Angel Monarch

In North America, Sera's body headed westward while massacring any monster in her vicinity. Faith followed in her shadow, always watching over her Goddess.

For weeks they followed the same routine of exterminating and sometimes, when Sera gained consciousness, they ate together.

However, one day, Sera suddenly snapped and forced Faith, her Shadow, to move them across oceans right to Antarctica.

Through the bond between herself and Bea, she felt the woman's emotions and glimpsed into her mind. When she saw her daughter beheaded, Sera lost the fight against Madness and snapped.

She killed Bea and many other people before waking up from that horrible nightmare.

Now Sera sat in her abstract subconscious, sipping on some nonexistent tea and smiling brightly into the growing darkness.

"I knew my daughter chose well. He saved so many people's lives, and they probably don't even remember. However, I hope he doesn't abuse this power… It would be quite a chore to live through everything again, on his whim."

Sera's smile widened as she imagined the changes Henry would implement to correct the timeline.

Time passed, and soon she went back to her job, continuing to eradicate the festering darkness in her own mind.

…

Back in Antarctica, Xinya stood surrounded by dozens of soldiers, including Chang and Slayer. They gazed down from the few-hundred-meter-tall small mountain peak towards one of the ten armies.

The silence grew heavy on top of the mountain. The heavy wind pushed against their bodies, yet everyone remained still.

They watched in confusion as most of the army fell to their knees. Only a small fraction marched on towards the enemy city-state.

"What the fuck is going on? Why did they stop? Are they deserters? What should we do?"

All valid questions made by Chang, weirdly enough. However, their leader, Xinya, looked indisposed and utterly confused.

Her body felt weak, and strange images kept appearing in her mind…

She saw herself fight against the Princess on solid ground, then in the sky while falling. The fight ended with her defeat, and with the Princess sparing her life.

They felt like memories, as if she remembered something long forgotten. At first, she dismissed them as strange hallucinations. However… When she touched her left cheek, the minor cut from Vicky's blade still hadn't healed…

'Was that real? Did everything happen? It's not my first time standing atop this mountain, gazing down at that army. But it seems there are more deserters this time… Maybe they also remembered their future?'

Xinya wasn't certain if these visions were of the future, or some strange, vivid hallucination. Their effect was real enough, though.

She still felt pain, relief, sadness and hope. Her future wasn't the same anymore. The Princess forever changed her outlook on life, which nothing could take away!

However, it wasn't as easy. She wanted to leave all these horrible soldiers behind, but she couldn't teleport away without someone noticing.

"Xinya, are you alright? You look pale and disturbed." Said Chang while walking up to her side near the edge.

Her dark blue eyes stayed focused on the deserters while she composed herself. She hid her real thoughts behind an emotionless expression, then turned towards Chang.

"I'm fine. Let's leave the deserters. We've a different mission after all!"

She drew her blade, but just when she was about to open a portal, Slayer's wretched, scratchy voice reached her ear.

"What's that scar on your face? Why isn't it healing? When did it get there?"

Xinya bit her tongue and swallowed the angry curse she nearly spat out. Throughout everything, she forgot about Slayer and his annoying ability.

He can glimpse one second into the future, which meant she couldn't escape while he was nearby!

While thinking, Slayer reached out his hand and tried touching the scar on Xinya's cheek. This provided an opportunity, one that Xinya couldn't waste!

She slashed at Slayer's hand with her sword. He, of course, evaded the blade while a light chuckle echoed from his lips.

"I don't remember allowing you to touch or question me. Our job is to search and eliminate the Prince and the Princess. Now, enough of these stupid questions and let's leave!" ThiscontentispresentedbyM4VLEMPYR.

Slayer's hood hid most of the man's expression, leaving only a too-wide grin to convey his emotions.

He knew Xinya was lying and changed the subject to hide something. Luckily, Slayer didn't have any loyalty to the Asian Continent, so instead of arguing, he just bowed and let Xinya open a portal.

With a clean slash, Xinya opened a portal and walked through. The other soldiers followed her close-by, especially Slayer, whose gaze never left her back.

The portal soon closed, and she needed to search for an escape opportunity!

…

Of all the Realms humanity discovered in the twenty-eight years after the Apocalypse, the Realm of Eternal Depth was definitely one of the most unique.

In the conference room, Henry brought up the discovered parts of the endless Realm, leaving everyone speechless. The Antarcticans didn't have as thorough knowledge of other Realms. They had never even heard of this one!

"What is this? Is that all… Where is the land? Where is the surface? Is there no sky? No light? How do you even survive there?"

One of the Antarctican Stellars voiced everyone's opinion. The map revealed a five-layered slab, with a few landmarks held within.

"Realm of Eternal Depth is quite a fitting name. There is no surface or bottom. The entire Realm is an endless ocean, which is infinite towards the bottom and the top. There is no land, and the wildlife could grow to enormous sizes!"

He changed the picture and showed a few discovered creatures… He didn't show anything below a few kilometer length…

"Are these monsters? Are they all Abominations or Calamities? Why the fuck would anyone enter such a hellish Realm?!"

This time, a different Antarctican spoke. They hated deep water with all their hearts, since all the Oceans around Antarctica were full of many different horrid creatures.

However, Henry just chuckled at his words, and explained while he showed more sea creatures.

"There aren't any monsters living in the Realm of Eternal Depth. These are its natural inhabitants. There are fish ranging from microscopic to dozens of kilometers long. Supposedly, at the bottom layer, there are creatures that could swallow planets or even solar systems whole!"

His words didn't calm anyone, including Vicky, who needed to enter this hellhole with her fiancé.

"The Realm comprises five layers. The highest, named Bright Sky, is where the Realm's light originates. This layer is thousands of degrees hot, and no creature can survive it. The water is also glowing so bright it blinds everyone after entering."

Henry pointed at the white layer on the slab, then moved down to the second, light blue layer.

"The second-highest is called Fractured Waves. This layer features only a few larger lifeforms because of the underwater storms raging throughout its length. The waves here are constantly pushing upward, so only strong creatures can move against them."

The Prince's finger moved again, pointing at the middle layer, which stretched wider than the others. Its primary color was a beautiful dark blue, but a few darker green and yellow spots also appeared on the map.

"The middle layer, called Kind Expanse. The safest layer, with the most diverse lifeforms. There are ruins, which means a civilization lived in this Realm once. Their technologies also suggested these intelligent creatures had lungs too, since they made air bubbles around their cities!"

The next layer was much thinner, but it was still a few hundred kilometers. Its primary color was dark purple at the bottom and pinkish-red at the top.

"The second-lowest layer, the Twilight Zone. This has the most ruined cities, and this is our expedition's destination, where my mother is located. There are gigantic beasts dwelling here because of its proximity to the lowest layer."

His finger moved down to the block of pure, endless darkness.

"The lowest layer, appropriately named Endless Abyss. The Bright Sky's light doesn't reach this layer, leaving it in total darkness. The creatures here could grow larger than any of us could imagine, so we'll stay away from it!"

His words left everyone speechless, but he knew better than them how little time they could waste. However, he needed to explain the Realm of Eternal Depth to everyone gathered there, especially two people…

"Will and Sarah, I'm sorry to ask you this, but to reach the Twilight Zone, we'll need your help. Our coordinates will put us into the bottom of the Fractured Waves, so we'll need to travel down a few thousand kilometers as fast as possible!"

With a bit of reluctance, both of them nodded and began saying goodbye to everyone. Will kissed Lucy, while Sarah kissed Leslie. The situation wasn't awkward at all, considering they were each other's exes.

Vicky opened a few portals, and everyone moved into their positions, leaving the Prince and his three companions to their mission.

After the portals closed, Henry turned towards Sarah and Will with a serious expression.

"Sarah, set up an air barrier, so the water won't leak into this room through the Gateway. Will, you'll move through first and immediately change into your sea monster form. The waves aren't as strong at the bottom, so you won't get pushed upward…"

"Circle around and swallow the Gateway, so we can enter inside your mouth. Sarah will keep the air bubble going, and you'll begin diving towards the Kind Expanse. We'll then navigate towards the Twilight Zone and find my mother's location. Everyone understands?"

All three of them nodded simultaneously, and soon the mission began!