Singing. It was a skill that allowed someone to create multifarious sounds and melodies with their respiratory system and vocal organs. It was not just a skill, however. It was an art capable of tugging the heartstrings of its listeners. Raphael the Thrones adored this auditory form of art. As a public official, singing was his one and only source of invigoration amid his strict and methodic work environment.
I thought I was happy and felt lucky.
The music of the upper realms was beautiful. The melodies of Heaven boasted impeccable harmony. Raphael, thus, regarded his greatest blessing as being born a divine creature under heaven.
Listening to music never failed to wash away his day's worth of fatigue. It overwhelmed him with happiness and peace. The same went for today. As he descended into the lower realm, Raphael was determined to enjoy listening to Heaven's Symphony No. 2, his favorite song, as soon as he finished demolishing the Jewel of Truth, to wash away all the exhaustion with its clear, vivid melody. It was his reward to himself. But the reality, to his misfortune, was nothing less than a disgusting cesspool.
"Wh-what in the heavens?"
Raphael was beginning to have the upper hand and oppress his human opponent, who continued to put up a good fight despite his fiery rings. Nonetheless, he was confident that the tables would turn eventually and his enemy would start to crack with a little more pressure. That was when his ears picked up a terrorizing cacophony.
"You were created to be loved! Throughout your life, you are loved!"
Ack...
An avalanche of horror gripped him. He almost dropped the iron mace from his grip as he was suddenly overcome with the desire to cover his ears. The music coming into his ears was plain horror. Its tune, rhythm, and everything else about it was wrong. The singer's screeching voice, too, sounded like a drowning hen.
Where could this sound possibly be coming from? Can this be considered singing? Wait, was this a demonic cry from Hell? Or a curse from the Purgatory? As he strove to collect his chaotic thoughts, Raphael swiveled to the sound's source. He then found Lloyd singing at the top of the Jewel of Truth.
"From the beginning, God has shown his love for you! As we greet and bless each other, love blossoms! Because you are with us, we experience tremendous joy!"
Stop it! Please stop it! Raphael begged inwardly as the words were lost in his mouth. A desire to suddenly offer a prayer for this human surged, followed by a desire to tear out his eardrums.
"Ack...!"
Wham! Just then, Raphael heard the booming sound of his fiery rings blocking a blow, which had come like a bolt of lightning. Raphael shuddered when he realized how the awful singing had distracted him.
Argh!
The blow didn't hurt Raphael. But it compromised his counterattack.
I was doing a good job of suppressing him. Tsk.
Grandmaster Javier. Raphael had been trying to defeat his difficult opponent through suppression. But now, all his momentum had dissipated after his momentary lapse of focus. As a result, the tables had turned against him.
Wham! Boom! Crackle! Javier's sword glinted in a series of motions as soon as it was liberated from the oppressive salvo of attacks from the angel. He was now on the offense and charged to strike down Raphael. His violent attacks seemed to be ready to destroy Raphael's fiery rings, which acted as his shield.
Arggh!
Raphael began to busily move as it was only a matter of time until his defense capabilities, however strong they were, would be neutralized by the blitzkrieg coming from his opponent. He couldn't sit back and solely depend on his rings. As such, he looked up, trying to remain calm.
"Human Lloyd Frontera," Raphael called as he deflected Javier's sword. "I understand your desire to sing, but could you please stop your singing for a second, as your voice is not quite compatible with my tastes?"
Raphael believed that his gracious and cordial attitude would prompt Lloyd to accept his request and he would understand the former's dismay. But Raphael could not be more mistaken.
Lloyd's response came in the form of singing. "O suffering one, stretch your hand out! With the Lord's promise, take your stand!"
This hymn was something Lloyd used to sing aloud on Sundays at the military when he attended church because they gave out chocolate-coated bread with marshmallows. Lloyd gave everything he had to sing this song aloud. Of course, he didn't have to purposefully try ruining the song. He simply just tried his best to sing well. But it was just that his best efforts only strained his neck, making his veins pop and voice crack, ultimately perverting his singing into a screeching shrill. Raphael, upon hearing Lloyd's hymn, writhed in excruciating agony.
"S-stop... Stop!"
Raphael shook his head as he trembled. Why was his day going like this? If he just finished his mission today, he could return to listening to his melodious song.
This singing... This sound... It'll be stuck in my head even after a thousand years!
Chills ran down his spine. The desire to purify his ears swept through him. He held up his iron mace in desperation and wielded it roughly at Javier, who was charging at him.
Boooom!
Javier was pushed back into a distance when he blocked the mace. Having earned a second to himself, Raphael looked up and pleaded to Lloyd in a shaky voice.
"Please! Human Lloyd Frontera! Do not defile the value of a beautiful song and music!"
Lloyd fervently replied, "Avalokitesvara! The Heart of Prajna Paramita Sutra! He illuminated the Five Skandhas and saw that they were all empty!"
Just then, several lines of vein appeared on Raphael's forehead. Raphael the Throne, the angel of justice and austerity, almost lost his patience and cursed aloud. He clamped his mouth shut.
I can't curse. It'll ruin my purity.
The pure heart represented the will of the heavens and was the source of his power. This meant his purity would be defiled the moment he yelled out curse words due to an emotional outburst. That meant the loss of his main source of power. Remembering that, Raphael strove to keep his mouth shut and push the curse words out of his thoughts. And then, he came to a decision. Since Lloyd wasn't listening, he would have to forcibly stop the human from singing.
"Arggh!"
Boooom! Raphael leaped high and zoomed toward the peak of the Jewel of Truth to get to Lloyd.
Lloyd, however, didn't stop singing, even when the raging angel was charging at him. He simply continued to sing with ease. Why? It was because of his new supporter in the fight.
Whoosh! Boom! A humungous tailbone swept the whole area and struck the incoming angel. Even though it barely had any impact, the effect was immense. Raphael was sent dozens of yards away. The tailbone belonged to no other creature than Yong Yong.
Clack! Crack!
Yong Yong stood tall in front of the Jewel of Truth after giving Raphael a taste of what it felt like to be a home-run baseball. It opened its chest wide as if to say no one could pass here and Lloyd would be protected. The Skeleton Corps joined Yong Yong.
Claack! Crack! Clack!
200 skeletons cracked noisily, and their clacking bodies added a special beat to Lloyd's singing, which successfully distracted Raphael one more time. Now, Raphael was losing his mind.
I beg you... Stop!
Raphael's face crumpled. This was a serious test of his patience, even for an angel. However, the situation turned for the worse when Javier suddenly appeared and launched a series of attacks. Clang! Clang! Claaang!
Javier's sword welted down on Raphael, leaving him breathless. Thousands of aura strands pressed him, and even though the fiery rings blocked most of them, he wasn't entirely uninjured.
"Argh... Urgh!"
Crunch! Raphael's two feet were now stuck deep into the ground, much like a nail hammered into a woodblock His body started to crumple from the relentless blows.
"Ugh! Argh...!"
Raphael tried to save himself by producing shock waves with his fiery rings. But Javier's violent onslaught of attacks dissolved and absorbed them into his sword before using the force to strike harder.
This is not... good. At this rate, the mission will be a failure.
Raphael's eyes went ablaze with a sense of alarm. But it wasn't because he felt like he was going to lose.
My career has never seen any failure... I can't put a stain on my spotless record!
Raphael gritted his teeth. He had the world at his feet up until this moment with his impeccable performance. That was what had allowed his rapid promotions. It was also his source of pride to keep his nose to the grindstone as a perfectionist and serve the heavens by guarding the order of the world. Raphael regarded it as his reason for existence. But now, his pride was about to crumble, and he couldn't let that happen.
All I need to do... is stop that human from singing!
Raphael believed he'd then be able to regain his focus and exert all of his energy in the fight. At that time, he'd take care of the annoying silver-haired knight, demolish the Jewel of Truth, and save his pride in possessing a spotless track record for his job.
"Argh!!"
Thwack! Employing every bit of strength in him, Raphael rose up and bawled at the top of his enraged lungs.
"This is my last request and sincere warning! Human Lloyd Frontera! Please now! Quit your awful singing! If you do that, I will let all your actions of today slide and forgive you! And clear the charges against you for interfering with a public official from conducting his duties!"
Raphael was serious about this and wanted to negotiate if he could. If only he could stop that human from singing, he would gladly turn a blind eye to Lloyd for obstructing justice. He was sincere about this.
And now, since he had been generous and openly announced his concession, Raphael anticipated with bated breath that Lloyd would acknowledge his sincerity and quit singing. He hung on to whatever little humanity was left on this earth with a faint sense of hope.
Soon, Lloyd's response came. It came in the form of a yodel that tramped every ounce of humanity out of Raphael's heart.
"She taught me to yodel! Yodel-oh-ee-dee! Diddly-oh-ee-dee!"
Raphael was shocked.
"She taught me to yodel! Yodel-oh-ee-dee! Diddly-oh-ee-dee-ay-dee!"
The terrorizing, ear-splitting cacophony only continued, and when Raphael saw the brazen smirk on Lloyd's disharmony-producing mouth, something snapped in him.
"You...I...I asked you, and yet...!"
Crack! Clang! Boom! Crash! Amid Javier's restless, raiding blows, Raphael left his fiery rings to deal with them as he barreled upward in anger.
"Had I not asked countless times?!"
Now, there was nothing that Raphael's vision caught, except for Lloyd. His eyes were completely focused on the human's despicable face. Raphael hurtled like a raging bull or a charging tank toward Lloyd, hell-bent on iron-macing his face to a pulp.
"Why are you smirking?"
Boooom! The distance with Lloyd narrowed. Raphael's fiery rings burned behind his back as they endured Javier's blows and allowed Raphael to raise his iron mace high.
Twenty yards. Ten yards. five yards.
When Lloyd came within the hitting range, Raphael bawled in anger, "Did you like that now, you bastard? Dammit!"
The moment the word "Dammit" spilled out of Raphael's mouth...
Fwoosh... Puff.
Abruptly, Raphael's two fiery rings were put out. The fire vanished. The rotation stopped. "Huh?"
Raphael stopped dead in his tracks. Just then, Javier's sword glinted from behind him. Slash!
Past the extinguished fiery rings, Javier's aura storm engulfed Raphael's body.
