“Are you still upset over this morning’s?”

Dante lifted the edge of his lips, attempting to force forth a smile, but failed to. He sighed and nodded his head.

“Don’t take Shadow’s words to heart. He doesn’t really mean it.”

“I know he does. Why? The mortals speak of us as pure, angelic, kind, loving …”

Ichiro brought a hand about Dante. “Well, all of us were like this before the War. But … most of the others changed after the War. I feel myself changing as well, me and Aeris. But not as acute as that the others face. You are lucky to be born after the War, Dante.”

“The – the War?” Dante asked, perplexed.

“Yep. The War. It happened first, seven millenniums ago. Intruders from the other dimension broke through into this realm. God had welcomed them initially, but they did the most despicable thing ever.”

“What?”

“They backstabbed God during our Welcoming Feast.”

“Despicable!”

“Exactly. So we declared war on them. Soon, others materialized within our realm. Their strength, were almost comparable to ours. God dispatched Lucifer, Red, Feng, Chris and Shadow to the frontlines. Aeris and I were in charge of defending Heaven’s Gates.”

“I see. So the War made them change?”

“Yes. Not only them, but us as well. It must be the contact with the Others. Somehow, it had made us impure, it had introduced mortal emotions within us. It made us despise on another, like Shadow onto you. It …. It made us fall into love …. But more importantly, it made us weak. It overthrew our purity, and introduced darkness into us. Most of our aether is spent onto maintaining a balance, and ensuring that the darkness is confined, that it does not overtake ourselves. Likewise, God is much more weaker than before the War. He was already weak … from creating us, the mortal realm, and Heaven.”

“Now I get what you mean by me being lucky to be born after the War.”

“Yes, Dante. You are the Last Seraphim Knight, and the only one to be pure. And … and Dante …. If you were to ever to sprout wings and complete the Ritual Of Knighthood, you will inherit sufficient powers, sufficient powers to destroy the entire universe ten times round. Annihilating us as well, Dante. That is why the others fear you.”