Chapter 2: Archangels
"Oi, Onii-sama. What's going on? I heard Chichi-ue has locked herself in her room."
The one who entered the Throne Room was a woman who appeared to be in her late teens. She had long blue hair that was in a ponytail and golden eyes with a light of mischief. At 175cm her body was perfect with the right proportions, which she flaunted in a striped top so small it only covered her chest area and shorts that only that ended less than 5cm below the crotch and exposing a lot of leg. She wore a white overcoat that did nothing to cover it up her indecent clothing because she left it open and on her back hung a sword as long and wide as her body.
"Why are you here?" demanded Michael. "Zion's security has been raised to maximum. Everyone should be manning their posts in case of an attack."
"Relax Onii-sama," the woman said calmly. "If Zion is attacked it the enemy will take at least an hour to reach my tower. I could teleport there in an instant."
"An order is an order Uriel," he retorted. "Return to your post immediately or there will be consequences."
Of the seven Archangels, Uriel was the wildest and most problematic. Making her obey orders was no easy task as she was always looking for loopholes to exploit. However this time she had gone too far. This time it was not he who had issued the order but their 'father' and creator Shiva-sama. To Michael, disobeying a direct order from their creator was tantamount to treason. When his hand went to the sword at his hip she raised her hand in surrender.
"Okay okay. Fine." Her mischievous appearance turned into a worried one. "I just wanted to know what was going on with Chichi-ue anyway."
Michael's face softened when he heard this. When his creator returned from outside she simply told him about the situation outside and left, saying she was going to sleep. Since angels were heteromorphic beings who had no need for sleep it was a worrisome statement.
"Oh, so even the brute gets worried sometimes," came a voice from the entrance of the throne room.
Michael's attention was diverted to a pretty girl of about fourteen with long violet hair and hazel eyes. She wore white sorcerer's robes and carried an obsidian wand at her waist.
"Ah, so Chastity has come to grace us with her presence," Uriel replied. "Did you get tired of waiting in your tower for the prince who will never come?"
Here we go again, Michael thought. Sparks always flew when Uriel and Sariel are the same room. The battle never got physical and it always ended with Sariel crying. From the look on the younger girl's face it looked like that time was not far away. Sariel was too sensitive. It would be annoying if it got that far.
"That's enough Uriel," he declared. "I don't know anything about a prince going to Sariel's tower but I will not allow you to throw obscenities in this sacred play."
But of course it would take more than that to make her obey.
"The reference to a prince is from a fairytale who saves a princess from a tower," Uriel said with a mean smirk. "But of course that will never happen. Even a prince would want something in return for saving a damsel and I don't think the poster child for celibacy can provide it."
"And just what's wrong with that?" Sariel shouted, there were already tears welling in her eyes. "It's a virtue, my virtue you insensitive bitch!"
"Hey now, listen here you little-"
"If a single tear spills from Sari-chan's eyes you will pay for it Uri-chan."
The voice that said that made Uriel stiffen. The latest person to enter the Throne Room had indigo hair in a braid and grey eyes hidden behind rectangular spectacles. She stood at 178cm and wore a long white dress that covered even her feet. Her appearance was that of a woman in her early twenties. She was Jophiel, the only person in Zion who could control Uriel.
"On-Onee-sama!" Uriel exclaimed. "Sariel and I were just fooling around, you know."
"Is that so?" Jophiel asked sceptically.
Before Uriel could answer Sariel let out a cry and ran into her older sister's arms. She then proceeded to tell Jophiel about how Uriel was being mean to her and as with children, she altered the story to her convenience in order to make Jophiel even angrier. Michael could almost see Uriel withering in front of him. If it had been any other time he would have enjoyed the spectacle.
However, now was not the time for childish games.
"Why have you come here Jophiel?" he asked her. "Are you going against Chichi-ue's orders as well?"
Jophiel shot him a cold look. He could see that she was clearly offended by his question. "Like I would ever do something like that. Our Glorious Father messaged Ralph-chan and told him to inform us that she will meet us in the Throne Room."
Just then the Throne Room once again opened and in stepped three boys. The first of them was a hulking figure of nearly two metres in white mail similar to Michael's. He had long spiky orange hair and carried a red spear on his back and a cheerful expression that reached even his almond azure eyes. The second had short spiky green hair with dark eyes that swept all over the place. His was 180 and his appearances placed him at around fifteen or sixteen. He wore white dragon leather armour while the last person adorned white and gold priest robes. He was the youngest of them all with the appearance of a ten year old and a height just a few centimetres above five feet. He possessed shoulder length golden hair and large almond eyes that could melt even the coldest of hearts. In their order of appearance their names with Ramiel, Raphael and Gabriel.
"Nii-sama, have you by any chance seen U-" Raphael stopped talking when he saw the person he was going to ask hiding behind Michael (however she got there). "Oh, it looks like we are all here. Chichi-ue will be here in a moment."
The moment he finished the sentence the doors to the Room opened again. When they immediately cleared to the sides of the red carpet and fell to their knees with their heads lowered. The majestic figure of their creator appeared in the doorway, her luminous form bathing the room in silver light. As she glided past them they each released their white wings and their luminous forms joined their "father's." When the ruler of Zion settled in the Throne they raised their heads in unison and prepared for what she was going to discuss.
This is so uncomfortable, Shiva thought as she looked at the Archangels. While she sat on the throne she felt her crystal feathers poking into her back. I'll definitely complain about this one Onee-chan. Sephirah was the one who came up with this method. Since most of the guild members preferred to roam around in their human forms she decided important meetings were to be conducted in their true forms. Because of the suppressed sense of touch in Yggdrasil it probably never felt this bad for her. If she did she would have gotten rid of that rule.
Just what is this world anyway?
After she had seen the outside of Zion she immediately returned and locked herself in her room where she had tried to desperate grasp what was happening and agonized about what to do next. Michael had said she was the Absolute ruler of Zion and everyone would risk their lives for her. From the eager looks in the eyes of the Archangels who were looking at her she could tell they would follow any order, no matter how ludicrous. Her chest tightened at this. Was this how Sephirah felt when she had led them into battle against World Class threats and other guilds? The pressure of knowing that the lives of others lay in your hands was overwhelming.
"I thank you meeting me on such short notice my Angels," she began, looking them in the face one by one. They look magnificent! Truly, now that she had gotten over her shock she could fully appreciate everything around her. When she had left her room and really looked at Jerusalem it had been like she was seeing it for the first time. The golden statues and architecture were real works of art and the way everyone looked at her; they had all stopped what they were doing and knelt before her, their eyes filled with wonder as they looked upon her. But even that could not compare to the sight of her creations looking up at her with eager expressions. For any creator the moment seeing their creation come to life must be the greatest feeling in existence. This must have been how God felt after he breathed life into Adam, or how Frankenstein would have felt if his creation had not turned on him.
"There's no need to thank us Chichi-ue," Michael said with a smile, the rest of them nodded in agreement. "As your servants and more importantly your children we will always respond to your call, no matter how far we are, no matter what we have to drop."
"Hm, good to know." Shiva was exceedingly pleased to hear that, especially with the other Archangel's hanging onto their leader's every word and nodding vigorously. However, if she was going to be a ruler it would be wise to learn how to keep certain things to herself. "Seeing as we are in a crisis I will not be taking up much of your time." Seven pairs of eyes looked at her as if asking her to continue. She complied. "I'm sure some of you have already heard, the Zion has been teleported from Vanaheim. In fact we are no longer in Yggdrasil"
Michael and Raphael's expressions hardly changed, the rest of had looked upon her with wide eyes.
"B-but, how?" asked a puzzled Gabriel. "Something like that is impossible." When he began to doubt his own words he turned to his siblings for confirmation. "Right?"
"I have never heard of an item that could do that," Ramiel assured him with a faint smile.
"You don't hear much," Uriel taunted him. "Your senses are the dullest among us."
"Actually Gabriel and Sariel have the weakest senses," Ramiel corrected her.
"So, Onee-sama, who is a magic caster, has senses that are superior to yours?" Uriel responded with a smirk.
"That's enough Uriel!" Michael said through gritted teeth. Whatever anyone was going to say was forgotten when they heard the anger in voice of their oldest. "If you continue to show anymore disrespect in front of Chichi-ue I will punish you severely."
That iron clad declaration made everyone, Shiva included, shiver. Silence followed for about half a minute before someone spoke up.
"Chichi-ue," Raphael began. "Is there an item that can teleport a fortress as big as Zion? Perhaps a World Item?"
"If there is it would have to be several levels above World Class," Shiva responded. To not only teleport us to a new world but also make the NPCs come to life and make everything feel real. She had already confirmed that it was not a dream and neither were the NPCs robots. Earlier before she came to the Throne Room she had pricked her finger and then Ein's. Both had discharged crimson blood. Even the combined power of the Twenty would be unable to achieve something like that. According to Yggdrasil's legend each world is a leaf of the World Tree and the World Items are withered leaves of the tree. To be able to create this kind of phenomena you would need a tool crafted from the entire trunk of Yggdrasil and that was disregarding the fact that it was a game. To silence the gasps that resulted from her response she added. "Such an item does not exist."
"What do we do?" Sariel asked n a panicky voice.
"That is the reason I called you all here," Shiva replied. "For now all you should do is remain on standby in case of emergency. I've already sent Ein down to Eden to tell Ki he's in charge of patrolling Zion's skies."
"That slacker?" Michael asked, surprised. "Wouldn't it have been better to ask Ao and Akai to do it instead?"
"The reason I sent Ki outside instead is because he is in tune with the earth," Shiva told him. "He can sense an insect crawling on the ground from hundreds of metres above. With him in the sky we won't have to worry about watching the ground as well."
The manipulator job class was one that could freely control a certain element without the use of spells, a useful ability that would have been popular amongst Yggdrasil players if not for its ridiculous level of mana consumption. The rate of consumption was so great that a level 100 player with no experience or inadequate levels in the manipulator class can have their MP drained to zero ain seconds. For that reason alone people steered clear of it.
However the manipulator class also had its advantages apart from freely manipulating an element. Unlike magic casters who had to stop moving in order to cast a spell manipulators could move around as much as they want while controlling their element. In order to manipulate an element one has to first get in tune with it, meaning they have to feel everything about the element and whatever is in contact with it. For example, if a water manipulator went near a river he would be able to not only feel the flow of the current but also the fish and plants in the river. Likewise, Ki, who was a master of earth manipulation could feel the trees and grass of the surroundings and every critter that stepped on the ground. It was no exaggeration to say a manipulator is one with his element. But of course there was a certain range in which a manipulator could sense their element. Ki could sense the earth in a fifty kilometre radius.
"Oh," Michael said in comprehension. He then bowed his head in apology. "Please forgive your unworthy servant for questioning your orders."
"There is no need for that," Shiva told him. "Anyway, I'm planning on going out there to learn more about where we are." She paused to see how they would react. It looked like they were going to object. Before they did though she continued. "Michael shall accompany me outside. In his place I'm placing Jophiel in charge of Zion. She will be showed the respect deserving of a leader." Although looking at them it doesn't look like she any trouble with that. Jophiel bowed her head in acknowledgement. Her indifferent expression said she was unaware of the looks of terror her younger siblings were giving her, or just good at ignoring them.
"Understand Chichi-ue," she said firmly.
But Shiva was not done. "Further more I need you to use your divination magic to map the area within five hundred kilometres of Zion."
"Understood."
"Raphael, you two will go outside, but you will be scouting for signs of life in the vicinity. If they seem intelligent engage with them and try to learn about where we are. If they are hostile you retreat."
"Hai."
"Take your subordinates with you just in case. Although refrain from taking more than a hundredth of a legion. I don't want anyone starting a potential war when we have no clue of where we are and how strong the inhabitants of these lands are."
There were twelve legions of angels in Zion. Apart from Michael, each Archangel controlled two legions, which are headed by the twelve Watchers who guard Babylon. Everyone had put a lot of work into the creation of the Twelve Legions, some even going as far as to blow an entire month's pay on it (From what Shiva heard their spouses were pretty pissed). However, the Legions were simply made for role-playing purposes and had never been marched out together. But since the NPCs came to life Shiva had guessed that marching the legions had become possible and the way Raphael bowed his head in acknowledgement it seems her guess had been correct.
"Understood."
With a sigh Shiva's gaze went to the rest. Aaaaaaah, Onee-chan. If only some of your leadership skills could rub off me. Although Shiva sounded confident she was fidgeting on the inside. She had lead parties in battle before but not like this. Back then everything had been a game. Now everything was real. The reason she sounded confident was because she was imitating her sister. Sephirah had always been calm no matter the situation. And she had always issued orders without stuttering. Such an action would be showing weakness, and it was common sense that people preyed on other people's weaknesses.
"The rest of you can go back to whatever you were doing before I issued the emergency," she told them. "Just make sure you are prepared for battle."
"Roger!"
With that Shiva stood up and reached out into empty space. When her golden staff appeared in her hand her eyes swept once more to her attendants.
"Now, let's get to business."
-END-
Character Stats
Heteromorphic Races
Uriel: The Unstoppable Barbaric Force
Job: One of the Seven Archangels, Virtue of Humility
Alignment: Neutral-Good, Sense of Justice: 100
Racial Level: Angel 10
Archangel 5
Power 10
Seraph 10
Job Level: Warrior 5
Barbarian 15
Berserker 15
Dragon Warrior 15
Dragon Knight 15
Racial Level: 35, Job Level: 65, Total Level: 100
Ability Charts
HP:100, MP:20, PHYATK:100, PHYDEF:90, AGI:75, MAGATK: 25, MAGDEF: 70, RESIST: 85, SPECIAL: 100
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Heteromorphic Races
Sariel: The Thousand Army of One
Job: One of the Seven Archangels, Virtue of Chastity
Alignment: Great Good, Sense of Justice: 300
Racial Level: Angel 5
Archangel 5
Dominion 10
Seraph 10
Job: Elemental Mage 15
Enhancer 15
Summoner 15
Master Summoner 15
Agent of Destruction 10
Racial Level: 30, Job Level: 70, Total Level: 100
Ability Charts
HP: 65, MP: 100, PHYATK: 30, PHYDEF: 80, AGI: 40, MAGATK: 95, MAGDEF: 90, RESIST: 80, SPECIAL: 90
