Three months had passed since Jormungandr's invasion, a moment that reshaped history. It was an attack unlike any in decades and changed the lives of many. Thousands perished, and only a few survived. But for those who did, home was nothing more than an empty shell. No clothing, no photographs, no books filled with memories, all they found were hollow remains.
Could it still be called home if there was nothing to return to?
Determined to face the future, the group trained relentlessly, sharpening their skills and refining their techniques. Asura, now wielding holy mana, dedicated himself to mastering his newfound blessing. To shape himself into a weapon that could fight back against those who dared to harm his friends. Because, if he didn't, who knows if they could overcome the monster Malachi would bring next into this world.
Within the training room of Mary's cathedral, two warriors clashed with vigor, each striving to overpower the other. Asura laughed, his four arms striking at Lydia in a relentless barrage, using them individually in a rhythm of strikes.
These exhilarating battles were what the ogre lived for. Adrenaline surged through his veins, igniting a sensation he never wished to part with, a blend of pain and joy, an intoxicating mix that flooded him with euphoria. His arms stung from Lydia's counterattacks, and his muscles burned from the electricity coursing through them, but none of it mattered.
Lydia moved in sync with Asura, blocking or redirecting his strikes with fluid precision. She seized every opening, retaliating with fierce jabs and devastating hooks. Mana coursed through her limbs while lightning cracked into arcs from her skin. Every strike sent powerful electrical discharges into Asura, each impact detonating like a cannon's blast.
Yet, the ogre never let her gain ground. Instead, he pressed forward with the same intensity. After three months of grueling training together, they had come to understand each other's fighting styles better than anyone else. It was as if they could anticipate the other's moves before they even happened. As Asura's fists struck, they blazed with white flames, as though dipped into flaming oil that coated his skin. He taunted Lydia,
"You're going to lose eventually, you know." Asura said with a grin.
"The only reason you beat me is because you have four arms!" She remarked, her brilliant eyes shining with joy, and a smile curving her lips.
"Excuses, excuses." Asura playfully retorted as the two continued to strike each other.
"Our record is thirty-four to thirty in my favor, you know." Lydia said. Her words were full of pride.
Asura leaned back, narrowly avoiding a spinning kick as Lydia flipped midair, sending a second strike right after. He dodged to the right and attempted to seize her leg with all four arms, but Lydia had already anticipated his move. Just as his grip tightened around her calf, she snapped her fingers.
A wicked smile spread across her face.
Asura's eyes widened, and without hesitation, he released her. His instincts screamed at him as he raised his arms in defense. Crossing all four limbs before him, he formed a makeshift shield. In an instant, a translucent golden-armored Angel manifested before him, gripping a massive greatsword. Ah, shit. The ogre thought, his stomach twisting.
With a swift, merciless swing, the Angel brought the sword down as though executing a prisoner of war. The blade crashed against Asura's reinforced arms, failing to pierce his near-impenetrable skin. Yet, its sheer force alone was enough to shake the ground beneath him, fissures splintering outward from his stance.
Lydia had managed to create the Angel with twenty-six strikes, crafting it with rampant mana that fueled it like an unquenchable, raging fire. Normally, the Angel would vanish after its first attack, leaving only the destruction as proof of its existence. But this time, it remained, standing with a fiery resolve. Asura narrowed his eyes. What makes you different?
The Angel held its stance perfectly, locking him down. The weight of the sword had pinned him, leaving his back exposed. Asura groaned, exhaling sharply, and then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a flicker of movement. A blur shot toward him, fast as lightning. His muscles tensed. He knew exactly what was coming next.
"Shit!" Asura exclaimed urgency etched across his face.
The ogre seized the blade with an iron grip, his fingers digging into the imitation metal. Cracks splintered outward, rippling down from the blade into the Angel's arms as though it were an extension of its body. Asura's mana surged through all four limbs, igniting the tattoos etched into his skin. Like pistons in an engine, the runes flared to life, releasing concentrated bursts of white condensed flame.
The Angel crumbled beneath his overwhelming strength, its form shattering into nothingness. But Asura had no time to revel in his victory.
Lydia was already on the attack. She lunged, her right leg flashing forward with raw power, mana surging through every fiber of her muscles. Lightning crackled, vicious and wild, arcing toward anything within reach. The golden flashes were mesmerizing, but Asura knew better than to admire them. He had to block.
"Caught you." Lydia smirked, her leg inches from his face.
A single bolt leaped from her shin to his nose, jolting the ogre and reminding him exactly where they stood. Outside the training room, they were friends. Inside, they were the fiercest of rivals.
Asura reacted in a flash, raising his two right arms to intercept the strike. His forearms smacked against her shin, deflecting the attack with minimal contact. But the damage was done.
Electricity coursed through his skin, tearing through his veins and muscles like chains of fire. His body spasmed, his movements sluggish. The paralysis lasted only a second, but it was a second too long.
Lydia struck again. As Asura's holy mana worked to purge the interference, she planted her right foot down, pivoted, and launched another kick with her left leg. The ball of her foot collided squarely with his back, sending a shockwave of electrified holy mana directly into his spine.
Asura gasped. His muscles locked. His legs went limp and it felt like boulders were tied to his arms. The ogre could only watch as he went airborne. He flew forward, his frame tumbling and rolling across the ground like a ragdoll. Each impact sent sharp jolts of pain through his body.
"Fuck." His side slammed against the marble. "Gah." His back struck next. "Shit." His skull cracked against the floor, a searing headache clouding his vision. "Damn it."
Asura finally skidded to a stop, sprawled out on the cold stone. His body convulsed as lingering electricity clung to his nerves. But as Uriel's holy mana surged through him, it fought off the invading energy like a plague trying to corrupt its vessel.
Asura barely had a moment to recover before the heavy thuds of approaching footsteps echoed in his ears. His eyes widened. "Give me a break vile woman!" He shouted.
His fingers dug into the ground and ripped two massive chunks of marble from the floor. As Lydia closed in, he channeled his mana into the rocks, setting them ablaze. White flames crackled violently, their heat distorting the air around them.
Lydia faltered for only a moment. Sweat dripped from her forehead as the heat battered her, sending ripples of pain through her body. Every instinct screamed at her to stop, to back away, but she had fought this ogre too many times to listen to her instincts.
She smirked. "Good old faithful," Lydia said. "A rock."
Asura hurled the burning stones with all his might. They roared through the air, blazing like twin comets. To his surprise, Lydia didn't flinch, or falter. Instead, electricity surged through her right arm, forming a golden gauntlet of lightning.
The first rock came fast. She met it head-on with a brutal punch, shattering it into searing fragments. The gauntlets absorbed most of the impact, keeping the flames from scorching her flesh, but the smoldering debris rained down, leaving fresh burns along her arms. She winced but powered through.
The second rock followed immediately behind. This time, she changed tactics. Instead of smashing it, she scooped her hands beneath the rock, smashing it just before it reached her face. Her muscles tensed and she heaved upward, redirecting its momentum over her shoulder.
It narrowly missed her, but not without cost. The heat torched her skin as it passed, leaving a burning reminder of their fight. Lydia scowled, her voice laced with irritation as she pushed forward. "I, now, hate fire because of you!"
The lightning gauntlet on her arm crackled and flared, mirroring her rising fury. Her blue eyes burned with determination and pride, unwilling to let her opponent gain another score. She thrust her left hand forward, electricity surging down her arm to mirror the crackling mana of the other.
Asura chuckled, his laughter rolling through the training hall as he locked eyes with her. That same fiery determination reflected in the white-hot suns in his eyes. A wicked grin stretched across his face as the two warriors closed the gap between them.
"Don't hurt yourself!" he teased, raising an eyebrow. "Maybe you should let me have this one. Lookin' a little rough."
"Hah! You wish!" Lydia barked a laugh, undeterred. "Even if I'm just a head, I'll bite at you. I refuse to lose."
Asura braced himself, raising his arms in anticipation of the incoming lightning-charged strikes. He knew all too well the pain they carried, haunted by the searing jolts even in his nightmares. Asura swore he'd punch her angel in the face if he ever met them. Whoever gave you that shit is the worst mother fucker ever… He thought as his gaze flickered toward her gauntlets, fully expecting the next attack to come from her fists.
That was his first mistake.
A sharp blow slammed into his lower abdomen. His eyes darted downward just in time to see Lydia's shin buried deep into his side. Then, the lightning followed, like a delayed strike. A shockwave of electricity tore through his body, stealing his breath. A sharp yelp escaped his lips.
"You asshole!" he shouted, voice tight with pain.
Asura instinctively reached for her leg, but Lydia was already one step ahead. She had learned long ago that grappling with a four-armed freak like him was a losing battle. Instead, she drove her fist forward.
Her knuckles connected with his face in a brutal right hook. Caught off guard, Asura reeled backward as another wave of electricity erupted from her gauntlet, flooding his senses with dizziness. His head swam, his vision blurred, and his mouth went numb. The holy fire from his curse drooled uncontrollably from his lips, spilling onto the front of his shirt in thick, molten streams. Lydia recoiled in disgust but pressed on.
She aimed another strike at his exposed side, but Asura snapped back to focus. He saw his opening. "Gotcha." He said, powering through the agony. His voice was uneven, and one side of his face slackened from the residual shock. But his smirk was unmistakable.
White flames erupted around his two right fists as he lunged. Lydia's eyes widened in the split second before impact. She had no time to block. Crap. I'm caught. Lydia thought, shifting her attention to another defense. She tried to press her fingers against one another to snap.
The twin strikes crashed into her chest, shattering ribs and driving every ounce of air from her lungs. She choked out a gasp, crimson spilling from her lips as the force of the blow launched her backward. The world spun around her.
Asura moved to pursue but then he heard it. Another snap. His ears perked as the sharp sound cut through the air, and his heart sank. "You gotta be—"
Holy mana materialized beside him, and Asura acted on pure instinct. His left fists swung at the empty space, anticipating what was coming. And just as he predicted, an angel appeared mid-strike. The towering figure gripped a massive rectangular shield, raising it just in time to intercept Asura's blow. The impact sent a shockwave through the room, yet the angel remained unshaken, standing like an immovable fortress.
"Oh, you sneaky little—"
Before he could finish, the angel retaliated. The shield slammed into his side, the intense force knocking him off balance, and sending him tumbling once more. His eyes widened in shock. He hadn't expected it to go on the offensive. "You sly devil," he muttered, digging his fingers into the ground to steady himself. Wait—Lydia outsmarted me. Do these things even think?
The angel vanished in a burst of golden flame, but Asura barely had a second to process before Lydia was back on the attack. Her fists, crackling with electricity, hammered into his raised guard. He blocked each strike, predicting her movements like a well-rehearsed dance. She followed with a kick aimed at his face, but he deflected it.
A cocky grin tugged at his lips. "We've been through this before, fight twenty-eight! I know you." Asura said.
Lydia's next kick struck high before snapping low, the ball of her foot as a lethal weapon poised to shatter bone like a hammer. Yet, Asura deflected it effortlessly, swatting it aside with his hands as if brushing away an insect.
Then he saw it. That slight, knowing smirk at the corner of her lips. Asura's stomach dropped. "Oh—"
Too late. As Lydia's feet hit the ground, she lunged forward, slamming into Asura's lower body with enough force to send the massive ogre crashing onto his back. "Yet, you keep falling for the same old tricks," she teased.
Asura groaned before Lydia reared her right fist back, golden mana crackling to life along her arm. The raw mana-forged lightning coiled and snapped around her like a living force, eager to be unleashed. It raged against her skin, barely contained, demanding release. As she poured more power into it, the glow expanded, illuminating the training room in a harsh golden light that banished every shadow.
Then, she struck. Her fist collided with Asura's cheek like a warhammer meeting steel, sending a shockwave through the room. Golden sparks scattered like molten stars, hissing as they met the floor. The roaring boom of the impact echoed, thunder chasing the destruction.
Asura's mind momentarily blanked as the lightning pierced through his skull, frying every nerve along his spine. His body spasmed violently, his muscles seized as it rippled like a numb wave through down his body. A groan escaped his lips as he fought to stay conscious and a shiver shook his body.
Above him, Lydia grinned victoriously, settling herself comfortably atop his broad chest. "Let's call it my win," she announced, patting his chest in mock comfort. Asura didn't respond. Instead, he leaned back against the cold marble, relishing its cool touch.
The training room responded to their brief pause, its enchantments kicking in. The marble floor healed itself, smoothing over every crack, erasing every sign of their battle. Even the air seemed to calm, smoothing their expelled mana like wrinkles in a blanket, erasing any trace of the fight as if it had never occurred.
"You really need to stop letting me win." Lydia said. Her smile was present but a hint of dissatisfaction lingered behind her tone.
"Letting you win?" Asura arched a brow. "God, I wish. You fucking hurt." He spat out a small flicker of flame onto the floor beside him like a drunk man spilling out his guts content. Asura groaned again.
Lydia, unimpressed, poked his face. "Well, you don't use the Spear of Uriel like you did with Jormungandr. So that means you aren't going all out." She leaned closer to his face. "You're holding back."
"What do you want me to do?" Asura said. "Kill you?"
Lydia shrugged as if considering the possibility, then stood up and brushed herself off. "Its better than being allowed to win, in my opinion."
Asura sighed, sitting up with a smirk. "I think we both know I'm not letting you win. If I were, I'd stop getting my ass whooped." He said, before rising to his feet.
"Then use your blessing more!" Lydia shot back, crossing her arms.
Asura threw up all four of his hands in exasperation. "I can't just sit around and charge up like some TV show villain! You want me to stand there like—" He suddenly dropped into a squat, contorting his face in exaggerated strain before bursting into an ear-piercing scream.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Asura shouted, his face tensed. "Witness my ultimate form!"
Asura thrust his hands forward, shaking them as if unleashing an unstoppable attack. Instead, a tiny, pathetic flicker of flame coughed out from his palms, sizzling out before even hitting the ground.
Lydia doubled over laughing and placed her hands on her hips. "Okay, fine. I believe you." She shook her head as if to rid herself of the laughter. "Let's go for another round. That's thirty-five to thirty now."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Asura smirked at Lydia as she readied herself. As he watched her, he found himself hoping these fights would never end. They were the highlight of his days, a perfect balance of pain and exhilaration. Mel's cool too, but getting shot all the time was annoying as hell. If only Wain could've stayed and sparred a little, and Rose is always busy, Ash was just an ass, and Kane—poor guy hasn't been doing so hot since the fight. But Mary? She refuses to spar. Lame. He thought as he stared off.
Just as the two prepared to clash again, the massive doors to the training room swung open. "The Captain and Mary want to see you, Asura." Asura groaned immediately at the sound of Mel's voice. It always grated on his nerves like an older sister ordering her little brother around.
"Five more minutes!" He protested, pleading like a child.
Mel didn't even blink. Her unamused glare was on full display. "Do I need to drag you there?"
"But moooooommmmm." Asura said, stomping in place.
Mel rolled her eyes, her hand moving to her holster. "I'll shoot you. I swear I'll do it." She stated.
"And what would that achieve?" Asura asked. He raised his eyebrows, his gaze unimpressed.
"In the name of Judex Divinum, I will find a way to end your life," Mel declared dryly. "I'll hold you down, shoot a bullet through your eye till it reaches that empty skull of yours. You pee wee-brained moron, I will do everything in my power to bring your corpse there."
Lydia snorted, enjoying the sibling war unfolding before her. The ogre let out a defeated sigh. "Fine, fine… I'm coming." With heavy reluctance, he hung his head, dreading the meeting with two of the most serious workaholics in existence. As he passed Mel in the doorway, he couldn't help but toss a few parting insults her way. "Buzz killer. Fun ruiner. Karen the endless asshole—" He mocked.
"Demon scum," Mel cut in, her tone dry.
"Racist bi—" Before the last syllable left his mouth, Mel had her gun pressed against the back of his head with a speed that even Asura couldn't react to.
"Want to continue?" she asked sweetly.
Asura cleared his throat. "Nah. I'm cool."
With that, the two walked through the grand marble hallway, flanked by towering black stone pillars. Its pristine, unblemished surfaces always unsettled Asura. The entire cathedral felt… unnatural in its perfection. It was as if he were walking into heaven through the halls of the cathedral. Even the air smelled cleaner, fresher, so much so that each breath felt like it actively healed his lungs.
"I wonder if this place can wash off my sweat for me," Asura mused. "Just delete the stink from my body. That'd be nice."
"Look... I know you don't want to deal with her any more than I do. Let's convince the captain to leave together. You and me." Mel said, eagerness present in her voice.
Asura chuckled, "I kinda like it here." A smile parted his lips. "Lydia's fun to spar with. It's not creepy and not like a maze like the old cathedral. No creepy ghost hands. Plus, the fact it brings you pain and suffering brings me joy." The ogre flashed his smile as she walked behind.
"I hate you." Mel said and let out a pained sigh.
Asura couldn't help but belly laugh at the blunt reply. "She only nags you, to be honest." He shrugged as if the problem were none of his concern.
Mel rolled her eyes, her head tilting back as a sigh escaped her. "Ughhhh. I know. Asshole."
Asura straightened up, trying to sound serious, puffing out his chest. "Woah now, priest lady. You can't be saying such words. It's unbefitting for a woman of your stature! That foul language has no place in this house of Judex!"
Mel snorted, laughing at Asura's imitation of the captain. "You should do that to his face."
"He'd kill me." Asura replied. He straightened his arms, stretching out the fibers of sore muscles.
"I know." She curtly said. Her intention was clear.
Asura stole a quick glance at her, catching her smiling face. At least she's joking this time... Hopefully.