Chapter 86 - Arc 11 - The God/dess and the Mortal - Part 8

The angels battled on a scale that is unknown to these two mortals, Arias and Mira.

Every blow from the angels threatened this reality.

This universe is fragile, so just them being here is changing universal laws.

Arias and Mira watched as Esme, their new friend and housemate battled many other angels on this small planet.

They could not tell what was going on since they were moving at a speed far higher than they could comprehend.

“Is she…?”

“Yes,” Arias nodded as he answered the question of the fairy on his shoulder.

But they knew she was winning.

Against the dozens of angels, Esme was defeating them.

"She said she hated fighting, didn't she, Mira?"

The fairy nodded.

"But she is doing this for us."

However, in the heat of the battle, Esme did not notice something.

Anaiel, the Angel of Pride had slipped between and was standing behind Arias.

Holding an energy spear to his temple, Anaiel inhaled sharply.

“ESME!”

A scream that trembled worlds across the universe caught the attention of the Angel of Life.

Esme looked back at her in reflex.

With wide eyes, she shouted, “DON’T!”

“Look, I kept everyone safe the last time but if you don’t come with us, I will obliterate this whole world.”

“D-don’t. Let them go.”

Anaiel smiled.

“Then come with us to heaven. Or else I will call him.”

“Wh-who?” Esme said as her throat went dry.

“Azazel. The Angel of Death.”

Her eyes widened.

"He hates fighting. He hates killing. That is right. But.."

She smiled thinly.

“Unlike us, he will not hesitate to kill everyone when he loses control. And I know how to make him lose control. So!”

“Okay. I am coming. So, please… Please let them go.”

Anaiel’s shoulders relaxed as she let go of Arias.

“Come with us.”

Esme smiled a sad smile at Arias and Mira before being vanished into thin air.

Soon, both Arias and Mira were left alone in the dark fields.

Earlier, the lights from their battle made it look like it was a day.

But since they were gone now, it was very dark.

So, Mira flapped her wings very fast and produced light.

“Wha… What just happened?”

“I-- I don’t know, Arias… But we need to leave. Now!”

Confused, they ran towards their house.

“Wh...”

“Forget about it.”

“We need to help--”

“HOW, ARIAS????? SHE IS AN ANGEL! SHE WENT TO HEAVEN!!!”

“I know, but still!!”

Arias bit his tongue as he tasted blood.

“We are hopeless mortals. This is a matter of Gods and Angels. Just---”

Mira bit her lip in anger as she continued.

“Just save YOURSELF!”

လလလ

Above Heaven, Esme and dozens of other angels appeared.

To welcome them, God himself - the creator of the ultraverse was waiting for her.

With a gesture of his chin, all the angels left.

“Welcome back, daughter.”

She clenched her fist.

“Why…?”

“Why did I not send the angels after you earlier?”

She nodded as her body trembled.

“Because I wanted you to feel safe. To get close to those mortals. I was waiting for the perfect moment. I wanted to take you out the moment you felt the happiest.”

“Time… You changed the flow of time on that world too?”

Her father, God nodded.

"!!!"

Only a few seconds had passed in Heaven.

“You disobeyed me, child.”

“I don’t want to die,” she spat out. “If I die, everyone dies. Do you--”

“Lower your voice,” though he said in a very calm voice, she could feel the killing intent in his voice.

Esme gulped in fear.

“I am God. I created all of you. If I decide that you would die, you die. If I decide that everyone would die, they die. Destroying and creating is what---”

“I don’t care. You are just another pathetic power-hungry creature who wants complete control. Because of pathetic people like you, we suffer for no reason. Lucifer wouldn’t be doing whatever he is doing now either if it wasn't for you..”

"You will not disrespect me."

"So, what? Are you going to kill me? Isn't that what you are doing already?"

Esme took a deep breath before continuing.

"Let me tell you something, father. I am not like Michael who obeys you at any time. Or Azazel who can't even speak for himself. I am different. I don't care about the hierarchy of people like us. I won't obey you. I won't die just like that. So---"

The white halo spun fast above her head.

"I won't go down easy like Orion or Arael did."

She shot herself towards her creator.

But!

Surrounded by thousands of controlled angels, she heard her creator's sinister laugh. A laugh which is not befitting of a God.

"You will die today. And you will never be able to touch me."

"I know that!"

She did not regret her decision of trying to fight off her creator.

So!

(I am the Angel of Life. Everyone who lives and breath… I am all of you.)

She inhaled sharply as she narrowed her eyes.

(I will fight until I die. I won't let all of you die.)

Being surrounded by thousands of angels, she had no choice but to use her powers to its fullest.

However, that has one drawback.

(I am going to die. I will die today no matter what I do. So, I am going to use everything. Even if it leaves a toll on my body.)

Unlike Michael and Lucifer, all angels have been given limitations. They cannot use their powers to the fullest since it will leave a toll on their body.

“I am sorry...”

If it was a mere headache, it would have not been a problem. But using her powers fully means the veins in her body will burst open.

“DROP DOWN!”

Every single angel in the vicinity dropped down as she sucked the life force out of them.

Of course, they were not dead. She left them with enough life force to keep them alive.

“Now then...”

She faced her creator who was smiling.

“When I first made the multiverse, it was unstable. I had to do something to make it stable. To make it stable, I created you and your siblings. I created Lucifer. He is the centrepiece of this existence. Lucifer, the personification of existence.”

She was not sure why he was telling her that story.

“Then Michael as my successor - in case if I die at the hands of my mortal enemy.”

Her eyes widened.

“What do you…?”

“You, Esme. The Angel of Life. Without you, I couldn’t bring life to this existence. Then your brother, Azazel, the Angel of Death. Without him, I couldn’t bring death to this existence.”

“I know that. What--”

“What I am trying to say is...”

“Urk!”

Esme struggled to breathe.

The Supreme One had not even lifted a finger.

“I am your creator. I am superior to you. You are nothing before me.”

She heard a crunching sound as she felt her bones crack.

“ARGH?!”

“I am not going to let you off easily, Esme. I will make sure you suffer greatly for what you have done.”

Space warped around them as they were both teleported into a cave.

For decades, her creator tortured her. Crushed her bones and her soul. He hurt her emotionally and physically.

Just before she died, he would heal her.

This continued for many, many years.

“St..op… Ple...as….”

She was out of breath and out blood. All of her energies have been used off.

“Only if you say, “please kill me”.”

Esme couldn’t even get her eyes to open.

“I was not going to kill you. Originally, I wanted to disconnect you safely from Lucifer and this existence but you had to disobey. You had to walk into your own death.”

“...”

“I see. So, you are not going to submit yet. I will slow down time on this planet even more. Let your lif--”

“Stop!”

Landing in front of Esme, who was lying down on the floor, Arael narrowed his eyes in anger.

“You have done enough, creator.”

Arael tried to heal Esme but it wasn’t enough.

“Esme… Go. I will take care of him.”

“And what will you do, God of Power?”

“I am Arael...”

He clenched his fist.

“The God of Power.”

As the God of Power, he can get the power of almost every person in this existence - except for a few people such as the Nameless One and Lucifer.

“And?”

“Thousands of Angels and Demons… Dozens of Gods… Trillions of beings from across the multiverse... I am their power.”

Sucking in a breath, he moved.

“Let’s see how you fare against that, murderer!!”

The God of Power forcefully pulled the Supreme One into another dimension.

Esme forced her body to stand up.

“Where…?”

Arael had healed her enough to allow her to stand up. He couldn't heal her completely because of the interference from the Supreme One.

As she left the cave, her eyes widened.

“Huh…?”

Next to the fields of Arias, there was a mountain. For decades, she was kept near those fields.

“Are they…?”

She forced her battered body to move through the fields.

After a while, she reached the house.

“Ar...ias…?”

She said in pain.

“Are…you...”

(Ah, who am I kidding…? They are probably dead by now… I sho… I should have…… I shouldn’t have angered the Supreme One.)

She stood in front of the house as she held her chest in her hand from pain.

(I don’t know… But I wish I could die here. I wonder--)

With her enhanced senses, she heard a coughing sound from the house.

It sounded similar.

“Arias…?”

With a surprised look, she entered the house and went upstairs.

Going up, she stumbled upon a horrible scene.

“Arias...”

The old man with white hair and red eyes was laying down, nearly dead.

The small and beautiful fairy sitting next to his bed jumped up as she saw the bloodied and battered Esme.

“ESME!”

The fairy came close to her with an excited look on his face.

“Es…me…?”

The old man known as Arias tried to sit up but instead, he coughed blood.

So, Esme went close to him.

“Wel… come… ba-- *koff* back.”

She sat on the floor next to his bed and held his hand.

“I am sorry.”

“Why are you apologising, Esme?” Mira said as she sat on Esme’s shoulders. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”

Esme fell silent.

“I… We looked for-- *koff* for you… Esme. We… We tried...”

Seeing how he talked painfully, Mira continued.

“We tried to find you and bring you back. We tried to help in some way but… But it was useless. Everything we did was a failure. We lied to ourselves, thinking we can help you. But we knew deep down, whatever we did would be useless.”

Mira’s eyes welled up.

“Sorry.”

Esme smiled.

“Thanks...” she said slowly.

That smile soon vanished as she looked down.

“I am dying soon… If I die, everything dies. I am sorry. I am sorry… I didn’t...”

Esme’s body trembled as she cried. She forgot about her pain.

(This pain… Just a little longer. Please. Don’t let me die now.)

“I don’t have much left. When I die… Everyone dies. I am sorry. I am sorry that you all will die. I am sorry that your children won’t--”

“Children?” Mira tilted her head in a confused manner. “He doesn’t have children.”

Esme looked up at Arias who smiled painfully at her.

“Oh...”

“I love you… Esme.”

“I know…”

She went closer and kissed him on the forehead.

“And I love you, too.”

“Ahem. He is married to me.”

Esme sat back down.

Embarrassed, she looked at the fairy on her shoulder.

“I am sorry.”

Mira laughed.

“I am joking. He would never...”

Her laugh broke into a cry.

“I wish we had more time.”

“Me too. Now, don’t cry and lets...”

“Laugh instead,” Arias forced those words out.

“Oh, then let me tell you a funny story. This one time, Arias got confessed to by this beautiful woman from the village.”

“Then… Then what happened?”

“So, he was drinking water when she said “I love you” to him. When he heard that, he spat the water in her face because he was surprised, haha.”

All three of them laughed.

The story was not funny but they laughed anyway. They laughed to their heart’s content.

(I missed this... I shouldn't have come here. I shouldn't have learned these feelings. I shouldn't have gotten attached to them. I shouldn't have...)

As they laughed, Esme’s life ended. She died while laughing.

All three of them fell down as they died.

For an instant, everything died. Everything in existence died.

Angels, demons, humans, animals and more died. Every living thing died for an instant.*

Even some concepts died this second.

Silence overtook the creation.

Less than a second had passed when a white glow covered her.

Floating in mid-air, she was reborn as a Goddess. The Goddess of Life.

“Rise!”

And with her, life came into creation once more.

(So, I didn’t get an option… He gave the others an option whether they wanted to be reborn… but not me.)

“Wh… What happened to you, Esme?”

Though she looked the same, Mira noticed that she was fine and did not have blood covering her.

Her halo and wings are also gone but Mira did not know that.

“Nothing...”

Mira flew close to Arias.

“He is… dead.”

“I know.”

Esme wiped the tear off her face.

“I am sorry but he died a split second before I did.”

“I see.”

Mira kept back her tears and smiled.

“I hope he finds happiness.”

“Me too.”

She stayed with Mira for a short while and then left for the sixth dimensional plane of existence.

Time moves differently on this world thanks to the Supreme One. He messed with it because he wanted to hurt Esme.

But before she left this world, she fixed time for this world.

Every year, Esme visited Mira for a short period of time. But after a while, she died too. Now, in the sixth dimension, she opened her eyes.

She always wakes up to the same dream.

Like Heaven, every God has their own small “world”. Hers resemble the house and fields of Arias.

She left her house and walked through the fields.

After a short while, the world around her vanished as it got replaced by the usual sixth dimension.

Walking around the town which looked like it was made from diamonds, she came across Arael, the God of Power.

“Hey Arael, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” the God of Power said as he gave her a wide smile.

“About 30,000 years ago, why did you come to save me?”

Arael’s smiled was replaced by a confused look.

“I don’t remember saving you?” he said as he scratched his chin in a confused manner.

“Well, you did take away the Supreme One and gave me a chance to see him again. Your timing couldn’t have been better.”

“Hm, that is true.”

“It was on purpose, right?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about, Esme.”

She asks him the same question every day and he replies in the same manner.

“I see,” she smiled.

Esme knows the answer but she hopes one day Arael would give her an honest answer.

“Any other questions?”

"Yes, one more question."

"Sure. What is it?"

A question she has asked him millions of times already.

"Did you die that day?"

Arael shook his head.

"No."

"I am glad," she replied with a smile.

"Anything else?"

“No,” she shook her head. “Now let’s begin the day and do nothing at all.”

They both laughed.