Irium

"Ha! Haha! Hahahaha!!!" the doctor just laughs as he hears that. For whatever reason he laughs is not important, what"s important is the fact that he laughs.

"So, is that it?" I ask in a serious tone, "You aren"t a human either."

He doesn"t seem like an Angel or Demon. Both of them, coming off from the examples of Roswaisa and Aknin, have a presence that"s hard to miss once you find out about it. However, this guy doesn"t have any presence like that. So, he is not an Angel or a Demon. And knowing that made the two of us drop our guard and start thinking he was a normal human. Danny may have suspected him to be something other than human at some point but he probably a.s.sumed that he wouldn"t be defeated by the doctor and so ignored it. That was a foolish move, but understandable nonetheless.

He is not a human. I can tell that much now. The way laughs, no human would. I have seen people laughing on their own lame jokes as well as their own suffering. This laugh is akin to that, akin to the masks people put on, not the real smile that a person would have upon being happy. If he can"t even laugh on our suffering right now, then he"s probably not human, for humans are the ones who laugh on other"s suffering. That"s what I believe at least.

"Well," the doctor sighs and says, "I am a definitely not an Angel, a Demon or a human." He says as he gets up from his chair.

"Then who are you?" Danny"s voice becomes less agitated upon seeing that inexplicably calm voice of the doctor. He continues to ask though, "Answer me who you are."

"Sure, sure." The doctor says as he starts walking towards us with his hands behind his back. "I am a serial killer." He says so with a voice cold enough to send shivers down my spine, "I am a monster that once was a human, but no longer is considered one, by law, by people, or by myself."

Hearing that, however, helps Danny realize his real motives.

"If you are a serial killer, you are probably going to go h.e.l.l when you die." he says in a grim tone and the doctor just plainly nods to him while stopping in his footsteps.

"But what if the demon race dies? What if there is no h.e.l.l? Or, even if there is, what if it doesn"t have its residences?" Danny questions. I understand what he is trying to say, and it is a terrifying thought.

"h.e.l.l would become a sanctuary for the sinners." Danny says, and his own head starts aching as he thinks about it.

For whatever reason, there has been a prophecy that I and Roswaisa would end up killing the entire Demon race. If that happens, this guy and people like him benefit. And so, whatever he is doing should be good for us, at least for now.

"Are you trying to save Roswaisa then?" Danny asks the question that my thoughts lead to.

"Yes, definitely." The doctor calmly answers.

"How?" I ask.

"Well, there"s only one way for her to become capable of stopping a monster like Aknin Vielos." He answers, "It"s for her to become a higher-level Angel. Her Frost Requiem, if she"s a higher-level Angel, would be capable of taking out Aknin."

He seems to be saying that the reason she failed was that she was a lower-level Angel. If that is the case,

"How do you know what happens in the future where we came from?" I ask, almost not wanting to believe in the answer that he is trying to make obvious.

"Hah!" he sighs in response as he sees me childishly trying to avoid facing the reality and, "I am from the same future you are from."

"…" "…"

"I used my own methods of coming back to the past. It"s just that my method doesn"t exactly send me back but just my consciousness. And so, I ended up taking the body of whoever this doctor was." He explains calmly. "After that all happened, I summoned Roswaisa and made sure Adonia Evans is far away from her."

That still doesn"t answer every question though.

"What was the purpose of summoning Roswaisa?" Danny asks.

"Well, the purpose for that is to try to kill Irium." As the doctor says that, I merely move back in shock and Danny clicks his tongue. However, as Danny is getting ready to attack, the doctor puts up both his hands as if trying to surrender.

"Don"t get me wrong, you two. I am not trying to end Irium"s life." He says, "Didn"t she tell you two that the first time she was summoned, she ended up failing the request made to her?"

I … do remember that. If this really is the first time she is being summoned, then it makes sense that she would fail.

"And because she will fail," the doctor continues, "she will form an unprecedented connection to you." He points at me as he says all that.

"And what will that connection be for?" I ask.

"Hah! You guys really don"t know much about summoning, do you?" the doctor says with a disappointed look. "Think about it, when time-periods are irrelevant for these deities, shouldn"t all the time-periods they are being summoned in be considered their first summoning?"

That … makes sense. But, that probably doesn"t happen for whatever reason this guy is going to tell us now.

"The order of summoning only proceeds with connection." He says with a slight grin, "If she makes a connection with you two, then her second summoning will either be by one of you or someone you know."

That does fit with what happened. But, if that"s really true then,

"Yes, I am trying to alter the past just enough so that her second summoning remains with you two, which of course will be proceeded by her third summoning being with you two as well. But, at that time when she is summoned, she will be stronger than before, strong enough to kill Aknin Vielos."

He turns around after saying so. But before either of us tries to stop him from walking away,

"At present she is only a Diamond Angel."

He tells us so,

"I am sure the "me" of the past had summoned her the first time and asked her to learn Absolute Frost Requiem. That is what made her capable of becoming an Emerald Angel by the time of her second summoning." He says with his hands on his chin, "Therefore, I need to something more this time. Just a little more push!"

He says and … disappears.

"Where"d he go?" I ask as I look around. But,

"Forget him, he is a serial killer. He probably has learned a bunch of abilities that let him get away from his pursuers. There"s no point in trying to find him now." Danny says with a grim look.

And with that, we realize that the doctor is on our side. And, by learning that, we also realize that we will be the reason that the sinners of this world will find a haven after their death, instead of the purgatory that currently awaits them.

*****