Bastiel’s four wings spread wide.

Whatever ‘discouragement’ was supposed to mean, it clearly included rushing head-on toward Alyssa. Spectral Chains lashing out slowed the angel for a moment. Only a moment. Her body shuddered as the chains burst into fragments of twinkling light. Cricking her neck to one side, Bastiel resumed her charge.

She wasn’t moving as fast as Alyssa had seen Tenebrael and Iosefael move during their fight. For that, Alyssa was thankful. It gave her the opportunity to try out something new, rather than just turn into jelly splattered across the armor of the soldiers around them.

A Spectral Scythe materialized in Alyssa’s outstretched palm. She spun it around, bringing it to bear against the angel while remaining careful to avoid Izsha. The draken couldn’t see their opponent, but it was smart enough to know that they were under attack and was already taking action to get them both out of the area. It wouldn’t be able to. As a draken could outrun a human, an angel could outrun a draken. It might be best to go on foot from here on out. Izsha’s mobility… would probably not be that helpful.

Though the angel did stop her flight toward Alyssa. It was the spell. It had to be. Alyssa hadn’t actually tested the spell against angels before, but it had spectral in its name and thus, she thought it might work. It seemed to be doing the job right now and she had yet to even swing it at the angel.

“Take us to the next group of cannons,” Alyssa said, voice commanding. Bastiel had not done anything to the powder kegs that Alyssa had hit with a fireball. They were still going to explode once time resumed flowing as normal. As long as that didn’t change, then Alyssa had an alternate victory condition that did not involve attempting to kill an angel. She just had to finish blowing up all the black powder.

As Izsha turned to carry out Alyssa’s directive, the angel spoke once again.

“Subject manifested extended soul extraction miracle. Manifestation logged. Suggest review of applications toward Principality soul collection duties. Threat analysis complete. Threat level to mortals: Extreme. Threat level to this terminal: Minimal.”

Alyssa’s first thought was a succinct Great. Then she thought of something else that wasn’t simply dismissing it and hoping some other spell would be viewed as a greater threat. “Oh yeah? You think so?” Alyssa called out to the angel. “You might want to check that analysis a bit more! This thing tore Archangel Adrael in two!”

Luminosity cut off as Bastiel actually blinked. “Subject attempting subterfuge. Subterfuge attempt: Unsuccessful.”

“Check your records, Bastiel. When was the last time Adrael went to the Endless Expanse? Where is she now? You won’t be able to find her. She’s dead! Or whatever counts as a dead for an angel.”

Again, Bastiel stopped. This time, however, she cocked her head to one side. “Query reje… Quer-r-ry ack-k-nowledged. Now checking records.”

Bastiel remained right where she was, even as Izsha continued forward. She was so focused on keeping the angel in sight that Alyssa just about lost her breakfast when she noticed Izsha chomping down on one of the powder kegs. Alyssa flinched back, half expecting the dumb draken to lose its head. But the keg didn’t go off. Though Alyssa was pretty sure that it was about to the moment time started up again. Izsha, still with it in its mouth, carried the keg over to the larger cart with all the reserve gunpowder.

Doing it like that rather than having Alyssa drag them over one by one resulted in a much quicker setup this time. Even though Alyssa was sure that at least one of those kegs was ready to blow, she still launched a ball of fire at the gathered kegs before moving on. Just to be absolutely sure.

The next group of cannons was across a wide battalion of musketeers. They each probably had a small amount of black powder that wasn’t ruined by the rain. Hadn’t people kept gunpowder in animal horns? Like those of bulls… those were probably waterproof. The powder in the guns might be ruined, but they could probably find a way to clean that out and get to firing.

There wouldn’t be time to search through the armor they wore. It was all long, duster-like outfits made of wool. It probably wouldn’t be hard to find the powder, but there were just too many of them. At least three rows of musketeers.

Gritting her teeth, Alyssa held out her arm. The scythe in her hands passed through the chests of all the men who were unfortunate enough to be in the front row. Even with time stopped, she could tell when the light of life left their eyes. Yet they stood upright. It was… supremely disturbing. Disgusting, even. The cankering gnaw in her stomach tightened to the point where she was actually relieved when Bastiel appeared in front of her in a flurry of feathers.

“Query complete.”

Alyssa quickly shifted the scythe, pulling the souls from the tip. Even though there were over a dozen all gathered together at the top, she could feel them separate from each other. At a thought, the souls began compressing themselves down into over a dozen gems. Tucking them safely into her satchel might not seem like the best of ideas with a hostile angel in front of her, but she felt she had to do so if only to help relieve any suffering they might feel because of her actions. She could hardly fight an angel with all those souls clinging to her scythe anyway.

She probably would have tried anyway if Bastiel had been attacking. But she wasn’t. The angel was speaking. Alyssa missed the first part because of her concentration on the souls, but the rest…

“-months prior. Status at the time: Active; Assigned to Nod for restructuring. Current status of Archangel Adrael: Unknown; Assigned to Nod for restructuring. Current location of Archangel Adrael: Unknown. Intended destination of Archangel Adrael: Unknown. Time of loss of contact: Unknown. S - Source Route Failed. Echo reply failure. Further diagnostic of unreachable host will be carried out by the Virtues of the Throne. Report concludes. Is there anything else with whic—”

A twitch in Bastiel’s neck jerked her head to the side as she cut herself off. There was a shift in the angel’s posture that Alyssa took as immediately hostile.

But there was apparently a flaw in Virtues. One that was exploitable.

“Bastiel,” Alyssa said. “Tell me the complete status of Principality Iosefael.”

The angel clenched her jaw tight enough to grind her teeth together. Yet it was almost like she had a dentist hovering over her, prying open that jaw with heavy-duty machinery.

“Q-Q-Que-ry accepted.”

Once again, Bastiel put on a pleasant expression on her face, despite all that clenched teeth from a moment ago. She was the perfect picture of the helpful angel that she had been to Alyssa up until a few minutes ago. If someone had wiped her memory of the last little bit, she wouldn’t have even known that Bastiel was currently an enemy.

Virtues had a flaw. They were too helpful. Completely unable to reject a question. As long as Alyssa didn’t ask about something restricted, she would probably be able to keep this up indefinitely.

There were only ten more sets of cannons. About the same for musketeers, though killing all of them would be… more difficult simply because of how Izsha would have to move for Alyssa to reap their souls. It was probably far kinder to them to simply die. If they wound up in battle, they would likely be killed by sword, which seemed far more… unpleasant to Alyssa. And if they survived that, they would have to try to live through the hell that was hospitals in this world.

Still… best to give the chance to surrender to as many of them as possible. Once all their cannons blew up and half the musketeers collapsed dead where they had been standing… there would hopefully be more than a few surrenders.

Alyssa and Izsha managed to finish and ignite the entirety of the next group of cannons before Bastiel teleported in front of her with a flurry of feathers. It startled her, of course. Bastiel appeared within an arm’s length. She was probably trying to throw Alyssa off guard.

As Bastiel rattled off the status of Iosefael—the Principality was on Earth and all of the hundred or two status reports that apparently were included in Alyssa’s request for ‘complete’ status were stated as being nominal—Alyssa and Izsha raced to the next cannons. This rattle of a report, being much longer than last time, afforded them time to get there and actually start working. Alyssa was hardly listening to the statuses, right up until Bastiel said, “Report concludes.”

Alyssa, smug look on her face, was already ready to ask about Kenziel or maybe just some random name that ended with -el. But Bastiel did not ask if there was anything else that Alyssa needed help with.

“This terminal is now halting requests,” she said with that same polite smile that she had used every time Alyssa had a question that she was happy to answer. “Please direct all further inquiries to alternate Vitrues of the Throne.”

As soon as Bastiel finished talking, her smile dropped. She didn’t look angry. Her face merely went blank. No emotion.

That combined with what she said sent Alyssa’s stomach churning once again. “Bastiel, what is Kenziel’s complete status? And her complete history, from creation to—”

“This terminal is not accepting requests. Currently prioritizing minimization of errors within the Infinite-State Machine. No attempts at information retrieval will be made.”

Alyssa pressed her lips together, chewing the corner of her lip. Bastiel wasn’t attacking. Not yet, anyway. She was staring at the scythe in Alyssa’s hands. Perhaps Adrael’s unknown status was cause for concern after all. Something made Izsha still. Maybe it was the smell of fear, the way Alyssa had abruptly stopped talking, or maybe just her posture, whatever it was, it was enough to communicate the change in status quo. Izsha’s stillness turned to readiness in the blink of an eye, as the draken prepared to flee at the first sign of trouble.

But the way Bastiel was still staring gave Alyssa a new idea. A new chance to try something that might ward off the angel just a little bit.

“I’m an angel, right?”

“Information retrieval—”

“This isn’t information retrieval! I am asking what you know, Virtue Bastiel.”

Bastiel went silent for a long moment. Her stare shifted from the scythe to Alyssa’s face, as if trying to decide based entirely off her looks. Eventually, she nodded. “Error: Undefined Angel Alyssa Meadows last status lookup classified the subject as Error: Undefined Angel.”

“And angels cannot lie, correct? Then when I say that this scythe can be used against angels…” Alyssa trailed off. She shouldn’t need to say more. An information specialist would surely be able to put two and two together.

“Analysis indicates held weapon not a threat to any divine entity.”

“But it is. Because I say so.” Alyssa pressed her lips together as an extension of this thought occurred to her. “In fact, I am authorized by the Throne to carry out my tasks today. Everything, including the errors in Tree Diagram, are as they should be. It is all part of the plan, just a part you are not aware of.”

“Inconceivable.”

“Exactly!” Alyssa snapped her fingers. “You can’t conceive of the true scope of everything the Throne has planned.”

Bastiel opened her mouth for a moment, hesitating but eventually saying, “It is my purpose.”

“Your purpose? To know everything the Throne has planned? You, a mere Virtue, are claiming to be on the level of the Throne? Know your place!” Alyssa spat.

“I— I—”

It seemed to be working, so Alyssa pressed forward before Bastiel could stutter anything more. “Meanwhile, I am an Unknown Angel. You can’t even conceive of what I am! How can you, an Authority, or any other Virtue claim to have dominion over me when you can’t even fit me into your narrow little worldview? How can you say that anything I am doing is the wrong course of action? You can’t account for me. You can’t predict me. I exist outside the hierarchy of angels.”

Bastiel did not respond at all this time. She remained unmoving where she floated. Her mouth was slightly agape and her eyes still tracked Alyssa, but other than that, she did nothing at all.

“Izsha,” Alyssa said, thumb fingering her only other Fractal Mirror spell card. She had half a mind to try it, just to see if Bastiel would ignore an Annihilator if she cast one. But… if Bastiel wasn’t going to do anything at all, it would be best to give the opposing force the opportunity to surrender. Surrender, after all, had likely been the projected outcome of the storm had Alyssa not been knocked from the sky.

That meant it was likely the outcome with the most errors in the black book. At this point, Alyssa wanted to cause as many errors as possible.

“Let’s finish our task,” Alyssa eventually settled on.

Although she said so, it was harder now to keep working. Even more than she had been just ten minutes prior, Alyssa was keeping an eye on Bastiel. At any moment, the angel could logic her way out of the argument. All it really would take, in Alyssa’s opinion, was realization that the only reason Bastiel was calling her an angel and not a mortal was because Alyssa had asked to be seen as an angel. And she had only done so for the convenience of not having to ask questions under the pretense of misunderstanding.

But, of course, Alyssa was a mortal. Complete with mortal agencies. Bastiel was an angel, locked in the programming that forced her to interfere with Alyssa’s initial plan in the first place. Given that Virtues were lower in the hierarchy of angels than Dominions, Alyssa really had to wonder what other Dominions were like. Or even what Tenebrael had been like once upon a time. She had mentioned it upon returning to her proper duties after banishing the Astral Authority, something about not feeling like her usual self. If she had taken too long, would she have reverted back to a rules-following angel hell-bent on removing monsters, magic, and even Alyssa from her world?

And if Bastiel was a typical example of a middle-ranked Second Sphere angel, Alyssa couldn’t even imagine what the First Sphere might be like. They probably couldn’t even speak. Not in any human language, anyway. Alyssa pictured them making that horrid grinding and screeching noise that her grandfather’s computer had made when she was very young.

Imagining them opening their mouths and having that come out made her laugh. Actually laugh. Maybe part of it was her nerves.

Whatever it was, it didn’t disturb Bastiel’s stupor. Alyssa and Izsha finished up not only that group of cannons, but the next four after it as well. Over halfway done. Alyssa tried not to let her guard down, but it was a bit difficult when Bastiel was still hovering clear back at the other group of cannons. The angel hadn’t moved still. If not for her floating above the ground, Alyssa would probably be unable to see her at all.

Though keeping her in sight probably didn’t matter much when the angel could just teleport around.

Alyssa took the opportunity to check her phone and to send a fresh text to Tenebrael, informing the Dominion that she had clearly broken the Virtue.

The second she hit the send button, feathers exploded around her. Black feathers. Wonderful, familiar, black feathers.

Unlike Adrael, Tenebrael suffered no issues related to the altered flow of time. She appeared just out of sight to Alyssa’s side, but moved in front of her before Alyssa could even turn her head. Arms crossed over her chest, Tenebrael did not look like the happiest angel. Though certainly happier than the effectively comatose Bastiel.

“It’s about time,” Tenebrael said. Rolling her eyes, she glanced off into the distance. “Making me skulk about in my own world. Really, trading me for one of those? I thought we were closer than that, Alyssa Meadows.”

“That’s Error, Unknown Angel Alyssa Meadows to you,” Alyssa said in a half-joking tone of voice.

Izsha threw a glance back, but upon not finding any real concern or worry in Alyssa—and getting a small nod of Alyssa’s head that was supposed to convey just that—it apparently decided to continue forward with the plan to screw over the Juno Federation’s siege weapons.

Tenebrael, meanwhile, was just giving Alyssa a strange look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“No idea, but it is what broke Bastiel over there, so I’m not arguing right now.”

“But… what—”

“I don’t know if you should think about it too much either. You might break too. Just go and toss Bastiel into your prison before she snaps back to normal.”

“If I thought that would get rid of the Virtue, I would have done so long ago. Make no mistake, Alyssa Meadows, I have not avoided this angel out of fear. More, out of annoyance.”

“Annoyance,” Alyssa repeated, voice flat. “You’ve been hiding because Bastiel would… annoy you?”

“Not just Bastiel. If I catch the attention of a Virtue, I’m sure they will become very interested in me. As a collective, that is. It has been a long time since I last saw one and I still remember exactly what they’re like. It will follow me around indefinitely. Only stopping once it… well, once it does what I assume this one has done to you. Gotten in your way because you’re messing things up, am I correct?”

“You read my text.”

“Exactly!”

“But I don’t see why you can’t just solve that by tossing her into your prison. She can’t escape, right?”

“This Virtue might not be able to escape, but what of the rest of them?” Tenebrael waved a tired hand. “They all share everything they know with each other. Much like those two with their connected souls. Get rid of one Virtue and another will just pop up to take its place. Probably a much angrier Virtue given what happened to the first. Can’t exactly throw them all into solitary confinement. It isn’t the biggest physical space and was not easy to create. Best to avoid them altogether. Especially because of how closely they work with Authorities. I’ve never actually spoken to one but, from what I know of them, they would be no more pleasant to have around.”

At first, Alyssa was about to call Tenebrael lazy. Surely she could create more prisons if she really needed to. Surely there were a finite number of Virtues out there. To a mortal with limited time like Alyssa, it would be a nearly impossible task, but Tenebrael wasn’t mortal at all. She could spend the next ten thousand years chucking Virtues into little boxes if she needed. It would be annoying, there was no doubt there, but if it got half the angels off her back, it would probably be worth it.

But then she got to thinking about the implications of what Tenebrael said. And, after thinking through those implications, she had just one question. “If they’re all connected by a hive mind, and I broke one of their minds, what happens to the rest?”

“Well… Mhmm…” Tenebrael frowned and put a thumb to her chin.

“Did I just make half of the Endless Expanse lock up like a faulty computer?”

“I…”

“Is that bad? Are other angels going to notice?”

“That’s…”

Alyssa glanced around, expecting comedic timing to manifest with a flurry of feathers from a thousand angels. It didn’t. But now she had a new thing to worry about.

“I want to connect with the Throne directly.”

Tenebrael stared for a long moment. Slowly, she nodded her head. “Having someone else around with true divine power might come in handy. If you think you’re ready… We haven’t used the orb half as much as I wanted—”

“When Bastiel took your power from me, I just about tried to connect then and there on my own. The only thing stopping me was this army. Knowing that more Virtues, or more angels in general, will be interested in me and this world… I don’t think I have time to waste. Let me finish what I am doing now, just in case I… won’t be able to do it later.”

“I understand.” Tenebrael said, nodding slowly. “I will keep an eye on the Virtue…” Her solemn look turned to a small grin. “After consuming the souls you’re carrying, that is.”