And so... The stars scattered in the capital will soon have their fated meeting. Even if they were not aware or tried to resist, the meandering paths led them together. It is written that they meet tonight, right here and now. Thus...
"Lieutenant, please wait! You're too fast! This is crazy!"
"Don't act like a spoiled brat, Kircheisen. How can you be slower than a civilian?"
"Don't be too hard on her. I mean, she's..."
"T-The difference in our steps is too big! You two are much taller than me!"
"Hmm, hmhmm, hmm, hm, hmm... Look at me, Mother. When I do this, I look like the nymph from Dvorak's opera. Wouldn't you agree?"
"I would prefer that an adult woman like yourself would refrain from playing around in a fountain. It is improper."
This moment would surely be a transition point for my own self. After all...
"So this is where you were, Jester. I must say, your invitation was quite elaborate... And foolish."
This moment will mark the beginning of this man and the Legion He will command.
"Greetings. I bid you welcome, Your Excellency Lieutenant General Heydrich. Your seat is ready. Let us view the spectacle."
"... What?"
And Thus...
"Nnh?"
"Huuh?"
"Wait..."
"This is..."
"Oh my..."
"Looks like something strange is happening here."
Let the curtains rise on the night's Grand Guignol.
"Lieutenant... What is this?"
As they reached their destination, they were met with a calamity that left Beatrice speechless. She felt as though she were having a bad dream.
Considering that they were seeking the criminals, it could be processed as a positive situation on their path, but the wickedness happened to be far above what anyone could have predicted. Which was perfectly reasonable. After all, who would expect to see a car get blasted away and explode in a battle between two unarmed people?
The number of savages was another thing that confused them. Why were there two and why were they fighting? As Beatrice became even more perplexed, Eleonore kept her iron-hard expression.
"Who knows? That aside, look over there, Kircheisen. Do you know who that is?"
"Huh, who...?"
The girl's superior slightly raised her chin to point at a tall man clad in a first-class military uniform at the other end of the alley. At a closer look, there also seemed to be another man standing beside him. Even from afar, the two seemed quite handsome, but their overall impressions were both completely different and strangely similar.
Beatrice couldn't word it well, but she felt as though she were looking at characters from picture books... Ones that made chills go down her spine.
They were...
"Lieutenant General Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich. His Excellency the Chief of the Gestapo."
"Wha— R-Really?"
"Yes. And the one beside him is likely..."
The other man seemed as thin as a shadowgraph. Though they could both see him there, for some reason, they couldn't perceive his visage.
"...Who?"
"It doesn't matter. Anyway, I down know the circumstances, but if His Excellency is here, there is only one thing for us to do. We have to protect him from the two savages. From what I can see, we are the only soldiers here. With this, we should be able to make up for overstepping our boundaries and getting involved in the Gestapo's work."
She was right. Beatrice nodded with full respect for Eleonore and the venerable path she walked.
"True. I don't know who those two are, but they're far too dangerous for us to ignore."
"Hmph, as impudent as you are, you seem to know what matters. Let me tell you another thing, then. Rather than guns, their kinds are best handled with this."
Eleonore smiled for the first time in a long while and, as if to praise her subordinate's resolve, she unsheathed the sword at her waist.
"Cut, pierce, gouge — fill them with pain and fear. Kircheisen, be advised that being at gun point isn't as scary as you might think."
"Understood."
The woman saw her enemy and silently proclaimed she would joined the battle. The cool, brave, and knighty posture invigorated Beatrice so much she forgot her fear.
"I suppose this is your first real battle?"
"Yes, but do not worry about me."
At her superior's side, the girl could fight fearlessly and with no hesitation. Ever since she took a position at the army, she dedicated her blade to the Fatherland, its people, blood, glory, and victory.
"I believe you won't fail me. Our families have a history of knighthood. Being born there, we are not allowed to have aversion to killing or being killed. Charge!"
"Of course! Miss Riza, please stand back and hide!"
Beatrice kicked the ground and — with lightning speed — broke into the hurricane-like violence surrounding the scoundrels.
"Uoooooooohhh!"
"Huh?"
Her first attack was deflected — she took the savage's counterattack with the middle part of her blade. The impact was great enough to send her flying backwards, but she was able to hold her ground by lodging into the earth with her army boots. The violence and vehemence of the attack made her feel as though her opponent wasn't even human.
"Who the fuck are you? Where'd ya crawl out of?"
The crimson eyes on his ivory face released a hot, demonic light. As unbelievable as it was, he didn't have a weapon. The man — Wilhelm Ehrenburg — deflected her blade with nothing but his bare hands. The stench of blood and beast made it quite obvious that he was barely human. With just a single exchange of attacks, Beatrice instantly knew he was a true murderer and no friend to the ordinary. However, that was exactly why she couldn't back out. Succumbing to someone so vile was the opposite of what a true knight would do.
"Villain, give up and face arrest. I am Beatrice Waltrud von Kircheisen. Resist and I will remove your limbs!"
The severe and solemn scolding made the man widen his eyes and look slightly confused at first, but then his shoulders began to shake and his mouth formed a wicked smile, which was followed by a cackle just as dark.
"Heh... Hehah... Hahahahahahaha! Big words there. Real funny shit. A valiant lil' lady,. aren't ya? Do you seriously think you can match me with a body that fucking small!? I'll spread ya out on the ground, impale ya so good it'll make ya cry for mommy, and scatter yer pieces all over the place!"
An avalanche of thick bloodlust came all over her. The wickedness clogged her nose, clouded her vision, and made her oxygen-deprived limbs go numb. The very truth that such a man existed tried her perception of the world. And that was exactly why she couldn't allow her to draw breath of their human world any longer. Beatrice had no doubt in her heart.
"You filth... You are beyond salvation."
"Yeah. Not once in my entire life did I feel like I could be saved. Bring it, lady. I'll show you what happens when you get involved in someone else's fights."
"You don't have to tell me that."
As the killer beckoned her, Beatrice fixed her posture and took a step forward. Being a soldier, the girl had things she needed to protect.
"I'll show you what's really important!"
Her angered roar was followed by an earnest thrust. Deflection, evasion, a follow-up attack — unlike the momentary first exchange, this one was building up to be a true battle to the death. Beatrice fearlessly faced her violence, swearing not to let it swallow her and the justice of the path she walked.
And...
"Ahh, this is boring. This is the first time in ages I've gotten all fired up, and you interrupted me. Talk about ruining the fun."
The other Valkyrie approached the second villain.
"You there. What are you?"
"Hmm?"
Unlike Beatrice, she wasn't angry. The woman's gaze as she examined the being before her was as cool and grim as ice. It was as though she were trying to gauge how best to deal with the beast.
"A man? A woman? Which one? Who are you?"
The woman knew full well that it wasn't the dainty girl it appeared to be. The being was covered in a whirlwind of decay that could almost be described as a dress weaved from bloody mist. The pure smile was but a thin layer hiding a chaos of hatred, resentment, and indignation.
Eleonore didn't even have to remove the mask to feel the pure madness underneath — it was practically boiling and seeping through. The amount of people this thing killed was several times greater than that of Beatrice's opponent. Eleonore easily understood that this one was far more dangerous than the other.
Thus...
"I'm neither. Want to have a look? Here."
The vast emptiness under the being's raised skirt had no effect on Eleonore's composure. She had a hunch that it wouldn't be a pretty sight ever since she saw the dress-clad monster.
"This means I can love you regardless of what you prefer. What do you say?"
"I see you've got some trifling philosophy to go with your miserable state. How filthy."
It was just as she feared, and that was the reason why she couldn't tolerate the being.
"I am Eleonore von Wittenberg. Come, you mad mutt. All maggots corrupting the Reich's capital shall be killed and fumigated."
It was a spawn of the city's Stygian darkness. Eleonore couldn't stomach the environment that could give birth to such beasts. The Fatherland lost in the previous war, and as such, hopeless failures covered it like a thin cloud. The woman planned to destroy the root of this problem and remove the darkness with the light of victory. That was her role and venerable mission as a knight of the Reich.
"Ahah, hahahaha... Kill? Kill? Kill me? These people who keep saying things they can't do... I hate you all! Just try and tell me who'll be the one to die here!"
"You. By my hand. Right now!"
Failures such as this thing had no place in the strong Fatherland envisioned by Eleonore. The ghost left behind by the defeatists had to perish.
On that Holy night, two deadly battles shook Berlin to its core. Flying sparks and shouts of life... The dance between the beasts and the Valkyries left no space for anyone else.
"What a mess. Those girls sure are something. It's safe to say they're barely half human at this point."
The woman watching the clash from afar voiced her slight astonishment. She expressed true wonder and a certain kind of praise, but — strangely enough — showed little fear. The priest accompanying her spoke in an inquisitive voice, as if to know more of her impression.
"Does that mean that the female officers are at the disadvantage?"
"Yes. They're not exactly normal, either, but their opponents are just too far off. Monsters like them occur from time to time... People whose environment turns them into human beasts with no help from martial of magical arts. True fiends. These. From what I can tell, the little boy is nine, while the big one is a seven. The redhead soldier is normal, but she trained hard enough to become another seven. The blonde little lady, though, is just a five. Nothing special. However, there was no better set-up. If they switched opponents, the blonde girl would already be dead. And with that, the redhead would have to fight both of them at once. She seems to be aware of that, but the reasonable choice of pairing up with the blonde to take out the girls one after the other is likely against her principles. It would be best for them to run away, but the knightly mentality doesn't allow it. What a sad fight. There's nothing they can do now."
Her tone as she commented on and analyzed the fight was nonchalant and amused. It almost as if the woman wasn't aware that, if she was right, she was in trouble, as well. Or maybe she was aware, but had reason to act as though it didn't matter.
"Should you not go and help them, then?"
"Me? Why? Or, rather... How?"
"Forget I said that. I somehow felt as if you would be capable."
Her straightforward question made the priest act slightly evasive. Certain truths were reaching his eyes and ears, but even if the other party was aware of it, he couldn't be too overt about his ability. The priest lacked the courage to speak out. His desire was to silently wither like a flower in the wilderness. The priest was always prepared to flee and had a strong inclination to "let sleeping dogs lie" in his life.
"I must say that this is a predicament. Though they might be soldiers, they are still women in serious trouble. If there is anything I can do to help. I would gladly do it."
"It's better if you don't. You're a minus ten, after all. Also, I guess I might as well say that the blue-haired lady spacing out over there is a one — the pinnacle of mediocrity."
"Then..."
Seemingly irked by the woman's irresponsible attitude, the priest slightly raised her chin to point at another direction. Two silhouettes were standing there. Even with his eyes and ears — for some reason — he couldn't describe those two beings. Thus, he wished to know what she thought of them.
"What about those gentleman?"
"Huh?"
"Did you not notice them? They are likely the Chief of the Gestapo and that person the Minister of Propaganda prefers to hide. How do you think they would fare?"
The response to that question was strange and far beyond what he expected.
"Ah... Ah..."
As if her soul had been just torn away from her, the woman shook in clear shock, only pitiful gibberish escaping her lips. What did she see? What did she feel? What did they look like in the eyes of a witch? Trifa's uncontainable curiosity surpassed even his fear.
"...? What is wrong, Miss Schwägelin?"
"No way, this is just... This can't be real..."
"...?"
"Why? How? Why, why, why, why...?"
Her composure, which was present even when she analyzed the two murderers, shattered like nothing — as though now she was faced by real monsters of another world.
"I don't believe it. This is insane. I won't accept it! Why do those things exist in this world!?"
Her shriek was a sure sign that the night was only just beginning.
___________
_______
___
"What do you think? Quite an interesting event, is it not? Both parties could be considered the top of humanity."
The vehemence of the women and the madness of the beasts. Paying little mind to it and as if enveloping them, Karl Kraft continued talking with a mysterious smile on his lips. His songlike tone made him seem like a musician playing at an opera.
"Truly, this country has some interesting folk. You can meet people such as those just by taking a stroll outside. I would be glad if this worked to alleviate your ennui... Can I have your honest impression?"
"..."
Reinhard was unable to answer at first. However, there was one thing he wanted the man to know.
"Jester... No, it does not matter what you are. I will only say one thing. I am not as impressive as you make me out to be."
He saw the jester-like man as a person who had long transcended the realm of merely "odd" — an amalgam of indescribable absurdity, he could feel it not by reason, but by heart.
Thus, Reinhard Heydrich believed he was not interesting enough to be worthy of the phantom's interaction. After all...
"I do not know restraint. As such, I do everything with sincerity. And before I knew it, that way of life gained me the status I currently have. I am akin to an unstoppable automobile. Regardless of how efficient one's engine is, anything that runs without rest would eventually travel around the planet once or twice. I cannot begin to fathom what you expect from me, but that is the extent of the person known as Reinhard Heydrich. If you wish for amusement, you have a number of interesting folk right there. Go to them."
For better or for worse, he was in no way above the common man. His own evaluation of himself was based in neither humility nor conceit, but in solemn realism. Being a person with nothing special to him, he could do nothing but trifling acts. Even if this man expected something more, that truth would not change.
Reinhard was a normal man and he knew that to be true better than anyone. After all, nothing in this world ever left him astonished. He was already at peace with the resignation overwhelming his heart, yet the man before him continued smiling, subtly shaking his head.
"Oh dear... Self-effacing does not suit you at all. Would you still refuse to reconsider if I told you were yet to even hatch?"
"What?"
The swindler spoke more nonsense. It was almost as though he implied that all the despair, disappointment, and limits Reinhard set upon himself were nothing but illusions.
"Your Excellency, you claim to not know restraint and that you unable to halt in your tracks. However, in that case, pray tell me... Do you remember ever having used your full potential on a task? Were you not merely strolling, thinking it was your dash?"
"What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I speak. Would a lion use its fangs and claws for something as easy as breaking an egg? Would a falcon use its wings while facing a land-crawling insect? Where is this path you claim to have walked with no restraint? I fail to see it and doubt I ever will. Allow me to take your comparison to an automobile. Let us imagine a rocket that can go to space or cross oceans and destroy enemy nations on other continents. However, despite harboring a supreme engine and fuel, it travels around in a trunk of a standard vehicle, all because the surrounding roads are too limited for it to run at its own power. Would I be mistaken to assume that to be your true nature? You should finally admit that you have never unleashed your full potential, as one with no restraint, you have to hide your true abilities and make peace with a boring human world that would not last a second when exposed to be the true you."
"Ridiculous."
The mutter escaping his lips was slightly cracked in tone.
"Just how great is your megalomania? The fuel and engine of a rocket? If I truly possessed such, this country would have turned to ash a long time ago."
Reinhard Heydrich claimed to be an ever-running automobile that knew no restraint. That was all there could have been to a man as boring as himself, and as such, this trite world surrounding him was, if anything, the proof of his limit. He was running for so long, and yet it was though he had never moved from his initial position. Not once in his life had Reinhard gotten to feel the sense of accomplishment.
"That is why I wish to know why you hold yourself back."
"...!"
Those words filled his heart like poisonous mercury. The sensation urged him to destroy... And love. The tempting echo of a sweet ecstasy.
"Do you like this country? Do you love it? Friends, wife, lover, family, subordinates, superiors, the ones on the street... I do not believe you could ever hold anything so trifling as dear. For—"
Aye, for— What he really wished for was to create the promised land of his destructive embrace.
His consciousness began to weave that perception of himself. It was an unknown, delusional longing leaking out of his subconsciousness. At the same time, it was a feeling everyone felt in their infancy — one craving the preposterous and impossible. Self-consolation through thought. The demolition of reality. The desire within his heart was all but—no, instead, he merely wished to...
"Karl Kraft."
Reinhard took a step forward and cut the swindler's words short. He could not yet quite grasp the whole truth of his soul — the shape of the prayer etched onto his heart. He didn't comprehend what he believed in, wished for, or sought, and yet he felt it. It was a strange sensation burning his breast ever since he met the man.
The unexplainable, incomprehensible emotion — one that he must have had experienced countless times before. Anger, irritation, and despair coming from the fact he knew what would happen next, accompanied by ridicule a boundless sense of emptiness. The craving to destroy it all.
Which was why...
"It is time for you to hold your tongue. When we met, I'm certain I told you your head would roll the moment I sensed you were a threat to the country."
The passion he had poured into his Fatherland, subordinates, and everything else he loved... Could not be proven true if he refused to embrace it.
"If you keep spouting this trifling nonsense... I will make sure you never open your mouth again."
Giving in to impulse, Reinhard resumed walking while Karl Kraft moved to the side with the same smile on his face.
"Oh my... Allow me one last word, Your Excellency. One form of the Golden mean is a pyramid. Being at the top of it means having no one by your side. That is the kind of person you are. You would be wise to become aware of that."
"Ridiculous."
Indeed. His words meant little. Reinhard's opinion of himself as a lowly individual had not wavered. And as such...
"I do not know what you mean. I am not aware of any hunger or thirst you speak of. However, I don't know why, but all I can think about now..."
He craved to embrace all Creation until it choked.
"...Is making that rabble yield to me."
"Feel free to."
As if congratulating Reinhard for the path he chose, Karl did a graceful bow.
***
"Move."
"Wha—!? P-Please stand back, Your Excellency. It's dangerous!"
"I told you to move."
"Ghaah!"
"...!"
What seemed like a weak swing of his arm threw Eleonore away like a ragdoll. Exposed to the sight, even the bloodclad, maddened beast stopped dead in its tracks.
"What is wrong, you mad dog? Why do you stop?"
The savage looked up to witness something that filled even him with terror. With his sense of reason gone, Wolfgang Schreiber's mind was like that of an animal. And that was exactly why the sight petrified him. His instincts screamed that Reinhard wasn't a normal opponent. The very thought of winning against him felt absurd.
"Ah... Ah... Ah... Ah..."
"That eye is festering. You have no need for it."
"Aaaaasaggggghhhhhh!"
Reinhard forced a finger into the eye of the beast and raised it by the socket. Schreiber's brain secreted ridiculous amounts of chemicals that made him insensitive to pain, but the atrocity he was experiencing was nonetheless painful enough to make him scream.
"Hngh!"
"Gyaaah!"
Discarded like a doll, Schreiber rolled across the ground, unable to tell which was up to. He might not have weighted all that much, but the feat wasn't one that should have been accomplishable by a single finger. Undeniable and absolute dominance and subjugation. Everyone exposed to it lost their breath.
"How...?"
"What is that...?"
"This can't be. This isn't real. This is just too..."
"Heh heh... Heheheheheh..."
The only exception was the shadowy swindler, to whom the sight seemed thoroughly pleasing.
"Get out of his way! Fall back, Kircheisen!"
"Huh? Wah! Kyahh!"
Eleonore's pained scream failed to reach the girl in time for her to avoid being thrown to the side. And so, only one of them was left...
"Wha—!? What the hell are you?"
Astonished and terrified, Wilhelm stood before the Golden Monarch. He, too, was completely stripped of any will to fight. The eyes looking down on him seemed to come from the high heavens, but the voice that fell upon his terrified ears was strangely emotional for someone speaking to the equivalent of an ant.
"I am a nobody. And you are?"
"Ah, I-I'm..."
Wilhelm failed to string a proper sentence, as if having forgotten who he was, and only released sounds that seemed both sorrowful and joyous. Soon enough, he came to a certain realization.
The man before him was an infant — a freshly born transcendent who would experience unimaginable growth. Any who came in contact with his first cry were pulverized, turned into dust, and rendered unable to return to their former selves. However — for some reason — Wilhelm felt that to be a blessing rather than a curse.
"Do you relish blood? Or do you detest it? Regardless, you must first consider what flows in your veins."
"Gwaaahh!"
The fist that crashed into Wilhelm's stomach reduced his internal organs to mush, shattering his bone and ending his life. The strike marked the beginning of his second life of blissful strife, as a member of the hellish Legion of Gold.
"Ghh, ghaah...! Ghaaah!"
While painfully drowning in a sea of her own bloody vomit, Wilhelm felt love, pleasure, and elation so true it almost made him climax.
The mercury shadow observing the sight grinned, expressing his great joy from the distant, unknown emptiness of the empyrean.
"How horrid..."
Riza Brenner could do nothing else but embrace herself and tremble before the sudden eruption of Gold's Valor.
"I-It appears that it was taken care of... Although I am not sure if I can honestly proclaim ourselves to have been saved quite yet."
Trifa felt as though he might have been luckier had he actually been killed today as someone of no consequence. That sentiment of him wasn't unreasonable in the least.
"So that is Reinhard Heydrich..."
Rusalka Anna Schwägelin instinctually understood that she never should have met him. Her fate was sealed just by virtue of being here, and there was no escaping it now. As if to confirm it, Reinhard Heydrich gave the two soldiers an order.
"You two."
"S... Sir!?"
"W-What is it, Your Excellency?"
Compared to Schreiber and Wilhelm, the female soldiers seemed to be slightly better off, the two somehow stood up and looked back at the tall man.
"Take that priest and woman to the Gestapo."
"Huh?"
"B-But Your Excellency..."
"Do not make me repeat myself. I want it done with haste."
"Certainly, hurry up, Kircheisen."
"Ah, B-but... Wh-What will happen to them? The rebels are—"
"That is not for you to know. Arrest them before I come back. Also, Lieutenant."
"My name is Eleonore von Wittenberg, Sir."
"Make a request to transfer both of you. Come to the Gestapo."
"...!"
At that moment, the two felt as though Reinhard's blue eyes were glittering in Gold.
"B-but..."
"Have I made myself clear? Go and do as you are told."
"Understood."
They didn't know his intentions, but couldn't talk back against an order. They dragged their injured bodies and, as they were told, arrested Trifa and the woman before hurriedly leaving the place. As the night became silent once again, Karl Kraft began clapping at Reinhard, who was still shaking from the newfound emotions that surged within him.
'So, Lieutenant General, what do you make of your first ever taste of unrestrained violence? Although you might deny it, I can clearly see and feel your soul shaking with pure joy.'
- - -
"Oh, come on! Why are you taking me away!? Is this a joke? Let me go, already!"
"Stop talking. Why were you there, in the first place?"
"Umm... Are you simple? Is there something wrong about citizens taking a walk through the city? Also, I'm part of—"
"Please calm yourself. Let us do as we are told for now."
After the event, the people taken to the Gestapo's offices exchanged complaints as anxiety ate them from within. The shock from seeing something so far out of the ordinary was still with them, but their mental states were already stable enough for them to speak.
"Umm... I'm really sorry, Father. You, too, Miss Riza. I never expected this to happen..."
"Huh? Oh, don't mind me, I'm fine. And it's not like we're here to be executed."
"Th-That's true... At least, I hope it is."
After all, the Gestapo was infamous all over the country for giving the death penalty for mere suspicion. The amount of people who left this building alive was below a tenth of those who entered. Previously, they could have easily processed that information as simple gossip, but such optimism wouldn't work now, for they just witnessed what kind of person the top of this division truly was. As if speaking everyone's worries, Rusalka Anna Schwägelin raised a shrill voice.
"Fools, all of you! None of you understand what's going on! Don't come to me when you regret this!"
"What a noisy woman. Your shrieking is making my wounds ache."
"Ah, I almost forgot. Are you well, Lieutenant? You seemed to have been hit pretty hard."
"It's nothing to worry about. My arm broke, but I feel like I should be grateful I came through with only that."
"I-I see..."
Beatrice was clearly the one who suffered the least damage, and though she was aware of that truth, the dark premonition within her heart prevented her from feeling she was lucky. As if having reading her mind, Trifa lowered his voice, sounding a silent mutter as though talking to himself.
"I must say, Lieutenant General Heydrich was far greater than what I heard of him in the rumors... He is almost like..."
"Like... What, Father?"
"Well, I... I am not sure how to word it..."
Telepathy and Psychonometry — the power within Trifa's brain — allowed him to read the minds and memories of people. However, he was unable to perceive even a bit of the thoughts within Reinhard and Karl Kraft. As much as the truth scared him, Trifa was overcome with a certain idea.
He could not help wishing to know what they were, for they might prove to be the ones to finally free him from his torture. It was far too ominous to be called a hope, but the overwhelming charisma of his might made the priest want to cling to it.
As a self-admitted common man, he could not look away from the two beings of such superiority. Trifa felt as though he were dazzled by the shine of pure Gold... But at the same time, that glitter felt like being bewitched by The Devil.
"Ohh, clouds are gathering over my dear youth. What would Mother and Father think about me working at the Gestapo?"
For better or for worse, Beatrice had no choice but to let herself go with the flow, regardless of what kind of future it would lead her to...
Everyone felt the same way. It was their way of dealing with the destructive reality that would surely come for them sooner or later.
- - -
"Day of wrath and doom Impending, David's words with Sibyl's blending, Heaven and Earth in ashes ending. Oh what fear man's bosom rendeth, when from heaven the Judge descendeth, on whose sentence all dependeth. Aye, that day shall mark the end. The Day of Wrath is on the horizon!"
"What a ridiculous song. Why are you so festive?"
"Why. Indeed. All I can say is that I believe it to be common practice to celebrate the birth of a new life."
"With those lyrics? If there is a life whose birth is blessed with an apocalyptic requiem..."
"Yes?"
"It would be an accursed monster — a being that should have never been born in the first place."
"But if he is already in this world, no one has the right to deny him his instinct. The things you will do and have done to you, your thoughts, accomplishments and feelings... Oh, I am dying to know it all. Allow me to always be the first to hear about them."
"I have no objection to that. For now... I will grant you these people. Handle them as you desire. Let them live, kill them, or make them your slaves... A magician as queer as yourself will surely find a use for them."
"If you insist. Now, you two."
"Ah... Ah..."
"Hhahh... Gh..."
"You will now serve me, Karl Kraft, and my dear friend Reinhard Heydrich. You are unfulfilled, no? You wish to kill, do you not? I shall grant you the power. I promise to fill your cursed and corrupted lives with agonizing satisfaction, bliss, and a blaze truer than any other. Blood, flesh, bone, and brain; spirit, mind, and soul — let ferocity overtake you, allow your beings be scorched. Become the Claws and Fangs of the Golden Beast."
"Sieg Heil."
"Sieg Heil."
"Sieg Heil. Viktoria."
Thus was the inauguration of the demonic army that would grow to be known as the Longinus Dreizehn Orden. This was a story of their dawn. Gold and Mercury — the Golden Beast and the Mercurial Serpent — were the two leaders of the order. Both Devilish and Godlike at the same time, they formed a friendship and created a bond that could not be comprehended by common men. It was not to be forgotten that none could match them as long as they were together. They would remain undefeated even if all of Creation itself were torn apart.
_____________________________________________________
Dies Irae: Die Morgendämmerung - The End.