Zarian had spoken flippantly to hide some of his concern. He’d known ahead of time that certain paladins, the terrorists specifically, could summon an angel through mass sacrifice.
That was perfectly fine with him as long as the sacrifice didn’t harm the innocent villagers, visitors, and guild members.
He’d allowed High Brother Mason to make the prayer and sacrifice because Zarian was interested in testing himself against a lesser angel. But he’d hoped for something at the top of Tier 3 status regardless of level – which was powerful, but not incredibly destructive.
Arch Cherub Metatron, the Welcoming Voice of Good, was supposedly a low Tier 4, which was highly, highly destructive.
There were uncommon theocratic books in the library that depicted immortal angels like Metatron, which were creatures that roamed the God Land and the Ascended Heavens.
Hannah had checked out relevant holy books from Reiki’s library before the dungeon went to the Blood Prairies with Naomi and Ezda. Hannah had also gathered some intel from Empress Ruvaria while Zarian’s spectral spiders spied on the terrorists.
After Hannah had compiled her research notes and gave Zarian a briefing on what he could face before Operation Dead Terror Parade began, he’d expected something smaller instead of Metatron.
Thus, its summoning by the late High Brother Mason was surprising.
The Arch Cherub, a low Tier 4, could wipe out the entire village and beyond if it could abuse its full power.
Even now, with its flashy summoning to the lesser mortal realm loading, Zarian felt sick and weighed down. He was forced to retreat into the corner of the room as pulses of goodness and holy sounds rolled over him heavily.
Thankfully, he didn’t stay trapped for long.
The entire game room for the red path collapsed. The walls dropped immediately. The tower above his head fell to the side.
Zarian found himself in a crumbling structure, but none of the cubes fell on him.
Hannah was demolishing portions of her own creation on purpose. She gave Zarian plenty of space to retreat.
He avoided the harsh glow from Metatron’s summoning as the divine light grew wider. White and gold sparks scorched the earth and cubes equally.
The entire cavern trembled.
An angelic choir filled the air.
Zarian felt sicker and sicker. His parasite squirmed in discomfort under his flesh, the kilt flapping wildly from around his waist.
Para was already bothered about losing the paladin corpses before she could consume them all, but now she was suffering along with Zarian. And this was before the Arch Cherub showed up completely.
It’s a good thing we threw the terrorists down here or they could’ve wrecked the village and killed a lot of people, Zarian thought as he retreated some more.
He was now standing outside of the colored paths and on the dark, cavernous grounds that were sometimes barren of Hannah’s influence. Amid the patches of uncharged rock, there were cube towers, monuments, and more objects of Hannah’s engineering that were shifting rapidly for the upcoming challenge.
She was going to help him.
Zarian didn’t mind.
The biggest surprise was the elven empress making an appearance, popping up to Zarian’s right. Ruvaria’s bright emerald eyes looked at the vast and terrifying glow of heavenly wrath. She hovered about, slender arms crossed under her breasts.
“I’ve always hated it when angels make an appearance,” Empress Ruvaria said. “This summoning will kill thousands of paladins who agreed to be sacrifices beyond just the inquisitors. And angels do not understand nuance and will kill tens of thousands for having too much sin, which is not something anyone can measure, so even good humans can suffer its wrath.”
“Damn,” Zarian grunted. “We didn’t read that in the books.”
The empress nodded. “I won’t die because of my Chosen One trait. And it’s quite difficult to kill me these days. However, I’ve done plenty of things that have gone against the nature of good, so even I am a target.”
“But you’re good +4,” Zarian said. “You couldn’t have sin that much.”
“You can’t go backwards in alignments unless you change classes with diverging alignments. And I can’t even do that much. Elves are born into the good alignment just like how evil creatures, such as gnolls and goblins, are born into the evil alignment. We don’t have the option for alignment changes like humans do.”
The empress sighed.
“Nonetheless, I’ve been naughty in my own ways. If you cannot stop Metatron, it will have you sealed away before it wipes out the village. Then it would ensure I’m punished for my many sins. Chief among them is not doing what my grandmother wants.”
“To have me sealed?”
“It is a shortsighted and unreliable solution, in my opinion. I have other plans for you and your friends I want fulfilled, even if it means I must go against the will of the Ascended Heavens.”
Zarian gawked at the petite elf woman. She was one of the most powerful beings across the many Lesser Worlds. She was the Chosen One of the World of Castles and Caverns. She’d acted like a mentor figure for weeks, even though she once said she didn’t want to be one earlier.
It hadn’t occurred to him she was rebelling against the heavens, especially her grandmother, Purehome.
He hadn’t quite pinned down her exact reasons yet even though he was glad to have her, but the degree to which she was becoming more involved was considerable.
“You can destroy it, can’t you? If it tries to harm you?” Zarian asked.
“Good is powerful. But good is highly restricted. Striking against an Arch Cherub from my position would be a sin so dreadful I would rather not suffer it,” the empress explained. “Especially when Arch Cherubs are good +7.”
Zarian flinched. His heart hammered harder in his chest. He felt Para getting riled up inside of his body, inside of his mind, and through the ragged apparel around his waist.
He’d figured there would be holes in Hannah’s research. The library only had uncommon quality books, which could only contain so much information. And Empress Ruvaria wasn’t completely forthcoming about all of her info.
The empress hadn’t told them about the good +7 factor on purpose.
This was one of her tests, which was highly dangerous and maddening for even the Madness Wizard.
Is it possible that Empress Ruvaria could be crazier than me? Zarian wondered. This is the price for getting her mentorship, isn’t it? I’m dealing with the most powerful elf around, the queen demigoddess of the Lesser Worlds. To hold her attention means she’s going to throw you in the deep end with the sharks while you are covered in bloody cuts. Then she’ll see if you can swim.
Feeling in over his head once again, Zarian began chanting and hand-signing. The mini cubes in his gauntlets moved up and down as part of the unsealing sequence. He was about to unseal his One Percent Power.
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Empress Ruvaria turned a sharp glare at him.
Zarian slowed down.
“You’re buckling already?” The elf harrumphed. “It may be good +7, but it will be Level 60 at most. It shouldn’t be impossible for you since you have the advantage of a new and more free alignment.”
He paused the unsealing process. He only had a few more moves to go. He glared back at the empress through his sunglasses.
“I fought Bianca when she was good +5, and she was pretty freaking strong. Good +7 is immense, Empress Ruvaria. My free evil is only +3, and it’s not much help in direct combat. So even if I’m Level 80, and it’s Level 60, that thing is going to be ridiculously strong because of its alignment. I should use Overwhelming Darkness to guarantee victory.”
The words tasted bitter in his mouth. He’d orchestrated for all of this to happen, and now he was regretting it quite a bit.
Yes, Zarian loved to accomplish crazy things. But the cavern walls weren’t tough enough to contain a fight like this. The village above them was in deep trouble.
He should use his Overwhelming Darkness.
Yet, he hesitated. His mind was unraveling with possibilities. And the empress was prodding at him on purpose, bringing out the craziness, making it a struggle to do the rational thing.
She pressed closer until they were an inch apart. He felt the heat radiating from her skin. He was ninety-nine percent sure this was not a projected illusion.
“Are you sure you can’t win without Overwhelming Darkness? You are the most powerful wizard of your level, Zarian Darkrun,” she said softly, with a hint of sweetness. “You are not just a child of nepotism. You have the spark of an adventurer, perhaps one destined for the Throne of the Adventurer King. Do not run away from this challenge. Face it head on. Add to your Feats of Adventure. And take what spoils the Star System will owe you.”
She was so close to him he felt the glow from her emerald eyes pushing aside the shadows on his face. He could smell the mint on her breath. Despite her age, she remained youthful and beautiful, arresting his attention.
The angel choir sang louder. The entire cavern shook. The glow of heavenly divinity and destructive goodness grew brighter, more intense.
Zarian felt sicker, and so did his parasite. But his attention was fixed on the empress, as if she had cast a spell of enthrallment on him.
She was a powerful figure. She could have anything she wanted.
Yet she was here, trying to push him to overcome a great challenge while defying the will of the greater good. Her belief in him was so palpable it was almost undeniable.
Naomi wouldn’t back down from a challenge like this, Zarian thought, which was strange to consider at the moment. Somewhere out there in the Blood Prairies, my little rival is trying to grow stronger and stronger by facing the hardest challenges she can. I should do the same every now and then.
Finally, he snapped back to focus and made his decision. He dropped his hands and didn’t unseal his Overwhelming Darkness. He secretly cussed at the petite elf, not daring to say it aloud.
Fucking aye, Naomi could learn a thing or two from the empress about instigating, Zarian thought, before letting out a sigh.
Despite the whiplash in mood, the decision still felt right with him. Zarian wanted to use more wizardry than darkness, at least for now. He could establish control over his darkness through cultivation later.
Right now, after the empress had pushed at him so convincingly, he figured he could learn a lot about himself if he tried to put wizardry first. He could certainly grind up his grimoire skills and have them all advanced for new spell upgrades.
Thus, he had to ask himself an important question.
How would he beat the good +7 Arch Cherub, a creature with Tier 4 civilization-destroying power, without his biggest weapon?
The challenge felt too extreme. But at least he wasn’t alone. And he could make a request from the empress.
“Hannah’s going to help. But I need your help, too,” Zarian said sharply. “You can’t let Metatron get out of here.”
The empress nodded. “I will seal the cavern and keep your fight contained. I will also offer some assistance to Hannah, so she will attack effectively with what tools she has at her disposal.”
“Thank you, milady.”
“No, thank you, milord.” The empress disappeared.
He still felt some of her warmth lingering in the air close to his skin. It really seemed like Empress Ruvaria had a lot of vested interest in him, regardless of her true intentions.
Zarian sighed. “Damn, I really have to do my best here. You with me, Para?”
“I’m scared,” Para said through the kilt. “I want to eat the flesh of an angel. I was excited about that. But this creature feels like a natural predator to me.”
“Sorry,” Zarian said.
“It is okay. I will do my best as well.”
Zarian nodded as he switched around some alpha skills with beta skills. Now his alpha skills included Overwhelming Darkness, Parasite Cloak +2, Spectral Spider Network +2, Summon Wizard Hat +2, and Advanced Grimoire of the Voidling Exile.
He wished he could shove Overwhelming Darkness into the beta section so he could at least have Grimoire of Black Magic 102 in his alpha section. He was tempted to trade out Spectral Spider Network +2, but the little spiders were already hard at work to help him in a big way.
Thus, his black magic grimoire and hell gator grimoire had to stay in the beta section with the Level 0 skills. At the very least, having Summon Wizard Hat +2 in the alpha section would uplift everything.
With the skills set, Zarian was as ready as he was going to be.
The white and gold glow in the middle of the cavern finally solidified as the singing choir grew so loud it deafened Zarian some. Para did her best to endure.
The singing crescendoed, and an implosion of force scraped away the nearest rocks and cubic formations. Born from the blast, a huge psychic wave spread throughout the cavernous chamber and flowed around Zarian’s mind, unable to breach.
The first genuine attack from Metatron would’ve been devastating against anyone else other than Zarian and maybe Naomi, and this was happening while the Arch Cherub was completing its form in the Lesser World.
Metatron was the definition of ‘Be Not Afraid,’ which was a total lie. The creature was a giant white sphere of hardened flesh covered in giant mouths with elegant and supple lips. Dozens of huge, feathery, gold wings extended from the sphere of its main body.
Each wing had a mouth that was made from feathers. When the lips attached to the wings parted, Zarian could see teeth, tongues, and even throats that led down to the unknown, despite how impossible that should be when set on the feathery appendages.
Zarian spotted more impossible anatomical designs from the four spiraling platinum rings encircling the Arch Cherub’s giant round body. Each platinum ring had multiple mouths made of the same platinum material – lips, teeth, tongues, and throats included.
It was impossible to fully tell the gender of Metatron, but it was clear the angel had its own uncanniness merged with a biblically accurate angel design.
Then the Arch Cherub spoke with a voice that was feminine but otherworldly. “Be very afraid, Dark Lord.”
“Yes, but no,” Zarian said, making one more promise with himself.
I’ll push as hard as I can with just wizardry and my other abilities, but I will use Overwhelming Darkness rather than suffer defeat if it comes down to it. I have to think about everyone else, after all.
He had people relying on him. He would hate to disappoint them again.
The Star System made itself seen and heard before the fireworks started, a big golden box appearing against the cavern ceiling. Zarian watched as more boxes appeared, overlaying the first, which gave him some clue that this wasn’t just a message for him.
This was being told to everyone around Ride-or-Die Village. Perhaps even further than that.
***
As Zarian began his battle against Metatron, the Star System was informing all major populations and leaders around the world about the Divine World Event. Such an event hadn’t happened in decades, ever since the Sixth Divine War of recent history.
Most leaders immediately hoped for Empress Ruvaria to keep the situation contained.
Many of the leaders knew the histories that were mainly kept secret from the public. They knew how major events like these could cause widespread damage, leaving them at Empress Ruvaria’s mercy as per usual.
She was both a nightmare and a hero of epic proportions, a figure who seemed as mighty as an actual goddess of the Lesser Worlds.
Some world leaders, such as the king and council of the Windy Strider Kingdom, went on the offensive against the Stalwart Paladin Kingdom. They were neighbors across the Stone Sea River. The striders were highly aware of the dangerous angelic summonings that the paladins could achieve.
Once again, they butted heads. However, the conflict between striders and paladins, and all the other political events happening around the world, mattered little to Zarian, Hannah, Empress Ruvaria, and the people of Ride-or-Die Village.
Only the destruction of Metatron mattered.