The flames collided, fighting against one another like heaven and hell had manifested on earth. Neither yielded to the other, clashing like water and oil, refusing to mix and concede. As the flames fought against each other, the heat increased to an unbearable level that caused all living beings in the area to scream as it burned their flesh. Jormungandr continued to pour out his mana to fight back against Uriel's spear but found the task more difficult as time passed.
The tip of the spear dug deep into the purple flames, pushing against it with hatred for the wicked as if it were alive. It rejected the notion of losing this war and slowly drilled its way through the quotidian mana, resisting against it. Asura confidently stood as Uriel faded behind him, and his mana faded. With a final farewell, Uriel put his hand on Asura's shoulder,
"You have exhausted yourself for the sake of others. As a parting gift, I shall gift mana to keep you from burning. Be warned, ogre, push yourself further, and you will face consequences." The angel said.
Asura laughed, "Yeah, well, it wouldn't be the first time, but thanks." He replied.
The ogre stared intently into the blinding light without care for the health of his eyes. The white flames slowly devoured the colors of the purple flame, leaving nothing more than gray tones.
Asura smiled, "It looks like I won asshole." He said.
The curse burned his lips, but it was worth it as he watched the spearheads punch through and pierce the side of Jormungandr's mouth. The white-hot spears cut their way through the flesh that connected Jormungandr's jaw to his skull, shooting through with rippling flames that incinerated the rock, flesh, and scales, leaving only the white flames to eat away at the rest.
The serpent screamed as the holy mana ate away at his being. Uriel's flames consumed all they could reach and eventually devoured the Apocalypse's eye. The tip of the spears didn't stop until they had traveled for at least a block, leaving white fire in the wake.
Rose stood in awe. The flames burned so brightly they exposed the serpent's skeleton, his very organs catching fire from within. Jormungandr thrashed desperately against the earth, tearing muscle from bone in a futile attempt to extinguish the holy blaze.
Yet, the serpent rose. Its unscathed eye locked onto Asura and Wain with burning hatred. It would see them dead, even at the cost of its own life. The hatred and resentment caused the eye to shake violently.
To Asura, the scene looked like it had been taken from a movie. The flames still lingered on its body, covering half of the right side of Jormungandr's face, and in the darkness, the serpent's silhouette stood menacingly above.
Wain stammered, and his speech was slurred as he screamed. "Assu- Ru- Throu-gh," Wain said.
Asura turned, finding a massive portal created from Wain's swirling smoke. The ogre immediately entered a sprint as he ran towards Kane, grabbing hold of the wounded and exhausted priest lying against the pavement.
The serpent hissed and bared its fangs. With a swift strike, its body shot downward at the two fleeing. Asura began cursing in his head, Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. I knew it wouldn't kill, but he can still fucking move!??! Flaming drool was slung from his mouth like an eager dog, splattering across his shirt.
Wain dove to the left, slamming hard against the earth, barely out of the way. Asura barely had time to catch a glance at the portal, where he could see a vast, green forest stretching toward a breathtaking mountainscape. Its beauty was unparalleled and could only stand alongside Uriel's Garden. The clouds rolled close above, and a beautiful reddish light painted everything with its glory.
There was no time to admire the sight. Jormungandr was a few breaths away.
Asura reached the portal's edge, his heart pounding. "I did it. Holy crap, I really made it... Wa-" Asura laughed but held his breath.
The serpent lunged. Jormungandr's massive maw crashed through the portal, swallowing both Asura and Kane whole. Inside the gorge were teeth that lined the inside of Jormungandr's throat.
"Fuck." Asura said as the world went dark.
Asura braced himself, shielding Kane with his own body. The ogre could only gasp as the two collided against each tooth as they fell down into its throat. Each impact punched the air out of their lungs, and his grip on Kane loosened. "So this is what-"
The ogre slammed into another and another, and the fall continued for what felt like forever.
"-gnashing teeth feels like..." He gasped.
Outside of Jormungandr, Wain watched while lying. His body refused to move any longer, and the purity burn settled in. He was on the verge of exploding or his body incerinating from the inside out. His lungs were heavy with every breath. The serpent turned towards him with its hollow eye as if it could see the priest.
"You dared to believe you could win against me." The serpent sneered. " I ask again, where is your God?"
The serpent rose, baring its fangs once more. Wain laid his head back against the ground, knowing the next strike was at him. Wain raised a middle finger into the air, "Screw you."
Thunderous footsteps shook the earth. The trees crashed like dry kindling, easily kicked down. With every step, it grew closer, the booming echoes drawing near. The serpent hesitated, turning towards the source. His eye could only glimpse something red before his head was thrown to the side from a mighty strike from an armored fist.
Before the serpent could stir, his lone eye caught the sight of a figure raising a great, scarlet wine-red great axe above its head. With a single, fluid movement, it brought the axe down onto Jormungandr's neck as if it were a stump to be chopped in half. Its sharp blade passed through without resistance, cleaving the serpent into two.
The severed head fell, the dull thunk of flesh and bone striking ground. He lay on the floor, lifeless, defeated. Wain let out a short laugh before his body began to ache. "Thanks, Hephestine." He said.
His strength gave out, and his head fell back against the earth. Blood boiled beneath his skin, his body succumbing to purity burn. The cracks shined brightly, like volcanic cracks in the earth. Exhausted and prepared for death, the priest relaxed, awaiting, accepting.
Hephestine stood over the corpse of Jormungandr. The deep crimson metal encased its entire body, complemented by thick, brown leather straps reinforcing the joints. Resting atop its helm were two ram horns, curling before jutting sharply upward. The very air shimmered with the sheer magnitude of its mana, a presence so vast it seeped into the land itself, wrapping Wain in a strange, comforting warmth even as his body withered.
Strapped to its waist was a brown toolbelt that carried an array of tools that, from a glance, would expose its occupation, a blacksmith. Hammers, tongs, and other varying tools rested neatly in segmented loops. And behind it, stretching outward in full spread, were six breathtaking wings. Within the light brown feathers were streaks of dark red woven through the feathers like veins of fire.
The Angel rested its axe against the ground. "Wain, why must you break the rules?" She said. Her voice was firm but tinged with sadness. "Bringing those not given authority to enter violates the laws God set in place. There shall be consequences, dear..."
The Angel knelt beside Jormungandr's ruined body and grabbed hold of its headless corpse. Gripping it with two hands, it began to pull. The body ripped in two with a sudden jerk, tearing down the middle as rivers of blood poured from its fingers, digging in. Flesh and muscle rippled, squishing and snapping as tendons tore away.
Wain flinched at the grotesque symphony of cracking and wet, tearing flesh. The sound alone made his skin crawl.
However, the Angel was unable to find Asura and Kane within the split carcass. Hephestine's grip tightened. She plunged an arm deep into the serpent's torso, shoving through organs and entrails. Reaching up to the shoulder, Hephestine finally grasped something solid and yanked.
Asura coughed as he was set free, and Kane barely had time to gasp as vomit forced its way out of his throat, spilling out onto her palm. A ripple of mana washed over them, a silent wave of disgust.
"So-" Asura said, but Hephestine cut him off.
"Do not apologize. I am not disgusted by you but by the blood of a vile beast that coats my arm." She said, staring at the two in her palm. Like Uriel, her helmet held only an empty void.
"Oh-... okay," Asura replied, nodding his head in shock.
Shaking off his daze, Asura turned his attention to Kane, checking his temperature and pulse. He is stable. A relieved sigh escaped him, and he let himself fall back against her palm.
"Do you feel safe in my presence?" She asked.
"I met your brother earlier," Asura said, with closed eyes. "Honestly, it was a bit more intimidating."
"My brother was far too lenient in allowing you to step foot into God's domain." She said. Her voice cold.
Asura furrowed his brow. He snapped his gaze into the void of her helmet. "What now?" He asked.
"Your kind was banished long ago from these gardens. The same fate was set upon the humans. Yet, you dare enter without permission?" She said, pulling them closer toward the void.
Asura pushed himself upright. Angrily, he shook his hand at her face. "What the fuck? We would've died!" He scoffed at the angel.
"To die is preferable, than to break the father's laws." She said. Her voice burning his skin.
"Hold up." He said, raising his hands up before his face. "Piss off for a moment there, lady. What did you want us to do?" He asked, his face twisting in confusion. "Let him kill hundreds of thousands more people?!"
"Vile language." A pulse of divine mana radiated from Hephestine, pressing down onto the ogre. Asura dropped to one knee under its sheer force.
"I'm not backing down on this asshole." He groaned but rose back to his feet. "Wain-" He scanned for his friend in the grass. "Wait, where is Wain?"
Hephestine gestured with a slight tilt of the head. "He rests there, preparing for peace."
Panic surged through Asura as he followed the direction of the gesture. "Wain!" He shouted, desperate.
Wain's motionless form lay amidst the swaying grass, his eyes empty as they gazed skyward. The wind toyed with his tattered clothes, a stark contrast to the battle-worn land surrounding him.
"Wain!" He shouted. Asura turned and pointed at the Angel. "HEAL HIM! HE IS GOING TO DIE!"
"So what if he does?" She curtly asked. "Does he not deserve it?"
"What!?" His vocal cords wanted to tear as he screamed the word. "Deserve?"
"What is justice if there is no punishment when the laws were broken?" She asked.
"What-" His breath hitched. "You can't be fucking serious."
"Watch your words, ogre." Another wave of mana pulsed, sending him down to both knees.
Asura gritted his teeth, seething with rage. "You think this is justice?"
He gazed at the angel, barely resisting the urge to descend into madness. "You think letting that man die because he wanted to save everyone is justice? What the fuck is justice if you let a man die who saved countless? What did he do wrong?"
He shouted as he pounded the metal hand that held him. The metal thundered with every beat. "Yeah, sure he entered your fucking precious Garden. Or God's or whatever! You think God would let that man die?"
Asura pointed toward the sky. "You think he's sitting up there, like yeah who fucking cares about that guy?" The ogre's eyes went wild, shaking violently, trying to focus on the world before him.
"He did exactly what he wanted him to do! Who showed him the way future?" The fire sloshed from his lips, flinging as if spouted from a wild dog. "Was he not supposed to save God's people? What happened to righteousness? I fucking know Abel preached about it all the time. Even he broke the rules when he needed to!"
Asura's eyes blazed with rage. "Sure, justice is cold, but the righteous forgive. If you wanna punish anyone, punish me. Don't put it on the guy who sacrificed it all to save his people, you fuck." His chest rose and fell rapidly as if he put his heart into every word.
"It seems you haven't forgotten what it means to lead." The angel said, studying the ogre.
"What?" Asura blinked, caught off guard.
"Forgive me, but it was to test you." she said, her mana settling into a calm lake of warmth.
"Test?" The ogre asked in disbelief.
"Uriel chose you." She answered. "I wished to understand why."
"Who the fuck cares right now?" Asura said, pulling his lip up to reveal his teeth. "Heal them both."
"I have. They have not suffered since you arrived."
Asura looked at Kane. His breath steadied, and his body relaxed as the exhaustion took its toll. As he studied the boy's body, he found that his other arm was back where it belonged. The kid had flesh and bone whole again. Asura let out a slow exhale. "What's this about Uriel choosing me?" He asked.
"My brother hasn't chosen a successor or blessed a soul since the great war of his children." She stated, her voice tinged with curiosity as she gazed at the ogre, who wore her brother's blessing.
"War of his children?" Asura asked. His brow furrowed.
"Yes." She answered. "He once blessed many, but greed and envy took hold of their hearts. They craved power. Thus, a great war broke out among humans, and when it ended, he stripped them of his gifts and swore never to bless another."
Asura let out a bitter laugh, his body finally giving in as he sank to the ground. His arms still ached from the mana burn left by Uriel's spear.
"Do you want to be healed?" She asked, an abnormal softness in her tone.
"Heal them first." Asura gestured toward the others.
"Do you doubt me?" She asked.
"Ah, whatever." Asura sighed. He knew she could heal them all. "Sorry. Sure."
A soothing warmth spread through his body, like rolling warm water to sooth his bones. After a moment passed, he asked. "So, did I pass?"
"Yes." She confidently answered.
"Cool." He laughed. Glad that it all had ended.
With a simple motion, Hephestine laid Kane and Wain beside each other. Wain let out a weak chuckle, his voice hoarse. "So I'm not going to die." Wain said, his eyes bright as he looked at the ogre.
Asura laughed joyfully. "Not today. Still gotta deal with me, pal." A grin was stuck on his face.
"Oh, just put me out of my misery." Wain groaned with a smirk.
The ogre laughed, smacking the man's shoulder. "How are you feeling?" He asked.
"Like crap." He replied, shifting his shoulder.
"Same. Aren't you getting healed?" Asura turned to Hephestine, confused by their stifness.
"I am," Wain replied.
Hephestine grabbed hold of the corpse, dousing it with magma that spread out over the entire skull. Its skull and flesh were consumed by the flames, disintegrating into nothingness.
"The lingering exhaustion and pain in your bodies will still be present. You have suffered greatly." Hephestine stated from afar. "Your body will remember."
"Like ghost pain?" Asura asked with a brow raised.
"Yes." She said.
Asura fixed his gaze on the Angel, but before he could speak, Wain lightly tapped his leg.
"Don't hate her." He said, fixing his gaze on the angel. "She only tested you 'cause she needed to know."
Asura frowned. "Know about what?"
"It only gets worse from here..." A tired smile sat on Wain's face.
"What do you mean?" Asura asked. His stomach tightened at the thought of Jormungandr's corpse mending.
Wain smiled, staring into the distance. "I can't wait till I see the blue sun."
Asura blinked. "What?" He asked. "Are you alright in the head?"
"I'm fine. Just... tired." Wain patted Asura's shoulder like a departing friend.
"You must leave." The Angel commanded. Hephestine's voice cut through their conversation.
Asura raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"The time has come. His body will become thousands."
"What do you mean by that?" Asura asked, dread twisting like a knife in his gut.
"The serpent's grudge still lingers in the afterlife." Hephestine burned away the blood that stained the ground. "From the depths of hell, his hatred boils out. His body will become thousands, unleashing a devastating army upon the human world." She left a moment of silence, letting the two digest her words.
"You must go back." She commanded.
Asura clenched his fists. "Can't you stop it?" He asked.
"I have stopped all that I can." She motioned toward the scorched earth, where the serpent once laid. "The head and body that entered no longer exist. Yet, the rest lies throughout the city of man. If you do not go, then your friends will surely die."
"Shit." The fire burst from his mouth.
"The portal will close once you exit. I am holding it open, but do not expect it to remain once you leave." She said, her gaze steady as the swirling smoke strained to hold its form.
Asura glanced at the others, then down at Kane's unconscious form.
"What about these two?" The ogre asked as Wain groaned and took a step, his body screaming in protest. He barely stood but waved off Asura's concern. "I can stand."
He wobbled. Asura tried to help, but Wain pushed him away. "I got it. Get Kane, and let's go."
The ogre watched as Wain hobbled to the portal that led back to the city. Asura soon joined him with Kane in his arms. Before stepping through, they took one last look at the city on the other side. It had been reduced to ruin, smoke rising from the destruction, rubble scattered across the streets. Jormungandr's corpse stretched far into the distance, but the storm had vanished, and the sky was finally clear.
"Welp, buddy. Hope you're ready for round two." Asura laughed.
Wain cast a worried glance at Asura, "I really never am. This blows." The marks from the purity burn had faded from his skin.
Far down the road stood Mel, Rose, and Lydia, all studying the corpse of Jormungandr. They seemed to be walking towards the two, but it was hard to tell from the distance between them. Asura walked through first, finding himself right back where they had left. Wain then followed after.
The two shouted and waved at their comrades, yelling at the two. "Get over here! It's not over!"
Lydia's smile faltered. The moment she heard those words, she froze. Then, in an instant, the group sprinted toward them. "Is Kane okay?" Rose asked, speaking first.
"Kane's fine. Better than ever, see?" Asura playfully lifted Kane's newly restored arm. "He's just napping. Rough day at work."
Lydia grabbed hold of Asura's shoulders. "What did you mean by it's not over?" Her eyes were sharp, seeking.
"Well, a birdie told us that this guy is bout to turn into an army." He pointed toward the snake. "Looks like the fight continues."
Lydia's eyes darted back to Jormungandr's body, which sprawled across the city like a fallen mountain range. "How do we even stop that?" She asked.
Mel grabbed hold of her gun, a silver-barreled shotgun, and racked it. "It can't be any worse than before. If it's an army of demons, I think we can take care of it."
Asura nodded, "Yeah, honestly, not going to comment 'cause it's deserved. This guy's a prick." He shrugged as if to shake off the word.
A deep, bone-chilling sound rumbled through the streets. Jormungandr's massive form began to shift, his flesh rippling as if something crawled beneath it. Then, the first howl tore through the city, a chorus of draconic screeches, echoing like wolves howling to the moon.
The priests and ogre watched as his flesh twisted, snapped, and stretched out into the forms of wyrms and lyndwyrms. Their faces pressed through the tissue, and Asura commented, "Ew, it's like the horror movies where they do that weird curtain thing." He shivered.
The twisting wyrms and lyndwyrms shifted and wriggled on one another, resembling intestines sprawling out onto the world. Then, the scales crackled, causing segments to fall off, and from those shards, rock drakes slammed onto the ground. From Jormungandr's bones, small wyverns carved their way out, freeing themselves from the confines. \
From miles upon miles of his decaying body, thousands of dragons were born. A final, cursed farewell from the Apocalypse.
Far from the priests and Asura, deep within the ruined city, a lone figure strode toward the colossal corpse. A crimson cloak draped over his shoulders, its tattered edges brushing against the blood-soaked ground. In one hand, he clutched a worn, leathery book, its pages filled with secrets long forgotten. His face was disfigured, a scar carved into his face while a pair of thin-framed glasses rested upon his nose. His violet eyes gleamed with anticipation as they fixated on the prize before him.
A slow, satisfied smile spread his lips as he stared at a beating heart hanging in the cage of the dragon's bones. Malachi outstretched his arms, praising the beating organ before him.
"The first sin." He said. His voice filled with awe, caressing it like a fragile object.
he heart shuddered, blood surging toward his arm as though drawn to its new master. The thick crimson life force spiraled around him, wrapping and coiling like living tendrils. With each passing moment, the heart withered, collapsing inward as its essence was drained completely. When the final drop had been pulled, Malachi withdrew his arm.
A dense layer of blood clung to his flesh, shifting and writhing as if Jormungandr's will still lingered. Then, it hardened, crystallizing into jagged black rock, splitting into spikes that jutted outward like the beast's armored hide. His fingers elongated, their tips sharpening into deadly claws. But, within the cracks of the petrified blood, a thick, living liquid still pulsed, creeping across his skin like a parasite within his flesh.
"Tell the beast king I have it, and Jomrungandr is no longer." He announced. The earth trembled as the howls of newborn dragons echoed through the city, their hunger unleashed upon the world. Malachi watched with amusement as they took flight, a storm of death descending upon the living.