⚠️ Warning:The following chapter may contain explicit descriptions and sensitivethemes for some readers. The author does not seek shock value 😶🌫️,but to portray these subjects with respect.Reader discretion is advised. 🕯️
✍️ Author's Note:I might be a bit busy these days, so I ask for your understandingif updates take a little longer ⏳.I'll try to keep publishing once or twice a week and stay asconsistent as possible.Thank you for your patience. 🙏💬
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The jungle of Yunnan stretched wide and gleaming beneath the heatof midday.
The air smelled of wet earth and freshly cut leaves, while theceaseless hum of insects filled every corner.
As we descended into a vast hollow wrapped in trees and pillars ofstone, the scenery began to shift: everything seemed to revolvearound an ancient tomb, raised in the same place where the hiddenforest had once stood.
That forest—the one now found in Vermont—had existed here nearlytwo thousand years ago. All that remained of it was the echo ofits memory.
Among the silent hills and tangled vegetation, the place seemed tohold its breath.
In the distance, upon a rise, a dark figure could be seen: theshadow of a man moved slowly, pushing aside vines and branchesthat hung like living curtains.
It wasn't the first time that silhouette had appeared in thisplace; it was a presence the forest itself seemed to remember.
He knew he wasn't far from where the Confined Forest had oncestood.
Now, only old trees remained—dry roots and a silence that seemedto watch him.
The air began to thicken, as if the entire jungle held somethingmore than life within it.
There were things happening both in the spiritual world and in thephysical one.
Was it strange? Perhaps.
Because that shadow—the same one that had struck nearly twothousand years ago—was once again standing before the Well ofJudgment.
For a moment, he paused. Then, slowly, he brought his handsto his face.
And he began to pull.
His face peeled away little by little, as if the flesh surrenderedto its own will. The veins that held it gave way, and when thatmask fell to the ground, the man did not bleed.
Beneath it was not skin, but a vivid, intense red, pulsing as ifit were breathing. It did not appear to writhe in pain; rather, itwas as if his body understood the process.
From that bare flesh, new tissues began to form, and withinseconds, from the open matter, a different face emerged.
The Well of Judgment loomed before him, the very place wherean innocent was chained.
The angels did not intervene; doing so would have meant actingagainst the divine.
That entity was Frollam.
He could not be called a human, yet neither a man.
Though he had flesh and bones, his essence went beyond allunderstanding.
His power was such that even the angels considered him a threat.
Could this be a form of rebellion against God?
Frollam stood in front of the tomb, observing in silence.
Then he said:
"I have tried to open this place more than once… and I neversucceeded.It is against divine restriction to do so.But after understanding the angels, I have a faint notion ofhow to do it."
Then, the voices of the demons lingering in the area began to rise.
The place that had once been the Confined Forest was nowcorrupted, saturated by a demonic presence that crawled amongthe roots.
The forest itself had been a spiritual being that had resided there.It had been displaced, but the Well remained intact.
And beneath its silence, something ancient seemed to awaken.
The voices surrounded him and said:
"Why are you going to release him?"
Other voices mingled with the first:
"Are we not supposed to care about the blood of the Nephilim?"
"We could get, at least, some of their bones."
"We could show you their tombs… but we do not know if itwill serve any purpose."
"We do not understand what you intend to do."
"We have knowledge spanning millennia, but this time not evena notion of what you seek."
"Do you want to revive the Nephilim to challenge God?"
"What do you hope to achieve with him?"
To which Frollam replied:
"You have investigated the saints, haven't you?"
The demon Heshin answered:
"Yes, I have investigated them."
"But God does not allow me to know beyond the fact thatthey are chosen. I know what they possess and the limitsof their capacity… but nothing more."
"We have not been allowed to know anything, neither in theheavens nor on earth. We only know that that lunaticGalton continues collecting them."
Then, Frollam said:
"I know. I was not interested in Galton's matter for long.However, I have been thinking…"
Maybe there is an answer in his immortality.
The demons began murmuring among themselves:
"But it is a divine immortality.You cannot adapt it to your body."
To which Frollam replied coldly:
"Yes, I can do it."
"And there is a way to achieve it.I will send his own son."
The demons stared at him, horrified.
"Frollam… what you are trying to tell us is…?"
Frollam responded:
"Yes."
"A bet that if I wake Zaziel, he will go after Galton.I'm sure of it."
"And if he goes after him, only two things can happen:either he kills him… or they reconcile. And both benefit me."
"But what I need," Frollam said, "is for Zaziel to come closeenough. If he kills him, fine… I will be able to analyze his body."
"Although I don't think he will. Galton is too powerful to die atthe hands of his own son."
"But if it were to happen, I would still benefit. I could study hisbody and find a way to mimic divine immortality."
To which the demons replied:
"We can give you all kinds of immortalities,but none would stand against a comical war."
"Are you sure that's what you want to do?"
Frollam stepped closer to the center of the well and set his handson three specific points, where small stone openings could be seen.
Then he said:
"I know you are afraid."
"It's not that you don't know what might happen… you are terrified."
"And I understand."
"But tell me one thing: if you are not on my side,why have you followed me all this time?"
"Why did you give me the staff?"
"Why did you free me in the first place?"
"Are you going to chicken out now, after all this?"
The demonic voices roared, furious:
"How dare you speak to us like that?"
"We have allowed you many things, but this is too much."
"You could endanger the balance of the cosmos!"
"You could destroy the order of the universe!"
"We only want freedom."
To which Frollam replied in a firm voice:
"The freedom one seeks is earned by destroying what was once createdto maintain order within the boundaries God imposed."
"If you are not with me, then you love the order He established."
"And if you love that order, then you are no angels—even denying it, you remain faithful to God."
The demons began to shout. Frollam spoke calmly:
"If you stand against God for a reason,it is because you still believe there is a chance."
"I believe that too…and if we must seize it, it will be through this."
"Do you think mountains are just stable stones?"
"Mountains were built stone by stone,from the depths of the earth to their peaks."
"Nothing was born by chance.Everything was made with a purpose—and that which holds it up is what I have been buildingfor the past two thousand years."
"If you will not believe in me,then it's best that you step aside."
"I will do this alone.And only those who wish to stay with me shall remain."
The demons tried to stop him, attacking with fury.But other demons rose to face them,preventing them from reaching him.
A small battle broke out among them,amid chaos and fire.
Then Heshin shouted:
"Open that well!"
"Let's see how far you can go with that philosophy!"
"But remember this—Hell has never been divided,not until you arrived."
"If you provoke another judgment—like that of Adam and Eve—we assure you, man, this time we will not come out alive."
"I want freedom.And if to obtain it you must do this…then, for the first time, I will believe in humanity."
To which Frollam calmly replied:
"Do not believe in humanity."
"Believe me."
"Because I am not humanity.If I were, I would be beneath God's yoke.And I am under no one's yoke."
At that instant, the well opened.
He recalled—nothing more—that this had happened before: in 1946the angels he had captured were held for barely three months, andthen other angels came and freed them.
Now, in 1963, he only remembered those three months; nothing more.
But those three months were more than enough to understand how theangels worked.
Frollam thought:
"I have been studying them all this time…and I have realized that angels are almost like us,although made of a different substance."
"Their substance does not belong to this world or any other."
"We were created from earth and clay,but they… from something intangible."
"The only way to capture an angel is not through flesh,but by means of divine forces."
"Calling on the fallen of the desert was the best decision."
"Otherwise, I would never have captured a cherub or a seraph."
"Yet that does not make them invincible.Angels have a weakness: to defeat a spirit,you need a stronger spirit."
"And to kill a human, it is enough to aim well at a vital organ."
He began to recall why he did all this, what motivated him to act.
"We can be destroyed in many ways, because we were not trained forwar."
"But if we modify everything we are so we can enter it, then wewill enter."
"And if, to enter the war, it is necessary to become somethinglike an angel, then so be it… because God's plane can still be destroyed."
"If it is true that angels have a structure, then God must also have one."
"Only time will tell."
"And the safest path I can reach is through the angels."
"Angels can also die."
"And if they can die, that means that in the celestial warthere were angels who fell as well."
"Only those who survived had the choice to go to the abyss or to heaven."
"Now I understand why no one knows, nor are there records,of that war."
"Besides having occurred almost at the same time as the creationof humanity, that means there were not many witnesses."
"If a third of the angels was thrown into the abyss,that means that at least that third is all that remained of them."
"Which implies that many more must have rebelled."
"And if we consider what has been written before,then I can understand why God did not favor the angels rebelling."
"Because if the angels rebelled, adding the giftsof creation granted to the saints, that meant theycould create their own worlds, manipulating the matteralready existing in the universe."
"And if that is so, then it means that, with that samepower, we too can rebel."
"I must make Zaziel find Galton, so he can show mehow the gift of creation works… and how his immortality operates."
"That way, I will be one step closer to rebellion."
"If God allows all this, it is either because He does not controleverything, or because He needs help to do so."
"And perhaps therein lies the true purpose of the angels."
"There were several Gardens of Eden, one on almost every continent.Humanity was not born from a single man and a single woman,but from many. And all fell, as was to be expected."
"Because when you understand that you can go beyond what is allowed,you realize that everything can be yours, even that which was never made for you."
"But if the Creator allows it, that means He knows what I am doing.And if He knows, then I don't have much time left to act."
"I must move now."
Speaking aloud, he said:
"Because God's times are supposed to be perfect."
"So I will become perfect…to be able to say that my times are my times."
The pit opened.
Curiously, it resembled a hollow pumpkin.
Stalactites could be seen holding Zaziel's bodyby his arms and legs.
It was something never seen before.
Frollam stood impressed as he observed it, and in silence,commented:
"Incredible… so his father is so sadistic that he keeps his son alivefor almost all eternity in this pit. And it seems he is in an inert state."
"No problem, Zaziel." —Frollam descended from the stalactite—."You always appealed to me."
"So I am going to wake you."
"You're still as impressive as I remembered."
"I admit I missed you… brother."
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While all this was happening, Galton and Helena were on the hill.
Helena had heard everything Galton said,but she didn't understand a thing, even though he spoke clearly.
Then Galton said:
"God has sent all of us here."
"God is the way, the truth, and the life."
"Everything that exists here is pure balance."
"Everything in the universe, everything that shines in the stars… is balance."
"And from that balance also depend the gifts we possess."
"The gifts of creation, as I mentioned before, are the power angels possess."
"If God granted that to humanity, it means something is happening...something that could endanger everyone."
"I don't know if it's related to the instability of the spiritual world,but if it is, then we must prepare ourselves, Helena."
"And the best way to do that is for you to help me."
"I want you to understand something, Helena...There are more Saints. You are the fifth Saint."
"The other Saints are in Vermont.So all you need to do is follow my instructions."
"I have a slight hope that we won't need to fully unleash your divine power.Just enough to awaken him..."
"So that he won't be a burden across the continents we'll travel,and that he'll be strong enough to protect the Saint of Iceuntil I return."
Helena asked, confused:
"No… I still don't understand.
First, you tell me that my mom and dad are dead.
Second, you're telling me—technically—that I'm some kind of chosen one.
Third, I still don't understand this concept of the Saint of Light.
But what I can somewhat graspis that thing about the gift of creation,because I've seen you do it."
"I don't know how you made that tree fall.
I don't understand how you did it.
You hit it, I think, and it just collapsed.
I'm not understanding any of this."
"Aren't saints supposed to be statues?Didn't God already put an end to all that chosen stuff?"
To which Galton replied:
"I don't know God's plans.But if there's one thing I can say,it's that maybe humans misinterpret prophecies…and also the events that happened.
It could be a mix of both."
"What bothers me most—and what I don't understand—is why God says this has nothing to do with the Saints.It doesn't make sense."
"Either way, I can't leave you like this.So you'll have to train."
"We'll stay on this hill for a while, Helena."
"—What?" Helena asked, surprised.
"—Yes," said Galton."We'll stay here and I'll help you awaken your divine gift."
"The best way to do it is through stress.I'll have to push your body to its limits.We'll be here five months."
Helena shouted in exasperation:
"—Five months!?"
Galton sighed.
"—Yes, Helena.—Five months.—I think it will be enough to teach you the basics."
"Although… I have just reconsidered," he added, thoughtful."Despite saying five months, it may take us three years.Three years if we move fast."
"The truth is, Helena, I can't do this all alone.So I must advance with you as quickly as possible."
"Because, although with Jack it took me twenty years…maybe that explains why he became so violent."
"Jack lacks harmony."
"The Saint of Fire lacks balance, lacks foundations."
"And that's because, now that I think about it,time in Vermont doesn't flow the same as here."
"The Confined Forest responds to the spirit."
"We could say it was twenty years… or maybe only one."
"If what we did can even be called training.In reality, it was only endurance."
"And I think I damaged him instead of helping him."
"That wasn't the idea."
"The idea was to strengthen him as much as possible."
"I must admit I was too hard on him…I don't want to admit it, but… the idea that he was the Saint of Firemade me hate him; I think deep down I only looked for an excuseto kill him."
"It hurt to think that my son wasn't the saint, but an orphan froma forgotten land was more fit than my son."
"But all right," he finally said.
"—Helena, what we have to do now is begin with endurance.So… take the machete out of your pack.We're going to cut that log and put it on your shoulders.Move."
Helena, incredulous, looked at him and said:
"—What are you talking about?"
"—You're not listening, girl!" Galton shouted."The rest is over. Move!"
"—Yes…" Helena answered, resigned.
Galton thought to himself:
"I have to be kinder to this girl.If I train her like the others, it could take too long…and we don't have time.What I'm doing is a risky maneuver,but if it means we can speed up her training, then so be it.Because now I have no other options."