The heavens rumbled as arguing angels flared their wings. If not for that annoying incense stench, Lilith would've enjoyed the show. Lucifer finally got what was coming for him.
"You stole him from purgatory," Gabrielle claimed, face flushed. "And built him a vessel—"
"Hah, as if," the demoness tapped her feet. "Do'ya think Lucifer has the power?"
Michael grunted, towering over his youngest brother.
"What did you do?" he demanded, while Lucifer's raven feathers shook in fear. "And why?!"
"H-he had such a mundane life," the angel mumbled, "so many regrets, I uh—"
"Let's say your lil' brother offered him a second chance," Lilith said. "Without the 'thousand years wallowing in regret' part. Which is annoying, because I had a claim on him, too."
"But he cut off his soul?!" Gabrielle fumed. "Did he also steal another life to—"
"W-what? No, of course not. I, uh, used a stillborn," Lucifer clarified. As if stealing a dead body was somehow better. "This way, I saved two people at once."
The demoness couldn't help a snort. Saved. Right.
Let's not mention that he did it so that he could torment him longer.
In which she was his partner, but—
"Bullshit. You can't anchor souls into stillborns." Gabrielle rode on boring metaphysical stuff.
Michael's voice boomed, cornering Lu.
"If you swapped his soul at birth—"
"N-no, it was a stillborn, I swear," Lu doubled down. "Anchoring works with twins—"
While the others froze at the claim, Lilith yelped.
"Oh. Right, Konny had a twin. Never thought about what happened to the other one. But like, what were the odds of you finding a pair where one would be a stillborn?"
"I had a few options," Lucifer shrugged. "The multiverse is a big place."
"And you couldn't pick a different world?!" Gabrielle fumed.
The young angel stared at his feet for a while.
"It was hard when I wanted to give him a blank slate," he mumbled. "Magic, noble blood, but no family, no entanglements—"
Lilith snorted again.
"Because he's not neck deep in his ancestors' mess right now."
Lucifer scrunched his nose, but Gabrielle spoke first.
"So you say he has a twin—what if your machinations close him off from his destiny?!"
Michael's voice cracked the clouds.
"I don't care about one person's fate on that world. If we don't stop Maou Midori, he'll erase thousands, if not millions. So where is Konrad? We have to make sure he's prepared—"
"Huh," Lilith's eyes widened. "I've lost his track."
"What?" Lucifer's head snapped up. "Even when I limited his mana, a signal always got through."
"Did he die?" Michael raised an eyebrow.
"Don't even joke with that," Gabrielle yelped. "If he did, we'd be without a tool—"
"Don't call my boytoy a tool," the demoness protested. "You can make enough of those, like that purple-eyed puppy girl, but Konrad is mine, and there's only one of him."
"It'd take at least fifteen years until a new vessel would be useful—we have two years at most."
"Where. Is. Konrad?!" Michael demanded, his patience running thin.
"I'm looking, stop pestering. I guess I'll check Welf first, they should be together anyway."
"Good call, I'll check Eyna's eyes, too," Gabrielle added.
Then, they yelled at the same time.
"Found him!"
"No, wait," Lilith recoiled. "Those garbs. And a scepter? Plus Welf hates his guts—"
"Don't tell me," Gabrielle turned even paler—almost translucent. "T-that's the twin?!"
***
"You can't do that," Welf protested. "If you attack Halaima now—"
"Then what do you suggest?" Nimrod scoffed, his face the same as Konrad's. But his mannerisms— "The Church took our lands. We have nothing. People starve."
"And throwing them at well-prepared positions will change that?!"
"It will, if I lead them to battle," the boy claimed. "The elders elected me because I'm the strongest shaman. The spirits are on our side."
"And the saints are on theirs," the blacksmith noted. "All it will lead to is a bloodbath."
"Lies," an elder interjected. "The prophecy warned us about your trickery. The spirits cursed one twin; the other has their blessing. One brings wealth to the tribes, the other only ruin."
"And you sure this clown isn't the second one?" Welf rubbed his temple.
That caused an uproar.
"You insolent—Where is your so-called master?! What is he doing?" Elders shouted at him.
Okay, he wanted to know that, too. Splitting up was a bad idea.
"Master Konrad can bring prosperity to us," Eyna claimed, but her voice was too thin. "He is powerful. And even when he wasn't, he saved my tribe from slavers in a dungeon—"
"Plus, his name is on the Halaima Code of Conduct now," the redhead tried to help her out.
"Halaima is under the Inquisitor's yoke." Nimrod crossed his arms. "The Code is meaningless. The same king who wrote it sent the Church to take over, too."
"As a last resort," Welf rolled his eyes. "Konrad can turn things around—if you give him time."
"Time? Tell that to the people in need now," the elders shouted in.
"I'm telling those who'd die in a meaningless attack, making Konrad's work even harder."
"Lord Erwin wasn't afraid to fight them. He united all the tribes—"
"And that ended well," the redhead scoffed. "He lost his life, and your tribes lost their spine. Violence isn't the answer, and Konrad knows that. He has ways with people—"
"The only thing he can do in that city is to lick the Inquisitor's boots," Nimrod claimed.
"He must be weak," others added. "He'd sell us out to the Church."
Welf wanted to cut them down, but he couldn't.
Damn it. And he thought he was hot-headed. He understood why they wanted to fight, but—
"You saw that firestorm earlier? Well, that was him. That's how weak Konrad is."
"Hah, as if," Nimrod waved him off. "You heard the prophecy. I have the spirits' blessing—"
"Master Konrad's strong," Eyna interrupted. "Even without the spirits' strength, he's a powerful sorcerer. And before that, he didn't hesitate to sacrifice himself to save the Black River tribe."
"Lies, I heard he's the Green Mage's apprentice, and he's evil."
Ugh, how does he explain that one?
"Isn't the Mage's apprentice a scammer? A mere illusionist—Did anyone die in that firestorm?"
Crap, now that, too. The crowd was against them, for sure.
"If you are not with the Church, prove it," Nimrod demanded. "Show us how strong your master is. Give us something tangible—not promises, and illusions."
"He is the Prodigy of Haiten," Welf claimed, losing his patience.
"He'll bring nobles and the tribes together," Eyna added with conviction. "And he can save you like he did with the Black River tribe. Aid us, and in a month, he'll give you everything back."
"In a month, there would be nothing left of us," an elder wailed.
"Okay, fine, I tell you what," the blacksmith offered. "You need supplies? I'll tell Konrad to use his merchant connections. He'll get you food without any suicidal attacks."
"Words. He hadn't even shown his face to us," another elder annoyed him.
"No, let him prove himself," Nimrod waved him off. "One day. I'll postpone the attack by one day. If he'll get us enough food for at least a month by then—I'll believe that he's on our side."