Honestly, Gadreel was already numb to the surprising and most stupid things Katie did from time to time. Katie had little grasp of the bigger picture. Well...perhaps she had some grasp, but she just didn't care enough to act on it. She did what she wanted, and that was it.

This was why when Katie threatened to ruin everything for him, he didn't bother with trying to convince her with words or appeals. All he did was act.

Four needles, powered by Angelic grace, pierced the air and went for Katie’s wrists and ankles. Gadreel turned on Katie without much thought. Yes, Katie and Gadreel did work together after entering this cinema, but Katie was never a good ally, and the Owner offered Gadreel too much for him to refuse his offer.

And thus, he struck. For his own sake, he just betrayed Aaron moments ago, and now, he didn't hesitate to do the same to Katie.

But this attack didn't go unnoticed by Katie. Katie believed at least part of her normal clumsiness was done to fool those around her into underestimating her. For example, in this case, she never expected to walk up to the Owner and stab him in the throat without any obstacle. Instead, as she was still walking, without any hint, she swung her arm and tossed her Knife out like a dart.

The next second, the four needles landed on Katie’s limbs, tearing them apart with celestial force. That was normal. A little unexpected, but normal.

Katie’s Knife flew across the air and went right through the Owner’s body without stopped for a single moment. That was not normal. That was not normal at all. Not a drop of blood was shed.

At that moment, both Katie and Gadreel froze in place, their eyes widening as they understood what that implied.

“How dare you!” A furious cry left Gadreel’s mouth as he tried to retreat, but it was too late as, the very next moment, everything around the two twisted and transformed.

In the end, the two of them still fell in the Owner’s trap.

----------------------------------------

This was a space outside of the bounds of the material world. A sector that, for millennials, served as the home to countless souls of the faithful. A court forever bathed in the celestial glory of the almighty Father.

As soon as Gadreel’s eyes snapped open, he knew that despite all his caution, he was ultimately fooled. The Owner was a brilliant actor and he put on a convincing act. One moment, the Angel was on the second floor of Crypt Entertainment, about to become the building’s new master. He had grand aspirations such as...not dying violently in the near future, for one. The next moment, he found himself engulfed in blinding bright light. He was...where even was he? The Angel did his best to look around, and he was a little surprised to come to the conclusion that he knew exactly where he was.

But...but how was that possible? For the first time in a while, the Angel found himself truly shaken beyond belief. This was...how could it be? He must be hallucinating or something! Maybe he was pulled into another movie by the Owner? That should be impossible given how prepared and cautious he was, but...

He was confused and terrified, and for the right reason. After all, right now, Gadreel was in Heaven. Yes, the same Heaven that was mysteriously destroyed by an unknown enemy of unbelievable power a little over a decade ago.

Heaven has fallen, and it never rose again. Gadreel knew this fact all too well. After they sensed the presence of God and countless fellow Angels wiped out, the Angelic survivors have tried to return to Heaven...all to no avail. The once-simple process of passing through the familiar Gates of Heaven became completely impossible. The fact was painstakingly simple. Heaven was no more.

So...this was fake! This must be! Gadreel’s power lashed out more recklessly than ever before as he tried to do what he did in the App. He wanted to tear through the fabrics of this pathetic, cheap facade. He wished to break out of this prison and return to the second floor of Crypt Entertainment, where he wouldn’t rest until the Owner’s head was no longer attached to his neck!

This time, he would no longer be bargained with. No more deals. No more games. He would do what he should’ve done the entire time...he would do what Katie did and go in straight for the kill.

Except...as Gadreel’s power lashed out across the world around him, the Angel was horrified to see that nothing changed. Nothing happened. Enough might to wipe out legions of monsters and weaker Demons easily merged into the bright light that surrounded him.

Gadreel’s eyes widened even more than before, an impressive feat. The Angel knew something very well. Things like this could only happen in one instance. If his celestial powers encountered almost anything else, they would erase those entities from existence. The only way it would merge into the lights was if they encountered the same powers in the lights.

In other words...he was actually back in Heaven, the home he had lost for over a decade.

Gadreel didn't have too long to think about what happened as the glaring lights around him suddenly shuddered. The once smooth surroundings shook violently as if something had gone terribly, terribly wrong.

Deep down, Gadreel knew very well what happened...or rather, what was going to happen. Somehow, Crypt Entertainment just transported him back to the Gates of Heaven the moment before Heaven itself came under siege.

“No...that’s impossible!” The Angel cried out, mostly to convince himself. “You...you are not powerful enough to do this! No one is! We Angels have done our investigations! If we couldn’t find out what truly happened, neither can you! You can’t fool me!”

But that declaration was useless. The surroundings shook even more violently. Gadreel was doing his best to stand still when he suddenly noticed a figure coming into existence right in front of him.

This figure took the form of a man in his forties. Even as he appeared, he had a pair of white wings spreading out of his back. In his right hand was a two-handed sword, still covered in the blood of a Demon the Angel just slew.

The Angel stood there for a moment. His eyes landed on his blade as he gave the weapon one final look. Finally, as if he has made up his mind, the Angel’s body suddenly lit up.

Holy flames consumed the Angel’s corporeal form in almost an instant. Within seconds, the man’s body was gone completely. In its place was a giant ball of golden light bright enough to blind a man. Well...golden light was just what ordinary mortals could see and comprehend. Gadreel knew it was so much more. He knew the light was the physical manifestation of the Angel’s essence. The very celestial powers that allowed the Angel to exist.

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Due to its very nature, Heaven existed outside of the material realm. In order for entities, Angels and humans alike, to enter Heaven, they had to abandon their corporeal forms and return to their essence. This process was normally done at the Gates of Heaven, which was an intermediate position between Heaven and the material world.

Gadreel bit his lips. He still had no idea how he was back here, but he knew all too well what that fellow Angel was doing. He was making his way back to Heaven to protect the homeworld that he was created in. To safeguard the entity that brought him into existence. He was determined to fight, to die, but Gadreel knew it would be a useless sacrifice.

Perhaps the Angel knew it as well, but that didn't stop him from destroying the physical body he spent god-knew how many years in, just to give himself a little more power as he moved to face the invincible enemy.

Soon, the fellow Angel’s form disappeared, but before he left, Gadreel felt the Angel’s attention landing on him for just a brief moment. Just that brief moment was enough to carry so many emotions. Was that...mockery? Pity? Anger? Disappointment?

Somehow, that Angel knew what Gadreel did, and he was ashamed of his deeds.

Gadreel gulped. He really didn't know how to react. The mechanics of how everything happened had long been beyond him. However, even as that Angel disappeared, Gadreel could feel himself growing restless. He was annoyed. He was even a little angry. But...at who? At the Owner? At that Angel? Or...or maybe at himself?

Another figure appeared. Gadreel raised his eyebrows, a little caught off guard by this Angel. This Angel was also in his physical body, except it wasn’t that of a person. Instead, this Angel’s physical body was a giant eye over two meters long.

One common misconception was that physical bodies meant human. Physical bodies just meant entities that were in accordance with the laws of the physical world. This included anything from human beings to rocks and trees to all sorts of supernatural beings on Earth. Anything that had a physical presence counted as a physical body. Angels, who by themselves didn't follow the laws of physics and the material world, needed physical bodies as hosts in order to exist in the mortal world.

Gadreel recognized this kind of Angels. These were the Angels charged with keeping an eye on the material world, ensuring that the lambs of the Lord wouldn’t be terrorized by the monsters in the dark. They were, by nature, invisible to most beings. Before the destruction of Heaven, their numbers were in the thousands as they were spread across the skies of the globe, permanently cloaked and observing.

These Angels weren’t the most powerful of their kind. Their job was to alert the other combat Angels of things like Pegan incursions and large-scale Demon invasions. But at the moment of distress, even they were called back to contribute however they could.

Much like the first Angel, under Gadreel’s observation, this Angel ignited its physical body and returned to its core essence, a blazing golden ball of light that was glowing even more furiously than its predecessor.

Just like its predecessor, the Angel tossed Gadreel a figurative mocking glance. The only thing that was different was this time, the Angel spoke in a silent voice.

“You have failed your duty. You don’t deserve the name of Angel. You are a disgrace to the Lord.”

Three short sentences of infinite disgust.

Gadreel felt his body shaking in fury. “Failed my duty? My duty? My duty is not to die meaninglessly…”

But the Angel wasn’t listening. He heard Gadreel, but he didn't care. As far as he was concerned, a disgrace like Gadreel wasn’t worth a moment of the little time he had left. Without any hesitance, the Angel’s form disappeared from the Gates.

For a moment, Gadreel sat there, speechless, motionless, and expressionless.

On the surface, he looked calm, but deep down, he was beyond furious. He was enraged. He was shaken. And most importantly, the Angel found the very core of his existence under siege.

Back when Angels were first created in Heaven, they had no physical forms. Most Angels, the ones that remained in Heaven, would continue their existence that way. On the other hand, for the Angels stationed in the material world, it became necessary for them to seek the shelter of physical bodies. Some Angels would possess human bodies. Others would create their own.

Either way, in these cases, physical bodies were like clothes to Angels. Whatever bodies they held, the Angels were still themselves. The bodies were just a tool for the Angels to use to achieve their goals.

But when Heaven fell, the surviving Angels that fled to Earth were forced to reside in human bodies that they managed to possess. At first, this was fine, but as the Angels spent the following years depleting their power reserves fighting countless battles, problems started to appear.

The same power reserves depleted during these battles were the energies that resembled the entire existence of the Angels. With Heaven gone, these energies could no longer be replenished. This meant the longer the Angels were on Earth, the more their existence became impacted by the bodies they resided in. With every passing moment, these Angels became less like Angels and more like human beings.

This was why Gadreel started drinking. This was why he developed feelings like fear and anger. The original Angels...they had no such emotions. They were more like avatars of God. They were no more than cold, fearless machines ready to die any day for the holy cause. The only thing that mattered to them was duty.

Throughout the years, the Angelic side and the human side of Gadreel grew to live in harmony. But now, following the mocking words of two fellow Angels, Gadreel was horrified to realize his celestial side seemed to have been woken up. The desire to make sacrifices for duty rose again and came into sharp conflict with his desires for self-preservation. Along with this awakening came things like guilt. Like shame. Like an intense need for self-destruction. All this...they were tearing him apart from the inside.

A third Angel appeared before him. Angels didn't have genders, but this one was in a female body. Her words? As harsh as those of the others.

“We are Angels. We are the warriors of the Lord. We are the protectors of the faithful. We are the guides of the lost. We are the saviors of the damned. You, Gadreel...you are none of the above. You are a coward. You are a deserter. You are the lost and the damned. You...you are a shame to our kind. You are a failure.”

The fourth one didn't even bother looking at or talking to Gadreel.

The fifth one was a little more generous. At least he spared a snicker.

Countless Angels made their way past Gadreel as they marched into certain doom. Every time one of them walked by, Gadreel’s body shook once more. The golden light that has been radiating out of his eyes was flickering like a candle in a howling storm.

Finally, the lone Angel snapped, broken and defeated.

“Shame? Disgrace? Failure?” Gadreel screamed, the light in his eyes all of a sudden shining once again as he gave voice to his fury. “Yes...I may be all of those. I am a deserter. I am a damn coward. My grace is corrupted beyond salvation! I have betrayed those who trusted me more times than I can count! But guess what?”

“I lived!”

“I lived! I am still walking this Earth...and how about you? You saintly, noble beings...you have been dead long ago! And for what? What did your sacrifice achieve? Nothing! Heaven still fell! The world is still being torn apart by a million different forces of evil! Lambs of the Lord...tortured and slain by the thousands!”

“So tell me...who is the real failure? Who?”

Even as he screamed, Gadreel’s powers tore through the Heaven's Gates, only to achieve nothing as far as Gadreel could see. But the Angel no longer cared. He was no longer thinking. Instead, madness has consumed his mind.

Unfortunately, that didn't stop more and more Angels from walking by Gadreel, exploiting his weakness and tearing down his very being with every mocking word.