Author's note: You guys have no idea how much I had to restrain myself from writing a Resident Evil Village fanfic. Heck, my dumb-dum brain even thought of what I want to write.
Which is Ethan Winters, while trying to save his daugher become more and more disorted and monstrous while trying to save his daugher.
Another note: Don't judge me too much in this chapter, as i just freaking can't make this chapter feel the way i want it to be. I edited for over an hour and a half with no worthy result.
Chapter 35
(Seventh heaven—God's throne)
God's throne, a throne that is akin to a symbol of absolute dominion over all of heaven and its subordinate factions. As the being who previously sat upon it was a being whose power reached the very ceiling of the world and whose knowledge was on a level that no other being, whether gods, devils, or dragons, could even begin to fathom. For that one was the one who laid the very foundation of magical craft and built the very roof over it, with no other contestant in the river of time even coming close to it.
Though to the other faction that has an extensive network or extremely strong prophetic abilities, there is no previous being who sat upon it, for the original one had only come back.
But to Moon, who sat upon the massive throne, it was nothing like what outside or even now angel subordinates assumed, as he was sure he was not God, nor was he in any way related to him.
At least he thinks so, though he might be wrong, as the dream, or a mirage that he had while unconscious, had a being a bit similar to it. But through the unknown instinct that he now gained, he was pretty sure that the being he dreamed of and the biblical god of this world are entirely different beings.
The one he dreamed of excluded an aura that compressed all creation, as if that being were a gigantic black hole that had existed from the beginning of time, unseen and inevitable, akin to how those living would one day die. For it did not matter if that being is an immortal or not, for death is a patient being.
But through the remnant that is still left on the throne, the biblical god of this world should have been akin to a sun, a burning star that has burned from ancient times to now with seemingly endless energy, but there was still a distant limit because Moon's instinct told him so.
Moon turned left to glance at Gabriel, who was standing beside the throne, along with a board and a chalk pack right beside her, as Gabriel was just recounting the events that happened while he was gone. Though she was only recounting the relationship of factions and some major events that happened in the supernatural world, as she was in charge of it for centuries upon centuries, while he was supposedly gone.
Though he would have liked to take his time and learn what he could, step by step, without any sort of rush. But the information that Michael revealed forced him to go into a learning frenzy, as Michael said that the devils knew that he, the Biblical God, was back. And other factions should know soon. So he, without even meeting anyone other than the four seraphs, went to the throne room, which is the seventh heaven, and started learning what he could, while giving each of the seraphs a certain time frame to give him reports. As he would like a certain viewpoint from the Seraphs.
After the first twelve hours with Michael, with Michael recounting the events that happened in church and heaven, it was now Gabriel's turn. And he was already eight hours into Gabriel's extremely detailed report that had a faint vibe of a lecture, though the tone and the words that she used were ones of great respect, and some small bits of nervousness were visible; it was as if he were a superior who was testing the abilities of his subordinate and was reviewing her past to determine if she did a good job or not.
Though, despite this, he didn't know the exact reason why she even brought a chalk and board in the first place, as they could just use Holy energy to draw on the air. Heck, she didn't even use it much, even though she brought it, as he could still see the diagram that she drew in the first hour.
But after almost twenty hours of nonstop reporting, with twelve hours with Michael and eight with Gabriel, along with using a few extra eyes to read several books that he had gotten from the library, Moon, despite his now inhumane brain capabilities, started feeling exhausted, though not due to physical exertion but mental, as he wasn't only recording the words that came out of Seraph's mouth and carving the words that the book he had read; Moon was also trying to piece together a whole picture, trying to weave a web of connection, cause, and effect through it, so after his mind started feeling sluggish and slow, he stopped Gabriel and rested for a long few minutes.
Minutes that he needed, as Moon felt his brain and mind rapidly recovering from the knowledge that was stuffed inside while he was digesting what he had gained. Though random thoughts found their place in his mind. Moon unconsciously turned his head to look at the Seraph who stood beside him.
Gabriel, an angel of the highest tier and the seraph in charge of foreign relations, had a beautiful face that was akin to a masterpiece of the highest degree, frozen into a serene smile as she stood still, akin to a stone statue, with her breathing in and out only once every thirty or so seconds; one might even mistake her for an enigma that was mind-crafted into existence, for she felt too perfect to be real, too beautiful to exist.
The only thing that showed that she was an angel and not a seemingly mirage that the mind created was the twelve massive wings that were behind her back and occasional nervousness when explaining some part that she probably assumed she had done something wrong.
Yet, despite this, Moon was sure that the woman who stood beside him, now on his throne, was an ancient being who lived for a very, very long time. And following that, she should have at least a matching amount of intelligence and wisdom.
At least Moon thinks so, but she, no, all of the Seraphs were now assuming he was their creator, even though he clearly stated that he was not the Biblical god, or any god for that matter. He even stated it twice, but they all just said they understood, and it did not matter, for he was still their father. Making Moon question their intelligence deeply. But after a few minutes of talk, he just gave up and accepted that he is now the Biblical God. After all, Seraphs assuming that he was God would only help him in his small goal of creating a perfect world. A perfect world with no sin, no pain, with everything dyed in the colors of white and yellow, as everything is pure and perfect.
Although in reality, it wasn't entirely Seraph's fault, as Moon, although weak, had matching concepts that the biblical God once had, which are creation, justice, and light. And Moon's body also had a similar structure to the [Heaven's core], the God's greatest creation.
Though the reason his similar body structure was all because [Heaven's core] was continuously sending in divine energy while collecting the changed ones to paste it over its decayed part. And because the divine energy had been inside [Heaven's core] for centuries, it gained a few of [Heaven's core] characteristics, which transferred to Moon during his critical evolution.
His form should have been quite a bit different, and his power lower if [Heaven's core] did not just do that. Though even if Moon knew, he wouldn't have minded much; after all, his power level is Peak Ultimate, instead of Low Ultimate after all. Though he would have been a bit annoyed if the reason that he had faces of some of the beings he devoured in his true form was also because of that.
He still felt some of them screaming in pain beneath his skin. Though it was noticeably getting fewer and fewer.
But Moon did not care.
The divine energy that [Heaven's core] had wasn't filtered enough, as it still had remnants of emotion and faith, and those emotions grabbed onto his form when he was evolving and prevented him from fully digesting the souls that were inside his body. As his body was forced to cleanse the emotions that came along with it.
"Gabriel," Moon said, calling out the name of the seraph who stood beside him.
Gabriel, who heard his voice, turned to him with a question mark appearing on top of her head. Looking for the reason her father had called her.
"Let's continue," Moon said, answering Gabriel's question.
(Gabriel)
Gabriel nodded with a soft smile as she walked a bit further and continued from where she left off, which is what happened to heaven in the fifteenth century, about two centuries after his supposed death.
"During that time, the relationship with other factions was at all times low, as Heaven was mostly blamed for the Great War, as Father, as you have, umm ... technically created all three factions. And the fallen angels and devils have been seen as a revolting branch of heaven to the other old supernatural factions because of their recent creation, so they ... heavily suppressed us." Gabriel explained, stopping at some parts to look at her father, though because he didn't have any expression or even skin for that matter, it was extremely difficult to gauge his mood or the face he was making, but nevertheless, she continued, though a bit nervous, as she was pretty sure that he was furious beyond reason, with only a paper-thin thing called patience being the only barrier.
"And during that time, we were almost finished purging all the spawns of that witch, Crimson Lily. The one who had a hand in your death." Gabriel gazed at her father closely as she told him the good news to see if he was happy that they had managed to finish off one of the main beings who had a hand in his ... almost death. But she couldn't see anything, so she continued with a bit of a slumped shoulder, not knowing if the good news was buried under the disappointment he probably felt towards them, specifically about the fact that they lost most of the authority and influence that they once had.
But still, she would continue. "After we finished off the last remnant of that witch's clan and family, the next fifty or so years we spent trying to protect what we had while also trying to restore the relationship that had worsened due to the ... sudden expansion we had before the Great War." She said, trying to soften the words that she was using. As she didn't want him to be ... angry.
As the original relationship they had with other supernatural factions in ancient times had worsened or flipped into a hostility due to the rapid expansion that Heaven had made just a few decades before the Great War. But during that time, they didn't care much; after all, they were the strongest faction in the world during that time. Not even counting the fact that they were still growing rapidly during that time, with all of the things that her father was creating.
Namely, [Heaven's core], [Sacred Gears], and the divine kingdom of her father, [Heaven].
Still, she continued explaining, revealing the secrets that Heaven would normally guard with the highest priority without care; after all, why would she ?.
And during the continuous report, her father would ask questions every few sentences to clarify some part or to confirm if the theory that he had created in his brain was true. And unsurprisingly, most of them hit right on the mark, just like how it should be.
ninth hour
tenth hour
eleventh hour
After eleven hours of continuous reports, Gabriel left. As she had revealed all that she could in the small time frame that she was given. And other unimportant events are recorded in the library.
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After that, it was Uriel, a seraph in charge of the military and combat aspect of heaven. The report that he presented was at first slow, and each word was possibly thought out with great thinking, possibly trying to sound respectful but without making it sound awkward, akin to a brute and cold soldier trying to use normal speech, but he soon got the hang of it and started reporting like normal. Then it was Raphael, a seraph in charge of research, healing, and system maintenance.
At last, all of the Seraphs gave him the brief history of heaven, though calling it brief would be an understatement, as in total, he spent two and a half days in continued study and contemplation, with even the Seraphs getting tired in the last hour or so, though probably not because of physical exertion but due to mental, as they are probably going through an extreme rollercoaster of emotions, considering that their long-dead father had come back and met them.
Moon turned to Raphael, who was standing beside him, having just finished his own report and awaiting his order.
An order he shall give.
"Call all of the Seraphs," Moon said, while turning the part that should have been his head to Raphael. Though there was no feature like a mouth, nose, ear, or even skin on it.
Raphael bowed deeply in response to his command. "Yes, Father." These words came out, and he disappeared into a gentle light akin to a firefly.
And just a few minutes after, all of the Seraphs came and kneeled before him.
Their twelve wings were in full display as they kneeled in absolute silence.
Moon felt some sort of emotion stir inside his chest upon the sight.
An emotion that seemed to touch just beneath the surface.
So close and familiar, yet Moon forgot what that emotion was called or why it was throbbing in his chest in the first place, so he let it be.
Michael, after a few seconds of silence, raised his head. "Father, why have you called us ?" he asked, his voice pleasant and flowing like a stirring river.
"I have called all of you here because," Moon said, his voice, now more tame than just after hatch but still having the deep, distorted tone, continued. "I have made my decision on what I wish to do."
All of the Seraphs, in response to his words, raised their heads and looked on at him with curiosity and faint fanaticism on their finely crafted features. An emotion that intrigued Moon a bit, as he felt some emotion that he remembered as curiosity stir in his heart in response.
Would they betray him if they learned of his true goal ? , Would they become fallen ? , or will they not fall because they are trying to protect the interest and well-being of the whole instead of him ? . Would the loyalty that he was seeing before him crumble like a sandcastle before a tide, or would it endure like it had for the centuries that it had ?.
Possibly yes, might be no, who knows? After all, no being could very possibly know the absolute future in this world. If they did, the information of what he planned on should have already spread, but no, there is no such rumor. Instead, there were only rumors of war that might happen because of the supposedly revived Biblical God, who is, fortunately or unfortunately, him.
The mere whispers of his revival caused the supernatural world to turn grimmer and darker, with crimes and power struggles within factions increasing considerably in response. Though at least from what he heard. And in a few days he expects representatives or messengers of various factions to come to him to inquire what he plans to do and declare their allegiance or their desire to remain neutral, though unless they are mighty gods or paragons of races, they won't even go past the fifth heaven, much less meet him.
Moon's mind, a lattice of churning void, returned to the now. The eyes—dozens, scattered across his form like stars in a corpse-colored sky—flared open with a distorted light.
"The fires of war shall burn again," he declared, "but this time… this time, it will be final." Moon declared, his voice impacting the very air surrounding him, distorting it as it screamed in agony and pain while Seraphs looked on in some part calm acceptance yet still a bit of surprise. Even though they all expected this kind of response from their father.
But the next words that were declared swept away any remnant of stability they had.
"Either my will extends its reach around the world, or I die trying."
Their holy energy blaring uncontrollably as they looked on with wide eyes, their pulse beating madly and their pupils contracting without stopping. As they looked on.
Though any lesser being might have missed the reveal that happened. But they, as the Seraphs, knew it as clearly as day.
Their father doesn't just want to cleanse the fallen and devils; he also wants to extend his reach to the whole wide world, with no living being, not even in the deepest reaches of the world, left untouched. As the only way for a god to extend their will around their world is for there to be none to oppose them.
Michael opened his mouth to say something but stopped himself at the last second as he, just like the other Seraphs, simultaneously stayed quiet. Waiting for him to finish.
"So, the Great War, no, Great Crusade, shall begin, though to devils and Fallen first," he said, his voice calm yet pulsing with power.
And that word seemed to relax them a bit as their rigid body just slightly loosened and their expression stopped being as stiff as before. As they realized that their father hadn't been blinded by rage to the point he would declare war upon the whole world.
"Michael," Moon said as he called out Michael's name, motioning him to pay extra attention and to also jolt all of the Seraphs to awaken from their thoughts that rapidly spun in their minds. Weaving a web of cause and effect that most in their position would.
"Uh, yes, Father," Michael said.
"Bring me the souls of them all." Moon said he focused all the dozens of his eyes on Michael, their unblinking and indifferent gaze boring down on the frail shoulder of the feminine archangel. "Inquisitors, Knights of the Cross, Witch Hunters, Holy Knights—all of them—do not leave a single one of them."
"Even those who were not worthy to be in heaven but yet too loyal to be discarded"
Michael, with a confused expression, turned to his father, one of his eyebrows raised, and confusion adorned the feminine face of the archangel. "Umm, why, Father, if I may know ?"
"To create you all, new brothers and sisters."