---

...

...

...

*beeeeeeeeep*

"Rewinding log..."

"30 Years Ago"
"0605 hrs."
"Cathedral"
"Gargan Forest"

...

...

...

The sun is beginning to rise with the hums and chirps of birds echoing in the forest. In the middle of the forest, stands a religious city of a Christian-like structure with the Cathedral in the very center of it. Life is peaceful with the widespread religious doctrines all over the continent and countries. The use of magic is commonly by natural means and in daily living. Filtering water, light sources, transportation, etc. So as such with your daily tasks and missions on the adventure-guild contracts. Hunting creatures, gathering their rare materials, and rescue assignments. But in this country, the most common magic attribute is holy-type magic. They are efficient and professional in exorcising demons, evil spirits, and dark creatures. It is also in this city lies the capital of Verusia. 

But as they master holy magic, they too will eventually master the unholy and wicked magic. Peace slowly and gradually fades as rising tensions appear almost all over the continent almost daily. This prompts the cardinals and bishops in the Cathedral to send priests to help various countries to sort and solve their problems. But all of that too failed as the priests that were sent didn't make it back, nor even made it to their respective countries. The people in the city of Cathedral start to become worried and anxious about all of what's happening. Some people conduct protests to find out what happened to the priests that had vanished. The head of the religion - the Archcardinal, had also vanished after visiting the Sacred Mountains near the Blaide Ridge. Almost all of the cardinals, bishops, and priests left, are now doing their best to calm down their people and fix all of the ongoing problems around them - that some of them are thinking to resort in another "way". 

Inside an office room in the Cathedral, a cardinal is rubbing his forehead in irritation and stress as he desperately thinks about what he will going to do with the missing priests and their relatives that were protesting outside.

"Arrgh. If only the Archcardinal was here..."

Then a knock on his door. The cardinal lets the guest in and a young man named Galian Torha in blue robes comes in.

"Cardinal, the people are still waiting for your presence outside. What do we do?" the young Galian said with worry. The cardinal stands up and goes to a bookshelf and pulls out a book. It then opens a small opening behind it and reveals a hidden safe attached to a wall. The young Galian is surprised about this and asks the cardinal.

"C-Cardinal? What is that?"

As the cardinal opens the safe, a black book is contained. He grabs it out and reads it. But the young Galian recognizes the symbol on the front cover of the black book - a pentagram with a goat skull in the middle. His face becomes laced with horror was taken aback as he realizes what the cardinal is doing.

"CARDINAL! THAT IS ONE OF THE CURSED BOOKS! WHY DID YOU HAVE ONE?!"

The cardinal looks at him and smiles wickedly.

"Hehehe. Don't worry, young man. Don't you know that we will have more power once we got to hold off one of these?! No more preach-that and preach-this! I'm fucking tired of all that nonsense!" the cardinal stood up as he presents the book to the young Galian.

"Besides, holy magic can only do less with all of what's happening now! We need RAW POWER and DARK ENERGY to fix all of these!" the cardinal continued. 

"I-I WILL REPORT YOU TO THE OTHERS!" the young Galian threatened the cardinal. But behind him, was another cardinal in his forties that was listening to them earlier.

"Report what?" the other cardinal asked with an eerie smile on his face. The young Galian warns him that the other cardinal has hands with one of the cursed books. 

 "C-CARDINAL DRAHAM! CARDINAL BRACK HAS A CURSED BOOK! SEIZE HIM!"

But both cardinals just laugh. The young Galian looks both at them in confusion and wonder. With his utter horror, Cardinal Draham also presents another cursed book with a red front cover and demonic symbols on it. 

"N-No...way...." Galian said in utter shock. 

"Hahaha. It's alright. With these, we can also take over the countries that were now against us!" Cardinal Draham followed. Cannot believe what was happening, the young Galian runs out of the room and into the main hallway. Along the way, he starts to see other cardinals and bishops holding their respective copy of cursed books in their hands and smiling wickedly. He continues to run with horror until outside, a loud announcement is being announced.

"THE ARCHCARDINAL IS HERE! ARCHCARDINAL LUCIO IS HERE!"

The young Galian's face becomes lively with hope as he goes to the Archcardinal with all of the reports of the cursed books used by the cardinals and bishops. Entering with his cardinals and bishops on his side, an old man named Archcardinal Lucio greets the young Galian and the awaiting cardinals and bishops.

"Hm? What's wrong, young priest?" Archcardinal Lucio asked the panting young Galian. Galian takes a moment to gather his breath and posture and kneels down in front of the Acrhcardinal.

"A-Archcardinal. Your eminence. This young priest has something dire report to announce immediately."

"Oh? What is it?" 

Galian smiles as he looks up at the Archcardinal. But, his face turns back into pure horror and shock as he sees the Archcardinal holding a head of a rare cursed goat that can only be found near the Blaide Ridge. On his other hand, he is holding the most cursed book - "The Lesser Key of Sollom". The young Galian can't help but scream and falls back.

"Oh? You might be surprised about these two, huh? Hehe, don't worry. The others also agreed with me. Right?"

Galian looks around and sees that all of the cardinals, bishops, and priests inside are smiling wickedly. Galian can feel his stomach sinking as he watches his companions getting along with the Archcardinal.

"Hehe. You too will also gain true strength and power after this, o' young priest. Now, all of you follow me. Let's call Razhiel ........"  Archcardinal Lucio leads the formation to the big worship hall.

...

Inside the big worship hall, a big statue of a beautiful angel, made out of white marble, is dwarfing all of the people down below. Archcardinal Lucio goes to its front and his followers kneel down behind him, only leaving the young Galian silently watching in horror by the big doorway. As the Archcardinal pray to call the angel, a beam of light shines above them. It then follows by strands of silver feathers scattering across the big hall. Upon looking up, they can now see an angel with silver hair and robes. It's the angel Razhiel descending from above. Unbeknownst to her, Archcardinal Lucio and his followers are smiling underneath their faces with evil intent. The young Galian tries to shout and warns the angel, but an unknown magic closes the door at him and his voice now can't penetrate through it. He tries to knock, but to no avail. He then goes to a nearby window and tries to break it. But the cardinals have already fortified the place with magic. With deep scratches and wounds on his hands, he now watches the event helplessly.

As Razhiel descended in front of Archcardinal, she starts to sense that something is off due to the heavy amounts of magic that fortified the entire hall and looks around.

"I sense a substantial and dense magic in this holy hall. Is there something wrong, Archcardinal Lucio?" 

"O' your holiness. There is indeed a reason. But you might want to take a look at these first!" 

Arhcardinal Lucio immediately presents the goat head and opens the pages of the cursed book. A shockwave resonates from both of them and Razhiel was taken by surprise.

"THE LESSER KEY OF SOLLOM! HOW DID YOU FIND THIS?!" at the same time, cursed chains begin to wrap Razhiel, capturing her.

"TSK! ARCHCARDINAL LUCIO! RELEASE ME AT ONCE!" 

"Hahaha.HAHAHAHAHA! IT WORKED! WE HAVE NOW THE POWER OF AN ANGEL IN OUR HANDS!" Archcardinal Lucio shouted to his followers who also cheered and celebrated with him. The Archcardinal then grabs a bracelet with demonic carvings and starts to chant a spell in front of the captured Razhiel. As he faintly chants, Razhiel can feel her appearance fading away and the bracelet is stealing all her powers. She tries to struggle to escape, but the chains get very tighter as she continues to move. 

"Cu-Curse...you....all......" as Razhiel's last words before she completely fades away and is contained inside the demonic bracelet that Archcardinal Lucio was holding. 

"HAHAHAHA! AT LAST! WE CAN NOW BECOME THE MOST POWERFUL! FROM NOW ON, LET THE NAME "RAZHIEL"  BEGONE! - AND A NEWFOUND ANGEL OF DESTRUCTION - "FRUCHIEL!". REJOICE!" the Archcardinal and his followers began to cheer and celebrate.

Having witnessed the start of the fall of the Cathedral, with nowhere to go and no one to trust anymore, the young Galian runs off towards the dense forest in hopes to warn anyone and escaping. After running just a kilometer away, he now hears and sees explosions and fire smokes coming from the Cathedral City. His city is now gone and he cries in tears as he helplessly observes the rising smoke coming from the city.

...

After days of constantly wandering inside the dense forest evading various monsters and creatures, the young Galian becomes very hungry and tired. He can't take it anymore and falls down on the ground. Feeling that his life is about to fade away, he remembers his time inside the peaceful Cathedral before. All that happiness with the cardinals, bishops, and priests he had. The worship services and the lectures. All of that now crumbles to pieces. His eyes were now about to close off, but appearing behind the trees, another angel with blonde hair and red robes walks towards him. At first, Galian thought that he now must hallucinating. But a sudden warmth begins to envelop him as the blonde angel stands in front of him.

"You're the only Razhiel's surviving follower it seems." the angel said with sympathy. She kneels down and grabs his head to rest it on her lap. She brushes his hair, letting him know that he will now be alright.

"Don't worry, lost one. Your journey hasn't still ended. I will help you along the way. The day will also come that- "

She stopped as she looks into the distance with a smile. Galian also looks in that direction and begins to see a blurry vision of strange people in military outfits and weapons slowly approaching them.

"- they will arrive to assist you. " the angel followed. Galian looks up to the angel to ask who are they.

"Wh-Who...are them..your holiness? he whispered as his eyes slowly close. The angel looks at him and smiles.

"They are part of my soldiers......"

 

 

 

 

 

 

"...Pararescuemen...."  as the last words the young Galian heard before closing his eyes and falling to sleep.

...

...

...

*beeeeeeeeep*

"Forwarding Log..."

"Week 1"
"0645 hrs."
"King Galian's Bedroom"
"Capital City - Pridel"
"Almeda Kingdom"

...

...

...

Slowly opening his eyes once again, King Galian wakes up from his dream earlier - and past memories. He sits down for a moment to gather himself up and reminisce about what happened before. It was almost thirty years ago since the fall of Cathedral City and he is now the king of Almeda Kingdom, due to the blonde angel in the red robe's help. And this time, even though the demonic use of magic decreased due to his governing, there is still lingering tension between his kingdom and the Riman Nation. Apparently, Riman Nation doesn't agree with the kingdom's handling of things. Also, because of their constant threat to the kingdom, it now leads to an upcoming war between the two countries. 

Dressing up to his king attire, he goes to his main office. Along the way, he was treated and followed by his maids. 

...

Arriving in his office, a paper lies on his table. He picks it up and reads its content.

"Report...About Red Crimson's Disappearance? So his team hasn't still arrived yet and assumed that he disappeared?"

He puts down the paper and sighs casually.

"Good thing that I ordered that sick bastard towards the Cathedral. Even if he and his team manage to arrive in that area, it is no use. The blonde angel in red robes barricaded that Cathedral many years ago and hasn't still been destroyed by any creature or people."

Apparently, King Galian is only putting up on an act. He isn't really a self-centered person and is egotistical just like in the rumors. All he was doing is acting like one so that he can manipulate and surprise his enemies lurking in his kingdom and government. King Galian is still a very humble and kind man since the very beginning.

As he stands outside and looks out the window outlooking a military base near the castle, alone in his office, he strangely orders someone.

"So, report?"

Appearing out in the shadows, three people clad in black cloaks, two women and one man, kneel in front of the king.

"Your Majesty. We haven't still found the Red Crimson and his team. But, we have....a very strange sighting at the Cathedral..." the man in the center said as he stands and chants a magic spell. He makes circling hand gestures and a circle of magic clouds forms in front of him and the king. 

"Th-This.. Your Majesty..." the man resumed as he presents their sighting on the smoke cloud. There, the king begins to see strange people in the distance. At first, he is still confused about who are these. But then, they begin cutting off trees with their strange tools in hand. They produce loud noises as they chop trees. But something is oddly familiar, the king thought. Sure, they are strange people in strange green clothing. But everything is fine and doesn't seem strange other than those tools.

Until, in the next presentation, the two flying vehicles ascend into the pitch darkness of the night behind the Cathedral. The point of view of the presentation shows the surprise and shock of the man and his group of black cloaks as they continue to observe and record the whole event.

"I-Impossible-..." King Galian, was in awe and dumbfounded.

In the next and last presentation, does the king became even more surprised, as he now sees appearing out of one of the flying vehicles, the strange people in dark green attires and black weapons. Like the time is slowing down, the king gradually pieces the information together as he looks at the strange people in the landed vehicle - when one of them, slowly looks suddenly in their direction with his strange two-tubed eyes. Immediately, the king remembers his memories of the blonde angel in red robes before. In an utter surprise, he takes a step back and breathes heavily.

"YO-YOUR MAJESTY!" the three said to the king in concern. Bowing down on the ground, the king begins to see fast flashbacks about the past - and the future. 

In his flashback, he sees a hazy vision of a legion of demons marching through a scarred and barren wasteland in a dark and grumbling horizon. When suddenly, the sky illuminates with bright yellow light, removing all the evil atmosphere above, and heaven is filled with angels singing graces above. The demons look up in the sky, only to see a big and oversized blonde angel in a renaissance-era appearance, unleashing rays of light to the ground. In the distance and leading the demon army, the king sees various familiar people in the government of his and the other countries. They also look at the big angel above with great horror and shock. But they too aren't spared. The blonde angel suddenly uses her massive hands to pick them up. Like a mountain that is swept up by a phenomenal force, the angel's arms become a sight to behold as it slowly kills the other demons in the ground as the hand passed through them. Finally grabbing all of the people, they continue to shout and scream in horror. King Galian, watches the unbelievable flashback until a voice emanates from behind him.

"Be not afraid, O' King Galian of Almeda Kingdom..."

King Galian turns behind and sees the same blonde angel in red robes from his memories.

"Yo-You are...the Angel Rafael...." the king said while crying. He kneels down in front of her as tears continue to fall out of his eyes.

"You've done well, my king. Worry no more - as my contingents are here now just like I promised." the blonde angel brushes King Galian's hair just like before. This made the king wail and weep even harder. All his hardship and perseverance finally paid off. 

"...- majesty! YOUR MAJESTY!" as someone faintly shouted.

Hearing this, the king wakes up to reality and sees the same three people in black cloaks looking at him in deep concern. He is still breathing and sweating hard.

" YOUR MAJESTY! I-I'M SORRY!" the man that presented the report kneeled and apologized.

"I-It's..alright...." the king said while gathering his breath. King Galian sits down and gathers his thoughts for a moment. The great news is finally here and he has to do now quickly about this. 

"You three..."

" Yes, Your Majesty!" the three people in black cloaks kneeled.

"I want you to establish friendly connections with them now as soon as possible!"

"Bu-But...Your Majesty..." the man hesitated because of their report and sighting.

"It's alright." the king smiled.

"- they are here now..."

The three gasped, also realizing the king's meaning.

"Y-You mean, they are here now, Your Majesty?"

"Yes...."

 

 

" - the Pararescuemen."

...

...

...

 Meanwhile, back in the Cathedral...

A female woman slave wakes up and sees that she has bandages all over her burned skin. There is also a tube attached to her left arm, leading to a transparent water pouch, that is the dextrose hanging on a metal stand. Thinking that she might be drugged, she starts to remove the attached tube to her hand. Luckily, Isabella was going to distribute their breakfast and see the female patient trying to remove the tube. Isabella puts down the female's breakfast on a table near the patient and stops the patient from panicking.

"Hey hey it's alright! It's alright. They are not drugs. It will help you recover from your injuries."

The female patient, breathing heavily, starts to calm down and apologizes to Isabella. Isabella grabs the breakfast and brings it to the patient after she calmed down. After minutes, some of the patients also start to wake and Isabella brings their respective breakfast of deer meat from the hunts from the designated temporary hunting group from Baker Company. 

On the other hand, Glenn, Herman, and some other peasants that can still do heavy duties, help with the logs to use them for shelter and various uses. With modern equipment and tools, the two and the peasants are in awe of their convenient functions.

" - right. So just plug this thing into that "socket" that is attached to a generator box over there. Then you can turn on this drill to start putting holes in the planks or wood." as one unit from the Able Company taught the peasants. The same instruction demos continue throughout the day.

 While watching from the same balcony, Fruchiel, formerly known as Razhiel, feels very alone and desolated. But Harvey greets her from behind.

"There you are. I think I saw blue and yellow feathers earlier."

Harvey stands aside with Fruchiel who is looking into the distance. Harvey relaxes his hand on the balcony and looks in the same direction the angel was looking. A gentle cold breeze gushes around the area as the sun rises and the birds chirp inside the forest.

...

"Hey, Harvey..."

"Hm?..."

...

"Do you think that this world is beautiful?"

...

"Hm. I dunno. Probably"

...

Harvey pats Fruchiel's head and smiles.

"But I'm sure it will. It will become beautiful."

The angel wipes her tears and chuckles.

"Hehe. Thank you..."

...

...

With the sun beginning to set, the patrols from the Able Company begin to head back from their shift after patrolling two hectares of forest. As they head back, one of them suddenly feels a strange aura coming from behind. When he looks behind, he sees people in black cloaks. 

"CONTACT!" Able 1-35 shouted. Immediately, his other squadmates look and point their rifles at the cloaked people.

 "DON'T MOVE!"

...

After seconds of silence, one of the cloaked people talks in a deep male voice.

"Are you..the Pararescuemen?"

The Able Units were very surprised that they know the call term.

"H-How did you..."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Worry be not, my fellows. For have we come in peace..."

...

...

...

---

Soul Energy :

[ Level 1 ]

 

Soul Count :

[ 59 ]

 

Spawn Count:

[ 140 ]

= 80 Infantry Units

= 50 Special Forces 

---

---

UPCOMING NEXT CHAPTER:

Chapter 14 - A Questionable Welcome