The situation didn't sit right with me. And even though I had seized the opportunity, bringing this world into existence by using a simply incredible amount of energy and slightly altering the local rules in the process, this whole situation seemed too... Stupid? Strange? Ridiculous?
Judas took on Lucifer's form and waltzed into Heaven? Why? Surely he didn't think he'd succeed? One might assume he was playing the role of a decoy—to lure me out of Heaven while Eve and her allies attacked it, but... My Death Starlet had a bunch of monitors directly connected to drones patrolling Heaven and Hell, and there was nothing. Nothing happened after our battle, except that Lute woke the girls up, rationally assessing that my disappearance wasn't accidental... So why did Judas come after all? He even asked about Lilith... Ugh, my brain is melting...
And, of course, the words about Judas's wife haunt me... There's not a hint of her existence in my memory, but in that bastard's eyes was the fire of vengeance, so familiar to me from my past life. I'll remember that look forever, because I used to see that same flame in the mirror every day...
Alright, let's consider it over for now. An emergency meeting... On the one hand, it's necessary, of course, but on the other—what for? To announce that another bastard sent by Eve infiltrated us? The Seraphim have already checked and updated the barriers a hundred times over as best they could. They can't block Eve's concept of Shadow, and it's not difficult for her to transport a thousand creatures of Darkness to Heaven. So what's the point of an emergency meeting? Just to stir up pointless panic? Fine, I have to go in the morning anyway, so the esteemed Seraphim can remain in the dark for a few more hours...
When I was forming the world, a very significant amount of energy went into adding an advantage for myself, on top of the usual bond between a world and its creator. Time in the human world moves ten times slower than in Heaven or Hell—that's a well-known fact, and quite a convenient one, by the way. At first, I wanted to do something similar, so that a year in Heaven would be a decade in my world, but that's too inconvenient for some situations. So, at great expense, I added the ability to speed up or slow down time in this entire world. I think I deserve a couple of hours of sleep, passing in mere minutes "outside." This battle was just too... exhausting...
The Space Between Worlds.
"It's not fair!" For hours now, the girl, cutely puffing out her cheeks, had been yelling at the man with clear resentment in her voice. "He's supposed to be mine! And because of you, he's killing my horsemen! It's not fair!"
"We've discussed this many times..." Sighing, the man covered his face with his hand. He was thoroughly tired of talks about their creation, especially the moments when Ruu started inventing additional "rules" or blaming him for something. "Adam is a big boy and has the right to decide his own actions."
"It's not fair!" Ruu protested again, turning to the man. "He had a black soul, soaked in Darkness and deaths! You did something to make him just like you!"
"You were watching him, you would have noticed my interference! And he's not 'just like me'!" The man's eye started to twitch. Ruu was very energetic and... Very annoying. The man couldn't lie about that, even in his thoughts. "And anyway, you're the one who started this crap with creating your 'horsemen,' and I didn't say a word against it. But when your latest 'brilliant' plan to 'one-up' me failed, I'm the one to blame! Again!"
"Hmph!" The girl turned away, offended. There it was again. Now he'd have to wait about five minutes for her to burst again...
The man covered his eyes with his palm. This eternal battle between Light and Darkness had long since lost the passion it once held between them. Before, he, God, had sincerely despised her, just as he despised the Darkness. He despised it and tried with all his might to destroy the interference meddling in his affairs. Ruu responded with sincere hatred and the very same attempts to destroy his worlds, the Light, and him himself.
Many worlds fell in their confrontation. Many souls were eternally defiled by Darkness or completely purified by Light, stripped of all their shells and reduced to the state of a simple, indestructible core. Such was the result of their battle—a battle of two Demiurges, each sincerely believing they were right. And only in the last ten thousand years had they finally grown tired of it all, deciding to settle once and for all who was truly right and what was more important: Darkness or Light.
And now, watching as their "child" calmly existed, combining both Light and Darkness within himself while remaining himself, God was forced to admit that Darkness doesn't always infect the consciousness. Similar cases had happened before, many times, but in those creations, no Light remained. And God had no power over completely Dark beings, so he considered "good" spawn of Darkness to be nothing more than skillful liars, capable of deceiving even him...
"And anyway, it wasn't fair to create the Seraphim first, and only then unleash my Darkness!" Not even five minutes had passed, and Ruu was starting on this topic again... Oh, Light, give me strength...
The nameless world, born a few hours ago.
Phew, well, sleep really did help me pull myself together. Though I had a strange dream... can't even remember what it was about, but I remember it was strange... Oh well, to hell with it.
By the way, now that the world has finally materialized, calling it a "pocket" dimension isn't right anymore. Call it the Abyss? But I only planned to set aside one planet for that purpose, and being the owner of the Abyss... I'm not Abaddon, after all!
Alright, a name for the world is very important, of course, but things are waiting for me.
The portal to Heaven opened with a slight push. Strange, probably because the world materialized?
Judging by what I managed to see before sleeping, Lute decided to sound a drill alarm just in case, so the exorcists were almost all awake, and the entire high command of the Heavenly Army had already gathered at headquarters.
"Adam?" Upon my arrival, weapons were immediately pointed at me—a spear (Dimitri) and multiple "blasters" (everyone else). "You're finally back!" Lute, not the least bit embarrassed by the others' stares, was in my arms at the speed of light.
"Yes, I'm back," I smile involuntarily, stroking my beauty. "I see you're already aware that something happened a couple of hours ago, aren't you?"
"Well... in general terms," Abel nodded. "Someone infiltrated Heaven, then showed up at your place. One of the drone's cameras managed to record you attacking him, after which you transported somewhere." Aha, so they even managed to dig up a recording from somewhere. Good job, that's good.
"Yes, it was Judas," I say, sitting on a chair and pulling Lute onto my lap.
"But isn't he... kaput?" George asked, making a slicing motion at his neck.
"As you can see, not kaput. Moreover, that bastard possessed a ridiculously nasty concept—Hunger. He devoured every attack I sent at him and replenished his strength with them..."
"Fuck, and how many more of these 'comrades' are we going to meet?" Gera couldn't take it. "If you're saying that scum 'devoured' even your Light, then what are we supposed to do?"
"According to the legend circulating in the human world, at the end of times, before the 'Celestial Judgment' of all humanity, four Horsemen of the Apocalypse will arrive on Earth—Hunger, Pestilence, War, and..."
"And Death," I supported Jeanne. "By the way, I have no idea where that legend comes from..." I nod at the end.
"Same as usual, they picked up this bullshit from some cults. You go ahead and believe them," Gera waved his hand dismissively, then hissed as he received a sharp elbow jab from his wife.
"Even if that's not the case, we need to prepare for the worst. If Eve has gathered not only fallen cherubim around her, but also some kind of elite squad..." Abel trailed off.
"Then we're all fucked," George finished for him. "Ow! What was that for this time?"
"For swearing," Jeanne stuck her tongue out at him.
"Stop bickering," the spearman sighed. "Adam, how strong was the enemy?"
"Seraphim-level, multiplied by incredible durability and a very nasty concept. In a one-on-one fight, I would win 4 out of 5 times. To destroy him outright, I had to try hard, because I was afraid he might escape," I admit honestly to my comrades.
"So we could have three more powerhouses like that as enemies?" Jacob exhaled.
"At least," Abel confirmed. "Any ideas on how to beat them?"
"I'm afraid nothing of Heaven might be left. I have an idea about creating portable barrier-spaces that can't be escaped, so the battle doesn't affect Heaven or any other world, and so the enemy can't flee."
"We'll have to ask Saraqael about that," Abel nodded. "Find out if you can, please."
"Mhm," I nod in response. "Also, think about how to evacuate the angels and cherubim. If such a barrier doesn't hold, the losses will be colossal."
"Yeah, that's obvious," Gera interrupted me. "But what do we do about them? Our only allies are the damn demons, who can't be trusted themselves. The Seraphim can't enter the battle, or we'll just have more enemies. And all we can do is hold them in place..."
"Lucifer will help us. And his wife. They are the strongest I know, so you'll have to trust that grinning idiot. While they distract one, and you all the second, I'll somehow deal with Eve... Probably..."
The plan is shit, and frankly, it reeks of insanity. If before I was hoping to purify all the fallen cherubim while Eve was busy with my comrades, now my maximum is to kill them all... I simply won't be able to purify that many—I won't have the concentration or the time...
"That sounds very..." Abel started, trailing off at the end.
"Shitty," Gera interrupted him again. "It sounds very shitty, and it looks just as bad. Trusting the fucking Lord of Hell is idiotic, but for Heaven's sake, it's worth a try... But what if there aren't three, but four? Five? What if Darkness subordinates a fallen Seraph? This plan is complete bullshit, and our strength isn't enough to stop Eve. The Seraphim, dammit, have to intervene!"
"You're right, of course, but... The Seraphim are too vulnerable to Darkness. Darkness affects them differently than it does us. Sending them into battle is a sure-fire way to get another super-strong enemy." I scratch the back of my head, thinking about possible options. Protection from Darkness simply doesn't work on the Seraphim. Lucifer and I spent many hours thinking about something similar, but we didn't dare risk experimenting on one of the Seraphim, because even the tests showed the protection was completely useless. The Darkness reacted too strongly to the pure Light within these beings.
"..." Silence hung in the hall.
"Lucifer, the Exorcists, the Seraphim, the Deadly Sins. If we bring in all forces, we might be able to hold four of them while I deal with Eve. There's a risk, but there are no other options. It's impossible to strengthen anyone; I've already asked our 'rulers' about it many times, and even my own enhancement was an anomaly, according to them. The only option is to act with what we have. We can't create or find other strong beings... We could, of course, turn to the Goetia or representatives of the Celestial Court, but both are too weak. I'm not even sure about the Sins anymore, and those guys will just die in droves for every second of battle against such monsters."
"Alright, so we need to think about how such a small contingent can defeat super-strong entities. The plan of action is clear. Shall we begin?" Abel's voice broke the silence. He's a good guy, really. If something happens to me, I wouldn't be afraid to leave everything to him...
Phew, we discussed options until morning, and I recounted Judas's abilities and strength, asking at the same time if he had a wife. Every single one of them said they had never heard anything of the sort... The strangeness of his motivation pricked at my conscience, but I had no way of finding out the truth just yet...
In short, our only hope at the moment is that we won't have many enemies on that level. And the possible concept of Death worries me a lot... If Sera, a being of Light, can use it to destroy all the other Seraphim, then how are the guys going to hold back a creature of Darkness that possesses that very same concept?
I transported myself to the location of today's meeting, wondering where to start. Talking about the attack seems more important, so it's better to start with that. I'll explain my plan with redemption, creating a new "filter," and an Abyss for sinners after. This all looks too shitty to leave for later.
"Adam, I'm glad you've arrived," Sera's voice greeted me as soon as I entered the hall. "Honestly, we can't wait to hear your idea."
"One second," I interrupt her. "Something happened last night, more important than all my ideas." I scan the Seraphim, many of whom grimaced, while Emily blushed slightly and looked away... "An intruder infiltrated Heaven. Taking on Lucifer's form, he tried to find out where Lilith is now. I transported him to my 'pocket dimension' and engaged him in battle. It was Judas, and he was incredibly strong, absorbing any attack with the concept of Hunger. I won. He's dead. But while we were previously preparing for one strong opponent, now there might be at least three more." The story had the effect of an exploding bomb—a discussion erupted. The Seraphim were interested in the details: was it really Judas, his attacks, strength, skills, and the specifics of his concept, how the fight went, and so on. Deciding not to hide anything, I honestly answered all questions, trying to give the most detailed response possible, and this dragged on for half an hour until the Seraphim had found out everything they could.
"So, to summarize," Sera finally spoke when her brethren had no more questions. "Judas penetrated all the barriers. He knew you had a good relationship with Lucifer, but for some reason, he decided they had started letting him into Heaven again, and using this knowledge, he tried to find out Lilith's exact location from you. And when you exposed him, he attacked you without the slightest fear, correct?"
"Yes. Though I'm not sure where he got that knowledge, or why he thought it would work at all."
"You said that you sometimes trained with Lucifer in that 'pocket dimension'?" Emily interjected.
"'You' (singular), not 'you' (plural)," I correct her for what feels like the tenth time. "Yes, we couldn't bother anyone there, so we trained and practiced different skills there." I nod.
"The eyes located in Hell... they can transmit what they see to Eve, can't they? Or am I mistaken?" the young Seraph suggested timidly.
"Something like that..." Saraqael says thoughtfully, stroking his chin. "Does that mean that after learning about your good relationship and noticing you disappearing from Hell, Eve assumed you were transporting to Heaven to train?" the engineer guessed.
"It's possible," I nod. "In that case, she might not know about Judas's death yet. But what does that give us?"
"It gives us the opportunity to feed her disinformation through those very eyes," Michael says. "If we had even the slightest clue about Eve's specific location, we could send someone in the guise of Judas, but that's too risky, and we don't have that kind of knowledge..."
"I'm more interested in how we're going to counter potential enemies if they possess similar power," Sera continues. "Adam, do you think the Deadly Sins or Lucifer could really help in a battle against such foes?"
"The Deadly Sins could only hold them, and they'd have to act all together... Maybe the legions of Hell Spirits could hold them for a short time, but I doubt it... Lucifer, with Lilith's support, can definitely hold one, but that's it..." I answer honestly, trying to assess the potential enemies and allies.
"So, with the most optimistic assessment, we can defeat two on our own, and another two with Hell's support?" Raphael asks.
"Something like that," I nod.
"The Seraphim cannot enter the battle directly, but they can provide support," Sera interjects. "I think together we could hold one, but..."
"But you can't kill him," I sigh. The damn influence of Darkness on God's children! If it weren't for that, I would have kicked them to the front lines long ago!
"We can." In the ensuing silence, Michael's voice sounded unexpectedly loud. "I could... join the battle."
"What do you mean, Michael?" The leader of the Seraphim furrowed her brows.
"I haven't told you about this, because of Adam's news, but... Last night, I finally managed to unlock a second Concept..."
The Seraph's words hung in the air, making my heart first stop, then start beating with incredible speed. Are we really going to have another Seraph?
"Michael, is this..."
"It's true. For all these millennia, I've been trying to find a way for us to counter the Darkness and demons, and finally... Here..." Raising his palm, the Seraph formed a small cloud of Light, which brightened a moment later, becoming something like Purity... Not exactly, but judging by the feeling, this concept can protect from Darkness... "Purification..."