Part 768: Unbreakable Vow

January 29th, 2021. 6PM Washington DC, 3AM Fourth Hell of Punishment.

Less than fifteen minutes passed before Emperor Morbius cleaned himself up and strode out to meet Belial again. He word a bathrobe, allowing his unkempt hair to dangle down to his neck. Belial found his face to be quite thin, wiry, and ‘pointy’. Not attractive by any means, yet Morbius was somehow a demon of great influence with the opposite sex, creating a whole cult of devotees who seemed to hang on his every word.

Belial had no idea how that happened, even if Demon Emperors in general were often flocked to because of their strength. Clearly, there was something magnetic about Morbius, but it simply didn’t affect her at all.

"Hah, I apologize for the delay, Belial." Morbius laughed awkwardly, gesturing vaguely toward what could barely be called an ‘outfit’ he had donned. A black bathrobe exemplified his laziness perfectly. "Now that I’m decent, tell me what Satan needs. I’m all ears."

Belial rolled her eyes. She did that a lot whenever she was in Morbius’s presence. His voice had an overly breathy tone to it, as if he were putting on a Shakespearean play for whoever he was speaking to. It made him sound melodramatic, but any attempt to point this out only resulted in looks of dismay or gasps of disbelief, as if he couldn’t possibly understand what nonsense she was going on and on about.

"We’re going to be attacking Heaven." Belial repeated, as she closed her eyes and raised a hand to massage the headache she was developing out of her forehead. "Satan wants to kill one or more of the Archangels, and as many Titan Kings as possible."

"Ambitious." Morbius said dismissively, his voice drifting into her ears like a termite burrowing into a dead tree. "I can understand his desire to eliminate our greatest enemy, but this is all so sudden. Why now? Weren’t we going to wait a few decades to scout out the inner picture of Heaven? We have no idea what we’re going up against."

"We have no choice." Belial grumbled, pressing her fingers harder against her forehead. "There are two Trueborn Heroes now. This is unprecedented. One of the Heroes is apparently a time traveler. He fought Emperor Ose and beat her handily. He has the ability to rewind time an infinite number of times, meaning it’s very likely he already knows all our plans and has made contingencies for them. We don’t know if he knows about our future assault on Heaven, the assault tomorrow, or an infinite number of variants we tried before and failed or possibly succeeded. We’re at a complete loss when it comes to information warfare."

Have you tried contacting Yama?" Morbius suggested. "His Shades might be able to slip inside Heaven."

Belial opened her eyes. She did her best to ignore the fact that Morbius’s eyes were, as always fixated on her chest.

"Heaven’s Light pervades all corners of the realm." Belial said, carefully crossing her arms over her chest to obstruct his view. "Shades who enter Heaven will simply die. This is also why Yama won’t be any help with the upcoming battle, unless we can find a way to diminish Heaven’s Light dramatically."

Belial paused. She remembered an important fact at that moment. During the first War in Heaven, the demons did successfully manage to drastically dim Heaven’s Light at the climax of the final battle. This was due to the power of the Archdemon… but nobody knew exactly how Diablo did it, including the man himself.

In the end, if the demons didn’t know how to replicate the feat, and they had no way to sneak into Heaven to try and experiment, then it didn’t really matter.

"We will need your power." Belial concluded. "Along with that of the other Emperors. Yama might not be of any use inside Heaven, but he will serve us well on the outside, where darkness and shadows reside. He can prevent unwanted entities from intruding."

"Fine, I’ll do what I must then." Morbius said. "The Hell of Punishment will join this idiotic battle. You do understand this could result in a total wash for us, though? All the soft power we’ve built up over millennia will crumble if we suffer a catastrophic loss. Our threat will greatly diminish in the eyes of the humans."

Morbius might be a creep, but he wasn’t an idiot. Belial had to acknowledge his words with a nod, even if she didn’t want them to be true.

"Satan is aware, as am I and all the others. But we don’t have a choice." Belial grumbled. "Taking out at least one Archangel will pay dividends in the future. Eliminating two or more could collapse the strength of one of our three enemy factions."

It was at this moment Morbius said something Belial never would have expected from the likes of him. "Has Satan considered the diplomatic option?"

"Excuse me?" Belial said, frowning.

"Satan seems to be operating under the assumption co-existence with the other species is impossible." Morbius said, fanning out his fingernails to look at them while he spoke. "I wasn’t there during the original War in Heaven, so I don’t really know what all went down. But surely even he has to understand how badly the deck is stacked against us?"

Morbius continued. "Right now, it’s Demons and Monsters against Humans, Angels, and Titans. The humans have developed dramatically over the last two hundred years. Their ‘machines’ are already quite scary, and they seem to be getting more and more effective at killing us as time goes on. Your operating assumption that we are soon going to be ‘screwed’ now that the humans have two Trueborn feels flawed from the outset. From where I’m sitting, it seems as though we were already screwed just based on the humans’ development speed. With or without a Hero, I don’t think they’re going to lose this war."

Belial was stunned. For once, Morbius wasn’t even looking at her, or her tits. He was simply examining his nails, pulling that thought out of what she assumed was the black hole known as his brain.

"H-human machines aren’t that strong." Belial protested. "Even I can take down one of their flying machines with ease."

Morbius met her eyes. His expression was serious, for once. "Of course you can. You’re an Emperor. Any Emperor can stand up to one of their war machines; that’s nothing worth bragging about. But what if ten of them surrounded you? A hundred? A thousand? What if they were determined, truly determined, to kill or capture you? What if they started deliberately tracking and hunting you? They can just keep shitting those metal behemoths out, and any ordinary human can control them. Could you withstand that level of force?"

The Fourth Emperor paused deliberately. "Could a Duke? A Baron? Let alone anyone weaker than them? And that’s only talking about the machines we see and know about now. What about the ones covertly being developed behind closed doors? What if the Trueborn didn’t show up and we continued on the path of attacking Heaven in a few decades? Don’t you think the human weapons would become even more frightening compared to the ones we’ve seen up to now?"

Belial blinked. She hadn’t given this matter much thought. She was caught off-guard by Morbius’s line of questioning. Naturally though, she assumed the brilliant Satan had thought of these matters. Surely he had factored those questions into his logic and train of thinking.

"Well," Morbius said, after several long seconds of silence from his verbal-opponent, "it’s not too late to change Satan’s mind. I think we were screwed from the start. Diplomacy could keep our people alive and allow us to reap the rewards of symbiotically living alongside the humans. I don’t know about you, but I’m quite tired of holing up underground, rarely getting to experience the warmth of the sun. It turns my skin a pale pink."

"Satan is also tired of living in the darkness." Belial finally said, recovering from her shock though she was still flustered. "That’s why we need to claim the Earth for ourselves."

"It’s not going to go well for us." Morbius observed. "I can see the writing on the walls. So can the other Emperors. They won’t say anything, because everyone’s afraid of pissing Satan off. We all know he owns our asses. The difference between me and them is that I’m more attached to enjoying my good life than I’m afraid of pissing Satan off. Though, yeah, I am still afraid of pissing him off. Rest assured, I’ll follow orders and attack Heaven, but I just think this is an idiotic move that will likely cost us infinitely more than it gains."

Belial hardened her gaze. "Satan has led us to our current prosperity. I won’t tell him what you’ve said, but you’d do well to keep your mouth shut in the future. He thinks much further ahead than even you know."

"You’re probably right, but even the most brilliant leaders have blind spots." Morbius retorted. "Satan’s blind spot is his obvious hatred for the angels. His thirst for revenge is going to cost him, and the rest of us, everything."

"We’ll see." Belial said, concluding the conversation.

She dismissed herself after getting one last assurance from Morbius that he would fight at the battle of Sinai in one day’s time. Then, she left the Fourth Hell, feeling a little worse for wear.

What does an idiot like Morbius know? Belial thought after she stepped back out into the night-time darkness. It was 4 AM now, and she’d spent about 45 minutes inside the Fourth Hell. Satan’s true plan has nothing to do with killing the Archangels. That’s just a cover to deceive the others and obfuscate his true intentions. Satan’s so-called ‘thirst’ for vengeance has also dulled over time. His hatred for the angels is almost entirely a hatred for Raphael, not every other Archangel.

Belial grimaced. The true point of this invasion is to steal back Valac’s Lantern. If we can obtain it, we will seize control of the power of revival and use it to build a new realm for demonkind. Killing Raphael and other leaders in Heaven would be a nice bonus, but pale in comparison to actually obtaining the Lantern.

Even as Belial had this thought, she shivered, her bones turning cold from fear.

But what if the humans know? What if Cat Mask knows? He must know, right? Surely he witnessed our attempts to start this war in one of the futures he lived through. How much of our plans does he know? Or maybe what we’re doing now is completely new to him? Maybe we never even tried this before?

The knowledge that a time-traveler was among their enemies made Belial extremely worried. This news had greatly shaken her resolve, and Satan’s as well. It would be one thing if they didn’t know, but now that Ose had told them of Cat Mask’s capabilities, they were constantly second and third-guessing themselves.

What if cat Mask knew what they were doing?

What if he didn’t?

Would he actively work to stop them?

Would he let them do as they pleased?

What if obtaining the Lantern was actually a poison pill for demonkind? Maybe the Lantern itself had been tampered with ahead of time? Maybe Cat Mask had already told Raphael, and the angels knew exactly what the demons were planning!

The possibilities made Belial want to break down and cry. Morbius’s words had shaken her resolve even more because the truth was, she completely agreed with him! She thought this war was a terrible idea, but she couldn’t bear to tell her husband ‘no’. If Satan wanted something, Belial would do anything he asked to help him acquire it. This showed the depths of her love and devotion, and the weaknesses in her personality as well.

Even though she felt saddened by this news, she pressed on. Belial transformed into a True Succubus once again, leaped into the sky, and flew low to the ground, moving quickly to return to the Warper Hub in Germany.

Before long, she would be back in Sinai, readying up for the next phase of Satan’s plan…

---

At the same time, in Heaven.

While the demons were making their moves, so too were the angels. Raphael was aware the demons had assaulted Saint Catherine’s Monastery and killed many of the humans there. Luckily, he knew that at least some of the humans had managed to escape. That was because the church’s leader had activated Catherine’s Sigil, which mainly served to alert Heaven to a demonic incursion. It also meant the deacon had opened the secret passageway and escaped through the tunnels.

Odds were good the demons hadn’t pursued the humans who escaped. They could do so, of course, but knowing the demons, they simply paid little attention to random nobodies among the human ranks. The demons actually had quite a blind spot to ‘ordinary’ humans, and mainly put their focus on celebrities and other noteworthy people. This was a glaring weakness in their psychology that prevented them from paying attention to countless obscure engineers and other inventors who silently toiled away from the public eye, making tremendous contributions to human science.

It also allowed ordinary people to go about their daily lives, unmolested by the touch of demonic influence. Whether this would last into the foreseeable future or not was anyone’s guess.

Raphael was currently sitting within his residence, a spacious and livable home filled with books he had collected over the eons, written himself, or had commissioned from humans and angels alike. His personal library mainly consisted of his favorite tomes, but he had built a much larger one in a somewhat remote corner of Heaven filled with obscure titles he only browsed occasionally.

The Archangel of Wisdom was, in all meanings, the leader of Heaven. Even so, he did not live an opulent life. His dwelling was larger than that of most other angels, but he had no servants, and he certainly didn’t live inside a mansion. His dwelling was surprisingly humble, a large hollowed-out tree with multiple vertical levels linked by holes in the floor leading upward. As an angel, he could fly upward and did not need staircases.

Raphael sat before a window overlooking the interior of Heaven. His giant tree was grown atop a small hill, not quite a mountain, which gave him a wide view of all the other living spaces within Heaven, the distant forests, and at the edge of his vision, even the gate leading to Sinai itself.

His vision was keen, but even Raphael could not make out much in the way of those going in and out of Heaven’s Gate. With a demonic attack arriving in the near future, there were many angels, mostly Lazarites, coming and going.

Raphael’s home was not a simple structure made of brick and mortar. It was grown and hand-crafted by Uzziel herself for her brother. The colors inside were darker, more muted than the brightness of the world outside.

But Raphael’s home was unique in this regard. He might live inside a hollowed-out tree, but the Lazarites within Heaven did not.

Heaven did not look the way it did during the Ancient Era. Lazarites were humans who had died. As such, when they arrived in Heaven, they brought human knowledge, human customs, and human engineering along with them. Countless Lazarites who had been reborn were artisans, craftsman, construction workers, and others of that sort. In recent decades, more humans had been born and died than ever in the past, and these new humans had caused the shape of Heaven to change dramatically.

Raphael strictly forbade the use of electricity. He felt it was too alien for the likes of Heaven, but if he had allowed it, he might have been able to obtain a sizable fraction of the human war machine for himself. Alas, since he forbade it, the humans instead brought along with them their construction methods, building high-rise apartment buildings illuminated by Heaven’s Light, rather than bulbs running on electrical power.

Heaven had a moderate climate year-round. Angels did not need to consume food, so Lazarites didn’t need to farm like they would have if they were still alive on Earth. That didn’t stop many Lazarites from alleviating their boredom by growing lavish gardens over time, or building fancier and more ornate statues, structures, and so on.

Lazarites were intended to be instruments of war Raphael could deploy to battle against the demons, but the truth was, especially in the last few hundred years, battles against the demons rarely rose to a level higher than a moderate city-level skirmish. Most Lazarites only trained their battle techniques and powers when ordered to do so, and otherwise lived as if they were still humans.

The city that sprawled out below Raphael’s house was ugly and unseemly. He hated it. It was made of metal and concrete, not like the old Heaven that had existed before Satan’s explosion during the Ancient Era. That Heaven had truly felt like home to the Pureblooded angels, while the one they lived in now felt more like a lesser imitation of the human world outside.

Raphael grumbled to himself. He felt stuck, in a way. Trapped in a quagmire. Lately, he felt as if he’d been following the rhythm of his enemies, allowing a new status quo to slowly form. Now, it was the demons who were setting a new rhythm. He was forced to react to news of their imminent assault and begin preparing for it.

While Raphael stared at the city of Lazarites below his home, a knock at the door made him turn his head to look. He realized he’d been so preoccupied with his thoughts that he had failed to sense a familiar aura approaching.

"Come in, child." Raphael said, smiling warmly. He remained seated, watching at the door opened to reveal a white-haired woman with a halo above her head, the telltale sign she was a Lazarite and not a pureblood. She wore a helmet that covered her face, but took it off when she entered.

Catherine walked inside Raphael’s home with the same casual ease she always had, ever since she was a little girl and had arrived in Heaven. She treated Raphael as her parent, because he had always been good to her and lavished care and affection onto her shoulders.

Catherine closed the door. She smiled at Raphael and bowed slightly.

"Father, I’ve returned." Catherine said.

"Words reached my ears that thou didst vanish after the battle against Lucifer." Raphael said, his heart lightening, ever so slightly. He stood up and walked over to Catherine, giving her a warm and gentle hug. Then he held her arms and looked into her eyes. "Art thou quite alright, my dear? Thou appeareth none the worse for wear."

"I’m sorry, Father." Catherine said, blushing slightly. "I made you worry over nothing. When Lucifer showed up, I fled and had to hide for a while. But I escaped and made my way back here."

Raphael blinked. Was it just his imagination, or did her eyes shift away when she spoke? It felt a little ‘off’ to him, an ancient entity who had interacted with billions of other beings over his long and storied life.

She was… lying?

Raphael wasn’t entirely certain, but he didn’t press the matter.

He simply pulled his arms away before touching her cheek lovingly. "That thou still live is my greatest joy. As soon as I heard of thy survival, I called for thee. Since thou art of sound body and mind, come and sit at my table. I have something I must discuss with thee."

Catherine nodded. Her expression turned solemn. Raphael seemed to have a lot on his mind. He was much more serious than usual.

Raphael took a seat at the table next to the window, while Catherine sat across from him. Raphael waved his hand, and two pocelain cups appeared, along with a porcelain pot with heated tea. He picked up and poured the chamomile tea for himself and Catherine, then slid a cup over to her side.

This was a simple ritual the two of them had done a thousand times. Catherine accepted the tea with a nod, then took a sip almost in unison with Raphael, as if their minds were synchronized.

Several seconds of silence followed. Catherine waited, not speaking. She was waiting to hear what was on Raphael’s mind.

"War is coming." Raphael stated, causing Catherine to nod along to his words. This much was obvious to anyone. "In these trying times, I must dig up every scrap of battle strength our people mayeth be able to use in the coming fight. Every bit of added strength shalt increase our chances of victory, even if only by a little."

"Of course." Catherine agreed between sips of tea. "And my role?"

"Thou art going to play a part most essential." Raphael said seriously. "Child, thy potential is unlimited. Among the Lazarites, thou art a one-in-a-billion prodigy. I intendeth to place a good deal of focus upon thy future exploits."

Catherine’s eyes flickered. Raphael noticed this, and while his facial expression didn’t change, a small internal alarm in the back of his head started to tingle. Catherine seemed a little ‘off’ today, in ways he found indescribable. He immediately deduced more had happened to her than she let on, but he kept quiet, waiting to see if she would speak of the matter herself.

"Regarding thy sister…" Raphael said slowly, watching Catherine’s face as he spoke. "’Tis time for thee to inherit her legacy. Thou art now strong enough of mind and body to wield the power of the D’Arc bloodline."

Catherine’s heart jumped. "You… you mean…?"

"’Tis not here." Raphael said solemnly. "Joan was a human Hero. Her power was special, even among her fellow Purebloods. She was a religious woman who placed piety the highest among all virtues and drew her power from it. As such, ’twas not appropriate to allow her blade to rest in Heaven."

A long moment of silence followed.

"The Sword From Heaven now resides within Saint Catherine’s Monastery." Raphael said, enunciating every syllable deliberately to allow the his words to weigh on Catherine’s mind. "Thy sister’s blade is now in a place surrounded by demons. If thou wisheth to finally take up her legacy, thou must first reclaim it from the demons."

"They’ve taken my sister’s sword?!" Catherine asked, the blood draining from her face.

"Nay." Raphael answered with a shake of his head. "The demons know not the treasure contained within the Monastery. In fact, only I knew of its location. I told neither Camael nor the others. The Sword From Heaven is an artifact on par with the legendary Excalibur. Its power is beyond imagination."

Raphael cleared his throat. "Verily, I am unable to control any artifact once a Trueborn’s soul has taken up residence inside. The same is true of the demons, even more so due to their weakness against the divine energy contained within such a blade. The Emperors hath no idea where I’ve hidden the blade, and even if they dids’t, they woulds’t not dare touch it."

Catherine relaxed a little. When it came to her sister, she always seemed to lose her sense of reason at least a little. She was still deeply emotionally bonded to the only remaining member of her Earthborn-family, even if that was only in concept. She hadn’t actually spoken to Joan since either of their deaths, and this was a fact that had haunted her for centuries.

Naturally, Raphael noticed all the micro-movements on Catherine’s face. It was a deliberate tactic he had used over the years, mentioning Joan every so often, as casually as possible, to keep her at the surface of Catherine’s mind. Dangling Joan in front of Catherine had always helped keep her in line, and turned her into a very obedient girl who followed her Father’s orders.

However, there was that new problem… why did it suddenly seem as though Catherine were keeping something from Raphael? His uncertainty increased more and more the longer he spoke to her.

Raphael cleared his throat. "I shalt assemble a small fighting force. There appear to be two Emperors inside the Monastery. Diablo and Belial. Before other Emperors arrive, I wish for thee to travel there, locate and acquire the Sword From Heaven, and escape the demons before they know what has transpired. With this blade in hand, thy fighting power shalt rise exponentially. Thou shalt truly become the Mightiest Lazarite."

Catherine’s expression shifted to one of determination. She immediately nodded. "Yes, of course, Father. But you don’t need to send anyone else. I alone am enough."

Raphael’s eyebrows jumped. "Absolutely not! If thou wadeth into the waters of thy enemies alone, thou shalt drown. Powerful though thou mayeth be, thou art no match for a Demon Emperor, let alone two of them. To say nothing of the Dukes lurking in the shadows."

Catherine smiled, and that smile had the hints of a smirk. "Oh, you haven’t heard, Father? I killed two Demon Dukes today."

Raphael’s eyebrows jumped again. "Two?! Impossible! Who were they?"

"The Battle Brothers." Catherine said, before pausing. "I also killed Hamir, the Baron of Frost."

Raphael’s jaw slackened. He looked at Catherine with fresh eyes, then sighed and bowed his head. "Thou hath grown, child. I apologize, for I did not notice thy growth had reached such a level."

After chuckling and shaking his head at his ignorance, Raphael raised his gaze once more.

"Even so, Demon Dukes and Emperors art different beasts entirely. It mayeth be possible for thee to slay an Emperor, but thou art underselling the power of our adversaries. I shalt not be at ease sending thee into the viper’s den alone."

"I’m not going to fight my way in." Catherine said, firming her resolve. "I will sneak inside and take the blade before anyone knows what happened. Having others beside me will only slow me down."

Raphael appeared uncertain. "This is a great risk thou art considering, child. I woulds’t feel more at ease sending thee in with backup."

"I don’t need backup." Catherine said, her tone firmer than before. "I will accomplish this task by myself."

She surprised Raphael, because this was the first time she’d ever spoken so decisively to him. Catherine had always been a woman with a stalwart heart, but in front of her Father, she was a meek mannered girl who did as she was told.

What had caused her to change so dramatically seemingly overnight?

Raphael pondered that question, but he couldn’t seem to deduce an answer…

"…Very well, then allow this old man to offer an alternative. I shalt draw the demon’s eyes with a feint. I’ll send a thousand Lazarites to harass the demons from afar, using ranged weapons. They will rain arrows from above, drawing attention away from the Cathedral. In this way, thou shalt have an easier time sneaking inside."

Catherine opened her mouth. She started to argue with Raphael, but when the old man frowned, she lost her nerve. After a moment, Catherine lowered her eyes, sighed, and nodded.

"Yes, Father. A feint will suffice. It will help me slip inside, unseen."

Raphael’s frown didn’t disappear. He did not look reassured by her agreement.

"Catherine. Coulds’t it be that thou hath grown tired of living? Has suicide begun to play upon the edges of thy mind?" Raphael questioned. "Foolish bravado, perhaps? Might it be that thou actually wisheth to battle against a Demon Emperor? Perhaps in an attempt to prove thy capabilities? Dost thou thinketh thyself unworthy of thy sister’s lineage, and this is thy attempt to rectify that shortcoming?"

Catherine’s jaw dropped. "Father, what are you talking about? I’m not suicidal, and this has nothing to do with any of that! You’re talking nonsense!"

"Then why?" Raphael asked. "Give me an answer, child. Why doth thee insist on fighting alone? Mighty thou mayest be, but thou art not capable of winning against a Demon Emperor."

"S-says who?!" Catherine exclaimed, before slamming the side of her clenched fist against the table. "You don’t know that!"

Raphael realized Catherine’s outburst was way out of the ordinary. She was acting a lot more impulsively than usual, keeping secrets from him, and now she was even openly talking back? Where did she find the nerve?

"Thou now claimeth thou coulds’t combat an Emperor?" Raphael asked, wryly chuckling. "I dare not deny thy talent, but those ancient monsters woulds’t leave thee laying on thy back, broken and humiliated. If thou dids’t win, t’would be due to a one-in-a-million lucky chance!"

"You’re still looking at me as a little girl, incapable of fighting real battles and winning wars." Catherine said, her expression turning frosty. "Father, I am a 600 year old woman! It might be nothing compared to you, but compared to any living human, I am twenty times more ancient than any of their combat veterans. I was trained by the Archangels! I am a human who has gained wings and powers beyond imagination. I am more than capable of taking down powerful threats, but only if given the opportunity!"

Each of Catherine’s words were decisive and pointed. Her cold expression was not filled with anger, but instead, confidence and a burning desire to prove herself to the man she called Father. It was as if she knew for a fact she could kill a Demon Emperor, despite never having done so before.

"Dids’t thou succeed against Lucifer?" Raphael asked pointedly, his tone much calmer than hers.

Catherine paused.

"…No." She admitted. "I lost. But next time, I will crush her with ease."

Raphael fell silent. He looked at Catherine, then his eyes lowered to the table. He stared at it for a good long while.

"So that’s why." Raphael said quietly.

"Huh? What’s why?" Catherine asked, confused by the change in his tone.

"Thou hath been acting very differently since thou returneth." Raphael said quietly, raising his eyes to meet her gaze. "Verily, it maketh sense now. Lucifer… she must have struck thy mind and done something to thy thoughts."

"Huh??" Catherine grunted in bewilderment. "What does Lucifer have to do with anything we’ve discussed?"

"Lucifer’s third eye is a frightening weapon." Raphael said, his tone soft. "During the War in Heaven, she unleashed it for the first time. Its effects were not obvious at first, but we came to uncover its true power later."

Raphael cleared his throat. "On the surface, her third eye can fire a blast of kinetic energy capable of piercing mountains. Frightening indeed, and certainly a mighty attack, but nothing this ancient entity has not seen a thousand of his ancient adversaries achieve in the past."

"The true danger Lucifer poses is not her physical striking power, but the secret psychic power her third eye possesses." Raphael continued. "Long ago, I gave thee tomes to read containing the knowledge we’ve collected on the powers of all the Demon Emperors. Dost thou recalleth the entry on Lucifer?"

Catherine blinked. She had definitely read the books Raphael was talking about, but she read them when she was less than a hundred years old, and that was five hundred years ago. She hadn’t forgotten the information, but it wasn’t fresh in her mind.

With the power of her new MindCore, Catherine was able to access her oldest memories and conjure them at will. She quickly did so, and flipped through the entry on Lucifer.

"That’s right…" Catherine muttered. "Lucifer has the power to conjure frighteningly realistic illusions within a person’s mind. She refers to it as ‘Tsukuyomi’."

"Verily, she secretly struck many Purebloods during the War in Heaven." Raphael muttered. "She injured their psyches, tormented them with delusions of pain and suffering, and caused many survivors to kill themselves after the war. And now… now, thou art acting so out of character after interacting with Lucifer. This ancient Archangel has come to see the truth, Catherine!"

Raphael slapped the table. "Thou hath been struck by Lucifer, and art now experiencing delusions of grandeur! Until Uzziel attends to thee and heals the damage thou hath suffered, I cannot permit thee to leave Heaven!"

Catherine was taken aback. What psychic attack? She had fought Lucifer, yes, but the battle lasted mere seconds, and Cat Mask swooped in to save her. Admittedly, she hadn’t mentioned that to Raphael, but doing so would tip him off that the Trueborn were involved, and that might make him start asking other questions…

But now that it came to it, Catherine realized that Raphael had obviously noticed the different way she was acting, and he had come to the most logical conclusion available to him. Surely, Catherine must be suffering from psychological trauma inflicted by Lucifer.

"Father, no…" Catherine started to say, softening her voice. "This is a misunderstanding. Lucifer did not strike me, in fact, my battle against her was only-"

"Enough." Raphael said, raising a palm. "I cannot trust another word thou sayeth, not until Uzziel has examined thee. Clearly, thou art not in thy right state of mind."

The Archangel of Wisdom stood up and gestured to the door, clearly intending to lead Catherine outside. She also stood up, but did not make a move to go with him.

"You’re not listening to me, Father." Catherine said, remaining fixed in place. "You’re right, I have changed, but not because of Lucifer."

"Thou hath been hiding something from me since the moment of thy arrival." Raphael said, his eyes piercing her visage. "Thou hath never lied to me in all thy years alive. Whatever has rotted thy morality must be stopped before it causes further damage. Come now. We will pay Uzziel a visit."

"You’re NOT listening!" Catherine repeated, shouting the words for emphasis. "There is nothing wrong with me, and Lucifer has nothing to do with any of this!"

"Nay?" Raphael asked, unmoved. "Speak then. What art thou hiding from me? Speak the truth now, child."

Raphael stood on the spot, staring at Catherine expectantly. In truth, he’d already given up hope she would be honest with him, but he did feel he owed her at least a chance to speak her piece.

And now, facing Raphael’s stare-down, Catherine’s soul went cold. She felt her skin starting to turn itchy and clammy as a terrible internal conflict brewed within her.

On the one hand, she was facing down her ‘Father’, the Archangel of Wisdom, likely the oldest entity in the Milky Way who had lived since the beginning of this Eternity.

On the other hand, she risked disappointing a young man whose face had immediately left a deep impression on her heart, who she had promised not to speak of in front of Raphael.

Jason had not-so-subtly informed her that Raphael’s intentions were far from noble, but even so, 600 years of conditioning had made it impossible for Catherine to truly rebel against the man who had taken up the role of a parent in her mind. Even though she had promised not to speak of Jason’s existence, his Wordsmithing, or anything else of the sort, now that she had been put on the spot, Catherine found herself lost, confused, unsure of what to do.

She had to tell Raphael something. It had to be as truthful as possible, yet not so truthful that she failed to keep her promise to Jason for less than a day. How shameful would it be for a D’Arc sister to break a vow right after she made it?!

Thus, Catherine was left tongue-tied. Her heart started to race, and the obvious guilt on her face told Raphael everything he needed to know. Clearly, Catherine had been deeply compromised. Her story of ‘escaping from the demons’ held no water. Perhaps she had been captured, mind-raped, and turned into a double-agent. Perhaps she was their new woman on the inside, a high level figure who would assist them in the coming battle, turning traitor and landing a devastating blow on one of the Archangels right when they least expected it!

Mind-rape and subversion were completely normal tactics the demons had used a million times. Raphael had seen many Lazarites bought-off or corrupted into becoming double agents over the years, as well as younger and more malleable Titans, and even a handful of purebloods.

It was truly disappointing that Catherine would fall, as they had, and it meant the last 600 years may have been a waste, but Raphael was at least glad he caught on to what had happened before it was too late.

"I, I, I…" Catherine stuttered, starting to feel nauseous as her resolve broke down. "I met with- it wasn’t Lucifer… there was… I… I promised not to say… please don’t make me say, Father. I made a vow, but I would never harm you, or Heaven, or anyone else."

"I do not believe thy words." Raphael said. "Thou art clearly hiding something from me."

"I-I am!" Catherine snapped, finally speaking the words out loud. "I’m hiding something, because that is my right! Who said I have to tell you everything I think and feel? I am a sentient being, not your puppet! You don’t own me, or my thoughts! I am allowed to have secrets, just as I’m sure you have secrets you keep from me!"

Raphael blinked. "Is this truly thy best defense? Naturally, if thou wisheth to hold a few minor things from me, I would say nothing, but when the question of thy morality is on the line, and thou mayeth possibly been corrupted by the demons, I cannot in good conscience allow thee to roam freely until I hath uncovered the scheme behind thy sudden change of heart. There is a war coming, and it may be upon our doorstep in mere hours! This is not the time for me to be dealing with a possible traitor."

"I’m NOT a traitor!" Catherine shrieked. "Stop trying to dissect me, Father! Just stay out of my business, for once in your life!"

"No. I do not think I will." Raphael said.

His movement was sudden, swift, and completely unexpected. Catherine had never realized he was carefully amassing his power until it was too late.

Raphael cleared the distance between them in a single second. He slapped downward at the side of her head and pounded Catherine down into the floor. She had no time to react before he’d already battered her downward and knocked her unconscious.

In a single movement, Raphael subdued Catherine, then wrapped her body with multiple phantasmal chains, in the same way he had done to Satan the Devil in the Ancient Era.

Raphael did not take Catherine to his False Cosmic Realm, though. Instead, her subdued her and turned her body invisible with illusions, then he teleported across Heaven to a meeting hall for the Archangels.

After arriving, Raphael laid down Catherine in the center of the room, still subdued and unconscious. He touched a special ring on his finger, which sent out a signal to the other connected rings worn by his brothers and sisters.

Several minutes later, Camael entered. She did not teleport, but instead strode in through the front doors, looked at Catherine bound on the floor, and frowned.

"This is…?" Camael started to ask, but seeing the look on Raphael’s face, she went silent.

Before long, Gabriel arrived, and then Uzziel came last.

Michael was no longer among the living. He had given his life two thousand years earlier to empower the Lazarus Tower.

Samael had gone missing long ago, lost in battle against the demons.

Uriel, too, had fallen during the War in Heaven.

As for Cassiel and Muriel, they had naturally died during the Primordial Era, long before the mindwipes.

Thus, now, among the living Archangels, only Raphael, Gabriel, Camael, and Uzziel remained. Four in total.

At the very least, Raphael now wore Michael’s ring, and he could commune with Michael’s soul in times of great need. Unfortunately, Michael’s soul was weakened dramatically by the existence of the Lazarus Tower, and as such, he spent most of his time in a deep coma-like sleep, only waking up if Raphael injected soul energy to temporarily revive him. Raphael did not do that now.

"Everyone." Raphael said, gesturing to Catherine’s unconscious body. "I hath reason to believe Demon Emperor Lucifer mayeth assaulted Catherine’s mind. She is acting out of character. She lied to me earlier, something she’s never done before, and she is hiding something. Uzziel, thou hath successfully healed some of those corrupted by Lucifer. Please investigate Catherine’s condition."

Uzziel frowned worriedly. She quickly fluttered over to Catherine, swallowing her saliva as she audibly gulped.

Catherine was the golden child of Heaven. Few were allowed to know her real name. Her identity as Joan of Arc’s sister was a secret kept in great confidence. Even her name was hidden behind the subterfuge of ‘Heaven’s Daughter’.

If she had truly betrayed Heaven, then this was a catastrophic loss on the eve of a demonic incursion.

Uzziel sent out her healing energy. She carefully wrapped it around Catherine’s head, working hard so as to not wake her up.

Gabriel stood on Catherine’s left, while Camael stood on her right. The two of them were here purely as muscle in the event Catherine woke up and lashed out at the weakest Archangel, Uzziel. If she was too focused on healing Catherine, she might not sense the dangr coming, and could be killed before she had a chance to react! This would cause a double tragedy and give the demons a premature win before they had even begun their assault! None of the Archangels wanted to see this happen.

"Strange…" Uzziel said, as she investigated Catherine’s brain. "I… I senseth no tampering with her mind. Lucifer’s powers always cause noticeable trauma to the victim, but there are no such contusions or lesions present on Catherine’s brain."

"The demons art no fools." Raphael said, his tone of voice urgent. "Tis’ possible they may have used other tactics. Check her Mind Realm for tampering."

Uzziel nodded. She and the other Archangels were quite familiar with Catherine’s Mind Realm. Only Raphael was intimately familiar with it, as he had used his eons of life experience to build her a barebones but functional Mind Realm for the sake of empowering her abilities. Uzziel had helped repair damage to it on many occasions in the past though, so she knew its general structure.

But the moment Uzziel tapped into it, her eyes went wide. She let out a loud cry mixed with a gasp, a sound that communicated disbelief, confusion, and absolute bewilderment.

"Uuuahh??!!" Uzziel shrieked. "Th-th-this, what in Heaven’s name- RAPHAEL! Come, look quickly!"

Raphael’s heart fell into the soles of his feet. The look on Uzziel’s face plunged his mind into the depths of despair. Just what in the Creator’s name had those abominable demons done to the prodigy he had invested so much time and energy into raising?! He was terrified to see what they’d done, but Uzziel’s tone moved him to act as quickly as possible.

He flickered over to Catherine’s body and held his palm above her head. Raphael closed his eyes and focused, diving toward her Mind Realm.

What did he expect to see? Maybe blackness, blood red demonic energy, fire and brimstone, or something else of the sort.

But that wasn’t what he saw.

Instead, his vision fell upon a Mind Realm so precisely engineered to perfection, so beautiful and staggering in its size, that he almost lost his mind. Even his own Mind Realm was countless times less extravagant than this bewildering behemoth lurking within his pupil’s mind.

Who in the god-damn could have constructed such a thing? It went beyond anything he could have dreamed up or imagined. It was a towering city made in the image of the Titans, each and every building, statue, and structure energized and focused towards the others, forming a powerful glyph-structure that served a purpose he simply couldn’t imagine.

It was as if a child were trying to figure out the workings of a computer for the first time by looking at its internal circuits with no guidebook. Even the brilliant Raphael was left dumbstruck, completely and utterly lacking in comprehension of the machine engineered by a Wordsmith he’d never met.

Even as Raphael and Uzziel were trying to understand what they had just witnessed, less than ten seconds after gazing into Catherine’s inner Mind Realm, they felt a terrifying force building up within her Mind Realm. A statue of Odin, situated directly in the center of her Mind Realm, began to glow with rage.

"INTRUDERS DETECTED. GET OUT."

The statue suddenly flung its hands toward the tiny dots of perception high in the sky. Raphael cried out in terror as a mental attack blasted his and Uzziel’s psychic links out of Catherine’s Mind Realm and back into their bodies.

From the perspective of Gabriel and Camael, Raphael and Uzziel had only looked into Catherine’s Mind Realm for mere seconds before they were suddenly sent tumbling backward, landing on their wings and banging the backs of their heads against the concrete.

"Aaargh!" Raphael cried, as even his usually robust mental abilities took a direct hit from whatever the hell was inside Catherine’s head.

At the same time, with Raphael’s mental defenses temporarily shattered, all the chains and bindings enveloping Catherine abruptly vanished. She awoke with a start and quickly sat up, looking around in shock as she recalled the last thing she’d seen, which was Raphael flickering forward to attack her. Then her vision had gone black and she’d woken up here.

"W-what in the Creator’s name?!" Catherine exclaimed.

"Don’t move." Gabriel said, quickly raising a palm filled with divine energy to point it at Catherine. "I know not what is happening, but thou hath wounded Raphael and Uzziel."

"I wounded THEM?! Raphael attacked me!" Catherine argued, though she didn’t make any sudden movements with the four Archangels around her. All of a sudden, she felt extremely exposed and vulnerable, surrounded by four of the mightiest existences in Heaven. If they wanted her dead, she didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of staying alive.

Camael drew a sword from her waist. It was no Excalibur, but it was a powerful artifact in its own right.

"Make no moves." Camael warned. "Remain seated."

It took him a minute, but Raphael managed to stagger to his feet. He was woozy and dizzy. He had not prepared himself at all for such a powerful counter-attack, and what he had seen inside Catherine’s mind scared the life out of him.

"The Titans?!" Raphael asked, as a storm of rage welled up on his face. "Thou hath betrayed us to side with the Titans?!"

"What? No." Catherine replied. "What gave you that idea?"

"I SAW IT!" Raphael roared, pointing a shaky finger at Catherine’s head. "That beautiful, powerful, highly advanced Titan city built within thy Mind Realm! This old man has truly lived his live in vain for the Titans to craft such an exquisite artifact within thy Mind Realm, right under my nose! Who was it?! Tell me, which Titan has plotted against us? Was it Zeus? Neptune? Speak, child, or take thy secrets to thy grave!"

Catherine started to shake with fear. She had chosen the Titan-based MindCore at Jason’s suggestion, and because it suited her needs. But now, she realized it was going to cause a terrible misunderstanding, and even cost her her life!

"N-no, Father! It wasn’t the Titans! This isn’t what you think…" Catherine pleaded.

Tears welled up in Catherine’s eyes. It was only now, surrounded by beings she could never hope to defeat, that she realized she had greatly overestimated her capabilities. She thought she could lie to the man who knew her best, and now she was about to pay the price.

Despite all of this, she bit her tongue. She couldn’t bring herself to divulge Jason’s secrets. She had made a vow, and as a D’Arc sister, she couldn’t break it… not even if it ended up costing her life.

Catherine cried. She lowered her head and heaved great sobs, no longer sure of what to say or how to save herself. This only made her look more guilty in the eyes of the Archangels.

"A traitor." Camael said, scowling. "After everything we’ve done for thee, this is thy repayment."

"What should we do?" Gabriel asked calmly. He did not have a strong emotional reaction to news of Catherine’s betrayal, but then again, few things emotionally moved him.

"We have to execute her." Camael answered. "If it were not for Raphael’s wisdom, we mayeth fallen for a truly wicked scheme."

"Nay!" Raphael shouted. "We must investigate this matter carefully. We must dig into the traitor’s mind and uncover her secrets. If we can find out what the Titans are plotting, we mayeth save ourselves from a hidden calamity!"

Uzziel gingerly stepped over to Catherine’s side. She wrung her hands and grimaced, hearing the words of her siblings. "N-no… I don’t want to see little Catherine hurt… maybe this is all a misunderstanding, Raphael? She’s always been such a good girl…"

"Cans’t thou explaineth the majestic machine built within her Mind Realm?" Raphael asked pointedly. "Only a Titan artisan could craft such an incredible Mind Realm. Truly, I hath no knowledge of who might accomplish such a feat. But surely, if we comb the records, we shalt find a Titan concealing their true abilities."

A long silence followed, punctuated only by Catherine’s sobbing.

It would be so easy to explain this problem away, but Catherine refused. She would never break her vow, even if it meant her own death.

She was scared, though. She didn’t want to die. She was afraid of death, as anyone would be.

And if the Archangels truly picked at her brain, wouldn’t they uncover the Wordsmith’s existence anyway? Was there any point in causing herself undue pain and suffering when they would definitely get the answer in the end anyway?

Catherine cried. She wept. Her shoulders trembled and her body shook as she fought desperately against her urge to speak, to save herself.

After a long minute, Raphael sighed.

"Even now, she doth not speak. Loyal to the end."

His words were a mixture of praise and sadness. Once, that loyalty had been reserved for Heaven, and more specifically, for him. Now, though, it seemed she had passed her devotion on to someone else. A Titan, at that.

What a tragic loss.

As Raphael’s anger cooled, his rationality returned, and he realized that now he would have to actually dive into Catherine’s Mind Realm to find out just who had the capabilities to do this to her.

But, before Raphael could do so, a female voice spoke from the darkness within the edges of the room.

"It wasn’t a Titan. It was me."

Raphael flinched. The other Archangels jumped.

In unison, they and Catherine all raised and turned their heads to quickly stare in the direction of where the unexpected voice had come from.

"W-who’s there?!" Raphael asked, alarmed that someone had actually managed to sneak into the Archangel’s executive hall without a single one of them noticing.

Camael raised her sword. Gabriel swiveled his body to aim a palm full of divine energy at the speaker.

From the shadows, a human woman stepped out. She had neck-length brown hair and green eyes, she wore glasses, and a smart blue suit-dress.

"Sorry to startle you." The woman said, her tone bland. "I wasn’t going to interfere, but I felt I couldn’t allow this abortion of justice to continue a second longer. My name is Jessica Harper. You would have heard about me sooner or later after my feats at Sarabiya. I am a Lowborn, and my title is the Great Builder. I am the one who constructed Catherine’s Mind Realm."

Catherine’s heart jumped. Her eyes flickered. She instantly realized this was a deception. She knew it was Jason who had operated on her, and by comprehending some of the concepts behind his powers, she also instantly realized he must be able to disguise himself.

But was Jason Hiro the disguise, or was Jessica Harper? Catherine didn’t know. She intuitively though Jason must have turned himself into Jessica Harper to fool the others, but she wasn’t entirely sure.

She decided to stay quiet. It was a good thing, too, because clearly, Jessica had come prepared.

"Thou?" Raphael questioned. "Thou art the one who created Catherine’s Mind Realm?"

Even though it seemed as if he were merely repeating Jessica’s words, Raphael actually was completely bewildered. When in the god damn did a human Hero come into the picture? Lucifer corrupting Catherine made sense, and a betrayal by the Titans also followed the train of logic in his mind.

But a human Hero? When did one of them get involved??

And furthermore, how could a mere Lowborn craft such an exquisite Mind Realm? It made no sense!

"I did not intend to speak to you until after the coming battle in Heaven, as revealing my existence goes against my plans." Jessica said, crossing her arms. "However, seeing as you were about to cause great harm to the woman who saved my life, I realized I had to intervene."

Jessica waved her hand, causing a large table and six chairs to materialize. Enough for the four Archangels, herself, and Catherine.

Raphael’s eyes went as wide as saucers. He could conjure illusions of a table and chairs, and Uzziel could create wooden versions by growing them out of the ground, but to instantly create them on the spot with a wave of her hand? This woman might be the real deal!

"Everyone, come and take a seat." Jessica said, as she sat at the head of the table and conjured tea and crumpets for the others to eat.

"We have a lot to discuss."