Infinity: Rising of the Soul Weavers

*Our Last Night - Same Old War *

"Alright, very good," Kayla said with a smile. "I'll leave you guys to it then, hehe..."

Saying that with a wink towards Maya's, or rather, her own subordinates, Kayla's eyes slowly dimmed before her clone started turning into fluorescent particles that spread around her original position.

These dim fluorescent particles were nothing but Cyber Particles that have run out of energy, which lead them to a state of hibernation. They were far from dying out.

Seeing that, Maya's lead Holy Angel quickly nodded. Approaching those glowing Cyber Particles, he allowed them into his own body. 

Although Michael's subordinates were confused by his actions, he didn't bother talking about it.. Instead, he started patiently explaining the 'test' Kayla has spoken of.

***

At a certain place in the empty void, a rather intense fight was going on in full swing.

Two figures, one feminine and the other masculine, entangled against one another. Both figures were glowing with a white radiance that gave an illusion of being comfortable and warm to the touch, but it was nothing but that, an illusion.

Four pairs of wings were fluttering behind each of two figures, radiating with immense power.

At first, the fight was nothing but a measure of one's internal energy capacity, which mostly involved special skills and mana techniques.

However, as the fight progressed further, it got a lot more close and personal. As their mana dried out -after hours of continuous fighting- the two fighters resorted to the most primitive way of fighting; fists and kicks.

With that being said, trickery and the use of one's brain was still in use. That's why, one of the figures, the feminine one, was currently slowing down her movements, as if she had already run out of oil.

"Hahaha!" The masculine winged figure laughed hysterically as he punched and kicked, not allowing the feminine figure a chance to retaliate. "Raphael, I've told you that it's useless to go against me, yet you insisted on being such a pain!

"However, it's gratifying to see you now in this state. Only after hours of fighting did you realize your mistakes, ahahaha!"

Laughing as he did, he suddenly made a surprising move and extended his hand in order to grab one of Raphael's eight wings.

For angels, their wings were an important source of energy. Or rather, they are what represents the strength of an angel; the loss of one wing is enough to cause their combat power to drop by one eighth of their original strength.

Not only that, but wings are also a great indication of an angel's rank and status amongst the others.

That's why, the masculine figure extended his hand forward, a maniacal grin spread across his face as though he had already won the fight.

As his hand was a hair's breadth away, the feminine figure suddenly grinned mischievously.

With a wink, Raphael disappeared from her spot. Appearing behind the confused masculine winged figure, she got a hold of two of his wings.

"Michael, oh Michael," she shook her, but the grin forming across her face only got more sinister. "You're truly annoying. You're always on guard, not trusting any opening I give you…

"Ah, it really took hours until this finally worked, huh… well, whatever… the original plan was taking one of those wings of yours and playing it cautiously, but now after what you've done, I'll 'reward you' by taking two in one go!"

Saying that, she stepped on Michael's neck, as if he was a small stepping stool, and then pulled as hard as she could with her two hands while kicking with her foot even harder. Her own wings started beating in order to strengthen her own pulling momentum.

Inside her Mana Field, although air was not present, the mana itself worked as a resistor and a medium that allowed her wings to contribute to her movements.

Michael, who seemed so frightened, was doing his best to resist while gritting his teeth. However, there was only so much he could do in his exhausted state.

A few moments passed between the two as they played tug of war with two wings and two grips. 

*Rip!*

Suddenly, a terrifying heart-splitting ripping sound escaped from the base of the two wings involved. Immediately after, Michael's mouth opened in a silent scream as his eyes cried tears of white, involuntarily. Subconsciously, he could not help but think back to Uriel's ear piercing cries.

Maya, in her full angel form, was left with two pure white wings in her hands as she was forced back by her own pulling force.

The sinister grin on her face and the dark evil glint in her silver eyes made her look like the devil's incarnate. "Michael oh poor Michael, look at you-"

"What did you do to me!?" Michael interrupted, shouting without a sense of reason. "How dare you!? Useless scum, how dare you take my wings!?

"I'll kill you! Even if it's the last thing I do, I will kill you! I'll murder you eland that girl you went crazy for! That planet of hers will be personally destroyed by me- ah!"

Suddenly, as he was yelling threats like a maniac, a fist crashed against his white teeth like a meteor falling from high orbit, shattering a couple of his teeth.

"Don't you dare threaten me, do you understand?" Raphael -no, Maya- looked at Michael with dead serious eyes as a dangerous glint shone in them. "Don't you understand? 

"We got to this point simply because you didn't understand that Raven is my girl and no one can hurt her or her loved ones.

"If you had respected my wishes and didn't mess with my memories in the first place, you would now have all of your eight wings. But oh well, things do happen-" 

Saying that with another evil grin, she got a hold of another pair of his white wings.

*Rip!*

A similar, yet somehow more terrifying, scene took place as Maya ripped one wing after the other.

With a total of four wings left and half of his overall strength lost, Michael did not even have the time to threaten or speak loudly. All he could do was scream in his mind as his eyes leaked pure white blood.

'How could this be?' he asked himself amidst the internal cries. 'How did I lose to the youngest Seraph? I, Michael, am the oldest and the leader of the Seraphim of the End…

'She must be cheating! 

'She has to be…

'If it wasn't for that b*tch Uriel, would I have won? If I hadn't exhausted a lot of my energy on her and her subordinates…'

While he was deep in regret and anger, almost madness, Maya was readying herself to make one last move. After all, she didn't want to delay.

She didn't like to toy with her victims. Not because she was merciful, but rather because she was smart enough to fear a trapped rabbit.

However, unfortunately for her, the trapped rabbit in her hand was faster than she had expected.

Just as she was about to deliver a punch that was filled with every last bit of mana she had, Michael silently disappeared from his spot and reappeared a few kilometres away.

Seeing that, Maya's heart fluttered, realizing that something must have gone wrong; she never underestimated him, yet he should not be able to make such a move that made him escape her clutches.

Looking around, she made sure that Raven wasn't near before focusing back on Michael.

"Raphael, I can't believe that you've pushed me to go this far…" he shook his head in disappointment. He wasn't disappointed in Raphael, but rather disappointed in himself. "However, as you said, I am always careful.

"The moment I realized that I was at a disadvantage, even before you took a shot at my wings, I had already made preparations to win this battle."

"What?!" Maya was surprised, and genuinely so. "You prepared before even being defeated? Err, what did you do?"

"Do you think this is a joke?" Michael was furious seeing that she was not afraid. Although surprised, she did not seem concerned, which didn't make any sense. "Well, whatever. I'll kill you and everyone else just like promised-"

"So, you won't tell me what you did?" Maya interrupted. 

"You!!!" Michael was practically burning with anger as he looked at her, his eyes flushed white, almost making his golden eyes look nothing but a speck of dust. His white long hair was fluttering as some strange foreign mana escaped his body. 

"Why am I so carefree?" Maya asked with raised eyebrows. "Is that what's making you struggle like this? Is this why you're mad?"

Gritting his teeth for being such an open book, Michael did not answer. But he was looking forward to the answer.

With that being said, the foreign mana escaping his body was becoming even more obvious than before. And although Maya tried to attack, he kept on avoiding swiftly.

"Well, for the sake of your curiosity, I shall explain," Maya said with a shrug. "I am not afraid because I am not alone, hehe…"