Chapter 2

A Journey's Beginning

Observing his surroundings, Keisuke is unable to pinpoint anything that may provide some form of hint as to what his current location may be. As far as his eyes can see, there are naught but lush green plains, with hills here and there. The environment and colours resembled a heavily up-scaled golf course - without holes, of course. Tired of sitting around, he begins to stand up.

Keisuke, while not an otaku, definitely knew his way around popular culture, and wasn’t ready to give up just yet.

“System call. Display entire world map.”

Nothing happened.

“With my power as an Archdemon, I demand to see the maps of this world!”

Nothing happened.

In a final act of desperation, Keisuke put his right arm in front of him and swiped downwards, but alas... nothing happened. It was then that he noticed that the bag he was handed by God before being summoned to the demonic realm was on the ground beside him, leaning against a small apple tree. He sat down besides the bag and opened it, looking inside. Aside from a small amount of money, there was a note.

‘To the Spirit that has laid their hands on this note, I congratulate you. If you are reading this, you have been selected to become the newest addition to the most eminent order of the 5 Archangels. Your sole goal is to use the powers provided to you in order to save the world you stand in of great peril, be it a political struggle, genuine threat to life or a decline in living conditions.

To provide an introduction to your abilities:

Upon first reincarnating, you will have but one skill. This will be the unique skill provided only to the 5th Archangel. Unique Skill: Enchanted Speech will, when activated, cause anything you say to be taken literally by the world’s central magical source, and shall convert it into a spell, whether it be registered in the magical index or not. Use this skill sparingly, as it will take up a large amount of mana from your pool.

When you have trained your soul and physical strength enough, you will be able to access a variety of other Inborn Skills, such as the ability to fly.

I wish you the best of luck. You may contact me directly by chanting “Contact Leader” at any point in time. I recommend you use it for emergencies only, as it uses a large amount of magical energy.

* God’

That’s good to know, I guess. It won’t be very useful for the time-being though.

At that moment, an apple fell off of the tree and onto Keisuke’s head. At that moment, he had an idea and a theory that would change the course of the future... to a minor extent.

“Unique Skill: Enchanted Speech, activate!”

Keisuke felt no different, and wondered whether or not the skill had worked. He decided to put it to the test.

“Please give me a map in the form of a digital device that can be easily stored.”

After chanting the spell, a phone-like device fell into his hand and flickered to life. Its appearance was almost identical to a near-modern mobile phone. However, Keisuke had to test its functionality and so turned it on. The screen flickered to life and displayed a map of the area surrounding him. At the top of the screen, Keisuke noticed that there was a bar reading ‘Naolihm’, probably the name of the world he was in.

If only I had a way to know some more about this world and myself. Ah... there’s an idea.

“Enchanted Speech, display full ability list!”

A floating near-transparent screen appeared in front of Keisuke after he uttered the command. It held the list of skills and abilities that were at his disposal.

‘Perfected Skills

* ??? - Unavailable due to insufficient knowledge

Unique Skills

* Unique Skill: Skill Enhancement multiplies the effect of any skill, spell or physical attack by ten times. Activatable at will.

* Unique Skill: Enchanted Speech causes a literal magic effect based on the chant the user gives after activating the skill.

* Unique Skill: Experience of Death provides an absolute and unwavering resistance to all spells or attacks that target the mind or invoke fear.

* Unique Skill: Proficiency Up+ has an unknown effect due to insufficient knowledge.

* Unique Skill: Divine Nephilim has an unknown effect due to insufficient knowledge.

* Unique Skill: Even in Death has an unknown effect due to insufficient knowledge.

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Inborn Skills

* Inborn Skill: Light Beam has an unknown effect due to insufficient knowledge.

* ??? - Unavailable due to insufficient knowledge

Magical Knowledge

* Elemental Affinity: Water Magic allows for free manipulation of water and objects that share similar properties, such as ice or other liquids.

* Extra Affinity: Astromancy has an unknown effect due to insufficient knowledge.

* Extra Affinity: Chronomancy has an unknown effect due to insufficient knowledge.

Resistance Skills

* Magical Resistance: Grade 5 nullifies all magic of Grade 5 and lower.

* Physical Resistance: Grade 5 nullifies all physical attacks taken from any objects constructed of metals ranking Grade 5 or lower.

Proficiency Skills

* Language Proficiency: Mastery allows for the translation of any language to the user’s primary language, as well as the user’s primary language to any other language. Works vocally and visually.

System Tip: Chant “Contact Leader”, as soon as possible.’

Keisuke, while informed, was mildly confused by the list.

Insufficient knowledge? How am I meant to learn about it if I don’t even know what it is..? Chant “Contact Leader” as soon as possible? Didn’t God say to save that for emergencies? I suppose following God’s will rather than an unreliable interfact in front of me would be the best option. But didn’t God also say I’d only have one skill? What are all these? I suppose it doesn’t matter too much for the time being, but I’ll have to talk with him another time.

He peered down at the device in his hands to see if he could find a town near him. Around 30 kilometers away, there was a small town called Fralkoi. It seemed to be the only one nearby.

“If only there was a faster way... “

As Keisuke said this, he realised that his enchanted speech was still active. All of a sudden, the space arounded him begun to warp, and an instant later he was in a completely different environment. Looking at his navigator, he noticed that he was now right outside the town’s outer walls. He turned around and looked towards the walls, and noticed that there was some commotion near the entrance. Curious, he approached.

“Enchanted Speech, disable”

As he got closer, some voices became more clear.

“You can’t be here, filthy monster.” a guard said to somebody who appeared to be a regular person from behind. “Leave now, or we’ll be forced to resort to violence.”

“I’mmmmm heeeeereee tooo seeee sooooomeboooodyyyyy... “ at this point, Keisuke knew that this was no ordinary human.

The monster turned around and faced Keisuke for a moment, then looked back the guards. It had a slim mouth curled up into a smile, a snout for a nose and four eyes. It drew a blade at the guards and started to move closer. After seeing this, Keisuke started running towards the crowd of people, knowing he had to do something.

After getting within speaking range, Keisuke shouts at the person.

“What are you doing!? Stop, now!”, though the monster continues walking towards the gate.

“Do not interfere, outsider. This is a serious matter, and you’ll get hurt.” the guards yell back in response, but Keisuke continues to sprint in their direction.

Turning around to face him, the monster points its sword directly at Keisuke. Now that he had been threatened, he decided it would be time to test out his abilities in a combat situation.

“Enchanted Speech! Activate! Summon weapon!”

As these words slipped out of Keisuke’s mouth, a scythe with a blade on each end appeared in his left hand. At the base of either blade was an inscription, one reading ‘Kami’ and the other reading ‘Akuma’. Paying no mind to this, he continued pushing further.

The monster began to throw slices at Keisuke, though he blocked all of them without an issue.

"Iiiiii seeeeeeee... Enoughhhhh plaaaayiiiing arouuuund. Youuuuu areeee mooooooore pooooowerfuuul than Iiiiiiii thouuuuught."

As it speaks these words, its aura instantly increases a bolstering amount. The speed of its attacks increases several times over, and the power of its strikes are much harder to block efficiently.

From the right. Block. From the top. Block. From below. Block. From the left? AGH.

Keisuke fails to detect or block the slice from his left and suffers a blow to the side of his head. Expecting to die on the spot, he then recalls reading about a Grade 5 physical resistance skill he held, then laughs it off. Deciding to get serious now, Keisuke issues a threat.

"Within the next 10 seconds, your head will be in my hands, and you will no longer stand. A person of the likes of you shan't ever lay their hands on me again. Learn your lesson, scum."

Keisuke planted his feet into the floor, and prepared for an all out strike. Raising the scythe up behind his back, he crouched down and faced the floor.

“Skill Enhancement! Activate!”

In the eyes of those spectating, Keisuke disappeared into thin air. Nobody could see or hear him nor his blades. An instant later, the noises coming from the monster halted, and when they turned to face it, its head was gone with its body lying on the ground. A cloud of dust flew up from the ground in the shape of a small twister, and when the air cleared they could see a perfectly clean Keisuke with the monster’s head in his hand. He threw it at the guards staring directly at him.

“Enchanted speech, disable.” he whispered below his breath.

“W-who are you? What are you!?” one of the guards screamed, as they slowly walked backwards.

“I’m just a simple explorer looking to visit this village. I mean no harm to you or the people here.”

Skeptical, the guards stared him down for several seconds.

“C-come with us, and we’ll see what we can do.”

The guards led Keisuke through the gate and into a small building, where they asked him to answer several questions. After answering the majority of them, the people questioning him grew suspicious.

“Your eyes. Why are they like that?” they asked.

Like what? What do they look like? I should have made sure I looked like a regular person before getting into fights. Damn it.

“They’ve been like it since I was born. I don’t know why nor do I care.” he answered.

After this was said, a guard at the back of the room pushed a button and the room went silent. A few moments later, an old-aged man with long robes and no hair, holding a staff, walked through the door.

“I’m the attribute mage that you called. I take it this is the man in question.”

The guard nodded, and the mage begun to cast a spell. When the chant was finished, a screen - similar to the one Keisuke had seen earlier after checking his spells, appeared in front of the him. His eyes widened, and his jaw dropped as he began to sweat.

“A-A-ARCH?!”

“Could you repeat that?” the interrogator asked.

“ARCHDEMON! HE’S AN ARCHDEMON. NO-NO- HE’S AN ARCHANGEL.. HE’S- HE’S BOTH. AN ARCHNEPHILIM, AN ARCHNEPHILIM.”

“Y-you mean... “

The man had slightly calmed down by now.

“The race that only bear one to fruition every thousand years... he’s one of them. We need to tell everyone! Now!”

Keisuke knew this wouldn’t end well, and stopped them before they could leave the area.

“Enchanted speech, activate! Fall unconscious, and erase memory!”

As they dropped to the ground, he ran out of the room, making sure to close the door behind him and retreated to the far reaches of the town. After making it, he decided it would be best to check his appearance before starting any more problems.

“Create a small mirror for me. Enchanted speech deactivate.”

Impressed by his looks, he chuckled lightly. “Looks like God had it in for me this time.”

His left eye shone a deep yellow colour, and his right a deep crimson red. His hair was a dark shade of black. He donned a grayish-blue coat that utilised gold chains to hold it closed from the front, and comfortable fur around his hands, with a collar stretching up past his neck. Underneath the cape were a black undershirt and an emerald-coloured amulet.

He held his scythe in front of him, taking a look at it now that he had the chance to.

Kami, Akuma? I guess I’ll call it Fallen Angel... it suits it well. Come to think of it, those people mentioned that I was both an Archdemon and an Archangel, or an Archnephilim, whatever any of those are. I’ll have to investigate it another time, but for now it would probably be best to find a way to make people think I’m a regular human.

“Enchanted speech, activate. Conceal racial identity. Conceal ability power. Conceal skills. Conceal aura. Disable.”

This should be enough for now.

To be continued.