First Demonic Dragon

Chapter 555 The Seven Heavenly Virtues

Chapter 555 The Seven Heavenly Virtues

Michael gritted his teeth as he quickly took a moment to assess the situation.

There were millions upon millions of souls standing on the stairway to heaven.

If a battle ensued here, they could become collateral damage in the blink of an eye.

Especially with the child Abaddon was holding.

So for right now, Michael had to peacefully negotiate a way to ensure the release of himself and everyone here, as well as the entire domain of heaven if he was able.

"Dragon… release the girl and come with us so that we can find an amicable solution to our current stalemate."

Abaddon smiled as he clicked his teeth and wagged his finger.

"Angel… this is not a stalemate. You want something from me, but I am not inclined to give it back no matter how much you ask. You may as well go on about your life as normal."

"I don't believe that is in our best interest."

"Why is that? Do you believe I'm going to bite all of your heads off while you sleep? That's sort of pointless to me now though."

Little Courtney could hardly follow any of this conversation, but her mind heard the words 'dragon' and 'bite off heads' and she put two and two together.

"Mister… are you a big monster…?" She asked suspiciously.

Most would have given more careful answers to a question like that, but Abaddon was always a fairly honest person.

"Depends on the day, ya know?"

Courtney stared at him blankly.

No, she clearly does not know.

"Most of the time I look like this, but sometimes I need to change into my bigger body and stretch the old bones around a bit, Y'know?"

She still does not know.

"Are you afraid of monsters, Courtney?" He finally asked.

The little girl thought back to the hours upon hours she spent watching Tim Burton movies on her little tablet while she sat in her hospital bed.

At times, they were her only real comfort or escape from the chemotherapy that ravaged her body.

She especially enjoyed the one about the silly man who goes to the world of the dead with his wife.

"No… I am not scared of them." She finally said.

This seemed to make the two dragons smile from ear to ear.

"Since you're a dragon monster, does that mean you can breathe fire?" She suddenly asked.

"Sure does, and you want to know something really embarrassing…?"

The little girl leaned forward as if she were hanging off the edge of Abaddon's every word.

"Sometimes, if I sneeze really hard, it comes out of my-"

"Babe!" Seras chastised.

"I was going to say nose!"

"Sureee you were."

Courtney looked back and forth between Abaddon and Seras before snickering to herself cutely.

"What is your end game, Abaddon?" One of the archangels asked.

The dragon affectionately rubbed the head of the small child in his arms as he ignored them altogether.

Jophiel's eyes narrowed as he landed a few feet away from the trio.

"Destroyer… hand over the child."

"Are you hard of hearing, pigeon? I believe I already said that I would not."

"She is an innocent child who deserves better than to be used as a pawn in this game of yours.. put her down now!"

Abaddon tensed up immediately.

Seras instinctively took Courtney away, already knowing full well how her husband was bound to react.

Abaddon took a single step towards the archangel, and Jophiel felt an abnormal amount of pressure bearing down on him.

He could only assume that he was the only one experiencing this terrible occurrence, as none of his siblings or any of the souls were reacting to it.

And as Abaddon drew closer and closer to him, Jophiel realized the depth and profundity of his might.

'Just how long… has he been on equal footing with us…?'

Abaddon walked right up to the angel uncaringly and placed his hand on his shoulder.

The angel's golden armor creaked audibly before it gave way like tinfoil underneath Abaddon's strength.

And not long after, his collar bone was crushed right along with it.

"You don't know me very well, so I'll let you off with a small warning just this once and go on about my day…"

Abaddon tightened his grip and leaned in so that he was speaking directly into Jophiel's ear.

"But if you ever dare to insult me again by insinuating I need to rely on children and trickery to kill you, I am going to pluck your wings from your back and hand them to you so that you can write me a sincere apology in your blood."

As if he'd said nothing unsettling or unfriendly, Abaddon smiled and gave Jophiel another friendly pat before walking back to Seras and young Courtney.

"Hey you two. Would you like to go somewhere very special with me?" He asked.

Seras of course nodded, and Courtney seemed to take a moment to think about it before her sense of adventure made her agree.

Abaddon smiled as he wrapped his arm around his wife and stared up at the remaining angels.

"I'll be going now, but as thanks for entertaining me and my love for so long, I'll be leaving this little doorway open. You and the others are free to leave if you like. See? I can be nice too."

Michael tended to his brother's shoulder as he glared at Abaddon openly.

"What game are you playing at..?"

"This is no game. Though you should keep in mind that if you decide to leave, you will never be able to find this place again.

Not only that, but anything originating from this place will have to stay behind with it. It's best you keep those stipulations in mind."

In a flash, Abaddon disappeared and took his two companions along with him.

Once he left, the remaining archangels all gritted their teeth at the sudden change in this situation.

"What did he mean… we will have to leave what originates in this place behind?" Zadkiel asked.

With none of them possessing the answer, their options for what to do next were extremely limited.

Nodding to her siblings, Uriel stepped forward so that she could be the one to test the waters of their new situation.

She placed one foot on the downward staircase to heaven, and nothing happened.

She placed her other foot down, and the surprise of what happened next nearly dropped her flat on her face.

Against all of her expectations and suspicions, she felt a very part of her being start to leave her very soul.

"This… isn't possible..!"

Finally, Michael understood why Abaddon didn't try to kill them, or even engage in a battle.

His goal was to try to take something that could not be passed on from their deaths.

"That monster… he is trying to force us to leave and forfeit our virtues…!"

The rest of the archangels glared as their hands went to their chests.

"Uh, 'scuse me?"

Snapping out of their anger, the archangels glanced at another human soul in the form of an old man with a Hawaiian shirt.

"Can I go in now or…?"

Michael once again felt like dealing with the dragon of oblivion was going to send him spiraling into alcoholism.

-

When Courtney reopened her eyes, she was somewhere absolutely mystical.

It was a land so beautiful and vibrant that to describe it would require an entire English dictionary.

The sky above her head was pink and rosy colored like a fresh peach, with a golden aurora borealis moving throughput the sky.

She was standing on a riverbank made from some kind of soft, red grass that smelled of warmth and sweetness, almost like the fall.

In front of them was a large lake and a waterfall that continually poured the most perfect crystal clear water she had ever witnessed.

She wasn't thirsty before coming here, but just looking at the water made her want to have a drink.

There were no lands, mythical or imaginable that could compare to this place in terms of beauty.

This was the garden of Eden.

'I.. wait..'

The young girl suddenly raised her hands up to her face and her eyes went wide with wonder.

Her body had weight to it again.

She could feel her pulse in her veins and the beat of her heart forcing blood through every inch of her body.

Although she was still too skinny for her own good.

But her cheeks remained decently plump and adorable, so she wasn't in an entirely hopeless state.

Her head felt slightly itchy and when she reached up to scratch it, she felt something that she only barely remembered.

Hair.

The black, curly hair that had fallen out over two years ago was now growing back quicker than what was humanely possible.

Within a few short seconds, it had all grown back and gave her a slightly tomboyish troublemaker look.

Finally, instead of a large hospital gown, she wore an oversized t-shirt with the image of a dandelion on it.

Though she hadn't noticed that bit yet.

Her only focus was on one simple thing.

"I'm… not sick..?"

Courtney could breathe deeply without her lungs aching uncontrollably.

She was standing upright and she wasn't getting dizzy or nauseous, and to make matters even better, she was absolutely bursting with energy.

"I-I…"

"How do you feel, Courtney? Better?" A woman asked.

The young girl spun around expecting to find the same man and woman who brought her here, but instead she found real monsters.

They were without a doubt the tallest people she had ever seen in her life, and certainly the most muscular as well.

One had black skin like the scene she saw when she closed her eyes as tightly as possible, and the other was bright red like the rising sun.

The man had three eyes and white and black hair, while the woman had the normal two, and single colored hair as well.

They even had tails!

Faced with the sight of what was certainly the most cool and awesome couple in her entire imagination, her childish brain reacted the only way that she could.

She fainted.

"…Maybe the real appearances were a bit too much too soon." Seras muttered.

"Agreed."