Chapter Eleven

“You are nearly there, spirit,” a voice called out before Antithesis even reached the voice’s level. “I would like to say ‘your journey ends here’, but based on what you’ve accomplished since it began, I am no longer sure the statement is true.”

Antithesis finished climbing and came face to face with an energy wielding archangel, for his fists glowed blue, almost like the healing fire, but not quite. There was something much more pure about this energy, but the closer Antithesis stepped to the archangel, he sensed the energy morph from a benevolent feeling to malevolent feeling, though the color stayed the same. 

“Which are you?” Antithesis questioned. 

“If you’re asking about which archangel I am, then I am Azazel, the archangel of sacrifice-- not to be confused with Azrael, or Grim, as he goes by. I am also one of the originals, along with Michael, Gabriel--”

“I am aware of the identity of the originals,” Antithesis interrupted.

“You have a funny way of speaking,” Azazel said. 

“I spoke the same way when I was alive. With my family,” Antithesis said.

“Really? Odd,” Azazel said. “Anyway, weirdo… care to dance?”

His mannerisms reminded Antithesis of Lucifer, but less sinister and more carefree and aloof. 

“First, tell me what those blue flames of yours do,” Antithesis demanded. Azazel looked at his own hands, then back at the wraith.

“They’re not a variation of holyfire, if that’s what you’re wondering,” the archangel answered. “It has many different names depending on who speaks of it. Essence. Ki. Life energy. I just call it ‘soul’.”

“Soul energy?” Antithesis asked. Azazel nodded.

“I can siphon beings’ souls and add them to my arsenal, giving me a boost depending on how long they stay with me,” Azazel explained.

“Stay…?”

Azazel nodded again.

“They normally aren’t permanent, though there are some exceptions. But, I choose to release the souls I steal back to Azrael, Samael, or whatever god or gods they worshipped,” Azazel said. “Though right now I’m all out of souls…”

His eyes glowed red and he cocked his head to the side with a devious smirk.

“And I’m awfully hungry.”

Azazel then flickered and disappeared. Antithesis immediately put his guard up and looked around for where Azazel might appear. But, the archangel was too fast for even his eyes to catch as he felt a soft pat on his leg. He looked down and saw a glowing blue handprint and he was unable to move his leg. This one was dangerous. He hoped, should it come to it, his willpower could bail him out.

As Antithesis scanned around, now a little more panicked than usual, he heard echoed cackling. Suddenly, another touch on his left shoulder. He grabbed his shoulder with his right hand and tried to see what he could do as far as healing went. The spectre set his hand ablaze and attempted to see what the outcome would be, but nothing happened to the mark as the flames dissipated. 

The Heavenborne also no longer felt as strong as he did before in the main gate area. Maybe there was something there that empowered him. He looked at his right fist and clenched it, still feeling the strength flow within him. No, it wasn’t that he was getting weaker. It was the fact he was terrified of what Azazel was capable of doing. Terrified of who else awaited him after this battle, should he make it out of this one alive. 

His own throat began to choke him as the thought of permanently being added to Azazel’s soul arsenal crossed his mind. What happened to the souls that he kept? 

All of a sudden, his eye began to smoke with the glowing whitish-red as it had before, except this wasn’t willpower, this was just him determined to win. He would not need to find out what happened to the souls. He would reach his goal. There were many fights the spirit had come close to losing, but he did not lose them. He was given the power to defeat the archangels and he was going to succeed.

Azazel cackled some more before reappearing for a split second to tap Antithesis on the back, but Antithesis caught the archangel’s hand and flipped him over his shoulder into the cracked mountainside ground. Azazel smirked and grabbed Antithesis’s right arm now, but instead of paralyzing it, he felt the soul draining from him and entering Azazel. 

He set his hand ablaze, but again it did nothing, so the phantom kicked Azazel in the top of the head before re-wrapping his hand around Azazel’s arm and breaking it at the elbow. He then lifted the archangel with one arm and tossed him to the other side of the level. 

Azazel stood and smirked as his snapped his arm back and it healed completely. Antithesis wondered why he wasn’t regenerating from the marks the archangel gave him. He decided it was because it was not a wound, like Gabriel’s ice was not a wound either. 

Azazel’s soul energy flickered off and he stood straight up and smirked before flying at Antithesis head on. Antithesis prepared himself for the head on attack, but Azazel appeared behind him and punched him in the back, sending him into the mountainside rubble. 

Antithesis re-stood as Azazel charged again. Instead of preparing for an attack, Antithesis now teleported to where Azazel just was and turned to see Azazel was ready to attack him from the mountainside. Half the archangel’s body was phased through the rock and his hand was glowing as if he was ready to deliver a killing blow. 

The spectre lowered his chains and withdrew Dimension Splitter as Azazel casually stepped out of the mountainside. He activated his soul energy once more as Antithesis heated his blade with plasmic holyfire. As he did, Azazel reached out a palm and began to siphon Antithesis’s soul from a distance.

“Neat, right? The more paralyzing touches I land on an enemy, the easier it is to take their soul,” Azazel brags. 

Antithesis struggled to move, but he managed to raise Dimension Splitter over his head and bring it back down into the mountain. The impact of it, caused the entire level to collapse and fall down the mountainside, sending the two combatants toward the base. Azazel regained his balance mid-fall and flew toward Antithesis with his hands glowing still, his smile growing wider as he inched closer. 

However, Antithesis teleported behind Azazel, on his back as they continued to fall, then sliced one of his wings off, before teleporting himself back to where they were originally. Azazel continued to fall down the mountainside as Antithesis watched over the edge. The marks on his arm and legs disappeared as large rocks crushed the archangel of sacrifice at the base of the mountain. 

The Heavenborne took a deep breath before climbing to the next level. 

Antithesis climbed his last cliff now, as he had reached the top of the mountain. Here, was another gate that lead to hall that the spectre presumed lead to a throne room of some sort. 

“James Lee! Reborn as ‘Antithesis’!” a loud, booming voice shouted before landing in front of the gate. Another archangel landed before him, smaller than the originals, but larger than the others. 

“You are?”

“Zerachiel, the archangel of judgment!” Zerachiel proclaimed. 

“So, he has you guarding his own personal gate rather than the entrance,” Antithesis stated. 

“Your journ--”

“Journey ends here?” Antithesis asked. “You are not the first to think so.”

“But I will be correct with my statement,” Zerachiel said as he summon a giant hammer out of thin air. 

Antithesis dodged as Zerachiel brought the hammer down and caused the archangel to hit the mountain instead of him. Antithesis lowered his chains once more, grabbing a Dagger of Deception in his left hand and Dimension Splitter in his right. He wrapped them both in chains. 

Zerachiel turned and swung again, missing as the Heavenborne lept onto his hammer and stomped on it, causing the archangel to lower the hammer and let it smash into the ground again. Before Zerachiel could lift it, Antithesis slung out the Dagger of Deception and chain combination in his left hand at the archangel. Zerachiel manifested a golden shield, but it was not needed as the chain snapped straight and the dagger popped off the end, indicating the chain was too short to reach the archangel’s face. 

“HA! Pitiful,” Zerachiel said, now lifting his hammer once more. Antithesis hopped off the hammer and waited for Zerachiel to strike again. Like predicted, the archangel raised his hammer, but as he did, Antithesis slung Dimension Splitter attached to the chain out, but like the dagger, the chain snapped and Dimension Splitter popped of the end.

This was the Heavenborne’s plan though as he teleported behind Zerachiel’s head and called Dimension Splitter to him. Zerachiel easily saw the sword coming for him and raised another golden shield to protect his face, but Dimension Splitter curved over his head and toward Antithesis. 

Antithesis caught Dimension Splitter, and as Zerachiel, turned to swing his Judgement Hammer, Antithesis came down with the sword and cleanly sliced the archangel in half. 

Antithesis then walked to retrive his dagger then turned to watch Zerachiel fall, but the archangel did not fall.

“You fool! Do you think I am so easily defeated?” he asked. He pulled his two halves back together as nicely as he could, with there still being a red split down the center of him. “I am Zerachiel! The archangel of--”

“Enough, Zerachiel. Let him inside,” a voice said from a projection of flames. Antithesis recognized the voice and he would soon be glad he could see the face attached to it once more since the whole journey began.

Zerachiel paused then opened his palm, facing it toward the gate. The gate opened and Antithesis looked back once more at the archangel, seeing Ramiel, the archangel of resurrection floating in the distance before the doors to the throne room closed behind him. 

Antithesis reached the end of the hallway and entered a throne room, just as he predicted. On the throne, in the center of the room, sat Apothael with a glowing blue portal ready and waiting behind him. No archangels were at his side. This was to be a one-on-one final boss battle. 

“Hello, Antithesis,” Apothael said.