Broken - 8

[Gabriel pov]

The bell rang. A toll to the surprise of everyone but I. I breathed a quiet echo, one that rose and fell with the legs of the demons. Their hooves echoed upon the ground. Tainted by the cries they made. Their ears raised with curious ears. For they had heard the bell toll for their souls.

A purpose made clear.

An almost eerie symphony of calls and cries as they rushed towards the center of the quarantine, their very souls took that manic appearance. Torturous taint that had become more and more corrupted with each and every second that passed.

I raised my hand, reached to the sky and passed judgment upon the tormented souls. A silent prayer, answered not. But still.

My knee rose, brought forth my whole body to bear. For I had made my mind long ago. For the likes of others.. It had been a mere hour. 

An hour in which I fought. I raged, I screamed, I tore through the hands of the demon. Their taint and poison could not pierce the veil of my will.

For the frosted tips of my arms. Of my fingers. 

"Aia" I spoke. A certain solemnity in my voice, a smile upon my face as I turned to her. My arm, frozen between the cold struck air and my own side. Rose from its confines and tore a finger towards her own.

With a gentle extension of her own limbs Aia tore through the frost she had created. A smile upon her soul. One that mirrored my own solemn judgment. For we were the executioners, the only that could stop this atrocity.

And when my hand landed within hers. It was to the avail of none, as she tore my feet from their grip upon the land. Carrying me with the wind.

Her own hair parting. Creating a mix of two. Greenish Blue. With a tinge of golden victory.

"Gabriel"

"Let's~" I sang. Beyond the frozen wind. Beyond the hellscape. Frozen within the power of her body. Of spells that changed the whole world. Beyond even that gaping mouth of the person I had saved.

I giggled. Letting forth a symphony of cackles. It was beautiful. Truly beautiful. The snow that fell upon my fingers. The power that threatened to escape the true world.

The void.

A blue so cold that it even affected the other souls.

It was… it was absolute beauty. Or as close to one as could be. For it had transcended man, reached the realm of souls.

"Truly…"

I spoke, reverence within my voice. I had seen such power… no, I had never. For this was the first that it had come to bear within my own two eyes.

"Beautiful is it not."

She knew I was blind, and I knew that she knew. But there was an unspoken word between our faces as we moved closer to the other.

As I healed her of her sustained injuries.

"Yes… truly…" 

I breathed out. Frost covering my breath. Making the air taste truly stale.

And when we landed, from atop whatever it was Aia had made us travel upon. There came another soul. Amongst the countless tainted souls.

Hers… his… its… whatever it was. Its soul shone truly bright. Not for the power. But the effect. It seemed to shine with corruption. And I found no true humanity within. It was pure evil. Pure taint.

…

Circles seemed to shine with an ominous light. Making runes within the air that pierced even the veil of death. A barrier that spoke of the mighty power even the professors of that academy possessed.

For with but twenty of their own. They had done what the whole city could not, what that damned detective failed to find. They had quarantined me from the rest of my sigils. 

Carefully planned work, only to fail by one slight underestimation.

It mattered not. As with even this I would grow in power. There was no doubt. It was a miscalculation that there would be minimal interference. But the souls within this province were tempting.

Extremely so.

There was no greater prize than the souls of hundreds, of thousands, each that had crossed the border of human and beyond mortal. Bordering on god-like power. For with each soul that was consumed. So too would my power grow.

I knew the consequences. As with one failure, one overlooked circumstance. I would be hung… I would be drawn and quartered. Killed like the rest of the cattle they thought so little of.

But the risk. Oh the risk. I sighed, looking to the stars for motivation. For willpower. A power… no, it was a mentality that had brought me such great success. For I had not failed with such willpower.

I thought… that no matter the circumstance, I would find myself a way out. And this would be no different. Despite the overwhelming disadvantage.

It only needed to succeed once. For the power within those forgotten wraiths to flow within my body.

Once more I sighed. As demon after demon found their way towards me. An ambition long cemented deep within my undead mind.

For I was no longer one of those pitiful living. I had given myself to the taint. That same taint that rose the dead back to life. To create facsimiles of life and family. And to monsters that surpassed the peak of humanity.

I had become one of those. A being beyond even the greatest. 

Or I would have. But that was the problem. Each and every being needed to grow. And despite the potential I had. I was still a long… long way from ever achieving such power.

A gamble was needed. Lest I wait until civilization itself fell.

Truly… it was worth my time to make all of those distractions.

No, to call them that would do them a disservice. For each death they wrought, that they reaped brought me further life.

Those cultists of hers. Borrowed, but even then. They fought with naught but a flicker of sacrifice. No regard for even their own lives. The perfect fodder for my grand plan.