'Where am I?' mused Raven.

Raven, or rather, a soul that was known as Raven before, regained his consciousness. He looks around, and then he immediately feels confused. Around him, as far as his eyes could see, was an endless dessert, spanning to the horizon. And that he wasn't alone. In fact, there were too many creatures of all kind that was also standing there. There were also many creatures that he thought didn't exist. At least, in his world.

However, they all share the same trait. Including Raven himself, their body seems transparent and doesn't have any clothes whatsoever attached to them. Yes, man or woman, young or old, or even animals and plants for that matter, all of them were naked. Oddly enough, Raven didn't even feel the slightest bit of embarassment. He only thought that this was a natural thing.

'I should try to gather some information... huh?' to his astonishment, he found out that he couldn't move his body from the spot he was currently standing in. He could only turn around to see that there were actually many people that was as confused as himself.

Unable to do anything, Raven decided to just wait for anything to happen.

Minutes passed, then it became hours, days, weeks, years, centuries, milleniums, and what it seems to be eternity, but still no great changes happened. Raven was still standing on the same spot with both of his eyes closed. He didn't sleep, as he couldn't. His mind was always awake, constantly observing his surrounding. Occasionally, there would be some new creatures that popped out from undearneath the endless desert, and just like Raven in hist first day, they would scan their surrounding with bewildered expression. But other than that, nothing happened.

They were all waiting, waiting for something, or anything to happen. Then suddenly, after that endless desert were packed full with so many creatures, until there weren't any single free space left, IT happened.

“VUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOO—“

A sound, so loud that the entire world seems to be shaken, could be heard from the sky. Following that, a huge crack appeared in the sky. From the inside, 13 winged humanoid figures flown out and scattered to every direction.

All of those winged figures actually doesn't have any facial features. And with those blank faces of theirs, they could somehow said with an unknown language, together with the other winged figures in the distant at the same time:

“””“Kneel!””””

Instantly, each and every creatures that were standing in the endless desert, get down to their knees. Nobody actually understood what had just happened, they were just doing what they were doing, guided by their instinct.

'What kind of language is that? It should be one that I don't know, but how could I understood about what they just said? I, and the others, even did this naturally...' said Raven to himself.

The winged figures, once again, said at the same time: “-We- are Gabriel, Celestial Being that has been assigned by the Almighty One to deal with the departed souls of this universe.”

Celestial Being? Almighty One? This universe? Suddenly, Raven feels like he, and the other creatures in the endless desert, was nothing but a small grain of sand that was floating in the infinity of space.

“As per the order of the Almighty One, this universe has existed and expanded for too long, and now is the time for it's destruction. Therefore, all of the inhabitants of this universe, namely all of you, would have to enter the next phase of your life.

“Of course, the place where you're all going to will be depended on how you're living your life, before your death. Now then, without further ado, let us begin.”

After saying that, the 13 winged figures raised their arms. Bursts of divine energy shoots up from their body to the sky and revealed six gigantic gates with myterious runes. And then, all of the gates opened at the same time. For a few moment, nothing happened, as the departed souls watched the gates with curiousity and nerveously. Some of them, afraid of what would happened to themselves, started quivering and crying.

Raven meticulously watched the gates, as if to search for the true meaning behind the gates. 'There were foreign words carved on there, but he seems to somewhat understand about what was written there.

'Six Path of Reincarnation, Deva Realm, Asura Realm, Human Realm, Beast Realm, Preta Realm, Hell Realm... I see, so every souls that goes through the door will be reincarnated to the afforementioned realms. They said, the place we're going would be depended on our previous life. But how would they do that?' Raven pondered to himself. Not so long afterwards, however, he got his answer.

Suddenly, the six gates in the sky lets out huge suctioning force. Almost everybody on the endless desert got sucked out from their standing place and flies through the sky, eventually reached to one of the gates and disappear behind it.

Oddly enough, Raven didn't feel the slightest bit of that suction force. He stood there, watching the other souls get dragged to the gates. And then, he saw something, or rather someone, that he'd never thought that he would see her again. It was his mother, who was also got dragged to one of the 6 gates, the Gate of The Human Realm.

'Mother!' Raven, using all of his available power, desperately tried to move and reached out his hand to his mother. A pair of horns suddenly sprouted out his head, his transparent skin somewhat turned darker, eyes color become inverted, and pair of black feathered wings appeared in his back. By using the accursed power of his demon blood, he really wanted, to once again, meets his beloved mother.

His thick black aura spreaded out to his surrounding, affecting and blowing the other souls out of their predestined paths. But his body didn't even budge from his original spot. His mother, however, caught sight of those black auras and stared back down at the desert. When she saw what was actually the being that was spreading those black aura, her eyes widden. She recognized his face, her own son's face. And then she too, tried to reached out her hand towards Raven.

Both of their gazes meets with each other, but the distance between them keeps getting further and further. Unable to do something about the current situation, tears started to flow from their eyes. Just before his mother disappeared behind the gates, she smiled and moved her lips. From the distance, Raven could clearly saw it with his exceptional eyesight. His mother was saying, to him: “I Love You.”

Then her soul get swallowed by the gates and disappeared from his sight. His black aura started to shrink and eventually disappeared, revealing his normal appearance again. He clinched his fists and gritted his teeth, 'I have stood in this place for what it seems like eternity, and had never met with anyone that I know. But now, when I thought that all of this would be over, I saw her. Yet once again, she got snatched in front of me, and I couldn't even move to prevent it!!'

After what it seems like minutes, almost everybody was gone from the desert, and only 12 people left, including Raven. 9 of them were humanoid creatures like Raven, but with extra unusual bodily features, and the rest were actually animal-like creature.

The 13 Gabriels flew down and approached those people and gathered them in one place. Then they, once again, said at the same time: “Congratulations, mortal. Those of you who have gathered here had already proven your worth.”

One of the few people left, a man with slim figure, feminine face, long blond hair, and long pointed ear, spoke up, “Congratulation for what... huh? I can talk now?” the feminine man looks confused and tilted his head. The other also started to imitated him and tried to talk.

“We gave you our congratulation because... the Almighty One had decided to give you all, a gift!” said all of the Gabriels together with a hint of laugh.

That statement immediately made the rest of the people, including Raven, really startled. The Almighty One had decided to give them all a gift? What does that actually meant?

Raven pondered for a while, and then decided to ask, “Lord Gabriel, would you please kindly explain, what does that statement meant? And what did actually happened to the other souls that got sucked to the six gates?”

The Gabriels laughed and said, “We know that the 12 of you had done something incredibly good to save the lives of many in your own world. And thus, we will present you with a gift, to prepare for something in the future. As for what that something is, you don't need to know it yet. You just have to train in the Deva Realm, the Realm of the Gods, and get stronger than your current self.

“About the other souls, they would be reborn in their respective realm, and you don't really need to worry about them. Their memory of their previous life will be wiped out, and they will once again start from the bottom. However, the 12 of you will get the chance to remember your previous life! That's one of the present given to you by the Almighty One.”

The 12 people started to murmured to themselves, so did Raven too. 'We have to train and get stronger in the Deva Realm? It seems that there is something secret going on behind these whole situation. But, if I were to go to Deva Realm, then...'

Raven kneeled and said solemnly, “Lord Gabriel, forgive my impudence, but this one does not wish to go to the Deva Realm.”

Hearing that, the 13 Gabriels couldn't help but felt startled.

What does the Deva Realm meant? It was a place where the Gods, immortal beings with unimaginable power lived, and not everyone could ascend and goes to that place. And the man in front of them, whom had just been offered the chance, actually refused?

Suddenly, the 13 Gabriels' bodies lit up and disappeared one by one, only leaving one body. But this one body was different than the previous one. It had the appearance of a handsome man in his 20s, with long golden hair, clear blue eyes, pale white skin, well toned bodies, and had 3 pair of white feathered wings. And naked.

The 12 people watched with astonishment, and then the 'new' Gabriel said, “This is my true form. Let me introduce myself again, my name is Gabriel, an Archangel who serves as a messenger of the Almighty One. And thus, my role here was to inform you 12 about these 'extra' procedures of reincarnation.”

He then smiled and turned to face Raven, who was still dumbstruck, “Speak, young one, why did you not want to ascend to the Deva Realm?”

Hearing the question that was addressed to him, Raven felt startled and hurriedly said, “My deepest apologies, Lord Gabriel, it is not that this one wished to refuse the good will of the Almighty One, but this one would like to be reincarnated in another realm.”

Gabriel raised his eyebrows and asked curiously, “Then, which realm do you want to go? But let me tell you, if you choose to not be reincarnated in the Deva Realm, then you will also had to start everything from the bottom, once again. Your power would be gone, and there is no guarantee that you would get another chance like this.”

“This one wished to be reincarnated in the Human Realm,” answered Raven.

“Human Realm, is it? Is there any reason behind your decision?” asked Gabriel. He really doesn't know, why would anyone refuse the chance to ascend to the Deva Realm? When he looked at the other 11 people, they also looked at Raven with confused expression.

Raven raised his head and firmly said, “This one wished to protect someone important to this one, that had just been reincarnated in the Human Realm. It doesn't matter whether she remembered this one or not, this one would still be willing to do it. Milord, this one could only reached this point, only because she was there for this one.”

Gabriel pondered for awhile, and then said, “I see, it's not like I had to force you to choose the Deva Realm. My duty was to only inform you about your available choice. But first...” he raised his hand towards Raven, and a surge of divine energy entered Raven's body. After he did that for a few minutes, he then said, “This is the gift from the Almighty One that should've been given to you. With it, you had the potential to reach the Realm of the Gods, even if you were born in the Human Realm.”

Raven bowed and said sincerely, “Thank you, Lord Gabriel. This one would forever remember this gratitude.”

Gabriel nodded and said to Raven, “Now then, imagine that someone in your mind, and try to focus your newly attained divine energy toward that image.”

After that, Raven closed both of his eyes and tried to feel his divine energy. His body started to emit white bright light and floated to the Human Realm Gates. Below him, the 11 other people watched him in awe. They too, would of course liked to have that sort of godly power.

Soon, he reached the Human Realm Gates and poured his divine energy to the inside, “This time, I will not let you down again!”

“Shua!” without hesitation, he entered the gates.

After waiting for what it seemed like eternity, Raven, once again reincarnated in... another world!