Chapter 459: The Child Of A Deity
Several hours into the night, Ethan was once again engaged in one of his usual tests of strength with his summons.
At this moment, he stood between Arael and Nina; they had both been caught in the middle of their attacks.
Ethan’s arms were stretched to both sides, which is how he maintained the influence of his Dominion Aspect on them.
To his right, Arael had flown straight toward him, only to find herself suspended in midair by Ethan’s control over gravity.
Her body hung several meters above the ground, her momentum completely halted.
To his left, Nina was caught in the middle of a swing, her massive sword frozen in place as gravity held her firmly where she stood.
Ethan was shirtless, and breathing hard as he caught his breath.
Partial scales covered his forearms and the backs of his hands, evidence of the slight draconic transformation he had taken on during the spar.
He stared between the two summons for a moment before tightening his grip.
Then he waved his fingers outward, and the gravitational force holding Arael and Nina. propelled them away from him.
It sent them flying several meters in opposite directions before they regained control of themselves and landed.
Ethan lowered his arms, then looked between them. "This is fine for tonight."
With that, they both summons walked back toward him.
Ethan was about to dismiss them when something seemed to occur to him.
He turned toward Arael. "Oh, right. About the angel from last time. His name is Abaddon, and he’s affiliated with Isabella...He’s one of her Blessed"
He paused briefly before adding, "and I don’t think he’s the one you believe him to be."
For a moment, Arael said nothing but her expression had gone stern.
Ethan watched her carefully. He didn’t have his Bond Skill active at the moment, so he couldn’t tell what was going through her mind.
Eventually, Arael spoke. "I want to make a request of you, Summoner."
Ethan nodded, giving her the go ahead.
"Can you allow me to speak with him?" She said.
"Hm.." Ethan considered it for a few minutes before saying, "Alright."
Abaddon wasn’t someone he could casually summon or approach whenever he wanted.
If Arael truly wished to speak with him, Ethan would need to bring the matter to Isabella first—or, more accurately, to her other personality.
Fortunately, he knew of a way to reach the Mistress directly.
It was through her titles.
Much like the other gods, certain names and titles carried enough significance that speaking them could draw the attention of the being they referred to.
Calling upon such titles was, in essence, a way of establishing a connection with the deity itself.
Ethan had learned the proper words from the Mistress during their last conversation within the Dark Realm.
He closed his eyes and spoke them aloud.
"She who dwells beyond the light, the eternal sovereign of the Endless Dark; the mother of shadows and mistress of all that lies in the unseen..."
Ethan then opened his eyes. "I need to speak to Abaddon."
A few minutes after Ethan had made the request, the shadow of the tree that had spread across the ground under the moonlight began to extend.
More and more darkness gathered within it, spreading across the ground until it gradually began taking form.
A shape emerged from the darkness and afterwards, the fallen angel appeared.
"You wanted to speak to me," he said.
Ethan nodded before gesturing towards Arael, whose hands had clenched into fists. The sight of him gave her the same expression from before.
At this point, Nina’s summoning had been undone, leaving only Ethan, Arael, and Abaddon present.
She stepped forward, moving closer to Abaddon before speaking in a stern tone. "The one who killed the old man, and me while I was alive, was a black-winged angel."
Abaddon looked at her calmly as he answered. "I am one of many black-winged angels. If what you intend is to make an accusation, I’m sorry, but you’re failing at it woefully."
Ethan watched them both quietly. He had no intention of getting between their conversation.
Although, he now had the Bond Skill active so that he could follow Arael’s thought process and make certain he would know when to intervene and restrain her should her emotions flare up.
"If it is not you, then who? You’re one of them, so you must know who." She said.
Abaddon sighed. "You’re not asking these questions from a logical standpoint. Or rather, you assume that I simply know what you’re asking about without actually presenting proper details."
He paused for a moment.
"And until we make sense of these details, I might not be able to answer any of your questions."
"So we begin this way instead. Tell me about your experience. What happened to you? And what led to your demise? And the demise of this old man that you speak of?"
Arael’s face contorted, it seemed she was displeased with his tone.
Ethan sighed, and got in at this point. "Okay, so I really do not want to be part of this conversation," he began.
"But he is right. Until he understands what really happened, the kind of answers I should get from him might be limited, if I would get answers at all."
Arael turned to him. "There isn’t much of a story to give, summoner. As you well know, three years after my birth, I was taken from the arms of my mother, whose face or name I do not even remember, and cast away from amongst my own people, sent down to dwell with humanity."
She paused briefly, then continued. "The old man found and raised me like his own. For four years, it was peace, it was the happiest I had ever been."
Her expression darkened. "Until one day, an angel with black wings came and killed us both."
Arael then turned back to Abaddon. "You wanted my story. That is all there is to it."
Abaddon was quiet for a few seconds. His eyes slowly moved over Arael’s body, studying her from head to toe.
"If you only lived for such a short amount of time," he finally asked, "then how do you look like this?"
His expression carried genuine confusion.
The angel standing before him was clearly an adult. Her body, her features, and even the presence he could sense from her were those of a fully grown angel.
According to the story she had just told him, Arael had died only four years after being cast down into the human world.
She should have still been a child when she died. So how was a grown angel standing before him now?
Arael then answered him. "I was able to achieve growth in the World of the Undying."
That answer left Abaddon looking slightly taken aback.
He repeated, "You achieved growth in the World of the Undying? Are you saying your spirit form somehow grew up?"
Abaddon turned towards Ethan, who nodded. Because in truth, that was actually how the system said it had happened.
Abaddon looked thoughtful for a while, then decided not to dwell on that anomaly.
He raised his head and asked, "What details can you possibly remember about your mother?"
Arael then answered, "Nothing. I only remember that I was not allowed to even interact with my peers. Neither did I leave the confines of our abode. The day I left those confines was the day I was thrown out of Solgard."
"And what about your father?" Abaddon asked.
Arael answered him, "I do not remember such a figure in my life."
"Hmm... I see," Abaddon said. The answers she gave was all enough and now he could tell what happened to her or atleast why it happened.
So he began, "Your mother broke a law, and you faced the punishment for it. Actually, it is only you who could have possibly faced the punishment for the law that was broken."
Arael then asked, "What kind of law is such that a child would have to face those consequences?"
An answer came promptly from the Fallen angel. "Your mother had relations with a god, and the result was you."
Both Ethan and Arael had wide eyes. However, Abaddon continued.
"In Solgard, angels are prohibited from bearing or having relations with a deity... the reason you do not know who your father was is because he is a god who most likely do not know you exist and moved on after he had his way.
"The reason your mother hid you away for as long as she could before you were caught was because she knew she had broken a law... The punishment for an angel bearing the child of a god would be the child itself being thrown out.
"And as for being killed after..." Abaddon paused. "This is a guess, but that was perhaps only the King of Angels seeing to it that you stopped existing."
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A/N: For Earlier backstory, make reference to Chapter 205 & 206