An Angel?
Alex was stunned, the knife in his hand almost falling to the ground. Regarding this strange name "Elias," he did not have much emotion, but this heavy word "Angel" still caused him to be astonished to the point of opening his eyes as wide as possible.
As an orphan who was once adopted and taught by the Luminous Church, growing up in an environment full of the Luminous Church's doctrines, he knew too well how sacred and noble this word was. But if it was true, then the fact that an Angel appeared in the form of a skeleton in his house was also too beyond imagination.
"Angel... if it is true..." He mumbled, trying to rummage through his memory about the gods: "Which one is it?"
The world Alex was living in was a mysterious world where gods coexisted, and holy spirits frequently manifested and operated.
At the peak of this world, there were countless deities governing different fields, among whom the Goddess of Light and the Goddess of Darkness, this pair of powerful twin sisters, were the strongest existences, dominating the world order.
In the classic doctrines widely circulated by the Luminous Church, there was a record as follows: beside the Supreme God, there were twelve powerful existences comparable to the Main Gods; They were the most loyal servants of God, called the twelve Angels of God.
Alex held his breath waiting for the answer.
"War." The skeleton spat out a cold word, carrying the smell of iron, steel, blood, and fire.
The Angel of War, the eighth Angel among the twelve Angels of God.
Alex felt his whole body go stiff as if paralyzed, then the muscles began to tremble slightly irregularly due to the excessive shock.
He did not know if he was currently excited because he met a divine miracle or fearing the invisible pressure; it was just the instinct of a tiny creature trembling before a great existence.
The skeleton did not pay attention to the exaggerated reaction of this unnoticeable human kid. He bowed his head, raised his bony hands in front of his face, observing his miserable state at this moment.
The whole body only had bare white bones remaining; flesh, internal organs, and blood had all been corroded cleanly in that earth-shattering battle.
He clearly remembered that he had been cursed with destruction by the Evil God; why could he wake up again in the mortal world?
Elias lowered his arms, bones clattering against each other. He looked towards the only life with warmth in the room besides himself.
"Human." He opened his mouth, this time emitting a physical sound in the standard common language of the continent, even without a larynx.
Alex blinked, realizing this skeleton was truly talking to him.
Many things happened consecutively in a short time making him feel like everything was an unreal dream, but he still gathered all his courage to take a step closer, showing respect.
"Hello... hello, Sir."
Elias bowed his head lower, empty dark eye sockets directly facing Alex's clear fearful eyes.
"It was you who saved me, human."
Human? This way of addressing sounded strange and too distant.
Alex frowned; he gathered all his courage to speak to the skeleton claiming to be God's Angel: "I have a name, my name is Alex."
The skeleton paused for a moment as if processing information, then corrected his words fluently: "It was you who saved me, Alex."
His pronunciation of the common language was very standard, deep and majestic, but when reading the name "Alex," the ending sound was slightly vague, sounding very... intimate and strangely gentle.
Alex involuntarily laughed softly once; this tall skeleton did not look as scary and ferocious as his horrific appearance. The air in the room was no longer stiflingly tense, and Alex's trembling also slowly stopped.
"It was you, Sir, who saved me, that is correct." Alex raised his head to look up, seriously correcting the mistake in Elias's judgment: "If it wasn't for you, Sir, I might have died in the forest. That weird white mist was truly very scary, swallowing everything, but the moment you appeared, Sir, it disappeared without a trace like meeting a nemesis."
The skeleton seemed to be deep in thought; he shook his head seriously, cervical vertebrae cracking.
Clearly, this human teenager named Alex did not understand the deep implication in his words.
This teenager had unintentionally met some mysterious condition, helping to lift the death curse of the Evil God on his body, but because Alex's power was limited, the curse was not completely lifted, so Elias turned into this white bone appearance instead of restoring the original state.
He did not know how many troublesome things were involved in this, but clearly, this was not a level of knowledge that an ordinary human could easily investigate or intervene in.
Elias lowered his body further, bending even his knees, to bring his skull to the same level as Alex's line of sight.
The teenager was startled, retreating a small step by reflex. But very quickly he realized, this skeleton had no malice; this action was only wanting the dialogue between them to be a bit more comfortable and equal.
Elias was too tall; wanting to talk to Elias, Alex had to always crane his neck until it was sore.
"Alex." His bones clearly did not change, jaw muscles only moved slightly, but the voice naturally transmitted into Alex's ears: "Correct, you saved me, you are my life-saving benefactor."
"Therefore, I can, within the scope of my current ability, grant a wish of yours, considered as a fair repayment."
Alex blinked continuously, staring into the deep empty eye sockets of the skeleton. In that place, there were clearly no eyeballs, yet he sensed the serious and sincere gaze of an adult man.
"Anything is okay?" He confirmed in a whisper, voice small like a mosquito's buzz due to nervousness.
Such a thing was too beyond imagination, like a fairy tale, to the point his mind was blank, completely not knowing what wish to make to be worthy.
"That is right, as long as it is within the scope of my ability." Elias explained patiently, tone full of persuasion: "Money and jewels, power and status, or a gentle and thoughtful lover to keep you company, these worldly things are all not difficult for me."