Age of Heroes (Age of Heroes Chronicles)

Chapter 559: The flaw of heavenly demon

He spoke the prayers of the Thirteen Tribes as he closes her eyes. Old Gods roams about in the lands of Thirteen Tribes.

That is what Astiel and Jurgan told him. Some of them are lost, some of them are slumbering, some of them is just only a wisp of will

But they exist. They live in this last bastion of Gods and Goddesses, where the faith is still strong and magic is in abundant

And he prays as his heart seem to change.

'To Asrana, the highest among the Gods will I sing, the Savior and the Greatest, the far-beholding lord who bringeth all to an end, who shall holdleth constant counsel with Angels in the Heavens, Be Merciful, O Son of Light, thou most glorious and greatest and send this soul to your Blessed land'

That is one of the prayer toward Asrana. It sounds like a song which is not surprising since the tribe had hymns dedicated to each one of their gods.

Then he got up and walk again. 

His heart felt heavier and he shook the thought out of his mind. He decided to think about other things so that he would not think strange and dangerous thoughts.

He decided to think about Astiel and Jurgan 

There were not many things that these two demons had done after the massacre of the Great Priest in the Godsmeet.

Instead, they bide their time, waiting for the opportune moment when the darkness covers all the sky, blotted out the sun and covers the eyes of the Divine.

As for Elkar, he had set up a residence inside a cave. Inside it, he learns many things from Astiel as Astiel had decided to teach him a lot about the secrets of Heaven and Earth.

Jurgan is not a teacher material as he is very fond of making havoc. He had created a lot of problems along the way sometimes even get in the way of Astiel carefully crafted plans

Elkar was curious of why Astiel still keep Jurgan around.

He had once asked Astiel of this matter. 

Of why Jurgan, a wildcard is allowed to act as he is and why, even though Astiel sometimes reprimand him, he never punish Jurgan regardless of the severity of the problems that he had created for the Great Cause

It was then that he knew some of the clues toward the demon's flaws and their weakness.

Astiel explains to him that it could not be helped. Because that is the nature of Jurgan as it was dictated by the Heavens and the celestial forces that binds him. 

This flaw did not exist in normal demons. But on heavenly demons, it exists. It serves to be some kind of curse.

A fatal flaw. It is mostly related to their personalities and their quirks. Even Astiel had his flaws. 

The lack of free will. The dominance of instinct and desire. 

This is what plagues heavenly demons. 

Heavenly demons are stronger than normal demons, possessing great abilities and knowledge beyond imagining

They know the origins of the stars, of the land that they stepped on, the flowers that bloom and wither, the elements and the Laws that underpinned the existence of many things, the knowledge of what is beneath the sea, the origin of humans and demon and the knowledge of all beneath the ground and all above the Heavens.

But, they could not fight against their nature. Fate and destiny take over them and they are unable to let themselves free.

One of the Sages of the Three Teachings spoke once about fate and destiny. He spoke that personality determine fate

Heavenly demons have no freedom. An illusion of it sure. But they are slave to their desires and their quirks.

It is different from normal demons. It is not that normal demons did not have desire or instinct. It is that they could control it better.

They would not play around in a battlefield when death is staring them at the face. 

But Jurgan would. He is a chaotic being. This sentence is not a compliment. It is a description of his nature.

He serves chaos and even if it could destroy him, his instinct seek chaos. He hated stability and hated being stuck in one place.

Whether the plans of Astiel is compromised or not, Jurgan would care but when his instinct take over, he would still bring chaos and bring problems to the well-crafted plan of Astiel.

Even humans did not have this flaw. 

Yes, they have destiny and fate just like any other creation on this world, but they still have their own free will.

And the fate and destiny of humans since the arrival of the First Generation had escaped the grasp of the deities.

There is a story in a book in one of the dusty library of the Arakath Inner Library. Elkar once read it and he was fascinated by one of the lore of the Age of the Gods.

It is said that Gods, Goddesses have control over the fate of humans and Demonkind. 

But when the First Generation descended from the light that fills the world, to the shock of these Deities, the fate of these humans were not under the law of the world

They are free and the machination of fate and destiny did not work on them. 

They were not slave to the rules of the world, or in that time, the rules of the Gods. 

They could be whatever they wanted, they could be something more than what the Gods intended for them to be.

To the deities, this a rebellion and a force to be reckoned with

The deities before then planned the fate of each human, each demon, each living things. 

No matter how hard they try, once the lot is given, that is your destiny. 

A king wanted to live a life of a peasant, to let go of the burden of being a king. Once he tried to do that, each machination of fate would obstruct him from doing so

A farmer wanted to be king, to rectify the mistake of the regime. But the fate is written. And no matter how this farmer struggles, he would never make it.

The deities justify this by saying that the King had kingly fate. And the farmer had a farmer fate. 

They were suitable to become one.

The fate is given to appropriate people. 

But, what if people wanted to strive for more? 

What if they don't like their lot and wanted to change it? 

Should a slave son always be a slave? Could the King not stepped down and let others take his burden?

Could no people dream for greatness? To be something that they wanted?

The First generation arrival change all of this. Fate then have no power over the people of the First Generation

The same could not be said for heavenly demon. To be strong yet restrained by fate and destiny, controlled like a puppet on a string.

And that is not the only thing that Elkar had learned as he stays with these two ancient demons that have roamed the world since God knows when.

These two have instinctive fear toward the Land of Pillars in Anvali, the land of the Demons, affectionately known in the Human Continent as the Darklands.

When Elkar asked Astiel, what is there that would elicit such fear, Astiel would smile but would not say anything.

Elkar look at the Darkness that is spreading all over this area and he sighed. 

This Darkness is not only to attack and to bring fear to the people of the Shadowlands, it also has a very beneficial effect on Astiel and Jurgan and other Demonkind.

The world is not ready for them. 

And they were also not ready for the world. It literally means they were not ready for the world.

They are weak because the world is not suitable for them. 

Like a fish living on land, they felt suffocated, feeling like their body is restrained by some kind of power.

Elkar did not feel it that much but it is something that Astiel and Jurgan felt profoundly. 

This world had a certain rejection on them. Like they are denounced by the world and the sky of this world.

How could then they fight the Child loved by the World which is Asrana? Hence, they needed something to tilt the balance toward their side.

The people of the tribes knows that when the Darkness covers the whole world, Darkly Spawns would appear. These Darkly Spawns have many names

Some people called it the Darkly Things. 

Some other called it the Dark Ones. 

Whatever the names or title humans called them, it did not change the fact that humans do not know why the Darkness have to be around first before their Father could rise up.

Astiel is a heavenly demon. 

He is not pure demonic as he had angelic powers on him. The same could be said for Jurgan who could be considered a fallen angel.

Something happened in the past. 

This happening was the Battle of the Gods. 

Tribulation had fallen upon the Old Gods. Mortals were to rise and become the main character of the world

That is the story

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