Abaddon wanted to test the new time-dilated training chamber out but Akeno called him to meet her for something important.
"Has your fickle nature finally caught up to you?" Seekvaira snickered at Abaddon as she looked at his reluctant expression.
"I'm not fickle." Abaddon said, "I just have a big heart." His words elicited a scoff from Seekvaira.
"Right…" She nodded with a dismissive expression.
"Anyway, I guess I'll have to postpone training. I'll go meet Akeno." He said before casting a huge magic circle.
Seekvaira's eyes were glued to the magic circle as she mumbled, "You really got much stronger, huh…"
Abaddon didn't say anything and gave her a glance. Seekvaira left through the circle, going back to the Agares territory.
As for him, he tracked Akeno's location to a Shinto shrine and teleported to her without much thought.
"How's my best girl Akeno doing?" Abaddon said with a laugh as he appeared in the middle of the stairs, where he tracked her presence. He was in an amazing mood after his so-called 'new' enhancement. Even though it was something that he was supposed to have had for a long time.
Instead of hearing Akeno's teasing laugh, he was greeted by a surge of holy energy that surrounded him and formed a spherical ball around him and trapped him.
«BOOST»
Abaddon instinctively summoned the Boosted Gear and got ready for battle without wasting even a moment. He wasn't going to risk his life for the sake of testing out his new strength. The person who ambushed him was clearly prepared.
"Calm down, young Abaddon." He heard a gentle and soothing voice.
"What's going on, Michael?" Abaddon asked with narrowed eyes as he focused on the holy-looking visage of the angel who appeared in front of him, separated by the cage of holy light that Abaddon found himself in. The twelve gold wings on his back were especially prominent and the light coming from them was stinging Abaddon's eyes. He decided to hear the man out and stall as the boosts stacked.
«BOOST»
Michael's gaze went to Abaddon's left arm which was covered with the gauntlet up to his elbow, "I beseech you, young devil." Michael started speaking, "Return what you have stolen, and you shall allow peace to rein among the three factions."
"Oh, so it's my fault that we're at the brink of war?" Abaddon asked with an intrigued expression.
Michael showed a solemn expression, "The Heavenly Father created the sacred gear system to allow humans to stand at an equal level as the other supernatural beings. You, unlike half-human bearers of sacred gears, are a pure devil. You will live for thousands of years and will destroy the balance of the system. You neither need the Boosted Gear nor have the right to."
Abaddon patiently listened to Michael's triage.
«BOOST»
Michael didn't seem to care for Abaddon's meager boosts. He had the information about Abaddon's fighting prowess, from when he fought Kokabiel. Although he was significantly strong, that was only among the younger generation. He allowed Abaddon to stack his boosts, confident in his own strength.
'I guess complacency comes with the job…' Abaddon suppressed an arrogant smirk from creeping on his face, "Maybe not…" Abaddon said slowly, "But I'm really curious if the angels can afford to have another war at their hands. After all, you are the faction that came out as the weakest after the war. The Devils have the Satans. And Sirzechs is someone you can't hope to beat in this lifetime at least. Where do you get the confidence that it would be anything more than a massacre?" He was genuinely curious about Michael's source of confidence in the war. He didn't mention the heavy hitters like the oldest beings of some of the clans like his ancestor. The Bael clan wasn't the only one with an ancestor who was still alive.
«BOOST»
"You do not have to worry about the Angels, young devil. We can afford to have another war." Michael said, "Will you be returning the gear peacefully or do I need to use force?"
"I still wanted to have some fun, but fine." Abaddon shrugged and activated Balance Breaker before punching the light barrier.
"It's no—" Michael's dismissive words were left in his throat as he saw his light barrier shatter under Abaddon's assault, "Peculier…" He commented as the glowing light from his wings intensified.
"No holding back…" Abaddon commented as he boosted again.
«BOOST»
At the same time, he gathered destruction energy in both hands and brought them together, melding the gathered Destruction energy together.
«TRANSFER»
A concentrated beam of pure crimson shot out of his palms and met the light that was being released by Michael's wings. Abaddon had very good control over that large amount of destruction energy. There were no sparks, no arcs of electricity, and no other signs of weak energy compression. The attack was perfectly clean, as if it was a red spear that was extending toward Michael who was releasing intense holy light from his wings.
The angel narrowed his eyes and ten of his twelve wings folded in the direction of the beam of Destruction that Abaddon released.
He released ten beams of concentrated holy light that merged in front of him and met Abaddon's boosted Destruction beam.
As the two beams collided, a shockwave was produced that destroyed the stairs that they were floating above. Initially, neither of them seemed to have the upper hand, but a sigh was heard around both combatants as both the Destruction beam and the holy light beam were erased from existence.
'He really has Black Destruction…' Abaddon realized as he noticed the faint presence of pure Black Destruction energy in the technique that erased both his and Michael's attacks. Even before, he was positive that Sirzechs had figured out a technique to use Black Destruction without the Bael clan's help, but this cemented his belief with proof.
'Even if I'm able to compare to a Satan like Serafall, I wouldn't be able to do it without Black Destruction. But with this dickhead…' Abaddon looked at the descending Satan Lucifer with an annoyed look. This man had perfect control over even Black Destruction. And that annoyed Abaddon.
"What?" Sirzechs asked Abaddon, "I just saved you from Michael, you should be thanking me. He's not some weakling like Kokabiel." He said with a heroic tone, acting like Abaddon actually needed saving.
"I'm not some weakling like Kokabiel either," Abaddon said as he looked at Michael who had a reluctant expression on his face.
Sirzechs ignored Abaddon and asked Michael, "Are you convinced?"
"You told me that he was much weaker," Michael said.
"Does it matter?" Sirzechs asked. He also thought that Abaddon would be much weaker. Right now, he was sure that if Abaddon went all out, he would've been able to give Michael a run for his money. He probably wouldn't have won, but he wouldn't have had his ass handed to him either.
"No, I guess not, I won't interfere in his possession of the Boosted Gear," Michael said.
"That's not enough, Michael. We made an agreement…" Sirzechs trailed off.
"We will talk about that at the summit. For now, it's time to leave," Michael said before turning to Abaddon, "I apologize for ambushing you in such a disgraceful manner, young devil, but this had to be done. I will show you my sincerity at the summit…" Leaving those words, Michael disappeared, leaving Abaddon and Sirzechs in the air above the damaged stairs that led to the shrine.
Abaddon gave his cousin a look, "What's going on?" He hadn't had the time to process what exactly happened.
One moment, he was fighting Michael, and the next moment, Sirzechs came and acted like he was in on the ambush.
"Michael doesn't want you to have to Boosted Gear." Sirzechs shrugged, "He wanted to take it back by force."
"And you just let him try?" Abaddon asked incredulously.
"I made an agreement to let him try," Sirzechs corrected him, "It was a lucrative deal." He shrugged, "The extraction wouldn't have harmed you since the gear wasn't bonded to you originally. And as a bonus, I could've seen you get your ass handed to you by the leader of the angels. I saw it as an absolute win." He spread apart his arms and shook his head with a prideful smile.
"I could've died, you fuck!" Abaddon shouted.
"Bullshit, I was there the whole time, he couldn't have done too much to you." Sirzechs laughed, "Hell I wasn't planning to let him take the Boosted Gear in the first place. I would rather not have your old man bust my ass."
Abaddon calmed down with a little laugh. He did want to rage out, but it wouldn't get him anything in the current situation, "What was the deal?" He asked. He wanted to know what Sirzechs got from Michael in exchange for the attempt.
"I knew you would ask about it." He smiled, "You'll find out when you attend the summit. Don't worry, I'll make sure that you get the necessary compensation and are completely satisfied." Sirzechs said cryptically before saying, "I'll see you there. And do check your little friend. She's up there." He pointed to the shrine and disappeared before Abaddon could ask anything more.
"Fucking bastard..." Abaddon cursed and flew to the top of the shrine before sensing Akeno's presence, 'I wanted to ask if I could get a night with Gabriel…' Abaddon's thoughts would have made Michael tear down all facades and fight him to the death for sullying their holiest angel.
As he walked into the temple, Abaddon saw that Akeno was perfectly fine and seemed to be asleep.
'What a fucking rollercoaster of a day… I get told that my whole life, I've been living a lie and that I've never been enhanced by the King piece in the first place. The enhancement I get is so good that I can't bring myself to give a fuck about the lies and then suddenly the leader of the angels attacks me for Sirzechs' amusement…' He felt aggrieved, 'I need a fucking break…'
***
If you want to support me, check out my Patréon.
I post 20 advanced chapters of the book on my Patrèon. Check it out!
I also do weekly polls there to decide which story I will be posting for the following week.
www.patrèon.com/addyctive
(Replace the è with e)