「Castle Chapel - Dawn」

The two young men face off each other, but none make the first move. They just stand there, staring at the other like a pair of separated acquaintances. One stands firm with his trusty iron blade by his hands, the other is unarmed, but beneath his almost tattered cloak are weapons from a world the other one cannot comprehend. Yet, none of them seem to have any hostile intent, at least for the time being.

This is merely the calm before the storm, and both of them are aware of it.

-You are a human, are you not? I witnessed your fight with Origen, while you didn’t talk much, I know you understood everything he said during that battle.

The young man in full armor speaks. His tone is calm, mostly because whatever the other one did to hinder their war efforts, he’s still a human in flesh and blood just like him.

-Yes, I am a human. The other demons don’t know this, I intentionally led them astray from my true origin. It’s my way to survive in this castle.

The young human replies in the same friendly manner.

-I see. Then, if you still see yourself as a human, will you willing to join our side and fight for mankind? When this castle falls, a terrible fate will befall upon you should you remain by the demons’ side. I may not be the one who’s able to pardon you for your crimes, but if you earnestly repent, escaping the death penalty isn’t really far-fetched. It’s better than to be executed at best or made a slave at worst solely for allying with the demons.

The young man in cloak smirks, but it doesn’t come off as a sign of arrogance, rather a face of regret instead.

-It’s kind of funny. Someone made the same offer to me at the start of this siege. Back then, I seriously considered accepting the offer. But…it sadly got interrupted by one of the demons. I was forced to follow him and fight your kind, the humans of this world. I actually have regrets about that, and often wondered if fighting alongside mankind was the right thing to do…rather than teaming up with demons. My indecisiveness led me to my defeat by your general, Origen. My life was at his mercy, and he decided to give me the death I deserved.

The young man smiles, a genuine smile without any hints of sarcasm.

-But when I was on the brink of death, I was saved by a demon. It’s conceited to say he paid his life so that I could live, but I can’t deny the truth that he died saving me. We were hardly familiar enough to be called acquaintances. He was my teacher, I was his student, and we barely knew each other for a month. Yet, I’m here because he fought Origen so that I could be saved from death, so death took him away in exchange...That event changed me, among other things.

The young man pauses before continue.

-If your kind thinks the demons are the lowest life form ever existed, should I betray the demons and fight for your kind, won’t that make me lower than even the demons you despise? It’s not about pride, more like about doing what’s morally right. I won’t betray them, I won’t betray the demons, I will fight for them, and I will fight against the humans of this world, like you and Origen. In short, I’m your enemy, and you’re my enemy.

Yet, even after declaring his intention, the young man in the tattered cloak has yet to draw his weapons and still indulges in idle chatters.

-I see. That is to be expected, I guess.

The young man in armor calmly replies, with no intent to go to battle himself.

-Should Origen know about your circumstances, even if you betrayed the demons to fight for us, he will still finish the job he started and end your life for your ingratitude.

-So I made the right choice then? Hahahaha. Lucky me!

The young man in the tattered cloak laughs out loud before speaking again.

-Well, shall we get to the part that actually matter? I expected you to come charging at me with your sword at the first sight, yet for you to start idle chatters like this is unexpected. You’re trying to buy some time, aren’t you?

The atmosphere starts to get tense, as if marking the end of this conversation. The two young man from two opposing sides stare at each other. The one in armor suddenly starts to chuckle.

-I could say the same to you. You and your little sob story, they were merely a ploy to distract me from dispatching you and buy you time as well. That’s why you were so eager to tell your life story to someone you barely knew. To think that you are aiming for the same objective…

-The means, not the end. My objective is not the same as yours.

-It doesn’t matter.

The young man in armor firmly grasps his iron blade, preparing to strike in a moment’s notice. The other one is also preparing for something as well.

-I say we cut the bullshit and go straight to business, don’t you agree, demon?

The young man smirks.

-You’re goddamn right!

Swiftly, the young man takes out his black gun inside his cloak and starts firing at the one in armor. His adversary seems to have already prepared himself for this sudden attack. Rather than rushing at the opponent like a mad bull, the young man in armor slides to the left side of the chapel instead, running behind a stone pillar to look for cover.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

The one with the gun fires four shots, four bullets come out of the gun barrels, but the man in armor is faster than he appears to be despite the weight of his armor. Thanks to his quick feet, three bullets miss their target and bounce off the stone wall. One manages to find its mark, but it gets blocked by the sword’s fuller when he defends his body, a wise decision. This won’t be an easy fight for the one with the gun, his mistake is thanks to the young man in armor’s presence when the faux demon fought Origen with all of his arsenal. The other guy knows what he can do, and will think of counter plans using the knowledge he acquired.

‘This will be a pain in the ass…I need to go all out with everything I have!’

Knowing standing in the open makes him a sitting duck, the young man in tattered cloak also finds himself a cover behind the opposite stone pillar. With this brief chance of peace, the young man brings out a simple syringe, he tucks his cloak’s right sleeve and stabs his arm with it, pumping the liquid inside into his vein.

-Can I have your name before I stab your throat?

From the other side of the pillar, the young man in armor shouts, or to be more truthful, taunts his opponent.

-My name is Akuma! And you are a fool to think it will be that easy!

Akuma replies as normal as he can afford to be. The drug made from the Spirit Calling flowers is starting to take effects on Akuma’s senses. Soon, he will be in a state of adrenaline rush, and gain enough reaction speed in his consciousness to deal with melee fighters like the one he’s fighting. This drug is meant to be used together with Deborah’s speed enhancement spell. It is risky to use it without being under the effect of Deborah’s spell, since the difference of speed in thought and action would be vastly differ, but that’s a risk Akuma is willing to take if he wants to win this battle.

-I see! Then remember the name of this fool, Ettore Albero! Because that’ll be the last name you can remember!

Akuma hears the sound of footsteps. The one called Ettore has already made his move. He gets out of his hiding place, and rushes to the pillar where Akuma is hiding behind. How he can find out his location is unbeknownst to the young cadet, but one theory he makes is because of his introduction earlier, Ettore pin-pointed his location from the echo of the sound. It sounds impossible in theory, but Akuma knows enough impossible feats to make reading sound echoes seem mundane in comparison.

CLANG!

Without any prior warnings, a horizontal sword swing comes aiming at the place where Akuma’s neck ought to be. If not for his reaction speed and quick reflex to duck below, Akuma would be a headless man already. The swing earlier leaves Ettore with a small opening, but Akuma won’t take that chance for a counter attack. He needs to get to an open area where his gun will have a bigger advantage. Of course, he knows his opponent won’t be foolish enough to meet him in an open area. He needs to bait him out, that’s why his pipe bombs exist.

-This thing again!?

Says the soldier as Akuma throws down a pipe bomb to the ground before running out of the way. Ettore recognizes one of these thing when he witnessed the young cadet’s fight with Origen. He knows what this little pipe can do, and he isn’t foolish enough to stay and try it out himself.

BOOM!

The pipe bomb explodes and brings down a chunk of the pillar along with the blast. Ettore now finds himself in the open, just as planned by Akuma, who is now pointing his gun at Ettore, two of them to be exact. A black one, and a white one.

-Damn…

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Akuma opens fire. Ettore might be able to handle one gun, but he never expects his opponent to have two, and can use them simultaneously nonetheless. Akuma has his own reason to use his second gun only at this time, the first is because of the surprise element, the second is because he doesn’t have enough skills to use two of them at once, only when his reaction speed is at its peak can Akuma be sure that he can effectively use two guns.

CLANG! CLANG!

Like a sitting duck, Ettore can only stand and block the oncoming bullets with his sword’s fuller. He has been trained at dealing with oncoming arrows before, but those arrows are nothing compared with the tiny terrors he’s facing. Ettore is half scared and half amazed, just like how he blocks half the bullets coming his way and takes the other half with his body.

-Arghh!

Ettore groans in pain. His left forearm has been shot, his left shoulder also has been shot and his lower left stomach gets shot as well. His armor prevents the penetration from going further, but the bullets stuck inside his body still fill him with pain. He quickly acts to stop Akuma from dealing the finishing strike by kicking the wooden pew in front of him. The pew slides at Akuma, hitting his feets and throws him off balance. An opening!

-Orahhhh!

…which Ettore takes it, instead using it as a distraction to run for safety, the young man in armor decides to take a bet and throws in everything he has for a counter attack. He jumps through the pew on the ground, and throws a diagonal sword slash at Akuma’s head. The young man quickly rolls away to dodge the strike, but Ettore aggressively continues to pursue his enemy with sword slashes after sword slashes. The pain dulls his senses, actively repressing his fear of death and gives him an unnatural courage. Akuma’s bullets fail to halt his opponent, and only makes him stronger. He continues rolling on the ground like a rag-doll, trying to find a chance to get up and retaliate. But when he finds such chance, Ettore is already standing nearby.

CLANG!

In an desperate attempt to protect his life, Akuma uses both of his guns as his shield to block Ettore’s blade. The edge of his sword is just inches away from Akuma’s fingers. Ettore already has his opponent on their knees, and uses his position as the momentum, he forces Akuma into a contest of power between his guns and Ettore’s blade.

-You are strong, Akuma! So strong, we may have already won the war if you join our side from the start!

Despite the momentum, Akuma proves himself not to be so weak to be pushed down by a young man with one wounded arm. This soon becomes a stalemate from a lack of a superior winner.

-But you just have to choose to fight for the demons instead!

Seeing the futileness of this contest of strength, Ettore ends the fight himself by kicking Akuma in the torso, through the tattered part of his opponent’s cloak, with his iron-made boots. The kick sends Akuma flying to afar and makes him accidentally drops his black handgun in the process.

-Ackkh!

Akuma starts coughing out blood. He feels like his internal organs just get flipped upside down thanks to the kick helped by the iron boots. The super sense he gained from the drug only makes him feel the pain better, which is some sort of blessing by itself as it prevents him from losing consciousness from the pain. Too weak to move away, but with Kardia’s gun still remains in his arm, Akuma can only defend himself by shooting at Ettore in vain.

CLANG!CLANG!

-If you’re willing to fight for them, then die with them!

Once again, Ettore blocks the desperate shots. Most of them hit his blade, some find their way toward his vambrace once again. His left hand is too wounded to hold the blade anymore, yet it’s still a miracle that he continues to march on despite the wounds he suffered from Akuma. Strength granted by an unyielding will and determination, those are qualities that Akuma admires, yet he ironically finds them inside his adversary who’s marching toward him with a sword aiming to end his life.

BANG!

Akuma fires another shot, his last shot as the white gun on his hand runs out of bullets. Miraculously, when the final bullet hits the sword’s fuller, Ettore’s sword breaks into pieces, unable to endure the punishment it received any longer. Yet, a part of it still remains just above the crossguard, enough to be used as a dagger.

When he finally approaches the wounded Akuma, Ettore sits on his enemy’s stomach and pushes down his broken sword at Akuma’s throat in an attempt to make his earlier threat come true. Akuma can only defend himself with his empty left hand, blocking the dagger by stopping Ettore’s wrist. Another contest of strength, their final contest of strength.

-Today…you die!

Ettore intends to win this struggle. With all his remaining strength, he forces his wounded arm to contribute its strength to his other hand in pushing the broken blade down. When even that is not enough, Ettore lowers down his upper body to add more momentum. The blade’s edge is just inches away from Akuma’s throat.

But unbeknownst to him, Ettore’s final act to drive Akuma into a corner has already sealed his fate.

Sphhhlt!

Ettore is too absorbed to stab Akuma that he fails to notice what his enemy’s right hand is doing. Ettore just assumes since his white handgun can’t shoot bullets anymore, it’s safe to approach him for the killing strike. He doesn’t expect Akuma to have a knife hidden inside his cloak, and provides him a perfect chance for a counter attack when he lowers down his torso. This results in a knife right in his throat, the most vulnerable place his armor can’t protect.

-Not…today!

Using all his strength, Akuma continues to sink his knife deep down Ettore’s throat. Blood flows out of his throat like a waterfall, and all of them fall upon Akuma’s face. The hot blood soaking on Akuma’s face does not make his strength waver, he continues to stop Ettore’s final attempt to bring Akuma down with him, and continues to pushes his knife further and further, until the bleeding stops, and Ettore is no longer alive.

Akuma won…barely. His opponent’s corpse lies on his body, soaking his clean shirt with streams of red blood. Yet, Akuma hasn’t move yet, even when there’s a dead corpse weighting him down.

“So this is…killing…”

Akuma has killed before, but through the use of gun. Such a nice weapon it is, it offers an illusion of guilt, the surface of killing as a concept, not as a feeling. This is the first time that he truly kills someone, directly with a knife on his hand, resulting the blood soaked on his body. The feeling when his knife struck Ettore’s throat, the fear when the hotness of his blood doesn’t fade away. Akuma is left speechless, but only until he reminds himself of his duty, of his mission.

-Sorry…

Akuma pushes Ettore’s immobile corpse away to get himself up. It’s far too late for him to feel regret, if he lets fear and grief have their chance to bring him down, he won’t be able to move forward to do what he determined to complete.

Akuma crouches down and takes off Ettore’s helmet. Under the iron mask is a young man his age, handsome with short auburn hair and earnest brown eyes. If he hesitated for a bit, it would be him in his place instead of Ettore. Either way, killing him doesn’t make Akuma feels better, despite the two of them being enemies that swore to kill the other.

‘Perhaps I will never able to get used to this…’

-You fought well, Ettore Albero.

As a final gesture of respect, Akuma closes the dead soldier’s open eyes. He might die with regrets in his heart, but at the very least, Akuma wants his opponent to have a well-deserved rest from his duty as a farewell gift.

When Akuma finally gets up, his blood-soaked knife suddenly shatters into pieces of dust, like the day he first attempted to synthesize something.

“I really should have done more knife-making practices…”

Just an afterthought, an idea fueled from his fear of unexpected situations in his upcoming fight, Akuma hastily made a knife from Kardia’s cauldron solely to prepare for a situation like this, when everything he has in disposal might not be enough. He never expects to use it this soon, without even fighting Origen.

“Well, I just have to make do with whatever I have left.”

Akuma picks up his white and black handguns, replacing the emptied magazines with his final ones. He only has a few pipebombs, two smoke bombs and one RG bomb left under his cloak. May not be enough, but at the very least, he can hold off Origen long enough until help arrives.

“Origen…I’m coming for you!”

Suddenly…

CLANK!

From the altar, a huge shockwave comes out, it breaks all the glass windows and goes through Akuma, leaving behind a chill down his spine. It doesn’t deal any physical damage upon him, but Akuma can feel it deeply in his mind. It’s a wave made from pure soul energy, he knows it the very moment it touches his body and soul. He doubt he is the only one who can feel it. He has a feeling that shockwave will spread very, very far away, to everyone participating in the siege of Melas castle. It’s a sign, a message foretelling the destruction of the castle’s barrier’s core.

“No…I’m already too late…”

Akuma hears footsteps from the altar. Someone is coming.

Origen is coming.