Mission 15
Devilish Rebirth, Heavenly Damnation
"Are you seeing the same thing as I do or am I hallucinating?" Trish says to Lady.
"You're not hallucinating, I see it, too. Or maybe we're both crazy already."
White creatures flow through the sky as they take on the vast number of demons. The whole city of Fortuna is taken over by supernatural beings; by dark and light ones. Both parties fight and chase each other through the many streets and alleys of the city. The presence of Trish and Lady seems to have become meaningless to the devils.
"Those ... statues ... are not demons ..." Lady says.
"I think those are ... angels?"
"Well, the white wings would be appropriate ... But how the hell ...?"
"Hera", Trish answers quickly.
"You mean, she's opened that ominous Empire of the Gods in the meantime?"
"Well, I don't know how, but if you can see that ... they can see that ..." Trish points to several windows from which some of the residents, whom she had brought to safety together with Lady and a troop of men from the Organization, peer out with baffled faces. "... and they can see that ..." She now points to the end of the street where that rescue squad of the Organization, whose men remain untouched by the demons just like the two women, stands. "... then this really is happening right now, and if those figures are no demons, then they must be angels ... and without an opened Empire of the Gods, there would be no angels. Just like as it always has been so far."
"If that's the case, then we're no longer needed, apparently. We could go and check on Kyrie. They seem to have this under control", Lady says.
"Yeah, good idea."
The blade rests on his stony and gigantic head. There it seems like an insignificant toy. Only because of the high gallery on which the young man is standing and the bended down position of the demon who rests his upper body on his right knee, his head lowered, it is possible for the man to rise above the creature who is actually about 330 feet tall. If one had compared the body sizes of the two opponents before the fight, one would have never expected the young man to win. In fact, this assumption would have been wrong in the end.
He did it, he has just beaten him. Here he is now standing as a proud victor, looking down on that demon who shows similarities with a heartless angel. That God how the demon used to call himself.
"Yes, just kneel down, as it should be for a servant."
"How could this happen?! Who are you?! I sense the dirty presence of Sparda, but you are neither the red-dressed bastard nor his twin brother. And that arm ... Tell me! ... Who are you?! Is there another descendant who is unknown to me?!"
"You will remember me not only as his twin brother."
"WHAT?!"
"Yes, Mundus. I'm back. Never really gone. Let's say only absent for a while. You thought you could enslave me forever and hold my soul. But here I am. The new king of the underworld. Lemme show you what I mean."
He removes his long sword, Yamato, from Mundus' head and takes a few steps back. Nero squints his red eyes and holds his hands in front of his face. He cries out in pain and his body sinks down. The blue aura that has been vibrating around his body ever since intensifies, swallowing his entire exterior. It expands as a bright light more and more, until it has taken over the whole room. Turning into a kind of concentrated energy, it shoots further out into the corridors of the gloomy castle, and probably much further. These old walls probably never have experienced such a strong brightness before. Eventually, the light fades bit by bit, leaving a mist that gradually disappears.
Nero's lifeless body lies on the grand gallery. The Devil Bringer has lost its light. Yamato is in the hand of a noble man with craggy facial features, ice-blue eyes, and styled back hair. It has now returned to his real owner. To Vergil.
His coat is decorated with blue, white, and gold ornaments which are not only excellently matched in color, but are also arranged in a fine way to form a neat pattern. Vergil's coat is buttoned on the right side and the collar wraps around his neck. The long coat does not classically go down from the lower back over the back of the legs, but extends from the left hip over the entire leg of that side. Only his grey boot is to see there. Instead, the right leg completely reveals the well-fitting black cloth pants he is wearing. All in all, the coat fits perfectly to his upper body. Grey gloves cover his hands. His entire style of dress makes Vergil shine with class and imperiality.
He takes a deep breath and enjoys the process of breathing with closed eyes, when he then opens them.
"It feels good to have my own body back. I feel like I just had been reborn. All the more reason for you to be my slave this time."
"That's impossible! I am the true ruler of darkness! No one can ever be that but me! I am invincible! How was it possible to you to escape death!" Mundus growls and has slumped further towards the ground when the immense light hit him.
"With this it just became clear who has the true power and who is worthy to take the throne. Do you need any more proof of your failure?"
"It's not over yet! They will tear you to pieces! You shall suffer! More painful than anyone ever before! I want to hear you crying for your mom and dad! You shall grovel for forgiveness!"
Three glaring red dots appear on Mundus' forehead which form a triangle.
Vergil grins. Abruptly, the room is filled with countless demons. Vergil looks at the huge mass from above and recognizes their nasty grimaces of all kinds. He rests his hands on his katana, maintaining his grin.
"Rip up that filthy Sparda offspring! But leave me his heart! That is going to be my tiny but delicious dessert after my feast! I'm sure the mixture of man and demon will be very tasty!"
The demons are not responding. If at all, they eye Mundus while snarling bestially. Then the demons start to move, but not up the stairs towards Vergil, but over to Mundus.
"Scapegraces all around! I told you to attack him!"
Mundus words do not stop the demons from marching towards him.
"Looks like your feast is basically falling through. Either way, the taste of my flesh would have disappointed you since there's nothing human in my body anymore ..."
Vergil raises his hand and the demons heading for Mundus stop abruptly. Now the huge horde turns synchronously to Vergil, only to bow down before him.
"These are my dolls now, Mundus. And you'll be one of 'em."
Two mighty waterfalls arise on both sides. They gush down into the depths where only the mist of the water is visible. Apart from that, there is only the white light, the emptiness, surrounding them, and the platform paved with white stones and decorated with some columns that floats in the air and on which they are standing. Hera and Savo take a staircase that leads up. The path they get to see leads straight on. Gradually, there is nature to see through the haze created by the strong waterfall. It seems like a rainforest is going to open up far away from them. A breath of glittering dust sweeps past Hera's nose and when she turns her focus back to the background, she can even slightly make out a rainbow. Her home, Alba Island, already offers beautiful places, but this one has something especially magical about it which causes great awe inside of her.
"Delightful, is it not?" Savo says.
Hera nods only; much too busy to absorb the impression of the endlessness of this place.
The further the two of them get, the clearer the rainforest becomes, so that the individual plants can be admired better from a distance and the juicy green becomes more intense. In the depth, she now also sees various angels floating around.
They continue until they reach the next staircase leading up. Once Hera has moved up the stairs, she gets to see a mighty place which exceeds the angle of vision of her eyes to an immeasurable extent. Until recently, this place was not perceivable, as if climbing the stairs had just caused this place to be created.
"This is probably the holiest place you will ever get to see. It is the heart of the Empire of the Gods. This is where the path ends, as you can see."
"An amphitheater?"
"A temple. The Templum Deorum. A gathering place for all sacred beings."
The shiny steps made of white marble run around into the depths. They lead down so deep that one could think the place represents the firmament of hell. A roofless construction, built of several columns, as well as variously shaped huge rocks take space away from the huge area down there. A pompous gate of shining gold let suggest to be the end of that place. From up here, all parts of the temple look so tiny, but this must be a pure illusion since Hera is several feet away - difficult to estimate how big the distance exactly is. Hera can only barely see that there are statues on some of the steps. Those could appropriately represent angels.
"It's not bad here but I expected to see way more", Hera says, looking deliberately unimpressed, even though this may not be the case really.
"The Empire of the Gods does not have many venues, but the ones it offers extend to infinity, so that probably no creature of this world would ever be able to explore all places in detail. Thus, the Empire of the Gods certainly keeps many secrets from the angels who live here, and they will probably never be revealed."
"... Have you ever been to the demon world?"
"No, there has never been a reason to enter the home of the demons. Nor will I ever have, but perchance the occasion will come to you soon ..."
"... Anyway, it looks like our tour through this world is over. Thanks, it was ... nice", Hera says without any emotions and wants to turn her back on the temple and Savo just as his words stop her from leaving:
"... What memories of your childhood do you have?"
"... Huh ...?" Hera turns around.
"What memories of your childhood do you have?" Savo repeats. "With that question, I mean the period before you came to your adoptive parents; so that I can provide you with the missing information. After all, you deserve to know the answers. Or are you no longer interested in discovering the whole truth?"
Hera hesitates, but finally forces herself to answer:
"... Happy memories. Safe family life with mother, father, and brother, until the moment that man knocked at our door. I can exactly remember his appearance to this day. This picture doesn't want to get outta my mind. Black, long hair, skin as white as a sheet, tall; He wore loose clothes. A grey shirt and light-colored trousers. He was maybe 30 years of age or so."
She pauses for a moment as the image of that person emerges before her mind's eye. Finally, she can regain concentration to continue telling about the happening.
"I'd been the one who opened the door ... Me, a six year old girl back then ... He asked if my parents were at home. He needed help. After my parents came down the stairs, he suddenly held a lance in his hand and stabbed it into their chest. First into that of my father's, then that of my mother's. I grabbed my little brother's arm and ran out the back door with him. Fortuna's streets were empty. Perfectly normal for a Sunday morning. We just ran. I wanted to get help and to keep us safe, but I didn't know what to do and where to get help. By and by we could hear music play from the direction of the port. That was a sign that someone had been awake who could help us, so we ran to that direction. There must've been a party that was just about to end, but there'd been still quite a few people. They'd been all too drunk to take us kids seriously, though. So we just kept pushing through the crowd. Nero stumbled and I lost the grip around his hand. I couldn't see him anymore because of that bustle. I called for him and pushed the people away, but he'd been gone. He just disappeared without trace. Then suddenly I saw that man again how he pushed his way through the crowd as well. I ducked down so that he hopefully wouldn't see me, and searched for Nero down there. I simply couldn't find him. Then I ran further down towards the jetty. There'd been just one boat on which I hided underneath a blanket. I'd been so scared. I'd been so scared I didn't even want to move when the boat started."
She snorts after saying the last sentence in order to ease the increasing tension inside of her.
"I arrived at Alba Island. The old man who owned the boat found me during unloading his goods. He took me to his home, to his wife. I told them everything. They wanted to help me find Nero and let me stay with 'em. They made it easy for me to feel comfortable, safe, and loved. At that time, the Order of the Sword had grown big and finally took over the leadership of Fortuna. Jannes and Olivia, who then adopted me, tried to find Nero with the help of the Order, but all they did was to declare Nero dead after a certain time as their search operation had been negative", Hera says with a sharp undertone and shakes her head. "This search operation had never taken place at any time. Today I know that Nero had been with 'em all along and that he grew up there. They just didn't want to give him back, those dirty bastards! Many years later, the Order shattered and the people's talking about a new organization and its head called 'Nero' made me prick up my ears."
"... Let us enter the temple", Savo reacts, spreads his wings, and glides into the depths.
Hera's face is skeptical as she transforms herself into the Blood Angel to follow him.
He stands in front of the construction built of columns when Hera lets herself lower near him and dissolves her stronger version.
"You see that, Angelius?!" Savo suddenly shouts. "Has not this fine specimen been worth the sin?!"
"... From which of your many shameful acts are you talking about?!" A voice sounds in the background. It resembles the one of Savo.
Hera sees how the statues on the steps begin to come to life. One of the many angels floats down to the last step, stopping in front of Hera and Savo.
The appearance of this angel, as well as that of the others, is on the whole comparable with Savo's, only that the Sinful Angel with his pitch-black wings stands out of the group. Another difference to Savo is the royal-looking, long robe of the statue that has come to life, as well as the wings that are approximately twice as large as those of the Sinful Angel.
"In the end, all these events had to take place for the Blood Angel to be born, so that balance can now be restored. Without my existence, there would be no possibility to balance the law of life at all. The future would get torn apart by chaos. I took all the guilt on myself. Someone always has to be the sinner."
"Is this to justify your dark deeds? Do you see them as glorious and heroic? You have brought nothing but misery!"
"I realize you don't understand. Just as you did not understand it then. Your rebirth, hence as Angelius II., has not changed that."
"Why are you here? Are you seeking canonization through me despite everything? Do you want to ask for forgiveness?"
"The past is irreversible. It is no longer my duty to serve as a pure angel. This duty will never be mine again. I don't wish it to be so, either. Nevertheless, I feel belonging to this world", Savo starts to answer. "The real cause of my presence is she." He points to Hera with his left hand. "I intend to show my daughter the empire that she will reign beside the demon world once the ruler of darkness has fallen."
Hera looks at Savo in disbelief.
"And therefore you take the right to enter holy ground? You are not welcome here. The Blood Angel may be allowed to stay, but the Empire of the Gods will not bow to her sovereignty. That is what I am talking about, Savo. You expect to put things in order and let them happen as they should be. In truth, it only makes them worse. You are the devil's incarnation!"
Angelius' words give Savo reason for a slight laugh which had never been noticeable so far.
"It would do you good to have a leader to open your deluded eyes. Angelius, as the guardian of the temple it would be even in your power to change the angels' credo. The Empire of the Gods is open and connected to the human world. Therewith the Blood Angel has come one step closer to the fulfillment of her purpose. She has set the angels free. She has given your existence meaning again, enabling you to resume the fight against the darkness. All this with my contribution. For that, at least, you should be grateful. The clash of the natural competitors is entering its second and final round." A few seconds of silence on his part pass by. "Incidentally, is it only you who have been granted with a second life? Or are my brothers and sisters ..." He wanders his gaze from Angelius to the creatures in the background "... not among them."
"I am one of the very few who have been permitted to return to another life. The angels known to you and whom you call your brothers and sisters, do not exist anymore. You have already lost them with your banishment from the Empire of the Gods. And if you suggest that I would betray the nature of my existence, deny my origin, and abuse my authority, you are wrong." Angelius summons a huge lance. "My patience is exhausted. I call on you in all clarity and for the last time to leave the Empire of the Gods instantaneously. You only poison this sacred place with your presence."
The other angels are now also armed.
"I am under the protection of the Blood Angel. An attack on your part would be more than ... imprudent."
"Okay, guys, what's all this bullshit?! I ain't in the mood for an angels-brawl, let alone I have time for that!" Hera rises to speak.
"I wanted to give you our long-awaited conversation, Hera. Right here, in this quiet and special place, but these molesters hinder us", Savo says.
"If that is so, I do not want to be an obstacle and fuel the conversation, so bringing reality closer to the Blood Angel. It appears to me, my dear child, that you do not know the basic fact. Otherwise you would not stand that peacefully beside him. Beside your biological father who derives his triumph from your very existence."
Angelius wipes his hand through the air. As a result of this movement, Savo's appearance changes abruptly. He has become a stately and fair-skinned man with long, black hair.
Hera's eyes widen. She steps back and stares into the same grey eyes she had to look into as a child.
"Every angel, including your father as a former one, has a human form to not get noticed in the mortal world while doing good ... At least, that should be the true reason for using the human form ... And that one is his human appearance."
"... You ...?! You destroyed our family ... All because of you ... I knew you can't be trusted ... But that ... You fuckin' bastard!"
Savo shakes his head and with this his appearance as the Sinful Angel takes effect again. "... It is you who must be halted ..."
He conjures up his lance and when he wants to throw it, its tip darkens and extends to create more sharp edges. In a flash, the weapon races towards Angelius. Black, dense smoke appears when it hits him. A few white feathers glide down and as the smoke clears, Angelius' weapon falls to the ground and he himself also hits the bottom of the temple. He does not move and after a short time, the body begins to dissolve.
"Assuredly, my friends, Angelius III. will not be born", Savo says and teleports his weapon back.
"Down with you!" One of the angels exclaims and wants to start an onslaught with his group when Hera raises her arm and speaks:
"Lemme do it! I really feel like letting off steam!"
The angels comply and lower their weapons.
Hera moves her raised hand behind her back and pulls out Soul. Her eyes, filled with nearly untamable fury, have not turned their focus away from Savo since then.
"Do you still believe that I would protect you?! As if you have ever been worth to me! ... And you wanna be a father! You don't even know what that is!"
"Angelius always liked to interfere in everybody's affairs. He was aware of everything, that self-important nobody", Savo says and keeps - despite the situation - calm which is typical for him. "Even if this deed does not make my character shine, I would have let you know the whole truth, Hera. It only deemed appropriate to describe my view beforehand, so that you might understand the motives for my behavior."
"Understand?! How could I understand your behavior?! And I don't fuckin' care how you justify your actions! If any, it certainly would've made it a lot better if I had known why you've done all that beforehand!" Hera says energetically in order to dampen the serious and constantly growing impulse in her through the verbal way, when the volume of her voice actually starts to decrease. "I swore to myself I would kill the man who murdered my parents as soon as I found him. At times, I had given up hope to ever meet him. I concentrated on other things, much more important things than hatred and revenge. But now I'm relieved that he found his way to me and that at least I can finally close that chapter for myself."
"If it should be intended that my existence ends where it once began, then I can imagine no better place to rest than this holy temple", Savo replies. "I loved your mother. I truly did. Maria. She had been different from these ordinary people. With her, I thought that a monotonous human life might be desirable for me too. Then you had been born into the human world and as much as your birth made me feel joyous, the much I longed for freedom and independence. Towards all, I was still a supernal being who felt compulsion of spreading his wings. My nature had not been created to stay in one place. Especially since for thousands of years before I met your mother, I did nothing but to explore the human world. I made an arrangement with your mother that I would travel around for a while and she would wait for me. She promised to wait, but after my return I found that she had not kept her word and that her paramour had settled in our domicile! To my chagrin, you called him 'papa'. A boy had joined the family as well. Myself had been ostracized."
"Of course you had to kill them both out of shock!"
"... Since your disappearance, my only aspiration had been to find you. However, thanks to Vergil, my search found an end one day, although from then on, years would pass before you would surrender to revealing the meaning of your dreams. My intention to let you find the red book, which I had originally placed in your room, had been delayed when your surrogate parents took it and stowed it in their wardrobe. Apparently, this book must have been a thorn in their side and they must have surveyed it well to realize that this writing had not been a mere novel ... But I was patient. Their age had been far advanced and an imminent demise became more probable. It took a while, but then it finally happened. It had not been me who tore you into a new life. Life itself demanded a new phase for you. My task for the whole time had been to merely maintain mental contact with you."
Her face becomes more and more rigid and anger inside of her wants to get the upper hand, but she uses her breathing to stay in control of the situation and not to let herself be overcome by this emotion since she has a burning question concerning her brother left:
"... How come that Nero can't remember anything?! Do you have anything to do with this too?!"
"He was not meant to remember the occurrence, but he had not deserved to die either. He was a child and should not have to pay for his mother's betrayal. So I only erased his memories. Yours were also meant to fade, but apparently my spell had not been strong enough as you can remember the event. Already then, your Blood Angel abilities must have protected you. Later, I learned that Nero had been accepted into the Order of the Sword. Since he had found a home and you had been undetectable for me on Fortuna, I assumed that you had left the island, so I headed out into the wide world again to locate you in some way."
"... And because you knew where Nero was , you had the idea of choosing him as the new home for Vergil's soul ..."
"Vergil gave him wonderful abilities that he could not even have dreamed of as a human being. I made him special and cured him of the sickness of having a mere human existence."
"Okay, I've had enough of this, you miserable piece of shit!"
Eventually, hostility has grown too large inside of her to be kept under control and Hera conjures up her Blood Angel form. Hatred and darkness seems not only to have taken over her inner life, but also her outer appearance as her bodyas well as her armordoes not show any brightness.
Her two wings are black, just like Savos. Her skin has turned grey and her once golden veins are now pitch black, so is her armor. The red symbols on her body, which are also to be found in her classic Blood Angel-look, and the now red eyes are the only glaring color contrast. Also the otherwise crystal clear sword Soul is now filled with darkness.
Hera executes a strike and as if she was drawing with Soul or cutting the air with it, a black and slanting line or crack is created. In this way she lets appear more stripes sends them all in Savo's direction. He holds his upgraded lance in front of him for protection and when the black lines created by Hera hit his weapon, they get literally sucked into it. The Sinful Angel takes a big swing and throws every single line back to Hera. Since the Blood Angel has already planned the next attack and has moved into the middle of the column construction, the dark magic hits the front columns of the temple and cuts them apart. However, one of the angels intervenes with his healing power and prevents the structure from collapsing.
She storms out of the right side of the temple as fast as lightning and dashes in a wide arc towards Savo to let shower countless sword strokes on him. Savo has moved up into the air in the meanwhile and blocks every attack from Hera. Not only does he have to defend himself against her weapon, but also against the black lines that continue to emerge after every blow from her side and that want to get Savo hurt. A quick exchange of blows between the two begins, however, Savo ends it by fleeing soon.
He speeds through the area of the temple, and Hera follows. The pace of both enemies would almost be impossible to track with human eyes. Black air drafts which result from their dark appearance are only to see, and also black stripes resulting from Hera's magic that she continues while chasing Savo, letting them shoot across the entire area. Now Hera summons her arrows and spheres to make the obstacle course more difficult for Savo. The spheres expand and deform into various figures, leaving Savo less and less space, even further up in the air. At the bottom of the temple, Savo has not only to avoid Hera's black magic and the columns, but also the many rocks which probably serves as decoration.
"Fight like a man, you cowardly dog!" Hera's voice echoes through the entire arena.
After a plentiful number of rounds across the temple, Savo dashes straight for the golden gate at the end of the sacred site, only to shoot up a few inches before it. Hera had guessed Savo's intention and slowed down her speed so she would not thunder against the gate as Savo had wanted her to. Unfortunately, she was not fast enough to surprise him from above. Therefore she trusts her magic and sends all kinds of dark spells up to Savo, who seems to have disappeared into nothingness, hoping that these magical abilities, even if they were only executed blindly on her part, will cause him a lot of trouble up there.
It has become quiet on the battlefield. Hera still awaits Savo's return. He just do not want to show himself. Shall she follow him? Her instincts tell her not to do so.
"HEY!" She yells.
Gradually, she can detect black movements in the air. They contract and finally become one. A tornado is produced which moves down to Hera.
She feels the immense power of the whirlwind which wants to pull her inside. Hera flutters her wings forcefully and concentrates on her escape attempt as best she can. She is just barely able to reach for a rock and to hold on to it, supporting her resistance against the pull of the strong wind. The tornado, however, keeps moving towards Hera. Finally she has to succumb to the mighty natural giant and gets torn into it.
Faster than in any carousel, she gets whirled around and pulled up at the same time. She loses her orientation, there is no more up or down for her, but the further up her turbulent journey goes, the more clearly she can see him. Savo hovers calmly above her in the void, waiting for her arrival. Finally he pulls his dark and upgraded weapon back and lets it race towards Hera with great force.
The pulling force of the whirlwind does not seem to apply for his lance because it rushes unperturbedly towards Hera while she is still at the mercy of the chaotic wind. When the tip of the lance is only a few inches away from Hera's collarbone, her protective power, which she wanted to get activated the whole time but whose summoning failed over and over again, is finally released out of necessity, freeing her from the unfavorable situation; even though this only makes her not getting hurt by the lance, so that she is still kept inside of the tornado. The lance gets chaotically whirled around. However, Hera does not have to fear any damage from it as the weapon weights lighter than herself and therefore moves up the tornado way faster.
Savo is the one who lets the force of nature that had been evoked by himself end unexpectedly and immediately reaches for his weapon to throw it at Hera who is falling down. She just barely manages to regain control of her wings and does a back flip with that she can move herself out of the lance's trajectory, letting it hit the ground. Immediately afterwards her Blood Angel form dissolves and she crashes to the ground. Savo glides elegantly down and lands next to his lance and Hera's feet.
Anger, hatred and aggression; all those emotions she felt before the fight have disappeared. As if they had been swallowed up in the tornado - together with her energy.
Was it really the tornado that made her that weak or was it the use of her dark Blood Angel abilities? Where did her dark appearance come from anyway? Did the negative emotions suppress the good part inside of her? Could she have stopped or prevented the whirlwind if she had not lost control of her balanced powers? Only to let arise that little bit of magical protection against the lance that was racing towards Hera had been extremely difficult for her. It felt as if she had tried to conjure up an ability with sheer will that she is not even capable of.
"Murrain has come over our temple!" One of the angels exclaims, commenting on the changed surroundings.
The Templum Deorum has darkened. The once bright white marble stairs have turned grey. So do the columns and the once golden gate also have lost its shimmer. The gate is even rusty now.
"The divine and pure energy has vanished. Instead, the place is filled with darkness. It appears to me as if a second demon world is coming into being ..." The angel continues.
"Not a second demon world ... but my world. My very own world" Savo responds, pulling his weapon out of the ground to take it with him into the air. Elegantly and proudly, he flies through the air - almost triumphantly, as if he had everything underneath him already in his power. "Hera, I assumed you wanted to exterminate the murderer of your first parental couple, among whom you apparently include this intruder?! However, in truth, you are miles away from that! You did impress me far more in our first combat! Has your power already evaporated?! Maybe you just need some more time ... or he is just wrong ...!"
"That you always have to jump to conclusions ...!" She exclaims and rises from the floor. "I must learn to use my powers to the fullest! That was the message you basically wanted me to know! ... Not only you ... Revenge, anger, and hatred should not be allowed to exist in this world! So why don't I just use the power of the Empire of the Gods to kill you and to bring back its glory?!"
Savo slows down his speed and gradually comes to a halt in the air, waiting to see what will happen next.
He gets to see a Hera who abruptly shines in the brightest light, as if she were the very embodiment of light and its authenticity. Her hair is white, as well as both of her wings. Her skin has regained its original paleness and her armor shines with brightness. The Blood Angel's eyes and veins have changed back to golden; the symbols on her body now also show this color.
"Just proceed and demonstrate to me how you want to bring myself to the knees with that light force, my dear child", Savo says and confronts Hera with his dark weapon.
He deals countless blows, however, Hera is agile so that these are no problem for her. Every stroke Savo makes causes the shadow around his weapon to grow larger and larger. She succeeds in jumping over Savo and using Soul to deliver a powerful blow against his wings. A few black feathers come loose and slide to the ground. Abruptly, the shadow around Savo's weapon increases and starts to extend far out until the whole temple is taken over by darkness.
Becoming blind by this, Hera lashes out randomly. Savo seems to have vanished from her reach. The brightness of herself keeps her visible even in the black fog, making her the perfect target for Savo whom she cannot see rushing towards her. Nevertheless, she feels his presence and one of her blows hits his lance so that his attack from the ambush fails.
He begins to execute a rain of stings with his lance against Hera. Listening only to her inner feeling, she can anticipate the attacks and escape them. Finally, there is no one near her anymore. Also any feeling of a body being in her reach has vanished. He must have moved up further into the dark shadows of the surroundings. Hera concentrates her mind and raises her blade. A glaring light coming from her emerges which gradually devours the darkness. Savo had flown a round and was about to make another attack on her when he gets hit by this white light and suffers damage.
Finally, the brightness in the temple is restored and the view for Hera is cleared again. She lets Savo, who is still suffering because of the radiant brightness, feel any more pain by racing towards him and executing an energetic and diagonal blow against him. That attack hits him so hard that he is thrown back several feet in the air.
Hera recognizes that the shadow around Savo's lance has disappeared. She also feels a strong energy inside of her as if the power of the Empire of the Gods would be indeed on her side, helping her to maintain the light version of the Blood Angel, despite the darkened temple and the gloomy atmosphere that comes with it.
She fills her surroundings with white spheres in which flows bright and electric power. Savo storms towards her once more, dodging the bullets as they appear. Before he reaches her, Hera creates in parallel invisible resistance with her hand that pushes Savo back. This causes him to stagger backwards and end up in one of the barrier filled with spheres. The energy of the spheres discharges onto Savo and makes him tremble with every further contact he has with one of the spheres. Now it is Hera who storms towards him. She flits directly through the spheres, whose energy she does not mind herself, and, as in the first fight against him in the cave of the Blade of Souls, the sword's point penetrates his body. This time, however, a much more threatening body area is affected - the heart region.
When she pulls Soul out of the rock-hard body of the Sinful Angel, Savo frantically flutters with his wings. He looks dazed and breathes heavily. Hera releases her grip around the Blade of Souls, so she can use her claws. Soul floats in the air without its master's guidance as Hera grabs Savo's feathered wings and pushes him down with full force.
He hits one of the huge and differently shaped stones with his upper body and rolls down onto the plain and hard marble floor of the temple. Lying on his wings, he struggles for air and hardly moves. The crash on the stones has caused damage on the surface of his body.
Hera has taken her sword again and slides her body down gently. Now it is her who looks down on him. The modification of a white Blood Angel dissolves.
"Do you have anything to say before I rub you out?"
"We could have nurtured ... a profound ... father-daughter relationship ... In the end ... it does not matter ... who raised you ... I am your origin ... You needed me ... to fulfill your ... potential ... Now you have no more ... use for me ... Each of us ... has a role to play ... in the course of life ... I have served ... the higher purpose ...", These words can pass Savo's lips when he leans on his elbows. "With the darkness ... we both carry within us ... we have infected ... the temple ... That is not a mere hindrance ... At least not for you ... Hera ... You can enter ... the demon world through ... the dark temple ... If you make haste ... you will get to the new ... demon king ... before Dante does ..."
"What?! How does it work?! What do I hafta do?!" Hera reacts abruptly.
This relevant information has made her becoming more present again since she had listened only reluctantly and partially to Savo's long stammering.
"... Tell me!" She adds as Savo remains mute.
"You know very well what to do ..."
With hardened facial features, she looks into Savo's stony eyes. She puts her second hand over the one that already encompasses the hilt of her sword, and strengthens the grip. She raises her arms to push Soul with all her might into the pre-bored hole in Savo's chest.
A painful and deafening scream emanates from him. Hera steps back since his whole body is taken over by a pitch-black vortex. Finally this accumulation of darkness moves towards the temple consisting of columns. The vortex extends over the entire column construction and fills the rectangular area, as if the temple was flooded with a black sludge.
Hera silently looks at the darkness that has accumulated inside the temple's heart to afterwards switch her gaze to the empty area of the ground where Savo was lying just a short time ago.
That is exactly what she feels inside. There is nothing. Nothing but emptiness. Not even relief or joy over Savo's death and the fact that her revenge - planned and craved for years - could finally take place. There is also no grief regarding the loss of another father, this time even her biological one, and the extinction of her real origin as which Savo just had designated himself. He had no fundamental importance in her heart anyway.
"Carry your light into the darkness, Hera, and bring ours back", One of the angels says as he flies up to a step. His brothers and sisters follow, spreading onto various steps all over the darkened temple and petrify together.
Hera turns to the pillar structure and heads towards the dark mass to get swallowed by it.
