A mountain that once towered so high its peak scraped the bottom of heaven now lay in ruins, reduced to rubble and dust. Its summit had been flattened, making it look like a mere hill beside the surrounding peaks.
Mercurion's rage had shattered the mountain's crown — and with it, wiped out every living being that once called it home.
The angel didn't linger on the summit for long. Once his rage eased, he left without hesitation. He had a clear goal. A clear target. Mercurion could already see the strange demon's death woven into the tapestry of Fate — but he couldn't tell if it would be by his own hand. "How does a being like him dare steal my Fate!" he growled to himself, blood boiling at the thought..
Alongside the demon's death, he also saw a catastrophic event looming in the near future — an event that would sever countless threads of Fate. Trillions would die in process. But that didn't concern him. The angel couldn't care less what happened to this reality, as long as it all unfolded after he made it back home.
His destination lay weeks of walking away — a kingdom located close to the mountain range he now stood upon. After a quick divination, Mercurion sensed an opportunity waiting there. But when he tried to discern its exact nature, he was met with a strange disturbance.
'Anti-divination? Or is there simply a higher existence at play?' the angel wondered, standing at the edge of yet another cliff. 'My Spirituality is warning me against divining further...'
Scratching his chin, he stood still and watched the grey clouds below. For the past two days, he had been wandering the mountains, carefully accumulating good luck and dodging the strange creatures lurking within the rock. Now, he had released that luck, drawing chance and fortune toward himself.
'The monsters here sure are strange,' he thought. 'They're like the corrupted creatures from my world. Their souls are tainted by some vile corruption.'
So far, he had only encountered one beast: a massive hog with sharp tusks and twisted horns. Not wanting to waste time or energy, Mercurion had revealed his true form, expecting it to collapse from madness. But nothing happened. The creature was already too far gone. Both mad and corrupted beyond reason, forcing the Angel to actually fight it.
The hog didn't lack strength or power. It only lacked intelligence, driven purely by instinct and bloodlust.
'Why would an unintelligent pig wild any kind of authority though,' a question crossed his mind, but then images of Amon and Medici appeared before his burning eyes. "Never mind," he snarled, brow twitching. "I know two other unintelligent pigs with Authority…"
Rumble
A strange sound snapped him out of his thoughts. He felt a faint tremor underfoot, the small pebbles bouncing as something drew near.
Mercurion's good luck had finally struck.
The sound and tremor came from a large caravan moving carefully along the cliffside. Why humans would willingly cross these mountains filled with monsters that could fight Angels, he didn't know. Or care.
Either way, that was his ride.
Of course, Mercurion could cross the Chaos as a Chaoswalker, but his spirituality was holding him back again. There was a hidden danger in doing so. Was it because he was in a different reality? Or was some higher existence manipulating things behind the scenes? 'It's definitely not that masked bastard though, they're far too weak.'
'And who are the Gods here? I can't sense the Great Sun God or any of his Archangels…' he thought just as the caravan finally appeared before him.
Four horses pulled a long iron wagon, flanked by knights in steel armour. Behind the first wagon, a dozen more wooden or iron carts followed, each guarded by at least two knights wielding spears.
Mercurion's eyes brightened as he used his Clairvoyance to glance into the future.
"Perfect," he whispered with a grin, stepping forward. His face shifted into a calm, collected expression. Very different from his usual angry and hateful glare.
"Good day, honourable knights!" Mercurion greeted, infusing spirituality into his words so the knights could understand him on a psychic level — bypassing the obvious language barrier without alerting them.
A taller, bulkier knight raised his fist, bringing the whole caravan to a halt.
"Who are you, stranger?" he yelled from a dozen feet away. Judging by his stance alone, he was ready to attack.
The Angel looked at the knight in charge and spoke calmly, his voice carrying easily over the distance in an ethereal tone, "I am a traveller, from a place far away. Would it be too much to ask, honourable knights, if I could join your caravan until we reach a city?"
Hesitating, the knights exchanged uneasy glances. They couldn't understand why anyone would be traveling through the hollow mountains. A traveller so beautiful and angelic no less. Something was definitely off about him.
"State your name!" The bulky knight yelled again.
"Mercurion."
"Why exactly are you here, Mercurion?!"
"Misfortune," he answered, stepping forward and making the knights flinch.
"Are you a transcendent?!"
'A what now?' Mercurion thought before answering. "Your caravan was attacked not so long ago," he stated matter-of-factly. "Sooner or later, another monster will strike. Then another after that. And yet another beyond those until no one is left to devour and slaughter." The angel paused for a moment before continuing. "But shall you help me, the unnecessary bloodshed can be avoided."
"What do you mean?!" another knight yelled this time. The shouting was starting to get on Mercurion's nerves. At one point, he even considered killing them all, but that was not a development favoured by Fate.
Ignoring him, the Angel turned back to the knight in charge.
"You know I am not wrong, Herbert."
The name nearly made the bulky man stumble backward, almost falling on his butt. The air grew heavy with the stench of fear.
"H-How do you know my name?" he stammered, gripping the hilt of his sword and ready to unsheathe it.
Mercurion gave him a warm smile. "I know many things, my dear friend," his voice flowed like honey, sending shivers through everyone who heard it. "Your fear is unnecessary. I am a friend." He declared, his spirituality sinking into their very minds.
***
Unsurprisingly, it worked and the knights had agreed to escort him to the nearest city which — by good luck — happened to be the capital of the empire they served. The fear that they have felt toward the stranger also turned into amazement and awe. Many couldn't help but steal glances at him as he rode one of the free horses.
'A prophecy has been made, the ride should be smooth and uneventful,' Mercurion thought with a smile, ignoring the knights' curious stares.