Chapter 32
With an ethereal, gentle glow, Gabriel and her angel brother, whom she now assumes to be her creator, arrive in the second heaven.
Their landing was not a small one. At the moment her creator touched the ground, the ground shook, and a small part of the ground caved in, displaying just how heavy her father was. But otherwise, there wasn't much commotion.
The light of the second heaven's sun instantly fell on her face as she gazed at the endless constellation and the stars that adorned the sky, each one bearing a tale that was forgotten in the past, yet despite the forgotten tale, the stars in their place stood quietly as a deep reminder to whoever gazed upon it. Right beneath the stars was an expansive field of wheat, one of which one would find in the human world, but the ones in this place were golden brown in color and were a magical plant.
crinkle
crackle
The wheat gently waved and danced in joy to the tune of the wind as the giant artificial sun of the second heaven set.
Nearby angels, some flying in the sky and some on the nearby building, all flew towards her, attracted by the sudden sound and the big thing that suddenly appeared.
When they were about ten meters away, most of them stopped, but not all of them, as two high-class angels came forth from among them. "Lady Gabriel," they both said in unison as they bowed.
Their eyes were blazing with light that was called respect as they gave their respect to their betters.
Gabriel turned to them, smiled gently, and nodded.
A gesture that spoke of her accepting their greeting.
"Lady Gabriel, who are they?" A male high-class angel stepped forward towards her and asked her, his tone respectful yet happy, one that faintly resembled how a younger sibling of the family would call their elder sister.
"Treat them as guests, feed them, and relieve them of their exhaustion, but do keep an eye," Gabriel said, deciding to treat the ones who were together with her father well, even though any monster who intruded upon heaven would normally be mercilessly executed.
A thing that was put into place by God in the ancient past, and one of the rules akin to a law that Uriel, her brother, venomously refuses to change, for he did not budge the slightest through millennia.
But the ones accompanying her were a special case, a one in a million, one might even say, but despite this, they weren't allowed to roam free, as she also ordered them to be kept an eye on and to monitor their every movement. Both to ensure they didn't plot anything and for their own safety, as some radical angels might just attack them upon gazing at them.
"Understood." They both said in unison as they nodded and turned to Kale, Katu, and their bodyguards, who were looking around in confusion and happiness. As one should upon setting foot upon a place that, not many being other than angels and the dead souls of the followers, had set foot in.
The high-class female angel stepped forward and gestured with her hand. "Follow us," she said, her voice soft and melodic with not the slightest bit of disgust or frown visible in her face, for they were the guests of Lady Gabriel, one of the four Great Seraphs.
Kale nodded politely while standing in the front, then followed behind the two high-class angels with her daughter and their bodyguard in tow.
Gabriel waited a few seconds for them to walk a bit before turning to her brother, no, her father, the God.
She walked towards him, her footsteps light yet bearing an unknown number of emotions as she embraced him. Her arm was stretched to the limit, and her forehead was touching the dome as she stood quietly.
"It is warm," she whispered to herself as she rested.
Her restless mind, which was moments ago akin to a turbulent sea, for some unknown reason became as calm as a lazy lake as she reminisced about the ancient past.
The ancient past in which she and her brothers and sisters were comforted and protected by him, the God.
His back, at that time, always felt like it was as big as the very world itself as he shielded her and her brothers and sisters from harm and sins. Created a place akin to a paradise for them all in the hopes that they won't lack anything and won't stray from the path due to it.
During that time, she, along with her brother Michael, always used to teach their newly created brothers and sisters the rules and their father's ideals that they must follow. Every day was a day of laughter and joy, and there was never a day without it.
But when Lucifer Beelzebub, along with the rest, stuck a knife called a venomous betrayal upon his back with no other reason, other than pride, her father, the God, changed.
Sometimes, in the endless nights that spanned endlessly like eternity, she sometimes wondered, would he have forgiven Lucifer and the rest if they had a valid enough reason? What if they said that they were fooled into thinking that he was about to destroy them, or they had read a false prophecy that was created by one of their enemies?
He might have forgiven them, as during that time, he was different. Soft and gentle.
But no matter how much she thought about it, it was impossible, as the very existence of one of God's abilities denied every possibility of it. "Omniscient," she thought in her mind.
Nevertheless, the betrayal must have been very deep, as after that, God became more and more strict as time went by.
The times he punished his children and condemned them became more and more frequent, and the number of angels who fell gradually increased as they fell in droves.
When Adam and Eve, his children, much like angels, fell and were thrown out of the Garden of Eden. It only made it worse.
Yet they, as the angels, did not give up, for he was their creator and their father, through the effort of her brother and sister, along with the new child that was created by him, named Jesus Christ. He, for just a few decades, seemed to, just maybe, get better.
But when the humans killed his child, Jesus Christ. Something seemed to snap within the deepest part of him as he decided to bring forth the judgment day, and only by the cries of his dying children did he barely manage to restrain himself. And through it all, Gabriel, along with her brother and sister, became a sorrowful witness to it all.
When he fell, the world itself shook for days on end, and the destruction that was caused by his fall was one that she had never seen.
But now?
Now he is back.
Her dear father, whom she believed to be dead, is back. Not only that, but he is now not bound by the things called faith and devotion, for all the power that he has is only his own.
She opens her eyes and looks towards her father. The gleaming, gentle sphere that hummed and radiated warmth lazily and gently. Her hand slowly brushed against the surface, and her hand caved in like it was touching a soft cloud. The edges of her mouth curved upwards as she turned around.
Then she materialized a magical circle and teleported both of them to the sixth heaven.
To show Michael that their father is alive and that he is back.
Whoosh
With an ethereal light, she disappears from where she once stood, leaving only a gentle spark akin to a firefly's.
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Micheal could be seen relaxing in his office while drinking his favorite drink, a chilled glass of sparkling water with a twist of lemon, while conversing with one of his brothers. Raphael, one of the four Great Seraphs.
The content of their talk wasn't of much importance, as he had already received all the information that he needed from him in the written report a few hours ago.
"Did Kamian get better?" Micheal inquired during the talk. Asking about one of the younger angels if he had recovered from his wound.
Raphael nodded. "Yes, he did get better; I estimate that he will make a full recovery today or tomorrow."
Micheal sighs in relief and worry. "I hope he stops with his blind experiment; he is only three hundred years old and has yet to master even the [Totium ofe Criff IV]."
"You know how he is; even if we ban his experiment and try to stop him, he will just try to do it on his own in secret, alone."
Micheal nods in acknowledgment, for he is thinking the same. At least if they don't ban him, he will do it in the company of other angels, which is significantly safer both for himself and his surroundings.
Though if he were younger than sixty, Michael might have done more extensive moves. But fortunately or unfortunately, he was three hundred years old, an age that is more than enough for any being to become a full-fledged adult in both body and mind. Also, the fact that Kamien is a peak high class and the fact that he was doing experiments for the future of Heaven might have played quite a big part in how Michael is handling him.
"Oh, I almost forgot, where did you send Gabri...." Just before Raphael could finish his question, he suddenly sensed a being, specifically his sister along with another unknown angel, teleporting here. The holy energy that he is sensing from the angel that is accompanying his sister was one of which he had never sensed.
Raphael turned to Michael with a calm face. "Never mind, I understand now." Already, he understood what his sister had gone to do.
His sister was probably sent to fetch one of their brothers, who was recently born, as the holy energy signature was one that he never sensed.
While any normal being, upon seeing another being accompanying one of theirs. They wouldn't immediately make an assumption, same as him. But because the birthrate of angels was one of the lowest in the whole wide world and the fact that most, if not all, of the angels had been in heaven for centuries, most of them became extremely familiar with one another.
Heck, he even knew every single one of his brothers and sisters names and their looks along with their holy energy signature.
Doff
Doff
While he was waiting for his sister to come, he started hearing some loud sounds, akin to a massive boulder falling up and down on a mountain, along with stone pavement and cement giving in and breaking. Each time it did, it only got louder and louder.
Micheal got up from his chair and walked towards the window, curious and confused as to what was happening.
Yet when he got to the window, he saw his sister carrying a massive sphere, one that was filled with holy energy. "Ummm." He muttered, feeling confused as to why she was dragging that big thing here.
He raised his hand and teleported himself a bit away from his sister to both satiate his curiosity and examine what she brought in detail.
Whoosh
With a flash, he disappears and appears in front of his sister, who, upon seeing him, immediately stops in her tracks.
"Brother!" He heard her shouting with joy, a natural and from-the-heart tone that he hadn't seen from his sister for a long time.
"What happened, and why are you bringing this here?" Micheal asked, one of his eyebrows raised and in a questioning tone.
Gabriel's smile widened, and her eyes started shining in a blinding yellow light as she gestured to the massive dome. "You probably won't believe this, but he might be our father."
His ear, upon hearing her words, at first refused to even register what she even said, for the words that his sister spoke of were things even he didn't even dream of in the thousands of years that he lived.
But Michael was an angel, not just any angel. An archangel, a being akin to a high human among humans. One that was superior to a normal angel in every imaginable, possible way. So his ear and brain, despite refusing to even understand the words that she spoke, still recorded the words that she spoke very clearly.
So his brain, following the will of his owner, started rapidly reviewing the words she spoke several times in milliseconds.
Imprinting and hammering the words that his sister spoke of in perfect clarity. So he, despite initially refusing to even understand the words, in the end, finally understands.
But accepting it is a whole other ordeal, as the only words that came out of his mouth were.
"What...?!"
From behind him, his brother Raphael, who just came out following him, also opened his mouth.
"What...?!"
.
.
After that, his sister started explaining how and what happened, etc. Which, to be honest, wasn't much, as the moment she went there, Serafall led her to him, and while they were conversing, another angel, one of whom was just recently created, came and informed her of him. Though not quietly, Serafall, who was nearby, heard it but let her go without a fight.
Probably because she and Lucifer's sister were nearby and would most definitely die as collateral damage if not evacuated immediately.
"Brother, but I am not certain of the words spoken by the little one," Gabriel said after summarizing everything.
Micheal nodded. "Fret not, sister; a way to confirm if he truly is our father is simple."
Gabriel turned to Michael, her head falling sideways with a big question mark on her head. "What would that be ?"
"[Heavenly system]," Micheal said as he turned to Rapheal, then back to Gabriel in confirmation if they should do it.
Both Raphael and Gabriel nodded without hesitation.
Micheal, upon seeing their confirmation and agreement on what they should do, extended his hand, materialized a teleportation circle, and teleported them to the core area of the [Heavenly system]. A system that functions as a replacement for God, though originally it was to enhance God's ability and ease his workload.
With a blinding light, they appear below a giant flying island wholly made out of divine golden gear and mechanics.
Each gear carried thousands upon thousands of magical circuits, each different and serving a greater purpose than alone.
Tick Tick Tick
Tock
The gears moved slowly yet relentlessly and without rest. Some wisp of divine light would seep in and out sometimes, and some parts of the whole system were working very slowly; some didn't even move. Showing how little of its full capacity is used, yet despite only working on this little capacity, there was quite some wear and tear. Some gears that were once golden and divine in color were degraded and decayed until they were orange-yellow, with the teeth of the gear bent or in disarray along with it.
A sorry sight some might say, but Michael and the others, due to how complex and intricate it was, couldn't even repair or take care of it fully, as they are only capable of doing surface-level maintenance. But still, despite its somewhat fatigued appearance, it was without a doubt the greatest creation in the world.
Micheal stepped forward, his steps light and his wings vibrating in both anxiety and uncertainty, and extended his hand and put the massive dome in front of the machine. After which he materialized a bunch of magical formulas and started the process.
"Heaven's Core, please analyze him," he said, his voice crisp yet soft.
Huaaaaaa
With the sound of a gear rapidly turning, the Heavenly system created a bunch of golden tendrils and started analyzing the thing in front of it. From the top to the bottom and then from right to left, it didn't even leave a single cell unturned as it tried to identify the creature in front of it.
(Heavenly system)
Heaven's Core, or commonly known as the Heavenly system, was confused to say the least. The being that it was analyzing was both an angel and not, as some part of the being in front of him, about one-fifth of him, wasn't even a material or energy construct. Instead, it was closer to a concept than a material creation. And Soul was a whole other ordeal.
Some part of the soul was of unknown origin, one that wasn't native to this world, while some was of this world, specifically native to the underworld.
The soul of the creature in front of him was a massive glowing yellow orb with a bunch of holes, each filled with souls of other hundreds of beings.
At first glance it seemed like the small worm-like hundreds of souls seemed to be parasitizing him, but in reality it was the opposite, as the soul that was in the middle was sucking in their nutrition while also infecting and purifying them.
All in all, the being it was analyzing was a complex creature that both seemed like an angel and not, while its soul looked like it came from the Great Beyond and not. So the [Heavenly system] made a conclusion that it was an [incomplete angel] who was born with a severe defect and used other creatures as a supplement to make up for what it lacked, and it possibly devoured some unknown soul that caused its soul to look like this and that might also have something to do with the concept that inhabited its body.
Just as it was about to deliver the message and finish the analysis, it suddenly sensed that some part of the Divine Energy that was sent to the angel, for some unknown reason, disappeared. And not only that, the Divine Energy that came back was different from what it was initially.
While at first glance the changed divine energy looked and moved almost the same. The color of the new energy was a slight bit more yellowish, and the energy that came out was purer and more tame.
[Heavenly system] started experimenting on the energy; it tried creating other constructs and made it do what normal divine energy does.
Ranging from the effect it had on a normal angel, what it would do on a normal cleric, etc.
The test continued for a long time, though not that long but still long for the greatest creation in the world, about forty minutes; it took. And the result was a satisfying one, as the system discovered that while the energy became a bit less potent in terms of power, it gained a few properties it never had before.
-Any exorcist who uses the extremely diluted version of this energy instead of the normal extremely diluted version would be capable of displaying more power than their body or the artifact should be capable of.
This energy has an anti-property that would try to purify anything that is not holy energy or divine energy; if not capable, it would destroy the said energy.
This energy has a recovery effect on holy artifacts; it would mend and recover any broken or cracked artifact until all the divine energy is finished or the artifact is fully recovered.
While the first two were an interesting concept to the [Heavenly system], the last and the third one got the attention of the system the most. The system turned its attention to the current capability of its body.
[Working in 35% capability] [Possibly to increase it to 50% without the creator's input.]
[Status]
[The Sacred Gear System]—[In need of maintenance—several tens of artifacts connected to the system have been weakened, and several sacred gears are in severe need of maintenance to clear out their previous host's history.]
[Holy Power Regulation System]—[Several areas of the system have deteriorated and decayed due to the passage of time.]
[The Angel System]—[Working normally]
[Divine Law Enforcement]—[deteriorated and decayed due to the passage of time]
[Heaven's Stability]—[Part of which is responsible for the second heaven has been destroyed, and the one from the third heaven is working overtime to make up; the one responsible for the first heaven is in severe need of maintenance.]
Then the system put more amounts of divine energy into the angel and extracted a bit less amount of divine energy than what was initially sent and applied all the divine energy that it gained around the parts in which its body severely needed. Then it put together a simple report and sent it to Archangel Michael.
.
.
.
Micheal, who was standing stiff for almost forty or so minutes, finally saw a flash and a report appearing in front of him.
The moment he got it, his sister Gabriel and his brother Raphael walked towards him and started reading together with him.
An impolite gesture, one might say, but due to how much their heart was racing and how nervous they were. They decided to forget any politeness or personal space as they read together with him.
The report was densely packed with words and diagrams that even they, ancient archangels, had to squint their eyes to understand. But after reading through it in a few seconds, they understood.
.
The being that was analyzed was mostly angelic with some parts of its body concept-like, specifically the concepts of creation, justice, and light. A thing that was good newsas that stronger and higher life forms grew to be, the more they became akin to conception. And their creator, their father, had exactly the same ones as him. Though the concepts it had were weak and not so stable, like it was about to extinguish due to the blowing of wind for some reason.
While the soul was a bit confusing part. It said that it possibly quietly lacked some part of its soul and is using other beings souls as nutrition to make up for it. Though not by consuming it rawly; instead, it was cleansing and purifying the soul, then sucking in the nutrition to help its soul grow.
When they read this part, all three archangels seemed to simultaneously take a deep sigh of relief and happiness as their bodies loosened and relaxed as they turned to the Dome of their Father.
"Father," Micheal whispered as he slowly took a step towards it, his steps shaky and unsteady despite his immense strength that could topple even the mountains without a problem.
His breath was ragged and shallow despite not needing oxygen itself.
"So you were alive," he whispered with small bits of tears accumulating beneath his eyes.
Micheal, although he didn't want to draw an empty framework, his brain refused and already drew a somewhat elementary picture.
The moment he fell, their father, the god, must have been nothing but a wisp, akin to a firefly if one considers its capability he had in its peak as akin to a sun.
He probably wasn't even capable of conjuring a normal thought in that state.
He was probably only capable of drawing upon the basic instinct that he had and scraping off the remains of filthy animals for centuries upon centuries. Hiding from the lowest tier of animals and living inside a little hole, one that small animals like rats and rabbits used to live in. Barely scraping by and occasionally going into deep sleep due to how incomplete his soul became.
Slowly he probably created himself a body from what he managed to save and started hunting for stronger beasts to continue the vicious cycle while also just barely sucking in the faint remnant of souls.
And after many centuries of this kind of hell, he must have finally recovered enough to get normal thought processes and started devouring the souls of other beings to recover and using their physical bodies to create a better body for himself by drawing upon the knowledge that he managed to recover, instead of the instinct that he had.
And finally, through relentless effort and pain, he must have managed to reach ultimate class, come to the human world to return to his home, Heaven.