St. Peter's Basilica, also known as St. Peter's Basilica, is one of the most famous Christian sanctuaries in the world and one of the symbols of the Vatican and Rome. The site of many church ceremonies and events, including papal masses and Catholic rituals. Roughly speaking, the headquarters of the entire church structure. House of the Pope.
It is impossible to put into words all the significance of this place for believers from all over the world. It was a true symbol of which the whole church machinery was proud.
«I can't believe it... - Barakiel shook his head, looking down from the roof of the cathedral at the few battles at the very bottom. - They attacked this place...
Such a fact didn't even fit in the mind of a fallen angel, a recent enemy of sorts.
Dulio only nodded tensely.
Despite his title of "The Strongest Exorcist", Dulio Gesauldo was, by his own account, a painfully simple man. He was not characterized by ambition as a motivation, at least not in the conventional sense. All that mattered to him was the well-being of his siblings and his little hobby of "food tourism".
Dulio was an orphan whose parents were killed in the civil war. The church sheltered him and then he showed his full potential with the second most powerful Longinus, Storm Zenith. His compassionate nature always cared for orphans like him. Therefore, he called them his brothers and sisters and always looked out for the welfare of any child who was unlucky enough to be in a similar situation.
And food tourism... He had to admit to his own not-so-favorable hobby. While on missions in other countries, he loved sampling cuisine from all over the world. So much so that it was close to gluttony, God forgive him.....
Add to this the picture of a man who was not the most active in appearance. That is, Dulio was rather careless, and in some places lazy, in everyday life.
All these factors paint a picture of Dulio Gesualdo. Who, nevertheless, thanks to his great talent, was able to reach the very top of the entire church structure. He was just incredibly good at what he did.
That was why it hurt him so much to see his comrades, his brothers and sisters, turn against each other. No deaths, but the very fact of enmity drove a stake through his heart. He partly understood their resentment, but in Dulio's opinion, an alliance would do them all good. Even he questioned Hell's prudence, but Rome wasn't built from scratch. The politics of Aldis Lucifer has long been trying to change the course of this mastodon, and not without results. And the alliance with Heaven was to forever imprint in their minds the intransigence of the past way of life.
Footsteps from outside caught Dulio and Barakiel's attention. A second later, a man appeared on the roof, beside them...
Vasco Strada. The Limit of Humanity. The Riot of Heaven. His teacher.
Despite his advanced age, nothing about Vasco Strada spoke of the effects of time. Only a clean bald spot and wrinkles on his face could hint at his true age, but the rather ugly-looking scars would discourage any desire to calculate the age of the unknown, rather than the instinctive desire to run away. The body was even more imposing than the head and face. Two and something meters, Vasco Strada always towered over those around him. Muscles that seemed to have a negative percentage of fat covered his entire body. It was as if his muscles had muscles. And his arms and legs... So wide that they resembled the trunks of a good-sized tree. His clothes consisted of the lower part of the cardinal's vestment and bare torso, on which there was a thin scarf with church symbols, compared to Vasco's size. And that scarf was the usual necessity, so that "their own" would realize that Vasco was for them. Without it, the other servants of the church, who had never met the exorcist before, would run away in fear, thinking that some terrible mutant had attacked them.
Dooley understood such impulses. Vasco Strada inspired respect and fear with his looks alone. But the most important thing was his charisma.... His very presence made you grasp the cross and remember all the small and not insignificant sins, in case this "monster" will pay attention to them? There were even cases when some of the corrupt themselves surrendered, just so that the delegation led by Vasco Strada did not come straight to them. There was nothing to say about demons ... There were almost no representatives of uncleanness who had fought the Storm of Heaven and survived. And, by Vasco's own admission, those were his blunders. No matter how much he held back, the various demons and vampires were simply smeared against the wall.
In short, even Barakiel was slightly embarrassed, despite the enormous age difference. So much so Vasco Strada inspired....
«We're coming out," The voice was just like its owner. Low, but loud. Vasco Strada jumped down in a single leap. Dulio and Bakariel looked at each other and followed.
The battlefield was frozen by their presence. The crusaders, clad in impressive armor, also retreated slightly, but they did not let go of their swords.
Opposite them, another pair of sentients stood out. An elderly man in ecclesiastical attire and a young man with a snow-white pair of wings. Ewald Cristaldi and Theodore Legrenzi, the masterminds behind this rebellion. Ewald, by the way, was holding the stolen Durandal, but he never entered the battle himself. It is not even clear what they hoped for when they attacked the main center of the Church's forces, especially when they knew that their trio was waiting for them. After all, most of their order was lying unconscious when they had not yet entered the battle. And with them involved, those should have never stood a chance.....
«Stop this madness, brothers and sisters! - Dulio could not endure the painful silence. - You are surrounded! Please, for Christ's sake, surrender and beg for forgiveness!.....
Ewald answered at once:
«Enough, Dulio... - Ewald twirled the Durandal in his hands a couple times. - Don't you really understand why we're doing this?! Then I've raised a complete wretch, not the hope of Heaven!
«Peace will only be good for us! - He did not fall for his former teacher's provocation. The first teacher, Vasco Strada, watched their exchange of remarks with a truly stony expression. - Don't you realize that the time when Heaven could ignore the rest of the world is over! We will only grow stronger from this alliance....
«It's not about strength, boy! - Ewald exploded, genuinely emotional from the potential battle with him. Despite his rather questionable decisions, the latter was not an emotionless machine. - It was about principles! History! Our fallen comrades! - He shook his head and turned to an uncertain Theodore. - Come on!
Wonder Child covered her eyes and something unimaginable began to happen.....
The fallen and captured crusaders were struck by rays from the sky, dazzling in their radiance. Small shockwaves from the hearths scattered the guards assigned to them. And the once-defeated foes began to rise.... Full of strength and fighting spirit, with wounds healed and halos glowing around them. It was as if God himself had come to their side....
«What the hell..... - Barakiel summoned a spear of light into his hand, surrounded by lightning. - Did you have some kind of secret research?!
«I... - Dulio looked around just as confused and shook his head. - I have no idea what's going on, but... - He threw a glance towards Vasco. - It won't help them anyway...
«I wouldn't be so sure, Dulio- - Ewald interrupted him. He, once more, measuring the Durandal in his hand, tossed it aside....
Vasco Strada.
Thoth calmly caught it and twirled the holy sword in his hands with nostalgia.
A terrible premonition began to creep into their minds. The sweat and trembling hands of all the other allies only confirmed that he was not the only one who had come up with a conjecture of terrible proportions.
«Master... - Dulio's voice trembled, unable to realize the horror of what was happening. - What's going on...?
«Dulio," his eyes looked at him with eyes full of nothing but determination and the inevitability of fate. - Until recently, I still doubted the course of action I had chosen, but... - The grip on the sword intensified. - I had a revelation from God! It was as if a veil had been lifted from my eyes! I realized that our principles, our views, must be fought for! Forgive me, my best student. - Vasco Strada disappeared from his sight. - God wills!
The crusaders echoed him with their battle cries:
«Deus Vult!
In the next second, a monstrously powerful blow should have struck him and rendered him unconscious, but Barakiel was standing right in front of him, holding out a holy spear full of energy. Against any other opponent, such a thing would have been an impassable barrier, but....
Not against Vasco Strada.
A jolt, a small earthquake, just a battering ram through the holy spear and a fist smashed under the ten-winged fallen angel's breath. Such a hit almost made Barakiel spit out his guts, but the overall strength and sacrificed holy weapon did its job, he didn't lose consciousness. However, that still didn't save him and the nearby Dulio from the shockwave that threw them both hundreds of meters away.
One punch. A simple fist without Durandal nearly knocked the spirit out of the far from weak representatives of the supernatural. That was the power of the Human Limit.
«Fuck!.... - Barachiel stood up with a grunt and wiped the traces of blood from the corners of his mouth. He stared angrily at Vasco Strada, who was walking slowly toward them, and raised his hands to the sky, not forgetting to shout at Dulio. - Come on, boy! That old man is going to swat us like flies!
Dulio only nodded tensely, calling upon the powers of his Sacred Mechanism. Ten meters in its radius, the hurricane that contained the sharpest chunks of their super-dense ice created a frightening sight. The rampaging elements quickly headed towards the muscular man.
Barakiel echoed him with blessed thunderbolts. Thick as tree trunks and louder than any supersonic airplane.
In an instant, attacks that could kill a top class representative individually and even stronger together flew straight at Vasco Strada.... Only they forgot to tell him!
«I can cut through anything. Your resistance is pointless! - Vasco Strada finally raised the Durandal and started waving it in front of him so fast that even their incredible reactions did not allow them to see any clear details. Only a silhouette that was blurring in front of the old man. The attacks of Barakiel and Dulio, which had not yet reached him, were a considerable distance away, but he didn't care about such useless things as common sense.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A string of explosions followed by an abrupt silence.
Barakiel watched with shock as their attacks were naturally cut into many small parts, and then reduced to nothing.... He cut them into so many fragments that they could no longer obey their will, and then disappeared under Vasco's pressure.
He clenched his teeth with exertion and looked around at his surroundings. The situation had reversed. The Crusaders, under some kind of sacred protection, were fairly confidently crowding their allies... At this moment, Barakiel realized that they had lost. One attack and one defense from Vasco Strada showed that they were no match for this monster in the guise of a man.
Barakiel removed an inconspicuous ring from his finger and tossed it to Dulio, who caught it bewilderedly.
«This thing will pierce any space and teleport you somewhere within our dimension! - Barakiel clenched his teeth and stared angrily at Vasco Strada. - A long-standing gift from Azazel...
«But... - Dulio measured the ring in his hands and looked at Barakiel with concern. - But what about you!!!
«We are not his adversaries... - He shook his head. - Can't you see they're not killing the Fallen? They don't want another round of the Great War! Go, boy! Tell them we've failed! I don't know what Michael will do after this failure, but you'll be bigger in his eyes than mine! Go! And I'll hold this monster back.
Calling the monster in a single dash, he drew close to the fallen man and swung his arm.
«A-A-A-A!
Barakiel screamed, summoning all his strength to put a block in front of him. A few seconds of tense confrontation and he realizes in a relaxed exhale that he had indeed blocked Vasco's blow... He still couldn't believe that an ordinary man, who had lived dozens of times less than him, was so easily and routinely crowding him, one of the strongest fallen angels.
«Decent... - Strada smiled for a second.
That was the last thing Dulio saw before he was teleported to an unknown direction.
***
patreon.com/posts/124888009