Chapter 32 — Where Lies Burn
The night had lost its color.
New York was nothing more than an ocean of broken lights, smoke, and glass falling slowly from the sky like a rain of dead stars. Sirens wailed in the distance. Alarms echoed between cracked buildings. The restaurant was now a field of ruins gutted by the impacts of combat, and in the heights of Manhattan, two presences crushed the air itself under the pressure of their Fumetsu.
Yamos was laughing.
His body, covered in wounds, floated in the air while Azel faced him, motionless, surrounded by a calm and terrifying golden light. The Djinn's black cape snapped under the violent winds caused by their exchange. His bluish face was distorted by a sickly smile.
— "So what?" Yamos spat, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. "The great Azel is starting to tire?"
Azel did not answer.
Below them, amidst the debris, Zayn breathed heavily. His arm was still trembling from the Fumetsu beam he had received a few minutes earlier. The OMNIHAND flickered weakly.
BIP.
BIP.
BIIIIIP.
Then further away—
Yojuro.
Lying on the ground.
Motionless.
Blood flowed slowly beneath him.
Zayn's gaze wavered.
— "…Yojuro?"
No answer.
The wind blew.
And suddenly—
A voice.
In the depths.
In the dark.
In something that did not belong to the real world.
— "Look at yourself."
Yojuro's body did not move.
But his spirit was falling.
Further.
Always deeper.
An infinite darkness swallowed him slowly like a bottomless ocean. He no longer felt his body. No more pain. No more city.
Only this voice.
Calm.
Ancient.
Monstrously calm.
— "You still haven't understood."
Two red eyes appeared in the darkness.
Then a smile.
Immense.
Inhuman.
Lucifer.
— "You still refuse my strength… while your world burns before you."
Yojuro weakly gritted his teeth.
— "Shut up…"
Lucifer burst into a soft laugh.
A joyless laugh.
— "And yet… you call me every time you are on the brink of death."
Silence.
Then brutally—
The real world returned.
Yamos had just appeared before Yojuro's body in a violet distortion.
— "Pathetic."
And without warning—
SHHHHK.
His arm drove through Yojuro's stomach.
Time seemed to stop.
Zayn's eyes widened completely.
— "YOOOOJUUURO!!"
Blood splattered onto the concrete.
The boy's body fell heavily to the ground as Yamos slowly withdrew his blood-stained hand with a satisfied smile.
Then something changed.
Azel slowly raised his eyes.
And for the first time since the start of the fight…
His anger appeared.
Not a human anger.
Not an explosion.
Something worse.
A silent anger.
A perfectly controlled anger.
His blessed light became blinding.
The entire sky vibrated.
Then—
BOOOOOOOOM.
The air imploded.
Yamos didn't even have time to react.
Azel appeared before him at a monstrous speed, and his fist smashed into his face with such violence that an entire building behind them exploded under the shockwave.
Yamos spat blood.
But Azel did not stop.
A knee to the ribs.
CRACK.
An elbow to the throat.
A second fist to the stomach.
Then he grabbed Yamos's face and propelled him through three buildings in a rain of glass and concrete.
BOOOOOOM.
Yamos tore through the structures like a living meteorite before crashing into an avenue.
Azel descended immediately from the sky.
His golden light cut through the night like a sun fallen to Earth.
Yamos stood up with difficulty, laughing despite the blood flowing from his mouth.
— "Hahaha… here is the monster they described to me at last…"
Azel walked slowly toward him.
Each step cracked the asphalt.
— "You touched my students."
Yamos smiled wider.
— "Oh? So the Seraphim are capable of feeling something?"
Azel vanished.
Then reappeared behind him.
And literally ripped an arm off in an explosion of violet blood.
Yamos's scream echoed through the entire city.
— "AAAAAAAARGH!!"
But even mutilated, the Djinn still laughed.
— "TOO LATE!!"
He suddenly looked up at the sky.
Azel sensed the danger immediately.
His eyes widened slightly.
Above them—
A massive building had just tipped over.
Thousands of civilians screamed through the windows.
The enormous structure was falling straight toward the city.
Azel took flight instantly.
He placed both hands against the gigantic building.
BOOOOOOM.
The impact made several neighborhoods tremble.
Azel's muscles contracted under the monstrous pressure of the weight.
Even he was struggling.
The building creaked dangerously.
Chunks were still falling.
Below, hundreds of people screamed.
And behind—
Yamos burst out laughing.
— "Hahaha!! You see?! That is the weakness of the Paladins! Always forced to save someone!"
Dozens of violet rays shot from his hands.
They struck Azel in full concentration.
Explosions erupted around the Seraphim.
But he did not let go of the building.
Not for a second.
Then—
BOOOOOOM.
Something suddenly slammed into Yamos at an unreal speed.
The Djinn was propelled across the entire avenue, crashing through buildings, billboards, and cars in a cataclysm of destruction.
Azel slowly turned his head.
Shocked.
Even he had barely seen the movement.
Further down the destroyed road…
A silhouette walked slowly through the smoke.
The people around stopped breathing.
Yamos weakly raised his eyes.
And the color drained completely from his face.
— "…N-no…"
The silhouette stepped fully out of the debris.
It was Yojuro.
But it wasn't really him anymore.
His eyes had turned red.
An immense flaming halo floated behind his head.
Black and red energy flowed around his body like living blood.
And that smile…
That smile had nothing human about it.
— "Ah…"
Yojuro's voice had changed.
Deeper.
Older.
— "It's been a long time."
Yamos was trembling.
Then suddenly—
He knelt.
— "L-Lucifer…"
The silhouette tilted its head slightly.
— "So you recognize me."
Yamos immediately lowered his eyes.
— "Merela had told us about you… of the Fallen King…"
Lucifer sighed.
Then he grabbed Yamos's face with a single hand.
— "I don't care."
And he crushed him against the ground.
BOOOOOOOOM.
The bitumen exploded.
Yamos screamed while Lucifer struck him again.
And again.
And again.
Each blow felt like a meteorite.
The Djinn didn't even have time to teleport properly anymore.
His face was becoming unrecognizable.
— "You dared to touch this body…"
A violet fire appeared around Lucifer's hand.
— "Then let me show you a true miracle."
The flames immediately changed color.
Blue.
Yellow.
White.
Red.
Violet.
Five different fires swirled around him like cursed spirits.
— "Hellfire."
The whole sky seemed to grow heavier.
— "The flames of the minor sins."
The violet flame landed on Yamos.
Instantly, his blessed energy was sucked out of his body.
The Djinn screamed.
— "M-my Fumetsu!!"
Lucifer smiled.
Then a yellow flame touched the ground.
Instantly, the concrete transformed into a strange organic matter that imprisoned Yamos's legs.
— "The flame of the Perverted. It imposes any effect on whatever it touches."
Then came the blue one.
It took the form of hundreds of floating spears.
— "The Mocker."
Finally—
A red-orange flame appeared slowly in his hand.
The temperature rose brutally.
Cars began to melt.
Even the air was burning.
The people around retreated, screaming.
Lucifer looked Yamos straight in the eyes.
— "The Hypocrite."
Lucifer's smile widened.
— "A heat superior to the sun."
Yamos was almost crying now.
— "Mercy—"
BOOOOOOOOM.
The flame entirely engulfed his body.
The explosion lit up all of Manhattan.
When the light faded…
Nothing remained.
Only ashes.
Silence fell.
Then Lucifer looked slowly around him.
The survivors.
The phones.
The people filming.
The horrified stares.
And he smiled.
— "You should never have seen this."
Flames appeared around him.
Meanwhile—
Further away—
Azel was still holding the building.
His arms were trembling slightly now.
Then suddenly—
— "M-Master…"
Zayn had just stood back up.
Completely regenerated.
The Borealis shone intensely on his arm.
Azel turned his head with difficulty.
— "Save the civilians."
Zayn nodded immediately.
Then he raised his wrist.
— "Crystal Hedge!!"
The OMNIHAND exploded with light.
His body transformed instantly.
A gigantic violet crystalline creature appeared in a luminous shockwave.
Crystal plates covered his body like living armor.
Zayn roared.
Then he struck the ground.
Immense pillars of crystal surged around the building.
They transformed into sorts of giant slides allowing the civilians to descend quickly.
Thousands of people slid down the crystalline structures, shouting.
Zayn kept going.
And again.
And again.
Until everyone was saved.
Finally—
He looked up at Azel.
— "IT'S DONE, MASTER!!"
Azel nodded.
Then with one final monstrous effort—
He hurled the entire building toward the sky.
BOOOOOOOOOM.
The structure cut through the clouds like an inverted meteorite.
Then Azel descended slowly.
Zayn's OMNIHAND went:
BIP.
BIP.
BIIIIIP.
And he returned to human form.
Around them—
The civilians cheered.
Some were crying.
Others laughed nervously.
Zayn immediately put his hands on his hips with arrogance.
— "Of course I saved everyone. I'm incredible."
Then—
Azel reappeared.
Holding the unconscious Yojuro in his arms.
His face had become calm again.
But his gaze…
Was darker than before.
— "Let's take him to the infirmary."