Chapter 4: E.D.E.N
Cardinal World.
Grassy Plain
Blue skies spread far and wide, almost endlessly.
And ceaselessly, white wisps of cloud drifted through the air with unhurried grace.
Was there any word fit to describe such a scene, except beautiful?
Soft winds bellowed across the meadow, rustling the tall grass below, carrying faint traces of floral scent.
Upon that tranquil scenery,
two figures appeared in a blinding flash of white, as their feet hovering just above the grass.
Kcrick~
They were none other than the Cherub Supreme and the Divine Ancestor.
Yet, at this moment, both white-haired figures wore distinctly sour expression on their face.
"Che, that guy was quick to kick us out."
Twilight was the first to speak with his face concocting into a displeased expression.
An expression that Helion also followed with his words, despite no apparent change in expression.
"He never really did like you to begin with."
"You think?"
Obviously, who else could they be talking about except Feldway.
Despite being Aeons of years old, that one still acted jealous like a child.
Helion shook his head lightly at the thought.
But setting that aside…
After a moment of quiet observation, he finally spoke again.
"So… where are we?"
Yeah, they were nowhere near the coordinates they were supposed to arrive at.
Did Feldway literally sabotage them?
It seemed like it.
After all, the coordinates they had set for Eden were supposed to be the farthest edge of the Cardinal World.
Or to put it simply.
When viewed as a sphere, the very bottom of the world was where they had originally planned to arrive.
But...
Due to Feldway using the Key to forcibly eject them before their coordinates could stabilize, they'd failed.
"Hm. Although we missed the mark, the coordinates are still near."
Almost optimistically, Twilight now murmured facing south.
Even though he said that, there was that weary tone to his expression, much different from the mania side he usually had.
Helion glanced at him.
"You don't look like your usual self."
"Do I..?"
Looking towards a distant with a hand under his chin as he mulled.
Just when Helion followed his gaze.
Whoosh-!
The gentle, serene breeze suddenly magnified into a violent gust into a gust of wind.
Unnatural shadows trailed overhead like clouds covering the sun, prompting both to fix their gaze on the sky.
Rooaaar—!
"Oh. What an interesting specimen."
"Ancient Dragon?"
When Helion squinted his eyes well enough..
The creature looked like something between a malformed wyvern and a bird from the dinosaur era.
For lack of a better name, since none could be conceived, he muttered that.
Roar—!
Once more, that distorted, almost glitched sound tore through the air.
The creature's skin was pitch-black and jagged, its body colossal, so large it dwarfed them both easily.
Its wings stretched wide, wide enough to blot out the sunlight,
with wings large, large enough to cover entire buildings.
"Say, Guardian. Is this normal?"
Twilight pointed toward the malformed dragon, looking like a rip-off of what a Dragon would look.
… though, that alone was enough to warrant his curiosity.
Helion, however, treating it as though it possessed no particular threat, brought a hand up to his face.
"Probably the result of a high concentration of residual magicules."
"I'll be counting on you then."
Helion gave a simple nod and took a few steps forward, as the creature's wings unfurled wide.
Its wings flapped violently as it ascended into the sky.
Preparing what they could only be assumed to be an attack.
Snap~
Helion snapped his finger.
In an instant, several blazing pillars of white light erupted around him.
Those blazing pillars shimmered down, revealing their nature.
Blades.
Several of them.
They were too long to be swords and their designs were far from being lances.
Longsword was the closest to it.
But its body was divided into a deliberate midsection, looking closer to a Chainblade.
There were about six of them.
Hilts were inlaid with gold, their surfaces traced with golden trim and crossed by a black X-shaped pattern
[Radiance]
Legendary-Grade Equipment.
Its original form was a singular divine weapon, but through its innate ability, it could replicate itself to some extent.
- [Clone].
While the cloning ability was that of [Raidance], the white-burning flames no doubt belonged to him.
Helion.
Skills.
An ability that could be acquired that would bend the laws of the world to the user's wishes.
It depended, in a sense, on how strong one's wish was.
For most Angels, especially the lower-ranked onesz this was impossible.
They had no wish, and no individuality.
As such, they failed to acquire any.
Rather, they lacked the requirements for said acquisition.
Higher Angels, on the other hand, received Gifts, bestowed according to their rank and power.
And for the highest among them,
the Seven First Creations, each was granted a single, supreme Gift.
Administrative Authority
Essentially, a power that grants them what an Ultimate Skill in itself would do.
After all, they were the first Seven, each representing one of the days of Creation.
So then, what of those that came after everything else?
Helion was the embodiment of Light, the representative of the Sun and the Flame.
Terrestrially: the Stars.
As the First of the Cherubim,
he was the Creator's Flaming Sword.
"Move."
Without the slightest change in his expression, Helion flicked his wrist.
Twisk–! Twisk–! Twisk–!
Twisk–! Twisk–! Twisk–!
Sounds of blade cutting the air resounded, carrying with them, searing white flames.
If viewed from a different angle.
Obviously, when comparing the sizes of a creature that towered like a mountain.
A toothpick like those longswords was obviously smaller.
Yet,
Roar—!
This creature thought so, or at least, its beastly instinct told it so.
In this era, many creatures grew to such monstrous size.
Especially after the aftermath of the war between the Giants and the Celestial Forces.
Devastation wrecked the face of the world.
Magicule contamination spread across the land,
and from the residue of that devastation, abominations like this one were born.
It could be classified as an Apex predator,
which to put it into terms, an S-class, if going by logic of 'other worlds'.
Whoosh!
A violent gust spiraled from its wings, weaving a barrier of compressed wind around its body.
It was… clever.
Crack—!
Part of the gust of wind swept down as the ground seemed to sink, cracking, with fissures spreading.
Trees bent unnaturally, their roots snapping violently upwards before flying away like twigs.
Boom—!
Loud sounds of thunderous and small impacts resounded throught the area followed by,
"You're too loud."
Helion's voice cut clean through it all, and then
GROOOAAARRR—!
What followed was the piercing scream of the behemoth, as white flames seared its skin.
It thrashed, flapping its wings to create gusts to extinguish the flames, but it was futile.
After all, those were the flames from God.
Thud!
Unable to sustain its flight, the Ancient Dragon plummeted from the heavens like a bolt of lightning.
BOOM—!
Following that was a massive thunderous impact followed, shaking the plains.
Earth erupted as dust, debris, and chunks of stone shot into the air, clouding the sky in brown smoke.
However-
"Oh, so this is a rumored Cherub."
Twilight mused lightly. "Even from here, I can feel your intensity."
"Please do not make fun of me."
Both figures now floated above the scorched field, suspended midair, overlooking the collapsed beast on the ground.
Roar—!
It howled weakly, struggling to rise as its massive body twitched, trembling.
Perhaps, this was its way of showing refusal to submit.
Had its wings remained intact, perhaps it could've fled to the nearest spring, submerged itself in the healing waters.
But now—
GYAAAAH—!
Its wings were burning, its scales were melting.
And the person responsible for this was coldly looking down on him.
"Hou? So even a beast with nothing but instincts can feel fear, huh? Looks like you traumatized it."
Twilight let a loud amused laugh.
Yes, this was precisely what made existence interesting.
Life, absurdity, emotion.
All of it deepened his curiosity.
Even now, he was getting ideas… Inspiration, for his work.
"Mhm? What are you doing?"
Just as Twilight was savoring the dragon's struggle, Helion raised a hand.
Stretching it towards the dying creature.
"Safe guarding its essence. Although it hasn't been long, I think I have a fair grasp on you now."
On his face,
Rather than displaying extreme emotions at that statement, his grin simply widened.
Perhaps this guardian wasn't so different from him after all.
After all, this world was void.
One could say there wasn't much to satisfy beings like them here other than curiosity.
After all, this world possessed boundless potential, only limited by those who shaped it.
"I wonder, what sort of beings would take shape if its essence is used."
"Oi, oi, oi, just what do you take my noble cause for?"
Uhm… for shit?
Really.
Obviously, both of them knew exactly what the other meant.
Ting~!
A spherical object rose, swirling with chaotic, shifting purples, with prismatic light at its edges.
It rose gently from the remains of the fallen beast, spinning slowly in the air.
Helion raised a hand, stopping the sphere before it drifted closer to him.
With a motion, he waved his hand.
Bhmph~
It disappeared.
"I sent it somewhere safe for now."
With that, Helion turned his gaze toward the colossal carcass lying below.
Twilight's eyes followed.
"So? What's the deal with that?"
"You know... with the right materials, you can create an even more masterpiece."
Despite saying that with his mechanical expression, despite the delight in his voice,
Which obviously, Twilight didn't miss.
He couldn't help but smirk.
This one's crazier than me.
After all, he was doing this with a cause, which was to fulfil Veldanava's wishes.
But Helion was simply doing this for shits and giggles.
Still, since the Creator imposed no true limits, their actions were not wrong.
If anything, they were expected.
They had been assigned to create new beings upon the world.
To play god here was no sin.
And Helion had the strength to justify that title.
Twilight, after all, was ordained as the Ancestor of Humanity.
This was by no means wrong.
But because of a variable named Helion fixed into the equations.
More species than what should have originally existed would begin to spawn.
All because of a single Angel's curiosity.
"Now, with that done. Let's leave for Eden first, the earlier we get to work, the better."
…Twilight finally said, brushing dust from his cloak, looking at the now empty but ruined plain.
Having finished what needed to be done,
Both figures suspended in the air began to rise once more.
Twilight gave that suggestion which both agreed without much argument.
Environment Derivation for Evolution and Nascence.
Otherwise known as E.D.E.N
It was a name that Helion simply decided to call it just because he could.
One could say there wasn't really any meaning behind it other than it being the workplace where humans were created.
Still, Twilight was sold on the name simply because it made things sound organized.
Or rather,
The fact that it simply sounded intelligent.
Well, even with that said.
E.D.E.N. was, after all, a project born from the Creator's wish:
to populate a silent, desolate world with beings.
Beings who could live long, and more importantly, freely communicate with him.
Thus was born another term.
Artificial Non-Divine Autonomous Material-lifeform
In short: A.D.A.M
Deep into the Cardinal World.
Rather, on the reverse side of this World, was a place, cut off from the rest of the world.
Like the world outside it.
It flourished with flora and fauna.
Endless greenery that spread in all visible coordinates of this dimension, accompanied by streams of water.
Very much so.
After all, it was modelled after the Fifth Layer of the Heavenly Star Palace.
Much like the Star Palace, a key was required to enter this sacred place.
In the first place.
The world that laid beyond this world was marred, almost hopeless beyond belief.
It wasn't hard for them to realize.
Currently, except for the Spirit and Giant races they had little knowledge about.
Roaming round the world were a myriad of bizarre looking creatures.
Behemots, Ancient Dragons,
Though they are called Dragon, their huge size and malformed appearance made them something close to that.
"So. This is Eden."
Twilight looked around, letting the breeze play against his face as a smile etched onto his features.