It hadn't even been a minute since that familiar Darkness corrupted a small fraction of my Light, when the heavens themselves shuddered. Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of spatial rifts leading into absolute black obscurity tore open above us.
They varied wildly in size and shape. Most were small—maybe two meters high and just as wide—but even that was enough to blot out the sun. And when the Abyss opened in the distance—a rift at least two hundred meters across with hundreds of eyes staring back at me... Well, to put it simply, if someone less magnificent, brave, sexy, and—above all—humble were in my shoes, they probably would've hauled ass out of there. And the fact that not a single Exorcist remaining in Heaven even thought about fleeing filled my heart with a weird sense of pride.
Eve's minions started pouring out of the smaller rifts—little cherubs, swollen in size thanks to being juiced up on Darkness, which reeked off them from a mile away. Their faces were twisted in rage, with zero hint of intelligence—probably so they wouldn't rebel or have second thoughts. Looks like Eve knows that a few of the "infected" got "cleansed" recently.
But they weren't the only ones coming through the portals. There were demons, too, and a hell of a lot of them: mostly imps and other "lowborns," but there were also some pretty beefy bird-guys—undoubtedly "corrupted" Ars Goetia royalty from the distant past. And they definitely still had their minds, which they immediately proved by somehow commanding the "grunts."
I already mentioned Eve wasn't stupid, but I kinda didn't think she'd realize an army actually needs officers... Oops?
But the show didn't end there. At that moment, a massive something finally stepped through the big portal. First came the tentacles—dozens of inky-black appendages covered in eyes, which now also featured maws full of white teeth. A moment later, the first leg crossed the threshold of the vortex, then a second, a third, and a fourth.
I was standing there in absolute shock, because I remembered this thing—it was Eve!
An image of the horrifying monster I saw from afar thousands of years ago flashed before my eyes. My heart stopped for a second, then started hammering. It wasn't her—the Darkness felt different. But then what the fuck was this thing?
I aimed a beam of Light at this clusterfuck, but imps and cherubs threw themselves in the way of my attack, getting incinerated to dust. They didn't actually stop me—the massive wound I blew into the creature proved that—but the wound healed in seconds, and the sky in front of me was already swarming with fresh cherubs and demons.
Bitch, do they actually know I don't want casualties among the infected?
"Father, stick to the plan," Abel's calm voice instantly snapped me out of it. I had wanted to help the guys—take out the obviously heavy hitter right away, but… Fuck it. A plan is a plan!
"Good luck," I nodded to my son, feeling a vague sense of dread. "Please, don't take risks." Completely uncharacteristic words slipped from my lips as I sent my son into battle, looking him dead in the eyes.
"Ha!" came George's laugh nearby. "Don't piss your pants, 'daddy,' the kid's gonna be just fine!" You gotta hand it to George, the guy knows how to say some dumb shit that pushes all the anxiety right to the background. Is that what they call charisma?
"Good luck then!" I scoffed. Pressing my palms together as if in prayer, I began concentrating all my Light, adding the Light from the "Little Sun" to it, intending to cleanse all the cherubs and demons in one fell swoop—let's see how that plays out.
"Give 'em hell!" the Victorious Knight yelled, charging into battle against the nearest enemies, followed by the rest of the "old guard" in their golden armor.
"To hell with it," I added, sincerely hoping none of my friends would die today...
Heaven—the most heavily fortified of the Three Worlds—was burning.
Eve's forces, hungry for more power, had breached it with surprising ease and were destroying everything in their path: entire buildings in the First City were wiped out in no time. The massive entity helped wreak havoc, firing deadly beams of primordial Darkness from its mouths and flailing hundreds of toothy, starry-eyed tentacles. Even Michael, going all out, couldn't put the beast down, because every wound on the monster regenerated just like Eve's had all those years ago, and he was still a far cry from the level of God, who had given her that scar.
Though the devastation was immense, and the breakneck speed made it feel like hours for the combatants, barely a minute had passed since the insane God-killer's army arrived. Suddenly, the sky erupted with thousands of flashes of golden Light, as Exorcists flew in, immediately joining the fray.
Thanks to excellent comms, Jacob's competent leadership, and contingency plans prepared well in advance, casualties among the Heavenly Host were low...
But they still happened. Over there, a young, inexperienced girl hesitated and failed to dodge a beam of Darkness shot by it; over here, an entire squad fell to a few supercharged Goetian demons. Or there—a veteran Exorcist in golden armor shoved a girl out of the way of an incoming attack at the last second, taking the hit himself... George?
"George!" I watched in horror as my friend, who had sworn to protect Emily with his life, sacrificed that very life. My jaw clenched with terrifying force, my teeth grinding—I couldn't move, or all this Light would spiral out of control. Sure, I wouldn't get hurt, but all the sacrifices made so far would be for nothing. But I could watch. If I were weak-willed, I would have closed my eyes so I wouldn't have to see the people who trusted me die. But I couldn't—I had no right to look away. On the contrary, I wanted to see it all, to remember everyone who fell. I wanted to remember and never forget the price we paid for victory.
A wave of Darkness in the form of a beam struck the Victorious Knight, who literally tossed Emily out of harm's way. But the man didn't give up: he coated himself in all the Light he could control and, literally burning away his own essence against the Darkness, flew straight at the demon, slicing off the "officer's" head with his flaming blade. After that, he... dropped his sword, his head falling back as he went into a freefall.
Come on, someone help him!
Joan was pinned down by a hundred cherubs and demons commanded by two aristocrats. Abel and Dimitri were just finishing off another two, so they couldn't catch their wounded comrade.
Suddenly, a six-winged shadow flashed by, and Emily herself caught the unconscious warrior. The girl, who had just put on her uniform and entered her first battle, was crying. This whole thing was absolute torture for her, which she endured solely because she accepted her duty as a Seraph. She landed smoothly on the ground with the man in her arms, when suddenly another bastard took aim at her—apparently, Eve had ordered the Seraphim to be "corrupted" on sight.
A beam of Darkness, heavily laced with the concepts of Fire and Stone, shot toward the girl. Noticing the attack at the last moment, she managed to manifest a hemispherical shield of pure Light. But she wouldn't hold out long like that—Emily had a ton of raw power, but almost zero control over it; the kid was using Light purely on instinct.
Suddenly, space warped right next to Emily, and a familiar silhouette burst from a dark-gold flash.
"The Prince of the Abyss has arrived!" Abaddon's arrogant shout rang out. The kid flew feet-first directly into the chest of the massive Goetian demon aiming at the girl. Without giving it a second to recover, he unleashed a hail of Darkness-infused blows. Seth popped out right behind him. While Abaddon drew aggro and turned the corrupted ancient aristocrat into minced meat, Seth smoothly scooped up the unconscious George and the shell-shocked Emily, instantly teleporting them far away from the epicenter of the meat grinder. "Have fun, losers!" Abaddon cackled, tossing the mangled demon aside before bolting off to help Dimitri and the rest of my "generals."
Damn it, what are they doing here?
I restrained myself, clenching my jaw even tighter. I wanted to chase them away, force them to flee, but if it weren't for my sons, George and Emily could have died.
I couldn't protect them myself, so I had absolutely no right to criticize the boys...
Hell, I couldn't even protect myself. Plenty of infected freaks were trying to break through to me. They obviously didn't understand exactly what I was doing, but they instinctively sensed the threat. The amount of Light I was currently controlling and holding in my hands was so massive it was more than enough to create a small pocket dimension. Because of that, I was glowing like a supernova, drawing aggro from the entire battlefield.
I couldn't create shields—any shift in focus would cause the planned cleansing spell to either detonate early or dissipate. My kids had to take the heat: acting as living shields, they held back the monsters trying to rush me in melee and tanked the ranged attacks.
Lute stood out in particular.
My sweet, bloodthirsty valkyrie was batting every incoming beam of Darkness right back at the senders, using... Don't laugh. A frying pan... No, seriously, that angelic steel FRYING PAN!
Anyone who actually managed to close into melee range was instantly julienned by her squad, which allowed me to stand there like a statue and successfully farm aura on the sidelines.
Oh guys, hold on just a little longer, I'm begging you!
Somewhere off to the side of the main battlefield, a deafening explosion rang out. Archangel Michael was blasted backward, slamming into the remains of a tall tower. The beast raised several of its tentacles for a finishing blow, when suddenly another brilliant flash lit up the sky.
A devastating strike of concentrated Darkness hurled the monster a hundred meters away, and Lucifer, glowing in his true angelic form, descended smoothly next to the rising Michael.
"I don't need help from a fucking traitor!" Michael spat, wiping golden blood from his chin and glaring resentfully at his brother.
"Misha, stop being a dick!" the King of Hell snapped back, his eyes fixed on the rising monster. Then his voice wavered, losing all its usual venom: "I've already done a lot of fucked-up shit. Too much fucked-up shit. And if I can help fix even a tiny fraction of that bullshit right now, I'll do everything in my power."
Michael froze for a second, peering into his fallen brother's face, before tightening his grip on his angelic spear.
"Fuck it. If you're ready to die for Heaven—help!"
The two ancient beings, casting aside a millennia-old feud, charged forward in perfect sync. With a combined barrage of Light and Hellfire, they began mercilessly pushing the monster back.
Seeing that Lucy had arrived and he and Misha were successfully kicking the giant UFE's (Unknown Fucking Entity's, just as a reminder) ass, I was about to breathe a sigh of relief. But suddenly, space literally ten meters away from me rippled with black static, and two portals tore open, reeking of primordial Darkness.
Fuck, that is way too many portals per square meter!
HE stepped out of the first portal.
I recognized him instantly, even though he had changed beyond recognition from the time he was just a human. His once-brown, now pitch-black hair fell carelessly over his pale face, framing a predatory, arrogant smirk. His crimson eyes, sporting vertical golden slits, burned with more than just the malice I saw before my first death by his hands, and not even with just satisfaction—it was pure, unfiltered, primal insanity. Two curved black horns sprouted from Cain's head, and six massive wings, black as night itself, spread majestically behind his back.
Lilith stepped gracefully out of the second portal.
"Long time no see, Father," Cain smirked, his eyes trailing over my posture. He was clearly getting off on seeing me "defenseless," forced to hold the spell and unable to strike back. "Risking everything for this useless trash? How pathetic."
"The first traitor dares to lecture me?" I scoffed, throwing a subtle hand signal to Lute and the Exorcists to stand down, while simultaneously trying to remember what the word "pathetic" actually meant. This bastard was way out of their league, and since Lucifer was here, the rest of the Sins would be arriving any second now.
"I took your throne, Father, so yes, I am exactly the one who can lecture you," Cain bared his teeth in a predatory snarl.
The demon (was he even a demon?) held out his hand, and a long sword materialized from swirling Darkness in his palm. Or rather, it didn't materialize like I first thought—he pulled it out of a pocket dimension, because the blade reeked of Death from a mile away... Fuck.
"And how long did your reign last?" I asked, looking at him with maximum disdain, trying to buy just a little more time while continuing to pump Light into the spell. "How long did that 'perfect' society last that you built, you arrogant little shit?"
The words hit him right where it hurt: Cain's face twisted in fury, and he practically caught fire with hatred.
"You're going to die here!" he roared, raising his blade and charging at me.
KRAAAASH!
A massive beam of pale-gray energy—the concept of Plague—struck Cain square in the back. The attack was so devastating that the First Murderer was blasted sideways, half his torso blown clean off. He crashed onto the golden cobblestones, coughing up black blood, staring in absolute shock at the one who had struck him.
"You... Bitch!" he wheezed, glaring at Lilith.
"Did the first traitor really not expect to be betrayed himself in the end?" the Queen of Hell said coldly, forming a fresh orb of energy in her hand to finish the bastard off.
But Cain just burst into manic laughter.
His mutilated body began to mutate rapidly, transitioning into its next stage: human features dissolved, wounds vanished, and his power grew exponentially.
He kept a humanoid shape—torso, arms, legs—but now it was all made of a pulsating, living mass of darkness.
The head was the most horrifying part: instead of a face, a thick cluster of long, writhing blood-red tentacles burst from his neck. Right in the center of them, two infernal eyes ignited, and a wide mouth lined with shark teeth snapped open. Six revamped wings tore out of his back, and those same red tentacles sprouted all over his body, writhing chaotically as if they had a mind of their own.
Lilith wasn't going to be left behind—the Queen of Hell was engulfed in darkness, revealing her battle form. Her face was hidden by a smooth white mask with narrow, dark slits for eyes and a creepy, subtle smile. Dark horns grew from her head, curving backward like a crown, and her beautiful white hair morphed into thin, dark tentacles, vaguely resembling Cain's. Her body was clad in solid black armor pulsing with glowing red lines, and six massive wings unfurled behind her.
The Queen of Hell threw herself into battle, but even in this form, Lilith was frankly outmatched by Cain, who was jacked up on primordial Darkness. He just casually swatted her away time and time again, completely ignoring her energy attacks as he marched toward me, step by step, laughing maniacally.
And then, the space around them flared with all the colors of the rainbow...
The Deadly Sins had arrived in Heaven.
Scanning the battlefield, the animals saw that their King (Lucifer) was already handling the biggest ugly bastard, and without hesitation, they rushed to aid their Queen.
What happened next made me raise an eyebrow and shake my head in respect, even in such a tense situation.
The Seven Rulers of Hell and Lilith attacked the mutated Cain from all sides. Asmodeus and Mammon launched distracting strikes; Satan, having grown to gargantuan size, tanked the crushing blows from the tentacles; Beelzebub and Leviathan stung him with spells from the flanks. They probably wouldn't win, but the demons could at least stall one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (which, according to Lilith, was what Eve called them).
Hovering in the air, Lilith began to sing—her enchanting voice multiplied the Sins' power and shackled Cain's movements, conjuring viscous Darkness around him. But even then, it was way too close for comfort. The Deadly Sins were yanking each other out from under lethal strikes at the very last millisecond, and only Lilith's buffs and a frankly terrifying level of synchronization helped the Sins successfully defend my ass.
By the way, I have to point this out—their teamwork was on a ridiculously high level, even though you'd intuitively expect the exact opposite. Have they just been pretending to hate each other this whole time? Or have they been throwing secret team-building retreats down in Hell lately?
And at that moment, the irreparable happened (another fucking portal! Bitch, when is this going to end—I need to steal Paimon's anti-teleportation spell!).
An incredibly, deafeningly loud sound echoed out, like glass shattering.
The sky above us exploded.
Every single one of Heaven's defenses, along with the Celestial Dome that had stood since the dawn of time, shattered into a million pieces.
The firmament no longer emitted light; the sky turned pitch black, like night, and off in the distance, a red planet bearing a giant pentagram became clearly visible—Hell.
Eve had arrived.
My ex's aura of power was so monstrous that for one second, literally everyone froze. Exorcists, demons, Seraphim, Sins—everyone instinctively stopped fighting.
Her power was making space itself lose its mind: chunks of buildings hovered in mid-air, blood flowed upward, and all the remaining background ambient light in Heaven simply vanished, swallowed by her presence. The only sources of illumination left were the sparse flashes of attacks and my figure, clutching a "Sun" ready to detonate.
Eve slowly descended lower. Her gaze was locked solely on me, and it was a very, very weird look. Even I, who was pretty damn good at reading people thanks to my past life experience, just couldn't figure out what that look meant for me. But there was something in it that sent shivers racing down my spine.
Fuck.
And I was almost Finished…