Ascension Through Fire

Entry 60:

Linus Ozias POV:

You know, when I first became an angel, I never expected it to look like Sanguinius from Warhammer. I also never knew I would stand in front, or at least close to, the system that governs the sacred gears.

But to give my report, I needed to give it to all of the Archangels. And as such, I approached the near-top level of Heaven. I was literally on God's system's doorstep.

  It was like a never-ending symphony of crying, utter happiness, the depths of despair, and the highest of passion. The greatest and lowest of humanity all at the same time.

But do you know what worried me? The symphony was being drowned out by glitching and what sounded like radio static.

Honestly, I am lucky that Uriel gave most of the report, as I was somewhat distracted during the meeting, which some of the Archangels may have noticed.

So, in a somewhat impulsive move. I sent out my nanite towards the system, which was controlled via God's throne. This undertaking would take time, but if the Necrons could defeat eldritch entities and cage them as batteries, I could hack an esoteric religious system.

However, it's only tricky because of how complex it is and the fact that Michael is constantly monitoring it.

Even now, the data is being decrypted and sent to my private server.

Which will work wonders for finding certain sacred gear users as well. I may not be able to remove them. I will be able to find them no matter where they are.

Regarding resource management, I've already sent out probes outside the solar system that will begin turning the nearby exoplanets into my craft worlds. 

"-its a mess of political complications as various members of the devils seek not to allow us access to the Astaroth heir's peerage. But with Levithan's help, we have made progress."

Uriel had been speaking to his fellow archangels, specifically on how to deal with the fact that the church and, by extension, Heaven lost multiple nuns to the devils because of corruption and negligence.

I am incensed as this is purely due to Heaven's hands-off approach since God's death.

Raphael looks at me as if noticing my expression and asks, "Brother Anakim, is everything alright? You have remained silent and distant since this meeting began."

I look at the archangels and ask, "Permission to speak freely, my lords and ladies?" "Granted," Michael says immediately.

"We are at our weakest state right now. Our Father is gone, and our system is crippled with more brothers and sisters falling and dying to other excursions."

The archangels frown at this, but I continue, " But what makes our situation worse is that the church's reputation is immediately pressed upon us along with their mistakes and failures as well."

"Brother, do you suggest a purge or something of the sort?" Uriel asks cautiously. "No, Lord Uriel, but an addition to our forces in the form of covert ops that shall investigate the inside and outside so that these situations shall never occur."

I then place my hands on the table as I speak plainly, " My fellow brothers and sisters, we are at our lowest and, as such, cannot regulate an organization as large as the church with our small members, so as such, we need a direct organization."

This causes the group to ponder this idea, with Michael asking in a firm tone, "Brother Anakim, what do you have in mind?"

I smile as I present my idea. I direct the archangels towards a monitor in the room. " It is rather simple, Lord Michael. Since we cannot trust our human compatriots to keep us informed, why not have our operatives amongst them who can act and believe while never fearing betrayal."

I motion to the monitor as it displays footage of the first member of the Iscariot Order.

On the screen, it shows the first member of my order taking down multiple stray Devils at once with various firearms and blades and looking rather ravishing, if I do say so myself. I am proud of my work.

But what strikes the archangels specifically is the fact that with each stray devil, she defeats, she prays for them with such devout fealty they can feel it from the video.

Uriel looks like he's in love as he looks at the various weapons and firearms that my Iscariots wield, while Michael looks on with an unreadable expression.

After more footage began to play, I paused the video seeing if any of the archangels had questions.

Surprisingly enough, Metatron, even during his ninja phase, remained focused during this video and asked the first question, " Brother, I noticed that woman was moving much faster than any of our other operatives, disregarding Vasco and Dulio. How is she able to do this?"

I then changed the monitor to the "Leader" of the Iscariot Order, Linus Ozias, as he tears his way through various fallen and stray priests, and once he finishes, he prays as he cleans his weapons.

I then spoke to the monitor, "Linus, this is Anakim. Please tell your audience how this was done."

"Linus," he said as he cleaned his blades. "Well, my lords and ladies, it is through a variety of human gene enhancements that our Lord has evolved us beyond our base state, and this is only just the beginning."

"And if you're wondering if any inhuman experimentation was done, you need not worry as any testing done for these processes is done on created bodies or cadavers of the worst criminals."

Linus then shows his increased strength as he bends and breaks one of the stray priest's holy swords.

"The process is completely safe and has no defects other than increased food intake due to the variety of nutrients needed to supply the body."

I believe that this is enough of a showing for now as I bid goodbye to Linus and turn off the monitor.

The archangels then talk amongst themselves for a couple of minutes before turning their attention back to me.

Gabriel asks in a calm tone of voice, "Brother Anakim, how long would it take for you to get this Iscariot organization going?"

"Barely a couple of weeks, as I have already recruited a  number of volunteers from my various missions." As I say this, Michael looks troubled but understands the necessity, which I thank his overworked state for dulling his judgment and moral stance.

But as a majority of the archangels begin to agree with my proposal, Uriel speaks out.

"Brother, if you seek to lead this organization, you must be tested by me in order to show that you are willing to fight if needed."

I understand his standpoint as this will be a major part of Heaven's operations if it succeeds and, as such, cannot have a weak leader.

All we need do is nod, and we are taken to the heavenly arena, which looks similar to a certain tournament between gods and humans.

No words are spoken between me and Uriel as we charge one another with my sword raised and His Holy Flames forming armor around him.

And as our weapons meet, bright flashes can be seen as the arena shakes and cracks from the power.

We separate as we then clash with my sword, meeting his, and a flurry of slashes and various barriers and stabs are thrown and created and weaknesses exploited.

As I attempt to target Uriel's blindspots, he dodges upward and slashes downward with his flames, and as I dodge, his punch lands center mass, and I am launched away.

But as I recover, Uriel does not let up and flies towards me with various flames forming weapons around him, which I then dodge as I release my sword's power partially, and the flames are extinguished.

"That sword, what is it, as you have never wielded such a weapon before?" Uriel asks as we clash, to which I respond while forming holy constructs to construct his movements.

"This is my blade, Encarmine, a weapon forged for myself to target the enemies of Heaven. Let me show you a taste of its power." The sword then glows in a bright blue light, which releases a wave of power that sends Uriel flying. I take advantage of using Shigan to increase the blow's power.

And as the blow lands, Uriel is gone in a burst of flame, and with the smoke all around me, I pause, focusing on my instinct. And as I feel the strike coming, I dodge along with the next one and the next.

I open my senses as I see further into the world. I see and feel every movement as I witness Uriel moving at a slower pace. I continue to dodge his strikes as my sword slashes extinguish his flames.

But at that moment, Uriel flies back and prepares to get serious as he alights in pure fire and gazes at me with a smiling expression.

We stare at one another, and with my sword glowing brighter, we charge at one another as the flames melt the ground he flies above.

At the moment, he is at the level of a high ultimate class, nearing the monarch class.

And it shows as I can barely keep up with him, and blow after blow strikes me and causes more pain than I have ever felt.

But I pull through and continue to fight, growing stronger as the fight progresses, with my broken limiter essence keeping me in the fight and keeping me growing exponentially.

With his flames growing more passionate, he shouts in glee, "Now this is a battle, brother. Come on! Show me more!"

I oblige him as our punches and sword swings meet over and over again in rapid succession.

*Clang*

*Clang*

*Boom*

*Whoosh*

The fight lasts for over an hour, and with this fight, I have surpassed my previous self as I gleam my element "Control," and in that moment, I see everything from the energy flow indies Uriel to various angels using their holy power and in that moment I reach out and lock their power.

And at that moment, Uriel Falls as his Flames are cut as if he was doused with water. And I walk up to him with my sword pointed at his neck as he breathes heavily, and only one word is said.

"Yield," I say in a silent tone.

Uriel then smiles as he flips over and sits down and breathes out, "I…yield…Brother Anakim Angel Of Control."

I then kneel as the exhaustion hits me in waves, and I fall to the ground with only Encarmine keeping me up.

Such began the tale of the angel of control and his organization that would spread across the world.