~ I have added this Fanfic to my Patreon. If you'd like to read advanced chapters, feel free to check it out!
~ I'm planning to increase the number of advanced chapters to +18 this weekend!
~ I've edited some of the previous chapters to remove anything you might consider "cringe" or "unnecessary." I'll continue reviewing them from time to time!
~ Very soon, we'll return to releasing two chapters daily, including bonus privileges for Power Stone contributions!
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And then the third spear had come, and he barely avoided impalement by rolling to the side.
"This is so much better!" the woman seemed ghoulishly pleased, and he frowned when he noticed that the other Fallen in the room were watching him with interest now, "So much better! Oh, why couldn't you been the one with the Sacred Gear? You would have made the hunt so much more fun! Poor Issei here just let me kill him," the boy in question let out a sob of frustration, but could do nothing more, "Can you believe that? The idiot just let me kill him! Just like that! It was so easy, but it wasn't fun! I want to have fun! I want to enjoy the kill!" Raynare raised both her arms, and where only single spears had been summoned before, now there were a dozen; gleaming shafts of light that circled around their master's head, "So let us have fun!"
The volley hurtled towards him, and he only had time to hurl himself behind a pew before the lances buried themselves into the floor where he had stood a bare instant before.
"This is how it should be!" the insane woman cackled, "This is how things should have been! Lesser beings like you should scutter and scrape before us like the insects you are! We are your superiors! We are your betters! We are gods compared to you, and we will judge you for your crime of existing!"
He halted. He had been judged before. When he faced the rotting, decrepit form of Nyx, and had been found wanting. When the Moon descended to Earth, and had threatened the extinction of all mankind. And when Erebus battered against his seal, demanding to fuse itself with Nyx to bring about the end of the world. He had been judged. He did not like to be judged.
He rose from his cover, defiant. The Fallen let out another mocking laugh.
"Stopped hiding, have we? Given up?"
This time, he did not look away, and instead stared back into the woman's violet eyes.
"Such resistance," Raynare whispered, an expression of pure sadism appearing on her face, "Such insolence. I am going to break you. I am going to make you beg to be ended. I am going to draw out your suffering until your entire world is nothing but agony!"
He felt the sudden stab of pain, and looked down to his shoulder, where a new hole had been created. He took a reflexive step back and glared up at the Fallen.
"Oops," Raynare's features twisted into a countenance of exaggerated innocence, "I guess I couldn't control myself."
The numbness that came from his shoulder told him his left arm would no longer function. No matter. He still had one more. And with that arm he reached into his pocket, fingers digging until they wrapped around the cool grip in a comforting hold.
He pulled it out. The woman's eyes shot to it immediately, and contempt shone in those purple irises.
"What is that?" her lips curled, "A gun? You think a mere gun will defeat me?" the sadistic expression returned, "I'll show you the true strength of a Fallen Angel! I'll show you what it means to be judged!"
He looked up to this stunningly beautiful creature, her cruel visage a mocking caricature of the girl she once had been, and he could not help but be repulsed.
He lifted the Evoker to the side of his head, the barrel cool and comforting against his skin.
"What are you doing!?" Issei gasped out, his face stretched into an expression of incredulity, "Stop! Put it down! Just because they're strong doesn't mean we can't beat them! Don't give in!" Raynare silenced him by smashing his face against the floor with a swift kick.
The Fallen Angel let out a giggle.
"Yes. Yes. Despair. Tremble. Know that you cannot ever match my power," she licked her lips, "Kill yourself. Die for me."
Still she did not comprehend. Did not understand the meaning. He would show her.
He pulled the trigger. There was an instant of weightlessness. The sudden splash of liquid chill entering his mind. Then the familiar sensation of power emanating from within, seeking a way out, begging for release. He let the feeling flow over him, a thin smile spreading across his features.
And deep within his conscience something came from the nothingness.
I am Thou, and Thou art I.
Its silver armor shone like the sun, gleaming with the exuberance of a freshly born star.
I am the Light of Humanity. I am the Illumination of the Soul.
Steel pinions that were more blades than wings extended over each shoulder, cloaking the figure in a veil of sharpened metal.
From the Fires of Redemption I am Born. From Thy Mind I have Come.
A frowning mask hid its face from view, silver like the plate that covered the rest of its body, but nothing could cover the sheer power that radiated from its floating frame.
I am the Voice of God. I am the Word in His Command.
The masked face tilted, turning to regard them with almost mechanical precision.
I am Metatron.
Then the sword, alight with righteous fire, materialized into its palm.
And I have Come to Deliver Judgment.
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