It's a Sin

I can sense the presence of the creature in front of me. Even though I'm in the hottest place in all of Shannia, I shiver. I can tell that it's something large and dangerous. This could be why the presences of Zuriel, Nisha, and Helena were flickering. They were trying to warn me.

This volatile magma is interfering with our auras, that's why I can't sense them anymore. They must be near but their magic can't reach me. What do I do? Oh, maybe I should let my aura out too. I just noticed that I stopped it after I got startled.

*RAAAGH!!!*

What the hell?!! What was that?! Something roared.

The magma has become more turbulent now! Argh! My back hit something hard! Was that a boulder? And all of this must be done by that monster! I don't know what to do! Where do I go?

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**

Meanwhile, Zuriel has reached the surface a little earlier than expected. He uses his blue wings to fly above the erupting supervolcano. Ashes are everywhere so he has to squint his eyes. The sky above him is nothing but clouds of ashes across thousands of miles. Helena and Nisha stand on a pink crystal platform as it floats toward him. Their heads are getting covered in ash.

"Where's Cancer?!" Nisha shouts.

After coughing, he answers, "I thought he was behind us!"

"He was not!"

"Oh, dear. . .," he mutters to himself.

Helena is still shaking in fear after what they just witnessed in that pool of lava. "What was that?" she asks.

"A Fire Warden," he says as he is pressing his palm against his lips, thinking about what to do. "This colossal creature is passive but hostile when disturbed. And it will be disturbed if something with a life force gets near it, especially when that creature emits magic."

"Papa. . .," Helena mutters, looking at the mouth of the volcano.

**

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The turbulence is still going on and I can't tell which is up or down until it suddenly stops. Wait. . . why do I feel that something is approaching me? Argh! Something like a wall is pushing me! I can't swim out of it! I just know it—that I'm gonna hit the wall of the volcano because the magma is getting more viscous. My strength is not enough to get me out of this!

Then a hand grabs my wrist and an explosion happens. The explosion makes a temporary cave of magma and I can see Zuriel with my naked eyes!

"Zu—" The magma retracts to shut my mouth.

He pulls me along with him with such speed that I think my arm is gonna get ripped off! Argh! I must tighten my muscles and joints to hold on. And I can sense the monster is chasing after us! It's so large yet it is so fast. What is this thing?

Later, I feel a little warm. Could it be. . .

I look at the time in my UI and we only have an hour left! We've been here for that long? I thought we were here for only four hours!

How can I help besides kicking with my feet? I have no magic to propel myself forward. And I'm slowing him down. At this rate, we're both going to die. Who's gonna take care of my family now?

No, I think they're better off without me. I'm weakest, after all. Take care of them for me, Zuriel.

To let him go without me, I use my other hand to remove his grip around my wrist. He hesitates if he should go on so I punch the magma to push him to go now because there isn't much time.

He knew what I mean and takes off, leaving me here.

I guess my life in this world was worthwhile. The only thing I'm gonna be proud of is that I loved and that means a lot to me. I fell in love with Nisha and my daughter. Though, I want to see what Helena becomes when she grows up. Well, I already know that she's gonna be so strong and beautiful.

The monster is ready to grab me and make this volcano my grave. I just let him take me. . . upwards? Why is it doing this? I can sense an intense presence. It's Zuriel's. What is he doing? He should be keeping it down so the monster won't chase him.

He's luring it!

Ugh! I'm sandwiched between the viscous magma and this monster! The pressure is crushing me! I feel two of my ribs snapping. It's hard to keep the breath I'm holding. I feel like my throat is gonna burst!

*Gasp*

Open air. . .

Wait, open air?

I open my eyes and see that I'm on the surface now! My eyes are still adjusting to the less bright surrounding but I can tell I'm saved!

*Sizzle*

"ARGHH!!!"

I couldn't help but scream in pain as my back and hands get burned. The effect of that potion is gone! I transform into my Angelus Frame and see below, an abomination!

It's a giant centipede without eyes, its teeth are two giant sickles, and its legs are flexible like worms. It screams at me, spitting lava.

"Cancer!" I hear Zuriel yelling from above.

After dodging the lava jet, I fly my way upward going through the ash cloud. It's still shooting at me, lighting the surrounding ash red. I know that a spit is coming because of the light. As I get higher, the easier they are to dodge.

"You're still alive!" Zuriel laughs as he regroups with me. "You got me worried there, bro!"

"What the hell was that?!" I scream at him.

"A Fire Warden. Every volcano has one."

"Why didn't you tell us that beforehand?"

"I forgor. . ." He grins like an idiot.

"Argh, you son of a—"

We're out of the ash clouds now. It's like a new world. . . For eight years, I've been living underground. Seeing the sun, clouds, and blue sky, almost make me tear up. I can't believe I lived long enough to look at this sight again, this huge world with no horizon.

"Where are they?" I ask him as I just remembered that I want Nisha and Helena to see this.

He gestures behind us. There, both of them look so adorable with their widened eyes and opened mouths as they look around. Nisha comes to me using her Bat Swarm.

"My love!" She hugs and kisses me. "You're okay!"

"I am," I smile. "It looks beautiful here, no?"

"Yeah! More than I expected!"

I look above her shoulder and had a glimpse of Helena's sneer before she turns her back and flies away.

"Helena!" I call her. "Come back here!"

Then she answers, "I'm not gonna go far! Just leave me alone!"

Those words were like thorns slaughtering the insides of my ears. How could I leave her alone? She's my daughter. I would die just for her sake. Why is she acting like this all of a sudden?

"If she hates me, she could at least tell me why," I say, couldn't help but failing to hide my hurt.

"Don't worry," Nisha says with a comforting hold around my hand. "She cares a lot about you but just doesn't want to show it."

"Yup," Zuriel adds, patting my shoulder. "she cried when we thought we lost you. Your daughter loves you very much, you know."

If they say so, I'll stop worrying about it. All I can do is continue being a good father as much as I can.

"Everyone," he says. "let's find a place to rest."

So, we fly down and away from the volcano over a thick forest with giant trees. To be safe from being spotted from above, he takes us under the tree canopies. Below is a mossy swamp. It's so humid here. We find a large root with a flat enough top for us to settle.

We summon the things we need like sleeping bags and chairs. Also, fire to cook something. I need to hunt something to conserve our supplies.

Luckily, a prey exposes itself to me by singing its song. It's a bird and it's there on a branch not far from us. Its feathers are blue that fade into white at the ends and its voice is like an instrument with strings.

A beautiful bird but sadly, it's made out of meat. I can hit it with my gun though I have to use less lethal rounds to retrieve it in one piece.

I aim at it but Zuriel says, "Woah, woah, easy there, bro." So, I lower my gun. "It's a sin to kill a Lyrebird."

"Why?" I ask as the bird flies away.

"Because they do nothing but live to let us hear their beautiful songs. You're a sadist if you kill one." He walks down the root. "Follow me. I have better prey for us to catch."

Lyrebird. . .

If I remember, the word lyre is an instrument with strings. So, that's why that bird is named that way.

*Shrug*

Well, the more you know. . .

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**

In a palace on the clouds, two Angelus brothers are walking in a greenhouse after being summoned. Their armor shine from the invading light from the glass above.

"Father," they say as they kneel before the man touching a huge ancient tree with his eyes closed. "You summoned us?"

"I did," is his answer. "The time is near."

**

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👋A QUICK SAY FROM THE AUTHOR👇

This is the last free chapter! *Phew* That was a long journey, isn't it? But that was just a pint of what's to come.

From this point on, the new chapters will contain appreciation (shout-outs) for the generous readers who decided to support this book!

Also, I need help on Discord. Link: https://discord.gg/YFYRj4bx

Thank you!

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