There was warmth.
Not fire.
Not sunlight from the mortal world.
Something softer.
Older.
The warmth of Eden.
-----------------------
Lucifell slowly opened his eyes.
White grass danced gently beneath the autumn breeze as golden sunlight poured endlessly across rolling hills untouched by war.
Crystal waters flowed quietly beside him, reflecting the endless silver sky above.
No screams.
No blood.
No darkness.
Only peace.
For the first time in what felt like centuries...
his breathing slowed.
The breeze carried familiar scents.
Ancient trees.
Morning dew.
The soft fragrance of Heaven's gardens.
-----------------------
Lucifell lowered his gaze toward the river beside him.
And within the reflection...
his form slowly changed.
The black cracks across his armor spread further.
Dark purple lightning crawled silently beneath fractured metal.
One glowing violet eye stared back at him through the broken half of his mask.
Something ancient.
Something wrong.
But Lucifell did not react.
Not fear.
Not surprise.
Only silence.
Then slowly...
he stood.
The sunlight behind him remained warm.
Gentle.
Inviting.
But Lucifell did not walk toward it.
Instead...
he walked toward the shadows beyond the hills.
Toward the darkness waiting behind Eden itself.
The grass beneath his feet slowly blackened as he passed.
-----------------------
Then...
the voices began.
A whisper.
Ancient.
Layered.
Neither male nor female.
Then another.
"THE DARK SHALL SWALLOW ALL LIFE."
More voices joined.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
"KILL THEM."
"BREAK THE WORLD."
"LET THE SOVEREIGN RETURN."
-----------------------
Lucifell's steps never slowed.
The whispers wrapped around him like invisible chains.
His grip slowly loosened.
And behind him...
the Light Bearer fell into the grass.
Silently.
Abandoned.
-----------------------
Lucifell stared downward at his empty hand...
he started to call the forbidden weapon inside him.
God Killer.
Then quietly...
he spoke.
"…God…"
The green mark beneath his chest armor slowly began glowing.
Dark purple lightning spread violently beneath his skin.
"…Kill-"
But suddenly...
A hand suddenly covered his mouth from behind.
Warm.
Gentle.
Familiar.
-----------------------
Lucifell froze.
For a brief moment...
he thought it would be Leinca.
But when he turned...
Golden eyes met his own.
White hair flowed beneath the sunlight.
White wings spread softly behind her radiant armor.
Luciel.
The Fifth Archangel.
His eldest sister.
-----------------------
Silence lingered between them.
The first silence they had shared in over a decade.
Lucifell slowly turned away again.
Then continued walking toward the darkness.
Luciel sighed quietly.
And followed beside him.
-----------------------
"…You are still here?"
His voice sounded distant.
"…You cannot interrupt this. Father would angry."
Luciel tilted her head slightly.
"Interrupt?"
A faint smile touched her lips.
"No."
She walked calmly beside him through the collapsing Eden fields.
"I'm only visiting you in this fragment you have."
"…Leave me."
Said him coldly.
But she ignored him.
Still walking beside her younger brother exactly as she once had long ago in Heaven's endless gardens.
"I said leave me."
Lucifell stopped suddenly.
He looked directly at her.
The dark aura around his body pulsed violently.
Luciel blinked once.
Then smiled softly.
"I'm honestly excited."
A pause.
"You can finally say more than 'yes,' 'no,' or nodding your head."
Lucifell remained silent.
Then continued walking.
-----------------------
Behind them...
the Eden fragment slowly began collapsing.
White trees cracked apart into floating dust.
The river beneath their feet reversed upward into the sky.
Grass rose into the air instead of falling.
Reality itself had begun breaking.
-----------------------
"…Everyone misses you," Luciel said quietly.
No answer came.
But she noticed it now.
The transformation.
The darkness slowly consuming him from within.
Even the Eden memory itself could no longer remain stable around his soul.
"Lucifell…"
Her voice softened.
"Stop."
The floating fragments around them trembled violently.
"Nothing was true from that old dragon's mouth."
-----------------------
Lucifell stopped walking.
Silence consumed the dying Eden.
Then quietly...
almost painfully...
he spoke.
"…Maybe he was right."
The darkness around him intensified.
"…Maybe the reason I was brought into this world…"
Purple lightning cracked across the broken sky.
"…was to slaughter the unworthy."
Luciel's eyes widened slightly.
Not fear.
Pain.
-----------------------
Then suddenly...
Lucifell's voice broke.
"Luciel…"
For the first time...
his sister heard exhaustion inside him.
Not anger.
Not rage.
Exhaustion.
"…Everything I had is gone."
The words echoed weakly across the collapsing paradise.
-----------------------
Luciel lowered her gaze briefly.
"…That girl…"
A soft breath escaped her lips.
"You already knew long ago she would not survive."
Lucifell remained silent.
"The soul inside her body now was never truly her."
Luciel slowly looked toward him again.
"I can see your heart through the Pathway Bridge."
The floating sunlight around them dimmed further.
"…Then why?"
Lucifell closed his eyes.
He spoke honestly.
"…Because when I was cast down…"
His voice trembled quietly.
"…I felt them."
The darkness around his body flickered.
"Hatred."
"…Love."
"Anger."
"Joy."
"Fear."
"Loneliness."
Another pause.
"…Things immortals were never meant to carry."
-----------------------
The Eden sky cracked apart completely above them.
Lucifell lowered his head.
And quietly whispered...
"…I just wanted one last chance to see her again."
Luciel said nothing.
Because she already knew.
When a soul fully leaves the cycle...
it cannot return.
Not even Heaven could undo that truth.
-----------------------
Then...
the world shattered.
The Eden fields exploded upward into floating dust and fractured light.
The river rose into the broken sky.
The sunlight itself began collapsing.
-----------------------
The darkness surrounding Lucifell erupted violently.
Luciel immediately raised one hand.
Golden light burst outward from her body.
Lucifell froze instantly.
Bound.
Not by chains.
By divine authority itself.
The younger Archangel could no longer move.
"You are trying too desperately…"
Luciel's voice trembled softly now.
"…unable to decide what you want to end first."
The darkness pulsed violently around Lucifell's body.
"That old dragon…"
A pause.
"…or your own grief."
-----------------------
Golden feathers drifted through the collapsing Eden.
"You are far stronger than you believe, Lucifell."
Luciel slowly pulled her sword free.
Warm golden light from Heaven illuminated the dying fragment around them.
And immediately...
the darkness surrounding Lucifell recoiled from the blade.
Trying to escape the light itself.
Luciel's eyes narrowed slightly.
"…Interesting."
-----------------------
Then gently....
she drove the blade into her brother's chest.
Light exploded outward.
A seal.
Temporary.
Fragile.
But enough.
"…Maybe I'm not as strong as Michael."
Her voice softened.
"But at least I tried."
-----------------------
The darkness screamed silently beneath the holy seal.
Luciel placed one trembling hand against his chest.
"This seal will eventually break."
A sad smile appeared.
"But for now…"
She stepped closer.
And slowly embraced him.
Lucifell's eyes widened slightly.
Because he had forgotten the warmth of family.
Luciel rested her head gently against his shoulder.
Then whispered softly beside his ear:
"You were always strong."
The collapsing Eden trembled violently around them.
"You stood between mortals and immortals…"
Golden sunlight slowly engulfed the fragment world.
"…even if your destiny feels lonely…"
Her voice cracked slightly now.
"…brother…"
A faint smile.
"…Eden was never just a place."
The final sunlight began consuming the darkness around them.
"It lives inside us."
Another whisper.
"It is us who give it form."
Then softly...
one final plea.
"…Come back, brother."
The light intensified.
"…Rise."
And Luciel vanished...
together with the explosion of sunlight that consumed the final fragments of Eden.