---

"And Aaron—you had something to say about the main storyline. What was it?"

---

Aaron told them about Eve.

How she had appeared outside his training room without warning, how she had said nothing except "Follow me," how he had followed anyway. How the beatdown that followed had been the kind he had only received from Zeke and Anton. How she had returned the next day, and the day after, until the beatings became something he could almost call training.

"Torture," he called it. The kind that left bruises on the inside.

"Children always make out training to be torture," Zeke said, shaking his head.

"They don’t understand the torture we went through to impart knowledge on them," Anton agreed, his voice heavy with theatrical wisdom.

The group rolled their eyes at the performance and kept listening.

Aaron continued. How Eve had designated him as her champion. How the group was under surveillance because of their "great Providence." How he was the one she could influence most easily. How she had come clean because she knew he would eventually tell the group, and how her honesty was meant to be its own reassurance.

---

"Angels are real?" Kai broke the silence.

"Well, demons are real, so..." Jude shrugged.

"Demons are in every fictional verse. They’re practically cannon fodder now. But angels? That’s different." Kai’s brow furrowed. "Does that mean there’s a god?"

Anton stepped forward to answer. Zeke cut him off with a grin.

"You’ve shown off your knowledge. It’s time for me to shine." He leaned back, settling into the story. "Also, it’s kind of tied to my own experience lately."

"You’re tied to an angel?" Kai’s voice climbed with disbelief.

It seemed he did not get out much. Everyone else was meeting special beings.

"Shoo, let me talk."

Zeke waved his hands and began.

---

Angels, Zeke explained, were creations of True Beings—the first gods, the creators of all life. The same beings who had built Heaven, the plane that angels inhabited.

Angels were made to serve gods. Now they served gods and administrators alike. They had ranks: base angels, Principalities, Dominions, Thrones, and at the apex, Seraphim.

Then he told them about Nephilim—children of angels and humans—and their long history of being hunted by Heaven.

He told them about Celestials—children of gods.

Then he dropped the bombshell.

Samuel and Dean Winchester were SSS-rank Nephilim. Children of a Seraph.

Kenshin was a Celestial. Child of two gods.

The trio’s jaws dropped.

"I fought a child of gods." Kai’s voice was hollow. "The ultimate nepo baby."

"I beat a Nephilim." Aaron shrugged. "I’m good."

"How are you in charge of this many chaos magnets?" Anton asked.

"I see why they’re called the class of weirdos." Michael smiled.

Jude turned to Anton. "Now that we know what angels are—what does an angel actually want with Aaron? Why is she, and by extension any angel, concerned about a war?"

"Don’t ask me." Anton raised his hands. "I regressed. That doesn’t mean I have all the information. I didn’t know these high-level things."

"It must involve your students somehow," Yeon mused. "And the fact that angels are in this world at all—that can’t be overlooked."

"Indeed." Zeke’s expression turned serious. "The boys carry lineage that should, and will, invite chaos. Mostly angelic chaos. But for Nox to have brought them here, the threat can’t be from angels in this world—or else they would have attacked already. I believe we have their lineage to thank for that. A Seraph should be no joke."

He paused.

"But Eve mentioned Providence. And as we’ve learned from Anton, Jude is a person of great Providence. So is Yeon. And if you add me to that list..." He smiled, then the smile faded. "By reason of your regression, Anton, you should have great Providence. Michael—well, it speaks for itself. Kai and Aaron, by association, have averted their original fate. By logic and by standards, that should increase their Providence as well."

He spread his hands. "By association, I’ve become entangled in the children’s Providence. And I love chaos. I would never walk into a chaotic situation without dragging all of you with me."

"In whole, by association, we have all been tangled in the Providence of a Seraph and gods. That kind of Providence will attract angels."

"With the biased knowledge we have," Yeon continued, "they seem interested in Providence. Picking Aaron makes sense. But what is her goal?"

"She definitely wants to pull us into her schemes. That’s why she was upfront." Yeon’s eyes narrowed. "She also knows we won’t say no."

"Using the one she deemed easily manipulated," Michael murmured, swirling his wine, "to manipulate the rest of us. Curious."

"She doesn’t seem bad," Aaron said weakly.

The group turned to stare at him.

"Michael doesn’t seem weird," Anton retorted, "but he is weird."

"I’m not really planning anything." Michael shrugged.

"Aaron is probably infatuated," Kai teased.

"It’s been a month, Aaron. Don’t be cheap." Jude shook his head in mock disapproval.

"Enough." Yeon cut through the banter. "What do we do about the angel?"

"Easy." Zeke shrugged. "We do nothing. There’s nothing we can do. Any action we take now might bite us in the ass." He held up a hand. "And it’s not like we’re not benefiting. Right now, we have no way past the talent bottleneck Kai and Aaron are facing. She seems to have a way."

He looked at them, his gaze sharpening.

"The war is in nine months. B-rank and low S-rank aren’t going to be helpful. No offense."

"None taken." Kai nodded.

He knew his limits. He had always known them.

"That means you’re the only one without a solid hope of breaking past your talent limit." Zeke addressed Kai directly. Then his voice softened. "But that doesn’t matter. I’ll find a way for you."

He stood and walked toward Kai.

"But..." He stopped directly in front of him, his eyes finding Kai’s. "It won’t matter if you’ve given up on yourself. So, ’life of the party’—don’t lose your fucking light. Or I’ll beat that light back into you."

He ruffled Kai’s hair and winked.

Kai nodded, his eyes holding Zeke’s with steady conviction.

Zeke let the moment sit, then turned. "I heard you became a king. Let’s hear about it."

---

Jude told them about his fight with Elijah and the interruption of the other kings.

"So you later found out the girl was sent by Elijah?" Anton asked, nodding along. He clicked his tongue. "And here I thought you had found a love interest."

"Fuck off."

A round of laughter erupted.

"So, a child who awakened at sixteen." Zeke thought out loud. "I wonder why Nox didn’t add him to the class of weirdos. He’s a weirdo, alright."

"You should stop being a greedy fool," Michael teased.

"Look at his eyes. He’s already envisioning the chaos the kid would have caused under him." Anton sneered.

"Bah." Zeke waved a hand. "You don’t know how boring life is without chaos."

"Then let some other professor have fun for once." Yeon smiled.

"Yeah, you’re right." Zeke nodded meekly. "Ten is enough. And besides, I have you guys. You’re chaos magnets yourselves. Look—Aaron brought an angel home."

"Really?" Kai looked around in panic.

"..."

"Metaphor," Jude deadpanned. "Do you not understand metaphors?"

The group stared at Kai in disbelief.

"Hehe. It was a prank." Kai smiled sheepishly.

Anton sneered.

---

"So," Anton announced, already walking toward the wine rack, "story time is over. Finally. Let’s have fun." He turned a bottle straight to his mouth and drank. "Saving the world can wait. Fighting wars can wait. Let’s fucking party."

"Whooo!" The trio cheered.

Michael raised his arm from his chair. "Bring a bottle here."

"What? I know you’re not talking to me, you emotionless bastard."

"Fuck you. Bring me wine, old fool."

"That’s so creative. ’Old fool.’ I’ve heard it so many times, I’m beginning to think your genius may have been exaggerated."

"Like your wisdom?"

"I’m certainly smarter than your ass."

"An ass’s only function is to shit. Congratulations on being smarter than shit."

"You’re shit."

"So mature."

"Guess what? I have emotions, you fucking robot. Even Zeke’s AI has more emotions than you."

The group laughed as Anton and Michael argued, Anton still fetching Michael’s wine, still insulting him.

Zeke started to rise from his chair. Yeon shot him a look. He sat back down.

"You know," Zeke teased, shifting closer to Yeon, "this is the kind of dynamic married couples have in sitcoms."

Yeon rolled her eyes at Zeke using the opportunity to draw closer.

"Have I told you how beautiful you look today?" His voice dropped, softer now. "Did you dress up for me?"

"Maybe. Maybe not."

"I kind of love this look on you."

"Kind of?"

"Most certainly love it."

"Sweet-tongued bastard."

"Why don’t you always dress like this?"

"It’s inefficient. I can’t fight properly in it." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"Then I’ll just have to end all your battles."

"That’s insulting to me."

"Oh."

"I’m the main character. I can’t have side characters fighting for me."

"You’re right. I forgot." Zeke’s grin softened. "I’ll just be the overpowered side character."

"You?" Yeon laughed as though he had told the funniest joke imaginable. "You don’t exactly scream ’side character.’"

"That’s because I’ve been standing close to people who aren’t you."

"Well, I prefer equals. Let’s both be main characters."

"I don’t think that’ll work." He held her gaze. "But when I’m on your show, I’ll be the side character. And on my show, you’ll be the main character’s love interest."

"Why can’t you be the love interest in mine?"

"I couldn’t assume." His voice dropped to almost a whisper. "My lovely immortal charm might not have taken effect on you yet. I was planning on working hard to earn that place."

"Then work harder." Yeon’s eyes held his. "Didn’t my mother tell you? I have suitors."

"They don’t suit you."

Yeon laughed, still holding his gaze.

Silence passed between them—the noise of the group fading, the room narrowing to the space where their eyes met.

"I’m going to train to become a saint," she said.

"That’s good."

"I’m going to be stronger than you."

"I know. That’s how it was when we first met, wasn’t it?"

"We won’t have conversations for a while. It’s a serious training montage and it’s in conjunction with my fifth trial."

"Then I’ll miss you." His voice was quiet. "And if I miss you too much, I’ll come find you. We’ll level up together."

"Hmm."

Another silence. This time, Yeon laid her head on his shoulder. They watched the boys play.

"Zeke."

"Yes, my lady?"

"We have a lot to talk about."

"I know. I await your summons."

"Let’s wait until we clear this world. We’ll have the grand summoning then. For now, just deal with my less grand summons."

"Any summons from you is as important as the sun to a planet."

"Silly boy."

---

’You don’t feel weirded out by what’s going on?’

’I am. But it’s what we wished for.’

’It’s like watching your parents be lovey-dovey. Only worse. They’re not our parents.’

’Well, she’s your sister, Kai.’

’I’m not weirded out. I’m happy. Just pained I don’t have more sisters for all of you. We would be a real family.’

’That’s weird.’

’Mm.’

’The family doesn’t include Michael, right?’

’Fuck you, Anton.’

’That’s gay.’