Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation

"So that's how it is..."

I knew Raydwin's soul probably didn't really die, like Cyra said. But I never thought she'd react so strongly to his "death"!

I only knew bits about Raydwin. I heard he turned down a rare chance to become one of the "Holy Ones". But it was hard to guess what would happen next.

He had no body left to come back to life. Even the strongest revival magic on Eldoria Continent - mixing water and light magic - couldn't help. Would his soul just float around Earth as a ghost until it faded away?

I bet the "Holy Ones" could fix this problem easy. But Raydwin never showed up after he "died". Looking at Cyra now, maybe even she was starting to lose hope. Wonder how long she can keep holding on alone.

"Ah well, better leave her alone to cool off for now. Maybe tomorrow we'll hear good news that Raydwin came back to life in M-country?"

Anyway, filling our stomachs was most important right now. I was about to drag Adrian to the canteen.

But then, out of nowhere, something crazy happened again.

First there was a loud "Ahhhh!" scream. Then after a few seconds, a bunch of "Damn!", "Holy crap!", "What the hell!", "Get lost!", mixed with a man yelling "Help!" real loud. We couldn't help stopping and looking back.

I recognized one voice right away - it was Cyra for sure. But I never heard her yell so loud before. And what was all that noise after? Didn't sound like she was just in danger!

"That guy shouting for help... doesn't it sound a bit like Raydwin?" Adrian asked me, sounding unsure. The noise was coming from Cyra's room. Maybe she was hiding a man in there?

Even if he came back to life, how could Raydwin show up here? This place is thousands of kilometers from where he died, in a H-country army base.

I looked at Adrian. Something felt off about this whole thing. So we turned around and ran to Cyra's door. I kicked it open without thinking twice.

"Holy shit!"

Even I couldn't help cursing.

There was a naked man lying on the floor of Cyra's room, with nothing on at all! And Cyra was angrily punching and kicking him.

No mistake, the young man was Raydwin! I guessed he'd probably come back to life, but I never imagined it'd be like this, appearing in this time and place on Earth.

"This idiot just popped up in my room out of nowhere. I was about to take a nap and nearly jumped out of my skin when I opened my eyes! And he's not wearing anything, pointing that thing right at me. Looks like he finally couldn't hold back and decided to be a pervert! Is that all he's got?"

Cyra didn't look too surprised to see us burst in. She kept yelling about making him feel pain worse than broken bones, but she did ease up on hitting him a bit.

Good thing six-winged angels aren't much stronger than normal people with their wings tucked in. Raydwin's tough skin didn't seem too badly hurt.

But hearing Cyra say that, Raydwin shouted back while dodging on the ground:

"It's not fair! How was I supposed to know I'd come back naked? Those guys asked where I wanted to revive, and of course I didn't want to stay in M-country. The first place I thought of was you... I mean, this base where your room is! Then I somehow dropped right in here. I really didn't mean to!"

Finally got it. Even though Raydwin didn't join them, the "Holy Ones" kindly made him a new body out of thin air. This body should be like Raydwin's before he died, and it seems he kept some memories from after death too.

"Those guys? Who are you talking about?" Cyra suddenly didn't understand. At least she stopped hitting him and asked.

After all, until now she thought everything was done by her "Lord". She couldn't miss a chance to learn more about the "Lord".

"Uh... it's a long story. It felt like a dream, but I know it couldn't have been!"

Talking about what happened, Raydwin looked confused. He seemed to be trying hard to remember, and stood up slowly covering his lower half. He continued uncertainly:

"After I blew up the bomb in the submarine, I somehow ended up in a weird place like a restaurant near a school. Then a waiter there gave me a menu full of info about their race. There was a lot, but I can't remember most of it! I vaguely recall they called themselves 'Holy Ones'? Seems they're a special kind of life form that lives on energy. They can exist in different space dimensions and times, and freely control anything in lower dimensions. It's thanks to them I could come back to life."

"That's it? Didn't they invite you to join? So why did you refuse?" I blurted out. Raydwin's soul should have stayed in the higher dimension longer than me, but he only remembered this little bit.

"Huh? They invited me to join? You mean become awesome like those 'Holy Ones'?" Raydwin was surprised too. He shook his head firmly. "No way! Absolutely impossible! If I had such a great chance, how could I give it up? It sounds just like becoming a god, only an idiot would refuse! Otherwise I wouldn't be here getting beat up by Cyra the fraud angel. You must be joking, right?"

"..."

Did Raydwin just forget because too much of his memory was erased, or were the "Holy Ones" actually lying to me about what happened to him?

I really couldn't figure it out!

"Wait a second, who are you calling a fraud angel? And when did you rename my 'Lord'? It was the 'Lord' who saved your life, but you thank those 'Holy Ones' instead of the 'Lord'! Even if you don't believe in the 'Lord', the fact that you're alive again is right here. How can you be so ungrateful!"

But Cyra couldn't sit still anymore and started questioning him. Faith is always without reason, and she never doubted her god. She wouldn't allow anyone to disrespect her Lord carelessly.

"Is there a chance... I mean, just a possibility - that your 'Lord' and the 'Holy Ones' are actually the same thing?"

Seeing Cyra about to rush over and hit him again, Raydwin stepped back and tried to explain from beside Adrian. But he quickly noticed a hole in what he said, so he hurried to add:

"Uh, no! There were multiple 'Holy Ones'. I'm not really sure which one is your 'Lord', or maybe it was that waiter I saw..."

Of course this careless explanation wouldn't satisfy Cyra at all. Seeing things getting worse, Raydwin could only borrow some clothes from Adrian and run out of the room like his life depended on it.

"..."

The farce was finally over. I suddenly felt a headache from these two troublemakers. When Raydwin ran out, the H-country army and others in the base who thought he was long dead would see him. Their understanding of the world would probably get turned upside down, right?

After all, there's never been a case of someone coming back from the dead on Earth! Let alone someone whose body was blown to bits. It might cause a huge uproar.

"About why Raydwin came back to life, telling the truth about your 'Lord' or the 'Holy Ones' doesn't seem very suitable. There's no proof to show others they exist! And Raydwin can only describe it with words, which isn't convincing at all. Why don't we keep it simple and just say an angel used magic to bring him back?"

After thinking hard for a while, Adrian finally came up with a good way to explain this.

"That angel should be me, right? Since it's all made up anyway, why not give Cyra this chance?"

I quickly caught on to his idea and suggested pushing Cyra forward.

Actually, water elements could theoretically rebuild Raydwin's body too. But my level is far from being able to do that.

"No need, it can be anyone! Earthlings have no idea what angels can do anyway. Your rank is higher, so it makes more sense for you to take on this trouble. I'm going to take a nap!"

But Cyra wouldn't fall for it so easily. She turned and flopped on the bed, waving at us to go out and remember to close the door.