~Mahumi
You’re saying that I need to kill Shion?
I have to...?
With these hands...?!

I have to...kill Shion...?!

I can’t.
I could never...!
Something like that—...!

Why would you say something like that?

I can pick another demon, can’t I?!
If I need just one more, another demon would do just as well—...
Right...?!

Uriel
—No.
Because Shion is special.
It has to be him.

Mahumi
Special?
What do you mean?

Uriel
He is your shadow.
—No, I should say that he is a part of you.
If you want to return as the commander of the seraphim, the archangel who is called Light—
If you do not erase the shadow which must not exist, you cannot return.
That’s why you must destroy him.
For my sake—...and for your own.
Somehow—...

Mahumi
—shadow...?
“Shadow”.
Shion is my...?
What does that mean?

(Shion is sitting back against a wall in his apartment, bleeding from a wound in his arm.)

Shion
...!

Mikael
What’s wrong?
You’re not going to fight back?
It’s boring if you’re just going to let yourself be tossed around.
Or have you resigned yourself to your fate?
Huh, so your blood is red, too?
Will you care if I mar that pretty face this time?
—You’re strong, aren’t you? Why don’t you fight?

Shion
—Is she being sarcastic?

Strong?

Mikael
Hmn, that’s what you demons say, isn’t it?
The one who is truly strong knows his own power, right?
You’re an overconfident fool if try to fight a battle you can’t win.
When going up against an archangel one-on-one, a demon has no chance.

(Shion snaps back from Mikael.)

Oh, so that’s honor, hmm?

Shion
—It’s not that I want to die, really, but...
—...

Mikael
You...

(Shion suddenly strikes Mikael. The Sword of Flame spins out of her hands.)

...!
You...!

Shion
But that’s when you’re an angel. I won’t lose against you when you’re in the shape of a woman fighting barehanded!

Mikael
!

Shion
Come forth: I summon thee from the depths of hell. You who can take a thousand shapes. In the moon’s name and in mine, I give thee birth from my blood.

(Shion smears an arc of blood on a mirror, and a dragon roars out of it.)

Mikael
!

Black magic summoning!

Shion
He has no chance against Mikael—he’ll simply gain me some time.
But better than nothing at all.

Mikael
So he’s planning to escape through the glass.

I won’t let you!

(The dragon attacks Mikael. She evades and spins around with the Sword of Flame. The dragon attacks her with his tail from behind)

Hmn.

Clever!

(She slashes through the dragon’s neck with the Sword.)

—Did you think that you could use a thing like that to escape?

(She throws a blast of power through the glass at Shion, and it hits him squarely.)

Shion
!
Uuu...gh.
Ah...!

(Mikael grins.)

Mikael
Sorry. I have a rule of never allowing a man I target to get away from me.
Oh dear, it looks like one of your arms is now useless, hmm?
But you shouldn’t get violent—
Be adult about it.
Eheheh.
You know, it’s strange, but I’m rather happy.
I didn’t want even Lucifer’s shadow to be a coward.

Shion
Lucifer—?!
Why did you say that name?

Lucifer, the king of Hell...
Whom they say fought against God but was defeated and so concealed himself deep within the earth.

Mikael
Oh, that’s right.

Shion
The one whose name we hesitate even to mention, whose existence holds everyone in awe—...

Mikael
You demons don’t know, do you?
Lucifer doesn’t really sit on the throne of Hell. It’s an empty seat.

Shion
!
That’s impossible!

Mikael
It’s true.
Because—
You see, Mahumi is Lucifer.
The archangel who was called “the one closest to God.”
We came here to look for him.
And if Mahumi is Lucifer, then you, too, are Lucifer.

Shion
That’s...impossible...?!
I am...?

Mikael
It’s true.
But you are one part of him.
If Mahumi is Lucifer’s light, then you are his shadow.
Yes.
You are the part of Lucifer who should not exist.

(Outside, the rain has stopped.)

Uriel
You know of the Seven Deadly Sins, right?
Pride, envy, wrath, lust, sloth, avarice, gluttony.
These are the sins you must avoid.
Your sin was “pride”.
In the midst of the angels you were the strongest, the most beautiful, and the most beloved.
Perhaps that why pride was born within you...
And suddenly one day you tried to rebel against Heaven.
Then, sadly, you were defeated and bound in Purgatory.

Mikael
Even now I don’t understand why he did something like that.
Everyone says that pride awoke in his heart because he was so beloved of God, but I don’t believe it.

They can say whatever they want.

He wasn’t someone like that.
If he was closest to God, then the friend closest to him was me.
That’s why I want to resurrect him and hear the truth from his own lips.
Then I want to say to him—

Yes, I’m the only one who believes.

“I believed in you”...!

Shion
What was that...? My chest, just now—
A feeling that I’ve missed this person very much—...
Why is that? I’ve never met her before.

Mikael
—There’s more.
It’s said that after that, Lucifer escaped from Purgatory and became the king of the demons.
—But—
That isn’t true.
God loved Lucifer so well that He could not abandon him.
So He bestowed upon him one more chance.
God divided Lucifer into two personalities and threw them down to Earth.
In other words, the part of Lucifer as the angel he was originally became Mahumi...
And the part which rebelled against God became Shion.
The two of you were one originally.
In order to atone for his sins, he needed the blood of 999 demons.
—And then, to return to Heaven, he would have to erase the personality that is you, which must not exist in an angel.

Mahumi
That’s a lie!
Shion and I were originally one person?
—that’s—

Uriel
...When I first saw you, I thought that it was strange that you were keeping company with a demon.
But now everything is clear.
Lucifer was you and Shion.

Mahumi
—...!

—When I first met him...
Why didn’t I kill him?
It was as though they the wings I no longer had...
I missed them so much...
The second time I went looking for him—
I thought that it was I alone who wanted us to be together.
Until then I never thought I wanted someone to be with.
I thought I was fine by myself—
I thought that—...
—So why did I go looking for him?
I felt so sad thinking that he might hate me.
I have always searched, always—
For my wings...

—I have to go.
To where Shion is.

Uriel
Brother!
Look, do you understand?
This is a test.
This the last chance bestowed upon you by God...!
In Heaven you were beloved above anyone else.
If you want companions, you’ll have them anytime.
Everyone would be happy at your return.
I would be, as well—

Mahumi
I truly want to go back.
But—...
I...

Uriel
Anyway—
Whatever you do, Mikael should already have gone to his place.

Mahumi
!
What do you mean! Is he going to...?!

(Mahumi starts to run off.)

Uriel
Brother!

Mahumi
!

Uriel
You’re coming back...aren’t you...?

Mahumi
...!

(Mahumi turns without answering and runs off.)

Uriel
Brother!

Mahumi
...

I...
Why am I running?
For whose sake?
I don’t know.
But I have to go—

To where Shion is—

Shion
!

(Shion runs up the stairs of his apartment. He opens the door to the rooftop and crashes against something. Mikael spreads white wings and floats in front of him. Blood bursts from Shion’s shoulder.)

The wound from before!

Mikael
—You are a part of my Lucifer.
But if you didn’t exist, then he would not have been banished from Heaven.
We’ve been looking for him for so long. That search is finally over.
This is the shape of your “death”.
You’ve nowhere to run from this rooftop. A barrier covers this entire apartment building.
Well?
You can’t get near me from there, can you?
Heheheh. Let me see what I wanted to see earlier.
Here!

(Mikael flings lightning at Shion, and he screams.)

Shion
UUUUAAAAGH!

Mikael
Fight me, Shion.

Shion
In truth—

Mikael
I like the forms of those struggling for their lives, even if it’s a useless effort.
It’s a beautiful thing.

Shion
My eyes are growing hazy, and I feel nauseous.
What do I do now?
I want to see him again...

Mikael
Hey,
I wonder if it would be the same if I killed you instead of Mahumi?
Or—

Shion
—...What he say at the end?

Mahumi, flashback
I trusted you.
This you is entirely—

Shion
What...was it he say of me...?