Angel Monarch

As Tai said her designation, there was no need to hide her identity anymore. Kathy began shapeshifting, but soon, another blow to her head sent her mind astray.

She yelped in pain and squirmed to escape, but the hold on her hair stayed firm. However, throughout her desperate movements, her enemies didn't notice Kathy's hand reaching into her pocket.

Kathy acted even more determined, her movements turning more frantic. Both Xinya and Tai looked at her with curiosity, but also wariness.

Luckily, even their careful eyes hadn't noticed when Kathy dropped a few seeds on the ground. She also 'accidentally' crushed one…

The moment she crushed the seed, Bea's eyes went wide. She sat in the dark, guarding the real Zhen, but she constantly monitored the connection with her seeds.

Bea gave them to Kathy as an emergency contact. When one or more gets crushed, it means she's in trouble and requires immediate assistance.

"Well, I should've expected this result… Let's see if we can survive this engagement!"

While Bea whispered to herself, she slowly began to deflate and dissolve into the ground beneath her feet…

Inside the communications building, Xinya ordered the few Transcended to drag Kathy away. Tai quickly followed them, leaving behind a messy room with a few seeds still alive.

Blood-red, seven petalled flowers began blooming from the seeds. Vines appeared on the floor, walls, and ceiling, which produced more blossoms.

When enough flowers bloomed, their petals suddenly began falling into a large pile. From the pile, a magnificent woman arose, her body covered by a red dress made from the petals.

She took a deep breath, stood up, and walked away without glancing back. A simple wooden longsword grew from her hand as she ran out of the communications building.

Xinya and the Transcended barely made it a dozen meters away, since Kathy still tried to struggle.

The air suddenly turned cooler and sharper. As if the approaching violence left a deep mark on reality.

Kathy halted her struggling, and the Transcended carrying her all let go. Even Xinya stopped, her fierce, dark blue eyes glancing back at Bea.

"I should've known Shapeshifter didn't come alone. Sorry, but we don't have a designation for you yet, but since Chang insisted, I'll call you Missy too!"

Bea looked disgusted upon hearing her nickname, which only caused a small, wicked smile to grow on Xinya's face.

"Let's cut this charade, Xinya! We both know how this conversation will end… Why don't we jump straight to the fun part!"

The magnificent woman matched her opponent's wickedness. She brandished her weapon and dashed forward without waiting for Xinya's answer.

Behind Bea's back, a pair of wide wings spread. Large twigs made up its primary structure, but white, seven petalled flowers grew over them. They gently glowed, casting shadows over the cavern's ambient light.

With a quick wingbeat, she arrived near the four Transcended, guarding Kathy. Her longsword moved quickly, with unpredictable accuracy.

Her enemies weren't amateurs, though. They reacted quick enough, drawing their own weapons and stopping Bea's attack.

However, the flashy attack made them forget about a crucial detail… None of them had Kathy in their sight…

Bea only attacked once, then quickly backed away in anticipation to Xinya's attack. The four Transcended moved to pursue, but Kathy attacked them quick as lightning.

The Shapeshifter was average when it came to combat. She didn't excel in either offense or defense and had no ranged attacks. Luckily, combats were much more complicated than simple attacks and defenses.

What Kathy lacked in fighting prowess, she made up in adaptability. Also, with quick changes, she could cause lots of chaos!

The four Transcended turned around with their weapons raised, but Kathy wasn't there anymore. They glanced around desperately, but none of them expected the Shapeshifter's attack.

Kathy turned into a small bug the moment Bea took everyone's attention. She then silently flew above one of the four Transcended and gently landed on his shoulder.

They frantically looked while Kathy shapeshifted. Her size grew quickly, and soon instead of a small bug, a large spider rested on the Transcended's shoulder.

He screamed in surprise, but his sound suddenly cut off as Kathy's sharp appendages stabbed through the man's neck. With one quick move she decapitated the Transcended.

Blood spurted from his broken spine, while the newly made corpse toppled over.

The other three Transcended, not carrying about their friends' death, jumped into action. Multiple blades aimed at Kathy cut through the air, however, she quickly jumped away.

Her spider body grew nearly the size of a human, and two wings appeared on her back. A few rapid beats later, the giant spider disappeared within the ceiling's impenetrable darkness.

Farther away, Bea and Xinya engaged in a dance of blades. Both were amazing swordswoman, so most people couldn't easily comprehend their fighting.

They also moved at extreme speeds, with some moves even breaking the sound barrier. The ground cracked below their feet, simply by exerting a force on their opponent.

Bea's newly made wings gave her the edge in mobility, but Xinya's space-cutting technique made all her moved deadly. Without the extreme regeneration, Bea would've already died dozens of times.

Blood spurted from her arm stump as Xinya cut off her sword hand. However, Bea didn't miss a beat. Her wings moved quickly, evading another dreadful slash. A different longsword grew from her left hand, while the right regenerated.

Even before fully healed, Bea circled around Xinya, much faster than she could've followed. She then stabbed forward with such speeds, the wind itself left deep gashes on the stone surrounding them.

The magnificent woman aimed to end the fight quickly, but Xinya wasn't an easy opponent.

She didn't even turn around to defend herself, since there was no need. Her dark sword glowed with deep blue colors as she slashed forward, with nothing in sight.

Bea sensed the danger approaching and quickly abandoned the attack by moving to the side. Behind, she heard the air being cut thousands of times, which could've been her if she didn't abandon the attack.

Still, her right wing got clipped, and so she crash landed.

After rolling on the ground a few times, Bea jumped to her feet and raised her sword just in time for Xinya's dao to connect.

They pushed down on their blades, trying to overwhelm their opponent. Both women grinned widely and wildly, their minds taken over by the bliss of fighting against a worthy opponent.

Slowly, Bea began overpowering Xinya, so she quickly moved her blade aside. She tried catching Bea off guard by opening her guard and letting her blade cut through the empty air.

However, Bea would never fall for such a cheap trick. She continued applying pressure, but when Xinya suddenly tried taking her blade away, Bea guided her enemy's weapon straight into the ground.

With one well-placed kick to the knees, Xinya fell to the floor with a yelp of pain. Bea didn't give her time to recover. She raised her sword and prepared to stab it through Xinya's face.

Back near Kathy, only two Transcended remained standing. The third one convulsed on the ground, dozens of different toxins rushing through her veins.

Kathy continued changing forms with each attack. Sometimes she grew larger and gave herself scorpion tails, while other times, her wings became giant claws, which raked her opponents' armor.

The two standing Transcended looked miserable too. Blood ran down their faces and arms, as many wounds didn't want to heal properly, which was also Kathy's fault.

While her grown weapons, claws, talons were all extremely sharp, she made them brittle. Each cut left a good amount of small bone fragments stuck in her opponents' skin, which worsened their healing.

Everything was going great until a loud shriek shook the cavern… "NO! MOM!"

She recognized the voice's owner instantly. Little Lin stood barely a few meters away from Bea.

The magnificent woman, with her sword tip dangling mere centimeters from Xinya's face, looked back at the small boy.

Lin heaved while glancing between Bea and his mother. His eyes grew teary, but his will became firm.

He raised his hand, aiming straight at Bea. The brightness and joyful attitude left his body, leaving nothing but anger behind.

A dozen ethereal ravens appeared around him, each staring into Bea's surprised eyes.

"You hurt my mommy! I will banish you from forever!"

As Lin's words reached Bea's ear, all the ravens took flight. She had no time to evade. Even lifting her sword wasn't an option. He simply stood too close and caught Bea entirely off guard.

Kathy rushed towards them, but the distance was simply too wide. She could only watch as the ravens hit Bea.

While they all looked ethereal, the damage they caused was quite real. One raven flew through Bea's chest, leaving a hand-sized hole behind. Another went through her shoulder, instantly cutting off her arm.

More ravens flew across her body, not leaving time for regeneration. Her legs, arms, most of her stomach and even part of her face all disappeared under the constant raven barrage.

Eventually, one raven dispersed into lights, forming a portal right above the sun. Blinding, bright light shone into the cavern, illuminating every small crevice.

The ravens lifted Bea's mutilated body and began flying towards the portal. Everyone, even Xinya watched as the ravens carried the magnificent woman right to her death.

However, just when Bea thought her death was imminent, suddenly a lone dagger cut through reality. It stabbed through the portal, breaking it apart, then within moments it went and killed every raven carrying Bea.

She began falling helplessly, but soon two firm arms cushioned her broken body. Bea barely recognized Henry's short golden hair and dark blue eyes, before the suffering overwhelmed her.

With closed eyes, she whispered, while losing consciousness…

"Took you long enough."