Genad had already placed on the anti-device, and although he had turned into an angel, the darkness within him as a demon still ran loose, and with a place filled with holiness like the heavens he would probably be scorched the moment he entered.
Just as expected, at their entrance they were screened by the seven beastly statues that represented the seven deadly sins. Due to the immense hate within his heart, Genad would have been found guilty of the sin of rage but because of the device, 60% of the scrutiny was passed, and for the remaining 40% he passed by tucking his hate deep within his heart.
Paws probably because of his innocence and race stimulation passed effortlessly and Dina nearly fainted in despair when the sin of lust took some ‘extra’ time in her screening.
Genad: (≖_≖ )
Feral: ( ⇀‸↼‶ )
Paws:?
They had already been observed by the angels within the temple from the eyes of the beastly statues and could now freely enter. However it wasn’t as simple as that, they had less than a day before the angels would gather to pray before the holy water which would purify them of their impurities and bless them with holiness and if they as fake angels were to follow only Paws might survive.
Genad was too vicious and would be directly scorched to death by the holiness, Feral wasn’t even an angel and would probably be burnt by the flames of holiness since only angels could absorb holiness. Paws however was fairly innocent and had the angel’s bloodline so he would only be scorched slightly before being purified… if he could hold his transformation till then.
Due to certain issues, the realm had no saints which made it easier for them as all they had to do was lure away the angels within the temple before sneaking in to get the device. Paws would be the grabber and Feral was to distract them while Genad would be responsible for cutting down any possible danger to the plan.
The home of the angels was like a blissful land for pure souls but hell for sinners, literally. The holiness emitted everywhere was like a fire that scorched any sin found and right there Dina felt like she was being slowly grilled by flames.
Genad was way worse and could barely hold himself up and if not for his insane endurance, the poor male would have plummeted downwards from the intense pressure.
Just then, an angel called out to them, “Angels, would you love to join me in the spring of peace beyond the gardens to offer a prayer for the animals within the forest?”
Feral had to step up to avoid being exposed by the glare Genad was giving to the angel. It was a natural reaction of course, after all, demons abhorred angels to the extreme.
“I’m sorry angel but my friend here isn’t feeling too well. His followers… have such sinful desires that it had stirred him and now we would like to pray specially before the holy water to receive its grace,” Feral said going even an extra mile to grab at the angel’s hand before backing off immediately.
“Oh poor child, no wonder his face looked so desolate. May the holy father (holy fountain) be with you,” the angel said with a slight kiss on Feral’s face before leaving.
Immediately, Feral fell unto Paws as he rubbed his face in agony, tears streaming down. Genad grabbed at his clenched fingers and could see the nasty burn on it gotten from simply holding the angel.
He had thought that maybe they could handle the ‘cleansing’ but looking at Feral whose face was drowned with tears from a single kiss from an angel, he knew better. They absolutely had to hurry up.
Dina felt like her entire soul was on fire, being in contact with that damn angel had elevated it even worse and she felt a slight wooziness like she would escape Feral’s body at any moment.
She instantly decided to buy a package, rather than suffer this much and put the mission at harm, why not?
Purchasing the ‘Soul Balm’, Dina felt the flames within her soul being quenched by a soothing frost and couldn’t be happier. Right now, she really thought she was about to die.
Feral finally regained himself and with a tiny smile at the worried duo he said, “Let’s go.”
The angels’ realm was surrounded by tall and huge mansions engraved within them names which probably showed the owners of the houses. Each house was built with white gold and adorned with precious jewels of rubies, amethyst, emeralds, and many other precious minerals Dina couldn’t figure out.
The path where they walked on shimmered with pearls and was coated with platinum. Deep within the realms, away from the houses was a forest filled with the clearest springs, the tastiest fruits, and the most beautiful beasts ever made.
There wasn’t a single flaw within such a meticulously built place. And within the expanses of white, purity, and beauty, one couldn’t find a single stain within.
It was all white, down to even the clothing of the angels which was a simple white coat embedded with gold and silver.
Truly too extravagant, even more than the elves themselves.
As they walked through the realm, angels were seen everywhere either conversing peacefully with one another or playing with the beautiful beasts as they tattled through the road. Even so, most of the angels were within the gorgeous garden whilst the rest were in the lower realms doing good deeds and acquiring faith.
Everywhere was so peaceful and blessed and Dina felt even more wretched for suffering in a place like this. In the end, it wasn’t a place for sinners after all.
The angels were genderless, and although they had females and males within them they all looked the same and since they had never indulged in any immoral acts you could say they barely gave a damn about gender and shit.
Everything they did was filled with innocence and purity and as Dina walked by to see the nth angels kissing, she felt her world views shifting. Sin truly changed the views of everything, didn’t it?
Their destination was the temple which was flooded by the holy fountain, a place filled with immense holiness. The angels usually went there to pray every morning and night as a whole and every other time individually.
They prayed to be purified of their sins and to be blessed with holiness which was the bane of their existence and improved their powers. The holier an angel was the stronger their prayer would be and thus their strength.
One could argue that angels as pure creatures had no sin but this was in fact untrue. Just like any other race they had free will and the only distinguishable thing would probably be the pain that their bloodline harassed them with when they sinned.
Apart from that their feelings, emotions, and the rest were just the same as every race except for their strong sense of goodness.
It made sense that from time to time they would commit some sins and with how strictly they were judged even looking at beasts the wrong way (as food) was counted to them as a sin. It was no wonder, they had been nearly burnt to death with just a step to heaven with how strict their judging system was.
Sin was known as a taint to angels and a tainted angel needed blessings from the holy fountain to be cleansed. Angels could also be tainted by their followers. By doing good deeds, angels accumulated followers from the lower realms who worshipped them and thus gave them faith but followers weren’t as pure as angels, and thus some faith given was filled with impurities.
Of course, a faith too impure would be automatically filtered away by the angel’s bloodline, the rest could be accepted and thus followers were another tainters of an angel.
Praying to the holy fountain was to give up these faith accumulated and in turn receive something purer, a blessing termed ‘holiness’. Only a saint could never be tainted, if the average angel’s holiness was about 90 to 99 then thiers was a full-on 100.
Such creatures were termed to be so powerful that it was speculated that their prayers would bring back the dead at the cost of their entire holiness and life of course. An angel without a single holiness would die and be thrown into the fountain where they emerged to be dissolved and go back to their holy father who had brought them forth.
These saints were the ones who brought forth new angels as during a special day, all angels would crowd the temple and under the guidance of the saint give a prayer so powerful a new creature would be made.
This usually led to their holiness and that of the fountain being depleted as a result they’d have to recuperate gradually by gaining faith from their followers or through their good works.
In conclusion, the system was that of give and take, the angels gained faith, and the faith is given to the fountain which absorbs it and in turn, gives them holiness which strengthened them and gave them life.
Right now, there were angels within the temple praying and they had to somehow distract them to be able to grab the anti-device which lay levitating on top of the fountain which splurted upwards at the very middle.
Feral instantly called unto the VR internally and as they approached the temple they were besieged with greetings from all corners.
Angels who embraced them, ones who shook them, and even ones who kissed them! By the time they had finally reached the temple, they were in a very sorry state except for Paws.
Feral not wanting to be here for even a second called unto the VR and with a soft tone commanded, “Reality conjuring and mind bind.”
{Ding!
Reality conjuring activated!
Mind bind activated!}
BOOM!
Nothing happened or rather it seemed like nothing did, but as Paws opened the door to the temple all the angels like a stampeding bull rushed out of the temple into the forest. The reality conjured was simple, a reality all the angels wanted.
Dina was slightly curious but had to focus due to the alert from the VR which told them it wouldn’t last for long due to the multitude it was controlling.
Paws immediately dashed into the temple filled with water. The water was crystalline and pure and somehow stayed within the temple without flowing out even though it reached the very doors of the temples. He crawled in tediously.
The closer one was to the middle of the fountain the greater the pressure and even with his angel’s bloodline he felt like he would faint at any minute. He could feel the searing pain tearing through him as he walked forward deeper into the stream until it was about midlength and then… he passed out.
Feral could barely gasp when Genad rushed up to Paws to pick him up. He could feel the burning pain and although he wasn’t burnt physically due to his angel’s bloodline his soul was on fire due to his sins.
“Genad!” Feral screamed in horror looking at the male besieged in white flames. Walking closer while being burnt like this was simple matyr! If he came even a bit closer, Dina was terrified, he would be burnt to ashes.
They also couldn’t fly right in as the pressure from the waters would drag them underneath and all Feral could do was watch.
Luckily, Paws woke up right in time probably from the burning heat from the male, and looking at both him who was determined enough to still stand while being burnt, and his friend whose entire gait held anxiety he bit his lips.
With a strange burst of determination, Paws leaped out of Genad’s hands, and shooting straight up with all his might he used the wind pressure from his wings to slap down the device to Genad.
Genad could finally feel the flames turn off, and as expected, the device had annihilated the holy fountain’s influence. Immediately, Feral’s panicked voice rang.
“The angels have broken free!!”
It happened so suddenly, time was still by their side when an evolutionary saint, unfortunately, caught a whiff of what they were doing somehow and broke through the fake reality. Now the stampede that had gone where trumping back.
Feral felt his spine run cold at the sight of hundreds of angels, four-winged, five-winged spread forth their wings within the sky as they speedily besieged them. His knees buckled slightly as the horror approached but he was a step faster and directly slammed the door closed.
They had to escape.
NOW!