User blog:Promestein/Heavencross - Staring Down Destiny

''60% inner world integrity. Harahel, be careful. You could’ve died there.''

Harahel is skidding across the ground as Raziel says that, feeling a hole that stretched straight their body and soul and bore right through their inner world. All it had taken to scour a gaping hole in their soul was a single kick, the impact of Mastema’s hoof against their chest killing all thoughts for a couple moments and sending them flying. The damage Mastema is capable of inflicting can’t be compared to anyone else the two of them have ever fought.

Logos and Uriel could hit and exploit vital weaknesses in an inner world with a single strike and maximum efficiently, but Mastema’s approach is not nearly as graceful. It doesn’t need to be. One hit from Mastema could annihilate every structural weak point at once, and trigger instant ego collapse. Even though inner world operations were the one thing Mastema suffered in, she could easily outdo any soul surgeon when it came to killing. The only things keeping Harahel from dying where Raziel and Lucifer’s inner worlds. Without them, Harahel would’ve been killed with a single blow, even if Mastema had been a physically and magically weaker opponent.

Still, they’re at a glaring disadvantage. But they have no time to consider this. If Raziel’s predicted correctly, next up is a strike from the Spear of Destiny. Mastema may mix it up, but it’s unlikely. She can afford to be predictable from time to time when she can kill 99% of people with a single strike. The Spear of Destiny is even more dangerous than an ordinary strike. Often instantaneous, impossible to dodge, and usually impossible to survive. Harahel had somehow survived a few blows, but their inner world was already starting to fall apart. Raziel barely saved their life with some high-speed spiritual operations, but another hit could split all those stitches and kill them all the same.

Harahel catches themself and manages to get back onto their feet, feeling Raziel mending their soul again. 68%. But, as powerful and fast as the Spear of Destiny is, there’s a window.

A tiny window of opportunity. Thanks to Lucifer’s inner world, Harahel’s absolute barriers are strong enough to mend the distance that the Spear usually erases. Because of this, it had to travel just a few inches rather than no distance at all, and this gave Harahel about a fraction of attosecond to respond. Of course, this usually doesn’t amount to anything. It’s just a chance to stare down your inevitable death and make peace with destiny. But Harahel doesn’t really feel like doing that right now. It’s not like they’ll live anyways, so they may as well put up a fight.

Harahel isn’t like Jophiel and Lucifer, who could take this tiny opportunity and dodge to the side. The sheer willpower behind that action would be enough to divert the course of destiny by a couple centimeters, and it’d just cut their cheek and gouge out something like 5% of their soul. Such determination is impossible for them to replicate. Even with Lucifer’s inner world, all they can do is pretend, and if they try to dodge like that, they’ll take the Spear head-on and lose somewhere from 40 to 80% of their soul all at once. That could be instant, unambiguous death, especially if Mastema hits their inner world - and she will hit their inner world.

That cannot be allowed to happen. Not yet. Even if they’re replicating another person, Harahel is still Harahel, and they have to do what only they and Raziel can accomplish. In that miniscule period of time, Harahel has to inject some magic into the Spear of Destiny and change how it functions. A few more minor modifications, and the Spear would embed itself in the ground rather than inside Harahel’s skull. It could easily backfire, but against Mastema, Harahel has to bet on this. If they don’t take a risk, Mastema will easily outlast them, and beat them and Raziel both to death.

There.

Mastema jabs forward with the Spear. The movement is simple and straightforward. If it weren’t Mastema and if it weren’t her law, the attack could be feasibly sidestepped and countered. But, soon, the Spear will vanish, and reappear right in front of Harahel’s head, with the full weight of destiny on its side. Harahel feels it in the air, the alien concept of immutable fate. Something that doesn’t exist normally, but is given form in Mastema’s presence. Their last attempt to dodge the Spear had been based on manipulating this concept, but it hadn’t accomplished anything. After all, the fate is not the cause. It is the effect. They have to go for the cause, and though they can’t reliably land a hit on Mastema, the Spear is different.

It’s ready, Harahel.

The Spear suddenly jumps several meters forward, in the process of impaling Harahel facefirst.

Now.

Using Beelzebub’s eye, Harahel throws themself out of the way just as their consciousness reaches into the Spear. It burns away on contact, withering away into something useless and dead. But… as Harahel’s foot slams into the Spear to push it off course, it does not bend at a million impossible angles and skewer them from every direction at once. It goes off course, and hits the ground. There is a moment of shock and rigidity from the usually fluid Mastema, her eyes widening, and with Tabris-Raziel manifesting in hand, Harahel jumps forwards and slashes straight through her neck.

Angelic blood sprays all over the pristine, tacky gold floors of Araboth and stains Mastema’s white fur as Harahel lands on the ground behind her and hops away. I can’t believe that worked. Raziel’s voice is shaky, shocked. ''Fuck. First try, somehow. Nice job, Harahel.'' They don’t sound particularly hopeful about it, and Harahel can’t exactly find hope either. This isn’t anywhere close to done, after all. Mastema turns around, lifting the Spear of Destiny back from the ground. She’s back to normal, as nonplussed as ever. Maybe she didn’t even react with shock, and that was just imagined. It’s hard to tell, with Mastema.

The only reason Harahel was able to accomplish that was Goetic Grey. Thanks to this modified eye, Harahel could just barely move faster than Mastema. Sure, they’re thinking at a much faster speed, but against Mastema, this isn’t enough. They can agonize over an action for what feels like hours, only for Mastema to come to the same conclusion twenty times faster and nearly kill them in three hits the instant they sprung their well-thought plan, exploiting every opportunity. Fighting her is an exercise in futility, and thinking as fast as they are may just be a detriment.

More time to think is time to entertain doubt and second thoughts. Sometimes that works out, but other times it backfires, horribly. Even when it doesn’t, this way of thinking is inefficient. Mastema, on the other hand, has no room for doubt. And so absolute confidence shows through with every attack. She never second guesses her instincts, and any mistakes she makes are immediately dealt with. Harahel and Raziel are used to calm deliberation and an internal dialog, but Mastema stands alone and makes sound snap judgments. She’s much, much better at fighting than either of them could ever be.

It’s coming again.

Indeed, Mastema drags the Spear of Destiny over the ground, and then swings it at Harahel, at stomach level. It vanishes, and then reappears, and -

Fuck, Harahel, oh, god, you scared me… oh, fuck...

“Wh…”

21% inner world integrity.

It didn’t work this time. The Spear of Destiny had cleaved straight through their torso and cut them in two without any resistance and as if Harahel had just stood there. They had dodged, of course, but there was an impossible, indescribable movement on the Spear’s part, and their upper half had hit the ground a few moments after their lower half had uselessly crumpled. The pain is unbelievable, but distant, faded. Already, Harahel feels death creeping up.

''You weren’t hit just once. Two hits at the same time.''

Raziel starts building them a new pair of legs, and Harahel pushes themself up, into a standing position. Almost immediately, they struggle not to fall back over and die on the spot. They’re pretty sure they actually did die there for a moment, only to be pulled back to life by Raziel. “... Thanks,” Harahel whispers, knowing that Raziel is too busy to respond.

Did they make a mistake, and calculate the timing wrong? After all, they only had a single, tiny instant. The fact that they got it off the first time was miraculous, and a testament to Raziel’s skill. But they can’t expect the same trick to work twice, at least not without a hiccup. But Harahel is pretty sure they did calculate the timing wrong. No mistake is apparent in their memory, though the Spear could’ve erased part of the history contained in their complete individual concept, so that’s not reliable.

But still, they’re certain.

If they did, then… Mastema already corrected her own mistake in letting that work. After just one time, could she have adapted? Not even Raziel could have accomplished that so quickly, not when they were dealing with such complex theory in the midst of a fight, with such a tight window. Raziel is better with a controlled environment, after all. This is far from that.

It seems impossible, but… Harahel had just thought something not too long ago. Mastema is not the type to leave a mistake unrepaired. Yes, Harahel is certain. The spell they had used to divert Mastema’s Spear had been dealt with after just one use, and its use had been punished with two simultaneous strikes. One for the Spear that had been dodged, and another. Harahel has a feeling the next time will be four, and then eight. The hopeless odds get something, somewhere in their soul pumping. The agonizing pain that was at the edge of their consciousness intensifies, spreading through their soul.

''… Lucifer’s waking up. Oh, thank god, her inner world’s picking up the pace. 50% integrity. 60%.'' The strain of high-speed spiritual regeneration is intense, and it hurts more than Harahel could ever have imagined. This is how Lucifer feels every time she takes an attack? How the hell does she stay standing? It’s just another thing to admire about her, apparently.

Mastema swings the Spear of Destiny again, in an overhead arc, and Harahel, without thinking, manifests Tabris-Raziel and raises it above their head. Without thinking, a wave of telekinetic force blows away the Spears launched through Logos at the last moment. The impact of the Spear against Raziel and the impacts of Harahel’s ego against the other Spears split a stitch in their soul, ripping open a gash all the way through, but Raziel holds, stubbornly. Being Lucifer has its benefits, it seems. Harahel steps forward and slams a kick into Mastema’s stomach, and Mastema actually staggers and steps back, coughing up a glob of blood that splashes against Harahel’s face.

Of course, her inner world integrity is probably at 99%, or maybe 92% in the best case scenario. That blow means basically nothing, but… Harahel feels a bit more hopeful somehow, anyways. With this warmth in their soul, they have hope. Is this Lucifer…? Lucifer, holding onto their hand and telling them to stand strong? This warmth is… nostalgic. It can’t be anything but Lucifer, and the love for them that apparently endures in her own inner world. Raziel says nothing, as Harahel runs the thought over in their mind, as Mastema’s body twitches at less than a quarter of her true speed, dilated in Harahel’s eyes.

Harahel breathes out, and tightens their grip on Raziel.

This isn’t anywhere close to being done, at least not for them. In reality, this fight will be over and done with in less than a second. Something, like that, at least. And, with or without Lucifer behind them, Harahel and Raziel will almost certainly both die. But maybe, just maybe, they can drag Mastema down with them. They’ll have to work a thousand times harder for every step they push Mastema back. But they’re willing to put that work in. More willing than ever before. It being three against one will only make it easier.