Waking up in the morning, I hoped that today would be a fairly lazy day with nothing much to do, but that hope was dashed rather quickly when a call came out asking me to go check out a disturbance down on Earth. Angels such as myself do not often make our presence felt, wishing to leave the humans to their own devices, but at the same time, when the forces of darkness strike, us angels come to the humans' aid, since they are often unable to deal with demonic forces. So I grab my holy armor and sword and begin making my way down to Earth. Apparently, there is a small group of demons that seems to be planning an attack on a rural village. Their number isn't large, and they won't be a major problem for someone like me to deal with.

Indeed, upon arriving at their location, a small clearing deep inside the forest near the village, it's clear my holy aura alone is enough to make my presence felt to these fiends. Looking around, I see four demons, three more experienced, and one inexperienced. One of the experienced demons quickly leaps into action, attempting to cast some sort of demonic spell at me, which I easily preempt by shining a holy light upon it, and that causes it to disintegrate without a single trace. If they weren't already aware that they completely outmatched here, they are now, and the two remaining experienced demons quickly prepare a dimensional portal and escape through it. To some degree, we allow demons to flee, as attempting to pursue them into their realms can be very dangerous for lone angels. On Earth, they have much less power than on their home terrain.

But as those two flee, they quickly close the portal behind themselves, leaving the inexperienced demon behind. Now, this demon is quite a bit taller than I am, and has significantly more muscles, but physical appearance has no bearing on the strength of both angels and demons. Manipulating appearance is one of the easiest magical abilities for both sides, and the only true sign of power is the sheer magical force both angel and demon project. And it is that aural projection that lets this demon know that he is way, way in over his head. Nonetheless, he bigs himself up, pushing his chest out and trying to appear imposing. "Y-You better run, a-angel! If you l-leave now, I'll let you l-live!" he stammers, pointing at me with his hand that he cannot keep from trembling.

I could just wipe him off the face of the Earth with a wave of my hand. And yet... I cannot bring myself to do it. Inexperienced demons only very rarely leave the demonic realms, largely because of two reasons. One, they are quite weak and still need to learn in order to become more powerful and capable foot soldiers. And more importantly, the second reason is that they are not fully corrupted yet. Both angels and demons are formed from the souls of men, virtuous and evil, respectively. Experienced demons have had their soul completely and utterly corrupted by the demonic realms, but the inexperienced ones aren't there yet, or so rumors tell me. Perhaps... perhaps I can save this one. It's clear that this demon can still feel fear... so there is still something inside of him that feels.

With another wave of my hand, I make my armor and sword disappear, completely disarming myself. Despite that, the wave clearly scared the demon, as he flinches heavily before trying to regain his previous stance of feigned bravery. "What's your name?" I ask him calmly, trying not to terrify him further.

For a moment, I can see a bit of a shift in his expression, a sign of questioning, of uncertainty. Is he maybe considering the idea that I am not going to harm him? "M-my... my n-name is Dairon." he answers meekly. Then, he catches himself. "I... I mean, that's not my name! And it's none of y-your business, angel!" he yells, again trying to project strength.

"Dairon, eh? That's a nice name. My name is Ephidel." I reply, slowly stepping closer. Dairon seems to be realizing he's trapped himself now. He can't back down now because he's got nowhere to run. The only chance he probably thinks he has now is keeping the brave act up. Stepping right in front of him, I stand up on my toes and reach up to run my hand through his fire red mane of hair, looking up at him. Again, he flinches, but because he feels obliged to stand his ground, he doesn't move further, letting me pat his head. "You're not irredeemable. I can tell." I say quietly.

He sputters, caught off guard. "N-No! I am evil, just like all the other demons! And if you d-don't unhand me, you vile a-angel, I will s-strike you down!" he yells, hesitation clear in his voice. At this point, I'm convinced. I can save him. All I have to do is show him the light, and to start that, I wrap my arms around his muscular body, embracing him.