Angel Monarch

'Unknown Source: two'

The message arrived at Vicky's watch. While she walked back and forth in the monitoring room with Henry and David.

Other than Bea's team, everyone already made at least one report. Kathy should've made her own an hour ago, but her tracker hadn't even moved since reaching the monster carcass.

Bea was also stationary, which caused severe anxiety in Vicky's heart. She tried contacting her mother dozens of times, but no response came… Except this message from an Unknown Source…

She instantly showed the message to both Henry and David. They all had a clear idea what might've happened, and this message now confirmed it!

"The message only says two, which means they're deep in enemy territory, requesting immediate rescue because of some precarious situation! It has to be Bea or Kathy!"

Henry nodded at David's words, while Vicky turned more anxious with each passing moment.

"Has to be! They made sure to reveal their coordinates, but we still need to be careful. Vicky, open a tiny portal near the coordinate, but not exactly there! Use your spatial perception and scout around before jumping to conclusions… This can easily be a trap, so stay calm!"

Vicky took a deep, shuddering breath and concentrated on the place. A tiny, few centimeter diameter portal opened before her, and using her spatial perception, she scouted the surroundings.

Nearby, David pressed a few buttons on the large map of Antarctica. He typed in the coordinates, which showed a large mountain range…

However, the coordinates said, the message came from hundreds of meters below the mountain range!

"Amazing! So that's why we couldn't find them. They are kilometers below ground, below a mountain range. Even our systems can't scan that deep…"

While David and Henry stared at the map, Vicky's eyes snapped open with a sharp intake of breath.

"I found them! They's fighting against other Transcended… Xinya's there too, but she's currently losing against Bea… Wait, something changed… We need to go now!"

A dagger appeared in Vicky's hand, and without waiting, she tossed through another, much larger portal. She dashed it, causing both Henry and David to follow close by.

They knew the Princess wouldn't have reacted so drastically without reason. Her mother must've been in grave danger, and after stepping through, they realized the issue.

Henry ran straight towards Bea, catching her broken corpse-like body with ease. Her greenish-gold eyes barely opened, and through trembling lips she spoke…

"Took you long enough."

The Prince couldn't help but smirk at Bea's words. The magnificent woman soon passed out, while her body gradually regenerated.

While he ran back towards the opened portal, David finally reached Kathy and began dragging her away, leaving Vicky to fight against Xinya and that strange boy.

The young Princess crouched down, two long daggers appearing in each hand. Her dress, resembling the night sky, danced on phantom winds, as Xinya stared at her like a hungry beast.

"Princess, don't overestimate your abilities! You believe a few weeks' training is enough to take me on?… Let me beat some sense into you!"

Lin stood near his mother, looking at everything with confusion. The adrenaline from seeing Xinya nearly die slowly left his body.

He could barely remember his actions, but still he couldn't bear them. The poor kid never meant to kill anyone, but in that moment, anger and desperation overruled his thoughts.

Vicky glanced at the teenager for a single moment. Her eyes revealing deep curiosity. However, this only further angered Xinya, and she left no time to ponder.

The dark blue dao glowed gently as Xinya pointed her weapon at Vicky. The Princess also brandished her daggers and prepared for Xinya's attack.

Previously, Vicky watched the footage of Xinya using her ability many times. It took her a while, but eventually she understood how she could cut so many times… Her method was strangely similar to how Vicky duplicated her daggers.

A small smile grew on Vicky's face as Xinya slashed with her blade. She could've interrupted her movements, which would've been the safer option, but curiosity overruled her self-preservation.

Xinya slashed through empty air, and through the space between them, Vicky felt a wave rapidly approaching her.

Strangely, though, the slash began rapidly duplicating until thousands of them attacked Vicky at the same time.

The Princess chuckled while Xinya proved her theory true. Both Xinya and Lin glanced at Vicky, like she was insane!

She could've escaped the attack, but as the few precious moments flew by, her time quickly ran out. Right now, neither teleporting nor simply dodging were possible.

Still, her joyous mood hadn't waned. Instead of evading the attack in some form, she decided to block it!

Vicky let go of her daggers, letting them float around her. She then began summoning more until nearly a hundred of them circled her small body.

In that moment, Xinya's attack finally reached her and the small cloud of daggers. With her spatial perception, Vicky felt every slash cutting the air into pieces.

Her own daggers moved to intercept the attack. While Xinya's slash could easily cut through any armor, Vicky's own daggers could cut reality itself… Some imperceptible, multiplying cuts weren't a problem!

The daggers intercepted Xinya's attack and eliminated it without issue. After a second, Vicky stood unharmed with the daggers floating around her.

However, while the Princess stared ahead with contentment, a small smirk grew on Xinya's lips.

"So that's how it is… Interesting…"

The woman mumbled to herself, then brandished her sword and cut through empty air a few more times.

Vicky prepared to intercept the attacks once more, but Xinya wasn't aiming at her.

The Princess felt the slashes move through the air, but they felt wrong, moving not towards her body, but the surrounding area. The cloud of daggers appeared around her, which she regretted a second later.

Some dagger dispersed a few slashes, but their unpredictability confused Vicky's senses. They moved in strange directions, aimed not towards Vicky, but her daggers.

Xinya's attack evaded most of the daggers' blades, and instead hit the handles or crossguards. These weapons instantly fell out of the air and turned into specks of light.

The cloud of daggers gradually became overwhelmed until all of Vicky's weapons disappeared.

The young Princess stood there, shocked and confused. She didn't expect that Xinya could destroy her weapons. Luckily, Vicky took Thea's teachings to heart, and she never underestimated her opponent.

When all her weapons turned to specks of light, she glanced back and saw David step through her portal, dragging Kathy away from the cavern. The portal immediately closed after they entered to safety.

Vicky chuckled as her white eyes landed back on her enemy. Those piercing, dark blue spheres stared down at the Princess pridefully.

"I appreciate this little duel, Ms. Xinya. However, it seems the time for my departure arrived… Let's meet again on the battlefield!"

While Vicky spoke, a large portal opened behind her. She was about to step back when suddenly an ethereal raven flew into the opening fabric of reality.

The portal broke into pieces like a mirror, while the raven turned into specks of light.

Lin stood on shaky legs, his hand raised towards the Princess. More ravens appeared behind the boy, but he seemed uncertain about his next action.

His mother wanted to kill or capture this girl, but he still couldn't dismiss the magnificent woman's near murder. It sent a shiver down his spine, causing him to freeze.

He wanted to make his mother proud, but not at the cost of other people's lives. Especially since looking at the beautiful girl, he couldn't help but feel mesmerized.

A strange attraction appeared in Lin's heart. He couldn't look away from Vicky's bewitching white eyes.

The Princess also noticed the lack of murderous intent in the young boy. She smiled brightly at Lin, which caused him to blush heavily.

"Who's this boy, Xinya? I couldn't help but notice your distinct features in his appearance… I didn't know you had a son! And those ravens remind me of the ones we'd been hunting… Who's his father, I wonder–"

Before Vicky could've teased her enemy more, hatred ignited in Xinya's dark blue eyes.

Both Lin and Vicky stared at her in surprise. There was a deep pain locked away in Xinya's heart, which could only've came from some deep trauma.

"You shut your fucking mouth! You little whore, I'll kill you! Don't you dare bring up his father! He doesn't have a father ONLY ME!… You're DEAD! I'll make sure you never say another fucking word!"

The Princess stared at the madwoman. It felt like watching a bomb slowly explode… She didn't want to be near her when it happened!

Vicky prepared to open another portal, but then her eyes landed upon Lin. The little boy stared at his mother with teary eyes. His entire body shook with terror, but his love for the woman didn't let him move to safety.

There was barely a split second before Xinya exploded. Vicky closed her eyes momentarily and settled on a decision, which she might regret in the future.

However, while she could regret the decision, not acting will certainly leave her with shame. She wouldn't be able to look at herself in the mirror if she left such a young boy in his abusive mother's care!

The portal behind her didn't form. Instead, she opened two portals, one below herself and the other below Lin.

The young boy's eyes went wide as he fell through the ground. The tears flew from his eyes, and a yelp of surprise escaped his lips.

His fear grew boundless, and Lin eventually passed out from the overwhelming terror while soiling his pants.