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“Waiting for me?” Palan asked and raised an eyebrow. He glanced around but didn’t see Asura; however, he did sense someone sleeping in a bed, their body covered by a blanket. “Is Asura here?”
“You don’t like beating around the bush, I see,” Raphael said with a frown. “What’s the hurry? But yes, Asura is here.” He pointed at the occupied bed. The rest of the beings were sitting around the table, a board game with cards and figurines spread across its surface.
“Interesting,” Palan said. He turned his attention towards the remaining angels and demons. His gaze paused on Uriel and Creed for a brief moment.
Cleo also noticed them as well. “Hey,” she said. “Aren’t those two—guh!?” Danger Noodle swallowed her head, preventing her from saying anything else.
“I’m guessing Asura’s still alive?” Palan asked.
“Surprised?” Camael asked. “Admit it. You are.”
Palan snorted and stomped towards Camael. The angel with the scorpion tail grinned and leaned back in his seat. “You’re the wimpy lightning avatar,” Palan said, narrowing his eyes.
Laughter tinkled from the side as Camael’s expression contorted. “He’s right, Camael,” Uriel said and stifled her laughs. “Compared to Levy, your lightning avatar really is a wimp.”
“Asura said she’d guarantee my safety,” Palan said. “If I ate you, would that still be the case?” Camael’s nose crinkled.
“He’s just like you the first time you came here, Camael,” Creed said. The plain-looking demon nodded at Palan. “Go ahead and eat him. I give you my permission.”
“Shut the hell up!” Camael said, throwing a figurine at Creed. “Since when did you have permission to sell my body like that?”
“Levy lost a bet with me,” Creed said in a flat voice. “You owe me three lives.”
Camael glared at Levy who stuck her tongue out and scratched her head. “Levy thought she’d win the bet,” Levy said and shrugged. “Levy was wrong.”
Camael sighed and glared at Palan. “Alright,” he said. “You can eat me.” He held his arm out towards Palan and turned his head to the side. When Palan didn’t bite him, he frowned and furrowed his brow. “What? Did you want me to shower first or something?”
“What kind of dysfunctional family did we walk in on?” Cleo muttered. Her eyes widened at the board game. “Ah! They’re playing lizards and heroes. I want to join!” She slid out of Danger Noodle’s grasp, but still hid behind Palan, unsure of whether or not she should approach the table.
Palan ignored the outstretched arm and raised his head, looking at the figure in the sky. “Didn’t I tell you we could trust Asura?” he asked and crossed his arms over his chest. “There’s no point in waiting there like a stranger.”
“Is that your contractor?” Levy asked, tugging on Palan’s arm. He flinched. He hadn’t noticed her approaching. “She’s the mean one who kept killing Levy, right?”
“I’d stay away from her if I were you,” Creed said to Palan, gesturing towards Levy. “Of all of us here, she’s the least sane and most dangerous.”
“How rude,” Levy said and placed her hands on her hips, her cheeks puffed outwards. “Levy’s too cute to be dangerous.” Her eyes widened as she looked up. A spear composed of black flames and tipped with green smoke plunged into her forehead and exited out the other side, piercing her crab-like lower body and nailing her to the floor.
“Stay away from him, bitch,” Raea said with a snarl as she landed beside Palan, separating him from Levy’s twitching corpse.
Creed blinked. “I stand corrected,” he said. “She’s no longer the most dangerous one here.”
Raphael cleared his throat. “We’ve been waiting for you as well,” he said. “Please, have a seat, you two.”
“What about the others?” Uriel asked.
“Others?” Raphael’s brow furrowed. His empty eye sockets blinked. “Weren’t there only supposed to be two?”
“Man, it’s like no one can hear me,” Cleo said and picked at the carpet with her toe.
“Right,” Uriel said. “There’s an extra lizardman, harpy, and angel.”
“Let them sit as well,” Raphael said. “As Levy would say, the more the merrier.”
“Oh. Levy was killed again, so you’ll have to revive her and Camael,” Uriel said.
Raphael sighed as his head fell forward. “You know what,” he said. “Let our demon friend here eat them first. A sign of our goodwill towards him.”
Uriel and Creed glanced at Palan who raised an eyebrow. He shrugged and began consuming Levy and Camael after confirming their bodies weren’t poisonous by using Headmaster as his poison detector. Cleo and Cory managed to steal a few pieces in the process while Raea bore a hole in the back of Palan’s head with her gaze. Uriel and Creed were unfazed by the process. “It reminds me of our earlier days,” Creed said to Uriel as Palan chewed through Levy’s carapace. “I’m almost jealous of how easy he gets to evolve.”
After Palan finished his meal, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “And why exactly are you helping me evolve?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Asura said I’d find out after I did.”
“I can answer that,” Raphael said as golden light streamed out of his body, encompassing the remains of Camael and Levy. Their bodies began to reform underneath the light. “When a bonded angel and demon both reach beyond the limits of archangel and archdemon, the Creator will send you a message. He will offer you two an irresistible contract. All of our”—he gestured around the room—“terms were different: I received eternal life. Asura had her wish granted. I’m not free to share what everyone else got, but the Creator knows exactly what it is that you want. And he will give you want you want for one simple request: Stay in this room until all seven deadly sins and seven heavenly virtues have gathered—beyond archangel level that is.”
“I’ve never heard about this,” Headmaster said. His face was still slightly green from the raw flesh forced down his throat.
“Because you’re insignificant,” Raphael said. The headmaster snorted. Raphael continued speaking to Palan, “You are pride. Your partner is envy. The sooner you evolve, the sooner we can leave this room. If you agree, then there’s only gluttony left. We fulfill the rest of the requirements.”
“How long will that take?” Palan asked.
“It shouldn’t take very long at all. We actually detected a gluttony existence who was beyond the archangel level very recently,” Raphael said. “It ate the sky even if only for a brief moment.”
Cleo glanced at Headmaster with a strange smile. Headmaster’s eye twitched, and he raised a finger to his lips. “It was him!” Cleo shouted and pointed at Headmaster. “He’s the gluttony being who ate the sky.” Despite her shouts, no one paid her any attention. It really was as if no one could hear her.
Headmaster crouched beside her and whispered, “I ate your voice. Little lizardlings should learn to keep quiet. Don’t ruin my peaceful life.”
“What if I have things I need to accomplish first?” Palan asked.
“Then by all means, accomplish them,” Raphael said. “But we can’t help you evolve until you’re ready to stay in this room with us.”
“Then you won’t stop us if we try to leave?” Raea asked.
“No,” Raphael said. “We won’t. I have a feeling you’ll come back to us even if we let you go now.”
“That applies to me too, right?” Cory asked.
“It applies to everyone,” Raphael said with a nod.
“Oh wow,” Levy said and tugged on Cory’s wing. The demon had put on new clothes after being revived. “Your eyes look like the ones Raffi’s been looking for.”
Camael, Uriel, and Creed turned their heads towards the harpy they hadn’t been paying attention to this whole time. Raphael’s body was tense with an unusual expression on his face. “They really do,” Uriel said and raised an eyebrow. “Huh. Interesting.”
Cory cleared her throat and took a step back. Then another step back as black flames billowed from Raphael’s body. She fidgeted before spreading her wings. “I need to, uh, use the bathroom. Be right back!” She leapt into the air, but a wall of flames surged towards her.
“Stop right there!” Raphael roared, red blood pouring from his empty eye sockets. “I finally found you!”