Chapter 165: The Final Pillar

Grace launched herself at Azrael with everything she had. Sure, everything she had wasn’t much compared to Azrael, but it would have to be enough.

Their blades met in the air once again. Their collision shook the entire Dominion. Windows exploded. Towers cracked. Angels fighting below stumbled as the shockwave hit.

Grace parried away Azrael’s sword and went to punch her with her left hand. Azrael’s fist met Grace’s gauntlet-covered punch. The impact created a sphere of pure force that expanded outward before collapsing. Azrael was fine, Grace’s left arm was almost dust.

“You think absorbing my corruption makes you my equal?” Azrael grabbed Grace’s arm and spun, throwing her through three buildings.

“WHOOOA!”

Grace twisted mid-air and landed on her feet. Her body screamed in protest – broken ribs, torn muscles, internal bleeding.

And still, Grace kept her eyes on Azrael.

With a thought, she willed her divine energy to move throughout her, healing her body. Golden light flowed freely. Bones snapped back into place. Muscles reknit.

Her Soothing Hands skill had reached Level 9 without her noticing.

[Have I been using it that much? All the notifications basically became background music after a while, hehe.]

“Healing yourself without a Compassion Sister? That trick won’t save you forever.”

Suddenly, Azrael appeared behind her.

Grace barely got her armguard up in time. The Stardust Veil absorbed the strike, then shattered.

“What!?” Grace stared down at her forearm before Azrael’s knee came up. Grace caught it with both hands, the impact driving her into the ground. Stone cracked beneath her feet.

“HAH!”

Grace headbutted Azrael again. The Veil leader pulled back but she wasn’t caught off-guard like before.

“Stop doing that!” Azrael exclaimed before retaliating with a casual backhand.

And that casual backhand sent Grace spinning. She activated her Blade of Eternia mid-spin, the golden rapier materializing just in time to deflect Azrael’s follow-up strike.

[Blade of Eternia – Level 9]

The weapons clashed. Grace’s rapier, blazing with divine light, against Azrael’s bare hands wreathed in corruption.

“You’re just delaying the inevitable.” Azrael pressed forward. “I have centuries of experience. You have months.”

“Yeah, but I’m a fast learner.”

Grace ducked under a punch and drove her elbow into Azrael’s ribs. The Earthshaker Gauntlets made the impact devastating.

[Unarmed Combat Effectiveness – Level 9]

Azrael grunted and grabbed Grace’s head. Corruption poured into her again.

This time, Grace was ready. She activated Aura Manipulation and redirected the flow, cycling it through her body without letting it take hold.

[Aura Manipulation – Level 9]

“What?” Azrael’s eyes widened.

Grace grinned through the pain.

“Told you. Fast learner.”

She channeled the corruption into her fist and uppercut Azrael. The Veil leader flew upward, silver blood trailing behind.

Grace pursued. She could feel herself slowly getting into a rhythm.

Azrael was stronger than her, certainly, but she could do it. Not by overpowering Azrael, hell no. By outlasting her.

Her black wings beat hard, propelling her faster than ever before. She caught up to Azrael and grabbed her ankle.

“Going somewhere?”

She spun and threw Azrael downward. The impact created a crater fifty feet wide.

[This corruption is making me stronger. But at what cost?]

Grace dove after her. Azrael rose from the crater, corruption exploding outward in waves.

“ENOUGH!”

The blast caught Grace mid-dive. She crossed her arms and weathered it, her Corruption Resistance skill activating.

[Corruption Resistance – Level 8]

It still hurt. But not as much as before.

Grace landed in front of Azrael. They circled each other, both breathing hard.

At that moment, Grace realized something.

“You…” She shook her head, wondering if her eyes were deceiving her. “You’re holding back.” Grace wiped blood from her mouth. “Why?”

“I’m not—”

“You are.” Grace pointed at Azrael’s hands. “You haven’t fully transformed. You had more than enough corruption to become a Primal. Still do. You aren’t changing, though. Still clinging to your angel form.”

Azrael’s expression flickered.

“I don’t need to become a monster to defeat a weakling like you.”

“Is that it!? Or, are you afraid?” Grace channeled healing energy again, fixing a punctured lung. “You are. You’re afraid of losing yourself!”

“Like you have?” Azrael sneered as she gestured at Grace’s black wings. “Look at yourself. You’re becoming exactly what you claim to fight.”

Grace glanced at her wings. Both were completely black now. Her skin had a faint purple tinge. The corruption inside her whispered constantly.

She hadn’t noticed it until now. Even her Blade of Eternia had lost its golden hue and was now just white with some grey mixed in.

Grace shook her head.

[I can’t win as myself. I can’t save the Dominion as myself.] She looked back, at the angels below. [But… This… This is my job, isn’t it? I have to give it my all. Even if…]

She held her sword out.

[Even if I’m the one who ends up corrupted after this.]

They clashed again. This time, Grace used everything. Her Blade of Eternia sang through the air. Her gauntlets enhanced every punch and block. Her Divine Insight let her read Azrael’s movements.

[Divine Insight – Level 8]

Duck. Parry. Strike. Dodge. Heal.

The pattern repeated. Every time Azrael landed a hit, Grace healed. Every time Grace absorbed corruption, she cycled it through Aura Manipulation.

“This is pointless!” Azrael’s frustration showed. “You can’t win through attrition!”

Grace caught Azrael’s fist and pulled more corruption.

“I have to.”

Images flashed through the connection. Not memories this time – emotions. Raw, primal feelings that Azrael had carried for millennia.

The need for order. For structure. For everything to have its proper place.

[Wait. This feels familiar.]

Grace had felt this before.

In the Root’s desperate need for connection. The Tide’s loneliness. The Flame’s rage. The Tempest’s indecision. The Mountain’s stubbornness. The Void’s emptiness. The Bloom’s creative chaos.

[They’re all emotions. Pieces of Eternia she couldn’t handle.]

“Stop that!” Azrael broke the connection and struck Grace’s chest.

Grace flew backward but caught herself quickly. Her mind raced.

[Now that I think about it… Azrael looks exactly like Eternia, just with silver hair instead of white, and blue eyes instead of gold. She was created to maintain order in Linaria. To keep everything running smoothly.]

A notification flashed in Grace’s vision:

[Quest Alert: Purify the Final Pillar]

[Objective: Cleanse Azrael of accumulated corruption]

[Warning: Subject contains millennia of compressed Sin energy]

Grace’s eyes widened.

[She’s a Pillar. Azrael is a Pillar.]

It made perfect sense. Eternia created beings to hold emotions she couldn’t process. The seven Pillars for her chaotic feelings. And Azrael for her need for control.

The last feeling she needed to rid herself of before she could step back. Before she could leave.

“You’re not just Eternia’s ex.” Grace lowered her rapier. “You’re her desire for order made manifest.”

Azrael froze.

“What?”

“Think about it.” Grace stepped forward. “Why do you look exactly like her? Why were you created specifically to manage Linaria? You’re not just an angel. You’re a Pillar.”

“That’s ridiculous.” But uncertainty crept into Azrael’s voice.

“Is it?” Grace spread her arms. “The Root held loneliness. The Tide held sorrow. The Flame held rage. And you? You hold Eternia’s need to control everything.”

“I am NOT a Pillar!” Azrael’s corruption flared. “I’m the first angel! Her greatest creation!”

“You’re both.” Grace’s voice softened. “And that’s why the corruption affects you so strongly. You’ve been absorbing Sin energy for centuries, just like the other Pillars when they were abandoned.”

Azrael’s hands shook.

“No. That’s not… I chose this power. I chose to study Sins.”

“Did you? Or were you always drawn to it?” Grace took another step forward. “The same way the Root was drawn to corruption when left alone too long?”

“Stop talking.” Azrael’s form flickered between angel and something else.

“I’ve purified seven Pillars.” Grace raised her hands. “I can purify you too.”

“I don’t need purifying!” Azrael’s voice cracked. “I need justice! I need Eternia to answer for abandoning us!”

“She did abandon you.” Grace nodded. “Just like she abandoned all her emotions when they got too hard to handle. But that doesn’t mean you have to stay corrupted.”

“I’m NOT—”

Azrael’s words cut off as more corruption burst from her. Her form shifted further, wings growing, skin darkening.

“See?” Grace pointed at the transformation. “You’re losing yourself to it. Just like the other Pillars did.”

She thought of the Root, teaching Earth-Tenders again. The Tide, no longer drowning in loneliness. The Flame, her rage finally spent. All of them, all of the Pillars finally free from the corruption that had twisted them.

Azrael raised both hands. Corruption gathered between them – not just a sphere this time, but a miniature black hole.

“Your words won’t stop me. I want my revenge.”

“Then you’ll have to go through me.” Grace planted her feet. “Because I’m not letting another Pillar fall to corruption.”

“I am NOT a Pillar!”

Azrael released the attack. The black hole expanded, pulling everything toward it. Debris, light, even sound seemed to bend toward its center.

Grace didn’t run. Instead, she opened herself completely to her Aura Release ability.

[If she’s really a Pillar, then I can save her. I just need to survive long enough.]

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