Death... and me



Lara narrowed her eyes, waiting for Abdiel to talk. "So, what was it? I gave you permission, so you don't need to be afraid of the Soul Restriction activating."

Abdiel bitterly smiled on the inside before changing his words completely. "I was just worried. Could it be that the Devils found out about the Temporal Connection between our realms in this place? I don't know what it will be used for, but I know it is important, right?" Sure enough, just as he mentioned to Roan before, he was more afraid of having his Soul destroyed than dying itself.

Lara sighed in relief. "What? Was that it? Don't worry. Everyone in the Canyon is under the Soul Restriction from Archangel Raphael. There is absolutely no way the Devils found out about it. Some might be suspicious that we decided to make one of our bases in this place. However, the low concentration of Dark Element serves as an excuse, as it makes it easier to spread our Light Element."

Suddenly, Franfa raised his hand. "Lady Lara. Senior Abdiel wouldn't express his concerns without reason. Perhaps it should be good to take a look around the Temporal Connection, just in case."

Abdiel didn't feel better with Franfa's vote of confidence. Roan and Sesame knew about the Temporal Connection, which means the Devils will soon know about that as well. Nonetheless, it was better than nothing. If they could increase the guard around the Temporal Connection and find something wrong, the Angels would immediately act accordingly. 'Thanks, Franfa.'

Franfa smiled at him. 'Senior Abdiel, you helped me in the past, so it is only natural to reciprocate. We aren't like those Devils that don't know the meaning of goodness.'

Lara thought about it a little and decided to allow it. "Alright, take some extra patrols and go check the Temporal Connection Gap. However, before that, Abdiel, why did those Devils let you go?"

Abdiel shook his head. "I don't know, Lady Lara. I'm as puzzled as you are. Letting me escape also meant that I was going to warn our forces about their existence."

Another Angel on Franfa's side, the same one who found Abdiel with Franfa, thought about something. "Perhaps because it was meaningless. The moment Senior Abdiel was captured, we found out about it. There was no way to cover his disappearance."

"Joki, that's too naive. Think about what you said. It would be a lot better to get him killed as it would be one less Angel to deal with," Liduin found the Joki's words not convincing enough.

Joki lowered his head, seeming ashamed of his previous words.

Lara pondered a bit and could only think about one possibility. "Hmph! Isn't that obvious? The Devils have always been extremely arrogant. The way that they tortured Abdiel just proves that point. It's not that they don't want to kill him. It's that they want to show us that they don't care if we are alerted about it. Pass down my orders. Increase the defenses around the valley. I believe the Devils will soon mount an attack, so we must be ready to entertain our guests."

Everyone felt like they were enlighted. Indeed, that was basically the view that all Angels had about the Devils. Little did they notice that they were being just as arrogant as the Devils, not considering other possibilities.

Abdiel didn't care, though. As long as more defenses were put in place, the harder it would be to reach the Temporal Connection. "Well then, Lady Lara, I'm going to check the Temporal Connection."

"We are going with you, Senior Abdiel." Franfa and Joki quickly followed. Not only him but so did Liduin and his group.

Abdiel had no reason to stop them. Instead, he went around and called a few extra Angels before they all headed to the Temporal Connection Gap. 

Arriving there, the Higher Level Angels in the place asked the reason for their visit, which Abdiel quickly explained. They also received a Thoughts Transmission Talisman Message from Lara, confirming that Abdiel was telling the truth. "Well done, Abdiel. We will immediately mobilize everyone here to check the area. You can go ahead."

"Thank you, seniors." Abdiel didn't waste time and passed his orders to the lower-level angels.

Liduin and the other Angels in command did the same. It didn't take long before the entire area around the Temporal Connection Gap was filled with Angels flying all around. Not even a fly would be able to pass without being detected.

The Elemental Space and Space-Time Realm Angels also kept their Divine Senses fully spread, making sure everyone was doing what they were supposed to. 

As one of the patrols near the Temporal Connection Gap, an Angel suddenly stopped. He narrowed his eyes and looked at a specific point at the Temporal Connection Entrance, which brimmed with Light Element coming out of it. This Angel was none other than Franfa.

"What is it, Franfa?" Abdiel, who was leading this same group, noticed Franfa's behavior and stopped as well.

Frana pointed down from above. "Did you just feel an oscillation in the Space near that point just now?" 

Abdiel sweated could and immediately used his Divine Sense to check the area Franfa mentioned. However, he couldn't feel anything. "Are you sure?"

Yet, Franfa sighed and just shook his head. "Forget it. I'm probably just imagining things. Lady Lara said it, didn't she? There is no way the Devils know about the Temporal Connection Gap yet, so how could a Devil be there? Let's continue, Senior Abdiel."

Of course, Franfa didn't know that Abdiel did tell the Devils about the Temporal Connection Gap. "Even if that's the case, it is always worth verifying. Let's go." He truly didn't want to leave it to chance.

Everyone nodded, and they descended beside the Temporal Connection Gap to check. Abdiel received a few Divine Sense Messages, to which he replied by saying the same thing as he did to Franfa. 

His group checked the entrance for a few minutes, but in the end, neither Abdiel nor anyone else found anything. Finally, Abdiel sighed in relief. "Alright, it seems to have been a false alarm." He and his group quickly took flight once again to continue their patrol.

However, it was at that moment that Abdiel noticed something. "Hum? Where is Franfa?"