The Seraphic System

The Seraphic System

Chapter: 11

AN: I realise there are a lot of mistakes in the earlier chapters along with the subpar writing since it was my first story and I wasn't too focused at the time on it, I will be going back and changing a lot of the chapters - mainly wording and patching up loopholes in the plot.

Also started up a pa/ t reon with four chapters in advance, details at the bottom of the chapter if you're interested I'll keep posting regardless :) I hope you enjoy the chapter!

(Failed Attempt)

I stared at the screen in annoyance. I guess it was fair that angels had a weakness too, but it was still bullshit in my eyes.

A deathly silence gripped the entirety of the High Court of Shimla, and the few lingering people who had been loitering around had scattered in terror.

The screams of bystanders gradually faded into the distance as everyone in the vicinity hastily fled, making a frantic dash away from the scene the moment I was shot at.

Nikhil sat next to me shaking in fear, rambling incoherently, his eyes darting around, while I remained clueless about the shooter's whereabouts or their intentions.

Why did they attack me? I don't know, I seemed to have the ability to get into trouble all the time. This time, I hadn't even done anything to deserve this.

Okay, sure I was normally a bit reckless and yes, I did have a certain knack for getting into trouble - okay yeah, maybe I did cause this, but how?! I have been on good behaviour since arriving here a few days ago.

The poison coursing through my arm had finally begun to slow down from its relentless desire to ravage my body. With my regeneration factor and poison resistance starting to finally put up a fight.

I still felt somewhat a bit weakened on a physical level by the unknown substance ravaging my arm and sending spikes of pain, it hadn't affected my magic at all, which was good, and I was still physically okay, just a bit slobbish.

Luckily, I had instinctively reacted to the danger I felt flare up and had been able to avoid the bullet going through my skull, or I think I would have been affected much worse.

I'm pretty sure it was demonic energy boosting the poison in my arm. Seriously who had I pissed off, was it those devils I had attacked in the familiar forest, thinking about it that may have been the cause.

Maybe I should have thought twice about pissing off some devil nobles? Mmm… nah fuck them, that blonde devil riser was prancing around like a peacock too much for my liking.

I guess I can rule out this being any of India's residents doing, I doubt they would use demonic bullets of all things. That leaves the question though, how did these attackers find me so quickly?

Outsiders are rare he said, you'll be safe here he said, fucking bald lying ass chuckle fuck. Clearing my head after my brief tantrum, I ponder on what course of action to take next.

I could probably dodge normal bullets, but that shot had been extremely fast. I'm guessing the shooter has some sort of magic rifle. An idea formed in my head as I called upon my magic and started to bend light with ease.

A blob of light materialised in front of me, prompting Nikhil to back away in fright, his jumbled words becoming even more incoherent. The light began to take form as I pictured my desired effect.

I had been meaning to try this for a while now since I had gotten my light embodiment skill. Bending light had become much easier. To the point, I could do it without needing much full attention.

Which for magic of any kind, was pretty good, especially since it was only at the novice level even if I was close to ranking it up to the apprentice level.

I had been practising but since this skill seemed to be an upgraded version of its previous counterpart, it had become extremely difficult to level up. Even at the novice level.

The now humanoid shape of light refracted and turned into an identical clone of me. Well, a few minor details stood out to me but considering it was my first time it was good enough. Plus, I doubt my attempted murderer would notice.

Taking a moment, I tried my best to create the most convincing replica of myself I could. A light mirage that looked like me. Though basic, I hoped it would serve its purpose, allowing me to discover the hidden location of the shooter.

At this point, Nikhil had finally ceased his incoherent ramblings, his gaze shifting between me and the light mirage every few seconds, his expression now locked in a state of muted shock

I didn't pay him any heed, quite frankly, I was more concerned about the shooter trying to take my life and the poison he had used on me, which was progressively making me feel weaker.

It was slow, but I felt my physical strength being sapped minutely by the poison, idly I began to flush my arm with holy light to fight against the demonic power that was empowering the poison.

Finally prepared, I dispatched the light mirage, willing it to appear as if it were trying to stealthily move around. For a while, there was only silence with no reaction, making me wonder if the shooter was onto my plan somehow.

Suddenly, a crack echoed, and a bullet pierced through my light mirage. I instantly located where the sound came from and the location from where the bullet had hit the light mirage.

I instantly went to send an overpowered light spear to blow the entire building up before pausing. Shit, Shanu had told me not to cause any problems, and I think blowing up Shimla's high court would be causing problems.

I briefly considered just doing it, since it wasn't my fault I was being attacked by some random hobo. Knocking out Nikhil in a burst of speed, I let him sleep as I opened up my wings and burst into the sky.

By the trajectory of the bullet, he was somewhere on the roof of the High Court. I quickly sped up there as I heard another bullet crack and whistle past my head.

I spotted a figure leaning with a massive gun aiming towards me. Adorned in a pair of black boots paired with dark grey cargo pants featuring knee armour, he wore a black button-up shirt beneath a red vest.

A grey coat with an attached hood that shrouded his form, it concealed an enchanted pouch secured at his waist, most presumably housing his equipment.

He also wore a mask piece made of metal covering everything but his upper face.

The first thing I had to admit when I spotted him was he looked fucking awesome. Judging by the magic pulsing off him, that gear he was wearing was enchanted enough to fortify a tank.

I finally met his eyes and let an involuntary shudder at the utter apathy and lack of self-preservation in those cold orbs. He aimed the large rifle at me again, and I dived just as a bullet cracked and shot through my previous location.

The boom shook a small area around him from the sheer power of the magic rifle. I shot at him faster than he could pull the trigger again and reached to grab his throat.

The magic rifle was left discarded, as he understood he wouldn't be able to hit me with it again.

His form flickered and dispersed into shadows. I blinked confused before I felt the light shift behind me, I instinctively dodged and spun around to see the mysterious hooded figure halfway sticking out of my own shadow with a shotgun.

The gun itself looked to be a single-barrel pump action shotgun with a rotating cylinder that looked to be able to carry twelve bullets. The bullets themselves were clear cylinders that held a volatile swirling red energy.

The shotgun had a red light coming out of its barrel as he clicked the trigger, the red light exploded outwards, surprising me as the shotgun let out a shockwave.

The physical explosion that erupted passed over me harmlessly as my body turned into light and I flickered away as the red beam of fire swept over destroying the area I was in with an explosion of fire.

What kind of magical weapon was that? Seriously?! This was starting to get ridiculous

[SoulFyre]

SoulFyre is a unique shotgun, meticulously crafted for its capabilities. Twelve ammo holsters, each containing a soul, that serve as the weapon's power source, unleashing a devastating beam of hellfire upon firing.

{Materials and Construction}

Manasteel Core - The primary structural core of SoulFyre is crafted from Manasteel, a material chosen for its exceptional conductivity of enchantments and magic formations. This core ensures seamless integration and responsiveness to magical enhancements. 

Beronite Alloy - Infused within the framework is Beronite, a demonic metal known for its resistance against hellfire. This alloy provides robust protection, preventing the weapon from succumbing(lol) to the intense heat generated during the firing process.

{Ammo Mechanism}

Soul Batteries - Twelve ammo holsters store tormented souls, acting as both the power source and ammunition for SoulFyre. The weapon's enchantments draw upon the essence of these captured souls.

Compression Chamber 

Adjacent to the soul batteries, a specialized chamber utilizes a small crystal to capture and compress the soul energy, transforming it into a denser mass.

{Firing Sequence}

Trigger Activation - Pulling the trigger initiates a carefully orchestrated sequence within "SoulFyre"

Release of Compressed Soul Energy - The controlled, densely packed ball of soul energy is released into the conversion chamber.

Magical Array Conversion 

Within the conversion chamber, a complex magical array activates, converting the soul essence into a highly concentrated form of hellfire, ready for release.

{Special Attribute}

SoulFyre possesses a unique quality that deals five times the damage to all beings associated with holiness. This makes it particularly effective against creatures or entities aligned with divine forces.

This guy was using the tormented souls of people as a fucking battery to try to kill me?! I had to admit, it looked pretty badass for a shotgun.

This guy was obviously stacked with magical gear. Who was he? Some sort of assassin, I was guessing based on his looks and the frankly absurd weapons.

I used 'appraisal' on the hooded figure as he began to turn around towards me. His cold eyes analysed me with apathy.

{Name: Volfigen (Mr. Six)}

{Title: Expert Assassin}

{Race: Drow(Fae)}

{Power level: 4,671}

So I was correct in my assumption, he's being hired to kill me. Okay, it was time to end this. He was around the middle of the high-class rank. While impressive, especially with his gear, wouldn't be able to defeat me.

Though a Drow? That was pretty interesting. I'm guessing that confirms the existence of fae in this world, which was pretty cool. I'm guessing there were a lot of creatures out there that I probably didn't even know about.

I opened my palm as he began to aim the large, unique shotgun and let out a highly concentrated beam of light that dispersed any shadows around him. All the shadows in the area disappeared as I conjured a blinding light.

I did not doubt that this was probably drawing tons of attention, but I didn't care at this point. I had gone out of my way to not destroy anything and try to isolate this fight, so that should be enough.

A flick of my hand and five compressed rods of light formed around me, I made sure to control the power into a piercing effect instead of an explosion to minimize the damage. I didn't want Shanu bitching at me.

They shot out and reached the hooded assassin before he could move, just as they hit him his armour glowed and a spike of magic shot out. A pendant that had been covered by the assassin's hood floated up and began to glow.

As I gazed upon the floating pendant, an almost translucent crystal, suspended from a bright silver chain. The crystal, which was intricately multifaceted, seemed to resemble an eye with a dark slitted pupil.

The area around the assassin suddenly twisted and warped. His form contorted as the surrounding space seemingly warped, accentuated by the blue glow on his wrist.

His surroundings bent in unnatural directions, making a conspicuous distortion. The rods of light I had sent to pierce his body, defying logic, wound themselves impossibly around his body and shot into random directions.

I stared blankly.

"…"

"…"

What the fuck is this shit? No, seriously what? He's fucking hacking, that's not fair what even happened. Did this guy just bend my attack around him? How was I meant to counter that bullshitery?

Too OP, pls nerf.

No, that wasn't him, it couldn't have been. That display of power would have sucked my mana dry like a hungry sex-addled prostitute. Unless all his stats were in MAG, I doubt he had even close enough.

I didn't have an opportunity to further think about the stunt he just pulled. The shotgun he wielded emanated an intense glow, each of the eleven remaining cylinders containing imprisoned souls that acted as ammo shattered and released their energy into the weapon.

The long-barrelled shotgun glowed as I watched the hooded assassin brace himself presumably from the kickback such a weapon would have. The shotgun thundered as it released its accumulated attack.

The shockwave that was unleashed before the beam of hellfire was several folds stronger than the one released before.

My entire body morphed into pure light as the force impacted against me harmlessly, and shattered everything around me.

The top of the High Court of Shimla we had been fighting on, which was perhaps an important part of not just Shimla but Indian judiciary too, blew away as the top half of the large building ceased to exist from the intense shockwave.

The red explosion of fire lit up the area as it followed the powerful shockwave. I pushed myself as fast as I could in mere moments as the massive beam of hellfire rampaged outwards.

Still in my light form, I felt a tug in my stomach as I shot myself away from the explosion of hellish fire and left a trail of light behind me which made me look like a shooting star.

The attack lasted a few seconds but its roar shook the surrounding area. Everything was set ablaze by red flames that devoured everything it could touch with greed.

The sounds of police sirens could be heard in the distance as I appeared on the ground. Without wasting a second I flew back up and as I expected, he was gone, the area he was last in was empty.

The fucker hadn't even left his magic rifle. I didn't know what item he had used to evade my attack since I hadn't gotten a chance to appraise it, but whatever it was I wanted it.

That shotgun had been pretty cool, and my intention was to claim it after subduing him. Contrary to what it looked like, those Light rods were designed to cripple him rather than killing him.

After all, I needed to find out who was after me, so I could go kill them first, but whatever that space-bending shit was I wanted that.

I'm sure it couldn't be used as easily as it looked to be, but I still wanted it even if I needed to charge it. I flew down and went to get Nikhil only to be faced with an army of stone constructs with Shanu.

His arms crossed, eyes narrowed into slits with a frown of displeasure sitting firmly on his face. Oh, shit.

"Lovely weather we are having today." I chuckled nervously as his hundreds of stone constructs glared at me.

Things had just gotten a lot more complicated.

-Scene break-

Seated in front of the large desk that belonged to Shanu, my fingers drummed together as Shanu who sat across from me fixed his stern gaze on me. The room descended in an awkward silence.

I heard the movement of various people outside, as the mansion was buzzing with activity compared to the last time I was here. I suppose that was to be expected with the whole blowing up the High Court of Shimla.

The car ride here had been uncomfortable to say the least. Sitting through the tense silence as Shanu treated me like a disappointed father, sitting in stoic silence during the trip.

The fact we had been sat straight across from each other in the limousine served to make the experience much worse, as we were forced to hold eye contact.

It had been a few hours since the encounter with the hooded assassin, and my arm had finally begun to heal from the effects of the strange poison.

The demonic energy had been flushed out after I kept channelling bursts of holy light in my arm. It still sent a dull ache, but it was times like this I thanked my decision to get a regenerative power.

I understood why that bullet was nicknamed the angel killer now. The fact it could even affect me with my regeneration and poison resistance was impressive to say the least.

Even flushing my arm with holy power had taken a while from the sheer density of demonic energy packed into such a small bullet was insane.

The amount of harmful effects with the sheer purpose to harm angels put inside the small, compact bullet was impressive. I had put it inside my inventory when I had taken it out of my shoulder for later inspection.

Whoever its creator was must have had a serious grudge against angels or something, because that could not have been easy to make.

I sighed as I focused back on the situation. Now I had to explain my situation to Shanu. I spun in my chair as he continued to stare at me.

"Sooo, I don't suppose you would believe me if I said it wasn't my fault." I started, finally getting bored with the silence.

"…"

"I was just on a tour of the city with my friend, completely innocent with no harmful intentions, ya know." I continued.

"Then out of nowhere some dude appears and starts shooting at me. Naturally, I needed to defend myself. Right?" I rhetorically asked.

"Now I found some dude with a big ass magic rifle sniping at me from a rooftop. Naturally, I confronted him and very politely asked him to stop." That last part was a half lie. Technically asked him to stop with force, but he didn't need to know that.

"He refused and started shooting this weird shotgun explosion thing at me. Now let it be known I held back for the sake of not damaging the area too much."

Shanu stared at me.

"I then rather masterfully used a very contained small attack to try to restrain him, and imagine my surprise when the fucker pulls out a fuck you card from his ass and used his weapon to cause a massive explosion." I continued my very reasonable argument.

"Now can I be blamed? Absolutely not. I tried my very best to keep the damage minimal. In fact, I could have just blown him up if I hadn't taken your warning into heavy consideration. Is it my fault he caused a massive fuck off explosion? Of course not." I began to ramble a little bit in nervousness.

Shanu didn't say a word as he stared at me. His facial expression never changed from its stern visage.

"Ok don't blame me for this, you told me I would be safe and not getting sniped by some dead-fished eyes shadow fucker with a bunch of magical items," I shouted with crossed arms.

I was aware I shouldn't be swearing in front of a man like Shanu but I felt oddly nervous. I had enough of his stern face; it reminded me of my grandfather, and I'd rather not.

His stern visage cracked for the first time and instead of the anger I had been anticipating, he let out a laugh. He began to let out a full belly laugh as he slammed his fist on the table.

"Has anyone ever told you that for a twelve-year-old, you swear a lot, especially for an angel?" He asked after calming down.

To be fair, I used to play Call of Duty black ops online and those lobbies had changed my general vocabulary quite a bit. I should probably nip that habit in the bud before it gets me killed for disrespecting someone stronger than me.

"My bad" I replied a tiny bit sheepishly. I had forgotten I was meant to be an angel.

He sighed.

"I'm already aware of what happened, and you need not worry. I understand this was not of your own doing." He replied reassuringly.

I relaxed a bit at that.

"I won't lie and say I'm happy, the destruction caused wasn't limited to only the High court. The initial blast alone destroyed a few buildings along with the sudden appearance of hellfire it quickly spread. Many buildings around it have been destroyed and lives lost." He said with a grimace.

I remained silent.

"There's also the problem of the humans being too curious for their own good leading to many recording the situation which has made the cleanup much more difficult." Shanu continued.

Ah yes, I'm guessing he's talking about erasing the memories of normal humans to cover up the attack. Alas the creation of the camera had made their job much harder.

"Also the problem of a certain sneaky rat running around in my territory causing problems, so I have to spare some subordinates to try to track the rodent down for interrogation. Overall a headache." Shanu sighed as he rubbed his head.

"I'm guessing you know who he is or some idea?" I asked, noting the evident disdain he exuded for the hooded assassin. He seemed to know or at least have a suspicion as to who the Drow was.

"Not personally but I'm aware of the organisation he works for." Shanu replied with disdain.

"Mind elaborating? I didn't exactly get a chance to speak to him about it." So he wasn't working alone but in an organisation, that was good to know. It made the situation a bit worse though.

"A relatively young organisation with a history spanning back merely a century or two. They specialise in contracted political or personal assassinations for financial gain. They're powerful enough to prove troublesome for the lower-tier factions" Shanu went on to explain.

"They're smart enough to normally not step on any of the higher-tiered factions' toes, which is why I'm surprised they would do such a blatant hit on Indian soil." He admitted looking thoughtful.

"You must have made some enemies on your way here my young friend. The fact they even risked angering the Hindu pantheon means a truly substantial amount of money must have been put on your head." Shanu remarked.

"I see," I mumbled, contemplating his words. "Do you have any idea where I can find this organisation?"

Shanu shook his head "We've never really bothered paying attention to the affairs of outsiders so I can't say I do"

I sighed, that was to be expected. Nothing was ever that easy when it came down to it. I opened my inventory and took out a bag of popcorn I had bought earlier.

"So you're hunting him down now?" I asked as I tossed a piece of popcorn into my mouth.

"I have my subordinates on the lookout for him, they've already had a few encounters with him thus far and he's been forced to relocate out of his hideout we found and are currently searching." Shanu explained much to my surprise.

They worked fast.

"Like the pathetic rodent he is, he's decided to scurry away every time my subordinates catch sight of him. He seems to have a way of travelling via shadows. Which makes it rather annoying to catch him." I had to admit I was honestly impressed.

Barely over an hour had passed since my fight with the Drow, and he'd already been flushed out of his hideout and forced to run multiple times.

It was moments like these that made me grateful I had the foresight to have not picked a fight with Shanu when we first met. He seemed to hold a firm grip over his city.

"Can't you just ask the gods to smite him or something?" I asked curiously. I seriously doubted that the Drow could hide from the Hindu gods.

Shanu chuckled. "If only it was that simple."

I offered him some popcorn for his troubles which he accepted graciously. Idly looking over a file with a frown on his face.

"The gods wouldn't lower themselves to bother with the rodent running around, at best they would send a servant down to get rid of them if they caused too much of a ruckus." Shanu replied exasperatedly.

"As easy as it would make life, it would be like asking the human military to launch a bomb to blow up a cow." He further explained.

I can't imagine dealing with gods is a pleasant experience, I didn't know much about the gods of this world but they sounded like a bunch of assholes in my humble opinion.

Suddenly something occurred to me.

"Oh that reminds me, I don't suppose you could tell me how Nikhil is doing?" I asked. He had been helpful, the least I could do was check up on him and make sure he wasn't dead or something.

"Ah yes, young Nikhil. A good kid. He's rather shaken up by this whole debacle and has been sent home after we got his assurance he wouldn't be spreading any information." Shanu explained.

I should probably have a chat with him later, he would probably want some answers and who was I to deny him when I dragged him into this mess. I gave Shanu a nod of understanding.

He smiled knowingly as if he knew what I was planning to do.

"Well now that's all been spoken about how about we get down to the real reason I'm still here." I finally decided to get down to business.

Shanu hadn't kept me here all this time just for a pleasant chat with the friendly neighbourhood angel after all. Shanu raised an eyebrow at my comment.

"Oh, what made you think I have anything I want to speak about?" He questioned.

I rolled my eyes.

"Get on with it" I didn't bother replying.

For the first time since this meeting Shanu looked hesitant. As if he had decided whether to go through with a plan. His mouth opened but then closed as he considered how to start.

"I must admit I am surprised by your level of rationality and ability to think about repercussions, you are far beyond your years in terms of maturity. Along with your battle prowess you will become a figure known by all in the future of that I have no doubt." Shanu praised.

"What forced you to grow up so quickly I have no idea, I can see you hold onto past pains which one young such as yourself shouldn't have been exposed to till adulthood." He almost looked sorrowful.

At the end of the day, older I may be, it was only a few years above that of this body's age. I understand I've handled some things in the past questionably since I've been reborn.

A few hasty decisions made here and there.

"You'll have to forgive me for underestimating your patience and foresight, any other child with your level of power at your age would have simply sent out a powerful attack without care for the surroundings." He continued calmly.

"Uhh… thanks?" I replied with uncertainty. I really didn't know how to respond to that.

I didn't really deserve this praise since I'm actually older spiritually, but he didn't need to know that. I also accepted the compliments with grace.

Definitely not adding to any sort of pride I may or may not have developed.

"It leads me to wonder if you're up for a… task of mine," he said with a bit of hesitation. Which served to pique my interest.

"You need help?" I questioned.

He chuckled.

"I suppose you could call it that." He hummed.

"Your other subordinates can't do it?" I questioned.

He smiled.

"I have many subordinates stronger than you, my young friend. This matter simply would not allow them to… act per se." He stated.

I took no offence to his words about him having stronger subordinates than me, since it was to be expected. Now though, he had my full intrigue. A task which his servants couldn't do?

I nodded to him to continue.

"Tell me, child, have you heard of the Tempest Deva Namara?" He questioned.

"No?" I replied.

"He is a Deva like me but has recently broken his vows you could say." He said sadly.

"Vows?" I questioned aloud.

"A deva such as myself is not allowed to get myself involved with mortal affairs. This means I can neither help nor punish those in my territory unless of supernatural origin." He spoke.

"Namara has broken this vow, in 1999 a super cyclone hit the eastern coast of India, primarily affecting the state of Odisha. The cyclone, named as Cyclone 05B by humans, resulted in massive damage and a large number of casualties. Reports suggested that the death toll from this cyclone reached over 10,000 humans."

"The impact was severe to say the least, causing widespread destruction of infrastructure and affecting millions of mortal lives." He said.

I nodded, pretty much understanding where he was going with this.

"This was caused by Namara." He revealed.

"So he's turned evil?" I asked.

"By mortal standards. Yes, unfortunately, a Deva cannot intervene with another Deva unless they want to receive a harsh punishment. Meaning, he has gone unchecked for a while." He said softly with sadness in his eyes.

"So you want me to go fight some Deva who caused a massive cyclone? Yeah, I'm going to have to pass, old man." I snorted, it didn't seem worth the risk.

He smiled and shook his head.

"No, of course not. Though I do wish for you to steal a powerful artefact he possesses. With it removed, the damage he can cause will be lessened by a great degree." He announced his true desire.

That was more doable but…

"What's in it for me?" That was the real question.

"You get to obtain a very powerful item without any worry for retaliation?" He offered.

I considered it, I'm sure the Hindu faction wouldn't take well to a being outside their pantheon taking a powerful artefact from within the pantheon.

"I thought you didn't send children to do such dangerous tasks," I asked idly, and he frowned.

"I never said I didn't, only that I dislike the idea." He said with a grimace. I decided no to push the subject.

With a devilish smirk, not fitting of my status as an angel at all. "So what's this weapon of power you speak of?" I asked.

He gave me a weak smile, obviously disliking the idea of sending someone as "young" to do such a dangerous task, but regardless, going through with it.

"The Tempest Chakrams." He said simply.

I raised an eyebrow.

"His weapon of power is what?" I asked in bafflement.

"The Tempest Chakrams are dual-edged, razor-sharp discs that embody the essence of storms of Namara. They were forged from divine alloys specifically for him. Every Deva has their own weapon of power, for example Indra has Vajra, or more famously known as the Indradhanush."

"They are kind of our symbols of power, they affect the faith humans have in us. Taking them away would weaken him by a large margin." He explained patiently with an amused undertone.

[Quest Generated]

[Quest]

Namara, the Tempest Deva

Description: Namara, once a celestial being of serene countenance, fell from grace and embraced a malevolent transformation, becoming the Tempest Deva. Veiled in storm clouds, Namara's majestic form now radiates an ominous aura, embodying malevolence.

You've been requested to steal his weapon of power and potentially eliminate him.

Objective: Steal the Tempest Chakrams.

Bonus objective: ?

Reward: ?,?

Bonus reward: ?

[Accept/Decline]

Yea… This definitely wasn't going to go according to any plan we formed.

"Fine." I agreed and Shanu shot me a grateful smile.

"What's the plan?"

If Shanu promised to protect me from the ramifications of pulling this stunt, then who was I to pass down an opportunity like this? The quest rewards would just be an added benefit, I could deal with the assassin later.

Plus it's not like I had to actually fight him, I could always just runaway or not do it if the situation got too dire.

I'm sure he wouldn't mind living a little longer.

-{Michael Pov}-

Michael sat at the head of a long white marble table with golden accents adorned around the circular table as his siblings sat around him. His golden halo and six pairs of golden wings stood confidently.

They looked much more confident than he felt he deserved. His brother and sister looked at him as the last line of hope. If he didn't stand tall and fall, heaven would fall with him.

Michael knew this, he had long accepted this. The tears he shed when no one was around had long since dried up into resolve. Despite all this, he knew he was failing.

He often wondered how his father would react to his poor leadership.

Michael was not a leader, nor did he ever wish to be one. People had often mentioned his exploits during the war as a sign of great leadership. No, Michael knew he was a if he was anything it was a commander.

He was meant to lead the armies of heaven as his father's sword. Of course, that meant he was good at being a commander. It was his purpose. Now he sat, navigating through the shaky politics of the three factions.

One slip-up could start a war that he wasn't sure the angels would make it out to the other side of. One mistake and hundreds of thousands of his brothers and sisters would be killed and enslaved.

Whether I'd be by an outside faction or the devils, perhaps his fallen brothers and sisters. He had no idea. They have been trying for peace, but they all have internal war-mongers, who can't just be dealt with.

He navigated his family through uncertain times with fear lingering in his heart every day.

Currently, he sat in the room which served as the designated meeting space for the leaders of heaven to gather and discuss heaven's affairs.

The large oval room offered a breathtaking view of heaven through the encircling windows. Crystal-clear windows gave way to the view of the Silver City of angels below.

Michael looked over the Silver City with a lost gaze as his siblings continued their reports.

"There have been another couple of holy maidens stolen from the church in Denmark. They are searching for them, but there have been no sightings of them. The local authorities are not actively aiding in the search." Raphael muttered sadly as she pushed her glasses up.

Uriel slammed his fists and holy flames began to flicker to life around his body.

"I told you Denmark wasn't safe. Our presence is limited there, not nearly strong enough. The recent shift to secularism has weakened our hold. Have they found out who did this?" He growled.

Raphael sighed softly and Michael shook his head as he already knew what to suspect.

"There's nothing confirmed, but demonic residue was left in the area, leading us to believe it was a De-"

"DEVIL! It's always those bastards. If not for their Satans, I would have burned those who are responsible!" Uriel roared. The flickering holy flames roared around him.

Michael wished Gabriel was here to soothe his anger like she normally did, but alas she had made true to her promise to find the missing child of their kin.

"Brother, please calm down, we have sent a message to the new Satans. I'm sure they'll work on bringing the devil responsible to justice" Raphael tried to placate softly while she tucked a strand of silky brown hair behind her ear.

There would be no justice, the ones responsible would roam free despite their sins. All the archangels knew this, and yet, they didn't voice it. They didn't have the strength to. The angels were in a bad spot.

While the devils grew, their brothers and sisters were slowly dying out or giving up on any hope and falling where Azazel happily scooped them up into the Grigori with open arms.

The fact that fathers system too was not working properly has led to many complications. One of which was being unable to access the reserve where all of the faith was sent too.

It has made Angels weakened to their current state, due to this loss in faith. Michael could only divert a small amount of the faith being sent into the heaven's system with his limited access.

They were currently in their weekly meeting to discuss the affairs of the angel faction, all trying to help their family have a secure future in this uncertain world.

Uriel stayed silent as he lost the energy to fight. They were becoming tired. Trying for thousands of years to fix heaven after their father's death. Yet very little progress was ever made.

The church silently grew further away from the ideals of their father as the seats of the cardinals were filled with corruption. With them being just another reason for the loss in faith from humanity.

They have painted a not-so-pleasant picture of the current Church.

It wasn't to say there weren't good people in the church. There were many of pure heart among the church's ranks, but they were being led astray by those in the position of leaders. The pope was perhaps the last line that kept the corruption among the cardinals at bay.

Which Michael was forever thankful for, yet the pope grew old and older, the years didn't spare his human body. If he had been born while his father was alive, he would have most definitely been proclaimed a Saint.

Alas, the system of heaven couldn't even function enough to do that anymore. This was why Michael couldn't afford to alienate the church, being forced to turn a blind eye hurt him on a level no one would understand.

He, of course, hid the corruption from his siblings, he was determined to keep this burden on his shoulders alone. Michael sighed as he thought about all these issues.

Raphael continued with the reports, most of them holding bad news. More news as a couple of angels this month alone had lost hope and fallen.

The situation for the angels was not good, to say the least. They needed a symbol of hope. Something Michael was failing to be.

Michael could only hope for a miracle to save him and the rest of his siblings from this nightmare.

He sincerely hoped Gabriel was having more luck than he was.

-END-

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