NOVEL NEXT Chapter 42: Angelic Possession
Deep underground, far below the Temple where molten rivers flowed and the air stank of sulfur, Thane stumbled into existence.
WAAARPPP!
The warp spell spat him out onto a jagged obsidian platform suspended above a roaring lava stream. Heat pressed against his skin, suffocating and unrelenting.
But he had no time to breathe.
Libra was right on top of him!
The soul of Libra coiled tighter, a suffocating dark net that wrapped around his chest, his limbs, his very spirit. His body trembled under the pressure, his strength sapped as though the shadow itself was draining the life from him.
"Hahahahahahahaha!" Libra's voice boomed with unnatural glee. It was manic, deranged, the laugh of one who had not lost but had somehow gained everything.
Thane was being pressed down, but he could see Libra doing something invasive.
"Is he... trying to possess me?" Thane wondered.
"Yes! YES! I sensed it when you made contact with me! You're body! It's not normal! You have touched and taken the Tree of Life! This is no defeat! This is my blessing!" Libra declared.
"Tree of Life? Is that what the Ambrosia was? Did I eat the fruit that God didn't allow Adam to eat?" Thane thought. But it made sense for Thane to eat that on his resurrection.
Thane struggled to remain upright, gritting his teeth as the net bit deeper into him, coiling at every inch of his body.
"You... your body... wasn't yours?!" Thane pretended to be shocked.
Libra's rant spilled out, echoing through the cavern.
"That Nephilim corpse I wore? The giant bones you fought? It was but a vessel! You mortals will never understand my true former glory! But now… oh now! The heavens themselves have delivered to me a far greater prize. You, mortal! You who tasted the Fruit of Life that the Most High planted in the True World long ago!"
The shadows writhed tighter, pulling at Thane's very soul.
"With you as my vessel, I shall rise again! Your flesh is mine! Your spirit is mine! Those other angels will soon bow before me! You will be my eternal host, and through you, I shall rival even the Thrones themselves!"
Thane's brow furrowed, but his heart was strangely calm. Despite the crushing pressure, he was not afraid. He understood Libra's words perfectly, yet they did not rattle him.
Thane smirked despite the pain.
"Really? He thinks he can possess me? Can an evil spirit possess that which is of Christ?" The thought tickled him, even as the net burned into his skin.
"Buddy, you picked the wrong rental property. This temple's already got a permanent tenant." Thane's voice suddenly became calm.
"What did you say?!"
"Don't say I didn't warn ya..." Thane chuckled.
Not heeding Thane's warning, Libra began his possession.
His soul dove deep towards Thane, but a strange magic was released.
"Holy?! Is this Ambrosia's power?! I won't be defeated!
Libra roared, forcing his essence into Thane. Darkness pried at his veins, his mind, his heart.
And then—
[Celestial TV Program Enhancer detected!]
[Assimilate to TV?]
Thane read and re-read the notification with Libra's enraged howls in the background.
"Oh my. This is something." Thane chuckled as he glanced at Libra.
Accept.
The power of the Celestial TV appeared. It harnessed its dimensional power and began to suck in Libra into the TV.
"WHHHHAAAAATTTTT?!"
A horrifying scream erupted. Libra convulsed, his essence being sucked not into Thane, but into the Celestial TV. The shadows twisted like ribbons pulled into a vacuum.
"This power?! An Arc Angel?!"
A power of vast magic, one that rivaled that of Arc Angels, appeared and easily devoured his soul.
"Arc angel? No. I'm sure he said he was a Celestial Administrative Officer."
Libra fought as hard as he could, but it was futile.
But the process was unstoppable. With a final shriek, Libra's soul was devoured, pulled entirely into the Celestial TV.
The silence that followed was absolute.
Thane was still lying on the hot ground. He slowly got up, complaining as he wiped the scorching dust off his person.
"He teleported me far away from Seraphina. How troublesome!" Thane sighed. He had recalled the amazed eyes of Seraphina.
"I'm not a child anymore. Gone are the days of my naive thoughts. That princess liked me!" Thane declared boldly.
"I think..." Thane then hesitated.
A molten river churned just below the platform, glowing like liquid fire. Behind him loomed a jagged wall of volcanic rock that stretched upward endlessly, the only path available if he wanted to leave.
He looked around, exhaling.
"So this is where you wanted to hole up, huh? A safe cave, away from monsters, while you merge with this body. Figures."
Then, one by one, notifications began to flicker before his eyes.
[Libra, the Arbiter of the Scales, has been absorbed into the Celestial TV!]
[Due to the powers absorbed from Libra, Time has slowed by up to five times while Celestial TV is on!]
[Level up!]
[Status Updated]
[Character Status – Thane]
Level: 7
HP: 232/350 (+45)
STR: 45 (+5)
DEX: 43 (+5)
VIT: 50 (+5)
MP: 51/51 (+10)
MPr: 49 (+10)
INT: 54 (+6)
[Soul Keeper Channel unlocked.]
[Premium Channel: Soul Keeper available.]
[Angel Assist acquired.]
Thane wiped his face, squinting at the words. "Soul Keeper channel? What the heck did you just turn into, TV?"
Curiosity gnawed at him. He had no idea what Libra's fate had become, but one message burned brighter than the rest.
[Enter Premium Channel: Soul Keeper?]
"...Guess I'll find out."
When the flash ended, Thane found himself in an immense, otherworldly temple. The air was thick with judgment, the silence heavy with an authority beyond mortal comprehension.
At the center stood Libra's true form.
It was no skeleton now. It didn't even have a humanoid form. He was a strange pillar. Angelic yet terrifying, a surreal echo of the visions described by the prophets. His body resembled a massive vertical column, and from the top of it protruded a great metal rod, which was perfectly balanced, supporting two vast, gleaming scales. The rod was not held, but part of him, fused into his very essence.
His surface was alive: countless wings folded and unfurled along the pillar, each feather covered with unblinking eyes. They rolled and shifted constantly, gazing in every direction, making it impossible to escape his sight. Above the pillar's top was a single visage—a skull-like face that glowed faintly, crowned by the balanced rod he embodied.
Chains of radiant power bound him, crossing his pillar-form in glowing X's. Each chain pulsed with divine light, binding the scales, binding the wings, even tightening across the skull-face at the top. He strained against them, but they would not break.
Libra's many eyes all turned upon Thane at once, and the skull-face twisted in confusion.
"You… what are you?!" Libra's voice trembled with great fear.
"First things first, get me back to the Temple! Or else!" Thane threatened.
"...I... I can't!"
"You can't?!" Thane was enraged. He opened the Celestial TV and flipped through numerous options.
Surprisingly, there were several options on "Captive Creatures".
Thane saw numerous options, including kill, extract, purge, torture, and so on.
Thane selected the torture option.
A powerful light began to shock the angel as it wrapped around it and coiled around it.
"AHHHHH!"
"Answer me!"
"I had no choice...! I had to flee! I speak the truth! I cannot bring you back! Using the faltering dimension portal of the Platform, I created a path!"
"Where are we?! How near is it?!"
"It's... several hundreds of kilometers from here! But we are deep underground! And I cannot sense what direction it is!"
"WHAT?! WHY?!" Thane pressed hard on the remote.
"AHHHH! I AM TOO WEAK! PLEASE!" Thane saw numerous alerts warning him that the captive Creature's life was reaching a critical state.
"But I am too weak now, and I cannot recreate it! If that Princess manages to find me...! I will definitely be killed!"
"So you took me and brought me far away?! Where did you take me?!"
"I... I don't know!" Libra cried.
"What do you mean, you don't know?!" Thane cursed. His love life was on the line here!
"I brought you where I sensed great evil! Chaos! Where I could sense wickedness at work!"
"You brought me to Portland?!"
"I know not of Portland in this region!" Libra cried.
"... Ugh. Do you know what you did?" Thane could only sigh, and he stopped clicking on the torture button.
The strange pillar of Libra began to weaken.
"Thank you... thank you... for the mercy..."
"Well, it's kind of expected. You've been monologuing about vessels, and you can't even tell what I am?"
"What... you... are?" Libra asked weakly.
Thane's voice cut through the temple like a blade.
"Well, let me tell you what you are... 'And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, He has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day.' Jude 1:6. A bound Fallen Angel who left his 'proper dwelling. Did you pick that gigantic skeleton as a dwelling? Don't tell me you possessed a Nephilim?"