“Lieutenant Raea has returned.” Wooden gates swung open as a crowd of angels stood behind it. They had poured out of the nearby buildings, looking for some kind of entertainment to relieve their boredom.Murmurs broke out through the crowd as Raea rode through the wooden gates with Palan on her left and Owen on her right. Carmella, Gerome, and Cleo rode behind them. On Gerome’s horse, a wrapped up lizardman corpse was riding with the angel, black splotches staining the bandages.“That few?” a soldier asked. “I thought they left with close to fifty people.”“But they went to the lizardmen camp—the marked one,” the soldier next to him said. “And Lieutenant Malak would not have let them come back if they failed.”“Seriously? She looks too young to be a lieutenant, and why is that person wearing black armor?”Raea ignored the whispers of the crowd as her group dismounted. Carmella led the horses to the stables while Cleo yawned and rubbed her eyes. A soldier approached them and saluted Ra
“Sir Anidun is truly dead?” Ishim asked, bouncing his leg. His face looked cramped as he stared at Raea who was sitting across from him. He didn’t even look at the glowing white chains lying loosely beside him, waiting to bind him at a moment’s notice. If his pale face lacked any more blood than it would be as blue as his armor.Raea nodded. “My subordinate found his body inside of the cave within the forbidden zone,” she said. “Anidun had committed suicide. There were multiple dagger wounds in his abdomen and his dagger lay by his hand.”Ishim’s frown deepened as he sank into the couch. “Why?” he mumbled. “Then what have I been working for?” Raea furrowed her brow as she tried to make out his words. Ishim narrowed his eyes and sat up straight. He leaned forward, causing Raea to tense, and picked up his tea. “John, send a letter to all my followers,” he said while snapping his finger. “Have them all gather here with their most trusted subordinates.”The demon butler remained silent as
Palan stood next to Raea on a porch, squinting his eyes at the blue pigeon flying away from them. A rolled up piece of paper that was twice the width of the bird was tied to its right talon. It continued to ascend until it was just a speck in the sky. “That’s really convenient,” Palan said. “It knows where to go?”Raea nodded. “Pigeons always know how to fly back home,” she said. “We paint them depending on which area they came from. Once they reach their home, the people that take care of them remove the letter and deliver it to the addressee. It’s not perfect, but it works the majority of the time. It should take a few days for the letter to reach my father. All we can do now is wait.” She turned around and opened the door. “Since Captain Ishim left without giving us further orders, shall I teach you how to read and write now?”Palan sighed. “There’s really nothing else to do?” he asked as he followed Raea inside. Owen was sitting on a couch with his hands clasped in his lap, starin
Loud church bells rang, their echoes traveling over the rows of buildings. The two suns blazed overhead as angels and demons scrambled to put on their armor and assemble in neat rows. Streams of elephants walked out of enclosures and joined the ranks, led by a few angels with whips. A bald angel wearing full red armor that seemed to be made of the same material as Anidun’s dagger stood at the head of the assembled troops, facing them. He held his helmet underneath his right arm and a battleaxe in his left. Behind him, a figure stood fully dressed in a dull gray suit of armor.“Attention!” The bald angel said, his voice was crisp and easily heard by all the assembled people. “I am sure many of you have questions, since we have not assembled like this for a decade. However! It is not your job to ask questions. It is your job to follow orders. Am I understood?!”“Yes, sir!” The two words were like thunder, the sound booming through the whole second sector—perhaps even heard by the farmer
Palan sat on a wooden chair, hunched over a desk with a quill in his hands. Papers lay scattered over the tabletop, their pages filled to the edges with ink. Raea stood beside Palan, observing his work as he muttered while writing the same letter over and over. Raea asked, “And what sound does this letter make?”“I’ll seriously kill you if you ask me that one more time,” Palan said as the quill snapped in his hand.Raea pouted. “Can’t you just let me have my fun? It’s not every day that I get to be better than you at something,” she said. Palan glared at her, causing her to sigh. “Fine, fine.” She passed him a thin book. “This is a beginner level book that I found for you. It is unbelievably difficult to find reading material in this outpost.”Palan looked at the cover. “The Little Dog That Couldn’t,” he said and frowned. “I’m not sure if you’re genuinely trying to help me or insulting my intelligence.”“Is it too easy?” Raea asked and scratched her head. “I thought it’d be better to
“Why didn’t your chains work?” Palan asked Raea as Cleo clung to his leg. The angels in the room seemed uncertain as they took hesitant steps towards Palan. Unfortunately, neither he nor Raea were wearing their armor. A lance thrust towards Palan. He snorted, and Anidun’s dagger flashed across the angels’ vision, cutting off the tip of the lance. Palan edged towards the window while glaring at the angels standing across from him.“Charity nullifies any ability within a certain range,” Raea said as she continued to hide behind Palan.“So right now, you’re completely useless,” Palan said as he fended off another attack.“Even now, you can find time to insult me?”“Why are you buffoons hesitating!?” Ishim roared. “Charge them all at once.” He kicked the back of an angel in front of him, causing the fellow to tumble forward. Palan furrowed his brow as all the angels took a step forward in unison. He turned around and hugged Raea to his chest with his left arm before defenestrating himself
After traveling through the forest for a couple of days, Palan made it to the wall dividing the borderland and third sector. Cleo’s mouth fell open as she stared up at the towering red structure. The wall was made out of the same material as Anidun’s dagger. Its surface was smooth and reflective, leaving no purchase for climbing. “How do you even make something like this?” she asked and tapped the wall. “This makes a full circle?”Raea nodded. “Unless you can fly, you won’t be able to go over,” she said. She squinted her eyes and shielded them with her hand as she looked up. “And even if you could, there are patrols up there too.”“This is pretty impressive,” Palan said and raised an eyebrow. The wall was slanted towards him, the top hanging overhead. “Are all the walls for the sectors like this?”“The ones closer to the capital are taller,” Raea said. “This is the shortest one. I think it’s twenty feet tall?” She cupped her hands over her mouth and yelled, “Anyone up there?” A few mo
“So Ishim is really intending on rebelling?” Michael asked as he rubbed his chin. His eyebrows were slightly creased as he made eye contact with Raea. “And everything you say is true? There are no embellishments or hyperbole?”“Yes. I swear that everything I just told you occurred exactly as it happened,” Raea said and nodded, turning her head towards Palan as if seeking his confirmation. The demon seemed relaxed, standing next to the couch with his right hand dangling loosely by his dagger, but Cleo knew that the muscles in his calves and hamstrings had been tensed ever since Michael stepped into the room. Palan chose to stay silent as he stared at Michael, ignoring Raea’s gaze.Likewise, Michael didn’t even seem to acknowledge Palan’s existence, keeping his line of sight on Raea at all times. He asked her, “Do you have any proof of Ishim’s collaboration with Anidun? Just the word of a single angel is not enough to proclaim him guilty, even if your old man thinks it is.”“I am an ang