Chapter 161

Arc 15 - Dead Men Rising - Part 14

Oblivion:

Nazar, Lucifer, Aarin and Metatron suddenly heard an unfamiliar sound.

As they looked at the source of the sound, they saw a small child with light blue hair and purple eyes.

They asked who it was, and the child said, “I am Azazel, the Angel of Death.”

“!!”

“!!”

“!!”

“!!”

Nazar threw away his confusion and surprise as he stood up and walked closer to the child.

He placed his hand on his small head and analysed him.

“Hm, interesting. He is indeed what he says he is.”

Lucifer raised his head and looked at this child.

His existence was very much the same as Azazel, but the soul and the body were different.

“But how?” Aarin asked.

“Seems like someone initiated a reincarnation sequence.”

“...What? But who?”

“Father did,” the child answered her question truthfully.

Huh, did he gain access to this place when I removed the extra layer? Nazar thought.

“The Supreme One,” Azazel added to clear up any confusion they might have.

Lucifer did not care about that answer and instead walked towards the reincarnated version of his sibling.

He pushed away Nazar and sat in front of him.

“Are you…?”

“Yes, I am Azazel, but...” the child glanced down with a depressed look on his face, causing Lucifer to clench his fist in anger. He was already hurting even though he reincarnated just moments ago. Was his brother meant to live a life of curse? Was there no way to save him? “I have no memories of what I once was.”

“Do you want them back?” Nazar asked in a carefree tone.

“...”

The child looked at Nazar then Lucifer.

Lucifer was scared, but at the same time, he was anticipating an answer from this young Azazel.

What if he asks for his memories back? Will this child be able to handle the pain of his earlier version?

And if he doesn’t ask for them, does this mean the brother he once knew was gone forever?

“No,” Azazel replied slowly. “I don’t want to know.”

“I see,” Lucifer, both relieved and disappointed, let out a sigh and forced a soft smile on his face. “That is good.”

Lucifer extended his right hand towards this child.

“I am Lucifer, your oldest brother.”

With a baffled look on his face, Azazel looked at Lucifer’s hand and then to his face.

Then the young child looked at his own palm.

He questioned Lucifer’s gesture.

But without waiting for an explanation, the child grasped the concept of his gesture.

“Oh.”

He moved his hand and touched his palm with Lucifer’s.

“Hello,” the child smiled.

Lucifer’s expressions turned sour for a brief moment as the smile reminded him of his brother Azazel from long ago.

This child might have a different soul and body, but he is still Azazel.

And that’s all that matters, Lucifer thought in his heart.

He smiled softly, albeit not forced this time around, to this child and said, “Welcome back, Azazel.”

“...”

The child who felt overwhelmed stiffly nodded.

“Come with me, live in my dimension where no harm will come to you.”

“...”

The child looked at Nazar. As his eyes met with this monster’s red eyes, the body of the child shuddered, so he quickly looked away.

His eyes fell onto Lucifer’s red eyes.

His eyes were not as evil, but they were still scary, so he gulped and looked at Metatron.

As his eyes befell this young angel, he felt a little relieved.

But the wry smile on Metatron’s face caused his eyes to fly away and move elsewhere.

While looking around, his eyes fell on the Golden Angel.

Those kind eyes of the Angel of Love drew him instantly, so he let go of Lucifer’s hand and rushed to Aarin’s side.

Standing behind Aarin, Azazel poked his head out a little and said, “No.”

“??” Lucifer stood up and looked at Aarin with a complicated expression pasted on his face.

Aarin glanced down at the boy holding onto her dress.

“Do you not want to go with him?”

Azazel nodded.

Lucifer clicked his tongue.

“What if I was with him?”

“Hm?” Both Lucifer and Azazel looked at her with a puzzled look in their eyes.

“What if I stayed in Lucifer’s dimension? Will you go to that dimension which is the safest place in the universe?”

Azazel glanced at Lucifer then Nazar and then quickly back at Aarin.

“...”

Aarin smiled widely at him.

It was a kind and warm smile that made all the negative feelings within him go away.

So, without thinking any more about it, he nodded.

“Yes.”

“Alright,” her face and smile dazzled like bright stars, so bright it could blind this child's eyes. “Then let’s go, shall we? I will show you around that wonderful place.”

Azazel nodded.

“Sweet!” she held the child by his hand.

A golden portal opened and the two of them walked into it.

Lucifer watched them go with a distant look in his eyes.

“Why did you bring her here in the first place?”

Nazar responded without hesitation, “Because I wanted to let her know something.”

“Oh?”

“I said what I said, and she heard it, so it’s all good.”

“Did you… By any chance, were you expecting this to happen?”

“In a way, yes. I predicted that Azazel would ask for something like this after you explained his story a little. I had to do what had to be done, and that would somehow lead to me giving her an answer.”

“I see...” Lucifer’s tone turned serious. “I will have you pay for this one day.”

“Make sense.”

Nazar’s white eyes watched the universe. He wanted to see what had changed since Azazel was back.

“It seems the dead are returning to where they belonged.”

“Back to normal?”

“More or less.”

A portal appeared in front of Lucifer but before he walked through it, Nazar called out to him, “Lucifer.”

“...”

Lucifer let out a soft groan.

“What is it?”

“On May 22nd, when you were controlled… Was it really the Supreme One?”

“...”

Lucifer found it surprising that Nazar knew about that. Albeit, only for a moment.

Afterall, this was God.

“Yes.”

“I see… It’s just I vaguely remembered something from another time, I thought maybe X was the one in control and not the Supreme One. But I suppose the two of you had the same idea, so don’t worry about it.”

Lucifer did not ask further questions and walked through the portal, leaving for his dimension.

“Did the Supreme One kill you before ascending you?”

“O-oh,” Metatron yelped in fear when he heard the question directed at him. “Yes. Yes, that is right.”

“Please, I am not evil incarnate, no need to fear me.”

“...”

Metatron’s eyes darted left and right while he thought about what transpired in front of him a few moments ago.

He thought, Are you sure?

“So, what were you called when you were a human?”

“Jacob.”

“Oh, that guy,” Nazar became extremely interested in this human. “Did you really wrestle an angel?”

Metatron nodded, “Indeed. Although it was a powerless one and she went easy on me, haha. It was her.”

Nazar crossed his arms around his chest proudly.

“That’s my sister.”

“Are you also an angel?”

"No. I am a human."

"Then what are you?"

“...”

His proud look was soon replaced by a bitter one.

“That’s a long, very long story.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Anyway, you should leave for Heaven. This dimension cannot sustain itself for longer.”

Metatron did not ask any questions and just vanished into thin air. He was happy to be away from this man.

Once alone, Nazar stretched his arms as he let out a soft groan.

"This is tiring."

His right eye twitched and the dimension known as Oblivion was reduced to nothing.

I suppose getting rid of the old system wouldn't hurt… but it's too much work. And not really my problem so--

His thoughts trailed off as he sensed something in a world down below.

All this time since the dead came out, he has been hearing prayers of the weak, but he ignored it.

For the first time in his life, he answered someone's prayer and that was Alice's.

He did not want to answer anyone else's.

But among the loud cries of the weak, he heard a prayer from a strong man.

"It can't be…"

Without further hesitation, he flew down to the third dimensional plane of existence.

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30,002 years ago, a small planet now lost to darkness:

In the middle of an orange and golden field of crops, a Goddess made of energy and a colourful fairy walked out of a portal.

The two of them had travelled through time to meet a mutual friend of theirs.

Esme and Mira looked around this old world they once lived on with a certain someone.

However, they could not find him.

"Huh…?"

There was a small house in the middle of the fields, so the fairy and the Goddess moved towards it with a swift speed.

"Mira, you might want to hide yourself. Unlike me--"

Esme's eyes widened even further.

"This…"

In this house, she should have felt two presences from. One which belonged to a normal man and another to a fairy.

However, she could feel none.

"What is it, Esme?" the baffled fairy asked in a faint broken voice.

"Your presence does not exist in this plane-- No, that's right. It makes sense," Esme felt a little relieved. "You were erased from existence."

After their mutual friend died, the fairy asked the Goddess; "I want to see your world."

The Goddess looked at her small friend and agreed to her request.

Despite knowing the risk, they went to a plane far higher than this.

The fairy got to see her home for a split second before she was erased from space, time, reality, and the minds of everyone save for Esme. Her existence was erased from everywhere.

"But Arias… What is going on with him?"

Esme, the Goddess of Life, thought back to the day her friend died.

She could not feel his life or soul within him, but at that time she brushed it off as it was nothing.

However, on the day of his death, she felt a soul within him for a fleeting period of time.

The same soul and presence she felt from the boy who died a few moments ago.

"This is troubling."

Right now, the soul of her dead friend could not be sensed anywhere in time or space.

It exists nowhere.

He should have been in this house, but she can't feel anything.

So, she decided to walk through the door and enter this small house.

She glanced around at this familiar scenery but saw nothing of value.

"Esme?" the fairy looked at her with eyes that hungered for answers.

Esme avoided looking into the teary eyes of the fairy.

"I am sorry, Mira, but you are not dying again when the deathless world returns."

"Hm- Uwah!?"

Esme held the fairy in her hand and smiled softly at her.

"I need to create your existence again. I need to confirm something."

"Oh…" the fairy was at a loss for words at the power of her friend.

After she died, she was truly gone.

She did not even realise she had been erased from existence.

So, right now, a torrent of emotions run through her, causing her to slow down her thinking process.

What would it mean for her to come back?

If she were to come back, where would she even live?

This world has long died and holds no value to her.

It was selfish of her to think like this, but it will affect her, so Esme understood her hesitation.

But even then, "Please," Esme begged this little fairy.

"S-sure." The fairy nodded her small head.

"Thank you," with a delighted face that caused her body to light up for a split second, Esme thanked her happily.

She then wrapped her palms around the fairy and began the process.

She created the core of the fairy then a soul within this small body.

The fairy felt no different, but Esme smiled happily.

Unwrapping her hands from the fairy, the two of them began hearing a distance voice that was coming close.

Esme covered both of them with an energy that made them invisible to everyone else.

Closely, they stared at the middle of the room.

"Any moment…"

The sound slowly started to grow louder, loud enough to be heard by a normal person.

In the middle of the room, a small fairy's tiny body started to materialise.

"That's… me," the fairy said with bewildered eyes.

"Mm," the Goddess nodded.

The fairy in front of them materialised fully into what she was once.

"Ahhhh, don't do that. You will burn your finger," the fairy that came into existence mere moments ago was speaking to an invisible figure.

"No, it won't. I have these things the chief's daughter knitted for me on. She said it should be fine," Mira recited the words of her friend from so long ago.

"Grrr!" the fairy bit the air in anger before it looked in the opposite direction and continued to speak with loud squeaky angry voice. "ESME! You tell him!"

"This is… complicated," the Goddess right now saw the sliver of light break into pieces within her. "He is not here. BUT HOW?!"

Mira's body flinched in fear.

Not once in her life did she hear Esme speak with such anger.

"How can a mere man, a normal man not exist?!?! This doesn't make sense!"

In the back of her mind, she knew who to blame for this mess.

The Supreme One.

"It must be him. THAT--"

Her anger caused the energies from within her to leak out. Those energies of a Goddess could cause the world to die instantly.

"Esme," the fairy spoke in a kind voice. "Please."

"But…"

Realising how childish her behaviour was, she coughed and calmed herself down.

"Damn it! First Arael goes missing--"

Her eyes widened once again.

"Arael…"

Now, she thought back to the day Arael went missing.

She felt a certain energy from that place.

"No… it can't be… but how…?"

The answer started to write itself in front of her.

She knew what was happening here.

She knew why Arias' body and soul does not exist.

She knew why she felt his soul inside that boy.

She knew why they looked similar.

She finally knew the truth she did not know she was searching for.

It created more questions, but that did not matter.

And so, she looked at the confused fairy.

She opened her mouth.

She wanted to explain to the fairy too.

But…

"You learned too much."

In front of Mira and Esme, a monster with white hair and red eyes stood.

"Nazar?!" Esme blurted out in a state of confusion and surprise. "What brings you--"

"You should have stayed in your dimension; you should have stayed in your time… THIS SHOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED!"

With the angry roar of this God, a scythe came crashing down towards the two of them.

Before Esme could react or protect the fairy, the scythe sawed both of them in half and everything turned pitch black.

❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢

Back in the present, Earth:

In Japan, Haru Watanabe finally opened her eyes with a loud groan.

She could hear a lot of loud noises from the outside, so it woke her up.

Angrily, she left her bed and looked outside the window.

"!!"

What she saw were thousands of skeletons laying down on the ground.

She rubbed her eyes, thinking she was dreaming.

But she wasn't. The skeltons were still on the ground.

The shock from seeing all those dead people caused her to lose consciousness and fell down to the ground.

လလလ

In China, Zhi Yan lowered the hands which were covering her face.

She looked around and saw nothing but skeletons.

The skeletons which were trying to attack her mere moments ago were now laying on the ground, lifeless once again.

Panting heavily, Zhi did not wait for the zombies to awaken, so she teleported away back to the army base.

She will be safe there.

လလလ

In Russia, the teenager Illya Kolisnyk breathed a sigh of relief once the zombies stopped moving.

He was scared they would infect him with this virus, but lucky for him, the zombies did not kill him.

But he was far from free.

The chains which were holding him were strong, so strong he could not escape from it for years to come.

"Damn it," he muttered in a muffled voice. "Why me?"

❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢

Plymouth, UK:

A few moments ago, in Nazar's home, a white haired and red eyed beauty teleported in with a worried look expression pasted on her face.

Emma and Laura were sitting in the living room and playing cards game, so the moment she teleported in, the two of them thought it was Nazar at first.

"!!"

"!!"

But seeing how it was not Nazar, the two of them became scared.

Nazar told them no one can teleport here without his permission, but they did not recognize this woman, so how did she get here?

Was she an enemy?

Laura, however, thought it was the gender bent Nazar for a moment. But she couldn't have been more wrong.

"Where is she?" Alice looked at the two of them. "Where is Rebecca?"

Emma, still shaking from the fear, forced her fingers to point upstairs.

"The… the bathroom."

"Hm?"

"Wait," Laura narrowed her eyes as she looked closely at Alice. "You are that woman."

In the old world, Laura had met Alice once, but for some odd reasons, she never forgot her.

No, scratch that, she confused Alice for Nazar's girlfriend and found it funny.

"The one who raised him? The name… it was something like…" she with a faint smile spreading across her face, trying to recall that memory.

Alice waited for a good moment to see her try remembering her name.

But since she couldn't, she gave up with a sigh and recited her name, "Alice. Alice Brown."

"Yes! That's the one. Thank you."

Alice would have usually joked about it, but now was not the time.

"Ohhh," Emma gaped her mouth open as she realised who it was. "Right. You are her. The demon's child."

"..."

Alice's cheek twitched in anger when she was reminded of her heritage.

Emma saw that and was reminded of her brother a little, so she felt bad.

"Sorry, I did not mean--"

Emma's words were cut off short when the door opened and saw a tall and busty woman with black hair and black eyes. The girl known as Rebecca Kyle was wiping her large glasses with her dress as she walked in.

However, as soon as she saw Alice, she dropped the glasses and rushed to hug her mother.

"Mom!" she shouted loudly in a happy and excited tone. "I missed you so much!"

Alice hugged tightly and let out a long sigh of relief, "Thank god, you are okay. I was expecting the worse, but glad it's different."

"Okay...?" Emma titled her head in a confused manner. Unlike Laura, she did not know about Rebecca's relation to Alice.

However, she quickly set that aside and focused on something else. What did Alice mean by that?

Emma and Laura looked at one another with an expression that said, "Did something happen?"

The two of them then shook their heads as they had no answer to each other's question.

Emma quickly took out her phone and searched around.

First thing she did was search for her brother but nothing new showed up, so she let out a sigh of relief.

Then she searched for Alice's name and to her confusion, she found nothing.

"Odd."

When news sites proved useless, she moved to social media.

That was her go-to site to find latest information.

"!!"

Her eyes widened as she what was trending.

So, showed her screen to Laura.

"A zombie apocalypse?!"

Rebecca heard her loud and scared voice, so she stopped hugging her mother and looked at Laura, "What?"

"There is a zombie apocalypse out there," Emma said out loudly in a surprised and fearful sound. However, the other three could clearly hear hints of excitement.

"That was me."

"You can cause a zombie apocalypse?" Rebecca asked with her tilted head.

"I…" Alice, who was at a loss for words, did not know how to say it to her child that she nearly doomed their entire creation, so her mouth was wide open. “It’s a long story.”

“But where have you been?”

To the worried tone of her daughter, Alice bit her lip as she thought.

Could she tell her child that she was residing in hell for the last few weeks?

What would her daughter think of her?

“Mom, please. Where have you been? Nazar said you went to hell and something about a demon...”

Alice clicked her tongue.

She clenched her fist and muttered, “That bastard.”

However, she was not angry at him.

If anything, she was a little relieved that her daughter had somewhat come to terms with what Alice is.

“I am a half angel and half demon. I am not a human,” she told her daughter the truth about what she is. Before Rebecca could have another misunderstanding or show anger towards Alice for not telling her the truth, she explained briefly, “Even I did not know about this until recently. He had removed my memories.”

“Is… Is that so?” with a complicated look on her face. “This is so weird.”

“Sorry, I wish I could have told you earlier…” Alice held Rebecca’s hands. “But as I said, I have no memories myself.”

“Nah, it’s okay,” Rebecca smiled widely. “I am just glad you are okay.”

“Mm, me too,” Alice smiled softly.

“Speaking off…" the confused and worried emotions ran away from Rebecca now that her mother was here. So, she breathed a sigh and spoke about something positive. "I love the red eyes. For some reasons, I never noticed the white hair and red eyes before. It looks beautiful on you.”

“I think it was him again,” Alice smiled stiffly. “But thanks.”

“Aaaand,” Rebecca looked at Alice from head to toe and examined her tattered clothes. “Those clothes need to go away.”

Alice’s sleeves were burnt in fire, some of the buttons were lost too, and the jeans had large holes in it.

“Oh...”

Until now, Alice had not noticed that.

“And your face and hair…" Rebecca placed her hand on Alice's jaw and moved her face around to look for any injury. "You really need to clean yourself up. Are you hurt in any way?”

“No, no,” Alice shook her head with a faint laughter, “not at all. Your mom is stronger than she looks.”

“That’s grea--”

The sudden gust of wind in the middle of the room caused all of them to gasp loudly.

Alice quickly stood in front of her daughter to guard her.

However, for a brief moment, she could not see anything but white-blue light, so she thought it was an angel.

In her hand, a flaming sword materialised.

“Oh.”

In the middle of the room, through a rift in time-space continuum, a blonde beauty flew in.

She, who was floating a little above the ground, leaned forward and looked down at Alice.

“You are not him.”

Alice tightened her grip on her sword.

“Emily?” Emma shouted out, hoping to solve this misunderstanding before it escalates.

Emily turned around and smiled brightly at Emma.

“Hi there,” she waved her hand happily. “How’s my cute little sister doing on this fine day?”

“Good. You?”

Seeing how they knew each other; Alice lowered her guard and the weapon vanished.

“You… Who are you?” Alice asked her, still wary of this person who entered this sanctuary.

“I am Nazar’s second wife.”

“??”

“??”

“??”

“??”

All four of them glanced at one another in a confused manner.

With eyes full of questions, Rebecca looked at Laura.

Laura pouted her lips to one side and shook her upper body slightly, gesturing she have no idea.

“Don’t look at her, she is just the mistress.”

“...”

Laura’s face formed a stiff smile as her face went pale. Laura thought Emily was joking initially, but her serious tone caused her mind to go blank.

Just a few weeks ago, she learned Nazar had cheated on her. Although it was another personality of his which committed the act, what he did was already done. Even then, she forgave him but what if he was lying to her? Would she ever know?

“Then who is the first wife?” Emma asked as she curiously stroked her chin.

“Probably Solace.”

Emma went closer to Emily and karate chopped her on the shoulder.

“You really need to stop joking in such a manner.”

“But it's funny--”

Seeing the look on Laura’s face, Emily smiled wryly.

“Ah, my bad, I was just messing around. Sorry.”

Laura just nodded, with her expression still the same.

Emily, however, ignored her and looked back at Alice.

“So, who are you and why can I feel traces of him on you?”

“That’s… a long story.”

Emily frowned.

Emily threw her hands into the air with a groan of annoyance as she have had enough.

“Long story this, long story that-- When will someone actually explain something?!”

“...” a lone cold tear steamed down Alice’s face as she averted her eyes.

“Fiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnneeeee, I will ask him.”

She took out her phone and dialed a number.

However, there was no answer for a while.

So, Emily sent a psychic transmission.

The transmission was answered shortly after.

“...What do you want?” a purple construct of Nazar and his surrounding appeared in the middle of the room. “I am busy.”

“Doing what exactly?”

“Unimportant. What do you want?”

“Who is this woman? The one with white hair and red eyes? And why do I feel traces of him on her?”

“That’s… a long story.”

“Grr,” Emily’s teeth cluttered as she clenched her fist tightly. “GOD DAMNNNNN ITTT! DO YOU GUYS NOT KNOW ANY OTHER PHRASE?!”

Nazar squinted his eye and moved his head to his left a little, almost as if he was hearing Emily’s angry and annoyed scream in his ear.

“No, really, it is a long story. Like really long and I have to fly to the other corner of the universe in less than a second. BECAUSE SOMEONE TOOK AWAY PRECIOUS SECONDS.”

“Sheesh, why so angry?” Emily rolled her eyes.

“Fine, I will explain later. But not today. Bye.”

"Wait--"

And just like that, the transmission was cut off.

"That bastard!"

"Oi, that's my brother you are badmouthing," Emma said in a sarcastic serious tone.

"...Fine."

To not think about a certain idiot, Emily glanced around the city.

"Oh, the zombies are gone."

"Huh?!"

To the disappointed Emma, Emily shrugged.

"It gets boring when you have someone who solves these problems almost instantly."

Emily started to rub her chin.

"Huh, I think I understand him just a little now," she said in a muffled voice.

"What a bummer…" Emma, with her shoulders dropped low sat back on the sofa. "Anyone up for a game of cards?"

"Oooh, yes! Me," Emily rushed and sat next to Emma.

She looked at the table in front of them and analysed the cards.

"Oh…" with a surprised look on her face, she turned her head towards Emma who was sitting next to her. "We are playing cards against humanity?!?"

"Yeah? Can't handle it?" Emma smiled a thin condescending smile.

"Oh, you are on!"

Laura, who was now returned to her normal state, sat on another nearby sofa, and looked at the cards.

Alice and Rebecca exchanged confused glances at one another.

They were baffled by the situation before them.

The world, the universe, the multiverse could have ended any moment. Millions could have died. So, how can these people return to normalcy so quickly?

Alice found it hard to believe.