Chapter 106: Chapter 105: Falling Angels (2)
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"I too will obtain everything that I desire. Not because someone asked me to do it, but because I know in my heart that I have something worth fighting for."
- Julis Alexia Van Riessfeld, (Asterisk War)
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<(Omniscient POV)>
"Adelaide, has Cecilia returned from her task yet? She should be done checking on that magical energy surge by now, shouldn't she? But so far, none of the warriors she took with her have reported back... Do you think something might have gone wrong there? For the last twenty thousand years, there hasn't been a single disturbance in the realm, but today, out of nowhere, that sudden burst of magic rattled the entire realm. It was almost as powerful as that bastard Odin's foul magic." The Queen of the Angels spewed in a tone of utter disgust before punching the golden armrest of her throne in fury. Unlike what might look to spectators; however, she was not at all concerned for her soldiers, she was merely anxious about any schemes that might threaten her hold over the realm.
"No, my Queen. She has neither returned nor has she reported anything yet. Honestly, it seems a little suspicious, but Cecilia is one of our best generals and the angels accompanying her are all Cherubims. None of the monster races we are at war with can get rid of them without a proper fight. I am sure that their holdup is just temporary. However, just to be safe, I can send some more squads to the location." Adelaide, the Queen's chief attendant courteously proposed.
"You are right, we cannot afford to be passive in our approach right now, Adelaide. The Hierophants are planning something, and it is possible that they might have something to do with the energy surge as well. There are whispers that they are developing a way to bypass the curse placed on us by Odin in a bid to overthrow me from the throne. I want to know if that is true... because if it is, I'll make sure that they think twice about opposing me even in their dreams." The Queen uttered with a dangerous glint in her eyes, and that glint looked like it only sharpened as she seemed to suddenly remember something. "Angela... where is she? As Heven's top attack dog, it should be her job to investigate such events." The Ruler of the Angels declared with a snort. 'After all, that is the only reason she is still alive despite being the wretched spawn of that damned Asgardian. I spared her life and allowed Loriel to raise her so that she could use her skills and strength to take care of situations exactly like this.'
"Wisely spoken, My Queen. I'll send the command to Angela right now." Adelaide bowed as she sensed her Queen's worsening mood.
But just as she was about to make her way out of the royal chamber, as if from nowhere, an earthquake suddenly began to shake the entire palace, halting Adelaide in her steps and shocking both the angels in the chamber out of their respective thoughts. The tremor lasted for a few seconds resulting in dust falling from the roof and small cracks developing in the marble floor.
"We have never had an earthquake before. What in the name of ten realms is happening today?" The Queen mumbled to herself in bewilderment as disbelief painted her ashen face.
Once the earthquake ceased, a brief silence ensued, punctuated only by the sound of the heartbeats of the two women. But then suddenly, the stillness was shattered as a robust figure burst down through the roof, closely followed by a smaller one, scattering smoky dust all over the throne room.
"Who are you? How dare you crash into my palace uninvited? I will have your head for this." The Queen responded immediately even though she still couldn't see the identity of the two figures through the thick layer of dust in the air.
"My Queen, it's me..., Cecilia." The petite figure mumbled in between sobs. "I-I am sorry... b-but I couldn't stop him." She uttered.
As the dust eventually began to settle, the Queen could finally see that Cecilia was levitating beside the other figure. Though physically, she looked mostly unharmed with only a few minor scratches on her, however, if one would just look closely, they would be able to notice a hollow look in her glassy unfocused eyes, a look that mirrored pure despair.
"Sorry little Queen but your days as the ruler of the angels are over now. Your army of feathered chickens ticked me off the wrong way and so now you must atone for their sins. After all, it is only fair for a queen to answer for the crimes of the soldiers under her, isn't it? However, as generous as I am, I'll give you a one-time-only offer. Bend the knee and I will let you rule over the angels in my name while also freeing you from this prison of yours." The man standing behind Cecilia declared with a confident booming voice.
The Queen could now see his face since most of the dust in the air had cleared. She couldn't recognize him. She was sure that she had never met him before, but she could sense what he was. She had met his kind too many times not to feel the divinity radiating from inside him. "You are a god. But there are no gods in this realm which means you are not from here. So, the question is how did you get here and what do you want?" she asked with a frown on her face.
"... Oh, I see. You've grown so old that you are having hearing issues. Well, in that case, you should get some sort of hearing aid because I have already told you what I want, and I don't like to repeat myself." Atem responded while chuckling menacingly.
The Queen further furrowed her eyebrows at the brazen insult thrown her way, but she knew she was at a disadvantage right now. She had to tread carefully before she could figure out exactly what was happening and who this young god was. However, before she could reply to Atem's insult, Adelaide who was standing beside her like the fool she was, quickly spoke out with venom in her voice, "How dare you talk to the Queen like that? Do you not fear for your life you insolent little..."
"Crucio" Atem calmly interrupted while pointing his finger in Adelaide's direction and the very next moment, a red flash of light could be seen followed by a scene where the woman was wriggling on the floor, looking like she was going through an unimaginable amount of pain.
"I guess the curse only works best when the caster actually enjoys the torture. She is lucky that I am not a psycho and that I don't dislike her enough to enjoy this." Atem nodded like he was taking notes for an experiment.
"Why? Why are you even attacking us? Just because you want to rule Heven? There are much better places to rule in the nine realms than here, places with more treasure, and more power. So why come after us?" the Queen asked, not even caring that her attendant was squirming on the floor in pain.
"Hmm? Do you think I want this place because of some grand purpose or something?" Atem snickered as if he had just heard a funny joke. "No, the reason I want to take over this place is because I want... everything and this place is part of that everything. You see, I thought I could be content with just living a happy laidback life like a Japanese MC but now I realize that I can only live a truly happy and free life when I am the strongest and most powerful being in the entire world." Atem answered with a smile after stopping the pain he was inflicting on Adelaide. "Also, I really didn't like the way this angel of yours talked to me." He added before pointing at Cecilia.
"... You are crazy." The Queen mumbled, wondering if the man in front of him was just an idiot with too much power in his hands.
"Maybe, but that still doesn't change the fact that I am stronger than you. If you don't believe it, you can try to fight me, but I can't promise you that you'll be alive by the time I am done with you." He shrugged.
The Queen knew damn well that he wasn't lying. She could sense that the god in front of her was at least the same level as a Sky Father. The very fact that he didn't even have a single scratch on her even though he defeated the entire army of elite Cherubim scouts she sent before making his way into the palace in broad daylight was enough proof of it. She herself was on the same level as a Sky Father like Zeus but even she wondered if she could pull off the same feat as effortlessly as the one standing before him.
But no matter how powerful Atem seemed, the Queen of the Angels couldn't just admit defeat. She had to win by any means possible. She would kill herself before she would even consider giving up her power or treasures. She was an archangel, the most powerful kind of angel in Heven and she was the only one remaining of her kind since she had killed every other archangel ever born just to make sure that nobody could ever threaten her rule. She had used the blood of her enemies to cleanse her throne of dirt and filth, she couldn't just allow this upstart god that nobody knows to disrupt her glorious empire now.
"My Queen, our barriers have been breached. We are under attack by an unknown enemy. All the elite imperial guards have been disposed of by the attacker. Should I summon the main army?" One of the angel commanders came running inside the hall with an urgent demeanor on her face, breaking the tense atmosphere between the Queen and Atem but halted in her steps as soon as she noticed Atem's imposing figure in the middle of the room.
"Yes, I know. Thank you for informing me so quickly, Alicia. I have no idea what I would have done if you hadn't given me this news so quickly." The Queen sarcastically responded with visible annoyance.
"Women" Atem muttered with a small smile on his lips although nobody else there knew what he meant by that. Of course, it was highly likely that the only reason he had dared to say it was because he knew that he would get away with saying it here.
"Seems like you are having trouble making a decision, Queeny. I understand that you, like every other normal being in the world, don't want to give up your power and wealth. You are probably even thinking about fighting me to protect everything you have here, aren't you? Perhaps your inner hubris is telling you that you think you have a fair chance of beating me. Well, don't because that would be quite a bad decision since I would make an example out of you by thrashing you into a bloody pulp in front of all your subjects before tying your naked broken body to the top of the castle as a warning to others. Instead, how about I better my previous offer? I know for a fact that there is something even more valuable to you than power and wealth. You desire something that you can never have... You want a soul." A large smile slowly made its way to Atem's lips as he spoke those words.
After reading the memories of some of the angels, including Cecilia's, he realized that the angels had misunderstood the "curse" placed on them. There was a widespread belief that the reason angels were so cruel, selfish, and greedy with the inability to ever go to an afterlife was because they didn't have actual souls. But the truth was very different.
Yes, they were indeed spiritually messed up but that didn't mean that they were soul-less husks. Their souls were just twisted and interwoven with their bodies on such a deep level that they could never leave their physical bodies upon their death leading to a slow decay of their souls as well as a lack of empathetic emotions during their lifetime which increased as they got older. And since most angels were thousands of years old because of their biological immortality, they had become extremely materialistic and selfish creatures with zero "spirituality".
However, despite all that, Atem was fairly confident that he would be able to treat this once he got the reward from his present quest. "Give me your body, mind, and everything else you have, and in return, I will give you a soul." He announced with a charming smile.
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