"I told you not to call me that ever again," she hissed, her green eyes darkening ominously.
A faint smile graced Nihil's luminous face.
"Cleenah, Jophiel—mere titles, but Harivel, that is your true essence. You cannot simply discard it," Nihil said.
Cleenah's eyes remained devoid of emotion as they locked onto Nihil, her own smile a mere mask. "Did you hear me, Nihil?" She asked, her voice as cold as her gaze. "You're a nuisance. Leave my space."
"I only wish to converse with you, Harivel," Nihil replied.
"I'm not interested. Leave," Cleenah repeated.
Nihil dismissed her command, turning his attention to the projection before them.
In the image, Amael was locked in fierce combat with Ruglis. It was a battle of titans, for Ruglis was no ordinary adversary, yet Amael held his ground. The air around him shimmered with the heat of his purple flames, and with the enhancements from the Raven Arts, he moved with a speed that defied belief.
The residents of Zestel could only watch in awe, their mouths agape, as the clash unfolded above them.
On another projection, Cleenah observed Celeste battling alongside Annabelle to repel Ruglis' forces. Celeste moved with a lethal grace, her icy blade freezing enemies in their tracks. Unlike Edward, she chose not to kill her foes, sparing their lives even as she incapacitated them.
Annabelle, however, had learned much from her time with Edward and lacked Celeste's restraint. The girl, who appeared no older than thirteen, was a whirlwind of death, her expression unchanging as she dispatched enemies en masse. She barely moved from her spot, merely extending her hand to command a legion of puppets, each emerging to block the paths of their enemies.
"He has grown significantly since the merging," Nihil said, his gaze fixed on Edward's face within the projection.
"You have no right to speak of him," Cleenah retorted, her voice dripping with contempt as her eyes bored into Nihil.
Nihil met her gaze in silence, recognizing the depth of her disdain, which contrasted sharply with the neutrality of her expression.
"You remain confused, Harivel," Nihil finally said. "Hecate must have already told you—he is not Lucifer, nor Samael. He is simply Nyrel Loyster."
Cleenah scoffed, raising a finger to summon a throne from thin air. She seated herself, resting her head on her palm as she regarded Nihil with icy disdain.
"You, Hecate, Mikhael, Zeus, Lumen, Raphiel, and Eden. Aren't you weary of repeating the same tired words to me?" She asked, irritated.
"Does this anger you so much?" Nihil asked with a chuckle.
Cleenah's lips curled into a smile. "Lucifer no longer matters to me. Do whatever you wish with him."
Nihil's expression remained skeptical. "I find that hard to believe, Harivel. Like everyone else, I'm convinced you're grooming Edward to exact revenge on Lucifer."
With a dismissive roll of her eyes, Cleenah crossed her legs, revealing her smooth, alabaster skin. "I might have entertained such thoughts once, but they were the foolish musings of a different time. While I do desire him to suffer a painful death, I won't use Amael to accomplish it. Perhaps Eden or those from Ante Eden will see to it."
"Interesting," Nihil mused, a soft chuckle escaping his lips. "But if revenge no longer drives you, why do you remain with Edward? Could it be that you've genuinely come to care for him?"
Cleenah's expression remained impassive as she watched Nihil laugh, her eyes reflecting no reaction. "Have you had your fill of amusement? Then leave."
Ignoring her command, Nihil's gaze shifted to the projection of Celeste, his demeanor softening as he watched her.
Cleenah noticed the change and with a wave of her hand, she dismissed the projection. "A pity Nevia isn't around anymore. She might have ripped your heart out with her bare hands. I would have relished watching her kill her own father right before my eyes."
"You're as twisted as ever, Harivel," Nihil said, his voice tinged with a strange mix of admiration and disgust. "Millennia have passed, yet the look in your eyes remains as vivid as it was during Samael's Rebellion."
Harivel's fingers dug into the alabaster throne, the armrests shattering beneath the force of her grip.
"Don't you dare utter his name I said," Cleenah hissed, her eyes, once a vibrant green, beginning to lighten to an eerie opal shade. Her glossy green hair followed suit, shifting to a pale, almost ethereal hue.
When the whites of her eyes turned pitch black, accentuating the glowing opal of her pupils, a shiver ran down Nihil's spine. The atmosphere around Cleenah shifted, heavy with the stench of death.
It had been millennia since he had felt such a presence.
"Betrayers like you deserve nothing less than a torturous death," Harivel's voice dropped to a menacing tone, cold and devoid of mercy. "I would have gladly delivered it to you, but it seems you still hold some value to Samael. So, I'll let you live, Nihil."
"He is not Samael," Nihil sighed.
Harivel began tapping her fingers on the shattered armrest, a sinister smile spreading across her face as her lips turned a greenish hue.
"If you're done with him, why not leave him? There's no need for you to keep a part of yourself inside him any longer. You've done enough damage, and I'm left to deal with the consequences," Harivel said.
"I did? The system I created was flawless. Jarvis was meant to prevent Edward's mind from unraveling," Nihil replied.
"Making him believe this was a playful game? You thought it would be enough to keep his mind from seeking any darker answers?" Harivel sneered, her voice dripping with disdain. "And that system of yours meant to keep his memories sealed. Defeated by a weakened Vessel of Samael—how pathetic."
Nihil's eyes narrowed. "You think you've done better, Harivel? From the moment you became his Legacy, everything you've done was unnecessary. You should have kept a better rein on his emotions."
"I'm doing the job you failed at, Nihil," Harivel snapped, her gaze darkening with a murderous intent. "So hold your tongue."
"You believe you're helping him, but what happens when you leave? What will keep his dark thoughts from consuming him?"
"Amael won't die from it," Harivel responded curtly, dismissing his concern.
"He may not die, but the person you know now will be lost. Is that truly what you want?"
"Amael will not change in essence," Harivel insisted. "We are all destined to become what we were meant to be. Amael will merely undergo that transformation."
Nihil's eyes flashed with frustration. "You want Samael back? I thought we agreed on which version we wanted? If you awaken the one who tried to destroy everything we've built, you'll only bring more ruin to this world."
A soft giggle escaped Harivel's lips. "You wish for the innocent Samael—the one who was hopelessly in love with Sia. I must admit, he was quite cute with her. Such a pure love."
Nihil's expression hardened. "Pure love never interested you or Nemes. You only stood by Samael when he was apart from Sia."
Harivel remained silent, her eyes betraying no emotion as she gazed at Nihil, his words barely registering in her cold demeanor.
"But you know as well as I do," Nihil pressed on. "That you don't want Samael to return to his wrathful state, blinded by hatred. He's taken enough innocent lives. He deserved nothing but death."
Harivel's eyes narrowed dangerously, and she lifted a finger, summoning a dark green aura that surrounded Nihil, imprisoning him within a suffocating cocoon.
"He never would have become this if Eden had swallowed his pathetic pride. It was your job and Raphiel's, and you both failed miserably. You are the reason for Samael's unending wrath. Pray, Nihil, to whatever you hold sacred, that if Samael awakens, he doesn't remember that wrath."