I opened my eyes, pulling myself back from the vision. I took a moment and thought myself, what I would have done if they killed someone precious to me like that?
Grayfia asked softly, her tone careful. "Have you already seen through everything, Kokabiel-sama?"
I took a slow breath. "I've seen enough. More than enough."
The moon hung above us, beautiful and indifferent to the tragedies playing out below.
"Such a beautiful night," I said quietly. "The moon is perfect. The stars are clear. Yet none of the people down there are enjoying it.
They're too busy preparing their festival, too busy celebrating their 'victory' over evil to appreciate this might be the last peaceful night they ever know."
Grayfia asked softly, "Have you seen how this ends, Kokabiel-sama?"
"Yes. I've seen exactly how this ends."
I looked down at the lights of Târgoviște twinkling in the darkness below. Innocent lights. People going about their lives, unaware of the judgment coming for them.
"We're leaving, Grayfia. Tell Sariel to proceed with eliminating the other vampire clan leaders and destroying the monster armies. That includes the Forgemasters and their workshops. All of them."
I paused. "But spare Vlad Tepes himself. He has his own battle to face. His own judgment to receive. And it shouldn't come from us."
I could sense them now. Three presences racing toward Romania at desperate speed. Alucard had found help—powerful help. They would arrive just in time. One ofthem felt slightly familiar.
"What is it with fate constantly arranging father-son death battles?" I muttered. "Every culture, every timeline, this same conflict appears over and over. No matter who wins, they both lose. Such a tragedy."
Grayfia bowed respectfully. "It will be done immediately, Kokabiel-sama. I'll instruct Sariel to act before the vampire forces can harm any innocent people in the region."
I stopped her before she could open a communication channel to pass along the orders.
"Wait."
She paused, looking at me curiously.
I hesitated. This was the part I'd been dreading. The decision I knew I had to make but wished I didn't.
"Any children under ten years old," I said slowly. "And anyone who genuinely lacks malice or hatred in their heart,who played no part in what happened one year ago , evacuate them tonight. Get them out before tomorrow."
Grayfia nodded. "Of course, Kokabiel-sama. And the others?"
I hardened my expression "Leave them be. Do not interfere with what comes tomorrow."
Grayfia paused mid-motion, her hand frozen. She turned to look at me with visible nervousness.
"Ummm, Kokabiel-sama, by that order, do you mean..."
"I mean exactly what I said, Grayfia." My voice came out harsher than I intended.
"I will not save humans who have proven themselves worse than any monster. They discarded their right to be called human the moment they tied up a pregnant woman and burned her alive while she begged them to spare her unborn child. This is my failure to guide them. So I shall bear their sins and their death."
Grayfia was shocked. " Kokabiel sama, you had nothing to do with...."
I stopped her again. " Grayfia, it is my fault. I promised him I would watch over them, maybe guide them to a better path. But I didn't, and they became this twisted monsters wearing human skin."
I forced myself to continue. "They celebrated her death. They made jokes about it. Tomorrow they're planning to burn an effigy to commemorate their 'victory.' They had a year to reflect, to feel remorse, to seek forgiveness. Instead they're throwing a party."
"Tell Sariel to withdraw all forces after eliminating the vampire leadership. Tell him not to worry about collateral damage during cleanup. What happens to that town after tomorrow is not our concern. In fact, raze it to the ground after all is over."
Grayfia looked like she wanted to ask me to reconsider. But after a long moment, she simply bowed her head.
"I understand, Kokabiel-sama."
"One more thing. Tell Sariel to leave a message for Vlad Tepes. After he's had his vengeance on the people who murdered his wife, tell him to return to his castle immediately without harming another soul. His son is coming for him. That battle, that closure, is the only mercy I can offer him."
I paused then added. " And tell him... I apologize for his loss and taking away the chance to end the man who started this."
Gray widened her eyes. " You don't mean..."
I nodded. " They are supposed to be our followers, spreading the divine words. Their sins are ours to judge. Inform Michael I shall visit the Vatican after this. They have forgotten my warnings."
Grayfia flinched at the coldness from my voice. She hesitated, theb bowed deeply and left to relay the orders.
I remained floating above the clouds, staring down at the peaceful countryside.
Was I making the right choice? Were those people down there truly beyond redemption? Did the lives that would be lost tomorrow actually deserve this fate, even after committing such a genuinely heinous crime?
I couldn't say. Right and wrong weren't absolute truths, they were perspectives.
There couldn't be light without darkness. Good without evil. What you call righteousness, your enemies call it hypocrisy and injustice. That's just the way it is.
But my conscience, that fragment of humanity I'd rebuilt so carefully over centuries,
was screaming at me.
This is wrong. You're condemning thousands to death. Innocents will die. Some children might slip through the evacuation. This is not justice.
And yet...
I thought about the woman's screams. About her desperate pleas for her unborn child. About the crowd cheering as she burned.
I thought about the festival being planned below. The laughter. The celebration.
No.
Some sins were unforgivable. Some crimes demanded justice, even if that justice came from unexpected sources.
If only I was truly like the other Outer Gods—completely detached, utterly amoral, free from these endless moral dilemmas and ethical struggles.
But I wasn't. I'd chosen to remain connected to this world, to care about the beings within it.
And that choice came with a price that I paid every single day.
Below me, in the town of Târgoviște, the people were preparing for tomorrow's festival.
Hanging decorations. Baking special foods. Planning entertainment.
Completely unaware that they were preparing for their own funeral.
Children laughed and played in the streets, innocent and unaware of the sins their parents had committed.
That's why I'd ordered their evacuation. The children didn't deserve to pay for their parents' atrocities. They could still be saved, still grow into better people than their predecessors.
But the adults? The ones who had cheered as a pregnant woman burned?
They had made their choice. And tomorrow night, they would face the consequences.
I watched a group of men near the town square, laughing drunkenly as they reenacted the burning, making cruel jokes about "the witch" and her screams.
Let them celebrate, I thought coldly. Let them laugh and dance and congratulate themselves on their righteousness.
Tomorrow night, they would learn the difference between heroes and monsters.
And they would learn that sometimes, the monsters are made, not born.
Made by the very people who claimed to fear them most.
Vlad Tepes would get his vengeance. His wife would be avenged.
And then his son would stop him from going any further, preventing him from becoming the very monster he'd fought against his entire life.
It was poetic, in a tragic way.
A father and son, both trying to honor the same woman's memory, but walking completely opposite paths to do so.
One choosing vengeance and destruction.
The other choosing mercy and redemption.
I wondered which path Lisa would have approved of, if she could see them now.
Probably neither. Probably she would have wanted them both to simply let go of hatred entirely and live peacefully together.
But that ship had sailed the moment the flames touched her skin.
Some wounds cut too deep to ever fully heal. Some betrayals could never be forgiven or forgotten.
I offered a silent prayer for the unfortunate woman.
Grayfia returned after relaying my orders. "Sariel-san acknowledges all orders, Kokabiel-sama. The operation begins within the hour. The children and innocents are being evacuated as we speak."
"Good. Where are you sending them?"
"There's a village in the northern mountains, three days' travel from here. Good people, untouched by the church's corruption. We're providing them gold to care for the children properly."
"Make sure it's enough. Those children deserve a chance at a better life than their parents had."
We floated in silence.
Finally, Grayfia spoke. "Kokabiel-sama... may I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"I ...know it's not my place to say it, but Do you ever wonder if you're playing God? Deciding who lives and dies, who deserves mercy and who deserves judgment?"
I smiled sadly. "Every day, Grayfia. Every single day."
"Does it ever stop you?"
"No. Because doing nothing, letting evil go unchecked, that would be worse. At least this way, I'm trying. Even if I fail. Even if I'm wrong."
"Even when it costs lives?"
"Even then. The only thing worse than making hard choices is refusing to make them at all, out of fear of being wrong."
I chuckled mirthlessly. "The hardest choices require the strongest wills."
She processed my words silently. "I think I understand, Kokabiel-sama."
"Someday," I continued, "you'll also face choices like this. Impossible decisions where every option leads to pain. When that day comes, I want you to be ready. To be strong enough to choose."
Below us, I sensed Sariel and his team moving into position.
The vampires were gathered in Vlad's castle, celebrating their planned conquest of Europe.
They had no idea that death was already at their doorstep.
"It's beginning," I said quietly.
Grayfia nodded. "Should we observe?"
"No. Let's move on. I don't need to watch to know the outcome. Sariel will handle it properly. Let me finish my duty."
I vanished and reappeared near the town square where the fat bishop was tearing through a lamb chop.
He was startled to see me would be an understatement. His eyes widened as he saw the twelve black wings on back, glittering under the moonlight.
There were about one hundred and ninety four scenarios that could have followed. I chose the one with less talking.
At first, he was going to scold me , call me a filthy fallen and whatnot. Then he saw the Lauren Wreath Halo on my head, and immediately fell to his knees in fear. " My lord... Archangel Kokabiel... Tis a blessing to witness your holiness..."
I shut him up with a single. He horrifiedly grabbed his face to find out there was no lips, only smooth skin.
" Listen you disgusting vermin, your sins have caused this entire town's people to be dead within tomorrow. All because you were too greedy to let go of your lofty position and used it to kill an innocent pregnant woman. Even God probably wouldn't have forgiven you if he was alive."
His eyes widened at the blasphemous and shocking revelation. But before he could process it, I snapped my fingers. He was immediately tied to a cross. He tried to struggle as I took the hammer and nails.
" Forgive me Yahweh, for I'm about to sin in your name."
The first nails went through his wrists, then through elbows. Then his ankles and knees. I kept driving the nails one by one as the bishop struggled violently. His eyes and ears bleeding yet he couldn't utter a word.
Finally I took the largest nail and drove it through his heart. He jerked his body, then went limp, clearly dying. I made sure he doesn't die immediately.
" Because of one person's selfishness, thousands would die. Such a shame."
I teleported back to the chariot where Grayfia stood silently.
Below us, holy light suddenly flared.
Sariel's attack had begun.
The vampire clans' dream of conquest died in less than an hour. Carmilla, Elizabeth, Ruthven—all reduced to ash by holy fire.
The Forgemasters and their monster armies, destroyed the same way.
Some tried to plead or bargain, but these are the guardian angel corps, the most stubborn and fanatical group in Heaven who deems anything other than humans or angels as evil that should be purged.
I usually keep them busy with paperwork just so they don't cause trouble. But tonight is the perfect battlefield for them.
Only Vlad remained, untouched as I'd ordered.
"It's done, Kokabiel sama." Grayfia said quietly.
I nodded. "Then we leave. I don't need to see the rest."
We turned east, away from Romania.
Behind us, the town of Târgoviște continued its preparations, unaware that death was already coming for them.
Tomorrow night, a town would learn that monsters aren't born from darkness. They're born from betrayal and cruelty. From the ashes of innocence burned away by those who claimed to serve the light.
I closed my eyes against the coming screams I knew I would hear, even from worlds away.
Justice had a price.
And sometimes, that price was paid in blood.