Aurora tried to leave, but she was unable to.

"That commander… he completely forgot about me, sealing the space. I am a high angel! How dare he do this!"

"You are?" I asked as I thought she was just a typical angel.

"That's correct," she responded. "I'm not supposed to let others know, but I'm a high angel. I'm even an officer—a lieutenant just like you were."

"Well, at least we're trapped together," Bella said.

"I'd rather be anywhere but here," Aurora said.

"What's wrong with being trapped with us?" I asked.

"I've been working for millenniums to get where I am, but your rank was just handed to you! How many centuries have you been working for, Deathly Angel Roberto?"

"Actually, I just started less than a year ago."

"You expect me to believe that? You are less powerful than me but a higher rank!"

"I'll work harder."

"Lieutenant, he is a capable fighter," Krystal voiced her opinion.

"And he may even be able to fight Gabriel with his trump cards," Kylee agreed, also defending me.

"Since when did you two become so loyal. Roberto, take out your sword. Let's have a little match. Even better, let's both use one of these trash swords," she commanded, picking up a sword.

I followed by picking up one myself. I got into a fighting stance and was prepared to cross blows, when, all of a sudden, I noticed a strange sight. A gaseous cloud was beginning to form, irrespective of the barrier sealing us within.

"Aurora, we may have to pause our duel," I told her.

"Why, are you scared?" She mocked me.

"No, but there may be something wrong if that can get in here."

"What are you talking about? Gabriel can use divinity. There's no way for something to sneak in."

"Then what’s that behind you?"

Finally, she turned around and saw the gas entering, her face aghast.

Afraid, she began to stutter, saying, "I don't know. But it somehow got through the sub-dimensional space and Commander's seal. It must be here to attack us."

After she said that, I tried using my earrings to appraise it. Lately, my > wasn't working too well.

I explained to Aurora that it's called deep penetration slaughter gas. She looked like she'd heard of it before. It's extremely deadly, but it takes hundreds of thousands of years to create. It also takes about five minutes before it turns deadly, letting most people escape. We, however, were trapped here.

The gas wasn't precisely a poison, so I couldn't absorb it. It was a potion. I did have one idea, though. There shouldn't be any way for them to invade Persephone. The girls and I would be able to easily flee, but I couldn't just leave Aurora alone to die. I also couldn't let my spiritual world be revealed to others. She would most likely report to Camiel, and there's no telling what the angel army will do to me. I'd never be able to leave the world. I thought, however, that a life is more important than a secret. I grabbed the book and prepared to talk to Aurora.

"Aurora, follow me. I know a way to get us out of here, so you'll have to trust me."

"Trust in you?" she smirked. "There's nothing you can do. It's not like you can talk to the gas."

Her attitude definitely wasn't good, but I knew I needed to convince her. Time was running out.

"You said your rank is lieutenant, and, therefore, my rank of Captain is higher than yours, right?" I inquired.

"Yes! You should have never been promoted!"

During this discussion, I secretly had Bella, Kyle, and Krystal go into my spiritual world for their own protection. I told Bella over our thought link that I'd come soon and not to worry about me.

"Then, I outrank you. You said it yourself," I began, not giving her a chance to challenge me. "Therefore, with my authority as a Captain of the Angel Army, I order you to come with me and escape."

"Fine, but even if it's an order, I'll only follow you. I won't do anything more. I'll report your abuse of rank soon after. Don't you ever try to pull rank with me. You'll regret it."

I ignored her and opened a portal, telling Persephone it's okay to let her come in.

"You opened a dimensional tunnel? Such a vast world, which one is it?" she asked as soon as she saw the space.

Before answering, I let the girls know I was alright. I brought her near Annie to make it seem like Annie was the owner of this place.

"It's planet Persephone," I told her. "Come with me."

I led her into Annie's castle so the three of us could meet up. Once I saw Annie, I introduced the two of them.

"Aurora, this is Annie, the god who presides over this world. Annie, this is Lieutenant High Angel Aurora of the Angel Army."

Aurora was stunned, supposedly in the presence of a god. As for Annie, she was confused at first; however, I told her, through the link in my soul, my plan.

Annie spoke up. "That's right. I'm God Annie, and this is my planet, Persephone. I welcome you, Lieutenant. Welcome back, Roberto."

"Roberto, how do you know a god?" Aurora asked, unable to hide the astonishment painted across her face.

"It's a long story," I said.

I quickly began discussing the current situation with Annie. After thinking about it, she replied, "I know of the poison. Due to Roberto's tunnel, you will transport back to the same place if you ever try and leave this world. I suspect fifty to sixty years before its virulence dies down. In the meantime, stay with me," she said.

She led us down the village and made a house for the two of us to live in appear. It only had one bedroom, but there were two beds. She did this with the authority I granted her previously.

"We can't leave?" Aurora asked worriedly. Now no longer trapped, the front she put up seemed to crumble.

"Not if you want to live," Annie replied. "Roberto, please come with me. You can wait here."

I followed Annie back to the palace. Once there, I asked, "Is there really no way for us to leave?"

"I'm afraid not. Even after five decades, it will still be different. The first reason I called you here is that book under your arm."

Given the situation, I had completely forgotten about it.

"Read it," Annie commanded. Quickly, I obliged. It was Camiel's notes on different laws, as well as all of his comprehension. For the law of time, there was some overlap, so I only learned 3% more of divine and 10% of natural. As for space, I learned 10% more natural and 3% divine. A law of mana had the most gains, with 10% divine, 50% eternal, and 90% natural. I already knew the rest of the natural law, but I never knew I did. In fact, I knew almost all of the natural law of mana. It looked like this was the main law he focused on. Immediately after comprehending the last little bit of natural law, the system rang out.

[mana manipulation level up! Level 20! Max level: all stats +10!]

I liked the stat boost, but I didn't know if I should have been more surprised by the fact the skill was at max level or that there weren't ten but twenty levels. Now, I could sense and feel all of the mana in the world and edit and change it as I wished.

Soon after, another message came, which I chose to hold the spot for the most surprising development.

[derived skill: mana infusion: regulate the amount of mana infused into spells level 10! Max level!]

There were no stats this time, but I still learned a new skill.

From the time-related information, I asked Annie if we could somehow freeze time outside of the world, like in the world of the vampires.

"It's theoretically possible for me—even easy—but I don't have the required artifact. It must be very powerful to have such an effect. It will also take a lot of the souls stored up. You're lucky there was some lingering on that book of yours."

I didn't know there were any souls there—I wasn't looking for them, but at least it could help Annie.

"Persephone, I commanded, grant temporary access for my treasure vaults to Annie. Expiration: 10 minutes."

She complied.

"You do have a lot of powerful artifacts. Most likely, you don't have the faintest idea of what they do. Luckily, I do. You also have the artifact I require, which I never expected you could ever find."

She took out two pieces. One was something Charon had given me when he left, a small, white bell that I couldn't get to make any noise. I thought nothing of it since his explanation was that it was a useless thing he took from a ghost king.

"That one's from your world," I pointed out.

"Actually, it was brought there from elsewhere. I doubt they even knew what this is," Annie said.

The second piece was a rock-shaped crown. Annie led me to a room, which was constructed just then, made out of gold and without a roof. She had me draw inscriptions and circles along the floor, ensuring I didn't even make the smallest mistake.

Finally, after an hour, she was satisfied with my work. She placed the crown in the center, with the bell in the center of it.

"Please leave. You aren't allowed to learn this yet," Annie said.

I followed her orders and returned to Aurora once she assured me the plan was complete. I also told the girls, who were fine with the arrangements, about Aurora being here.

When I returned, Aurora greeted me, saying, "You're finally back. What's the little god want?"

"Nothing," I said. "She just wanted to show me a book about how deadly that gas is."

"I'm surprised. Usually, gods have crazy-high prices. Now that we're stuck here, what are we going to do?"

"Why not cross swords?" I asked, taking a few out.

"I don't have any on me. In fact, I didn't pack anything."

"It's okay," I said. "I'm sure the god will help if you need anything."

"But, still, what are we going to do long-term?"

"Besides practicing with our sword techniques."

"Yes, we can't always do that. Obviously!"

"Even a battle-crazy warrior has some rational thoughts," I quipped. "Why don't we plant some seeds? There's no rain season here, but it would still be fun to farm."

"You want me, a high angel of the angel army, to become a farmer?"

"Why not?"

"Fine. I guess," she said, but she looked much happier.

"You know, with just the two of us here, you don't have to be so mean. You can let me peak at your true self."

"You don't know anything," she scoffed.

"Enlighten me."

"Most angels, at least that I know of, are part of the army after only a short three hundred years with their parents. I, however, didn't know mine. I was found on the street one day and raised in a very strict household. Why am I even telling you this?"

"I asked. Please, go on."

"I guess it's good to know about each other if we're stuck together. Look, we can't even walk too far from the house with that barrier in place."

I didn't notice it, but it must have had something to do with the time freeze.

"You're right," I said.

"Then, I'll continue. I was weak at that time, feebler than most my age. I learned early on not to trust others and to not show my feelings. Both would result in beatings. My adopted family didn't like me, and the other kids didn't either, bullying me for being so weak. At three hundred, I was only level twelve, barely able to use more than 10HE. That was when I was shipped off to begin my century-long boot camp. The drill sergeants weren't anything compared to the previous angels. In fact, due to my cold, uncaring attitude, they thought I was one of the better recruits. Receiving a little bit of praise for once, I knew I had to work hard. What about you?"

I narrated the first fifteen years of my life before discussing the current one, but I left out most of my secrets before asking her to continue.

"Fine, I guess it's only fair. I don't know why you're so interested, though. I continued working much harder than everyone else, slowly rising to level one-hundred and getting my first master class: master warrior. With it came the last few advanced sword, spear, javelin, bow, and armor defense techniques. I could also, finally, join the real army. Slowly, I rose through the ranks. I even, once, saved a bunch of angels by pointing something out no one else noticed. My reward was enough to promote my race to high angel, and I was assigned, initially, to intelligence—looking for any spies among us. It's from there that the hiding of my race began. Eventually, I became a Lieutenant, serving under Gabriel as a scribe. I was even given permission to conduct the military rank-up testing! That's where we are now."

"Wow," I said at first. I was at a loss for words as I tried to continue. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone. I'm glad to have gotten to know you better. Let's continue to be on good terms. Remember, since I know, you can show emotions towards me."

She almost began crying, looking happy that she could shed the weight she'd been carrying around for so many years, unable to talk to anyone else. In fact, the first week was spent mostly with us just talking.

Over the next two years, we grew closer. At night, I visited the girls, and we hung out. During the day, I was with Aurora. My time was split with twelve hours each. By constantly sparring and losing to Aurora, my sword techniques got a lot better. Early in the third year, it even became basic sword techniques!

At level ten, I learned sword beam, which was a small, cutting light or darkness extending from the tip of the blade outwards, cutting everything in its path.

The first level of basic sword skills let me split my sword into up to four, but with two different swords and only two arms, I would rarely use it. The second level, sword launch, was like an evolved sword throw, but the force behind it was much greater.

Over the next few years, while growing closer to Bella, Krystal, Kylee and Aurora, quite a few of my other techniques increased in level.

Elementary evasion techniques became basic level one granting me inferior trap detection, inferior trap removal, and lock picking, which are self-explanatory.

My rune techniques became level ten, almost enough to finally see basic runes. I could, now, cause the runes to explode, along with a perfect memory of every rune I'd ever seen and its function.

Finally, my blacksmithing techniques increased in level. This was the most fun to increase, as I was able to teach Aurora, Kylee, and Krystal how to do so! They were only at level two, but they still enjoyed it.

Levels three and four were repair weapon and repair other, respectively. Level five was blueprint, which was just helping me follow a weapon's blueprint. Finally, at level seven, I could harden ordinary materials, such as iron and steel, to their maximum.

Overall, twenty years quickly passed us by. We got to know both the good side and the bad side of each other, sticking with it through anything that happened. The girls even joined Aurora and me in the small house after a few years. All of our bonds with each other strengthened. It was at that time that I heard Annie coming towards us.

"What is it?" I asked.

"The poison has disappeared. It was tricky to interlock two worlds into the same time spread, especially with only one under your control. The enemies thought it was a devil attacking, abandoning the world after ten years of fighting. It took the next ten for those angels to fix the space, even though they could and did escape the time barrier."

"Thank you for all your hard work."

"It's no problem," she replied. "You can go back now."

"Do you want to go back? I asked Aurora."

"Let's take a break from training, first. I want to wait for the flowers to bloom."

"Then, we'll wait. Time is only passing in two worlds, so we're not missing anything. Is that okay with you guys?" I asked the girls.

"K," Bella said.

"Yes," my daughters replied.

As such, we waited for another year until it was time. They looked very beautiful in full bloom, with sweet aromas carried by the wind. It was like a picturesque scene, the five of us frolicking about amongst a sea of flowers. It was as if we didn't have to care about anything, and, truly, at that time, we didn't.

"I'm ready to return," Aurora quickly announced. "The commander must be looking for me."

"Then, I'll return with you. Bella, Kylee, Krystal, I'll be back soon."

"Bye," they said at almost the same time.

"One more thing, Aurora. Annie doesn't like her world exposed, so please keep it a secret. It's very well hidden, and, as you can see, almost no one's here."

"Now, I want to know how you found it even more!"

"Maybe, one day, I'll tell you. For now, we still have to return."

"Fine."

We quickly returned to the same sub-dimensional space. Immediately, an alarm sounded. It sounded like wind chimes, but it summoned Gabriel.

"I'm glad your safe," he said as soon as he arrived.

Aurora stood up straight, going back into the military mindset I hadn't seen in quite a few years.

"Yes, sir," she responded.

"Now, tell me what happened," Gabriel commanded.

I began to narrate a fake story to coverup the spiritual world.

"We noticed a gas somehow coming into this room. As such, I knew we needed to flee. I was worried the enemies were specifically seeking one of us, so I thought it would be best to hide. I tried to use an artifact I forgot to tell you about. I was going to break your seal to bring us to safety. I don't know how long we were out, but the artifact backfired. Both of us wound up trapped in suspended animation. We recently woke up and began to try and figure out what happened to us."

"I think I've heard of the artifact. If I'm not mistaken, it should look like a horse head, but the eyes were needles, and the teeth were made of mejonite. It's too bad it explodes after one use. Supposedly, they remove sealings around a space in order to allow unhindered practice sessions. It's been known to transport people to a land of nothingness, not unlike the void, where they can't move. Please continue."

I was surprised such an artifact actually existed and continued the story.

"We combined our sword techniques and managed to create a small tear. I was able to use my spatial fold skill to get us back here. We arrived to the sound of wind chimes."

"It's lucky you were able to escape."

"Yes, thank you for welcoming us. What happened here?"

"It took us ten years to fight off the major force of the enemy. Lilith barely lasted a year before getting seriously injured. Unfortunately, she wasn't killed and retreated, but her forces stayed behind until far after we lost all traces of her. For the next ten years, we had to use special spells to slowly remove the potent poison gas in order to free you. We thought you may have been captured, after not finding you inside. We lost a large number of soldiers due to the gas and the war itself."

"It's been twenty years?" Aurora exclaimed, playing along.

"Twenty-one," Gabriel responded. "During that time, your problem with only commanding such a small unit has been decided. To boost morale, you can choose who you wish to be in your platoon. You can even have a whole company. A brigade might be too far, but I think I can swing it."

"What if I don't want so many?"

"You have to at least choose some! It will really help!"

"Don't worry. I already know who I'm going to choose," I said, taking a step out of the sub-dimensional space.

I realized everything in the room had been removed, except for the soul-related book sitting there, open. A note said the book only worked in this exact location, so it shouldn't be moved.

"You've already chosen. There is one officer I wish to take with me, and that is all. If you have any souls from previous enemies, I'll take those, too, as slaves."

"Who?" Aurora immediately asked, forgetting to speak formally.

"You."