrogant because your God has never shown you true darkness, he has sheltered you from it so you could never find out how fearsome it really is. I can't help but wonder how he expects you to fight the darkness if you have never witnessed it with your own eyes... I'll be the one to show it to you in his place."
Back in the second level of Purgatory, on a certain island, in a certain port city home, there is the sound of meat being cleaved violently.
That sickening thick noise could be heard in every room, in every corner of the house, behind every door, and the sound came from within the dining room. There in the room that is supposed to hold happy moments between a family, lies the source of the noise. It is a certain girl swinging a foot long blade downwards in a stabbing motion repeatedly. With each swing, blood sprays into the air sending the red fluid onto the wall as if using it as a canvas for creating a horrid painting.
The artist behind this is Amber, and the ink used at this moment is her mother. Her father Albert is already slumped over dead on the dinner table with a slit throat.
Amber is crying as she keeps stabbing into the lifeless body of her mother, she wants to close her eyes to not look at this terrible sight, but just like how she can't control her body, her eyelids refuse to shut as well.
But she can still control her mouth, it moves as her voice lets out a ghastly scream of agony.
“UUUAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!”
The point of begging herself to stop has long since passed, no matter how many times she pleaded to her body it never listened, her merciless assault on the parents who gave her life relentlessly continued.
After one final strike, her body finally stops.
With eyes glued open she finally gets a good look at what she's done, Melissa almost has her head decapitated as most of Amber's attacks were focused on the head area. It is so bad that she cannot even recognize that the dead woman under her feet is actually her mother.
“T-This can't be happening...” Amber mutters, wet all over with the blood of her parents. “THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!!!”
Then, her body begins to move by itself once again, this time toward the exit, the machete-like blade still in her hand as she exits her house. Walking along the streets of the city at night she seemingly goes unnoticed.
It is an exceptionally dark night because the usual three moons that shine brightly in the sky aren't apparent. Even with three moons it seems that Purgatory has its own lunar activity, this one in particular being its version of a new moon.
This is somewhat fortunate for her, because if someone got a good look at her they'd certainly call the authorities due to all the blood on her clothes and face.
She has been walking in a zombie-like motion for a few minutes when she reaches a building that she recognizes, it is a small medical clinic that doubles as a house.
It is her brother Nicklaus' home.
Amber walks up the stairs of the stoop and knocks on his door rather loudly, she knows exactly what is going to happen once that door opens. The pressure in the hand holding the knife tightens and begins to shake in angst for the upcoming attack.
“No...”
She pleas as tears flow from her eyes and mix with the blood on her cheeks.
Amber happens to glance at the window to the right of the door and sees Nicklaus walking from the innards of his home towards her. He looks through the window from inside to see his sister covered in blood knocking on his door, suspecting the worst, his face turns frantic as he hurriedly opens his door.
Sensing the moment speed up in almost a blur, her blade is thrust forward in perfect unison with the opening of the door.
Amber's agony is heard through her throat as she yells,
“NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”
“You... horrible bastard.” Ubica says as he drops to his knees.
He had just witnessed Amber commit the murder of her parents because of Leviathan's manipulation of the water in her body. This is sending him into a blurring state of many different emotions.
Anger at Leviathan for doing such a thing.
Sadness at the fact that Amber's parents had to be killed by their own daughter in cold blood.
But one that is steadily sending him into despair is the guilt of it all.
It is his fault that Amber has to experience the emptiness of taking a life, especially the lives of her loved ones in such a gruesome way. If it wasn't for his carelessness, this would never have happened, he could have protected her and her family at all costs if he had just used his head.
And thinking back even further than that, he is overwhelmed with guilt because if it wasn't for him developing a relationship with her in the first place, this whole situation would never have unfolded.
When Ubica is overwhelmed with negative feelings, he instinctively uses a defense mechanism that discards anything that hurts him by replacing it with the darkness.
The pain of regret in his chest goes away when he is consumed by this evil and he knows it.
However...
He's fighting it, it isn't too late for him to fight it with all he has and try to save her.
Ubica stands to his feet and rushes toward the city as fast as his legs can move.
Leviathan takes pleasure in such a pitiful effort and says, “I won't let you do that.”
He molds into a mass of water and shoots at the speed of sound right in front of Ubica, he forms back into his normal self and stands as a blockade to Ubica's advancement.
“Get out of the way!” Ubica shouts.
He pulls out his sword and swings it violently at Leviathan with enough force to rip anything in half.
The Demon of Envy holds his hand out and smiles, as soon as Ubica's blade touches his hand, all of the force that went along with its movement halts abruptly.
This should be impossible, a flesh and bone hand stopping a fast moving razor sharp sword should never occur, but much to Ubica's dismay it has been done.
“!?”
Not even having a moment to configure what had just transpired, Ubica is sent flying backwards in an immense shock-wave. He skims across the beach sand and like a rock being skipped he takes a few bone breaking bounces on the ocean surface before sinking into it with a giant splash.
Hitting water at such a speed is the equivalent of hitting asphalt and no doubt it certainly felt like it as well, to get out of this collision without major injury would be a minor miracle.
“Think about this, Ubica.” Leviathan says as Ubica struggles to get out of the water and stand atop of it. “Do you honestly think you can save her?”
While coughing and pulling his dislocated shoulder back into place he replies, “Of course I do!”
“Why is that? What makes you think that girl isn't beyond saving? She has just murdered her parents and is in the process of slaughtering her brother as well. After this, she wouldn't even want to be saved.”
“It's not her fault! It's yours!”
“You're right about her not being at fault, but you're wrong about placing the blame on me.”
Ubica knows where he is going with this, it only clarifies the feelings of guilt already spreading in his body like a poison.
“Shut up!!”
“So you understand? If you'd have just left that girl alone, where do you think she'd be in her life right now?”
She'd be happy...
“I said shut up!!”
“Do you understand that the person you are now is better off being alone? Unless you are strong enough to protect the people who are unfortunate enough to meet you, being alone is the only way to keep them safe. That, or...”
Leviathan again sends his form into water and in an instant he reforms right behind Ubica.
He whispers in his ear, finishing off his statement,
“Become stronger.”
Ubica twists his body and swings his sword wildly, completely missing his target. But frustration overwhelms him and he continues to swing in a blind rage. Leviathan takes effortless steps backwards and from side to side, speaking while avoiding Ubica's wide array of attacks.
“You said you've been training to be able to defeat me... But what I noticed is that no matter how strong you think you are, if I impose certain circumstances that send you into despair, the weak side of you shows its desperation and throws all strength gained out the window. You are at a stalemate with your own body.”
“What weak side are you talking about!?” Ubica inquired, a hint of desperation evident in his tone of voice.
“You know what I'm saying, don't play the fool now. It's your desire to reciprocate the kindness of others. This is sending your comrades on a fast track towards death, everyone you know and care about will die unless you change the way you are.”
“That's ridiculous!”
“Is it really? Look at what's happening before your very eyes, that girl is picking off her own family one by one because of how you so easily accepted her kindness. You’re like a damn child.”
“..!!”
“You told me a couple of days ago that the person you are now is much stronger than the you of the past. Well I'm doing this to test that claim.”
Ubica is trying everything he can to even lay a scratch on Leviathan as they speak, but no matter what attack he uses, Leviathan comes out unscathed. His attacks become more desperate as Leviathan continues to speak.
“I recall a time in the past where you saved the life of Messor, your Idol, but you did it out of hate!”
Ubica remembers this as well, sadly though, that was a situation that has brought him nothing but pain ever since. He can't conjure up strength from such an accomplishment because the strength he used then is the opposite of what he is trying to use now.
“You see Ubica!” Leviathan says as he reveals an unusual frown. “I have given you a test! To see whether or not your words are true, and you’ve failed!!”
Leviathan avoids another one of Ubica's attacks and leaps backwards, he lifts his leg up and says,
“As punishment!”
He then slams his foot into the ocean and a solid wall of water rises ten meters high and ten meters wide.
“I'll force you to watch how your weakness affects those around you!!”
On that wall is the projection of Amber reaching yet another house, she opens the door and her elder sister Alison happens to be the first person she sees. Alison gasps in horror at the bloodied state Amber is in and rushes to her aid.
But while doing so, she is met face first with the now dull dagger being thrust forward by Amber.
The blade enters Alison's eye socket and exits out the back of her head, blood sprays as the force of the attack is like a sledgehammer to a watermelon. Because of Leviathan's water controlling her body, she is likely twenty times as strong as any human could be.
Amber is in such a state of shock that her brain has pretty much shut down, she can't even mutter any words as her body pulls the blade out of her sister's skull by ruthlessly stomping down on her face to use as leverage.
She then proceeds to walk up a flight of stairs.
Once on the second story she turns to the first door on the right and opens it.
In the room are two twins at the age of ten, one a boy named Jeremy, the other a girl named Alice playing happily with toys and teasing each other in the process.
Amber holds her knife out and the attention of the two twins finally shifts in her direction.
What comes next are two innocent looks of horror followed by two high pitch screams...
The Archangel Raphael is holding an unconscious Messor in his arms, just a few moments ago he was holding her like a prized trophy to show the world that the Antichrist's Idol has fallen.
But now he holds her close to his body as if protecting himself from something.
“Do you know what you are holding, Raphael?”
The unmistakable voice of Ubica rings in his ears but no matter where he looks, he can't find him in the pitch black darkness. He stays silent and keeps his guard up wearily.
Out of the three Archangels, Raphael is known for his silent nature. Throughout history he has been regarded as a great healer of man, oration was never something he participated in. This has caused him to be almost robotic in his role as a servant of God.
“I see you aren't much of a talker.” Ubica says when he doesn't get a reply, “I'll do the talking then. I'd like to tell you a little about myself.”
"...”
“As you know, I am the embodiment of all the sins of man throughout time. But even I find myself more inclined to act upon certain traits of that.”
Ubica's voice starts to surround Raphael and seemingly hits every corner of his brain as the embodiment of evil continues.
“I am very greedy. And what you are holding is something that I own.”
This is only natural, greed is a human emotion that is felt without even realizing it. Raphael assumed that Ubica's greed would be inflicted a great wound upon abducting Messor.
“But.” Ubica added, “She’s not only a prized possession of mine.”
“...?”
Raphael is a little confused as to where he is going with this, but lets him speak instead of interrupting.
“If a person had all of his possessions and titles stolen... Other than his body, what would remain of him?”
Suddenly, Raphael is struck with a dull yet numb feeling in his upper arms.
He looks down and sees an odd black wire of darkness constricting them like a snake. It squeezes harder and he loses all feeling in the hands planted on Messor's back.
Looking down at the state of his arms, it takes him a moment to realize that there is a presence breathing sharply against the back of his neck.
He knows this presence, the Antichrist is right behind him and with his arms bound and his hands on Messor, he is defenseless.
Ubica grabs onto each of Raphael's wings with both hands.
With a face contorted with anger he says,
“What you are holding is my pride.”
He pulls on Raphael's wings and the tendons and joints connecting them to his body begin to rip apart with each ounce of pressure on them.
Raphael grunts in pain and decides to abandon his grasp on Messor. He tosses her aside and notices that the binding feeling from the string of darkness dissipates as well.
Free to use his hands to pry Ubica's grip from his wings, he moves his arms that are now feeling incredibly light towards his back when...
Something is odd.
His arms are too light, it's a feeling of weightlessness that cannot be described unless...
He looks down in confusion and his face writhes in horror as the answer becomes evident.
His arms below his triceps are gone, cut so cleanly he doesn't even feel the pain.
“WHAT!?!?”
“So this is what it took for you to speak.” Ubica said upon hearing the angel's voice for the first time.
Instead of behind him, his voice comes from directly in front of Raphael, he looks toward the source and sees Ubica holding Messor in his arms as if this is what was happening the entire time.
“H-How!?” Raphael queries in shock.
“Look around you.” Ubica replies as he moves one of his hands free and grabs the lower arms of Raphael still clinching to Messor's back. “This is me... this is the darkness that your God has neglected to show you, in here, your benevolent light won't shine.”
He tosses Raphael's arms into the air and they are instantly engulfed in a black flame and disintegrated.
Watching his limbs burn into nothing sends his body into incredible pain, Raphael grunts as the horrid feeling sends shock-waves of misery down every inch of his body.
“Ahh that's right.” Ubica smiles. “This would be your first time experiencing pain, it must be so much worse than you would have ever imagined it'd be.”
“Grrraahhhhhh!!!!? Why is this happening!?”
“Such confusion, I'm sure this isn't how you thought this would end up.”
By now blood is streaming like a fountain out of the perfectly cut veins that still think they need to send blood to the hands.
“Your belief in God's promises has brought this pain upon you. He has lied to you all, forsaken you all. And now I have found myself responsible for acting upon his negligence."
With his free hand, he points his index finger at Raphael's severed arms and the blood squirting from them forms into a little river and flows towards Ubica's fingertip. At the tip of Ubica's finger, a little ball of what looks to be black water forms, and when Raphael's blood and his finger tip make contact at its point, the blood becomes black as well.
The black water-like liquid from Ubica's finger tip flows upstream in Raphael's blood and slowly takes it over, it reaches the wide open insides of the angel's arms and shoots in as if being injected by a giant syringe.
“AAAAAGGHGGHHHHHUURRRAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!!!”
Raphael screams in agony as every vein has its blood turned black with the power of Dantega, a benevolent being such as an Archangel being violated by such darkness is more painful than the worst torture.
Ubica is taking pleasure in this sight, to him, this is what the angel deserves for attempting to steal away his most prized possession, this is retribution for the angel's attempt to harm his pride.
His presence grows ever more sinister as his eyebrows steepen into a hate-filled frown while holding Messor tightly.
“Take a good look at me, Angel of God. You’re finally able to see the truth.”
“Where is he!?” Gabriel shouts in confusion as he scours around the darkness for the Antichrist.
The Archangel's question is answered by the voice of Ubica, “Is that the depth of camaraderie toward your fellow Angels? I think you should be more worried about them than me.”
With eyes still wary of Ubica's presence, Gabriel answers, “The fact that I'm more worried about where you are, shows how much I trust my comrades.”
“Your trusted comrades are taking on a hideous form at the moment. I can assure you they're all being killed while you search for me here.”
“I would be considered foolish if I actually believed you.” Gabriel replies sharply.
“You think so?”
Ubica appears in front of Gabriel and snaps his finger.
Gabriel instantly moves on guard and backs off a little to be safe.
“No need to be so cautious.” Ubica says as the darkness around him begins to brighten and what lies behind him can be seen. “Take a look, Gabriel."
A bright flash of white temporarily blinds Gabriel and whilst in this state of immobility, he feels the gentle touch of something soft brush up against his face. A similar feeling follows but this time it is felt on his shoulder, and then that feeling multiplies by the hundreds and the tickles cascade all over his body.
“What is this?” he asks himself as he grabs whatever it is that is touching him.
Even without being able to see, he instantly recognizes what it is he's holding. Not caring about the sting still present in his eyes, he forcefully opens them anyway, and through a blurry haze he finds that what he's holding is something white with red stains all over it.
It is a bloodied feather...
Falling all around him as if raining from the sky are bloodied feathers.
“Don't let simple feathers distract you from the bigger picture... Look behind me.”
Shifting his gaze to the area behind Ubica, he sees a sight that he struggles to articulate in his mind.
Thousands upon thousands of dead bodies stacked on top of each other.
The bodies packed so close together it's as though it is a mountain of flesh climbing hundreds of feet high.
The dead bodies are all people that Gabriel knows very well, they are his Angel comrades that were supposed to valiantly join the battle of Armageddon and put a stop to the Antichrist's reign of terror.
Yet here they are, lying dead and wingless in a pile like trash waiting to be burned.
“!?!?”
Gabriel is speechless and in shock, seeing something that was previously so far from his mind has a paralytic effect on his body.
“One by one, right under your nose, a charnel house of Angels was made.”
Gabriel still looks at him quizzically and Ubica answers, “You want to know how? It's happening all around you as we speak.”
Ubica points towards an Angel holding his head and screaming in agony as foam comes gushing out of his mouth. There is nothing anywhere near him, but it seems that something is attacking him, the way he writhes makes it look as though he's gone mad. The white foam spewing from his mouth becomes red with blood and his whole body turns limp.
He floats motionlessly until his wings twitch unnaturally and move as if they are being pulled by something.
The skin of his back stretches until it can no longer withstand the pressure and his wings rip off. Right after that, his body is discarded and joins in the construction of the mountain of Angel corpses.
The wings that once graced his back float for a moment until they are enveloped by a black circle and sucked into it, disappearing from sight.
“Wha..?” Gabriel mutters.
“Everyone experiences darkness differently, it's a curious thing being killed by it... As for the wings that you saw disappear, I'm saving those for a very special occasion."
Ubica rushes Gabriel and swings at him with his sword.
"For that, I'll need your wings as well."
Although the attack surprised the Archangel, he still had time to parry and block Ubica's attack with a shield of water he formed in front of him.
“Ah, water.” Ubica says as he sheaths his sword. He then spreads his arms and two balls of black liquid form around his hands. “You know, I was born from the deepest darkest depths of the sea. Water is the perfect container for evil, just as it is the perfect container for good. What do you say we find out which current is strong enough to devour the other?"
The water grows into large spheres around his hands when he finishes,
"You, the water that gives life... Or me, the water that takes it away.”
The Archangel Michael is breathing hard and has been avoiding numerous attacks from beams of green light coming from the darkness all around him.
“This isn't going to work, Antichrist! Show yourself!” he demands.
“I'm sorry to have bored you with this game of cat and mouse, you see, I just needed to keep you occupied as I set the stage for a special occasion.” Ubica replies as he reveals himself in front of Michael.
“Special ocassion?”
“That's right.”
Michael frowns, he wanted more of an explanation than that.
But after forming his own answers in his head he says,
“If you even lay a finger on any of them, I'll turn you to ashes.”
Ubica leans his head back and smirks, “If a only a finger's touch will burn me, I shiver to think of what you'll do when you find out they're all already dead.”
“What?”
“There is good news however, there are a couple I left alive specifically for you.”
Michael swings his spear and grits his teeth. “Lies, you are nothing but a scheming liar.”
Ubica shrugs his shoulders, “It's true that lying is one of my better traits. But I am just as much of a liar as I am honest."
Ubica spreads his arms and out of the darkness behind them come two women that are bound and seemingly unconscious. Their whole bodies are wrapped in a barbed wire of darkness that is ripping their skin apart causing blood to stain their white gowns and white wings. Both women are strikingly beautiful, one with blonde hair and the other is a brunette, the fair skin that isn't stained with blood lights the darkness around them.
These two women aren't just any average Angels, these two are the main companions of Michael and very powerful Patron Saints in their own right.
The blonde woman goes by the name of Catherine and the brunette woman is known as Margaret.
Throughout time these two have been at each side of the strongest Archangel, it is even said that the two of them share a romantic relationship with Michael, so Ubica has decided to see for himself if that is true.
Michael's face drops in shock when he sees his two closest companions in such a state, this look of his is proof enough that the rumors were true.
Ubica laughs softly and backs away from the two captive Angels, disappearing into the darkness.
His voice still echoes from all around Michael as he says, “Is it really such a surprise that I'd target them? The relationship between you three hasn't ever been a secret.”
Ignoring Ubica's provocation, Michael demands, “Let them go!”
“I will let only one of them go, your job now is to choose which one.”
“...?”
“I'm telling you that you can't have both, only one of the two will survive your decision.”
“That's ridiculous! Your fight is with me! Just leave them out of this!”
Ubica's chuckle echoes all around the darkness as he says, “My fight is with God and everyone affiliated with him, you three are no different to me than he is. But here I am giving you an opportunity to pick the person most valuable to you to live through my battle with God."
Michael, who is usually so calm and collected, is losing his cool with each breath.
Squeezing the handle of his spear with all his might he replies, “I can't do that, I love them both the same. I'll never choose one over the other.”
"An angel with multiple lovers, even God allows those closest to him to indulge in bodily desires.” Ubica said mockingly.
“In Heaven there are no boundaries when it comes to love, that is the gift he has given us.”
“A gift you say? Given your circumstances now, this gift seems an awful lot like a burden.”
Michael becomes disgusted and it is written all over his face when he says, “I don't want to hear that from someone who doesn't even know what love is. If you did you'd be able to see why I can't choose between the two people I care about most.”
Ubica's voice halts for a few moments, and an eerie silence falls upon them until Ubica's voice resounds louder than before.
“The Archangel, the one that defeated Satan is admitting he can't even make a simple choice? Will you really concede defeat to me so easily?”
Michael swings his spear and thrusts the cross shaped blade under his arm as if trying to attack something behind him. And when a 'thunk' sound followed by the noise of a liquid spilling from a container, it becomes obvious that he had hit something.
“Love will never be defeated by evil. I used it during the war in Heaven to defeat Satan, and I'll use it again to defeat a weaker being such as yourself.”
As soon as Michael stops speaking, Ubica appears behind him with blood flowing from his mouth.
Michael had somehow found out that Ubica was behind him and sent the holy tip of his spear directly into the gut of the Antichrist.
Ubica looks shocked as the blade of the spear goes from his stomach above his naval all the way through his torso and out of his back.
“How?” Ubica asks meekly.
Michael is about to explain how it was he defeated the Antichrist so easily but he is interrupted by the sharp laugh of Ubica.
As if he feels nothing, he takes a slight breath in and says,
"I'm kidding."
“Huh?”
“Did you think you've won? Like I’d ever be defeated by something as weak as love.”
Ubica vanishes from the tip of Michael's spear and leaves him wondering just where he went. He looks back toward Margaret and Catherine and sees two Ubica's directly behind the two.
“An illusion??”
Both Ubica's speak in unison, “This is no simple trick, Michael.”
All throughout the darkness, dozens of forms of Ubica appear, all wearing a wide grin. As his numbers grow he speaks through all of their mouths and the multiple voices beat at Michael's ears.
“I am everywhere Michael, I watch everything, I am everything. You cannot escape me, and due to your inability to make a decision, neither will your precious lovers.”
The barbed wire of darkness that wraps Margaret and Catherine constrict and their bones crack, their delicate bodies are slowly ripped to shreds as the barbs sink into their flesh.
“STOP IT!!”
“It's far too late for that, in the end you did make a decision. You chose death for them both.”
The two Ubica's snap their fingers and both Margaret and Catherine are ripped into little pieces. Their body parts fall into the darkness and are engulfed in pitch black.
The two women that Michael has been sharing his love with for so many years have been murdered right before his eyes and he couldn't do anything about it.
He was helpless.
But why is that?
It wasn't supposed to be that way, it was said that the Angels will come out of this unscathed as the Antichrist was easily defeated.
Yet here, right in front of him, two of the strongest Angels were torn apart right before his eyes, and as the strongest Angel in Heaven, he didn't even come close to stopping it.
Was this the arrogance on his part?
Or was this a simple underestimation?
No matter what it was, the fact is that they are dead, and the person who committed this heinous act is standing in front of him smiling as though he had just won a sports competition.
The only thought now rolling through his head, is how much he wants to burn that wicked smile into nothing. His vision goes blurry and he only focuses his eyes on the two Ubica's that slaughtered his lovers with a snap of a finger.
With a roar befitting of a cry, the spear in his right hand bursts into an intense flame.
“OOOOOAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”
He swings his flame spear and sends a towering wall of inferno directly towards his targets.
This is the fire of the Archangel, this is a fire that will never wither nor fade until his target is reduced to ashes. His flames are the absolute purest of any kind and are supposed to be used as the final resting place for the Antichrist in the eternal lake.
However, the purity of this fire is replaced by the newly formed hate brewing in his soul, the malice filled attack no longer has any benevolent meaning behind it.
It is only there to destroy, to burn, to kill.
The great wall of flame hits the two Ubicas and they are instantly torched, but through the inferno Ubica is still seen smiling menacingly.
He laughs and says his final words, “You have just proved a very important truth to me... even the most righteous Angel can act malevolently."
The flames become so bright that only the silhouettes of the two Ubicas can be seen, and the two silhouettes let out a ghastly scream.
But these are not the screams of a man, rather, they are two obvious screams of women burning to death painfully.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!”
“UUUUWWWAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!”
Even despite the blood curdling screams, Ubica's voice is hear clear in Michael's head when he says,
"Look closely Archangel, look very close and see the results of your very first act of malevolence.”
The darkness suddenly disappears as quickly as it formed, and Ubica is standing without a scratch on him atop a mountain of dead bodies on the battlefield.
Michael happens to catch sight of this and wonders in shock just what in the world he is burning, he quickly turns his head to the two people he thought was Ubica and finds something that turns him bug eyed in horror.
The two people being burnt to death in Michael's hate-filled attack are his two lovers, Margaret and Catherine.
Their flesh is literally being cooked, their once beautiful hair begins to char and their eyes start melting in the intense heat. They continue their screams and beg for Michael to stop his assault but this is the flame that won't ever stop burning until his target is turned to ash.
There is nothing he can do to save them.
“You weren't wrong about my use of illusions.” Ubica says, standing triumphantly while looking down on his foe.
He then says something that was mentioned in an earlier conversation with the Archangel.
“I told you that I am just as honest as I am a liar.”
Ubica had lied to Michael about the use of illusions from the very beginning. Because Ubica used illusions in his darkness, he made it seem as though Margaret and Catherine were killed by his two clones. When in actuality he was never really there to begin with, his two clones were just images of himself painted on the two Angels.
This was all a part of his sick plan to trick Michael into killing the two most important people in his life if he was unable to choose between the two.
A ruthless tactic to say the least, especially considering that Ubica is strong enough to kill them all off with his own hands, this was just for the fun of tormenting them before they died.
“NOOOOOOO!!!” Michael shouts, but it is far too late.
Both Margaret and Catherine have already breathed their last breaths, the only thing left now is to watch the dust of their former bodies blow away in the wind.
Michael falls to the Earth's ground and sits on his knees as the ashes of his lovers slowly fade away.
Ubica jumps off the mountain of dead Angels and lands in front of Michael, who in his shocked state doesn't even look his way.
Ubica pulls out his sword and holds it to Michael's vulnerable neck.
“It's a shame really, your destruction is caused by God's lies as well."
Ubica raises his sword and readies to lop off Michael's head when...
“Uaaaaaaahhhh!!!!”
A scream is heard behind him, he glances over and notices that the voice belongs to Phoenix, who is currently on his knees covering his face with his hands.
“Not even the Messiah could handle the truth.” Ubica says.
He turns back to inflict the final blow on Michael but is shocked to find that he is gone. In that moment of distraction, Michael had slipped away from right under Ubica's nose.
He clicks his tongue in annoyance and says, “Prolonging the inevitable like a coward would. We will be meeting again soon enough Michael."
Ubica turns around and walks toward Phoenix Navara.
After Ubica gives Phoenix his 'offer of nothing', he is attacked from behind the mountain of wings he created by ripping them off from the Angel's backs.
He turns around to the source of the attack and sees that there are eight people looking up at him from the ground.
Eight people he knows all too well.
The group consists of Belphegor.
An older looking Mammon.
Asmodeus, the woman Demon that represents the Original Sin of Lust.
Amon, Beelzebub, Leviathan, and Satan.
Joining the fearsome 7 Demons of Hell to their front is none other than Damien.
“Well if it isn’t the perfidious eyes of Damien and the Seven Demons of Hell.”
He stays silent for a few seconds, and then a green and black glow starts to shine around him.
With a smile, he says under his breath, “An unforeseen detour?”
Looking up to the polluted sky above him, he speaks as though he is addressing someone when he finishes,
“Maybe you aren’t so weak after all…”
The eight Demons all disperse and a battle commences as they all simultaneously attack Ubica. Narrowly avoiding multiple attacks of insurmountable strength he somehow manages to build up a laugh.
“I didn't guess that I would find myself surprised by this turn of events. I had thought we had come to an agreement.”
Satan frowns and speaks to him while they fight, “Did you really think that we wouldn’t know that you planned on betraying us from the start?”
“No, I’m just surprised that you ever thought of us as comrades. I can’t betray what’s beneath me, I can’t betray an ally I’ve never needed.”
Satan becomes angry and charges Ubica, he holds a long sword and thrusts in toward Ubica's stomach.
Ubica easily brushes the attack to the side with his katana and sends a fierce kick directly onto Satan's face, sending him flying off at an incredible speed.
Whilst flying back, Satan does some kind of hand signal and shouts, “DO IT NOW!!!”
Damien appears behind Ubica and with an open palm strikes him on the back, Ubica loses his breath momentarily and attempts to turn to strike back when...
“!?”
He can't move, his body is frozen, he scours the area with his eyes and sees the other 6 Demons, including Satan, floating around him in a perfect circle whilst holding different hand gestures. A bright purple light shines under his feet and Damien backs away from it, soon after he also joins the others in a distinct hand gesture.
The purple light turns into a hundred meter wide pentagram seal with an outstanding number of connecting lines, the outskirts spin clockwise while the innards of the seal swirl counterclockwise. The intricate circle that binds Ubica is standing still.
Ubica knows what this is and is instantly angered, “Too weak to kill me, you’re going to try and seal me instead? It's not going to work, doing this also seals your movements, none of you can attack me in this situation.”
This is a special seal that uses all the power of the casters, the fact that it has taken all eight of the most powerful Demons that have ever lived to simply stall Ubica's movements shows how strong he is.
“You are right about us not being able to move.” Damien says with a confident smile, “But it doesn't mean that we aren't able to move you.”
The seal under Ubica's feet moves and with it so does all the others, they all float over the death-filled battlefield until it halts atop the eternal lake of hell-fire created by both Abaddon and the Archangel Michael.
The seal lowers and it becomes obvious what Damien and the other Demons intend to do.
His paralyzed body is to be dropped into a place where there is no escape.
“Ah, I see.” Ubica says, gritting his teeth. “So this is how the prophecy is fulfilled in the end.”
Damien laughs as he says, “I’m speaking for myself when I say this, but I knew our role with you was never considered equal in your mind. So I began creating this seal before you were even born in preparation for this moment.”
"That doesn’t shock me.” Ubica replied with a shrug of his shoulders.
“Enough talking.” Satan demands, “Let's get this over with, it is finally time to destroy Dantega.”
Satan then looks down to the edge of the crater that the seal is dropping towards and sees Abaddon standing at the edge.
“Abaddon, the key holder to the endless pit and our new ally, it’s time to lock this wretched man away forever.”
Abaddon smiles and replies, “Ts'all ready for ya boss.”
Ubica scowls and looks all of them in the eyes one by one.
This glare alone is enough to trigger the flight or fight instincts of the most powerful demons before him.
Before he is dropped into the fire, he ominously declares,
“I'm going to be back... and my return will be the harbinger of death to you all.”
Confident in their victory, they smile as though they have calmed their intimidation of him with the thought of knowing that there is no longer a threat.
Ubica reveals the same kind of condescending smile and speaks once more.
“Everyone who bears my mark will not serve under anyone but me. If they are dumb enough to choose to follow you in my absence, my mark will stop their hearts as punishment for betrayal. They won’t be free from me until this battle is long over.”
Shocked by this sudden revelation, Satan is taken aback with anger.
“You see…” Ubica says, managing a cheeky smile even as the heat from the pit is felt below his feet. “Even the strongest have to account for the potential actions of the weak. So enjoy your miserable defeat Satan... There will be many more to come.”
“Drop him in!!” Satan shouts.
The seal shrinks and is now only seen under Ubica's feet, it lowers slowly as Ubica looks up at them all as though accepting his fate.
On his way down he hears a familiar voice call his name, he shifts his gaze in that direction and finds Messor staring at him with her bright white gold eyes.
Despite his situation, he finds her presence comforting.
He doesn't say a word, he just stares at his Idol while his descent continues.
This is the moment the two are separated forever, yet proper words of parting are not said.
He smiles at her as though the pain of the flames that begin to engulf him are not felt charring his skin.
It only takes a moment, and then he is gone.
The eternal lake begins to close up rapidly as Abaddon turns a gold key he holds in his hand.
Inch by inch Ubica is moving away from her, and not knowing what to do she glares at the great betrayers of her master.
Soon after they all disperse to go fight the rest of the battle, even Abaddon leaves her alone after he puts his key into his pocket.
The lake has shrunk to such a size it couldn't even be called a small pool, and once this closes all the way, it will truly be over.
She will never see him again.
“Like I’ll sit here and let you burn alone.” Messor hisses, building her resolve.
She takes a step toward the flame and says gently,
“If you burn, I burn, Ubica.”
With one final step, she falls into the lake just in time before it closes up for good.
The hate and evil that is Ubica, is once and for all confined in a place where he can no longer harm anyone.
With that, the world can at long last, be at peace...
The current Ubica lays motionless on the beach sand as Leviathan stands over him.
The two have been fighting for a while now and the winner is obvious, Ubica was once again easily defeated by his fellow Demon of the sea.
“Stand up Ubica, the exciting part is just about to begin.”
“.....”
Ubica doesn't move nor say a word.
Leviathan sighs and picks him up out of the sand by pulling the back of his collar, he tries to set him back onto his feet but Ubica's legs go limp and he drops right back to the ground.
“Is this all you have?” Leviathan asks in a way that seems bitter and disappointed.
He hasn't used much effort at all in his fight, and yet here lies Ubica, the one person most feared in all of existence collapsed on this sandy beach in such a pathetic manner.
“Fine then, if I can't talk you into standing, maybe 'she' can.”
“U-Ubica...”
A frail voice of a girl is heard behind him and Ubica instantly opens his eyes and attempts to stand, but he can only manage to sit up. He looks towards the stairs leading to town and discovers Amber walking toward him with a look of despair on her face.
The blood that she was once soaked with has been crudely cleaned from her face despite her clothes still stained in red; it would seem that Leviathan has cleaned her up specifically for this moment.
“Amber...” Ubica says in a broken tone.
He had just watched her kill her ten year old niece and nephew, the last of her family with a dull machete-like knife, he can't imagine how she is feeling at this moment in time. He can only look at her pitifully as his empathy takes on a fraction of the pain she must be suffering through.
“I've done something terrible, Ubica... I've done something terrible.” she said as tears flowed from her eyes.
“No, it wasn't you!”
“With my own hands... Mom, dad, Nicklaus, Allison and the twins... I killed them all.”
Ubica shakily gets to his feet and walks to her slowly, and when he gets within arms length she shouts,
“Get away from me!!”
“??”
“I don't want to hurt you too! Please, you need to get away!”
Ubica halts but doesn't move back, and Amber swings her dagger at his face as a result.
He barely avoids it in time and some of his silver hair is cut off in the process of dodging it, her calculated swings continue as Ubica maneuvers his body to keep himself from getting cut.
“Leviathan!” Ubica shouts, avoiding slash after slash. “Just leave her alone!”
“No no, this is far too amusing.” Leviathan replies, watching the scene with a triumphant smile befitting of someone watching a movie they’ve accurately predicted the ending of. “Why don't you stop her yourself?”
“How!?” he queries as Amber's blade skims across his cheek, causing him to bleed.
“Well that’s simple, you just need to kill her.”
This situation is also predictable in Ubica's mind, there is no way that Leviathan would just let her go after all this. The goal is and has always been to send Ubica into despair, by using a tactic as brutal as forcing him to kill his own friend, this can easily be attained.
“Don't look so disgusted, Ubica, you have done something similar to this in the past haven't you?”
He is right, as the Antichrist he has thrown the weight of such an unreasonable ultimatum on a certain Archangel; it is only natural that what goes around comes around. Although killing off someone that he has only known for a couple of weeks isn't near as harsh as murdering two lovers blindly, this is still something he cannot choose to do no matter what.
“What is he talking about Ubica!? Just who are you guys anyways!?” Amber asks as she swings the blade that is already soaked with the blood of her family.
“He is a bad man.” Leviathan answers, “The kind of person that walks like a fire burning everything in its way. You ended up caught in its path.”
“Don't listen to him Amber! This bastard is the one controlling your body right now, he poisoned you when you two met earlier!”
Even though Ubica can’t help but agree, he still found it within himself to protest.
“So that's why you were so angry at me for bringing him in..?”
“That's right, although this never would have happened if I weren't around, at least let me explain all this once it's over.”
He tries to reassure her, to keep her fighting spirit alive, but Amber is too far away from ever being saved, and they both know it.
“There's no need... I don't want to live after this. How can I move along with any kind of normal life after all this!?”
Just as Leviathan predicted, she wouldn't want to carry on after witnessing and committing such atrocities.
“Don't talk like that!”
“Shut up Ubica!” Amber yells as tears fly from her eyes with each swing of her blade. “Please just kill me... I know you are strong enough to do it, I've seen it firsthand. Just do me this one favor.”
“I will not! This is what he wants, we can work through this if we fight it!”
Leviathan chuckles as he watches the two argue over Amber's life; although this isn't quite what he wanted, to him this certainly makes for a good show. “You have to kill her.” Leviathan interrupts. “If you choose not to, I'll make sure she goes on a killing spree the likes this island has never seen. I wonder how long it would take for them to put a stop to her mayhem? My water blesses her with inhuman strength after all, she could hold out for weeks. Or perhaps I'll take away her strength at the last minute instead, I'm sure the angry villagers will torture her and display her mangled body in the city streets.”
As if realizing his powerlessness will only worsen this already terrible result, he begins feeling trapped. There’s no escaping this snowball he’s put himself and Amber in, the hill is just too steep.
“Do it Ubica! I don't want to hurt anymore people! Please!!” Amber begs as the thought of Leviathan's prediction runs through her head.
This is a dead end, Ubica has nowhere left to turn as his back is pinned between one unreasonable situation and another. The question now is what is truly best for Amber?
Is it really okay to selfishly keep her alive and let her bear the pain of killing her whole family in cold blood?
Is it possible that killing her because of Leviathan's temptations is the correct choice?
Just what is he supposed to do?
He avoids one final attack and grabs onto Amber's arms, he presses them against her body and squeezes her as tight as possible, keeping her from being able to move.
In this position he speaks intently into her ear, “I won’t hurt you...”
He pushes her to the ground and turns to address Leviathan, “This is the only way to stop this. The only person I have to kill is you.”
“Oh? And how do you intend to do that?” Leviathan asks smugly.
“Dantega.”
“!?”
“That's right, all the training I've been doing has specifically been directed towards being able to control the power of Dantega to a certain extent.”
“Control Dantega?”
“This is what you wanted right? This is the corner you've backed me into! All I need to do is kill you and help Amber shoulder the burden of what has happened here tonight! My friends have helped me cope with everything I've done, I know I can help her through this as well!”
Ubica holds his hand out and his sword flies right into his palm from the beach sand, with his left hand he presses it against his chest and a thick black smoke forms around it and grows all over his body.
Leviathan can sense the strength growing within him, it is something he hasn't felt in a long time. But something is off, it still isn't the same as before, because Ubica is still the same frail person he has been since escaping the eternal lake.
Leviathan sighs at this and speaks, “That's not what I wanted, I'd hoped for you to resort to letting Dantega control you, not the other way around. This is disappointing, this is not the way I wanted to go about this, but I guess in the end it'll still have the same result.”
He moves his eyes from Ubica and looks towards Amber who is right behind him.
Ubica catches that and what follows immediately after is a 'thud' sound and a groan.
He abandons all thoughts of attacking Leviathan and turns around quickly.
Amber is on her knees with her hands on the hilt of the dagger impaling her stomach.
Leviathan has controlled the water in her body and forced her to stab herself.
Her blood falls onto the ground rapidly and the puddle that would normally form at her feet soaks into the sand adding intensity to the scene.
“Amber!!” Ubica shouts as he rushes to her aid and stops her from keeling over.
He holds her in his arms as her blood stains his white shirt, the warmth from it makes his body hot with angst as he watches the skin of her face grow extremely pale. He doesn't know what to do nor how to treat her, the only thing he could possibly think of is pulling the knife out of her and applying pressure to the wound.
When he attempts to do this he is stopped by the gentle yet shaking hand of Amber, she looks up at him and smiles as blood drips from the edges of her mouth.
“Don't bother...”
It would seem she now has control of her body since she was able to touch him.
“It's all over now...”
“No, I can do something! There's definitely something I can do!” he speaks frantically as he looks around desperately trying to find something that can help her.
“There's nothing.” Leviathan says, “I made sure of it.”
“Shut up!!”
“Come now don't be rude, this is all your fault after all. You could have stopped this, if only you had changed. This unfortunate fate will continue to be cast on all the people around you unless you forfeit your need for the kindness of others.”
His words hit Ubica hard as he zones out on Amber's broken body.
Through a cracked voice he mutters,
“Change..?”
“You must change Ubica, look at what has happened here. That girl, and her whole family are gone. If you truly had the strength that you spoke of they would still be alive. So let go of that weakness! Save the people you care about! Change who you are!”
Ubica's face is clouded with distraught, it's as though he is in the process of giving up.
Although he likes who he is now, the lives of the people he cares about most are far more important.
If he has the ability to protect them, and he doesn't use that ability because of some selfish desire, wouldn't that make him the worst kind of person?
With thoughts like these running through his head, Amber's hand is felt on the side of his face, he doesn't notice the blood transferred from her palm to his cheek when he looks down and sees her glaring up at him.
She uses the last of her energy to tell him the words he needs to hear in order to break him out of his broken mindset.
“Don't you dare change...”
Even though her life is fading fast, she still found it necessary to tell him her thoughts on what Leviathan said.
Looking back, she had never met anyone like him, he was easy to talk to, he made her laugh, she genuinely enjoyed every moment spent with him. If the person that made her so happy would give in and become someone he isn't, it would just make the tragic events of the night all the more sad.
Through her fleeting breath, she reiterates her statement,
“Don't... Ever... Change...”
With a long exhale, Amber loses the shine in her eyes and stares lifelessly up at Ubica.
This poor girl, who has suffered horribly for no reason other than the fact that she was in the way, is dead.
He loses himself in her lifeless eyes as his body goes stiff with disbelief, the world around him has come to a halt and this moment in time is all that he cares about.
Leviathan laughs slightly, “What a shame. I bet you want to kill me right now don't you?”
Just hearing Leviathan's voice, releases a trigger inside of Ubica, his head begins to ring as an odd pulsating noise similar to a heartbeat pounds in his chest. Each pump is pouring hate into every part of his body, the white of his eyes begin to grow black and the ground below him starts to shake.
“Now this is more of what I wanted.”
Ubica doesn't answer, he just shoots a glare that is filled with the overwhelming feeling of hate. It is apparent that Ubica is losing himself to Dantega but is doing whatever he can to stop it, on his neck the curse mark from Beelzebub is sending sharp pains coursing through every part of his body and is making his fight all the more difficult.
“This is what Dantega does, as its container you can never escape it. Any negative emotions or pains that you feel are fuel for Dantega's fire, it feeds off your hate and pain and you feed off its evil. It is a non stop cycle that can never be avoided, as long as you carry disdain inside of you, you will never escape it!”
This throws Ubica into twice as much anger, so much so that Leviathan feels it beating on his temples.
But this doesn't stop him from pressing forward, “But it is not enough! Like a fruit you are not ripe enough yet. What can I possibly do now to send you into the deepest depths of despair? Now that I have ensured that everything you built up slowly crumbled down around your feet, what is left for me to take from you?”
Leviathan raises his arms and from the ocean behind him comes his massive blue sea serpent. “Having said that, the one thing in this situation that will throw you over the edge... is for me to take away your revenge!! The dragon's mouth opens wide and Leviathan hops in, as it flees back into the ocean, Leviathan lets out a laugh of victory. “Hahahahaha so let Dantega relieve its thirst for revenge on your own body. And once you do, you will be just like the person you were in the past. Except now, you and your power will finally be tamed.”
The mouth of the serpent closes and disappears into the dark of the sea, Leviathan is gone, and he took Ubica's revenge with him.
Paying the price for it is Ubica himself, his body writhes in pain as the thought of giving in to the desire to not care clouds whatever minute amount of judgment he has left.
His arms shake and Amber's limp frame convulses with them as he lets out a scream of anger,
“UUURRRRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”
He drops his head and stays silent, the sounds of the waves breaking signals the calm after the storm that had just occurred. It's an eerie silence that stings because even after all of this, the world still moves on as though nothing had happened.
The silence of the night is broken by the frightened voice of a man at the bottom of the stairs that lead back up to the city.
“I-It was you..!”
Moving his head slowly to see who is speaking to him, his eyes finally land on Tuscany, Amber's fiance.
Tuscany walks shakily toward the two, “I knew it... I had an argument with Amber back at her house and left.” Tears begin to fall down his face as he continues. “But I came back to make up and I found her parents there. Fearing the worst, I went to Nicklaus' house, and he was dead! After that I went to Alison's place, and found her along with her two kids murdered as well!!!”
Tuscany had just happened to walk down the stairs of the lagoon in perfect time to misunderstand what had actually happened. All he knows is that in front of him is Ubica holding the dead body of who is supposed to be his future wife with a dagger sticking out of her stomach.
Ubica just stares at him blankly in a state of incoherence; his eyes still have traces of black in them as his fight for control still continues. This is a volatile time for him, his mind is blank with the desire to release his hate on someone, at this point anyone would do.
“I knew it! The only person who could have done such a thing is you! How could you!? Even Amber... How could you do this to her??“
Tuscany falls to his knees and weeps as he sends blame toward the innocent Ubica.
“You took everything away from me. Earlier today she called off our marriage, she said that her feelings had changed. Even though she wouldn't tell me why or how, I knew it was you! She left me because of you! Do you know how long I've waited to be with her!? Since we were kids I always tried to act like the cool guy just for her, just so she'd notice me. I tried so hard and I was so happy when it finally worked out...But you took her from me!!!”
By now, Tuscany is in such a state of anguish the words he had spoken were slightly slurred, he wobbly stands to his feet and pulls a small pocket knife out of his pocket.
He grunts like a madman and rushes at Ubica while shouting, “I'LL KILL YOU!!!”
Ubica doesn't even bother to move, with Amber still in his arms he holds his position as Tuscany lunges the knife at him.
However, before the knife can reach him, Tuscany hits some kind of barrier around Ubica's body. Tuscany's movement grinds to a halt and the blade in his hand shatters, the wave of energy that had broken the metal weapon to pieces slide up his arm, and in turn breaks his bones in a few different directions. Tuscany instantly passes out from shock and is sent flying away into the sandy side of the cliff.
Ubica gently lets go of Amber and walks toward the grounded Tuscany, each step of his seemingly shakes the ground below him. The killing intent spewing from him is enough to blot out the shine from the stars above him; it is becoming increasingly obvious what he intends to do to Tuscany as he holds his hand out to touch the floored man.
One simple touch is enough to rip Tuscany to shreds, and such a cruel fate is only a few inches away as Ubica's fingertip gets closer. The unconscious man before him is the perfect person to release a fraction of the pain and anger being spread through his body by the power of Dantega. Like an addict, he feels that just one will suffice. All it will take is just one person and he'll be relieved.
But Ubica stops, he retreats his hand and walks silently toward the ocean, this is such a struggle for him to do as his body twitches unnaturally as he tries to fight his urge to kill.
With his body half in the ocean, the water suddenly splits and gives him space as if opening a passageway for him to walk. His head slowly turns back so the sight of the injured Tuscany and the dead Amber reaches his eyes. It seems as though he is holding back tears as he looks at the scene of his regret.
“Don't ever change huh..?” he says to himself. He turns back towards the wall of the ocean and once again speaks in a saddened voice, “... I don’t think it’s going to work.”
The wall of water closes in on him and the dark of the ocean engulfs his presence, he finally departs the island, leaving a trail of tragedy in his wake.
Trojia opens her eyes and finds herself on a bed being pounded by the sun shining through a window to the left of her. The brightness stings her eyes momentarily and she slowly recollects where she is when she glances down to her hand and it's actually visible.
She is back on the boat, and in one of the rooms in the barracks for that matter.
Her terrible nightmare is now over and what's left is to re acquaint herself with the sensation of having a body once more. Seeing her own hands for the first time in 3 years almost induced her to vomit.
After a few moments spent shaking off the many sensations of general feeling, she manages to sit her stiff body up and notices a certain girl sitting on a chair staring out the window at the foot of her bed.
The sunlight reflects off her white hair and sends her skin into even more of a gorgeous tint than usual, it's as though she is looking at a doll with glowing gold eyes that are there to captivate people.
This is a girl that she has gotten to know quite well without even speaking so much as a word to her. This astonishingly beautiful person sitting just a few feet away from her is none other than the False Prophet Messor.
“Oh, you're finally awake?” Messor asks as she feels Trojia's glare beat on her cheek.
Trojia rubs her eyes and asks softly, “How long was I out for?”
“It's been a couple days. That Captain said we're only one day away from the second Gate.”
The young Princess's expression almost looks displeased.
“I see...”
She then takes a deep breath and asks, “Has he come back?”
“You mean Ubica? No... There's been no sign of him.”
“I see.” she says again.
The two sit in an ominous silence until Messor speaks, “Don't you want to ask me something else?”
Trojia's shoulders twitch and her gaze shifts away to the wooden wall of the room.
“Are you expecting me to ask you something?”
“Well I wouldn’t say expecting so much as I’m interested...” Messor replies, “You saw everything right?"
"I did."
"Don't you want to know more about it? Or hear my side of the story?”
“I'd have to be stupid to ask you anything more about your relationship with Ubica. What I saw was more than enough.”
Messor chuckles a little, “I'm glad you understand, if you have nothing more to say to me, I'll be the one to ask you something.”
“What is it?”
The slight smile Messor had fades away and a serious face takes its place when she asks, “Now after seeing all of Ubica's past... What do you think of him?”
Trojia is somewhat surprised at this sudden question, it takes her a few seconds to even think of how to answer it, and in that time frame all of the horrific images that she existed within, rush into her mind play before her eyes like a projection screen.
She starts crying and throws her wet face into her palms.
“H-He's...”
Trojia struggles to speak as the only sound escaping her mouth is that of a sharp moan that goes along with crying uncontrollably. The image of the kind and smiling Ubica is overrun by the images of his atrocities as the Antichrist. The Ubica she thought she knew has long since faded into the deepest corner of her mind where it can no longer be seen.
With these emotions running through her head, she answers with words she had never thought she'd say...
“He's awful.”
666 The Mark of the Beast: (END)
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