Ready for the big day? - asked Semyazza - the gigantic angel looked at the first man with a kind and warm smile, which only managed to put Adam in a worse mood - Do you know that I hate them and they hate me? - Adam answered - it was a stupid question since they both knew what the other would say, it was what it was like to be ancient beings, words were sometimes like an ornament that he couldn't help but use.
- I do too, honestly I feel sorry for you for hating so many of those who should be your greatest pride, I... - Samyazza hesitated for a moment in which his smile went from confident and shameless as you would expect from a deceitful angel of hell to a sad and melancholic one.
-I adored most of mine, I hated a few, but I loved the vast majority- he seemed to be going through old and painful memories -Well I don't trust in success, I hope that with just a little collaboration out of fear and ambition it will be all we need- he finished saying.
Semyazza couldn't help but look at the first one with a last look but at the same time with a genuine radiant interest, even someone as old as him, he seemed fascinating in a morbid way, his new suit was stained with blood between red and gold, it exuded from Adam through his horns, the base of his wings, his nails, eyes and mouth. He looked like a patient of some dangerous disease.
-Well enough of delays, if not today it will never be- Adam said strongly while he stood up and put on a new mask similar to the previous one-.
The day of the duel was an exhibition by the bigwigs of hell, which was done after each extermination in this way they exhibited the power of having survived the carnage and motivated their surviving soldiers, it was called that way because a truce was formed in which both old lords and new promises, or even slaves or gladiators, were challenged to friendly duels.
Of course, apart from the duels there were also many fun things to do.
-I really have to admit that they do know how to make impressive structures- said Adam as he watched from above the enormous stadium where the meeting would take place, with his daughters behind him and with a bottle of heavenly wine in his hand, one of the many gifts that his master, Samael, left during the week.
Entering the building was easy, the guards did not stop him as they felt the instinctive fear that his presence caused them, nor was it necessary to threaten them, he simply handed over his invitation. Several demons, possibly the overlords' protégés, were on his way, he didn't pay them any more attention than he would pay to insects, he had possibly annihilated tens of millions of them, perhaps more.
It was uncomfortable to walk and not fly at full speed after passing rooms and rooms of seconds doing things as varied as fights of infernal beasts, bets of hundreds of souls, duels between them, tests of all kinds of substances that could be obtained in hell, at one point he even had to ask for directions and they told him to simply continue straight to the largest and main door where all the overlords gathered.
Finally he arrived and saw the door, it seemed to be made of black wood with a lot of eyes around it and a twisted face in the center, he saw it for a second before hitting the center of the face on the door, to his no surprise it seemed to be some kind of demon of considerable rank that simply exploded in blood as it was forced open with a loud bang.
The loud music that was playing stopped for a moment, during which all the demons saw the destroyed door, there they saw the figure of Adam escorted by his 2 daughters, the first man took off his mask and took a sip of heavenly wine, many tensed up when they saw his face, the comforting possibility that he was a pretentious imitator had vanished.
-Why the idiotic faces and the lack of music? I have come in peace as a guest and partner- Adam snapped with a clear, daring smile- Unless I am provoked, in that case I will have to apply self-defense.
When he finished saying that, his gaze went over all those present, who although it took a while once the music continued talking as if nothing had happened, he was thinking about what to do when a familiar noise and presence landed on his back, the first man closed his eyes in frustration when he heard that fluttering because he knew what would happen next.
-What the hell do you want, Vegatha?- he said, noticeably irritated. -It's not so much what I want, as what she wants- answered Vaggie, approaching and pointing to a corner of the room, there she was, the princess of hell Charlotte, after everything he had lived through, her silly smile and her friendly and energetic greeting caught him off guard, -Look, I could really be busy right now and- just when he said it, a black shadow with a serpentine shape and humanoid teeth appeared next to Adam, a A figure with a monocle, wearing a black top hat, a black suit and onyx skin, rebelled.
-Adam, it's fair to see you here. I want you to know that- The figure with the black hat saw the angel and where they were looking, noticing the princess -We'd better talk later- he managed to say and then disappeared into the shadows.
-Ok, well, you win. I'll listen to what your girlfriend has to say if you promise to leave me alone later- He said, approaching with an impatient step until he stood in front of Charlie and asked with few manners -What do you have to tell me-
The young woman was a little nervous but all that was covered by a clear emotion of happiness and excessive positivism.
-You see Adam, I know that you and I didn't start off in the best way and that the enmity between you and my friends can be strong, but Vaggie told me about what you did, and what you meant to her, you've been to hell instead of destroying everything you've isolated yourself, instead of attacking Vaggie you helped her recover a part of herself... You could change, redemption is possible, you could return to heaven with that and those who love you- He said as he extended a friendly hand.
At that moment Adam felt a weight build up inside him, he wanted to be sarcastic, ironic, critical and illogical, but honestly he was already tired, Charlie couldn't help but be stunned while instead of grabbing her hand the first man grabbed her own suit and left the top part exposed.
She suppressed her gag when she saw how a muscular human man's body was covered not only by grotesque scars, but by visible veins of angelic blood that stood out like beautiful and repulsive golden worms.
-You killed me, you condemned me to be here, your family took everything from me, your girlfriend took revenge by killing her sisters, I no longer belong in heaven and my body is even more ruined. What more do you want from the original stud? Heaven, hell, you, them please let me try to get revenge and let your father kill me once and for all, until then let me rot in peace- She snapped, many times Charlie had been insulted, sabotaged and vilified despite being royalty, but this time she understood that it was something different, something that almost made her want to burst into tears, this time they were simply fed up with her.
Vaggie looked at him between furious and shocked, seeing her father like that brought back old memories –She's giving you another chance, bastard, how can you refuse an offer like that? Don't you regret something?- Adam, who was already turning around, stopped.
-I do regret one thing- he said as he walked menacingly towards Charlie enough to whisper in his ear –Many years ago, Morningstar, you sneaked away from your parents and crib during an extermination, I was tempted to kill you but you looked at me with those puppy eyes that convinced me to wait a little longer, I should have finished you off instead of taking you back to your crib- Vaggie and many others could only watch as the princess's eyes widened and a stunned expression appeared on her face, no one knew if for better or worse, but whatever it was, it left her silent for the rest of the ceremony.
In Charlie's mind she didn't know what to think, on the one hand they had said something terrible on the other hand he... spared her life? She didn't remember. Was it even true? Why did she hate her so much? The next thing she knew, Vaggie was helping her with her labored breathing and the first man had already disappeared.Adam was looking around at only a cold, desolate, red, rocky, sandy field that stretched and stretched as far as he could see. "I'm sick of these damn dreams," he said aloud before simply thinking about wandering off.
Adam had grown accustomed to the constant nightmares of hell, each time more lucid. This one seemed especially strange to him due to its lack of poetic and surreal strangeness. It was simply a sandy wasteland that he didn't recognize at first. After turning around and seeing Earth in the distance, he realized he was on Mars. He didn't know why.
He continued and continued until he stumbled upon something strange out of the corner of his eye. He thought he noticed a figure in the red stone and sand, but it was so hidden that even if he strained his eyes, he couldn't make it out. He was about to see a pile of what looked like yellow stones, even redder than the sand, emerging from the red figure. Upon second glance, he realized they were eyes and could feel his stomach sink.
It was a snake. He felt a strange pressure. In his thousands of years, he had faced all kinds of angels and demons. That thing felt... different, similar to the sanction of Leviathan, Behemoth, and Ziz when they still walked the earth, only this thing far surpassed the three of them.
As powerful as Lucifer? No, even more so.
"Who are you?" the snake asked, turning its head in something remotely resembling curiosity.
"Get out of here with the vision of those old farts and that brat with you. GO AWAY! GO AWAY!" "GO AWAY! GO AWAY!"
The snake's resonant voice was so grotesque and unnatural that he felt as if his soul was about to be ripped apart. The first man could only scream back, until something happened. Soon, he bolted upright in bed, sweating and, as usual, bleeding from his currently collapsing body.
The room he found himself in didn't seem familiar to him for a moment. It was a room with decorations and furniture ranging from pale pink, seemingly imitating flesh, to deep blood red. There were also white elements carved in stone.
Memories of the previous day filled his mind, and he knew where he was.
"No, no, it can't be damn heavenly wine, how come it knocked me out so much? I hadn't even had that much," he thought to himself until he came to the obvious realization that, in fact, now that he was part demon, the effects could be much stronger. He slapped his forehead at such an idiotic mistake before noticing something else obvious: a pale sinner with sharp, triangular teeth like a shark's, white hair, and black eyes. It was Rosie, the same one who had helped the princess put him in that hole, the same one who had forced him to compensate for the loss of several of his daughters, and according to his recently recovered memories, the same one he had fucked until he fainted the night of the duel.
Using all his power, he suppressed his expression of surprise, grievance, regret, and self-discovery. If he felt it was his problem, he wasn't going to give that bunch of assholes the satisfaction of reading it easily.
The sinner was in her nightclothes and was starting to stir due to Adam's awakening.
"Honey, go back to bed. It's still early, and mmm, how strange. I don't feel a hangover," Rosie said.
"Heavenly liquor doesn't leave a hangover like the filth here," he was tempted to say, but instead, he simply got up and walked away. The sinner responded to his gesture with a nostalgic look and a question. "Don't you remember what happened last night?" Adam paused for a moment.
Remembering how he had gotten drunk after talking to several demons and how a curious Rosie had approached him. Rosie, as a mockery, had taken a large sip of heavenly wine and then forced it into the sinner's mouth, she ended up drunk after that first sip, leaving the spectators somewhat impressed.
As the meeting ended, Carina insisted that Adam should at least take her to his territory since a drunken sinner, even a high-ranking one, could be prey.
And finally, the bedtime. He remembered how Rosie had a strange (and totally expected) fixation with his blood and the aggression, from biting him to digging her claws into him, all while running her tongue around his bloody parts as if he were some kind of leech, especially on his shoulder where that brat had stuck her trident.
Remembering the sensation of her tongue on his shoulder, he had to suppress another shudder. Part of what disgusted him the most was the unbridled pleasure he remembers feeling, pure ecstasy. If he hadn't known heaven, he'd say this is what it must feel like.
"It wasn't a big deal, bitch. I'm thousands of years old. Your memory will be burned into my memory along with the others. You're welcome for letting you taste a little of the original stallion," he said goodbye as the sinner pouted before blurting out, "You're such an idiot," before he left.
As he left, both his daughters and his son, an apparent Satanist, were chatting animatedly. "Hey, brats, stop laughing and bring me my mask," Adam growled before Satanachia threw her mask at him and asked back, "So how was the sinner?" To which Adam only responded with a confused face and another question, "What the hell do you care?"
"The three of us care. We're betting to see which of our mothers did the best. Retrivia's losing since her mother's the only one missing," Carina replied playfully.
"For now," Retrivia replied, visibly irritated, though you couldn't tell if it was because of the discomfort of the subject or because she was simply, in some sick way, bothered by the fact that her mother was excluded.
The first man looked at them and simply tilted his head from side to side. "God, how lucky we are that we'll soon be leaving this dump. It's starting to poison their minds," he said before leaving the house, followed by his offspring.Meanwhile, Zakdaquiel, the Archangel of Love and Peace, and Raphael, the Archangel of Kindness, went directly to see their niece, Charlotte Morgnistar, and greeted her with clear joy. The first man was greeted only by a multitude of different looks and an awkward silence. For a moment, the stern gaze of important figures from both his life and the home he had sworn to protect had managed to erase his literal thousands of years of experience.
"Wha-" he tried to say something, but before he could finish his sentence, Samael had moved almost too fast to be noticed by even several of the other archangels.
"Is this what you became a general for, you useless piece of dust? To disappoint everyone, to disappoint God, to disappoint yourself? And worse than all that; To disappoint me! - He ranted so loudly that you could feel everything trembling. The disgusting liquid that enveloped him and flowed out of his body rose up in what even Charlie, a complete stranger, knew was a sign of anger.
Several people were surprised, especially Emily, who had never seen someone treat the first man like that.
"Samael, calm down. He had his limits. Everyone has limits. Besides, an archangel can't lose his temper like that," he blurted out in a surprisingly calm but horribly deep voice that would chill the blood of even the worst of demons. It was Azrael, the archangel of death.
Samael did his version of turning to face Azrael, which involves bowing and bending his back in an unnatural manner as if possessed.
In the pool of poison that was his eyes, they seemed to glow with anger and a kind of hatred never seen before in heaven. "Perhaps it's just like you, so neat, immaculate, and revered. I have no subordinates, friends, companions, or tragic brothers. Who the hell am I supposed to hide my true self from?" Samael asked, his expression openly mad.
When the liquid was finished, it began to envelop him and become something much stranger until a loud but firm voice was heard. "Samael, you've gotten even, behave yourself," the voice came from Miguel. Upon hearing it, the archangel known as God's poison simply clicked his teeth and returned to his normal form to calm down. He went from being crazy to crossing his arms with a pout on his face.
"We're blocking the entrance. We'd better catch up on the way to the courtroom," Miguel blurted out, and it fell like cold water on everyone.
"Zakdaquiel, Raphael, show our niece her place while we take care of Adam," he said, and the two archangels took the two girls and carried them to the other side while Adam left with the others until they realized something they were ignoring. "Who are these?" He pointed at the three static figures who had been standing behind the man the whole time.
"Oh, my children, please let those two stay," Adam pointed out without the slightest interest as the latter two removed their helmets, revealing that they were exorcists, or at least most of them.
Then all eyes turned to the strange remaining exorcist. He removed his mask to reveal a face that immediately provoked puzzlement and some disgust. Even the most stoic archangels couldn't hide their surprise.
"Forgive my rudeness, Your Magnificence, I am Lily Adamas, also known as Satanachia; the Infernal Prince born between the union of Adam and the Queen of Hell," he said, trying to hide his nervousness and forcing a smile while trying to see his father and sisters, who only had their hands on their faces in disapproval. Just catching up was exhausting. Many inhabitants of heaven watched curiously and whispered, but that was the least of it. Even the archangels, with their usual calm and composure, couldn't help but rant about a multitude of topics.
Sera and Samael spoke like parents with a troubled child. "After all we've done for you, is this how you repay us? Where did we fail?" And "We should have been tougher on you," the ever-optimistic Archangel Gabriel told Adam that he didn't have to worry; that it was only temporary because redemption was possible, and that even if he were still down there, they could give him a decent life.
Uriel, as practical as ever, just talked about how he should help with the hotel project or get away from the busiest parts of Hell to take the less problematic ones and try to create a stable place where he wouldn't go crazy.
"And how come I'd just stay out of your life like all the other angels?" Emily asked with noticeable sadness.
Upon hearing her, the archangels and Sera stopped ranting, which made the atmosphere tense again, which she tried to downplay to lighten the mood.
"Yeah, you know all that about fulfilling your purpose and all that," she downplayed it as much as she could, but the chance to avoid the conversation died in her chest when Emily responded with some anger, "I'm 200 years old, I'm young; explain it to me." With enough of a raw nerve already touched, Adam raised his voice. "It is what it is and it always has been. You were made directly by heaven, brat. You were born a seraph. You were born with a purpose. You are unique and irreplaceable. I am a pile of dust that ended up being a failed experiment. I am replaceable." The anger was already clear in his voice, as if it were something he had swallowed for a long time and was now simply released.
"For a long time, every angel born from heaven has looked down on me, and less and less, as if I were anything but a failure. And those on earth have always seen me as something strange, something old.
So, when the time came, you made me your guardian. I thought you'd be just like the rest. And you know what? I was right because as soon as you had the slightest chance, you turned to the side of Lucifer's daughter.
So do me a favor, ignore me and cut me out of your life like every seraph and archangel has done," he finally yelled at the young seraph. For a moment, he saw Emily's face darken. He thought she would become enraged, challenge him, or even hurt him. That thought alone made his blood boil with emotion. This emotion was quenched when the young seraphim simply burst into tears as if she weren't even a teenager, but a normal child.
"I thought you were happy! I'm so sorry," she said between sobs.
They had to stop for a moment while Adam and Sera were mainly trying to calm the young woman, who wouldn't stop crying. "Yeah, Adam's just upset, he doesn't know what he's saying," Sera insisted. The archangels looked at the situation with surprisingly little surprise. Noteworthy were Samael, who was smiling because he genuinely enjoyed Adam's outbursts and the meltdowns of other celestial beings. And Gabriel, who, being a representation of faith and hope, believed that releasing the poison was an obvious step toward recovery.