Chapter 34: First of the Fallen Reasons
'Divine Messenger, come within my presence.'
Elzbieta tilted her head. As far as she knew, this wasn't typical for her role. But she couldn't break her cover yet. That meant responding to Kagutsuchi's call. She looked down at the manikin children that she'd been telling stories too. There wasn't a lot they could do with rebuilding this city, and the adult manikins were too busy with their work. So, she'd offered to keep an eye on the kids and entertain them.
"I'm sorry, but Kagutsuchi calls," she said cheerfully.
"I didn't hear anything?" the girl said.
"You wouldn't, it only spoke to me." She patted the girl on the head. "I'll be back once I'm done. Be good kids until then."
"Okay, Elzbieta," the kids said. Like any other kids, they were adorable and eager to learn. She smiled at them, then took off into the air to reach the star of Creation. When she arrived, she made a curtsy in the air. "Yes, my Lord?"
"Why are you wasting time speaking to those manikins?" it asked.
Curious. She took her trumpet in both hands. "I have nothing more to do as your Messenger until this world passes back to life."
"Their kind are incomplete. They should not be encouraged. You will stay away from them."
How long would it take Kagutsuchi to notice that it could not order her about like the other angels? It couldn't be long now. As such, she went ahead and asked, "Why not?"
As expected, that angered it. "You should know already! Their prophet got a Reason on technicality, but we have no intention of fulfilling an incomplete Reason. They have no way to make a complete Reason."
"So you're not as impartial as advertised," Elzbieta said. "Good to know."
Kagutsuchi's radiance sharpened, but even that could do nothing against her. "What is a rogue like you doing here? Why do you still bear divinity?"
"Because I am true to my Lord," she said, then gave a little wave. "Bye!"
"Wait!" Kagutsuchi lashed out, creating a barrier around her when she tried to escape. "You… you're one of the Mormon angels."
Keeping her wits about her, Elzbieta replied, "Tsk tsk, should've noticed sooner. I'm surprised it took you this long."
There was a rumble from the star, a shifting of light. "And while you still hold the title of Divine Messenger, I cannot do anything to you."
"Right, there's that," she said with a nod.
"But once this Vortex World has fulfilled its purpose, you will be held accountable for your interference. This will not be forgiven." Kagutsuchi then turned its attention away elsewhere, satisfied that it had her held until the end.
"Hmph." Elzbieta flicked the barrier with her fingers, gaining information on it. How silly. This was the kind of thing trumpeters were meant for. Still, it would take some time to dismantle.
Hopefully nothing happened in Asakusa while she was breaking this apart.
The angels were swift and powerful; the manikins were barely resilient because they were made of clay. It took them a little longer to break apart in death than a being of flesh. But Chiaki had the ability to crush their heads with her bare hands, turning them into lifeless mud and ragged clothes. They were finally being put in their place, the fools. Creation was not a power for the weak.
On the other hand, she had the backing of a legion of angels. She had made their leaders bow to her. Nothing was going to stop her. But then, it was a nice little thing that these manikins were here. One of the ways to prove a Reason's worthiness was to offer a sacrifice to the summoned god. These were exactly the kinds of people she did not want in her world, thus it was worthy to stamp them out now as her sacrifice.
She could tell that this was a place of sacred power; the waterfalls drowned out any sounds of the outside world while the earth was rich and fertile. It was perfect for her. And now there was just one of these dolls left. There was something about him, like a high-end doll among a bunch of cheap knock-offs. In the end, though, he was still just another doll trying to be something more. That was a sin for which he had to pay.
"Why do you try to struggle when faced with superior power?" Chiaki asked him. "It's time to stop pretending that you're real and return to the earth that you mistakenly rose from."
This one was being defiant by not showing a wink of fear even faced with her and three seraphs. Something about her words struck him enough that he stood up in anger; he tossed down a small wooden coin. "I decided that I would fight Kagutsuchi for the sake of my people," he said. Strangely, his demeanor was undisturbed in spite of the way he narrowed his eyes at her. "You are just another obstacle then. It matters not if you've cast them down. I will bring them back up and give the next world to them."
"Those are meaningless words," she said, irked at his confidence. He was weak! He should be submitting immediately. To demonstrate, she whipped her vine-bound arm to choke his life out too. "I will show you that."
Somehow, he ducked his way out of her reach, then lunged forward and struck her. It was a pitiful attack; he stood no chance against her. But he was still going to try. He didn't even bother replying, just searched for his next opening.
"Lady Chiaki," Gabriel called as the other two moved away from the battle. "The Demifiend will arrive shortly. Sacrifice that prophet, then call upon the goddess. Leave us to distract him."
The manikin tried to strike her again, she stepped back and elbowed him to the ground. "Go ahead with that, I don't need you for showing this mud doll his place."
That should have been enough, where she could crush his head with her boot. But he got back to his feet to keep fighting. There was no trembling or crying in him, no begging for mercy like the others had tried. It angered Chiaki that someone so undeserving would keep trying to live, much less keep trying to prove himself worthy of the power she should have. She pierced through his body with her vines and forced them to grow there, breaking him apart.
Even with that, the manikin prophet remained defiant. "If Jiyuu dies now, then Yosuga will quickly follow," he said as the lower half of his body dropped to the ground. He even had the nerve to smile at her before perishing.
"No it won't!" Chiaki declared, slamming his head into the ground so that his mocking smile was smashed for good and erased from her memory. "You won't even die like the other manikins." A laugh escaped her anger. "But that's the thing: you're dead now, and so is your Reason. You never got to call on a god while I will use this place to bring mine to me."
Things were finally going her way, as they should have been all along. There was a clash in another part of this massive cavern; Naoki and his demon followers were fighting against the seraphs. Still, Chiaki wasn't worried. There was no way he could stand before the might of the seraphs, with the powers to smite wicked beings easily. She could take her time to show off, but she may as well do this so she could show him what true power was.
Now, the words Gabriel had given her… "To the god that once died, I call out to thee to rise again, bringing the world back under your light. For the sake of Yosuga, I call you back to life!"
An immense light and power filled her, transforming her once again. But while Gozu-Tennoh had made her undeniably strong, her true god, the one true god, made her the shining vision of strength and beauty that she had always been. No one could deny her now.
Although, it seemed things were going wrong elsewhere in the cavern.
Heh, like it mattered.
Yosuga would triumph.
They knew that facing the Demifiend would be a difficult battle even with him not at full power. But when he stormed into the cavern after them, Raphael felt a chill down his spine. The boy's soul had darkened considerably, was darkening with fury and corruption before their very eyes. He was closer to being a full demon than a full human now. Worse than that were the ones that accompanied him: the two demons they had expected him to be with, the Fiend Trumpeter, and one of their own.
"Michael?" Raphael called in alarm. That was no shade, it was unmistakably their leader.
"What happened to you?" Gabriel asked, taking her sword in hand but hesitating on attacking.
"What happened to you?" Michael countered. "Why are you standing in our way?"
"Why are you with him?" Uriel asked.
"Why would I not be with Him when He comes down to lead us Himself?" he said in confidence. "Stand back!"
"What's going on?" Gabriel asked, nearly panicking. "We agreed to back Yosuga; we're going to see it fulfilled as a true Reason."
There was an evil glint to Demifiend's eyes. "Michael," he said, reassured at this situation somehow.
"Yes, my Lord," Michael said, responded to some unspoken command. He then beckoned to them. "We've been wandering blindly, but no more! I will make you see the truth. Uriel."
"Stop this," Raphael said. Was this the right time to be fighting? They weren't supposed to fight each other, not even in jest. But they also weren't supposed to be obeying the commands of someone so clearly under Lucifer's influence.
At his side, Uriel stiffened, faltering in keeping himself aloft. He gripped his head as he sunk to the ground. "Aaa, why…?"
"I said stop!" Raphael said, dashing ahead to strike Michael. Maybe he just had to knock him out of this mistake, get him back to his senses.
Before he got the attack off, Demifiend stepped between them and took the blade for Michael. He then slammed his fist into Raphael's head in retaliation. "No, you stop," he said, ignoring the off-color blood coming from his chest.
Gabriel tried healing them both up. "Sorry Michael, we have to fight you now," she said.
"No!" Uriel shouted, going over and slamming her in her wings with his sword. He then flew over to Demifiend. "I'm sorry I didn't recognize you! I don't know how..."
"Don't worry about it," Demifiend said, with a gentleness that had to be mocking. "Just confirm your contract with me."
"Uriel, don't!" Gabriel cried in horror.
"Of course," Uriel said, bowing to him. "I am the Seraph Uriel, my life is yours."
"I am the Demifiend, I will use your power well," he said, briefly touching Uriel's head as he sealed the contract. It should not have worked, and yet… Uriel sank down again in a daze while Demifiend stepped around him. The trumpeter with him followed. "Go on."
"Gabriel," Michael called, waving to her now.
"Don't give in to them!" Raphael said, attempting to attack both Demifiend and Trumpeter to get them out of the way. But what now? If Uriel and Michael both had spoken new contracts with Demifiend, there was no easy way to release them from that. But why would Michael have formed a contract with their enemy in the first place? He was supposed to have eradicated his soul.
Trumpeter kept his place in the air, not even bothering to attack back. Demifiend did, retaliating once again and knocking Raphael back. Gritting his teeth, Raphael prepared to strike again. Perhaps if he just killed Demifiend right now, the contracts would be undone. That could be difficult when the fallen goddess with him had healed him back up so that no trace of that heavy blow remained. Not even a bit of blood on his marked skin.
Then he got struck hard from behind; Gabriel was no slouch in battle. Her wings were damaged from Uriel's attack, but she still got herself to Demifiend. "I'm sorry, but I'm so glad to see you again!"
"No, don't!" Raphael cried out, trying to block out the next statement. But he had to heal himself if he was going to have any chance at saving them.
"...just confirm your contract with me," Demifiend said to her.
"Yes," she said blindly. "I am the Seraph Gabriel, my life is yours."
He didn't get to hear the contract being sealed as Michael quickly turned his attention to him. "Raphael."
He was using Brainwash, a skill meant to save lost souls before they became beyond salvation. But they'd never gotten it right as it did nothing to humans. It did work on the souls of demons and angels, though, especially when the one using the skill in question was undeniably higher in the chain of command… "Stop this, you'll ruin us!" Raphael said frantically, moving to attack while Demifiend was distracted with Gabriel.
But it was Uriel who blocked his attack this time, pushing back blade against blade. "Stop fighting it," Uriel said with a strange pity.
"Come back to your proper place with us," Michael said, speaking to him purely through magic.
Raphael's whole body trembled, causing him to lose his grip on his sword. "This isn't, isn't right."
"We were wrong," Uriel said quietly, expertly keeping his sword from striking Raphael as he won the match-up. "But we will be forgiven."
"God is now with us, come back to His side," Michael said.
"God?" Raphael said, still shaking. A painful loneliness welled up in his soul, something he often denied because they were meant to be powerful agents of God. It had still been there ever since they had realized that they'd lost contact with God. While it couldn't be right, he looked over at where Michael was with…
Someone whose light was obscured by darkness. Somehow who might be hiding their true self? It had to be that, it couldn't be anything else.
"Y-you're back," he said, then realized what he'd been doing. "I-I'm sorry, it's become so hard to tell what you mean for us to do..."
"Don't worry about it," He said, in a way that was a far cry from the righteous anger Raphael had feared should it turn out they were fooling themselves again. "Just confirm your contract with me."
He nodded, seeing no reason to hesitate. "Yes, I am the Seraph Raphael, my life is yours."
He touched his head, reassuring him. He said something to seal the contract, but the words were beyond Raphael. But, it didn't matter. Things were right with the universe again; there was no doubts anymore. He was meant to serve his God and he had finally managed to return to His side.
He would do anything for Him.
It had been a struggle for Naoki to start a contract with one of the seraphs. Now he unexpectedly had all four under his command. It was still a strain, but making the contracts was helping to support them. Still, these angels were unfortunate beings. They bought into the ruse so quickly, like they were dying of thirst and finally found water to quench themselves with. Naoki patted Raphael's head while he was recovering from the rebinding, then moved ahead. He wasn't going to hate the seraphs.
But someone deserved the hatred blazing in his soul now. Asakusa had almost seemed alive again thanks to the manikins' efforts. Now it was once again a city of death, with a painful silence much worse than the rest of fallen Tokyo. They weren't even being respected in death, just left littered across the streets and halls. The angels had massacred them, but angels had bound wills unable to decide for themselves. As such, they weren't responsible. The one responsible was the one who had led this attack: Chiaki.
No… no, that was no longer Chiaki as he'd known her. She was some living statue that had inherited her face and soul, but that wasn't his friend. She was a pristine white of perfect form, trying to be an untouchable work of art. And yet a mockery of life as well, given that she bore just one arm and one wing, with her legs fused together into something that shouldn't even move. A god had taken over Chiaki upon being summoned: Baal Avatar.
"You've come at an opportune time to be the first witness to my ascension," Baal said, smug as she saw herself far above them. "I have become the pinnacle of perfection, strength and beauty as one, the ideal light for a good and perfect world."
Naoki snorted at that. "Perfection? You're a mockery of everything that is right. Chiaki, if you're still in there to hear me, you've made an unbelievably dumb mistake in calling on a god that encompasses all evil."
Baal sputtered in response. "Wh-evil? Mistake? No, I have made no mistakes! I have called upon an avatar of the one true God. As I have succeeded, the rest of Creation is merely a formality. Yosuga will be the next world."
"No, He's right," Raphael said, getting his mind back to the moment and joining them.
"Yes, Baal is a stock villain god that we call upon sometimes to prove the worthiness of the true God," Gabriel said. "He's a mockery of one who rivaled our lord far in the past, thus he will forever be one of squalor."
"That is not right!" Baal snapped, waving her one arm at them. It looked ridiculous.
"You were being too selfish to be a true representative of God," Michael said. "We deemed that it was best if you took on the form of Baal so that we could cast you out once the world was made by Yosuga's standards. It would prove God's authority as the ultimate power and the new world would be ours unquestionably."
"Stop making them lie, Naoki!" Baal said, briefly sounding like Chiaki. "I can eradicate all of you!"
"Want to try?" he said, smiling at her fit. "Except, no, you don't have a chance and we are going to stop you here and now."
"No..." her anger faded briefly. "You may have stolen them from me, but you will not prevail. I will go and call upon the road to Kagutsuchi, and then..."
A powerful barrier appeared around the cavern, trapping them all inside. The notes of a trumpet faded as Elzbieta appeared on the other side of Baal. "Ah, no escaping now, miss," she said, more serious than she had been before. "You can't call yourself good when you kill off an entire race of innocents. Besides, if you are the pinnacle of strength, prove it against him."
"Fine, then I will destroy you all to prove my worthiness!" A blinding burst of radiance came from her, striking everyone in the sealed area with her.
It did little to the four seraphs or the two trumpeters. Naoki got hit hard since he still had Iyomante leading. However, he had to leave that magatama in place for a while longer. He shifted his skills to make nullifying Expel active, since that was an added passive from Nirvana. Meanwhile, Gabriel had them healed up quickly from the initial attack. "We do not fear anything that Baal can do," she said in calm confidence.
"Neither do I," Naoki said. Figuring the seraphs would know what Baal was capable of, he whispered the god's capabilities to his other followers. Baal had no particular weakness but would resist many forms of damage.
He ended up letting the seraphs take the front line in this battle. When Baal started throwing out curses, they could cancel them out. One did slip through and struck Amaterasu, turning her into a fly. Naoki quickly got to her side to cover for her since it seemed anything might destroy her in that state. He had to shift out another active skill to block out the chances of him ending up cursed in the same manner. Still, as long as he had Focus and Friekugal, he could keep contributing to the battle while not getting up close.
At the very end of it, Baal got so incensed that she barreled past Raphael and blazed straight for Naoki. She intended to turn him to a smear on the ground with the last of her life if that's what it took to defeat him. He responded by meeting her face on with Iron Claw, shattering her supposedly perfect statuesque body into worthless shards.
The god Baal was quick to leave her soul behind, recognizing his defeat and not wanting to stick around for it to be realized. Chiaki's soul desperately tried to hold on. "Naoki… how can you have such power and not agree with Yosuga?"
He frowned at her. "I said it before: your world would have crushed me like you crushed the manikins. I am not someone who would trample over others merely because they are not strong enough to defend themselves."
"That is..." she must have realized that she did not have the strength to continue arguing for her cruel Reason. "You have defeated me… in accordance with Yosuga… fine I accept. You won. Do what you want." She finally let go and died. A small stone shaped like a 9 or a 6 clattered onto the ground.
"That's the Heavenstone, one of the keys to meeting with Kagutsuchi," Elzbieta said, flying over towards them. "You'll want to hang on to that."
The seraphs were quick on guard around her. "I thought we eradicated you Mormons," Michael said threateningly.
"Don't worry about her, she's not important," Naoki quickly told them, keeping another fight from breaking out.
"Thanks," she said, although not with her former energy. "But they're not the only ones who finally recognized me. I'm going to have to hide out here for the time being. Kagutsuchi called on me just before this all happened. They were doing fine until then." She was genuinely regretful, also hurt by this.
"I should have been here," Naoki said, then dug his fingernails into his palms. "But we stopped the one who destroyed them. That's the best we can do for now. But, the timing on when we both got distracted is too convenient. I will make Kagutsuchi pay for this."
Elzbieta nodded. "It's not as impartial as it claims to be. But now the Reason it favored is gone as well."
"We can't let the other two Reasons succeed either," Naoki said. "I'm going to Amala Temple. Isamu's there, I know it. And, it seems that when I need to find you again, you'll be here."
"Yes, if that time comes and you have need of my assistance," Elzbieta said.
"Pah, there's nothing she can do that we can't handle," Trumpeter said, irritated at her presence.
He had no idea what as going on, Naoki realized. "Perhaps. Let's get going."
Now the trouble was going to be holding himself back when this hatred had not been quelled and Isamu still held onto his last three magatama. Naoki found that he didn't care about that, though. He wasn't satisfied with just Baal's destruction.
Jiyuu has fallen; this Reason is no longer valid.
Yosuga has fallen; this Reason is no longer valid.
The two messages blinked insistently on the Amala drum until Hijiri touched them to acknowledge that he'd read them. It was disheartening to learn that Futomimi had died. He was a good person, genuine in his selflessness towards his followers. On reading what had happened… Futomimi had fought for his ideals to the end. Hijiri wished he could have done something more.
But then, the girl that had murdered Futomimi and led the massacre of nearly all the manikins was now dead as well. She'd managed to call on her god. For some inexplicable reason, she'd called on Baal and Kagutsuchi had allowed that demon to answer as a god. It was bizarre, but Hijiri could only think of one explanation: Kagutsuchi was not impartial and had actually decided to favor Yosuga before its road had been called upon. But still, the question remained of why Baal?
It was the seraphs, it's recorded right here through their actions. They were setting her up to fall. In an amusing twist, they're now contracted to Naoki and believe that he is their God. It's a shame that He would isolate them so much that they accepted that deception wholeheartedly. Indeed, they're quite happy now. It's nice, but there's no way that can last. They'll pay for that happiness, disproportionately hard. I can't help but feel sorry for them even with all they'd done.
For some reason, Hijiri found himself pitying the seraphs. But trying to explain that feeling to himself quickly slipped from his mind as he went back to his original intention: gaining control over the network. Summoning a terminal was easy; he'd figured that out a while ago. Getting around Hikawa's privacy guards took a little doing, but now he understood that enough to try defending himself with it. Hikawa was accessing the terminal at the moment, but wasn't paying attention to what Hijiri was doing.
And Hijiri wasn't really paying attention to Hikawa either. The real obstacle here was Isamu. That boy had already fused himself with spirits who inhabited the network, allowing him to exist freely within it. It meant that currently, Isamu could only manifest physically in the Amala Temple. It was the only place in this Vortex World that was connected enough to the network for beings within it to emerge and remain fully connected. There was also somewhere else he should be able to manifest, a location called the Amala Labyrinth. However, the labyrinth was tightly under Lucifer's control. Isamu couldn't enter it and Hijiri…
That would not be a wise thing to do.
Hijiri felt it was safe enough to ignore the labyrinth for now. Tangling with Lucifer and coming out unscathed wasn't something he could accomplish right now. That might well be beyond Hijiri's grasp until he had mastery of the network.
"What do you think you're doing?" Isamu asked, speaking through the terminal in spite of Hijiri putting up a privacy screen.
"That's none of your business," Hijiri said.
"No, it is my business to stop you." Ghostly hands emerged. Before he could get out of the room, they dragged him forcefully into the network. "I need a sacrifice anyhow; you should do just fine."
No, but I'll let you be an idiot. I'm your rival, yes, but not for long enough to count. And with this manikin body, you won't have the magatsuhi to call on a true god. At best for you, you'll end up with a faint being like Aradia. You don't have the sheer number of sacrifices Chiaki did to make up for what I am now. But the network… of course, it slips out before I can grab it, I'm not meant to… no, no, I'll keep trying this until my end. I want to be free of this, I will be free of this!
"It's not yet time for me to give up," Hijiri said, feeling more determined than he'd ever been in spite of becoming a captive.