Let Justice Be Done (High School DxD - Archangel SI Chapter 2)
Raguel knew what fear was.
He knew that lump of cold water that began in your gut, and then went up to your chest, before spreading out to the rest of your body through your nerves, while feeling like iced electric shock.
Raguel stood in front of an endless wall of pure luminosity that seemed to extended infinitely in all sides. The divine magic barrier was so bright, that the only color that could be attributed to it, would be whiter than white.
And yet Raguel could still see the Beast clear as day, just as it could see him.
If fear as Raguel understood as a human was a lump of cold water in one's stomach, what he felt now was like being punched and submerged straight into that frozen sea and slammed into its ocean floor.
The seven heads would smash into the divine wall repeatedly, over and over again, shouting, roaring screaming, exploding into pools of blood, only for a whole new Beast to be born from the pool and attack the divine wall. Attack the wall, attack itself, merge with itself, grow stronger, and repeat the process again and again and again and again.
It was a new dimension of Fear, Raguel wished he had never new about, or ever even envisioned to have existed. He could only stare at the Beast and know the inevitable. His coming death and the annihilation of everyone and everything, over and over and over-
"What do you think it is?"
Yet, just as Raguel's thoughts began to spiral to despair's oblivion, God's voice swept all that Fear away, with assurance of Their Light and Love, like a bad dream.
"Eh?" Raguel blinked a few times, finding himself able to think and focus again.
"It." YHWH gestured with His head.
"Death," Raguel said the first thought in his mind. "Destruction incarnate. Just..." Looking at the Beast without the Fear made Raguel see not just how Pure Evil it was, but how disturbing and disgusting it looked as well. "Savagery and violence given form."
The Creator chuckled. "Good guess, but no."
"EH!?" Raguel shouted in exaggerated form, to which God found amusing.
"Which do you think came first, the Great Red or mankind Dreaming it into existence?" YHWH looked back at the Beast without a care, as He began adjusting a few things upon the barrier.
"Huh?" Raguel tilted his head at the non-sequitur.
"Has Great Red's existence caused the world and thus all manner of beings in it to be created, so they could Dream and add to its existence, or has all living beings' Dreams solidified into creating it?" God looked back to Raguel.
"Chicken or the egg?" Raguel held his chin and closed his eyes in thought. "Given that the Dimensional Gap is atemporal, if it was born there, I think only You would know." He opened his eyes and answer, before a thought came to him, causing his eyes to widen. "Or is it both!?"
"Good job." Raguel preened under the praise, almost forgetting the Beast was close by. "Given that hint then, what do you think this thing embodies?"
"Hmmmm..." Raguel crossed his arms and pouted in deep thought.
Death. Was the first thought that came to him, before he dismissed it. That was his first answer, but it wasn't that.
Savagery? That didn't seem right either. 'Savagery' as a concept seemed too small, or rather not big enough, to explain the Beast.
...destruction? That didn't seem right either. Raguel felt he might be too focused on stuff that were 'in your face' bad.
His thoughts kept cycling into many similar concepts. 'Annihilation', 'Disaster', 'Decay', 'Corruption', or just plain 'Evil'.
But those concept felt too small, too vague, too childish, or too obvious.
...What if it is the obvious answer?
"Is it 'Evil'?" Raguel asked, while jumping up and down. Or rather floating up and down.
"It can be mistaken as such, but not necessarily."
"Hmm, then..." Raguel thought about it some more, then shrugged. "I dunno. Could you please tell me, Father?"
"Of course, my son." YHWH smiled and explained. "Look at that over there. At that cluster there."
God pointed, and Raguel followed along, finding his sight showing things much further than he thought. Then again, he's a newborn just discovering everything he can do with this new body now.
Far deep in the plains of flesh being destroyed and remade, where parts of the Beast's body was chaos of birth and death or monster took place, Raguel saw a single isolated spot...with a person in it.
"That's a child!" The Archangel shouted and moved to act.
"No, Raguel." His Father placed a hand on his shoulder, then Raguel felt God's power suffuse his being, empowering him. "Truly Look and Feel."
Raguel calmed down and focused, knowing his Father would never misguide him. Looking not just at the physical relam in front of him, but the spiritual, and Feeling it with God's sensing, Raguel flinched back.
He could see a cord, about an atom wide connecting the Beast to the child. More than that, he could Feel what the child truly was on a magical level. It was still the Beast, or a part of it?
It had its own emotions, innocence, terror, despair.
But those were surface emotions. They weren't real, more like pretend emotions.
The 'child' was besieged on all sides by serpentine heads, grinning at the 'child' who flinched back.
The 'child' turned it's head, and stared directly at Raguel. The Archangel flinched back. The 'child' cried out a plea in fear and hope, in words that belonged to no language that exists. Like it hadn't learned what words or language were yet.
But God showed Raguel the truth within. The emotions of mockery and glee under the surface emotions.
The serpentine heads lunged at the 'child', tearing it to pieces, one bit at the time, as the human child facsimile screamed. It almost seemed like the monster heads wanted to prolong the figure's death but didn't have the patience for it. The child body was gone. One of the heads roared in satisfaction, the rest overwhelmed with screams of frustration.
Then the vision was gone, and Raguel could only look at the part of the Beast in front of him behind the barrier. The Beast was still attacking the barrier, never a pause.
Yet, Raguel could swear he could see relishment in one of its many eyes at his inner anguish.
"W-Why?" Raguel paused, gathering his strength to speak. "Why would it do that? What's the point?"
God looked at His son with a somber look.
Raguel began to suspect the answer, but didn't want to voice it. It should be wrong. It has to be wrong. A being like that shouldn't exist. It's too cruel for it to exist.
"Because it is the Embodiment of Suffering."
Yet the truth didn't change his wishes.
Raguel grew quiet. He took in this information, reviewing everything he knew about High School DxD, thinking about the future and what this new information add to it.
"But," looked back to his Father, his resolve slowly building. "In the future, in the..." He struggled with the proper, polite word for what he wanted to say.
"You can say 'canon timeline'." God said with mirth, easing His son's struggle.
"In the canon timeline," Raguel nodded. "The Beast being released from its seal wanted to just destroy the world."
"It wanted to destroy anyone with power. Any of those that could protect any who are weak or innocent. Anything and anyone who could fight, who even has the will." Then God looked back at the Beast and glare. The barrier shined somehow more, and burned all the monster's body, reducing it to its mere cores. A moment later, the Beast returned, but seem lesser somehow. "And then it would have remade the world in a design similar to that of the Allied Mastercomputer."
"The who?" Raguel looked confused.
"I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream."
Raguel's eyes widen in horror and he instantly understood what was being referenced. "...Oh fuck."
"Quite."
God turned to leave and Raguel followed.
"Okay," Raguel said, mostly to himself. He stood next to his Father, rather than behind him. Having done so instinctively to be closer to his Father's protection and away from the Beast. God patted his head. "Okay, okay, okay." He repeated psyching himself up. "Alright, what's the plan? What do we need to do?" Raguel looked back at his Father, leaning into His hand. He threw a couple of punches forward, like he's shadow boxing. "How do we win?"
"It requires a bit of work." God removed His hand. Raguel pouted but kept quiet. YHWH lips twitched, holding back a laugh, and returned His hand again, making Raguel instinctive smile. All along the space around them was moving in unimaginable speeds as they headed back to Heaven. "Endless Shounen Firepower won't be enough. Neither will the Powers of Love and Friendship."
"What do we need?" Raguel jumped to asked.
"We need to reduce it. To lessen the Beast, from a Great Evil or even a Challenge, into a stepping stone for Mankind."
"...I don't get it." Raguel frowned as he was lost.
God chuckled. "You are young. You'll understand with time and experience."
"Okay!" Raguel nodded with a happy grin.
For a little while, the two traveled in silence.
"Where were we, by the way?" Raguel asked.
"The End of the World." The Creator replied.
"O...kay." Raguel pouted at that answer. "I know what that's what the Light Novel said, but what does that actually mean?"
"We were at the edge of the universe. I stopped the Beast from entering, and then trapped in a cage that grows in strength, the more it attempts to pierce into this reality." God casually explained.
"...Holy shit." Raguel was gobsmacked. Then he looked around, finally noticing they were passing stars and galaxies along the way. Guess I was so nervous about seeing the Apocalypse Beast I didn't notice. Then again, the teleportation spell barely took a few minutes. "So, no one can actually get here, right?"
"Hmm, technically people can find this place by heading to the 'end of the world', however as humanity progresses and maps the globe, that concept will ceases to be functional, and thus the path to the Beast's Cage will stop existing as well. However, since I tied the Beast and its Cage to the concept of the 'end of the world', when that ideas ceases, so will the Caged Beast from the physical realm."
"Wait, it will stop existing?" Raguel cried out at this new information.
"Yes and no. It will no longer physically exist, but it will continue on in the Realm of Forgotten Dreams. A section of the Dream Realm equivalent to the Dimensional Gap." God explained. "Sadly, as you know, it would still be possible to reach it with the right tools. Hopefully I'll make the seals even more difficult to break this time."
"...God OP, plz," Raguel took a glance back from where they came. "Never nerf."
"Hahahahaha, you still have much to learn young padawan." The Creator's laughter was a single eternal moment of ringing joy.
"Heh," Raguel grinned, then after a moment, realized what his Father just said. "Wait, you know Star Wars!?"
"Omniscience, my boy. You still have much to learn, but I have faith that in time, you'll git gud. Now, let's go meet your Archangel brothers and sisters."
"Did you seriously just use the words 'git gud'!?" Raguel exclaimed.
God smiled mysteriously.