Chapter 7
"Human… thou art strong. What is thy name?" Solos asked, his voice eerily calm.
With slow, deliberate motion, he lifted the blood-soaked veil from his face.
What emerged was not divinity—
but a grotesque, twisted abomination.
Dax tilted his head. "You can call me Doctor."
Then his lips curled upward, a high, fractured laugh slipping through his fingers as he covered his mouth. "But you… hihihihihi…"
Solos stared at him.
This human is not simply arrogant. He is _dangerous._
"Good," Solos whispered, tears of warped joy spilling down his cheeks. "Then let us kill each other."
His palm turned upward.
In an instant, the flesh of Dax's right arm _peeled away_ as though unzipped, sliding off like a glove. Tendons unraveled. Muscle unraveled.
Only pitch-black bone remained.
"Oh," Dax murmured, fascinated. "Neat."
Above Solos's head, the discarded flesh reappeared, its mouth widening grotesquely as it siphoned every drop of blood from Dax's exposed arm, forming a hovering orb of shimmering red.
**Stupid master!**
Inerous shrieked within his mind.
**Don't let him drink your blood!**
"Inerous," Dax said, touched. "You've gained independent consciousness. How wonderful."
He raised Cil.
In a single, clean motion, he unleashed **40%** of his strength.
A black arc tore through the air—devouring light, devouring sound.
Solos didn't even look at it.
His entire focus was locked onto the glowing orb of Dax's blood.
A fatal mistake.
The black arc passed through his neck.
His head slid free of his shoulders.
Silence.
Mmm… interesting. Dax stepped toward the fallen body. _I must study this thing._
He never got the chance.
A divine voice boomed across the entire mountain:
"Thou hast trespassed upon the holy land of Sterion. Depart… or die."
A radiant figure floated a mile away—golden hair, golden eyes, and a blade of pure judgment aimed directly at Dax.
"Oh? Another one." Dax's eyes gleamed. "More human than the last… and stronger."
Then a flicker of flame danced in the angel's hand—small, calm, but impossibly bright. A familiar light.
"I've seen that flame before," Dax whispered. "I want it."
In the next instant, he vanished.
He reappeared at the angel's side, plucking the unconscious Micah from his arms as effortlessly as picking fruit.
Then he was back where he started, holding Micah by the collar like a lazy thief returning to his post.
The golden angel froze.
I didn't… see him. Not even a blur.
What manner of human is this?
A dry, ugly laugh echoed through Mount Gahena.
"Hehehehe…"
Blood surged. Pressure fell like a mountain.
Dax turned casually. "Ah. So you didn't die."
Solos's severed head floated in the air, wrapped in writhing strands of crimson hair. Arteries burst outward, weaving themselves into a new torso, new limbs, new wings.
In seconds, a new body stood—a twisted echo of Vabon's form, but far bloodier, crowned with a blazing crimson halo.
"Forgive me for showing thee an uglier side," Solos said, voice trembling with ecstasy. "And thank you… for thy blood."
His halo erupted, pouring an endless river of blood that flooded the mountain.
The golden angel seized his opening and lunged.
Dax frowned.
"One tastes a drop of my blood and believes himself unstoppable. The other thinks me distracted."
He stabbed Cil into the earth and gently laid Micah beside her.
"Protect him."
Dax spread his arms.
Above his head, a halo materialized—black and red, studded with drifting stars. It rotated slowly, then faster, then _hungrily._
He rose from the ground.
The pull began—first a breeze, then a gale, then a world-breaking vortex.
Solos and the golden angel ignored the danger and charged, blinded by hunger and duty.
If I devour his blood again…
Solos licked his lips.
I will ascend. I must have more.
I cannot let him keep Micah.
The golden angel's resolve hardened.
The mountain cracked.
Trees shattered.
Blood rivers lifted into the sky, all drawn toward Dax.
**ESCAPE!**
Vabon's soul screamed inside Solos's mind, primal terror overwhelming the angel's thoughts.
Solos staggered.
This… this is impossible! A mortal soul is overpowering me!?
His body reacted before his mind could—
turning, fleeing, desperate to escape the event horizon forming around Dax.