Chapter 23 23: Raphael’s Might!

Even though Azekiel hated Michael, he wanted to be the one to kill Michael with his own two hands. That was going to be his way of ending things with the man who once used to be his friend, but after finding the reality of Michael, he had long forgotten his naive thoughts.

He had realized that Michael wasn't worthy of his undiluted attention. He wasn't worthy of a fair battle. Now the fight was going to be the way Azekiel wanted.

"I want Michael on his knees before me in thirty seconds," Azekiel declared his command to Raphael. "He wanted to see a King; I will show him a King."

Raphael slowly opened his eyes, revealing the beauty hidden in his eyes mixed with pain and torment.

Raphael simply nodded his head. "It shall be done."

His figure flickered as he appeared before Michael.

"Shield of Aria!" Michael roared, finding Raphael right before him.

A beautiful blue shield appeared before him, which surrounded him from all sides as he braced for an attack, but the attack never came. Raphael didn't attack him.

Raphael simply placed his hand on the shield and muttered one simple word. It was unclear which word he spoke as no one could even hear him, but as soon as he finished, something happened.

The entire shield shattered to pieces as if it was made of the weakest glass.

As the shield broke, A spear came towards the chest of Raphael from the other side as Michael snickered. It was as if he was expecting something like this and was waiting for this moment.

His spear stabbed the chest of Raphael, impaling him!

"If you think that you are enough to scare me, think twice!" Michael scoffed. "I was just having fu-"

He abruptly stopped as he sensed danger around him. At the last second, he jumped to the side, barely avoiding the claws of Raphael that were only a few inches away from him as they moved past.

As for the figure that was stabbed by the spear... He turned into smoke as if he wasn't even real. He was just an illusory figure that wasn't real. Real Raphael was behind Michael all along.

Even as Michael dodged, Raphael didn't stop. He appeared right before Michael. His hands turned into sharp claws once again, which he swung towards the chest of Michael.

Michael barely managed to find his footing as he brought the spear before his chest to block the attacks.

The Claws hit the spear. Even though the Claws weren't strong enough to break a Weapon of Sin, just the sheer strength behind that attack was so much that Michael couldn't manage to hold the Spear of Pride firmly in his hand.

The spear of Pride slipped from his hands and flew far away, landing in the distance on the left side of Michael, right before Azekiel. At the same time, a kick landed on the chest of Michael, which sent him flying back, increasing the distance between the Spear of Pride and Michael even more.

Azekiel gazed at the entire battle with slight amazement. The strength of Raphael... He was really strong, especially now that he had the boost because of Azekiel's excess strength.

Previously, Raphael could only use one person of his strength because Azekiel was so weak, but now that Azekiel was as strong as Michael, Raphael could use a bigger percentage of his strength which was all he needed to face a weakened Michael!

Not only had Michael lost half his strength, but he was also weakened because he was fighting against the Ruler of this Floor! The advantages of Ruler of the Floor even extended to Raphael as well.

Michael was indeed at a disadvantage, but he still didn't give up. His pride didn't allow him to give up.

He placed his hand on the ground as he sat on one knee. "Spears of Destruction!"

He cast another spell. He wasn't going to give in that easily.

Hundreds of golden spears appeared around him, floating in the air. The spears weren't as strong as the Spear of Sin as they were only made from the energy of the Tower and this skill, but still, the sheer number of the spears made it impossible to dodge them.

All Hundreds of Spears shot towards Raphael, who was running towards Michael. There was no room for Raphael to avoid. He couldn't dodge.

As the spears reached close to Raphael, he did something he hadn't done before.

The two beautiful black wings behind him spread wide. The wings looked so beautiful as they were spread as if they truly belonged to an angel, despite being pitch black in color.

As the wings of Raphael spread, his body shot up. Michael was clever to cover all escape paths, but he had forgotten something even more important! Raphael had wings, and those wings weren't just for show. Raphael could actually fly.

Raphael didn't Dodge the attack by going left or right, but he dodged them by going up.

He flew past the rain of Spears and landed right before Michael.

Michael prepared to attack again as he moved back, but this time Raphael didn't give him time.

*****

Back in his place, Azekiel gazed at the spear of Sin.

"A weapon of Sin. I wonder how you'll feel if you die by your own weapon? That should be fun." Azekiel bent forward to pick up the spear of Pride.

"Argh!" As soon as he touched the spear, he felt a terrible current course through his body. A notification also opened before him.

[Warning: You can't use another King's Weapon of Sin]

"Tsk." Azekiel rolled his eyes as he turned his attention back to Michael.

On his own timer, there were still fifty seconds left of this strength, but in the thirty seconds he had given Raphael, only ten seconds were remaining.

Azekiel ran to Raphael, noticing what he had achieved already. He could see that Michael was sitting on his knees, groaning in pain. Both his legs were broken by Raphael.

Not only that but both his hands were crushed as well. Raphael only took twenty seconds to defeat a weakened Michael.

Michael glared at Azekiel with bloodlust in his eyes. Raphael had his claws around the neck of Michael, ready to crush.

Raphael gazed at Azekiel as if waiting for permission. "Still five seconds left in the time I was given. Should I kill him?"

Azekiel stared deep into the eyes of Michael. He couldn't tell how amazing this moment truly felt. The positions were reversed! Just a little while ago, in a different future, Michael stood in his place like a king while he was on his knees, begging for forgiveness. And now, the roles were reversed.

"Michael, didn't you use to act so prideful? Why are you sitting on your knees before this beggar? What happened? Not in the mood to talk? The two minutes that you gave me are over. But my two minutes... Still going on. That's the difference between you and me."

Azekiel stepped closer to Michael. "That's the difference between you and a real King. Now you understand?"

He grabbed Michael by his hair and pulled out a knife while dragging Michael to the ground. "If you ever get reincarnated, don't forget this lesson. Too much Pride can be bad for health. This tower is mine, and I'll take it all! Unfortunately, you won't be here to see..."

"You will pay for this," Michael commented with clenched teeth. He had never felt so insulted in his life as he did now.

p "Oh? And how will you make me pay?" Azekiel asked, letting out a light chuckle. "Your soul will come back to haunt me? I've already paid my fair share in my life. I won't pay anything now! I'll only take!"

Azekiel raised his knife, prepared to kill Michael.

"Things could've been so different between us if only..." Azekiel gazed at the pitiful condition of Michael.

"Azekiel, if you think you have what it takes to kill me, you are in for a rude awakening. I will destroy you and that toy angel of yours." Michael's lips were bleeding.

Multiple bones of his were broken, yet he seemed so confident. Azekiel couldn't help but wonder why that was...? Something didn't seem right.