Kaide stood there, wiping away her tears. "If you're telling the truth... how many people have to die before all the demons are wiped from existence?"
Vermis leaned back, deep in thought. "Shin and Sen killed over a thousand demons in just two weeks—not counting the ones they've taken down over the years. If we keep going like this, it could take a hundred years to eliminate them all. But if we destroy the root... we can take down the entire tree."
Kirin stepped up. "You mean there's a chance the world can go back to normal?"
Vermis shaked his head. "Yes and no, the world will be cleanse of demons but the humans that survived the apocalypse may have a better perfective on the world. Currently there's a lot of evil humans around the world, slavery, human trafficking, killing for fun, hunting for fun. Very much the same thing. Humans... A lot of humans are using this apocalypse for their own sake, taking advantage of everything."
"Once we killed every single demon in existence, we don't know if humans who have powers will take over control or the people start to rebuild civilization again. But our last resolved if the humans try to take over in a malicious way... We will commit mass genocide on currupted and rotten humans around the world." Vermis said the two brothers stood beside him, not countering his claim.
"But don't worry it's our very last resort." Vermis calmly said, Easing the tension.
The people are inflicted and unsettled on what Vermis just said, an angel of the lord saying something like that is pretty chilling to them. But they know it's just harsh justice.
Shin broke the silence. "It's just a last resort, our plan is kill every demon in existence and and try to rebuild the world as it supposed to be."
Kaide interrupted. "We get it Shin... You are doing what's best for the world. But please Don't get too numb alright?"
"Yeah don't get numb alright?" Kirin followed up.
Vermis looked at Shin, "he seemed different when looking at her." He think.
Sen scoffed. "Alright everyone. This whole place or palace or whatever you want to call it, Pick a place to settle in."
They all nodded the people who got saved by them started going upstairs. "Wait..." Kirin said.
"Hm?" Vermis and the brothers turned to her. "Can you explain how Shin was able to lift a 50,000 ton door..? You said your give us an explanation." Kirin curiously said.
Shin turned to Vermis as if asking for permission, he nodded. "Alright, everyone wait for a second."
"As you already know, heaven and hell exist. And earlier I lifted a door far heavy than any humans by their hands could lift. The reason is.. Inside the human, there's a soul. And that soul have the ability to change a person." Shin said.
Everyone listened intrigued. "It's called Ascendance, and no it's not literally ascending or whatever, ascendance a golden lock is inside your soul. And by opening it, you gain ascendance." Shin said.
"It can unlocked through 2 ways. One training very hellishly. Just like me and my brother did. Number two is having to go through something very emotional that is enough to slowly claw your soul does breaking the golden lock." Shin said.
Kirin perked up, so as Kaide. "So you're saying we can get abilities like you...?" Kirin said.
"Yes and no, you will get abilities but not like me it depends on your personality." Shin said his eyes are locked into Kirin.
"...Actually let me correct myself it depends on your preference, you want strength like me? You gotta throw everything away... Your life into this mess, you want Sen's power. You have to throw your life as well. The more you sacrifice the stronger it is."
"As for preferences, if you want to protect if you deeply want to protect. You will get a power to protect. Whether it's lethal or not."
"Either way you get powers to protect. It's up to you how you'll use that." Shin said.
Kaide softly asked. "...Do you think people who are messed up can gain ascendance...?"
Sen stepped up. "Good question, it does. As my brother said, there's 2 types to gain it. One is training hellishly, two having to go through something very traumatic. There's bad people who either trained so hard to kill and to just make others suffer and gained ascendance and others who just gone through traumatic stuff and decided to bring the world with them down."
"It's very possible that there's psychopath murderers, rapist, and other stuffs on the other side. There's just broken people who wants revenge." Sen calmly said.
"Can I ask something?" Kirin said. "Could I learn... Ascendance? I believe you that it's hellish... But I've been in a lot of groups way before I met Shin. And they died Infront of me because of demons. I wanna learn it. To protect what's important to me." Kirin's expression is determined.
"Kirin..." Sen worriedly said, Shin and Vermis saw the determination on Kirin's eyes. The same eyes Vermis saw on Shin and Sen when he saved them. "Kirin, are you sure? It may break break bones in your body."
"Yes, I mean this in a respectful way Mr Vermis. If I broke any bones in my body please rebuild it and we can continue..." Kirin said without hesitation, Shin felt her determination and very proud of it.
"Kirin are you sure? This two, Shin and Sen trained for 7 years straight to get their abilities mastered, Shin was able to lift 50,000 ton door Because he mastered his soul." Vermis said.
"I know... I'm ready." Kirin said, Kaide looked at her hesitating... "I wanna join too!"
"...If Shin can lift a 50,000 ton impossible door... What's your abilities Sen?" Kirin asked. Which Kaide perked up. "Oh yeah I haven't seen you use your skills yet!" Kaide said.
Sen untied his sword and slowly unsheathed it. "My sword is my skill." Kaide and Kirin raise their eyebrows in confusion. "It's just a handle..." Kirin said.
Sen's hand got devoured by flames just like Shin, but unlike Shin who have a purple flame, Sen has a fury flame, Sen used it to wake up the sword, the sword that Vermis forge at the heaven's light and energy.
Sen lifted his sword to show them. "Is this enough?" Kirin and Kaide dropped their jaws at the sight of it. A sword that is made of heaven's energy.
Vermis calmly asked. "Kirin, Kaide, what made you seek the power to change the world. If you answered it correct I'll make Shin train you two."
"What?!"
"Yes Shin, you will train them."
"But... I am busy..."
"No buts."
Shin just let out a frustrated grown and walked towards the people to guide them to their rooms. "Follow me, I'll show you to your place, treat this as like a hotel or something."
Vermis turned his attention back to them. "As I am saying, what's your reason?"
Kirin stepped up. "...I wanna help, save people. Before I met this group, my own group got ambushed by demons. I am the only one who barely survive. I wanna as much people as I can..."
"Very noble, So you want revenge and save as much as people as you can?" Vermis asked.
Kirin nodded, Kaide stepped front and answered Vermis. "...I wanna help as well... I wanna save as much people as in need, in pain or hurt, I wanna save as much lives as possible."
Sen chuckled. "They're more than qualified, you can see in their eyes that they don't have the bloodlust but full of determination. Vermis we have to train them."
"You don't have to train them to be a killer like us Vermis, you can train them to be able to save innocent lives." Sen said.
Vermis chuckled. "Indeed, they won't be stubborn as you two boys, and since they don't have to be like you two boys. I'll tone down their training to just basics but effective."
On the other side. Shin is taking the others to their rooms, the elderly woman talked to Shin. "Thank you young man."
Shin smiled and nodded. "If you and the others need something just call me, this place, this fortress will provide protection and care."
The elderly woman smiled and nodded. "Well I better get back at them." Shin said. The elderly understood and let Shin go.
On the hallway, Shin thinks to himself. "Should he keep saving? Or should he kill every single evil to save?" Two thoughts, sounds the same but have different meanings and cost.
Shin shook his head. "Does it even matter? No... As long as people are alive. Damn it, I've killed so many people... I always made this joke, 'Killing a murderer doesn't reduce the murderers, so kill a hundred,' to try and make it sound justified. In the end, I'm just a worse murderer. I rip people in half... That just makes me a brutal killer. But what makes me different is that I only kill demons and bad people, and I save innocents."
Shin let out a deep sigh. "Damn it... I'm fed up." He continued walking down the hallway, heading to meet Vermis and the others again, to hear their decisions.
Shin chuckled and shook his head once again. "God, I sound like that one pathetic Main character on a manga I read before. That one character who got transported into another world and very weak but can return to death, but doesn't train and learn from his mistake instantly."
Shin chuckled and continued heading down the hallway. "Weak must be protected. But if you're weak and you can't do something about it, you're as much as dead anyway."
On the other side, Sen spoke up. "Kirin, Kaide. I know you two are eager to learn ascendance, but give your bodies a rest."
Vermis followed up. "He's right, young ladies. Rest, regain your strength, and we'll train tomorrow."
"But..." Kirin sighed, defeated, knowing she couldn't argue with an angel.
Kaide, too, took a deep breath. "When will we be trained?"
"Once you've fully recovered," Vermis replied, gesturing for them to head to their rooms.
Reluctantly, Kirin and Kaide walked away. "Come on," Kaide said to her siblings.
As they ascended the stairs, they crossed paths with Shin.
"Already done talking? How did it go?" Shin asked.
"Vermis said we can't train for now, our bodies are too fatigued," Kirin answered, defeat weighing heavily on her.
"Yeah... We're fine," Kaide added. "We just... want to learn it to save as many people as we can."
Shin sighed softly. "You two are incredibly determined. And unlike me and Sen, you don't want to take lives in order to save lives, right? You both have the potential to learn ascendance. But, like it or not, Vermis is right. We've been walking for hours earlier. You both deserve to rest."
They both sighed, looking even more defeated as Shin himself told them to rest despite their eagerness. "Hey, don't be like that. I understand how determined you two are. But pushing yourselves while fatigued won't do anyone any good," Shin said firmly, yet with a soft tone.
"Right now, you might not feel tired, but that's just the adrenaline talking. The excitement of wanting to help people is giving you a rush. But once that wears off, exhaustion is going to hit you hard. Trust me, it's better to rest now. I can't train anyone who's running on empty."
Kirin shot him a frustrated glare, then smirked, folding her arms. "...You're lucky you're handsome," she muttered, the edge in her voice melting into a small laugh. "Fine, we get it. Sorry for being so stubborn."
Kaide nodded, sighing. "Sorry, Shin. I guess we'll rest. But you have to promise that tomorrow, you'll start teaching us about ascendance. No excuses!"
Shin smiled softly. "I promise.
With that the girls headed down the hallway. "See you later Shin." Kirin said slightly punching his shoulder.
"Since when did we get so close?" Shin chuckled softly. Kirin smirked. "Well we have the right chemistry, the gloomy one and the cheerful one. Which is me!" Kirin said so confidently with a smile.
"So now we're back to mocking now huh?" Shin said.
"...Get a room you two." Kaide said. "My brothers are listening."
"Hey, you say that as if Shin and I have a thing! We're just friends who happens to have the perfect chemistry!" Kirin said confidently and a smirk.
Shin shook his head with a small smirk. "See you two later, I'll meet them up. Speak to them what kind of rigorous training I should give you two."
"Good I want to learn ascendance!" Kirin said matching the energy Shin gave.
"Just kiss already..." Kaide said. Her expression gave a playful disdain.
Shin and Kirin looked away at each other. "...Huh?! Kiss already? What are you even on about?!" Shin said.
"Yeah... We're not even lovers we're friends!" Kirin said.
"Heh. Pretty defensive Shin, you broke your composure with just one bold statement." Kaide said playfully.
Kaide laugh and gently pull Kirin and they walked down the hall leaving him all flustered up.
Shin smiled...
"Love... I wonder it feels. I forgot what it feels to be loved."
Shin turn his head around. Looking at Kirin, she didn't notice him glancing at her.
"...I've wasted my life wanting revenge..." Shin turned his head back and headed down the stairs.
Shin walked down the stairs and met with Vermis and Sen.
"There's something we need to talk about. Something big." Shin said.
Vermis and Sen nodded and headed to a more private room. "I found out our enemy. Or perhaps I should say enemies."
"What do you mean?" Sen asked.
"It's a country. Our enemy is a country."
Vermis nodded, understanding the situation. "So it's a tyrant. Or perhaps a dictator."
"Yes, we're up against a regime. We can go gun blazing and kill them like we always do. But we cannot for now, we're not sure how many casualties are there, innocents that could get in the crossfire." Shin said.
"Hmm... Then you two needs to go the old fashion way. Stealth, destroy the root of the tree rather than burning it down, understand?" Vermis took a book on a shelf.
"Yes we do." Shin and Sen understood the situation.
Sen let out a deep sigh. "One of these days, one of these missions is gonna end with one or both of us dead."
"I know, Sen. But it doesn't matter as long as we free lives." Shin said, giving his brother a gentle pat on the back.
"Don't worry," Vermis added softly. "If either of you gets hurt, I'll be there to heal you both quickly."
Shin glanced at Vermis. "By the way, Vermis... Why did you show yourself to me, Sen, and the people we just saved earlier, but not to the public?"
Vermis paused, choosing his words carefully. "Good question. It's the same reason we don't reveal certain secrets. The knowledge of an afterlife—specifically, heaven and hell—can either bring fear or peace. But it could also cause panic."
Shin nodded slowly. "I get it, but why keep it from everyone else?"
Vermis continued, "There's a difference between belief and knowledge. Once people know, some will cry, some will beg for forgiveness, and others will fake kindness just to get into heaven. Some might even use it as an excuse to manipulate others. It may seem trivial, but I assure you, it's not. The knowledge itself changes everything."
Sen spoke up, his voice thoughtful. "I get it now. Learning about heaven and hell can bring two reactions: acceptance, or denial. Humans will fake kindness just to get what they want, or manipulate others to get into heaven. The world we know would become even worse. It'd be hard to tell who's truly good or bad, because everyone could be pretending, just to secure a place in heaven. Is that right?"
Vermis nodded, his expression grave. "Precisely."
"...Say, speaking of the afterlife—if we die, where would we actually end up, Vermis?" Shin asked.
Vermis hesitated. "...It's... complicated," he admitted, his tone uneasy.
"You look uncomfortable. Don't tell me you're worried we won't make it to heaven—whether we die in combat or not," Shin said, his voice calm yet probing.
Vermis sighed deeply. "Shin, it's not that simple. Taking lives is a sin, but saving countless others is a virtue. Your actions are... a paradox. One I can't untangle."
Shin scoffed, crossing his arms. "Doesn't matter. I'd be fine with hell if it means dragging every evil bastard down with me."
"Yeah," Sen chimed in, a dark grin on his face. "I'll be happy to watch them suffer alongside me for eternity."
Vermis frowned, but he said nothing.
Vermis pull himself back together. "What country are we up against...?"
Shin scoffed. "I don't know I fed that man to demons after I got the detail. He didn't give me any more information about the country though."
Sen crossed his arm. "You're brutal you know that?" Shin sigh. "I know Sen.. I know."
Vermis sat Infront of them, rearrange his appearance as he pleased. "Much more comfortable."
"You know Vermis for a living embodiment of god's server, you're far comfortable with having different appearance instantly." Shin said.
"If you're me, you'll eventually get used to it as well young man." Vermis tone is soft.
Sen joined in. "I'm curious, I know this is a silly question. Who actually is the strongest angels?"
Vermis found it silly but intrigued. "Well if you're asking me, there are strong archangels like Michael and Lucifer. Me as well."
Shin joined in. "So who actually wins?"
"None, all of us will die if we actually try to fight each other. We're created at the same time, trained by the same time. Even though Lucifer has casted down to hell. Michael and I still do our duty back then. When it comes to being strong and adaptive we three are very equal."
Sen smirked. "So may I ask? How accurate is it really? From the books, about Lucifer's fall? You know exile."
Shin closed the book his reading, intrigued by the question. Yeah he's reading. I didn't wrote it beat it logic finding readers and just enjoy!
Vermis sighed, leaning back in his chair, his expression thoughtful. "It's not entirely accurate, though parts of it are true. Yes, Lucifer rebelled against God. He sought to be equal, desired his own kingdom, and craved power and control. That ambition led to his exile, earning him the title The Fallen.
"But what isn't in the books, what none of those writings mention, is the depth of his downfall. Before his rebellion, Lucifer confided in Michael. He spoke of his disdain for being subordinate, his hatred of being bound by divine law. He said, 'If I cannot have my kingdom, I will create a place where those like me, sinners, will suffer.'
"And so, hell was born—not out of defiance, but as a punishment he inflicted upon himself. His pride blinded him, and though he accepted his fall, he couldn't ignore the weight of his mistake. Hell became a reflection of his torment, a domain where sinners like him would suffer alongside their creator. In the end, Lucifer wasn't just punishing the wicked; he was punishing himself."
Shin composed himself. "Do you think he got something to do about hell letting lose all of it's abominations?"
Vermis frowned. "No Lucifer didn't have anything to do with it. Before I saved you two 7 years ago, I came raging down on hell only to find out Lucifer with his original torture that he made for himself. When I informed him, he himself got angry that is enough to shake the entire realm of hell."
"Somebody opened the door huh?" Sen said.
"Whoever that is... I'll feed it with it's own heart." Shin said, he stood up and put the book back at the shelve.
Sen joined in. "Yeah, I would too. It's been seven years since our lives were torn apart by demons. Whoever opened the gates of hell cost us our parents."
Shin scoffed. "You're right, but when I find the one responsible, I'm going to rip them apart and watch them die from the shock."
Vermis frowned. "You're letting your anger consume you. Your parents are at peace in heaven."
Shin's expression darkened. "I know, but I still want to make them pay. When I get my hands on that bastard, I'll show no mercy."
Sen took a deep breath. "We're getting ahead of ourselves. Let's focus on the question at hand: Where's this regime, and how powerful is their military?"
"From the information I got from the man I... fed to the demons, he was one of their generals," Shin said, his tone flat. "A father, too."
Sen blinked. "Wait, you killed and fed a father to demons? You never mentioned he had kids."
Shin's eyes narrowed. "Does it really matter? He was a shitty father and an abusive husband. In my eyes, he didn't deserve to live."
"I bet you, his family would watch all of it if I drowned him Infront of them, besides a person who hurt his family is a person who doesn't deserve a family." Shin said.
Vermis nodded. "I'm sided with Shin. People who abuse their wife or husband and their own flesh and blood... Do in fact deserve to be put their head in a stake."
"What the fuh? Am I the only sane person in this room?" Sen said
"No, you're not the sane here brother." Shin said.
"Anyway, we're getting ahead of ourselves. If we're going to take down this so-called regime, we need to act quickly—with as few casualties as possible," Shin said, his tone calm yet firm.
After a pause, he continued, "Say, Vermis, why don't we pay a visit to Lucif? The guy's been punishing himself for eons. Might as well put that brain of his to good use."
Vermis raised a brow, intrigued. "...And what exactly do you propose the devil himself could do for us?"
Shin leaned back slightly, unfazed. "If anyone has answers, it's him. Lucifer's been watching from his cage longer than we've been alive. He must know something."
Sen threw his hands up. "Oh, come on! We're talking about the devil here. I know he regrets his decisions, but opening hell's door? That's insane!"
Shin shot him a calm look. "Brother, if anything slips through hell's gates, we'll kill it. Simple as that. Besides, Vermis can cast woodoo whatever heaven's magic is needed to make sure we survive the trip. Right?"
Vermis smirked faintly. "It's 'heaven's magic,' Shin. Not 'woodoo.' Let's at least keep the terminology respectful."
Shin shrugged. "Magic, woodoo, whatever works. The point is, Lucifer might actually help us. And if he doesn't…" He leaned back into his chair. "We'll figure out another way."
To be continued...