How long had it been since he first attempted to convert that child, or rather, man at the time? It felt like hundreds of years ago, but in reality, it hadn’t even been two decades yet. Less than two decades since he reincarnated that man into a world at war and chaos, a polar opposite of the man’s previous world. Of course, only for less than half of those years were they even dragged into the war, not that their life before was particularly gleeful or easy either.

 

Dire straits… That’s what he wanted. That’s what he thought would be needed for one to pray to God. Yet he had thrown him, or now her in their second life, into the most dire of straits he could possibly think of. To fight on the front lines of the ‘War to End All Wars.’ He went so far as to grant her a miracle, though one she could only use through prayer in the Lord, to grant a carrot with the stick.

 

All of that failed, and he was left without results. Still, she resisted His mercy, donning him with the name ‘Being X’ in staunch refusal of His greatness. Nevertheless, that mattered little, soon the war would come to an end, and when it did, he would be down to a few options. Sure, he could drag on the war for longer like he had been doing, but a war could only be dragged on so long for mere humans. Eventually, the Empire would reach its breaking point and crumble under the weight of a multi-front war, and she would perish once more.

 

His options then were simple; he could continue to make her life hell, over and over again until she inevitably kicked the bucket and caved in to His splendor, he could give up and move on, allowing her to do as she pleased, or he could just kill her and end it swiftly so he could move on to something else. He sighed, he didn’t need to face her smug grin after the war was over; he would end her now.

 

All it would take was her battalion entering an encounter with odds they didn’t account for. Even the Devil of the Rhine wouldn’t be able to survive against what would be the largest mage battle in history, stacked against all odds. It would bring about the untimely deaths of her battalion too, sure, but they had colluded with that devil, so he had little remorse for their deaths.

 

With a simple wave of his hand, it was done. The Devil of the Rhine, the woman who so aggressively resisted His light, was finally dead, and he could finally move on from-

 

But then he felt something. A powerful presence even he couldn’t ignore, one that tore away and demanded his attention. Descending behind him within the heavenly plane was an angel with large glowing feathered wings on his back, glowing with powers to surpass even him in his prime. The being landed among the clouds behind him as he turned to look at him.

 

Contrary to the thoughts of the girl he so despised and had just disposed of, he was no god. Rather, he was the servant of God. Before him now was yet another servant, one that far surpassed him in might and heavenly authority, one of the archangels.

 

Happily, he greeted the angel, “Ah, Michael, what do I owe the plea-”

 

“The Lord is not happy,” Michael declared plainly.

 

He seemed confused, “Huh? What do you mean?”

 

Michael looked down at the world below, brandishing his sword as he pointed to the world below. As Being X turned to look down, the battle was still ongoing. Bullets whizzed by as massive explosions rocked the air. The lights of magical spells and formulas shone through the smoke and clouds as mages flew around in a desperate frenzy for survival. It was a bloodbath, but one that Being X thought necessary to purge the world of his enemy.

 

“The Lord knows what you have been doing with that girl, Tanya Degurechaff,” Michael explained.

 

Being X folded his arms stubbornly, “Then he would know it was all done for the sake of bringing about more faithfulness in the wor-”

 

“You idiot! You’ve done nothing but the opposite! And that’s even ignoring all the other wrongdoings you’ve done in opposition to the Lord’s will!” Michael shouted, his anger echoing throughout the heavens as the clouds threatened to give way underneath Being X.

 

“What do you mean?! Tanya Degurechaff was nothing but a sinner! Nothing would’ve converted her besides the most extreme of circumstances!” Being X retorted defensively.

 

Michael’s wings twitched with frustration, “That is untrue. Mind you, there are those who may have a harder time being brought to the light of the lord, and there are ways to handle them. Tanya Degurechaff was one of them, and you couldn’t have handled the situation worse.”

 

“I granted her a miracle! A way to easily defeat any enemy she came across! And you know what she did?! She rejected it at every-”

 

“DO NOT SPEAK TO ME OF THAT CURSED OBJECT, FOR THAT IS YOUR GREATEST WRONGDOING!”

 

Being X took a step back in shock, left staring, startled and confused at the enraged archangel. He had done nothing wrong! It was all for the greater good!

 

“The Lord does not wish to force his people to worship him. They must do so of their own free will. There may be those who are coerced into it by humanity, and those who may be nudged along the path by his light, but never… NEVER do we manipulate their minds to try and forcibly sway them to.”

 

“I’m afraid I don’t kno-”

 

“Do not play dumb with me. Every time she was forced to pray to the Computation Jewel, it altered her mind ever so slightly, filling it with the will to pray to God, slowly corrupting her until she would be a full convert. That is not free will, that is mental coercion, and that is against the Lord’s desires. Be grateful that her stubbornness was stronger than your measly curse.”

 

Being X took another step back, away from the increasingly agitated archangel. Glancing down again at the world below, he saw his enemy, Tanya Degurechaff, finally be struck down, bullets filling her body as she plummeted to the ground. In any other circumstance, he would feel joy and satisfaction, but as he looked back up to face Michael, he felt neither, only fear.

 

Michael sighed once more, “Now, we come to the last major wrongdoing. The fact you did all of this without our Lord’s command.”

 

Being X tried to defend himself, “But I-”

 

“Silence! We are angels of the Lord! We do not act without His orders! And that is precisely what you did! He only waited this long in hopes that you would come to your senses and beg for forgiveness. But you have not, you have disappointed the Lord, and you have failed us all.”

 

Being X got defensive, aggressively shouting, “Everything I did, I did for Him! I did it for the Lord! To spread his name! To bring about an era of faithfulness! To end the scourge of atheism! To-”

 

Being X fell silent. In an instant, Michael had seemingly teleported right up to him, through speeds faster than he could comprehend. He stared down at his chest, a sword newly planted right in the center, slicing completely through him as it glowed a heavenly hue.

 

Michael shook his head, looking down on Being X with pity and shame as Being X felt himself fading away, “It is a pity, and I can hardly blame your intent. But the fact remains you acted against God’s will and without God’s orders. We cannot allow another corrupted angel to plague the heavens. Goodbye.”

 

Being X faded in a shining glimmer of light, leaving Michael standing in silence, looking down disappointingly at where Being X once stood. Down in the world below, Tanya Degurechaff fell to her death as Michael simply shook his head.

 

“She is persistent, I’ll give her that much. He truly chose the wrong person to mess with. Bringing her back to the light will be difficult, no, it may be impossible now, but at the very least there is a world where humanity could use someone like her. Her persistence and expertise may help in saving it there… But I cannot let her go as she is. Her hatred for Being X will stain her view of that world and the events that occur within it. I must tell her of his fate and hope she does not hold her grudge against all of the heavens for the actions of one angel…”

 

[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]

 

I found myself waking up in the midst of what could only be described as a misty void. All around me, clouds stretched on for miles, like a thick fog in the early mornings. I remembered what had just happened vaguely, although the general events were very clear in my mind.

 

The short of it; I had died.

 

Not too surprising, frankly. Being X was bound to do it eventually, and it seemed he just finally got tired of playing around. Took him long enough to realize his attempts to convert me weren’t going anywhere.

 

I lived my last life as the infamous ‘Devil of the Rhine,’ renowned as one of the Empire’s, if not the world’s, top mages. Though this was in part due to the cursed Type 95 computation jewel, I’d personally argue that I was a skilled mage even without it.

 

None of it mattered at that moment though, I was dead after all. I knew it was time to face Being X one last time before he put me wherever he wanted to banish me. Hell? Likely. Another war? I wouldn’t put it past him. Honestly, I didn’t care at that point, but I was excited to see the look on his face when he realized I still refused to pray to him.

 

Ahead of me was a vibrant, divinely shining light. Assuming it to be Being X, I approached, eventually standing before a grand-looking angel, wings outstretched as he emanated a glow that pierced the fog around me.

 

I folded my arms and looked up at the angel, who I deduced to be Being X as I smugly remarked, “Finally tired of the game, Being X? Took you long enough. I was startin-”

 

“I am not the one you know as Being X.”

 

I stopped talking as the voice clarified its identity. Not Being X? Then who could he be? I had assumed Being X was God, the top brass of whatever moronic organization he was running. But why would Being X send someone else to speak with me? Was he not God? Was he just another angel like this person?

 

As I remained silent and contemplated the possibilities, the angel placed a hand on his chest and politely bowed, “I apologize on Being X’s behalf. What he did was unjust and against the will of God. As such he has been eliminated.”

 

“Eliminated? So he’s dead?” I asked with a hint of excitement.

 

“In a manner of speaking, yes. The one you know as Being X was an angel who strayed from God’s orders. He took matters into his own hands and defied the will of God. Apologies that this situation was not taken care of sooner, the Lord wished to give him a chance to abandon this path and realize his mistakes. As you can see… He did not.”

 

I burst out in laughter. It was all I could do, really. It was a shame I couldn’t kill the bastard myself, but to hear he just got destroyed for what he tried was honestly just funny to me. Just as he tried to lord over me, others lorded over him.

 

I folded my arms and stared up at the angel, determined. Though I still had a firm distrust for any sort of supposed all-powerful divine entity, it seemed that this one had a bit more common sense in his brain than Being X. If nothing else, I would treat him with equal respect for the time being, since pissing off powerful beings doesn’t do any good after all.

 

“If you’re not Being X, then who are you anyways?”

 

The angel bowed once more, “I am Archangel Michael. I am aware you are not fully familiar with religious text, but I am sure you are at least vaguely aware of who I am.”

 

“You’re right about that. You’re one of the angels from Christian mythology, that much I know. If you’re asking me for anything beyond that though, you’re out of luck,” I responded as I stared at Michael.

 

“Correct. Though I do not agree with your use of ‘mythology,’ I understand your stance on the Lord and how it has been stained by the actions of Being X. Though I will gladly tell you that his actions do not reflect the will of the Lord, I can understand how that would not be enough to someone like yourself. I have no intention of forcing you to change your view, either. Regardless, I am Michael, the Sword of God.”

 

I nodded, “My name is Tanya von Degurechaff… Though I would assume you know that. Regardless, what comes next? I assume there’s a reason you bothered to tell me any of this at all.”

 

If he was introducing himself, then I might as well do the same thing. Give the respect you want, I suppose. Even if I don’t fully believe in ‘God’ or the stuff they spew out, even I can recognize that the angel I’m interacting with has power I can’t contend with. He positively radiated power, more so than even Being X did during our few interactions. Though I can and will refuse any attempts to control me, I would otherwise like to avoid pissing off such entities if I can.

 

“You are correct, though I would’ve likely at least sent someone to inform you regardless. As a sort of… compensation for what Being X did, I have an offer for you. The first option is to have your memories wiped and be reborn in some random world. You would have no memories of either life and it would be like restarting all over again.”

 

“So… Basically death?”

 

Michael nodded, “You can view it that way. The essence of who you are will almost entirely disappear. Though I’m sure you can see how it may be preferable to hell. After all, I can hardly allow you to enter heaven as a technical defier of the Lord’s armies.”

 

I sighed, “Well what’s the other option?”

 

Michael continued, “You will keep your memories, to an extent, and you will be reborn into a third world. This world is far more medieval than the last two worlds you have resided in, and it is a far harsher one to live in. Humanity is backed into a corner fighting off a monstrosity that threatens to destroy them.”

 

I grumbled, knowing I was only being used as yet another plaything for the ones up here, “And I assume you want me to take out this threat?”

 

Michael laughed, “That would be greatly appreciated, but you’re allowed to do whatever you wish. You may choose to live a humble or comfortable life, or you may rejoin the military to fight off this monstrosity. The choice is yours.”

 

I thought for a moment. It felt like a scam, like there would be some ‘but’ about it, but at the same time… that didn’t feel to be the case. This world was in dire straits, there was no doubt about that. ‘Backed into a corner’ didn’t sound like a good position to be in. Though, there was one detail I needed clarification on.

 

“When you mentioned my memories, you said I’d keep them ‘to an extent.’ What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

“Unfortunately the process of reincarnating your mortal soul a second time will cause some of the memories from your first life to be lost. Don’t worry, although you may forget some personal details from that life, any information you learned will remain. However, that information will be only information, there will be no emotion attached to it. It will feel impersonal. This is the best I can offer you. I will also give you a near-perfect memory of what you still remember in your past two lives. You may not think it too important, but I believe you’ll find the gift rather useful.”

 

“I don’t need to pray to access my memories, do I?” I asked, firmly skeptical of yet another powerful being seemingly offering me a sugar-coated version of an eerily similar situation to what Being X had forced upon me.

 

Michael shook his head, sighing in turn, “A gift does not have conditions attached to it. This was a lesson Being X failed to learn. There are no conditions to this gift, and it is one of a few I will bestow upon you. I will not force you to pray, it is every man’s right to choose whether or not to follow the Lord. I can only pray that you make the right choice.”

 

I sighed once more, “I suppose I can respect that, at least. Free will is a virtue, it’s something Being X didn’t understand, but I’m glad his superiors see things differently,” I straightened up and looked the angel in the eyes as I continued, “I won’t be praying, but I no longer despise religion either. Don’t mess with me and I won’t mess with you. If this monstrosity is truly a threat to all of humanity then I will play my part, at least as much as I’m willing to.”

 

“Very well, I take it you’ve decided on the second option then?” Michael asked.

 

I nodded in response.

 

Michael nodded back as light began to shine from below me, nearly blinding me with its intensity. As it glowed I heard Michael speak, “Then I shall leave you with this promise…” Suddenly something began to glow in my hands, creating a golden outline of a sword in my right hand as I heard Michael’s voice echo, “Use my sword as your shining light. Guide humanity through its desperate fight. Once you feel that the time is right, call my name and wield my might.”

Suddenly, his voice faded as the light finally engulfed me. What my future held, I didn’t know. But in a world without Being X breathing down my neck, and where my free will is finally respected by the heavens above… Well, nothing could stop me now.