The Professor sat on the sofa. He placed the small book on the coffee table while everyone gathered around to glimpse the drawings in the book.
"I travelled around Antarctica, South Arica, Europe and even Asia for the past four days. Lady Victoria graciously helped out, so I could gather lots of different sources... This book contains all my finding. I nad it Earth’s Mythology!"
The old man smiled and placed a wrinkled hand on the worn leather cover. Sera sat by his side and placed her hand tenderly on his.
"Thank you for the great effort! I’m sure this will be a splendid weapon in the upcoming fights, since information is the greatest weapon one can wield in war!"
Her words caused Professor Collins’s smile to widen, and a mont later he opened the book on the first page. It revealed sothing akin to a table of contents. However, after each title there were a few paragraphs describing the contents.
The first one’s na was: ’Christianity — Angels and Demons’.
Before Sera could’ve read the description or other titles, the Professor began speaking...
"Through my journey and talking with locals, I discovered sothing truly fascinating. All these beings are primordial entities, who ca to Earth before humans learned how to preserve texts properly. But that doesn’t an everything from those tis was lost!"
He turned the page and took out a few pictures of ancient sculptures, relics, tablets, wall writings, etc., which survived the passage of ti.
"These are all written in Old World languages, so I couldn’t translate them, but luckily, our ancestors did the hard work. Many people felt paranoid about our overreliance on technology. They built hidden vaults containing vast amounts of books translated into our language!"
"Anyway, I read everything I found, and comprised all the information. However, since I had little ti, the book isn’t the best, so let quickly tell you about all factions that survived getting locked up!"
As the Professor foreshadowed, not everyone lived to see Earth again. In South Arica, the humans discovered multiple Gateways leading into empty, dead Pocket Realms.
The common consensus was that the primordial beings killed each other and destroyed their Realm in the process. The ’how’ and ’why’ remained a mystery, but nobody truly cared about where they went. The less ca through the Gates, the better it’s for everybody.
"Each faction had its own religion long ago. Those poor souls didn’t understand Evolved and worshiped the very beings who terrorized and killed them on whims. However, while it’s horrible what they suffered, they also gave us many sources..."
"They described their gods’ abilities and looks to the best of their knowledge, which gives us even more information... Let’s begin with the first one, Christianity!"
He turned a page again, revealing lots of texts and a few pictures of angels and demons. The picture of Peace and War wasn’t there. Instead, it showed generic religious depictions of the creatures Sera fought recently.
"These angels aren’t like ..." Whispered Sera as she held the picture close to her face. "They feel different sohow... Dirtier... Wrong... like abominations of my own race!"
Nobody at the table understood her aning except Leslie. The Rage Demon also raised a picture of his kind, and soon a disgusted grimace appeared on his face.
"I know what you an... These demons aren’t like either. It feels like looking at a group of monkeys and calling them humans... It makes my stomach churn..."
Everyone glanced between the Angel and Demon. They didn’t grasp what either ant, but since both felt similar emotions, there must’ve been a root for its cause.
"Hmm... That’s Interesting. I found records of other creatures, which resemble so of you. I wonder if you’ll feel unnerved by their pictures too... For now, let’s continue with the angelic and demonic factions!"
Sera nodded, but her eyes continued staring at the picture of angels, trying to figure out the reason for her disgust.
"Angels and demons appear in more than one religion, but Christianity has the most ntions of either. After digging through everything, I found these pictures with descriptions of the higher echelons of each faction."
The Professor turned a page, revealing a picture of a young, androgynous man wearing whitish-gold armor. He carried a spear in one hand and a sword in the other. A pair of white wings stretched wide as his fierce purple eyes stared down at a fearful army of demons.
"This is Michael, the Guardian. He’s the leader of the angels, and many sources na him as an Archangel, but they’re probably exaggerating. His abilities include light control, charm, enhanced physical strength and many more. I couldn’t separate the truth from the myth, so I listed everything!"
After letting everyone take a good look at Michael’s picture, the Professor turned to the next page, revealing a feminine man with radiant wings. He wore a simple white robe and carried a trumpet and a shortsword in each hand.
"Gabriel, God’s ssenger. He’s Michael’s brother and right-hand man. I’ve found no ntion of his abilities, and he seems to serve a strategic role in the Angelic Faction!"
The next page was a bit different from the previous two. Instead of a single person, the pictures showed a group of four horsen wearing different colored armor. They rode strange winged-horses and carried different weapons and tools.
"The Horsen of Genesis. They’re a group of four riders, each with their own abilities and specializations. Many sources refer to them as Heaven’s Generals, since usually they lead the charge into the demonic armies."
The page revealed only general information about each of the four angels.
However, as the Professor turned to the next, a familiar light blue knight’s picture appeared, with lots of texts and other drawings. One specific drawing depicted a strange, deep blue winged-horse, with Peace riding atop carrying the lance she fought against Sera.
"Goddess of Peace, a devout general with a rivalry towards a demonic general known as War. She uses a lance as her primary weapon. She can induce peacefulness in anything weaker than her, and can give physical form to her power, which creates a blue aura."
None of this information served as news to anyone. Sera and Faith already reported her battle experience with Peace and War, so they had a clear image of their abilities.
However, the peaceful aura’s ntion reminded a few people about the strange events at the outposts. Before anyone could’ve reached a conclusion though, the Professor turned the page.
The next page revealed a luxurious golden-armored man with glowing golden eyes. He rode upon a silver winged-horse and carried a golden staff with a strange bag attached to its top.
"God of Prosperity, a haughty general who only cares about himself. He’s the embodint of greed, and uses a staff made of Divine tal, with a bag of golden coins attached to its end. He can induce the feeling of generosity in people."
A light chuckle echoed inside the room, causing everyone’s heads to turn towards Valerie.
"Sorry, I don’t an to be disrespectful, but what’s dangerous about generosity?"
She smiled widely, but nobody else seed to share the sa lighthearted sentint. The people who established the outposts found it especially awful. With Prosperity’s description, they couldn’t deny the connections anymore.
"It isn’t inherently dangerous, but when overdone, everything can beco deadly. You can give away money, which’s generous, but when you throw away your life by expelling all air from your lungs in the na of generosity..."
Valerie’s eyes went wide upon hearing David’s words. The bald man didn’t an anything bad; his words were purely informative.
The Professor glanced around as everyone turned silent again. He turned the page, revealing the third horseman.
A female knight wearing dark green armor with leaf-like embellishnts. Her light green glowing eyes stared at the surrounding plants and animals with love. She rode a light brown winged-horse and carried a plain branch with leaves and flowers.
"Goddess of Life, a self-serving general with appreciation for everything living. Her abilities are probably the most terrifying, since she has so control over life. Supposedly, she can transmute people into different creatures and can induce horrific mutations!"
This information was news even for Lucy and Will, who personally investigated the events in the northern outposts. The soldiers and civilians only resurrected there, but nobody suffered any horrific mutations or turned into different creatures.
After everyone looked at Life’s picture, the Professor turned the page.
The fourth horseman was a man with pure, glowing white eyes. He wore plain white armor and had a simple white cloth on his shoulders. The white knight rode a black winged-horse, creating a strange contrast.
"God of Purity, a selfless general who embodies the cleanliness of the soul. He’s the strongest of the four, since he can stare and affect anyone’s soul. However, he doesn’t kill, at least not with his own hands."
While they all stared at Purity’s picture and read the text written below, the Professor continued talking...
"Other than the four Horsen of Genesis, there’s one more person worth ntioning..."
He waited a mont to regain everyone’s attention, and soon he turned the page.
The last picture showed a tall, middle-aged man with white hair and a short beard. He wore pure white robes covered in gold embellishnts. His whitish-gold eyes burned with ferocity as he spread his arms wide.
A pair of crystalline wings spread behind his back. The picture depicted him standing in a hall of mirrors, with hundreds of reflections. Strangely, each reflection looked a little different, like they only imitated the angelic being.
The text above the picture sent a shiver down Sera’s spine...
’Castiel, Heaven’s Executioner’
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