New Chapter in Highest Tier (May 2021)

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Archangel Uriel (Flame of God)

First Guardian of the Garden of Four Seasons

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As she allowed her arms to float in the water, she faced him, and her golden eyes gleamed in the dark. "You are not a weak Archangel and I accepted the fact from the start. I don't have the power to seduce you, anyway, since I wasn't built as an enchantress. It's either you remain here or walk away from me."

Grinding his teeth in anger, Archangel Uriel was pissed at how nonchalant she was as she stretched her arms and waded in the river for a graceful swim.

The moonlight shining on the dark blue river made the water drops sparkle like tear-shaped diamonds in her red hair.

Her beautiful curls turned flat as they pressed into her face as it showed her short, pointy elven ears as opposed to the hazy, soft cloud dancing behind her back.

He saw Merle jerked herself upwards before she sunk her head and shoulders underwater.

Merle didn't rise in that same spot where she vanished, and the golden-eyed Fae was replaced by streams of bubbles floating on the water surface.

Panic raced through his chest, but he didn't let it show.

"Merletta?" Archangel Uriel muttered, not allowing his concern to bleed out into his trembling voice. Wincing, he regretted that he called her with a pet name he made specifically for her during her stay, which meant 'little Merle'.

"Merle." He took another reluctant step forward, worried that she was drowning after her entire body was still submerged in the water for half a minute---

Yes! Archangel Uriel counted for more seconds until it turned into horrifying minutes, his spine straightening with vigilance. "Are you alright or do you want me to rescue you?"

Frozen in place, Archangel Uriel waited for another painful minute which felt like an hour.

He was so eager to jump to her rescue.

He let out a huge breath when Merle catapulted herself back to the water surface with a gasp, inhaling and exhaling as her life depended on it.

She ran her fingers over her hair, keeping them away from her wet face.

He watched how the water hugged every inch of her otherwordly skin gently.

Merle blinked the droplets out of her eyes and choked, "Angel. Why didn't you save me?"

"I almost died." Rubbing her eyelashes with a palm, she squawked, "You really hated me so much that you don't care if I die in front of you?"

"Do you think this is just a game, Merletta?" Shaking his head, this was the hundredth time Uriel reminded himself that they would part ways soon, and there wasn't a need to call her that.

Merle might not be aware of the meaning behind this.

She wasn't his 'Merletta' anymore.

It was better than she was oblivious to how much he truly felt for her that night.

From the start, he had lost her right to claim her as his own because Archangels, like him, have no right to possess someone.

He felt a painful tightness in his throat.

Archangel Uriel approached her to the riverbank and stared her down with his arms crossed. "If I told you I loved you the way you loved me during the short period that we live here together in the Tree of the Four Seasons, what would you do?"

He loved her so much, and it was pure agony that they couldn't be together but, he will be brave enough to admit to himself that Merle was his first love aside from his Creator.

Both Merle and the Highest God would have his unwavering love and loyalty.

Merle's mouth fell open in shock as she sluggishly swam towards him, not quite believing what the Archangel said.

Glancing at the piece of soil and rocks falling away from the river currents, it took her a minute of silence to let his confession sink in.

"So you do love me, huh?" Merle whispered before she lifted her chin to meet his scrutiny. "You do love me because I can feel the intensity of your gaze." Her voice trembled in a whisper. "As if you were longing for me when you think I wasn't looking in your direction."

"You didn't answer me, Merle. What would you do for us if I wouldn't give our love up? Do you want me to become the sole creature you hated if I turn into a Fallen Angel?" His voice rose in its intensity. "Do you want me to bear you a Nephilim child before it turned into a demon? You swore you hated so much for destroying your village?

"I only wanted you to be honest and say it to my face." She beseeched him as her large golden eyes wavered.

Archangel's Uriel's mouth twisted in a grimace. "Now, you know. You can't deny you were terrified with the repercussions. Telling you the truth is useless because nothing can be done."

"Why couldn't you tell me sooner?" Merle snapped. "We should have cherished our last time together instead of you acting distant and cold towards me."

"It hurts me, Angel, that you love me and pretended like it was nothing." Her eyes were red as if she was about to cry.

He never saw her cry yet, and he became the cause of her sadness. "Dismiss me like I was nothing to you when you loved me for real."

He took a deep breath, unclench his fists and relaxed his muscles. "This is just friendship, Merle. Nothing more. Now that you are returning to your village, forget about me and let's treat each other like strangers."

Archangel Uriel turned his back from Merle before he walked away.

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Archangel Uriel stood at the top of a rock formation while he thought about what Merle had told her.

Did he make the wrong decision?

Should he have told her earlier about his feelings so that they could spend more time together in the garden to cherish each other's company instead of him running away like a coward?

Something rustled behind him, and he already knew who it was before he could swivel.

"What brings you here, Lucifer?"