Chapter 86: Bloodied halo

The angel's cry of pain echoed through the forest as Argath plunged a sharp spike of bone into his thigh. He could sense it—the angel could feel the portal gaining strength from his torment. The suffering of an angel, even one as insignificant as himself, fueled the portal more efficiently than anything else. *What is happening?* The angel's thoughts raced as Argath forcefully tore the spike from his flesh, leaving a jagged wound behind. 

The angel tried to move, but he was being held down, chained on his back by interlocking spinal-shaped bones that sprouted from the ground, wrapping themselves all around his body and even holding his wings in place. *Why can't I move?* His muscles tensed as Argath drove another bone spike through his knee, shattering bone and sinew with a crunch.

Squirming in agony, he fought against his restraints, the sharp edges digging into his flesh, but no matter how much he struggled, he couldn't break free. *Why is this happening?* he questioned himself as Argath pried the bone spike in his knee, tearing through muscle and tendons, almost causing the angel to cry out in pain.

*Why am I asking these questions when I already know the answer?* The angel's thoughts echoed as Argath stomped on his leg and slowly extracted the bone from his knee, causing the angel to grit his teeth hard enough to make his gums bleed. *If only I was stronger, if only I had a name,* the angel lamented, feeling bits of his flesh being pulled out along with the bone.

*Where did all that energy go? I thought you said you could beat me,* mocked Argath, wiping off the blood and flesh still clinging to the bone spike. The angel glared at him, seething with anger. *Why does this piece of shit think he's so special after beating me?* he thought bitterly. *If an Archangel were here, him and his entire group would be running with their tails between their legs.*

Argath, as if able to hear his thoughts, lifted the bone spike into the air before plunging it into the angel's stomach. The angel coughed up blood as he felt his internal organs—his intestines—being cut. "You looked down at me just now, didn't you?" Argath's voice echoed as he twisted the bone spike around, nearly causing the angel to black out from shock. "But guess what?" Argath leaned in close to the angel's face. "I'm not the one who's on the ground in pain right now," he sneered.

In response, the angel spat blood into Argath's face, the crimson liquid finding its way into Argath's empty sockets. "Doesn't make you any less pathetic. You're just a weakling who's punching down," the angel mocked as Argath wiped the blood from his face and sockets. Without a word, Argath pulled out the bone spike from the angel's stomach, eliciting a grunt of pain from the angel. As the angel looked up, he saw Argath aiming the bone spike at his head. "I'll just say you died from the torture because you were a weakling," Argath declared before bringing down the bone spike towards the angel's head.

What's the point?

The angel stood in front of the gates of Heaven, on the brink of leaving behind perfection and paradise. With no name or halo to protect him, he prepared to venture into a world that didn't believe in him or his religion. He knew his mission would bring no value or reward to anyone he knew, but to him, that didn't matter. He was doing what he was made for, what he was born for. As he took a few steps forward, he felt shaky, his breathing growing more ragged, and uncertainty creeping into his mind. *Should I really leave? Will I even be able to change anything? Is Heaven's Inventory powerful enough to protect me? Am I really the only choice?*

Clutching the rocker jacket given to him by the Archangel, he remembered the words spoken to him. The same Archangel who couldn't go to Aetheria himself because he wasn't allowed to. The same Archangel who told him he could go because no one would miss him and because he was insignificant to Heaven as a whole. He took a step backwards. *What can I even do?* Another step backward. *I'm not even important in my own home, so why would I be able to help people who don't even believe in me?* Another step back. *What's the point?*

He had said he wanted to help people; he had said that with finality. And yet, here he was, no longer able to back up his words, convincing himself to fall back into the same stagnation of Heaven and let a world die. Just then, he heard the flapping of wings drawing closer, flying towards him. *It's the Archangel,* he told himself, expecting to be sent back for being a weakling and a coward.

But something about the beats of the wings seemed off. They were far too quiet and undisturbed, far too weak to belong to a four-winged Archangel. The angel turned around, his eyes widening as he saw Kevin flying towards him in a hurry.

*Why is he here?* The angel questioned him, staring at Kevin in disbelief. Kevin landed on the ground in front of him, panting, his face flushed with exhaustion. "Thank Michael, I reached you before you left," Kevin said with a chuckle, wiping a bit of sweat away from his head.

"Why are you here?" the angel asked, confused.

"Man, this feels weird! I've never sweated before in my life! It feels kinda good, though, in a weird way. I'm not gonna lie," Kevin said as he tried to catch his breath.

The angel, irritated, asked again, "Why are you here?"

Kevin, meanwhile, took a look at his new jacket. "Wow! That looks really cool! You look like a rocker rebel straight out of a cyberpunk setting," he said, his eyes lighting up with genuine excitement.

The angel clenched his fist. "I asked, why are you here!" he yelled louder than he meant to. Kevin's eyes widened at his yelling. The angel, realizing how aggressive he sounded, looked down at the ground. *Why am I getting angry at him? Am I really that pathetic?* he asked himself before he opened his mouth. "I'm sorr—" but he was cut off mid-sentence.

"Whoa, that was the first time you actually yelled at me instead of pretending to smile to get rid of me," Kevin said, making the angel look up at him in confusion. Kevin gave him a thumbs up. "Good job! You're finally being true to yourself, buddy!" Kevin said, confusing the angel even more.

"I don't get it. Why are you not frustrated with me?" the angel asked. Kevin scratched his head. "Ehhh? Should I be frustrated at you for not pretending to like me?" he asked. The angel looked at him agape. "If you knew I didn't like you, then why did you keep talking to me?" he asked, trying to wrap his head around the oddity that was Kevin.

"Because I wanted you to like me?" Kevin replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Why would you try and do that?" the angel asked, his confusion evident in his tone.

"I just wanted us to be friends," Kevin replied simply, his expression earnest. The angel sighed, feeling a pang of guilt for his initial frustration. "Are you serious?" he asked, seeking confirmation.

"Yeah? I mean, do I need another reason?" Kevin's response was straightforward, almost childlike in its simplicity.

The angel couldn't help but marvel at Kevin's uncomplicated perspective. *Such a simple way of thinking, and here I am overthinking why I'm leaving this dump behind.* Shaking his head, the angel asked another question. "Is that why you're here?"

Kevin shook his head, a grin spreading across his face. "No, I'm here to see you off. I mean, you're going to save a world from demons, so how could I not?" he explained. The angel raised an eyebrow. "How did you know?" he asked.

"Call it a sixth sense of sorts. I could tell when you left with the Archangel that neither of you were up to no good—or, well, good in this case, I guess. And also," Kevin paused, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a device resembling a phone. "Your phone's location kinda gave it away," he admitted sheepishly. The angel sighed, muttering, "I should have turned off my GPS."

Kevin chuckled at the angel's words before his expression softened into a smile. "So, are you going to leave?" he asked eagerly. The angel nodded decisively, taking a step back toward the gates. "Of course I am. I can't stay here and let a world get destroyed after all," he affirmed. As he turned to leave, a fleeting thought crossed his mind. *I have someone who'll miss me when I leave after all.*

Kevin fell into step beside him, his enthusiasm palpable. "So cool! You're going to the material world! Could you bring me back a souvenir?" He requested eagerly. The angel scoffed, saying, "Don't bet on it. I don't want to imagine what you'll do with anything I give you, you stalker," as he waved him off.

"Don't call me a stalker! I'm not that creepy!" Kevin insisted, his protest filled with mock offense. The angel smirked, his hands hovering in front of the gates. "Whatever you say, Kevin," he replied casually.

Kevin looked confused. "Who's that?" he asked, very, very confused.

"Someone who I thought made this place worse than it already was, but it turned out you were one of the only things that was somewhat bearable," the angel said. Kevin realized what this meant and opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, the angel touched the gates, disappearing from Kevin's sight, leaving Heaven and heading to Aetheria.

Someone cares.

As Argath's bone spike was about to pierce the skull of the angel, he was suddenly pushed away and into the air by an unseen force. "What the!?" he exclaimed, flapping his leathery wings to steady himself. Looking down at the angel, he watched in shock as the angel's wings sliced through his bone bindings. *That shouldn't be possible, not without...* If Argath had eyes, they would have widened at the sight of something above the angel's head—a glowing presence.

"A halo," Argath muttered to himself, his voice tinged with disbelief. But something was off. Something about the halo wasn't right. Suddenly, laughter echoed around them, and it was the angel's voice. "I really was thinking about that guy when I was about to die! How gross!" he exclaimed before launching himself into the air with a powerful flap of his wings. "Surprised?" he asked with a grin, spreading his arms wide.

Now close, Argath saw the reason for the discomfort—the reason the halo seemed wrong. Angel halos were supposed to be pure white, but this one was red. Blood red. Argath immediately understood what the angel was doing. "Are you an idiot? You're using the divine blood in your wings to create a halo," he stated bluntly.

The angel only grinned wider. "Right! Good job, you got it right!" he exclaimed, giving Argath a thumbs up. "I don't care if I die! I said I'd beat all of you back to hell, so dying is the least I can do!" he continued, his excitement rising at the sight of the halo above his head, despite the draining blood and pain.

Argath pointed his arms toward the angel and launched four bone spikes at him, only for the angel to smack them away with one wing. "Come on, we can't fight like that now!" the angel exclaimed, fully extending his wings and clasping his hands together. Just as he did, Argath sensed the fear rising within himself. The angel grinned like a madman. "Heavenly Paradise: Rule Breaker!" he yelled, his blood halo glowing brighter and brighter until it swallowed Argath whole before he could even react. Now, Argath found himself in an entirely different location—he was within the angel's Heavenly Paradise.