Angel Monarch

Bran stepped behind the closest assassin, a woman wielding dual daggers. Black energy consumed his right hand, and with one swift move, he grabbed onto the woman's helmet.

The energy immediately began consuming her life essence, and in less than a second, she fell over, dead. She tried to scream, but just as her mouth opened, her life ended.

Four others remained unaware; this proved disastrous, as the woman's absorbed power made Bran strong enough to easily kill them.

Two defended against the general, while the other two attacked from her blind spots. They were in mid swing when a strange feeling came over their body. All four felt unnaturally weak.

Their heads snapped to Bran, who was grinning wide. Both his hands consumed by dark energy, he pointed towards them.

Four lines of pure energy went out, hitting each in the chest, killing them on the spot. But they didn't just die, their whole body shriveled up. Then, as they toppled over, dust clouds rose from the armors… The only remnant of their bodies…

The four individuals' life essence entered his body too, empowering him even further. The general coughed as she walked out of the dust cloud.

"I guess…" said the woman between coughs. "I guess I understand why the Deathless Phoenix keeps you around… What do you think? Will they resurrect from this much destruction?"

Bran looked around at the six armored piles of dust. Their weapons and armor weren't Items it seemed, so they stayed where they fell.

He couched down and held one hand above a pile. Bran closed his eyes and concentrated on the dead remnants. No life, not even a single cell, remained within the piles.

"I don't think so…" said Bran. "I feel nothing living there, but I'm not sure if they need a part of their bodies to stay intact for resurrection, or they only need their soul staying alive… But I think we need not find out, let's bring these civilians to safety before we do anything else!"

The general nodded and walked up to the six terrified individuals. She said a couple of hushed words, then they all walked down the hallway, towards the sound of destructions.

While heading towards the elevators and stairs, they checked each room, and sadly, they found more dead ambassadors.

Pragua wasn't the only one who lost their leaders. The Transcended Councilman from Wien died in his bed. Kiev's dictator and Edinburg's President also died in their own rooms.

They also found quite a few of dead guards and civilians who worked within the castle. A few of the six rescued civilians vomited as they went past them.

Bran ignored all of this and continued to scan the surroundings with his power. He sensed hundreds nearby, yet each minute fewer remained. The assassins' count remained unknown, which wasn't ideal, but with no other choice, they pushed on ahead.

The general stayed ahead in case of surprise attacks. Her wounds still hadn't healed, but they weren't enough to impede her movements.

A short corridor remained before the elevators; however, a turn revealed three armed assassins in waiting. Bran raised his arms to blast them away, but just as his black energy appeared, they ran away.

They didn't run after them, and instead slowly followed in their footsteps. Bran had already marked them and began draining their life essence.

He also felt their presence mingle with about a dozen others. They all waited inside the elevator hall. Running past them was out of the options with six civilians in tow.

They halted short of the corridor's last curve. The general saw the concern in Bran's eyes and went on high alert.

"What is it?" asked the general, near silently. Bran took a deep breath, then whispered, "I sense sixteen other assassins in the elevator room!"

The general's eyes widened, and she became thoughtful for a few seconds. Her eyes kept jumping between the six terrified civilians and the bend in the corridor. She was deciding if helping them was worth it.

Eventually, her posture crumbled, and a deep sigh left her nose. She turned back towards Bran with a serious expression. Her decision of staying was obvious, and Bran was glad she didn't run off.

"Do you have a plan?" She asked, while checking over her armor and weapons.

"I have, but it's not the best. I can kill all of them. I just need a distraction for a few seconds… At least a few seconds. I'm not sure of the exact count… What's your transformation? Could it help?"

The woman's stoic expression finally broke as a wide smile spread across her face. "Oh, it sure can. I'll buy you time. Just make sure you follow through!"

She didn't explain anything else, but since the general was confident, he didn't question her either. They gently herded the civilians into a nearby janitor's closet, where they would wait for them to return.

Afterward, they slowly walked into the last small hallway before the elevator room. The hall containing the elevators and staircase extended much further than either the corridors or apartments. It stretched a dozen or so meters upward, and a few hundred people could fit inside easily.

The sixteen assassins stood in the middle, facing them. As they walked towards their foes, Bran couldn't help but question their living status.

He felt each of their life essence constantly draining it. However, living and experiencing life as a sentient being were not identical. Even though they showed all the signs of a living human, none looked truly alive.

They all seemed like husks of humans, once sentient, but now useless puppets. Bran wasn't even certain they had any control or themselves.

He understood Harold's capacity for cruelty; these assassins, he was sure, were Harold's. He probably uses them as weapons, not caring for their consent or suffering.

The general stepped inside the room first, and her body immediately changed. A heavier dark blue armor grew out of her previous one. Her height increased to four, maybe five meters tall. In one hand she held a gigantic tower shield, and in the other a long blue energy greatsword.

As Bran stared at the woman's transformed self, he instantly understood why she didn't transform in the corridor. Her physical prowess and defenses may have increased, but she also became a much larger target.

Size mattered little if she wanted to distract her opponents, but was decisive in smaller scale battles. This height was taller than the ceiling inside the hallways, impeding her battle performance greatly.

This vast hall favored her larger form. She could tower over her opponents, and as they laid eyes upon her, all sixteen husk-like humans went on high alert as she sprinted towards them.

Bran saw her swing with the enormous energy greatsword, sending her enemies reeling back. It didn't hit anybody, but her plan wasn't to kill them all. She just needed to buy time for Bran.

He momentarily fixed his gaze upon the general. Only after making sure she could hold them back long enough did he start collecting all the essence within himself.

They flowed through his veins, exiting into his palms. He kept his hands together, condensing the black energy more and more.

Around him, the surrounding plants withered and turned to dust. Even passively, the condensed life essence brought death to everything in close proximity.

The energy he took from the six assassins fueled even more killing. The sphere of darkness grew in both size and depth. Even staring at it could've caused normal people to die.

Bran was luckily immune to his own power, so he couldn't die from it. The large energy flow still wasn't comfortable, and it hurt a bit, but he was almost ready.

The black energy sphere was nearly a meter in diameter. He was ready, but before using it, he needed the general to clear some space around herself.

Currently, she defended each blow with her tower shield, while tried to increase the distance between herself and the husks.

"CLEAR OUT!" shouted Bran, and the general acted as quickly as she could.

She punched her tower shield on the ground, then jumped back near immediately. Everyone around her needed to back away, so they wouldn't get hit. Just as a small space appeared the general and the assassins, Bran shot the sphere towards the ceiling.

It flew for a dozen meters in an angle, stopping right above the sixteen husks. The black sphere darkened and deepened. It turned more unstable with each passed moment until it couldn't hold itself together anymore.

One second was all it took for the sphere to explode and send tendrils of dark energy in each direction. Each husk got hit by one, turning them to dust instantly.

A few nearly hit the general as well, but her shield proved strong enough to withstand the overcharged energy waves.

Bran took a deep breath, then screamed in agony as all the sixteen dead husk's essence entered his body at once. He felt all that energy coursing through his veins, consuming his own soul from the overload.

Following the last wave's repulse by her shield, the general ran to him. Bran took shallow, uneven breaths, and with her help, he climbed to his feet.

"What's wrong?" she asked, but Bran couldn't even speak from the constant pain consuming his soul and body.

To elevate the pain, he tried expanding his essence senses, and that's when he began to realize how much boost his power had received. A painful laugh escaped his lips as he straightened up.

The general looked at him with a raised eyebrow and badly hidden concern, but Bran just grinned. "What's wrong? Nothing's wrong!… Now if you'll excuse me, I have some pest controlling to do!"

With that, Bran sat down on the ground cross-legged and began to concentrate.