Chapter 153 - Azrael (1)

"Are you going to find Azrael?"

Said Hela as she came in front of me as she brought me out from my admiration.

"Yes, he would be a great ȧsset for the Baator."

I answered as I retracted my wings, horns, and tail.

Azrael was the pinnacle Archangel and had the Power of Death, very similar to Hela. I wonder why he even fell in the first place.

"Have you ever met him?"

As she was older than me, I asked Hela, so she must have met him at one point in her life.

"Yes, several centuries ago, when he was still Pure Angel. He led a crusade against Asgard. I didn't fight him, as he was out of my league, but even Odin, with the help of Pantheon that pushed him temporarily to Mighty Stage God, had a problem defeating him in a short time. Even then, he was the top powerhouse, but there was something weird about him."

Said Hela with a frown.

"What exactly?"

"Normally, someone as strong as Azrael should have already evolved into Angel Emperor. Angels have a straightforward path, similar to Fiends, Kindreds, or Devils in early stages. To reach Angel Emperor, they don't need to comprehend Law or anything; they just need to evolve. Azrael already had so much Holy Power inside him, so logically speaking, he should already reach Angel Emperor Level long ago."

Explained Hela.

"How strong would he be compared to Mighty God?"

I asked curiously.

"Probably same. Due to being a more evolutionary path, their combat prowess is similarly based on an accumulation of energy. Though Azrael with his Power of Death, would be stronger than many Mighty Gods, and only those who have strong combat-related Divinities would be able to match him."

As I listened to her, I immediately realized the reason behind that.

"Constraints."

I said.

"?"

"He has constraints from Yahweh. Probably all of his Angels have. I have also read that many gods in the Astral Boundary that are cultivating Angels often become paranoid, so they place constraints so their Angels cannot reach higher stage than themselves."

That was probably the reason why Azazel fell; he wanted to break through the shackles that Yahweh put on him.

Lucifer achieved it by transforming himself from Fallen Angel after falling to Devil through unknown arcane procedures long forgotten. Only records are kept in the Book of Lucifer that even I cannot decipher.

Maybe Azrael fell for a similar reason.

"That could be possible."

***

The next day, I have departed to search for Azrael.

I had some general location from Azazel, so I immediately flew that way.

I went to the unclaimed zone of the Underworld.

Underworld was divided into several areas, from each one belonged to some faction. There was Devil Area, belonging to the Devils. Realms of Dead, which belonged to Hades of Olympian Patheon. Yomi, which belonged to the Izanami of Shinto Pantheon. Kingdom of Osiris of Egyptian Pantheon.

Then there were areas that were not under the rule of any faction, like Malebolge or Cocytus.

Azrael was located even deeper in the Area termed as Abandoned Area due to vicious monsters that lived there. Apparently, Azrael chose the Abandoned Area as his base of operations.

A usual level of monsters and magical beasts inhabiting the Abandoned Area was General Level, with countless Monarch Level monsters among them and even many Emperor Level ones. It was basically a no-go zone for anybody and anything.

Constructing a base there, you can have a guaranteed peaceful life, as nobody would be mad enough to venture there on his own.

Compared to that place, even Sunset Monster Mountain Range seemed like a nice and friendly place.

After flying for several hours and evading some dangerous areas, I have finally arrived at the Abandoned Area. Underworld was far more extensive than Earth, so this journey from the Devil Area to Abandoned Area, took me several hours and a distance of several Earths to cross.

I cast some concealment spells to mask my presence, as I didn't want to alert those Emperor Level monsters that were sleeping here or whatever. While I was curious to test my strength against them, and they would be delicious to devour, right now was not the time.

I flew deeper into the Abandoned Area until I arrived at the part of the Abandoned Area, where the concentration of Death Energy was huge. Death Energy was the type of energy that was used by Hela, Azrael, or some other people.

It was a special kind of energy that could be found even in nature, in places where enormous amounts of lifeforms died, creating an enormous amount of negative energy of resentment, hatred, and similar, which would fuse and evolve into the Death Energy.

When an ordinary person comes into contact with even an ounce of Death Energy, and death is instant.

'This place would be a paradise for Hela. Her training speed would be boosted several times if she stayed in a place so rich in Death Energy. Azrael must be somewhere here, and this is the perfect place for someone with Power of Death to train.'

As I flew through this part of the Abandoned Area and searched for Azrael, I thought in my head.

And soon enough, I saw a young-looking man with short white hair, two black horns, and a black stripe tattoo underneath his right eye, similar to mine, sitting cross-legged on the top of some random mountain, as a crimson ball of condensed energy was floating before him.

"Azrael."