CHAPTER 473: THE GODDESS’S DESCENT

Annie’s entire body shivered as she glanced around the endless dark plains. She tried taking a breath, but no air existed there, making her feel suffocated.

Luckily, the deep breath she took beforehand, supplied her with enough oxygen to stay conscious throughout the journey.

She stayed calm solely because she felt Faith’s hand on her shoulder, guiding her through the darkness. Annie felt a lifetime pass as they walked, but in reality only a few seconds went by.

Soon the air regained its unnatural warmth of a burning city, and gradually colors returned to the world too. Annie glanced at the buildings and gathered people.

Some stood around, looking at everything in confusion, while others lay on the ground unconscious or suffering from different injuries on their legs.

Annie’s eyes instantly began sweeping the people on the ground, desperately looking for her father.

Amid the crying, shouting and screaming, it wasn’t easy to find her only remaining relative. Every survivor on the concrete ground looked similar. Covered in a mixture of dust, blood and soot, with wounds covering their face or body, and more than often, both.

The young girl’s eyes looked more miserable with each step; none of the faces felt familiar. She walked along the path, but her father was nowhere to be found. However, as she reached the end of the line, a different one began.

Many people with serious, life-threatening injuries lay on stretchers as doctors treated them swiftly, with experienced hands.

With newfound hope, Annie continued her persistent search. Her hopeful eyes glanced at every stretcher, but none of the wounded faces looked familiar... Until she found him!

A man with both his legs bent in multiple directions. His hips and arms also seemed broken, and a metal rod pierced through his stomach.

"My Goddess, he’s a lucky one!" Said the doctor to her nurses while examining Annie’s father. "Without that rod stopping the bleeding and breaking his spine, he would’ve already passed from blood loss or the overwhelming pain."

Annie’s brain barely processed the doctor’s words. Her tearful eyes stayed focused on her father’s chest, which continued rising up and down.

"Dammit, that shadowy woman really fucked us over!" Said another doctor or nurse nearby.

"I mean, she said, ’I’ll rescue every survivor from the Gate opening’s site. Be prepared to treat the wounded!’. It’s not her fault we didn’t believe her." Answered another nurse, and then they went on their way, treating everybody.

Evolved with healing abilities also arrived quickly and began healing the people near death. It seemed Annie’s father, while looked awful, was stable enough not to require immediate assistance.

The doctors soon took him away for surgery, leaving Annie alone with her grief. The young girl stood on the building’s, which she learned was a hospital’s, roof.

Dozens of people had similar ideas. Soldiers stood near the edge, keeping people away from the ledge. Even after surviving, people tended to kill themselves when losing too much.

Annie climbed onto some nearby boxes and stared towards her burning city. They were near the edge, where hell’s gate opened, but the Shadow carried them to the opposite side of Rome.

The young girl watched as more demons and angels poured into Rome. Their blood tainted the once beautiful, historic city, while their destruction spread everywhere.

Tears ran down her face as she watched the buildings crumble. Explosions resounded from kilometers away, and the screams of innocents mixed with them, creating the sound of horror... The sound of War...

Under the fields of debris, lay the dead. Their voices extinguished forever, leaving them in perfect tranquility. Even though they couldn’t speak anymore, their sound was just as loud as the screams... The sound of Peace...

While Annie stared at Rome, her body trembled as tears and snot ran down her face. The picture of her mother’s caved-in skull still lived vividly in her mind. She felt sad and lost, so she kept watching the explosions until new emotions rose deep within her heart.

Annie heard the screams and felt everyone’s pain. The same pain burned within her heart. The pain of loss, of suffering, of betrayal!

These angels took on the form of their Goddess, making people believe they arrived with pure intentions. Annie detested these creatures’ mere existence!

The sadness faded from her body, replacing the pain with fervor and hatred. She wanted to kill them all, to make them disappear for what they’d done!

It was already inexcusable to attack their city, but pretending to be real Angels was too far. Any faithful believers, like Annie, would hate these creatures. The demons at least show their horrific nature on the outside, but angels look kind, yet act the same!

The people all across the city shared Annie’s feelings. Their faith didn’t tremble before this disaster. It became even stronger!

From the shadows, Faith heard and watched the sound of angry believers with satisfaction. She rescued every civilian from immediate danger, then moved to a different vast shadow, cruising towards Rome in the sea.

...

"I’m switching to aerial view." Said an operator while shooting a drone off the Old Dawn.

The ship has many modern systems, since after getting it into working order, the engineers had nothing else to do. They built these drones for underwater unmanned exploration, but after returning to Earth, they attached made some adjustments.

"The scans suggest two giant opposing energy sources, comparable to stronger Stellars. The angels and demons are staying far away from their battle, which isn’t a promising sign."

James connected his body to the ship’s eternal system, reading the inner code like a book. His glassy eyes stared forward as he narrated all his findings.

As he talked, the view on the large screen changed to the drone’s camera. It showed only static for a few seconds...

"The drone will’ve latency, but otherwise it’ll show footage real-time..." The operator trailed off as the screen came to life.

The waterfront view of the outer walls already suggested immense destruction. The Colonel also mentioned how a quarter of Rome got destroyed, yet nobody truly believed him. They hoped he was just anxious, but the footage didn’t lie.

Where Rome’s northeastern side should’ve been, only an enormous fiery pit remained. The demons kept flying out of its depths to wage their war against the angels.

The fire and destruction spread from the hellish Gate further into the city. Building after building crumbled, while the flames of war danced along the rubble.

It’s been only about ten minutes since the Gate opened, yet over two-thirds of Rome laid broken. However, everyone’s eyes soon passed from the city-wide destruction towards the two giant energy sources.

The drone’s camera zoomed in and focused, so they got a clear view of the two Stellars. One they recognized as the demonic soldier who called himself War. The other remained a mystery, though.

Her white-feathered wings suggested an angelic nature. The angels all across Rome wore bright, light colors, and this female warrior wasn’t any different. Her armor was light blue, while her massive lance glowed with the same color.

Neither powerful creature cared about its surroundings as it fought against the other. As if the world didn’t exist past their personal battle.

"Should I try to interfere and hold them back? If this continues, they’ll reach the refugees!"

What Cass referred to was the clear increase in their power. Each slash or stab carried enough power to eradicate multiple blocks, but their destructive nature increased every moment.

A Stellar could destroy an entire city with one blow. This meant two Stellars fighting could accomplish this task twice as efficiently.

Cass could use her illusions to derail their battle and push them away from the survivors, but it wouldn’t necessarily work and would endanger the Succubus’s life.

Everybody felt stumped. The situation seemed hopeless, yet they all wanted a solution immediately.

Henry wanted to call back his mother, since she could solve this issue, but then how many millions would die in Asia? His conscience wouldn’t allow that, since he already felt responsible for all these lives lost.

They could’ve also contacted other Stellars, like Henry’s other mom, Elizabeth, or Antal, Buda-Pest’s Stellar. However, this would do nothing but add fuel to a giant forest fire.

In their moment of despair, when they lost all hope of saving Rome’s citizens, the shadows moved in one corner, manifesting into a beautiful pale woman, wearing shadowy armor.

Vicky noticed her appearance first. Her white eyes immediately went wide, and she blinked once, thinking this was some hallucination. However, when she opened them once more, Faith took a few steps closer, interrupting everyone’s thinking process.

"No need to worry. Everything is under control!" Excalimed Faith with a small smile, confusing the operators who had never seen this woman.

Faith also noticed the dubious or hostile glances, but she didn’t say anything else. Instead, she pointed at the giant screen, and soon James’s voice echoed.

"A third energy signature appeared, much less powerful, but also prominent. It’s located above the fighting Stellars, but they’re rapidly descending. They should be in view of the drone’s camera right about... Now!"

For a moment, a blinding light brightened the communications office as the white comet passed before the camera. The operators cursed loudly, still confused, while everyone else simply stared in awe...

The person fell towards the fighting Stellars, like a meteorite. Her surface burned brighter than the sun, illuminating the entirety of Rome. Next to her brightness, the Gate to ’Heaven’ above seemed dark and miserable.

"The Angel Monarch! The Deathless Phoenix! The Last Angel! Goddess of the Angelic Order! Empress of Europe! Seraphine, the Unbroken, finally arrived to save her people once more!"

Faith’s voice entered everyone’s ears as the comet punched into the Stellars with a giant explosion!