Chương 120: 119: Queensworth

The morning sun hung low over Queensworth, casting long shadows across the quiet streets. It was 8: 56 AM, and the town was beginning to wake. A woman in a floral dress walked her golden retriever along the pavement, the dog's tail wagging lazily as it sniffed a fire hydrant. A man in a business suit jogged past with earbuds firmly in place, his feet drumming a steady rhythm against the concrete.

A group of teenagers loitered outside a corner dairy, passing a phone between them as they laughed at something on the screen. Nearby, a food cart vendor set up his station, the smell of grilled sausages and fried onions already drifting through the morning air. A delivery cyclist wove through traffic with a messenger bag slung across his back. A young mother pushed a stroller toward the park while her toddler pointed excitedly at a seagull.

An elderly man sat on a bench feeding crumbs to the sparrows gathered around his feet. It was an ordinary morning. Then the streetlights flickered. The woman with the dog looked up. The jogger slowed. The teenagers fell silent. Someone was standing in the middle of the street. He was tall with broad shoulders and a barrel chest that strained against the fabric of a cobalt-and-white three-piece suit. His head was bowed, his chin resting against his chest, his hands clasped loosely behind his back.

He stood perfectly still, as though carved from stone and placed there by hands that had long since moved on.

"Holy shit... he's jacked."

"And handsome too," another added.

"Who is that?"

"That's weird," one of the teenagers muttered.

"Is he okay?"

"Probably a jogger," his friend replied, though he sounded unconvinced.

"Just... resting after a run."

"No chance. Look at that suit."

"Seriously... that's a fine-ass man."

"His suit's way too expensive."

"Maybe he's a businessman."

"In Queensworth?" One of the teenagers straightened his jacket.

"Should I go talk to him? Wait, check... are there still crumbs on my face from my croissant?" His friend squinted.

"No. You're good."

"Alright. Thanks." The woman with the dog approached cautiously, tightening her grip on the leash.

"Excuse me? Sir? Are you alright?" The man didn't answer. He didn't move. He simply stood there with his head bowed, breathing slowly and evenly, as though he had entered a state of deep meditation in the middle of the road. The jogger pulled out his earbuds.

"Hey, buddy. You need help?" No response came. Instead...... people began drifting closer. At first, it was simple curiosity. The woman with the golden retriever took another cautious step. The teenagers wandered forward together. The food vendor leaned over his cart for a better look before absent-mindedly leaving it unattended. More pedestrians emerged from nearby shops, drawn by something they couldn't quite explain. Someone frowned.

"... He smells nice." It was an expensive cologne, subtle enough that no one could quite place it. The crowd continued to close in. Something changed. The woman blinked. The resentment she'd carried toward her sister for years suddenly felt...... smaller. A businessman stared at his phone before quietly unlocking it.

"I should apologise..." His thumb hovered over his girlfriend's contact.

"I was a bit of an idiot." One of the teenagers lowered his head.

"I... actually owe my mum a call." Another man, who had spent the entire morning simmering with anger over a workplace argument, suddenly felt the emotion slipping through his fingers like water.

"Uh...?" He searched for the fury. It wasn't there anymore. Around them, shoulders relaxed. Breathing slowed. Furrowed brows softened. Arguments that had seemed worth carrying only moments earlier now felt strangely distant. The closer they came...... the lighter they became. Faint wisps of darkness drifted from their bodies. Barely visible. Thin threads. Like smoke escaping invisible cracks in the soul.

The strands floated lazily through the morning air before converging upon the silent man, dissolving into him without resistance. Nobody noticed. Nobody except a little girl.

"Mum..." She pointed.

"There's smoke coming out of them." Her mother didn't answer. She was walking. Everyone was walking. Slowly. Peacefully. Hands reached toward the silent gentleman as though greeting someone they had loved all their lives. Smiles spread across faces. Some laughed quietly. Others cried without understanding why. It felt...... ecstatic. Like setting down a burden they'd forgotten they were carrying. The man never lifted his head. Never acknowledged them.

He simply stood there while the invisible weight of dozens of lives flowed gently into him. Then...... he moved. Or perhaps he already had. For a fraction of a second, he still appeared to be standing exactly where he'd always been. His image lingered. A motionless silhouette. Reality corrected itself. He was already halfway down the street.

"What...?"

"Where did he go?"

"I... I didn't see him move." The place where he'd been standing was empty. Only a few fading wisps of darkness remained, dissolving into the morning air. Then the sky darkened. A shadow swept across the street too quickly for the eye to follow. The teenagers looked up. And screamed. A man was surfing through the air on a guitar. He was beautiful - impossibly, almost unnaturally beautiful.

White hair streamed behind him in winds that didn't seem to exist, catching the morning light and scattering it like fresh snow. Brilliant violet eyes, the colour of crushed amethysts, gleamed beneath elegantly arched brows. Chess-piece earrings swung gently from his ears, glinting with every shift of his head. His skin was pale, almost luminous, like moonlight given flesh, while his features were so perfectly sculpted they seemed almost unreal.

One arm rested inside a translucent cast that shimmered faintly, as though fashioned from solidified light. Lean muscle shifted beneath torn, bloodstained clothing, every movement carrying the effortless grace of someone who had forgotten what gravity was supposed to feel like. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. The guitar beneath him was a sleek, predatory thing, black with violet strings that hummed with an otherworldly resonance.

Its angular body resembled the prow of a ship, its polished surface gleaming beneath his bare feet. He was surfing a guitar. Through the air.

"Oh my God," someone breathed.

"Is that—""Is that a guitar?"

"He's surfing on a guitar!"

"He's so ethereal."

"He's an angel!"

"Damn... who is that? He's gorgeous."

"This is insane!"

"Film it! Film it!"

"Wait! There's someone else down there!"

"They're both beautiful. I thought this was some movie shoot." The white-haired man thrust out a hand. Violet light gathered around his palm as he dived toward the man in the suit. The suited man lifted his head. Black tendrils erupted from his body, lashing skyward in a writhing web of darkness. The white-haired man twisted through them effortlessly, his body folding through impossible gaps while the guitar responded like an extension of his own will.

He dipped beneath one tendril, rolled over another, and threaded between a third with effortless grace. Then he stepped off the guitar. In one fluid motion, his hand snapped down around its neck and swung it upward. The instrument sliced through the air like a greatsword, trailing a ribbon of violet light. A brilliant arc erupted from its edge, cleaving through the morning sky before slicing cleanly through the web of darkness.

The wave continued onward, gouging a deep trench across the asphalt before fading into nothingness. A heartbeat later, he landed back atop the guitar as though he had never left it.

"BRO! THIS IS NOT ACTING!"

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"HE SWUNG THE GUITAR LIKE A SWORD!"

"DID YOU SEE THAT?!"

"IT CUT THE AIR!"

"WHAT EVEN IS THAT THING?!"

"I should've listened to my mum and stopped smoking..."

"Mate, everyone's seeing this."

"Chess earrings... black hole earrings... you think that's what gives them their powers?" The guitar was surfing again, carrying him through the air as violet energy gathered around his palm. A sphere erupted from his hand, streaking toward the man in the suit. It swelled as it travelled, expanding into a ball of compressed violet light that screamed through the air like an angry comet. KRA - BOOOOOM! The explosion painted the world violet.

The shockwave rolled through the street, throwing the woman with the dog off her feet. The jogger stumbled. The teenagers were hurled backwards, their phones spinning from their hands. The food cart overturned, sausages and onions scattering across the pavement. The delivery cyclist slammed into a parked car. A young mother threw herself over her stroller, shielding her child. An elderly man tumbled from his bench as the sparrows around him burst into the sky.

"Oh hell nah! Everybody move! They got nukes in their palms!"

"When did a god come to Queensworth?!"

"Fuck! Look! Look!" The violet glare faded. The man in the suit stepped calmly out of the smoke. Completely unharmed.

"Yo... he tanked it. I think the Rapture's starting, guys. This gotta be the first fight." He squinted.

"You notice they're both beautiful? It's gotta be an angel and a fallen angel."

"Man... shit, you're right. I better go tell my family." He took off running. Several people had already dropped to their knees, hands clasped in prayer.

"Well... if angels look that handsome, I hope I make it to Heaven. God, forgive me for not believing sooner." The white-haired man landed lightly upon the guitar, his boots barely touching the strings before launching himself forward. They collided. The impact blurred together. The sound arrived a heartbeat later. KRAAA - BOOOOM! Every window along the street rattled violently. The man in the suit shot backwards, carving a trench through the asphalt as he skidded across the road. The white-haired man followed.

They moved too quickly for human eyes to track. White and cobalt became streaks of light, crashing through cars, lampposts, and fire hydrants. A delivery van flipped twice before smashing into a building. A bus split cleanly in half. Parked cars buckled beneath expanding shockwaves that rippled down the street.

"So fast!"

"We're gonna get skewered!" One man lay on the pavement screaming.

"Bitch, get the fuck up and run! Horror movies were right!" Panic erupted. A woman dropped her phone and fled toward the park with her hands clamped over her ears. A father scooped his daughter onto his shoulder and sprinted. The golden retriever broke free from its leash, barking wildly as it disappeared down the street. The teenagers scrambled to their feet, excitement replaced by blind terror.

"RUN!"

"GET OUT OF HERE!"

"GO! GO! GO!" The white-haired man blasted through a building. Glass exploded into the street like glittering rain. A moment later he emerged, guitar still in hand, expression unchanged. The man in the suit burst through after him. They crashed into another building. Then another. Every collision shook the foundations of the surrounding blocks.

"WHAT IS THAT?!"

"THEY'RE ACTUALLY FIGHTING!"

"FILM IT!"

"I AM!"

"MY HANDS WON'T STOP SHAKING!"

"Yo... they boxing." A Ferris wheel appeared in the sky. Massive. Towering over the rooftops. It hadn't been anywhere near this neighbourhood a moment ago. Now it sailed overhead, spinning lazily through the morning air.

"IS THAT THE FERRIS WHEEL FROM THE PARK?!"

"HOW DID IT GET HERE?!"

"OH MY GOD!"

"THAT'S THE FUCKING FERRIS WHEEL!" The white-haired man shot upward. His hand extended as violet light gathered around his palm. A concentrated beam erupted from his fingertips, carving through the air before striking the ferris wheel. It pulped it. The entire structure folded inward, compressed into a sphere of twisted steel no larger than a man's fist. It struck the pavement with a soft clang, impossibly small for something that had dominated the skyline moments earlier.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!"

"IS THERE EVEN A MOVIE BEING FILMED HERE?!"

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!" The two figures launched skyward. Their ascent buckled the atmosphere, shockwaves ripping through the clouds as they collided again high above. The heavens split apart before slowly knitting themselves back together around the battle. Everyone looked up. Teenagers shouted in excitement. A woman in a business suit stood frozen with her phone raised, disbelief written across her face.

Two construction workers climbed onto a rooftop for a better view, while a man in a baseball cap muttered to himself.

"What is that? Aliens? Angels? Are they-" Another man shook his head slowly, still staring at the suited figure.

"I think that dark guy absorbed our sins or something." He frowned, struggling to explain the feeling.

"I... I feel clean. I can't explain it. I know it sounds stupid." The woman beside him blinked several times before giving a hesitant nod.

"No... I actually feel it too." A sound silenced them. It wasn't an explosion. A low, resonant hum vibrated through the bones of everyone nearby, seeming to come from every direction at once. Then...... it stopped. Every civilian began walking away. Nobody screamed. Nobody ran. They simply turned and left. The woman abandoned her dog. The jogger left his phone where it had fallen. Teenagers drifted apart without a word. A delivery rider stepped away from his bicycle. A young mother left her stroller.

An elderly man rose from his bench and walked. Everyone moved. Perfectly synchronised. Silent. They flowed around obstacles like water, never colliding, never hesitating, every footstep falling into the same impossible rhythm. None of them understood why. Some quiet command had simply convinced their minds it was time to leave. Behind them- BOOOOOOM! The white-haired man and the suited man crashed into the street. The impact carved out a crater. Asphalt folded upward.

Nearby buildings groaned as windows burst into glittering rain. Still...... the people kept walking. Only after they crossed the edge of the blast zone did they stop. Their eyes blinked. Expressions returned. The spell dissolved.

"What... what happened?"

"We were just mind-controlled."

"Where am I?"

"It felt like someone was inside my head."

"Oh my God..."

"Look!" They turned back. The crater still smoked. Debris littered the street. The ferris wheel remained a tiny ball of crushed metal.... The fighters were still there. They tore across the shattered road faster than thought could comfortably follow. The white-haired man's guitar blurred through the air like a sword, every swing carving violet crescents across the battlefield.

From every impossible angle, tendrils of darkness erupted toward him, lashing through buildings, pavement and empty air alike, striking from places they had no business existing. The suited man barely seemed to move. One moment he stood perfectly still. The next...... he was somewhere else. There was no transition. His silhouette lingered where he had been, hanging for a fraction of a second before reality reluctantly admitted he had already crossed the distance.

It looked like a video game struggling beneath a terrible connection, his position updating only after he had arrived.

"What...?"

"How is he doing that?!" The white-haired man twisted beneath a tendril that tore the air apart above him. He dropped onto his back, the black lash missing his face by inches as it carved a trench through the road behind him. The guitar spun over one knee. He flicked it upward. It flipped once. Twice. He caught it between his teeth.

"Are you getting this on camera?!"

"Bro, I'm trying!" Violet light erupted from his outstretched hand. BOOOOM! The blast caught the dark figure squarely in the chest, staggering him backward as fragments of asphalt exploded into the sky.

"Dude... he's agile as hell!"

"How did he even do that?!" The white-haired man snatched the guitar back into his hand before his boots had even touched the ground. He smiled. The next instant, he dashed forward. There was no arc to his movement. He travelled in a perfectly straight line, as though a ruler had been laid across the battlefield and he had simply followed it.

"Did you see that?!"

"He moved perfectly straight!"

"It's like someone carved a line through reality!" THOOOM! His fist buried itself deep into the dark figure's liver. The impact folded the dark figure around the blow. Darkness still clung to most of his body, swallowing his features until he was little more than a living silhouette, though flashes of his cobalt-and-white suit still showed through the shifting veil. A colossal shockwave erupted from his back, flattening everything behind him as the street buckled beneath their feet.

"Oh my God!"

"That one was way stronger!"

"It was like the last hundred punches got compressed into one!"

"What are we even watching?!" The white-haired man's fingers brushed the strings. Ping. A single note echoed through Queensworth. The chord became force. Everything before him exploded outward in one impossible direction. Cars tumbled end over end. Lamp posts bent flat. Clouds split apart overhead as a corridor of compressed air ripped through the city. Everyone clapped their hands over their ears. Many squeezed their eyes shut. The sound seemed to pass through bone instead of air.

When they finally looked again...... the crater was empty. The fighters were gone. Silence settled over Queensworth. The morning sun continued its slow climb. Birds cautiously resumed their songs. Somewhere in the distance, a siren wailed. The woman looked around frantically.

"Where's my dog?" A golden retriever bounded happily toward her, tail wagging as though nothing unusual had happened. Police sirens grew louder. A patrol car screeched around the corner. Two officers jumped out, hands already hovering near their holsters.

"Everyone stay calm!" one shouted, though his own voice trembled.

"Back away from the area! Secure the perimeter!"

"What the hell happened here?"

"I don't know..." A man burst into disbelieving laughter.

"Contain what? An angel and a shadow demon just fought in the middle of Queensworth!" The officers exchanged uneasy glances. Another command rang out.

"Lock this place down!"

"Who was the god with the guitar?!"

"MAYDAY! WE HAVE A GOD IN QUEENSWORTH!" The crowd surged back toward the crater, phones raised high.

"Did you get that?!"

"I recorded everything!"

"I'm uploading it!"

"Don't-""Too late!" More sirens echoed through the streets as police cars, fire engines, and ambulances converged from every direction. There would be investigations. Questions. Panic. The ferris wheel still lay in the road. The crater still smoked. And somewhere else in Queensworth...... the battle continued.