He had a dream.
He dreamed about his home, Tartarus. A land of darkness, only illuminated by hundreds of rivers of lava, streaming on its surface.
It was a land of strife, conflict, and savagery, where Demons gave in to the temptations of the Seven Sins, and acted like wild beasts, savage and unruly. He remembered the years he spent there, fighting and consuming his brethren, all so he could increase his own strength.
And as time continued to pass, his strength continuously grew until he was officially recognized as the strongest Demon in Tartarus. So when the Lord of Wrath had asked him to invade Earth and face its strongest warrior, he quickly accepted, thinking of this as just another opportunity for him to grow.
But things didn't go as he expected…
The Lord of Wrath had said he would be fighting a warrior, but instead, Baal ended up fighting a monster, one that was more monstrous than he was.
So as Baal remembered the ashen flames of Terron burning his flesh and bones, his breathing suddenly went erratic, and his eyes quickly opened wide, snapping him out of his thoughts.
A blinding, bright light greeted him when he opened his eyes, forcing him to close them immediately. After a short while, though, his vision finally adjusted to the light, allowing him to better look at where he was.
Baal swept his gaze towards his surroundings, only to see nothing but an empty white room. He tried moving his body, but wasn't able to, making him turn his head to the side, and noticed golden chains binding his arm. He then checked his entire body and was dismayed when he saw himself bound by golden chains that were emitting huge amounts of Holy Energy.
Feeling a presence above him, Baal raised his head and saw a floating eyeball with a pair of wings on its back. He then growled as he said,
"Release me."
* * *
[ Release me. ]
Inside a white room engraved with golden, holy runes, Terron chuckled as he saw Baal through his holographic monitor, hanging on the side of the wall, bound in Holy Chains. He then turned to Huron and asked,
"So? What did you find out?"
Huron, who had been looking through Baal's memories, clicked his tongue as he reluctantly replied,
"Just basic geographical information about Tartarus and that they refer to themselves as Demons… Baal seems to be the strongest of their race too, and…"
Huron paused and turned to face Terron, and with a serious expression on his face, he continued,
"It seems like he's a direct subordinate of the Lord of Wrath…. it also seems like he was raised just to fight you, brother…"
Unbothered, Terron only hummed as he nodded at what Huron said. He then asked,
"What about Ocean? Where is she?"
Remembering all the Angels that passed out from the Resurrection spell Terron casted, Huron couldn't help but sigh as he answered,
"She's in the Grand Chamber right now. The Archangels are currently examining her body with Lucifer taking charge."
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Hearing that Lucifer, the person who had a reputation for never caring about mortals, was the one in charge of the examination, Terron's eyebrows rose. He then asked,
"Why aren't the Seven Virtues doing the examination? Considering God was directly involved in this incident, they should be itching to take a look at her body."
Huron scratched the back of his head, thinking about how he should share the news to his brother. Sighing, he made up his mind and said,
"The Seven Virtues… they're in a comatose state right now…"
Huron stood up, approached the holographic monitor Terron was using, and moved his hands as he tried to find a recording of what happened earlier in Heaven. He then explained,
"The incident earlier caused major damage to Heaven's dimensional walls, forcing the Seven Virtues to intervene…"
The image on the holographic monitor then showed a recording of the incident earlier in Heaven. Terron could see multiple rips in space all over Heaven opening up, and the Seven Virtues rushing to them, using their powers to close the openings. Huron continued,
"It seemed like the Seven Virtues exerted themselves too much…. they haven't come out of their personal chambers since the incident."
"I see…"
Terron muttered to himself. He wondered for a while what would happen to Heaven if the Seven Virtues were out of commission for a while, but remembering all the other competent Angels in Heaven, his worries were instantly wiped away.
Terron then turned around and walked towards the room's exit, when he suddenly heard Huron's voice behind him,
"Where are you going, brother?"
Terron halted his steps, turned his head towards Huron and said with a grin on his face,
"I'm going to examine a body."
* * *
"This is fascinating…"
Kael muttered as she peered through Ocean's body, which was placed on the roundtable, where she saw Mana, Holy Power, and Divinity, harmonizing with each other, creating a perfect balance.
"To be able to harmonize all of these energies… God is truly amazing… "
Michael said in awe, as he too, gazed at the harmonizing energies. He touched Ocean's biceps, gave it a good squeeze, and admired how firm it was. Michael was about to squeeze it again, when he suddenly heard a bone chilling voice, making him freeze.
"Michael."
Michael's neck creaked as he turned his head to where the voice came from, only to see Lucifer, looking down on him with cold, narrowed eyes. Lucifer then clicked his tongue and scolded Michael.
"Act according to rank, Michael. This is not how an ArchAngel should behave."
Scolded by his own master, Michael's head dropped down in shame, making Lucifer let out a snort as he continued to glare at him.
Kael couldn't help but smile as she watched the master and apprentice's interaction. She was a bit envious, if she had to be honest. She wished she could have had that kind of relationship with her master, Uriel. But considering Uriel's position in Heaven, it was only natural for their relationship to develop differently compared to others.
Sighing, Kael was about to say something, when she suddenly heard the doors of the Grand Chamber slowly opening. The sounds of footsteps then rang out, making everybody in the Chamber turn their heads to where the sound was coming from, where they saw Terron, once again dressed in a neat black suit, walking towards them.
* * *
Not minding the stares, Terron made his way towards the roundtable, and seeing Lucifer and Michael stepping back to make space for him as he approached, Terron couldn't help but smile a little. His eyes lingered on Lucifer for a while, trying to see if there was anything different from him, but seeing as there was nothing wrong, he turned his gaze away and looked at the unconscious Ocean lying on the roundtable.
With tanned skin, black hair and a lean, muscular body, Ocean looked way better than she did before. But her changes didn't seem to be limited to her physical attributes only, for when Terron looked at harmonizing energies within her, even he, the oldest Angel in existence, couldn't help but exclaim in awe.
The energies coursing through Ocean's veins were slowly modifying her body, making her stronger. Noticing this, Terron quickly did some calculations inside his head and shocked himself when he concluded that in 5 years, Ocean would be as strong as Baal in terms of physical strength.
As for what Ocean would be able to do with those energies, however, Terron couldn't be sure. But if she were to master using those energies inside her, Terron was certain that she would grow up to be as strong as him in the future. The thought sent chills down his spine…
For God to be able to make a being like this…
It amazed him, truly. But at the same time, a creeping sense of fear rose up from deep within him.
A fear of being replaced, discarded, and forgotten…
He feared the day when God would no longer need the Angel of Ash and Fire….
Negative thoughts continued to swirl inside Terron's head, making the Holy Power within him run wild and go out of control, forcing the Archangels in the room to hurriedly retreat towards the Grand Chamber's walls, away from Terron's rampaging Holy Power. And just when Terron's Holy Power was about to blow, he suddenly heard a familiar voice inside his head.
"Terron."
One word.
Said in a familiar voice.
A voice that he once waited a hundred years for, just so he could hear it.
Calming down, Terron took a deep breath. His rampaging Holy Power slowly calmed down as he did so, making all the Archangels in the Grand Chamber sigh in relief. Terron then closed his eyes, as he breathed in and reaffirmed to himself that those negative thoughts he had would never come to fruition.
That God would never abandon them.
Finally calm, Terron opened his eyes and looked at Ocean with a conflicted look on his face. He wasn't really sure what to do with her from here on out, and without the Seven Virtues around, it seemed like it was up to him and Huron to come up with a decision. He then muttered to himself,
"Damn it… if only that damn Metatron was here… he'd make this a whole lot easier for me…."
Right after he said that, however, he suddenly heard a cough behind him, prompting him to turn his body around, only to see Metatron, dressed in white robes, staring at him with apathetic eyes.