A village was currently being annihilated. It was strangled by a daemon blaze, which if the village was living, it would be begging with mercy for it to be free. Screams ran all over the place, as people were being brutally murdered. The screams were coupled with the demented laughs of those killing, enjoying the suffering that they brought upon others.

Heavy, life-dependent breaths were released like a salvo as a young boy tried to run away. He had black hair and red eyes. His expression was bemoaned; overflowing with regret and his exhaustion was present; featuring intense sweating and the manual labored breaths.

Flying above were several people. Some had bat wings and the other had what looked like crow wings.

These two opposing wing people fought, wreaked havoc everywhere and massacred the villagers who couldn't even defend themselves against the unearthly power of these monsters.

The boy, who couldn't run much longer, collapsed in a heap. His body ran on survival, not even adrenaline could support his craving for survival.

At this point in time, he had resolved to crawl to a hiding place. Maybe there he could survive to live another night, so long as the nightmares didn't kill him first. He knew this day would stay with him forever.

Unfortunately he was sensed by them. They came hounding on him like ravenous beasts. The boy could do nothing but wait for the impending doom to come. He wondered why this was happening and what he had done to deserve this. It just didn't make any sense.

The fear hit him so hard that he collapsed, on the verge of passing out, and his hair turned white; a sign of Marie Antoinette syndrome.

Just as one was about to give up hope... he was saved. A mighty, holy meteor came out of nowhere, smashing into the ground and releasing a fog of light that purged the creatures.

The light died down, and it revealed to be a man, not a meteor. He wore priestly vestments. It was a 2-meter elderly man. He has white hair and his face has wrinkles on it; like that of a normal elderly. Although he was already old, his body is that of an extremely muscular man. He has a thick neck, thick chest, thick arms, and legs.

A sword was also clutched in the tight folds of his right hand; the intensity at which he held it made it seem like it would break. It was a uniquely-shaped broadsword with a blue blade and a golden edge. The sword has a semicircular guard on the left side of the handle that extends to the bottom just above the pommel, with a small extension on the right side of the handle.

"Step away from the boy," the old man commanded. He may of been old but the tone he had said it in froze them.

One of them realised the man in front of them and pointed it out. "T-That man is... Vasco Strada, wielder of Durandal, the sword the Paladin of the Holy Roman Emperor, Roland."

"I have no quarrel with you devils and fallen angels. But, if you dare hurt anyone else, I will take action, and strike you down, without hesitation!" His tone bloomed with power, something you wouldn't see from an old man.

The devils and fallen angels were thinking about leaving until a brave one spoke out of the crowd. "If we beat him, Heaven will be weak and we will be rewarded!" shouted a devil, very fitting considering the hubris; avarice; lustful; ravenous; idle; wrathful; envious nature of devils.

This inspired the crowd and they charged at the go, and the old man sighed at this. He didn't resort to violence, but he had no chance. With quick, graceful slashes he had decrease the surplus army of devils and fallen angels to a microscopic level.

The remaining devils and fallen angels seethed at the low numbers, and they knew the couldn't escape. It seemed all hope was lost... but was it.

One devil caught a glimpse of a still breathing survivor. Perfect. He rushed to the barely conscious and pointed his hand to the boy's neck. One, good squeeze, or even one attack could kill the boy. They knew that as a man of the Vatican, he would do anything in his power to help the child.

"Put him down!" Vasco shouted. His tone containing anger at the scene. "To think you would stoop so low in order to survive, shows how weak you are!"

The devil was close to retorting but held it in. He almost let himself be played by the man's words. "Give up. Give up and we will let the kid go!" the devil lied through his teeth, he was all for glory, and when the mans guard would be down, he would kill him.

Vasco found himself between a rock and a hard place. He wanted to save the child but would the devil, who went through the trouble of finding a captive that would weaken Vasco go through his deal when he was for glory. The devil was very untrustworthy. His tone was ghoulish that he betrayed his own words before he spat them out.

Just as Vasco was about to surrender a scream stopped him. He looked in the direction, and gasped; his eyes widening, trying to believe the . The boy, who was previously on the border of life and death, was now choking the devil who had him captive; tendrils of black mass with a negative purple outline.

The other devils and fallen angels looked at the boy in fear and fled the scenes, flapping their wings as hard as the could. The boy, however, wouldn't allow that, and ensnared them in the same jet-black net, holding them hostage; they were now sharing a view they didn't like, but deserved.

The boy walked slowly towards them. Every step he took the black mass strangled them harder. He got closer to them... a mephistophelian smile was sowed on his face. The smile grew even wider as he crushed all those under his power of darkness with a hand squeeze.

Vasco, however, was concentrating on the mark on the top of the boys head. Never mind the overflowing dark power that was being released. The mark looked like a modified spiral; it had a curved line with four lines coming out, at the end of the spiral was another curved line coming out but it only had one line, instead of four. At the bottom of the spiral was an arc with a sharp line pointing down.

He didn't know what it was but the input was something he never experienced. It neither belong to any devil or fallen angel. It was like an anomaly.

The boy, after a dark display, fell down. He was now unconscious, and he would most likely be sleeping for a while. His snoring and innocent face was so antithetical to the macabre side he had shown before.

Vasco picked up the boy. He would need help, as he would never be the same after what had happened. "Perhaps I shall take him to the Vatican, and explain what happened. But... I should probably leave out the last part, I will only tell the archangels.

Vatican

"Here we are." Vasco breathed in the air. He was kind of stuck on how he should come in. He wasn't scared or anything, but it would be pretty weird to come in all of a sudden with a kid, especially when the person holding a kid was a person of his status; not that he was being arrogant in the sense. After all, he did corner a cadre level fallen angel - he was human.

As expected, Vasco felt surprise looks from all around. He continued towards his destination, unfettered by the endless eyes fixed to his position.

He went to the medical room and explained the situation. The people in the room then went off to help the boy recover.

Vasco went off to meet with Griselda. "Hello, Griselda. How do you do?" he asked, his voice seemed much elderly, but it was still strong, though this time it was happy.

"I am fine. And you? I trust the mission went well."

"Yes, it was fine, but I wish I got to that village sooner, I could have saved so much lives," he lamented. Life was important, and he hated unnecessary bloodshed.

"It's not your fault," Griselda soothed him.

"I only got one child," Vasco said.

"That may be little, but at least you got someone. You shouldn't be bemoaning as much as you do, your face get more wrinkled," she said, with her last statement being added with a laugh from both her and Vasco, although the latter's laugh was short.

She looked at him, and saw how serious his face was. "What's wrong? I know that face, something happened there."

"Yes, you're right. When I was fighting, one of the devils took that boy as a hostage, forcing my hand."

"How deplorable!"

"Indeed. However, just as I was about to drop Durandal, the boy suddenly held the remaining enemies with a mass of darkness, and his face was malevolent. That surprised me. He was on the verge of being unconscious but he burst out with this corrupt power. I'd never felt so much negative power before."

"Really? That seems very shocking."

"Agreed. Although there was one thing that shocked me more. It was a mark that he had on his forehead. It looked to be the source of his power."

"So, what did this mark look like?"

"I'll show you." Vasco took a nearby piece of paper and pencil. He then drew the mysterious symbol that had been placed on the boy's forehead. "Surprised. I am too."

"This is very strange. I've never seen a mark like this before. I think it's best to tell the angels about what has happened."

"Yes. But don't tell the others. I have a feeling they will be very judgmental, and it may end in something we won't like."

"Very well."

Vatican Medical Room

Eyes flickered constantly, trying to adjust themselves. The eyes finally adjusted itself to the surroundings, and opened up without being affected by the ray of light.

The sounds of groans followed as the boy, who had previously been on a bed for support, was know awake, and sitting up straight. He was no longer relaxing on the bed.

"I see your awake," said the nurse.

"Where am I?" the boy asked, he clearly remembered that there were no hospitals in his village, they would go to the sages for their supplies.

His eyes widened as he clutched his head in pain; specially, the area where the strange mark had been located. A flood of memories thrashed around in this brain as he remembered the tragedy that had taken place, it came all rushing down on him at once, like playing a tape.

The nurse got closer to him, trying to find a way to comfort the boy who seemed to be stuck in the position of clutching his head. "A-Are you alright?" the nurse asked, placing her smooth hands on his shoulder.

He swatted her hands away on instinct, but then realized what he had done. "I-I'm sorry, but just leave me alone, alright. I don't want anyone's pity or help. I can handle things by myself." He got up and tried walking but stumbled, and the woman caught him just in time.

"Are you sure you're still fine?" she said with a smirk seeing his pout.

He grinded his teeth in an annoyance. "Fine, then. You win. I'll stay in this stupid hospital afterwards, but then I'm leaving, and nothing is going to stop me from doing that. You hear me, old woman!"

The women smiled but her expression became furious at the words "old woman" and he was promptly smashed on the head. "Don't call me old woman, kid! Didn't someone tell you to respect your elders?!

The boy's face became downcast at that but then disappeared as quickly as it came. He didn't need pity, and he would certainly be annoyed if he was given pity. "Alright, alright. Just let me leave this place, I want to go somewhere else," he said annoyed.

"You really shouldn't-"

He impulsively got up but fell down just as quick. His eyes fluttered from the pain and twitched. He struggled but got himself back up, panting from the heavy effort it took, despite the simple act. It felt quite embarrassing. "I'm fine." His tone was more gentle. "D-Don't worry about me. I can handle myself."

"Glad to hear it. If you can walk then come. I need to take you to Vasco Strada."

"Who's that?" he asked.

"Vasco Strada is the one who came to your village when it was destroyed, and is one of, if not, the strongest Exorcist."

"I see," he replied lamely, not looking bothered at any information, especially the one about his village being destroyed. That would've most likely put a damper in his soul, but he moved on and did not seem bothered at all.

Elsewhere

After Griselda had left during their conversation, Vasco was left waiting. He had asked the nurse to bring him to him, so he can talk, and to bring him under his wing. He hoped that by doing this the boy wouldn't be alone, he could prevent others from sharing the same fate of having their lives ruined, and to quell that eminent mark of darkness. That was his biggest reason.

He looked at the door, and the boy and the nurse came in. The nurse looked fine, a normal expression on her face, while the boy looked quite indifferent. It was surprisingly hard to tell the boy's mood, his emotion seemed empty.

"I have brought him, sir. If that it all I shall be off," she said, as she gave a curt bow at the end of her speech, and promptly left the scene, leaving the two males' there.

"I am Vasco Strada, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you. I am Zeldris."

"I must give my apologies for not arriving earlier. Had I got there quicker... this mess may have not escalated to a massacre."

"You don't have to blame yourself, old man. What's the point of putting extra pressure on your mind and body when you don't need to?"

"Thank you for the comforting words. Anyways, I want to ask you something."

"Go on."

"I want you to join the Vatican, and I will be taking you under my wing," he started. "I feel like it would be good to have people to watch over and support you. Not to mention, you will have a place to stay, something you currently lack. You also need to defend yourself, you wouldn't want to end up in a situation like that, and have no one being able to help you."

Zeldris was slightly hesitant. "Fine. I will join."

"Lovely!"

Elsewhere

Griselda, after finishing her conversation with Vasco and receiving the strange mark that appeared on the survivor, left to go inform one of the Archangels. More specifically she went to her "leader" Gabriel.

She had informed Gabriel earlier about how she needed to talk about something, and that it was something that even she had trouble understanding.

After arriving at the location she had designated Griselda was immediately met with a bursting nova of light. The light stopped, and out of the glorious entrance came the most beautiful women anyone would of ever seen. Men and women alike would be staring at her, memorized by her looks. Gabriel has the appearance of an extremely beautiful woman with curly blonde hair and a voluptuous figure, and is known as the most beautiful woman in Heaven. Like other Seraphs, Gabriel has 12 wings growing from her back, they exploded gracefully behind her. She wore a simple white robe and her wings retracted back into her.

"Lady Gabriel," addressed Griselda, bowing to the Seraph.

"It's good to see you, Griselda," Gabriel responded. "What is the matter you wish to speak about? If it is something you do not know about, then I can imagine that it might be something."

"Yes, m'lady," Griselda replied. "Recently Vasco Strada went on a mission to save a village that had been attacked by Devils and Fallen Angels. He got there, but it was too late. Everyone had been killed apart from one boy. Vasco defeated most of them, but they played a dirty trick, and used the boy as bait. He was about to surrender. Then, from out of nowhere, the boy gained an ominous mark and using his new found powers to manipulate darkness killed them all."

"I see." Gabriel's finger now rested at the bottom of her chin, unsure what to think or how to reply. What Griselda had explained to her was really confusing. Even she, a Seraph, was utterly confused the event. "I'll be honest, Griselda. I have little clues on that. Yet, in some way, I feel like it is familiar. I think it is best if I alert the rest of the Seraphs about this news. It certainly is strange."

Griselda bowed. "Understood, Lady Gabriel. Although it may be nothing... I think a drawing of the picture might help." Griselda got a piece of paper and pencil, and drew the strange mark. After she finished that she gave the picture Gabriel.

Gabriel accepted it, nodded her head, and left after that. A dazzling blaze was soon there, but left as quickly as it came. She really was beautiful.

"This is really confusing."

Heaven

Currently Michael and Gabriel and Uriel and Raphael all sat together at a table. Confusion in their heads. They looked around from time to time, gazing at the beauty of the white walls, lacquered carefully with golden accents. It had a royal look to it, fitting for the top authorities in Heaven.

"So... this is the confusing mark that has been circulating. It is indeed ominous," Uriel spoke out, looking at the picture Gabriel had revealed to all of them. He is a tall, handsome man with illuminating, clean, blonde hair; burning ever-so bright, and azure eyes. He wore a set of golden-white armor with a set of robes adorned on his body. His 12 milky wings were out in display; his golden halo also joined in.

"Indeed... it does seem strange," Raphael spoke out to him. He is a tall, muscular man with a reticent expression on his face. He has long, dark-blue hair and amethyst eyes. He is clad in a sunny armor, with decorations of a cross on the pauldrons and the face of a lion on his knees, chest, gauntlets and the back. He has a golden halo and six large white wings.

Gabriel huffed, dejected. "It's so weird. Us, the Four Great Seraphs, who have existed for so long are utterly confused about a human." Gabriel's hands fiddled about, unsure what to make of the whole thing. This had been the second time she was confused about the same things. She had a feeling this was the first time it had happened. "I don't think we are dealing with an ordinary person. This is all too strange, and I don't want to sound arrogant, but something that we don't understand is certainly enigmatic."

Michael, who had his hands wrapped around each other, perked up. He had been focusing on the discussion, but not the conversation. That wasn't to say that he wasn't pondering on this mysterious situation. 'Father. What would you do in a situation like this? I am lost. Why did you have to go?'

A flood of painful memories spawned in Michael's head. The image of his dead Father and the last words he spoke-He stopped at that part. He stopped, and went over the Lord's message several times over. Then it clicked. He replayed it loud and clear: "It was a spiral. Be aware of the mark."

Michael slammed his hand on the desk. "I-I remember the Lord's last words," Michael choked out. He seemed to be out of breath from those few words. Those words meant a lot. His brothers and sister were surprised when they saw him like this. He was the only Archangel, and to see him in a panicked state. They knew it was serious.

"What is it, Michael," Raphael said. "You're exhausted from a couple of words. Tell us what you mean."

"The Lord's last words were, 'It was a spiral. Be aware of the mark.' Those were his last words." Michael took in the surprised looks of Gabriel, Uriel and Raphael. "I think you guys know exactly what I'm thinking. This picture bears an uncanny resemblance to the mark that the Lord described to me."