The ruins were deathly silent except for the rattle of chains. The fallen seraph knelt before his son, immense wings trailing ash, his scarred face flickering between sorrow and rage. Fire burned within his eyes, but buried deep was something else — longing, regret, love twisted by time and shadow.
"Free me, Maxwell," the seraph's voice cracked, thunder rumbling in its depths. "You are my son. You carry my blood, my power. These chains bind us both. Break them, and we will stand together."
Maxwell's eyes glowed, torn between silver and crimson. His sword pulsed faintly in his hand, the runes flickering as if alive. His other hand trembled, hovering in the air as if pulled toward the burning links that bound his father.
Gabby stepped between them, her golden wings spread wide, her sword blazing with righteous fire. Her voice cut sharp as steel. "Maxwell, look at him! He is not free. Samael's corruption drips from every wound. You think you see your father, but all you see is his prison. If you break those chains, you don't free him — you unleash Samael."
The seraph's eyes hardened. His wings beat once, sending ash and dust swirling. "Lies! The Host has always feared me. Feared what I was, what I could be. Now they fear you, my son. They want you leashed as they leashed me." His chains rattled, sparks flying as though resisting his very words. He winced, gripping them, but forced his gaze back to Maxwell. "Do not listen to them. You are not their weapon. You are mine."
Anthony staggered closer, holding the Codex high as its pages burned with frantic golden light. Sweat poured down his brow, his lips raw from constant prayer. "Maxwell, don't! The Codex speaks of this moment. If you loose the chains, you loose the Abyss. Samael himself will come forth. God help us, you will open the end."
But Maxwell's heart tore in two. His father's voice was everything he had longed for — the sound he had dreamed of as a child, when all he had was his mother's weary lullabies and his own unanswered prayers.
"I never knew you," Maxwell whispered, his throat tightening. "I never heard your voice until now. And all my life I've asked why. Why did you leave us? Why did she die alone?"
The seraph's face twisted with pain, tears of fire burning his cheeks. "Because I was taken from you. Because they feared what you would become if you knew me. Your mother… she loved you with her last breath. And I—" He broke off, chains snapping taut, Samael's laughter slithering through the ruins like smoke.
Gabby shouted above the storm, her voice raw with urgency. "Do you see? He can't even speak freely! Samael has his tongue, his chains, his soul. Maxwell — if you give in, you will be bound too!"
Maxwell staggered back a step, torn between their voices. His storm-gray eyes flickered wildly, crimson fire and silver storm battling for dominance. The whispers pressed harder, Samael's voice curling like poison in his skull:
Break them, Maxwell. Free your blood. Free yourself. You are mine — and with me, you will be more than Nephilim. You will be god.
Maxwell's knees buckled. He gripped his sword for balance, his veins glowing faint red beneath his skin. His heart screamed to reach for his father, but his mother's voice rose like a fragile thread against the roar:
You are stronger than blood. Stronger than darkness. Stronger than me.
His hand clenched the hilt until his knuckles turned white. His breath came ragged, his voice breaking as he raised his eyes. "No."
The seraph's head snapped up, disbelief flashing across his scarred face. "What?"
Maxwell rose, his silver blade blazing, his storm-gray eyes hardening into steel. "I am not yours. I am not Samael's. I am not the Host's. I am my own."
With a roar, he swung the sword down — not upon the chains, but upon the shadow that fed them.
Light erupted. The sword cleaved through Samael's corruption, silver fire tearing into crimson smoke. The ruins shook violently, earth splitting underfoot. Samael's laughter twisted into a furious scream.
The seraph cried out, his body writhing as the shadow binding him was scorched. His chains flared, half gold, half red, straining between Heaven and Hell.
Gabby rushed forward, her golden blade striking alongside Maxwell's, her voice ringing with fury. "Then let us end Samael's hold!"
Anthony dropped to his knees, screaming prayers, the Codex blazing brighter than ever. Holy light streamed from the pages, burning into the shadow that tried to claw its way free.
The storm climaxed — silver, gold, and crimson colliding in a blast that blinded the night.
When it cleared, the seraph knelt, scorched and shaking. His chains remained — but their glow had shifted. No longer crimson, not yet pure gold. They burned faintly with both, torn between masters. His scarred face lifted, eyes wet with fire.
"Maxwell…" His voice was broken, a whisper of pride and grief. "You are stronger… than me."
The chains tightened again. With a thunderous snap, they yanked him backward, dragging him into the Abyss. His scream echoed as he vanished into shadow. Samael's laughter chased him, shaking the ruins until silence fell.
Maxwell collapsed to his knees, gasping, his sword buried in the scorched earth. His storm-gray eyes shimmered, raw with tears he refused to shed.
Gabby knelt beside him, her hand steady on his shoulder. "You chose the world. You chose life. That is what makes you different from him."
Anthony, pale and trembling, pressed the Codex to his chest. "But Samael has not finished. He will come again, harder, angrier. And your father's soul will be his weapon."
Maxwell stared into the void where the gate had been, jaw clenched, voice like steel.
"Then I'll be ready. If Samael wants war, he'll have it. But before the end… I will free my father. Not as his son. Not as his heir. But as the one thing Samael can never chain — my own will."