Seraph

Ratae, East Midlands

Britain

~492 AD

Five minutes. That is how long it took for the invading forces to be wiped out by three people. To the citizens of Ratae, those five minutes felt short and long at the same time. Many of them had to endure five more minutes of the devil worshipper's cruelty while others were saved quickly due to their proximity to their saviors.

"Ahhh, these devils really are despicable! They send such pitiful humans to rampage, and fail to come save them when called. What a shame, I was looking forward to delivering some of them from evil this night!" exclaims a handsome young man with blond hair as he enters the biggest building in the town, home of the reeve, the leader of this community. "The town has been repaired, Centurion Lajos." reports the young man as he enters the dining room where a meeting between his leader and the sole surviving member of the town's council is being held.

"Good, now go join Ambros in keeping watch." replies Lajos without even glancing at Anlon before returning his attention to the council.

"Of course, my centurion!" excitedly answers Anlon with a salute as he turns around and leaves the room.

"Is that ok? He had been healing the citizens all night long after the battle before repairing the town itself. Won't he be burned out?" asks a middle aged man with graying hair on his head as he looks at the vacant doorway where Anlon previously stood.

"It is best to keep him occupied with a task, otherwise he will do nothing but cause chaos, and I am currently not in the mood to deal with any of his nonsense."answers Lajos while rubbing his forehead as if to ward off a headache. "Now let us please forget about my chaotic subordinate and return to the topic at hand."

"Very well. As I was saying, while we are grateful for your help, we have nothing to repay you with." says the man bluntly.

"We have no need for repayment. My people are at war with the devils, it is only natural that we take the opportunity of reducing their forces, even if the ones we defeated cannot even be compared to the weakest devil." explains Lajos.

"I see." says the man as he strokes his beard thoughtfully. "If I may ask, where do your people come from and how are you so powerful? I have never seen anyone as powerful as the four of you." he comments.

"That is none of your concern, now let us return, once again, to the relevant topic." answers Lajos stoically. "We are willing to offer you and your people protection, however you would be required to move to a location of our choosing." informs the Edenian.

"Is that really necessary? My people have just suffered a traumatising event and many of them can barely carry on as it is, much less leave their home to travel to a completely different location. Can't you stay here?" asks the middle aged man with a weary expression on his face and slouching shoulders.

"Unfortunately it is necessary. Our warriors are already spread thin and spreading ourselves out any more risks leaving an opening for the devils to exploit." explains Lajos with a shake of his head.

"Very well. I will let them know so that those who are willing to travel the distance can go." he replies with a sigh as he gets up and walks out of the room with a limp.

With the man out of the room, Lajos looks at the doorway where he left and narrows his eyes. That man's survival is suspicious. Usually the leaders are dead within the first five to eight minutes of their settlements/towns being attacked by devil worshippers. The leader to survive the longest had lasted ten minutes, but that was mainly due to the devil worshippers toying with the poor man and his family before killing him. Still, while his survival alone would not normally cause Lajos to be suspicious of him, there is another thing about him that is not only abnormal, but is also suspicious by itself.

Like many who have come into close contact with devils and their magic, there is a scent of devil magic coming from the man. Unlike those who have either been victims of devils, have fought devils, or have simply been in the proximity of devil magic, the magnitude of coming from him aligns more with how much a devil worshipper would give off as opposed to a victim.

In addition to that, the man is far more adjusted than Lajos has ever experienced considering what he has just experienced. Especially since his family was toyed with by the devil worshippers before being murdered in front of him. By themselves all of these factors can be looked at, but without much to worry about. Taken together however and the mean begins to look more and more like a devil worshipper in disguise as opposed to a victim of them.

Nevertheless, without more concrete evidence, Lajos finds himself reluctant to act. While the man is possibly a devil worshipper, it is also possible that he has been exposed to a ridiculous amount of devil magic. Considering the strength of the attackers last night, it is a very real possibility. As such, Lajos decides that for the time being he will simply pay careful attention to the man before casting his judgement.

With that thought out of the way, the leader of Beta Squad turns his attention to another topic. Aeliana, the mother of the two boys that he saved a few hours ago, is not a normal human. While she is most certainly not a devil worshipper, nor does she belong to any supernatural, she is physically more powerful than she should be. Although it is not to the same extent as any supernatural species, she is about as powerful as one would expect an elite soldier to be. Enough to put her above most human, but still short of enabling her to combat anything supernatural related.

In addition to her physical prowess, the woman has magic reserves that are slightly less than the average human magician, but with no experience or knowledge of magic. And it's not only her, but her children also. They both possess enough potential that with enough training would make them on par with high High-Class devils.

Naturally this is the first time that Lajos has ever encountered a human who has reached such heights with no training. The only viable explanation that he can think of is that she possesses some form of supernatural heritage. Either way, he can't let her or her children end up in the devils' hands. With hypnosis they would be able to easily make her a devil worshipper and with that boost she would be a terror on the battlefield, especially since the devils can simply use her in areas where they know that Edenia lacks forces. They're already exploiting Edenia's shortage of personnel, no need to make it easier for them.

With that thought, Lajos stands up from his seat and makes his way out of the house and walks towards Aeliana's house. As he arrives there, he finds her already outside speaking with the sole survivor of the town's council, Harold. Keeping himself out of their sights, Lajos listens to what Harold has to tell her.

"I'm sorry to say Aeliana, but you and your boy will have to go with the second group." says Harold despondently, causing Lajos to frown as he wonders what Harold means. As far as he is concerned, there is to be only one group where everyone who wants to move will move.

"Is there no other way?" asks Aeliana. "At the very least take Sirius and Cassius with you." she suggests.

"I'm sorry, but I can't." sadly refuses Harold with a voice that would have convinced Lajos had he not been the one in charge. Having said his piece, Harold apologises one more time to Aeliana before walking away, leaving her standing in front of her house with a frown.

With Harold gone, Lajos comes out of the spot he was using to eavesdrop.

"He's good." admits Lajos as he approaches the worried mother and shakes her from her thoughts.

"Lord Lajos." greets Aeliana with a bow. "I did not see you coming." she says.

"No need to bow, nor call me 'Lord'. I am simply a warrior." replies Lajos as he makes her stand up straight.

"Surely a man of your caliber would be of noble status to your people." she says.

"We Edenians are a young people with a developing culture. As of right now the closest things we have to lords and ladys are the children of Emperor Ambrosius, our god and ruler." explains Lajos, earning an intrigued look from Aeliana.

"You do not believe in God?" she asks with a tilt of her head.

"No. We worship The Four and Empress Sindel, Mother of Edenia." answers Lajos.

"I see." says Aeliana with a whisper before beginning to speak only to stop herself with a thoughtful frown.

"If you are worried about you and your children, don't. There will not be multiple groups. There will only be one, and anyone interested in coming will be in that one group." reassures Lajos with a smile.

"Oh. I didn't know since Harold said otherwise." she answers with a frown. "Why would he lie though?" she wonders out loud.

"Do not worry about Harold, I will be speaking with him. As of now you should pack what essentials you will need and make your way to the gate." instructs Lajos.

"The boys and I have already packed and placed them at the gate. In fact they are currently there speaking with Ambros." she says with a smile. "I just came here to make sure that nothing was forgotten." she adds.

Before Lajos can answer her, a commotion can be heard coming from the direction of the gates, causing the duo to frown. Knowing that Aeliana's children are there, Lajos lifts her as he takes to the sky and makes his way to the gate. As they approach the gate, Lajos can make out Ambros, a handsome young man with black hair and glowing green eyes, arguing with a group of three knights while Sirius and Cassius hide behind Anlon and Vanko.

Landing next to Anlon, Lajos places Aeliana next to her children before turning to Vanko.

"At least two Trojan Horses are in the town, I want to know their goal(s) as soon as possible without alerting the devils." says Lajos to Vanko who immediately disappears from everyone's sights with a nod before Lajos turns to Anlon. "What is the situation?" he asks.

"These Knights are from Camelot and are in charge of the border. Considering how close Ratae is to the border, they've come to check on the sounds of battle that they've heard." explains Anlon with a frown. "One of the knights called us Edenians blasphemers and devil spawns." he adds.

With an amused snort, Lajos makes his way to the arguing duo and forcibly separates them.

"Enough." he commands as he throws both men tens of feet away from one another. "Why are you here?" he questions the knight.

"We heard sounds of battle coming from here while on patrol and came to investigate. We didn't expect to find devil spawns when we arrived though." he says as he spits on the floor, his disgust for the Edenians quite clear to the group.

"Not just devil spawns. There's also a witch here. I can just feel the magic oozing from her." says the second knight with a sneer as he circles around Aeliana with a glare while she shields her children and defiantly glares back at the knight.

"Damn, are all witches this good looking. She reminds me of Morgan Le Fay, I wouldn't mind spending one night with her before sending her to face The Lord." says the third knight with a whistle, earning murderous glares from every Edenian present.

"I will only say this once, mind your tongue." orders Lajos.

"Or what? You're gonna kill me?" asks the second knight with amusement clear in his voice. "As long as the angels watch over us, none of you devil spawns can touch us. Not even if I do this!" exclaims the knight as he draws his sword from its sheath and slashes it towards Aeliana's head with a speed too fast for her to react.

Before the sword can even come close to her however, Lajos appears between her and the knight and stops the sword by grabbing the knight's wrist. As the knight's eyes widen in shock, Lajos grabs him by the face and proceeds to lift him off the ground before slamming his face back down on the ground while twisting his arm and almost breaking it.

"Wilhelm!" screams the third knight as he begins to draw his own sword. Before it can fully come out of its sheath however, Anlon appears in front of the knight and slams it back into the sheath.

"Now, let's not do something that we'll regret." cheerfully says Anlon with a smile before snapping the knight's sword arm, causing him to scream in pain and let go of his weapon.

Before anyone else can make a move however, a sonic boom resounds through the sky and a golden light dives down towards Lajos. Before the light can connect with Lajos however, the Edenian snaps Wilhelm's arm and takes the knight's sword. Just as the light reaches within striking distance of him, Lajos vaults over it and impales it with Wilhelm's sword, causing it to crash onto the ground and for the light to dim considerably.

With the light's glow dimming, everyone is able to make out the figure of a four winged angel with blond hair, green eyes, and a priest's attire.

Despite being caught off guard and injured, the angel quickly recovers and flies back into the air where it summons a light sword.

"Remove your hands from the knights." orders the angel.

"While I would love to, you, my dear angel, are not my superior." replies Anlon with a grin.

"Be that as it may, the warriors of Heaven are not mere sheep that you can slaughter whenever you feel like. As such I will ask you one more time to unhand them." answers the angel.

"Are they warriors of Heaven? Do they speak for Heaven?" questions Lajos.

"Of course they are." replies the angel with an affronted look on his face.

"Are you sure?" asks Lajos with narrowed eyes.

"Yes." says the angel.

"Very well." answers Lajos before turning to his subordinates. "As warriors of Heaven, these knights have not only blasphemed our creator by calling us devil spawn, but they have also assaulted someone under our protection." he says, causing the angel's eyes to widen as he begins to realise what Lajos means to do. "I deem such actions as enemy actions. Kill them all." he orders.

"No!" exclaims a female voice before the last word can even leave Lajos' mouth. With the voice, comes an eruption of golden light that disappears as quickly as it appeared, and standing where the light originated from is an angel that can compare with the goddesses of Edenia in terms of beauty. She stands at around five feet eight inches tall with curly golden hair, beautiful green eyes, a voluptuous figure, and twelve angel wings coming from her back.

"Please don't kill them." says the angel with a bow.

"Lady Gabriel." whispers the four winged angel behind Gabriel.

"Damn…" whispers a starstruck Ambros before quickly shutting up after receiving a glare from Lajos.

"They are enemies of Edenia, and their actions are severe enough to warrant death." says Lajos.

"They are not warriors of Heaven. They are merely humans who have committed a mistake, so please spare them." replies Gabriel, causing the knights to flinch.

"If that's the case then why does it matter to you if I kill them or not." says Lajos.

"This war has already caused too much death. I don't want there to be any more than the ones that have already happened." she answers, causing Lajos to study her closer.

"You really are pure." says Lajos after a few moments of silence as he signals for Anlon and Ambros to let go of the knights while he straightens her posture.

"Thank you for sparing them." says Gabriel with a smile. "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Gabriel, one of the Seraphs." she says as she stretches her wings.

"What is a Seraph doing here?" asks Lajos.

"Ahhh, I happened to be watching when the confrontation started and even though I know that what they did is wrong, I couldn't just watch as people died so I came here to ask you to forgive them." she says.

"I see." replies Lajos with a nod before walking away from Gabriel.

"Where are you going?" asks the angel with a tilt of her head.

"I have to teleport the inhabitants of the town to a safehouse, and we've already wasted enough time dealing with those idiotic knights of yours." answers Lajos as he, Anlon, and Ambros begin to inscribe a massive runic array on the ground.

"Oooh, can I come? I can help with healing and things like therapy." asks Gabriel with an excited clap.

"Suit yourself. Gawain wanted to meet with a Seraph in order to talk about a permanent alliance between Edenia and Heaven, so your presence would be welcomed." answers Lajos.

"Yes!" exclaims Gabriel as she floats over to the three Edenians in order to watch their work.

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AN: Here's the chapter. As usual, tell me what you guys think.

Also the seventh chapter of my Campione fic is published. The name of it is The Godslaying Pharaoh. The eight chapter is already available on my Pat re on which is (pat re on .com / servantambrosius), minus the spaces. That story will be updated once a week and patrons will be able to read chapters as soon as I finish writing them along with other patreon exclusive content such as the Authorities that I have come up with and are considering for the main character.