Angel Monarch-Chapter 379: Operation Castlefall

The night felt heavy above Castleburg. Ravens croaked loudly while flying above the cityscape. Bright lights shined all across its main castle, illuminating the cloudy, dark night.

Unexpectedly, dozens of portals opened all across the castle, and soon the massacre began. The Transcended soldiers, wearing the Angelic Order's seven-pointed star, killed every raven and resisting guard.

The deadliest were a gigantic woman with golden wings, a half-snake half-human turning every enemy stone, and something much more horrific… A woman in a dark robe, who sent everyone into a dream, to their death…

Their attack took up most of the enemy forces, leaving Vicky, Adam, and Yvonne to the rescue operation.

They exited their portal near the living quarters. The Young Princess instantly scanned the surrounding rooms, but something felt off. Space itself felt heavier, as if a sticky substance covered reality. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

It became so bad; she had to turn off her spatial perception after only a few seconds.

"I can't scout. We'll have to find her the regular way!" Said Vicky, before beginning to walk down a random corridor.

Suddenly, Yvonne grabbed her arm with a serious expression.

"I'll lead, and Adam will hold the back. You won't engage the enemy! You're not ready for an actual life and death battle! If someone attacks you, don't fight, just escape! Understand?"

The young Princess looked up at her teacher and slowly nodded once. Even though a heavy fog of rage settled on her mind, she wasn't stupid.

She never fought in any battle, not at the front lines, at least. Her powers provided amazing utility and logistics, so fighting on the front was actually a liability!

Yvonne moved ahead of Vicky, while Adam moved behind. She watched them both move, with an obvious difference between their sense of style.

Adam wore his usual glass-like armor, with a heavy great shield and a spear. Yvonne, however, wore nothing but civilian clothes and held no weapons.

Along the way, even Vicky changed her usual dress into a body enveloping cloak, so seeing someone so nonchalant made her curious.

"Yvonne, why aren't you wearing armor?" Asked the Princess after minutes of useless pondering.

The tall woman glanced back with a smirk, then continued scanning the surroundings. Her words came slow and silent, trying to not draw any unwanted attention.

"You should know already, Princess. As a Transcended, wearing armor has little to no benefit. Only special ones, like your mother's or yours, worth anything. Most enemy blades will cut through any regular Transcended armor. Isn't that right, Adam?"

The taciturn blond man didn't even glance back. He clearly took his job as Vicky's defender, a lot more seriously than Yvonne.

"You're right. I only wear it, because it helps with my ability. Otherwise it's mostly useless."

Vicky stayed silent after hearing Adam's answer. They continued walking along the corridor until they heard the croaking of ravens from above.

About a dozen Transcended dropped down from the rafters, surrounding their party of three. They instantly identified the Princess, since she was the only one wearing a cloak that looked like the night sky.

Without hesitation or exchange of words, the Transcended attacked. Five of them moved towards Yvonne, while another five attacked Adam. The last two moved towards Vicky.

They all wore different armors, which hid their expressions. They also carried an abundance of weaponry, no formality within their ranks.

Yvonne recognized their weapons, most of them were from Asian origin. The tall woman gritted her teeth, then shouted to Vicky with a grin splitting her face.

"You know, I don't think I ever demonstrated to you how is it when I use the Zone! Let's treat this ambush as a learning experience, shall we?"

The corridor's width prevented any normal Transcended from transforming, but Yvonne had no such issues!

Her transformation was pretty useless on most occasions. However, combat against humanoid opponents is what she excelled at!

The five Transcended with their summoned weapons attacked. Their coordination was miserable, but each held formidable powers.

Two of them were larger than the rest, carrying more physical strength in their step. One held a gigantic one-sided curved blade with strange rings at its top, while the other used a long, glaive-like weapon.

Around Yvonne, a strange, metallic gray aura appeared. She stepped forward to meet the two Transcended. The aura formed into a spear, which landed in Yvonne's hand.

The two Transcended raised their weapons, attempting to slash the tall woman in two.

"You are too slow!" Came the shout from Yvonne.

She sidestepped her enemies and impaled both through their heads without breaking her stride. She also let go of the spear, which quickly fell apart, returning to its aura-like state.

The other three Transcended lasted a bit longer, as they realized who they were facing against.

"Dammit, it's the Weapon Artist! You take care of the Princess! I'll help the others!"

One of the two men near Vicky spoke while pointing at Yvonne's back. He then ran off instantly, his hands glowing with some spell.

The world around Vicky moved in slow motion. She watched as the man raised his hand preparing to fire at her teacher's back, while she still fought against the three Transcended.

The young girl's hands trembled under her cloak. Time continued passing slowly. The man raised his hands, red energy forming between his fingers.

Vicky didn't know what to do. Panic began setting in her mind, as fear overwhelmed her body. That's when she heard Thea's voice… 'Second Principle: Never fight emotionally!'

Immediately, the young Princess breathed in deep through her nose, and out through her mouth. Her nerves began to calm as raised her hand from below the cloak.

A beautiful, dark blue dagger formed in her palm. Across its slender blade, glowing white lines danced.

She arced back her arm, preparing to throw the blade, when she suddenly hesitated. Should she kill him? Is there no other way?

Thea's words echoed in her mind yet again… 'First Principle: Only kill when necessary!'

Vicky took another deep breath, her intricate dagger glinting in her palm. She recalled everything about the First Principle, then quickly made a decision… There was no point leaving this man alive!

Her arm resumed its movement. She let go of the dark blue dagger, letting it fly straight towards the Transcended's skull.

The glow in his hands grew, and just as he prepared to shoot Yvonne in the back, a third eye formed on his forehead. Blood dripped from the newly formed wound, through which Vicky's dagger stuck out.

She breathed heavily as the man fell, like a puppet with its strings cut. Her hand still hadn't returned below her cloak.

Her mind instantly became doubtful… Was this the right choice? Could she let him live? Did he deserve to die?

No answer came to her, however, she forgot about her surroundings for a split second. The other Transcended used this moment to snatch Vicky's arm.

Out of reflex, the Princess summoned a portal across the man's neck, but before it fully formed, something strange happened… The world became dark!

Vicky knew for certain she didn't fall unconscious. She was still awake, but the Transcended used some kind of strange power.

Was this the real world consumed by endless darkness? Or perhaps something more sinister? She wasn't certain…

She lifted her hand and saw her milky white palm. Also, looking down at herself, she saw her entire body, but below her feet, nothing seemed to exist.

Out of curiosity, she tried using her spatial perception. Immediately after activating it, she fell on her knees, consumed by vertigo.

The sticky feeling from the corridor now felt like swimming in glue. She couldn't perceive anything, like nothing existed in her surroundings other than the glue-like, invisible substance.

She also couldn't make portals or use any of her powers. The only power she could use was making daggers. However, she couldn't float or control them after releasing from her grip.

The dagger also stayed material, even when ordered otherwise. It was as if this dark plain existed beyond reality.

While Vicky still tried figuring out her whereabouts and way of escape, she glanced at something moving through the endless darkness. A humanoid shape, not quite perceivable by her eyes.

She could barely guess its movement. However, there was certainly someone or something nearby.

Distance didn't exist in this endless plain of nothingness, so guessing the shape's place and speed was nigh impossible. The best she could do was see its movement's direction.

Since the shape didn't move either left or right, it was either moving backward or forward… It didn't take a genius to know where it was heading!

Vicky took a deep breath, calming her mind, then summoned more daggers into her hand.

Her breathtaking cloak also disappeared at some point. Luckily, this time she listened to Yvonne's teachings. Below her cloak, she wore her usual training shorts and shirt, but she still had nothing on her feet.

It was strange. She could clearly feel some kind of ground beneath her bare feet, but when glancing down, only pure darkness existed.

The shape continued walking towards her, slowly more became visible from its figure.

A humanoid fairly tall with its entire body covered by dark metal armor. He carried a lone greatsword in one hand. The darkness seemed denser around his body, and some viscous fluid kept dripping from its blade.

Vicky took up a defensive stance while constantly checking her surroundings. Usually, she would rely on her spatial perception, but sadly, the environment didn't let her.

She'll have to thank Yvonne. When teaching her how to fight, she never let Vicky use even her passive abilities. This was she didn't become overly reliant on them giving her a strong chance at achieving victory.