Rebellion Against Heaven - Part 9

Chapter 9: An Agreement with Death

Death's laughter gradually died away, though his mischievous smile remained. His empty eyes watched him with the same cruel amusement as always, as if he was waiting for Ryussei to explode at any moment.

But he wouldn't give her that pleasure.

Ryuusei crossed his arms, his jaw still tense.

"Stop playing and tell me something useful," he snapped. I didn't come to repeat to me what I already know.

Death sighed with feigned disappointment.

"All right, all right," he said, waving a hand as if dissipating the air. But tell me, Ryuusei... If you're here, it means you need something from me. And that intrigues me.

The room became darker. The shadows on the walls moved as if they had a life of their own. Ryuusei felt it, as if Death itself was enveloping the space with its essence.

"What do you want?" she asked softly, leaning a little toward him. Power? Vengeance? Or do you want me to take someone in particular?

Ryuusei did not immediately respond. His golden eyes shone brightly.

"I want answers.

Death raised an eyebrow.

"Interesting. About what?

"Aurion. Archangel. What happened in that fight... I shouldn't have lost like this.

Death rested a finger on his chin, pretending to think.

"Oh, right," he whispered, stretching out his words. Aurion humiliated you as if you were a mere toy. Archangel almost broke you in two. And the whole world watched as you fell like a sack of shattered flesh. Do you want to understand that?

"Tell me what you know," Ryuusei growled, his voice firm.

Death watched him in silence for a long moment. Then, his smile faded.

"Aurion is not just a hero, Ryuusei," he said in a low voice, almost in a whisper. It is something else. Something... that does not belong entirely to this world.

Ryuusei frowned.

"Explain yourself.

Death snapped his fingers, and floating images appeared in the darkness, as if they were fragments of memories. Aurion was in them, surrounded by light, with an almost divine presence.

"That power you saw," Death continued, "is not only his. Someone has your back. Someone much bigger than you or me.

The images became distorted, showing him ancient symbols, writings in dead tongues, and figures shrouded in blinding light.

"You didn't fight a hero alone," Death said, staring at him. You fought against a weapon of the gods.

Ryuusei felt a chill run down his spine, but he didn't let it show.

"And Archangel?"

Death smiled again.

"A simple laborer..." but a well-placed pawn. His loyalty to Aurion makes him more dangerous than he seems.

Ryuusei closed his eyes for a moment, processing the information. So, he opened them with determination.

"Tell me how to defeat them."

Death looked at him curiously. Then she leaned over a little to him and whispered:

"That will depend on what you are willing to sacrifice.

The air in the room became heavy. Ryuusei didn't look away.

"Tell me."

Death smiled, and for the first time in the entire conversation, his expression didn't seem mocking, but almost... Satisfied.

But first I have to tell you about the arrival of Aurion

"Aurion was not born like the others. It was not shaped by the chaos of war, but by the fear of men. A symbol, a hope... but also a warning. They did it to protect, but they forgot a simple truth: even gods can fall."

Aurion: The Son of Light

Japan had always been a land blessed by the gods. Since time immemorial, legends have spoken of divine beings who shaped the nation, spirits that protected humans, and heroes who emerged in times of crisis. But in the modern era, those stories were just myths... until he showed up.

It all began thirty years ago, when a luminous anomaly crossed the skies of Japan. Military radars detected a sphere of energy moving at an impossible speed, leaving behind a harmless, but inexplicable trail of radiation. Scientists from the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) and the Department of Defense went on alert.

The phenomenon ended at Mount Aso, one of Japan's oldest volcanoes. In its crater, instead of lava and ashes, there was a child. His skin shone faintly in the moonlight, and his golden eyes reflected more than just humanity.

The government acted immediately. The boy was taken to a secret facility, where tests were conducted to determine his origin. There were no records of his DNA in any worldwide database. Their physiology, although human in appearance, possessed cells with a regenerative capacity beyond any known scale. Her strength, even as a baby, was enough to deform steel with a simple squeeze.

They called it Project Aurion.

Growing up, he was taught that he was the symbol of the future, the guardian of Japan. He was raised in an environment of extreme discipline, surrounded by the best scientists, strategists and philosophers. Not only did he learn to control his powers, but he was also indoctrinated in the ideals of heroism.

But Aurion wasn't just a weapon. Over time, he developed a sense of justice of his own. When he reached adolescence, he decided to go out into the world and become the protector that humanity needed.

When he turned 20, the government introduced him to the public as the world's first royal hero. His arrival was celebrated with parades, his image appeared in all the media, and the Japanese people found in him a symbol of hope. His power was absolute: he could fly faster than sound, stop a train with one hand, and face entire armies alone.

But over time, the weight of his role became more difficult to carry. Japan's enemies called him a "false god," foreign nations saw him as a threat, and within the government itself, some began to fear that a man with so much power should not answer to his conscience alone.

Despite this, Aurion remained steadfast. Their mission was to protect, no matter the cost.

However, when beings like Ryuusei and Aiko appeared, everything changed. It was no longer just about saving people, but about confronting those who could challenge him.

And so, in the present, as flames consume the city and the news shows him as the leader of the resistance against chaos, Aurion stands tall, watching the world he swore to protect.

The symbol of light...... or the emperor of a new order.

Death sighed longingly, as if he were about to tell a story he had seen repeated countless times.

"Aurion wasn't always the god you see today. There was a time when even I thought it would be different.

Ryuusei said nothing. He just waited.

"He was shaped by the Japanese government. An experiment of the government, a response to a war that had not yet begun. Imagine... a perfect figure, a symbol for humanity. They molded him for one purpose: to be the ultimate protector, the guardian angel who would watch over his own from the heavens.

Death smiled coldly.

"But there's a problem with gods shaped by men. They have no limits. They are not afraid. And without fear... There is no compassion.

Ryuusei frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"That Aurion was not corrupted by accident. It wasn't greed, it wasn't anger. It was something worse... it was the certainty that only he was right.

The room seemed to darken. Death continued, his voice calm but sharp as a blade:

—At first, it served its purpose. He defeated enemies, saved cities, and the world worshipped him. But over time, he stopped seeing people and started seeing numbers. Necessary sacrifices. acceptable collaterals. When the government gave him orders he didn't agree with, he didn't rebel... he surpassed them. He became judge, jury and executioner.

Death folded his arms.

"And when he realized that mankind was incapable of saving itself, he decided to do what any god would do... govern it.

Ryuusei remained silent.

"Aurion is not a hero, Ryuusei. He is a king without a crown. A god without faith. And what he hates the most, what he fears the most, is the idea that someone like you can challenge him.

Death exhaled with a bitter smile.

"Do you know what he asked for in exchange for his "protection"? No gold, no recognition, no riches... but something much more twisted.

He leaned toward Ryuusei, as if confiding in him a forbidden secret.

"Every time he saved a city, a family, a nation, he demanded his reward. Not money, but company. A couple, someone to their liking, someone who will "give their gratitude" at night.

Ryuusei's eyes narrowed in disgust.

"Are you telling me that...?"

"That's right, Aurion raped innocent girls just for pleasure and they loved to see them suffer," Death nodded with a cruel smile. The great hero, the god of justice, not only enjoyed being worshipped... he fed on it. Worship was not enough. He needed possession. Control. And the worst... He liked to see the despair in the eyes of those who couldn't refuse.

Death let out a dark laugh.

"Oh, Ryuusei! I'm telling you... People knew it. Governments, leaders, entire families... But who would dare to defy a god? "It is the price of peace," they said. "A necessary sacrifice."

Ryuusei clenched his fists.

And he said, "Tell me how this all started, how a hero can fall so low.

Death answered him.

It all started when Aurion was your age, 17 years old. During his free time, he used to watch romantic movies. However, every time more intense scenes appeared, those that bordered on the forbidden, the scientists of the laboratory quickly changed the film for cartoons, as if they wanted to keep it in a bubble of purity.

At first, he would just get annoyed, frown, and cross his arms in annoyance. But over time, anger grew inside him like a storm. Why were these scenes hidden from him? Why did they decide what I could see and what I couldn't? Each censorship was an affront to their autonomy, a reminder that it was just another experiment in the hands of others.

And then, his fury overflowed. When frustration consumed him, his rays of light gushed out uncontrollably, reducing everything around him to ashes. The walls of the laboratory were marked with cracks and burns, and on more than one occasion, a guard ended up dismembered, his body reduced to a blur of charred flesh.

But the real transformation happened one night when he managed to escape from the lab. He snuck into an old abandoned cinema and, with trembling hands, played all those films that had been forbidden to be seen. His eyes shone with a golden glow as he devoured every image, every whisper, every forbidden contact on the screen. And it was at that moment that his perception of love was completely distorted.

For him, love was nothing more than carnal desire, the rubbing of the skin, the contained gasp between parted lips. I didn't understand feelings, tenderness or connection. I only saw intertwined bodies, overflowing passion and absolute possession.

"That's how Aurion fell," Death whispered with a grim smile. He grew up not knowing real love, and when he found it, it was a broken and corrupted version.

Ryuusei felt a chill run down his spine. Now he understood that Aurion wasn't just a monster created by the lab... but also because of his own obsession.

There was a day when Aurion escaped again. This time, he did not do it out of simple curiosity, but with a clear purpose. In one of the movies I had seen in secret, a boy with overwhelming confidence was buying the services of a girl, and in his distorted mind, it seemed the ultimate representation of love.

If that was love, he must also experience it.

That night, the streets glowed with neon lights and the air was permeated with a mixture of cheap perfume and empty promises. Aurion soon attracted attention. His hair shone with a golden halo under the lampposts, his bearing was imposing, and his eyes, full of an almost hypnotic glow, made any girl see him as the protagonist of a forbidden fairy tale.

"Do you want to have a good time?" One of them whispered with a provocative smile.

Aurion did not answer. He just nodded and took her hand, just as he had seen in the movie. The girl was excited. It was rare to find customers with his appeal, and even more so with that air of mystery that seemed to envelop him.

When they reached the room, Aurion replicated every movement he remembered from the scene: the caress on the face, the stolen kiss, the whisper in his ear... But when it came time for the act, something inside him broke.

I didn't feel anything.

He didn't feel the warmth, or the connection, or the ecstasy that the film promised him. Just an abysmal void. His hands trembled as they ran over the girl's skin, and in his mind there was only one question:

"Why doesn't it feel like in the movie?"

Frustration consumed him. Their confusion turned to rage. I didn't understand why love felt so... incomplete. I didn't understand why reality didn't match fantasy.

"Is something wrong?" The girl asked, surprised by his expression of contained anger.

Aurion did not answer. Its light flickered violently, and in an instant the room lit up with a blinding flash. A muffled scream, an explosion of heat... and then, just silence.

When the light faded, Aurion stood in the middle of a devastated stage. The bed had been reduced to ashes, the walls were covered with smoking cracks, and the girl... The girl was gone.

He had disappeared. Or rather, it had been disintegrated the instant its fury reached its peak.

Aurion looked at his own hands in horror.

"Is this love?"

That night, he understood that his concept of love was nothing more than a distorted shadow of reality. And with that, he accepted his true nature.

Aurion became a being of pure destruction. Over time, his obsession with understanding love became a shadow of his former self. He stopped looking for answers and began to embrace lust, violence, and the supremacy of his own power. If love was nothing more than a mirage, then the best thing to do was to destroy everything in its path.

However, there was someone who managed to break through his armor.

One night, in the middle of one of his raids through the city, Aurion entered a speakeasy, a place where the outcasts and rebels took refuge. It wasn't the kind of place he was interested in, but something drew him there... or rather, someone.

On stage, with a presence that eclipsed even the neon lights, a dark-haired girl sang in a voice that seemed to touch the soul itself. Her hair fell in soft waves over her shoulders, her dark eyes shone brightly, and her smile had something Aurion couldn't decipher.

It wasn't the beauty that got him. It was something deeper. Something he had not felt in his entire existence.

He watched her in silence, mesmerized by every note that came from her lips. He didn't understand why his heart was beating so hard or why his light was twinkling in a different way.

When the girl finished her song, their eyes met.

"You don't look like the type to frequent places like this," she said, approaching with unabashed curiosity.

Aurion looked at her coldly, but did not answer.

"Don't you talk much?" I like it.

For the first time in years, someone did not treat him with fear, or with desire, or with submission. She only saw him as just another man, and that threw him off.

"I'm Leila," she introduced herself, holding out her hand.

Aurion looked at her suspiciously, but something inside him pushed him to shake her.

From that night on, Leila became the only person who managed to make Aurion question himself. His laughter was a melody that extinguished his fury, his presence was a refuge in the chaos that he himself had created.

The Roar of a Fallen God

Aurion was 21 years old when he finally felt that he had found what he was looking for.

Leila was not only his lover, she was his refuge, his balance. With her, the storm within his soul calmed, his light no longer just a weapon of destruction, but a beacon that illuminated his path. For the first time in his life, Aurion thought he had understood love.

That night, in a luxurious hotel room, their bodies came together in an act he had never understood before. It was not lust, it was not a simple carnal desire... it was love. His feelings for Leila were beyond anything he had been taught, beyond the fury and death that had always surrounded him.

But fate is cruel.

When his breaths were still mixing in the room, the door exploded into a thousand pieces. A squad of highly trained military men burst into the room like hungry beasts. Aurion barely had time to react when he saw Leila turn around, her eyes full of panic.

"Aurion!"

The roar of gunfire filled the air.

Blood splattered on the white sheets.

Time seemed to stand still as Leila fell into his arms, her warm skin growing cold with each passing second. His lips, which had once whispered songs and words of love, now only let out a last breath.

Aurion couldn't move. He couldn't scream. She couldn't cry. He only felt something inside him break, something that could never be repaired.

The soldiers laughed.

One of them, with a mocking smile, approached Leila's body and pushed it with the toe of his boot.

"Come, Aurion," he said in a tone of contempt, "we can get you a lot of these."

The air became heavy.

The entire room began to light up with a blinding glow.

Aurion, trembling with rage, gritted his teeth so tightly that his jaw cracked. His golden eyes shone like burning suns, and his body began to emit unbearable heat.

The soldier took a step back, feeling fear on his skin for the first time.

Aurion looked up, his pupils burning like two infernal embers. His voice boomed like thunder.

"SHE WAS WHAT I CALLED LOVE!"

And then, everything exploded.

Light emerged from his body like a supernova, sweeping away everything around him. The soldiers screamed, but their voices were silenced by the enormous energy that turned them to ashes in a matter of seconds. The walls of the hotel collapsed, the glass shattered into millions of fragments, and the entire city trembled under the wrath of a being who had nothing left to lose.

Aurion was not a hero.

He was not a savior.

He was not a man.

It was anger incarnate.

And that night, the world understood the true meaning of destruction.

When the light finally dissipated, the destruction was absolute.

The hotel was now a smoking crater, and the soldiers were nothing more than charred shadows on the ground. Only one man was left standing.

The head of the operation.

He wore an impeccable uniform, without a single wrinkle, as if the catastrophe around him did not affect him in the least. His cold eyes fell on Aurion, who was breathing heavily, his body still shrouded in a golden glow.

"Hey, Aurion," he said in a firm voice. Stop behaving like a crying child and come here.

Aurion clenched his fists, his rage still burning strongly. But, for some reason, he didn't attack. His instinct told him that this man was different, that he was not like the other soldiers he had reduced to ashes.

There was something in his posture, in his authoritarian tone.

Respect.

The boss continued, with a cold smile.

"We eliminated it because it was a distraction. You are the example of Japan, the proof of our power. You can't afford to get lost in cheap sentimentality.

Aurion felt his blood boil, but before he could answer, the man added:

"As Private Solly said—" we can get you a lot of those.

Aurion's eyes widened in fury.

His light intensified again, and the ground beneath his feet began to crack.

"SHUT UP!"

The boss simply sighed.

"Since we discovered you, we have a gift for you.

Aurion didn't understand. But it didn't matter. I just wanted to wipe that man off the face of the Earth.

He stepped forward, ready to unleash all his anger on him.

But in an instant, everything changed.

"Tch, what a crying child," the boss murmured contemptuously. Sleep it now.

The shot rang like thunder in the night.

Aurion felt an impact on his neck. He looked down and saw a dart needle stuck in his skin.

His strength began to fade. His legs faltered. He tried to stand upright, but the world was spinning around him.

Its light, that irrepressible energy, went out.

His body fell to the ground with a thud.

The last image he saw before losing consciousness was the chief's face, looking at him as coldly as a hunter observes his prey.

Aurion felt the chill of the ground beneath his body. He was still stunned, his head spinning, and a stabbing pain throbbing in his neck, right where the dart needle had hit him.

Darkness covered his eyes, a thick blindfold prevented him from seeing. His breathing was heavy, his senses dull, but his bare skin could feel the icy air of the lab.

So, a voice.

"Aurion, right now you're naked... and we will give you your gift.

It was the Chief of the operation, Dr. Cooper. His tone was dry, devoid of emotion, as if he were announcing a simple medical procedure.

Aurion tried to move, but his wrists and ankles were attached with metal straps. Something inside him twisted, a sense of vulnerability he'd never felt before.

"Let her in."

The sound of a door sliding. Delicate steps.

Aurion felt a chill run down his spine. It wasn't fear... It was a strange discomfort.

Then, he heard her voice.

"I'll take care of you tonight, Aurion.

Time stopped.

The whole world ceased to exist for a moment.

Because he knew that voice.

It was warm, soft, with a slight tone of tenderness... but at that moment, it seemed to him as icy as death.

"Ma—" má—" he whispered, in a thin voice.

The weight of that word fell like a stone in the laboratory.

Dr. Angie, the woman who had cared for him for as long as he could remember, the only person who brought him comfort in that hell... it was there.

It was his "gift". He had to sleep with her

"You're a sick man, Doctor Cooper, why are you doing this to me," he said crying

Aurion felt something inside him break irreparably. I couldn't see, but I felt the trembling in Dr. Angie's voice, the pain in every word she uttered.

"No... please... "Please, don't..." he begged, his voice breaking, but the bonds kept him helpless.

"I'm sorry... please forgive me..." Angie sobbed. I have to do this... they threatened my family... please... forgive me...

And they began the carnal act, something inside Aurion had been broken

Time became a blur. The cold of the laboratory, the sterile smell of the chemicals, the pressure of the straps against his skin... everything was mixed into a distorted nightmare.

When it was all over, Aurion felt his body tremble. Silent tears rolled down his face. Something inside him, something that still made him human, died at that moment.

Aurion, exhausted by grief and despair, fell into a heavy sleep, his tears still drying on his face. His mind wandered in a dark void, where Dr. Cooper's cruel laughter echoed like a distant echo.

Meanwhile, Dr. Angie left the lab with shaky steps. His body trembled, and his soul was shattered. He looked at the guards with red eyes from crying so much and, with a broken voice, said:

"I've done my part..." now free my family...

Dr. Cooper, leaning against a wall, lit a cigar and exhaled calmly before replying:

"Well done, Dr. Angie... But you are no longer of any use to me.

Angie felt a chill run through her body.

"W-what do you mean...?"

"Aurion is already under my control. Now he fears me. Now he's my dog. Cooper paused and looked at the guards. Kill her... and by the way, finish off their family.

The soldiers raised their weapons, ready to fire. Angie closed her eyes, accepting her fate, but then Cooper raised a hand, stopping them.

"Wait... Better put it to sleep first.

One of the guards pulled out a syringe and injected a sedative into his neck. Angie barely had time to gasp before collapsing on the floor.

Dr. Cooper smiled with satisfaction and threw his cigar on the ground, crushing it with his foot.

"If everything goes well..." and the doctor is pregnant... I'll have my next project.

He turned and began to walk down the hall, his voice echoing in the darkness.

— A-21... my other Aurion.

Ryuusei was totally paralyzed, Aurion was not evil by nature but they broke him mentally by taking away what Leila loved the most and then making love to his mother and that son is an experiment of Doctor Cooper.

Continue....