Paladin 4: Chapter 55 (Official) (Patreon)

As the dust settled, the cries, and pleas of the wounded seraphim filled the air. Darren, Asuriel, and Ashe wasted no time rushing to their aid. Asuriel and Ashe did what they could. Neither of them had any true healing skills, but Darren’s Fountain of Youth water worked just as well on seraphim as it did on humans.

Darren’s true use came into play when collecting the energy of the dead. He had used Divine Restoration several times already, but up until now, it had been nothing more than a boost to the number of times he could use the ability each day.

This was different. Most of the seraphim here had been utterly destroyed. There was no body to stand over and wave his hands. All he could do was grip a few scraps of Divine Aura and focus on it.

To his great excitement and relief, his combination of new abilities — Order From Chaos, Soul Maker, and Divine Resurrection — worked together even better than he had dared to hope. Order From Chaos purged any Demonic Aura that might have gathered in the area from the Order of the Rod’s human sacrifices and their dark deeds. Then he used his new legendary Soul Maker skill, the evolved form of Soul Smithing.

Each dead seraphim was like a collection of broken pieces. Previously, that would be all Darren could have seen, but now, with his new skill, he could fit those broken pieces together and assemble something from them. Maybe it would be what it once was. Maybe it would be something new. But no matter what, he had to try.

He spent nearly an hour putting enough of each seraph together to use Divine Resurrection. The seraphim that awoke from the process were frightened, bewildered, and often had disjointed memories of their former lives. He hadn’t matched the pieces up perfectly, it seemed.

But besides those minor setbacks, they were alive again, and they were grateful for that.

“That’s an amazing skill!” Ashe said. “You could resurrect the dead.”

“Just don’t use it to assemble your perfect seraphim lover!” Asuriel waved her finger at him. “I know you’re tempted! I’m on to you, D.”

Darren chuckled. “Why bother with that? I already have them.” He wrapped Ashe and Asuriel up in a warm embrace.

“You’re very sweet, Darren,” Ashe blushed.

“And strong too! Did you reach the Sixth Order without me?” Asuriel went from blushing to shocked to pouting in a few moments.

“Yes. Sorry.” Darren gave Ashe a warm pat on the head. “But I’m sure you’ll reach it soon enough. I have a new skill that will help.”

“I bet Asuriel will enjoy that one!” Ashe laughed.

“Ooh! Share your aspect! Tell me!” Asuriel bounced on the balls of her feet, clapping her hands in eager excitement.

Darren grimaced. He knew Asuriel would ask. But, looking deep within himself, his aspect still felt a little unstable. Despite all his new power, he knew it didn’t suit him. But he held onto it all the same because he needed the power it provided.

“Vengeance,” Darren replied honestly.

Asuriel’s excitement faltered. She tried to cover it up a moment later, but Darren caught the change in expression. She looked at him, hesitating for a moment before speaking.

“Well, vengeance can be... useful, right? I mean, there are people out there who deserve to be brought to justice, Kalaziel included.”

“Seems to me that the aspect of Justice would handle that,” Darren said.

“The sixth order is pretty strong, though, isn’t it? So how does vengeance stack up?” Asuriel asked.

Darren curled his fist into a ball. “Among the strongest.”

“There! See, you’re not defined by your aspect. It’s just another tool. It defines you no more than one of your skills.” Asuriel gave him a playful punch on the arm.

Darren forced a smile, though Asuriel’s encouragement truly was heartwarming. He pulled her tight against his side. “Sometimes you say the right things.”

Asuriel hopped up on Darren’s shoulder, settling comfortably there. “So, about that new skill of yours that’s supposed to help me reach the Sixth Order... care to share the details?”

Darren chuckled. “We’re going to need a bed and somewhere private.”

Asuriel’s eyes shimmered with excitement. “I’ve been renting a small place downtown. Follow me!”

***

Asuriel led Darren and Ashe to her cozy apartment, a considerable downgrade from the one she had rented with Darren in Calabor. Once inside, she showed them to her modest bedroom, the doorway so narrow that Darren had to bend over and shuffle sideways to enter.

“The skill is called Fates Intertwined,” Darren explained.

Ashe smiled down at Asuriel. “I think you’re going to enjoy casting it. The rest of us certainly did. It will make reaching any realm Darren has already reached easier.”

“Perform your dark ritual upon me!” Asuriel held up her hands, then flopped backward on the bed, arms outstretched.

Ashe tisked. “Darkest? Now that Darren is the equivalent of a Prime Saint, all he does should be considered holy. Especially something like this. When I had my full power and the seraphim were allowed to walk the mortal world, humans worshiped the ground I walked on. It would be the same for Darren. Seven Hells, anywhere else in the world, Darren would already be at the first stage of godhood.”

“You’re right,” Asuriel nodded vigorously. “I’m a heretic for even making such a statement! I need to be punished and returned to the path of righteousness!”

Ashe shook her head and was about to chide Asuriel again when Darren chuckled and explained.

“Ashe, she wants to be tied up.”

“Ah...” Ashe blushed. “Right.”

Darren reached into his Realmvault and pulled out some of Asuriel’s favorite toys. Each one he extracted had Ashe blushing even more than the last. For all that she’d seen since coming into Darren’s service, Asuriel was on another level.

“Is all this really necessary?” Ashe blushed.

“We can’t take half-measures with something as important as this new skill of Darren’s!” Asuriel said. She thrust her wrists in Ashe’s face while Ashe held a pair of cuffs skeptically.

“Come on, do it!” Asuriel begged.

Ashe put the cuffs on, her cheeks as red as scarlet.

“Now tell me what you and Darren are going to do to me!” Asuriel panted excitedly.

“Uh... hopefully make you a Prime Saint?” Ashe asked.

Asuriel frowned. “I think you can get a little more exciting than that.”

“Uh... Darren’s going to bend you over and do Darren things.” Ashe squirmed in place. Despite the shy blush spreading across her cheeks, her thighs glistened, and a wet spot was rapidly forming over her crotch on her dress.

Darren shook his head and chuckled. “If Asuriel is giving you trouble, just use this.”

Darren tossed a gag. He’d gotten it after killing some demons, though Asuriel had been the one to find it in his Inventory. He’d purified the thing of all demonic taint and upgraded it with Limitless Evolution to make it like new. It wasn’t exactly a magical item, but it was damn tough and quite inescapable when properly applied.

Asuriel’s bedroom talk was too much for the Prime Saint of Purity, so Asuriel soon found herself both bound and gagged. She seemed happier than ever by the time she was done, though, so in the end, Asuriel won.

Immobilized, naked, and helpless, Darren loomed over Asuriel like the divine being he was while she lay on the bed in obedient supplication. With her both close, silent and still, Darren found he was able to use the full spectrum of his new skills on Asuriel.

Aura Ascendancy and Soul Maker were both legendary skills meant for working with and manipulating Divine Aura, even inside of living beings. Either was effective against skills and living targets, but for a being made of pure Divine Aura like a seraph, they were especially effective.

Darren had already examined Ashe extensively in binding her to Melancholy so she could have some semblance of a body again, but this was his first time doing so for Asuriel.

He’d studied many seraphim by now, but never with such detail, and never when the particular seraph was so thoroughly restrained. He found having Asuriel tied to the bed, as she was to be quite helpful in figuring out what each part of her spirit did.

If Asuriel could become a Prime Saint, he could study her like this until he understood how her body worked. At that point, Soul Maker and Aura Ascendancy might allow him to craft a new body for Ashe wholesale without the need to recover what was taken from her by Kalaziel.

Asuriel giggled playfully as Darren trailed his hands up and down her body. Her legs bucked, but the ropes she’d so eagerly allowed to be wound around herself kept her firmly in place.

“Mhmm?” Asuriel looked at him questioning. Or at least, she looked at the spot where she thought Darren was. Of course, she couldn’t tell with a blindfold on.

“Is something wrong?” Ashe asked. She stood over the foot of the bed, eyes bouncing between Darren and Asuriel a little too rapidly. Perhaps she noticed what Darren was doing and was thinking along the same lines.

“Yes, perhaps we’ll do this for you too.” Darren flashed her a smile.

“W-what? Well... I’d be okay with trying anything... if you want to...” Ashe blushed and twirled her hair.

“I will have to study you just as closely and compare you to Asuriel when we are giving you back your body.”

“Oh. Oh! That! Yes. Of course. That was what I agreed to.” Ashe twirled her hair between her fingers.

By now, Asuriel was practically panting where she lay, and if she wasn’t completely unable to move, she’d have pounced on Darren already. it was time to put Fates Intertwined to full effect.

After spending so long with his hands roaming over her tender flesh, Asuriel was more than ready. She was needy and anxious. Her skin felt hot and flushed to the touch, her nipples hard and perky. Her breaths came in short panting gasps, and her lean muscles were coiled and tense against her bindings.

With her eyes blindfolded and her body bound, she’d entered something akin to a meditative state. Though her other senses were dampened, her sense of touch had grown even more potent. Darren leaned forward as he inspected the Divine Aura she was made of, hot breath spilling across her hips and torso.

His power tickled against her, and she immediately convulsed as the mere feeling of his presence so close sent her into orgasm.

Darren chuckled. It seemed his women were getting needier and needier as time passed. He felt sorry he’d left Asuriel alone here in the Heavens for so long if a few weeks without him had put her into a state like this. But, he wouldn’t deny her any longer.

He slipped into her, sliding in easily despite his girth. Asuriel shuddered as he penetrated her, slow thrusts growing quicker with each passing moment. He could read her body well, whether she could speak, and knew what her heart craved.

Still riding the height of her last orgasm, he quickly drove her to another, and then another after that. Divine Energy Constructs filled the air around her body once more. Instead of being tendrils of his power, they had physical weight to them.

Manifest Will was entirely new, and the things he created could take any shape, form, or material. He experimented with a touch as gentle as goose feathers or rough as beach sand. His creations danced across Asuriel’s body, eliciting delightful muffled cries.

All the while, he shaped the Divine Aura flowing within her body to better suit the bond he was trying to create. Fates Intertwined guided him in what he needed to do. With the practice he’d gotten on all the others, he quickly wove the new form of Divine Aura he wanted her body to take.

She was tied to him now and forever, and Fates Intertwined stretched a piece of his soul through space and time and nestled within her own. It slid into place easily since Darren had long been pumping Asuriel and all his other women with Divine Aura made by and marked by his power. This was just one more piece of him to add to the growing mound.

The ability went into full effect around the time he reached his climax. It forged a permanent bond between him and Asuriel, and when it was finished, he felt much like he did with Cassandra and her mental link. He could sense Asuriel’s mood with a thought. She was excited, pleasured, and even hornier than she had been when they’d begun.

She was also a tiny bit more powerful than she’d been before.

He chuckled. It looked like he had a lot more work to do.

“I don’t think it worked, Darren,” Asuriel said.

“It worked,” Darren assured her. He threw her clothes on top of her while he wiped himself down with a towel and got dressed.

“We need to go ten more times!”

“You already did it ten times,” Ashe replied, hands on her hips. She snatched the towel from Darren’s hands and started helping him herself.

“Twenty more times!” Asuriel thrust her fist in the air. “I’m sure I can reach the Sixth Order if we keep trying!”

In the end, they couldn’t push Asuriel to the Sixth Order. Fates Intertwined was giving diminishing returns for her since she was the closest to his level of power out of all Darren’s companions besides Ashe. Fates Intertwined seemed to have the greatest effect, the greater the power differential was. He’d wondered more than once if he’d be able to boost his own power with the ability if one of his companions ever surpassed him and reached the Seventh Order. He wouldn’t mind finding out.

“Later,” Darren promised.

***

They left, and Darren spent the rest of the day helping the rescued and reconstructed seraphim return to their normal lives. But, in some cases, the seraphim were more interested in joining the cause.

“You’re letting all the former Protectors fight for you, aren’t you?” a boisterous young seraph asked. Despite her diminutive size, she had a very intense gaze. Few others met Darren’s eyes for a long, but this seraph almost seemed like she wanted to get into a staring contest with him. Darren was pretty sure he’d never even seen her blink.

“I wanna join too!” she crossed her arms and pouted.

“You don’t have experience.”

“I can learn!”

Darren frowned. The final confrontation was drawing near with each passing day. In the Sacred Seas, he had the time to train his troops. But here, in the heavens, he? He didn’t think he could whip this seraph into fighting shape in the remaining time to get her ready for battle.

However, her eager enthusiasm was valuable in its own right. From his conversations with Thalia’s generals, he had learned that most armies consisted of more than just fighting men and women. They often brought a lot of non-combatants with them as well.

“Fine. You will follow the Protectors and assist with rescue and recovery efforts.”

The young seraph clapped her hands and bounced excitedly. “I won’t let you down!”

Similar scenes played out several times as Darren brought order to the town that had suffered under the tyranny of the Order of the Rod. He had encountered a situation before, so he was well-suited to handle it.

Soon, the town was once again whole and Darren, with Ashe and Asuriel at his sides, moved on to the next town.

Bit by bit, he was claiming this region of the Heavens for himself, contesting Kalaziel’s claim. The Prime Saint of Valor had yet to show himself, and Darren was looking forward to a rematch with Commander Thorn in particular, but the commander never showed himself.

The power of the Order of the Rod dwindled, so did their ability to resist Darren’s forces. Without any remaining Fifth Orders, Callum and Sasha’s troops could divide into smaller groups and sweep through the First Layer, restoring order and gathering up the disbanded Protectors.

Darren followed in their wake, spending only the time required by the Dungeon Queen in each location. As their ranks expanded rapidly, a new command structure was necessary for the Protectors to function as an army. Some of the old captains pushed back against Darren’s leadership, questioning why they should follow him when they had served as leaders of their local Protectors for centuries.

Darren’s solution was simple, he unfurled all three sets of his wings, revealing his status as a Prime Saint. The seraph stuttered in shock and bowed low, and his voice stuttered in awe as he recognized Darren’s divine status. Darren attempted to explain the concept of a human Paragon, but few understood it. To the seraphim, humans were limited to the fourth order, unable to ascend until after death.

With Darren’s leadership established, the Protectors worked as a united army, liberating towns across the First Layer.

Darren did what came naturally to him and explained only as much as was needed. He found that when he did so, people quickly came to their own conclusions, whether seraph or human.

“No,” Darren replied.

“Ah, I see,” the seraph said while stroking his lengthy beard. “You must be one of the Prime Saints who prefers seclusion and shies away from the spotlight. And now, with the battle for the fate of the Heavens underway, you reveal yourself. I understand your reasoning. Fear not. The Protectors will safeguard your secrets!”

“Good,” Darren replied before taking flight and reuniting with Asuriel. Ashe would also join them as they continued their ascent to the Second Layer, following the same path that Captain Gaviel had taken when he led Darren to meet Horon on the Fifth Layer.

<Note>

Alright, I screwed up and accidentally published chapter 55 earlier instead of chapter 54, so you guys get two bonus chapters today.