Chapter 37
"So this is the gate of Heaven," a middle-aged man of considerable height and muscle said as he inspected every aspect and detail of the wonder that lay before him. Though calling him middle-aged would be a bit rude to him, considering that he looked like he was just in his early thirties, a side effect of his immense magical ability that slowed down his aging.
Though immense relative to the human species, not to the supernatural as a whole. If his talent were to be placed in the grand whole world, it would just be a very top-of-mid talent rank, as he had reached Ultimate class in his mid-forties. An accomplishment that he was personally quite proud of, but also an inevitable thing, as he was once the heir to the old clan of Loizemberg, a quite big one that had several Ultimate class wizards at its peak, and now the clan leader of it.
Though, just like how even the proudest of trees would have its moment of weakness, so was the clan of Loizenberg, as it now only had three ultimate class, and to make it even bleaker, one of them, the previous clan leader and his father, was extremely old to the point that his power was barely hanging on to the ultimate tier.
But because his great-aunt, Veloria, a high-tier elven ranger, is still at her peak, which is peak mid-ultimate, he wasn't too worried. After all, the peak period for an elf is between the ages of two hundred and five hundred, and she is only three hundred years old.
Yes, their clan wasn't entirely a pure human clan, as it was a clan made up of humans, spirits, and elves. Each covers the other's back and protects the other, and this is one of the most important reasons they are still standing strong, even though their enemies and allies they once had have withered away.
Alas, they might soon be eliminated also, due to a minor god who resurfaced recently because it sensed some sort of age of great turbulence. It had managed to silently capture several towns and villages around his city, made them worship it, and then slowly recovered its strength. Unfortunately, it had already recovered quite a bit to the point that it is now almost equal to their clan.
A deep mistake they had made because almost all of their attention was focused on the Three Factions, as in Mostly Heaven. Though the entire world was probably the same as them.
As the whispers of that one's revival made all pantheons shift their focus and attention, even the Greek, the ones known for their arrogance and pride that were even above the clouds, stopped their bickering as they scoured for any information.
So, he came here, to the eye of the storm, all in the hopes of joining Heaven as a subordinate to gain protection and authority over the area around their city when Heaven eventually won. But just like when there is warmth in one part of the world, in another part, there would always be winter, his grandaunt and father venomously refused his decision. For they thought that joining in this war would bring them nothing but ruin.
But he, Camier Loiz, was different, for he saw things from a different perspective. A perception that his grandaunt and father refused to see due to their rigid view of the world.
Heaven will win; that was something Camier was certain of.
For he had scoured and bought every piece of information from the Great War in recent years, initially due to mere interest, an insignificant hobby, he would say. But now, due to burning desire and some part greed, a thing that he knew and accepted.
He learned of how the biblical God created the entire angel race and how he scavenged the world and used the mighty beasts and monsters' bodies to create sacred gears. Weapon and tool of immense potential and unfathomable destruction.
From what he managed to scavenge from during that dark time, other races and quite a few factions considered Heaven as the strongest faction, with their mighty Seraphs and sacred gears, holy swords as weapons of immeasurable sharpness, millions of fanatics, and an ever-growing angel army as their impenetrable shield. They were considered the strongest, though Muslims followed close behind. Some factions disagreed with it, but most considered this the truth.
And now that the biblical God is back, Camier predicts that Heaven will regain its peak strength once again. And during the surge of expansion that would follow after they won, he wants a piece of the pie—no, crumbs of the pie—so that their clan could grow to become a minor faction of their own.
"Representative of the clan of Loizenberg, enter." A calm voice of a high-class angel sounds through the gate as Camier walks in, while the gate of heaven gently opens before him.
And when he entered, he saw the paradise that Christians all dreamed of, for it was as beautiful as they all described. With milky white clouds that spanned endlessly to the limit, along with awe-inspiring towers that seemed to support the very clouds themselves, along with the expansive, vast evergreen field of grass and nature as angels went to and from.
Doing the work that was probably assigned to them with a laugh and excitement visible on their beautiful features.
"Father would soon make his entrance..."
He heard one of the angels say this, but because that very angel had gone past him so fast, he hadn't managed to capture the rest of the words.
The yellow stone path glowed suddenly as it led him to a massive teleportation formation. Which he followed soon after.
The air smelled of light rain along with the faint smell of a budding flower, a flower that had just bloomed for the first time since its birth. Making Camier unconsciously relax his guard and enjoy the view that was presented to him.
The walk wasn't very long, possibly because they don't want anyone wandering around too much. A pity, for he wanted to enjoy it a bit more.
And when he stepped into the teleportation formation, it instantly activated and teleported him to another place. A place even deeper into Heaven.
Fourth Heaven
When the light that was surrounding him ceased, he was greeted with a simple open banquet.
There were already three or four people waiting around, minding their own little business. One is even meditating silently on the edge.
So he, assuming that he would probably wait a bit before meeting any high-ranking angel, decided to sit on a chair beside an extremely beautiful woman with flowing hair that shifted through a spectrum of colors, who was alone and at a distance from the rest. But halfway through his path, he suddenly changed his path and sat on a chair beside him.
While he would have liked to sit around her and converse with her to gauge her or relax around a bit,. But the identity of her and the faction that she was representing made him stop that train of thought wholly. For she was a goddess who was waiting while silently sipping a wine.
Specifically, the goddess of the rainbow, Iris, messenger of the Greek Pantheon.
And so, quite possibly following the example of previous people, he joined the silent atmosphere that was unintentionally caused by an extremely strong third party, a goddess, as three other representatives, quite possibly having the same feeling, sat in silence.
Their back was straight and their head straight as they waited while occasionally taking a bite out of the fruit and wine that was in front of them, while also constantly keeping their gaze straight to not give any wrong idea to the goddess. Though the fact that there were several high-class angels around them and an ultimate class in the distance made it a bit more bearable.
Finally, just when he thought he would have to wait for days, the goddess left, for an angel came and led her to some place. Instantly, the atmosphere relaxed as some of them got up and started conversing around, trying to go through the time while collecting some information with her now gone.
()
Iris, a goddess of rainbows, silently followed the angel as she contemplated how she should go about this.
The orders of the God-King Zeus and Queen Hera were clear and straightforward.
"Probe that strict old fellow's intention and inform me; also, do not meddle in his affairs," Zeus, the king of Olympus, said to her.
While his wife, Queen Hera, said. "Try to sense or look for new strong angels. You could sense them through their distinct holy energy, which still has some of his remnant. That should help you determine if he is back at his peak or still licking his wounds."
In other words, they ordered her to remain neutral and to determine his intention and his status. An act that she can't do in just one meeting, so she would probably be around here for a bit longer than she wished.
But still, she didn't dislike the environment around here much, as it was much better and calmer here than in Olympus. Though only the atmosphere part, because at the very end, she is in another pantheon's realm, a place where she can't rest her heart fully at ease, no matter what.
Tick
Tick
The silent walk continued as she tried to covertly sense any new angel whose holy energy still had his remnant, for Queen Hera said that she would instantly know when she met them, for they were too distinct and different from all others.
Just as expected, she continuously sensed holy energy that was distinctly different from the rest, tainted by something that wasn't divine energy nor holy energy, but a combination of both. When she turned to gaze at a few of them, she felt that she didn't even need to use her divine sense to probe, for they were too distinct and different from the rest. All of the new angels, without exception, were big and covered fully in pristine white armor, moving with an silent but uncanny way, sometimes their movement would become sharp and deadly as if they were about to finish off an foe, next gentle and sunny, it was as if some other being was trying to fit into an form that was entirely different from their original form.
Wrong way
Most of them were mid- to late-high class, not an clear indication of his recovery, for there was no ultimate tier visible, but the number of them was concerning to say the least. New angels were two meters, some even two and a half meters tall, with glowing eyes that seemed to penetrate all things. However, there was an anomaly even among anomalies that was, as she briefly sensed, an almost fifteen-meter-tall angel flying on the edge of her divine sense. Mirage, hallucination, or one of his new weapons? She tried to think, but the undeniable vitality and the form that it took unceasingly nagged at the back of her mind.
Forcing her to put an extra big note inside her mind as she continued on her track. And finally, just as she was beginning to believe that she would reach her goal before meeting anyone, she reached her destination.
A massive castle, an extremely big one even by her standards, which was consorted and distorted due to her long existence, stood imposingly before her, as if in mockery of the normal supernatural world's factions' poverty. It was entirely built with precious ores and resources that even small factions couldn't get their hands on, even if they sold everything. Carved and forged into a weapon of war by the greatest craftsman in the world, even better than the God of Blacksmiths, Fire, Forge, and Craftsmanship, Hephaestus.
A thing that even Hephaestus himself admitted to.
But still, she wouldn't let something like this waver her, for she already knew of its existence since it was quite famous during the Great War. Known for its lightning-fast flying and teleportation ability, and its mighty defense that even survived Original Beelzebub's full-on blow. A being that, despite personally not liking it, is admittedly a much mightier being than her.
Then she entered and was led into a luxurious office. The one not with an ancient or middle-aged theme but with a modern theme. With cubic light at the top and furniture that is sleek and with sharp edges, but excessive amount of decoration touched each part of the office. Making the otherwise massive room feel cramped.
Though despite the excessive decoration, there was one thing missing. A major thing that she, no, any representative would need.
A person
Just as she was thinking whether she should sit on a chair and wait. A massive, shadowy being descends outside the room.
That being was over five meters tall and several meters wide, covered in armor that only let the wearer have a minimum amount of freedom of movement. Unfortunately, due to the fact that the curtain of the room was covered, she couldn't see it with her own eyes.
Then a small, worm-like like a tendril entered the room by squirming through the small open window. From it, a pure golden woman, almost like an illusion, matieralizes.
"Excuse me," the golden, illusion-like woman said in a normal, loving voice that almost sounded motherly. As if unconditional love and a gentle kindness were part of her very being. "I had other problems that needed my presence. I hope you haven't waited long."
Iris smiled lightly in response to her apology, sullen emotion that was caused by a wait that spanned several hours and by the fact that she had only been received by an unknown angel lifted a bit. A thing that she would normally find puzzling and confusing as despite being part of the ones with better attitude in Greek, but she wasn't any pure or soft being, but didn't notice due to some sort of influence.
"Don't worry, I assume heaven has been quite busy considering the event that would probably follow ?" Iris asked.
The unknown angel didn't shake or even twitch at the question, for it was a simple question that the angel expected, though not this soon and this bluntly, but the wait probably got to the "Goddess" in front of her to make her like this. "Yes, we have, for there would be a great shift in the world soon. Very soon, I might add."
"How very soon ?" Iris continued asking; the wait that spanned made her hasty and blunter than she would otherwise be, a thing that Angel clearly noticed and was disappointed a bit at it. Nevertheless, the fault was on her, so she won't comment about it.
"About a day or two, though probably not the one you are expecting," the angel said, with a smile akin to a midday sun, radiant and without falsehood. Slowly and gently shaving off the frustration that had built up in Iris's heart.
"A day or two? So fast ?" Iris feigned surprise as she subtly requested that she wanted her to tell her more. Something that Angel understood very clearly but refused, for she felt that she gave her enough.
"I am afraid I can't tell you. Even the words that I spoke were a secret that I shouldn't have indulged." The angel said, with a smile that turned a bit helpless, yet there was an accommodating gesture in her helplessness that Iris found... pleasant?.
The talk that continued was one of a pleasant atmosphere, with Iris learning a vital piece of information, at least part of it, as a silent apology for the wait that she had to endure. Another thing that she decided to reciprocate was her revealing some non-vital information, like what happened around Greek's area of influence. And the trend and influence that was happening around the area they ruled.
Angel accepted her words, then they moved to the true reason for their presence. What the Greek intends to do or wish, and what Heaven is willing to accept.
"King Zeus is willing to stay neutral during the conflict and the event that will ensue, and he is even willing to go out of his way to prevent any of his brothers and subordinates from interfering with a price," Iris said, her tone and voice now happy and more joyous than the initial part of the talk, though normal being wouldn't even notice the slight edge she initiatly had, as she stated it. Her prideful mind probably thought that Heaven would not refuse them; they might even offer a few things as a present. After all, they are helping them; heck, if they pay enough, they might even lend a hand in their conflict. Though only a might, as she wasn't exactly sure of King Zeus's opinion.
(Angel—Dominion)
"What a foolish child," Dominion thought as she observed the child wearing a fake crown of a goddess in front of her. From the furthest edge of her hair to the edges of her toes, there was nothing about her that was godly. Not even the slightest bit.
Her power, unworthy
Her potential and talent are weak, with no future for growth, not even the slightest bit, even by the brightest estimation.
Her mind, a child's one with no grit nor will, and is easily volatile and has pride that someone of her stature shouldn't have.
Truthfully, Dominion didn't make her wait this long because she was busy. No
She was curious and was using the excuse of assessing and evaluating to see what a being who called herself a goddess was like. To see what she was like, to see what she was capable of. And if she would be capable of unraveling the hint that the angel who received her gave. Which, by the fact that she waited vainly for several hours, failed.
Dominion didn't originally want to do this, for it was a matter of high importance, yet the voice that was calling from the back of her neck just refused to cease, and the dangling curiosity that was placed in front of her was just too appetizing. So she, after an hour of contemplation, decided to indulge her desires, though not before informing Thamior, her only true elder brother.
And she was severely disappointed, to say the least. There wasn't even a shadow, or even a remnant of what his father was in her.
There was nothing in her that was of value besides her strength, which was while stronger than hers. It was weak in the greater scheme of things and wasn't even a constant one. If she were in Greece, specifically Olympus, she would be quite strong, but in here, she was just an ordinary mid-Ultimate Being.
One who has a limited amount of training and experience, to say the least.
But she wouldn't say the thought that swirled in her mind out right either by action or words, as that would be something only a blind fool would do. No, instead, she would entertain her and play with her.
Which judging by how she is acting, shouldn't be that much difficult of a task.