AN: Surprise! I'm back from the dead. I hope you're all doing well and are in good health. I know it's been a while, so here's the story so far (I tried to condense! Approx. 750 words):

- Reminder that this is AU, so there's a lot of things different from canon.

- Lucifer Morningstar, solo lvl 100 angel player is transported to the New World, near a village called Woodhaven, in the Baharuth Empire, in the time right before Imperial Prince Jircniv Rune Farlord El-Nix would ascend to the throne as Emperor

- In YGGDRASIL, Lucifer was known for his prodigious summoning powers and abilities and his powerful magic. He was a mediocre warrior/fighter with non-magical weapons. Better at melee than ranged in terms of non-magical weapons. In the New World, his power level is of course beyond comprehension. The magic system in the New World has elements from YGGDRASIL, but is also different, leading to various effects and changes that he will explore and discover over time.

- He learns more about the New World (continent is called ) from the villagers (Cheshire, her father Svar, and the village elder, Thomas Sprigg) and then travels to the nearest major city, Oldaven

- On his way to Oldaven, he frees a slave who was near death (an elf named Kiah) from her captors on a farm in the outskirts of the city; in doing so, he starts a chain of events that leads to the involvement of forces from the Temple of the Four Gods, The Slane Theocracy, The Baharuth Empire, and a secretive demonic cult

- He takes residence in a rundown inn somewhere in the city, The Rose Moon Inn, which is owned by Otto, a kind man with an obviously difficult and perhaps shadowy past. This is where Lucifer shelters and nourishes the rescued elf (Kiah) back to health, though it is difficult due to her trauma and her fear of the world

- To gather info about the world and also earn local currency and build a reputation for himself, Lucifer joins the Adventurer's Guild (Oldaven branch) and has a noteworthy performance during his entrance exam overseen by Gold ranked adventurer named Ria; due to Guild rules, he starts off at the lowest rank, Copper Plate, despite his obvious prowess

- Lucifer summons in secret his first angel, Bezaliel, Angel of Shadows, during his Guild entrance exam in order to save some other examinees from rampant undead; he later uses Bezaliel for reconnaissance activities

- Due to Guild restrictions, decides to create an adventurer party with two young teenage girls who are beginner adventurers. Julia and Janna. Sisters. Julia is a frontliner (sword) and Janna is a support/mage (Magic Arrow). They finish a few jobs together and start to bond, with the girls gaining valuable experience and new equipment with Lucifer's help and guidance.

- When Kiah's former masters try to take her back, Lucifer deals with the assailants mercilessly, and tracks down the one who gave the order (Sir Kendrick Black) warning him that he and his master (Lord Rubeon) will be destroyed if they ever try again. During this incident, he summons his second angel, Turiel, Angel of the Mountain.

- Lord Rubeon is part of a secret demonic cult that is looking to start a revolution in the Empire by overthrowing the Imperial Family through the use of force and the help of demons. Sir Black, who has underworld connections due to his past as a criminal gang leader, assists him because he is loyal and feels indebted to his lord.

- Prince Jircniv attends an engagement feast of a local noble, where he recruits one of the nobles as an Imperial Knight in his service. Later, he leaves the estate where he was hidden away for some time, and is on the way to Arwinter, the capital city, at the behest of his mother, Empress Alana (Emperor's 2nd wife), to be at the dying Emperor's side.

- Prince Jircniv's older brother, Prince Jaque, plots for the throne with his supporters in the Imperial court, one of whom is his uncle, Duke Hendrik Wimburg, the Emperor's brother. Jaque is jealous of his father's, the Emperor's, favoritism with Jircniv.

- Lady Leinas Rockbruise (one of Jircniv's Imperial Knights in canon) and how she got her infamous injury are depicted in this story. She is currently unconscious as her family, the powerful warrior house of nobility, House Rockbruise, tries to find a cure.

- The Temple of the Four Gods (or just The Temple) is investigating reports of angels being summoned in and around Oldaven, a feat only known to be achieved by members of the Slane Theocracy. There is an official Inquisition Squad assigned to the matter and led by two priests, Father Carlos and Father Julius. Since the Temple and the Theocracy are at odds.

- The Theocracy, meanwhile, has a spy cell in Oldaven and learns of the rumored angel summonings too thanks to efforts by their undercover agent, Father Brio. They are investigating the matter as well.

- Over time, Lucifer is discovering that he is no longer quite human. His body is that of an angel, complete with wings. His body is otherworldly and does not conform to normal physics/natural laws. Even his psyche is somewhat changed, despite being largely human mentally.

- In the next chapter, I will outline in the Author's Notes all of his revealed equipment and skills again for easy reference

Chapter 16

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Morning dawned and Rionach Creary, Ria to some, woke up early. A rare thing in recent days, but there was good reason for it today. After a few months of rest, her Gold-ranked adventurer party was finally reuniting to take on their next slate of Guild jobs.

Naturally, she was excited to go out on another adventure, but she was even more excited to see the faces of her party members again. The last time she saw any of them was more than a month ago. Not a terribly long time, admittedly, but long enough that she had started to miss them.

It was hard to believe how close they had all become despite the vastly different lives they led outside of the Guild. In fact, she was the only one in the group who continued to work for the Guild while the party was on break, helping to administer entrance and promotional exams.

A 'career adventurer' they called her, not that she minded. Working for the Guild was a source of great pride for her, and thus far nothing else really piqued her interest. Plus, it certainly didn't hurt that they paid fairly well too.

The other five members of her party worked side jobs when they were on break from Guild work—jobs like carpentry, fishing, and shopkeeping to name a few. Surprisingly normal and rather mundane jobs that stood in stark contrast to adventuring.

All six of them were scattered throughout the city and the surrounding area, but despite their relative proximity, they rarely saw each other during their rest periods unless they went out of their way to get together for some reason.

They usually didn't, though. They saw plenty enough of one another when they were out on jobs. Each Gold rank job usually took days or sometimes even weeks to complete, and they often did several in a row before deciding to take a break, meaning they could be out on several jobs for months.

Adventuring was hard, stressful work, and some people were simply not made to keep working at it all day, every day for the whole year. In addition to that, there were also some adventurers who, unfortunately, didn't make enough money from their adventuring and therefore needed a secondary source of income despite their status as adventurers.

Thankfully, Ria and her team were firmly in the former group rather than the latter. They had a good reputation, good standing with the Guild, and were competent adventurers all around.

Curly red hair bouncing with nearly every step, Ria hummed to herself all the way to the Guild Hall. She was thoroughly enjoying the crisp morning air and the clear, steadily brightening sky. Today was looking like it was going to be a beautiful one, and she had every reason to believe that it would be.

When she walked through the doors to the Guild Hall, she was immediately greeted by the sight of a contingent of armored, serious-looking men and women lingering by the front doors. Seven pairs of eyes watched her with stony silence as she entered. They were dressed in matching armored uniforms of white and black that bore no crests or clear identifying marks, but clearly gave them away as soldiers of some sort.

She smiled and waved at them, unfazed by their grim demeanor nor their strange presence here. Unsurprisingly, they didn't respond at all to her friendly gesture. She shrugged it off and proceeded to walk past them, eventually plopping herself down on one of the couches in the middle of the lobby to wait for her friends.

Only a few adventurers were present so early in the morning, and Ria was the first one of her party to arrive. The others were probably only now waking up. She was the only one in the group who could consistently wake up this early without any trouble. That was only when out on a job though. Otherwise, while on break she would wake up at a more leisurely hour like the rest of them.

Not long after she sat down, Ria found herself staring at the group of unknowns by the entrance. There wasn't much else for her to do. The more she watched them, the more she was curious as to who they were and why they were there. They seemed to be waiting for something to happen, or perhaps for someone to arrive. But what? Or who?

Ria thought it strange, almost suspicious even, but nobody else seemed to take issue with them being there so she once again shrugged it off. If there was one thing that she had learned working behind the scenes for the Guild, it was that the Guild staff were far more perceptive than most people gave them credit for. If any of those strangers were looking to stir trouble, they would have already been dealt with, one way or another.

After a few minutes of fidgeting restlessly on the couch, Ria decided to get a head start with browsing the job board. It was better than sitting around waiting. And she was starting to get the attention of the soldiers because she was looking their way a little too much. She preferred not to cause a scene in case they took offense or something.

Numerous postings filled the board meant for Gold-ranked adventurers, more than Ria remembered seeing in a while. Having been an adventurer for more than five years now, she had a general sense of the normal number of jobs that were up on the boards at any one time. And today, there were definitely more postings than normal.

Was it because there was an increase in requests or a decrease in adventurers taking jobs? Possibly both, she thought with a frown.

There was also a third, and arguably worse, possibility: there were more failed jobs than normal. Jobs that were taken on by a party and subsequently not completed for whatever reason were often put back up on the board. In such instances, the Guild might even add a bonus incentive to whoever completes the task—they might also consider moving the posting up a rank to make sure it gets done, or even directly requesting a specific party to deal with it.

As she scanned the board, she became increasingly concerned at how difficult a number of the jobs appeared to be. This was going to be a challenging few months ahead for the Guild to get these all cleared.

A few of the jobs were actually from other Guild Halls across the Empire too. Not a strange occurrence, since local jobs that have lingered unclaimed for too long tend to be shared with other Guilds elsewhere, but the fact that there were this many of them at the same time and from different places did raise some worrisome questions.

Ria shook her head. No sense in getting paranoid. It was probably all just coincidence. Yep. Just coincidence.

Before she could continue her perusal of the board, Ria was interrupted by one of the Guild clerks. A young, skinny boy who looked like he would fall over if she so much as blew on him too hard. He was a new addition to the Guild staff if she recalled correctly, though his name escaped her.

"Excuse me, Miss Creary?" said the boy nervously.

She half-turned to face him. She didn't really want to deal with anything Guild-related that had nothing to do with her party, knowing that if she did, she might be roped into something that would delay her party's next adventure. And she would do almost anything to avoid that.

"Yeah, that's me," she said in a neutral tone. She returned to studying the board, making it clear that she was busy, and he was being a nuisance.

He looked suddenly relieved that he had gotten her identity correctly. "Begging your uh… pardon, Miss," began the boy, "But… Guildmaster Vesra would like a word with you, if you could follow me, please."

Ria sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Did she say what this was about?"

The boy shook his head fiercely, looking apologetic. "N-No, Miss Creary. She didn't. I'm sorry."

Ria stared at him, and the boy fidgeted under her gaze.

"Lead the way, then," she said in resignation. Best to just get this over with, she thought. Whatever it was, she hoped it would not take too long. And if it did, she could always walk out. Hopefully. Probably.

The Guildmaster's Suite took up the entirety of the fifth floor of the Guild Hall. It consisted of the guildmaster's living quarters, a personal training space, guest quarters with separate bathroom, a conference room, and her rather spacious office. The living quarters alone took up half the floor. Ria imagined it to be quite luxurious, having never stepped foot in it before.

It was the guildmaster's office that Ria was led to, and when she entered, she immediately took note of the two Temple of Water priests sitting in front of the Guildmaster's desk. A third chair was positioned next to them, waiting for her.

"Hello, Ria," greeted the Guildmaster cordially, "Thank you for coming."

"Did I have a choice?" Ria asked rhetorically as she took a seat and crossed her legs and her arms.

Everyone in the room smiled. At least the atmosphere appeared to be somewhat friendly. She glanced at the priests. They looked familiar, though she could not quite place them. Not wanting to stare at them too long, her eyes traveled to the Guildmaster instead.

Vesra Talen. Age 49, though she looked much younger than that. Very few people knew her actual age. The only reason Ria even knew it was because she snooped around in the Guild's personnel files one time when she was bored and nobody else seemed to be paying her much attention. Naturally, Ria would never let on that she knew her true age, lest she incur the woman's wrath. Though there was always the remote possibility that the file was wrong.

Vesra, or just Ves to most people, was an incredibly skilled huntress and ranger, rumored to be able to strike enemy arrows straight out of the sky with her own while riding on horseback. She was apparently proficient with daggers too, not that anyone had seen her in action in recent years.

Ves retired from adventuring as an Orichalcum Adventurer before taking up her post as Guildmaster of the Oldaven Adventurer's Guild, and she rarely stepped foot outside the Guild Hall in the three years since then. At least, as far as Ria was aware.

"Ria, allow me to introduce you to Fathers Carlos and Julius of the Oldaven Temple of Water. You might have already recognized them." Ves indicated the two priests with a wave of her hand as she spoke and they nodded their heads in greeting towards Ria. "Getting straight to the point, they'd like to ask you a few questions regarding the recent Guild Exam that you administered."

That got Ria's attention. She furrowed her brow. "Forgive me, Guildmaster, but could they not have simply read my report? Everything of note that happened during the exam is on there. I made sure not to leave anything out, considering that it was quite… eventful. You didn't really need to drag me in here for this."

Ves looked expectantly at the priests. No doubt she had told them that already, which meant that their guests from the Temple had explicitly asked to interview Ria face-to-face. The fact that Ves had obliged them meant it had to be something fairly serious, and Ria started to feel uneasy about the whole thing.

"We have read your report, Miss Creary," said the older of the two priests, Father Carlos. "It is quite detailed, as you mentioned, and for that we thank you."

"Apparently not detailed enough," Ria quipped, and Ves gave her a look that was half-amused and half-chastising.

The quiet younger priest had the decency to look embarrassed, but Father Carlos simply smiled diplomatically. "We only have a few questions. I assure you we don't intend to take too much of your time. We are specifically interested to learn about your thoughts on one particular candidate—"

"Is this about Lucifer?" Ria cut him off with sudden realization. "It's about him, isn't it?" She glanced between the two priests.

That was the only possible explanation for all of this. Warriors of Lucifer's caliber were exceedingly rare and would undoubtedly be noticed, and she had made sure to detail his impressive display of skill in the report. However, she did not quite understand why the Temple would take such an interest in him. Were they trying to recruit him? To fight as a champion of the Temple?

"Lucifer… Morningstar, was it?" the older priest said after a moment of thought, to which the younger priest nodded in confirmation. "A curious name. His performance was certainly praiseworthy, but intriguing as this man certainly appears to be, he is not why we have asked you here today. We're actually more interested in the lone magic user among the candidates," said the priest. He clasped his hands together on his lap and fixed a steady gaze upon a very much dumbfounded Ria.

The younger priest chose that moment to lean over and get a better look at her. "What can you tell us about the girl named Janna?"

x=x=X=x=x

Lucifer took one last glance at the sleeping elf before he slipped out of the room and quietly closed the door behind him. With a wave of his hand and the glow of magic circles, he set a ward that would alert him if anyone attempted to enter with hostile intentions, but he refrained from putting up any other protective barriers like before. In case Kiah wanted to go out at some point, slim though that chance was.

He had admittedly been surprised at Kiah's request to learn magic from him, but after all the things she had seen him do with magic, he should have expected it in hindsight. Regardless, he didn't have the faintest idea how to teach someone to use spells that he himself had only learned and used through playing a video game.

He had no idea how the spells actually worked on a fundamental level, only that they did work. All he had to do was think about what spell he wanted to use, and he could simply feel the casting range, casting time, mana cost, area of effect—if there was one—and anything else associated with the spell. He also found that the more he used his magic, the easier it became to cast the spells exactly how he envisioned.

Because of that, he had to decline her request. Naturally, his response had crushed the poor elf's recently reinvigorated—if only a little—spirit. Not wanting to see her in such a sorry state again, he immediately followed up with a promise to find someone to teach her instead, since he couldn't instruct her himself. That had helped, but Lucifer could tell she was still disappointed and dejected.

Of course, now he had the problem of finding such a teacher suitable for the task. How much would that even cost? And what would that entail? Although that was something his future self could worry about. For now, he had other more immediate things to accomplish.

When he reached the bottom floor and stepped out into the main hall, he was surprised to find Otto's cousin, Karlan, already up and working with a broom to clean out the dusty, cobweb-infested corners of the place. The innkeeper was apparently still out wherever he was.

The burly city guardsman turned and looked equally surprised to see him. "Who are you?" he asked with a touch of wariness in his voice.

Lucifer was confused for a moment, before he realized that the man had never seen him in his armor before.

"It's only me, Karlan," he said as he removed his helmet.

"Sir Morningstar!" breathed Karlan, eyes widening before he chuckled. "Sorry, I should've known. It's not like there's anyone else staying at the inn."

"Please, call me Lucifer," he replied. "No luck getting customers last night then?"

"Sir Lucifer, then," said Karlan, and Lucifer decided to accept it. "A few people drifted in for some food and drink as usual. Dirt-cheap prices tend to attract some people regardless of location or environment, but unfortunately none stayed the night." He let out a sigh and adjusted his grip on the broom in front of him.

"I see you've at least kept busy." Lucifer glanced around, noting that it was tidier and cleaner than before.

"Aye. I figure if this part of the inn is fixed up a bit, people might be more inclined to stay the night. It's the first thing anyone sees, after all."

"Makes sense," Lucifer said with a nod. "I'm surprised your cousin didn't already think about that."

"Oh, I'm sure he has, but…" Karlan frowned. "It's complicated."

Lucifer was about to ask what that meant, but the guard quickly changed the subject.

"I don't remember seeing that Adventurer's Plate around your neck before." The man gestured towards the piece of metal dangling from Lucifer's neck.

Lucifer reached up to grasp the plate between the fingers of his gauntlet. "That's because you didn't. I joined only recently."

"Ah, that explains it. Are you headed out to the Guild, then? This early in the morning?"

"You know what they say, the early bird catches the worm."

Karlan raised his bushy eyebrows. "By the Gods! They're making you fight wyrms? As a Copper Plate?" He rubbed his chin again, nodding to himself. "Is that why you've got such fancy armor, sir? I understand now."

"What? No. That's not—"

"Well, don't let me keep you, Sir Lucifer. You seem to be doing important work out there fighting dangerous beasts and all," said the man as he turned away and started to sweep again. "Be careful and good luck, sir!"

Amused, Lucifer shook his head at the misunderstanding but decided not to bother with clarifying. He donned his helmet and made for the door. When he reached it, he stopped and looked back towards the substitute innkeeper.

"Oh, by the way, Karlan," Lucifer called out, and the man paused his sweeping long enough to listen. "If you would do me a favor and check on my friend upstairs in a few hours, I'd appreciate it. Just to make sure she's eaten something by lunchtime. She's dreadfully shy so… I'm not sure if she'll come down even if she's hungry."

Karlan gave him an earnest nod. "Aye, sir. You can count on me."

x=x=X=x=x

A slight chill pervaded the early morning air as the rising sun first caught the tops of the buildings in Oldaven with its light, contrasting sharply with the streets still enshrouded in shadows below.

Lucifer had learned that it was currently the middle of springtime, and that in the calendar of this world the current month was called Middle Wind. And today was the twelfth day of the month, the final day of the second week.

Much like the calendar back on Earth, the New World calendar consisted of twelve months. Each month consisted of 30 days for an even 360 days in a year. The division of hours, minutes, and seconds were also the same as on Earth—24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour, and 60 seconds in a minute.

Different from his old world though was that the New World had only six days in a week, with each month therefore having five weeks. There was no such thing as a Saturday in this world, but at least the other days of the week seemed to have carried over.

The calendar was further divided by the four seasons, and each season was affiliated with an element that the months were then named after—winter and water; spring and wind; summer and fire; autumn and earth.

The start of the year began at the winter solstice, with the first three months of the year being Upper Water, Middle Water, and Lower Water, which encompassed the winter season. Spring began with Upper Wind, then had Middle Wind, and ended with Lower Wind. And so on, with some overlap.

It was going to take some getting used to, but at least it was fairly straightforward. No leap years and no odd-numbered months to worry about.

As he walked, and the city began to come to life around him, Lucifer decided to check on the mental bonds of his summons from yesterday.

He could still sense them all through their individual mental links. Each one was continuing to carry out the orders he had given them last night. Already, they were persisting far beyond what YGGDRASIL would have normally allowed. It had been a little over 13 hours now since they were first summoned.

That was good news, of course. But just how long would they actually last? Indefinitely?

The wolf he had sent running north was still on the move, but Lucifer could sense that its progress was slowing. It was exhausted and in pain as it neared the forest sprawled beneath the Stonefrost Mountains. As he suspected, the animal summons did have some physical limits to their bodies. They could get tired from exerting themselves, and they could get hurt, but strangely enough they did not appear to hunger or thirst like normal animals.

More importantly, Lucifer was pleased to confirm that the mental link to his summons did not seem to be diminished in any way due to distance. There was no discernible difference in how the link felt to him when comparing the wolf running north and the others who had remained nearby. He had a feeling that particular perk would come in handy in the future.

Focusing on the earth elemental, Lucifer noted that it appeared unchanged as it remained within the walls of the little compound that he had built. In the immediate area around the compound, the rest of the wolves patrolled for hostile intruders, their keen senses picking up only a few wild animals.

The summoned undead were unsurprisingly tireless. They were still digging the trench outside the walls as he instructed, which was now barely wide enough to fit a whole elephant.

The thought of building something of his own, and with relative ease at that, sparked a sense of excitement and joy within him. Once Bezaliel found and secured a good location, Lucifer could not wait to begin carving out his new home. And perhaps more.

He arrived a few minutes earlier than the appointed time that he was supposed to meet the girls near the Guild Hall, and he spent that time imagining all the cool things he wanted to try building.

"Morning, Lucifer," mumbled an uncharacteristically subdued Julia from behind him a while later.

Lucifer spun around and observed the two girls approaching, one looking far less happy about being up at this hour than the other.

"Good morning, you two," he said, noticing the fresh bandages across Julia's exposed skin. "How are you feeling today?"

"Tired and sleepy," Julia said as she yawned and slowly rubbed some of the sleep from her eyes.

"I'm okay…" Janna added quietly.

"Ummm, so why did we have to be up so early again?" asked Julia.

"Because," Lucifer said with a grin, "I want to see if we can do two jobs in one day."

x=x=X=x=x

Ria watched the two Temple priests leave after they thanked her and the guildmaster for their cooperation. The priests had been suspiciously tight-lipped about the nature of their investigation into the young girl named Janna. A girl that, as far as Ria knew, had nothing special or interesting about her at all other than that she was a woefully inexperienced low-level mage.

Unless Ria somehow missed something, which in this case she doubted.

Once she was sure the priests were not coming back, Ria turned her attention back to the guildmaster, who was continuing to stare at the door, apparently lost in thought.

"Can you please tell me what the hell is going on?" Ria blurted out, unable to contain herself any longer. "… Ma'am," she added hastily after she realized she might have been a tad disrespectful.

Guildmaster Vesra blinked and shifted in her seat. Her head turned so that she could look straight at Ria. "Sadly, I know only as much as you do at this point."

Ria frowned. She did not believe that for one second. "Do you think she might be in trouble? I don't see any other reason why they'd be so interested in her. Maybe we should—"

"We won't be doing anything." Vesra gave her a pointed look that had Ria snap her mouth shut. "You will carry on with the rest of your day because this no longer concerns you. I do appreciate your intentions, Ria. And I thank you for your help today. However, your part in this matter is done."

"But—"

"No buts," Vesra said sternly. "I'll take it from here. Is that understood?"

Ria lowered her head and clenched her fists at her sides. "Yes, ma'am," she said. And yet, she could not stop the worry forming in her gut.

x=x=X=x=x

"What happens now?" asked Father Julius as they descended the final set of steps that led to the lobby of the Guild Hall.

"Now, we continue our investigation," replied Father Carlos without elaborating further.

If Julius was being honest with himself, he was feeling uneasy about the whole investigation thus far. Much of that unease was due to his belief that he had no business being involved in this whole affair in the first place. But the fact that their target now appeared to be a girl who was barely younger than him did not sit well with him.

From everything they had learned thus far, it seemed unlikely that she had the requisite skill or power necessary to summon any angels at all, let alone be someone working for the Theocracy.

And to top it off, that peculiar foreigner named Lucifer Morningstar was in the picture, though whether he was directly involved with all of this or not was another matter. They had only interacted once before, but it was recent and memorable enough that Julius could certainly recall almost every detail of the encounter.

I guess that armor wasn't just for show, Julius thought. But was Lucifer possibly an agent of the Theocracy? They would have to be careful if he was. That redheaded mage from the Guild rated his fighting skill to be at least Platinum. Maybe even Mithril. And that was apparently on the low end of her estimation since she did not have enough data to make a more accurate assessment.

Inquisition soldiers were trained very well and were given high quality armor and weapons. But very few of them could go toe-to-toe with an adventurer of Mithril rank. And none of the soldiers they had on hand for this mission were anywhere near that skilled. If things came to a head, they would need to all work together to subdue the foreigner first. Hopefully it would not have to come to that.

The two priests soon approached the small squad of Inquisition soldiers by the entrance. The soldiers stood to attention at their presence, and the leader of the squad, a stout woman with curly black hair, stepped forward to meet them.

"Father Carlos, Father Julius." Her voice was low pitched and gruff as she greeted them both with a bow of her head, causing the younger priest to shift uncomfortably at being addressed with such respect from someone who was technically his senior. "While you were gone, we observed the arrival and departure of the targets as described to us by the city guard we spoke with previously. They appear to have taken on a job."

Julius snapped his head up in surprise while Father Carlos simply nodded. "I suspected there was a chance we might encounter them here at some point. A very small chance. But it seems the Gods favor us today," said the older priest. He glanced at Julius briefly before returning his attention to the young paladin lieutenant. "I presume you had them followed?"

"I sent three of my best after them, with orders to simply follow and observe as discreetly as possible," she replied.

"Good. There's no need to rush things at this point. For now, we wait and gather more information on our targets before we decide what to do." Father Carlos turned once more towards Julius. "You mentioned that you met this warrior named Lucifer before, yes? Since it's so nice out today, why don't we go for a walk, and you can tell me what you know."

x=x=X=x=x

Lucifer slowed as they passed through the northern gate of Oldaven. The guards waved them through without a second glance, more concerned about people going into the city than out. And there were dozens of people trying to get in.

Julia and Janna were a few steps ahead of him when he began to slow down. There was a strange itch in the back of his mind. His instincts were telling him that he was being watched. Either that, or he was getting paranoid. He turned his head, pretending to look off to the west, but focusing on his peripheral vision.

Only a handful of people trailed after them. None of them looked suspicious, though it was hard to tell without giving them a closer look. Still, he sensed no hostile intent, so perhaps he really was just being paranoid.

They arrived a while later at the apple farm that was the site of their next job. The owners of the farm, an older couple who were quite kind, were ecstatic that the Guild had finally sent someone to take care of their pest problem. Apparently, there were giant ants that had recently emerged from the ground on their lands and were eating the apples.

Unfortunately for them, they were too far afield for the city guard to bother coming out to help while also being one of the few holdouts who had refused to sell their land to the nobles who owned much of the land around the city. The husband had mentioned to Lucifer, while his wife was chatting with the two girls, that he suspected the nobles were somehow involved with the ants appearing on his property.

While it seemed impossible to prove, and Lucifer thought it was risky to plant or encourage a colony of ants to grow in lands that were adjacent to their own, he also would not have been surprised if that were the case. By making life difficult for the couple, and possibly ruining them financially, they would be forced to sell their land—and for a much cheaper price too.

Regardless of what caused the ant colony to appear, it took the trio almost half the day to deal with the ants, with Lucifer once more in the vanguard, and Julia and Janna supporting him. The ants were tougher than they looked but in the end were no match for Lucifer's strength and skill. Their pincers and claws could not pierce his armor, while his sword could easily slice through their carapaces.

He even let Julia practice some more as a frontliner, carefully watching in case he needed to step in while also giving her pointers when he could. Meanwhile, Janna continued to practice her magic and seemed to make some more progress in improving her confidence levels. In the end, they slew more than eighty of the ants, making sure to chop them up and harvest their parts as best as they could.

Unfortunately, they had no means to destroy the ant colony itself, which was likely deep underground. But they covered up and filled in the three holes that they found the ants were using to get to the surface. Hopefully the ants' losses and the covered entrances would deter any future excursions from the insects for a while yet.

Lucifer, though, did feel bad that the old couple might have to deal with the ants again and vowed to himself that he would return later that evening to deal with the matter permanently. It was an excellent excuse to practice more of his magic as well, while also doing something good.

Speaking of the old couple, they provided the trio with freshly picked golden apples for their troubles, on top of the reward that they were going to receive from the Guild for completing the task. The farmers were so thankful they actually had tears in their eyes. It made Lucifer wonder just how uncommon it was for these smaller jobs to be filled.

With the day almost done, they went ahead to their second job. Once more, as they were traveling, Lucifer could not shake the feeling that he was being watched. Several times, he stopped and pretended to look around or observe something while trying to get a sense of who or what might be following them.

Whoever they were, they were very good at what they were doing. He only managed to catch glimpses of them, but they were definitely there. At least two of them. Perhaps three. Why they were trailing him was another matter. He sensed no hostile intent like before, which meant they were purely observing. Since they didn't seem to be hostile, he figured he would deal with them later after they were done with Guild matters.

The second job was to clear out an attic full of giant spiders on an estate on the western outskirts of the city, a few miles past the river. They spent a few hours walking there, which made Lucifer realize just how important it was to have mounts. A flying mount would have been especially helpful, though he could of course fly on his own. But horses would have been incredibly helpful.

He would look into getting them mounts soon enough. There was no point in wasting so much time simply because they were walking on foot. Perhaps he could even summon his own—though again he wanted to know the time limits of his summons first before doing anything of the sort. Assuming there were still time limits. Thus far, his summons from yesterday continued to persist.

With the sun setting, they finally reached the estate of the noble—a lower rank one who was not quite wealthy, but not poor either—who had contracted with the Guild for assistance. The manor was old, partially in disrepair, and were it not for the few servants present, Lucifer would not have thought it the home of actual nobles.

Clearly, the family had fallen on hard times. A butler welcomed them and turned out to be the one who spoke to the Guild on behalf of the family he served. He was the one who discussed the spider problem with them. It was as they were being led to the attic—which, surprise, surprise, was far larger than they imagined—when a voice spoke in his head.

It was Bezaliel. Lucifer's excitement was palpable.

"Lord Morningstar," the angel began, "I have something to report."

"Yes, Bezaliel? What is it?"

"I have found a suitable location for you to claim as your new home in this world," the angel reported in its strange, ethereal voice. Lucifer was still getting used to it. "But there are various… creatures inhabiting the area. Should I exterminate them?"

"What kinds of creatures exactly? Are any of them sentient?"

Bezaliel paused. "I do not believe any to be sentient, but I cannot say for sure."

Lucifer thought for a moment, ignoring the speech the butler was giving as he led the trio of adventurers through several hallways and up a few flights of stairs. It was surprisingly dark within the manor, which necessitated the butler using a lamp to help illuminate the way.

"Feel free to exterminate any creatures that are not sentient. Any who are found to be sentient are to be captured, not killed. Though, if possible, keep two specimens alive for each species that you encounter. A male and female. Perhaps they can be domesticated and bred. I will come to you when I am done with my business here."

Lucifer wondered if perhaps he was making things too complicated or difficult for the angel. But apparently, his worries were unfounded.

"As you command, My Lord," said the Angel of Shadows. There was no protest. No argument. Only acknowledgement and obedience. Lucifer had to smile.

He almost felt bad for the creatures that were about to meet Bezaliel. Almost as bad as he felt for the spiders that he was going to be dealing with shortly. Good thing he was no arachnophobe.

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Bezaliel drifted through the air, his dark wings beating gently behind him. Night was falling, and it was at night that his powers were at their peak. This pleased him immensely.

Before him stood a rocky plateau that rose high up on sheer cliffs between three taller mountains. The site of his master's future citadel. It was hidden from the wider world and could be made impregnable very easily, while also having plenty of resources nearby.

Between the mountains were valleys cut by rivers and filled with forests, meeting in the middle to form a small lake at the foot of the plateau. Another river veered south-southwest from the southern edge of the lake. The whole area formed what was essentially a massive 'Y' shape, slightly skewed to the left if one were to look straight down from high above.

The river to the northwest was fed by large waterfalls at the end of that valley while the river on the northeast valley was fed by underground rivers. The water was fresh, glacial mountain water, and was a more than suitable fresh water source for a future settlement here.

The lake in the center was surprisingly deep and host to several aquatic animals, some of which were dangerous predators. One in particular was quite large, and Bezaliel figured he would save that one for last—probably best to ask his master about it specifically when he got to that point.

The mountains themselves were infested with all manner of hostile insectoids, dangerous predators, and wild beasts. There was also a nest of wild dragons atop one of the peaks. He had seen only three, two adults and a juvenile. A new nest. They would likely be the most challenging, since his master had requested that he capture at least a pair of each species he encountered. He supposed he would save the juvenile as well, to receive his master's future judgment.

Deep within the plateau that would form the heart of his master's citadel was a cave system that was also full of creatures of various types. The cave system had a surprising abundance of mineral and ore veins and ran deep enough to reach the very bowels of the world, where rivers of molten rock could be found.

All-in-all, Bezaliel had a lot of work to do. But now that his master had given him the go-ahead, he was more than happy to get to work. At least it would be a nice change from simply watching and observing in the shadows, as he had been doing for a few days now as he scoured the land for a place his master could call home.

As the darkness deepened with the setting sun, and the shadows lengthened, Bezaliel, the Angel of Shadows, wondered where he would begin the cleansing of this land first.

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AN: I think someone asked about the levels of the angels. All I'd like to say on that is that they are somewhere between lvl 50-100 (including ones we haven't seen yet), with Turiel (~65) and Bezaliel (~75) being towards the middle of the pack. To be honest, I'm not as much of a stickler for hard numbers as some others are, so it will be relatively rare that you'll find exact numbers and specific power levels from me. Sorry T_T