125 The End of a Story - 3 - The Line Between Despair and Peace

It had been more than ten minutes since the contract had already turned to ash in the flames of the roaring bonfire, however the intense pain that Serien and Michael felt had not ceased.

For those who could only watch the agonies of the two, the queen and the archangel, it was a miracle they had lasted this long.

In that desolate place, the ground muddy with blood, the knights, and a few who were around there, looked with distress at the two people who writhed in pain as they were immobilized and had their screams muffled.

Serien was prepared for all that pain and more, but it was still unbearable. The pain was as if she was lying on a bed of molten iron, but she was incapable of dying, and she wanted to die that time.

Serien struggled with a strength she didn't have and, while she suffered unimaginable pain, she also faced an absurd mana drain caused by the blood pact that used both Serien's and Michael's mana to mark the souls of both.

However, even suffering so much to the point of wanting to die, Serien was prepared for all that.

As someone on the path of magic and as someone of high noble rank, she had studied the blood pact and knew academically all the effects of magic.

With this knowledge, she mentally prepared herself for the pain and because she knowed of her mana insufficiency, she swallowed Mifa's hair, becoming able to supply the pact and thanks to that Serien was alive until then.

Michael, on the other hand, didn't know anything about the blood pact and wasn't prepared for any of it.

So, without any knowledge of what he was experiencing, Michael was completely taken aback by all that pain.

After what happened to him in Athena and Lucifer's hands, he didn't expect there to be a more excruciating pain than that, but the pact proved otherwise.

Usually the gods weren't meant to be affected by something as mundane as a blood pact. They were free beings who had rules of their own.

Being an archangel, Michael wouldn't be affected by any of that either, but that would be if he was still the same as he was before he fell into Athena's hands.

However, everything was different now. Michael was no longer the archangel he used to be, the spear of god, the god of war. He no longer had the divinity he had in the past and that all was thanks to Athena.

After losing all his power to Athena, his divinity was withering away and gradually merging with the mana core that was then what kept him alive. In other words, gradually Michael was becoming a less divine being.

Gradually he would become something like the dolls Lhia had created with the magic {Spirit Puppet}. Gradually and without realizing it, Michael was becoming mortal.

On the other hand, Theikós, who had acquired half the divinity of a god, found herself free from the blood pact she made in order to protect the kingdom of Veand, which she helped found, but anyway.

Twenty minutes had passed legendarily and painfully for Serien and Michael, who couldn't even pass out due to excruciating pain that didn't stop for even a second.

They both felt as if it was going on forever and as if it would go on forever. Even held back by Oliana and Sahari, Serien and Michael struggled fiercely.

They arched their backs, bent and stretched their arms and legs in an almost supernatural way, and screamed as if they were in hell. But then, suddenly, they stopped squirming and fell silent.

And except for the plaintive cries that echoed in the distance from anywhere in that valley, nothing else was heard as the knights and valkyries, who were around them, just looked at them in anguish.

Sahari, realizing that Serien was no longer moving, with her eyes closed and watery, slowly part away from Serien as she felt the burning pain in her forearm, what was caused by Serien's bite.

Kneeling beside her lover, still with her eyes closed for fear of what that silence might represent, Sahari remained there for a short, but still, long time.

Her heart was afflicted, making thunderous noises inside her, making the silence extremely noisy and uncomfortable.

She hated that feeling of helplessness in the face of the hardship the woman she loved was facing.

She hated being distressed and unable to do anything to help Serien.

And she hated feeling the fear of losing her again and that's why she didn't open her eyes.

While anticipating the despair she would fall into if she lost Serien forever, Sahari gritted her teeth as begged Ertalla, the only goddess she had served her entire life, to help her, but the gods no longer heard the mortals' cry and even if they did, nothing came. would.

Then, in the darkness of her eyelids, Sahari tried to take control of her fear and, holding Serien's cold hand, she suppressed her crying until she heard the voice she loved most in the world.

'Sahari...' Serien called in a whisper.

From all the screaming, the queen's voice was hoarse and weakened.

Serien felt her dry throat ache as if she had swallowed sand, feeling her throat scratch with each breath.

However, the pain in her throat was nothing compared to the pain the blood pact had caused, and more, seeing Sahari's beautiful face crying for her made it all worth it.

"You did it!" Sahari said with a smile and a tearful voice as she stroked Serien's hair. "I didn't lose you..."

Sahari helped Serien to sit up and without more words, they hugged each other, when what they wanted most was a kiss.

Still lying on the ground, Michael stared up at the night sky as he felt the changes that shouldn't have happened.

(What happened...?) Michael wondered.

When the torment of intense pain was over, he soon realized that something was wrong. That the divinity he still had, had grown even weaker.

(How is this possible?)

Michael couldn't understand what had happened to him. It didn't make any sense for that to happen and he could only think of a hypothesis.

Michael sat up and looked at Serien, then his hypothesis became concrete as he saw that his divinity was with the woman.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?" Asked Michael in a shout. "HOW DID YOU TAKE THAT DIVINITY FROM ME?"

Hearing the archangel's screams, Serien and Sahari, who until then was hugging eachother, parted away and looked at the man who was coming towards them as if he were some sort of out-of-control berserker.

Sahari didn't wait for him to come any closer and quickly got up, drawing her swords, and placed herself between Serien and Michael.

"Don't take another step." Sahari warned as faced Michael with menacing eyes.

Then, as soon as Sahari said that, Lobana and Oliana joined her with their weapons pointed at Michael, and the knights did the same.

Michael stopped with just over six feet between them and watched those disrespectful mortals in his path. How he wanted to rip them in half as he made for Serien, but he didn't.

Although furious, Michael was not blinded by anger. Somehow he knew he shouldn't kill those people or anyone else in that valley who was a citizen of Basilica. If he did, he knew he would pay with his life, but that didn't stop him from screaming.

"ANSWER ME, MORTAL! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?"

From behind those protecting her, Serien stared at Michael with a grimace almost as wrinkled as the angry archangel's.

There had also been changes in Serien's body and soul, but she still felt pain throughout her body. This pains were phantom pains, and although they weren't as intense as the real ones, it was enough to cloud Serien's perception of herself.

So, unaware of the changes on herself, Serien was confused to see Michael so furious. To her, Michael's behavior and questions didn't make any sense.

"What are you talking about?" Seren asked. "Divinity?"

"DON'T PRETEND YOU DON'T KNOW!" Michael continued to scream. "YOU STOLE ME!"

"I didn't do anything that isn't written in the pact!" Serien replied calmly.

"LIIES!" Michael yelled.

His voice was so powerful that it felt like thunder had resounded in the sky. It even made the brave and exhausted knights tremble, frightened by the power in the archangel's voice.

"I did nothing!" Serien said in a more authoritative voice. "If I had, I would feel-!!!"

As Serien put more authority into her voice, her sanctity was awakened and a layer of golden aura painted around her like a lazy mist.

"SEE!?" Michael said with a stubbornly smile. "THAT'S THE PROOF!"

In fairness to both of them, none of this was their fault, but Athena's, who, when she stole Michael's powers, ended up creating cracks in the archangel's soul.

These cracks, along with the black iron chains attached to it, made Michael's mana, in addition to being contained, also made it insufficient for the conclusion of the pact.

So unconsciously, seeking the conclusion of this whole terribly painful process, Michael sought new sources of mana and found it in Serien, who had an abundant amount at his disposal.

In this, the two's souls ended up touching for a brief moment, but that brief moment was enough for Serien to gain part of Michael's divinity, and Michael, enough mana to supply the magic.

"W-what is this?!" Seren was startled. "This...!!"

Serien didn't understand how she had that power, how she was so powerful, when the blood pact didn't have that kind of effect. It was all a complete mystery to the queen.

Serien was as perplexed as Michael and others present. Then, unable to find any explanation for what had happened to them, Serien sighed heavily.

"I don't know how it happened, but it already happened..." Seiren said as she made her way through the people and continued as she was face to face with Michael. "Let's talk."

Still surrounded by people ready to kill him, after seeing Serien's serious expression, Michael sat down and made himself willing to listen to the queen.

Serien explained what the blood pact was and all its effects, from the pains, the excessive consumption of mana, to the marking of the souls of those involved.

Michael listened and paid attention to Serien's every word and movement, analyzing whether or not she was lying and after drawing his conclusion, Michael huffed in disappointment at the loss of more power.

Without any intention or choice, Michael had created the most powerful saint in all of human history and Serien, who still did not understand what she had become, was this saint.

Anyway, as seeing that Michael had accepted what she said as truth, Serien felt relieved and ordered the archangel to be released.

"So... All I have to do is kill the fallen angels without killing the mortals... It won't be difficult, but..."

"But..?" Serien raised a eyebrow.

"Do I need to say?" Michael snorted. "You put unnecessary things in the contract!"

"Oh, what's the problem with that?" Seren asked. "I had to make sure you wouldn't kill me!"

"What's wrong with that?! You practically made me your guardian angel!" Michael raised his arms, pulling the knight who was opening his handcuffs up to his face. "Sorry..." Michael apologized to the knight and continued to complain. "All clauses are purely for your benefit!" Michael complained. "Have you mortals no decency?"

Serien sighed as she maintained a satisfied expression that Michael had really understood how the pact worked.

"This isn't business, Michael." Said the queen. "It's a matter of life or death."

"In the case, my death, huh!?" Michael mocked.

Serien drafted the pact in a way that would favor her and her people. Thus ensuring her survival and making Michael keep the pact intact, because if he killed her after being freed, the blood pact would no longer exist if it wasn't worded in the right way.

There were three simple clauses that Michael must follow and one that Serien must abide by at all costs.

First, he would have to kill all the angels hiding in the valley, ensuring the survival of the people. That wasn't a problem since it was the deal Michael wanted in exchange for being released.

The second was for Michael to be the people's guardian against every enemy that came along. This was valid until the people were under Athena's protection again.

The third was Serien's survival. And that one was the clause that irritated Michael the most, because it made him stuck with a mere mortal.

Michael would have to keep Serien alive for the next hundred years and if she dies during that time, he would die with her.

Keeping Serien alive wasn't the problem, but lack of specs was. The clause did not specify how Serien was allowed to die without affecting Michael.

So Serien could die in an accident or suicide and he would die too.

In other words, for the next hundred years, Michael would be Serien's guardian angel. And if he wanted to continue to live, he would have to protect the queen at all costs from anything.

And Serien just had to guarantee Michael's freedom and, with the exception of his heart what was in Lucifer's hands, she would have to do everything in her power to ensure Michael wasn't imprisoned again.

"At this point, choose how you want to understand it. What is a hundred years to you?" Serien shrugged and looked away, trying to catch all her people with his eyes, and continued. "Anyway, it's time for you to do your part."

Freed from the chains, Michael stood up and looked away. He could already identify the angels amid the crowd scattered in that tenebrous place.

The presences were weak and were getting weaker, but Michael could feel more than thirty thousand angels.

With that number of "prey", he couldn't even regain his divinity, but at that point, divinity to him was no longer the only power that mattered.

Eager to begin his hunt, Michael walked over to a dying soldier and picked up the spear and sword which were useless for a corpse.

Then, looking at Serien, Michael pressed his lips together worriedly. He was afraid of leaving Serien alone and her dying, taking him with her, but he soon realized it was a useless worry.

Now Serien was as strong as he was, who even weakened but freed from the chains of black iron, it would take someone at the level of the weakest archangel, Gabriel, to kill him.

(Besides, she's survived this far...) Michael thought and spread his wings. "I'll go then."

Then, seeing Michael fly, Serien cast a cleansing spell on herself, as she was filthy with swamp mud and blood, and decided to act too.

"Come on, we can't just depend on him." Serien said. "We have to save as many people as possible!"

***

While all this was going on between Serien and Michael, obviously the world had not stopped.

Every second the number of corpses was increasing. This was something that was happening everywhere in that valley.

The angels, who were weakened and in a hurry to prolong their lives, scattered all over that place which seemed to be a cursed place for the people.

Disguised as normal people, angels stalk people, looking for their victims without arousing suspicion and the death toll only increased.

However, the actions of the angels soon became something so unbearable, that even the frightened, weary people, grieved with such misfortune, became enraged.

With the intention of defending themselves, people arm themselves with sticks, stones and weapons from corpses, and form militias to fight against the angels, but that is not how it happened.

They were all on edge. If they didn't have military experience or anything like that, everyone was quickly stressed from being so alert all the time. And that was the trigger for the conflicts that would happen soon after.

Mistrust took hold of the people and everyone, whoever was even a little suspicious, was killed. This made people, those who lost their loved ones in this way, rise up against those who wanted to protect everyone and failed.

And so, several small civil wars raged through the crowd, further adding to the death toll, but not all places were in such chaos.

The situation were different in the west of the valley, near the entrance where Serien had led people to that nefarious place, but let's go back a few minutes earlier.

Since the beginning of the angelic invasion, the angels haven't had a chance in the west thanks to a series of accidents, which resulted in a mountain of angel bodies.

The first of these accidents was Athena with the teleportation of the kindreds to the ancient world, which was a fortunately mistake to the people in that valley.

"Mistake" because, although it was located within the borders of the Basilican empire, the village of the kindreds had no relationship with the empire, just as they had no relationship with the Elsnian empire.

And this kind of relationship was thanks to the independence treaty. A treaty that Serien had signed in the two years Athena had been absent.

So there was no way Athena would know they weren't her people in a moment of rush like they were during the fight against Nirsa and Redel.

Thanks to this mistake, the kindreds were saved from extinction and witnessed the arrival of the angels.

As seeing the angels, they felt their hearts pounding with excitement and they were able to remember their origins.

Born in war, the kindreds were a barbarian tribe millennia ago, but due to the extinction of several powerful races they fought, little by little the boiling blood of warriors they had grew cold and they became a pacifist tribe.

However, the moment they saw that the angels could be worthy opponents of their swords, the kindreds' pacifism crumbled into pure bloodlust.

The second chance was Nimo, who was dragged from the south to the west of the valley because of the desperate crowd that fled like herds, giving her no chance to even cast a spell to escape the crowd.

The same happened to Samy, who was lost in the west. He had been separated from his princess and dragged by the desperate crowd from the center of the valley to the west, where the nearest exit was.

And so, the third chance happened and the fourth came next, with the encounter of Samy e Nimo, to make it difficult for the angels to invade.

As he searched for Edrik, with his sword twice his size, Samy slashed angels that got too close to him.

The little knight kept to his duty to protect Edrik, it because he was still her knight. So, everyone, who got in the way of his mission, met death through his sword.

However, this mission only continued until he met Nimo, who was casting magic after magic to protect a number of women and children, who was huddled between thick walls made of roots that Nimo rose with magic.

"Eh, aren't you the elf saint?" Samy asked when he saw Nimo.

Nimo, covered in a veil of mana, was dressed in quite revealing clothes as usual, in a white veil and silk dress. Her golden blond hair trailed against the muddy ground, and her golden eyes that had so far gleamed with power, turned cold at the sight of Samy.

"Tsk! Are you here too?" Snorted the elf. "Well, it's not a surprise since I've seen some of you running around like in the past, smeared with blood and with horrible smiles on your face... The same barbarians addicted to killing as always."

Samy looked around, looking for his equals and there they were, chasing angels that flew lower and attacking, fighting and killing those they could take down.

The kindreds tribe were like children trying to kill swallows but, instead of using stones and slings, they used swords, axes, sickles, warhammers and armor.

Shrugging with a smile and looking back to Nimo, Samy saw hundreds of bodies, if not thousands of them, around the elf.

(Not that I can say anything about the violence...) Nimo thought as she followed the little knight's eyes.

Obviously, Nimo's number of victims was higher because she was able of use magic, unlike the kindreds who, although they were a fae race, didn't have the ability to use magic just like the giants.

"Hehehe... How many years has it been, two hundred?" Samy asked with a big smile without care about the winged corpses on the floor.

With her attention focused on the sky, where she could see Fotiá and another woman whom she didn't know, fighting, no, massacring the invaders, Nimo sighed heavily.

For the elf, dealing with the kindreds was absolutely more tiring than fighting like the two were doing in the sky.

"It's been a thousand years since you invaded my forest and I kicked your ass out of it. How I regret not killing you..." Nimo replied and continued after looking at the knight with analytical eyes. "...And I remember you were a girl back then."

"Yeah? Well, I got tired of being a girl after what? Six hundred years? I'm not sure..." Samy said and swung his sword at a smoking angel that fell from the sky, splitting it in half.

"How would I know? I spent four thousand years isolated in that forest." Nimo replied with a mocking tone. "Anyway, it's time for you to play your role as royalty and lead your people to help me with something..."

"Hm? What?"

"I-"

When Nimo was about to explain her plan, the sky was set ablaze by Fotiá's red flames and a rain of angels fell across the valley.

For a moment, people smiled, hugged each other with tears in their eyes, and shouted victory, celebrating as they saw the angels retreat, but soon after, happiness turned to mourning as they saw the dead.

So, after a few seconds of calm and mourning, the angels' hunt for mortals began, and, following Nimo's plan, the kindreds rallied under Samy's leadership.

Nimo couldn't quite identify angels, but she was better at it than kindreds, who could barely use mana to activate their skills.

After a while, with kindreds as hounds and Nimo as a hunter, the west became hell for the angels.

Soon they realized that staying there was a mistake, and large numbers of angels, disguised as humans, beastmen, and even kindreds and elves, spread to other parts of the valley.

This scattering of the angels to other areas of the valley caused the west to be calm for a while and, during this time of calm, the kindreds, including Samy, began to consider going to the other areas, pursuing the battle as they did in the distant past, but that idea quickly disappeared when they saw what was coming their way.

As soon as Michael, who had soared over the valley like a bird of prey after its prey, began his onslaught against his siblings, the west descended into chaos again and the kindreds smiled bright, bloodstained smiles..

The fallen angels were like rats and from the high night sky, Michael smiled with eyes glowing like amber reflecting fire, his sword dripping blood and a corpse of one of his brothers in his hands.

As soon as they saw the angels, who stopped wasting mana using morph spells and skills and ran for their lives, the people boiled with hatred and thirst for revenge.

In addition to being tired, beaten down by the sadness of grief and the stress of being in an unfamiliar place, people were furious at being hunted like animals by those who claimed to be superior to them.

So, the moment they could identify the runaway angels, the people from the areas that were in conflict until then, came together and chase, fight and lynch the angels to death, tearing them apart like deer thrown to the lions.

With enemies everywhere, the angels were desperate and ran to the only two exits that existed in that place, hoping to escape a hell that should never have happened to them, but all that left them was death.

On the east side was Serien, who was discovering her new limits, the Valkyries that had reassembled under Oliana's leadership, and the knights Athena had trained.

And on the west side there was Nimo, who still had enough power to overthrow a country, and the kindreds, the little monsters in the skins of innocent children, who yearned for more battle and welcomed the fleeing angels with steel and ghastly smiles.

And so, during the flight, miserably at the hands of the people, the fallen angels were all annihilated in that valley.

With this victory, Serien couldn't stop smiling as she watched her people celebrate. Now they could rest. Now they could say goodbye to their dead loved ones in that damned place.

Feeling all the stress and worry leave her body, Serien, who at that moment was among her people, held Sahari's hand and leaned on her beloved as she felt her weak legs and tears welling up in her eyes.

Shortly after that, all that joy from the heat of victory turned to tears of grief as people gathered the bodies, or what was left of them, into a large pile of wood that was dried with magic.

The valley was a dark, damp, dirty place. A place contaminated by the miasma clouds of hell. A place where even the vegetation was already born lifeless.

The land was dark and muddy and rocky, the wind that crossed from east to west was cold and howling, the river that snaked through the place was smelly and glistening poisonously, and finally, the mountains that rose majestically on the north and south, they were dark and frightening.

Nothing in that place was friendly, everything was made to kill, but there was no other way to go to get to where Athena was. Well, that didn't matter anymore.

This hostile place would now forever be a mark in the history of those people who watched the weeping, the flames of the bonfire stretch crippling towards the sky and light up the dark night.

However, that night of torment was not over yet.

When the flames from the funeral fire reached the highest peak it could reach, a huge current of wind rushed through the valley, causing the flame to bend to the ground and burn hundreds of people alive.

Shortly thereafter, without giving Serien or anyone else time to react, the night sky that was lit only by the beams of lights from the dimensional rift closed in thundering black clouds and lightning began to fall like rain on the sky.

This was the beginning of a world cataclysm brought on by the disturbance in the world's mana veins caused by Athena, who had used the world as a funnel to take the universe's own mana so it wouldn't kill the planet.

Then, when Serien used her newfound powers to create a barrier to protect what was left of her nation, the weather changed again and along with the lightning, torrential rain fell, creating floods and electrical discharges, killing thousands more.

Seeing what was happening, at the other end of the valley, Nimo cast and merged with Serien's magic, a magic that gave people electrical resistance, but that didn't change the fate that was to come.

As soon as things started to go right, the world seemed to reject and want to kill the people in that place.

At that point, that place... That valley had already become a cursed place for the people of Basilica.

As if following the tragedy that ravaged that valley, an earthquake of disastrous magnitude shook the place, opening chasms and creating avalanches of stones that swallowed and crushed countless lives.

Serien was close to despair as nothing she did seemed to work. It was as if the world itself was trying to kill them and Serien didn't know what to do to stop it.

She was still learning about her newfound abilities and watching her people die, she was lost in hope, but then Nimo appeared before her in a flicker of light.

"I don't need an explanation for how you got so strong all of a sudden." Nimo said. "I need you to help me save these people."

"How?" Serien asked with watery eyes. "There's no way to go against the world itself..."

Nimo looked into Serien's half-dead eyes and sighed in disappointment. "I expected the people around "her" to be stronger than that..."

The elf had lost all her people in Gion's attack, but she didn't let herself down. There was still hope in the young elves who were somewhere in that valley, and she expected the same reaction from Serien for the millions of people who were still standing, struggling to survive.

"I think that was too much to expect from a human..." Nimo said as she placed her hand on the queen's shoulder. "I'm sorry Athena has to leave the protection of the people she's bothered to save in the hands of someone so helpless."

These words were heard not only by Serien, but by everyone around the queen and infuriated many, but Serien stopped them from defending her as she stand up with a firmer expression, as if to prove otherwise.

Serien wanted to yell at Nimo and tell her she was wrong, but she knew that would only give reason to the elf. She knew that she had to prove it with her actions.

(It's not all over yet.) Serien thought. (There are still people alive who need my help!)

Serien knew that what Nimo had said was half true and, with eyes burning in anger and frustration, she glared at Nimo, who smiled.

"What I need to do?" Serien asked.

Nimo looked at Serien with a satisfied look and briefly explained her plan to turn this catastrophic situation in their favor.

"Holy hell!" Lucifer exclaimed in surprise.

"What is it?" Ytria asked in bewilderment. "I thought all spells were blocked..."

They were flying over what was supposed to be the valley the people were provisionally camping in, but what was between the great mountains was not a valley.

(That's not magic.) Ella said as she instantly analyzed the structure. (It was created with magic, but it's not magic.)

"So it's really just plants? Isn't it a plant monster or something?" Lucifer asked with interest in what could have happened to the people there.

"That's what it looks like, but then..." Ytria looked confusedly at the structure and jumped over the roots as Ella approached. "Where are the people?"

A few seconds before the anti-magic wave reached the valley, Nimo and Serien created that structure to prevent a further disasters.

As Nimo made the dead plants in that place revive and grow, as if waiting for something that could cancel spells, the elf asked Serien to nourish the plants, magically strengthening them, something that would become part of the plant instead of enchanting them, what could be undone.

And that's how roots covered the muddy floor of the valley, climbed the walls of the mountains and closed in like a gigantic building, forming a large dome.

The structure was strong and could withstand any cataclysm that might happen. Even though it was made from plant roots, even fire could not damage that dome. It was a perfect defense that would only yield to a power greater than those of its creators.

In addition to all this resistance that the dome had, the interior was relatively comfortable and maintained a pleasant temperature and healthy air circulation despite being completely sealed.

Also, because it was made with magic, from the outside it was impossible to feel the presence of any living being inside the dome. So it was completely safe from possible enemies.

After letting Lucifer and the others in, Serien explained everything that had happened until they created that dome.

The plan was to rest inside that shield of roots until the weather returned to normal and then continue following the path that would lead them to their empress.

"How are things on the battlefield where Athena is?" Serien asked as she nursed one of the triplets.

After a brief silence in which Lucifer, Ella and Ytria stared at each other, Lucifer took a worried breath and told her everything she could remember.

"I think you'd better stay here until we come back here to get you..." Lucifer responded with a dark look.