“Success!”
As Roy's consciousness shifted again, transitioning from that mysterious space to a new world, he couldn't contain his joy. He clenched his fist and swung it forcefully.
This joy came quickly and left just as fast. Roy quickly calmed himself and began to survey his surroundings, ensuring his safety.
While Aivas had promised to help Roy, her greatest assistance could only be in the realm of knowledge. In pure destruction and power, Aivas could actually help Roy very little.
Aivas's essence was a 'spirit' residing in a higher phase. As she herself said, she was an observer, an extraterrestrial being of sorts. As a 'spirit', Aivas had little influence on the material world. To truly unleash her full power, she needed a physical body, meaning she needed to 'incarnate'.
However, as a being from the Creative Realm, or perhaps even the higher Archetype Realm, finding a suitable body for Aivas was impossible. She could temporarily bestow power through possession, but that would affect the host's 'spirit' and 'soul'. Therefore, unless it was absolutely necessary, like facing a life-or-death situation like against Aleister, Roy would never allow Aivas to possess him.
The 'Holy Guardian Angel' Aivas possessed numerous powerful angelic techniques. But using Aivas's power to activate angelic techniques with a human body was akin to experimenting with suicide.
This was why Aleister wanted to utilize Academy City's AIM diffusion field to create a suitable body for Aivas. Without a physical body, Aivas couldn't unleash her full power, a power equal in rank to a demon god, only differing in manifestation. It was the highest form of existence.
The surrounding temperature was somewhat humid and dry. All he could see was a dull, yellow desert, completely devoid of any human presence.
"First, I need to determine if I'm still on Earth, which world I've arrived in, and if this world is familiar to me... If I'm still on Earth, I need to figure out where I am on this planet."
Simply relying on the dry desert around him and the blazing sun overhead, Roy couldn't pinpoint his location.
"Be careful, Roy... There's a strong magical energy reaction in front of you on your right."
Aivas suddenly warned.
"Right in front of me, magic?"
Roy looked to his right, puzzled. In the next instant, his face turned pale. Just about two kilometers away from him, a terrifying sandstorm surged into the air, transforming into a pure darkness that even blocked out the sun overhead. This sandstorm was a hundred meters tall.
"A sandstorm? No, what is that, an angel?!”
Within the sandstorm, Roy vaguely saw two winged angels battling.
One angel's wings were like celestial light, or like flames forged for divine authority, battling in the blinding sandstorm.
The other angel's wings also resembled burning flames, but unlike the previous one, this angel's back was adorned with countless wings. Roy counted them casually, and there were over thirty pairs.
"Bearing thirty-six pairs of wings like burning flames, appearing as a fire angel... Could this angel be the heavenly scribe, guardian of the divine throne, Metatron, recorded in the 'Book of Enoch'? No, it should be Enoch!"
"...The other angel wields a red cross-shaped sword, with wings like radiance and fire. According to the 'Bible', this should be the Archangel Michael. What world have I come to? Why would I encounter two of the highest-ranked angels recorded in Judaism and Christianity right off the bat? And why are they fighting? That's right, are these two angels vying for the title of 'most favored angel before the divine throne'?”
While Roy was a mediocre mage, he possessed a certain level of knowledge in mysticism. Aside from the 'necessary, and only necessary knowledge' taught by Aivas, the rest of his knowledge came from Aleister Crowley.
Aleister was born into a Christian family, but he held Christianity in contempt. However, this man was deeply immersed in the mystical domain of Christianity, otherwise he couldn't have written his rebellious "777".
Having read nearly all of Aleister's works and studied the canonical and apocryphal scriptures of Christianity, Roy could instantly recognize these two angels with their distinct characteristics.
"The 'Book of Enoch' records the story of Enoch walking with God for three hundred years and ultimately ascending to heaven to become the strongest angel, 'Little Yahweh', 'God's proxy', Metatron. However, this book has long been proven to be written by someone pretending to be Enoch. It was condemned as apocrypha by Christianity. In the Christian system, there is no such angel as 'Metatron'."
"...But in Judaism, Metatron holds a very high status, even exceeding that of Christ. In some mystical Jewish sects, he is even placed at the very top of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life."
"In the 'Bible. Old Testament', only two angels are actually mentioned by name: Michael and Gabriel. Michael is even called 'like God', seated at God's right hand, undoubtedly the strongest angel before the divine throne."
"...Michael and Metatron share many overlapping powers and occupy near-identical positions in the two religions. This battle is almost a fight between the Christian canon and apocrypha, a conflict between Judaism and Christianity!"
"...What kind of chaotic world is this?!"
Just as Roy was confused by the battle of these two angels, the fierce sandstorm rapidly approached him. The shockwaves from the angels' clashing blows turned hills into nothingness.
“Crap (Japanese & Chinese)!"
Roy cursed under his breath and turned to run. Regardless of how these two angels appeared or why they were fighting here, Roy knew one thing: as a mediocre mage, the mere shockwaves of a battle between such god-like beings could crush him.
Roy didn't want to die again for no reason. That could very well trap him in a permanent state of unconsciousness.
However, how could Roy's running speed match that of the sandstorm? In the blink of an eye, he was flipped over by the sandstorm, rolling several times in the sand, filling his mouth with salty sand.
Soon, Roy's vision grew weaker and weaker. He was caught in the sandstorm, gradually losing his perception of light. He knew that if he didn't find a way to escape this sandstorm, he wouldn't need those two angels to intervene; he'd be buried alive by the sand.
"Huh? There's a sand cave here?"
In his panic, Roy spotted a cave beneath the sand. Without a second thought, he dove into it.
The sandstorm was still chasing him. He ran forward quickly through the cave. The cave had obvious signs of artificial construction, clearly not formed naturally. But at this moment, Roy couldn't even think about whether there was anyone inside or if it was dangerous.
No matter who was in this cave, no matter how dangerous it was, it was definitely safer than those two archangels fighting outside!
After making a few turns, Roy entered a room that resembled a secret chamber. The walls of this chamber were made of sand, reinforced with magical symbols, making them as solid as rock. After seeing the furnishings inside the chamber, Roy's pupils constricted, followed by an expression of delight.