Paradise on Earth part 1 (II)

"Damn savages! Heretics who refuse to accept the will of the new god! I, as your spokesman, will fulfill my high priestly duty and sacrifice you both in his name. Surely he will be grateful to receive a pair of abominations that must be eradicated"

"Abominations? Why do you refer to us like that?"

"We have done wrong to no one! Please mister, stop it!"

"My god's orders are absolute. He is telling me that I must finish you, especially that girl who has further defiled her being by releasing that new form. She is a threat to his plan and I have to eradicate her"

"I won't let you lay a finger on her!"

"Don't worry, you will soon be reunited with the others whose souls have already been cleansed of all sin"

"How cruel... mister, how could you!?"

"You want to kill us like the rest for your cheap justifications!?"

"Your sacrifices will be enough to appease the wrath of my god. If you do not resist I will finish quickly"

No matter how much we try to converse it is in vain. Is it that the lives of others mean nothing to him?

Is this what is considered blind devotion? Does he really believe he has the right to judge the value of a person's life? What kind of a psychopath is he?

I can't believe someone like this exists, he is already beyond the point of rationing. The voices in his head are a bigger influence than what we are trying to explain to him.

Maybe it's really just a disease and he's not the real culprit for his dementia... still, if we let him be, he will kill us without hesitation.

How to deal with this situation? There is no choice but to... finish him off.

If I don't do it many innocent people are in danger.

Yes, if I don't kill him we are in danger. Even Maria could...

The thought of that possibility fills me with a feeling I have never felt before. A weight burns inside me... my mind is clouded in black.

Anger, is this what fills me? This emotion that spreads through all my pores?

...

No. I don't need it.

I will discard everything that does not let me be in harmony.

Now I have what I need to continue on my way.

"I do not approve of your actions. Murdering so many innocent people has no justification, although I think you won't understand anything no matter how much we talk... that's why I will stop you, I must prevent you from continuing with these atrocities"

"Asriel..."

She looked at me a little worried.

"Maria, I wouldn't want you to get your hands dirty too but I don't think I can defeat him alone. It pains me to ask this of you, however I can't do it without you. Please help me"

Without blinking she remained still for a few seconds. It was as if I was lost in her beautiful green eyes, an instant that felt like an eternity.

"... I understand. I have continued by your side and I intend to do so forever. You don't need to carry the burden on your own, you can depend on me!"

So it has been decided. It's the 2 of us against this guy.

Since there doesn't seem to be a better alternative we'll have to kill him.

"Thank you, let's go!"

"Ok!"

We wasted no more time and once again resumed our attack. Without saying a word our synchronization turned out to be wonderful.

This time I face the guy and deflect all his blows. When an opportunity suddenly appears, her spear is there to stick into his skin. Now Maria tries to focus on hitting his heart, apparently she wants to end this as quickly as possible.

I'm sorry I have to leave that task to her since I'm not capable, yet she still can't get it done.

It doesn't matter, if we continue like this with small attacks we will win the battle. There is no way he can overcome our combination of Maria attacking and me defending.

We pushed him back until his back was against the wall, he has nowhere to run.

"You fools, you don't know what you're up against, feel the wrath of the ancient sacrifices!"

Dimitri placed a hand under his cloak and a cracking sound was heard. A crystal sphere shattered on the ground and smoke began to rise from it.

Wait... it's not that simple, it's coming towards us in a column of dark gas.

"Watch out!" I shouted, pushing Maria to the side to avoid contact with the strange thing.

I don't know what it is, but it sure isn't anything good.

It spun around and headed for my leg. I could notice how a skeletal hand appeared and grabbed me tightly. Despite being gaseous it could take physical form?

"Asriel!" Maria shouted in fright.

"What the hell is this!?"

I hurriedly swung my glove at whatever had me trapped to get it to release me. Surprisingly it worked and that pulled back in pain.

"Are you ok?!?"

"I think so" I replied getting to my feet.

Checking my leg I saw some marks from when he grabbed me, it was as if something from beyond the grave wanted to drag me down with him.

"No doubt those powers are a threat to your plans, my mister. As you command, I will end this as soon as possible"

Dimitri is talking to himself again, he's definitely crazy.

After finishing his talk he pulled out a couple more of those crystal spheres, and when they broke 2 new streams of smoke came out. I don't understand the nature of these things, apparently they are able to pass through solid objects at will.

"What are those? They seem to be suffering..." added Maria.

"I don't want to believe it, but maybe they are souls"

"Souls?"

"Exactly" our enemy interrupted us, confirming my doubts. "They are the foolish ones that I have already finished. 27 to be precise, you'll bring that number closer to the ideal"

So it was as I thought. Perhaps he possesses abilities to encase the souls of his defeated enemies somewhere, like that sphere he has cast several times.

Lavos mentioned that a Channeler was capable of making contact with an entity beyond the physical, I guess dealing with spiritual matters isn't that far fetched.

Anyway, they are unable to ignore my glove. As they approach and are struck it is not as if a repulsive effect is fulfilled as against an invader, though it certainly seems to affect them in some way. Maria manages to cut them down with her spear, that assures me that our weapons are effective.

If our Spiritist powers are manifestations of our materialized soul to the outside, I can already imagine why. In essence it should be of similar "substances".