14 A Demure Sin: Contentious Contrition

Pure and innocent, yet stark and cold—those spoke for White. The blandest and most sterile color from the rest, creating this nuance of emptiness which only babbled its imitated nature through others… either polluted or painted… it gave a vibe of one being isolated. Such a flawless finale to end the longevity of this demure sin, where there were only plains of whiteness as far as one's eyes could reach – barren of any life, coupled with the coldness of shrill howling wind which able to wither one's skin and shiver one's spine,

The growl of a white gale tirelessly harassed the land by spewing the white crystals from the grey cloudy skies, piling up the sea of snowflakes even more. This recycling procedure outwardly was undying… the only place where White could find its eternal habitation—low moisture and low temperatures were the main reason.

At least prior to the upcoming affair which would interrupt the whole procedure temporarily, following the abnormal state of the skies above the white plain and amongst the razor-sharp of rocky clusters that were overlooking the grey skies—the blank space that separated them, was then bent inside out,

A powerful force was the only logical answer to this strange occurrence, though the force appeared alien even for this harsh environment, for the rendered skies were unable to withstand such power, hence cracks began to appear and formed uncertain lines, similar to those cracks on a fragile glass waiting for a little pressure to crack it open. And apparently, its humble wish would be granted shortly, judging from the cracks in the skies that became even more acute,

Those cracks eventually gave up, letting the deep black space reveal itself to its opposite color. The skies shattered into pieces as a muddled entity, bat-like wings grew on her brown barren skin through her emaciated narrow waist—this abnormal creature was thrown off from an abnormal area, launching herself uncontrollably all the way across the white plain; even her two wings were at a loss on how to maintain their master's balance in such situations.

Thanks to the blizzard that blurring one's eyes, the winged entity had no consciousness of how far she was before hitting the white ground before bouncing, rolling and slipping on top of the thick pliable iced floor. Until she finally decided to utilize Wolframs, channeling her energy through it so that able to melt the cold hefty soil and eventually thrust its metal point into the rocky layer hidden beneath it to nullify the massive kinetic energy she received from the one-horned Devil,

After her body was completely still, standing in the middle of nowhere but white land. With minimum eyesight and light, she began to observe her surroundings as she came to realize that she was standing on the edge of a steep ravine… if only she was late even for one second to pin her sword into the rocky ground, it'd be a bothersome workout to get up here because the circumstance demanded it.

Blizzards that reduced the range of one's eyesight,

The howling winds which dominated the eardrums, rendering one unable to hear other sounds or voices besides the howling cold breeze,

"Tch. Hate this climate." 

As the winged being silently exclaimed her dislike, she drew her sword and prepared to execute one simple swing from one hand in order to dump this frustrating ambiance… for it reminded her of the bitter past memories that were frozen in time,

One direct simple swing, relying solely on sheer force… she was able to produce a strong gust of wind focused only on the grey skies. It was powerful enough to cut through the razor blizzard until eventually reached the skies and split the dense, hefty grey clouds into two which then faded in the horizon, revealing the skies which this white plain very rarely seen…

…a clear blue sky, sparkling the plain of white as a reaction from its warm radiation and melting the snow that seemingly had lost its eternal moniker as long as the clear blue skies still blocking the nuance of immortality and keeping such a moniker away from the cold grey blizzard. In exchange however, the winged being regained her normal range of eyesight with nothing to rattle her eardrums… and bitter memories of hers would soon fade.

The winged being then looked up, looking for the Devil's whereabouts, for the Devil had been bothered to create such a portal to banish her from the warm green plain into this desolate land with nothing but cold substances,

Her verdict evidently came true, as the portal had been closed and the skies returned to their normal states, the one-horned Devil was seen standing in the skies not far from where she was standing on; she was able to perceive the Devil's white hair that camouflaged with the surrounding, making the crimson color at the ends of her hair became striking… a pair of piercing lemon-yellow eyes, as well the wooden staff which she predicted, had manage to negate the previous explosion.

One certain thing for the winged abomination though, the Devil apparently still had a lot of tricks to show. Hence off guard meant doomed,

Feeling weary to bend her neck downward all the time, the Devil whose name was Erynew, decided to leap down and settle her barefoot above the frozen ground. Although it reached far below zero degrees, the frostbite didn't seem to cause any harm to her pale skin, nor the air temperature surrounding her—given that she wore only a thin rag and exposed some parts of her pale body—yet not a single shiver visible, nor heat energy emitted from her body to provide the warmth needed… her body simply resisted the coldness,

Contrast with the winged being, who constantly channeled the heat energy from the inside to warm her wrinkled brown skin,

"What is this place?" the winged being began with a question, getting to know the surroundings,

"The summit of Eterna Nieve." Erynew gave a straight answer.

"Why did you bother to bring me here? Given you apparently have so much powers hidden, you could've defeated me in the village."

"I was hardly hiding it. I was simply reserving it to open the portal you just went through, and regarding why am I bothering to do that… well, it's simply to protect them. If I can't move them to a safe place, I can move you to a desolate place."

Hearing answers which weren't in conformity with the laws of nature… prey and predator… especially one's heart when the reality that was supposed to be cruel; the nature that was supposed to be immoral; and a Devil that was supposed to be both cruel and immoral. This reality set off a fire inside the heart of the winged being, because behind that hideous figure, lied a past that formed the current creature, and memories which reluctant to be disclosed.

Therefore, this conversation and this conflict would become more personal than simply following an order from her superior,

"That again?! I'm sick of hearing that!" 

This time, not a laugh or mockery being launched from the winged being as usual… instead it was a straight anger response.

Tightened her grip, the winged being was then flapping her large wings and dashing toward the Devil as a step-up energy to land a massive downward slash toward the chest and the abdomen. The Devil's body split into two was the result she hoped to witness, even though she knew it wasn't that easy,

Erynew already anticipated it and blocked it with the wooden staff she was still holding. Metal against wood. The odds were already clear, if only it was the usual comparison and the typical law of nature… but it wasn't the case apparently. The wooden staff of the Devil was more than capable of stopping the impact from a powerful slash of a magic-imbued metal. The rest of the energy that escaped from the collision vibrated the ground beneath them and created quite a few avalanches while the two were still intact in place.

As the winged being kept slashing and thrusting her sword blindly, forcing the Devil to take steady steps backward… rotating and tilting the wooden staff with honed agility and accuracy, making the most of her flexible wrist and durable elbow joints to block and negate countless incoming attack that seemingly were random while the winged creature kept babbling about this reality she couldn't yet to comprehend,

"Why protect those humans?! Aren't all Devils supposed to be most wicked?! Ruining all they touch while grinning wickedly; enjoying the sight of chaos they create… but you… you… stop this utopian nonsense!"

Erynew maintained the balance of her temperament, kept undisturbed by the winged being's remark as she was looking for a gap to launch, or at least to stop this wild attack. After patiently waiting for that moment, she finally managed to control the situation by locking the attack pattern and forcing the winged being to undertake a clash of raw power in which she was good at. And it was at this moment as well, that her lemon-yellow eyes had a chance to get this close to the white soulless eyes of that winged being, piercing right into the monster's eye sockets that were as white as the frozen land below them. The white blank eyes that ain't speak for purity nor vacuity… but more like a white shade that was created from a miscarried rainbow,

"I see…" Erynew was about to attest the truth, "You were once a human."

Erynew, unfortunately, wouldn't get an immediate confirmation, for the sword before her began to light up and form a dark fiery aura. The winged being intended to commit a close-range explosion that would likely harm both sides. Soon enough, a massive explosion erupted… not only melted the iced floor, but also obliterated the rocky layer beneath it on a large scale. The tectonic vibration occurred as the result of countless piles of snow rolling down the ridge in droves, and the immense rocks that were clashing into countless of screes.

The iced ground now was unable to maintain its stable form, forcing Erynew to take a jump backward, placing her barefoot in the skies again and steering clear of the smoke and ice vapor that limited her sight.

The oppression sequence, however, didn't end with one explosion, rather that was the opening firework for the greater ending,

The winged abomination undeniably survived her own explosion and picked to chase down the retreat Devil. Her two large wings flapped and blew the smoke away instantly, diminishing it into nothingness but a huge crater surrounded by frozen dirt… dragging the fiery dark sword all the way across the skis at high speed with an intent to resume the rampaging strike of hers,

Rampaging in a literal sense, for Erynew's priority right now was not meant to block the second wave, but to shove it away as far as she could from her body.

"I was once a human indeed. And it is a disgrace to me for being part of a kin who killed my son. Yeah you heard me right… my son was killed by the very kin whom you struggle to protect!"

Such was an inconvenient state for Erynew to receive quite an explanation. It was now becoming more like a pastime for the winged creature to blither while the opponent struggled either to block or dodge her strikes. Moreover in this circumstance, when every single slash of her blazing blade sending dreary essence, demolishing everything inside its depressing explosion… as if… it was fragments of her sore memories in which the blade was trying to convey,

Learning the concealed truth burdened Erynew's mind. She never felt such a feeling before; unaware of something hidden yet obvious apparently could shock one's mind, widen one's eyes, and gasp one's mouth while the heart was trying to deny it. One's motive and irrational decision that was driven by abhorrence and despondency created an anti-empathy emotion.

For a Devil who had been seeing countless souls and countless bodies being tortured and maimed in many twisted ways—dismay, dread, horror, and terror were common emotions in which Erynew had always seen and felt. But when the wronged one rose and fought back solely powered by repugnance and vengeance, undeniably it was a new experience for her in which she was unsure how she was supposed to respond,

One thing for sure however. Firstly, she needed to stop this reckless attack that kept slashing and thrusting the fiery blade hence annihilating anything it touched, changing the shape of the sharp mountain summits as well as the iced ground beneath while the slopes were already filled with avalanches and debris buried in snow.

Though the attacks outwardly looked mighty upon impact, it was slow and predictable to a certain extent in which Erynew capable of shoving a direct slash and turning the pattern of the battle at her will, therefore later was able to cast a magic circle between her and the opponent who didn't think twice to damage it…

…the magic circle apparently performed as a barrier that could return the amount of damage to anyone who attacked it. The returned damage was psychic energy that launched anything and anyone before it, causing them to be thrown backward. Although it wasn't as powerful as the direct type, it proved to be able to cause the sufferer to lose one's balance, no matter what medium they were standing on… whether they were flying or standing, it would stagger and temporarily ragdolled them backward,

And that sort of thing would happen soon to the winged being, when she was brashly rushing toward the magic circle with intent to simply shatter it. No doubt she was too confident with her powers alone.

"Uggh!"

The greater the damage output, the greater the return damage as well. A sonic boom was then heard as its shock wave pushed the winged being hundreds of yards backward. For temporarily, even with the two large wings, she was unable to regain her balance… not until she slammed her body against the rocky mounds in the distance. No time to celebrate it though, let alone gasping for cold air, for she was still in the middle of fighting. As soon as she regained the balance she needed to keep flying, her soulless white eyes instinctively stared straight ahead, expecting the Devil to go after her while she was in the most vulnerable state,

Nonetheless, it wasn't what it seemed. The one-horned Devil stood still in her place, unmoved. Either planning for another attack or defense… the winged being was only attracted by the Devil's gaze. A gaze that wasn't full of hatred, nor that was a condescending stare… that simply was empathy… a gaze that was trying to understand her.

One should have felt grateful, for there was at least one soul who was willing to share and understand the feelings of another. For some however, this kind of behavior could lead into a commotion inside one's heart that was contaminated by the shadow of the past and unable to escape from it. Even when the bright light did take a glimpse, it would only blind the eyes that accustomed to seeing darkness,

Gritting her sharp teeth, the winged being yelled irritatingly, "Why… why don't you attack me?! Are you holding back just because I was a human?! How naive of you! You're not going to protect those humans if you don't kill me, you know."

Nothing but silence she was acquired. Both the Devil and the frozen environment gave her the same thing… allowing a voice from within herself, a part of herself where nothing had changed.

'Please, don't look at me with those eyes. I've given up on searching for such eyes long time ago.'

A soft voice that only she could hear,

"If you don't want to attack! Then shall I be!" 

The winged creature continued her battle cry. Channeling her energy even more. The murky fire that was covering the blade became darker and denser, directly proportional to its weight and size. Hence one hand wasn't enough to utilize the sword, she needed both of her hands just to lift it and use the whole body to swing it. The two emaciated hands apparently had already been scorched as the murky fire slowly crept up to her shoulders. And at this point, it wasn't the winged creature who channeled her energy to the sword anymore, it was instead the sword that absorbed the hatred from inside her as its fuel,

The dreary fire that was said capable of burning anything it touched, and the heat that was said capable of evaporating everything around it. The iced ground beneath the winged creature was absent, and the sharp mountain summit was no more. All melted into nothingness, and everything had evaporated into the air, and the frozen atmosphere normally found on the snowy mountain was temporarily suspended,

Following the drastic change, reassuring Erynew that it would be the winged creature's last effort… desperately struggling to overcome the power of the Devil. As well as convincing her not to hold back, for that winged creature wasn't something she could handle halfheartedly,

"I will take those human lives whom you struggle to protect, then I will take your power. The power of hope… the power of prayer… all will be mine only!"

The preparation had been completed. The murky fire already ignited the entire shoulders of the winged creature, causing the most unimaginable pain not only for her shoulders but the entire body as well. It was a decent price for a decent result. She wouldn't let this last effort go to waste… not after desperately charging up the energy. Learning from her previous attempt to blow up Kasala village; in order to avoid the Devil negated the attack once more, hence an immensely high speed was necessary, hence becoming a reason for dozens of magic circles that appeared before her all of a sudden,

Then it all started. The large wings began to flap again, pushing the cold air behind it to create an equal but opposite reaction, thus allowing the winged creature to move forward in the air and dive into the magic circles which multiplied her speed by thousands, making her capable of vanishing from one's eyes that couldn't keep up with such speed.

Dragging an oversized sword with this speed most likely would create a massive striking power because the laws of physics demanded it. No matter how durable or hard that wooden staff appeared to be… with this power and speed… the winged creature had confidence that she would be able to cut it through and split the Devil into two.

And sure enough, in less than a microsecond, her existence already emerged only a few inches before the Devil who seemed standing still… not moving a single muscle. Whether because the Devil had no time to react, or she was planning for something else. Either way, the winged being wouldn't go out of her own plan, which was when the Devil already inside the range of the sword, the winged being would swing her sword with all of her might.

The winged creature was then stopped a few yards behind the Devil. Slowly turning her head with a desire to see the Devil was cut into two and burnt inside the murky fire. She did see the Devil's body split in half, as well as that seemingly indestructible wooden staff, but not a single relief and pleasure expression visible on her dark wrinkled face… instead an extreme shocked face that was being shown. Because it wasn't the real one-horned Devil she just cut into half, but a mirror-like illusion that looked exactly like the origin.

"I've… I've been tricked, dammit!"

The survival instinct took over her and sharpened her senses. Looking around, up and down to look for a sudden probability because the existence of the authentic one was nowhere to be found. Fortunately her sword—Wolframs—was still in its prime form, so that she could perform an emergency counterattack. 

While she was on high alert, she could feel the disturbance coming from the skies above. Her intuition eventually proved to be true, as she looked up toward the skies, another crack was formed—that was the same uncertain crack when she came into this iced land. That crack became bigger, and soon after shattered into pieces, the one-horned Devil appeared from the inside, using the advantage of gravity to land a casual downward blunt attack. Instead of a sudden strike, the one-horned Devil preferred a direct frontal attack which was considered a fortunate for the winged being, for now the only thing she could do was the same as the previous plan,

Another confrontation between wood and metal was about to happen again. And it bound to be the end…