The unknown fallen man raised his hands in a gesture of peace and began to speak to him gently, as if he were a lunatic:
«I think we got a misunderstanding, kid. My name is, uh.
Emeric didn't let him finish his submission, but instantly tore towards him and prescribed a jab that sent the man punching through another batch of walls.
The blow wasn't much stronger than the last one, after which the man calmly walked out, but this time it didn't happen again. Emeric stared at the hole with a bit of bewilderment, expecting his opponent, but apparently he had taken offense and wasn't going to get hit again.
The demon felt the change beneath him and jumped away from his previous location at a rapid pace. And he was right, for a fallen man, not as tidy as he had been five minutes ago, sprang up from the floor.
«All right, kid," the man began to rub his shoulders and wrists, showing that it was just a warm-up. - If your kindergarten didn't teach you to respect your elders, then I'll have to teach you....
The Fallen One drew closer in a second and began to deliver well-placed blows with his hands, which he had to take on hard blocks or dodge.
Emeric had to hand it to him, the old man had a way of making his bones crack with exertion. The seemingly harmless man had a lot of strength in him. It was obvious that close combat was not his specialty, and all signs indicated that he was recalling skills he had used long ago. It was clear that the man in front of him hadn't fought a full-fledged battle in a long time.
A block with his right hand, a left, and then an attempted slash, which the fallen man evaded with a sharp upward leap. That was what he was talking about, the man was partially rusted, so set himself up for his new blow. Emeric took advantage of the man's reduced maneuverability in the air and, accelerating sharply, delivered a savory uppercut right to his chin. The fallen man was unable to counter such a maneuver, so he rammed his body into the second floor along with the roof.
Emeric began to slowly distill his energy through the many bruises caused by the hard blocks. It would be a lie to say that he was leading the battle unscathed. The blows of this unknown fallen man could speak of at least the highest rank in the power hierarchy. Whoever he was, there were many not-so-nice surprises in him.
He quickly left the house and jumped onto the roof to see the fallen man standing nearby, kneading his jaw. No wonder, the blow was not weak and hit him right in the bull's-eye. Emeric could admit to being partially inspired by his pawn's recent blow, which had struck something remotely similar to his queen. Still, a perfectly placed jab to his neighbor's jaw was always incredibly effective.
«Old man," the fallen man jumped sharply at his nickname. - Why don't we take a break?
«Old man," he repeated after him, as if remembering the meaning of the word. - Ha-ha-ha-ha...
Laughter wasn't really appropriate in this situation, but Emeric let down the likes of his opponent, for the battle wasn't really being fought in earnest.
Yes, the blows were practically unstoppable, but that was it, their basic abilities were not utilized, somehow unspokenly conspiring to try each other's strength.
«Eh," the fallen man gave an expletive-laden grunt. - I'm not often called that, but you, boy," he shook his head. - You've managed to surprise me....
«So, uh, man.
«I'm not an old man.
Emeric shrugged at the man's amused denial. It made sense to him here.
«Let's define it, I probably wouldn't be wrong in assuming you're over a thousand years old...?
«So what? - The man didn't care. - Can't you see I'm in great shape?! Don't you know I can still beat any youngster in terms of wooing girls and more?!
The Fallen One jumped around a little more to show me. Like, look how well-preserved I am.
«You probably don't have anything working "out there" anymore. - Emeric added in a tone of feigned sympathy.
«Do you know who I am! - The man exploded at his outrageous "sympathy." It was clear that this particular argument had hurt him perfectly. - I'm the first Fallen Angel to "blacken" after coitus with a woman! You could say I'm practically the progenitor of all depravity! A depravity so severe that it made even more of my "white-winged" brothers and sisters learn the pleasures of this world!
The speech on the depravity of this fallen angel was truly impressive. He managed to turn such a ridiculous thing as "ceasing to be an angel because of boobs" into a solemn sacrifice that revealed to all the "infidels" the true way.
«I can teach a lot to an inexperienced guy like you.....
«Stop. - Abruptly he interrupted the fallen man's further speech. - No, thank you. I don't need any old "teachers".....
Fallen growled in frustration and clutched his head. Emeric managed to hit him where it hurt, which was pride.
«What do you know?!
«I got it! - Emeric snapped his fingers, as if realizing something. - So you've sort of experienced "all" kinds of pleasures, have you?
«All of them? - He muttered, not fully understanding, but sensing a catch.
«Well, yeah," Emeric shrugged. - Like, women first, then men....
«No! - The fallen man blushed red at such an insult.
«I hear there's nothing sacred left in the Fallen at all. You don't care which one, you know, "the one"?
«Blasphemy! - He roared, and then began to gesticulate desperately. - It's all slander! Tell me who exactly is spreading these rumors, and then we'll go to kill him hard!
Emeric actually wanted to continue this battle, but pissing off this, apparently not the last fallen man, was much more interesting. He was the kind of "experienced" man who was immensely proud of his accomplishments in bed.
«Anyway," Emeric interrupted the stream of threats to the man he'd made up. - I'm doing just fine in that regard. I don't need a teacher, much less a man.... - He looked thoughtfully at the sky. - If you were a milf in sexy glasses, I'd think about it....
The fallen man wanted to take air for another angry rant, but he hesitated. Actually, he wouldn't mind taking a couple of lessons from such a "teacher" himself....
«Fair enough... - He had to admit.
There was a silence between them. The old fighting spirit had somehow dissipated on its own. They could watch the partially destroyed house thoughtfully. It was a good thing there were spells that protected this place from ordinary people, or the police would have come here by now.
«So who are you? - Emeric turned to the fallen man.
«Ha ha ha," the man leaned down and laughed triumphantly as if preparing for a performance. - This is the Evil Celestial Exile himself! - Six pairs of black wings appeared behind the man's back, which said a lot about their owners. For example, the minimum level of strength that was in the top ranked area. - Governor Grigori and simply an irresistible man, and don't raise your eyebrows in such an ironic manner...!... - He interrupted his solemnity at his 'non-obvious' gesture. - Azazel himself! The leader of the Fallen Angels! The first of the Fallen!
Azazel froze in a solemn pose while Emeric looked around awkwardly.
«Wasn't Lucifer the first...?
«Don't think about him," Azazel instantly shrugged off the accusations.
Silence came over the two of them again, until Azazel's eyebrow began to twitch in annoyance.
«Well," Emeric scratched his cheek awkwardly and shrugged. - Cool.
«What kind of reaction is that?! - Fallen reacted to his retort. - I'm kind of the leader of one of the Bible Faction! Aren't you amazed that you have such a big shot in front of you?!
«Sorry, ha ha," Emeric scratched the top of his head. - It's just that you made it so awkward...
«... Cool! ...
«... In a way that made me feel kind of ashamed...
There was silence between them again. Azazel stood still, as if struck by thunder.
«You mean awkward?
«Kind of," Emeric's shoulders began to twitch, as if he wouldn't be able to hold back his laughter anytime soon. The demon began to distort his voice, thus imitating Azazel. - I am the Evil Celestial Exile! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
«You!.... - Azazel, uncharacteristically, began to show shame on his face. By the way, one of the most complex individuals in the world. - That was awesome! It had always worked before... - He started muttering something to himself in amazement.
«You're like those men with a midlife crisis.....
«... I'm not having a midlife crisis! ....
«... Who are trying to emulate the "youngsters". - Emeric wiped away small tears of laughter and continued to explain to the offended Azazel. - Like "already out of the age of molestation and into the age of malaise"! They think they are cool and "close" to "fashionable" events, but in reality they are complete old men who are ashamed of themselves....
«I'm not having a midlife crisis! - Azazel started to hysterically argue something to him. A millennia-old fallen angel who's kind of older than most modern civilizations. - I'm cool! I'm really cool!
«Did your dyed bangs whisper to you? HA-HA-HA-HA.
«A-A-A-A-A! - Azazel grabbed onto that very bangs and began shouting all his bewilderment into the air. - The Beatles! That's right! I love the Beatles! I'm even friends with Paul McCartney! I'm in!
«Mmm," Emeric looked away awkwardly. - I don't know how to tell you this. The Beatles are cool, but they kind of broke up a bunch of years ago.....
«Quinn! Freddie Mercury!
«Even worse...
«Kurt Cobain...!
He didn't even know what to say to something like that. Azazel seemed to take the most "painful" topics.
«Look," Emeric decided to 'calm' Azazel down a bit. - Sometimes you have to acknowledge reality...
«... A-A-A-A-A!
«... You can't spend your whole life being "on point." Well, you don't have a boner, so what's the big deal?
«... EVERYTHING WORKS FINE IN THERE! ...
«Pity the people around you," Emeric ignored the hysterical wailing of the fallen man. - Otherwise, you'll soon be wearing flat caps backwards and skateboarding... - The demon added some pleading to his voice. - The people around you will simply die of shame.....
That's it.
Out.
Emeric completely "killed" Azazel, judging by his unfocused gaze.
«Ah," Azazel turned to him very quietly. - Hats and skateboards aren't cool...?
Emeric didn't answer anything, but only patted him sympathetically on the shoulder.
«Then what are you listening to now?
«Well," Emeric hesitated. - Morgenstern seemed to be...
«Who's that?...
«Fuck knows...
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