The last thing Kai remembered was the ash. Not the fire, not the smoke, just the fine, grey powder on the back of his hand as the ceiling finally gave way. He hadn't been a hero, just a man who'd stayed too long trying to save a forgotten box of photos.
Then came the silence. A perfect, absolute quiet that didn't just lack sound, it lacked feeling.
He opened his eyes.
He wasn't lying down; he was suspended, drifting in an endless, pure-white expanse that smelled faintly of ozone and cold stone. His body felt different—lighter, stronger, yet brittle. He looked down and saw a hand that was not his own. It was a flawless, marble-smooth alabaster, culminating in long, elegant fingers. From his back extended two magnificent, pure-white wings, currently folded and inert.
Suddenly flimsy commands and designation fill his mind. Like a sheet of paper he could easily tear apart.
'Angel-Kael? Kai mentally repeated the name. I'm an Angel? Did I die?'
As if in response, a translucent blue window shimmered into existence before his eyes, exactly like the heads-up display from every video game he'd ever played.
[STATUS:
RACE: ANGEL (ARTIFICIAL-SOLDIER CLASSIFICATION)
WING COUNT: 2 (FOOT SOLDIER TIER)
CONSTRUCTION NOTE: Soul-Unit 733 (Kai Riel Shino Asbrad Yolton Shai)
STABILITY: MAXIMUM
PRIMARY TITLE: SOLDIER]
Kael stared at the window, the cold reality of "Artificial-Soldier" sinking in. He was a manufactured foot-soldier, cannon fodder for a cosmic conflict he knew nothing about. Suddenly memories pop into his head.
'Isn't this just like that novel I read? Custom made Demon king. Even my system is the same.'
'Due to the extreme rarity of natural Angel births, the angels use the souls of pure mortals to create 'Artificial Angels.' These constructs are stable but lack the innate ability to grow stronger or ascend the hierarchy through typical means. They are purpose-built for the Eternal War. Great even in death I'll get no peaceful life.'
The gamer in him immediately zeroed in on the system.
He focused his will onthe [CUSTOM-MADE DEMON KING], and the system instantly appeared.
[The ultimate power of control and creation. This ability allows the user to DESIGN, FABRICATE, and DEFINE by expending Souls.
CURRENT SOUL COUNT: 0]
This was the only message in the system.
Kael stood in the void, a newly minted, weak angel with a power system that explicitly fed on the fuel of the Eternal War. To get stronger, he needed souls. To get souls, he needed to fight.
"I need to kill things to level up," Kael murmured, a grim understanding settling over him.
The irony was delicious. He was a foot soldier with an engine of endless growth. His new existence might be brittle, but his potential was terrifying.
A sudden shift in the light heralded the end of his peace. The white void dissolved, replaced by a massive, vaulted chamber of gold and polished iron. Before him stood a colossal, six-winged Angel clad in armor that glowed with holy fire—a true Seraph.
"Angel-Kael," the Seraph boomed, his voice a sound that shook the soul. "Your integration is complete. The eastern front has seen heavy losses. You will be assigned to a standard Vanguard Unit and deployed to the war zone in the next quarter-hour. Prepare yourself." Then the Angel moves away not even thinking this new born Artificial angel could refuse orders.
Kael felt a sudden, heavy weight on his shoulder—a simple, steel-and-leather pack containing his rations and minimal equipment.
'15 minutes', he thought, unfurling his two white wings for the first time.
'I have fifteen minutes to figure out how to get souls.'
Angel-Kael stood in the massive, vaulted launch chamber, the air shaking with the sound of holy war drums. The Seraph had given his command: Deployment in a quarter-hour.
'I'm an Artificial Angel', he thought, his two wings rigid with tension.
'I'm Tier 1, a baseline angel. No natural growth. My only way up is to use the system or die I guess. Would that even be that bad? An instant death to what could be an immortal life of suffering.'
He quickly called up the [CUSTOM-MADE DEMON KING] interface, ignoring the Seraph's final words, and making his decision. 'I guess if I don't get a heaven I'll make my own in the end. But first I need to be able to grow.'
He focused on the core problem: the Artificial Angel body prevented him from absorbing the ambient Celestial Light that allowed true Angels to grow stronger, heal, and accumulate power over centuries.
He opened the Fabrication menu and began to design a solution. A skill attached to his wings.
[Skill: light absorption]
[A passive skill that bypasses the limitations of the Artificial body and allows the host to absorb Light for power and growth. Integrated into the wing-roots, designed to catch and funnel light-energy directly into the soul]
[COST: 200 SOULS]
Kael clenched his fist. 630 Souls. A fortune. He didn't even have one. This confirmed his worst fear. He was poor. His first job was to find a way to get 200 souls.
"Angel-Kael! The portal is active! Move!" the Seraph roared, impatience radiating across the chamber.
Kael adjusted the plain steel shield on his arm and drew his basic, non-magical sword. He was strong enough, fast enough, and he was walking into a conflict where the corpses would be piling up. 'Souls a plenty.' he thought.
He walked through the blinding, shimmering white portal, stepping from the glorious light of the celestial home and onto the blood-soaked earth of the front line.
The portal spat Angel-Kael onto the ruined asphalt of what looked like a war-torn suburb, the air thick with smoke and the metallic scent of fresh blood. The cacophony of the Eternal War. The clash of steel, the roar of demons, the resonant shouts of angels was immediate and overwhelming.
His unit, Vanguard 417, didn't hesitate. They were all two-winged Artificial-Soldiers, clad in the same low-grade steel and white armor.
Kael watched them charge, their faces uniformly emotionless, their movements perfectly synchronized, driven by programmed loyalty and zero imagination. They were machines with a soul core, strong, but lacking any capacity for strategic thought or self-improvement.
Kael wasn't like that he had emotion. He had thoughts. He had fears. A human soul with memories and, more importantly, a brain. He was a strategic liability to his superiors. Bit to him participating in this pointless war just to die wasn't all that appealing.
200 Souls, Kael internally repeated, his eyes scanning the battlefield not for threats, but for targets of opportunity. 'I need 630 souls. Until then, I'm cannon fodder among other cannon fodder.'
He could take down a low-tier demon easily; his Angelic strength was well above human limits. But charging headlong with the Vanguard Unit risked getting caught in a flurry of chaos, making it impossible to guarantee the soul.
In a war morality was dead, the most efficient resource was the easiest target.
He watched his fellow Artificial Angels crash into the demonic lines 20 meters away. A group of three low-tier Demons—gargoyle-like creatures with ragged wings—were momentarily distracted, tearing into something on the ground.
Kael's decision was immediate and cold. He needed to step out of the unit's line of sight and find the vulnerable prey.
Kael planted his shield in the ground and dropped to one knee, letting the charging column of Vanguard 417 flow past him.
"My pauldron is loose," he murmured, loud enough only for the Angel nearest him to hear. The other angel's face didn't register the lie, only a slight tilt of the head before it accelerated, following the program.
With the Vanguard unit's bulky forms providing momentary cover, Kael didn't secure his pauldron. Instead, he slipped instantly into the dark, shattered doorway of a nearby pharmacy. He moved with the inhuman speed of his new body, his two white wings folding flat against the ruined wall as he disappeared from the street.
The air inside was thick with dust and the unmistakable smell of fear and copper. He could hear faint, ragged breathing coming from the back, hidden behind a collapsed shelf of vitamins and cold medicine.
Kael drew his steel sword, the holy energy emanating from his body barely a flicker compared to a true Seraph, but enough to make the air hum.
'I regret nothing', he repeated to himself, the ruthless calculation confirming his human morals were going to get him killed.
He rounded the corner, sword raised.
Crouched in the fetal position was a woman, no older than thirty, clutching a small, bloodstained photo. Her eyes were wide, terrified—not of the distant battle, but of the sudden, silent apparition of a two-winged Angel standing over her.
"Please," she whispered, her breath hitching. "I just wanted to hide."
Kael felt a flicker of the old human Kai—the man who died trying to save photos—and got brutally crushed. He raised his sword higher and brought it down.
[System alert]
[Souls harvested: 1]
[Souls stored: 1]
(A/n I regret nothing. I don't know why I started a new book but custom made Demon king is a cool concept. I've just ever seen anything good written on the angel side)