At the polar ends of this world, two opposing places mutually contradict each other...
The one in the South was an endless field of golden dessert. It's a place where the golden light never faded. Amidst the sprawling golden sands, some infrastructures carried a heavy gold and white theme. Marks depicting eyes and wings could be seen everywhere around here.
Statues of a faceless yet dignified person could be seen as well. In fact, some of those who lived here could be seen actively worshipping the statues as they went about their day.
But what truly sets apart this place from other Celestial Camps all over this world, was the thing beyond the thick clouds looming above the ground.
In this community, there is a saying that: 'Only those who were touched by the Divine Grace, could seek audience with the palace behind the clouds.'
The Divine Grace refers to the Halos angels have, meaning that only angels are allowed to step foot into this place.
The place is called 'Laguna' — the palace behind the clouds.
This is the 'Headquarters' of Celestials in this world. Not to be mistaken for 'Paradiso' — which is their birthplace.
The Celestials had long since claimed the South Pole as the base of their operations on this world. This is the very place where they landed and the first to fall under their control upon their descent.
All sorts of things related to the Celestials are in here. And despite the surface beauty and prosperity of this place, it is completely inhabitable by Humans at all.
The Golden Corruption is at its strongest here, any Human who mistakenly ended up in this place will immediately get swallowed by the corruption and will never leave a trace behind.
Beyond the obvious corruption of this place, this is also where the faith of the Celestials towards their god is at its strongest. Here, the 'Miraculous Grace' was omnipresent, all of the worshipping they were doing was to maintain the strength of their fate which pushes them on to continue their Holy Crusade.
Today, Laguna welcomes the return of its representatives. As their status was obviously special, they don't need to bother with going through the tedious process of security since they have long since proven their loyalty. This gives them a ticket straight to the Palace behind the clouds, where the leaders of Celestials are waiting for any news they have to report.
"We, Envoys of the Miraculous Grace, greet the Apostles."
A man garbed in a long white cloak knelt in front of a large globe hovering above a long table.
This man had tribal tattoos all over his face and body, his eyes were completely white and his skin was deep bronze.
Behind him, there were other people, bearing the same tribal tattoos and the same eye features, kneeling as well.
The golden globe shone some light. It then turned into 13 smaller globes which moved and arranged themselves around the table. After that, a voice was heard:
"Welcome back, Envoys. How was your trip?" The voice that spoke sounded kind and gentle, making anyone lower their guard unconsciously upon hearing them.
"It went as expected, for the most part, Dear Apostle. We thank you for your concern." The man replied, "Though it pains me to inform you that during our way back, we have met some tragedy which resulted in one of my sibling's return to the Miracle's embrace."
"...do elaborate more, Dear Envoy." Another voice asked.
"I wonder if the Apostles have heard about this mysterious rogue who calls themselves the 'White Cloaked Reaper'?"
The Envoys heard a sharp inhale from the Apostles on the other side.
"...as I have feared." One Apostle replied with a sigh, "Was this rogue responsible for the other Envoys' temporary death?"
The man wore a pain expression and nodded deeply, saying:
"Indeed. We did not expect them to wield such strength. Despite our combined efforts, he bested us through sheer combat. We barely managed to escape the encounter. We didn't only lose a sibling but also a comrade."
"So the Reaper indeed does not discriminate between us and the Demons." The same apostle sighed once more. "I wonder what that person's deal is? Why are they making things so difficult for us? It doesn't make sense."
"In the beginning, they only killed from both sides, then their actions elevated until they caused the disappearance of the Dragon Vein itself. Now they're even targeting our Envoys. My fellow Apostles, how shall we deal with this problem?"
"Don't we have anything we can use to track them down?" One of the Apostles asked.
"We have but we can't bring it here because it's too risky. The Heavenly Son probably wouldn't allow that either."
"Then are we supposed to just let this little problem grow like this? What if this Reaper becomes powerful enough to interfere with our Holy Crusade?"
"We shall discuss it first with the Heavenly Son. I believe that we could reach a consensus." The Apostle who spoke first decided to put an end to the argument. "For now, we can only ask you Envoys to be careful with your mission."
"Now more than before, your services are valuable. For some reason, the Heavenly Fate Silk Weaver started malfunctioning some time ago. We still don't know what's wrong with it but the workers are trying their best to fix it."
"Without the Heavenly Fate Silk Weaver, we cannot pinpoint where the next appropriate Tribute will be, so you Envoys needed to maintain your ground within Humanity. Never let them know about this."
"We shall obey your orders, Dear Apostles." The man replied.
"As for your fallen brethren, it is fine to mourn for them. However, I do hope you find comfort in the fact that they are not truly dead. They have just returned to the Miracle's Embrace."
"Someday, the Miracle will bring them back. And with their contributions to our Holy Crusade, the Miracle might even be generous enough to let them remember their past life. By then, I'm sure your reunion will be sweet."
The men who kneeling down shed some tears but didn't say anything.
"Well, that's about it really. You all may stay for a little while to rest. Let loose for a bit so that you can return to your duty with a light heart."
"We thank you for your generosity, Dear Apostles."
After saying that, the 13 orbs of light fused into a single globe once more which continued to float above the table. This meant that their meeting with the Apostles was done.
The kneeling men rose and walked out of the room. They then went to the farthest corner of the Palace, choosing that place to be their temporary resting spot before they eventually return to the ground.
They chose their spots to lie down, closing their eyes to sleep.
But in truth, they were not sleeping. In their minds, a System Prompt was present, showing messages.
***
[Ashton's Angels GC]
Angel A: Damn, good thing we practiced crying before going up here.
Angel B: Yeah, that's a good call. I think that made the act more believable.
Angel C: Hey guys, do you all think that the Miracle actually claimed the others?
Angel A & B: Hell no!!
Angel A: Did you not see what Master did to them? Use that brain will you?
Angel B: The Miracle ain't shit! That's a lie they use to tell us whenever they want to cover up the whole cloning thing. Nothing 'miraculous' about that shit.
Angel B: Oi, Cee! Quit snorting! They might suspect us here. Maintain the sleeping act. I swear if you cause this whole thing to fail I will literally strangle you!
Angel C: Sorry, sorry! I couldn't help it. Don't worry, I'll be careful from now on.
Angel A: But still, I truly can't believe that Apostles never suspected that Master could be Human. They still think that he's either an Angel or a Demon who went rogue.
Angel B: To be fair, they don't even know that Master's a 'He' to begin with. This shows that they really don't have a lot of information about him.
Angel C: And that's for the best, right? After all, Master needed this anonymity to buy Humans time.
Angel A & B: Right.
Angel B: So...how long are we supposed to stay like this again? Honestly, I would very much prefer to get out of here as soon as possible. This place gives me the chills, it's like I'm being stared at permanently.
Angel A: For all we know, that might as well be the case. Let's just keep it up for a day to keep the pretenses. Hang in there you two.
Angel C: Honestly, even before we became Master's slaves, I never liked this place because of that.
Angel A & B: Same.
Angel C: Well, let's just keep it up. I'm just wishing that the Demons are doing just as well as us. As far as I could remember, Qlipoth is a more terrifying place to be in compared to this.
Angel A: At least here, they're being subtle. I'm not sure if the same could be said about that place.
Angel B: I'm sure they'll be fine. Demons could lie better than us angels anyway.
Angel A & C: Right!
