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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Klokinator on 2025-10-13 16:55:18+00:00.
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(Part 001)
Far-Future Era. Day 2, AJR. Inside the False Cosmic Realm.
Barbatos's eyes flashed with hatred. A rage he had never experienced before. A sense of grief mixed with self-loathing and pain.
He had sworn to Artorias, an eon earlier, that the two of them would someday reunite in new bodies. He had suffered under Uriel's torture for 100,000 years, all in the hopes of someday reviving his brother.
But now Artorias was lost.
He was gone forever. Dead!
"RAPHAAEELLL!!!"
Barbatos lunged at Raphael. His blood red eyes burst with demonic light as he swung Artorias's massive greatsword down, aiming to cleave the Archangel of Wisdom in two.
Gabriel was the first to react. He conjured an equally massive greatsword of light and swung it up to meet the blade of Artorias.
CLANG!!
Two greatswords met. One shattered on impact. Gabriel's blade offered no resistance to Artorias, which had been baptized with the divine power of 163 Akashic Steps!
Artorias cleaved through Gabriel's blade and slammed into the Archangel of Power with enough force to send Gabriel flying! Even with his Hyphyte empowered body, he hadn't spent a single second growing acclimated to his new strength. Gabriel went sprawling, his body careening, twisting, spinning uncontrollably miles into the distance before he came to a stop.
Before Gabriel had even disappeared for a second, Barbatos was already moving toward his next target. Raphael's pupils shrunk as the fully enraged Demon Deity charged at him with reckless abandon.
Raphael was going to die. He had to die! There was no other outcome Barbatos would accept! It was Raphael's evil machinations that led to Artorias sacrificing his existence just to give Barbatos a fighting chance.
"RAPHAAAEELL!!!"
Raphael quickly focused his mind. He summoned ten illusory bodies of himself, and they all darted left, right, backward, even leaping into the air to confuse Barbatos. But as Raphael cleverly used the confusion to mix with his false forms, his heart nearly stopped.
Barbatos locked onto Raphael's true body and swung his sword!
"NO!!" Raphael cried in fear.
BOOOM!
Artorias crashed against Raphael and blasted him into the ground, shattering the floor of the False Cosmic Realm and sending spiderweb cracks miles in every direction. The explosive sound was deafening to the point it would have killed any entities below the Cosmic Realm, but fortunately, none were present. Even so, every Archangel heard ringing in their ears.
Raphael was not dead. He was not even seriously injured, but his body ached. His Hyphyte form had truly granted him defensive capabilities beyond reason. Any other High Cosmic would have instantly perished from Barbatos's rage-empowered strike.
The moment Raphael realized he wasn't dead, he scrambled out from under Artorias and scurried away like a cat whose tail had been stomped. Barbatos started to give chase, only for Michael and Uzziel to jump in his path.
"Leave my brother alone, demon!" Uzziel roared.
"I am thy opponent!" Michael added.
But those two suddenly felt another presence lock on to them. Uriel charged into battle, her eyes filled with cold and deadly battle intent.
She realized now, too late, that she had denied the truth for too long.
She had loved Artorias!
Loved him. A demon!
It was an act of sin. Something she never realized until he was already gone.
But it was the truth!!
"Raphael must DIE!!" Uriel shrieked, conjuring a pair of light-spears in her hands.
Uriel was one of the fiercest Archangels. Not only did she possess eons of battle experience, but her powers were diverse and potent. She wielded all four classical elements, plus light magic, plus dark magic, and even Barbatos's magnetism.
Unbeknownst to the other angels, Barbatos wielded all of her powers as well.
It was as if there were two Uriels fighting at the same time!
Blasts of fire illuminated the darkness that had swallowed the Cosmic Realm. Uriel spun her spears around, crashing against Michael's longsword and Uzziel's vine-whips. They had no time to protect Raphael, because their opponent was even more frightening than his!
"All of thee art traitors to life itself!" Uriel shouted. "Monsters serving monsters! Thy lives art no longer worthy of continuing!"
"Sister! Come back to the light!" Michael urged. He hurriedly whipped his sword in a wide arc to deflect her spears. "Do not fall for the lies of a bloodskin!"
Michael's usage of a slur enraged Uriel even more. She, who had once cavalierly used such words, now felt they were a personal affront to her fallen comrade. The man she loved!
"BASTARD!" Uriel shouted.
As Uriel fought Michael and Uzziel, Barbatos continued chasing after Raphael. The old man no longer held any resemblance to a wise old sage. He looked like a rat that had hopped out of a fire! His beard was singed and cut apart, with chunks missing. He ran as fast as he could, trying to confuse Barbatos or throw him off his trail, but the demon doggedly pursued him! It seemed Barbatos could see right through all of Raphael's tricks.
Fire exploded from Artorias. The greatsword cut down at Raphael, who dove to the side and barely evaded the hammer-like impact of the sword striking the blackened ground. The Cosmic Realm seemed to groan in pain as Barbatos chopped and sliced at Raphael, doing his damnedest to kill the old man as quickly as possible.
Finally, Gabriel rejoined the fight. He was much bigger than anyone present, and far stronger than his eldest brother. Now better comprehending Barbatos's strength, Gabriel charged at him and used his body as a living weapon. He punched Barbatos's head and knocked him backward, then slapped Artorias aside with a quick backhand before grabbing at Barbatos's throat.
Barbatos ducked and dodged Gabriel's clumsy grab. He spun on his heel, then thrust the long hilt of Artorias into Gabriel's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Gabriel momentarily lost his balance, so Barbatos leaped into the air, spun his leg around, and delivered a brutal whirlwind kick into Gabriel's solar plexus. This time, Gabriel didn't go flying nearly as far, but he was still sent sprawling on his ass.
By this point, Raphael had made some distance. He turned around to face Barbatos, who had started charging again. Raphael's expression became one of a cornered animal. He sneered viciously and snarled like a rabid dog.
"Dost thou thinketh me the type to merely run away?! Fool! Thou shalt learn to fear the old!"
Raphael charged at Barbatos. Two images of Raphael split apart and rushed him in unison. When Raphael and Barbatos collided, it turned out that these illusory images were not illusions at all, but physical projections!
The impact sent both the demon and the Archangel crashing to the ground! It was as if two cars had slammed into each other at full speed, causing their bodies to twist together. With Raphael's newfound Hyphyte body, he discovered he could take hits like Bael and still come out the other side kicking.
Barbatos, meanwhile, was much worse off. When he slammed into Raphael and his projections, the impact broke Barbatos's left arm and caused him to lose his grip on Artorias. The sword clattered to the ground, and Barbatos fell to one knee, clutching his arm.
Raphael sneered. It turned out he had been afraid of nothing! Barbatos might be angry, but rage meant nothing in the face of the Hyphytes!
Raphael jumped to his feet. Just before he started to move toward Barbatos, the Demon Deity used his right hand to summon... divine light!
Raphael was momentarily baffled, completely tongue-tied, when he saw Barbatos wield Uriel's power and heal himself! Barbatos regenerated his wound in less than a second and shoved his broken bone back into place, fully mending it and returning to his previous fighting form. He grabbed Artorias and jumped up, charging at Raphael as if he hadn't just suffered a loss during their previous collision.
Raphael shot Uriel a venomous glare while she battled Michael and Uzziel. He couldn't believe his eyes, but it seemed she had truly fallen further than he ever imagined. She had even granted a fragment of her powers to this bloodskin.
Blasphemous woman!
Raphael and Barbatos once again collided. Gabriel joined the fight, and together, the two brothers began pushing Barbatos back.
Time and time again, the two of them gained an upper hand and beat B...
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