Death Angel

Chapter 36: Titan Assault

Daniel and I continued our approach toward the nano-knight, I, holding Daniel aloft with my hands, my former fiancé suspended just below me, his legs and entire body dangling below, positioned precariously between the heavens and certain death below. Were it not for the Nether Void I had so judiciously expended, he would likely have been blown away by the sheer force of the winds that blew all around us.

The robotic being synthesized from millions of moving nano-machines turned its attention fully toward us, the sheen of its black carbon-like armor dull against the light of the summer sun and the blissfully blue sky that bore witness to the horrendous scene that lay before us.

Damn it. It was beginning to realize something was up.

Already the nano-knight was on the outer edges of the beach, a mere half a mile to Lake Michigan at this point, its waters glistening serenely against the backdrop of the apocalyptic scene before us. We were in deadly peril: all the nano-knight needed to do was take a few more steps and Armageddon would be imminent.

Death appeared next to me at that moment.

“I came as soon as I heard, Cherie,” he said, his powerful form fully manifested, his black cloak riding the wind in billowing wisps, a dark specter that appeared frightening against the horizon. Those witnessing the giant robot knight, the sea of vampires below, and now, Death himself appearing alongside a flying angel must have no doubt been convinced at this moment that the apocalypse was nigh.

“I’m glad you were able to hear my thoughts through all the ruckus,” I said to him. “Were you able to find it?”

Death produced Katsujinken in his right hand. The dreaded black blade with its sleek lines and deadly curved edge appeared oddly appropriate in Death’s pale hands, and, coupled with his eerie visage, it was almost as though the blade and the specter were made for each other. Nothing, however, could have been further from the truth. I was under no illusions that the blade knew its purpose, knew what it was that it was meant to sever. I shuddered at the memory of being literally torn asunder by the merciless blade that cut me from the shoulder down. I could almost feel the sharp pain lance into me once more.

“Who do you think I am, Cherie?” Death asked, interrupting the painful memory, spreading his arms wide against the blowing winds, massive scythe held aloft in his left hand while Katsujinken casually held in his right. “I am Death! Infinite resources.”

I smiled, almost picturing the silly grin on his face under the hooded visage. Leave it to Death to add a moment of brevity to anything.

“That’s terrific,” I said, looking up at him with a smile, “do be careful with that thing will you?”

“Vanessa, you and I have both, shall we say, been equally burned by this thing. Yes, I shall be very careful with it.”

“We need to hurry,” said Daniel.

“Danny boy!” exclaimed Death. “Since when did we have the pleasure of your company?”

“It’s a long story,” I said. “Look, I meant what I said when I sent my thoughts out to you. Daniel’s got a means of defeating this thing, a kill-switch of sorts.”

“Say no more,” said Death. “If there’s a will, we shall find a way.”

“D, if Katsujinken is capable of slicing through the nano-machine’s bonding, we might be able to distract it long enough and get close enough for Daniel to activate his kill-switch.”

“Well, that’s a whole lot easier said than done unfortunately,” said Death.

The three of us continued our rapid approach toward the nano-knight. Underneath us, the sea of pale vampires continued to assail the nano-knight, their sheer numbers and suicidal determination the only things the mindless beings had going for them, as they continued their relentless assault upon the continuously advancing titan.