Chapter 284 - The Sun Cocoon
When Zatiel returned to the core of the Beta Heavenly World, he saw the runic lines that covered the entire world had begun to enter the drop of blood now that the feathers of the Archangel were no longer protecting it.
The Neo-Demon nodded when he saw this and walked until he was in front of the Garden of Creation. He touched the drop of blood and was transported to the dimension inside it.
What appeared before Zatiel's eyes was a plain full of plants and trees that extended for hundreds of thousands of kilometers. Most alchemists would go crazy if they saw this scene since some of these resources were the main ingredients for Rank 6 pills, and even a High World may not have them.
There was an impressive golden tree in the center of this dimension. It extended for hundreds of thousands of meters into the sky and had a pink aura surrounding it. This aura would enhance the law perception of anyone who meditated inside it. Despite the hundreds of giant branches on this tree, there were only five small apples in them, and only one of them was ready to be reaped.
This was the Sacred Soul Tree. It was currently in its sealed state, but once the Archangel is born, it would show its true might, and then it could be considered a heavenly object to any life form beneath Rank 7.
Despite being in a state of perpetual night, the Garden of Creation was filled with light. This was due to the white cocoons that filled the sky. Most of them gave the illusion of being stars while a smaller number resembled moons.
The most impressive of all was right above the Sacred Soul Tree, and that white cocoon could be considered a sun.
Zatiel focused on the sun cocoon while runic lines filled the Garden of Creation. They even entered the white cocoons containing Angels and Angelic Paragons, but strangely they did not touch the cocoon that belonged to the Archangel.
"There is nothing in this world that can hide from me, so you seven should show yourself." Nothing answered Zatiel's words. The Neo-Demon just shook his head, and without taking his eyes from the sun cocoon, he waved his hand.
Seven flashes of light fell from the sky and crashed on the ground around the Sacred Soul Tree. They were the seven Angelic Paragons who had fused with the Garden of Creation and were tasked to guard it until the Archangel was born.
They were all Rank 4 life forms, but they shared their life force with the Garden of Creation, so despite having lived for hundreds of thousands of years, they still had a youthful appearance and thriving vitality.
The training conditions inside the Garden of Creation were great, so despite being Soul Forging existences, their true battle power was equal to a Rank 5 life form at the 2nd Engraving Stage.
Unfortunately for The Seven, they were facing someone who had just destroyed the incarnation of a Being of Laws who had created his own Omega Law, so there was nothing they could do to resist.
Zatiel could have killed them if he wanted with that attack, but he chose not to do it.
"Although you were only clueless pawns, you have protected the sun cocoon for hundreds of thousands of years so I can grant you mercy." It was only after saying those words that Zatiel looked away from the sun cocoon and focused his consciousness on the seven Angelic Paragons.
"Is there any of you who has not been infected by him?" Confusion appeared on the faces of the Angelic Paragons, but Zatiel did not care about that and concentrated on their emotions.
'Hearts filled with unshakeable xenophobia and a mentality that doesn't allow them to see any other race as anything more than animals, whose only purpose is to grant them entertainment.' Zatiel's eyes filled with disdain as he understood their souls.
In the Neo-Demon's mind, judge an individual based on the race they belong to or the place they were born was stupid. He was the perfect example that great powerhouses could rise from the lowest of life forms.
A beautiful woman with blonde hair and blue eyes noticed the scorn Zatiel gave them, and her eyes filled with hate and killing intent. She understood very well that it was unlikely for any of them to survive, so there was no fear in her heart as she yelled.
"How does a beast like you dare to look at us like that!. We may fall here, but your fate will be even worse. Of all the worlds you could have picked to meddle with, you made the worst mistake of your life by choosing one dominated by the glorious Heavenly race. Our mighty Archangels will make sure you and everyone you love will suffer forever!."
When Zatiel heard those words, he could not help but show a smile on his face, and his entire existence began to display a profound and intense sense of fulfillment.
"You still don't understand it right. This is not just a random world I had chosen to invade because your race was inside it. I guided that stupid Angelic Paragon to this place and made sure one of your Archangels would build a Garden of Creation in a world whose origin and entire existence had already been altered by me."
Zatiel felt immense pride as he spoke those words. Even for him, tricking one of the most powerful races of the universe into giving him the piece he needed to complete his bloodline was an amazing feat. The fate of the seven Angelic Paragons was sealed, and they would not be able to share any information they obtained, so who better than them to brag about his achievements?.
This world's original name was Juxis, and he found it when it was still a Low World. The World Consciousness it possessed back then could not even perceive him, so with the immense power he controlled as the Incarnation of Death and Destruction, he inscribed the World Rune: Usurpation of the World Consciousness and changed its origin.
The moment that the Heavenly race found this world, Zatiel had already entered The Eternal River of the Afterlife a long time ago, but to the Incarnation of Death and Destruction, time is just a minor obstacle.
His immense power allowed him to see the future and even act on the life forms in it despite being millions of years apart. The Universe Will resisted all types of interference from different timelines, so despite being one of the most powerful beings on the Universe, the most the Incarnation of Death and Destruction could do was guide the path of a Rank 4 life form in the direction he wanted. And even then, if that life form ended up being harmed in any way, the backlash he would receive was powerful enough to kill a Rank 9 life form.
There was nothing special in the Angelic Paragon named Gonzo. He was just the first member of the Heavenly race that appeared close enough to Juxis that Zatiel could guide him to the world without needing to burn his soul.
When the woman and the other members of The Seven heard Zatiel's words, they were horrified. If his words were true, then they are in the presence of one of the most cunning minds of the universe. Someone patient enough to wait millions of years to achieve his goal.
"What... do you want." The woman's voice trembled as she made that question.
"It is not obvious. The reason I tricked your kind into terraforming a world altered by me is to obtain the thing only Archangels can build, the Garden of Creation. More concretely, I wanted the bloodline inside the sun cocoon and the bloodline inside the moon cocoons for my kind."
"THAT IS LIE!." Poisonous hatred appeared in the eyes of the woman when she heard that. The idea someone could get their hands on the bloodline of their race was unbearable for her.
"No one can obtain the bloodline of our kind!. Once one of us dies, or our bloodline is implanted into a different race, it will be burned until nothing remains."
Zatiel's smile grew wider when he heard that. The words the woman spoke were something every individual in the universe considered an absolute truth, so the feeling of achieving what everyone believed impossible could not be described with words.
"It is true that once one of your kind is born, any alteration to their bloodline would result in the destruction of this one, even I can not change that, but what if I act before your bodies and bloodlines are completed?."
Shock appeared on the woman's face, and she turned to the sky and saw how runic lines were invading the cocoons.
A being that is still in his intrauterine stage is hundreds of times more susceptible to mutations than someone who had already been born. The runic lines have disabled the part in their bloodlines that induces self-destruction and also put the soul of the Angelic Paragon into a dream from which they would never be able to awake.
"Our little talk ends here, goodbye." Zatiel clenched his fist, and the black hole around him released a power that annihilated the soul of The Seven. Not even a Being of Laws could bring them back to life since nothing of them reached The Eternal River of the Afterlife.