Chapter 88 Arc 2 - Andrew Jarz

Lucas together with Salathiel went back to Eden, and Lucas ordered to take him to the dead body. When they arrived at the palace, he saw that a dead person was placed on the altar. His eyes were open wide, staring into nothingness.

"Did he jump?" Lucas placed his hand on the dead man's forehead to look at the man's past. "I can't see him being a sinner. What do you think?" Lucas asked Salathiel.

"Well, he didn't jump... and..." Salathiel looked down at the man before answering. "He is not a sinner." He said confidently. Then he turned around to face Lucas again. "Seems like he was an ordinary person with pretty shitty luck."

Lucas nodded and stared at the dead man one more time. "Is he vengeful?" He asked out of curiosity.

"Well... Not exactly. He isn't... well, he wasn't vengeful now." Salathiel tilted her head as if she didn't understand how to explain it. "If he gained angelic mana, he'd become vengeful."

Lucas sighed. "Alright. Let's ask him if he wants to live. Is his soul retrieved?" he asked Salathiel.

"Yes. He's ready to be revived." She replied and extended her hand toward Lucas. "Let's do this."

Lucas nodded and took Salathiel's hand. He closed his eyes and felt his mana flow into Salathiel's body and slowly be purified. The sensation was draining but in a weird way, it was quite satisfying.

"More mana..." Salathiel opened her eyes and looked at Lucas. "More."

Lucas nodded, sending some more mana into her body.

She placed her free hand on the corpse's forehead and released a big amount of purified mana into it. After about ten seconds or so, she withdrew her hand from the corpse.

A red light started to form in the corpse's eyes. It grew bigger and bigger until it became a huge hole where the entire eyeball was missing. His eyelids started twitching.

"It's working." Lucas smiled and took his hand away.

The dead man stood up and looked around. "Wha?" he gasped. "Where am I? Who are you guys?!"

They both answered with the same question.

"Andrew Jarz. Answer us, do you want to live?" Salathiel and Lucas asked in unison, their eyes glowing red.

"Of course! I do!" The revived man yelled.

After a few seconds of silence, he finally calmed down. "What happened to me? I don't remember anything. The last thing I remember, I was at my work doing something. Wait..." realization hit him hard like a hammer. "Didn't I die?"

"Indeed you did." Salathiel closed her eyes and placed her hand on her chest apologetically. "My deepest apologies."

Andrew shook his head. His eyes teared up as he asked, "This isn't a dream, is it?" last thing he remembered, was his brother-in-law pushing me off the office's balcony." He looked around the palace and questioned. "I died, right?"

Lucas and Salathiel exchanged glances, not sure what to say.

"Did I die?" he asked again, his voice trembling.

Lucas cleared his throat and tried to answer. "Yup. But you get another chance in life." He smiled and extended his hand to the man, "You're also going to get a chance for revenge."

"Huh?" Andrew's eyes widened in surprise. He looked at Lucas's hand for a moment and took it.

Lucas helped him to get up as he explained.

"You're getting a chance to become one of the strongest people in Lightburn."

Andrew's jaw dropped when he heard that. "Wait, are you serious?"

"Think about it. If we can revive the dead, we can give a power boost as well." Salathiel added.

Andrew breathed out nervously. "W-What do you want me to do?"

Salathiel smiled at him. "We want you to serve our king, Lucas Ciffer." she gestured her hand at Lucas.

Andrew looked at the man standing next to Salathiel, then back to Salathiel. "Is that all? I am not sure I can... I have a life In..." then his head started aching as he remembered his wife. His eyes turned bright red as he clenched his fists. He felt as if darkness was swallowing his mind and he was about to black out.

Lucas who noticed his condition chuckled.

"You can return if you don't want to stay." Lucas shrugged his shoulders. "Just remember. You'll always have your place here." then he gazed at Salathiel and asked, "Can you return him home?"

"Shouldn't we..." Salathiel wanted to ask if they should remove Andrew's angelic abilities, but Lucas shook his head.

"He's going to be alright." Lucas smiled. "Come on, try imagining wings forming on your back!" he told Andrew.

"Huh?" Andrew looked around, still not understanding what just happened to him. He looked at Lucas and asked, "Wings?"

"Yeah, like this," Lucas said and a pair of black feathered wings appeared on his back. "It's easy."

Andrew didn't believe him at first, but after seeing Lucas's own wing, he understood. He closed his eyes and imagined wings.

"Wow." Andrew gasped when he felt that his wings appeared there. "How did I..."

"How did you do it? It's nothing too complicated. I turned you into a Nephilim." Lucas answered.

"Nephilim?" Andrew blinked and looked at Salathiel. "What's that?"

Lucas blinked a couple of times before releasing a sigh. "Nephilims are like demigods, except for being made by gods you were made by an angel."

Andrew still looked confused as he never heard of a being called an angel. He wanted to ask, but Lucas interrupted him before he could even ask.

"So do you want to go home?" Lucas smirked.

"S-Sir... I don't..." Salathiel tried to stop him, but Lucas placed his finger on her lips.

"Shhh..." Lucas smiled. "Let him decide."

"Hmm?" Salathiel looked between them with a puzzled expression. She couldn't understand why would Lucas release such an unstable Nephilim into a society; especially since he doesn't even have his full emotions under control, not to mention powers. She looked at Andrew, thinking that if she had ten more minutes with him, she could finish purifying his mana completely; or she could try removing the current mana and replace it with her own. "S-Sir... C-Can I try purifying his mana a little longer? I don't..." She wanted to tell him that she doesn't think that Andrew is ready to be released so soon.

However, Lucas again interrupted her, "Salathiel, I know what I am doing."

"You're making a mistake," Salathiel argued but Lucas kept quiet.

"No, I'm not." Lucas smiled and looked at Andrew. "Do you really want to return or stay here?"

"Return." Andrew answered immediately.

Lucas nodded and gestured to Salathiel. "You heard the man."

"Y-Yes." Salathiel bit her lip as she snapped her fingers, making Andrew disappear. "Andrew, I'll be watching over you. If you feel bad, please call my name; Salathiel. I will bring you back." She said, sending the message to the head of Andrew who found himself in the same spot he died.

"I'll remember." He replied and looked around. "Now that I'm here, I can finally get revenge."

********

"Why did you release him without teaching him how to embrace his abilities?" Salathiel asked Lucas, who was sitting next to her in the throne room.

"Because I want to see what his first action as an angel will be, it makes me curious," Lucas said casually. He picked up a crystal ball and found Andrew who was walking home. "Ah. here he is."

"But-" Salathiel started but he continued without paying attention. "But what if he can't control his emotions?"

"And?" Lucas asked.

"He could kill someone you know because of his rage."

"Then I'll deal with him myself." Lucas turned his gaze to Salathiel and smiled. "Besides, he has been given a second chance in life. Let the man enjoy it."

Salathiel huffed and looked away from Lucas. "Fine." She sighed.

Lucas placed the crystal ball back on the table. "One more thing, about Sarah."

"Y-Yes?" Salathiel's face turned pale. "What about her?"

Lucas smirked. "I will need more Fruits of Purity. I already ate the two you gave me."

"Uh? Really?" Salathiel looked at him in disbelief. "Why?"

"With each bite, I could slowly remember some events of my current life that I have forgotten." He explained.

"Oh. Ok." Salathiel exclaimed. "If you need more, I will bring them." she didn't understand why would Lucas care about memories, as she thought that as long as three sisters were with him, he wouldn't be in any trouble. But if that mattered to him, so be it.

Then the two of them gazed at the crystal ball to see Andrew falling on his knees while holding his head. His vision blurred and he saw a wicked version of himself in the mirror. He screamed in terror, but no words came out of his mouth.

The creature was reaching for Andrew, who tried kicking away the hand. The creature's hand grabbed onto Andrew's neck and forced him to look at its reflection in the glass. Andrew struggled to break free, but his legs were bound by an unbreakable force.

As Andrew watched, the monster in the mirror started laughing at him, mocking him. Then it stepped closer to the mirror and unleashed Andrew's wings.

"It's time for them to die, Andrew." The creature said, and Andrew cried out in fear and pain.