As he ran down his slight index finger down the chaff of wooden handrail of chair , his thumb eventually capitulated , resting tightly at the edges of Book of Ruth. With a reticent eagerness and elation on his face, he cleared his throat as there was a slight clamour among the people sitting before him.  His eyes from whom the light had relegated long ago couldn't help but feel them reaching his iris again as the scene before him burned like an immortal mage into his old skull.

The cold , abandoned chairs, wooden handles seemingly about to crumble out of futility held on to their last tether, determined to house the group of young folks who had decided to hop in this thespodical centre of holiness within its humble domain , after what seemed more like a decade to it and old parson alike.

A heavy bulge made its way in his throat as he attempted to speak but the ebullient spirit inside him was not to defeated today . He took a deep breath until he reached the zenith of serenity , attainable to few. A state in which his wrinkly hands, his feeble and lethargic legs ,which had been disparaging to his leisures of life were simply drowned by a deep reprisal of abnegation .

"Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me."  He continued in his fluid , didactic tone , a tone which was anything less but short of him being the sole cynosure within hollow church walls.

As he carried on further in his verses, his eyes were bedecked with an inexplicable sight. Among group of young lads and lass who were gazing at him attentively with a dubious scrutiny now and then , there sat an individual entrenched in his own pleasures , displaying his uninhibited  capricious nature blatantly.

His wide smile pierced him as if someone was peering at his soul amusedly , completely oblivious to any other desire or repercussions.  His long dark wavy hair slung down his shoulders giving him a distinct look among all thus alluring his attention even more.

The old parson tried to focus on book again but he could already feel his fingers twitching uncontrollably . 

What? Surely ,this sight wouldn't have affected him resolve his that much?  His heart raced with an unrelenting anxiety as he hastily flipped the pages and stumbled in his words . No , he had to calm down . If this sermon doesn't go well , then he would screw up his last chance to redeem this church's fate and would forever leave a hollow pile of bricks and dust as his present before his demise.

"Ha ! Ha!..Oh my , I just can't take it anymore." A loud laughter bellowed through the room bashing against his dilapidated ears as he looked up.  That same fellow remained seated in his position clapping thunderously. But that wasn't the strangest part !

No , the eerie feeling creeping up his heart was due to the fact that everyone else had turned to a silent dummy all of sudden, completely indifferent to the man's actions.

"Ingel Wilfrid, it seems you are alarmed by this situation. Well, I don't blame you really. "  With a satisfied grin etched on his face, he stood up from his seat walking past the stupefied silent people in seats . " I was sent here to collect your soul but since I was given no deadline ,I thought it wouldn't be wrong to play a little first , would it?"

As he made his way towards his pedestal , Ingel raised his eyebrows . As much as he wanted to subject this reality to abnegation as well, there was no denying it. The time had clearly stopped for everyone else but him and the being claiming the name of god's angel.

But he definitely didn't match the angelic figure delineated by any book he had ever read or preached in his life.

"That is rude, Ingel. What you call angelic might just be demonic to others. What you call demonic might just be saving grace for someone else. Only when a person learns to be unfettered from such narrow prejudices, he can ever hope to reach the level of a being , beyond simple moralistic plane of existence." Azonius closed in on him with such alacrity that latter couldn't help but step back with a fright etching his heart.

"Furthemore, it was just a harmless experiment. No need to be so rude.  " He rolled his eye at him putting his hand on his shoulder at which Ingel flinched .  Azonius seeing his discomfort loosened his grip as the latter stepped back and brushed his overcoat .

Taking a heavy breath, he composed himself before screaming at top of his lungs. "This is ..this is ...this is truly angelic indeed. Such wisdom can only ever pour out of a being such as you. Forgive my impudence, sire."

"A self conceived presumption begets doubt and then dispelling that doubt begets loyalty . It is fascinating as to just how transient feelings of you mortals are. Just with few words, I can make you pliage, rob , commit all sorts of heinous crimes and at same time make you noblest of all.  You are kind of like a living clay , aren't you?"  Azonius chuckled as Ingel blinked nonplussed before smiling in agreement.

A cold wind swept away the veil of ignorance that had engulfed both in its chasm as they contemplated their reality.

"Any last words you want to leave for someone?"  

"You are an angel, aren't you? " Wilfrid sighed.

"Quite fastidious of you to notice only now." Azonius attempted to joke but bit his lip seeing the deadness in Ingel's eye. That is right . Everyone acquainted even remotely with this old biddy had passed away long ago.  Despite being well aware of all this , he had asked it all the same without a shred of clemency . 

"Father sure will be angry if he comes to know about it . " He shuddered at the thought as he gave his best smile to old man before pressing his hand against the air.  Wilfrid scrunched his face in amazement as bright vivid roses showered in front of him and were engulfed in flames turning to ashes . Before long , he found himself surrounded by an incessant grey smoke. 

What kind of abstruse demand would he be subjected to before death? He wondered as the smoke cleared away revealing a doorway into dark hall dimly showing its way through hanging gaslights.

"Umm.."

"No need to be hesitant now, Mr Wilfrid. I assure you the moment this passageway ends, you will be accorded your rightful place in afterlife."  A familiar figure stood beside him as his silver wings fluttered softly against the wind.

Ingel nodded affirmatively , content at seeing an angel's wing and proceeded to make his way into the passageway . 

"Just one last thing.  It is not like I am trying to propitiate you for saving my own skin or anything. But can you forget about my first request to you..you know regarding last words?" Azonius stared at him with his dandelion warm eyes .

"Sure. I had almost forgotten about that even with all this happening." Wilfrid bowed his head politely before stepping onto the celestial floor of dark passageway as the doorway started to close in on him. 

Azonius slightly fondled his hair relieved . Since it was his first time being tasked with such responsibility, it wouldn't have looked good on his reputation to screw it up because of his own irregularities.  Thankfully, the old parson despite being a divine fool , was quite amiable enough to forgive his uncouth nature .

 It would have been really onerous if he hadn't managed to establish cordial relations with first human he had ever sent on journey to afterlife. After all, sister Azane (Goddess of death) wasn't nice enough to cover up for him and would have reported it instantly to their father.

 As he sat down on the chair , he felt a sharp pain course through his back (A/N: Well, it was more like a sense of itching but our protagonist is a little drama queen) In all this charade, he had forgot to relinquish these wings again. 

Wings? Angels? Eternal damnation ?A small smile curled his lips. "Humans sure have interesting concept of afterlife. " Being a great erudite since his conception ,he could feel the strange mystique in work .

Ever since he had stepped in this realm, he had been able to feel a mystique presence. The absurd possibility  had seemed faint until now . But after spending few days among these mortals and their warped sense of reality , he was quite sure of its presence. The presence of a being strong enough to will human civilization to go astray from acceptance of the one and only Ilensian gods .

Whether it was some forgotten god or a newborn deity, it was sure that the being 's interest certainly wasn't coherent with ideology professed by Ilensian gods.  His assignment already had been completed and he wasn't obligated either to carry it further being a primordial god.  But considering the unexpected discovery , he certainly didn't averse to idea of staying a little longer. 

Azonius grinned widely "Very well then, I will catch this entity first and deliver to his lordship.  I am sure he would then willing be to step down and pass on his throne to me."

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