Ascension: Faith & Logic...

  The moment Noah touches the book, a presence overtakes his mind, body, and soul...

  A divine presence so powerful that the entire world feels it for the briefest moment.

  "Abraham was Humanity's first Savior..."

  "Witness firsthand what WE have done together."

  HIS voice speaks in Noah's psyche while vivid memories flood his brain...

  He experiences the life of a Legend in an instant...

  Many, many generations ago...

  In an unrecognizable, distant, and arid land...

  A weary traveller walks an impossible path...

  This man is tall, wiry, and emaciated as he struggles walking along the sandy dunes of an endless desert. His greying hair and beard are thick with sweat, as is his bronze-colored skin and weary-featured face; he's out of rations and water with no salvation in sight. There's not a cloud in the sky, nor an oasis in the distance. This is a journey destined for death.

  Yet, this man never fears and walks with confidence in his ragged robes and state.

  He recites a familiar verse...

  "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil..."

  A distant roar of thunder in a clear blue sky graces the man's ears. He keeps chanting, ignoring the stimulus and keeping his eyes on the horizon. His verse will not be broken, and neither will his faith.

  "For You are with me..."

  Your rod. Your staff..."

  "They comfort me..."

  His verse deviates here, just as his Descendent...

  "I will walk until you tell me to rest, Father..."

  "Then, my crusade begins..."

  Those dried-out, halfway-blind eyes fall into darkness when he faints...

  Never seeing the hastening clouds, nor feeling the coolness of rain against his scorched flesh...

  He rests in total peace and deep slumber...

  For God has taken things from here, for now...

  "You are made in my image, Abraham..."

  "As are all Humans..."

  "For we are reflections..."

  What did HE mean by that?

  Noah never gets to ask as the vision fades, and he snaps back into reality when Lieutenant Ether waves a hand over his face.

  "HELLO!!!" the woman blurts out in brazen concern, looking deep into Noah's aesthetically alluring, amber-hued eyes. She pauses when Noah's gaze finally locks onto hers and further inquires. "You okay there? Did you feel that sensation, too?" she asks about the presence without knowing what it was, only that she felt it. The other soldiers also stand around looking awestruck at the sensation they felt. What was that?

  Noah gathers his thoughts and nods.

  "Yeah, I'm alright. I felt that, too..." he confirms Lt. Ether's suspicions and glances toward the book firmly in his grasp. "When I touched Abraham's journal, I think God spoke to me..." he calmly admits, although there's disbelief in his voice and gaze. His skepticism is a flaw sometimes, but not this time. "I believe that HE was giving me a pep talk. I feel more confident in my success..." he adds, and the lieutenant lofts her brow. This ordeal looks different from her perspective; she hums.

  "Mmm, I'll admit that I honestly don't know how to respond to that. God doesn't talk to me," she gives a soft shrug and a sigh before looking over her palm. "Maybe I'm one of the doomed ones..." A solemn exhale draws Noah's immediate attention, and he eyes her with a glare.

  "Self-destructive thoughts cause Abyssal Fractures to fester and expand in the heart; don't think like that..." the Replicant warns, and Ether's brow rises; she's suddenly curious.

  "You know, I know Abyss Fracturing is a verified medical condition, but the fact we've never found physical evidence of fractures in someone before they're demonized is scary..." She pauses, clutching her hand to her chest with a growing introspection and fear; Noah senses her nerves weakening. He shouldn't have mentioned God speaking to him. His eyes meet hers when she looks into his, and her next question shakes him to the core.

  "Why were we all denied paradise for Adam and Eve's sins when we had nothing to do with them?"

  Noah is silent...

  He doesn't have the answer.

  Ether figures she might, though.

  "Maybe..." a heavy pause while looking aside, her eyes on the dirt near her boots.

  "God didn't want a repeat of the treachery in his Garden..."

  Noah's heart thumps.

  "... Adam's monument," the Replicant's eyes are on the crumbling ruin once more, and his vibe changes. Lieutenant Ether snaps to it when he shifts gears, gesturing for her soldiers to get into position before questioning the Demigod.

  "What about it? You realize something?" she asks, and Noah nods while eyeing the impact point of Adam's sword impaling the ground. He has a question, and he asks it while stepping closer to the massive statue. "When was this monument built? Before or after Abraham rectified Adam's banishment?" he asks, and the lieutenant pauses in thought. The question caught her off guard, and she honestly doesn't know.

  "I don't feel comfortable giving you an answer because I'm not sure myself," she gives a defeated shrug before looking skyward at Adam's stony features. "There are no records of Apocryphal's creation, nor these monuments in whatever records we have..." She walks up to Noah's side and examines the spot he's looking at as she talks.

  "There are many theories, though. The most popular and horrifying one is that Apocryphal is Eve's creation in the waking world. That's why it's called the city of Apocryphal: because nobody knows anything about it beyond it existed during the height of Humanity's greatness, and is also the epicenter of every Descension," she pauses and raises her hand.

  "Other theories are that the city was built by Abraham, or that he found it already thriving in mystical isolation; the theories go on and on. You're better off not going down the rabbit hole on it," she eventually dismisses the question as the answers are endless, then asks a potent one herself.

  "Why do you want to know?"

  Noah touches his pendant, and it blazes into a machined gunblade before everyone's eyes.

  What a strange weapon for the Savior...

  "Because there's something that's been bugging me since we've come here," the Replicant lowers his flame-forged gunblade and glances around the statue's base while voicing his suspicions. "Adam died in his fight with Eve after slaying the Black Serpent. After that, Eve revived and corrupted his corpse, turning him into the Abyss Knight..." he suddenly pauses and looks over at her.

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  "Do you know about that story?" he asks while looking at the lieutenant, and she shakes her head with a suddenly baffled and dumbfounded expression. She only knew the vaguest details about the events of the previous Descensions, just like everyone else.

  "No, I was going to add on to my earlier statement that most texts from before the Second Descension are destroyed. The Second Descension was the longest and bloodiest extinction event for us. It spanned about two thousand years until the second Saviour, Jesus, was born. It's said that Abraham lived through the first and second Descensions due to an unnaturally long life span granted to him by Ra..." She eyes the gunblade that once was a pendant in Noah's grasp with awe.

  "Ra is consistently shown to be what we humans call God's Second Son, along with Jesus..." She gives a fun fact, and Noah nods, already knowing. He's glad that they don't know about the third son. Either way, he gets back on track with his point.

  "Well, during the Second Descension, Abraham dueled the Abyss Knight and lost. That's how he succumbed to Abyssal Fractures."

  "Adam is the Abyss Knight."

  All the soldiers' eyes widen in horror.

  They knew Abraham succumbed to despair, but not how...

  What a tragic fate to be killed by the First Human...

  The same Humans that damned us all...

  "This monument was likely built by Eve, as was this city..." Noah trails and turns to the others. "It's a mockery of Adam's vision of harmony with the divine. He's kneeling in subservience to a city Eve built to isolate away from Divinity..." he's now fully facing them all before dropping the biggest reveal with a calm, potent tone of realization himself.

  "This city never had people in it. It's an anchor point."

  "What you're looking at is a physical lie hiding a wicked secret."

  "A conceptual monstrosity disguised as an apocryphal civilization."

  Noah remembers that horrifying roar in Eve's realm...

  That unseen abomination that drew even the Archangel's eye...

  "It's called the Demiurge."

  "A God created by Eve, the first woman."

  That word sends chills down everyone's necks.

  "What?" Lieutenant Ether whispers in shock; that's an insane statement. "A human made God? That can't be possible! That's a fucking oxymoron! A flawed human can't create a God!" She adamantly denies the thought of such a thing, but Noah calmly responds.

  "And yet, I witnessed it..."

  His words stun everyone once more, even himself.

  That horrifying roar...

  What monster and new world is Eve trying to create?

  "Wait..." Lt. Ether raises her hand as if they're in class without realizing it; old habits. She speaks without waiting for acknowledgement, though. "There are ruined cities like Apocryphal all over the world. There's evidence of an advanced civilization of humans, and that we did prosper as a species after the First Descension!" Her words grow shakier by the second, as does the morale of everyone around her except the Demigod. None of this is making sense.

  "How can all of that be a lie?" she asks, and the rest of the group looks to Noah for an answer.

  A deafening silence fills the air until Noah speaks with uncertainty.

  "Because Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge."

  "The fruit contained God's omniscience to do all things."

  "Evelyn obtained the power to alter causality."

  "Adam obtained the power to defy causality."

  It's also why Abaddon exists...

  God's Executioner...

  The weight in the air is unfathomably heavy and suffocating.

  What kind of cosmic horrors have Humans tapped into?

  "... If what you say is true, Noah..." The lieutenant's blue eyes soften into hesitant concern; she's pondering something that she eventually follows through with. "Then, I think you need to know why Eve's real name is known to be cursed..." she trails, and Noah's curiosity switches on. He recalls the Staff Sergeant's earlier warning about ignorance being bliss, and hesitates. It's a dilemma.

  "Curiosity kills cats for a reason..."

  It can also reward them...

  Free will is an awful thing to have in situations like this.

  ... ... ...

  "Tell me," Noah gives the go, and the Lieutenant obliges.

  "There's a bedtime lullaby associated with the mystery of what happened to Adam and Eve after their battle. It's told to misbehaving children to make them behave..." She shivers a little herself while speaking, and even the soldiers nearby look unnerved. There's a distinct fear odor humans make when truly scared, and Noah's heightened senses easily pick up on it. The Lieutenant does an amazing job hiding her anxiety behind that calm facade when she sings in a rather soft and ominously lovely voice.

  "Listen little baby, don't be bad..."

  "Or you're gonna make our God real sad..."

  "Cause Sinners are cast out into the black..."

  "Where Red-Eyed shadows devour you like snacks..."

  "She's a Traitor, she's a Savage, and she's oh, so bad..."

  "Evelyn no more, only Eve, her name's slashed..."

  "A curse upon the sinners that all misbehave..."

  "Be a Traitor to your faith and Eve will come take your name..."

  The Lieutenant ceases, and silence follows.

  Noah recalls that woman's words.

  "I do not kill humans; their sins do."

  ... ... ...

  "I know what I have to do," Noah's words ring out with a nervous confidence; this is unknown territory for him. "You all should head back to the base camp, or go assist the others..." he adds, and everyone's eyes blink with confusion. Lieutenant Ether immediately rejects that notion and shakes her head.

  "Uh, no?" she huffs like Noah's statement was the first stupid thing she's heard all day, which is impressive considering her crew. "We're a team? We don't leave each other alone out in the field!" she grunts, and Noah's suddenly glad he paid attention to a certain statement the Staff Sergeant made a while back. He flashes a smirk, almost like a smartass, when he says it.

  "Yeah, but I outrank the military."

  Sometimes an abuse of authority is needed to protect lives.

  "So, I order you all to head back to base camp."

  Lieutenant Ether stares in sheer disbelief: the audacity.

  And, yet?

  What a power play.

  "..... Okay, for the record: Fuck you," the Lieutenant says this with a straight-faced deadpan, but it's harmless animosity. Then she sighs and throws her hands up. "Whatever. I'm not getting court-martialed for disobeying an order. Pack it up, boys, we're leaving," she orders, and the soldiers move like clockwork without issue. Noah feels a little wonder at how easy it was to handle that.

  "Huh..." he thinks to himself.

  "That was actually cool to do."

  He won't abuse it.

  The teams all packed up and were ready to go within minutes; soldiers move fast and efficiently when it's go time. The Humvee hums as it idles while Noah stands near the driver's side with the Lieutenant. She glances around the gloomy scenery for a few seconds before turning her eyes on Noah again, hoping he changes his mind when she asks...

  "Are you positive this is something we can't handle together?" she asks, and the question springs Jaden's image into Noah's psyche, which confirms his decision. He nods.

  "Yeah, if I make a mistake, let me be the only one suffering for it," he says with a humble nod, and Lieutenant Ether clicks her tongue.

  "Just remember, Noah..." a pause as she revs the engine, speaking and speeding off before Noah's got time to respond, let alone digest her words.

  "We all suffer if you die."

  Noah watches them speed away in palpable silence, and the true emptiness and gloominess of his surroundings settle.

  Now he can get to business.

  "I didn't expect you to let us in and out like that..." he idles with gunblade in hand and confident nonchalance; he's ready.

  Who's he speaking to?

  "Midnight Walker."

  "Oh!!!" A dangerously alluring woman's voice echoes in broad daylight.

  She appears within Noah's personal space in an instant, back to back with her right leg snaked around his left so he can't escape; it happens as fast as her shadowy energy dissipates and reveals her form dressed in dark colors. She's slightly shorter than Noah, but a physically divine specimen of a female all the same, from head to toe, as if good looks are automatically granted to those few chosen by the divine. Her unblemished skin shines like the warmest gold, and her black hair is luxurious enough to rival the Goddess Aphrodite herself.

  She grins like a demon back to back with him, her right eye masked by heavy swaying bangs of black hair, leaving only a baffling, ghostly blue one showing; a meticulous hairstyle and a stranger physical phenomena.

  Her eyes should be gold...

  "There's no way you knew I was watching you all this time? There's no way," a casually friendly tone doesn't hide her unreadable intentions to Noah. That one pale blue eye's coloration burns and flickers as if it's a raging fire of living energy inside her eye. Its gaze darts to the side until it catches the outskirts of Noah's form. Noah stays unmoved and unwavering when she questions him.

  "What's your divine secret, pretty boy?"

  A flirtatious taunt, like a cat with a mouse.

  Noah answers dismissively.

  "I think it's more fair for you to say yours first," he tenses his locked foot around hers, a reversal of dominance. "After all, I'm stronger than you," a bold declaration makes the suave-voiced femme fatale outright cackle. Her laughter is lovely to the ears, but her follow-up comment is vicious like a beast's.

  "Are you now?"

  That grin returns, and she vanishes like a shadow in plain sight. A puff of black energy in her wake.

  Noah keeps on guard but maintains a relaxed posture with his gunblade ready; he's the wolf, and she's the hare, not the reverse. Those golden eyes scan his surroundings while his other senses hone in on everything else. He only realized she was here due to Life Detection, something he's not comfortable or skilled enough to do in the midst of a potential ambush. His Hunter's Instinct will have to compensate, which is what it's designed for.

  He's God's perfect soldier, after all.

  "Try me and find out," Noah responds, and a cackle breaches the air as a wicked mass of darkness tears its way towards him.

  "Gladly!" she calls his bluff!

  It's time for Dirge to swap in.

  Next Chapter: Dirge of Apocryphal