The Lost World Ch. 01

"Uhum... Is it guaranteed that this'll happen between the two of us?"

'That isn't a part of the original question, but I'll answer anyway since I am a guy who just loves being awesome. No, it is not guaranteed. However, it was said between the original conflict between the original Archangels and Archdemons that one day, they would fall or rise to one another. Ah, I gave you one too many hints, figure the rest out yerself while I enjoy a nice game of watching how your life turns out!'

"No, you gave me plenty to mull over. Still, you're right, it would be best to see how the future plays out. I've still got plenty more years of life ahead of me. Oh, and Asmodeus?"

'Mmhmm?'

"Just die permanently already."

'Maybe tomorrow.'

The voice's presence ceased being in Rainer's head and returned back to the Grimoire. That voice belonged to Asmodeus, the first and original Lord of Lust. He was the one who gave Rainer the position and power he had now. He was the one who gave Rainer a new outlook on life. And he was the one to change everything, whether Rainer liked the way it turned out or not.

Rainer ceased to brood and closed his eyes, thinking about just what his life may have been like if he never received his power. He wasn't able to think of much before the hold of sleep overtook him.

...

"Ah, there he is. It seems our cute little lord is fast asleep. Darn, I wanted to make him feel really good along with me!" Asmodea sat next to Rainer who was lying down peacefully on the left most side of the large bed.

"My husband looks so demure when he is asleep. It is hard to believe he can do what he does to me every night." Nerissa lay perpendicular to Rainer on the bed opposite to Asmodea.

"He must have had a fun day in order to already be in such a deep sleep." Lauren dried off her hair as she returned from the bath. She took one nearly ten seconds after Rainer originally fell asleep.

"...Rainer looks very blissful. I hope he had a good time." Zazie sat cross legged in front of Rainer's feet as she stared at his slow breathing face.

"Master... No, Rainer." Aureal only uttered Rainer's name before closing her eyes in acknowledgement of Rainer's presence. There was nothing in any realm that calmed her down more than seeing Rainer's familiar face.

And so each of the five women placed themselves on the bed for a night of rest.

-

"Ah, you're back. While I did not agree with your leaving, I cannot deny the results of success."

"Yes... It seems the scout was false. There were four more demons than expected."

"Still, it looks like there was no problem, was there?"

"Unfortunately they managed to transfer their quantity of souls before I arrive. After I dispatched them, the improvised portal disappeared, though I pinpointed its destination to be the Waters of Wrath."

"It is good that you didn't follow the portal. If you entered the Waters of Wrath, you would have earned the demons' ire, especially that of the Waters of Wrath's Satan."

Two calm voices spoke in a brightly lit room holding many more presences. Most of the eyes were trained on the one who had just arrived, but the rest continued on what they were doing.

Every single person inside this large brightly lit room was a member of an ancient race that had proceeded to live into modern times: Angels.

"Karel, are you presuming that I would not be able to face Satan?" The voice that seemed to command the respect of all the angels in the room spoke with a displeased tone.

"Anything but, anything but. Archangels and Archdemons are very much even to one another. I meant to say that it would not be good to create another border dispute."

"I would not care about that. Demons have been intruding upon Earth numerous times by now. Are they not the ones that have been creating the border disputes? They have very much earned my ire."

Karel saw a hint of anger in his superior's words. "I understand what you say, but creating a war where there has been peace will harm many more."

"Yes, you are quite correct. I am sorry for my little burst of emotion. However, there have been many more demonic intrusions in Earth, which is why I went down there myself. I am new to being an Archangel compared to my compatriots, but have they not decided to do something about this?"

"You would know so before I would unless I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I understand that there are mixed emotions about how to deal with the sudden onslaught of soul hunters on Earth. Uriel wishes to eradicate them with extreme prejudice while Michael wants to try to cooperate with the Archdemons in order to get them under control."

"I dislike both of their opinions. I do not wish to slaughter unconditionally like Uriel as that would cause too many human casualties nor do I wish to even think about peace like Michael."

Karel swerved his lips around. "I suppose that would place you near Raguel's position, he wishes to deal with the hunters with more force while trying to stop any portals from coming in with a more infiltrative approach."

"By that do you mean making our way into the Circles of Sin and dealing with the hunters ourselves? I see that would be effective in terms of results... But surely there is no way we could do that without making our presence in the Circles known?"

"Exactly, though Raguel may have a trick up his sleeve for that."

The two holy executives conversed for a while longer until the Archangel excused herself and walked off down a lonely garden pathway. This pathway belonged to a heaven for one who loved to garden. The person who resided in this heaven had lived a long life filled with intent to make other happy by beautifying the world with flowers and feeding the hungry with vegetables and fruits. This was only a small slice of the many Heavens that were there for those who lived good lives as humans, as creatures of God.

The human who was busy enjoying the garden didn't notice or care that the Archangel was walking through her Heaven, so that wasn't an obstacle.

Then two angels appeared in a burst of light. Both were angels of similar stature to the walking Archangel. The first one spoke after opening his glowing eyes. "I apologize for not including you, but our debate has come to an end."

Unperturbed by their flashy entrance, the Archangel composed herself and said, "And what is the verdict, Saraquel? Raguel?"

The one that spoke first, Saraquel, replied. "I'm honestly surprised. Michael was oddly agreeable to Uriel's compromise. We are to begin preparations for..."

Saraquel was cut off by the Archangel next to him who promptly said, "War."

This was a conversation between three Archangels: Saraquel, Raguel, and Ramiel.

Note: And here the great conflict begins... This is TheTask and I hope you're having fun reading the beginning of the sequel to my first (less "good") story: The Lost Lord.

The first chapter, ignoring the prologue, is basically an introduction to the major characters of the story. I'll also reintroduce some more familiars soon as well as introduce some new people. BTW, the names for the Rulers of Sin are entirely improvised from my memory; they share no relation to any similarly named demons in movies or games.

I once received an email a couple weeks after finishing The Lost Lord asking me to provide pronunciation for certain names, so I will do so for each chapter in which a hard to pronounce name appears. Let's begin now, shall we?

Zazie: Zah-Zee-A

Caetorum: Say-Tor-Rum

Ifrit: E-Frit

Belial: Bell-Lye-Al

Rainer: Rain-Nur (Somehow the one who sent the email didn't know how to pronounce the main character's name)