_/ The World Looks Red OST \_
The sacral excommunication, a marking chant known only amongst the seven Empyreans, holy guards of the Church's heavenly principles. Use of this chant is consented in the occasion an exorcist derails from the path set by the creed and turns apostate. Being targeted by the sacral excommunication means the exorcist found guilty will have their divine essence mutate in a state very reminiscent of cursed energy, symbolized by the sudden change in color from a pure pearly white to a very noticeable blue heart within the white crests of its fire. Though the transition in color is but a detail of the chant's byproduct, the main effects stand in its reaction when put in contact with unmarked essence. Generally, the divine essence is not harmful to those who have a low concentration of cursed energy, making it impossible for an exorcist to injure civilians and other exorcists with normal chants. However, once marked, the target is now vulnerable to any essence-based attacks while they cannot deal any kind of damage. Long story short, an excommunication equals the death penalty, of which an average exorcist has no way to escape.
Gabriele was anything but average, though he was very conscious that the risks he would face from now on forward have quintuplicated. As Romulus slowly approached Gabriele with their sword at hand, the young exorcist entered in fight or flight mode fueled by the rising tension, eyes locked in on the moving threat but he had to do something about the freezing cold first. The flames raging in his fists gradually thinned out to spread all across his skin, propagating heat while he kept his distance, but it didn't seem to work out.
'So it's not external, something from within is being altered.' Without warning, the paladin dashed forward. Gabriele quickly evaded a series of slashes, the kinetic energy spent dodging and quick stepping out of danger should produce the necessary heat to warm his body, but once again that didn't seem the case. His back touched the railing, leaning to the left he avoided the descending blade, with the collision denting the metal bar. Then following the straight line of the railing, Romulus sliced horizontally, sparks flying as steel met steel.
The exorcist ducked beneath the attack, they were leaving him no space to breathe in a relentless barrage of attacks when suddenly he heard another set of footsteps, Remus was closing in with murderous intent. He scowled, if he stood too much in the corner he wouldn't have any time to react accordingly once the other hostile would join the combat. So in a short amount of time, Gabriele blinded the opposing man with a fireball, then by using the railing as support, he jumped to kick the Empyrean in the chest with both feet thus pushing himself off the ledge.
Now in free fall, the exorcist quickly opened his wings to slow his descent and then gain altitude over the roof soon after. Looking down from a safe distance, Gabriele finally had a brief moment to recover and devise a counterattack.
You're freezing
'I know. But the temperature hasn't dropped around us, nor has the wind picked up.' he said, hand open testing the soft current blowing through his fingers. Sure enough, it was a chant, not one to control the temperature but rather the perception of it. 'It's tricking my thermoreceptors into believing my body is submerged in ice-cold waters.' he thought. But for how long could he keep going before he freezes to death? 4 to 7 minutes?
The chant is discontinuous
'How so?'
When you jumped off the ledge... It was as if the link was broken... Your body could feel warmth again
'Could it be that the ability is circumscribed in a limited area?' Gabriele questioned whether he could leave them behind and look for backup, Megumi was flying just moments ago across his vision, he couldn't have gone too far. However, the plan was discarded as soon as it came up, it was true that a cleanse required a lot of build-up, only that would give him enough time to call for reinforcement, but that was valid if he was up against a lone Empyrean. With two of them, the time to process a cleanse is significantly shortened from 20 minutes to 6. Too short to wait for anyone to come, too short to do anything but fight against Destiny itself. A sudden realization struck him like lightning, together with a new strategy. Like a hawk focused on the prey, the young exorcist dove down on his enemies, who in return spewed fire in his general direction. Maneuvering himself amid the holy flames that grazed his skin, he gathered all the divine essence in his lungs as he prepared his chant.
Arcane chant: Salamandra
An ethereal blaze engulfed the roof in a large pillar visible from all the corners of the district. The two templars looked around, the fire didn't cause any harm since they weren't cursed spirits, but their view was obstructed by the ever-so-high flames. "How can the fire be this high? Is the air saturated with cursed energy?" Romulus raised the question, with no energy to fuel it, it shouldn't take too long before it extinguished, but it didn't, on the contrary, it kept growing in volume.
"I've lost track of the Seraph."
"Put your back against mine and let's move toward the center." Remus obliged. Little by little they paced to the middle of the roof with their swords drawn ready to attack on sight. "How's your arm?" the masked man asked the other, to which they responded by taking off their glove. Purplish fingers met their gaze, a dark color that traveled far up their limb until the sleeve occulted the rest of his forearm.
"Damned traitor! I'm gonna make him snap his own neck!" The fed-up paladin grunted.
"There's no use for it. He must have figured out how the chant works, he's hiding behind the blaze so keep your ears open." Romulus said. Minutes went by, and in the mind of the Empyrean scenario after scenario was playing in rapid succession, every possible angle of attack observed, and scrutinized. Without warning the fire pit died out abruptly like a stovetop, the duo watched stunned as a cloud of bluish feathers descended upon them. Gabriele stood in balance on top of the railing watching down on the duo, he snatched a falling plume from the air, now playing with it in his fingers as he brought it close to his chest, the rogue exorcist pronounced his next devastating attack:
Hidden chant: Dispersio
The delicate and harmless feather in his hand was enveloped in a dark blue aura that soon transferred to all the others surrounding the pair of templars, a sign that put Romulus in high alarm.
Variātio nefasti: Igni!
Romulus reacted immediately by casting a shield around them, right before the first plume exploded in bright violence. Soon it caused a chain reaction that forced the defensive chant to its limits, the loud blasts that echoed over the terrified screams of the civilians. The Empyrean grimaced under the thick mask, the Seraph was overwhelmed with techniques that shouldn't even faze them. But no matter how many tricks he had up his sleeve, at this rate, his divine essence must be almost over. So now what was missing was a last, desperate attack. As if on cue, Gabriele came flying at an elevated speed the moment the shield was lowered, wielding a makeshift metallic staff about to swing at their comrade's head. The impact was gruesome, the mask cracked beneath the weight of the mighty blow as Remus was then projected against the railing. Their now exposed face presented a very vicious and deep collapse across their cheekbones and nose, copious was the blood that came out of their nostrils as the paladin fell to their side lifeless.
As if on cue, Gabriele came flying at an elevated speed the moment the shield was lowered, wielding a makeshift metallic staff about to swing at their comrade's head.
The Empyrean was ready, set themselves in front of their partner, and swung the sword vertically, cutting through both the staff and the exorcist's chest. Gabriele toppled badly on the ground as the wings unmaterialized, rolling until the metal bar at the very ledge stopped him.
The rogue exorcist inhaled through the pain, his torso felt heavy as blood trickled down the gash. Fortunately, the wound wasn't deep enough to damage what lay under the ribcage, though it hurt so much he couldn't breathe.
'How did they react this quickly?! It was as if they knew in advance what was about to happen!'
"You bastard..." A furious Remus walked past their comrade who tried to block them in vain. Stopping right in front of Gabriele, they grabbed a handful of black hair and pulled him up, with clear discomfort in the injured teen's expression. "I was going to make you snap your neck yourself but, thinking about it, it would be much more satisfactory if I do that." They went to grasp both sides of his head but the bandages on his neck caught his attention instead. In a swift manner, their fingers dug into the dirty gauze and tore it apart, baring the monstrous scar for the world to see.
"By God, it looks like someone didn't do their job properly..." the Empyrean joked while harshly tracing the crooked scar with their hand, sending another wave of pain in Gabriele's body. "What a pitiful view, fitting for a betrayer who dwells with heretics." They put the edge of the sword on the teen's distorted throat, and just as they were about to slit it, a vision bared before their eyes. A bloody stare dug deep into their soul, so much it seemed to pass through the mask as gelid fingers crept under their flesh.
God gazes in repugnance at those who wave his flags over innocent's blood
The Entity cried tears of blood over their untainted face, fear paralyzed their upper body while the knees buckled ready to give in as tears became streams falling on the Empyrean's visage. Screams of terror stuck in their larynx, and the liquid quickly filled their gaping mouth until it spilled over their lips, they felt their lungs gasping for air as the fear of drowning became more apparent in their uncontrolled spasms.
The world seemed to morph blank for Gabriele the moment he got up, as shown before, in order to use cursed energy, the exorcist and the Entity had to work together on a procedure that took a month of relentless training with the strongest sorcerer alive to perfect it, to the point that the two now were functioning like clockwork, the process became automatic like breathing. There were attempts, though, that the timing was so spot on that the reaction time would read well below a thousandth of a second. As the punch connected to Remus's face, the cursed energy was applied to a record time of a millionth of a second within the physical hit, dark sparks flew for a moment before being burned by the essence as the fist broke down the thick silvery mask with shards piercing their skin and ocular bulbs.
Unbeknownst to Gabriele, his body had experienced the thrilling rush of a black flash.
The paladin flew across the landing pad, skipping like a pebble on the lake's surface before landing not too far from the watchful eyes of Romulus. Agonizing shouts came out, hands now covered in blood as they brought them over their face, darkness wherever they turned, unaware of the menace walking behind them, armed with the same sword they were just playing with. When his hands found the cloth of Romulus's uniform, they helped themselves to their feet. Unfortunately, their sense of balance was heavily compromised by the blow, he stumbled backward, his arms swinging wildly in search of his comrade who refused to give any aid. Amid the excruciating pain, a gentle hand laid on the center of their chest, devoid of anger or any negative means, could have been the hand of God?
Arcane chant: Exsecutio
The Empyrean's rib cage got punctured part to part by a white fireball, a hole left right above where their heart should be. Their lifeless body fell face down in front of an apathetic Gabriele with bleeding eyes, under the disappointed watch of the last standing senior. Silence descended on the roof, Gabriele with eerie calmness shook the cadaver off his feet as if it was some kind of trash, the Empyrean simply stood there and watched without uttering a word.
"Are you done lashing out?" they said with their usual monotone.
" I wanted to watch them beg for mercy, Kimura in his benevolence would have preferred a quick death but I wanted them to suffer ." He kicked the corpse in the ribs to flip it face up, but again, no reaction from the senior. " Controlling one's body functions with a glance, subtle ability for a masked scumbag ."
"That chant... works only on those who possess cursed energy... Explain."
" I used cursed energy, by letting out some first in the palm it creates the right conditions to execute anyone, even non-users ," the exorcist said as he unbuckled the scabbard off the dead body and put it on himself, adjusting it to rest firmly on his left hip. " also helps in the longer runs, where endurance is needed. Mixing both essence and energy is less costly but also less effective. 'Quantity over quality' kind of deal. "
The Empyrean nodded, the boy seemed to have changed in the short time they had been together like a huge boulder had been lifted off his shoulders. Just outing himself without a care in the world, as if he was relieved of letting off some steam, or rather not having to keep a secret any longer, although he may be lacking in emotional investment. "Are you still going to try and save them? It's a lost cause." they said as their fingers wrapped around the hilt.
" Don't care. I prefer dying knowing you can't perform the cleanse anymore than plain genocide ." Said the young man, adjusting his own grip, dead set on his goal. Swords raised against each other, as the world around them collapsed into deadly quietness they paced in a circle, eyes ready to catch the slightest twitch of muscles, a misstep of sorts. Then they clashed, there was no spectacle, no powers to gaze in awe if not the sparks illuminating the dark air between the two, just a cacophony of slashes, parries, thrusts, and kicks. Just crude, in its most nihilistic form of battle, no longer were the motives to fight, now lying cold on the floor with a hole in their chest. They could just go on their ways and avoid all of this, there was nothing to gain in killing the opponent, only to lose. Call it pride, but there wasn't any of that too, nor did hatred play an important role. It was personal, but also not at the same time.
Romulus stepped forward, taking advantage of his superior weight to push Gabriele off balance, who dodged the following slash by throwing his upper body back out of danger.
"The longer you fight, the more people will die atrociously. Is this your idea of mercy?"
"Pain is a part of life as much as joy and sadness are. Saying you want to take away their pain is arrogance to the point of taking God's place, breaking the very first commandment ." He bounced back, crossing swords with the older man until they were face to face again. " I will keep on fighting and stand tall against you as long as this means I can save someone, even one single soul!"
A fierce fire pervaded within his bloody turquoise irides, a newfound strength that allowed him to swat the weapon of the Empyrean's hands, leaving them completely defenseless. " For I live as the personification of the Lamb, whose sacrifice will bring good omen to the men . For I've been taught in the art of war to repress those that with their actions mean evil ." He then thrust the blade into the man's chest, earning a yelp of pain from his adversary.
" And I have, and always will have... " Pulling the weapon out, He lifted his sword high in the sky, flames now enveloping his neck, the purest candid white of the stars with the darkest of hearts of the deepest fears of mankind, prior to bringing the heavy weapon down on the unmoving Romulus.
The deepest of God's gratitude
Hidden chant: Ouroboros
" Don't care. I prefer dying knowing you can't perform the cleanse anymore than plain genocide ." Said the young man, adjusting his own grip, dead set on his goal. Swords raised against each other, as the world around them collapsed into deadly quietness they paced in a circle, eyes ready to catch the slightest twitch of muscles, a misstep of sorts. But before Gabriele could even think of moving, Romulus was already in front of him, another slash across the chest was what brought the younger exorcist to his knee.
'What... what just... happened?' Gabriele had his palm over the fresh wound, then frowned deeply as he found it completely covered in blood. Tears began to well in his eyes, water tinted in crimson slowly rolled down his cheeks. Was it already over? Was the gap between him and the Empyrean so unbearably vast?
"Consider yourself honored." said the masked templar, walking away from him, "You're among the few who brought me to unveil my hidden chant. You can die now, I hope it was worth it to you to let these people suffer."
For Romulus, this was a failure across the board. Their comrade was dead, they tried to save them once but it seemed Fate was inevitable. Their underling, the so-called prodigy, the pride of Saint Micheal made flesh and other blasphemous connotations that throughout the years they had heard many utter in their presence, turned apostate, now about to take his last breaths on this god-forsaken land. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to subjugate the heretics for good gone to waste, all because of him. All that was left to do was to retreat and wait for another opportunity to come.
" Yo! " A voice made them stop. Slowly the Empyrean turned, their gaze was met by the sight of the Seraph, standing on his feet with the weapon firmly grasped in his right hand while he slid his left palm along the edge of the blade. A smile spread across his face, his teeth just as bloody as the visage it adorned.
" Do you know the extent of my cursed technique? "