Confrontation - Part 3

[Cling!]

Beelzebub expresses dissatisfaction as Malique fends off his cut by summoning his sword, a double-edged arm-length weapon that has aided him since the Great War. On the verge of death, he remembered his training and can parry Gabriel's attack.

[Twing!]

Gabriel gave Malique a prod to encourage him to continue fighting. However, the interlock entangled their weapons, and Gabriel twisted Malique's sword with his and tossed it away. Exhausted and on the ground, Malique surrendered with his hands above his head.

"We're going at it again!" Gabriel picked up Malique's sword and handed it back to him, hilt side reachable.

"I-I don't want to," Malique finally expressed his animosity. He could not figure out what Gabriel meant when he talked about will and trust or how to beat him. "Please don't take it the wrong way. I don't mean it like that. Just, I couldn't imagine how this training helped me get stronger."

"Isn't mastery in the art of chivalry the reason you requested my training?" Gabriel questioned.

"That's the second reason for it."

"Then tell me, Malique, why did you seek such power?"

"To enact my revenge. What else was it for? Did you take me for a fool, Gabriel?" Malique asked.

"Even though the one you targeted was no longer alive?" Gabriel's question struck Malique wordlessly. He had been fixed on vengeance, which made him blind to the reality that they were at peace. "Change your mentality, Malique."

"I-I don't know..."

"So, you're saying that I trained you for nought?" Gabriel asked.

"No, I would never." Malique thought hard, trying to figure out why the Leader of the Archangel personally trained him.

"Remember that you were about to be the Gatekeeper of Hell," Gabriel reminded him. "In that case, a question. What do you think the Gatekeeper needed the most?"

"The capability to protect oneself?" Malique answered earnestly.

He was stationed at the furthest end of the afterworld, posted to hold enemy attacks alone, with no backup. What did a soldier need the most? Self-discipline, loyalty, and confidence, as well as physical fitness.

"Correct. Now, stand!" Gabriel put on a battle stance.

"E-eh?" Malique unconsciously did the same.

"Once you realize the true meaning of the words, nothing can stand in your way. The sharpness of your blade will carve a path to your desire." Gabriel headed for Malique, and he back-dashed the way he did with Beelzebub right now.

"Gah!"

With a gap present between them, Malique spreads his wings out and prepares for take-off. If he could fly away from them, his chances for survival will increase exponentially.

"Running away already? I'm disappointed, Malique." To his shock, Beelzebub closes their space by shooting straight at him with the blade pointing. Homing at the mantle, a single graze can paralyze its function.

Oh crap!

Malique must resort to retracting his wings from flying or Beelzebub will sever them with his dagger, thus making escape impossible.

[Clang!]

At the last second, Malique uses both hands to support his sword for the attack. He also uses Beelzebub's momentum to throw him off. Seeing the opportunity, Malique once again tries to fly. Good. In comparison, Gabriel's training was way harder than this.

[Fwoosh!]

"Ack!" An arrow coming from Mammon cuts across Malique's left cheek. Still, Malique covers the bleeding with his palm and proceeds to flee. While the two of them were heated in their fight, the remaining Demons of Sins had just finished pulling out their designated weapons.

"Tch, I missed." Mammon lets out his disappointment and grips his bow. Being the only one with a ranged weapon, each of them can only look at Malique's tactical retreat.

"Are we just gonna let him go?" Sathanas is fully ready to go in pursuit as her wings thresh slowly.

"We have to," Beelzebub orders everyone to stand down. He turns around and focuses on all of them. "The order needs to be re-established. If he survives, perhaps I will recognize him as a formidable opponent."

Through the same black smoke that conceals Houska Castle, Malique flaps his wings as hard as he can to break out. His cheek stings in pain, and his vision is obscured.

Is the arrow imbued with something? Ah, screw this. Gabriel and Michael, I should have listened to you two.

Malique tries to use instant regeneration on the cut and also neutralize what he deduces as poison inside his soiled flesh. To his exasperation, the bleeding does not stop nor heal.

Seriously? What happened to God's holy strength permeating me?

Not long after, Malique can see Hell again after passing the black ashes. Except for this time, there seems to be a gathering of lots and lots of Demons marching toward Hell's gate. Around twenty thousand participants line up to sculpt a path.

Some of them are well-equipped with heavy armour, others only have a single weapon on them, and most of them are empty-handed. Cheering and celebrating, only faces stuck to the crowd. This time, Malique assesses the situation calmly, unlike before.

"It happens, huh?" Malique mumbles to himself. He soars above the clouds to avoid being noticed by the hordes. Mid-flying, he tears a bit of his robe and wraps his face carefully. Unfortunately, he must cover his left eye together with a bandage to cover the wound. As long as it works.

Malique has been keeping a good observation of the masses that he sometimes took several dips when the clouds bury his sight. Seems like there are no leaders between them. None of them is flying or even stretching their wings. Waiting for orders from the Demons of Sins? Maybe.

"Even if they reach Heaven, only sharp steel is there to welcome them," Malique concludes that the message from Gabriel and Michael thus far reaches God Itself.

As time goes by, Malique reaches the gate. One more thing that he notices is that the crowd stops when they arrive outside the gate. He stands on top of the gate construct in secret and tries to peer into some of the conversations.

"I can't wait to play with the humans in Heaven."

"Me too. I bet their blood has a beautiful colour."

"The fancy clothes they're wearing, I want to strip them naked so bad."

"HAHAHAHA!"

Disgusting. Every one of them.

If Malique were human, he would vomit and sicken. The longer he eavesdrops, nothing particularly important can pick up from them apart from the blood of humans and their weapons.

[Knock x2]

"Someone on me?" Malique twists his head hurriedly to see a very discernible figure - but not the one he feared - sneaking on him. The character puts out a voice that feels far too familiar as he heard it before.

"There's someone here who wasn't supposed to be," Alphaeus says, noticing Malique's presence.

"Alphaeus!?" Malique replies in surprise.

"Surprised to see me here?" Alphaeus asks.

"More surprised that you know I'm here. Hehe," Malique jokes, but Alphaeus isn't amused.

"You look different since the last time I saw you. A change of style?" Alphaeus asks, trying to play around.

"Want to know the secret?" Malique responds.

"Nah, not bothered by it," Alphaeus shakes his head. "Knew the answer to that anyhow."

Malique finds it weird how Alphaeus is not aggressive towards him. It is reassuring, but there is a saying that the kindest man has the most twisted heart.

Are all the Demons this observant?

"Since we're already at it, do you mind answering this question of mine?" Malique takes his chance with Alphaeus, hoping he can uncover something.

"Why not?" Alphaeus' understanding baffles Malique, but a gift is a gift.

"Okay... So why are you all doing this?" Malique confronts Alphaeus differently from the Demons of sins. "For revenge?"

"If you see it that way, then yes," Alphaeus grips his hand tightly. "After what God did to us, do you think we can easily forgive him? Do you think the torture and the pain will fade away the moment we overlook it? No... NO! Malique. This time, He'll be the one asking for absolution."

"But you realize that this is pointless, an absolute failure. God is omnipotent. Not a single being can match him," Malique points out.

"Who are you to judge?" Alphaeus questions.

"Huh? Me, judging? I don't need to. Fate is written beforehand in time and order," Malique replies.

"Then forgive me for this, but you won't be seeing history being made. *Whistle*"

[Clang!]

"Shoot!" Malique exclaims as an iron chain wraps around his neck, constricting it. He has then dragged off the tower and collapses into the crowd of angels loathing Demons.