Cleria Belial sat alongside her boyfriend as the five Seraphs gathered in the small home that she called her own in this town.
Normally, any devil who was in such a space, where holy energy was literally rolling off these divine beings' bodies, would have long since been reduced to ash. However, thanks to whatever protection her boyfriend gained from the angel called Aetherion, the one being called Arael by the Four Great Seraphs, Masaomi was able to shield her from the effects of the holy energy by sitting by her side and keeping her body in contact with his own, allowing the protection to take her into its field as well.
Aetherion stared at the four Archangels for a few seconds before he burst out laughing.
"HAHAHA! I must admit, this is the most amusing story I have ever heard in my life. I mean, even the scammers that I knew in the past could not lie so blatantly with a straight face like this. Shouldn't you four have already 'fallen' from grace by now for such a ridiculous lie?"
"Arael-"
"Aetherion. It is a name that means something to me."
Michael fell silent at that forceful tone before Aetherion took a deep breath and exhaled heavily.
"Alright, let's start from the beginning. You say that I was an angel called Arael?"
"Yes."
"That I was one of the oldest Angels created by God alongside you four?"
Gabriel nodded enthusiastically with hope, which made Cleria wince, knowing that she would not like whatever conclusion Aetherion would come to, given how averse the angel in question was to accepting his supposed identity.
"And yet, I was a weakling with only four wings that got off-screened by Lucifer, and worse yet, you all believed the traitor of your race without even thinking twice or trying to search for me?"
The angels fell silent as tears nearly started to fall from Gabrien's eyes. Michael gave Aetherion a wry smile with guilt and self-blame evident in his eyes.
"I know that we have not done right by you, Arae-Aetherion, but believe me when I say that we searched everywhere for you. But when Father returned alone from his search for you and your unit after Lucifer's proclamation about your death. We had no choice but to believe it."
Uriel grinned at Aetherion, but his eyes still held sadness as he spoke.
"After all, you were one of the few angels who refused to leave him behind, even when he ordered everyone else to leave him alone to fight those cowards during many of the battles of the War. Not to mention that he loved you the most out of us first-generation angels alongside Lucifer, before his fall, and Samael before he went insane thanks to his duties and died in the war, and little Gabriel."
Faced with the heartfelt words pouring out of Michael, Aetherion only held a deadpan expression.
"Mhm. Yeah, I call bullshit. This is the most blatant scam I have ever heard."
Before Michael could speak again, Aetherion raised his hand, stopping him in his tracks.
"How about this? I have a spell that can tell me the authenticity of your words, but it will be highly intrusive."
The four archangels looked excited at the prospect of convincing their lost brother about the truth, so Aetherion did not keep them in the dark and spoke directly.
"My spell will allow me to look into the memories of you four, or anyone of your choosing. From the moment of your birth to this very moment, I will experience everything that you ever experienced. This also means that all of your secrets will be exposed to me as well."
Looking at the contemplative look that the angels gained, Aetherion leaned back into his seat with a smug look, as if he had finally succeeded in exposing their scam attempts so openly.
Yet, he could not help but feel shocked when Gabriel did not even hesitate for a second.
"Do it. Look into my memories. Brother"
"....Are you sure of it? I will know everything about you. No secrets will be left behind."
Cleria was not ashamed to say that even she, as a woman, was mesmerised by the radiant and trusting smile that the only female angel in the group directed at Aetherion.
"I trust you, brother. No matter what name you chose or what form you deem necessary, I know you. I have known you all my life, so I trust you with my life. So, if the price I have to pay to get you back is just you looking through my memories, then I will gladly do it."
"After all, there is not much in there that you don't already know."
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I did not expect things to escalate to this extent.
When these four showed up with much fanfare ( moving one of the seven heavens simply for a grand entrance was a bit much, but whatever, I guess), I had expected a lot of things to happen.
Frankly, ever since I discovered the details about the supernatural communities of this world, I had already prepared myself for this day. A day when the native angels of this world would accuse me of being an imposter or something of that nature and try to attack me on sight.
Even in the best-case scenario, I expected some level of suspicion and caution from this race towards my strange existence.
However, what I did not expect was for the beautiful woman in their group to throw herself into my arms with tears streaming down her face when I said that I am not Arael.
I was not some virtuous guy who never thought about the opposite sex. In fact, if one were to look at my collection of D-World records, the cinematic equivalent of DMMO-RPG where we can 'interact' with a movie or video, they would immediately label me a lecherous guy. ( not to unhealthy levels of obsession or anything like that, just an average amount for a guy that lived in a dystopia.)
And yet, despite such a literally divine woman throwing herself into my arms, I did not feel any kind of lustful intentions.
Something to investigate later.
It took me some time (a few gentle rejections for the obviously emotionally vulnerable woman and a few stern but polite warnings to the men) to get these four to stop overreacting and give me the much-needed context behind their actions.
But what I did not expect was some fanciful story about an angel called Arael and my apparent similarity with him.
Truthfully, I did not even believe a single word that came out of their mouths. My best guess is that either they are trying to fool me into something, or they are grasping at straws out of some kind of grief. Worst case, they might be mentally challenged, but I am not inclined to believe that since they don't seem all too unhinged for most of the part.
Putting aside the many, many plot holes in their story, I knew my circumstances better than anyone else in this world.
I was a player of the game YGGDRASIL who was somehow incarnated into this world in my game avatar body, which just happened to be that of an Angel.
Granted, when I woke up, I was in some kind of destroyed prison room with a strange magic circle drawn on its floor in the Underworld, from my understanding. But that means absolutely nothing. It is simply a coincidence as far as I am concerned.
'I hope I don't end up regretting using this spell again.'
Taking a deep breath and meeting the eyes of Gabriel, I invoked the spell that I used on that Stray Devil some time ago.
"[Retracognition]"
If the memories I saw within that Stray Devil's mind was a river, then the memories within Gabriel were a veritable ocean as I felt the sheer scale of them head-on.
I saw everything.
From the moment she was created by a faceless humanoid being of pure light, I saw everything she ever saw, felt everything she felt.
I saw her initial years, spent in the safety of Heaven with her brothers and sisters. I saw how they stumbled about, trying to understand what they could and could not do.
And much to my shock, I saw myself alongside two absurdly beautiful men, one of whom had strangely muted wings with a duller coloring compared to others of his kind.
To be sure, the image I saw was not my human face or body. It was my Aetherion form. But there were a few differences.
That enchanting aura that I have right now is missing. The man in the image also had a duller shade of blond hair and a darker shade of blue eyes. He was also much more androgenous compared to my purely masculine form.
I can see where the misconception that these angels held came from. Except for these minor cosmetic changes, that angel, Arael, really did look like me.
Just how can such a coincidence even happen?
I modeled my player avatar after my deceased little brother. I created this form based on what I imagined he might have looked like if he had lived past the age of 10. So, how can this angel share the same kind of face structure?
I also understand now why she was the most obsessed with bringing me back to heaven and trying to make me confirm that I am Arael.
From what I have seen so far, she loved Arael the most out of all her brothers and depended on him a lot during her early life, despite being stronger than him in most aspects. And she was also the one who was most devastated when Lucifer had proclaimed his death.
I cut off my spell, having already found the source of this misunderstanding and not wishing to invade the woman's privacy more than necessary.
Yet, faced with her radiant smile, I just replied stoically, knowing that my words would probably hurt her.
"I have seen your memories, and indeed, my appearance is quite similar to the angel Arael. Yet, I must insist that this is just a coincidence-"
"Another test, then."
Michael's smile and words sent chills down my spine for some reason, but I still nodded.
"If you have any other way to prove your point, I am all ears. If not, I would ask you to leave so that I can get back to my research."
Michael just smiled at those words and stood up, making his siblings do the same, even if I could see the reluctance in their gazes.
"I do have a way to prove our words. It will take some time to set up. Until then, we will not bother you anymore."
"However, I will say this, Aetherion. When we prove ourselves, when we finally put forth irrefutable evidence and you no longer have any choice but to give up on this cruel act, I expect an apology towards Gabriel for hurting her so."
I did not get the chance to say anything more before the four of them vanished in a flash of light, leaving behind a lot of things for me to think about.
First things first, I will need to find a way back to where I appeared in this world. Some proper research is needed to understand what exactly happened at that time.
Then, I need to-
"Um, excuse me, Aetherion-sama. Can we speak now?"
The Belial girl's words brought me out of my thoughts, making me look towards the devil girl who was still using Masaomi as a shield.
With an amused chuckle, I pulled back on my power, making my wings and halo disappear and returning me to my human disguise, significantly reducing the holy energy in the room.
"Indeed. Ms. Belial. I would love to listen to what you have to say."
After that 'fight' where the four angels appeared, Cleria had asked for a private meeting with me, requesting that I give her the chance to properly thank me.
But I knew that things would not be that simple.
There is no doubt that the girl is grateful for helping out her boyfriend, because I could see the genuine love she held for the human. But I could also tell that she had an ulterior motive in trying to meet me privately.
Of course, this request was made telepathically since she would be turned into ash the moment she even suggested anything like that openly in the presence of the four angels at that time, especially with how unstable they were at that time.
Leaning back into my seat, I watched the girl squirm a bit before she gathered the courage to speak.
'Let's see how audacious and ambitious the devils of this world can be.'
If she wants something mundane, like some kind of help from me that does not demand much, I'll help her. But, if she asks something unreasonable or asks me to become a part of her 'Peerage' (a concept that I am still struggling to cope with, given that it is blatant slavery with a rebrand, something that I hate with all my being), then I will leave and never answer any kind of calls for help from her.
Cleria suddenly bowed towards me, stunning me with her following words.
"Please hide us from the Underworld's forces until I find a way to expose the Great King Faction."
....Ok, I did not expect that.
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Author Notes: Read 5 chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/Ruijard1