'Whenever I find a way to return to Earth without facing serious repercussions, I should gift a few Bloodlines and Physiques to the girls. They'll surely benefit from it.'
The only people Cassius had used the ability on so far were Yimin, Maxy, Nyxvoldar, Hellion, and Raijin. They were the ones most prone to danger by being close to him, so it was only natural to externally boost their stats a little.
Now, they were all capable of easily contending with genuine Transcendents, with Hellion being marginally better due to her special connection with Cassius. This placed her in first place among his subordinates and companions, possessing enough power to go toe-to-toe with some of the Demon Kings of the 6th Floor of HELL.
That was why Hellion was Cassius's second-in-command in HELL. Both his visionary, his Guide, and his Sword.
At least, that's what she told him…
"So, Master, what are we really doing here?" asked Maxy, her shimmering eyes curiously observing her surroundings. She found the color scheme of the Heavenly Kingdom extremely linear. "I don't believe anything around here will help us get any closer to meeting the Heavenly Progenitor. Which is why we've been doing all of this, no?"
Cassius ruffled her creamy-white hair, his hand brushing past her upward-pointing obsidian horns. "There's someone I want to find information on. If she's anywhere, then she'll be somewhere on this Arch; I need to know where."
Maxy frowned, and Yimin was too distracted by the Yummers standing over the city gate to comprehend what he had said.
"Who is this 'she,' Master?" Maxy inquired with a friendly smile, her face shrouded in shadows. "A friend of yours? A… lover, perhaps…?"
Cassius wryly chuckled, finding her expression quite menacing. "It's nothing like that," he said. "Some time ago, I received a personal message from an old friend of my father's. In that message, it detailed the approximate location of a girl whose safety I feel obligated to confirm."
Maxy still wore a scary look on her face, but thankfully, it started to return to normal.
'Haiz…' Cassius thought. 'Even while who knows how many light-years away, the Ice Sovereign can still stir up trouble. If not for the message he sent, I wouldn't even be here—I'd be heading directly for a way to the Heavenly Progenitor. But now that I know it exists, I can't stop myself from finding out the truth.'
He had no clue why an ethereal entity like the Ice Sovereign had given him such a message so out of the blue, but that was hardly of concern right now. Whatever his intentions may be, Cassius couldn't just look the other way.
Sensing something from atop a massive blue ball of flames larger than a galaxy, the pensive expression of the wrinkle-faced Ice Sovereign showed a small grin.
"Things are finally falling into place," he said, his grin turning into a cold smile. "Immortality will be mine. And no one will get in my way this time—no one."
Sinister cackling resounded inside an endless void as the colossal ball of blue fire began disappearing at a visible rate. Entering the belly of the light-bathed Ice Sovereign, it stayed, furthering his comprehension of Immortality.
— Meanwhile, returning to the 6th Arch of the Heavenly Kingdom —
Cassius and his group had just reached the gates of the pearl-white city.
"State your business in the Great City of Opaline—!"
Flashing his glorious wings was all Cassius needed to do to have the wall guard sweating. The guard bowed at a slight angle, his demeanor a complete 180 from what it had just been.
"I apologize for my rudeness, Sir Noble! I-It's protocol, you see—"
"You needn't say any more," said Cassius, acting haughty to fit the part. "Just open the gates; we have business to attend to in there."
Attracted by the sight of two alluring six-winged Angels and two unique Angelic beings standing beside the Angel Noble, the wall guard was rendered momentarily stunned.
"Well??" Cassius asked, his false impatience evident from his expression.
"Y-Yes, of course, Sir Noble…!"
The gates to Opaline City opened, revealing the fantastical view of a massive, multi-layered city that seemed to have no imperfections or blemishes. Angels walked about, their auras varying from SS-Rank to SSS-Rank, with even the weakest of their children stronger than Earth's most powerful powerhouses.
"Shoo… many Yummers…!" Yimin was practically drooling, her draconic tail swinging like an unruly puppy. "Can eats…!?"
"No," Cassius denied with a bonk. "Now get in there."
"B-But, Mashter…" Yimin's eyes watered. "Is hungry…!"
Cassius sighed. "There will be new types of food for you to taste inside, but they won't be there if you insist on wasting time."
"Should've just said so sooner, Mashter!!" Yimin exclaimed, pulling Cassius through the opened gates. "Let's gooo—!"
Feeling time around him come to a complete, one-sided stop, Cassius immediately let the Shadow's Foresight skill finish activating. It was warning him of something.
Unfamiliar memories—events that had yet to happen—flashed through his mind, showing him a future drenched in blood.
"…What's the matter, Master?" Maxy inquired, noticing a change in Cassius's complexion. "Are we not heading in?"
Snapping out of his reverie, Cassius shook his head. "I've changed my mind. There's somewhere else even better than this place; it'll have lots more delicious food and the information I want."
Even Yimin was puzzled, but they knew that asking him to elaborate would get them nowhere. Thus, they—and the Evomon—followed behind Cassius as he flew off into the distance, seemingly in a hurried rush.
'An Exalted Marshal would have spotted us within seconds of entering that city,' Cassius thought. 'As limbs of the Archangels and top executives of the Heavenly Court, Exalted Marshals are extremely capable Godlike entities. That one, in particular, had a very keen sense, and with it, he discerned my true identity in an instant before mercilessly slaughtering me and the others. However, after realizing that I wasn't so easily permanently killed, he trapped me inside some high-ranking item before bringing me to Archangel Gabriel.'
Then the glimpse into the future cut off…