Some time had passed since the incident, and Gabriel’s hand was now intact. He could still feel a residual pain from the bite—it could actually be described more correctly as a memory.

And at this moment, he was sitting in a dark room. He had searched for a long time until he could find a place that offered a certain level of safety. Of course, he couldn’t completely let his guard down, but it was enough to finally get some rest.

Once he relaxed his body, his mind was flooded with questions that he hadn’t given importance to until now. For instance, what fuck had happened to his body? Or what kind of being was strong enough to kill that Hydra?

The first question could be answered by putting a few things together: Gabriel hiding inside the Hydra, the abnormal healing ability—he didn’t even need to be a detective to figure that out. But how he exited the Hydra’s head or why he had acquired the ability was still a mystery, and no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t reach a logical answer.

- “You’re wasting your time with unnecessary questions...” - The same old man who had appeared in his dreams now stood before him, but now in the real world.

- “Is this a dream?” - Gabriel asked, observing the old man. It was clear that his appearance had changed. He no longer looked as frail, as if his body was on the verge of collapse, and he seemed to have lost a few of his excessive years. He was leaning near a window with a sarcastic expression in response to the question and scoffed.

- “What do you think?” Gabriel didn’t know how to answer, and there was silence for a few minutes before the old man continued.

- “You’re proving yourself to be more incompetent than I imagined... It’s truly difficult watching you go around in circles.” - Gabriel felt some resentment at the old man’s statements and replied.

- “Who are you, anyway?” - As he spoke, Gabriel stood up, moving toward him in a hostile manner. In response, the old man just shook his head and sighed.

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Gabriel was confused by the old man’s calmness despite his attempt to threaten him. He could hear the old man murmuring something, but he couldn’t understand clearly.

- “What should I do? It’s still too early to take control...” - Changing the situation entirely, the old man raised his head, his eyes now black. Before Gabriel could understand what was happening, the old man thrust his hand, claw-like, toward Gabriel’s chest. His hand pierced the flesh, he was aiming for his heart. Gabriel thought he was getting used to painful situations, but this was completely unexpected, something truly unforeseen. He could feel something wrapping around his heart. Tears now streamed down his face; the hostility was gone from Gabriel’s expression, leaving only tears and fear of death. There was no dignity left.

- “First... fix that attitude before addressing to me again.” - The old man tightened his grip slightly around Gabriel’s heart, and he felt as if something in his chest was about to explode. - “Now, you’ll seek ways to strengthen yourself. Right now, you are pathetic; there’s no sign of divinity, not even dignity.” The old man’s tone grew more threatening with each word.

- “And you evenq ask who I am.” - And with that, he partially squeezed Gabriel’s heart.

His legs gave out, his eyes lost focus as fluids dripped from his orifices. Before he could fall to the ground, the old man held him upright by the shoulder, and while wiping his hand, which had just been on Gabriel’s heart, on his clothes, the old man murmured again:

- “I am you, idiot!” - A shocking revelation, of which Gabriel was unaware, as he had already lost consciousness long before.

When he woke up, Gabriel could still clearly remember what had happened. He imagined everything to be just a dream, as there was no wound on his body, but his clothes made it clear that it hadn’t been a dream. Remembering what had happened, Gabriel broke out in a cold sweat. This was... fear!

Looking around the ruined room he was in, he saw words written in dried blood on the walls:

“You must seek the angel represented by this symbol!

I’m not very patient, so don’t disappoint me again.”

image [https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRgFg5tpURocYd52JEZXRuG7dCaiXoC0N_pKg&s]

The drawn symbol... Gabriel knew it. Even more than that, the symbol was a summoning sigil. It was already uncomfortable to try and summon an angel—they were extremely dangerous. Gabriel had seen them disintegrate dozens of people who worshiped them “in the name of the Lord.” And now Gabriel had been given a mission to go after one of them. But not just any angel, as the symbol belonged to the one known as "the Morning Star". Gabriel now had to seek an encounter with the devil himself.