...Hell churned.
The cavernous skies above the damned split open in searing cracks of molten gold, the walls of the underworld trembling as though the realm itself was gasping for breath. From deep within, sothing ancient and vast began to erge.
The Heart of Hell.
It rose like a mountain birthed from the womb of madness, vast as a hollowed, glowing cherry, pulsating with a crimson light so dense it felt as though it devoured ti itself. Every throb sent waves of infernal energy rippling across the stone plains, and the air rang with a thousand screams—so terrified, others enraptured.
As if by instinct, on sight, Demons surged toward it.
Hordes of horned and clawed creatures, seduced by the raw power, broke into stampedes. Their eyes burned with lust for the heart, for what it promised—ascension, destruction, freedom. Anything—for it whispered it’s seduction straight into the heart.
Unlike the other primary planes that needed anchor stones, heaven and hell were the only two places that responded to one another as a requirent for domination.
A sacrifice of love to heaven was the requirent to rule hell as its True king.
Demons ran. But they never made it.
The Fallen Angels stopped them.
Their white-feathered wings cut like blades as they descended from the flaming sky, beautiful and rciless, cutting down demons with divine precision. Their swords glead in the shadows. Their wrath was holy.
And at the center of the storm—
Enel.
His eyes locked on the Heart of Hell.
His coat burned at the edges. His breath ca heavy. And in his path, blocking the only clear route to the heart’s glow, stood one figure.
Uriel.
Radiant.
Terrifying.
Uriel had let out his full power, holding nothing back no more. The issue of Hell’s heart wad no small matter.
Right now, he had to contemplate not rushing out yo get his mastet, lucifer to witness the miracle himself.
Such a gift, lucifer would probably reward him for it.
Uriel’s wings spanned across the battlefield like massive gates of judgnt. His blade was already drawn—blazing white-hot, long as a spear and pulsing with the fury of stars.
"You shall not pass, Lenny Tales." Uriel’s voice was steel laced with thunder. "The Heart is not for you."
Enel’s brow furrowed. "You don’t understand."
"I understand enough. You walk with demon trash, and my master’s interest in you was not without reason."
"I walk with truth!" Enel stepped forward, his aura flaring gold with streaks of black. "You white CHIKEN-Feathered FOOL! You think this war is Glory against Trash. Heaven versus Hell. But it’s not! It’s about balance. And you’re tipping it. The Fucking fate of the world, because of your freaking master."
Uriel didn’t budge. "EXACTLY!"
Their weapons clashed.
Steel against steel.
Light against heat.
Shockwaves cracked the world around them. Lava geysers burst beneath their feet. The floor split like shattered glass as their strikes lit the realm with strobing bursts of gold and white. Enel parried a downward blow and spun, his saber of chaos energy biting into Uriel’s shoulder—but the angel only snarled and retaliated with a sweeping kick that sent Enel flying into a broken pillar.
This angel was not made for battle, but the preservation of knowledge, and he was kicking Enel’s ass like this.
Enel felt like a fool for challenging a machine with no fault. The angels he fought in his own ti were greatly lacking.
Uriel was just too hard.
Blood dripped from Enel’s mouth. He wiped it.
He looked to the Heart of Hell.
It was... withdrawing.
Retreating back into the abyss like a shy god retreating from unworthy eyes.
"No... no, no, no!" Enel stumbled forward. "It’s going back. We’re running out of ti."
Uriel flew at him again.
Enel blocked—but barely. Uriel’s strength was imnse, his strikes precise, forged in the celestial fires of creation. He wasn’t just an angel.
He was one of the first.
And Enel had seconds left.
Then ca the mont.
The decision.
"...Damn it," Enel whispered. His hand rose to his chest.
The Satan System in his heart began to scream.
[ALERT.
RELEASING SECURITY LAYERS WILL RESULT IN CORE INSTABILITY.
OVERRIDE NOT RECOMNDED.
OVERRIDE—
CONFIRD.]
"Forgive ," Enel said—maybe to himself. Maybe to the future. Maybe to no one.
In a blur, he dodged Uriel’s next strike, wrapped around the archangel’s arm, and slamd Uriel’s palm directly onto his chest.
"SEE IT!" Enel roared.
Uriel froze.
Then—his eyes widened.
A burst of dark-blue light exploded from the point of contact, wrapping around both of them. It dragged Uriel’s mind inward, through data and symbols far beyond mortal coding, through the complex spiral of the Satan System etched into Enel’s core.
And there—at the center—Uriel saw it.
His own angelic print.
Woven deep into the system’s foundation. A print from the ancient days—unalterable, untouched by no one. It was indeed his design, just as he had thought it was, but it was complete. In fact, he even felt inspired by it.
It was real.
But there was more.
Uriel staggered, gripped by a torrent of images.
He saw the future.
Purgatory.
The cage of eternity.
Fallen angels shackled, their wings chained to stone pillars. His own future self—wiser, calm—smiling at Enel, not with hatred...
...but with trust as He withered away to dust.
Uriel’s blade wavered in his hand.
His breath slowed.
And for the first ti—
he paused. But then...
A scream tore through the flas of battle.
"ENOUGH!"
A beam of searing pink light plumted from the scorched heavens like a divine cot. It struck the ground between Enel and Uriel with explosive force.
BOOM!
The shockwave ripped through Hell. The ground cracked apart, wind scread like tortured spirits, and debris spiraled upward in a cyclone of shattered earth and ether. The two combatants were flung away from each other, severed by the impact.
At the epicenter stood Love.
Wings outstretched, hair whipping like silk fire, her bow still humming with the recoil of her Arrow, the forbidden treasure. Her presence was overwhelming—soft and beautiful, yet blazing with terrifying intent.
But sothing else had happened.
Where her arrow had struck, the air shimred. Crackled. Reality fractured—and with it, so did part a of Enel’s chest.
The Satan System.
A chunk of the black crystalline web embedded in Enel’s core split with a shriek like dying tal, splintering outward like broken glass. Threads of corrupted Aether leaked from the tear, swirling in chaotic arcs.
"Hurry!" Love scread, spinning to Enel with a glare that was part command, part desperation. "NOW!"
Enel blinked through the pain, his gaze darting to the Heart of Hell—already halfway sealed, retreating.
"Damn it," he muttered.
And then—He vanished.
Entered ’Will’ the ability that allowed him focus on one task.
His body ignited with raw, focused power. Every ounce of energy he had left surged into one singular trait:
Speed.
Not just motion, but willful domination of montum, as if the universe bent around his intent.
He tore through the air, a streak of blurred gold and black.
As the final layer of the Heart began to seal, pulsing like a divine eyelid closing forever...
Enel slipped through.
And then—
Stillness.
Hell grew quiet.
The wind stopped. The rumble of the Heart ceased. All that remained was a faint humming, like a mory trying to stay alive.
Uriel stood slowly, his face unreadable. He looked to where Enel had disappeared... then lowered his blade.
His expression darkened. He hadn’t expected that.
Footsteps crunched over scorched stone.
Love approached, bow at her side, her wings drooping from the weight of what had just occurred. Her expression was bittersweet.
She looked up at Uriel, her voice gentle—almost mournful.
"Now that Lenny’s part is fulfilled..."
Her eyes glimred with an ache that only ancient beings knew.
"...it is now yours."
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