The archangels descended to Earth, halting at the sight of Samael’s expression.

  He walked toward Lilith, face unreadable, steps slow and deliberate.

  The air still reeked of the fallen angels he’d slaughtered. The angel they’d sensed earlier was gone—utterly.

  “Where is the angel that was here before?” Michael asked.

  Samael didn’t answer. His gaze never left Lilith, who sat in the shade of a twisted tree, eyes locked on him.

  The archangels exchanged uneasy glances. No trace meant one thing—the angel had been sent to the Void. The thought made their skin crawl.

  Only Uriel, trailing behind, seemed unaware of the implication.

  Samael stopped in front of Lilith. “Are you alright?”

  Her hand cracked against his cheek. “Alright?” she hissed, striking him again.

  “Hey, human—don’t touch our leader,” Gabriel snapped.

  She ignored him and tried hitting Samael a third time, but Gabriel caught her wrist. “I said—”

  “Let her go,” Samael ordered.

  Gabriel’s hand slipped from hers, shock flickering in his eyes.

  Lilith’s anger crumbled into sobs. “Where were you? You were supposed to protect me. All of you… Where were you?”

  The bruises on her skin spoke louder than her voice. Samael pulled her into his arms, jaw trembling, breath unsteady. They stayed like that until her sobbing eased.

  Michael broke the silence. “Let’s find the ones responsible and erase them. It won’t undo what happened, but it will prevent more.”

  “It will never happen again,” Samael said. “As long as I live. Lilith… do you want the memories gone? Your scars healed? Just say it.”

  “I want neither,” she whispered. “It would be meaningless while they still live.”

  “Then what do you want?”

  Her answer was already in his heart before she spoke. “Kill all the children of my abusers. Their deaths will erase the reminder.”

  The archangels stiffened.

  “Surely you—” Michael began.

  “Your will, my hands,” Samael interrupted, rising.

  Metatron landed between them. “I heard everything. I understand your rage, but I won’t let you slaughter innocent children.”

  “Innocent?” Samael’s aura flared like a furnace. “None of them are. And even if they were—you couldn’t stop me.”

  The angels materialised their weapons.

  Metatron struck first, the others closing from every side. Samael clasped his hands, and space folded in on itself—his [Divine Territory] sealing them away.

  Ascalon’s tip hovered an inch from Samael’s throat before he vanished, leaving them caged.

  If he wanted us dead, we’d already be corpses, Metatron thought grimly.

  “We need to break this before Samael goes through with it,” Gabriel urged

  The archangels nodded in agreement and hammered the terrain with aura and steel; however, nothing gave way.

  “Stop,” Metatron ordered. “This is a second-phase Divine Territory. It looks like a first phase because he transported us, but it’s condensed space. We’re trapped.”

  Shock rippled through the group—except Jophiel and Uriel, who didn’t grasp the danger.

  Michael recalls Samael explaining how to perform it in the training room, but like the others, he always thought it was a myth.

  “An actual second phase? Can we even break it?” he asked.

  “If we find the edge and strike together, maybe,” Metatron said. “Move. The barrier’s absorbing our aura.”

  They scattered to search.

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  Outside, Samael strode into the forest, Lilith’s request heavy in his mind.

  The future I saw can’t happen—not if I end it now.

  Children’s laughter echoed through the clearing. His steps slowed. They’re innocent… for now. Am I truly willing to be the monster?

  Zadikel’s death flashed in his mind, then the sight of his comrades lying lifeless. His resolve hardened. They can hate me if they live. Hate is a small price.

  A red ball rolled to his boot. The boy chasing it froze in Samael’s shadow. The forest held its breath. One swing. The boy’s body struck a tree and slid down, purple blood soaking the moss.

  “That’s one,” Samael muttered.

  The clearing erupted in screams. Children scattered, some running, some frozen in terror. A few lunged forward in desperate defiance, but most fell in moments.

  “Let’s give it everything,” a boy in the throng shouted. “Even if we die, our brothers and sisters will live!”

  With a snap, he unfurled his wings. Others followed suit.

  Samael’s low chuckle cut through the chaos. “If your wings were white, I might have spared you. What’s your name?”

  “Asmael. Remember it — it’s the last you’ll ever hear.”

  They surged forward.

  A flash of searing light vaporised all but one. Asmael dropped to his knees, right arm gone, staring at the charred remains of his siblings.

  “No! Ascael? Damael? Stelel? You monster!”

  “I know I’m a monster,” Samael said quietly. “But for my comrade’s sake, you have to die. I’m sorry.”

  His hand fell, and Asmael’s head rolled.

  The archangels froze mid-search, the stench of blood filled the air. They stiffened, realising the implication.

  “So many dead, and he isn’t stopping. We have to hurry,” Azrael urged.

  Adam burst into view, eyes wide. “Why would you let this happen? They’re innocent children!”

  “Innocent?” Lilith’s voice was ice. “No child of a monster is innocent. I’ll never be whole until the kin of my abusers are dead.”

  “This isn’t the way. Stop him, and we can—”

  “Stop him yourself.” She stepped into the clearing, drinking in the sight of the dead.

  Adam stood frozen, shame gnawing at his bones. If I were stronger… He choked. “I’ll never let this happen again,” he vowed, voice shaking.

  By the time he followed, the ground was a battlefield of blood and ash. The stench of burning flesh made him vomit before collapsing.

  The archangels finally reached the Territory’s edge with Azrael’s ability; their combined strike shattering it.

  By then, Samael’s killing had grown methodical. It gnawed at him, but he endured—until he decided to give the remaining survivors a chance.

  He appeared before a boy. “Show me your wings.”

  Black feathers unfolded. Samael’s jaw tightened. One blow crushed the boy’s skull.

  Again and again, for each reveal of dark wings, Samael deliver the killing stroke. Purple blood slicked the moss until it steamed in the cool air.

  The sounds of screams echoed in the forest, causing the archangels to increase their speed.

  Gabriel was first to arrive at the clearing. His eyes widened. The number of corpses shook him to his core. The ground was stained purple with blood.

  “How could he do this?” he muttered.

  The others followed, horror turning to disgust, then rage. Ariel shook Adam awake from the puddle of blood.

  After splitting another in half, Samael muttered, “Two left.”

  The last two children ran deeper into the forest. The golden-haired boy, faster, dragged the silver-haired girl along.

  As they went deeper, the forest echoed with one phrase: “Let me see your wings.”

  The girl, voice trembling, whispered, “Maybe we should show him—”

  Her words ended in a wet snap.

  The boy turned. Her severed arm lay in his grasp, her body crumpled in a pool of purple blood.

  He shrieked and ran, stumbling into Samael’s leg.

  “Show me your wings,” Samael said, voice low and lethal.

  The boy fell back, trembling.

  “I said—show them to me.”

  On instinct, the boy obeyed.

  Golden feathers. Samael froze.

  “Those are…Zadikel’s wings.”

  The boy was born an archangel, like he was; the only way that could’ve happened is if an archangel or an angel general was one of Lilith’s abusers.

  Samael factored out the archangels since Lilith still called them, meaning the boy was the son of an angel general.

  Memory slammed into him: on a meteor, Zadikel smiling. Promise me you’ll never cause the death of an archangel.

  Of course, he replied.

  His grip loosened, and he looked down at his hands covered in blood. The sight dragged up the visions he had in Heaven, and he fell to his knees.

  “Zadikel would never approve this. What have I done?” Tears stream down his face.

  “I’m sorry, Lilith… I couldn’t keep my promise.”

  The boy stared, bewildered.

  “What’s your name, boy?” Samael asked, his eyes flashing red, sending chills down the boy’s spine.

  “Za-Zadiel,” he replied.

  Samael chuckled faintly. “Just like him.” He reached out. The boy flinched, closing his eyes. Instead of death, a grunt sounded—Jophiel had plunged a sword into Samael’s hand.

  Raphael quickly carries the boy away, asking if he is alright, prompting the boy to nod.

  Gabriel’s spear pierced Samael’s heart as Michael and Azrael levelled theirs at his neck. Uriel stood to the side, horrified by his master’s actions.

  Metatron’s sword hovered before his face. “Samael, how could you? Those children…you slaughtered them, why?”

  Samael looked away, unable to face his master.

  “Why?! Answer me!”

  Lilith arrived, demanding they stop.

  Ariel strode up and struck her down.

  “Look at what you’ve done. Are you proud?”

  Lilith’s eyes wandered over the clearing as though mapping each shadow and stain. “Do you hear that?” she asked softly.

  Ariel frowned. “What?”

  “Nothing,” she whispered. “That’s what it sounds like when the nightmares stop.”

  Ariel grits her teeth before knocking her out with a punch. “I find it revolting that you were made in Father’s image.”

  Samael’s fury erupted. A telekinetic wave blasted all but Metatron back. “How dare you touch her?”

  For the first time in Ariel’s life, she feared her brother would kill her.

  “You disappoint me. First, you kill innocents, now you're treating your comrade? Stand down or I will kill you.”

  Master is serious, but so am I. Lilith isn’t to blame; I am. I killed them with my own hands, and I will carry the consequences.

  Samael scoffed, “I’d like to see you try—”

  A voice thundered from Heaven: their Father, commanding Samael to stop.

  Samael dropped to his knees and surrendered his hands behind his back. The remaining angels began recovering from his telekinetic blast.

  After recovering, Michael put special cuffs on Samael to restrict his powers and slammed his head into the ground.

  “I hope The Lord executes you for what you’ve done.”

  “I second that,” Gabriel added.

  And they all flew to Heaven to face Father.