Eli's POV
"I died saving a life, but my story didn't end there."
The weight of the rubble pressed down on me, crushing my ribs. I could barely breathe, but I had to save him. With one final heave, I pulled the man free. Relief washed over me just as another wall came crashing down. Darkness swallowed me whole.
When I opened my eyes, an angel stood before me. "Welcome, Eli," he said, his voice calm and steady. "I'm the Angel of Death."
I blinked, trying to process his words. "So, this is it? I'm dead?"
He nodded and guided me to a long line of souls. Everyone looked tense, waiting for their turn to be judged. It's either we step through the huge golden gates of heaven or get thrown into the fires of hell. My heart pounded as I stepped forward. The old man at the gates searched for my name in the Book of Life. I braced myself for the worst.
"You prayed, repented, and accepted Him as your Savior," the old man said, looking up from the book. "That's what counts."
I remembered that moment of desperation, the tears, the prayers. It felt like a lifetime ago.
But before that, my life was a mess. I was imprisoned at eighteen for murder, spending eight long years rotting in a cell. But even before that crime, I was already a menace to society. I got mixed up with gangs, causing trouble and becoming a burden to my parents. I was nothing but a headache for them.
After eight years in prison, I was granted a pardon and tried to turn things around for myself and my parents, who still held on to some hope for me. I joined the fire department, a chance to save lives instead of destroying them. For a while, it felt like I was redeeming myself.
Then one day, after an earthquake hit, I was called to the scene. I rushed to save a man trapped under a collapsed wall. The weight of the rubble was crushing him. As I pulled him free, another wall came crashing down on me. I felt the impact, and then… nothing. That was it. That's how I died.
If you're wondering whether souls lose all their memories after death, most do. Only about ten percent of souls are able to retain them. I was considered one of the lucky ones, or so they said. Many souls considered it a gift, but I knew better. It was a burden.
Remembering my past filled me with sadness. I miss my parents. I never even got the chance to make it up to them.
In heaven, there wasn't much to do except sing and praise God. While some souls and angels were being trained to become warriors of heaven.
If you're curious about the difference between angels and souls, it's simple: angels have wings—wings they've earned. Souls have none. However, most angels were once souls, and due to their great contributions to various missions, they were granted wings.
As time passed, I admired the warriors of heaven every time they returned successfully from a mission, led by one of the seven archangels. Yes, there are seven of them. And one of my dreams was to become just like them and join their ranks.
Among the archangels, Michael was the one I looked up to the most. All of them were immortal and powerful, but to me, Michael seemed the strongest. His large, light blue glowing wings were breathtaking—words couldn't do justice to their beauty. The archangels had wings larger than regular angels, and they radiated light. I dreamed of fighting alongside Archangel Michael one day.
Motivated by my admiration, I trained hard. My first mission was to reclaim a dimension held by a demon. Led by Archangel Uriel, we fought fiercely. The pain was real, but so was the victory.
In battle, we bled and felt pain just as we had in life. Losing parts of our bodies was a real threat, but as long as our heads remained attached, we could survive. Excessive bleeding wouldn't kill us right away because we had the ability to heal, albeit slowly.
After the mission, when we returned to heaven, the pain vanished, the wounds disappeared, and any lost body parts would return. It was a strange comfort, knowing that no matter how broken we were in battle, we would ultimately be restored.
You might be wondering if we could die in battle. Yes, we could. When we fell, we vanished like dust—no second chances, no coming back, gone forever. Each mission I joined cost me friends, fellow souls who fought bravely alongside me.
After several successful missions, Archangel Raphael seemed to see something special in me. I was assigned to a mission on Earth U4, where the year is 2310, a place where technology had advanced tremendously. However, the people there were suffering from Kaijus—massive monsters wreaking havoc on their lives. The ongoing threat of these creatures left humanity in despair.
The demon responsible for it, Leviathan. He disguised himself as a scientist, creating a serum that he injected into various animals and insects, causing them to evolve into gigantic beasts.
What did I do after I found Leviathan? I fought him, pushing myself to defeat him and doing everything I could to bring him down. But the truth was, his power was far beyond mine. So Archangel Gabriel came down and beat him.
That's why I have this tiny flute on my necklace; it's special because its sound reaches the heavens. When I blow it, it means the demon is right in front of me. A quick light will then come down from heaven, along with an archangel to defeat the demon. But this tiny flute only works if the demon is in front of me.
You might be wondering why there are different worlds. God didn't just create one universe; there are many. I, for instance, came from Earth U10, where I lived and died in 2019.
And now, where am I? Well, I'm here in the middle of the forest, warming myself by a small fire I built. It's chilly here. This is Earth U19, as Archangel Raphael told me.
He warned me never to reveal the wings that had been bestowed upon me. Yes, I had wings now, hidden beneath the skin of my back, like a dormant force waiting to be unleashed. I could feel them there, a gentle warmth that reminded me of their presence, even though no one could see them. A wave of happiness washed over me as I realized what they meant; they showed I was becoming a warrior of heaven.
The thought of soaring through the skies filled me with pride. But if I revealed them, the demons would sense it and know they were being hunted.
The more adept they became at hiding, the more difficult it would be to track them down.
This world consists of different kingdoms, and people are suffering from a man-like wolf. The number of humans is slowly decreasing, while the number of man-like wolves and other types of beasts is increasing.
I guess in this world it's true that werewolves exist; I can finally witness such a thing. But after staying in this forest for two nights, I hadn't seen any until now. My mission is to find the devil Asmodeus, who is responsible for creating all the strange things here.
I don't have any idea what year or how old this world is, but I think it's younger than the one I grew up in.
—-----
Lost in these thoughts, Eli suddenly felt a tremor beneath his feet, a warning of something approaching. The ground shook, and the sounds of galloping horses echoed from below. He quickly stood and made his way to a higher part of the forest for a better view.
While biting into an apple, he saw a carriage quickly moving below, accompanied by horseback riders who seemed to be soldiers protecting it. Following them were creatures that looked like wolf-men, leaping from tree to tree in pursuit of the carriage.
"Werewolves?" he muttered, his eyebrows drawing together in a mix of curiosity and worry. The sight both interested and disturbed him.
"Alright, Eli, it's time to hunt," he whispered.