Peacekeeper's Wrath

In the deepest part of his dreams, his sight blurred; neither light nor shade could be seen. The surroundings were completely blank. It was like a colorless and infinite void, and as he wandered, he began to recall his promise to his late mother: to live a life without disturbance.

"So how am I supposed to fulfill that promise? I'm already dead; I don't even know what this place is. I'm sure this isn't the heaven described in the holy texts."

Swallowed by his own thoughts, he decided to accept that he was in the abyss and had no choice but to accept whatever would happen. A place without entrance or exit, a place that connects the dead and the living. A chirping sound suddenly emerged, followed by an immense light that shone through the colorless void enough to blind someone.

The light slowly closed the gap to the young man's position, revealing its majestic appearance. The being produced a golden fire of light; it had six wings. Two wings concealed its face, two hid its feet, and the remaining pair were presumably for flight. Those wings had enormous eyes wrapping around them.

Miku was lost in thought, staring at the enormous light. He couldn't be mistaken; this appearance was clearly an angel. From what he recalled in his theology class, it was an angel not just any angel, but an angel from the first hierarchy, a seraphim. He wondered what the highest angel wanted from him. He thought this angel might be here to take him to the kingdom of hell or to heaven.

"Do not be afraid; I am here to give you your reward for all your efforts and suffering."

Contemplating what he had just heard, he realized what the angel meant. 'Oh, I didn't expect anything like this; am I still dreaming?'

"You are not in what you call a dream; this is the realm of the external path, the path that separates everything."

"Oh, how scary! You can even read my mind as if you know everything that happens to me…"

"You are right; I know everything about you. Your life was very interesting; I enjoyed watching your sufferings."

"So even an angel like you enjoyed watching my miserable life, huh…"

"Indeed; that is why I am here to give you a reward."

"Re…ward? Aren't you going to take me to the kingdom of heaven?"

"Kingdom of Heaven? A place without fear, suffering, and problems? There is no such place!…"

"H…uh, but…" Before Miku finished his sentence, the angel continued. His chin almost fell down; he pierced his gaze towards the angel's feathers and contemplated what he had just heard.

"Humans have only three elements to function: the body, the soul, and the spirit. After a man dies, his body perishes along with his soul; meanwhile, the spirit returns to God."

"Then heaven is just a lie?" Miku curiously asked, his eyes narrowed.

"That is a forbidden question; I cannot answer you, but let me give you a glance of reality. Heaven is an entire concept, a concept made by humans to satisfy their pride, hope, grief, and loneliness," the angel firmly replied.

"Then what will happen to me?" His eyes were full of uncertainties and doubt.

"As you probably know, you are already dead; you are only a spirit wandering around, but you will eventually return to God." The angel flapped his wings and said.

"Is that my reward?" Miku's tone was thin and hazy.

"It will depend on your decision." The angel muttered, his voice remaining gentle.

"Do I even have a choice...?" Miku asked, a tornado of doubt striking his mind.

"Indeed, you have no other choice," the angel quietly said.

"What if I don't want to? Are you going to throw me to hell...?"

"As I said before, if a human dies, his body and soul perish, and his spirit returns to God. There is no other path to take."

"So even the kingdom of hell is just a bluff, huh!... Tell me, please, what is my reward?" Miku hurriedly asked. "Aren't you saying that the holy text is false writings?" Miku added, his eager eyes sparkling like golden rice.

The angel stood in silence, his aura evident and forceful. "Human, what is the holy text for you? Does it hold the words of God's or the stories of God's disciples?" The seraphim asked, his voice loud and clear like the Sutherland River.

Miku's eyes widened with shock. He grasped his thoughts and gazed at the emptiness. "The holy text is sacred; it holds the wisdom of God, the morals of life, the unfortunate and favorable stories of God's disciples, the evidence of obedience, the consequences of sin and disobedience, and the internal life," Miku muttered.

"Why do you need to ask me if you could read my mind?" Miku added, his eyes eager for the answer.

"I just wanted to hear your direct answer." The seraphim paused and flew; the feathers were glowing like a radiant fire.

"Human, do you really believe in that? Don't you even know your own history?" The seraphim grabbed Miku's spirit and flew further.

Miku thought with confusion as he followed the seraphim. "What are you trying to say?" He rebutted.

"Do you really believe in that text that was written by mere humans and were refined by the church? Don't you know where they got it, or don't you even know how they arranged it? Do you know what books they included and excluded from that collection? Do you know what they are hiding from the rest of you? Do you know that they have the power to control and influence everyone of you?" The seraphim flew faster and faster until they reached the endless path; the voice didn't change and remained gentle.

Miku couldn't process any of what he heard, so he let the seraphim continue. His mind stopped from the start of the conversation; he gazed again at the surroundings, but nothing seemed to change.

"Now let me grant you a reward for your dedication; you can choose whether you reunite with God or continue your never-ending suffering and find the solution to the paradox of life." The seraphim stopped and asked; he directed his gaze towards the boy. Although Miku couldn't see his face or even glance at it, he knew that the angel wasn't lying.

"Live a new life…? Is that contradictory to what you said before? Isn't resurrection impossible...?" Miku forced his thoughts to think and remember something. 'Wait, why do I even have the ability to think without my physical body?' he asked his thoughts.

The seraphim pointed to the endless path and muttered, "You are a spirit, a remnant of life; the knowledge you still have came from the supreme being," explaining his thoughts.

"Your body and soul have perished, so you cannot be resurrected. But I can grant you a new body in another world." The seraphim muttered.

"Every rule truly has an exception." Miku mumbled.

"So you can transfer my spirit to another body using another soul from another world, but you cannot resurrect me in my own world because my body and soul there have already perished...?" He added.

"No!." The seraphim firmly muttered.

"But? How can I be reborn?" Miku's confusion raised like inflation.

"Don't worry! you can have this!" The seraphim assured. From Miku's front a gleaming red fruit slowly emerges, a misty smoke beset the unknown fruit.

"What is this? The fruit of knowledge?" Miku asked.

"No, it is not a fruit of knowledge or any fruit from the holy writing." The seraphim answered, its raging light slowly faded.

"Then what is this?"

"That is the metaphor of life - the Fruit of Existence, a treasure that angels called as the fruit of the Tree of Life"

The seraphim's words made Miku's doubt unite, the fruit is shining like a ball of fire the roundness and smoothness bites Miku eyes.

"Fruit of Existence? If I eat this fruit I can be reborn?"

"Indeed, with this fruit you can be reborn and live in another world as another being!"

"Do memories carry over into rebirth?"

"Don't be afraid, you will retain your memories after the rebirth"

Miku thought for a second, but his mind remained unclear. The choice seemed hard for him, but the truth behind life haunted him, so he decided to be reincarnated. "I'll decide to be reborn…"

Miku hesitate, but he couldn't think any options. The seraphim grabs Miku's spirit and placed the fruit inside it. The cold sensation purged his spirit, and a surge of electric flew inside his veins.

After the deep pain swallowed his spirit, Miku's eyes darted to the seraphim.

"Is everything finished?"

The angel nodded. A bright light suddenly appeared in front of Miku, resembling a tiny black hole; it began to swallow his existence, leaving nothing but a tiny piece of memory. Before he was completely taken away, he heard the angel say something. "Please take care, and remember my name: Zeal, the supreme angel who sits next to God and the commander of God's army."

As the process concluded, the angel spread its wide wings and flew toward the right edge of the never-ending realm. As it started to fly, its golden feathers turned into gloomy, black feathers, resembling its true colors.

As the angel reached the top right edge of the realm, it looked down and began to murmur.

"Oh, God, I swear you will taste my sweet requital, and I will gain the rights to that throne and finally turn you into a piece of crap. I can't wait for that to happen. Before the great war begins, I'll see if you [Miku], the last heir of angels, can survive."

N/A: [Warning ⚠️]

[This novel contains some violence and has a different philosophical idea or perspective; I suggest dropping this if you think it is not suitable for you. Remember, this is just pure fiction.]