Chapter 27

Studying Asmodeus's crystal was interesting. It could do a lot: open a portal to Earth unnoticed by Heaven, change the owner's appearance into a human disguise, and even hide the owner from the angelic wards that the Seraphim had spread over all of Earth. A fucked-up level for an item given to whores and drug dealers so they could… Push dope and their asses? For dollars, for fuck's sake? In short, this greatly unsettled me. Why create something so complex, and then hide it so thoroughly from Heaven? What's the point of getting money from humans? Why poison them with all sorts of crap and get them hooked on prostitutes anyway? What's the point? Asmodeus might be an idiot, like all the Deadly Sins who trusted Samael and started the War, but not that much of an idiot, right? There had to be some plan…

By the way, about Samael. In my former world, this name belonged to Lucifer before his "fall," but here, as it turned out, things were different. The Demons of Deadly Sins were beings turned into demons under the influence of Darkness's arrival in Eden. Essentially, they were the first demons, corrupted by Darkness, much like Lucifer himself to some extent. Hence, apparently, their "bestial" features, unlike the more human-like sinners. Adam's memory suggested that Samael was previously the strongest among the Deadly Sins, their unspoken leader, who surpassed them all in skill and power. It was said he was roughly equal to Lilith, who, I recall, even back then wasn't much weaker than me, Adam.

And so, at some point, this Samael decided to rebel. Only not against God, as one might think, but against Lucifer. He incited the other demons and led troops to storm Heaven, simultaneously attacking Pentagram City (which at that time was called something else and was, in essence, an earlier, more massive analogue of the "Hazbin Hotel" – where Lucifer and Lilith naively tried to build some semblance of a normal society from sinners and demons, so they would "behave correctly"). Lucifer and Lilith miraculously managed to fight them off back then, but they were forced to flee, grabbing their belongings and gathering a handful of loyal servants. (I still don't know the details of how exactly the Sins, led by Samael, managed to make Lucifer, one of the most powerful seraphim, albeit fallen, flee for his life, but Adam's memories of their power themselves made me treat demons in general, and the Sins in particular, with much greater caution). And only after that was our meeting with me, the joining of forces, the prolonged War, constant battles… Gloom, in short.

After the war, Lucifer personally killed Samael – both for treason and because he was the head of that rebellion. And after his death, Lucifer himself took his place in the hierarchy of the Seven Deadly Sins, becoming the personification of the sin of Pride… Ironic. I got sidetracked, didn't I?

So, why the hell do Asmodeus and his cronies need these crystals and all this fuss on Earth? There is, of course, a possibility that these are indeed signs of a new betrayal, preparations for something. But… they should all be under contract with Lucifer, shouldn't they? At least Satan, Beelzebub, Mammon, and Leviathan definitely are – I personally saw them sign the contract during the War. I can't say for the others. I remember handing a beaten Asmodeus with a literally cracked head over to Lucifer personally, after which I immediately flew back to the front – I had no damn business being at headquarters, especially if that "meter with a hat" asshole was hanging around there. But Abel, by the way, for some reason liked Lucifer's company, which always pissed me off…

Yes, I think I've now fully accepted myself as Adam. It even feels somewhat lighter in my soul; a certain definitiveness has appeared. If only it weren't for these fucked-up dreams, which, apparently, are broadcasting what happened to me in a past life. What the hell happened there anyway? Some "gods" (and I was one of them!), an apocalypse, some mutant Executioners running much faster than any car, magic… Thoughts swarmed in my head, interrupting each other.

And I still have to talk to the Seraphim now. Despite accepting myself as Adam, my questions for them haven't gone anywhere. I'm ready to demand answers. And if necessary – to get them by force. MY Heaven is in danger, and even if they are thrice my creators and its main protectors, I don't care anymore. I will kill anyone who might harm my new home and my people.

As a precaution, I've already armed the girls and hidden them on the rooftops around the Seraphim's meeting place. I did study Heaven's invisible drones, albeit briefly, but I'm quite capable of creating a couple of hundred artifacts that grant invisibility to my exorcists. No need to unnecessarily unnerve the ordinary inhabitants of Heaven with the sight of angels armed to the teeth in the main square…

All this lack of clarity from the Seraphim pisses me off, and I'm not going to risk my new home because of some of their очередных quirks or secret games. It's one thing not to participate in battles themselves, but to artificially weaken my warriors… To hide from me, their commander, a power that every last succubus dog in Hell knows about… I won't forgive that. If there isn't some really compelling, ironclad explanation for this, then… No, calm down, Adam, don't act in the heat of the moment. You can fuck things up so badly on edge that all of Heaven will have to clean up the mess later… If Heaven even remains, and I, for example, am not killed or exiled to Hell for attempting a rebellion. So, calmness, only calmness.

I sigh, getting up from the armchair in my room. Just received a signal from Lute – so, everything is ready, the girls are in position. What would I do without her…

A flash of teleportation – and I'm already standing in the middle of the huge, shining Council Hall of the Seraphim. Sera immediately looks at me in surprise, tearing herself away from some glowing scrolls. Didn't expect me to master this method of movement? Oh, believe me, "Mommy," I'll find more ways to surprise you today…

"Adam?" She genuinely looked surprised. It seems I interrupted her from some important business. She often sits here alone, solving some problems; I never bothered to ask what exactly she does, but it doesn't matter.

"The one and only. Sera, I have a couple of questions that have piled up. And I intend to hear answers to them today." There's metal in my voice, cold steel, hard and unyielding. "Only, you alone won't be enough for this conversation. Call the other Seraphim. Announce an emergency meeting. Right now."

"Adam, what happened? What's the urgency?" She frowned, clearly alarmed by my tone.

"I already said what happened – I have questions. Don't waste my time, Sera. I'm waiting for you to call everyone else. Except Emily, of course. There's no need for that girl to participate in such showdowns." She's too young and naive, unlikely to know much about real affairs. And such questions and my suspicions would definitively make her turn away from the elder Seraphim. No need to breed unnecessary distrust in Heaven. After all, I came here today to get rid of my own distrust.

"Adam…" Sera sighed, seeing my inflexibility. "I've summoned the other Seraphim. They will be here shortly. But I demand an explanation for your behavior!"

"Oh, what a coincidence: I demand explanations too," I say calmly, noticing figures of other Seraphim beginning to form in the air near the Council chairs. "So, welcome to this emergency meeting, ladies and gentlemen. Today, you will answer the questions I ask you. And I will not tolerate refusal."

I spread my golden wings behind my back, emitting soft but tangible waves of Light. This is unlikely to impress them, the Seraphim, it shouldn't. But it should show my seriousness and readiness. Especially if… The Light emanating from me, golden and soft, suddenly acquired a cold, crystal-clear, almost bluish hue. This was no longer just Light. This was the Concept of Purity, which I had managed to isolate and was now holding around myself. Oh! Now, genuine surprise, even shock, appeared on the faces of the just-arrived and slightly irritated Seraphim. That's more like it. And there's more to come.

"Adam?! How did you master the transformation of Light into a concept?!" one of them exclaimed, Uriel, I think.

"I'm the one asking questions here," my voice sounded sharp. I raised my hand, and a rifle instantly formed in it – not my blaster, but a proud representative of the weapon Carmilla had given me, created from angelic metal and covered in many strange, unfamiliar symbols (it seems not all knowledge of magic was in Stolas's grimoire, well, whatever, not surprising). I quickly aim, pull the trigger. A shot! At incredible speed, a glowing bullet flew dangerously close to the questioning Seraph's head, leaving a thin golden scratch on his cheek. This was exactly what I was aiming for – to shock, to show the seriousness of my intentions, but not to cause real harm. For now. Fuck, it's so hard to hold back! What is this goddamn anger raging inside me?! Where is it coming from?!

A tense silence hung in the hall. The Seraphim looked at me, then at Uriel, stunned. Uriel himself dazedly ran a finger over the newfound wound on his cheek, looking in shock at the droplet of golden angelic blood left on his finger.

Meanwhile, the energy of the Concept of Purity completely filled the entire hall. According to my plan, this was supposed to work as an "anti-magic" field or, at least, greatly hinder their use of complex spells. Not sure if it would work against Seraphim, but it's better to do something than nothing.

"What do you think you're doing?!" one of the Seraphim, distinguished by a more massive figure and something resembling golden armor over his robes, jumped up. Michael. The Seraphim warrior. Adam's memory indicated he had always despised this type. Looks like a warrior, acts like a warrior… only this "warrior," as Adam recalled, hadn't participated in a single real battle of that War. While the War was raging, while innocent souls were dying at the hands of fucking demons, this bastard was sitting it out in Heaven with the rest of the Seraphim. Hypocritical trash.

"Adam, listen…" Sera tried to intervene, her voice sounding alarmed.

"I said, silence!" my voice thundered under the arches of the hall, like thunder. "First question: why the hell are you, the highest angels, pillars of Heaven, so afraid to descend into Hell?"

The Seraphim exchanged bewildered glances. It was noticeable that they were nervous and didn't expect such a direct question.

"Adam, you know about the pernicious effect of Darkness on angelic essence," Sera began cautiously. "The stronger the Light in the soul, the stronger and more destructive the influence of Hell and…"

"Then make yourselves artifacts for protection against this effect! Or are you too lazy?" I interrupted her. "Just fill the space around yourselves with Light, like I am now, and the influence of Darkness will practically cease! I'm waiting for a logical answer, Sera, don't take me for an idiot!"

I demonstratively lowered my hand with the rifle, showing that I wasn't going to shoot again. Let them relax a bit. They definitely didn't expect me to be capable of this – both using weapons, manipulating concepts, and such aggression. A childish manipulation – to surprise, to shock, to throw them off balance by shattering their familiar worldview, their familiar image.

Only, I myself was bursting with this strange, seemingly externally induced anger. I saw in them not wise rulers, but a group of hypocritical idiots who fancied themselves gods. Idiots whose inaction or secret games caused the deaths of thousands, hundreds of thousands of humanity's best children, dying at the hands of demons. This irrational, alien anger seemed to permeate every particle of my soul. I need to calm down, damn it! Get a grip!

"I was able to protect myself from the influence of Darkness in Hell simply by creating a small but dense layer of Light between my body and the surrounding space," I continued, calmer now, but firmly. "Why the hell have you refused to go to Hell for years under this stupid pretext?!"

Silence again, tense as a drawn bowstring. "Adam, please, calm down," Sera spoke again, her voice sounding concerned; she was clearly trying to defuse the situation. "Understand, after… certain events, we try not to interact with concentrated Darkness directly. It affects us, the Seraphim, a little differently than ordinary angels or even you. It literally tries to fill us from within, to take the place of Light… as if we are some particularly tasty target for it. It's… dangerous."

"Kid, are you accusing us of something specific?" Michael rose from his seat and jumped down from his floating platform, landing right in front of me. He was even a bit taller than me. "Adam, what exactly made you think that we are evil? Or that we are afraid of something? Who put these thoughts in your head?" His gaze was serious, studying. Strange, does he suspect that someone specific put me up to this?

"No one. I started noticing oddities myself a long time ago. And when I recently found out that many Goetia demons in Hell wield conceptual magic, and even ordinary succubi can use its simplest forms… very serious grievances against all of you finally formed within me. Why the fuck did you keep harping on about the danger of such knowledge? Why the fuck didn't you look for ways to strengthen the exorcists? Angels? Cherubim? Why are fucking demons technologically and magically superior to us due to enhancements from their creators, the Sins? Answer!"

"No one, you say?" Michael snorted. "Only, such questions and your sudden awareness make me think that you're brazenly bullshitting me right now, kid." At that moment, six huge, dazzlingly white wings unfurled behind him with a rustle. A powerful wave of pure Light swept through the hall; his aura was oppressive, surpassing mine by about four times in terms of energy quantity. The quality of his Light was also higher than mine, but not as significantly as I had expected.

"Michael, stop! Don't!" Sera exclaimed.

"I'm still waiting for an answer, 'old man'," I gritted out, looking him straight in the eyes, not averting my gaze or showing fear.

"Hmm," Michael looked at me intently, his aura calming slightly. "Even now, I don't feel a trace of Darkness in you… Only Light. A lot of Light… Alright. It seems you really figured it all out yourself or found a way to learn. I'll answer." The wings behind his back disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared. He easily jumped back to his place by the wall… but with a slight delay. Ha! It seems he tried to teleport there instantly with the power of thought, but my aura of Purity interfered with him after all! Excellent information. So, the field works, it blocks their power.

"Ahem," Sera cleared her throat, drawing attention. "Adam, you shouldn't have put on this whole show. We would have answered any of your questions if you had just asked."

"Well, excuse me, Sera, but after everything I've learned and understood, I preferred to act this way. More reliable. So," I swept my gaze over all the Seraphim again. "And now answer: why did you refuse to teach me and other angels conceptual magic," I gestured around the hall, "if any of the Goetia demons, as you yourselves admitted, are trained in even more interesting 'tricks'?"

"Kid, you know very little about the nature of this power," Michael answered again instead of Sera; apparently, he was the main guy for power-related topics here. "Firstly, even the strongest of the 72 Goetia demons, as a rule, cannot use more than one, maximum two concepts related to their essence. Not counting, perhaps, a couple of their 'Kings' like Paimon or Asmodeus." He snorted contemptuously. "Each of them is responsible for a certain part of Hell's functioning; without their constant work, Hell would indeed be a dangerous and chaotic place – eternal storms of Darkness, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, wild beasts, and other crap." He waved his hand vaguely. "So they simply maintain their sector of Hell in a relatively stable state that suits everyone – Lucifer and us. That's why they are trained to manage their concepts. Only, to isolate the necessary concept from the chaos of Darkness and define it accurately – is incredibly difficult even for them. Other demons – those who are an

offspring of the Seven Deadly Sins – they are created already with 'built-in' shards of concepts in their souls, which their creators wield: Lust for succubi, Wrath for imps, Gluttony for hellhounds, and so on. Only six types of such demons exist now; the seventh type was completely exterminated by Lucifer back during the War, but you know that yourself."

He paused, taking a sip from a glass of water he had just created out of thin air. Damn it. He's deliberately showing that my "anti-magic" doesn't work on them, at least not completely.

"And that's not all you need to know about this magic," Michael continued. "It affects the mind of whoever uses it constantly. It embeds its essence into the personality. For example: constant use of the concept of Freedom makes you scatterbrained, selfish, and prone to betrayal. The concept of Cosmos makes you overlook small details and lose touch with the reality around you. The concept of Lust… well, you understand. Therefore, teaching you or other angels such things would have been a huge mistake on our part. Especially warlike concepts."

"Excellent answer," I nodded thoughtfully. "Sounds logical. Only… why can you yourselves use concepts without such consequences? Sera, you wield, at the very least, the concept of Death, don't you? Otherwise, how would you have created angelic weapons?"

"Adam, for us, Seraphim, the process is a little different from the Hells's offspring or angels born from mortal souls," Sera answered softly. "We were created differently. We don't absorb the concept into our essence; it doesn't become part of us. It affects us only at the moment of its direct use. And it's much easier for us to isolate and control a specific concept from Light. It's… part of our innate abilities. Our destiny."

"And you didn't teach me because…" I began, already guessing.

"Precisely because you are a warrior, the First Man, born on Earth, albeit ascended," Michael finished for me. "You would inevitably gravitate towards 'combat' concepts: Death, Hatred, Pain, Destruction, Curse, and so on. And as has already been said, they affect the mind when used. Constant application of such concepts would simply drive you mad or turn you into a monster, worse than any demon. We couldn't risk that. Neither you nor Heaven. I hope everything is clear now?"

Sounds… logical. Damn logical. Is it really true? And all my suspicions were in vain? Part of me wanted to believe them. Another part still doubted. And a third… the third felt echoes of that alien, induced anger that had pressed on me so heavily just a few minutes ago. Especially when all the Seraphim arrived. It was as if I were reliving something from the past… a group of powerful beings, considering themselves gods, looking down on me like trash… A past life? Tatsumi? Apparently. I'll need to sort out these dreams.

"Alright," I said, much calmer now. "Let's assume I accept your explanations regarding concepts. Then there are a couple more questions…"

I needed to ask everything that interested me, now that I had the chance. And then… then, perhaps, I should apologize for my behavior. These strange emotions from the past had really started to weigh on me too much lately.

I called "stand down" for the exorcists half an hour after the conversation with the Seraphim began. I can't imagine what the girls were thinking all that time, sitting on the rooftops with weapons at the ready. True, Lute, as I expected, had selected only the most loyal and proven ones for this mission – those who were ready to follow Adam through fire and water, to kill anyone on his command, even a Seraph. So information about my stunt shouldn't spread beyond their close circle.

We discussed many more issues. I arranged for the disposal of all angelic metal weapons – Sera had created some seriously dangerous crap, considering even a Seraph could be severely wounded (and if previously weakened or bound, possibly even killed) by such a blade or bullet. I handed over Asmodeus's crystal so they could roll out an "update" for the protective wards of Earth and Heaven based on it. Because they shouldn't mess around.

Then I listened to a whole lecture from Uriel (he turned out to be the chief theorist and keeper of knowledge among them) about the peculiarities of Light and Darkness magic, the nature of concepts, and the interaction of worlds. It was interesting. It turned out that the Seraphim indeed hardly mastered magical signs and runes – what I called the "second level." For them, capable of directly manipulating energy (first level) and concepts (third level), this complex and cumbersome "technical" magic was simply unnecessary, so they hadn't really studied it.

But the most important and shocking thing wasn't that. It was Michael's story in response to my questions about his suspicions towards me. Eve. She wasn't killed in that battle in Eden, as Adam believed and as Heaven's official history stated. It was much worse. She didn't just succumb to Darkness. She somehow managed to absorb, to assimilate the Garden of Eden itself, distorting its essence and turning it into what is now known as Hell. The Seraphim tried to stop the spread of this distorted reality, this Darkness, but even separating space itself with barriers between worlds didn't help to stop it completely. And Eve… she was still alive. Or rather, not quite her. But the being, the entity of Darkness, that had seized her body and soul at the moment of the fall. Somewhere in the depths of Hell lurks this incredibly powerful and ancient badass. That's why Michael tensed up so much when I started asking questions and demonstrating new knowledge – he thought it was her who had put me up to it or was somehow influencing me, since I'd been frequenting Hell lately. But by shifting into his "combat" form and scanning me with his aura, he was able to sense that there was no Darkness in me, only pure Light (By the way, there's no "sensitivity" to this, which is why no one in Hell noticed that I had more Light in me than the Deadly Sins had Darkness, and Darkness itself flees from me far away). And that meant that the "prodigal son" Adam was simply tired of living without answers and decided to demand them himself. Well, that's pretty much how it actually was.

I was wrong to doubt the Seraphim so much and suspect them of betrayal. It seems they were all on Heaven's side; they just had their own fears, their own secrets, and their own, perhaps not always understandable to us, reasons for certain actions. They were… relatively "normal," if that word even applies to such beings. Hmm…

In the end, most of the Seraphim left about half an hour after the main conflict was resolved, to attend to some of their important affairs. And those who remained – Sera, Michael, Uriel, and Saraqael – told me all this, after which they also went about their business, leaving only Saraqael and, naturally, Sera.

They listened to my ideas about creating new energy weapons for the exorcists to replace angelic metal. They mulled it over, discussed it, and approved the idea. They said that if there were new weapons, then better, more technological armor would also be needed. I agreed, and Saraqael (he, as it turned out, was the chief "armorer" and "engineer" among the Seraphim) promised to help in the development and creation of prototypes. It turned out that not only Sera knew all the details of the Exterminations and weaponry. Saraqael was actually the one who had been creating armor and weapons for Adam and the exorcists all these millennia, essentially being responsible for the material and technical support for the war with Hell even more so than Sera, who focused more on strategy and politics.

I showed him my blaster contraption. He marveled at the unusual solutions (especially the two-stage accumulation and discharge system), then chided me a bit for dangerous experiments with unstable prototypes, but overall approved of the line of thought and promised to make a "really cool gun" based on my ideas, as he himself put it.

Sera… when all the main issues were resolved, she approached me, looked me in the eyes with a slight sadness, then smiled gently and said she was very glad that I was still on the side of Light and Heaven, and had not fallen into the darkness of doubt and error, like Lucifer once did. It was a strange phrase, considering everything I knew about Lucifer and his role… But I didn't argue. I just said that Heaven is my home, and angels (the souls of people who came here after death; cherubim, as I clarified with Lute, were indeed separated from angels here, as cherubim are beings artificially created by the Seraphim themselves to help with minor tasks) are my children, my descendants, and they deserve my protection. At any cost.

I teleported home. This nervous, tense day was almost over. All that was left was to talk to Lute, to tell her at least part of everything that had happened. And then I could finally relax… Probably.