The Creator’s golden body reformed once again, this time, even smaller than before. “How are you able to damage me?” he asked. “It’s my essence, isn’t it? Someone was extracting it from my statue.” There was a loud booming noise in the distance. “In the future, I’ll have to create a different statue without my essence. How troublesome.”

Before the Creator could say anything else, Palan punched him again, destroying the golden figure’s shoulder. “I wonder what would happen if I destroyed this body of yours,” Palan said as the golden liquid from destroying the Creator accumulated on his hand, crawling down his arm. The tongue from his torso mouth extended forward and licked up the honey-like substance. Palan’s eyes widened, and he grinned at the Creator. “Delicious. Andrea would love eating you.”

“Are you threatening me?” the Creator asked as his body shrank again. “Do you even understand the kind of existence you’re threatening? If it weren’t for me, your powers wouldn’t exist.”

“It wasn’t a threat. She would love eating you,” Palan said, destroying another part of the Creator. He frowned as the golden figure shrank even further. Why wasn’t the Creator running or even fighting back at least? “Why? Do you think I can threaten you? Are you trembling in fear from this lower existence’s power?”

“Nonsense,” the Creator said and crossed his arms. “It’s impossible for you to kill me. I have nothing to fear from you.”

Palan raised an eyebrow. “How about this—beat me in a fight and I’ll make the deal with you.”

“What do you take me for?” the Creator asked. “I’m not a bully. I won’t sully my hands by fighting someone weaker than me. Your existence will be erased with a single one of my attacks.”

“You,” Palan said and gathered the remaining liquid on his arm into a jar that he kept in his bag. “You’re a really bad liar, you know that?” He pulled out another cookie and gripped it in his hand like a dagger. “You don’t bully the weak, yet you torture Selena. You want to create a deal with me, but you won’t fight me to do it. But it’s not that you won’t, but you can’t. Am I right?”

The Creator fell silent. His limbs were sliced off, but he still didn’t respond. “Is that what you really think?”

“Prove me wrong,” Palan said and snorted, stabbing the cookie into the Creator’s head. The rest of the golden body burst like a water balloon, splashing golden liquid throughout the room. His stomach growled and lapped up the liquid covering his body. After cleaning up the room by storing the delicious remains into a jar, he tore Raphael’s nearly completed body apart again before approaching Raea and pried her hands away from her ears. Selena had disappeared along with the Creator.

Raea opened her eyes. They were wet. “Is it over?” she asked, her voice hoarse. “Is Sely…?” She glanced around a few times before reaching into Palan’s bag and rummaged through it before pulling out an orb of kindness. She mended her ears and pursed her lips, waiting for his response.

“Selena and the Creator are both gone,” Palan said. “I don’t think either one of them have truly died. We can spread the word about Elrith to attract him to the capital to learn Selena’s location to revive her with Raphael. I don’t think the Creator will interfere with us. If … why are you looking at me like that?”

“You’re glowing,” Raea said, furrowing her brow. She touched his stomach which had webs of light snaking out of it. “Glowing like Andrea was glowing when we first saw her.”

Palan glanced at his torso. “Maybe I shouldn’t have eaten that,” he said and furrowed his brow. “But there’s no way something that delicious was meant to not be eaten. Anyways, I’m going to bring Andrea back here. You’re not going to attack her, right?”

“I won’t,” Raea said and hung her head. She pursed her lips and clenched her hands. Wrath, envy, greed, everything had been replaced by grief. Hadn’t she gotten over Sely’s death? Evidently not. Her body ached like she had been run over by a carriage.

Palan stared at Raea before nodding. He leapt out of the room and landed beside Andrea. He picked her up and brought her back without complaint. Andrea peeked at Raea before looking at Palan and poking his cheek. She whispered, “She’s not mad anymore?”

“No,” Palan whispered back. “Don’t bother her right now.”

Andrea grunted and nodded.

“For now, I’m going to feed you everyone here except for Raphael,” Palan said as he pulled out a pink cookie. “But first, I’m going to feed their corpses this. I wonder if it’ll still work even though they’re dead.”

“You know you’re glowing, right?” Andrea asked Palan as he approached Uriel’s corpse.

“Yes,” Palan said. He squatted beside the horned angel and pried open her mouth. Right before he put the cookie inside, a voice called out from behind him.

“Stop.”

Palan ignored it and shoved the cookie in. He pushed against the top of the angels head and chin to make her chew. “Do I have to wash it down with water?” he muttered to himself.

There was a sigh. “Alright. I’ll bring back Selena. Just don’t break their contracts with me.”

Palan turned around. The Creator was standing behind him with his head hanging, the expression on the golden face still featureless. Palan stared at him for a moment before glancing at Uriel. His eyes narrowed. “Bring her back with no strings attached?”

“No strings attached,” the Creator said and nodded.

“Then I agree,” Palan said, crossing his arms over his chest.

The Creator sighed. If he couldn’t get Palan to contract with him, then the least he could do was not let him ruin what he already had. The Creator spread his arms, and a bright blow engulfed the room. Motes of light trickled into the room from the above like a stream, and they gathered at the center of the room, forming Selena’s body on the floor. “This is her original body.”

Palan nodded. The Creator had become translucent after summoning Selena like that. It seemed like it had taken a toll on him. If only he knew the rules the Creator had to abide by, then he could formulate a better plan. For now, he’d have to watch and wait.

“I’ll begin the revival process now,” the Creator said. “Remember what you said. You won’t break the contracts of these demons and angels I’ve gathered here. I’d bind you with a contract, but you could break it with a cookie, so I won’t. However, a prideful man won’t go back on his words, am I right?”

Palan snorted. “Revive her.”

The Creator remained motionless for a moment, facing Palan, before nodding. Selena’s soul emerged from his body and trembled upon seeing him. He didn’t give her a chance to speak; instead, he waved his hand and her smoky body was forced into the corpse on the floor. A second later, Palan felt Selena’s heartbeat through his electromagnetic sense.

“You should take Selena and Andrea away from here,” Palan said to Raea.

Raea nodded, a stupefied expression on her face. The flames cloaking her body disappeared as she hugged Selena and grabbed Andrea by her foot before taking off into the air.

“Remember the deal,” the Creator said.

“Since I’ve arrived to Div’Nya, I’ve been teaching a lot of your angels life lessons,” Palan said. “Here’s one for you. Never trust a demon.” He placed his fingers on top of the cookie in Uriel’s mouth and shoved it down her throat.