12,000 years ago, Saudi Arabia

He was going to show the beaurocrats and holy men in Atlantis that they were fools to cast him out, fools not to recognize his vision of ruling the world alongside titans of fire and shadow. Soon they would bow to his gods. The Atlantean sorcerer finished his arcane ritual, sprinkling his foul reagents onto the sand. Dark clouds began to gather above, yet no rain fell. He began to utter a blasphemous hymn to the forces of chaos and darkness.  A foul smell began to fill the air. The dark clouds thickened, blocking out the sun. A green flame began to burn on the sand, beginning as a tiny flicker and growing larger rapidly.

The angel descended from the heavens with blistering speed, its silvery armor glowing orange as it entered Earth's atmosphere. As the gases thickened, it only increased its speed, and began to leave a wake of flames trailing behind, resembling a comet or shooting star. It tore a large hole through the black cloud cover, through which a golden shaft of sunlight beamed down onto the desert, illuminating the Atlantean outcast and his ritual. The angel watched, as a green flame erupted from the sands and formed a circle.  It doubled down on its descent, speeding up to searing velocity, deafening sonic booms cracking and whipping the flaming trail of burning gases behind it.

"Father, am I too late?"

A massive rusty colored arm reached from within the circle and fell onto the sand, and pulled forth, and a living manifestation of all evil stood, towering above the warlock, who fell to his knees, his head barely reaching the beast's ankles. Massive crooked horns topped a terrifying beast with a mouthful of sharp yellow teeth, red eyes with black vertical pupils, no nose, a long spiked tail, and massive leathery wings jutting from a muscular back.  It's body glowed like burning coal, flames flowing over its skin. 

"You want a reward, pest?  You are a dishonorable fool and betrayer to your species.  You disgust me even more than them, sorcerer.  You are unworthy to serve me." Said the monster.

It stomped on him, sending a spray of red in all directions as a host of lesser monstrosities began piling out behind it. 

"The appropriate reward for the vermin who betrays his own kind" the beast snorted derisively, wiping the sorcerer's remains from its clawed foot on the dry sand with disgust. It stood nearly forty feet tall to the top of the massive horns. It looked up to see a single hole in the dark clouds, and what looked like a star in the center, growing brighter at an alarming rate. "Shit" it growled, leaping away from the portal, ordering the others to get in front. Its eyes grew wide, aflame with anger. How was there already one here? before any of the fun got started?  And only one??  Puzzling.  It hoped it wasn't Michael, its old enemy and the only thing it feared.

"six, seven, eight"

The lesser evils began leaping out in droves.

"twenty-seven, twenty eight"

Every holy warden of the Rank had a special two handed weapon capable of subtly shifting its shape to suit the wielder, forged by the Allfather himself from the shards of a dying star.  As the 31st exited the portal, the angel pointed its greatspear, Luminex, downward, spread its wings to slow itself, and impacted the ground with the force of a small meteor, destroying the portal and sending pieces of the last demon to emerge splattering over its allies, plunging into the sand with incredible force, causing a blast wave to stagger the menagerie of monstrosities gathered below and punching a small glowing crater into the desert.  The wave of fire released by the violent kinetic force had no effect on the creatures.

The angel slowly stepped out of the glowing glass depression in the sand, the fiery glow of its cooling armor illuminating the intricate runes that covered every surface a few moments longer as it returned to its mirrored, silvery white luster. The armor was seamless, less a protective cover and more a container to hold the concentrated fire of a star within.  Itss appearance was so alien and inorganic the runes resembled tattoos on a metal body.  It flexed impossibly as if the consistency of flesh and its gauntlets clicked imposingly, arcs of cold blue plasma licking from the fingertips as it gripped the shaft of its weapon.  It stood twelve feet tall, a humanoid of mantid like proportions, impossibly thin and long limbed, yet possessing a terrifying power and purpose. Though it was double the height of a man, most of the monstrosities towered over its head. Its wings however, spread double its height either way, glowing and immaterial, and were covered in ice blue eyes with vertical golden pupils, displaying various expressions - some hung in sorrow or disappointment, others bristled with holy wrath, others calmly stared forward with unshakeable faith. Its head was covered by a smooth, plain round silvery helmet, the only piece with no runes etched, only a single small hole in the center, emitting a pale golden light.  Clearly it was not used for sight.  The air around it was pungent and crisp with the scent of ozone, overpowering the sulfur stench of the thirty beasts gazing upon it with a mixture of awe, hatred, and fear.

"thirty"

The demons paused, looking at each other and backing away slowly, some mewling, whining, wimpering, like a pack of frightened dogs looking for the bravest among them. Their red eyes grew wide with fear, glowing brightly. Some chittered like nervous cats.  Others laughed like hyenas.  None of them wanted to face this warrior of God.

"misguided and lost...I weep for their suffering. please forgive them my father"

"I am Talzael, warden rank five of the fourth order, you are prohibited from this sphere. You must return to our father's love and he will show you mercy.  Repent at once and be free of your blasphemous form.  It is time to come home." the angel spoke in a resonating, flanged inhuman voice, soft and androgynous but carrying impossibly far.  These beings were once beloved brothers of the rank, the largest the former rank 1 of the same order.  Talzael was made perfect by his father - a pure, unfallen, undiminished cherubim - selfless, kind, forgiving, and overwhelmingly powerful.

The biggest demon, enraged at their cowardice, roared and the earth shook.  He knew the Allfather commanded legions of these lower tier archangels and was almost insulted that only one showed up.  A mid rank, formerly a pawn of his very order. How long had he been imprisoned?  The 29 lesser evils decided testing the mercy of the angels blade was far better than enduring their master's punishment for cowardice.

"i am so sorry, i will grant you peace"

They came from all directions, slashing, biting, whipping with bladed and spiked tails, spewing flames and lava that scalded the angels armor. The angel whirled in brutally graceful and violently explosive motion, its blade slicing through chitin, flesh, metal and bone with effortless precision, spinning so fast every part of it cut through whatever it touched, resembling a weedeater slicing through crabgrass.  It fired an ultraviolet laser of incredible power from the sole opening in its metallic helm, drawing jagged glass trenches and burning the smaller foes to ash before they got close. For every few that fell, one would get a little damage in, precious glowing silvery fluid dripping from the slashes that pierced the angel's armor, falling onto the ground and gradually losing its glow and crystallizing.

"eight...seven..six.."

The great evil one looked on as his 29 greatest lieutenants were butchered. By a single battle warden...his rage grew to infinite levels, his hate strengthening his massive form, flames smoldering from beneath his armor.   These were his best and most loyal followers, the strongest entering first and so on.

"three, two."

Before he could save the last of his comrades, the angel bisected the terrified demon vertically from the top of the head down with one savage strike of Luminex, its entrails spilling onto the sand and catching fire as the two legs hopped away from each other a few leaps, each half falling to the ground, the fiery glow in each eye finally going dark. It took a total of seven seconds to slay the entire horde.

"Now for you, brother....."

A single massive claw grabbed the angel, pinching its weapon to its side with the beasts immense strength. The beast squeezed and the silvery glowing liquid flowed down, glowing on the sand as the shining metal shell around the angel crumpled and crushed inward with the beast's immense grip. 

The beast grinned and spoke.

"Your efforts are impressive, warden. But he should have sent M-"

"father......grant me strength"

The angel pulled on its weapon and flailed its wings with everything it had, slicing a few of the beasts fingers off, and it launched up and toward the monster, slicing his chest wide open and cutting his jaw off with a vicious two strike combo, arcing through the air, and landing with a metallic clang a hundred feet away. The sun was coming back out and the dark clouds dissipating. The beast's eyes were wide with disbelief as he looked down and saw his heart falling out of his open ribcage, corrupted blood pouring out. He tried in vain to push it back in with his undamaged hand. He tried to roar in agony but only a gurgling squelch sputtered out as he realized his jaw and tongue were no longer attached. For the first time ever, he felt afraid and alone and regretted his hubris that caused him to fall so far from his father's love. He tried to call out to his father for forgiveness but couldnt make a sound. His father heard him nonetheless. He crumpled to the ground, his great wings sagging and the flames that burned in his flesh went out...his rusty color turning black as the wind blew the ash away from his bones.

"father, i have done my best, fought well, and i cannot return. Sphere Eden is safe. i shall rest in the golden warmth of the star you placed here.....redeem their souls.....it is my final wish..please forgive them"

The light shining from the hole in its helmet dimmed gradually, then went out completely.  The eyes on its wings closed peacefully, and they transformed into a translucent cloth.  The sand pittered against the gleaming metal with the desert wind.

After the sun set in the desert, thirty two new stars twinkled in the sky.