Prologue

Cold. An incredibly strong, bone-piercing wind. And smooth, terribly calm, rhythmic swaying, as if he was in a huge cradle. And the sounds of footsteps on the ground, they were just as calm and measured.

These were the first sensations of a person who had just opened his eyes after waking up from a deep sleep. At the same moment, he squeezed his eyes shut with force. The light was too bright and just terribly unusual. It was as if he looked into a kaleidoscope, pointing it at the sun. After recovering a little, he reflexively tried to cover his eyes with his palm and open them again. However, to his great surprise, he felt that he simply could not move either his right or left hand. Struggling with actively approaching fear, he tried to move his legs or at least raise his head, but the result was the same. His body was incredibly weak, incapable of even the simplest actions.

Realizing that there was nothing else for him to do, the guy opened his mouth, hoping to call for help. However, even the tongue and lips were not subject to him. The necessary sounds refused to appear, and the few that were available to him simply did not add up to words.

- Well, hush, hush, - suddenly, a tired male voice came from somewhere above. – We're almost there, kids, be patient a little longer…

"What the fuck?!!!"

Despite the fact that the language spoken by the man was completely unfamiliar to him, he still clearly understood the meaning of the phrase spoken.

Finally, desperate to get a result from the body, the person simply ran away to where he could still control himself, into his thoughts.

"Okay, okay... come on! Remember, damn you!"

Powerlessly closing his eyes, he desperately plunged into various sections of his memory. And the more he did it, the more scared he became. He didn't remember his name or any details of what happened right before he got here. All the other memories were completely in order, he knew perfectly well that he had just turned nineteen and that he was studying in the first year of university in his hometown. He also remembered all the other details of his quite ordinary life. However, there was one thing that bothered him in any way, except the absence of his own name. Everything he remembered about himself and his fate seemed extraordinarily far away. Even the most recent memories felt as if the events in them took place not this or last year, but at least ten years ago.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps that had been following him all this time subsided. The monotonous rocking went with it. There was a loud sound, as if someone had punched the wooden door several times. After a short period of time, the creaking of the opening door was heard.

- Brother Gustavo, - an unfamiliar male voice sounded very close. – We were already starting to worry!

- Brother Albo, - the first tired voice became a little more lively, footsteps and the creak of a door closing from behind were heard. – I was in a hurry as much as I could, but I'm not young anymore…

"Of course, of course," the second voice answered quickly. – Are the kids all right? To leave them, in such a terrible frost…

- Terrible, just terrible…

- God save these sinful souls…

- We need to warm them... Sister Agatha!

Carefully listening to every word, the man was still helpless and practically blind. He only realized that there was even more light around, and then someone's gentle female hands gently lifted up.

"A boy and a girl," the first extremely tired voice spoke again. – Twins…

- It seems they didn't have time to freeze, - the new voice belonged to a young woman. – Father Gustavo, warm the waters... how calm.

- The girl sleeps all the time, - the tired voice sounded especially tender. – But the boy woke up when I was already not far from here. But he calmed down surprisingly quickly…

- Calm children are very good, – the quiet chuckle of the second man sounded much further and slightly muffled. – Do you remember how we suffered with Lorenzo?

- And don't remember, Father! a woman's voice sighed and the man felt his body being placed on something soft. – Speaking of which, what should we call these two?

- We will give the name at baptism, - the first voice sounded slightly dissatisfied. – But if I can offer, then... Asia and Alexander Argento, how do you like it?

…

From that moment, Alex's life began in a new world for him. A few days later, he and his newfound sister Asia were baptized in the nearest church and given the names suggested earlier. As Alex later found out, their birth parents left their children a little after they turned a month old. Since they were abandoned at the threshold of the nearest church, the babies were picked up by one of the clergy and reported to the monastery orphanage located nearby.

A small two-storey building became a new home for the brother and sister, and three children about 5-6 years old became new neighbors. The shelter was located near the city of Udine, which was located in the north-east of Italy, between the Adriatic coast and the Alps.

The first 4-5 years passed quite calmly for Alex. He was learning anew everything that is inherent in an ordinary healthy person. Over time, elementary lessons, such as mathematics, Italian language and literature, were added to the ability to speak and walk. Their teacher, Father Albo, also did not forget about the development of fine motor skills, creativity, physical exercises, and other things that are necessary for a growing person in every sense.

For Alexander, studying has not become something burdensome at all. Physically, his brain was literally the brain of a child and assimilated any information incredibly. Adding to this the consciousness of a young, but still an adult, and you will get a real juvenile genius. On top of everything else, this "genius" had an awful lot of free time, and since his adult consciousness did not allow him to calmly play dice for hours on end, he was doing what could help him in the future. In parallel with Italian and Latin, Alex also studied English, which, although almost not used in this country, was extremely necessary in the rest of the world. Mathematics, physics, history, geography, as well as a lot of other useful and not very sciences. Fretting from idleness, Alex studied everything he could get to. Since he simply did not have a personal phone and computer, and the state-owned one was controlled quite well, Alex mostly used the Internet only for business. Thanks to this, in just a year I learned almost as much as in my entire not very long past life.

On the other hand, he tried not to forget about his newfound sister, who, unlike her brother, was quite an ordinary child. It would be more accurate to say that she was almost the dream of any parent. Not whiny, very obedient, diligent and honest. And most importantly, she is not childishly kind and compassionate. She seemed ready to rush to help anyone who, in her opinion, needed help. If, speaking about Alexander, the ministers of the church usually recalled his extraordinary intellect and abilities, as for a child, then Asia was literally the embodiment of kindness and sincerity, which could melt the heart of even an adult with just a kind smile. A golden-haired Angel with bright green eyes, that was exactly what Asia Argento was.

It was this name that gave Alex a clue about where he was. However, when he heard it for the first time, it all seemed so crazy to him that Alex refused to believe it. However, time passed, gradually the "newborn" gained sight, and then the ability to control his body. New information came and came. Overheard conversations of adults, analysis of their behavior, finally granted him access to electronic devices with Internet access. All this formed a completely obvious picture, but Alexander stubbornly refused to believe, until finally he received direct confirmation of his guesses. On the same day that he and Asia celebrated their sixth birthday, the church began their training.

- My children, - the voice of the usually cheerful father Albo was incredibly serious. – You are already old enough to finally find out the truth, which is carefully hidden from most ordinary people ... I have already read the Bible to you several times and of course you are unlikely to understand its importance until you grow up, but there is something you need to know right now ... Angels, Demons, and also Fallen Angels, they all exist in reality. Moreover, these three groups have been waging an almost incessant war for many hundreds and thousands of years. We, the church, have taken upon ourselves the duty to help heaven in its eternal struggle, as well as…

While Asia listened to their teacher's words with obvious, though certainly childish interest. Alex carefully tried to restrain his emotions and not let them show on his tense face.

"So it's true after all!" - his head was shaken by hundreds of scattered thoughts, but he still tried to concentrate. – "Okay, let's be honest, I knew before, just, just... oh my God, rebirth in a new body in itself, to put it mildly, is not an ordinary phenomenon. And the creation in the world that I saw on the screen back in high school…DhD High School, was it also called? How ironic..."

The first "introductory lecture" about the world inaccessible to ordinary mortals was completed quite quickly. Albo's father obviously didn't want to load them with unnecessary information and let them go much earlier than usual. There were no more lessons that day.

The next day and all the days that followed, those that were inaccessible to the ordinary uninitiated were added to the usual lessons. Rejecting one of the main principles of "blind faith", about a week later they were even taken together with Asia to one of the large temples, where she appeared before them and a crowd of other children – a real angel!

An inhumanly beautiful girl with blonde hair and a frozen halo over her head. At the moment when she smiled benevolently at the children looking at her, two snow-white wings appeared behind her. No one who had seen such a sight already could just forget about it. The upbringing of future ministers and soldiers of the Church has been honed by years of practice and experiments. According to Alex, such a demonstration served to ensure that the already believing people consolidated their beliefs, and those who could still doubt finally dispelled their suspicions. His sister Asia belonged more to the first, but he himself to the second. From that day on, he finally accepted the fact that his new life would be different from the old one in every possible sense.

In the world from which he came, Alex was in internal turmoil for many years. He really wanted to believe that there was some kind of higher power or some of its manifestations. However, the harsh reality and natural prudence never allowed him to accept the need for blind faith. He simply couldn't accept it. Alex refused to believe what he hadn't seen.

However, things were different here. Angels with bright halos and snow-white wings. People with extraordinary abilities, many times exceeding the capabilities of any ordinary person. In this world, he finally got what he had been looking for for so long. Proofs. That day Alex finally decided what he would devote his new life to.

"An exorcist?" Asia raised her bright green eyes to him in surprise. – Brother, are you sure?

Now the two of them were standing on the street near the church where the "dedication" ceremony was taking place, waiting for their teacher's car.

"Becoming one is the only way I see right now."

- But... - the girl fluttered her eyelashes excitedly. – It's very dangerous! What if... what if they kill you?!

"Don't be afraid," Alex gently patted her on the head. – I'm not going to die yet, so those who will be my enemies will have to do it.…

Asia quickly grabbed his arm. "Promise you'll be very careful!" Promise me!

"I swear," Alex grinned, looking into the eyes of his worried sister. – I will be the most careful exorcist who ever lived!

…

Their special training program lasted about three months. During this time, they received all the basic knowledge about the world that was inaccessible to ordinary people. They listened to lectures, studied the holy scriptures, reinterpreted many events of the Bible, in general, they did everything so that a set of numerous books, stories, stories, parables and notes turned into one coherent and more or less clear picture of the world.

Finally, the last day came when this special lesson took place. Father Albo conducted a control test and made sure that his students had successfully mastered the knowledge that he had taught them, he gladly let them go, freeing them from other lessons and classes for today.

While Asia was enjoying her freedom and looking for something to do in the yard, Alex was finally able to be alone and sprawled on his bed, tried to re-comprehend absolutely all the information and compare it with the one he already had. First of all, he took out a small notebook from his bosom, in which a few years ago he wrote down everything he remembered about the anime series he had watched in his previous life. And there was very little information. Basically, all he remembered was that there were demons there and those demons had boobs. There were a lot of them. And demons, and boobs.

In addition to this extremely important information, his consciousness also retained fragmentary memories of the various abilities and magic of those who were on the screen. The plot, if it was there at all, Alex did not remember the word at all. The anime genre and the age at which he watched it contributed a lot to this. In short, he quickly came to the conclusion that he would have to study the world practically from scratch. In addition to demons, their buffers, ever-bursting clothes and the heart-rending screams of the main character he hated, he didn't remember much.

Realizing that the memory of his past life had left him almost exactly where he was, Alex began to analyze the basic information that he had recently received. His notebooks were full of notes, because he carefully took notes of everything that their teacher brought to them.

In this universe, in addition to the usual world of people, there were at least several other worlds. Hell, Heaven and Purgatory. Or, using the terminology of people who are privy to the secret. The Underworld and Heaven. Yes, Purgatory was not a separate world, it was just another department of the underworld.

However, before proceeding to supernatural matters, it was necessary to identify the role of people in all this. Unlike what Alex was used to seeing in his home world, the Church was still an extremely active player in the socio-economic and social arena. Which, however, is not at all surprising, given the numerous other differences. In fact, the human world itself simply did not suspect the existence of the others. Basically, just because the Church and its faithful soldiers carried out their service on the border of the human and supernatural, not allowing the former to find out the truth, and the latter to influence the state of affairs outside their territory. Of course, the Church was not the only organization that participated in the preservation of secrecy, various colleges of magicians and other supernatural creatures also did not sit idle. However, as for the second mission – to prevent people from influencing the world, the situation was fundamentally different. This case required not only skills in the magic of hypnosis, memory magic and manipulation of various electronic devices, allowing to destroy any evidence and confirmation. Something more was needed to protect the human world. Strength was needed.

Inquisitors, executioners, paladins and exorcists. Owners of holy mechanisms, sacred relics and holy swords.

All these people in the service of the Church had only one goal. To resist supernatural beings that tried to harm or just fit into the usual life of people. It did not matter whether the soldier of the church was Protestant, Catholic or Orthodox. If he came to a place where an enemy of humanity was waiting for him, he came out with proof of his victory or stayed there forever.

Who were those who opposed these brave warriors? The human world was inhabited by an incalculably large number of various creatures. The Church's struggle with them lasted for many centuries, but the final victory was still far away. Vampires, werewolves, brooks, goblins, zombies, ghouls, demons, nackers, various spirits and many more about whom countless bestiaries have narrated. And although most of these frightening creatures huddled in the dark corners of the planet, not wanting to be exterminated at all. It was only necessary for some kind of evil spirits to breed and get a little stronger, as those who go hunting in the human world began to appear among them. The church mobilized the nearest forces, and the soldiers moved to the place. Single fights, mass battles, reinforcements suitable from both sides and numerous victims. The endless war continued while ordinary, unsuspecting people peacefully went to work.

This was the case in the world of mere mortals, but besides him there was Heaven, where God and his Angels lived, as well as the Underworld, where Demons and Fallen angels lived.

Once upon a time, there was a continuous war between these factions that lasted an incalculable amount of time. However, at the moment, major military operations have not been conducted for at least a thousand years. It was an extremely shaky world, when small local skirmishes were still taking place between the sides. However, the rulers of each side tried to prevent a new war by all possible means. Countless battles had exhausted every faction and fragile peace, or rather, the truce was still being observed. The history of the appearance of the three sides in publicly available sources was quite stingy.

Originally, Angels were created by God as his warriors and helpers. Possessing an almost endless life, compassion and concern for people, as well as the power to create a demon-striking light, they were literally the embodiment of their image from the New Testament.

Subsequently, some of the angels "fell", yielding to their unclean thoughts and desires, committing an unforgivable sin. After that, they were naturally expelled from Heaven. Over time, the number of Fallen grew, because their life expectancy was also almost infinite, and at some point several former high-ranking Angels founded Grigori, an organization of Fallen Angels who occupied some territories in the Underworld, where a third party to the future conflict lived.

The history of the appearance of Demons was almost completely covered with the darkness of mystery. According to the most common version, Lucifer used the body of Lilith, Adam's first wife, to create a military force to destroy God and Angels, in which he greatly succeeded, laying the foundation for the whole species. However, whether Lucifer was an Angel, Fallen, or for some reason was originally a Demon, history was silent.

It was in such a world that Alexander had to live. Even at the very beginning of this special training, he was well aware that personal power meant too much in this universe. Those who were born supernatural creatures already possessed powers that an ordinary person could rarely do anything with. Strength, reaction, speed, strength. Such creatures were superior to humans in everything. Even an average vampire could destroy a small town without any special problems. The power of really strong creatures was capable of erasing entire countries.