THE CONGREGATION IN EDEN
THE CONGREGATION IN EDEN
"It's too late Pilsbury. It is time for the second phase, Return", I said to Pilsbury to his confusion.
"What return?" he asked.
Suddenly, the Sphere exploded again.
This time the Sphere released many times more beams than the Retribution phase. There was a difference though in this Return phase, the beams spared no one. The beams would destroy everyone caught in the range of its fire, including me.
The Saints who were wounded the first time were wholly engulfed in the return beams. None of them would survive the return.
Among those saints who did not attack the Sphere initially, they might survive, or not.
"What kind of trick is this? Will this return be my end?" Saint Pilsbury asked me angrily.
"Not yet", I replied to him.
Suddenly, Saint Pilsbury was pulled into a strange magical realm that was surrounded by flying furniture and even gigantic ice cream cones.
"Where in Eden is this?" Saint Pilsbury asked me in shock and surprise.
"You are in my Battle Realm", I replied to him.
"Fate of Gemini Divided"
"You could have killed me with that Return fire, why did you save me?" Saint Pilsbury asked me.
"That you are wrong. I did not save you. I merely saved myself from the Return phase of my Sphere of Retribution and Return", I replied to him.
My Sphere of Retribution and Return was a strange chaos magic.
In the first phase, it would retribute against those who harmed it with multiplied fervor. In the second phase, Return, it would destroy everyone within range, including the initiator of the Sphere.
This was the nature of chaos.
There was always an unpredictable cost to using this magic. If I was unlucky, the return magic that strikes me could harm me badly or even kill me.
But I've discovered a loophole to this chaos magic.
Before the Return struck me, I pulled Saint Pilsbury into my Battle Realm for a duel. The uniqueness of my Battle realm was, no outside force, no matter how powerful could interfere with our duel.
The Return magic from the Sphere couldn't harm Pilsbury and me.
Now all I needed to do was to wait till the Return phase of my Sphere of Retribution and Return runs its course.
"Are you going to kill me or what?" the gravely wounded Saint Pilsbury asked me.
I ignored the Saint's words and to his shock went to shake his hands. Then I replied to the Saint.
"Alright, it's time for you to die", I said to Saint Pilsbury before killing him and ending our duel.
I was returned to the destroyed Garden of Eden.
Most of the saints who came down to check the fire in the garden were lying on the floor, most of them dead. There were some who survived this ordeal, but their conditions were bad.
"How do I get out of this damn Garden? Tell me or I'll kill you now," I asked one of the surviving saints.
"Over there. There is a gate back to Elis", the saint told me and pointed to a direction.
"He's not lying", my earpod told me.
There were sensors and cameras on my shoulder that detected the saint's micro expressions and heartbeat. He wasn't lying when he told me the way out of Eden.
So, I went the way that the saint showed me. Indeed, there was a magical gate here. There were many apostles guarding this magical gate though.
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"Who dare intrude here?" a High Apostle shouted toward me when he was shocked to see who I was.
I took on the face of Saint Pilsbury.
"Your Excellence, why have you come here?" the High Apostle asked me in shock.
"I must leave Eden", I replied to him which shocked him further.
"Leave Eden? The great Saints don't leave Eden", another apostle said.
"Shut your face before I shove my sword down your ass", I replied to the apostle who quickly prostrated himself before me.
All the apostles kneeled to me, begging for mercy, fearing for their lives for angering a Saint of Eden.
"Now, will you bloody let me leave", I said to them.
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[Somewhere in the clouds over Eden]
The Congregation basked in a golden light, its radiance casting a playful gleam as it danced upon the cloudy canvas of the sky.
However, an air of solemnity pervaded the assembly. The statuesque clouds seemed to exchange disapproving glances, mimicking the drooping posture of pillars and arches.
The typically melodious Cherubs now offered only subdued melodies in the background, intentionally drawing minimal attention to themselves.
Their soft music floated gently, a cautious attempt to navigate the emotions within the gathering. Aware of the prevailing atmosphere, the Cherubs refrained from their usual jubilant songs, cautious not to exacerbate the somber mood gripping the assembly.
Empathetic to the sentiments of the congregation's leaders, the Cherubs recognized that this was not a day of exultation.
Suddenly, the sky split open, releasing a brilliant light that eclipsed everything else. Emerging from this luminance was a gentleman, a halo of blinding brilliance adorning his head.
As if descending an unseen staircase, the man gracefully lowered himself amidst the congregation.
-----
"Why is the spirit of the Congregation so low. It's like a funeral here? Who died?" Archangel Gabriel asked the congregation of Angels in jest as he appeared before them.
"We apologize for disturbing your rest but there is a serious matter to report", the angel Mikael said to the Archangel.
"What can be so serious to call me with this urgency?" Archangel Gabriel asked the congregation as he sat on his throne and leisurely crossed his leg.
"The Garden of Eden is destroyed in flame", Angel Angeles reported to the Archangel to his shock and horror.
"Impossible", the Archangel screamed to the congregation as the clouds in the sky roiled in a storm of fire and lightning.
"It is the truth, the Garden of Eden was burned", Angel Canaan said to the Archangel.
The Archangel held back his anger after realizing what he heard was the truth.
"Has the Serpent awakened? Did she reclaim her wretched body?" Archangel Gabriel asked the congregation calmly.