C2 Prologue

(22 YEARS AFTER THE FALL OF THE OLD GODS - PAST)

Tiny rain droplets brushed his face as he bolted past the large castle gates of Alvredan. His right hand clinging to his slim long rapier blade that made the carving of what seemed like a map on the muddy floor leaving a trail behind him. “How did it all get to this” he thought to himself as he approached the garden that led to the main entrance of the castle. He had fought many battles in his life, but non such as this, non that had so much casualties in the process, non that had lasted for so long, severed so many ties, and was about to plunge the world in to a terrible fate it didn’t deserve.

Blood dripped from his armour as he ran, he had sustained a deep cut from earlier on, but this wouldn’t slow him down, even though he wanted to stop, just for a second, to catch his breath, to bandage his wound, but time was his worst enemy at the moment. Large bolts of lightning bursted out of his body as he ran; the rain drops began to slow down, as if they now stood still in mid-air. This was a level of speed that only a lightning borne with so many years of training could attain.

He came to a halt as fast as he could, throwing large chunks of mud in the air, he couldn’t believe his eyes, his heart raced with fear as his mouth fell open at the sight that stood in front of him at the great stair case of the Alvredan castle. He could swear that never in history was there a sight like this, never was there so many angels gathered in the same place, and even if they had been, they wouldn’t be dead like the ones he saw before him. All covered in their own blood, their white wings spread all over the floor, their white and blue shiny armour all covered in their own blood “thirteen, fourteen, fifteen” he counted in his mind as his blue eyes rolled around, but in the end, he lost count. His legs were gripped with fear, this was a massacre, whoever did this was a cold blooded killer, and would have to be one of the strongest swordsman ever, last he checked it took at least five men to take down one angel. Their weapons lay beside them glowing in their own blood, with their eyes characterized by a pale glow. This could mean only one thing, that their grace had been stolen from them.

He hurdled over a head that faced right to the sky then picked up a broad sword that glowed before him; it drove his knees to hit the muddy floor as he screamed in pain. The weapon of the divine was so powerful that it could break all the bones in the body of a human turning one to a vegetable, literally. But this has been a long battle, and every participant had been forced to make sacrifices or suffer the faith of the angels that lay before him. He opened his eyes and his pupils now glowed bright blue together with the blue markings all over his body underneath his armour. He rose to his feet throwing his rapier blade to the ground, his wounds began to close as a bright blue light engulfed him, then he vanished leaving few traces of lightning in the air.

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Raphael crashed in to the floor hard creating a pathway through the hard stony ground, his hands were weak, sweat covered his dark skin; his eyes were pale as ever, his face and angelic armour covered in his own blood. His opponent landed swiftly on his toes, eyes as red as crimson, his black robe with red linings all torn up in various places, his long black hair covering his face as he slowly circled the wounded arch angel with rage in his eyes. His right hand gripped the handle of his sharp scimitar blade.

“I have fought a lot of demons in my days, but I must admit, none as skilled and powerful as you are” Raphael exclaimed as he struggled to his feet with blood slowly dripping from his mouth. “Killing my brothers out there, consuming their grace, that must have been one hell of an achievement, even for a demon like you, but you see, i am not just an angel, i am Raphael, one of the seven arch angels of the great heavens, and you shall perish before me on this day”. His shoulders jolted in a prideful manner as he picked up his great bastard sword that was glowing with light, he was very huge, almost twice the size of his opponent.

“let me pass, and I shall spare your miserable life” Dante said as his left palm was engulfed in flames, “your brothers weren’t so lucky, all I seek is the door way to Eptimus, stand down now and I shall spare you”. “You know, Resley might have been wrong about so many things, but he was right with one, you really are an abomination” Raphael replied with a weak smile on his face. Dante waved his left hand in rage throwing several balls of fire at the arch angel whose wings thrusted out with speed and covered his whole body, he spread them and leaped in to the air with great force. Fire poured out from Dante’s black leather boots throwing him in to the air with great force.

The two opponents clashed high up in the air, clashing their swords against each other with intense anger, both of them were very skilled in the act of swordsmanship, and ready to slay one another.

Dante landed on his feet and flipped backwards as Raphael descended on him from above, he drifted sideways dodging the angel’s mighty blade that made its way in to the ground then delivered a swift kick to his belly and a round house kick to his cheek sending him staggering backwards in pain; before he could regain his stamina, his opponent raced after him delivering two deep cuts to his chest from opposite directions then sent him high in to the air with a blazing upper cut. Fire formed in thin air creating a dark fiery creature with a long blade behind Raphael as he ascended, the creature growled as it moved with intense speed driving its sword that was now on fire through the arch angel’s right wing severing it from his back. Raphael cried out in pain as he fell all the way to the ground, he crashed with force into the floor sending cracks in several directions, the pain he felt from his back was unbearable, blood gushed from his back where his right wing used to be, his pale eyes could see it at a distance a few meters away from him, covered in blood.

The arch angel struggled to his knees and supported himself with his blade, at that moment he knew, he was moments away from meeting his end, the battle was almost over, he looked around to see what had sliced through his wing but found nothing, the creature had bursted into flames the same way it formed. Dante landed and slowly walked to his opponent that was now bleeding profusely, his left wing flapped in a weak pattern, his breath was heavy but weak, his mighty weapon laid on the floor beside him.

“You think because you dwell in the heavens, that makes you divine? or because you have your precious grace” he said with so much sarcasm as he reached the arch angel and started circling him like an animal circling its prey. “You expect me to beg son of Lucifer?” Raphael uttered as he coughed thick red blood to the floor, “I can see that your father trained you well”, “oh my father trained me Raphael, but that was the me of before, I have come face to face with true power, I have tasted it, and I have become it, you think I am after heaven alone? oh oh oh, how you must be mistaken” the Arch demon uttered with a cruel laughter. “When the entire heavens have fallen by my hands, then the earth would fall right beside it, and only those who worship me will be left standing, then and only then, will the Drawks rise again”.

Raphael’s heart froze at what he had just heard, “the Drawks?, that’s not possible, father destroyed them all”, “you’re right Raphael, they were destroyed, but you see you’re wrong, because not all of them were destroyed, the strongest of them survived, and I have been graced with their presence, I feel what they feel, I see what they see, and very soon, I will be, what they are”, at this point it all made sense to the Arch angel, he had never seen Lucifer lose a one on one combat, never seen an entity with the ability to siphon the grace out of an angel, he had never seen a being who could take on so many angels and still be standing, yet the Arch demon that circled him was able to do all these things. This erased every doubt he had in his mind, he finally believed his opponent, the Drawks were still existing, which could only mean one thing, the end of the world.

“I beg not for myself” Raphael said with a shaky voice, his left hand holding his wound trying to reduce the bleeding “ but please you have to stop this now, the Drawks are evil creatures who’s first and only instinct is to kill, if you go down this path, not even my brothers would be able to stop you”, “well that’s the point Raphael, the entire heavens shall try to stop me, and they will all fall, just like their brother”, the demon uttered angrily and swung his blade towards the wounded angel, a smooth swipe of the demon’s fiery blade sent the angels head spiralling in to mid-air as blood gushed out from his neck sending his body to the floor.

Dante stood before the headless body that lay before him, his body still shivering with rage, all he could think about was how he used to be human, how perfect his life was, and how everything was snatched away from him by the same entities he swore would protect him. Now the large hall was silent, he stood around the centre of the rubbles that was once the Alvredan castle hall, a place that used to be his home so many years ago; he couldn’t help but think how a lot has changed in the past years. All the sacrifices he had to make to come this far. Not even an ordinary demon can stand where he stood at that moment, in front of the headless body of an arch angel. But then again, Dante was no ordinary demon, he was one of the seven knights of hell, ordained and trained by Lucifer himself, and this was his legacy.

He held his two hands out and recited some incantations in Aramaic, then a bluish fluid that glowed so bright slowly rose in to the air from the body of the dead arch angel and entered his mouth, his white eyes now turned crimson black for a moment, then reverted to normal as his body shivered with intense energy. The blood that flowed from the headless arch angel began to form several intricate markings on the floor as he dropped his blade on the floor and waved both hands in the air, they continued to form as a thin line of blood ran round forming a large circle around the markings. “At last” he thought to himself, there was no on standing in his way, he could finally gain access to Eptimus, one of the corridors to heaven, he joined both hands tight in front of him as he closed his eyes, his whole body began to vibrate as blood flowed down his right nostril, he could feel the immense energy that left him and entered into the markings on the floor making them glow bright red. His act was cut short by a flash of blue lightning that passed him with great speed sending his long black hair to spiral. Ravi appeared before him, his eye balls glowing bright blue, his armour tattered, a divine broad sword on his right hand.

Dante smiled as he slowly approached the person before him. With a fighting stance, he said “at last, I finally get to kill my own big brother”. “You have to stop this Tagon, please I beg you, this has gone on for too long” Ravi pleaded with his junior brother, tears filled his eyes, he had been fighting for so long he could barely remember what it felt like not to hold a sword, standing before him was his only brother whom he loved with all his heart, everything had gone so wrong.

“It’s been ages since anyone called me that name” Dante replied with a cruel smile “and you don’t get to say when it’s over, only I get so say so, and I say it’s over when everyone in heaven has answered for their crimes” “CAN YOU EVEN HEAR YOURSELF!!” Ravi shouted with a burst of anger. “you want to march in to heaven with a sword in your hand and kill every angel that stands in your way, then what?”, “I don’t care how many angels I kill, I am going to reshape this world, out of the old, a new shall arise, a world where I shall rule, side by side with my new companions, there’s no going back now, I already have people who worship me all over the iron islands, and I won’t let them down”. “You have to stop now before it is too late Tagon, I beg you”. “My loving big brother, where were you when I was almost murdered right here within these very walls, where were you, when I ran for my dear life, where were you when the only person I cared about was ripped from my arms”. Dante raised his blade and pointed it at Ravi.

“This world is a very cruel place, that’s why we looked up to the heavens to protect us, but now they have outlived their usefulness, so someone has to remind them that the only thing that awaits them now is death. The fact that you are here could only mean that Garz is dead, I will make sure you pay with your life”, Ravi noticed a few dark patches that began to emerge on Dante’s face, he had never seen anything like it before. Dante dashed forward in anger throwing several balls of fire at Ravi whom vanished leaving traces of lightning, Ravi appeared behind him waving his glowing broad sword towards Dante with great force, his opponent blocked the attacks then turned and landed two blows to his face and a right arc kick sending him back. Ravi leaned back dodging his opponent’s blade then charged a bright bolt of lightning on his left hand, he sent Dante diving back in pain as he blasted him with it, he shot several bolts more at Dante whom landed on the floor losing his stamina at this point. After a skilful manoeuvre he dodged two but the last one hit him hard on his side sending him to the floor. Fire bursted out of the air around Ravi as various dark fiery creatures with long blades emerged around him; he was engaged in a fierce battle with them for a while but finally took them down one by one. Dante rose to his feet only to meet the edge of his opponent’s blade delivering a deep cut to his right arm, he turned with speed and flipped backwards delivering a swift kick to Ravi’s jaw sending blood out of his mouth.

“You might be a conduit, but I’m so much more than that” Dante murmured as he punched the ground hard sending it cracking in all directions, larva started slipping out of the newly formed holes to the surface. They both ran forward waving their blades at each other for minutes, cuts were delivered, blood was spilled; attacks were landed. Finally, Dante thrusted his blade straight through the edge of Ravi’s collar bone making him scream in pain; then he flipped over him while grabbing his neck and flung him forward sending him crashing into the floor. Ravi struggled to his feet now bleeding badly, he knew that time wasn’t his ally at the moment, he had to find a way to end this battle before he bled out, he didn’t have enough energy left to heal himself; time was really running out.

Dante turned in various directions dodging the blade attacks of his opponent that had appeared before him, he landed two hard fiery blows to Ravi’s jaw sending him into confusion, then cut him twice on his chest and drove his blade through his waist region and sent him back with a ball of fire. Ravi crashed hard on the floor and within seconds he was kneeling in a pool of his own blood.

“It doesn’t have to end like this Ravi, killing you would bring me no joy, don’t get up”, “if you think I would give up that easy, then you really don’t know me at all” his opponent replied coughing blood to the floor and struggling to his feet. “I just want you to know, I’m truly sorry” Ravi muttered as he closed his eyes, this was his last card to play and he knew it was worth the wait, because this was when he kills Dante, at least so he thought.

He opened his eyes that was now pure white, his pupils had vanished, he dashed forward towards his opponent, the rubbles that rose in to the air stood still, the droplets of larva, the blood that poured from his mouth, the dust in the air, they all stood still in mid-air, everything was still, including his opponent, standing right there like he was frozen in ice, his eyes filled with rage, filled with darkness. As Ravi drew closer, he consoled himself deep within his mind, “there was nothing I could have done” he thought to himself, his sword now feeling twice as heavy, with a heavy heart he swung his blade towards the demon’s throat. Dante leaned back towards the opposite angle dodging Ravi’s blade then pushed himself forward with great force driving his blade in to Ravi’s lower abdomen shattering the chain like mail underneath his thick blue Enrog armour, blood poured out in great quantity as the demon stood gazing eye to eye with his dying foe, then everything began moving again. “How did you....?”,”I told you brother, I’m not the person you used to know, and I’m not like other foes you’ve encountered, do you know how many angels I’ve killed, how many graces I’ve consumed, I hold with me more power than you could ever imagine”. He threw Ravi to the ground with his left hand dragging his blade out of his belly with the other. “I gave you your chance to walk away, but you turned it down, now you must pay the price with your life”, “I’m your brother, your blood” Ravi pleaded as he laid down on the floor in his own pool of blood feeling dizzy, his heart raced with fear and weakness, Dante stood directly above him raising his sword past his head, about to strike the dying blow on his foe, a person he once called brother, a person he once looked up to.

A quick thrust and blood gushed all over, he stood motionless as blood poured from his mouth as well, it took a while for him to realize what had just happened; he had been stabbed from behind, a clean incision straight through his heart. Ravi covered his face with both hands protecting his eyes from the blood that poured all over him. Dante tried to speak, all his rage now turned in to pain, his fists clenched tight in agony. Too weak to even stare down at the edge of the weapon that had pierced his beating heart, this was the worst way to die, not knowing who killed you, he was this close to the doorway to Eptimus, so close to achieving his goal, how could this happen, he didn’t even sense the person coming from a mile away.

His thoughts were cut short with his last breath as he fell to the ground, Ravi stared at the lifeless body of Dante lying down beside him, tears filled his eyes as he crawled towards him, rose to his knees and held his body in his arms shivering in fear and sadness, His attention was caught when he looked to the left and saw one of Dante’s dark fiery creatures that bursted in to flames revealing a seal it had inscribed on the wall, a very old Aramaic Sigel. He turned his gaze looking forward then his eyes caught the person who had just saved his life and killed the great knight of hell, abnormally tall in his long black robe, black hood covering his head, very long nails hanging from his pale grey hands, strands of long grey hair hung from the tip of his hood with a very long scythe on his right hand, dripping with blood as he walked away slowly.

Ravi’s was filled with confusion, nothing made sense anymore the moment he recognized the entity before him. “He was my junior brother, I was supposed to be there for him when he needed me the most but I wasn’t, and I spent my whole life trying to make up for that mistake, you just killed the last person I tried so hard to save” Ravi muttered in anger as he grabbed the divine broad sword that laid beside him and struggled to his feet, blood still pouring from his belly as he grabbed his injury tight trying to slow the bleeding.

He staggered towards the entity waving his weapon in anger; his opponent shifted to the right dodging the attack then gripped him tight on his neck lifting him meters away from the ground. Fear gripped him as he stared in to the eye sockets with no eyes staring back at him, various grey scars on his pale grey face revealing several bones underneath his skin, ”I wasn’t here for you” he finally spoke in a dark bass shrilling voice,” don’t make me add you to my list”. “Such great force” Ravi thought to himself as he was flung in to the air, he floated for several seconds all the way across the large hall until he crashed into the hard stone wall creating a medium sized hole as he went through, he fell hard on the hard stony ground outside the hall, words could not describe the pain he was in, just one throw from the creature and he had broken several bones in his body, sustained various bruises all over, the other half of his armour laid on the floor at the other side of the arena.

He opened his eyes and stared into the heavens as tiny rain droplets rushed down and kissed his bruised swollen cheeks, his left eye now half closed from the injuries inherited from earlier battles. Suddenly the rain stopped and a great wind began to blow driving all the rubbles to the direction which they went, the clouds above him began to give way. A bright light illuminated the whole arena where he laid in rubbles; he wondered what it was, or who it was. The light became so bright blinding his vision, then he felt it, all around him, various hands carrying him up, he slowly levitated into mid-air then went higher, and higher, and higher till he disappeared in to the clouds leaving no trace. Then the light deemed, and vanished.