Ira sat completely still in the white sand. It seemed as if he was oddly relaxed with his current predicament. But knowing Ira, that assumption couldn’t be true. After a few hours of trying to teleport out of the Tartarus, he ended up in his current state.

The black mist of the Void began to spread out from around and slowly but surely, it began consuming everything. The air around him became distorted and blurry as if someone ran their hands across a fresh painting, intent on destroying it. His body became the epicenter of some indescribable space where all sense of direction and dimension was lost.

The Black Mist began to spread even faster, greedily devouring the space and reality around it. It soon became a writhing mass that almost seemed to be as unending as the place Ira was bound in. An eerie silence pervaded the entire world inside of the Tartarus while it was being erased.

All the while, Ira maintained a tranquil expression with his eyes closed. Though, there was no doubt that something was boiling underneath the mask he wore. Still, instead of getting angry he decided to stomach it until the moment he was free. He wanted to see the Angel's surprise once he emerged. And the Unified Army when they realized that even the Gods couldn’t save them. They were unaware that Ira obtained Gavreel's memories and as a result, the plans for Randolph's possession were more or less understood. He didn't know what was going on at the current moment, but he hoped that leaving Randolph's body intact would lead to a bigger meal.

With those thoughts in mind, Ira made a faint grin and continued eating away at his confines.

…

The Dark Elf made a retreat back to the Underground City and suffered loss after loss. With millions of enemies at their backs and ruthless Angels flying above, they could do nothing except rely on the Valkyries. Of course, Avery took on the brunt of the attack. Using everything possible to slow the encroaching army.

The Pendant Armor showed its worth as she took on several would-be fatal attacks without flinching.

“Leave the wounded!” Avery’s shout rang out across the battlefield. Her words were completely cold-hearted but given the circumstances, they needed to be said.

Since her orders were absolute, those who were wounded had no choice but to be left behind. They didn’t protest when the order was given, they never did. Those who were too weak to go on would turn to face the Unified Army in order to buy time for those who managed to avoid injury.

“May the Keeper guide you!” A group of Dark Elves shouted as they jumped directly into the fray.

It got to a point where even a few additional seconds were seen as valuable which was terrible for the overall situation.

“Avery, this can’t go on for long.” Lauren and Casey flew next to Avery.

“I know...I’ll delay them for as long as I can. I’ll rely on Mother and Grandmother to make sure the rear is completely supported. I can’t guarantee that all of them will be held back.”

"Maintain your own safety at all costs."

Lauren and Casey shared a look before nodding and flying off while Avery began to slow down.

“The Avarus is captured! Your only choice is to surrender or die!” Harith flew toward Avery with Randolph’s sword in hand. His divine energy poured into the Godsteel blade and caused it to glow with a white gold sheen.

Avery turned to face him with her sword and shield in hand.

“After all of you are dead, the Gods will be sure to make his death painful.” Harith’s taunt seemed to go right over Avery’s head as she remained unaffected.

She had no need to trade words with someone like him, especially when she had complete faith in Ira. Still, it didn’t mean she wasn’t angry with the current situation. In her eyes, the Gods had tried to steal Ira from her. As a result, flame began to spill out of her visor.

She swung her sword and a fiery arc was drawn in the air. Harith raised his sword and it was cut in half. He was forced to raise his sword again as Avery appeared in front of him and attacked. They began trading blows and Avery seemed to have the advantage as her shield allowed her to defend easily.

That advantage disappeared as more and more Angels appeared around her. She cut apart dozens of weaker Angels with one swing of her sword which surprised Harith and the other higher-ranked Angels.

“...She has a powerful divinity inside of her!” An Angel with four wings said belatedly. In her shock, she let down her guard ever so slightly and was beheaded, fading into golden light and disappearing.

“Half of you continue chasing that retched army, the rest of us will handle her.” Harith said in a low voice. A few of the higher-ranked Angels flew off but the majority stayed.

The sigil Ira placed on Avery’s wrist began to fade slightly as she brought more of her divinity out. She had to be careful in order to avoid ascension but she also couldn’t hold back.

Suddenly, Avery descended toward the ground and slammed her sword into the dirt. After a few moments, waves of fire burst out from the ground and interrupted the charge of the attacking army.

Her attack only lasted for a few moments as the Angels were right behind her. They couldn’t allow her to switch targets as she pleased.

Hundreds of golden arrows poured down around her forcing her to use her burning wings as a shield. Dust rose into the air and obscured her from sight, but the Angels continued their barrage.

“Enough!” Harith raised his hand and approached the cloud of dust. He swung Randolph’s sword and it split the cloud in half with a loud boom and at the same time, Avery rushed out. She swung her shield and knocked Hairth back, but he regained his posture.

“You’re quite vicious–” He tried to continue but Avery was unrelenting in her attack. She slammed her foot into the ground and shifted her momentum into a downward slash.

Harith blocked her attack once again, a small crater formed under him from the impact. Seeing her attack fail to land, Avery flew backward while sending down a huge fireball from above.

At the same time, she swung her sword and another flaming arc flew toward the attacking army.

Avery’s assault seemed to last forever as she refused to give ground in the slightest. Somehow, she juggled between the Angels and some of the Unified Army. Although she wasn’t causing huge losses to their numbers, she was delaying just enough of them perfectly which allowed the Dark Elf Army to put a huge amount of space between themselves and a lot of the attackers.

Avery’s attacks began to get slower as she grew tired and she soon spotted the source of her fatigue. The Sun was beginning to set before she even noticed and as a result, her power began to wane.

“Attack!” The mages of the Unified Army fired off hundreds of spells in her direction.

“Damn it.” Avery clicked her tongue and moved to escape but Harith and the other Angels blocked her.

“You die here, Valkyrie.” Harith spat as a divine spells rained down on her.

Without anywhere to go, Avery raised her shield and a dome-shaped barrier of flame covered her.

A massive explosion rang out, forcing the mortals to close their eyes. When they opened them, they witnessed Avery falling to her knees with smoke being emitted from her body. Her wings which were burning so brightly began to smolder and eventually faded.

“You were foolish to oppose the might of the Gods in the first place.” Harith slowly floated down in front of Avery.

She stabbed her sword into the ground in order to support herself and glared at him from underneath her helm.

“If you tell me how you got your divinity, I’ll make your death quick,” Harith said with a satisfied smile.

Avery didn’t say anything as her body trembled. It appeared that she could barely stand let alone speak so Harith shook his head.

“Maybe you’re already close to death. No matter, we’ll find out one way or another.” Harith raised his sword as if to end her but Avery’s eyes lit up with flames.

Two fiery wings burst out of her back as she flew forward. Due to the distance between Harith and herself, she stabbed her sword into his chest almost instantly. Harith returned the favor as his sword cut deeply into her shoulder but that was as far as it went.

“Y-You!” Harith was surprised by the attack as he didn’t expect Avery to pretend to be exhausted.

“Bastard," Avery muttered before twisting her sword, ensuring that his wound wouldn't be a light one.

“Lord Harith!” Angels flew toward Avery but she already ripped her sword out of Harith’s chest and began to flee.

Her wings fluttered and a loud boom rang out before she completely vanished over the horizon.

“Ah!” Harith forced himself to remain upright even with a burning hole in his chest. If he were to collapse the Unified Army would only grow fearful.

“I’m fine! We’ll continue our advance until we’re close enough to the Underground City.” Harith’s facade worked and he deceived those who witnessed his injury into believing he was completely fine.

“As you command, Lord Harith!” A human general saluted before riding of to pass down the order.

Harith looked down at his wound and his face darkened. Avery’s divine flames were smoldering around the hole in his chest making it almost impossible to heal.

“All of you will die.” Harith clenched his teeth as he made an oath. His eyes were focused on the Dark Elf Army which could barely be seen in the distance.

…

Avery flew toward the entrance of the Underground City and only made it halfway before her wings suddenly disappeared, indicating she exhausted her mana. She fell unconscious and began plummeting toward the ground when a pair of hands grabbed her.

“Avery.” Casey looked grim as she grabbed her daughter. She examined her closely and noticed the large wound on her shoulder that was dripping blood at a dangerous rate.

Casey’s covered her hand in a white light and began healing Avery. The healing magic had almost no effect and only stabilized Avery rather than closing the wound completely.

Casey noticed that the wound wasn’t ordinary but said nothing. She continued to carry Avery toward the Underground City with an indecipherable expression.

…

A few hours after the Unified Army set up camp. Harith was in a huge tent far off from where the mortals were located. In the center of the tent was Randolph’s body which constantly emitted a golden light. Several low-ranked Angels surrounded his body and poured their own divine energy into him before they faded into a golden light, indicating they had died. Whatever they were doing continued on for some time as more low-ranked Angels came to replace the ones who died.

And then.

“Aaaaah!” Randolph shot up and screamed. “What?! W-Where...I….No...I…”

“Calm down.” Harith approached Randolph and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I-I...Did I die?!” Randolph tried to knock Harith’s hand away but he was too weak in his current state.

“Almost. Ira attacked you but as the Champion of the Gods, your body is too resilient to fall so easily. And you’re too important to let die on the battlefield.” Harith’s face seemed paler than normal but Randolph was in too much of a daze to notice.

“You must prepare yourself, Randolph. You will soon have the ego of a God inside of you.” Harith formed a thin smile.

“What? What does that mean?” Randolph showed a confused expression at Harith’s words. “Where is Ira? Juliana! I have to go rescue Juliana!” Randolph removed himself from Harith’s grip and fell flat onto the floor.

“You will do no such thing. We’ve captured Ira and we’re close to sieging the Underground City and finding Juliana. In the meantime, we must prepare you.” Harith waved his hands and two low-ranked Angels helped Randolph back onto what appeared to be an altar. Then, the two faceless angels funneled their divine energy into him which killed them on the spot.

“What are they doing?!” Randolph was taken aback at the apparent death of the Angels.

“Preparing you,” Harith replied.

The Angels weren’t giving up their lives in order to revive Randolph. He would’ve revived even if they did nothing as his body wasn’t destroyed. In a way, it was similar to Ira’s own immortality. Though even a beheading would’ve killed the Champion of the Gods whereas Ira would be able to reconstruct himself as long as a portion of his body remained.

The real reason the Angels were pouring divine power into Randolph was for a God to possess. In order to contain such a large amount of pure power, the vessel needed to be expanded hence their strange ritualistic suicide.

“Sleep, child. Soon you’ll be born anew with your beloved at your side.” Harith’s whisper seemed to calm Randolph’s mind and soon the latter closed his eyes, falling into a deep slumber.

“Continue, we need to make sure he is ready within the next few days.” Harith gave his orders to the Angels and then left the tent.

When he was clear of all eyes, he examined his wound and saw that it didn’t get any better. The hole in his chest was covered in embers and showed no sign of getting better. His eyes burned with rage as he covered his wound. He then looked at the Tartarus and gained some peace of mind.

“I can’t wait until will we slaughter everyone you hold dear, filthy mutt.” Harith turned his back and headed off somewhere else.

Due to his haste, he wasn’t able to notice the black mist that briefly emerged from the Tartarus.