7 — Leaving The Forest

"FUCK YOU!"

When Seraph woke up, he immediately jolted to his feet, hurriedly looking around. Yet, he did not find anything.

"Aaaaargh! At least explain it properly, you bastard! AND WHAT WAS THAT TALK OF BEING MY FATHER!?"

He grabbed his head, shaking it to check if he would somehow come back to Asmodeus' vision. Nothing happened.

'Right, the angel!'

Seraph looked to his right at an speed enough to crack his neck, searching for the corpse of the angel he now recognized as Andriel. Yet, there was nothing in its place — only the massive tree with crimson leafs.

'Wait, nothing?'

He only realized it now? Damn. Yes, there was nothing there — the forest, the blood river, the bright grass; nothing remained.

Now, it was as if he was standing in the charred battlefield of before, though without the countless corpses. Even the leaf that covered Seraph's privates had disappeared.

"I'm naked again!?"

No, he wasn't. To Seraph's surprise, he was now fully clothed; he was wearing a fairly noble black attire with intricate golden details, even with two earrings and a necklace. Paired with his now crimson hair, flame eyes and perfect face, it screamed a single word: beautiful.

Suddenly, the Akashic System's mechanical voice resounded in his head once aga- wait, it's not that?

[Can't have you going around naked, can I?]

The voice was human-like, but held much more power than that of the Akashic System. It was...

"Asmodeus!?"

[Heyo, Second Gen. Wide awake now?]

Asmodeus' voice was clearly mocking Seraph, but that was not the point. Asmofeus had somehow...

[Yeah, I overtook the system. Gotta help my dear son sometimes, y'know?]

Hey, stop interrupting the narrator!

"Asmodeus, you bastard! Explain what's going on here!"

[Nope.]

"What do you mean nope!?"

[Don't wanna. I told you to figure it out youself. Live your goddamn life.]

"You—!"

He is so petty!

[I'm dead, Second Gen. Thought you had already realized that.]

'I had thought of that...'

[I just messed with the system a bit to say goodbye, don't expect me to help you. Also, I already made some changes to your Record, so you can use magic now and will meet him soon. That's enough, right?]

"That's just like going out to get milk, you fucker!"

[Eh, why would I care? I will just give you my legacy, then disappear... To get cosmic milk, haha!]

"Wait, stop! Don't go already!"

[Besides, you have better problems to take care of. Farewell, so- I mean, Second Gen!]

"Stop!"

Then, the mechanical voice was back.

[Existence has been assigned as a God Candidate.]

[Welcome to Shaedra, Demon God Candidate.]

"What? So this thing IS sentient! But Asmodeus called it a system... And what does it mean by awakening lineage? That's weird."

Seraph was just about to start overthinking, when a noise appeared from the horizon. He knew that sound.

'Cavalry. Will I finally meet some real people!?'

The sound got closer, and soon Seraph was able to see multiple horses with armored soldier on top. He grinned from ear to ear, watching the cavalry approaching.

They stopped a few dozens of meters away from Seraph, and dismounted from their horses. In the next instant, however, they unsheated their swords and spears, while some even took strange barrel weapons.

Seraph lifted his hand.

"Hell—"

And multiple projectiles of fire, lighting, water and other elements flew in his direction.

He sighed.

His eyes shone like flames, and for an instant, it looked like fire was jumping from them.

Seraph lowered his hand.

"Hey."

He could see it all way too clearly. The flow of mana, its composition; he reconstructed the same magic hundreds of times in but an instant, as his pupils were covered by multiple magic circles.

And, as he opened his palm...

"That's a bit rude, don't you think?"

The magic disappeared into air. But a brush of calm wind remained.

The mages standing behind the knights were shocked, disbelief fulling their eyes. Their hands were trembling wildly, and some even collapsed into the ground.

The knight at the front shouted.

"Identify yourself, monster!"

It was a feminine voice. Confident, yes, but the subtle hint of shock and fear did not escape Seraph's focus.

He did not know when, but his grin had disappeared, substituted by a sharp gaze.

"You're the ones who attacked me, lady. You should be the one introducing yourselves. Do so, and I shall not attack."

His voice was cold, looking at how the female knight had trembled and even retreated one step.

'She's not convinced...'

Seraph sighed, then continued.

"I do not mean any harm, lady. I'm not all that suspicious, am I?"

"An unarmed person standing right in the middle of this accursed Divine Cemetery is not suspicious!?"

'Shite. I knew there was something wrong with this place... Damn you, father!'

Seraph sighed again. If being reasonable wasn't going to work, he should be unreasonable.

"I told you, introduce yourself and I will not attack. Since you failed to do so, should I assume you want a real battle?"

Seraph released his mana, trying to copy Asmodeus' confidence in the vision. Soon, an oppresive aura covered the place, reaching farther than the dead land's boundaries.

The mages, who were way more sensible to mana, fainted in an instant. Then, the people holding the strange barrel weapons fell to their knees, followed by the armored knights, leaving only the woman standing.

She also mustered up her aura, even managing to stop her trembling. Yet, she was close to collapsing.

Seraph arched one brow, surprised.

"Well, I finally found real humans, so I should be reasonable. My name is Seraph Stell. What is yours, miss?" He said with a cheerful voice, leaving the girl surprised.

"Elare... Elare Di Arisefore."

"Elare, what a great name! So, uh... Where are we again?"

Confusion flashe by Elare's face, but she quickly transformed it into coldness.

"Come with us, monster. Even you won't be able to fight the people coming after me... I think."

The last part was more muttered than spoken.

'She thinks?'

"Fine, I will go. But in exchange, you must answer a few questions of mine."

Elare stood quiet, thinking about Seraph's offer. Her expression changed multiple times in the process, especially when the knights that barely managed to stand up tried to dissuade her against it.

During that time, Seraph just stood there with a smile on his face.

"... Fine."

When Seraph heard those words, his smile brightened, and he moved.

In less than a second, he was standing right beside Elare, making she jump from her previous position by instinct.

In answer, Seraph just grinned.

"So, let's go? I've been yearning to leave this place for awhile now."

'Let's see just how much the world has changed.'