Chapter 148
Both of her hands clenched tightly, trying to grasp the remnants of faith that had begun to crack, while an inner conflict gnawed at every certainty she once possessed.
Slowly, those fists loosened, her tense fingers trembling before finally opening.
In that moment of weakness, a deeper and more personal question struck her.
Was the very dogma she created—The Trilogy of Devotion built upon Faith, Piety, and the fear of Betrayal—slowly destroying her original self?
Was the fortress of belief she painstakingly built nothing more than a cage that killed the free and cheerful soul who once chased butterflies in the heavenly garden?
However, just at the brink of doubt, another memory saved her.
The echo of Quil-Hasa's instruction—harsh and authoritative to others—sounded gentle, enticing, and full of promise in her ears.
The memory of that voice, once the source of her greatest joy, warmed her frozen spirit and dispelled the shadows of hesitation.
With a breath that suddenly steadied, Aldraya lifted her head.
Her previously uneasy eyes now radiated a cold resolve once more.
Her steps resumed, heavier than before, yet more determined.
She decided to bury every troubling question deep within, locking again the door of her heart that had briefly opened.
Within herself, she declared a new vow: that no matter what, she would uphold her dogma until the very end—whatever the cost, and whoever must be sacrificed.
'Sixteen years of age is supposed to bring maturity, yet what I feel is a growing need to draw closer to Him.'
Fhuaaah!
'No pause.
No rest.
Every breath is a chance to glorify Him; every second is a battlefield against doubts that might seep in.'
In the bone-piercing darkness of night, Aldraya continued her endless solitary walk.
Her footsteps resonated with the silence of nature, as though she were the last being left in this frozen world.
A short, misty breath broke the stillness, followed by a faint murmur questioning the authenticity of everything she had experienced—a subtle doubt of whether all of this was merely the most elaborate illusion.
She quickly drowned that doubt by diving deeper into the ocean of her memories.
Her mind opened the next page—a chapter that was the fundamental reason why she, Aldraya Kansh Que, once known as Silvia Cantika Putri, had to descend from her heavenly throne and set foot upon Earth.
That memory was carved so deeply that it became an unavoidable turning point.
In that flashback, the Heavenly Realm had returned to its most serene and perfect form.
All traces of chaos caused by the Equinox incident had been erased completely, as though that collective wound had never existed.
At that time, all thirteen Highest Angels had reached the age of sixteen—a milestone marking their transition into maturity along their destined path.
And amidst that restored peace, Aldraya locked herself even more tightly inside her crystal pavilion.
There, she knelt without end, offering praises, prayers, and curses with doubled intensity.
Her melodious voice never ceased echoing—flowing without pause, without weariness.
Every praise was silk weaving admiration; every prayer was a shield protecting Quil-Hasa's majesty; and every curse was a blade striking down anyone who dared to mock Him.
She practiced this with a fervor so blazing it seemed that by doubling her devotion, she could bury the remnants of doubt lodged within her.
Her trust, her faith, and most of all, her love for Quil-Hasa burned with an ever-uncontainable fire.
Duuuk - duuuk!!
'Is this what they call love?
My heart beats uncontrollably, as if recognizing the very source of its life.'
Duuuk - duuuk!!
'Yet behind all of this, if You command us to bring ruin upon Your own creation, then surely the meaning behind it is so profound it surpasses our understanding.
If You decree the end of all existence, then that is the undeniable truth.'
Tsssing!
'Without protest, without fear.
Your decree is law.
I will dedicate my entire being to carrying out Your will, even if it means becoming the instrument that annihilates everything we once knew.'
Within her crystal pavilion, trembling under the unbroken force of her prayers, the space suddenly split open by an unmatched presence.
Quil-Hasa revealed Himself once more, His form radiating a splendor that bathed the entire pavilion in an ocean of pure light.
Yet the command that echoed from that divine presence was astonishing and wholly unexpected.
A mandate to destroy everything they had ever protected—including the universe, Heaven, and Hell—by combining the power of all thirteen Highest Angels.
Across the heavenly realm, the reaction of the other eleven Angels was the same.
A deep, piercing confusion.
Their innocent eyes filled with questions; their hearts churned between blind obedience and the instinct to doubt.
A spiritual restlessness seized them—did this signify the end of all their roles and existence, a cosmic ending where the guardians themselves became the executioners?
Meanwhile, from the depths of Hell, an entirely different response emerged.
Equinox—long imprisoned by rage and bitterness—welcomed the command with blazing fervor.
A bitter smile spread, for this was the moment he had long awaited to unleash the hatred he had kept buried.
For this wounded soul who felt deeply betrayed, total annihilation was not tragedy—it was liberation, a final revenge against the Creator who had cast him aside.
But for Aldraya, this third encounter with Quil-Hasa held neither confusion nor hatred.
Her heart pounded wildly—like war drums shattering the silence of her spirit.
Every breath of the Creator, every pulse of His light, felt like a direct touch shaking her senses to their core.
A torrent of unfamiliar emotion flooded her—questioning whether this was true love: an attraction so intense and personal it nearly made her forget the dreadful mission just entrusted to her.
For a fleeting moment, her rigid obedience was overtaken by that bewildering heartbeat—a sign that dogma might not be able to completely bury the human within an angel.
'A man who calls himself King Xavier XVII dared to defy a direct decree from Quil-Hasa.'
Aldraya returned to the present, exhaling carbon dioxide longer than usual.
She then fell silent again, continuing her steps as her consciousness revisited the memories she had long sealed away.
In carrying out that terrifying divine command, sixty percent of the vast universe had already crumbled into cosmic dust.
The roar of destruction and the uncountable screams of death filled every remaining dimension—a symphony of despair born from the combined force of the thirteen unstoppable Highest Angels.
At the opening of this ritual of annihilation, Aldraya appeared briefly—her presence like a cold flash of light marking the beginning of the end.
But unlike her siblings who remained, she swiftly turned away from the center of the storm, returning to her crystal pavilion to drown herself once more in her endless praises and prayers.
Though Aldraya now appeared paler and more expressionless, stripped of her innocent childhood cheer, her mere brief presence brought an indescribable comfort to her eleven siblings.
To be continued…