Chapter 6

- Whoa-whoa-whoa. - He interrupted me again. - I'm not getting old, but I don't want to hear a sob story about your whole life, so make it short. - Maybe I should shoot him a couple more times," I threw a thoughtful look at him. Judging by the fact that the smile was gone from his cheeky face, he realized something.

- All right, don't get angry, I'm listening. - He raised his hands in a conciliatory manner.

- So," I continued speaking, "a demon with yellow eyes named Azazel appeared in my room," I looked at Gabriel, and he gave me a drink of his blood. And then I saw the future of the world, and soon we're all going to be fucked up. I digress, so here goes. I'm not the only one, the demon visited a lot of kids. From what I understand from my visions, his daddy's gonna need a parade suit when he leaves his prison. And he will, if nothing is done. I didn't want any part of it, so I decided to bail. First I became a demon, then I became a strong demon, and just recently I did an ancient ritual on myself, "Combining Essences," if you've heard of it. - To which I received a nod from the archangel. - He nodded at the archangel, and the Nephilim's soul was chosen as the one to be absorbed.

- You're a madman," he whistled. "The fact that you were able to combine so many different entities is a miracle, or rather, it shouldn't have happened at all. And you've built up your strength too quickly-you're twenty-one, but you've got half the naked power of me.

- Maybe Azazel's blood had something to do with it, I don't know. - I have a theory, but I'm not going to share it.

Maybe it's my soul, or rather its alien origin. But that's not for sure. I understand that it's impossible to become so strong in such a short time. Not even after eating that many demons.

- And what have you become? - Demonic angel? No, no. - An angelic demon, or what? - he said with a laugh.

- I don't know, but I prefer Dark Nephilim. And don't look at me like that, I'm all about pathos, you can understand that, you're the same. - I don't have to justify myself to him, he's even less serious than me.

- So what's up with the global fuck-up? Give it to me straight. - He's back to the main point. - Maybe you exaggerated, you people like to make a big deal out of nothing.

- First they open the gates of hell, then they release your big brother, and by the way he'll kill a lot of little gods that are kind of your friends now, then the civil war starts in the sky, your relatives will kill each other in piles. This will lead to leviathans being released from purgatory. Next, the angel Metatron, will shut down heaven and the angels will fall. And as the cherry on the cake, your daddy's sister Darkness will be released and yes, he's alive and well, just hammered on all of you. - The more I talked the more his mouth opened and his eyes widened, a comical sight. - How's this, where exactly am I exaggerating?

- Fucking hell. - What do you want from me? I got out of it a long time ago, and I ain't coming back. Don't even ask.

- I wasn't going to. - Teach me your tricks, and I'll leave you alone, I'm interested in your illusions.

- Wouldn't it be a shame for you to give me useless information? - I didn't agree to that.

- You will save Kali, thanks to me. - I lied honestly. - And also, if you teach me everything, I'll tell you about the fact that in the future you'll be caught by the Prince of Hell Asmodeus. He'll torture you all the time, suck the grace out of your body, and in the end, you'll go crazy. What you gonna tell me now? - A cheeky grin crept up on me, and I couldn't help myself.

- Fucking hell. - He said it again.

- You're doing it again. - I don't want to sound so sneering, or he'll go away and be gone bye-bye. - So what's the deal with school? - If you say no to me, you feathered asshole, I'll shoot you with a full clip, I thought angrily.

He might not feel anything but a tickle now, but it makes me feel better.

- Okay, the hell with it. - But I don't have the time or the desire to coddle you, so I'll make it simple. - He came up to me. There was no more wound on my leg. I shuddered, wondering what he was up to.

- Don't be afraid. - He chuckled, and now Loki was back in his disguise, and his holy energy was no longer emitting into the neighborhood. - I'm an honest god of deception, and a deal's a deal! - You're a goddamn joker.

He came close to me, put his hands on my temples, looked me in the eye, and said.

- Don't fight it. - And in a second, it was like I'd been hit on the head with a sledgehammer, and more than once. The images flashed before my eyes, my ears were ringing and my nose was bleeding.

If you take your mind off it for a second and think about it, this is my usual state.

- I hope you enjoyed Uncle Loki's magic lesson. - he said. - That's for ruining my pants. - The bastard explained his act of mutilation.

He's already fixed the pants, I see.

- Very. - Get the fuck out of here, Legiliment.

- Heh heh, legiliment, funny. Well, have a nice stay, and I'm off.

- Wait a minute. - I'm not going to let him get away with it, he's too happy," I said, "Don't say that for no reason.

His eye twitched, I could tell. Nice little thing, though.

And the winger disappeared.

I gotta go, too.

Next time I'm sure I'll punch him in the face.

I had a headache for a week until all the information was absorbed. And judging by the sensation, it was pumped directly into the soul, bypassing the weak human brain. It was hard to do with illusions, because you need perfect control of magical energy, which I was not yet able to do, because I was not an archangel who had been trained for thousands of years. I can do little things, but that's about all I can do.

I'm not going to die yet, so I'll figure it out.

I can, of course, fool around with telepathy, but I want a change, everything in life will come in handy.

I was wondering what to do next.

I'm not really strong enough to absorb demons. More precisely, it seems like a drop in the ocean, more trouble than good. I already have a semblance of a plan for the future.

I want to get involved in canon events, or rather break them the hell down.

Save some people.

Prevent a few disasters if possible.

And devour a few powerful souls.

I was distracted from planning my bright future by Gabriel, who had appeared in the middle of my house.

For which I got a smack in the cheeky face. Or rather a copy of him.

- Sorry reflex, next time knock. - I said it in a dry tone, but I couldn't hide a hint of contentment. Though a copy, but pleasant. - What do you want? - I asked without interest - I thought we had finished our business.

- Hello, mutant. - He sat down opposite me. - I wanted to ask you, where did you get the soul of a phoenix? I can't find one, and I haven't seen one for a long time.

- In Purgatory. - I told him, why hide it? I got everything I needed from him. - More of a hybrid than a mutant.

- Makes sense. How did you get in there? It doesn't matter though, can you still get it? - I want to give my friend a present.

- What about you? - It was strange that he came to me. If I could handle being a strong demon, the Archangel could.

- I'd be caught in hell, disguised as I was, but that's the least of my worries. - I don't give a damn about demons. - It's clear now, he's bored, and he doesn't want to be caught. But I'm better off.

- You owe me. You wait.

A snap of my fingers and I've got two soul traps in my hands, and I'm already in hell, and it's the same old thing... but no, now there are three powerful demons guarding the portal.

Great, I'll soon get my strength back.

- "Freeze," I commanded, "wait for my return."

There were guards on the Purgatory side, too. The mistress was offended that she had been robbed.

If you remember that phoenix ash can kill her, it makes sense to me.

Snape snapped his fingers again, and a dozen different monsters scattered in bloody shreds. I don't have time to practice my magic. And I've already figured out what I'm going to ask Gabriel for. One more step and I'm in the same place where I got the Phoenix souls last time. A few minutes to gather a new crop, and I leave Purgatory.

- "Follow me," another order to the demons waiting for me. And we're already in my apartment.

- That was quick. - Loki said. "Your friends? - He nodded at the demons.

- Yeah, they're breakfast, lunch, and dinner. - I pointed at them one by one. - Tossed him two shower traps.

- Thank you, call me if you need me. - Big soft pink numbers popped up on the wall of my apartment - And stop eating crap.

Poof... and it exploded with a firework of glitter that went off all over the room. All I had to do was sigh heavily and curse him mentally.

Time to mind my own business, demons to eat, bodies to burn.

Routine.

The black-eyed ones were powerful, my essence, which was bright orange, had even darkened by a couple of shades.

I was able to get my hands on some of the more powerful black-eyes, and my essence, which was bright orange, even darkened a few tones.

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