High above Edeortha, the floating continent of Palu'Angit watches the world. The hundred year old home of the Sky Kildera brought about by the Wrath of Gods that marked the end of the thousand year war. Its terrain, compared to Yanbaka and Pyo'ah, is mountainous with only plateaus and valleys present as flat lands. In the very center of this continent is a massive mountain that extends beyond the clouds. How the floating continent became like this after the disaster is a mystery that boggles even the most learned scholars, especially since its size is nearly a quarter of the supercontinent a century ago.

At the peak of the highest mountain sits the capital of Palu'Angit, Asora, where the Sky Queen, Ethra Devai, watches and guides her people towards a world of everlasting prosperity. Asora is a city of 2 million angels, apart from the humans and demons who have migrated here, and the only way to reach the city is to ride a flying mount. These mounts could be anything from birds to magical beasts as long as they are tamed and able to lift at least one passenger.

If one looks at the architecture of the continent, one will immediately see it. All of the buildings in Palu'Angit were towers. The residential areas, the market areas, even the military areas are filled with towers. Upon the highest peak, the Sky Tower is home to Palu'Angit's royalty. A pure white structure with intricate silver designs. On the highest balcony, an auburn haired angel watches the citizens down below. It was Ethra.

"Milady, the meal has been prepared." A bowing servant nearby spoke. Even as a servant, one cannot think so because they are all beautiful, too beautiful. Ethra turned to face the servant emitting a goddess-like aura, "Yes, I will be here for a while longer." and affirmed the servant. The servant straightened, and left the Sky Queen alone. Ethra was deep in thought, and whatever it was, one had no way of finding out. After staring at the cloudy horizon, she left the balcony and headed towards the dining hall.

Walking down a short corridor, she arrived at a large pit. She extended her wings and took flight to two floors below. Her wings fluttered, her hair floated. Angelic beauty comparable to the Cross Ark, Shamira. Arriving at her destination, a Sky Knight opened the door to the dining hall.

She walked all the way to the other end of a long table with servants bowing down as she passed. Having reached the other end, she sat down to receive her meal. Contrary to what one may expect from royalty, her meal wasn't lavish but very simple. A plate of meat, a loaf of bread, and a bowl of vegetable stew. Ethra made it a point to be served with the same food as the others to show that even if she was their Queen, she was still the same as everyone else: mere mortals.

Having taken her seat, she sliced a small piece of meat together with a slice of the bread. However, she paused right before the food entered her mouth, and suddenly summoned her spear as she stood up. 'This silence...' she noticed the sudden silence in her surroundings and prepared for any danger. Looking around her, the servants from before disappeared. The wind also has gone silent. Figuring that even the guards will be of no help, she focused her attention towards her surroundings until...

"Greetings, Princess." A voice came from behind, "Or, should I say, Queen?"

Ethra spun around and swung her spear towards the source. However, with a clang, her attack was blocked by a scythe. "Easy there." The source of the voice came from a young man wrapped in pitch black bandages with only his grin bears visible to others. Even the scythe he wielded was pitch black that even light becomes lost in its void like color. Ethra stared at the youth before her, "Who are you?" and asked.

The youth's grin, although unnoticeable, somewhat frowned. "Oh dear, it only took you a century to forget about me? Naughty little girl. I can't believe that you forgot about me yet you still remember that man." The youth grasped his heart and spoke sarcastically, "Ah, I am heartbroken. Then again, what about my voice? I refuse to believe you absolutely forgot about me." Ethra thought back to the past while she watched the youth's movements lest she drops her guard, losing her life.

After a minute, the youth spoke again, "No bells ringing? Saddening." he then placed a hand on the bandages on his head, "If not the voice, then maybe my face." Bit by bit, he unbounded himself from the bandages. Little by little, pale white skin appeared until his face was fully revealed. As Ethra watched, her face changed. From wonder to realization to fear. Seeing this, the youth laughed manically, "Hahaha! Now, you remember!" an evil, bloodthirsty, and manic grin flashed on his face as his muscles twitched and cramped. He appeared no more than twenty years old, had white hair, and a pair of blood red eyes that reminds one of a coldblooded killer.

Ethra subconsciously took a step back and bumped the dining table making the tableware clatter as they shook. "You..." a voice mixed with fear and disbelief left her lips, "You're dead! How!? How are you able to be here!?" Ethra screamed. Even with a voice as loud as thunder, silence still permeated the surroundings.

The youth then approached the shivering Sky Queen. Little by little, a dark aura spread out and enclosed the two in a dark cage. Ethra watched in disbelief once more, "Dark Fate!?" and realized what this dark aura was. The youth's grin curved up like a pervert drunk with darkness. Arriving with his face just an inch before Ethra's face, "I have to thank him for giving me such a wonderful power." and spoke before going closer to her ear, "Tell him that... I'm back~" to whisper before disappearing with the darkness.

Ethra slumped down to the floor, ignoring the discomfort on her wings, and grasped her shoulders as she shuddered. For a while, nothing else happened, except for a name that left her lips.

"Azrael..."

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After an hour of running, boosted by mana, Cavaron arrived at the edge of Kalbata Forest. He was about to enter the forest when a chill ran down his spine, making him release Mana Pulse on instinct. 'Nothing?' He hasn't detected anything out of the ordinary aside from the flora and fauna of the forest. However, he trusted his past experiences and pulled out his swords while loading them with Mana Blades as a precaution. After doing so, he proceeded to advance towards the earthen house.

In just a few minutes, he reached the clearing where the earthen house was erected. Avani noticed the arrival of Cavaron but immediately.became alarmed at his drawn weapons. "Child, is something the matter?" She asked him. Cavaron was constantly emitting Mana Pulse at regular intervals, and this was felt by Tirta since she also emerged from the forest with a worried expression.

Without looking at the two elementals, "Did anything happen while I was gone?" he asked them. Avani and Tirta looked at each other then back at Cavaron, "Nope, nothing much, Cavvy." Tirta answered. Cavaron waited for a while longer before diffusing the Mana Blades and sheathing his swords. Avani, being a motherly elemental, couldn't help but inquire, "Did something bad happen? Should I increase the golems?" Cavaron glanced at her, "Hm, might just be me, but... I can't get this bad feeling off my chest. Yeah, increase security a bit just to make sure that nothing's wrong."

Avani silently summoned four more golems. This time, instead of wood, they were made of solid rock, and were more robust and powerful standing at a height of 7 feet tall. She decided to use these instead of the wood golems since it was rare for her to see Cavaron so alarmed. Tirta, having no abilities similar to golem making, stood there in silence and left it to Avani not without looking at Cavaron with worry. Cavaron released another Mana Pulse outside of the regular interval just to be safe, suddenly summoned the blood and mana swords, "Aimi! Get down here now!" and cried.

Right after he cried out for Aimi, a fireball smashed against the roof of the earthen house. The fireball burnt the roof black and was able to destroy.a.part of it. Aimi ran out of the house screaming and bumped into Avani who caught her. The Azursa, Aomi, emerged from the forest upon hearing Aimi's scream and ran all the way up to her shoulders. Seeing that Aimi got out, Cavaron ripped open space, pulled out a shortbow and a quiver of arrows, and gave them to Aimi. Aimi panicked upon receiving the shortbow and quiver, and asked out loud, "What's happening!?"

Cavaron's, whose focus was at their surroundings, answered without looking, "Combat Crash Course!" with a loud voice, "Time to see how you handle these abrupt situations. Never mind your magic proficiency for now, and just remember the time with the golems!" Cavaron kept releasing Mana Pulse and noticed the growing number of enemies in the 1 kilometer radius. "Shit! What the fuck is Gulfried doing!? I can detect over 7000 unnatural entities in the area!" The good thing about Mana Pulse was its range, the bad thing was it cannot pinpoint the locations. 5000 plus in a 1 kilometer radius, one cannot know if they were on the ground, underground, or in the air. Cavaron also used Mana Sight to look for them.

Aimi, hearing the amount and seeing the actions of Cavaron, slumped to the ground. "I don't want to die!" making Cavaron bellow, "You will not die! None of my juniors have died, and you will not become the first one!" Tears were already falling from Aimi's face. Burkhard had already deployed Aegis in anticipation of any attack. Tirta suddenly appeared with a Water Whip, and Avani summoned an additional golem together with the four wood golems and four rock golems. This final golem was different, it was dark green in color and exhuded an aura of absolute power. It was also bigger than the rock golems at 8 feet tall and 5 feet wide.

Cavaron saw this and revealed a smirk, "Heh, Avani, why don't you give me some Adamantium just to enhance some of my equipment? That thing's hard to find yet you can create it on the spot." Avani replied with a frown, "Unless you want me to run out of mana, then sure, why not?" and said so sarcastically. Cavaron spun his mana blade and said back to her, "Why not? We're on a mana well, abuse it to your heart's content!"

Adamantium, a fantastical material sought out by many. Be it blacksmiths, magesmiths, alchemists, or scholars, such a precious material can be easily made by the Lady of the Earth, Avani, with the right conditions.

After a few more minutes, Cavaron finally caught sight of the enemy. "Azuals." Cavaron voiced out his discovery, "Enemies all around us, 360 degrees. Not even sure if there are underground nor are there in the skies. Maintain high alert at all times!" With his command, it became the signal for the Azual in the forest to attack.

"Kill all who stand in the way of our road to supremacy!" An Azual cried out. Dozens of hybrids brandishing crude weapons and deadly body parts charged forth and immediately clashed with Avani's golems. The wood golems all took on the form of the tailed golem that Aimi sparred with last, and used their agility to target the slower Azual. Tirta used her abilities to slow down the faster Azuals with her Water Whip and Avani's melded magic, Swamp Field, leaving them to be easy pickings for the stronger rock golems. The gigantic adamantium golem smashed through the enemy formation and wreaked havoc whether by stomping, kicking, grabbing, and flinging.

At the moment, the Azual in the forest were unable to penetrate the wall of golems. That is, until the airborne Azual arrived and started to launch magical attacks down below. "Damn! Incoming airborne assault!" Cavaron yelled as he launched one Mana Blade projectile after another dropping the intended targets. However, the sheer number of Azual on the ground and in the air divided Cavaron's group into two. 'I don't mind being the one on the offensive, but I really hate being forced on the defensive.' Cavaron thought about the current situation, and noticed Aimi's lack of action, "Aimi! Fight back, why don't you!?"

Aimi shuddered on the ground as she looked at Cavaron, "I-I-I..." and stuttered. This forced Cavaron to retreat back beside her, "If you don't fight back, chances are, you won't live to see another day!" and shout at her face, "I experienced the same things as you. I also wasn't able to fight, but when I realized that enemies like these don't care, I changed my views and fought back! If the enemy before you only sees your death, then make sure as hell that they won't see it happen! Now, get up and fight!"

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Adamantium. Free adamantium.

Wasn't expecting this chapter to turn out like it did. The wonders of writing~

The angel of death descends.