Angel Monarch

The night had already arrived by the time Sera had woken up. Her head was finally clear of that awful pain.

Tiredly she turned onto her other side and found some gigantic fluffy thing next to her.

In the next moment she was already on her feet about to summon her glaive, but she soon calmed down. It was only Kathy in one of her other forms.

Sera didn't fail to see her paws and mouth, which had dried blood all over it.

Curiously she began looking around the camp. It seemed like someone had made a fire and cooked meat. Judging by how close Percy was sleeping, he must've been the culprit.

One thing Sera had noted though is Hector, or more like the lack of him. At first she thought he had left the group, it would've been really convenient if he had done so, but that wasn't the case.

He was just sleeping a lot farther from the rest of them. His whole body was covered in blood... his own blood...

It didn't take a genius to figure out where the blood on Kathy's paws and mouth had came from.

Sera looked at the passed out asshole with no remorse. Behind her a twig snapped, but she didn't react. Slow footsteps sounded all around her, but only when they had gotten a dozen meter close did she finally look up.

In front of Sera a tall man with an average build stood. He wore nothing save for a white tank top, black pants and black boots. It really highlighted his dark skin which shined in the moonlight like scales on a snake.

His head was fully bald, his face not quite handsome, but definitely above average. What most people found curious about him was those two bewitching eyes. They were like whirlpools as they reflected the world inside them.

The man looked at Sera for a moment, then glanced at the bloodied Hector and started laughing. All around them the forest laughed as well, or more like the people hiding in the trees.

"Did you finally decide to get rid of this idiot?... You know he is really bad for your reputation." Said the man with a smile. Sera made her own smile which was less cheerful and more scary.

"Tell me David, since when do I care about my reputation? I thought you knew me better than that." Her voice sounded a bit aloof and hurt, but David knew very well she was just pretending.

His face soured a bit, but then it suddenly burst into another round of laughter. With a few large steps he walked to Sera, then gave her a large hug.

From behind the trees twelve other people came out. All of them clad in a special set of metal armor. Their color was black with a few white highlights and on each of the breastplates there was a embellishment of a snake biting its own tail.

Each stood at attention in acknowledgement of Sera's higher rank in the Federal Alliance Military.

After Sera and David broke the hug she nodded towards the soldiers. Her eyes showed a hint of envy, which David and his soldiers didn't miss. They each took a glance at the passed out Hector and stood straighter with pride.

This was a silent acknowledgment on Sera's part. Her being envious of a well put together team who weren't at all like her own.

After another moment Sera motioned them away. When they were back at the burnt out campfire, behind her the two flames wings came out and with a swipe of her hand the campfire burst into flames illuminating everything.

Chapter Discover:

They soldiers each put down their packs and dismissed their armors. They sat down a bit farther away than Sera and David, who were right next to the fire.

The whole group didn't even bet an eye at her wings. They had seen it dozens of times over the past two years.

They stayed silent for a few minutes, just watching as the flames danced.

"How are you doing? It's been a while since we saw each other." Said David without looking at Sera. She had a strange expression, not quite sure how to answer, but eventually she just shrugged.

"Same old. Managing my city, training, having fun. New Athens is never boring, unlike Antalya." They both laughed at that a bit.

Antalya was a small city south from where they currently were. It only had a couple million residents, not even half the number of New Athens. David was the leader of said city, but as he always say, it is really dull.

Since it is small and at the shore, there were very few attacks on the city either by monsters or goblins. The United Front doesn't even care about it at all, they could've launched an attack from New Constantinople anytime, but they never did.

"Yeah, it's not that interesting. We are truly happy for this mission, it gives us a chance to have some fun! Isn't that right!" He shouted to the others and they each cheered.

Sera looked behind her where the twelve individuals sat. They were a scary bunch, each at the rank of ascended, with enough fighting experience to kill most people.

The Untied Front had their elites, but that didn't mean the Federal Alliance had no such people. These twelve for example were nicknamed the Ouroboros Cohort. Their name came from the armor they wore, which depicted the snake biting its own tail... Ouroboros.

Sera didn't exactly known where this pattern came from, but it probably had something to do with David's power and transformation.

For a moment she looked at his dark skin which was very similar to scales.

It was a year ago when she saw his transformation for the first time. It was terrifying.

"Hmm... I don't see Bran or Melinda... Did you only bring the worst of your team?" Said David derailing her current train of thought. With a few quick glances she looked at Kathy and Percy.

It was true that compared to her two most trusted man and woman, they were kind of lackluster, but Sera doesn't take kindly to being made fun of. The small smile from her face slowly disappeared making the atmosphere much more serious.

"I left the two of them to take care of my city. It would've been really stupid to take all of my strongest people to this incursion..." She leaned in a bit closer, her eyes showing nothing but contempt. In a voice that was nearly drowned out by the wind she spoke.

"It wouldn't be smart to make fun of my team David... These two could probably kill most of yours, and that doesn't even account for my power..." The small smile came back on her face when she saw a small tremble go through his body.

Sera didn't even have to look at the cohort to know how terrified they were. Each of them saw her kill at least one transcended and they heard the stories of the other times. It would be insanity to try and provoke her.

David laughed a bit awkwardly, then desperately tried to change the subject.

"Your weird church has appeared in Antalya. It seems like it spread to multiple cities now."

After saying silent for a few seconds eventually Sera decided to drop the subject as well.

"Yeah, believe me I'm not the one controlling them. They are a strange bunch and calling it my religion is a bit of a stretch, its more like a gathering of people who pray for a better future. It's not my fault that my actions caused them to have a deep sense of religious belief in me!"

For a moment they stared at each other, then they both burst out laughing causing the rest of the cohort to giggle too. After a minute of chuckling, David calmed down enough to speak again.

"I know it has nothing to do with you, and they are actually really good for keeping the peace. They are great at de-escalating situations and solving arguments. I even considered taking one of the priests or priestesses as my assistant..." He leaned in close to Sera so his team couldn't hear what he was about to say.

"You know why I feel comfortable leaving the city without any of the Ouroboros Cohort to protect it? It's because those priests of yours... Nobody really sees through the facade they had built, but I know their strength... And some people actually believe you don't have an elite force!"

He laughed a bit. Sera just stared at him a bit amused. Since David was a fellow soldier on the outside she pretended to be the same.

Other than Bran nobody in either of their cities knew their conspiring. It needed to be kept a secret and they couldn't act too friendly since that would've brought suspicion on both of them.

He didn't actually knew her and Bran's plan, but he didn't seem to mind it. Luckily David was smart and he knew that knowing about it would be much riskier for both of them, so he was happy not knowing the details.

"How main cities have that strange religion now? Four? Five?... They are spreading pretty fast... like parasites of sorts, eh?" This time Sera laughed a bit as well, the implications of what he said was very clear.

Most people think her to have small vision, keeping only a medium sized city for herself...

They have no idea how large her influence had already spread!