CHAPTER 35: | GABRIEL HYPOCRISY
---
My fist glowed with an intense, sapphire-like sheen, the 'crystalline impactor' crackling with raw power.
With a powerful thrust, I felt the currents shriek around my knuckles, a surge of energy vibrating through my arm.
Crash!
The massive, ornate stone gate shattered with a deafening roar, sending shards of jagged rock spraying like shrapnel.
A choking cloud of fine dust billowed into the grand hallways, and I heard the immediate, frantic cries of seraphs from within.
"Apostle! The demon is here!"
But their apostle was nowhere to be found.
Then, with a flicker of distorted light, their form vanished.
Before I could react, I felt the cold whisper of metal inches from my neck, a faint, chilling hum emanating from their unseen weapon.
Shook!
'Corrupting Gaze,' enhanced by the passive 'Demon Eyes,' pulsated with a sickly, violet glow.
As it struck, the seraphs' forms wilted like scorched flowers, their divine light dimming, their limbs trembling uncontrollably.
"Help!"
"Ahhhhhhhh!"
"Demons! Die Demons!"
All of the seraphs affected by the 'corrupting gaze' writhed and squirmed in agonizing pain, while some were suffering from illusions and the ground rumbled uncontrollably beneath their struggles.
The hallway of the castle, surprisingly, was meticulously neat and elegantly adorned.
The walls were lined with gleaming, polished marble, intricately etched with flowing, silver-lined artwork.
These weren't mere decorations, they depicted the somber history of the crabmen, showcasing their triumphs and the mournful sagas of their fallen kin.
Quite the touching scenery, yet the stark reality was that these beautiful halls were now strewn with the grotesque carcasses of their fallen comrades.
The sweet, metallic tang of spilled blood hung heavy in the air, mingling with the faint scent of scorched feathers and dust, a brutal contrast to the elegance of the marble.
Swish! Slash!
Liora's razor-sharp blade, almost invisible in its speed, carved through the air, decapitating the squirming seraphs one by one.
I could feel it, a humming surge of power, her stage visibly advancing with each brutal kill.
Liora was probably at Tier 6 or 7 now, for she began to tear into their fallen bodies with a savage relish, the wet sound of tearing flesh echoing as she shouted.
"Master, I'm gonna feast on their carcasses first! So you go and thrash their leader!"
Shaking my head, I gazed at Liora, who was now happily munching on their carcasses with delight.
"Quite the way with words you've got there, Liora, so leave some for me you glutton."
Liora chuckled as she shouted in protest.
"Well, if you're faster, maybe I'll spare some! So do it quick!"
My form vanished in a heartbeat as I dashed through the hallway with glee.
Minutes passed as I searched every nook and cranny of the castle, checking the lower and middle floors but finding nothing.
Perhaps the throne room is above me.
Crash!
A blinding flash of pure, celestial light erupted, filling the hallway for a single, agonizing moment.
Then, a white-hot, searing pain lanced through my nerves.
A sword forged of pure light, humming with divine energy, was already embedded through my neck, a choking gasp caught in my throat as my airflow was brutally severed.
Apostle, was what they call this being, an a being of purity, appeared from behind a statue.
"Demons from hell! I, Gabriel, the apostle of light, shall exact judgment for my fallen brothers!"
He raised his staff as swords made of light coagulated from the very currents, then shone brilliantly.
Swish!
Pain struck my elbow, kneecap, forearms, and chest as multiple swords of searing light sent me flying back into the hallways.
Crash!
The castle groaned and shuddered from the impact, and I found myself brutally impaled, crucified on an ornate, cold stone cross that seemed to rise from the very floor.
Jagged edges dug into my flesh, pins of blinding light holding me fast.
Cough! Cough! Cough!
Thick, coppery blood gushed from my maw as I spasmed violently.
Gabriel's iridescent golden eyes, like twin suns, shone brightly.
His irises, the shape of a cross, gleamed with fervor as his golden hair swayed gently on the currents' commands.
He floated towards me, each movement graceful yet terrifyingly deliberate, like an archangel descended from the heavens.
A faint, ethereal hum seemed to emanate from him, and his voice, though calm, resonated with a chilling, unshakeable righteousness as he prayed.
"Lord of light, please grant this poor lamb the power to purify this vile demon before me."
The intent of light formed into something beyond my understanding as a massive cross descended from the heavens to smite me.
I gazed at him, my crimson irises burning with a predatory cruelty, as a deep, pulsing orange light began to bleed across the elegant hallways from within me.
Gabriel's gaze locked onto the sizzling sphere of magma that had materialized in my hand, and a flicker of unease crossed his face before he closed his eyes.
"The Lord sent us here to bring the object of worship back to the heavens... but you, demon, have interfered with heaven's miracle, so the Lord has no choice but to judge you."
A low, guttural cackle broke from my mouth, the sound echoing and distorting, bouncing off the polished marble walls with an unsettling reverberation.
Gabriel flashed his eyes open, a tremor running through his form, clearly spooked by my laughter.
"Demon, what evil schemes are you plotting right now!"
My irises dilated into slits as I chuckled.
"Nothing much, oh saintly seraph, for I find your twisted sense of justice funny."
Gabriel was shocked at my words, and his form trembled.
Why did I say that his sense of justice was laughable?
Why, you ask?
Well, it was because he, a symbol of purity, invaded the fortress of the crabmen without any reason.
Except to retrieve a thing called the idol of worship back to heaven, justifying their actions by the order of the Lord.
Quite the hypocrisy that they displayed in front of me, who hated it more than I hated the heavens itself.
Gabriel and the seraphs claim divine righteousness and a mission to retrieve a sacred object, but they do so through violence and invasion, directly contradicting any pretense of purity or justice.
The fact that they didn't even attempt negotiation, choosing immediate force against an ,innocent, group like the crabmen, perfectly exposes the hollowness of their claims.
My voice was laced with mockery as I shouted.
"Why cover your intentions with hypocrisy, oh seraph, when you could just invade and snatch it with force? Why do you need justification when strength speaks volumes! Why cover your hypocrisy with the order of the Lord! Tell me, who is your Lord, oh poor lamb!"
My voice echoed throughout the hallway like the voice of a devil tempting the poor and ignorant.
Gabriel's face twisted into a mask of righteous fury, his lips peeling back from his teeth as he angrily shouted.
"Shut your trap, oh demon from hell!"
His face turned cold as he pointed at me.
"Heavens Smite!"
A low chuckle escaped from my lips as 'Hellfire Golden Gauntlet' activated, vibrant, hungry purple flames erupted from my skin, swirling and coalescing into a gleaming, infernal gauntlet on my hand.
Snap! Snap! Snap!
The swords of light impaling me shattered with sharp, crystalline pops, exploding into harmless motes of light as I simply broke them apart.
I glanced at my palm.
A miniature sun of swirling, molten magma, thick and viscous, pulsed there.
I opened my mouth and, with a strange, delicious hunger, ingested it like a potent pill.
'Cataclysmic Inferno Breath' coursed through me, and my blood immediately surged and roared, a searing inferno ignited within my veins.
'Golden Sanguine' went into overdrive, a wave of blissful, overwhelming power washing through my entire body, into pure ecstasy.
Strength surged, tripling my power.
Shook!
With a single, explosive step, my form blurred and flickered, almost phasing in and out of existence, dodging 'Heavens Smite' in the last, desperate moment.
Crash!
A cataclysmic explosion tore through the water at my back, a deafening roar that shook the very foundations of the castle.
The ornate cross where I'd been impaled, and a section of the elegant hallway, were utterly vaporized, reduced to smoking smithereens.
My eyes locked onto Gabriel's as my palm snapped shut around his neck with crushing force.
The ground beneath me began to sizzle and melt, turning into a bubbling, orange slag from the sheer, radiating heat of my body.
Where my hand gripped Gabriel's throat, his divine flesh hissed and smoked, the smell of ozone and burning light filling the currents.
He thrashed his legs again and again, but it was futile.
"Gabriel, oh Gabriel, you pitiful hypocrite."
My eyes flashed a golden light as 'Corruption Gaze,' enhanced by 'Demon Eyes,' activated.
Pain contorted Gabriel's angelic features, a silent scream ripping through him as he thrashed wildly, his body convulsing in agony.
But it was futile.
His struggles grew weaker, more desperate, until he finally lost consciousness, a sickly froth bubbling at his mouth.
I let out a sigh as I clenched my hands tighter.
Splash!
A wet, sickening explosion erupted, and Gabriel's blood and flesh burst outward in a fine, crimson mist, spraying the elegant marble with grotesque patterns.
My crimson irises gleamed, reflecting the grisly sight with cold, unyielding cruelty.
"Pitiful mongrel, talking about salvation without the power."