825. The Dozen Winged Bird

825. The Dozen Winged Bird

“You still can’t begin to accept that I conceived of a human child. They shouldn’t be punished for it. They have been punished enough, and I have endured much for them.”

“Will you still stand for them?”

“I must. Humans were not the ones who took my child away from me.”

Michaela’s words echoed endlessly across the desolate mountain. It bounced off the distant cliff faces, returning back to Uriel who raised a hand to clutch her face.

“… Haha… My Creator, a Star that stood at the top of the world was tainted by humankind. I couldn’t dream of a nightmare worse than watching my Creator fall to the hands of insects. I thought that everything I did was for your sake. I helped you build Paradise so that they could feed you their Sins… Haaaaah…”

Tendrils of blood rose from the sea. They met hundreds of meters above Uriel, residing just beneath her cross-shaped wings. It formed a ball of blood that steadily grew, eventually rivalling that of the moon.

A maniacal Uriel then spoke.

“You’re right. I just want to wipe them off this world. I want them to live as Sins perpetually as a reminder of what they’ve done. I thought you’d understand. But you’re the same Creator who picked favorites. You loved Ilya more than Iscario. At least we share that in common.”

“I loved them both equally, but Iscario chose a path I could not bear to watch!”

“What about me? I did nothing wrong. Or was it because I lent my hand to the daughter of the traitor you cast from your city? The brother of one of your Apostles with the mark on his right hand? You exiled him into the Land of Nod; the great expanse where Stars roamed as brilliant constellations, and where you left their corpses to rot!”

“Behold – my kingdom come!” Uriel howled as she plunged her flaming blade into the sea.

Cracks split the world as she twisted the blade. Blood drained from the caldera into the hole, filling the depths of Mount Saris. Suddenly, chunks of land as large as hundreds of meters were lifted from the mountain itself in segments.

A nervous system comprised of blood alone took root into the mountain as it took root, meshing its bloody extremities with the stone. The mountain from afar appeared like a thin, sanguine tree with grey leaves.

Multiple layers of suspended landmasses swayed beneath them as theirs remained fixed at the very top of the segmented mountain. The core of Uriel’s bloody tree was easily a kilometer thick, and it embedded itself into the heart of Mount Saris to keep everything upright.

“Elysia gave birth to the Corruption phenomenon! But the Nexus has taken in her doppelganger! I should have butchered her tail when I had the chance! But it’s fine. She has no wings. That thing can’t stabilize her Warp, nor manifest the extent of her own power! Aaah… Michaela.”

Uriel gazed off towards Primus Ramus. The light there intensified, signalling the impending arrival of the Piece of the Fallen Star.

“One wish is all it’ll take to bring everything together. We’ll share a kingdom of our own. You will watch us this time. I’ll make sure of it!”

One of the landmasses was swung at Michaela from the side. She leapt over it and dashed past the countless rock formations that came hurdling by.

“How do you know Jury?”

A vertically aligned landmass collided with the world before Michaela, forcing her to scale it.

“Because we’re the ones who sent her into the Black Forest.”

“That child had nothing to do with us! Neither did Ilya!”

“No! But it doesn’t change that they’re useful! That ‘Jury’ is less so now. Qliphoth corrodes her, as does her Heart of Time. Her future will be tragic, as it should. All agents of Elysia must suffer like I had!”

Uriel’s confession brought her to moment of sudden realization as she saw the incandescent light flash above Primus ramus.

“You were the reason why I lost everything in this world. I thought it was Ilya and I. But Jury too? Frost? I… owe many things to them. I owe them my life for allowing this heart of mine to beat and love again.”

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“But there was only so little I could do to thank them. I brought enough misery into this world, and had hoped to make amends with my own two hands. I never had the opportunity until now. And still yet, these hands of mine clasp at nothing…”

“It’s because you have nothing left. But I can give your reason to live back. Join me in my kingdom and –!”

“I must go back to the place where it all went wrong. I must make these amends myself in my kingdom come.”

A second pair of arms suddenly sprouted out from Michaela’s torso. They were positioned just beneath her own as her wings elongated to the point of touching the base of Mount Saris.

Her eyes brimmed with an insurmountable power as her wings spanned behind her, perfectly showcasing all 12 for the world to bear witness.

“… What’s this now…?” Uriel muttered. “You’ve lost your right to make those decisions. I can always take Ilya away again. You’ll be the same imprisoned bird as you always were for me beneath your own paradise!”

Suddenly, Michaela reached into the air. Her hand dipped into another realm where she drew a fifty-meter blade of light. She slashed the air above, creating a star of her own.

“My greatest mistake was choosing to remain chained to my sins. My kingdom was led to ruin as I watched from beneath. All that mattered to me was Ilya. But her life was never guaranteed.”

Markers of a Price of Paradise began to descend from the massive star above. It overlapped with Uriel’s star as both poured Sins into the world. Vexed Consanguinities and the Prideful Consanguinity propagated the heights of Mount Sairs.

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A holy light seemed to emanate from her body, and it could be manipulated freely just like Uriel’s blood. Michaela’s emotions climbed to its final climax as she hovered in the air, wielding both an empowered version of the False Price of Paradise and the Piece of Paradise.

n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“I shall be the only ruler of my kingdom come, so that there will be no price to pay for our promised paradise!”

A torrent of light pulsated from her body. Feathers descended from the heavens, riddling the world beneath with a poison that pallidified the lands. Distant trees turned pale at the faintest touch, and the blood boiled in response as though being purified.

“Impossible. That is…”

“… The Dozen… Winged Bird. You… you can manifest its powers!?”

Uriel’s confidence waned in an instant. She recognized the severeity of the situation at hand. But still, all hope was not lost. After all, neither of them could interact with the Piece of the Fallen Star.

Therefore, it did not matter if Michaela manifested the Icon of Judgement or a Corrupted beyond that. It would not change that the Amalgam was on the verge of being wished out of existence.

But Uriel’s blood chilled. She gulped heavily, still wearing a wicked grin as Michaela’s voice alone caused the land within the immediate proximity to flatten as though to prostrate before her.

“Thou art will recall the majesty of whom thy called ‘Creator’.”

Uriel’s plan now hinged on Iscario’s success.