[North Coast – Border of the Crimson Sea]
The area was scorching hot.
This was unnatural. In the Kingdom of Westminster, summer did not exist; there was only eternal cold, fog, and rain. But here, the air itself was burning.
The remains of the broken warships were scattered all over the Crimson Sea, steel hulls melting into the red waves, wooden decks turned to ash. The battle airships that had come to attack the Iron Kingdom were nowhere to be seen—vaporized by the heat.
A single man stood proudly atop the burning wreckage.
He radiated a violent red Ether aura, watching the flames dance with a look of calm satisfaction. He seemed to be waiting.
"Oh, it's you, Raphael," a voice spoke from behind him. "Demigod of War. Lieutenant. Tier 6."
The burning ground and the scorching heat vanished in an instant.
Raphael looked back. Standing there was a figure in a pristine white robe, a strip of white cloth covering his eyes.
The environment suddenly changed. It transformed into something beautiful, something mesmerizing.
The charred ground was instantly covered in a rush of lush greenery. Flowers bloomed over the melting steel. Where there was fire and destruction a second ago, now there was life. It was as if the Earth itself was healing in his presence.
"Ho. Look who is here," Raphael spoke, his trademark smirk widening. "My brother. Long time no see."
Michael, the Angel of Preservation, didn't talk back. He simply lifted his hand.
BOOM.
Beneath the ground where Raphael stood, a massive wooden trunk exploded upward. It was so sudden and fast that even a Tier 6 strategist couldn't fully react.
The wood slammed into Raphael directly, sending him flying a few hundred feet away.
Crash.
Raphael skidded across the newly grown grass. In that split second of impact, he had coated his body with Ether to protect himself, but Michael was a Tier 8 Angel. The gap in power was absolute.
Raphael coughed, spitting out a mouthful of blood onto the white flowers.
"Oh, it is not so bad, Brother," Raphael laughed, wiping his chin. "You have become stronger."
He stood up. The wound on his chest steamed, and red Ether swirled around it. The flesh knitted itself back together instantly—the resilience of the War Sequence.
"But you are still the same crybaby to me."
"What is your plan, Raphael?" Michael asked, his voice devoid of emotion. "Why are you in this war? Why did you betray our family?"
Raphael didn't answer. He just smiled, his body emanating a heat that began to melt the flowers around him.
Michael sighed. He slid his hands together and spoke in Nepshi, the Ancient Tongue used to commune with the Gods.
"You are the embodiment of Preservation."
"You are the one who remains."
"The One among Trimurti, representing the cosmic functions of creation."
"Give me your blessing, Oh God of Preservation."
Suddenly, the world went black.
Sound vanished. Smell vanished. The Crimson Sea and the wreckage disappeared.
The scenery shifted. Raphael found himself standing in a beautiful, endless garden. A calm river flowed nearby, and the sky was a perfect, peaceful blue.
And then, the water rose.
It wasn't a wave. It was a tsunami. A wall of water miles high, crashing down not to preserve, but to destroy the anomaly that was Raphael.
Raphael wasn't scared. He looked directly at the crushing weight of the ocean suspended above him.
He raised both arms sideways, leaving his chest open.
"I know I can't beat an Angel," Raphael said, his voice echoing in the illusion. "I am not that stupid, my dear brother. I am just a Demigod."
The water began to fall.
"Enjoy the little time you have left."
CRASH.
The tsunami consumed him.
[Back to Reality – The North Coast]
The illusion shattered. The garden vanished.
Michael stood alone on the coast. The flowers were still blooming around him, but Raphael was gone. He had vanished—either escaped or destroyed, though Michael knew his brother too well to believe he was dead.
"Foolish brother," Michael whispered to the wind.
He turned his blindfolded face toward the red horizon.
"You should have followed my decision to go to the Preservation Sequence... back when we were fighting the Sins during the First Dark."
He paused.
"At least our third brother chose a path that serves balance. Even if I disagree with His methods."