Rebirth: I Will Kill A God

As soon as the start of the trial was announced, the angels rushed forward towards the firmament.

This was a field of divine energy, created by Noden to separate the holy realm and the demon realm.

On our side, it was a large field made from white grass that lay just ahead of the Exalted Kingdom, but past the field was limbo, home to the demons.

If you travelled even further past limbo, you would enter true Hell. Where the demon clans lived.

Not even the demigods would enter there unprepared.

Unlike the others who rushed towards the firmament, I only jogged, allowing myself to think.

If I've been given a second chance at life, I need to make sure that everything I do is in the name of power.

I cannot let this opportunity pass by me.

I reached the field, which mimicked a large mirror. We would not be able to see the other side until stepping through.

I was one of the last to push through the strange field, and as I emerged on the other side, the white grass had turned to ashen black.

Ahead of me, I saw tens of Halo's rushing around the dark fields.

In the distance, I spotted the terrain. Large mountains that looked like volcanos. Lakes of red water, pitch-black forests and a clear red sky.

But there were no demons around. Not yet.

As I had lived out this exact moment before, I knew that today was a strange day.

During this holy trial, the demons did not roam their lands openly. Instead, they stayed by their spawn points which were the ritual circles, and orchestrated a group attack.

It would be a gruesome trial, allowing only ten of us to leave Limbo with our lives. Some of us suffering from injuries that would permanently hinder our potentials.

But today, I was the only one that knew this.

I thought about warning the others, but I couldn't. They would question how I had known in the first place.

All I could do was keep the information to myself and use it to my advantage. For now.

I slowly made my way through the fields, passing many of my accomplices who stood in readied positions, waiting for the demons to spawn.

They will not be coming here, my friends. Not yet.

I continued travelling further and further into the depths of Limbo, noticing some of the other Halo's glancing at me, wondering how I dared to travel so far in.

Eventually, I ended up at a small lake of red water. A place I was very familiar with from my first life.

Next to the lake was a tree, its leaves were so plentiful that it covered the entirety of the lake from above.

In the future, this would be called the Tree of Righteousness, as it was believed to be the reason for this lake's strange properties.

I removed my dagger from its sheath and held it in my hands. It was a weak blade. A common weapon made from simple steel.

After becoming an Angel, your dagger could be upgraded to a blessed weapon, which was a step above a common one.

However, there was a way to skip that stage and create a weapon even more powerful.

And it lay right in front of me.

In my previous life, the lakes of limbo had been avoided by all angels until ten years from now, when I was twenty years of age.

During a holy trial, a young Halo fell into this specific lake whilst wearing his dagger.

When he emerged, his weapon was no longer the same. It had become much more powerful.

No Halo should have been able to wield such a weapon whilst they were so young and weak, but that child was able to do it.

His name was Relis, and he went on to become my disciple.

Thank you, Relis. You have helped me even in the afterlife.

I bent over the blood-red water and submerged the dagger beneath it.

Instantly, a strange essence began to form around the entirety of the weapon, as though the steel was somehow drawing all energy from the water and placing it inside of the blade.

Its weight grew increasingly heavy in my hands, catching me by surprise. My older self could easily wield such a weapon, but now I was only a Halo.

Still, I clutched hard and managed to maintain my grip. As time passed, I felt the properties of the blade seeping into me, strengthening every fibre of my being.

Then, everything seemed to relax, and the water returned to its natural, stilled state.

I lifted the blade from the water and looked at it, and what I was met with was a treasure.

I would not have been able to acquire such a weapon until much later on in my life when I became an Archangel.

It was no longer a dark grey, instead shining with a bloody hue.

A Divine Weapon.

It was far from the strongest type of weapon, but with this, I would easily be able to slay lesser demons.

A smirk spread across my face, as I began to see my plan unfolding.

Achieving power in this life would be a hundred times easier. All I needed to do was have the means to exploit it.

Still, I had to be careful. If I gave away too much, I would draw suspicion onto myself.

I rose to my feet, using much effort to keep the blade lifted. But as my body was slowly filled with the essence of the weapon, it began to feel lighter in my grip.

I gave it a swing, which was far from as clumsy as it should have been.

Swordsmanship was ingrained into my memory, so I knew how to wield all weapons greater than I should have.

Afterwards, I sheathed the blade and looked around my dark environment.

I knew where I needed to go next, I just hoped that I was fast enough.

Before the heavens lose the lives of 90 Halo's.