A compelling reason?
I never had a compelling reason?
"Ophanim number 606." A commanding voice called from behind, coming from someone inside some kind of box, locked by multiple huge chains.
The place was bright, filled with clouds everywhere, Even the box had light seeping through its corners and some holes it had on the front, almost like it stashed the sun inside it.
The ophanim itself was facing the other way, with its main body(an eye) looking down, down to the bottomless pit of what they call the world.
"May I help you?"
"You are to present yourself before the Cherubim."
"Therefore, with careful consideration of your sin," Harmonic voices, form unseen beings, covered in bright light.
"Throne 606, you have been demoted from the first Triad."
"But-"
"You went against Heaven to deal with the matters of man. You joined forces with the Archangels."
"That's because-"
"As of this instance, you are now one of the Powers."
"Cherubim!"
"You are dismissed."
They said I never had a compelling reason.
They are the ones acting meaninglessly!
This is all thanks to Gabriel. My eyes have been opened now. No.
They've been opened for tens of thousands of years.
I'm sure of it. Heaven is in the wrong. They just don't see it.
"You're lying to yourself, Ophanim."
"What would you know, Black Death?! You are no primordial! You dare speak to one with such arrogance!"
"I may not be a primordial, but even the first Triad fears me."
"Fear does not equal intelligence!"
"Your right. It equals self-awareness. It reveals your limits, vulnerabilities, and understanding... Open your eye and see."
"Open? I cannot open what is impossible to close. You did this to me. I bet you feel proud, standing over me while I lay down, my body in two, my wheels lifeless, covered in my own colorless and odorless fluids."
"You lasted 5 minutes as you wished."
Why? Why do they not understand?
"Do you truly believe that Gabriel was wrong? Do you truly believe, that Heaven-"
"I don't care about the heavenly affairs that affect the physical world."
"I see."
"...However, if I were you, I would take the side of the one that gave me life." He walked away after speaking.
The side that gave me life? But, that side, is trying, to take away all life.
No. I will fight. I will fight, to the very end.
The Ophanim's body(eye) began to glow with a golden shimmer, getting brighter and brighter by every fleeting moment.
"I know my cause is good. I am right. And the righteous, will always succeed."
An outline of its body, shaped exactly like its giant eye with all its wheels still rotating, appeared above it. Every time a wheel passed the iris, it changed appearance, the iris that is. A clock, a gear, a goat-like pupil, the yin and yang, a compass, a mandala even.
While this was happening, it sounded as if a magic spell was charging up, even though he said no magic incantation. And once it reached its climax,
"Angel's eye."
...
"Appraise."
Black was right. The thing on my neck was made by divine mana. And since its just energy, my skill couldn't yield enough results. But what I got was enough for me to come up with a few theories.
First of all, and this idea caught me by surprise since I didn't think about it before, what happens if I absorb it?
It didn't seem to be some kind of physical object. It was purely made of mana. What if I absorb it?
Wait. I feel like I'm forgetting something.
I remembered. Clara told me once. Mixing divine mana and, well, regular mana, it had some kind of reaction. What was it again? Also...
For some reason, Black was, really far away, looking at me in anticipation.
"What is it?" I asked. "And why are you over there?"
"Well... You should probably leap back."
"Huh?"
I caught something, in the corner of my eye. A golden shimmer in the horizon. It was a little too bright for me to ignore.
"Master."
"Yes..."
"You should probably take his advice."
The light was getting brighter.
A subtle shockwave came from that direction.
The stones beneath my feet, following a direct path to the opposite side, a path which I stood in the middle of, began humming.
They hovered slightly, sparks jumped between them, creating gold arc lightning, tracing a loose web.
Instinctively, I leaped out of that path, knowing somethin was about to happen. And I was right.
If I moved too late, it would've caused me a great deal of harm.
At that moment, when everything felt like it was moving in slow motion, the great beam of energy, splitting me and Black, looked familiar.
From its color to the way it moves.
It's, Angel's eye.
I couldn't have been mistaken. But who else could be capable of such an attack, and with in that scale? I couldn't even see where it came from. As for where it went, out of sight too.
Before I could even touch the ground, I felt an intense pain around my neck.
I forgot! The sharp parts are growing!
And they were doing so faster too.
Unexpectedly, in the split of a second, each of the were able to come out the other side of my neck.
My legs finally touched the ground. After a few seconds, the magic attack was over, leaving a long melted track after it.
Blood flowed down my neck. Breathing was impossible. My mind switched off.
Uzzaran was forced out of my back, falling to the ground, unaware of what just happened.
Black approached me. Then he stood before with an expressionless face.
"Master! What was that for?! Why... No. How did you even force me out of your..."
She paused. Not to get up or because she was forced to. But because of what she saw.
I dropped to my knees...
...Then my head rolled on the ground.
"Master?"
No response. My body was lifeless.
Both Uzzaran and Black remained still, staring at my body. Though their expressions were totally different.
SNAP
Of the fingers.
"Sacrificial Decapitation was a success." It was a female voice. Unfamiliar but beautiful.
"Uzzaran." Black was firm. "Don't dare to move or say a single word."
"Black Death." Her mouth was beside his ear. "What are you doing outside of the valley?"
"What a stupid question to ask."
Her hand softly slid from shoulder to shoulder as she walked behind him.
Her body, in all its awe, was now in full visibility.
Her ethereal white robes, and the two rings on her back, one spinning, another a perfect circle with nothing extra.
Her beauty was incredible.
She looked down on my head, then stepped on it with her heel.
"The Heaven's Favored." Her face showed utter disappointment. "Michael made such a big deal out of this, like it was going to be some kind of impossible task."
"If it were to be impossible, how were you to accomplish it?"
"You don't have to take everything I say seriously." She turned to face Black, then their eyes met.
But the way Black looked at her, it was if...
"What is it?"
"Am I that insignificant to you? You look at me as if I'm nothing. The lack of disinterest in your face couldn't be more obvious."
"Do forgive me. I will try to hide it some more next time."
"The level of disrespect you have towards a Heavenly being is unimaginable."
"And so is your arrogance. Not only did it make you forget your place," That comment irritated her. "But it also made you blind."
"Oh? And what makes you say that?"
Rather than answering, Black signaled for her to look at my body.
"Notice anything?"
As a matter of fact she did. The body hadn't fallen over, is the conclusion that she drew. But that wasn't something to think much on.
Black couldn't have hinted at something so trivial. There must've been something else.
She focused some more, and after waiting, she heard it. My heartbeat.
Just one, was enough to give her chills. So when my limbs began to twitch, you can predict what kind of expression she had on her face.
"Surely this isn't a matter that should bring fear in you."
While stepping backwards, "You know very well that no being is supposed to be able to survive that."
Now, my whole body began to move. My hands reached to my head as I slowly got off the ground.
Black turned to face her.
"Surely you didn't think, that defeating the Heaven's Favored would be that easy, did you?"
Even though my head, more specifically my face looked lifeless, my body moved completely normally, as it carefully placed my head back on my neck.
I was standing next to Black. Both of us were facing her while Uzzaran watched in silence behind us.
Before I could even heal my neck, I was able to move my eye, and it stared coldly right at the uninvited guest.
I wanted to attack, but an issue arose. I couldn't reattach my head.
Healing magic, restoration, uncurse, holy magic, reverse effects, and a few others I had in my arsenal. All of them didn't work. It was as if they were blocked.
That led me to draw a conclusion. That whatever happened to me was caused by divine mana.
Which meant that whoever stood before us, was either a deity, or an angel.