[Location: Morningstar Manor, New York]

I gave a long-suffering sigh. "Zera…"

!!!

Just then—

"GRANDNEPHEW! IT ME, GRAND-AUNTIE GABY~"

Thunderous voice swept in. I was pretty confused. What about the wards all around the manor? No sound from outside comes inside unless allowed. Heck! No outsider can see the manor; in its place, only a brick wall or a dead end should be visible.

Then who the heck is it?

"Let's see who wants to die..." Zeraphira somehow shed her previous attire, and in its place, a fiery red armour coalesced over her like molten silk, the air shimmering from the sheer heat radiating off her body. Her sleepy, playful demeanour was gone—replaced by that terrifying, primal elegance of the Mistress of Wrath.

Her long crimson hair floated, strands glowing faintly, eyes narrowing into slitted embers. "Who dares disturb our morning?" she hissed, the temperature in the room climbing by the second.

I quickly put the frying pan down before it turned into slag. "Zera—wait, hold it—"

BOOM.

The manor shook. The coffee mugs rattled. Somewhere, the toaster screamed in agony. Zeraphira seemed to be already engaged with this mysterious figure.

Sigh!

My hand went inside the inventory and grabbed the hilt of [Muramasa-Venomfang Replica].

Shururu….

I ran outside, and my Observation Grid picked up three unknown presences excluding Zera.

As I stepped out, I saw chaos.

A massive crater had formed right in the middle of the courtyard, smoke rising like the aftermath of a divine temper tantrum. Floating above it, with wings brighter than molten gold and a halo that looked suspiciously like a misaligned doughnut, was a woman.

A very tall, very sparkly, very loud woman.

"CHILD! PUT DOWN THAT FIREBALL, YOU'LL SINGE MY FEATHERS AGAIN!" she cried, waving both hands like she was trying to land an aeroplane.

Zeraphira, in full armour and radiating murderous intent, hissed back, "Name yourself before I incinerate you."

The glowing woman gasped dramatically, pressing a hand to her chest. "Incinerate me? Oh heavens, grandnephew's bride, you wound me!"

The woman's voice was so loud, I swore my eardrums just declared independence.

Wait. Grandnephew's bride?

I blinked. "…what grandnephew? Who grandnephew? How grandnephew? What the fuck, grandnephew?"

Just then, the other two presences stepped in—

"ZERA-CHAN!!!"

Zeraphira froze. Like—actually froze. Mid–murder attempt. Her blazing aura flickered, her lips parted, and for the first time since I'd met her, she looked genuinely stunned.

"…Selene?" she breathed, voice soft, uncertain, like someone remembering a ghost.

The tiny witch giggled and snuggled tighter into Zeraphira's armoured chest. "It's me, it's me! Selene~ Your cutest and most brilliant witch ever!" she sang, her pointed hat bouncing with each word.

I blinked several times. The sight of Zeraphira, Mistress of Wrath, Hell's walking apocalypse, being hugged by what looked like an anime convention reject in a frilly purple dress with cat socks was… something I was not emotionally prepared for before breakfast.

Meanwhile, "Hmph!" A cloaked figure silently walked up to the glowing woman; my instincts were going haywire just looking at the emotionless orbs inside the dark cloak.

Slap!

"Brother, stop scaring Grandnephew already!"

The golden woman—halo still wobbling like a ceiling fan on its last leg—smacked the cloaked figure's head with a glowing palm. Sparks flew, literally. The cloaked one didn't even flinch. Just tilted their head in the most unnervingly calm way possible.

"...Gabriel," the cloaked one said quietly, voice smooth yet distant, almost too serene to be human. "You are loud."

The golden woman—Gabriel, apparently—huffed, puffing her cheeks. "And you're rude, Azrael! You don't just sneak up to people's houses with divine suppression active! You nearly gave my poor heart another arrhythmia!"

Wait. Azrael?

My hand froze halfway to my sword's hilt.

Azrael.

Angel of Death.

My brain short-circuited.

Zeraphira slowly turned toward me, her armour still blazing but her expression caught between awe and confusion. "Darling… is that… your family?" she finished uncertainly, her voice lowering as the molten glow around her started to fade.

The golden-winged woman clapped her hands together, her halo bouncing cheerfully. "Yes! Finally! Someone gets it! Oh, it's been ages! Look at you, grandnephew—Lucifer's spitting image! Same eyes, same aura, same broody frown that says 'I haven't had coffee in three millennia!'"

I blinked. "...What."

She floated closer, practically glowing with delight. "I knew I felt that Morningstar resonance! You're Helel's bloodline—my grandnephew! Oh, look at those horns, so distinguished!"

"I—wait—what horns?" I reached up instinctively. My fingers brushed smooth skin.

She blinked. "Oh! Right. You sealed your demonic side. Clever boy! Hiding your divinity like your grandpapa Helel used to when he was pretending to be mortal!"

Zeraphira's expression twisted from confusion to shock to full-blown disbelief. "... You're what?"

"I don't—wait, Helel? You mean Lucifer, Lucifer Morningstar?"

"Of course!" Gabriel said brightly, wings fluttering as golden feathers rained down like confetti. "Who else? I'm Gabriel, his sister! Your grand-aunt!"

"...Grand—" I rubbed my temples. "No. No, no, no, no. You—you can't just show up and say you're my grand-aunt like it's a normal Tuesday!"

Gabriel blinked innocently. "But it is Tuesday!"

Zeraphira groaned, clutching her forehead. "I swear, if one more celestial relative of yours shows up unannounced, I'm burning something holy."

Selene raised her hand helpfully. "Can we burn something cute instead? Maybe a plushie sacrifice?"

"Selene."

"Yes, ma'am!" She zipped behind Gabriel instantly, hiding like a guilty child.

Meanwhile, the cloaked one—Azrael, the literal Angel of Death—just stood there, silent, watching me with those eerily calm eyes. "You bear the same signature," he said softly. "Lucifer's echo lingers in your soul. But you are not him."

No shit, Sherlock.

My dry gaze met his perfectly unreadable one. "Yeah," I said flatly. "That's kind of the point. His grandson seemed to be being his grandson seemed to be the universe's idea of a bad joke."

Gabriel gasped. "Grandson?! Oh no no no no~ You're grandnephew, silly! Helel never had a son—just that long, messy rebellion phase, remember?"

"He had a daughter, Lilith, remember?" I deadpanned.

A fist struck the palm as she said, "Silly me, I kind of forgot in all the excitement of seeing you for the first time, which brings me to—"

Her form flickered as in an instant, she appeared in front of me, and enveloped my entire face in what could only be described as a divine death hug.

"OH MY STARS, YOU'RE SO CUTE UP CLOSE!" Gabriel squealed, rubbing her cheek against mine with all the enthusiasm of a golden retriever that had just discovered reincarnation. "You even smell like Helel's light—ahhh~ I could just bottle you up and call it Morningstar Essence!"

"Ghk—can't—breathe—" I wheezed, flailing helplessly as her wings wrapped around me like molten sunlight.

Zeraphira's aura spiked so fast the air cracked. "Remove. Your. Hands."

"Eep!" Gabriel froze mid-hug, wings puffing up defensively. "Oh! Oh dear, are you the fiery one? Helel did mention he liked strong women—"

"Zera." I croaked, prying myself free of Gabriel's divine chokehold. "She's… family. Technically. Please don't vaporise my genetic connection to the heavens."

Zeraphira's glare could've melted a mountain. "She touched you."

"She also technically glows in the dark," I muttered. "Let's call it even."

Selene, now floating upside-down with a cup of tea she definitely didn't have before, grinned ear to ear. "This is the best crossover episode ever. Angels, demons, witches—next up, vampires?!"

The word vampires made my stomach twist. Great. The universe was listening.

Meanwhile, Gabriel was still beaming, completely oblivious to the murder aura filling the courtyard. "Oh, you look so confused, my sweet grandnephew! Don't worry—Auntie Gaby will explain everything!"

Azrael's voice cut through like cold steel. "You will overwhelm him."

Gabriel huffed, crossing her arms. "I will educate him!"

"I vote overwhelm," I muttered under my breath.

The Angel of Death tilted his head toward me. "Your essence is fractured."

My blood ran cold. "...Excuse me?"

Gabriel blinked. "Oh, don't be so dramatic, Azzy! He just means your essence is ripped out and distributed equally... it does sound bad when you say it like that, doesn't it?" Gabriel chuckled nervously, twirling a lock of glowing hair as though she hadn't just said something casually horrifying. "But don't worry! Auntie Gaby knows how to fix that. Eventually. Probably. Maybe!"

"Probably?" I repeated, my voice half an octave higher than usual. "What do you mean 'probably'? My essence is what now?"

Azrael's calm, detached tone returned like an executioner announcing a sentence. "Fragmented. So that's what it was when the news of your powers was... taken."

Ah! So they are talking about the powers, sin affinity and everything taken during the ceremony.

I blinked rapidly, the words ringing in my ears like someone had just casually mentioned my heart was missing. "Fragmented. Taken. That's a pretty fancy way to say stolen by seven psychopathic satans and distributed among their daughters, don't you think?"

Oh Shit!

But before I could look at Zeraphira.

Gabriel gasped dramatically. "Oh heavens! You mean they actually did it? I thought it was just a rumour in the Choir Archives!" She clasped her glowing hands together, horrified. "That's so rude! Who just—takes—someone's essence like that? Even the cherubs have better manners!"

Zeraphira's voice cut through, dangerously low. "I will protect Darling with this power," Zeraphira said, her tone trembling like a volcano moments before eruption. The molten glow around her armour pulsed, waves of crimson energy radiating through the courtyard, warping the air itself.

"Zera—wait—" I started, but Gabriel raised a single glowing hand, her halo spinning once like a warning light.

***

Stone me, I can take it!

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