When we stepped out of the portal, we found ourselves in a place that seemed to be the very summit of a mountain. Looking around, I saw nothing but a small area of grassy field and bright yellow cloudy sky stretching as far as the eye could see. Perhaps this was the highest place in High Heaven. Standing before all of us was a single small building that looked rather strange. As we approached it, we were left dumbfounded because it was nothing more than a door, and I was utterly shocked by its appearance.
It looked exactly like the front door of my old apartment back on Earth. I had absolutely no idea why something like that was here.
"M-Mendicore... Are you serious? Is this really the way to meet Him???" I asked in disbelief.
"I-I know nothing about this door, Johann. There shouldn't be anything at the summit of this mountain. I thought Lord Geriel would activate another portal here..."
However, David immediately walked toward it and opened the door. Peering inside, I saw a gray rocky landscape along with a stone staircase.
"M-Maybe you have to climb those stairs first to meet Him..." Sherubiel said.
As for the Prime Desire that Geriel had mentioned, I just worried that It turned out to be different again with The Absolute One from the original game. I must able to negotiate with Him without provoking David into killing Him and condemning himself to eternal suffering again, just as in that tragic ending.
"Mendicore, do you know what Prime Desire actually looks like and how I can speak with Him properly?"
"My apologies once again, Johann... As far as I know, The Absolute One, now called Prime Desire, had already given His entire existence to the three Archangels and all of His creations. Lord Geriel never told me what that supreme entity truly looked like either. M-Most likely... He will only negotiate with the two of you..."
I was rather skeptical about Mendicore's last sentence. As I was thinking about what to do, David walked through the door. He stopped a few meters away from us, turned around, and looked at all of us. I understood that he wanted to continue without wasting any more time here.
"Let's go in as well!" I said to the two of them.
"Johann... You heard what Lord Geriel said earlier. It is you and Lord David who are to meet Him. We certainly cannot disobey that because we fear something might happen to us..." Mendicore said.
Only then did I remember that message. I looked at the two of them and let out a long sigh.
"Sir David and I will return here soon and set everything right once again. Please stay here for now and look after this place! And remember this as well, He is no longer the leader of High Heaven!"
Sherubiel stared at me in astonishment, while Mendicore remained silent after hearing my words. Ever since meeting them and learning the truth about this place, I had believed that Sherubiel and Mendicore were far more deserved to lead High Heaven.
"A-Alright, Johann... Please take care of yourself over there. No one knows what He might do..." Mendicore said.
I hugged Sherubiel, and she quietly sobbed while telling me to come back soon. Then I briefly hold on Mendicore's body and smiled at it. As soon as I stepped inside, the door immediately closed by itself, as though it already knew that only David and I were meant to continue this journey.
Once again, I was stunned when I looked around the place beyond the door. The ground beneath my feet was nothing more than a giant floating rock, surrounded by scenery so absurd that I could hardly comprehend it. Beneath this rock stretched an endless sea of pitch-black clouds, within which countless bright red lights shimmered and moved as though swimming through them. Above us was another endless expanse of clouds, but these were brilliant white, filled with countless floating golden lights drifting within them.
"W-Wait a minute... W-Why do these two clouds represent dreadstones and starstones??? What does all of this mean???" I murmured.
Suddenly David walked toward large stone staircase and crouched before it. I was confused about what he was doing. Then David turned his head toward me.
"Get on!" he said firmly.
Oh... I couldn't believe it! I looked upward and saw that the staircase spiraled incredibly high. I could not even see where it ended. There was no way I could ever climb all the way to the top by myself. I thanked him.
As soon as I climbed onto David's back, he immediately sprinted up the staircase at an astonishing speed. All I could see around me was that endless expanse of that two clouds. I decided to start a conversation with David.
"I saw you defeat that damned Geriel so quickly. In the game, I remember he was quite an agile boss, even though he had rather fewer healthpoint than many boss..."
"I hate debates..." he replied with words that still clear and controlled despite running at such incredible speed. I simply smiled. David truly behaved just like he did in the original game, always preferring action over words.
After what felt like an eternity climbing those endless stairs until I was almost falling asleep, I looked upward and finally saw that the summit was yet another giant floating rock. My heart pounded because we were about to meet the most powerful entity in the entire universe. However, something suddenly felt wrong. I remembered that a place like this had never appeared in the gameplay. As far as I knew, before reaching the final boss, David entered an area called 'Limbo', which was surrounded only by dimensional distortions. W-Wait... wasn't David supposed to face Ruciphar first according to the storyline?
When we reached there, I climbed down from David's back. Before us stood an enormous gate with no building surrounding it. But what shocked me the most was the sight of a tall and black-winged figure standing before the gate. The figure slowly turned around to face us, and he looked exactly like the one I had seen in my nightmare before the invasion of Planet Grivendal. He looked furious at our arrival.
"Why are you here, Ruciphaaarr?!?!" I shouted.
"I should be the one asking you that, you disturbeeerrr...!!!"
My emotions flared once again after hearing the very first words Ruciphar spoke when we truly met face to face, not in Hell, but in this place parallel to Limbo.
"You should be the one responsible for all of this!!! You destroyed my world and Sir David's, murdered his family until he became what he is today, caused chaos in Grivendal because of one of your servants, and even accused me in my nightmare!!! What exactly do you want, huuuhhh...?!?!?!"
I vented every bit of frustration I had carried since the disaster in my world all the way until now toward the supreme ruler of Hell.
"You will never understand any of this...!!! You and him are the greatest disturbers that exist right now...!!!" Ruciphar mocked David and me once again.
"I understand your past from Mendicore!! All you ever wanted was human who committed evil to receive punishment equal to their crimes instead of simply their existence being erased, like what your brother Marsiel used to do! That isn't an evil wish! You only misused it until caused other innocent worlds to be destroyed as well...!!!"
"ENOUGH...!!! You know nothing at all!!! I will stop the two of you here before you bring about even greater destruction! Remember this, you cannot kill me! Otherwise, the balance of the universe will..."
In the middle of Ruciphar rejecting my words once again, I witnessed exactly what had happened to Geriel. Ruciphar's chest suddenly exploded, spraying blood everywhere. He immediately dropped to one knee. Already knowing what had happened, I turned toward David and saw that he had shot Ruciphar with his shotgun. Just as he had done to Geriel, David charged forward until Ruciphar collapsed, repeatedly punched him in the face, tore off both of his black wings, summoned the hilt of his sword, activated his Starstone energy blade, and finally prepared to decapitate him.
I immediately ran toward him and grabbed David's raised upper arm. He immediately glared at me with overwhelming fury.
"Move!!! I'll finish him now!!!" David exploded in rage.
"Siirrr, don't do thaatt...!!! He's right. If you kill him, the reality of Hell will collapse, and the monsters will be able to invade other worlds whenever they want!!! Remember this, sir... We still have one greater enemy left... Turgashhh...!!!" I pleaded fearfully.
"I'll destroy them all after this...!!!" he shouted again. For a moment, I had no idea how to persuade him.
"Siirrr... not all demons bring destruction to other worlds...!!! I've already met Mareketh and Banasphateee...!! They're not as evil as I imagined they would beee...!!!"
David stored his sword, turned toward me, and suddenly grabbed me by the front of my chest armor, pulling my face close to his with overwhelming anger.
"YOU TRUST THEM MORE THAN MEEE...?!?!?!"
My body froze for a moment before tears streamed down my face, and I cried in front of David.
"Pleaseee, siiirrr...!!! My uncle whom I love so much is still thereee...!!! He's the one who gave me this game, allowing you and the world you brought to become realityyy...!!! I don't want anything to happen to my uncleee...!!!"
David remained silent for a moment before releasing his grip. Then he turned toward the badly wounded Ruciphar, who was still lying on the ground.
"H...Ha...Haa... Y-You've... g-grown... w-weak... b-because... o-of... h-him..." Ruciphar still managed to mock David.
He immediately lifted Ruciphar's body, which was several times larger than his own, and dragged him toward the edge of the cliff. Without saying a single word, David threw Ruciphar over the edge, sending him falling into the endless black clouds below, where a burst of red light appeared. Then David walked back toward me.
"Like that?" he asked firmly. I simply nodded.
After that, we turned and walked toward the final gate, where the greatest secret was about to be revealed.