Angel Monarch

Sera landed on her room's balcony with disappointment evident on her face. Seated in the living room, Bran immediately saw her standing outside. He went straight to her, concerned.

He stepped outside, and both stayed there silently staring out at the vast city. Bran purposefully stayed quiet, waiting for Sera to begin the conversation.

It took Sera a few more seconds to gather her thoughts. She turned away from the magnificent sight towards Bran with a small smile. He knew the smile was fake, hiding her annoyance and anger, but he always appreciated seeing any emotion on his beloved's face.

"I know you tried to be nice, but before you send my ex to speak with me, at least message me beforehand." Said Sera, then leaned in and gave a small peck on his lips.

Bran grinned and pointed at Sera's watch. "I did sent you a heads-up, but it doesn't matter if you ignore the message!"

Sera checked her watch, then blushed as she read Bran's message. The expression was truly beautiful for her usually emotionless face, causing Bran to lean in and kiss the top of her head.

She just sighed sadly and looked up into Bran's hazel eyes. With one hand on his waist, and the other gently brushing his face, she smiled again. This time there was nothing fake about it, filling Bran with a warm feeling in his chest.

Sadly, her next words weren't something he expected. "We will both need to talk with Bea later…"

Bran snorted as he spoke. "So that's how bad things went. At least I understand why you look so grumpy."

Her smiled brightened a bit, and she playfully punched his arm, which caused to turn numb. Bran remained physically frail since the incident, while Sera's strength always surpassed his.

She giggled as Bran brushed the place she punched, then she leaned in and gave a kiss to the area. Her smile slowly faded though, as she recounted the gist of their conversation.

Afterward, Bran hugged Sera. She embraced him too, and they stayed like that for a few long moments. Bran opened his mouth to speak when a sudden explosion shook the ground.

Their heads snapped towards the castle. They saw as one of the many towers breaking at its base and crumbled over itself. Then another explosion happened, crumbling a second tower.

By this time, Sera already jumped over the railing flying towards the chaos, while Bran ran towards the room's exit, and out into the hallway. That's when he heard the screams.

This part of the building held all the guest rooms. Each one was gigantic, with multiple bedrooms, huge living rooms, kitchens, and dining rooms. All the other ambassadors with their escorts resided nearby, and the screams sounded awfully close.

Bran ran down the corridor towards the closest sound. Rounding a corner, he peered down the hallway. At its end, he saw a tall woman wearing a futuristic armor, fighting against two opponents, each wearing some makeshift armor, and seemingly normal metal swords.

From her gauntlet extended an energy blade, deflecting the incoming swords. Behind her, a few civilians cowered, screaming in fear. Some of them had wounds over their bodies, but none seemed seriously injured. The woman easily repelled the enemy, yet something felt amiss in their fight.

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As Bran ran towards the fighting, he examined each of his foes. It took him a second, but eventually he realized how strangely they moved.

There was calculation behind their strike and considerable synergy between the attacks, but no self-preservation. It was only time the woman's energy blade killed one.

As the thought formed, near instantly, she beheaded a foe, parried another's strike, then killed him too with vertical bisection. By the time Bran arrived, both corpses laid motionless.

The woman heard his footsteps and raised her blue energy blade towards him. Upon seeing Bran, her helmet retracted into her suit, and she rested her weapon by her side, keeping it active.

The woman had dark olive skin. Her short bluish-black hair swam in sweat, while her bright blue eyes scanned the surroundings for threats.

Bran recognized the woman instantly. She was one of the Transcend generals from Pragua. Her job was mostly to protect the council member they sent for the negotiations.

He turned to the half dozen covering civilians, but the councilman wasn't there. Concerned, Bran turned back to the general. Her expression—sadness and anger—betrayed the ambassador and the general's current state. But he required further information for a clearer understanding of the situation.

While walking towards the corpses, and examining them, he asked, "What happened to Councilman Radovan, and the other general?"

He heard her inhale deeply before appearing beside him. "They are dead, as you already guessed. Six of these people appeared right within our room. My friend tried defending Councilman Radovan, even giving his life to save him, but alas, they both died!"

She angrily kicked the dead man's corpse, sending it flying into the nearby wall. It nearly broke from the impact and sent dust raining down on everyone. The few civilians whimpered at the sound of bones breaking.

Bran tried analyzing the situation to the best of his abilities when he heard the sound of fast approaching footsteps. They came from a nearby room's opened door.

He took one glance at the general and quickly realized whose room it was. Four similarly armored individuals ran out towards them. Two wielded longswords, while the other two held pairs of knives. All weapons made with some common, seemingly unremarkable metal.

They ran straight at them, causing the civilians to cry out in terror. Bran summoned a sword and armor similar to what every Angelic Order member wore. She donned her helmet again.

Bran immediately began draining their life, empowering himself as they weakened. Just as they were about to reach them, they came to a sudden halt.

Both he and the general were unsure about the next action. The four assassins just stood there, waiting for something. Confused, Bran glanced to the side, and he finally understood why they stopped.

The two dead assassins were climbing to their feet. One had a badly bent breastplate where the general kicked him, but otherwise he showed no signs of being hurt. The general decapitated one, halved the other; however, all their injuries vanished—regenerated, actually.

Bran started draining those two as well, but the effects of his ability would only show later. For now, they needed to survive.

The general also observed the resurrected pair. Only now did she realize those other four were the ones she previously killed.

When all six were ready, they circled Bran and the general, then eventually moved in to attack. Their coordination was pretty good, and their speed surprised Bran, since they were much faster than him.

The assassins, after a few strikes, largely disregarded Bran, concentrating on the general instead. They battered her from all sides, but with her energy blade, she parried each blow with ease.

Only one enemy stayed on Bran, taking up all his attention. The man swung his sword horizontally. Bran was too weak to deflect or parry the blow and evading proved impossible as well. With all his strength, he blocked the weapon, sending him reeling back.

Following it came a swift second strike. He deflected it, then countered with a punch to the helmet. He took back a staggering step, grunting in annoyance.

Behind Bran, the general gasped in pain, but he couldn't spare a moment to check on her. The man turned more aggressive and angry. His next attack arrived sooner than Bran anticipated.

He parried the blow the best he could. Afterward, he immediately stepped forward, stabbing towards the man's chest. The man easily parried Bran's blade by pushing it to the side. What he didn't realize was that the blow was a faint.

On impact, he transferred the overly strong momentum from his sword to Bran's. He used it to turn and crouch down. His sword whipped out, cutting low at the man's legs.

It seemed spending long days and nights duelling with Sera actually proved useful. His melee fighting improved bounds, even though Sera always beat him with ease. Those duels might've saved his life, since he could've never imagined fighting someone this strong without a greater battle experience.

The man never expected this maneuver, and before he could react, Bran cut his legs out from under him. He fell over like a sack of potatoes, and Bran quickly stabbed his sword through the man's head.

As he died, a sudden wave of energy filled Bran. It was much more than a normal Ascended could've provided. In fact, he believed a weaker Transcended wouldn't have as much life essence.

A small laugh escaped Bran's lips as he realized why this was the case. He planned on removing the man's helmet, but before that, he heard a muffled cry from behind him.

His head snapped around quickly. The general was barely holding back the five assassins. Multiple wound already bled through her futuristic armor, and they weren't healing for some reason.

Bran glanced down at his hand, where a large amount of black energy condensed. A grin spread across his face as he moved in to help the general.