Darkness and light clashed as the beam struck the angel, explosions mixing with crimson flames, disintegrating everything in their path.
Behind the beam, only darkness remained, like cracks in the fabric of reality, revealing the void beneath. The dark fissures expanded, but amidst them, a bright light flashed, and the angel burst out.
Their feathers were charred, a few wings missing, but the silver flames around them blazed brighter than ever.
Wordlessly, the angel flapped their remaining wings and sped toward the dragon. Like a silver arrow, they crashed into the dark barrier, which buckled and shattered, the silver light piercing through.
Vesuvius raised his claw, catching the blade of silver flames. He could feel the immense force pushing forward, but he didn't budge. He realized it—he was mighty.
All his hard work paid off as he faced one of the strongest angels of heaven.
He stood firm in the air, like a mountain of darkness against the light. Without the barrier, countless angelic attacks pelted him, only to disappear in the burning, dark disk around him.
"You are strong, dragon, but I will prevail!" the angel bellowed, each word filled with divine power as he pushed the sword forward with even greater force.
The much larger claw was pushed back, making Vesuvius widen his eyes in shock. Then he grinned viciously and opened his mouth, unleashing a pitch-black spray of his void breath straight at the angel, the darkness eroding reality around him.
"Ahh!" The angel screamed with surprising intensity, the void eroding the wings of light and fire one by one.
A sudden shift in the air. Vesuvius's threat sense screamed. He twisted, barely avoiding the dark blade that stabbed through where he had been. An angel in a dark hooded robe materialized, wide dark wings like a black vulture's, their sword reeking of death.
The aura of holy and deathly power hit Vesuvius like a physical blow.
'Azrael, angel of death,' Vesuvius recognized the legendary reaper-turned-angel. 'Azrael's sword, a scythe forged by the god of death for one of their grims, and later reforged by the father of angels into this sword.'
Their cheers and chants resonated through the battlefield.
'The god of light,' Vesuvius realized—he knew it was coming, but he still couldn't help but feel a bit of anxiety. Even the demon dragon flapped his wings, quickly returning beside Vesuvius, using the distraction of angels.
"You have trespassed long enough," the god's voice boomed, shaking the heavens. The mere light they emitted felt like a furnace, and Vesuvius's armor began to melt.
Even he almost quaked—it was incomparable to face a god personally rather than just their avatar. Yet he noticed this god was likely even more powerful than the god of metal, forging, smithing, and earth from before.
"I have it, let us vanish, dragon!" The familiar voice rang from the vault's ruins below. At last, Vesuvius grinned, and his domain enveloped him, the fallen angel below, and the demonic dragon in the sky.
The space around them curved, but then the being of light turned into a blinding streak, sweeping the fallen angel off the ground, tearing something glowing out of their hand.
They reappeared back in the sky in the blink of an eye.
'Fast, they are fast!' Even Vesuvius was shocked by the sheer speed he had just witnessed as he stopped the warping of space a moment before it could reach the threshold of transporting them, freezing the teleportation.
"Stealing from me?! The god?! How could you think you could succeed!" The light rose higher into the sky, its bright power intensifying, together with the burning pain enveloping the dragon.
Gabriel, Mikhail, and Azrael flapped their wings, surrounding the god like honor guards. Yet, Vesuvius's eyes fell upon a fourth angel approaching the god.
He opened his mouth and said, "God of light? Tell me, is there a way for a sinner like me to redeem myself?"
"What?! Do you want to betray us?!" Satanael beside him burst with terrifying crimson fire, all seven heads turning threateningly toward Vesuvius.
Vesuvius's heart raced, facing the god, and the potentially murderously enraged dragon beside him. 'Not directly attacking, you the sin of anger? That means you must have understood and noticed it too.'
The god's radiance seemed to waver for a moment as if contemplating the unexpected question. The surrounding angels paused, their weapons still poised for battle.