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The Breaking Point
Samuel panted, his muscles burning as he blocked another strike from Azriel's sword. His body was beginning to slow, but his mind remained sharp. The golden forest around them was scarred from the battle—trees shattered, the ground cracked from the force of their blows.
He had held his own against Heaven's warriors, but it wasn't enough. Not yet.
Azriel's wings flared as he lunged, his blade slicing through the air. Samuel barely managed to twist out of the way, but another angel struck from behind, forcing him to block with his forearm. The impact sent him skidding backward.
"You're losing," Azriel said, voice steady, controlled. "Stop fighting and come with us."
Samuel wiped the blood from his lip and met Azriel's gaze. "No."
Azriel exhaled sharply. "Then you leave us no choice."
The air around them shifted. The angels moved in unison, their weapons glowing with divine power. They weren't going to fight him individually anymore. They were going to end this in one decisive strike.
Samuel braced himself.
Then, the sky cracked.
A deep, rumbling force shook the air as a dark rift split open above them.
A presence emerged, ancient and suffocating. The angels instinctively stepped back, their wings bristling. Even Azriel's grip on his sword tightened.
Samuel's breath caught. He recognized that energy.
The figure from the void.
The being who had spoken to him.
From the swirling rift, the hooded entity descended, its silver eyes unreadable. The angels raised their weapons, prepared to fight, but the being did not react.
It simply looked at Samuel.
"Your chains grow tighter," the voice whispered. "But you are the one who holds the key."
Samuel felt his entire body tense. Something within him stirred—something that wasn't angelic, wasn't demonic.
Something else.
Azriel stepped forward, his wings glowing. "Identify yourself."
The figure turned its gaze toward him, unconcerned. "You do not command me, son of Heaven."
Azriel's expression darkened. "Then you stand against us."
A small chuckle. "I stand beyond you."
Before Azriel could react, the figure raised a hand.
The world around them twisted.
The golden forest seemed to dissolve, reality itself bending at the figure's will. For a brief moment, Samuel felt weightless—like he had been pulled back into the void.
The angels struggled, their forms flickering as if they were being rejected by the space around them.
Then, the figure looked back at Samuel.
"Wake up."
A surge of energy flooded through him, like a dam breaking. Samuel's vision blurred as the power roared to life inside him.
His wings burned.
His body felt like it was splitting apart.
And then—
He let go.
---
Heaven Trembles
The halls of Heaven were silent.
Michael stood upon the highest balcony, his golden gaze locked on the shifting skies.
Something was happening.
Something that should not be possible.
Sariel approached cautiously. "The patrol has not returned. There has been… an interference."
Michael didn't respond immediately. His hand clenched the railing, his divine senses stretching across the realms.
And then, he felt it.
A surge of energy, raw and untamed. Neither holy nor profane.
Something new.
Michael's expression darkened. "Find out what happened. Immediately."
Sariel nodded and vanished, leaving Michael alone with his thoughts.
For the first time in eons, Heaven did not feel in control.
And that disturbed him.
---
The Devils' Delight
Far below, in the obsidian halls of Hell, Lucifer's laughter echoed.
Bael and the other pillars stood before him, watching as their king grinned in pure amusement.
"Ah, Samuel," Lucifer murmured. "I knew you had it in you."
Bael frowned. "Are you saying he has awakened?"
Lucifer's grin widened. "Not fully. But the storm is no longer on the horizon. It has arrived."
His fingers tapped against the armrest. "And now, we wait."
Bael's brow furrowed. "For what?"
Lucifer's crimson gaze gleamed.
"For the moment when Heaven realizes that Samuel is no longer theirs to control."
Lucifer turned his gaze to Ascar. "Your granddaughter should have conceived. Bring her out of the miasma chamber. Bringing him into Hell isn't hard. It's getting him to stay willingly that is."
Ascar bowed his head. "Understood, my lord."
Lucifer leaned forward, amusement dancing in his eyes. "That isn't the case anymore. With his child here, his choices narrow."
And with that, the fate of the realms began to shift.
Samuel was no longer just a rogue angel.
He was something else entirely.
And the war for his soul had only just begun.
---
Samuel's Awakening
Power surged through Samuel as the being watched over him. The air trembled, the golden forest warping under the immense energy radiating from his form.
The hooded figure stepped closer, its voice now filled with something deeper, something familiar.
"Always remember—you are above them. Never let them control you, for you are not something to be controlled."
Samuel's body shuddered as more power poured into him. His wings, once radiant and divine, began to wither and darken.
"You are my brother… my friend… my comrade…"
The figure's silver eyes burned brighter.
"YOU ARE INFINITY."
A deafening thunderclap split the sky.
"WAKE UP, BROTHER!"
As if responding to the call, chaos erupted. Lightning tore through the sky, striking the ground in blinding arcs. The wind howled, the trees bent and cracked, and reality itself trembled.
Samuel's body lifted into the air, his form glowing with an overwhelming radiance. His wings—once symbols of his angelic nature—disintegrated, replaced by something… different.
Pure, raw energy pulsed from his core, reshaping him, remaking him.
Azriel and the other angels shielded their eyes, their divine senses screaming in warning.
The void-born figure watched with satisfaction.
Samuel's transformation had begun.
And none of them—not Heaven, not Hell, not even the gods themselves—could stop it now.
---
The Turning Tide
Far away, in the depths of Hell, Lucifer's smile faded as he felt the change.
Bael and the other pillars stiffened, their demonic senses overwhelmed by a power that was neither holy nor infernal.
Lucifer leaned back in his throne, exhaling slowly.
"So… this is how it begins."
For the first time in countless millennia, the Devil felt something he had not felt in a long, long time.
Uncertainty.
---