[The rock collided against the old angel’s forehead]. The effect was akin to a sledgehammer making contact with a watermelon. The lightning avatar in the sky let out a scream as it dissolved, which caused thousands of red thunderbolts to rain down from the sky in every direction, blasting apart the ground, the roads, the hills and plains, and even assaulting the city off in the distance. Luckily for Palan, he was only struck by three of the lightning bolts, and after a while passed and his body stopped spasming, he crawled off of the ground and stared with his mouth agape. His left arm was hanging completely limp at his side, and there was a loud ringing noise in his ears.

The plains were ablaze, and what wasn’t on fire was blackened. Cracks littered the stone roads, and off in the distance, a whole section of the city wall had collapsed. What amazed him the most was Justitia. She was completely untouched along with the corpse of the dead archangel. In fact, everything in a ten-meter radius of the dead archangel hadn’t been struck by lightning. The ringing in his ears, caused by the thousands of lightning bolts making a sound like the sky exploding, still hadn’t stopped, and his legs were still numb, but he understood that he had to retrieve the corpse and escape. That final strike of hers definitely attracted the attentions of the other five archangels.

Palan picked up the corpse and frowned at Justitia who was still unconscious. She had no idea what just occurred, but she did know it was him that kidnapped her. He raised his foot above her head, and hesitated as his brow furrowed. If it weren’t for her, his opponent probably wouldn’t have been poisoned. When had he become so sentimental? After returning his foot back to the ground, he whirled around and leapt away, enveloping his and the corpse’s body with a black glow.

Once he made it to a region where the lightning hadn’t struck, he slowed down and began to look for a place to hide. He wasn’t quite sure what methods Melissa had used to track him down, but he assumed the other archangels would have it as well. It would be best for him to find a place with a high vantage point that allowed his to scatter poison and flee. It was a shame that most of the trees in the area had been cut down. He was about to take step forward, but his leg wobbled underneath him, and he collapsed onto the ground, splattering the corpse’s brain matter into the grass.

Palan panted for breath and had Danger Noodle drag his body in between two relatively close hills. That bastard tail of his had actually used his left arm to shelter its own head after he raised it to block the lightning. Now it was going to have to put in some work. Danger Noodle began to dig a little, person-sized cave with an entrance just large enough to squeeze Palan’s body through as its owner fainted. It didn’t understand why its owner was blaming it for hiding underneath his arm. It would’ve died if it hadn’t. Once it managed to maneuver Palan into the crevice it dug, it slithered out of the cave and swallowed Melissa’s corpse before retreating into the hole and covering the entrance with some dirt. Some moonlight still poured inside, but there wasn’t much Danger Noodle could do about that since it didn’t have thumbs.

***

Justitia let out a groan as sunlight streamed into her eyes. She raised her hand to block it. “She’s awake!” someone shouted, causing her body to stiffen. Sunlight? The soldiers always slept below ground. It had been weeks since she last woke up to sunlight. Her grogginess disappeared in a flash as a wave of anxiety slipped over her, causing her stomach to drop and chest to burn.

She sat up, letting the blanket covering her body fall away, and glanced down. A thin cloth was separating her from the ground, and she was wearing a loose white robe that was used to dress sleeping patients. Had she been injured? The last thing she remembered was talking to Palan on the city walls. Did he knock her out? A shiver ran down her spine—at least he hadn’t killed her. She turned her head to the side and saw that she was surrounded by a group of golden-robed angels, causing her stomach to drop even further. The guardians followed the orders of the council members, not the army. What did Palan do after he knocked her out?

She winced and clutched her forehead as images of Palan eating an arm came into her head. He had taken her somewhere else too. So why was she back here? Had Palan been caught and killed? The golden-robed angels parted and five people approached her: the two generals and three council members. Justitia gulped as the surrounding guardians dispersed, making sure no one else could approach.

“Hello,” Andrew said. There were five chairs prepared beside her, and the archangels sat down. “You are Blossom?”

Justitia blinked before nodding with her mouth agape. Seconds later, her back straightened and she saluted the two people while shouting, “Yes, sir.” It was only then that she noticed part of the city wall had collapsed. Before, her vision was obscured by the golden-robed angels. “Did, did something happen?”

“Where were you last night?” Andrew asked, his eyes narrowing.

Justitia furrowed her brow. “I was on patrol with Private Kubler,” she said and lowered her head. “I, I, what happened? I remember Kubler collapsing, then my vision went black.” She raised her head and gazed at General Michael, causing him to sigh.

“It looks like she doesn’t know anything,” Michael said to Andrew. He turned towards Justitia. “We found you bound and unconscious in the fields outside of the city. You really don’t remember anything?”

Justitia bit her lower lip. She didn’t owe Palan anything. But he had spared her, and she promised she wouldn’t tell. But it couldn’t hurt to say there was a demon, right? “I think I saw a cloaked figure near Kubler before he collapsed. But I’m not sure,” she said and pursed her lips. “It was dark, and my head really hurts right now.”

“Forget it then,” General Jones said, her voice soft. “If you remember anything, please come and find us.” Justitia nodded, and the five angels stood up. Andrew glared at her before turning around and walking away. She watched the five angels walk out of view before lying back down and staring up at the sky. What the hell happened last night?