POV Sera
The good news from Michael only slightly alleviated the grim mood of my brethren. The information we received from Adam yet again only worsened our already precarious situation: Eve is gathering an army not only from Gabriel's fallen creations but is also finding old adversaries of Heaven who ended up in Hell. Who else is preparing for battle with Heaven? The worst of the worst? Monsters who committed unspeakable evil even while they were human?
But the most terrible part is that we can barely help Adam in the coming battle. Not counting Michael, of course... Darkness is repulsed by our very nature. It senses the children of the Lord in us, and because of this, it goes mad, as if feeding on power from some unknown, bottomless reservoir... I hope our combined reserves will at least help Adam in the fight... Playing a support role is our maximum, and we also need to ensure the protection of the other angels, as well as our own spawn...
After Adam left us, heading home to rest at my insistence, we continued our discussion, feverishly considering courses of action and deciding what we could possibly pit against Eve's approaching army.
"My knowledge here is, alas, insufficient," Saraqael exhaled in response to another suggestion from Raphael. "I doubt it's even possible to bestow a concept on someone else. Even Uriel knows nothing of the sort, and she has been asking the Father about all sorts of things since the moment she came into existence. Research can be done, of course, but I'm afraid it will take too long..."
"But Eve can't have that many strong allies, can she?" a visibly nervous Emily interjected. I sincerely wanted to protect her from all this, but unfortunately, Emily was too... too empathetic. She simply couldn't go on living peacefully, bringing happiness to angels, while something so terrible was happening in the world, like Eve's potential attack and the upcoming purges in Hell.
"Darkness gives incredible, almost limitless power to its slaves," Michael answered her. "This free power causes an adept of Darkness to lose many moral boundaries, and only very strong self-control or outside help can stabilize the infected's mind. For us, the Seraphim, it works in the most brutal way, so don't even think about touching Darkness. Unfortunately, the Father can no longer help us deal with this..."
"Then, does that mean all our opponents will be... stupid? But very strong, right?" Emily continued to ask, trying to grasp the logic. Oh, I'll need to explain all these points to her in more detail after this meeting. It's better she knows everything I know about Darkness than mistakenly underestimate it and... fall...
"Not all, but many," Raphael nodded. "However, we mustn't underestimate them either. Look, Hell is inhabited by a whole bunch of 'ancient beasts,' or whatever they call them there? Creatures that inhabited Eden, who, just like the Deadly Sins, were corrupted after Darkness broke into our creation. In terms of strength, they even surpass their sentient 'brethren.' Although they have no intellect, no one hunts them because they are just too dangerous. And no one has the courage to bother Lucifer to eliminate them... unless, perhaps, they're already encroaching on inhabited territories."
"Perhaps we should get back to the topic?" Michael interrupted Raphael's story. "The opponents' intelligence is secondary. According to our commander-in-chief, these freaks can possess simply incredible power. I will, of course, do everything in my power, but if you can come up with how else to help us in this battle, everything will be much easier."
"Ahem, yes, let's discuss the options..."
POV Adam
After a very productive, albeit tiring, meeting, I was returning home, trying to pull myself together even a little by means of flight, which brought me true pleasure.
The idea of repurposing Hell was supported, by all the Seraphim, in fact. In the end, they said that I had already been dealing with all of Hell's problems before, so they would only be happy to give me complete freedom in this direction, although they weren't sure exactly how to create that "filter," since the existing one was created by God himself. Well, I hope our brilliant engineer-mechanic will figure it out. In the worst-case scenario, Uriel will sit in the library for a couple of years and figure it all out there. I believe in Saraqael and his ingenuity.
Okay, now I needed to decide on future plans. Since it turns out Eve is watching me in Hell, I need to pull off all sorts of clever tricks without getting caught by those red eyes of hers. And I have a lot of business with Hell right now. In Heaven, there are no stronger guys than the Seraphim and my comrades-in-arms. That's it. In Hell, however, the situation was a bit different. Besides the well-known duck lover, there were also the Deadly Sins, the Goetia aristocracy, and wild monsters, which in Hell were called "ancient beasts." I'd heard that many Sins had already tried to hypnotize, tame, or otherwise subdue them, but they had failed. These huge creatures had enough strength to crush a Deadly Sin with sheer brute force alone, and because of this, the Sins only hunted their non-sentient brethren in groups or with the support of their legions. I wasn't going to bet that I would succeed in taming these monsters from Hell, but it was still worth a try.
My main goal, however, would be to persuade the Deadly Sins to really help us in the coming battle. Yes, they gave their promises, of course, but trusting the Deadly Sins... No, I was, of course, a naive (yeah, right) and kind guy, but not an idiot! How does the saying go? If you don't cheat, you don't survive, I think? That's exactly what I expected from the creatures of Hell. So, I needed to give them more motivation. And this problem couldn't be solved by force. I needed to find my own, special approach to each of them and somehow convince them to really try, and not just show up, hit once with Darkness, say "I did everything I could," and bail...
In short, my workload had sharply increased. The only thing that pleased me was that Michael would be participating in the battle. I really thought the esteemed Seraphim would again be hanging around like almost useless baggage, but it turns as our "combat" Seraph had apparently been trying to overcome his weakness to Darkness for literally millennia... Amazing willpower. I would have definitely given up after just a few hundred years of failure... I was also pleased by the power of Michael's concept itself—my "Purity" couldn't even compare to his "Purification." My "Purity" simply burned away all Darkness, everything that was considered "filth." But his "Purification" did just that, it "purified." So, with simple lasers, the Seraph could "heal" the fallen cherubim from Darkness instead of killing them! It would seem the concepts sound so similar, yet what a huge difference! I had to pressure them with pure Light, because Purity would just burn away everything extra, not cleanse it. But Misha just needed to blast the "victim" with his new powers, and that's it! But why did it take him so long to build this concept for himself? Literally thousands of years had passed... although, that's how it was supposed to be. I'd already forgotten that as a fake local God, I had my advantages. Maybe, by the way, I should try to develop something else? Something strong enough to give me an undeniable advantage over Eve? But what could it be?
So, amidst all these thoughts and (unsuccessful) attempts to get even a minute of rest, I finally arrived home. Flying straight onto the balcony, I didn't find Lute in bed. That meant she was either not home at all, which was unlikely, or downstairs, watching TV and waiting for the great and wonderful me...
Lately, due to the constant stress, I just wanted to lie down and do nothing. Even the short rest I managed to arrange for myself and my loved ones was often accompanied by constant, intrusive thoughts about what exactly to do after, and how best to come out of this battle with Eve with no casualties, and to win.
Sighing, I went downstairs, immediately hearing a voice from the speakers. So, my darling really was watching TV. Well, I can lie on the sofa with her for a bit. It was very comfortable. This wasn't some human pseudo-sofa. This was a KING-sofa! Its filling was made from some special, heavenly clouds. As soon as I found that out, I scoured the entire local internet, trying to understand how the fuck that even worked. It turned out that, again, it was all about magic, which allowed one to literally "gather" and materialize various natural phenomena—rainbows, clouds, and even sunlight itself. OP as hell. I especially liked the rainbow sprinkles on the local ice cream.
"Hey beautiful, waiting for me?" I walked into the living room and waved with a smile at Lute, who immediately turned her gaze to me.
"Oh god, Adam!" The happy expression on her face instantly vanished. The girl abruptly jumped up from the sofa and almost ran to me. Shit, did something happen? Judging by her face, yes. And, it happened to me. "Have you even looked at yourself in the mirror?"
"Well, actually, yeah. Like, a million times," I nodded, trying to lighten the mood a little with such a stupid joke. It seemed something had happened to my appearance. Overgrown? Well, a little, but it's just light stubble. That's unlikely to have bothered Lute so much.
"Adam!" Unfortunately, Lute barely reacted to my jokes. Rummaging in the pocket of her uniform, she pulled out a small, round compact mirror and, opening it, almost shoved it in my face. "Look! See?!"
In the mirror, I saw real, dark circles under my eyes... Hey, I sleep fine! Where would they come from? No, I was tired, of course, but my body isn't human, it's angelic (or even divine... yeah, definitely divine). Alright, it could probably be explained by the tons of energy that had passed through me lately. And it didn't show up right away, only now. That is, after our war council. It's possible I was already sporting stylish bruises under my eyes in front of the Seraphim, otherwise Sera wouldn't have so insistently sent me off to rest... where was I supposed to find the time for that rest?
The compact mirror was round, and on one side was the mirror itself, while on the other, Lute had attached a photo of us, one we took in a photo booth on one of our dates. In it, Lute held a huge bouquet of white roses, wearing an elegant black dress with a yellow, spiked cape, which I had given her back then after noticing her gazing with interest at my cloak. Memories of that day immediately surfaced in my mind, momentarily chasing away the dozens of obsessive thoughts about Eve, the attack on Heaven, the possible casualties...
"I see a beautiful woman with flowers," I confirmed with the utmost seriousness.
"Adam! You urgently need rest!" Lute pressed, dragging my mortal coil onto the sofa. "How can this be? I didn't notice it before! I mean, they just weren't there! I was definitely looking at your face, and there were no circles under your eyes!"
"Hey, calm down, my sweet. So, I'm a little tired, happens to everyone, right? It's happened before, and it was fine,"—this was true. The previous Adam often sported circles under his eyes. This happened especially often before another extermination, because even then, it wasn't just "slaughter for slaughter's sake." A detailed route was drawn up for the exorcists to follow, there was a division into teams based on efficiency so the girls would continue to compete in kill counts but not fight amongst themselves. In short, there was a lot to do, and sometimes the head of the Heavenly Army wouldn't sleep for a couple of days. That made my current state all the stranger.
"Adam, I'm worried about you," the girl finally stopped, then sat down on the sofa next to me. "I'm not blind, and I'm not stupid. I see how you're trying to hide it all, but you're constantly thinking about what's to come. Even when you should finally cast all those thoughts aside and just rest, you still keep worrying about the future... even when we're out, or... or when we're in bed. Even though you try not to show it, I see it, I feel that your head is only occupied with problems that you, for some completely incomprehensible reason, shoulder all by yourself," Lute turned her beautiful, golden eyes directly on me. It was hard not to notice all her worries hidden in their depths. "Adam, I... we are adult angels. We are prepared for the fact that we might die in battle. Don't worry so much about us. The regular angels and all the Heaven-born will be evacuated, and the Seraphim will protect them. You don't need to constantly worry about all of us."
"Lute, I..."—it was hard to argue with a loved one when she was in such a state. When she was so open and so genuinely worried about you. But I had to do it, because I couldn't risk all this just for my own rest. "I'm afraid for you. You are warriors," I added immediately, as Lute was about to interrupt my monologue. "But I can't lose you. I don't want to lose you or allow even one of the girls to die... Abel, and Gera, and Jeanne, and Dimitri, and Jacob will all be participating in this battle... I can't just up and stop caring about all this, and risk the lives of those who are so dear to me..."
"Adam..." the girl gently tilted me and pressed my head to her chest. "This is all because of your 'past life,' isn't it? You told me you lost all your family and loved ones in an instant, right?" Her words cut straight to the heart. Yes, that pain of loss still lived in me. And even though I couldn't break from it anymore and go off the rails on a quest for revenge, it was still very difficult for me to forget that all-consuming pain I experienced, losing my family and my beloved. "Adam, that won't happen again. We aren't fighting something beyond our imagination. Eve and all her suck-up losers are just regular enemies, albeit strong ones. Adam, I've been through countless battles, including against much stronger demons, why do you think this time I might die?"
"Lute, you're not immortal."
"And Eve isn't immortal either," Lute replied harshly, gently pushing my head away and looking me straight in the eyes. "Adam, I won't die. And I won't let anyone else die. Your job is to purify all the fallen while we hold back that idiot, and after that, to kick her ass for everything she's done. There isn't a single word about 'dying' in our plan, so just, fuck, trust us. Trust Abel and Jacob, who made this very plan. Trust Jeanne and George, who have become so much stronger in such a short time to distract Eve. Trust me and Dimitri, who have trained all our girls every, fucking, single day! Adam, just believe in us. We're not cotton candy, and we won't melt from a few swings from that bitch Eve!"
Trust... is that what Sera was trying to tell me that time? Had the Head Seraph herself also noticed that I'm always winding myself up? On the one hand, I wanted to cast aside this eternal, exhausting self-reflection, to throw all these problems out of my head, but... I was too afraid of losing them all. Heaven... no, this whole universe had become my real home. I've made many friends here, comrades, found my family... I so didn't want to lose it all again. I was so afraid that I could be left all alone again, with nothing but an all-consuming thirst for vengeance and a broken, tormented soul...
"I can't risk it," I finally answered, after ten long seconds. "I... I don't want to lose you. I just can't."
"Adam, you're an idiot," Lute sighed heavily. "I'm not saying you should just accept our deaths. And I'm not saying you should take risks! Just, fuck, stop winding yourself up! We're not idiots, and we're not going to launch some suicidal attack, Adam! Stop thinking of us as some potential corpses! We will survive, and we will live for a very long time, understand?!" At that very moment, Lute... gave me a ringing slap, which immediately brought me to my senses, knocking absolutely all thoughts out of my head for a second. Because I had expected anything but that. "Just snap out of it! Adam, what the hell is wrong with you?! Did you forget who you are?! Or forget who we are?! We are warriors! And our main goal is the protection of Heaven! Stop playing all these childish, stupid games, afraid of losing us! Get a grip, and show everyone that you are the first, fucking, man, not some crybaby who's afraid of his own shadow!"
Well, she was right... after all those trips I got from the Fruit of Knowledge, I became firmly convinced that there would definitely be casualties in this battle, and that the chance of survival for my loved ones was very small, unlike mine. Hell, I just plain forgot that I myself could very well die in this battle, since I had already, literally, experienced similar moments several times because of that very Fruit of Knowledge.
But I just wasn't getting the most important thing—the Fruit of Knowledge of Good and Evil only showed me what I could have been if I had chosen the wrong path. But now... now I was on that path. And nothing I saw back then will happen again. I'll fuck up Eve, I'll waste all those bastards who won't come to my home, and I will, fuck, live on, with my awesome, smart, beautiful fiancée!
The next moment, I had already grabbed Lute's hands and easily lifted them above her head, after which I gave her a long, passionate, demanding kiss.
"I see you want it rougher, big girl?"
"Fucking yes!"