WITNESSES

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**Chapter 8**

**Saint Agnes Basilica Training Ground, Sancta Vertica**

Jeremiah stood in the middle of the vast plain, Kaiky's vague instructions replaying over and over in his mind.

“‘Create and condense,’ my ass,” he muttered as he crashed to the ground, landing on his butt before lying on his back, staring up at the dwindling sun.

"It's no use," he sighed, stretching out his hand as if trying to grasp the sun. “But I can’t give up. If I want to be as strong as Micah, I can’t stop now.”

A glint caught his eye, a reflection from the bracelet Kiqutu had given him. He traced the inscriptions with his fingers.

“She said this helps reduce Lucifer’s malevolent energy from leaking out of my body,” he murmured to himself. “Maybe this is what’s holding me back.” He immediately sat up. “But the last time I let his energy out, I almost died,” he said, slapping the thought away with both hands. “I have to take risks.” He slowly removed the bracelet, pausing as he stared at his hand.

“Nothing? Maybe all the training with Miss Karlee and Miss Kiqutu paid off. Now, let me try again.”

He stood up with a smooth, swift motion, taking a deep breath. Swirls of black flames slowly emerged around his body.

“The color even changed. Cool.” He stretched out his arm, and the flames obeyed, flowing along his arm into his palm. Beads of sweat formed on his brow as the flames condensed in his palm. He giggled lightly, scanning the area for a target—anything would do. Subconsciously, he supported his hand with his other arm.

“What’s going on?” The flames in his hand spiraled wildly. “Help, someone help—”

Jeremiah slowly opened his eyes, thrown back to a scene he knew all too well, where it all began…

“What is this? Where am I?” he asked himself, slowly walking toward where his mother stomped on him. “What is this place?”

The scene shifted abruptly. Jeremiah now stood in a desolate landscape under a blood-red sun, surrounded by collapsed buildings. He felt the piercing gaze of something unseen.

“Eosphoros,” he called out. Eosphoros appeared from Jeremiah’s shadow, his slouched posture straightening, making him much taller and larger than before.

“Did you have a growth spurt?” Jeremiah asked.

“It’s the malevolent energy entwined with the atmosphere here that allows me to access my true form,” Eosphoros replied.

“So, what is this place?”

“Hell.”

Jeremiah shielded his eyes as an entity descended from the sky, clad in a red robe. Its long, platinum blonde hair flowed freely down its back. It landed softly a few feet away, its six bloodstained white wings giving a final beat. Eosphoros fell face-first to the ground as the entity took slow steps toward them, its malevolent energy engulfing the area, pulverizing the already collapsed buildings to dust. The pressure was so intense that it cut a wound across Jeremiah’s face.

“Who… what the hell is this? This energy… it can’t be… the Father of Lies.” The pressure abruptly ceased, and Jeremiah gasped for air.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been called that,” the entity said in a calming voice. “I sensed a piece of my soul return here, and look who I find... the child of Judith Mason, Jeremiah, my failed vessel, and a prince of mine, Eosphoros.”

“How do you know who I am?” Jeremiah asked.

“Are you deaf? You have a sliver of my soul, but it’s quite insulting to see that amount of power go to waste,” Lucifer said. “I also know that you…” Shadows gathered behind Lucifer, forming a throne. He crossed his legs and leaned his head on his right fist. “...are planning to become an exorcist.”

“Yes, I want to become an exorcist,” Jeremiah replied.

“And why is that?” Lucifer asked.

“Because… because…” Jeremiah stammered.

“Because you were told to?” Lucifer probed.

“No!” Jeremiah lashed out.

Lucifer smirked. “So why then?”

“Because I want to prove that even though I am a devil or demon-possessed, I still want to save my world,” Jeremiah declared.

“Save your world? Don’t make me laugh. What has this world ever offered you besides rejection and stigmatization?” Lucifer interrupted.

“And I want to right the wrongs my parents did because of you. I listened to how she adored and looked up to you as the bravest and most courageous, the most beautiful yet contradictory entity she had ever encountered. She sacrificed her children for you because she believed that man should also become like God. I don’t fully understand her, but I know that everything she believed in was a lie, and I’m going to become an exorcist to purge those ideas from everyone’s mind.”

Lucifer slowly applauded Jeremiah. “I like you, kid.” He stood up, and the throne vanished. “Return to your world, but know this: nothing can stand in my way.” Lucifer vanished…

“Jeremiah… Jeremiah, do you think he’s dead?”

Jeremiah slowly opened his eyes, regaining consciousness. Kaiky and Karlee’s faces blocked the moonlight.

“What happened?” Jeremiah asked.

“We should be asking you that,” Karlee said.

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**A rift in space slowly opened up, revealing a dark gate.**

Rakael walked out of the unstable gate onto a snowy track, tugging her coat tighter as she walked upward. She reached the peak of a hill and stared at one of the world’s most beautiful sights—the place where the barrier between the four worlds was thin… the Aurora Borealis. She pulled out a rumpled map, marked her location, and continued downward. Faint laughter caught her attention as sprites of little children, barely visible, ran around. A slight smile cracked on her face as she watched them. But something about their movements became suspicious. A little sprite ran into Rakael, looked up at her, and she stepped back—it was her… before… Lightning brought Rakael back to reality as a sprite clad in lightning walked toward her from a distance.

“You!” she screamed. “I won’t let you take them from me!” Her demon manifested as two sea dragons swirled around her. She stretched out her hand, sending the dragons in the pointed direction. The dragons phased past the sprite, and she fell to her knees, tears forming snowflakes as they fell from her eyes. “Don’t, please,” she pleaded as the sprite walked past her. “No… Micah, I’ll kill you!” she screamed.

---

**Saint Agnes Basilica, Sancta Vertica**

Micah sat in a room alongside his teammates for the rescue mission. He sneezed.

“Bet that was Karlee talking about how cool I am,” he said, smiling.

“I doubt that,” Kaiky replied.

Micah’s gaze caught Hana’s, who quickly averted her eyes and stared out the window.

“Hope you’re not getting cold feet, Hana? You should be confident. You just became an Inquisitorial Captain, and this is your first mission,” Micah said.

“No one can be an anomaly like you, Micah,” Fiona said.

“Meaning?”

“No one in their right mind would be thinking of a failed love interest before a mission,” she said, lighting her cigarette.

“Hey, I’m just trying to lighten the mood, come on,” Micah shrugged. “Tyreel, help me out here.”

“You’re letting your power get to you…” Tyreel began.

“Can you guys stop already? That’s enough,” Micah interrupted, his tone shifting away from his usual lightheartedness. “You all throw around the word ‘power’ every time you mention my name.”

“Well, that’s because you are powerful, and your ceiling is out of sight,” Kaiky said.

“Oh, and you single-handedly took out an entire village of Satanists yourself. I heard that even the Prelate envied that achievement,” Hana added.

“I had to kill a bunch of people. If I were powerful enough, that wouldn’t have happened.”

“Can you hear yourself?” Tyreel asked, frowning. “That Satanic group placed a sigil on Israel. Death was the least punishment they deserved.”

Micah stood up and walked toward the door, grabbing a cigarette from Fiona.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“I need to step out,” he said, snapping his fingers to light the cigarette.

---

Micah took a long drag as he walked toward the church gate, waving at his colleagues and juniors as they passed by. He paused as a silhouette appeared in the darkness.

“Who are you?” he asked.

The silhouette moved toward Micah, its hands in the air. “I come bearing information,” it said with a pitched voice.

As it continued walking, its shape began to take form. An average-height person in a black overall stood before Micah. The figure removed its hood, and Micah noticed its button.

“I’m sure you know by now that I’m from the Insidious Covenant Church, and like I said, I come bearing information about the church’s plans,” the figure said.

“And why should I believe you?” Micah asked, taking a long drag.

“Well, I risked coming here alone to confront the powerful Micah Orchard…”

“Stop there. You must be pretty strong in your own right, able to withstand the high concentration of divine energy and have crazy control over your malevolent energy to not trigger the alarm here,” Micah said, spotting

a sm

irk on the intruder’s face.

“The church is after the seven artifacts your God used to separate the four worlds. Veyan, the leader, wants to use these artifacts to merge the four worlds and gain access to the fruit of eternal life.”

“And why should I believe you?” Micah asked again.

“Doubt won’t get you anywhere.”

“What do you gain from this?” Micah asked.

“Let’s just say I enjoy chaos,” the intruder said before vanishing.

---

Rakael grabbed and pulled herself up with the help of the last protruding stone. Just beneath the aurora and at the pinnacle of the mountain, a compartment carved into a cave stood before her. A hooded, muscular figure stood there.

“I always thought you were a great addition, Rakael Orchard, but I didn’t expect you to go behind my back and seek out an artifact on your own,” Veyan said, turning to face her as Seraphina walked out from behind him.

“I thought you were smart, but this was all a ruse to get you out of the way, Rakael. You see, there’s a prophecy about a demon-possessed angel destined to bring either joy or sorrow, depending on their decisions. They are also called the Witnesses,” Seraphina said. “Your insatiable thirst for revenge and hatred makes you hard to bend, so we planned to take you out.”

“You bastards,” Rakael growled, releasing malevolent energy that caused the snow beneath her to sublimate. “I’ll kill anyone who stands in my way!”