*A month after the battle of the Western Front*

*POV: Loriel*

Just a few hours ago, I could still smell the acrid odor of sulfur, the heat of demonic blood and the sweat on Alexander’s skin. Here, in the upper strata of Paradise, there was only the immaculate whiteness of celestial marble, the sterile smell of divine incense and that constant golden light, which left no room for shadows.

I walked down the long corridor leading to the Council Hall, my wings folded nervously against my back. My white silk tunic brushed against the crystal floor, but my mind was elsewhere, lost in the memories of our clandestine nights under the command tent at Tenebris.

Alexander... Sulyvhan... Every time I thought of him, a forbidden heat ran under my skin, a sensation that the other angels would have called corruption, but which I knew to be the only real thing in this world of simulacra.

’Why have they summoned me now?’ I thought, my heart beating at a rhythm too human for a celestial entity. ’Have they discovered our secret? Do they know that an Archangel offers herself every night to the first sovereign of men?’

The massive doors of pure gold opened without a sound. I entered the amphitheater of light. There, seated on thrones of solidified clouds, ten of the twenty-two Seraphs awaited me. The pressure of their combined Arcane mana was so overwhelming that I had to struggle not to collapse.

At the center sat Michael, the Seraph of Judgment. His golden plate armor seemed forged in the heart of a sun. His massive and muscular build commanded immediate respect, and his bright red hair, like glowing embers, floated as if animated with a life of its own.

His amber, reptilian eyes fixed on me with a hardness that seemed to probe my soul.

To his right, Jophiel, the Seraph of Wisdom. She wore thin black-framed glasses that accentuated the cold intensity of her dark eyes. Her black hair was cut in a short, straight bob, with a sharp fringe framing a porcelain-pale face. She did not move, her full lips remaining closed, observing a mana chessboard that floated before her, just as her future spiritual descendant would do in the Stavenger faction.

There was also Gabriel, the Seraph of Time, whose aura oscillated erratically, making his movements appear sometimes slow, sometimes instantaneous. His features were fine, almost androgynous, and his silver eyes seemed to see the past and the future simultaneously. Beside him, Raphael, the Seraph of Healing, exuded a scent of spring flowers, his hands resting calmly on his knees, wrapped in a tender green glow.

The others: Luciel, whose light was so intense that it erased his own features; Chamuel, Zadkiel, Raziel, and finally Metatron, the Seraph of Space. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"Archangel Loriel," Michael began, his voice resonating like a thunderclap in the silent hall. "Your report on the situation at Tenebris is... instructive. But incomplete."

I bowed deeply, my blue hair sliding over my shoulders. "I only reported the facts, Lord Michael. The demonic invasion is contained for the moment."

"Contained by whom?" Jophiel intervened, without looking up from her mana chessboard. "By our legions? Or by this human... Alexander Sulyvhan?"

I felt a shiver run down my spine. "General Sulyvhan is a precious ally. His mastery of aura is unprecedented."

"Precisely, that is the problem," Michael cut in as he stood up. "Sulyvhan has become too powerful. He has awakened a force, this ’Aura’, that does not come from our blessing. He does not use the arcane mana we offer him. He draws from his own vitality, surpassing the limits of the Constellations imposed on mortals."

Uriel let out a cruel laugh. "This is unacceptable. If the other humans realize they can reach his level without our help, they will think they no longer need the angels. Faith will wither, and with it, our influence on this world."

’They are afraid of him...’ I realized with horror. ’They do not see a hero protecting humanity, they see a rival.’

"Alexander Sulyvhan does not seek to challenge us," I tried to argue, my voice trembling slightly. "He only wants to win this war against the demons. He has sacrificed three hundred years of his life for this bastion."

"His intentions do not matter," Gabriel replied.

"The flow of time shows us a future where humanity, led by Sulyvhan’s heirs, eventually rebels against the heavens. We cannot tolerate the emergence of such an anomaly."

Jophiel adjusted her glasses. "Information is the currency of power, Loriel. And current information tells us that Sulyvhan must be eliminated. For the good of cosmic balance. So that humanity remains in its place: under our protection."

The shock rooted me in place. Eliminate Alexander? The man who served them with unwavering loyalty? The man I loved more than my own eternal existence?

"You... you want to kill him?" I stammered. "But the demons are still there! Lucifer and the demon princes are only waiting for a breach in our defenses! Not to mention Konstantine who"

"Lucifer is a traitor to humanity who has simply been embellished by Aeshma and as for Konstantine, we will deal with his problem quite easily," Michael replied with implacable coldness. "Sulyvhan, on the other hand, is an unknown. A variable that could break the established order. We have already selected his replacements. His seven generals. They are ambitious, competent, and above all... they are ready to accept our conditions in exchange for power."

I then understood the extent of the betrayal that was being plotted. Sulyvhan’s so-called friends... they were going to sell their leader for a title and a blessed lineage.

"Loriel," Jophiel continued, her piercing gaze plunging into mine. "We know you are very close to him. You have his trust. He listens to you. That is why you will be the instrument of his downfall."

"Me?" the word died in my throat.

"We are preparing a massive raid against Lucifer’s main base," Michael explained, a sinister smile stretching his lips. "Sulyvhan will be on the front line, as usual. He will be isolated from his troops. That is when the trap will close. You must ensure that he finds himself in the convergence zone at the moment we unleash Judgment."

’They want me to deliver him to the scaffold...’ I thought, a violent nausea twisting my insides. ’If I refuse, they will break me and find another way. If I accept... I become the monster he will eventually hate.’

"Are you hesitating, Archangel?" Uriel asked as she approached me. She placed a hand on my cheek, her skin giving off a disturbing coldness. "Remember your oath. Your loyalty belongs to Paradise, not to a piece of mortal flesh that will eventually rot."