CHAPTER 591: THE KING’S GAMBIT

On the holo-screen, footage appeared live from four distinct city-states.

One with tall high-rise towers, with a wide river flowing through its center, London. Another city with a familiar snowy mountain embedded within its borders, Wien.

The third, a beautiful city with a gigantic castle at its center. One of Bea’s trees grew out from the castle, which made it instantly recognizable by everyone, Castleburg. Finally, the center of the Angelic Order, Sera’s home... New Athens...

These four city-states held the largest amount and most devout believers of the Angelic Order. For this reason, they had the highest protection, but sadly... it made them the perfect targets for an assault...

The high-rise towers of London burned and collapsed from a powerful earthquake. A man wearing a strange old-fashioned uniform kneeled before the destruction. The rubble formed a circle around him, as if afraid of being near his presence.

At Wien’s mountaintop near the church where Lilith and Adam got married stood a tall woman, arrogance exuding from her mere presence.

She wore dark leather armor and stared down at the city with her simple-looking longsword aimed at the ground. Blood dripped from her blade as the bodies of the church’s Sisters and Brothers lay in the snow.

A small smirk appeared on her elegant face as the screams of Wien’s residents echoed in the air. Down below, the remnant forces of the Federal Alliance combined with the powerful soldiers of the Chinese and Hindu Pantheon massacred the city.

In Castleburg, monsters ran rampant, jumping from building-to-building, killing innocents and hunting the remnant defense force. Within the wave of monsters stood a gaunt man, who watched the destruction with detached, exhausted eyes.

He commanded the beasts, and while walking towards the castle at the city’s center, everyone died around him. However, the man barely cared. He took his steps slowly and meticulously, his long dark robe billowing in the gentle breeze, like a peaceful ship moving through a wild storm.

Finally, New Athens, the most tranquil of the four. There were no explosions, collapsing buildings or massacres. The city stood like nothing went wrong there, yet upon closer inspection many people’s blood froze in horror.

At the edges of most buildings, hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions of people stood. They stared into the distance, their eyes unfocused, as if they weren’t even conscious. It might’ve looked the most peaceful, yet the contrast it created made everyone nauseous.

However, others felt hatred and betrayed upon seeing the tall, extremely handsome man. His light purple watched the suicidal masses with a deep, uncomfortable frown, while his long dark pink hair danced in the wind.

While the spectators watched the live footage, within the arena grounds, a lone raven flew and landed on Sera’s platform. Its dark eyes gazed up at the Angel as he croaked mockingly.

Sera frowned and ground her teeth, unaware of the live footage being shown to everyone else. Bea and Faith stood beside her, each prepared to defend the Angel at all costs.

A moment passed, and the raven began rapidly growing into a tall human man. His dark feathers turned into a large cloak, hiding his body. From under the cloak he pulled out a long, carved cane made of black wood, with a crystalline raven skull embedded on its handle.

His long, unruly black hair fell onto his shoulder, covering most of his face. However, even through the hair, Sera could see a pair of glowing dark eyes staring at her.

The right one held a simple, golden monocle, which served to increase his elegance and had little to do with man’s actual eyesight.

Overall, the man wouldn’t look very imposing. A bystander might mistake him for a rich gentleman, but for the most part, he didn’t look threatening.

Yet, upon appearing, Sera and her two friends immediately took multiple steps back. They weren’t afraid of him, but aware of his Rank they rather kept their distance. It gave them higher chances if it came to a fight.

The man smirked upon seeing the concern in all three of their eyes. He leaned forward, placing both hands on his cane and, like any decent gentleman, introduced himself.

"Good day, Ms. Seraphine! I came here to congratulate on your victory in person! I don’t think we’ve met yet, so let me introduce myself! My name is Victor! You already met my brother and sister, so I assume you’ve heard about me, yes?"

Sera snorted and smiled at Victor’s bold display of warm nonchalance. However, her next words weren’t what the gentlemen expected.

"Good day, Mr. Victor! Yes, I indeed heard a great deal about you, albeit you’ve been mistaken... This isn’t our first meeting!"

Victor raised a curious eyebrow, which Sera barely detected under the waterfall of dark hair. However, upon glimpsing his expression, her smile widened into an amused grin as she continued...

"Oh? You don’t remember? It happened a while ago, so that’s not too surprising... Let me remind you, with one word... Antarctica..."

The gentleman’s dark, glowing eyes widened near imperceptibly. A momentary shock silenced Victor until eventually a knowing smile stretched across his face as he nodded with understanding.

"Ah, yes. I remember... That’s where I beheaded you, or maybe took your heart literally... I didn’t count that as a proper meeting! We hadn’t even introduced ourselves back then! Also, that timeline doesn’t exist anymore, so it doubly doesn’t count!"

Sera just shrugged and stayed silent. Victor also did the same, and for a few seconds, both stared at each other, examining the other’s features.

It was a battle. A nonphysical and nonverbal one, but a battle nonetheless. The rules of this psychological game were simple... whoever felt the most discomfort would begin speaking first, giving their opponent the upper hand in the conversation...

Victor was a powerful adversary. Most would’ve lost this battle within moments, and even Sera struggled at times. However, she spent two years without her emotions, and after gaining them back, her control over herself remained unnaturally strong.

She could’ve stood there quietly for eternity, while gazing deep into Victor’s glowing dark eyes.

There was another weapon though, which Sera didn’t even know about, yet she wielded it with utter perfection.

After Evolving, her eyes became reflective, so as Victor gazed into those golden-green spheres, his own unkept face stared back. Her wings also reflected the same expression, which further enhanced Victor’s discomfort.

Eventually, he couldn’t bear those dark stares, and so he glanced away while continuing their conversation.

"You might think I came here to kill you and all your friends," he said, trying to hide his momentary loss of composure. "It crossed my mind, but I’ve got a better offer..."

He reached for his wrist, where a regular watch projected a holo-screen. It showed the footage of all four cities, causing Sera’s smile to freeze and the glint in her eyes to turn dangerous.

Victor chuckled upon seeing the change in her demeanor. He stopped the footage on New Athens, where nobody had died... yet...

"You see, my good friends will continue this destruction, while Antal commands all of New Athens to kill themselves. However, all this can be avoided if you simply accept this feather."

His right wrist continued projecting the footage, while his left reached for his cloak and plucked a dark raven feather. Strangely, his staff remained standing upright, which nobody paid attention to.

Sera instantly knew what Victor wanted. She wasn’t there personally, but Faith told her what happened to Vicky when they stuck a similar feather in her hair. If she accepted, she would lose all her autonomy, becoming a slave to Victor’s will.

No words needed to be said, as a humorless chuckle echoed from the Angel’s lips. Her eyes moved away from the feathers and met Victor’s gaze. With an angry, outright hateful expression, she spat on the ground, between the gentlemen’s feet.

"You’re a fucking asshole for even suggesting this! I was a slave once, and you know what I vowed while watching Harold squirm in pain under my hand?..."

She took a step closer but stayed out of Victor’s reach in case he tried bringing that feather anywhere near her.

"I vowed to kill anyone who even dared suggest slavery," she said, her emotions riled. Her knuckles turned white, and soon blood began flowing from her nails digging into her palm. The Angel’s entire body trembled as she continued her speech...

"You know, I would’ve accepted a truce. We could’ve worked together, even after everything you’ve done... However, this is something I can’t forgive. Especially after you tried doing the same with my daughter..."

A terrifying grin appeared on Sera’s face as she stepped back and held her hands to the side.

"Victor... I suggest you pray to whatever deity you believe in, that I die here today! Otherwise, you can expect me to end your life!"

A pair of long, curved, golden blades appeared in each of Sera’s hands. Their surface reflected Victor, and soon cleansing flames appeared around his reflection.

Behind Sera’s right, a wooden longsword grew out of Bea’s arm. A bright green energy danced along its surface. She moved it and touched each of Sera’s blades with the tip, which gave the cleansing flames a greenish tint, and vastly increased their heat.

Behind her left, Faith’s robe changed into an intricate, dark armor. Her helmet hid her pale face, and atop it, a midnight dark crown appeared. She summoned a shadowy rapier and, like Bea, touched the blade to Sera’s weapon, causing a layer of darkness to appear on the curved swords.

Sera spun her weapons. They whistled through the air, so sharp they seemed to cut through atoms and separate reality. However, Victor simply smiled at the display and said...

"Kill everyone."