Angel Monarch

It took a few seconds for Bea to realize what had happened... She died...

In her Evolved life she had suffered a lot of mortal wounds, but her body could always heal it without trouble.

One thing she never experienced was getting thoroughly destroyed. Not a single cell of her body remained after the silver flames alighted on her skin.

With no intact part, there was no chance of regenerating, or at least there shouldn't have been.

There was something she hadn't counted upon... Her Tree of Life...

It gave her loads of buffs, especially now that she was so close to the main tree. But now she figured out another ability the tree provided... Immortality!

Bea quickly figured it out. Until the Tree of Life had energy, it would continuously revive her. At least, that's what she hoped for.

What she was sure about was her inner rage. She felt every moment of those few minutes of torture, and she was pissed, to say the least.

With her newly gained wings, she awkwardly flew towards Sera. She used all her knowledge about flying, and all those times Sera took her in the air.

She imitated her as best as she could, but it wasn't nearly as easy as Sera told her. By her account, flying was instinctual. She never had to learn it, since her evolution came with the knowledge.

Bea was really jealous of this, but she had no time to think such thoughts.

Sera floated a few meters away. She stared at Bea, like she was a ghost or something, which was understandable since she had literally died.

Her surprise didn't last long though, and soon she re-summoned her helmet.

"Glad you are back, but pleasantries can wait. We have to somehow trap my other half in this Realm. We have no chance of defeating her otherwise!"

It was hard for her to admit, but even in her Transcended form, she could only gain a small upper hand.

There was also a chance that Scarred Sera could resurrect, too, and she really didn't want to find out her strength in that form.

Bea watched her for a long moment, then nodded and turned towards the destruction.

Seeing the place she called home for two years go up in flames wasn't easy. Even though this Realm was her prison, this town was her sanctuary.

The fire spread around the town, slowly demolishing everything. It pained her to see it all destroyed, but at least it further fueled her hatred.

The two of them floated towards the center of the destruction, keeping a constant lookout for Scarred Sera. She had caught Sera off-guard once, and she didn't plan to make the same mistake twice!

The ground had melted at its center, but the cold air served as an excellent coolant. Combining it with the previously melted snow, the liquid ground turned back to stone for a minute.

It wasn't easy to find Scarred Sera, but they soon realized why. A bit off center, the cooled down stone ground had a few smaller cracks on it.

With each passing seconds more and more cracks appeared until a distinct rhythmic banging echoed in the ghost town.

They watched as the cracks widened and broke apart, giving them a clean line of sight to a miserable looking Scarred Sera.

This last explosion was especially hard on her. The silver wings behind her back seemed broken, while her silver armor shined all the same.

Her body inside the armor wasn't in the best state, though. With each step she was at the edge of losing balance, and with one hand she held onto her side, like she had broken ribs or some similar injury.

Scarred Sera turned towards the sky, and even through her helmet, they felt her ire. Previously, she may have been annoyed and mad, but now she was truly enraged.

Her helmet retracted, revealing her scarred and now bruised face. Blood ran from multiple opened up wounds, but the mad smile stayed persistent on her face.

"I must say, you two are full of surprises! I really thought that would kill you, my love, but it seems Sera wasn't the only person I underestimated..." she said while shaking her head.

She stared at Bea, her golden-green eyes showing nothing but obsessive madness and twisted love. For a moment, Bea saw the old Sera hidden behind the pain and suffering.

This vision didn't last long, though, as Scarred Sera turned her head and scoffed.

"After I get rid of that imposter, we can finally be together again... Wouldn't that be nice? Just me, you, and our daughter, like it always meant to be..."

Scarred Sera tried to say more, but suddenly she began coughing up blood and she fell to her knees. This sight caused the mad lady to turn confused.

With blood running down her jaw, she stared at the blood on the stone ground. She ran one hand through it and watched it drip down between her fingers.

"Seems like my time is up... It's a shame. I have been in this body for weeks, and I thought I can become whole wearing this skin... Life works in mysterious ways... Doesn't it?"

She coughed some more, and bent over to vomit more blood. Her beautiful, shiny silver armor got specks of blood running down its surface, but even then, it refused to get any less divine.

Scarred Sera spent a few minutes vomiting blood and muttering to herself. Sera and Bea watched all this from the sky. They were too wary to get any closer.

When Sera's other half fell to her side, she began to laugh hysterically.

"You know Sera, I admire you... I admire your cunning rationality... Even dying, and knowing it's not the end... My body refuses to die... I would never manage to kill myself... It's a basic human nature... To never give up..."

Her voice turned more and more slurred, while her breaths became quick and shallow. She coughed up more blood before falling onto her back.

Her glazed eyes stared at the branches of the Tree of Life. It was still holding onto its beautiful blood-red color, which felt mocking to Scarred Sera.

"I admire you... In a lot of ways... Most... Importantly... I admire... Your stupidity..."

The mad woman laughed as her eyes moved to Sera and Bea. Her body began to glowing in a silver color before she even died.

"You shouldn't have let me talk... You should've run while you had the chance!"

Sera's eyes widened. With one hand, she grabbed onto Bea's waist. She immediately turned away from Scarred Sera, and she beat her wings as fast as she could.

The Gate wasn't far away, only a few hundred meters. Behind her, she felt the air turn warm. The temperature kept rising until it was hot enough for Sera to get worried.

The Tree of Life tried to control the temperature, but at some point, the heat that could easily melt stone lit the tree on fire.

Bea watched as the branches, leaves, flowers all got absorbed by the silver flames of Scarred Sera. Experience tales at empire

Sera moved as fast as she could, and within a few seconds, they reached the Gateway.

"CUT THE ROOTS AND CLOSE IT!" shouted Sera, as they moved through the Gate.

Their daughter was waiting on the other side. Her pale face reflected pure terror and shock.

When she saw her mother die, she nearly had a heart attack from the sudden blast of grief. Then her other mother died and resurrected, which gave her a rollercoaster of emotions.

Now both of them got back and looked seemingly alright, so she didn't know what to feel other than numbness.

Sera sat Bea down a few meters away from the Gate, and she instantly began cutting off the roots.

She was using them to keep the Gate opened, so by cutting them off from the main Tree, they would wither and die.

Sera rushed to Vicky. In her mind, if she had the ability to open Gates, she could probably fasten the closing process, too.

Her daughter jumped into her arms, but they had no time for it. After a quick explanation, Vicky walked to the Gate and focused on her power.

As the last of the roots got cut, the Gate began to close, faster than it was supposed to, but not fast enough...

On the other side, they saw the whole town melt. In its place, a pit of lava shined.

The Tree of Life was fully burnt by that point, and the ashes slowly fell into the molten stone.

From the middle of the pit, a form rose into the bitter air. Liquid stone fell from her pale, naked, scarred body. The very air shimmered with the heat of her presence.

She spread her arms, and behind her three pairs of wings spread. Pristine white feathers made up the top pair of wings. Golden flames formed the bottom pair of wings. Silver metal comprised the middle pair of wings.

They were dozens of meters in length, making her actual body seem much smaller in comparison.

Silver flames spread over her body, hiding her for a few seconds. When they disappeared, the heavenly silver armor covered Scarred Sera's body.

The Gate was only a couple of meters wide at that point, but it would still take too long to fully close.

Scarred Sera raised her hands towards the sky. Above her, a giant silver fireball appeared. It was a dozen meters in diameter.

In the few seconds it took for the fireball to form, the Gate closed to only three meters.

The problem arose at the fireball's release. It moved faster than even Sera could see.

The few hundred meters between Scarred Sera and the Gateway got eaten up in a fraction of a second.

Sera stood in front of the Gate, and using most of her essence, she summoned a golden wall of fire.

The silver ball of flame hit the wall with an impossible force...