THE BLACK HEART OF THE DARK ANGEL
"Many years ago, when the Dark Angel was defeated his body parts were sent to many different places for safekeeping by his followers. His Black Heart was sent to Delirium because nobody will come here to claim it and even if they do, I will probably not permit it," Delirium explained to me.
"If you are asked to keep the Black Heart, why would you give it to me now?" I asked Delirium.
"Because it's your reward for one for helping lift my advancement curse and you will do me a favor if you take the heart from me", he explained to me.
"What kind of favor?" I asked Delirium.
"Well, the Black Heart of the Dark Angel is divine and to obtain divine magic, you will be tested. That is my favor if you will accept it, but the choice is yours. Let me remind you also it's not easy to complete this trial", Delirium said to me.
I still couldn't understand how my doing the trial of the Black Heart was a favor to Delirium.
Perhaps he wanted to get rid of the Black Heart which became bothersome to him if adventurers and even Apostles would keep coming to his realm to claim it.
"Does the Black Heart have anything to do with the Warlock of Delirium?" I asked him.
"That fella is a squatter in my land. He came to look for the Black Heart though but never found it because the heart was with me, and he never reached my castle. I forbade it", Delirium told me.
"No wonder the warlock would loiter in the outer parts of Delirium for so long. He was looking for the Black Heart as well", Chash told us.
"Why does the Warlock want with the Black Heart?" I asked Meera if she knew.
"The Warlock is a traitor Incarnate who betrayed the Dark Angel. He wants the Black Heart so that he can replace the Dark Angel, but that's not how it works although he thinks otherwise", Meera explained to me.
"Yes, the Warlock was misled to believe that he could become the Dark Angel by obtaining his Black Heart. To become the Dark Angel, you must go through the trials of the Dark Angel. Stealing the Black Heart wouldn't make him the Dark Angel. The Black Heart will reject those who are not worthy", Delirium added.
"I'll pass. I won't accept the Black Heart", I replied to Delirium.
"That is a wise choice although you would have missed on gaining unlimited amount of power", Delirium said to me temptingly.
"Tell me honestly, will I survive after I resurrected the Dark Angel? Someone once warned me that a condition for the Dark Angel's resurrection was my life or my soul", I asked Delirium if he knew.
"No, that is not true. You will become a part of the Dark Angel", Meera protested and explained to me.
"Well, there is no escaping your faith from the Revelations even if you wanted to. The Revelations would not always be accurate, but it would always come true", Delirium told me to my shock.
I thought about the matter for a while before I made a decision.
"I'm not taking the Black Heart", I replied to Delirium.
"That is a good choice", Delirium replied to me.
"No...." Suddenly a voice was heard in my head.
Suddenly, the Black Heart in Delirium's hand turned into dark magic essences that went right into me.
"Damnit, it is the consciousness of the Dark Angel", I complained.
"Yes, it is. You really have no choice once you brought him here, the souls of the previous Dark Angels. They would not leave without recovering the Black Heart", Delirium told me sadly about my predicament.
"Don't worry master, the Black Heart will not harm you", Meera told me with her religious zeal.
"There is one more thing. The Black Heart of the Dark Angel is grown from the Seed of Delirium", Delirium told us.
"So, the Seed of Delirium is the Black Heart?" Rinna asked Delirium.
"The Seed of Delirium is not the Black Heart but a curse that was created to protect the Black Heart. Only by resolving the curse, the Black Heart would be unleashed", Delirium told us.
"I don't understand", I asked him.
Delirium hesitated a moment before he explained to us in a remorseful tone.
"When I took the Black Heart, like the warlock of Delirium, I became greedy. I hoped to channel its magic into me to help me attain a higher level of divinity. But I never expected the Black Heart to have this kind of mechanism to reject the unworthy. I've been cursed by the Seed inside the Black Heart that you call the Seed of Delirium", Delirium told me.
"I still don't understand what you are trying to say", I asked Delirium again.
"I was cursed by the Seed of Delirium after trying to take the magic of the Black Heart for myself. Killing Lucidity settles only part of my curse. The only way to completely remove the curse from me is to return the Black Heart to someone worthy of it. That is the curse of the Dark Angel's Black Heart", he explained to me.
"So, you are saying I must take the Black Heart from you to lift your curse", I asked again.
"Yes, you will do me a favor by taking the Black Heart from me", he replied to me.
"But I didn't choose it. The Dark Angel forced the Black Heart on me", I said.
"That is as foretold in the Revelations, master. You killed the cat and obtained the Black Heart", Meera told me as she showed us her scroll again.
"Yes, as foretold", Delirium added.
"Damnit, did you give me the Delirium curse? Will it turn me into a female version of myself?" I asked Delirium angrily and worriedly.
"Don't worry, your situation is different from mine. When I obtained the Black Heart, I wasn't suitable or worthy of it, so the Seed placed the Lucidity curse on me as a punishment. You on the other hand are the anointed successor of the Dark Angel, the Black Heart will not reject you", Delirium told me.
"So, I'll be alright with taking the Black Heart?" I asked him.