Three winged people descend at my surroundings.
“…What’s happening?”
Fire Demon Lord, Michael.
And there’s also Gabriel and Uriel.
The Demon Lords have all gathered here.
“The one fighting is… Raphael?!” (Gabriel)
“Why? Isn’t it already unnecessary to fight humans?!” (Uriel)
The battle still continued to unfold in front of us.
After losing Kukulkan, Hyue had no choice but to rely on En no Ozuno, and Raphael had disassembled his body again to fly around and attack.
But the battle was already at its climax.
Both sides are completely exhausted and their speeds are already quite lower than at the beginning.
But the wind long gun techniques that Hyue had trained for long years are still sharp, and she managed to accurately shoot down the armor parts.
“Raphael! That idiot! Isn’t he getting beaten up?!” (Uriel)
“If both sides have run out of divine power and it turns into a battle of wills, the humans who have overcome many difficulties are in the advantage. Raphael doesn’t understand that!” (Michael)
“It is because he underestimates humans that things have turned out like this! We are stopping this before they can deal the finishing blow!! Geez, that broken Demon Lord really causes trouble at every step!!” (Gabriel)
Michael, Gabriel, and Uriel try to jump into the middle of that maelstrom in order to stop the battle.
There’s no doubt that if these three world-class powers were to go there, they would be able to restrain the those two that are lacking in breath.
But I lifted my arm and stopped the Demon Lords.
“Kuromiya Haine! Why are you stopping us?!” (Michael)
Michael was confused, but I ask.
“Why did you guys come here? How did you guys notice something like this was happening?” (Haine)
“We Demon Lords have a kind of instinct that allows us to sense the other Demon Lords. Thanks to that, we were able to sense that Raphael was in some sort of danger.” (Michael)
I see.
We Gods have a similar kind of thing between us, so I could accept it pretty easily.
In that case, these guys are the only ones who noticed. I don’t have to worry about whether Shiva and Karen-san have also noticed at Rudras Metropolis.
“Don’t interfere.” (Haine)
“What?” (Michael)
“You can’t get involved in that fight. That fight is a fight for only Hyue and Raphael. No other people can get involved.” (Haine)
The Demon Lords looked like they couldn’t accept my words.
The same as me a few moments ago.
“What are you saying?! We Demon Lords have already decided not to fight humans!” (Gabriel)
“Since this has been decided, there’s no point in fighting anymore. Pointless things should be stopped at once!” (Michael)
No, there’s meaning.
“It is too late already. Raphael is different from you guys. He already began his confrontation with humans. Once something has begun, it can’t be stopped midway. There’s no choice but to do it till the end.” (Haine)
“What are you saying?! Michael, Uriel, and I have also fought the humans at first! But at the end, we understood each other, isn’t that right?!” (Gabriel)
I said the same thing as them. But now, I can tell that it is different.
Something that one can’t go back from.
Because something like that happened, you can say that the battle had truly begun.
“Raphael was the first Demon Lord to meet humans and fight them. And in all that, he broke a human and drove him into an unrecoverable state.” (Haine)
It cannot be taken back.
“And Raphael himself as well. Most of his body was erased by me and it is now in a state where he can’t regenerate completely. Even if he is a Demon Lord, there was apparently a limit.” (Haine)
It cannot be taken back.
“When there’s things that can’t be taken back. Hatred is the only choice to fill that space that has been lost. There’s no other way to fill that space than to hate the one that stole it, that broke it. That’s why those two have to fight. Until the hatred that seeps into the cracks of the heart are withered without leaving a single bit behind.” (Haine)
That is what I have understood as a spectator.
That’s why the two wanted to fight on their own.
“Hyue, and most likely Raphael as well, are fighting on their own and have rejected assistance. That’s probably because they don’t want their hatred to leak to the outside.” (Haine)
“Hatred…to the outside?!” (Michael)
“It is true that there are times when fighting can allow the parties involved to understand each other. In order to win, they analyze their opponent, and they learn about their strengths and weaknesses that go beyond friendship, and that changes into a connection.” (Haine)
But in the end, by fighting, there will always be hatred rising up as well.
After hurting and breaking each other, it is a matter of fact that they would end up hating each other.
“Michael, Gabriel, Uriel; if you guys were to participate in that fight as well, you would definitely end up hating humans.” (Haine)
“Impossible! Something like that is just…” (Michael)
“Hate can transmit to others.” (Haine)
When a loved one is hurt, hatred is born.
Just like how Hyue couldn’t not feel hate when her brother Shiva had been gravely injured.
There’s only one way to be unrelated to that. To not participate in the battle.
“Those two most likely understand this instinctively. Now that there’s hatred in their hearts, they can’t simply not fight. They can’t let that hatred leak to the outside, that’s why, they are fighting on their own.” (Haine)
That must be the reason why they chose this day for their fight.
In order for Shiva to not notice, she thought that there was no other day than in the day of his wedding.
“This is to settle things. Something that only they can end. For the sake of ending the circle of hate, they have to fight by themselves!!” (Haine)
Even by going to the lengths of refusing the help of Gods —refusing the power of a God Hero.
“If they understand that much…! Then why don’t they stop fighting?! If they are intelligent, why don’t they think of a different way?!” (Uriel)
Uriel says this as if he were raising a scream.
True, he does have a point.
“Even with that…they just can’t not fight. They most likely have a reason that is estranged from matters of intelligence or foolishness.” (Haine)
****
“Raaaaaaaah!!”
“Kiiiieeeeeee!!”
The two fought in order to spit out the emotions they couldn’t do anything about.
Flying armor, and wind bullets shooting them down.
It was truly a battle akin to a storm, lacking all sense of order or anything else. As spectators, we had no choice but to silently watch over it.
In time, there were the sounds of a bell ringing at the direction of Rudras Metropolis, and big loud cheers that reached all the way here echoed.
The wedding of Shiva and Juo-san must have started.
Hatred with hatred, happiness with happiness; they were being divided as if being two completely unrelated matters.
- 368: Friend of mine
Then, the battle finished.
It wasn’t a clear thing like one winning against the other.