The Omega Existence

Chapter 27

Raphael spun around to find the weapon gone, no energy, no sense or sight of his attacker. It was if the sword had literally appeared from nowhere, its wielder disappearing into the abyss. At least he was now convinced of one thing, he was no longer alone.

It wasn’t  knowledge that brought him any comfort. It were as if he were being haunted by an ethereal presence, and for a moment, he thought he understood the fear that so many humans had experienced through the torment of demons on Earth. Moments passed, and as time grew Raphael began to consider the possibility that it was simply a trap left for him. Perhaps one of the demons had seen him enter, but did not want to attempt to attack themselves. It would make sense to attempt to stall him and buy them more time to search for Le’theril.

The sudden thought of her reminded him of his promise, ‘whatever it takes’, was he living up to that promise right now? No, enough games, this was her life at stake. Uriel had been right all along, sometimes, brute force was necessary to achieve one's goal. With the thought firm in his mind, Raphael braced himself as he released one of the protective barriers on his soul, and then another as he felt his burning energy begin overflowing his physical body, energy burning around him as his soul’s fire burned.

An ear piercing scream split the room around him, and Raphael spun around to stare in shock as a thin humanoid shaped shadow began tearing itself from his back. Small flames had alighted the demon’s torso as it pulled itself free, screaming in pain as the flames grew brighter.

Axe already in hand, Raphael launched his attack, unwilling to wait for the demon to free itself. The blade sliced through the shadow as if it hadn’t hit anything, the lack of impact caused Raphael to stumble against the weight of his swing. Stepping around with his left foot he spun with the swing ducking under the familiar bastard sword that lashed out at him as the shadow demon separated itself and seemed to solidify, forming a cloak of darkness, wearing shades of night like a veil, covering everything except for two bright, glowing red eyes.

“I wondered where you were hiding.” Raphael stated before summoning his second war axe to his left hand. The demon hissed a foul whispering chuckle, its amusement striking a chord of irritation within Raphael, pretentious creature.

He slashed down at the demon, drawing its enormous sword into a block as he swept up with his other arm slashing up the demons chest. This time, the axe tore into flesh as the creature screamed in agony as the burning slice of his axe turned murky darkness into something that resembled dry, cracked rubber.

The demon stumbled back against the pain, but Raphael wouldn’t give it time to recover as he spun forward, his left axe sweeping the sword away to leave plenty of room for the following swing as it followed through, slicing deep into the demon’s neck. It didn’t have a chance to scream as the slash bit straight through where Raphael guessed its neck should have been. The milky darkness that covered the creature turned brittle and exploded into dust as the body hit the floor.

Raphael looked down upon the remains of the demon as the scene played over in his mind. He could hear the creatures laugh, repeating over and over within his mind. Suddenly everything clicked. The uneasy feeling he had since entering the palace, and Uriel’s sudden, overbearing pressure. They were all warnings, disastrously overlooked!

As the pieces began connecting in his mind, Raphael was already rushing back to Le’theril’s room, unlocking a third barrier of his soul as he prepared to unleash his rage at being so easily deceived.

Passing through room after room he grew frustrated at his own restrictive designs. Why couldn’t he have made this damn palace simpler, he needed to be back there now!

As he came upon the door, he didn’t even bother with opening it as he sent a sharp, piercing edge of his soul out, splitting the door into pieces before he stepped through it.