(Anime/Manga Fanfiction) [Various] Throne of God (29) + Extra Chapter
Chapter Twenty-Nine
After Samael returned to the Crystal Heaven to report, God did not blame the Seraphim for Joyce being rescued by the demon, but simply told him to go back and recover from his injuries.
Samael didn't intend to let the other angels know about his injuries. After all, he hadn't eliminated the fallen angel and had fallen into the demon's trap, so the Archangel wouldn't want to reveal such a shameful thing. However, there were quite a few Seraphim who frequently came to the Fifth Heaven to "make a cameo," such as Belial, who liked to wander around the prison under the guise of visiting, occasionally secretly handing Prince Lucifer a glass of water.
Before the Archangel returned from reporting to the Grand Cathedral, Belial had searched through all the prison cells. Prince Lucifer's absence probably meant that the Father had been spared punishment, but Gabriel's absence was unusual; her punishment wouldn't be accepted so quickly, and only a few days had passed.
By the time the Seraphim returned, an afternoon had passed. Belial, filled with unease, waited for him in the palace. Gabriel's disappearance and Lucifer's sudden release both seemed strange. Entering his palace, where he served as warden, Samael was too exhausted to speak before Belial grabbed his wrist and dragged him to his bedchamber in the rear hall.
Upon discovering the lingering dark power on his friend, Belial, already tense, immediately thought, "Oh no, oh no! Could Samael have been implicated by the fallen angels?" Completely paranoid about the fallen angels, Belial didn't hesitate to pull Samael to a quiet, secluded bedchamber. He wouldn't let Samael leave until he found something amiss.
Belial couldn't imagine the suffering he and the other Seraphim would endure if even Samael had fallen, even if it meant divine punishment. If he could purify the darkness within Samael, he would ensure the other angels wouldn't discover his condition.
The agitated Archangel slammed the palace door shut. Knowing no angel would dare trespass, he didn't hesitate to check it himself.
This time, no reason Samael gave was acceptable. His sensitivity to energy was far superior to the other Seraphim, allowing him to detect the intrusion immediately. However, this didn't mean the other Seraphim couldn't see it. Belial had reason to believe that if the Archangel discovered him, he would be forced into the temple to beg for forgiveness.
"Wait! What are you doing!"
Pressed against the wall, his shoulder firmly held down by Belial's right hand, Samael stared in astonishment at the man's anxious eyes. The man's eyes were filled with worry and fear. No one could doubt the genuine affection an angel showed for their comrade at that moment, which made Samael lower his guard.
But…
The man's handsome, cold face darkened. He struggled briefly before his hands were restrained, preventing the use of the Spear of Judgment. Belial used his knee to pin down his legs.
"Samael, you still dare to ask me? I know you're tainted with dark power, do you want to fall too?!"
A moment later, the angel's body was touched and changed. Samael, held hostage by his companion, was enraged, and Belial was also impatient with his resistance. His light blue eyes glared at the other, and he pinched Samael's most sensitive spot, waist. He was satisfied to see the other's face contort for a second. It was just a check, why such distrust?
The wound on his waist, pinched through his robes, immediately reopened where the bleeding had just stopped. This time, Samael unleashed his power to attack Belial without restraint. The surging holy power of light tore grotesque marks across the ground. The Archangel of Power, caught off guard, took a few steps back, his gaze lingering on Samael's wet waist before he silently raised his head… awkwardly meeting the anger in Belial's eyes.
The Archangel, his brow furrowed, pressed his hand to his wound. Golden blood flowed, the warm liquid trickling from his waist down to his thigh. The numbness and sharp pain combined to create an unbearable sensation.
Samael stared coldly at Belial, then walked silently towards his study in his palace. Now that his injury had been seen, he needed to apply medicine as soon as possible. The holy light Belial was gathering in his palm had triggered a backlash from the dark power clinging to the wound.
"Samael, how did you get injured? Fallen angels aren't this powerful!"
Blinking, Belial quickly forgot his earlier guilt and followed, determined to get to the bottom of things.
Were Belial and Samael really that close? Usually, they seemed only average…
God watched this scene in the angelic prison with a strange feeling. It seemed… Belial's attitude towards Samael was too enthusiastic, somewhat like Samael's usual feelings towards Gabriel, yet it couldn't be denied that it wasn't the concern between comrades. Confusion flickered in his golden eyes. The silver-haired god, seated on his throne, averted his gaze, no longer paying attention to the affairs of the Fifth Heaven.
Why, since his ascension to godhood, had all the emotions he once understood vanished? A god's grasp of emotions could only be perceived through divine sense, as if a barrier separated them from these seven emotions and six desires. He could see their thoughts and feelings clearly, but could not analyze their origins.
Forget it, he wouldn't think about these things that were irrelevant to him. Whether or not he felt emotions was unimportant.
With a sweep of his hand in the void, dazzling divine power traced patterns in the air. A concave circular space revealed the lower realm of Hell, its somber and bitter aura overwhelming. God gazed at Hell silently; this was perhaps the first time he had truly observed the Hell of this world. Beside this circular concave space, Jehovah opened windows to Heaven and the mortal realm, three windows revealing different worlds, all part of the main world.
The mortal realm is primarily inhabited by elves and dragons. Towering ancient trees and towering mountains and deep valleys are common sights. Dragons soar freely through the skies, elves leap gracefully from branch to branch, and elegant buildings nestle in hidden forests and canyons. Countless unawakened creatures live peacefully here; the absence of humans creates an unbelievably peaceful world.
But Hell is different. It can't even compare to the mortal realm in terms of prosperity, let alone Heaven. Survival is a challenge for most demons here.
Low-ranking demons struggle to survive in the barren upper levels of Hell. Newborn demons without the protection of elders face the risk of being eaten. Trees, reeking of blood, take root in this arid land, their dark leaves stretching towards the Hellish Moon, absorbing every precious ounce of power.
The sky here is gray; all light comes from the Hellish Moon hanging overhead. The wind is cold, carrying the sulfurous stench of flowing lava. Everything was dark and chilling, devoid of any hope or light—the environment God abhorred most.
Even in the mortal realm, God would occasionally venture out to admire the scenery, but Hell… what was a god of light supposed to see?!
His gaze fixed on Hell, roughly surveying each layer of space, before settling on the very bottom of the nine layers—the Abyss of Chaos. It was the only place in the endless darkness to flicker with a glimmer of light, as if light had been born from the extreme, but in this world, there was no such thing as yin giving rise to yang; the opposition of light and darkness existed even before creation.
All the darkness could not hinder God. Upon closer inspection, he noticed a tear he himself had shed. Jehovah reached out towards the spot, wanting to retrieve the tear that had condensed into a gem; how could he leave his things behind in Hell?
Before his fingers could even touch the golden crystal, it gently rejected him.
"This mercy and sacrifice... this is my way of dealing with darkness and original sin? Do you intend to guard Hell?"
Jehovah paused, a flicker of melancholy crossing his eyes at the emotional fluctuations he sensed in the crystal. How long ago had he treated light and darkness as equals? Humans without faith, what did they care about light or darkness? When he tempered his soul in the Realm of Light, he had wondered... what he would do if he became a creator god, but the answer was always the same.
Back then, no matter how he guessed, he could never have imagined his current state of mind, yet he seemed to have solidified one thing: to become a supreme god no less than the one revered in later generations.
"Am I too concerned with the difference between light and darkness?"
The ethereal murmur escaped the creator god's lips. For the first time, a wavering appeared in his pure, flawless golden eyes. Jehovah's long, slender brows furrowed slightly. He rose and slowly descended from his throne, arriving at the entrance of the Great Cathedral.
The pure white and sanctity of Heaven were perfectly displayed in the Crystal Heaven, the ultimate light showcasing ultimate color. With an arm resting on the lintel of the magnificent palace, the deity gazed with innocent eyes at the scenery outside the Great Cathedral. The air seemed to be filled with a beautiful aura, the waters of the sacred pool murmuring softly. Yet God simply looked at Heaven, seemingly lost in an unusual silence.
"Even though... I haven't stepped out of the palace, it turns out my mindset still affects the world."
The outside world was just a step away, yet God stopped there. The silent Great Cathedral and the peaceful Crystal Heaven formed a stark contrast. Jehovah suddenly felt uneasy, his fingers digging into the metal of the door, as if he had given so much, yet was accused of giving too little.
Whose fault was this? It was simply that the deity's will was too strong. Even a simple preference could make Heaven's power grow stronger, thus making Hell even more oppressed. Sometimes, he couldn't even think about it; sometimes, he couldn't even express his feelings. He was a god… representing the ultimate justice of the world, how could he be biased towards the light?
Just then, Samael in the Fifth Heaven was also persuaded by Belial and planned to gather some companions to go to Hell to regain face, after all, this time he had truly disgraced the angels.
Samael stood at the prison gate waiting for his companions. A few minutes later, Belial successfully pulled Asmodeus out of Heaven.
Their figures were right before his eyes. How could God not know what they were planning to do? But their actions would affect Heaven's future. Even if it was just a momentary act of power, they shouldn't go to Hell. But… the words he wanted to say to stop them were swallowed back down.
The divide between angels and demons had already been created. Isidore's feelings for Joyce clearly demonstrated the abyss demons' view of angels. Jehovah was powerless to mediate their feud. Since mediation was impossible… he had to face the consequences of his own actions.