The Demon Lord Is An Angel
Chapter 200: Loyal Wing

Chapter 200: Loyal Wing

Much to Rain’s relief, Malz was able to confirm he was at least five ancestors removed from Cassie in terms of relation, with a clear separation of branches by the time Rainier’s great-great-great-great-great grandmother showed up.

Records going back more than a thousand years were unavailable to the general public, so while determining the point where the lesser branches split was unavailable, the separation was more than enough.

He still felt awkward though, knowing Cassie’s... particular enjoyment of the thing he didn’t want to think about.

Rain managed to avoid Cassie for the rest of the day and even that night.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t avoid her forever, especially not when the squad had to resume training the next day.

Cassie seemed grumpy about something as she stepped onto the field, and she was walking a little strangely.

"Are you alright, Cassiel?" Ozzy asked as soon as he saw her.

"Yeah. I think so. Damn fight with the roc has me walking funny for some reason... Only I can’t remember getting hit."

"It might have happened," Ozzy scratched the back of his head. "I don’t know, it’s all a big blur now."

Rain tried to hide his nervousness with a smile as he asked, "Are you sure it was the roc?"

"Can’t think of anything else it would be," Cassie tried stretching. "Ugh... that hurts." She changed her voice to something almost saccharine as she asked, "Rain, would you mind helping me stretch?"

As Rain dutifully complied, he didn’t know whether or not to feel relieved or anxious. Malz’s warning was still fresh in his mind, and Cassie seemed to have genuinely forgotten everything after the fight with the roc.

And the way she kept leaning into him as he helped her - the same as she’d always done, if a bit more necessary than before - told him that she was going to continue her antics.

A sense of doom settled over him, which only came undone as Iriel stepped onto the field and whistled with her fingers - a neat trick that Rain had always wanted to learn but never figured out - before shouting "Prospects, on me."

With such an ambiguous command, half the Executioners in training tried to form up while the other half simply formed a half-circle.

As soon as everyone gathered, Iriel spoke. "Today we’ll be heading to the hunting grounds near the base of the city. But before that, Cassiel!"

Cassie jumped where she stood, her wings almost smacking into Rain’s face. "Yes, aunt- ma’am. Yes ma’am?"

A round of chuckles worked their way through most of the squads, though Rain did see some glares coming from the more senior ones.

"Bring your squad here."

Almost as one, Cassie’s squad stepped out in front of the rugged angel.

"For distinguishing yourself and your squad in battle with the tempest roc, the patron of House Eros grants you recognition as the new Prime. Continue to distinguish yourself, to prove worthy of the honor."

"Yes ma’am!" Cassiel said, saluting with her fist to her heart and a flaring of her wings.

After returning the salute, she turned to Ozzy. "Ozimaleus Sparwater, for your efforts in the fight, you are recognized now as a Loyal Wing." She reached into the air and pulled a pin out of her dimensional storage. "Wear it with pride, and know that you are now permitted to leave the grounds of the manor. A weapon will be forged to match your fighting method from the talons of the roc, and its feathers shall be catalyzed to strengthen your wings."

"I am honored, great Matron," Ozzy bowed deeply, then rose into a salute, which Iriel returned.

It wasn’t hard to guess what was coming next.

"Rainier l’Eros." Iriel turned. "You performed above and beyond the expectations of a mere Elevated. Not only did you aid your leader in a time of... adverse conditions," her eyes flicked reproachfully towards Cassie, "but you struck the killing blow after ensuring the safety of your team. For this, you are recognized as a Loyal Wing, and shall additionally be granted this boon, approved by the Son of Heaven, Vinam Victoriam."

From her dimensional storage she pulled not a pin, but something orb-shaped and clear as glass. And inside of it was-

"Is that the roc’s heart?" Cassie gasped.

A look of irritation flashed across Iriel’s face, but she ignored Cassie’s question and beckoned Rainier forward.

With a foreboding sense, Rainier took the two steps needed to come within Iriel’s reach.

"As a half-angel, it would be forbidden to try transubstantiation upon you. As such, wingless you were born, and wingless you would have remained, if not for your valor before the roc. Heaven’s Son has given you the honor of receiving wings of godflesh. Do you accept?"

Rain was stunned. As a child, he’d imagined he might get wings one day, but that hope had quickly faded. His older brother had wings, and at times he’d jealously watched his sibling practicing sword forms in the air with a grace he couldn’t hope to match on the ground.

His smile was genuine as he saluted Iriel and declared "I accept this gift."

Without ceremony, she extended her arm out, angling it so that he had to take it with his right hand first.

"What do I do?" Rain asked.

"Remove the seal," she instructed, indicating the finely etched stone at the top of the orb.

As soon as he did so, the entire orb dissipated into dust, and the roc’s heavily crystallized heart, brimming with mana, fell into his hand.

A familiar pain stabbed into his godflesh palm. Instead of cutting off the pain as he expected, the godflesh tortured Rain as the crawling, stabbing pain continued unabated through his arm and into his shoulder, and then into his back, his abdomen, and his neck. He fell to one knee.

Wings began to sprout from his back as the godflesh covered more of him. Instead of the light, feathery wings of angels, his wings were leathery, laced with the same gold in twisting patterns. The "feathers" were more like blades of leather, thickly held at their bases instead of possessing hollow quills. More like scales worked into some feather-like parody.

At the end of it, Rain could see godflesh from one shoulder to the other, stopping just above his collarbone. It had also replaced the right side of his body down to the hip, and a disturbing thought hit him that he did not know how deep the flesh had gone inside him.

Forcing himself to stand, he found that he did not feel any strain at all from the sudden addition to his body. The wings felt light, and when he flexed his back as he’d learned to do with training wings, they spread out, glinting along the swirling lines of gold amidst the white.

Awe and jealousy sounded from many of the Elevated, and when Rain turned, he saw Cassiel beaming with pride and barely-held tears.

Iriel cleared her throat a moment later, and as soon as he turned, Iriel tossed him the pin she was holding. "Accept this pin, Rainier l’Eros. You are now a Loyal Wing, and have permission to leave the manor grounds. A weapon will be made for you soon, to exceed the one you lost. Additionally, be warned that accepting the roc’s heart may bend your magic more towards wind and lightning. If you feel anything out of sorts, seek out a healer immediately."

"Thank you," Rain said, giddy on the rush of mana he was feeling as his wings gathered more of it from the air than he was used to. He saluted, and was saluted in turn.

Then Iriel waved him back and turned to the rest of the gathered prospects. "The rest of you get in wing formation! We have monsters to kill!"