Long before Lucifina''s sword crossed with the golden spear of Ilias, the Seraph had understood that her fight was futile. Even with the unbalanced and chaotic thoughts warring in her mind, she had clearly analyzed the situation at hand.


    Lucifina had always been the undisputed second strongest being in Heaven, just a step below Micaela in strength despite Lucifina''s infamy on the battlefield being higher than her older sister''s. Simply put, Micaela was the strongest Angel, while Lucifina was the most dangerous. However, this scale of strength in Heaven was superseded by one person in particular:


    The Goddess of Light herself, Ilias.


    The reason for this was simple: Ilias was on another level of power entirely. It would be like comparing the strength of an Asteroid versus the power of the Sun. Nothing can be taken away from the Asteroid''s formidable capacity for destruction, but the Sun could do hundreds of times more damage with little to no effort. The gap between levels was just too large.


    Even still, Lucifina didn''t hesitate to keep pushing as if she did have a chance.


    The Seraph swung wildly, abandoning any actual technique and opting to overwhelm Ilias. The Goddess parried away every swing, a look of dissatisfaction plaguing her face. Thus far, The Goddess hadn''t even attempted to actually strike back. "I do hope that after all of your talk, you have something more planned than just attacking me over and over again like an enraged child, Lucifina."


    The Seraph in question grits her teeth in frustration, finding herself agreeing with Ilias''s criticism. ''My powers are restored, but I haven''t used them for hundreds upon hundreds of years. To say that I''m rusty would be a tame way of putting it.'' The blood-coated Mother zig-zagged her way to Ilias, hoping to catch her off guard.


    Lucifina stopped on her left foot sharply, kicking off of it with great speed to deliver a backhand swing to Ilias''s right side. The Goddess, however, twisted her spear upwards and cut off the umpteenth attack from her ex-Daughter. "I would''ve thought that your last stand would be more dignified, Daughter. You haven''t even scratched the surface of what I can do, yet you already seem out of ideas!" Ilias mocked, her face looking somewhat bored.


    Lucifina fought to keep herself from losing her temper, stopping herself from blindly charging the Goddess once more. ''I need something different, just rushing her won''t work.'' Lucifina mulled over her options; she wasn''t going to overpower the Goddess at this point, so she needed to take an indirect approach.


    The Second Seraph eyed Ilias''s stance, the Goddess in question was almost lazily holding her golden spear with just one hand. The pike hung from her grip loosely, a technique reserved only for those who don''t know what they''re doing or those who believe they know far too much to actually try. ''It''s a stretch, but considering the fact that Ilias never has had any real fights, I''m sure she''d be holding that with no real fear of being disarmed.'' Lucifina thought, a shaky game plan now in mind.


    Lucifina flew towards Ilias, charging at her in the same fashion she had been previously. The Goddess''s unamused eyes watched the Seraph flew towards her, uncaring for the attack that would otherwise frighten any other opponent. When Ilias raised her weapon in preparation, she was caught off guard by her Daughter''s change in approach. In the last moments of the Seraph''s backhanded swing, she angled the sword down, running it downwards along the shaft of the spear.


    Right towards the startled Goddess''s right hand.


    Ilias let out a shocked cry as Lucifina''s sword cut deeply into the top of her pale hand, the pain causing forcing her to drop her spear in the process. Lucifina''s sword cut down into bone and splattered blood all over Ilias and herself. It only lodged halfway into her hand as Lucifina''s swing hadn''t enough power to cut right through. Ilias wailed as she raised her other hand and smashed a fist in the Seraph''s face, flinching but not stopping Lucifina.


    The Seraph pulled back her sword, the slicing sound of metal leaving flesh filling the air as she reared back the sword and swung again at Ilias. The Goddess lunged back to dodge the follow-up attack, summoning her spear to her unharmed left hand on the way back. Ilias gritted her teeth, pulling the spear back across to her right side and swinging it to the left, catching Lucifina in the ribs with a backhanded strike.


    The actual blade of the spear did not cut the Seraph, but the pole smacked into her body with terrifying force and sent her flying away and skimming along the clouded floor. Tuffs of cloud flew every which way as Lucifina eventually fought to a stop. The Seraph made to stand straight but faltered and fell to a knee.


    Lucifina grasped her left side''s ribs with a hand, grimacing as she felt what was no doubt shattered bone underneath the skin. ''Just one hit was that bad... I hope Micaela is faring better than I am.'' Lucifina watched as Ilias raised her bloody hand, rage in her eyes as her wound closed up in an instant. The hand, still covered in the blood from the initial cut, clenched tightly as the Goddess glared at the wound. "You little rat, I''m through humoring this pathetic display."


    The Goddess of Light turned towards her Second Daughter, readying her golden spear. "If you have any final prayers, say them now..." Ilias lowered her gaze, her glowing blue eyes coldly leering at Lucifina. "...Just know that I won''t be answering them."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Below in the Level of Seraphim, the Garden''s namesake was the one having trouble with her interloper. As opposed to the battle raging on above, Micaela and Eden were more evenly matched. However, the edge for this one was in Micaela''s favor.


    The two dueled with their spears, each getting in small blows on the other here and there, but it was becoming quickly evident who had the overall better battle knowledge as the fight drew on. Eden had the edge in power due to Micaela still putting in effort to mask her presence from Ilias.


    However, Micaela by far had more experience as Eden was much less involved in battle, even in the Monster Wars. Because of that, Eden had a tendency to overextended and hesitate. So, every time she did...


    Slash


    ...Micaela punished her for it.


    Eden growled as she clutched the side of her now bleeding face with a hand, smearing blood in the process. The sage-haired Seraph thrust the pint of her spear toward Micaela''s guts, causing the Fallen Seraph to jump from the slab of stone they had been fighting on. Eden watched as her eldest sister took a stance on the adjacent shoreline, readying her spear for the next exchange.


    Eden looked over her sister who, excluding an errant cut on her right shoulder, was practically unharmed.


    The Seraph of the Garden, however, now had a fresh cut on her left cheek, various bruises on her body, and a large gash on her left thigh. ''Damnit, even now I''m not good enough to take her on! As much as I abhor the very thought, I may need to use my true form just to get an edge on Micaela.''


    Eden shudders just from the mere memory. She used her true form very sparingly in her life and did so with absolute disdain. To her, it was a truly ugly metamorphosis, even if it was one that Ilias had created for her to use specifically. It gave the Third Seraph a great boost in power but made her appear even more vile than most Monsters.


    Hell, it was lewder looking than most Monsters! But it would give her a significant advantage...


    "Hesitant to go on, Sister? You are always welcome to turn around and walk away if that is what you want." Eden sneered at Micaela''s remark, holding her nose up at her older Sister while giving her reply. "I am not hesitating, and I am not your Sister, not anymore. You mock me now, but when this over I will be victorious, Ilias willing."


    Micaela''s tone grew somewhat softer, the intensity of her eyes wavering just a bit. "If only you''d listen to reason. I understand that it is difficult to shake Ilias''s dogma, but can you not even consider that what she is doing here is wrong? She kidnapped a child, Eden. Your Sister''s child, and your nephew by extension. Does that not in any way bother you?"


    The sage-haired Seraph squinted at Micaela, "The Goddess''s guidance is greater than all others, Luka is better off without Lucifina, if that is what Ilias wills."


    Micaela narrowed her blue eyes at Eden, "You are truly a fool if you believe that! He has already lost his Father, is that not enough? Why add to that pain by taking even more from him?" Eden laughed, smugness radiating off of her form. "To be closer to the Goddess is not taking away from him. In fact, it only gives him much more than what he had. Surely, he will grow up thankful to be raised alongside Ilias''s divinity, rather than the pathetic sinfulness of his so-called parents!"


    Micaela bristled, her face burning in anger. The First Seraph marched up to the edge of the shoreline, where the water began to propel away in waves in response to her flaring power. "Halt your tongue, Eden. To speak so disrespectfully about Lucifina and Marcellus, you should be ashamed of yourself!"


    Eden merely smirked at her sister''s words. She grasped her spear with two hands, bringing it in close while she stared up to where her ex-sister and the Goddess were battling. "Oh Micaela, how I wish you and Lucifina could see the truth as I do. At the very least, Luka will be guided to the light. And with him as our Prophet, the world will finally be saved from the scourge of Monsters!"


    Eden''s eyes practically shimmered with a sick and twisted glee. Micaela, meanwhile, watched her younger Sister rant and ramble with disgust.


    "Ilias intends to use Luka in her pointless Holy War against Monsters? That is what this is about!?" Eden blanked, becoming nervous at her oversharing, "Umm..." Eden grimaced at having revealed Ilias''s plans so easily. "...Perhaps I''ve said too much..."


    Micaela propelled off the shoreline, launching water into the air with her speed. Catching Eden off guard with the burst of speed, Micaela thrust her spear forward with murderous intent. Eden, in the split second of reaction time she had, yelped as she dove to the side to dodge the attack.


    However, she was a touch too slow.


    Eden squealed as the tip of her spear ripped into her right side, skimming the surface of the skin and tearing a large and bloody cut in the side of her abdomen. The Seraph''s screaming was cut off by Micaela''s shoulder block that followed her two-handed thrust and sent Eden flying backward into the water. The sage-haired Angel''s metal spear dropped from her grip, clattering on the stone below at Micaela''s feet.


    The eldest Seraph glared down at the flailing form of Eden as her wound began to darken the water. Eden stumbled as she climbed to her feet in a hurry, looking out of sorts as she held her bleeding gash with a hand. Micaela swiftly kicked Eden''s spear into the air and towards its owner who, to her credit, was able to have enough reaction time to catch her weapon before any further damage could occur.


    Eden scowled through her now-soaked hair as she readjusted her stance. Micaela scoffed at her sister''s poise, "If you believe so strongly about what you say, then surely you should be able to fight me off better than that." Eden snarled in response to the jest, "There is nothing else to believe in but this! Which is something you''ll so find out, though it will be much too late."


    Micaela prepared herself for a response but was cut off as the entirety of Heaven began to rumble and shake. Micaela turned her gaze upwards, feeling a large build-up of energy occurring from Ilias''s throne room.


    Eden, similarly, was taken off-guard by the sensation, "What''s going on!? That much power will tear Heaven apart!" Micaela agreed with Eden''s sentiment, afraid for her sister''s life as she felt the titanic amount of power being gathered up above.


    Micaela flinched, tensing at the sound of a splash coming from Eden. She relaxed somewhat, finding that the Seraph had merely dropped to her knees so that she could start praying despite now being partly submerged in water. The older Seraph gave a small sneer at her ex-Sister''s behavior, finding the Eden''s action ridiculous.


    Nevertheless, Micaela glanced back up to the ceiling, unsure as to what was about to happen but knowing that it couldn''t be good. Despite knowing Lucifina would rather her stay away, Micaela flew up, leaving the shell-shocked Eden behind.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Lucifina pivoted to the right, her muscles straining from yet another desperate dodge from Ilias''s large pike. The Seraph struck out with her sword, swinging for the Goddess''s head, but Ilias pulled her head back just far enough to avoid being cut.


    To keep herself from overstepping, the Second Seraph pulled away and put distance between herself and the wrathful Goddess. Ilias, seeing her opponent''s retreat, reared back her spear and hurled it at her Daughter.


    The narrowed eyes of Lucifina widened at the swiftness of the weapon, barely able to twist her body around to dodge the attack. The spear shot through the air at a maddening speed, before lodging itself into the back Ilias''s throne.


    Ilias''s face became shocked for a moment, before morphing back into fury. "Oh, you will suffer exceptionally for that, Daughter!" Lucifina, meanwhile, was standing still on one of the clouds of Heaven, wheezing as she fought to keep herself upright. ''I''m not getting anywhere with this; I''m almost completely drained at this point.''


    Slowly, Lucifina began to realize the severity of the situation. She knew in her heart before coming that she didn''t have much of a chance at defeating Ilias, but now it was beginning to sink in. She was in dire straits, and the Seraph had a dwindling number of options left. ''If I''m not getting out of here, then I am at least going to go down while throwing out everything I''ve got.''


    Lucifina''s wings flapped, the powerful burst sending her high above Ilias. Lucifina shakily held her sword with both hands in front of her, closing her eyes as she did so. The Seraph began collecting the last waning shred of her energy together, desperately trying to pool together the power while she still could. Lucifina took a deep breath, wincing slightly at her sore ribs.


    "Blood."


    She let the breath out slowly, the air coming out like a hiss, causing her to wheeze through her chant. Ilias stared at Lucifina with an unreadable expression on her face. She knew this chant well, the chant of the Daystar.


    "P-...Pain."


    Lucifina felt her chest heave from the effort, and the Seraph fought the rising bile coming up her throat.


    "Heads roll."


    Ilias flared her wings, a shimmering aura building up around her as she stood still in the face of Lucifina''s oncoming attack.


    "Heads fall."


    The Seraph began to glow a bright blue, her Angelic aura becoming visible as she pushed herself to the edge, her limit almost being reached.


    "I... am the Star of Mourning... The Child of Dawn cascaded into the Dark."


    Ilias''s own form began to glow, her body being surrounded by a bright Golden light. Her face remained stoic in the face of Lucifina''s ultimate technique.


    "The Star thrown to Earth... Now aimed to you, Ilias, will obtain... Retribution!"


    The Goddess scoffed but offered no comment at her Daughter''s chant. Her own Holy power danced in the air around her. Lucifina gasped, choking out a cough as blood dripped from her mouth.


    "Now... R-Receive the Daystar! Receive her Blood, her Pain, her Loss... EVERYTHING!"


    Lucifina lifted her sword high above her head, the blue light encompassing her entire form now, a power that had laid dormant in her for hundreds of years finally having been fully released.


    Time seemed to slow as Lucifina swung her sword downwards, the slash tearing through the air itself as the bright blue flash of magic rained down onto an awaiting Ilias. The clouds around the throne room were briefly stained blue by the powerful flash of light. The Goddess, observing the impressive attack, flexed her massive wings and whispered her counterattack softly.


    "Thunder of Judgement."


    A resounding crash sounded out, louder than any of the thunder clashing from the long night''s storm. The deafening crack was followed by an intense shockwave that vibrated the very air itself in the room. Ilias''s golden wave collided with Lucifina''s blue slash, the two attacks erupting into a blinding white light that bathed the throne room completely once the two warring forces of magic met.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    She couldn''t see or hear anything, but Lucifina felt her descent.


    The free-fall was surprisingly peaceful this way, almost as if she was floating like a wayward feather of a bird or a dandelion when it traveled with the wind to spread its seed. She hardly felt her body land on the soft mound of cloud beneath her back, almost as if she was being laid down in it. Much like Ilias had done earlier when she laid her son down...


    ...Lucifina jerked, the memory of Luka being swept away in front of her eyes not just once but twice, helping to elevate her misery considerably.


    The Seraph fought to get her eyes open, the strain of just this being a monumental undertaking. Once she was able to, she was surprised to see the star-scattered night sky above her. She was confused by this, knowing that she was still in Heaven due to the cloud she could feel beneath her. ''Was our clashing so powerful that it destroyed the top of Heaven itself?''


    Some wisps of cloud began to come in from the corner of her eyes, the ceiling of Heaven had already begun to reform itself as she thought of the now-finished battle. Lucifina rolled her eyes to look around, as she had no strength to move her head. Absent-mindedly, she felt that her wings were now gone. Her Halo was more likely than not gone as well, her power completely and utterly spent.


    "Are you satisfied now, Daystar?"


    Lucifina steeled herself, knowing in her heart that the end was surely near now. She peered downwards, past her bloody and torn nightgown. There, she saw Ilias approaching. Her face was stern like that of an upset Mother doting on her child, "It is very disappointing to me that you caused all of this-" She waved a hand around the ruined throne room, "-It will soon be fixed, yes, but I will know the difference. These clouds you destroyed were billions of years old, you know!"


    It felt surreal to Lucifina that of all things, Ilias was most upset about the state of her throne room.


    Ilias shook her head, coming to a stop right when she came to Lucifina''s right side. "It never needed to be this way, you did this to yourself, not me." Ilias placed her left hand on her own chest, right below her collarbone. "However, I am a forgiving and benevolent Goddess..."The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    With startling quickness, The Goddess''s right hand shot down, eliciting a yelp from Lucifina as she felt Ilias''s scarred hand grab the collar of her nightgown and easily hoist her up off the clouds. "...So, I am willing to give you a Divine Ultimatum: Proclaim me as your one and only Goddess once again and I will allow you to live with Luka again as his Mother. That way, you can be a part raising him until he fulfils his role as my Prophet. That, or..."


    In Ilias''s left hand appeared her golden pike, having become dislodged from Ilias''s throne at some point. "...I''ll end your miserable, sinful existence right now as I should''ve when you first fell from grace."


    Lucifina hung limply at the end of Ilias''s grasp, only having enough power to hold her head up as Ilias''s eyes bore into her own with impatience. For just a moment, the Seraph considered the offer. To be able to have her son back with her was something she desired greatly, but she knew that joining back with Ilias now would be impossible.


    Ilias was at one time someone she looked up to, someone she believed in. But like Micaela, like so many others, she had found the truth long ago: Ilias''s mind was sick and twisted. She was not above committing atrocities to get her way and was Hell-bent on riding the Earth of what she perceived to be sinful. For the Goddess, it mattered little to her how many lives had to be wiped out to achieve her goal.


    Lucifina eyed the scarred hand holding her high in the air and then opened up her mouth to respond, causing the Goddess to lean in as she awaited the Seraph''s offer.


    Crunch


    Ilias cringed, screaming, "Ahh! Damn you!" Lucifina, now biting into the wounded right hand of Ilias in one last act of defiance, was swung around violently as the Goddess angrily thrashed her limp body with the now twice-over bleeding hand. The ordeal didn''t last long, however, as Ilias quickly found a sadistic way to dislodge the Seraph.


    The furious Goddess flew a few meters away, reaching the remnants of her throne, broken in half by the earlier clash of attacks the two had shared. Ilias swung the still-gripped Lucifina over her head, slamming the Seraph back-first onto the exposed rubble of the shattered marble seat. Lucifina choked out a scream, immediately letting go and crumbling onto the clouds behind the throne.


    Ilias snarled as she marched around to the backside of the throne, madness blazing her eyes as she stared daggers at the Fallen Angel. "You..." The Goddess savagely gripped Lucifina by the throat with her bleeding hand, smashing the back of Lucifina''s head against the remnant of her throne, causing blood to gurgle from the Seraph''s mouth.


    The Goddess of Light raised her into the air again, Lucifina thrashing weakly in Ilias''s grasp as the Goddess held her golden pike steadily in her left hand. "...Fine, if you are in such a hurry to be dead and gone, I will help you along to the other side!" Ilias was nearly about to finish off her Daughter for good, but she stopped before she even ever began to thrust the spear into Lucifina''s guts.


    Lucifina, having closed her eyes in wait for the inevitable, was confused by the lack of action on the Goddess''s part.


    That was until Ilias started laughing.


    It started as a chuckle, her lips not even opening to let the sound out at first. Then, it became a full laugh, the around ringing through the room loudly. Her tone made it seem as if the Goddess had just been told the best joke she had ever heard. Lucifina opened her eyes, staring dumbfounded at the radical shift in behavior in the Goddess. Ilias''s laughter trailed off, her face gaining a sinister look as she grinned at her former Daughter.


    "No, I think I change my mind..." Ilias''s spear suddenly vanished, and the Goddess raised her left hand up to the Seraph''s head. "...A quick death would be too good for you. In fact, I don''t want you dead at all anymore! Death would be a mercy for you, wouldn''t it? After all, that''s why you came here so brashly, wasn''t it? You wanted to be swiftly cut down, I''m sure. However, I will not be affording you that luxury."


    Ilias''s hand grasped Lucifina''s head, though not with intention to hurt, but with intention to heal.


    "Wh-What?" Lucifina weakly asked as all of her injuries began to disappear, she winced as she felt even her broken ribs mold back into place. Ilias stayed silent, a small smirk on her lips as she watched Lucifina fight to make sense of what was happening. Without another word, the Goddess closed her wings around the two, teleporting them away. The only thing to fill the air was the sound of wind whipping outside of the slowly closing hole in the top of Heaven.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Just like when experiencing the fallout of Daystar, Lucifina was unable to see anything, the rush of the teleportation combined with her weakened state made her very sensitive to the sensation. She fell, roughly landing on what felt like cold cobblestone. Lucifina grunted upon impact, only barely being able to brace herself as she landed on her back.


    She heard Ilias utter a quick and ridiculing "Oops!" before pacing away, humming happily to herself as she moved away from Lucifina.


    "Ah, yes. It has been a long time since I''ve been here, Daughter. It is almost nostalgic." The Seraph slowly sat up, fighting to get into a sitting position. Her eyes were very slowly adjusting, for it was terribly dark. "Where, is here?" Lucifina asked, trying to stall for time as her eyes slowly were able to see more of her surroundings.


    Lucifina was indeed sitting on cobblestone, dilapidated cobblestone. Wherever they were, it certainly hadn''t had much upkeep. The place was also quite cold, a mist-like air surrounding her, causing waves of shudders to rack her body over and over again.


    "Where we are now isn''t as important as where you will soon be." Ilias answered cryptically. A grating scratching noise began to fill the air as if someone was carving into stone with another stone. The Goddess''s statement worried the Seraph greatly, unsure as to what Ilias was talking about.


    "Lucifina! Where are you!? Ilias''s throne room is in shambles. Are you alright?"


    Lucifina gasped, having completely forgotten about her older sister back in Heaven. She quickly began calling back to Micaela.


    "Micaela, I am not sure where I am. Ilias has taken me somewhere away from Heaven. It''s dark, I cannot tell where she has taken me."


    The sound of carving stone stopped, "There we go, now..." Ilias approached the downed Lucifina, hauling her up by an arm. The weak Seraph was barely able to keep on her feet as she was all but dragged away by Ilias until she was unceremoniously dropped once again by the Goddess. Her eyes were able to perceive general shapes around her, but it was all still too dark for her to see.


    Sensing Lucifina''s trouble, Ilias projected light off of her very body, illuminating her Holy form along with the area around her. "There, wouldn''t want you missing a single, miniscule detail of your awaiting fate, would we?" The Goddess''s tone was sickly sweet, almost as if she was talking to a small child about going to a candy shop.


    Looking around, Lucifina found them to be at a crumbled, run-down alter of some sort. The cobblestone walls that were, somehow, still left standing, only went up about halfway to what appeared to be their original height, as the rest seemed to have been broken down sometime in the past. The columns that ran on either side of the altar table in the middle also ended halfway up their length, and some seemed to be gone entirely. Surrounding the half-destroyed building was a dark, silent forest.


    ''Perhaps this is an ancient Temple of Ilias?'' Lucifina thought, ''It doesn''t seem familiar, though. I''ve been to some of the very first ones created for worship, and this doesn''t appear to be one of them.''


    "Confused, are we?" Ilias''s voice trilled out, "Understandable, you wouldn''t know about this place. It is fairly new, built after your betrayal." Despite the Goddess''s venomous words, the wide smile was still stuck on her face, "I call it the Sealed Sinner''s Prison." Something about the name sent a chill up Lucifina''s spine.


    "Micaela, Ilias called this place the Sealed Sinner''s Prison. Does this name mean anything to you?"


    Lucifina jerked as her sister''s loud and anxious response came to her almost immediately.


    "No... No! Lucifina, you are in grave danger. Stall her as long as you can, I''m coming immediately!"


    The Mother hastily responded, not wanting her sister to get involved.


    "Micaela, DON''T! I will be fine; I need you to look after Luka!"


    Ilias stepped over to Lucifina, wrenching her up by the arm once she got nearby. Micaela''s distressed voice rang out once more in her head.


    "You don''t understand, Sister. The place Ilias has brought you to, it''s a prison for souls, Ilias will have you locked there for all of eternity!"


    Lucifina snapped, cutting off her older sister.


    "I DO NOT CARE! I will face the consequences here today ALONE. You will have no more success with Ilias than I did, so stay away!"


    Micaela was silent, spurring Lucifina to continue.


    "I beg you, Luka has no one to look after him other than you. You are his ONLY family now, the ONLY one I can trust!"


    Micaela''s reply came begrudgingly, the First Seraph dreading her younger Sister''s fate.


    "...Okay, I will do what I can, Lucifina."


    Lucifina was brought to the Alter table, or rather, thrown into it, having to weakly lift her arms up to stop her ribs from being reinjured. Looking down at the tabletop, the Seraph discovered that there were two names carved into it. The first one she saw was freshly carved, meaning it was the one Ilias had just made. It simply said:


    Daystar


    Lucifina felt that familiar chill run through her body upon reading her title on the table. But more surprising to her, was what had been inscribed higher above her title. The carving was older than hers, and she could tell just by looking at it. As faded as it was, though, she could read it clearly.


    Angel Killer


    Lucifina froze, recognizing the moniker from an incident that had occurred after she fell from Heaven.


    ''Angel Killer, so this is what Ilias did to you...'' She gulped, ''...And what she''s going to do to me too.'' Lucifina looked higher to see what seemed to have been a third even older inscription. However, this one was cut through multiple times, leaving the name illegible. The Serpah flinched as she saw movement from the corner of her eye, watching Ilias walk around to the other side of the Alter table.


    The Goddess''s grin was obscenely large now, a sickening look in her eyes as she reached for something under the table with her left hand. "I hope your soul is prepared because this will be its new permanent home..." From beneath the table, Ilias drew a small dagger. Its blade was pitch black, and the similarly black hilt lacked any guard. Where the blade and hilt met, however, was a small red jewel that resembled the one on Ilias''s necklace.


    The Goddess raised the knife, the blade reflecting Ilias''s glow. Then, to Lucifina''s confusion, the Goddess took the blade and ran it across her scarred and bitten hand, slitting it open at the palm. The Seraph was aghast at the sight, not quite understanding what she was seeing. Then, Ilias began to speak.


    "Here I hold in my palm the Blood of the Goddess, the Essence of Light, the Power of the Universe itself..."


    Ilias raised her hand up high, her blood shining red even in the golden light coming off of her own body. Lucifina felt a shift in the air as Ilias began her spell.


    "...I call upon this Power, to defend my Divinity from the Bane of my enemies, the enemies of Light..."


    Ilias brought her hand onto the table, dropping it onto the name Daystar, covering the inscription in her Holy blood. All was still and silent, as Lucifina and the Goddess stared at each other. Ilias''s eyes were gleaming with crazed excitement, while Lucifina''s eyes were filled with unease as she felt something unseen latch onto her.


    "...You, Daystar, are a Heretic. An Apostate of the Way of Light. For your Sinful crimes against your Goddess, I sentence you to the Ultimate Punishment..."


    The Alter began to give off a golden glow, much in the same way the Goddess was. Lucifina tried to back away from the table, but something stopped her. Ilias removed her hand from the table, the blood smeared on the table began to sink into the etching of Daystar, which also started to glow. Once the glow started to strengthen, Lucifina started being pulled in towards the middle of the Alter.


    "...You, Daystar, I give my Holy verdict. My ruling is ETERNAL BANISHMENT!"


    Lucifina felt her feet start to burn. With wide eyes, the Seraph shakily glanced down to her feet. When she saw what was happening, her heart stopped. Lucifina''s body was disintegrating before her very eyes. Despite this, the Seraph stayed in place, hands stuck to the Alter. The Mother could only watch as her very essence was being sucked into the vortex growing on the table before her.


    The Seraph fought the urge to scream, not wanting to give Ilias the satisfaction of seeing her suffer. The Goddess, meanwhile, threw her hands up to the sky. The manic grin on her face grew even more as a beacon of light rose from the Alter, climbing high into the dark sky.


    "BEGONE, DAYSTAR! VANISH, AND SUFFER A FATE WORSE THAN DEATH, IN YOUR OWN PERSONAL HELL!"


    Lucifina felt the entirety of her body begin to burn, more and more of it beginning to fade away as her very soul was being pulled into a different plane of existence. The pain of the transformation was becoming too much, and tears beginning to fall from her eyes and down her face. But the Seraph gnawed on the inside of her mouth, fighting to keep the guttural scream from leaving her throat.


    Only Lucifina''s upper torso remained, the lower half of her body having completely vanished by that point. With Lucifina nearly gone, Ilias lowered her arms, letting them fall to her sides as she watched her second-created Daughter fade into the Sealed Sinner''s Prison. The smile fell from her face, her expression morphing into a facade of impassiveness. "Any final words before you leave My World forever, Daystar?"


    Lucifina buckled, her chest, arms, and head being sucked into the chasm now. Fighting through the inferno of pain wracking her body, Lucifina only had one last thing to say to the Goddess she had once considered her Mother:


    "I h-hate you."


    It came out as a stuttered gasp, fading quickly alongside the rest of the Seraph''s body. With the final shreds of her soul being sealed away, the vortex on the Alter fell into itself. Once it was gone, all that was left was the two titles etched into the stone. Ilias stood deathly still, not even an errant twitch of the eye occurring as Lucifina''s final words sunk in.


    "And I..." The Goddess murmured to the empty air, "...Had loved you, my Daughter." Without further delay, Ilias teleported away from the Alter, leaving the Sealed Sinner''s Prison shrouded in darkness once more.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Now, standing in her throne room, Ilias surveyed the damage. Scattered bits of cloud floated through the air as they returned to where they had been before the violent altercation minutes ago. Ilias glanced upwards, finding that the large gaping hole in Heaven had been reduced to a hole only a handful of meters wide. The Goddess frowned, crossing her arms under her chest at the violation of her Heavenly realm.


    Even more aggravating to the Goddess was her half-destroyed throne sitting in the distance. The back of it was nearly gone and had a splatter of blood left on it from her manhandling of her ex-Daughter. The Goddess paced towards the broken chair, frustrated at the sight of its destruction. ''Oh well, I''ll probably just get Eden to make me a new one, she enjoys the extra work.''


    Ilias paused before reaching her broken throne, having realized that more likely than not, all of Heaven was still shut down. Quickly, she summoned Eden up to Heaven. She turned around, putting on her best Godly facade as she did, a facade that was almost instantly shattered when she saw her right-hand Seraph. Eden stood before her, a shaky smile on her pale and blood-stained face.


    Both of her hands were to her right side, fumbling as she attempted to cover her heavily bleeding wound. "O-Oh my G-Goddess, to what do I owe such-" Ilias cut off the sage-haired Angel. "Eden, what happened to you?" The Seraph stuttered as her Goddess drew near with a concerned look. "E-Eh, yes. I had some trouble earlier when Lucifina and Micaela attacked."


    Ilias walked up to her last Seraph, putting her right hand on her head. In moments, the cuts began to close up, Ilias''s magic speeding up Eden''s recovery much like she had with Lucifina. "My Daughter, this is why I told you to..." The Goddess paused, removing her hand from the now fully healed Eden. "...Wait, did you say... Lucifina... and Micaela?"


    Ilias''s scarred hand began to tremble as Eden eyed the Goddess with a look of confusion. "Yes, Lucifina and Micaela were both here..." The Goddess blanked, causing her to freeze in place as her mind raced. ''How? HOW!? I knew Lucifina was here from the start, so how did I miss Micaela when she was right below me fighting Eden!? I know that she''s been masking her power all these years, but could she really do that AND defeat Eden at the same time?''


    Ilias was brought out of her stupor by her concerned Seraph''s prodding, "Eh, my Goddess, are you feeling well?" The Goddess forced a benevolent smile onto her face, "Absolutely, my Daughter. Will you please go down to the lower levels and tell your Sisters that they are safe to come out, now? I would very much appreciate it." Eden nodded quickly, ever happy to carry out the Goddess''s wishes. Ilias watched the sage-haired Seraph leave, deflating in almost the instant Eden had left.


    The Goddess ran her hands over her face, turning to sit on her throne, before realizing it was still broken. "Damn it, I was going to have her fix that before she left..." Ilias sighed, snaking her hands around quickly, forming a makeshift throne of cloud for her to sit in for now. She reclined in the seat, taking a deep breath, the shaky exhale afterward giving her some slight satisfaction after all that had transpired.


    ''Micaela will be a problem to solve another time. Unless that mutineer has a death wish, I''m sure she''ll stay away from me and my Angels.'' Then, with a wave of her still scarred hand, Ilias opened up a portal so that she could view something she knew would clear her tired mind. In the vortex that opened in the clouds, was the image of Luka, asleep in his bed at home with what seemed like no care in the world.


    Ilias watched as his ever-pure soul flickered and waved like a white flame in the wind. The Goddess sighed heavily, "Ahhh, now that''s much better. I know you''ll never disappoint me, my Prophet. With you safely in Ilias Village, under my watchful eyes, surely this World will soon know true peace."


    The Goddess of Light watched Luka sleep; her own eyes half-lidded from the mental exhaustion catching up to her. A certain warmth filled her as she watched the purple-haired boy.


    "Yes, you''ll serve me better than all those before you. Better than Marcellus, better than Lucifina, better than Heinrich, better than anyone! And once it is all said and done, this world will become as perfect as you are..." Ilias felt herself fall back into slumber, utterly unaware of the presence of the one interloper still left in Heaven...


    Micaela, squatting behind a considerably large section of cloud behind Ilias''s shattered throne, kept absolutely still as she listened for any sign of Ilias still being awake. A few moments passed where the Goddess had fallen silent, but then Micaela eventually heard the sound of light snoring coming from the other side of the throne.


    Only then, did she leave her hiding place.


    The Seraph slowly crept up to the Goddess, looking to confirm a suspicion she had formed while listening to Ilias talk to herself. Micaela rounded the corner of cloud, coming close enough to see in front of the sleeping Goddess but not too close enough to be easily detected.


    The blue eyes of the Eldest Seraph narrowed at the image before her, watching as her nephew''s small form was still projected in the portal in front of Ilias. The words of the Goddess rattled in Micaela''s head while she observed the peaceful slumber of the purple-haired boy. ''I don''t know what Ilias has planned for you, Luka, but I won''t let it happen. She won''t use you for her evil plans, not as long as I can do something about it.''


    Micaela turned her attention to the visage of the sleeping Goddess, watching as she slept in an oddly peaceful manner. Looking at Ilias now, one could hardly tell that there was such dormant evil lying inside of her, but Micaela knew the truth. She knew how bloodthirsty and merciless Ilias had become, seeing it firsthand as the years went by. And now, this evil had set its sights on her Sister''s only son, looking to take him as a pawn in her game of war.


    But Micaela would be damned if she let that evil Goddess try and brainwash her nephew into becoming her "Prophet."


    Micaela gently pushed off the ground, hovering up slowly so as not to cause any noticeable disturbances in the room, and flew out of the slowly closing gash in the ceiling of Heaven. She glided down from Heaven, seeing Ilias Village from her perspective high in the air.


    As she fell, the Seraph started taking steps to formulate her plan going forward. As of now, it was her responsibility as Luka''s Aunt to look after him. However, this would be a complicated undertaking. Because of this, the last free Seraph needed to realistically go over her options.


    Simply removing Luka from Ilias Village would be potentially catastrophic, as no doubt the Goddess would go berserk the moment she discovered the boy was displaced. Taking into account how quickly she had descended Heaven itself just for Luka, Micaela was convinced Ilias wouldn''t hesitate to do so again to get to him upon finding out he had been compromised.


    However, there was another, more pressing problem, getting to Luka in the first place. Ilias now knew that Micaela was active and that alone was sure to put her on high alert. This would surely be doubly so for Ilias Village itself, which is sure to be under Ilias''s personal watch if that vortex she was viewing Luka in was any indication. With all of this in mind, any rescue mission was seemingly off the table for the time being.


    ''Unless, if I was able to mask his power in the same way as I do my own. Then, maybe I could go in and take him out of Ilias Village. However, that could still bring about Ilias''s rage, causing her to cause serious collateral damage.'' The Goddess had proved in the past that she''d do just about anything to get what she wanted, and for whatever reason, she had her sights firmly set on having Luka. Micaela hadn''t seen much of this desire, but it seemed to border on obsession.


    One thing she had noted in particular was how she had described Micaela''s nephew earlier before nodding off:


    And once it is all said and done, this world will become as perfect as you are...


    The term was odd for Ilias to use when referring to anything other than herself. For her to call something perfect would be an acknowledgment that there was something on par with Ilias herself. The Goddess never gave anything such high praise and the way she had said it was strange as well. Her voice had become very vivacious when she talked about the boy, almost as if she had become infatuated by him.


    The implication of such a thing created a pit in the Seraph''s stomach, one that made her feel very uncomfortable. For her own sanity, Micaela shoved those thoughts aside. "Whatever your reason might be for taking an interest in Luka, I will make sure your plans for him never bear fruit. Even if it means I end up sharing the same fate as Lucifina, or worse, I will do whatever is in my power to protect Luka from your evil ways."


    Micaela flew past Ilias Village in the direction of Enrika, casting a regretful glance back in the direction of her nephew. ''I am sorry, Luka. But it is not safe for us to meet again just yet, I fear. I need time to prepare. I hope that you can stay strong without help for the time being.''


    This was all the Seraph could hope for, as she truly feared for what the Goddess of Light had in store for the World she craved to dominate.