"So, what's your deal?" The masked man sighed, like wind slipping through a cracked mask.

"You're not Edlyn’s rebirth-fusion, and not plain soul-parasitism; it's absurd." His brow folded like storm-bent reeds.

Angela smirked, pride shining like lacquer. "It’s called a dual-soul in one body. Stumped, huh? No matter how strong you are, you’re not omniscient."

Having found a crack he hadn’t guessed, she felt giddy, like a sparrow pecking a lion’s paw.

The masked man shrugged, shoulders drifting like lazy clouds. "Fine. Mind telling me what that dual-soul really is?"

"Why ask so much? What's it get you? And who are you, really? Don’t think that face can fool me!" Angela squirmed, but the hidden chains bit like cold vines, leaving her sullen.

She fumed first, pride pricked like a needle. The Celestial Realm’s first Angel, unlucky by a hair, chosen by the God, sent down like a falling star for that mission.

Now this lunatic pops out of nowhere, a storm she can't beat and a net she can't outrun; what a rotten turn of fate.

He rubbed his chin, thoughts drifting like smoke, then smiled. "If you still don’t buy it, just call me Zero."

Angela arched a brow, sly as a cat. "Hmm? Edgelord much?"

Zero snapped, his words cracking like dry bamboo. "Zip it. I’m asking the questions. Quit squawking."

The woman perked up, delight bubbling like spring water. "Then let them call me… call me Janus!"

Angela rolled her eyes, exasperation like falling leaves. "That still means zero. What are you two even doing?"

Then she felt it: the chains’ seal leaked a thread of power, like thawed frost.

Her gaze spun, hope flickering like a firefly. Maybe the timer was up?

Joy surged first, bright as dawn on ice. She began to pick at the seal, stealing back her strength bit by bit.

Zero smiled, voice light as drifting snow. "Enough whining. Tell me how to pull you out of Angela’s body."

Her guard spiked like bristling thorns. "What do you plan to do?" she snapped at Zero.

Zero shrugged, palms up like empty moons.

He dangled the offer like bait on a line. "Archangel, you don’t want to stay in a little girl’s body forever, right?"

"I’m helping you get free. Don’t want it?"

She shook her head, stubborn as granite. "No! I still have to complete—"

Zero’s grin tilted like a crescent blade. "Complete what?"

"You dare trick an Archangel!" Angela roared, rage flaring like a sunburst. Holy power erupted, a geyser from her bound core.

Power swept for Zero like a tidal bore, aiming to seize a flicker of slack and shatter his seal.

Zero only watched, calm as a lake. His right hand flicked; Divinity surged, a gale that scattered her force.

His left pinched a rune, then clenched. Chains bloomed like iron lotuses, sealing her tighter.

Angela stared, stunned like a deer in frost. She blinked. "Eh? What just happened?"

Zero smiled, voice warm as tea. "That seal wasn’t great for interrogation, so I swapped it."

"But…" Her words faltered like a candle in wind.

"Oh? You wanna ask why I loosened it?" His tone curved like a hook.

With bored ease, he drawled, laziness draped like silk. "Unlocking it myself is a pain. Better let you break through on your own."

Angela froze, her small face stiff like clay. "What kind of messed-up brain logic is that!" She looked ready to flip a table.

Janus swatted Zero, annoyance sparking like flint. "Cut the nonsense. No time to play. We have a goal."

Zero shrugged, resigned like a man in rain. His gaze sharpened, a blade locking on Angela. "Since you won’t talk, I’ll use unfriendly means."

Fear pricked first, cold as dew in her chest. "What are you going to do?" Angela blurted under that stare.

He sighed, caution folding over him like a cloak; hurting Angela would be bad. Then he closed his eyes.

After a long breath, he opened them. His left eye pooled with black, leaking killing intent like winter frost.

Under her shocked gaze, Zero kept his eyes locked, a vise. Her vision blurred, like fog swallowing lantern light.

She fought hard, but the eerie chains muted her will. Drowned in that dense killing aura, she drifted into sleep like a leaf on dark water.

Janus arched a brow, warning like a drawn bow. "Keep it under control."

Zero nodded, confidence glinting like steel. "Relax. When has your husband ever slipped?"

"Tch. We’re working—can you not be so mouthy?" Janus punched him, a quick thud like a drumbeat.

He hurried a placating grin, soft as butter. "Hey, wife, easy. I’m busy here. Don’t do that."

"Hmph." The sound clipped like scissors.

..........................................

Here was a void, a world of nothing. Angela didn’t know how long she floated in this night like a drowned star.

Time peeled away first, then space. She drifted with the darkness, wandering a nameless sea.

Unease tightened like a knot. "This has to be his illusion. I can beat it." She bit her lip and folded her legs, seeking refuge in cultivation like a monk in snow.

No matter what she did, no energy flowed within, no currents stirred outside; it was a dead sea under a moonless sky.

Hope flickered first. She tried to invoke divine power, to awaken her Divinity and banish all shadows.

Emotions and illusions alike; alas, her Divinity stayed silent, a sealed bell in a buried temple.

She could only stare, helpless, at the endless dark, like a lone boat on a charcoal lake.

As numbness set like frost, a single cold droplet fell, kissing her neck like glacier melt.

Fear jolted her, a bird flushed from brush. She scanned around in panic—still, only horizonless night.

She touched her neck; nothing, no damp, just skin cool as porcelain. She exhaled, thin as smoke. It must be her own illusion.

She told herself she was just too sensitive, like a plucked string.

In that instant, killing intent fell like a winter storm.

A hand closed on her heart; the small drum halted mid-beat.

Raw fear flooded her mind like black tide. She scrambled to drive it out.

She could do nothing, like a fish trapped in ice.

Thankfully, after a breath, the killing aura receded like ebbing surf.

Still, she remained in the dark, a lantern without flame.

She didn’t know how long. Numbness crept back like mist. Then another drop struck her neck, and fear twitched her again.

When she relaxed again, the vast killing intent swept back like a cold tide.

And so it turned, a cycle like a waterwheel, over and over.

In reality, Zero’s face paled, color draining like chalk in rain.

Janus asked, worry fluttering like moth wings. "You alright?"

Zero caught his breath, admiration shining like steel. "Worthy of that one’s first Angel. If she hadn’t slept so long, and if we hadn’t drawn out her Divinity together, it’d be tougher."

"So?" Janus brightened, joy like a sunrise.

"Yeah. It worked. Let me talk to her." Zero smiled, calm as a harbor.

"Alright. It’s yours. Don’t let me down." Her words settled like stones.

..........................................

"I—I’ll say anything. Please, take me out of here." Angela trembled in Zero’s arms, fear clinging like cold rain.

Zero nodded with a gentle smile, warm as morning. He waved; the dark world vanished. Angela opened her eyes to a sea of flowers.

Angela eased from his arms, nerves taut like strings, and scanned the field. Zero shook his head with a smile. "Don’t bother. This place is absolutely safe."

It’s safe as a temple at noon.

She pressed her lips, dazed like a traveler lost in fog.

Zero’s smile faded, solemn as stone. He traced a small sigil in the air, eyes narrowed. "Come, child. Your true name."

Angela stared, thoughts turning slow as millstones. After a while she spoke. "Akenachel."

Letters flew from her lips like fireflies and overlaid his sigil. Zero nodded, satisfied, like a craftsman testing a blade. "Good."

Akenachel chose her words carefully, pauses like stepping-stones. "My Lord, when will you take me away, and when grant me new Divinity?"

Zero shook his head, promise soft as lantern light. "Trust me, my Angel. Soon. Believe me—soon."

"Yes." The assent fell like a feather.

"Now, tell me, Angel: the true identity of the Bruyal couple?" His words sliced like a thin knife.

"They… are… of the Seven Angels…" Akenachel’s brow tightened like a knot. "Mm… I can’t remember."

Zero frowned, tongue clicking like pebbles. "Tsk. Figures. It’s not that simple."

"Enough, Angel. Don’t force it. Answer my next." Zero’s voice carried like a charm; each note tugged Akenachel’s thoughts like strings.

"Have you ever seen the Abyss?" His question fell cold, like a stone in a well.

"The Abyss? No. The God forbids us to go near." Akenachel spoke, brow furrowed like plowed earth.

"As expected." Zero nodded, certainty settling like dust.

"Lastly, the way to defeat and seal the Hero, and erase the Demon King—what is it?" Zero drew a deep breath, his voice trembling like a taut string.

"Mm… defeat… the Hero… kill the Hero and the Demon King… mm… Abyss…" Akenachel’s brows knotted hard, struggle heavy as wet clay.

Zero sighed, fatigue spreading like dusk. "Looks like there are too many blocked regions."

He checked the time, caution ringing like a bell. It was about time to stop, or Angela would be hurt.

He tapped Akenachel’s forehead, touch light as a moth, then slipped out of the dreamscape like a shadow.

Angela lay on the couch, rubbing her eyes like a sleepy cat. She stretched and glanced around. "Huh? Where is this?"