"Guardian Ernel, back off!"

Jesri, who was tightly bound with the divine rope, yelled.

"No." A rigid voice answered. 

The surrounding spirits were disrupted. They all gathered in the Divine Palace with the same goals, to ask the Divine Spirit God to punish the Guardian of the Southern Sea, Jesri, who was proven to be a descendant of the underworld cursed spirits. They all wanted to banish Jesri, but unexpectedly, Ernel stood against them. They didn't expect the Guardian of the Southern Sky to shield the Guardian of the Southern Sea since they have polar opposite characters. Every spirit in the three territories, even the demons underworld knew that they were hostile to each other. They fought countless times that causes the violent weather in the southern area.

The guardian gods of the three territories choose four powerful spirits among their followers to guard the four corners every thousand years giving way to the deserving young spirits. A decade ago, the selection happened and a new batch of young, powerful guardians took over. Sky Guardian God assigned Era to the North, Javi to the East, Aira to the West, and Ernel to the South. The Sea Guardian God assigned Josi to the north, Jeno to the East, Bela to the West, and Jesri to the South. Earth Guardian God assigned Beni to the north, Eva to the East, Pami to the West, and Aya to the South.

The spirits in these mysterious islands existed since the very beginning and they were able to exist peacefully with the guidance of the Divine Spirit God. The Divine Spirit God is the strongest and the most powerful among the existing spirits in this spirit world. He built the Divine Palace and implemented the Divine Rules that each spirit should abide by. Spirits who violated these rules were punished according to the degree of the rules they violated. Minor offenders were demoted to the lowest ranks. Major offenders were thrown to the underworld and the extreme offenders were banished from the spirit world.

"Guardian Ernel, you are an upright and righteous spirit, why are you objecting to us now?"

"Guardian of the Southern Sky, the Guardian of the Southern Sea is your nemesis, why are you defending him now?

The surrounding spirits and guardians were in chaos. Ernel was bombarded with criticism and queries, but he was standing still in front of Jesri not minding the chaotic surroundings. A single guardian defending Jesri is not supposed to shake the will of the entire spirit crowd, but Ernel wasn't just any other guardian, he was not only powerful but also a favored descendant of the Divine Spirit God. 

"Guardian Ernel, Jesri is a demon descendant and is slowly showing his ruthless side these recent years, you know better than any of us here how dangerous he is. All we did here is to protect the entire spirit world, so please think carefully."

The Earth Guardian God stepped forward trying to convince the Southern Sky Guardian, but Ernel didn't pay him any attention, not even a glance. The Earth Guardian God backed off, embarrassed. Among the three territorial guardian gods, he's the only one who dared to criticize Ernel. The Sea Guardian God was in mixed emotions since he favored Jesri, he didn't utter a word. The Sky Guardian God didn't dare to criticize Ernel and was completely silent.

The Earth Guardian God was troubled. How can they convince the Divine Spirit God if his favored descendant stood their way? He looked around the Divine Palace Hall where they gathered. In front of the crowd was an elevated platform where the empty Divine Chair settled in the middle. In between the spirit crowd and the Divine Chair stood Guardian Jesri, tightly bound. Dressed in his light blue guardian robe, he still looked good and composed. In his front stood the ever-good-looking Guardian Ernel, dressed in his white guardian robe, he looked very enchanting even with his grim-looking face. Jesri stood in the middle of the round banishing platform. This platform is used to punish extreme offenders. It will suck the offender and banish his entire existence in the spirit world. No one knows what will happen to the spirit after the banishment, even the Divine Spirit God knows nothing. The Supreme Creator is the only one who knows where those spirits are going after getting sucked by the platform.

The Supreme Creator is the creator of all things. He is invisible yet extremely powerful, who knows everything and everyone. His existence is known to everyone, though no one saw Him, not even the Divine Spirit God. He created everything, gave free will to every living creature, and let everything fall into its place. The Divine Spirit God in the spirit world knew how this free will may lead to destruction in the future, so he decided to protect and isolate this group of beautiful islands. He built his Divine Palace and created his Divine Rules. But some things are beyond his control, like the spirits that were thrown underworld. These thrown spirits lost their holy appearances and living underworld turned them into ghastly beings. They lost their holy powers too, but the underworld provide them another source of energy- dark energy that the spirits called evil art. The evil art is inferior to the spirits' holy power, but it is enough for the demons to thrive in the underworld. They even managed to surface in the earth and crossbred with some animal species in the islands.

The Divine Spirit God was at first worried by the crossbreeding, but later he found that the crossbreeds are harmless to the spirit world. They have limited capabilities. They have weak and vulnerable bodies with a very short lifespan, so he decided to protect these crossbreeds too and therefore added a few Divine Rules protecting them.

The Earth Guardian God's thought was wandering when the Divine Chair at the elevated platform illuminated. The Divine Spirit God appeared. He was wearing a majestic white robe that glittered with the holy light. He looked divine yet imposing which made everyone bow under his presence. The chaotic crowd was silenced, no one dared to speak first.

"Ernel." A calm, holy voice broke the deafening silence.

"Divine Grandfather." Ernel answered, looking straight to the Divine Spirit God's compassionate eyes 

"Guardian Jesri is a demon descendant, why are you defending him?" 

"He didn't violate any Divine Rule. He is a demon descendant but he is also a good spirit descendant. Divine Grandfather, you are protecting the crossbreeds, can you please protect the offspring of the demons and good spirits too?" 

The Divine Spirit God was silent, pondering over Guardian Ernel's plea. 

The earth guardian god was agitated. The Divine Spirit God is compassionate and might consider the words Guardian Ernel said. Among the gods and guardians gathered here, he is the most eager one to punish Jesri. He has two selfish reasons. Jesri's grandfather was his love rival before. Though Jesri's grandfather died fifteen years ago, seeing Jesri is like seeing his rival and he can't help getting irritated. Another reason is that his granddaughter Aya fell in love with Ernel long before. So, he assigned Aya to be the Guardian of the Southern Earth so that she will have more time and opportunity to interact with Ernel who was assigned as the guardian of the southern sky. He was hopeful that his granddaughter and Ernel will make progress, but after a decade nothing happened, all thanks to Jesri. His granddaughter told him that Ernel's attention was always on Jesri. They always fight for the reasons only both of them know, paying no attention to her. He was furious so he find possible ways to get rid of Jesri. Now that the opportunity is here, he didn't want to lose it since he spent too much effort exposing Jesri's identity and convincing the other spirits to convict him.

"Divine Spirit God, what if Guardian Jesri's demon side will fully dominate his consciousness these coming years? Guardian Jesri is getting violent these days, we cannot take risks. We must decide the right thing now to prevent the immense danger in the future." 

The earth guardian god spoke his concern in an intentionally exaggerated manner and highly stressed the risk to terrify the crowd. He successfully terrified the crowd as he heard the faint whispers of agreement at his back. The ordinary spirits, even some spirit gods are used to a peaceful and calm environment since the guardians were the ones who dealt with the dangers outside so they got easily troubled whenever they heard possible risk.

The earth guardian god successfully scared the crowd, but the Divine Spirit God was still contemplating.

Jesri, who was facing Ernel, smiled. A helpless smile. The earth guardian is determined to execute him. He planned this for many years, so it might be his end. Ernel's effort might be useless.

"Earth guardian god, I understand your concern, but Guardian Jesri didn't violate the Divine Rules." The Divine Spirit God answered.

"Divine Spirit God, Jesri did violate the Divine Rules. I don't want to talk about it since it's a shame to my granddaughter Aya." The earth guardian god said, reluctantly.

Hearing this, the Divine Spirit God raised his head. Jesri's helpless smile turned to helpless laughter while Ernel was still rooted in front of him looking gloomy. 

Guardian Aya, dressed in her elegant golden guardian robe meekly bowed her head, but her naughty eyes were smiling. He can't wait to get rid of Jesri, who always got on her way to Ernel.

"Speak." The Divine Spirit God ordered.

"Divine Spirit God, my granddaughter is the guardian of the southern earth. Last month he fought with the sea demons that crawled into the beach, but in the middle of the fight, Guardian Jesri came. He was furious that my granddaughter hurt the sea demons and he attacked her. They were fighting so intensely that my granddaughter's guardian robe was torn to pieces. Guardian Jesri, even after seeing my almost naked granddaughter, kept brawling her. Good thing I came in time. Divine Spirit God, my granddaughter was badly hurt and maliciously assaulted by Guardian Jesri, please give her justice." 

The earth guardian god pitifully pleaded. The surrounding whispers were turned to chaos. The crowd looked at Jesri with disgust. Jesri lowered his head helplessly, while Ernel's face was getting gloomier.

"Guardian Jesri, what can you say about the accusations the earth guardian god stated." The Divine Spirit God asked.

"Divine Spirit God, I...have nothing to say." 

Jesri politely answered, avoiding Ernel's intense gaze. How can he explain his innocence in front of this prejudiced crowd? He is known for his mischievous acts and most of the spirit gods and guardians detested him. It would be difficult to convince them that he did not intentionally hurt Guardian Aya, much more molested her. That day, Aya as she always did, invited Ernel for a stroll, but the latter refused her again. Ernel then went and informed him that he will be gone for half a day since the Divine Spirit God sought his presence. Guardian Aya was extremely furious at being ignored countless times. She vented her anger by killing the harmless sea demons swimming in the shallow water. Jesri allowed these sea demons to surface once in a while since they are completely harmless. When he arrived, there were already piles of lifeless demons on the shore. He was furious and confronted her, but she attacked him immediately. He didn't intend to fight, so he just kept on dodging and defending her attack. That one-sided fight between them lasted for a few hours since she didn't want to let go. Her grandfather arrived at the scene where Aya managed to pull him down. He even thought that it was he, who was maliciously assaulted that day.

"Guardian Jesri, your silence means that you are guilty. Will you accept your punishment?" The Divine Spirit God asked.

Jesri was silent for a moment, the crowd was in total silence too. Ernel was looking at him intently. 

Jesri could feel Ernel's intense look. He lifted his head and met Ernel's eyes.

"Yes, Divine Spirit God." Jesri answered. 

In this Spirit world, he felt alone since his family had been long gone. It was only Ernel who kept fighting him that made his life challenging, so he has nothing to worry about being banished. 

The crowd was buzzing with whispers of relief and satisfaction.

"Jesri, Guardian of the Southern Sea, who extremely violated the Divine Rule is hereby sentenced to be banished from the spirit world." 

The Divine Spirit God, though a bit unwilling, declared. 

"Once the banishing platform is illuminated, the spirit inside is bound to be banished and no one can stop it, not even me. I am asking everyone to step back." The Divine Spirit God added.

A few seconds later, the round banishing platform emitted a golden light. After a few moments, Jesri will be banished. Seeing this, Jesri composed himself. He was smiling at Ernel. A thankful and farewell smile, but his smile immediately shrank.

Amid the blinding golden light, he saw Ernel's figure getting closer!

"Ernel!"

"Guardian Ernel!"

Guardian of the southern sky!"

A chorus of shocked, stupefied, and bewildered voices echoed.