Angels are Inherently Dumb

"Huh... It's good that angels are inherently dumb," Emes sighed with relief.

He was now on the altar that would send him to his next life—or maybe Arthur's next life. A young girl from reception had escorted him here.

"One of the Gods should be aware by now. Well, no worries; they'll forget about it soon," Emes thought, brushing off the concern.

It was incomprehensible for a Fallen to enter the cycle of birth and death; it would cause serious problems.

"But anyway, just how did I become a Fallen?"

"I should have only become a mortal soul, but being Fallen is a hassle," he sighed, nodding at the young girl asking him questions.

"Arthur Luminous Ravenstein, you, the Sole Emperor of Morse, the first to unify all countries since the birth of the Planet! In recognition of your achievements, we have decided to give you two choices!!"

the girl declared, then gasped for breath after saying it all at once.

Emes looked at her and asked, "Two choices? Mean?"

"Means you can choose what you want to be," the girl giggled, patting Emes on the head.

He didn't respond, just stared at her, then suddenly smirked.

"This girl has guts."

"Angela, just what are you doing?! Come out now—the crowd is overflowing!"

A shout came from outside, startling Angela. That was her name.

"Oh, sorry, I'm coming!" she shouted.

"Hey, listen," she turned back to him, "Wait here for a few seconds. Someone from above will do a soul inspection, and then you'll be sent to Earth," Angela explained, almost as if teaching a small boy.

With that, she ran toward the exit.

"Inspection, huh... Well, it'll be okay," he muttered.

He was a God before he was a Fallen; deceiving a mid-level soul wouldn't be difficult.

Suddenly, a light appeared from the altar behind him, scanning him from head to toe.

"So this is the Soul Inspection."

There was silence for a few seconds—no beeping for danger but also no ping for confirmation.

He stared at the altar for a moment before touching it.

"NO DATA FOUND!

NO DATA FOUND!

SOUL NOT REGISTERED IN THIS UNIVERSE.

EVERY MORTAL... CHECK.

EVERY DIVINE BEING... CHECK.

EVERY GOD... CHECK.

...

EVERY FALLEN... CHECK.

CONCLUSION: ANOMALY, HAVE TO DES...

HELLO. WELCOME TO THE CYCLE OF LIFE AND DEATH. HOW MAY I HELP YOU?"

The boy looked at it with a strange expression.

"Is this broken? Just what is happe..."

___

*Trait - Forgotten One*

No one can remember you.

___

"Oh, right, that damn Trait." Emes punched his hand, feeling proud.

The altar in front of him was now silent, as if it had forgotten about him and was waiting for the next person.

"So I can go, right?" He glanced at the altar, then cautiously moved behind it, careful not to make a sound.

Behind the altar, there was a lake; it was said that you had to touch the bottom of the lake to enter the cycle of life and death.

He slowly extended his leg into the water. It was as chilling as ice yet also lukewarm, the two temperatures soothing each other.

Gradually, he submerged fully into the water.

It was called a lake due to its immense size, but there was nothing there—not even plants, let alone animals.

Only water. Endless, still water that would take you wherever you wished to go.

The bottom of the lake wasn't visible, but he kept descending.

There was no need to breathe here, so it wasn't difficult. After hours of descending, he came to a standstill. At the end was a small hole, just large enough for him to pass through.

He glanced back up, but the surface was no longer visible. Taking a deep breath, he went in.

The tunnel was uncomfortable, tighter than he'd expected, making it difficult to move forward.

***

Haru was running frantically, terror on his face. Many souls tried to ask what had happened, but he ignored them all, rushing toward a massive gate.

One of the guards yelled at him, "What are you doing here? This is the sanctuary of Lord Raphaestus; leave now if you don't want punishment!"

"I... I have to meet the Lord!" Haru shouted.

"Are you out of your mind? Franks, throw him out!"

Franks moved toward him, but a hand stopped him.

One of the elder guards, noticing Haru's condition, asked, "State your reason."

"It's... It's about a Fallen."

Everyone fell silent and slowly moved away from the gate.

There was a unique rule in heaven:

"If someone utters the name 'Fallen,' they must face the nearest supreme God immediately."

It seemed a foolish rule, but none dared break it. Once, a young soul mentioned the word "Fallen" to meet the God of Creation, assuming the usually carefree God would ignore it.

No one knows where he is now.

All eyes turned to Haru, uncertain why he was taking such a risk. But it didn't matter; if he'd mentioned a Fallen, they had to take him to a God.

____

In a vast green field under the celestial sky, the God of Stability, Raphaestus, lay peacefully when suddenly a soul entered.

[Haru, why did you utter that name?]

"Master, I... I let a Fallen infiltrate heaven!" Haru shouted in a single breath, eyes closed, bracing for his doom.

But nothing happened. He cautiously opened his eyes to find Master Raphaestus right in front of him, staring intensely. For the first time, Raphaestus spoke aloud instead of directly into Haru's mind.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?" His voice held no emotion, but Haru felt his imminent destruction.

"The Fallen..."

BAM!

Haru's head was no more.

The God of Stability finally stood up and cried out in a foreign language.

~•|`•|~|`~|

And vanished from that place.

---

In a dark tunnel, the boy strained forward, his gaze fixed on the growing light ahead. He pushed toward it with all his strength, finally emerging. But the warm sight of his mother was gone—instead, before him lay hundreds of bodies scattered across the ground.

Slowly, he looked down at his own small hand and realized he was a baby. As he tried to turn his head to look back, a large, rough hand stopped him.

"Don't look back, boy. There's nothing there."

The man speaking to him wore white armor adorned with a golden lion crest on his chest. He was rugged and sturdy, with a gruff look, yet he carefully cradled the boy in his arms and began to walk.

Emes could guess what was happening. This was a battlefield, and the war here had ended. Judging by the man's words, it seemed he intended to adopt him.

The man gently patted his back, trying to soothe him to sleep. Emes didn't resist; he simply let things unfold.

But as they moved away, he took one last glance at the spot the man had stopped him from seeing.

There lay a headless body of a woman, void of life.