Chapter 3

(1603, Unknown Location Within Antarctica)

In the coldest part of the planet, there is a region where... The winters are long, dark, and bitterly cold. After it has set in April, the sun will not rise again until almost halfway through August.

An individual dressed in all black with a hood drawn over his face suddenly materialized close to a frozen lake. The individual's left hand was holding a suitcase, and he navigated the deep snow with relative ease as he made his way towards the edge of the frozen lake, where a woman was seen standing.

She was interacting with arctic geese and penguins, both of which had naturally flocked around her. Her beauty and grace could make even the most stoic man smile, and her gestures held an innocent yet seductive allure that would undoubtedly pierce the heart of any sensible man.

"It is a beautiful night, isn't it?" The woman talked while bending in the direction of the figure with her hands behind her back. The wind blew, ruffling the young woman's long, curly blonde hair, and the moon shined brightly, illuminating the young woman's stunning face. She was without a doubt the most beautiful woman that figure had ever seen in his entire life.

The man simply lifted his hood and looked her in the eyes. His face, on the other hand, remained serene and serious. Her beauty did not affect him. He was looking at her with no animosity or lust in his eyes, just a neutral expression. He'd already removed his mask, revealing his beautiful features. His silver hair complemented his cyan eyes and his stunning face, which was expressionless.

"It is a pleasant night indeed, Archangel Gabriel." The man spoke with a magnetic voice that would make any lady swoon, and with his stoic attractive face, he appeared to be a god of beauty who had arrived upon the realm of mortals.

He drew his suitcase towards Gabriel and opened it; it was the same suitcase he stole from one of the main headquarters of the [Dark Church]. He pulled the two locks open, and the suitcase let out a small amount of pressured air before opening to reveal its contents.

Gabriel's face tightened as she examined the internal contents; it appeared as if she was doing her best not to show any emotion, and hiding her pain and sorrow in a simple smile; the man noticed but remained silent because her emotions didn't matter to him; he made a deal and he is here to fulfil his part, no less, no more.

The suitcase held a colourless crystal pulsing with bluish-golden light inside it; to the casual observer, it appeared to be one of the most valuable crystals they had ever seen, but a knowledgeable supernatural entity would immediately recognize it as a [Angelic Source: The Core of Archangels].

This [Angelic Souce] belonged to Ramiel; the archangel of hope, he was attributed with two tasks: he is responsible for divine visions, and he guides the souls of the devoted into Heaven; he was one of the strongest Archangels, second only to Michael and Uriel. He was a brave Angel who died a warrior's death, but he was betrayed by his brother, who succumbed to the enemy's temptation and backstabbed him at his lowest point.

Even in the face of his death, he was said to have died with a bright smile, even wishing the best for his fallen brothers who had betrayed him; he was a man with a pure heart that equalled Gabriel.

Now there comes a question. How did humans obtain something like this?

However, how humans obtained something like this remained a mystery; even the angels themselves didn't know anything about it, but one thing is certain: they must have severely mutilated the corpse of that Archangel to take his [Angelic Source], therefore his body must have been torn beyond recognition.

'Humans, after all, are like cockroaches, always hiding in the corner, waiting for the right moment to catch their prey. The man mused they hunt when you're most vulnerable, with a hint of sympathy. If he knew his estimate was correct, the humans had to have either juiced his body in a blender (angel blood has healing capabilities for humans) or been performing some gruesome experiment on that angel's body.

He carefully closed the briefcase and offered it to Gabriel, who accepted it from him. Her expression considerably improved from earlier, though her eyes were still a bit red, as all those suppressed emotions must have taken their toll on her.

"My first part of the deal is done, I hope you keep your part," the man said, a tinge of coldness flowing from his tone, he wasn't rude, he was merely cold, and he couldn't keep sympathizing for some he didn't know too much, after all, it's a deal, a business; you shouldn't put your feelings in line of business.

"Of course, teehee!" Gabriel attempted to laugh it off in her typical tone. 'She needs some alone time to regain herself.' The man sighed once again to himself. However, on the outside, he remained as stoic as ever.

She came forwards towards the man, her blue eyes bore into his cyan ones without losing eye contact, she raised both her arms towards him and suddenly out of thin air, a sword that gave an enormous amount of holy energy was summoned, the man stared at the sword with a gleam in his eyes, it had so much holy energy that it almost had half the holy energy of the Angel in front of him.

The blade resembles a European sword, with a golden guard curling forward. The blade's base curls inward. The sword has a green plant stem with leaves and flower petals pattern carved along the blade; what made this sword unusual was that, in addition to holy energy, it was emitting an enormous amount of life force that even exceeded the sacred energy it had.

It was the 6th shard of Excalibur, [Excalibur Blessing: The Holy Sword of Blessing].

Gabriel smiled softly as he held the sword in both hands and looked at the man. "Take it, it's all yours," the woman said as she raised the sword handle towards him. The man wielded the sword. The sword instantly released a very violent aura, and all of its holy power went wild, attempting to burn the sinful man for daring to touch its graceful might.

However, the holy energy was transcended by even purer energy of the opposite nature. The man's energy was so pure that it judged holy power to be impure and began purifying it. Under the weight of such power, the Excalibur yielded and acknowledged its new wielder with a hum.

The man nodded. He was pleased with his results. Unknowingly, he gave a charming smile, the kind that can turn the world upside down. Even the purest angel Gabriel couldn't help but blush in the face of such a scene. After all, the man had inherited his ancestor's charm, who was said to be the most sinfully handsome man on the planet.

With incredible strength and a face that could topple countries, it was almost every supernatural woman's dream to have a husband like this man; his charm was strong enough to make even the purest angel blush. However, the man was oblivious to all of this; he only cared about himself and himself.

The man nodded to Gabriel, and his face returned to its expressionless state, causing the beautiful Angel to frown slightly, but a small lovely smile never left her face.

"Archangel Gabriel, we'll meet again." The man said to the woman and began to walk away without looking back, as he needed to travel some distance to activate the teleportation array.

He drowned himself in his thoughts while walking; previously, he was just an ordinary man who could be found anywhere; but...

Life... A series of uncoordinated or coordinated events in seemingly good or bad instances... while some find it beautiful, others find it evil and unforgiving...

...Both are incorrect. There is no single definition for the term... 'Life'

Life is like a coach, constantly throwing shit at you with only minor pauses in between so it can rest its arm or simply continue with the other, what it throws at you are random, some are tests, others are gifts, and worst case scenario?

Sudden. Unexplained. Bullshit.

As the wise Gump once said, you never know what you're going to get.

And he certainly didn't...

He remembers his final days in his original world, cold and snowy like the good old frozen north, with just him, his sister, and his parents, living a simple life unnoticed by the millions around them; those were simpler times.

However, he was unaware that his life was coming to an end. He can only recall snippets of what happened: another mildly warm day in the snow, a bright light, and then...

He was Satan's grandson.

His name was...

"We will, without a doubt, meet again, my lovely Lucifer." The woman muttered softly to herself before unfolding her 12 pure white wings and flying towards the beautiful horizon, thinking of something only she knew.

A/N: Do comment on your experience with the chapter. Thank you for reading :)