"What's wrong? Are you mad~? I honestly can't tell. However, if it upset you that much, I'm willing to consider apologizing. All you have to do is become my personal servant for all eternity. You are quite pretty, after all. I like collecting pretty things~"
Yuki remained motionless throughout her entire talk. She just stared at the woman. Even though there stood a good twenty meters apart, the lack of reason within her eyes was clearly visible. There was no playful remark, no provocative tone. However, out of that expressionless Yuki, a faint, almost whisper like laughter could be heard. It was odd, because nothing funny had been said. However, it died down as soon as it started. As if it was never meant to be heard.
Before anyone could make a comment on it, the woman duck down, then man pulling Priest Mateo down a but earlier. Unlike the two, the woman could not dodge completely, as her long her fell to the ground, now only having hair reaching to her shoulders instead of reaching to her waist. As it silently touched the ground, buildings behind them crumbled, cleanly cut in half by a horizontal cut which seemed to have reached far beyond what the eye could see.
"You brat! You will pay for that!"
The woman yelled in fury as she touched her bluntly cut hair. At which Yuki did not respond, she just gave Yamato a permission seeking look, who just nodded in return. She then proceeded to fly up, wings and halo on display, as suddenly a giant clock appeared behind her. Its showed exactly 12 a clock. However, it had only one hand, which did not move. Even as it did not move, a slow ticking could be heard across the entire town. As Yuki levitated infront of its center, she looked down at the woman glaring up at her, with only disgust and arrogance in her eyes.
"…Do you hear that? That's the sound of your life running out."
"An angel… What are you talking about?!"
As she said that, a red glowing mark appeared on her hand. It was the exact image of the clock, and then, the clock hand moved both in the air behind Yuki, and on her hand in sync, going backwards to 11 a clock.
"So all I have to do is kill you in eleven minutes? Please, your little trick, even if it works and does kill me once the time runs out, will never reach me in time. I will show you why I had to be sealed in the first place~"
"In the name of the love I hold,
infinite in power and grace,
I command you…"
Yuki whispered to herself, not caring to interact with the one before her anymore than necessary.
"You dare ignore me?! I'm Petrisha, Great Archdemon of First Pure Blood!"
"What an unfitting name for such a disgusting creature…
In faith and spirit,
I demand dominion over all that appall my truth and wisdom,
So that I may punish them for their sins."
She whispered the last part.
"Gift of Redemption…"
As she finished mumbling her prayer, light came down from the sky, in a golden beam of pure mana and light, wide enough in diameter to hit all three. Dodging was impossible as the attack was instantaneous.
However, to her surprise, she was not met with three corpses once the smoke cleared. But rather with arrogant laughter of the woman she so despised.
"Was that all? I'm quivering in fear~"
"You have no right to act so arrogant, Petrisha. If not for me, you would be but dust now."
Talking now was the men who was next to her. He seemed to have blocked Yuki's attack somehow, and he seemed familiar with Petrisha. Yamato concluded that he too, must be an Archdemon, as their appearance also matched.
"Yuki, you take on the woman. I will take on the other two."
"Are you sure, Master? They are really strong… I can deal with them, if you want."
"No, it is necessary. Give me one of your swords."
"…Alright… But be careful."
Yuki flew down and handed him a golden sword, before kissing him on the cheek and then charging at the demon Petrisha, kicking her and distancing herself with her from the other two. Despite blocking each strike, Yuki was able to overpower her and push her all the way into the pre-castle area of the down away from the church.
Just then, the clock struck 10.
Petrisha would soon come to learn that Yuki was not playing around when it came to insulting Yamato. Hate, born out of love for someone, is a form of envy.
Now alone with the second presumed Archdemon and Priest Mateo, Yamato mustered the demon, before looking at Mateo.
"You spoke of ascension earlier…"
"Yes, because that is what I have accomplished!"
"Right… But I'm afraid that in your bottomless delusions of grandeur, you've failed to understand the most fundamental of all truths."
"And what truth might that be?"
"There is no god that can be called perfect. The closest thing to perfection, is me. The closest thing to true godhood, is me."
"And you dare call me delusional… You're the single most arrogant individual I ever heard of."
"Well, only one of us can be right. What about you? Blocking one of Yuki's serious attacks is no small feat. I'm curious how you managed to do that."
The man looked at Yamato with a neutral expression. He was difficult to read yet, because he had been keeping to himself most of their conversation. However Yamato was not nervous. After all, he was sure of coming out on top, even in a two against one scenario.
"Your words are to provoke, to create a for you favorable environment. However, if you had wished to embody supremacy, you would have done better to keep that divine companion of yours."
"You think so? You are that strong?"
"Strong enough for a human such as yourself? Yes, I believe so. However you did have the courage to face me, instead of running away like all the others did. For that, I commend you."
"Hmm… In that case, I challenge you to a battle."
"What would be the point in such a formal trial, if it ended in mere moments…"
"You're absolutely right… If I kill you on your own, who's going to defend our little wannabe god over there?"
"What?! Demon, are you going to let him talk to me like that?! Kill him now!"
"…Of course…"
The clock struck 9.
He suddenly stood behind Yamato, attempting to punch straight through him from behind, however Yamato did not hold back, and with one swift motion, the demons arm was cut off. Surprised but not crying in pain, the demon took a step back. Looking at the motionless arm on the ground.
"I wonder why the two of you follow his orders. She mentioned being bound to him, but the lack of intimacy between the three of you makes it seem unlikely that you know each other for long. So no emotional ties there…"
The arm on the ground withered away, as a new one grew back, identical to the one Yamato cut off. The demon grew wings, appearance wise comparable to those of a bat, dark as night and the complete opposite to the one Yuki had.
"Fascinating… However I do not think that helps me in my question."
As he flew up to the demon, attempting to strike, he suddenly fell to the ground, apparently, unable to fly up.
"Your question may never be answered, as your journey ends here…"
The demon raised his hand, and a small arrow of light levitated above his palm. He blew at the arrow, at which it shot at Yamato at a high speed, too fast to dodge. As the arrow was about to hit, Yamato managed to pull out the mirror shard, barely deflecting the attack into the ground. A shrill noise was created , reaching through the entire town. However it still threw him away because of the explosion that followed. The shard fell away into near by debris, and he had no time to go look for it.
The clock struck 8.
Meanwhile Yuki was pushing Petrisha back even further, until she finally had enough. Throwing her morning star into the ground, which created enough force to throw Yuki off for a moment, which she used to aim at her stomach next. It was a direct hit, throwing Yuki through a stone wall into an empty living room. However the usually deadly blow had little lasting effect, as she just stood up again.
"Tick, tick, tick, bitch."
"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!"
Petrisha started attacking her relentlessly, however Yuki was not having any of it, using multiple golden swords floating around her to parry each incoming morning star swing, which blocking kicks and punches with her wings and hands. Eventually getting a grip on Petrisha's short hair, she smashed her face into her knee, at which Petrisha lost balance, stumbling back into a corner as her nose bled all over the floor. However the bleeding quickly stopped and the wound healed up completely before she started attacking again. By throwing her morning star into the wall next to the castle, she ripped a hole into it large enough to cause it to collapse onto Yuki, who just jumped behind her and kicked Petrisha in her back, so she would land where Yuki had been standing a moment ago. As she was buried by the massive stones, the battle turned silent for a moment, only the ticking of the clock could be heard.
The clock struck 7.
Yamato did not have it as easy as he had hoped for, for some reason being unable to use any kind of magic now. All he had was the sword from Yuki, which by no means was weak, but would not be much against such a powerful, unknown force. As he leaned on the sword to stand up, Mateo slowly clapped as he walked towards him.
"Is that all? After all that talk about being the most perfect being, you end up on the ground in front of me, where you belong. It reminds me of when I used to—"
Just then, a knife pierced through Mateo's chest from behind. Unnoticed by everyone, Lucy had silently moved onto the battlefield. As she understood the situation, she lost no time and acted as she deemed necessary. After Mateo fell to the ground, she hurried over to Yamato, putting herself between him and the demon in the air.
"I apologize for the delay… I was evacuated with the other maids and only now managed to get here."
"That's fine. Be careful, this won't be like last time…"
"I understand."
The demon landed next to Mateo lying on the ground, as if looking for something. But then he looked at Yamato and Lucy again, at which Mateo pulled himself up.
"Haha, you thought… It was gonna end like that? No, no, no… I'm not going to end! I told you, I've ascended!"