Becoming The Strongest Angel With A Saintess System-Chapter 159: Creation’s Face

Grace left at dawn while the others slept. Once again, like she did with the Void, she wanted to check on the Bloom on her own before possibly putting the others in danger.

[Time to meet another emotional dump of Eternia’s.]

The forest grew wilder with each step. Trees sprouted wings and flew away. Rocks turned into butterflies mid-step. A stream flowed upward into the canopy.

After an hour of dodging random transformations, the rainforest changed. Colors exploded everywhere, not just green anymore. Purple grass grew next to orange trees. Blue flowers sprouted from red soil. The air shimmered with rainbow light.

[Okay, this is new.]

Grace pushed through curtains of color that hung in the air like solid things. Each one she touched left her skin tingling with creative energy.

Then she saw her.

The Bloom sat in a vast clearing. Flowers grew from thin air. Trees had leaves made of gemstones. Water flowed in spirals without touching the ground.

And the Bloom herself?

[Holy shit.]

Like all other Pillars before her, the Bloom looked like Eternia, but covered in living flowers. Roses bloomed from her shoulders. Vines wrapped around her arms. Her hair was made of grass that shifted between colors every few seconds.

"Oh!" The Bloom’s face lit up. "A visitor! How wonderful!"

Grace’s hand went to her rapier.

"You’re the Bloom."

"I am! And you’re..." The Bloom tilted her head. Flowers fell from her hair and immediately grew into bushes. "Not Eternia. But you feel like her."

"Yeah, I get that a lot." Grace stayed at the clearing’s edge. "I’m Grace."

"Grace! What a lovely name!" The Bloom clapped. Where her hands met, butterflies burst out. "Are you here to create with me?"

"Not exactly."

"Oh." The Bloom’s smile dimmed slightly. "Are you here to stop me?"

Grace studied her. No anger like the Flame. No desperation like the Tide. Just... excitement.

"Your creations are hurting people."

"Hurting?" The Bloom stood up. Grass grew under her feet with each step. "But I’m making the world better! More interesting! More alive!"

A tree beside her turned into a giant mushroom. The mushroom sprouted legs and walked away.

"See?" The Bloom gestured proudly. "Isn’t that amazing?"

"It’s... something." Grace watched the mushroom trip over its own legs. "But people can’t live like this. Your randomness is destroying their lives."

"Destroying?" The Bloom’s eyes widened. "No, no, no! I’m creating! Making new things! Better things!"

She waved her hand. A boulder became a fountain. The fountain became a bird. The bird became a chair.

"Everything can be anything!" The Bloom spun in a circle. "No limits! No rules! Just pure creation!"

[Ah. That’s what Eternia dumped here.]

Grace understood now. Not an emotion.

A drive.

The pure desire to create without thought or purpose.

"You can’t stop, can you?"

The Bloom paused mid-spin.

"Stop? Why would I stop? There’s so much to make! So many possibilities!"

"Because creation without purpose is just chaos."

"Chaos?" The Bloom laughed. Flowers bloomed and died in her wake. "It’s freedom! Don’t you see? Eternia limited herself. Always planning, always thinking about consequences."

[Yeah, after she created you to hold all that creative impulse.]

"I, however, can make whatever I want! A perfect world where everyone is happy!" She gestured around the clearing. "Look at all the beauty I’ve created!"

Grace looked. A tree grew eyeballs. A flower screamed. A rock turned into meat.

"This isn’t beauty. It’s madness."

"It’s possibility!" The Bloom’s voice gained an edge. "You just can’t see it yet. But don’t worry. I’ll show you!"

The ground under Grace’s feet started changing. She jumped back as it became quicksand, then ice, then fire.

"W-Whoa, stop!"

"I can’t stop!" The Bloom laughed again. "That’s the point! Always creating! Always changing! Always—"

She paused. Her expression shifted.

"Oh. Someone’s coming."

Grace tensed.

"Who?"

"A friend." The Bloom’s smile turned secretive. "She’s been helping me spread creation even faster. Teaching me new ways to change things."

[Oh no.]

Footsteps behind Grace. She spun around.

Cinder walked into the clearing. The Veil angel from last night, silver hair gleaming in the chaotic light.

"Grace." Cinder’s hand rested on her sword hilt. "Fancy meeting you here."

"Let me guess." Grace backed up to keep both women in sight. "This isn’t a coincidence."

"Nothing’s a coincidence." Cinder drew her blade. Black energy crackled along its edge. "The Veil has plans for the Bloom."

"The Veil?" Grace’s eyes narrowed. "You’re using her?"

"Using?" Cinder laughed. "We’re empowering her. Helping her reach her full potential."

The Bloom bounced on her toes.

"Cinder showed me how to make my creations stronger! How to spread them further!"

"With Sin energy." Grace could see it now. Faint traces of blue-purple corruption mixed with the Bloom’s rainbow aura.

"Sin energy, Virtue energy." Cinder shrugged. "Labels created by a goddess who abandoned us. Power is power."

"Power that corrupts angels!"

"Power that frees them." Cinder stepped forward. "The Bloom will remake this world. No more Eternia’s failures. No more Dominion’s chains. Just pure creation in Azrael’s image."

[Azrael’s image?]

"You want to use the Bloom to reshape reality?"

"Want to?" Cinder’s smile was sharp. "We already are. Every random creation spreads chaos. Every changed village weakens the Dominion’s hold. Soon, the old order will collapse."

"And Azrael will build a new one?"

"A better one." Cinder’s blade pointed at Grace. "Unless you stop us. Which you won’t."

The Bloom looked between them.

"Are we fighting? I don’t like fighting. Can’t we create instead?"

"Soon." Cinder didn’t take her eyes off Grace. "But first, we need to handle our guest."

A notification flashed in Grace’s vision:

[Quest Alert: Stop the Veil’s plan to weaponize the Bloom!]

[Objective: Defeat Cinder and purify the Bloom]

[Reward: +15 Bravery, New Skill]

[Great. Just great.]

Grace drew her rapier. Golden light hummed along the blade.

"Two against one? That’s hardly fair."

"Whoever said anything about fair?" Cinder lunged.

Grace barely got her blade up in time. Black energy met golden light with a crack that shook the clearing.

"I don’t want to fight!" The Bloom backed away. Where she stepped, the ground became marshmallow.

Grace pushed Cinder back and immediately had to dodge as the Veil angel’s sword swept at her head.

[She’s fast.]

They circled each other. Around them, the Bloom’s anxiety made things worse. Trees started melting. Flowers grew teeth. The air itself began changing colors.

"You feel it, don’t you?" Cinder attacked again, a flurry of strikes Grace barely deflected. "The chaos. The freedom. This is what Eternia feared."

"This is insanity!"

Grace channeled energy into her gauntlets and caught Cinder’s next strike. The impact sent both women sliding back.

"Stop it!" The Bloom’s voice cracked. "Stop fighting in my garden!"

Her distress made the clearing go wild. The ground became waves of dirt. Plants grew and died in seconds. A rainbow of colors exploded everywhere.

Cinder used the chaos. She vanished into a wall of sudden flowers and reappeared behind Grace.

Grace spun, bringing her rapier up just in time. Their blades locked.

"You can’t win." Cinder’s face was inches from hers. "The Bloom is ours. The world will be remade."

"Not today."

Grace headbutted her.

Cinder stumbled back, blood streaming from her nose.

"You little—"

The Bloom screamed.

Both fighters froze. The Pillar stood in the clearing’s center, hands pressed to her head. Flowers wilted and bloomed around her in rapid cycles.

"Too much conflict!" Tears streamed down her face. Each tear became a different creature when it hit the ground. "I just want to create! To make everyone happy!"

"Bloom, calm down." Cinder wiped blood from her face. "Remember what we discussed. Sometimes destruction is necessary for creation."

"No!" The Bloom’s power exploded outward.

Grace threw herself flat as a wave of pure creative energy washed over the clearing. When she looked up, everything had changed.

The trees were now crystals. The ground was clouds. The sky had become water that somehow didn’t fall.

And Cinder?

She stood frozen, her body half-transformed into a statue made of flowers.

"What did you—"

"I didn’t mean to!" The Bloom fell to her knees. "It just happened! Like everything just happens!"

Grace saw her chance. She scrambled to her feet and approached the Bloom carefully.

"It’s okay. I can help you."

"Help?" The Bloom looked up with tearful eyes. "How? I can’t stop creating. It’s all I am!"

"Maybe you don’t need to stop. Maybe you just need... direction."

[Come on, Grace. Think. What does pure creative chaos need?]

"Direction?" The Bloom sniffled. A small garden grew around her tears.

"Purpose. Focus. Instead of creating randomly, create with intention."

"But that’s limiting!"

"That’s growth." Grace knelt beside her. "Even Eternia learned that. Why do you think she put this drive in you? Because she realized creation without purpose was hollow."

The Bloom stared at her. Behind them, Cinder struggled against her flower prison, cursing.

"I... I don’t know how to do anything else."

"Then let’s find you one." Grace offered her hand. "Together."

The Bloom reached out slowly—

Cinder broke free.

"Enough!" The Veil angel’s sword swept toward Grace’s neck.

Grace rolled away, coming up with her rapier ready. But Cinder wasn’t focused on her anymore. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

She grabbed the Bloom’s arm. Sin energy poured from her touch into the Pillar.

"Remember your true purpose. Chaos. Change. Revolution."

The corruption spread through her flower-covered form. Petals turned black. Vines withered.

Grace charged.

"Let her go!"

Cinder spun and their blades met again. This time, the Veil angel’s sword blazed with stolen creative power.

"Too late!" Cinder laughed. "The Bloom is ours! And through her, we’ll remake the world itself!"

Cinder pushed Grace away.

Grace slid to a stop and readied her blade again.

[... Sorry, Mara, I’ll be a bit late for breakfast today.]