It's been years. Ismael did not starve nor dehydrated, his hatred keeps him alive and well. Mentally he had taken a toll, a severe one at that. Unable to focus or realize his mistake, knowing very well he was long gone and no one would ever come to him.
He was disconnected from the mortal realm and any and all social interaction, just a pair of dead eyes wandering through infinite layers and rooms. He was thirty-one years old, everybody had forgotten about him in some way, Awane was sometimes calling on nephilims to know his whereabouts, but the response was always vague. "He's looking for Efalis."
He knew it of course, in order for the nephilims to respect their part of the deal, Ismael asked to let Efalis be aware of his arrival. Even then, how could he catch him? For someone to be that elusive, being caught even by the means of strategies, would be incredibly stupid.
Efalis could go anywhere at anytime in his Paradise, and Ismael had lost his mind a long time ago, finding new paths leading to older ones. There was seemingly no end to it but he still climbed every wall and walked every stair to kill those who had wronged him.
How could he lose his will to kill when he remembered so vividly the reason to take his enemy's life? How could one surrender, even after years of wandering, knowing what happened? He sat down and relinquished all sanity, Paradise is an infinite place and he was losing his mind faster than planned. He knew this would take a long time, but the absurdity of it all left him speechless. Matter of fact, he did not speak the entire time he was in this place. Even in his mind, he knew what to do, and the lack of directives, either from Awane or someone else, was a benefit. He could clear his mind and savour every second.
For he was alone, he was left with nothing but directions to take instead of thoughts. "I should go left, I should take this path". None of that happened, it was all instinct, all situational and mindless. Go higher, take the most obvious route, find Efalis, kill Efalis. Regardless of who was killed in this, he could admire the architecture and enjoy his time alone. He would sometimes sleep for seven hours straight, holding his gun. He would find a place deprived of light and rest there until his body could respond again.
That was the truth, he was still living his death according to Efalis' rules. Even his hunt was going all in favor of his target, so nothing in this plan was going his way. Step after step he arrived in a museum that had paintings from all around the world. But what he truly appreciated was the museum itself instead of the art pieces exposed on the walls.
"Magnificent place isn't it."
Ismael did not think and shot his gun behind him. Efalis was looking at him, seeing the struggle on his face.
"You won't kill me, you'll just stay here and go mad. You may hunt me but I will haunt you. You can't escape this place."
"Who said I was aiming at you?"
"The First Crowning. Any reason? This painting isn't of your taste?"
"Look closer."
"The bullet flew into the depiction of the newly kinged man. Are you trying to be symbolic? I see. Funny enough this sort of useless act is very like you. Fine. If you wish to make this interesting, let's do it nicely."
Efalis disappeared, arrived at the top of Paradise and exchanged an isolated resident of this realm against another one from Heaven. "Humble Dragon God, I hereby request Raven Perma from your heavenly realm against a lonely passenger from mine."
Five empty seconds after, he felt a disturbance within the realms, pushing two individuals into different places. He bowed down and uttered the words "thank you God." Efalis joined her in a white room filled with four small waterfalls on each side of the square-shaped open air arena. He drags closer to her and whispers.
"Ismael is here to kill me. Kill him and you will get dominion over this domain. Meaning if I ever die, whoever wants to reach the Dragon God will have to go through you. Your name will become authority."
"And if I kill you now?"
"Execute the mission, soldier. You have a target."
Ismael got lost in deeper places, making him think that the newer the environnement, the closer he was to the actual top of Paradise. But he ended up in the main pool room area and witnessed on the walls, words that only he could write.
"I miss Gloria."
"Remember Awane."
"Theigon died for you"
He stared at the wall like it was going to give him an answer. "Efalis did this. This is some fucked up psychological warfare because I don't remember doing this. It wasn't me, I refuse to believe this. How many years have I actually spent here? Did I really go mad without seeing myself fall..."
Potentially, he thought he could call on Efalis after going so high, he found the way, but realized calling would be useless, the actual size of Paradise was impossible to comprehend so he gave up. He gave up on that form he saw, Raven's body standing still, sun on his face.
"Draw your gun, Ismael."
He could not talk anymore, had he continuously talked to himself, he could express himself, but as of now, nothing came of his mouth, so he pulled out a gun and aimed it at her. They shoot and they dodge the bullets, when they get closer, they strike their guns against each other like they're holding swords, crossing the steel of their weapon on one another and shoot to disengage.
Raven pulls the trigger on his face, Ismael draws back his head violently and does the same, every position becomes an increasing danger for both of them.
"No need to talk, Ismael, but I know. You're losing your death. Your life's growing back, and you know that if you get shot, you won't survive it. Open wound, infection, pain. You've been there. Remember Nara, Ismael. Remember Nara. Know this battle is a requiem for Blitzkrieg. I'll engrave her name in your body after I've killed you, and I'll name myself Blitzkrieg, losing myself forever, honoring my precious weapon. I'll become the weapon."