"You know Raphael; you aren't acting like yourself at the moment. It's as if something really phased you."
The more Raphael talked, the more Azekiel felt it. Rachael was slightly different now.
"Tell me what happened. What do you want to talk about?" he asked, wondering if what he was going to say was related to his change.
Raphael had thought a lot about this, but no matter what, he couldn't bring himself to betray Azekiel. No matter what Alion said, he couldn't believe it. Azekiel wasn't a bad person even though he had some questionable decisions; in the end, that wasn't because he was an inherently bad person.
What swayed his mind even more was the knowledge that even when he had the Stone of Time, Azekiel wanted to help him. Despite knowing that he was in a better situation with Raphael, he was still willing to lose him just to give Raphael the last that he needed.
Even though his plan didn't come to fruition, just the fact that Azekiel wasn't only thinking about himself, it highlighted just what kind of personality he had. With that consideration, Raphael couldn't bring himself to betray Azekiel.
Even when his body and his memories were on the line, he decided to listen to his heart. Ever since he was little, he was taught the importance of loyalty. He couldn't give that up now for his selfish gains since betraying Azekiel now could just as easily result in his death.
"He was able to see me," Raphael confessed.
"What do you mean he was able to see you? You mean like we can?"
"That's right. Not only was he able to see me, but he was also able to hear me. And it seems he also knew where we were hiding before I started chasing after him."
Now that Raphael had confirmed his side, he decided to come clean. If that meant he wasn't going to get his body back, then so be it. If it meant that he was making a wrong decision which he was going to regret, then so be it! He was prepared to do it!
It was his decision, and he had decided to live with it. It didn't matter what was going to happen later on. He was ready to live with the consequences of his actions if it turned out that Alion was right, but until then, he wasn't going to change anything about himself.
"That's right. He was able to see me like you all can. And not only me, he was able to see Lia as well," Raphael answered. "That's why I said that he isn't like the Soul Demon that we faced. Nor is he like Avila that you fought."
"We were unknown for the two of them. They didn't know what we were capable of, and even then, we were quite lucky that we were able to win. But in this situation, the enemy knows many things about us."
"He knows how we fight. He knows what we're capable of, and he also knows that Lia and I can support you in battle. Despite that, he didn't attack us when he could use his entire army. It's like he is waiting for something or just wants to toy with us."
"It isn't entirely unlikely that he knows how we fight. It's possible that Lenora told him since she saw us fight. She also saw you before. As for Lia, he must've seen her fight inside the tower as well. What we can be sure of is that the man has access to the tower."
"But despite knowing about us, he didn't attack us. He didn't even bring his Monsters to attack us. Instead, he pretended not to see us. Doesn't that mean he wants to avoid a battle with us?" Lia asked. "It could be possible that even he isn't sure that he can defeat us? It's also possible that he's trying to intimidate us, so we leave."
"I doubt that would be the case. Considering the possibility that he is scared of us? That would be us being too optimistic. Not only did he see me, but he also talked with me. We had an entire discussion where I tried to get as much information as he could." Raphael rejected the notion right away.
He had confidence in his ability of being able to see through a person, at least things like fear. He didn't feel even a single shred of fear.
"Throughout the conversation, I didn't see a single shred of fear. I don't think there was even a moment where I saw even the slightest of uncertainty in his eyes. Those eyes... They weren't the eyes of someone who was scared of us. Instead, they were the eyes of someone who didn't even consider an enemy worth his attention at the moment."
Raphael further explained that he could see that Lia wasn't taking him seriously. They still didn't understand the essence of what he was trying to say.
"Then why won't he attack us? Don't tell me he is so strong that he wants to have mercy on us. As you said, he hates us since he spoiled his plan. Not only him, but the girl who works for him also hates us. And that's not even counting the fact that we killed so many monsters."
"Why wouldn't he attack us? We killed his people, and we soiled his plan. Despite that, he just has a nice heart to heart with you and tells us to run away. If he was really that merciful, would he really destroy all life in this city? Would he kill billions of people?" Lia asked, slightly agitated that Raphael was making an enemy sound like an undefeatable god who was taking mercy on them!
"Did you also not destroy a town yourself?" Raphael asked, for the first time losing his composure as well. Here he was, trying to help them, and his intentions were being questioned.
