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_New chapter time! The battle of the Sacred Mines continues; the girls smash stuff, and much more. I hope you enjoy the ride, and as always, comments are welcome. Remember: comments are fuel for an author. Let your favorite authors know what you think, it is the best form of thank you. _

_New armies of demons flood the expanses of Heaven without respite. New hordes of clones continuously replace the lost Paladins. Heaven burns and cowers in front of _

*Chapter 71 - The Forever War *

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Ira flexed her powerful legs and squeezed the flanks of Veronika, easily guiding her into a turn to the left without touching the reins, her arm outstretched and holding up her enormous longbow as she nocked a massive, spear-like arrow of bright, crackling energy and took aim at a thick group of Paladins working around a twin-barreled anti-aircraft gun. Her eye scanned the group and easily found the one clone sitting in the gun turret's seat, his eyes forced open wide by metallic hooks, cables connected directly to the back of his skull, wired into his mixed computer and gray matter brain... A brain and the senses of an enhanced warrior are still better than any completely-AI and synthetic sensors system...

She snorted as she fired the massive arrow, her eye blinking and reopening just as the Paladin seemed to burst apart in a splatter of crimson matter, the huge dart nailing him to the seat and tearing it off the gun, sending it crashing eighty feet backwards, running other clones over like they were pins while the entire artillery piece tipped over with the tremendous force of the impact.

The arrow exploded in a massive blast of white light, throwing shreds of flesh and maimed bodies high into the sky, and Ira was already nocking another arrow, grunting as a flurry of grenades exploded in midair around Veronika, showering both of them with shrapnel that bounced off their hardened scales leaving only scratches. A high-pitched wail assaulted her powerful senses next, however, and she guided her dragoness in a narrow spin to the left followed by a dive as an enormous electrified dart tore through the sky where they had been a moment before. The massive railgun emplacement that had fired it was already trailing its gun to follow Veronika's course, but the dragoness was faster and charged forwards with a powerful beat of her vast wings, her massive paws crushing two paladins into red splatters as the beast barreled forwards, using her armored mass to smash through a line of lancers, sending bodies flying backwards in pieces and then snapping down her head with a roar, a hurricane of hellfire exploding out of her deadly jaws to crush the railgun into a warped, contorted wreck, melting metal and flesh, weapons and bodies like they were made of butter.

Executioners carrying enormous two-hand axes charged from the flanks, ready to hack into the dragoness's exposed sides, but Ira let loose another massive arrow, nailing two of the enormous angels back-to-front and sending both crashing backwards into the swarming group of their comrades before the dart exploded, sending a great wave of blood into the air just as Veronika snarled and smashed her heavy paws out, tearing Paladins into shreds and crushing an Executioner into a ugly stain on the marble stairs, shattering several of the steps and leaving a bloodied crater in their place. Ira spurred on her dragoness, and Veronika stomped and clawed her way up the monumental stairs, folding her enormous wings and dropping down her horned head instead, goring an Executioner as it charged with his axe raised to strike at her neck. The dragoness hurled the torn-apart corpse away with an irritable jerk of her head, before she dropped her head again and struck sideways, using her enormous horns to smash angels flying back into pieces, tearing open a space that she immediately exploited by opening her jaws once more, blasting a vortex of hellfire up the stairs and burning a battlemage and his escorts into nothing but ashes.

Ira fired one last arrow before dropping the bow to draw Arctica out instead, leaning out over the side of Veronika to slash the long, agile Katana down through an Executioner's head, torso and crotch, tearing him in two halves like it was made of paper, grinning predatorily as Veronika whip-lashed her heavy, enormous tail hard to the side, smashing it down into a charging group of Paladins, crushing three like flies and sending the others crashing down the immense staircase. Ira saw a couple of the clones dodging the assault and charging forwards again, their great cleaver swords biting into Veronika's tail and causing the dragoness to roar in pain and rage, but before she could react they were both fried by a meteor of draconic flame as the other Knights rushed down from the sky, the enormous beasts snapping their jaws down and catching Paladins like tender morsels, ripping them apart and throwing the pieces up into the air before swallowing them whole.

The cobra goddess grinned and raised her arm, pointing Arctica ahead to order the charge as the whole first Cohort joined her, the dragons clawing and smashing their ways up the monumental staircase that led to the entrance to the tunnels. The Sacred Mines, after all, were revered as a chest that contained the most precious of all substances, the Godblood, thought to be solidified blood spilled by God himself in the primordial wars that had seen him victorious and owner of that corner of the universe. It was the gigantic conflict that had seen Elelyon driving away or destroying hostile gods; that had seen Typhon defeated and kneeling in submission; that had seen the divine allies of Elelyon becoming the Council of the 7 Gods. That war had come before the creation of the world as Ira knew it: Elelyon had only breathed life upon the Mortal Plane and given shape to Hell and Heaven after winning that clash of titans. Unsurprisingly, the Sacred Mines were a revered holy location, and the entrance to the mines was a colossal temple, as ancient as Heaven. An entire flank of the mountain had been reshaped by the hard work of crowds of worshippers that had spent Eons digging, chiseling, and decorating: the staircase alone, which climbed for miles up the side of the mountain, was said to have required several thousand years of dedication and hard work.

The temple had never been finished, simply because worshippers continuously came up with new ideas for new chapels and new rooms that were then slowly dug and chiseled inside the hard granite and lodestone. Many had died during the enterprise, and many more would have mutilated or killed themselves hadn't Elelyon himself eventually begged them all to stop that unrequested act of worship, which had always embarrassed and pained him more than it had pleased him.

Besides, the Sacred Mines were needed for their precious content as the wars against dissident angels began... and when those angels turned Hell into not just the polar opposite of Heaven but into an hostile kingdom, the armies of Heaven had reclaimed access to the amazing half-crystal, half-metal that enabled the forging of indestructible armor sets and of blades that could easily chop other swords like they were blades of grass. The whole place had turned into a factory of war hidden behind the glorious and shiny façade of the temple, and the worshippers had progressively been driven away, until the whole site, and then the whole Seventh Heaven, had become a no-access zone, reserved to the Gods and to the most senior and faithful of the Arkangels and Seraphims.

That evolution of the events had saddened Elelyon immensely, and he had started to absolutely hate the entire place, which he felt was a reminder of his failures as Father of All. A reminder of how he had failed to keep the peace and the harmony in his family; a reminder of how Heaven and Hell had become enemies, instead of carrying on as the two sides of the same medal, the two main gears of the mechanism he had intended to create.

Remembering God's sadness and the hate he reserved to that place made Ira's job easier as she led the destructive charge of the first cohort up the stairs, the dragons crumbling the steps under their mass and leaving behind a nightmarish landscape of crumbled stone and maimed, crushed bodies, the blood streaking down thickly towards the distant valley far below.

The muscular goddess pumped energy into the blade of Arctica, grinning as the icy sapphire glow of the katana became more intense, ethereal flames dancing around it before she playfully blew on the sword and sent a vicious, freezing wind roaring through the ranks of paladins forming shield walls in her path, their movements immediately slowing down until they were turned into blocks of ice, hard but brittle, which exploded into fragments as the enormous dragons eagerly barreled through, climbing towards the top of the stairs.

Ira looked up with a snarl as a shout of warning came from one of her Seraphims, the goddess turning around on instinct and slashing Arctica up to meet an enormous, heavy cleaver sword that hammered down against her with enough force to bend her arm, making her grunt in surprise as she dug her boots into the stirrups and pushed back with all her monstrous strength, huge bicep bulging explosively as she slapped the enemy backwards.

The massive figure flapped two pairs of glowing white wings and easily stopped his unwanted motion, pulling up an enormous revolver and blasting a series of shots against the cobra, forcing Ira to flick her wrist rapidly, swinging the thin but formidable blade of Arctica into the trajectories, smashing the large shells out of course and sending the crumpled, useless chunks of metal tumbling on the ground. The huge male recoiled in surprise at her speed and prowess but immediately stabbed his cleaver hard forwards, roaring from under his fully enclosed helmet, his wings beating hard to propel him forwards with such force and speed that a ripple went through the air. Ira gritted her fangs at the sight of the Arkangel, hating the fact that so many still followed the Council's orders, even though they had been so evidently betrayed by the Ruling Prince they had sworn to protect; she twisted around in the saddle and lashed out her massive fist, hitting the flat of the blade and knocking it wide past her hip, just as the chains of Lust and Discipline shot forth from around her forearms, wrapping like snakes around the massive cleaver and allowing her to drag it forwards.

The Arkangel snarled in a mix of confusion, fear and rage as the goddess leaned forwards with a teasing smirk, one finger sensually tracing down the front of his silvery helmet while the cobra's eyes glowed an enchanting emerald, her voice sultry and irresistible as she asked: "You do not really want to fight me, do you...?"

The Arkangel trembled violently, then the tension in his muscles vanished and he quietly replied: "N-no, Mistress... I could never... never. What are your orders, Mistress?"

Ira smirked and gave a little nod of appreciation before gripping his masked face, pushing him easily away as she said: "Hit the clones. Slay those abominations, together with your Mistress."

The heavily armoured Arkangel needed no further encouragement, promptly turning around to face those that had been his allies and snarling as he charged into their ranks, swinging his cleaver out in a hard cut and sending bodies flying all around him, while Ira turned her attention to the side as more Arkangels assaulted her Seraphims, two of the massive males standing on top of a dragon and slamming their heavy weapons down against the Seraphim in the saddle, crushing her down until her back leaned into the spine of her mount.

Ira needed no eye contact, no words, no effort, as her eyes continued to glow an intense emerald and her domination radiated from her with incredible force, washing over them and crushing them into slavish submission, the mighty warriors turning against the clones and hacking them to bits, allowing the Seraphim to straighten and pull up a fist to slam it against her heart, smiling as she offered Ira her thanks and the reaffirmation of her loyalty. The cobra nodded slightly in acceptance, but her attention shifted immediately back to the horde of clones and beasts surrounding them, her eyes glowing as her domination began to fry even the circuits of the computer devices within the clone's spines, sending many of them revolting against their peers in a messy, confused fight.

As Veronika leapt past the last few meters to smash all her mass down upon a group of spearmen, skidding forwards on the splendid marbles and grinding two Paladins into pulp under her massive paws, Ira turned to the side to whip-lash her chains into a group of Executors, the metallic links overheating and cutting through metal and stone and flesh with the same tremendous ease, ripping a glowing wound in the floor of the temple and sending severed limbs scattering in every direction.

A twin cannon trailed its long barrels towards Veronika and began firing, the grenades smashing in the dragoness's flanks and making her roar in rage as she turned around and lashed her powerful paw out, crushing an Executioner against a gigantic marble column, and Ira immediately stood up in the stirrups and swung her arm down, sending her deadly chains snapping around the cannon and around the Paladin strapped inside the seat, before she yanked backwards hard, grinning as the clone was shredded into pieces of crumpled metal and maimed flesh while the gun turret spun wildly in the opposite direction while the guns continued spewing out rounds, sending the grenades exploding in the midst of the armada of paladins. The explosions tore apart a line of lancers and sent bodies flying in every direction, just as the other two Cohorts of the legion came diving down from the sky, rushing in from the opposite sides and vomiting vortexes of hellfire over the vast square in front of the temple's entrance, the dragons crossing paths before spinning around gracefully, dominating the battlefield from above, firing meteors of fire while the Seraphims on the saddles sent massive arrows tearing through the survivors stumbling between the enormous walls of flames.

Ira led the first cohort through the carnage, the roaring fires and the thick smoke, spurring Veronika onwards as she nervously surveyed the top of the cliffs on either side of the long, monumental entrance. The square, with its incredible floor of marbles of multiple colors arranged in complex drawings and symbols, was walled in on either side by tall, imposing walls of dark stone. The whole space had been slowly carved open in the solid rocks by the work of uncountable worshippers, and now it was like a supernatural corridor leading towards the immense forest of columns that casted their shadow upon the temple's entrance. She gazed curiously at the titanic statues that stood silent guard at the front of each row of columns, feeling intimidated by their massive size, as they towered hundreds of feet above the rising smoke and dust clouds. The statues were grouped in pairs, one immense figure crouching at the front and holding onto the pole of massive, titanic two-headed battle axes and another immense warrior standing tall just behind, hands holding the top edge of vast rectangular shields richly decorated with rows upon rows of statues of demons, angels, mortal warriors and elements of nature, from trees to flowers.

The statues were filled with energy, and Ira could feel their tremendous force radiating in waves in the air around her, and that made them very dangerous... and no one was sure how they were going to react to the temple being attacked. Will they be able to tell that we are the good guys...? Will they just continue to sleep...?

_ _

In that moment she perceived the ripple of energies shifting in the sky above and guessed the opening of portals before it actually happened, the goddess's eyes widening as massive, unknown beasts flew out of the vortexes, each carried by powerful wings of lucid silvery metal and shaped like a massive, muscular feral lion, but with deadly beaks of dark metal and thick, crocodile-like tails. Ira made a grimace at the sight, turning around in the saddle to study the newcomers, unsurprised to discover that they were factory build hybrids, mostly composed of steel, synthetic muscle and thickly armoured machinery. On their backs rode couples of warriors on separate saddles, an archer in the back and a knight holding the reins and an electrified spear in the front seat.

The Council's knights rushed out of the portals and charged into the two cohorts of dragons hovering above the canyons, and a furious, messy battle began, the gryphons opening their beaks and blasting out beams of silvery energy, hitting several dragons before the Seraphims began to respond, the dragons spitting enormous meteors of fire and then charging forth to smash their enormous talons into the flanks of the mechanical lions. Ira saw a dragon spiraling down from the sky, one wing ripped completely apart and turned into a smoldering stump of maimed flesh, and another dragon crash-landed on the marble with a groan of agony, blood spilling out in a fearsome cascade from his blown-apart chest, the Seraphim in the saddle standing up and turning around to fire arrow after arrow at the knights that continued to pour out of the vortexes... And then another dragon flew right above Ira, his saddle empty and stained with blood as the beast let out a howl of fury and sorrow at being robbed of his mistress and friend. Ira watched in silent shock as the dragon charged into the nearest gryphon, ignoring the spear that was stabbed right into his chest to instead smash his deadly talons into the mechanical lion, gripping and cutting and digging into flesh and machinery to tear large chunks out while biting the archer in half like it was made of chocolate.

Another gryphon fell to the ground and crashed with a shriek of agony, its wings gone and its body consumed by roaring flames, and yet another spun wildly out of control before crashing into the cliff on the left side of the canyon, seeming to explode into a red mist with the violence of the impact.

The sky was suddenly full of vicious brawls and confused tangles of massive bodies, fireballs and arrows and blasts of energy tearing the very air apart and explosions projecting their sinister light upon the battlefield beneath, and Ira could only put her confidence in the expert officers she had chosen to lead the other two cohorts. She pulled on the reins of Veronika as she spotted a trio of gryphon knights that dived down and charged straight at her, the dragoness immediately responding by rearing up on her hind legs and spreading her enormous wings, beating them once to shoot into the sky like a rocket, just as three beams of silvery energy crashed into the marble in the spot she had occupied a moment before.

The resulting explosion almost threw Ira off the saddle with the force of the shockwave, but the goddess only grunted and flexed her long, powerful legs, gritting her fangs with the effort of holding in place as Veronika flipped over and then spun to change heading, charging right against the assaulters. The dragoness roared and blasted out a massive fireball, but the gryphon knights broke formation with a well-rehearsed maneuver, one climbing higher into the sky and the other two shooting outwards on either side, making ample turns to assault the flanks, as the archers on the back of each beast hurled darts that crackled with electricity.

Veronika folded her wings and dropped a hundred feet in the space of a blink, two of the arrows hissing uselessly above her while Ira stood up in the stirrups and slapped the third out of course with an angry swath of Arctica, the goddess flicking her wrist and sending her chain-whips snapping through the sky to tear into the roots of the wings of the gryphon on the right, the overheated, sharp links cutting through metal like they would through butter and chopping both wings off when the cobra jerked her arm back, a grin spreading on her lips as the mechanical lion fell towards the ground like a stone, going into an uncontrollable spin.

Veronika veered sharply to the side and roared as she smashed into the other gryphon, the lion-bodied creature rearing up and clashing in ferocious talon-to-talon combat with the dragoness while the knight on its back stabbed his heavy spears towards Ira, grunting as the muscular goddess caught the weapon by the pole and forced its tip down so that the rear lashed violently up into the angel's helmet, blood leaking out from under the fully enclosed piece of lucid steel.

The archer behind stood up in the stirrups and fired a long dart, but Ira only snorted in contempt as the tip shattered on impact and the long shaft exploded into motes of energy, dissolving and leaving only a thin cut on her cheek as she jackknifed over Veronika's head and smashed her high heels down into the lion-beast's skull, crumpling the thick metal like paper as blood and oils squirted out of the ugly wound. The knife recoiled in his saddle but immediately drew out a massive two-edged sword, swinging it hard against the cobra, who arched her spine and dropped flat on her back, sliding down the gryphon's spine to slam both of her boots into the angel's chest, crushing it inwards along with the heavy armor he wore.

The knight crashed back into the archer and both fell off their mount, spinning once in midair before deploying their own wings, only to be hit by a sphere of focused energy hurled by Ira, the massive explosion ripping both into tiny shreds of blackened Godblood and pulped gore.

Ira spun Arctica and stabbed it down into the spine of the trashing gryphon, gritting her fangs as she pushed the blade down with her bodyweight and the momentum of her free fall, neatly chopping the beast in half until the sword tore out of the mix of machinery and flesh and Veronika tossed the two halves away before lunging towards another fight.

The cobra allowed herself to fall like a stone for a few more feet, then swung her arm out and snapped her chains out, hook-blades at the end spinning around the third gryphon and seizing into his potent chest, his shoulders, his wings, his throat as her six wings exploded into being with a flash of light and beat once to propel her past the beast. The chains arched high into the air, then tensed and tore through steel and flesh while yanking the gryphon through the sky, hurling it hard against another beast even as the corpse exploded into a hailstorm of bloody pieces that acted like oversized shotgun pellets, knocking the knight and archer off from a fellow gryphon before sending it too crashing down into the cliff below.

Veronika charged into another pair of gryphons, stabbing her massive horns into the flanks of one while snatching in her talons the knight riding the other, the massive dragoness shaking her head violently from side to side to rip the flanks of the lion-like creature apart, before she jerked her head backwards and sent the bleeding body flying away as she beat her enormous wings and chased after another enemy.

Another group of knights spotted Ira and immediately charged against her, determined to kill the dragon legion's commander, but the hurricane-like violence of their assault was met with a smirk and a flex of her massive musculature, the cobra flicking her wrists and forming a protective barrier of energy as blasts of silvery magic exploded out of the gryphon's jaws, ferociously bombarding her. She grunted as she was pushed backwards by the succession of violent explosions, flames roaring past the edges of the barrier, before she dropped her shoulder and rammed it into the shield, sending it shooting through the fire to slam into the first gryphon in line, against which it exploded into sharp fragments and daggers that tore deep into flesh, steel and machinery before exploding, ripping the beast into shreds.

The second gryphon lunged against Ira with a roar, snapping its deadly beak hungrily, but the goddess elegantly slid to the side and twisted around slightly, smashing her open palm into the temple of the creature and causing its entire skull to explode in a splatter of blood and gore, the beast arching its back in a spasm of agony as a gargle came from its throat while the cobra leaned onto her palm and swung her body up, spinning to lash out a kick that swept both knight and archer off the saddles, sending them spinning through the sky in broken, bleeding heaps.

Ira flexed her arm and thrust herself away from the bloodied gryphon, but she grunted as something swarmed all over her hand and forearm, tiny but sharp blades piercing even through her steel-hard scales and nailing her arm in place before electricity exploded in vicious pulses that made her groan in agony, mighty muscles suddenly trembling out of control. She gazed down at the crumpled, shattered skull and her eyes widened in horror at the sight of hordes of nanomachines working to repair the damage while many more continued to swarm up her arm, zapping her with tremendous force.

The gryphon, even with its head reduced to a pulp, flapped its huge wings and arrested its fall, going into a narrow turn instead and flying directly towards its comrades, pushing Ira towards the huge spear of a knight in whiny white armor.

Ira snarled in a mix of rage and pain, but worked to shut the agony out of her mind and used her unflinching discipline and raw power to force her body to follow her will rather than the violence of the electricity crackling through her nerves. As the spear stabbed forwards, she moved with the grace of a pole dancer, arching her back out of the way and tilting her head to the side to send the sword-like tip hissing uselessly past her cheek while her long, powerful legs wrapped around the thick pole, the goddess blasting a beam of unfocused energy into the messy swarm of nanomachines and melting the whole front half of the gryphon into nothing but smoke as she tore her arm free, spinning elegantly around the pole of the spear and swinging Arctica up in a wide, elegant swath that chopped the knight's head off before he could even understand what was happening.

The headless body collapsed down in the saddle and the arm holding the spear up lost all its strength, the long weapon tilting violently downwards just as the warrior in the back saddle threw away the longbow to draw out a dagger and a massive twin barreled handgun, his shots missing as Ira grinned and followed the spear in its fall.

The weapon slid out of the gauntleted fingers of the decapitated knife, beginning to free-fall towards the ground far below, while the archer stood up in the stirrups to look past the gryphon's wings, taking aim with its ungodly, enormous gun, only to grunt in shock as Ira spun and squeezed the spear between her powerful thighs, forcing the spear to flip point-up before she slid off the pole with sensual, breath-catching grace, kicking the bottom of the pole as she fell away.

The archer scrambled to grip the reins, but before he could do anything the massive spear tore through the gryphon's belly, out of its back and straight up into his crotch, the tip ripping its way out between his shoulder blades, impaling him and nailing him to his mount, before Ira shot skywards and cocked back Arctica, the blade surrounded by a cruel, icy mist as it was slashed neatly through the gryphon's massive body, chopping it in half like a twig and sending ice spreading instantaneously all over the two halves, making them so brittle that they exploded in a myriad of tiny fragments as the goddess's wings flapped and propelled her higher into the sky as another gryphon pursued her.

The beast opened its jaws and vomited a hurricane of silvery energy against her, but the goddess shrugged it off as the flames ground into her black scales without being able to pierce them as she elegantly flipped in midair and then dived like a meteor straight into the beast's face, cutting through the vortex of magic like a bullet stomping both boots down into the lion's forehead, sending the brain exploding out in a crimson spurt that washed over the knight on the back as he threw away the spear, too long and cumbersome to be useful when she was already so near, in favor of the twin curved swords at his hips. He drew both weapons in a cross-cut, but Ira's chains snapped down around his arms and squeezed into its armor and then into his flesh, making him howl in agony as the overheated chain links torn his limbs into slabs of smoldering beef, before the cobra's mighty fist smashed into his helmet, tearing through his skull and out of the back of his head, the femme fatale laughing darkly as she pushed her whole arm through, her bloodied hand reaching the archer on the saddle in the back and snagging him by the throat even as he attempted to leap off the mount and flee. The knight's body fell off the saddle and spiraled bonelessly down towards the ground far below when she straightened and pulled up her arm, completely shattering his head, his blood dripping down from her huge bicep as she effortlessly lifted the archer up high, grinning as the angel weakly, desperately clawed at his muscular forearm, uselessly pulling at her wrist until she tightened her grip even further, the angel's hands falling away as the spine loudly crumbled and the head lolled bonelessly backwards, a gargle coming from beneath the helmet.

She straddled the flanks of the falling gryphon and held the corpse of the archer in her grip for a few moments, wanting to verify her theory... and sure enough, soon the archer began to stir out of death, blood leaking out from under the helmet and yet the body regaining its strength as nanomachines welded the broken spine back together, while the gryphon itself began to buckle and kick at the air to unsaddle her, even through its head was still mostly just a crimson mess of pulped brains.

She kicked off the gryphon's back with a snarl of frustration, spinning and pushing her palm outwards as she conjured a small focused sphere of energy, hurling it into the beast and its rider and watching as the enormous explosion that followed scattered gore and pieces of machinery in every direction. "Make sure to destroy the corpses! Hit them with everything you have, or they'll be back on their feet in a moment!" The goddess commanded, her voice booming over the battlefield and her thoughts once more reaching directly into the minds of the other Seraphims now that the parabolic dishes down in the desert plain were no more. The Shared Mind of the Seraphims, however, was in that moment a messy, confused galaxy of screams, curses, groans, agony and fatigue as the legions were engaged into battle from one end of the battlefield to the other.

Ira saw a dragon flying by, the Seraphim on top screaming in agony as she did all she could to crush and slap away the thousands and thousands of nanomachines that swarmed all over her body like hordes of tiny black spiders, their electricity zapping her cruelly and making her whole form smolder and burn. The cobra gritted her fangs with a hiss of horror at the sight, flapping her mighty wings and going after the poor warrior, to help her in some way... but before she could think of something that would work, the screaming Seraphim all but ordered her dragon to turn backwards and wash her down with its fire.

Ira closed her eyes at the sight, shivering a bit and muttering a curse under her breath... before gritting her fangs furiously as two gryphon knights chased after the agonizing Seraphim. The goddess immediately beat her wings and charged against them, even as the warriors riding on the back raised massive shotguns and blasted out shot after shot after shot, the pellets burning with holy energy that burned with obscene intensity as it touched Ira's scales, making her recoil for a moment before she snorted steam from her nostrils and pushed forwards with even greater determination, ramming her shoulder into the feral beast's flank and knocking it against its comrade while several ribs shattered with loud, sick cracks, one angel knight letting out a howl of pain as his leg was caught between the massive bodies of the gryphons and crushed.

The cobra let herself fall and moved under the bellies of the two beasts, avoiding the deadly talons as both gryphons ferociously swung out their heavy paws, trying to gore her with their claws as they wildly bent their necks to look down at her, almost throwing their riders off their backs.

The two shooters on the back of the beasts immediately leapt out of their saddles and chased after her, just as Ira's deadly chains shot off her arm and tore like spears through the two gryphons, piercing out of their backs and arching high into the sky before snapping down to wrap several times around the beasts and the knights on top. Ira seized firmly into the chains and swung her body out, her feet whipping up to smash into the cheek of the first shotgun-wielding angel, crumpling its helmet into a bloody wreck as his head whip-lashed to the side with the sick crack of vertebrae breaking, while the goddess continued to swing around in a full circle as shotgun pellets screamed wildly by, before she angled one long leg up to shoot right above the head of the remaining angel, while her other muscular leg slammed right into his throat. He had enough time to gargle in agony before she scissored her legs, trapping him in the crushing grip of her majestic thighs and dragging him up like a feather, spinning even faster before flexing her legs, effortlessly crushing him like an overripe fruit, the head imploding and failing away as the ribcage collapsed inwards before the ruined corpse slipped away to crash into another gryphon.

Ira immediately straightened and halted her motion, rapidly wrapping the chains around her forearm as she began to spin, yanking the two tied-up gryphons around, slowly at first but rapidly building up speed as her mighty wings flapped, propelling her into a hurricane-like whirl until she viciously yanked the chains back and hurled the two bloody, ruined bodies flying like missiles across the sky, smashing into a third beast, the riders exploding out in opposing directions as the three gryphons fell like a meteor of tangled limbs and flesh, the irritable monstrosities howling in misery and rage and clawing at each other, trying to break free.

Ira shot through the sky with a beat of her wings, diving after the beasts and gripping the handle of Arctica with both hands before smashing down in a hammer-blow that sent the enormous ball of trashing bodies crashing ruinously into the marble floor of the square, the goddess ignoring the bolts and arrows fired at her from every direction as she blasted a beam of unfocused energy into the agonizing beasts, pulverizing them in an enormous explosion.

In that same moment, deafening, metallic roars came from the distance, and she felt enormous forces awakening in front of the temple, her hand clenching tightly into a fist as she cursed under her breath and turned to stare at the immense statues guarding the entrance to the mines. As soon as the first wave of dragon knights had come near to the monumental forest of columns, the shield-bearers had lifted their shields, and from them had projected ancient, incredibly powerful magic that had rapidly formed an impenetrable wall.

And in front of the barrier, the titanic axe-bearing warrior statues had stirred, eons of dust and sand falling in clouds off their gigantic bodies, and they had walked forwards, revealing the full majesty of their height as they seemed to fill the whole width of the canyon, the blades of their ungodly war axes looking as big as ships.

The stone titans stomped their way forwards without mercy or care, squishing friends and foes alike under their boxy, immense feet, runes glowing a bright white over their chests and arms and heads as they swung their axes violently out, crushing dragons, gryphons, Seraphims and Paladins into the cliffs and sending many more bodies crashing backwards through the air as a terrifying spurt of blood made Ira wince, a shiver running down her spine. The dragons in the canyon retreated as best they could while other Seraphims led their mounts towards the titans, shooting around the heads of the statues and hitting with arrows and giant fireballs... but the immense golems were unfazed by the explosions even as cracks opened here and there in their heads; and from the end of the canyon advanced ranks of spearmen and Executioners and other massive warriors clad in thick armor plates and carrying huge, square-barreled weapons at their side. The dragons in the canyon were caught in the middle, and were beginning to bump into each other as the front lines retreated and the rearguard turned around to face the new enemies... and Ira gritted her fangs at the sight, horribly aware that her very own Legion risked annihilation. She beat her vast wings and dived towards the canyon, cocking back her hand and focusing energy into a crackling spear before hurling it down as hard as she could... but a gryphon knight shot up from beneath and acted as a meat shield, the huge javelin tearing deep into its chest before exploding, ripping the top half of the beast to shreds.

The goddess recoiled with a grimace of rage, disgust and confusion in front of that willing, fanatical sacrifice, but before the remains of the corpse could even begin to fall out of the sky she was assaulted by another roaring beast and she had to leap higher into the air to avoid a beam of silvery magic. Huge armor-piercing bullets rammed into her and made her hiss in pain as they crashed all over her arm and side and abs, cracking her scales and tearing some loose as the shells shattered but poured Unworld residue all over her, as the rider in the back seat over the gryphon cackled and continued to squeeze down on the trigger of the enormous machine gun cradled in his arms and fed by a long belt coming out of an armoured box secured to the lion's flank.

Ira threw herself out to the side, and the knight in the front saddle jerked on the reins to lead his massive mount against her, the gryphon hungrily snapping its bloodied beak as the angels on its back aimed one the spear and the other the machine gun, before the cobra lashed out her arm and her chain-whips shot like bullets into the head of the creature, shattering its helmet, breaking the skull into fragments and tearing deep down the neck, all the way into the ribcage. Immediately, the cobra lunged forwards, the chains shortening in the space of a blink as many of the links simply dissolved, dragging her forwards at awesome speed, Arctica slamming down into the spear and turning it into a block of brittle ice which exploded in a frosty mist when the tip collided with Ira's powerful abs, until the goddess roared and slammed her fist down into the spine of the gryphon, pulverizing its spine as her fingers sunk deep through flesh, metal and machinery, blood spurting thickly out of the wound and electricity zapping up her arm from damaged electronics as she used her fist like a pivot, arching her body up in a handspring and spreading her wings out wide, the dark feathers glowing with energy and cutting through the knight's armour like it wasn't even there, melting metal away into a red-hot mush and chopping his body into large chunks that fell away with a sick, wet squelch.

The rider in the back let out a groan of surprise and shock, leaning back in the saddle, away from her as blood splashed everywhere and she just gave a little growl of pleasure at the feeling of gore landing on her muscular back, his hands gripping tightly into the massive machine gun as he squeezed on the trigger hard enough to deform it, blasting out an endless burst of projectiles... before grunting in surprise as Ira seemed to just vanish in front of him, the female moving too quickly for his senses to follow, the bullets tearing through the gryphon's neck and busted skull instead, sending Unworld residue burning down into the wounds, consuming everything it touched while the cobra flipped elegantly in the air above.

The angel tilted his head up, but too slowly again, only able to stare in terror at the powerful, deadly beauty of her muscular legs as she landed above him, straddling him, one leg ahead and one leg behind, leaving him no time at all to think before she sprung into the air with another back flip, squeezing him between her thighs and jerking him up in the air... before she scissored her legs, and blood and guts burst out in a macabre waterfall as his body was torn into two down the middle, the two halves thrown in the opposite directions as she completed her move and steadied herself in midair with an easy flap of her wings, blasting a sphere of energy into the falling corpse of the gryphon to annihilate it in a mighty explosion.

She dived towards the canyon again, but the whole sky was a confused vortex of bodies, blades, explosions and beams of energy, arrows and bullets, and she gritted her fangs with a snarl of rage and frustration as every meter towards the target required seven flown in another direction as she tore knights and mounts apart.

She began to spin, her wings half-folding as she shot downwards like a meteor, spreading a icy mist that turned everything it touched into hard, brittle sculptures of frost, and Veronika followed suit, roaring fire out of her jaws to melt out of existence everything that she didn't shatter with the mass of her body, but suddenly the cobra gritted her fangs with a growl of agony and surprise as something wrapped around her legs and bit deep into her flesh, and she looked up over her shoulder to see a couple of gryphons flying in a pair, with a gigantic twin-barrel gun slung in the middle, with a knight sitting at the firing position. One of the barrels glowed with electricity and magic, ready to hit her with a massive projectile filled with focused holy energy... while an overheated chain made of gigantic blade-like links extended from the smaller barrel below the first, and reached all the way around her legs, cutting into her flesh and holding her captive.

Ira immediately twisted around and reached for the chain, using her wings to propel her out to the side but grunting as the metallic links glowed and crackled angrily with energy, the length of the chain becoming stiff and unflinching to hold her steady as it began to rewind into the barrel, dragging her right in front of the huge gun, the goddess cursing under her breath and kicking hard at the air, trying to break free and swinging Arctica down into the chain, only for the ice to melt instantaneously.

"What is this thing made of...?" The goddess muttered, gritting her fangs and staring right into the blinding light of the cannon firing, her eyes shutting tightly as she hurled a sphere of her own energy and folded her wings protectively over the front of her body.

She felt the roaring vortex of magic and holy essence incoming even as her sphere of energy struck the cannon and exploded, a shiver running down her spine as she perceived the immense, concentrated power in the incoming meteor, but then she opened her eyes in surprise as it sailed just above her face, streaking through the sky to explode against the mountains in the distance.

She blinked in surprise but immediately arched her back again, her hand reaching into the cruel chain and her bicep bulging explosively as she gripped firmly into it, pulling with all her formidable strength even as the incandescent, razor-like links tore into her fingers right down to the bone. The chain exploded into fragments, and the goddess let out a roar as she straightened and charged against the couple of gryphons... only to see Manticora stomping her heavy hooves down upon the back-rider on the first mount, the muscular zebra wrapping her powerful arm around the neck of the knight in the front, lifting him off the saddle like he was a doll, chocking him savagely until he collapsed with a gargle as she stabbed one of her Khukri daggers up into his chin and out through the top of his skull.

The riders of the second gryphon tried to face her, but the zebra grinned gamely as black, terrible, poisoned thorns and spikes pushed up between the hair of her mane and into the tuft of fur at the end of her tail, before they exploded forwards like shrapnel, pelting both angels and sending them flying off their mount, reduced to torn, bloody pincushions as black poison burned its way within their systems, melting and corroding even the sturdiest machinery.

The confused, wounded knight in the gun platform between the two gryphons looked up from the burning wreckage of the gun just in time for Manticora to punch his face into pulp, the knight recoiling backwards with a groan of agony before the zebra stabbed her second Khukri down through his chest, before ripping both blades free with a roar, her muscles flexing as she smashed her hoof down through the skull of one gryphon, then kicked the head of the other into a burst of red mist.

"Go! Leave the sky to us, and go take down those... golems, or whatever the fuck they are!" Manticora shouted, spinning the bloodied Khukris in her hands and giving Ira a wink before beating her wings to rush against another wave of gryphons, keeping them away from the cobra. Portals were opening everywhere across the sky as Manticora's own legion, the XV "Ferrata", so called due to the special heavy armour its members wore, charged into battle.

"Thank you!" Ira shouted back, but she didn't wait a second before spinning to dive towards the canyon again. Everything had happened in the space of mere instants, but she felt like she was ages late as she looked down at her Legion struggling and suffering tremendous losses in the unfair fight against the titanic statues, which seemed completely invulnerable.

Veronika pulled up from beneath, and Ira elegantly spun to land back in the saddle, urging the dragoness with her heels as they charged together, aiming first at the solid armada of Executioners and Paladins and unknown, giant warriors that were pushing the legion from behind, acting like the anvil while the titans of stone worked as the hammer.

A hiss of horror escaped her fangs as she spotted the details of the new, enormous armoured creatures she had seen earlier: the heavy, boxy guns they held at the hip was a kind of monstrous flamethrower which projected volleys of Unworld Residue hundreds of feet away, burning down to nothingness everything it touched. Heavy, enormous armour plates completely encased the beasts, which were all easily twice the size of the Paladins. They definitely found another specimen to clone... She guessed some kind of large tube snaking down the arm of the giants, under thick, interlocking plates of armor, and, unsurprisingly, she found that they had a thick, tall ridge on their backs, a hump in the armour that made them look like hunchbacks. The tank, surely...

She spurred Veronika, and the dragoness flapped her enormous wings to pick up speed as she roared and blasted meteors of fire into the armada of clones, flexing her arms and spreading her deadly talons as she tensed for the impact, the goddess herself holding on tighter to the saddle and gritting her fangs as the dragoness tucked her wings in and dropped like a stone, vomiting a tidal wave of hellfire as spears, armors and countless bodies rushed towards her, filling her vision in every direction.

Paladins were burned into ashes as the flames exploded up into a gigantic arson, Executioners writhing desperately as they turned into shabby mummies of carbonized flesh and molten metal and angels burning into vapor in a concert of howls of agony, and then Veronika barreled through the ranks, crushing armors and bodies and sending shields and corpses flying up high into the air, stomping her way forwards as soon as she touched the ground.

Ira slashed Arctica down into whoever was left standing, whip-lashing her deadly chains with the other arm to cut bloody swathes through the crowd of enemies before pulling on the reins and urging Veronika to rise skywards again, the dragoness rearing up on its hind legs and then beating her enormous wings once to climb rapidly, savagely kicking at the Executioners that immediately assaulted her to strike at her belly and drag her down. Ira was all too aware of the need not to become too entangled in that fight, and she easily led Veronika into a spin, launching a new attack and sweeping down on another part of the Council's army, before gritting her fangs in surprise and horror at the sight of the new, flamethrowing troops walking out of the raging inferno of dragon fire, turning around to aim their devastating cannons at her.

"We are the Purifiers! We shall purify Heaven from all usurpers, heretics and sinners!" The massive monstrosities chanted, their thick helmets sticking out of the thick, rounded shape of the chest and back plates, white light glowing in two pair of slit-like eyes that made them look unpleasantly like huge killer insects as the barrels of their weapons glowed and crackled with electricity, forming a powerful force field that held the Unworld Residue floating, suspended in artificial emptiness, so that it couldn't eat and consume the gun itself and the walls of the tank.

Bolts of electricity exploded out of the square guns, arching high into the air to follow Veronika's moves, the dragoness letting out a roar of pain as the extremely high voltage current tore into her form and nearly burned her scales away, smoke coming out through them as the flesh beneath sizzled and swelled with painful, torturing blisters, but that was only the prelude, and Ira winced as she felt the air around them ripping apart as the force field expanded... and then the dreadful black fluid erupted out of the guns, shooting up the force fields at incredible speed.

Veronika immediately banked hard to the side and tried to steer away from the assault, and Ira hurriedly slashed her arm skywards, erecting a series of translucent walls of energy between them and the black vortexes, the goddess biting her lower lip nervously as she deadly fluid slammed into the first shield and devoured it in an instant, before washing over the second and rapidly consuming it too out of existence, absorbing all the energy.

The Purifiers turned around with cold, murderous determination, unfazed by the howls of agony of dissolving Paladins they caught in their beams of liquid death as they trailed the jets up towards Ira, until the goddess whip-lashed her chains down against one of them, the links wrapping around the massive warrior's legs and squeezing them painfully together, dragging the beast down face-first into the ground, the "flamethrower" going wild but the flow of Unworld Residue stopping immediately as he let go of the triggers. Ira snorted in disappointment at that, but she jerked her arm back with all her strength and the chains snapped, dragging the forty-foot tall beast up high into the sky, where she swung its mass in the line of fire of his comrades. They showed him no mercy, and he didn't even produce a scream when the dark beams smashed against him, the Residue dissolving armor, flesh and machinery, until the force field in that tank failed and its whole content cascaded down upon the assembled ranks of Paladins beneath, thick splatters landing even on the Purifiers themselves and causing their thick armors to smolder as the Unworld essence burned the metal down into pure energy.

As the Purifiers focused all their attention on Ira, the other dragon knights still in the canyon took the clue and charged against the massive beasts, the dragons crashing into the enemy ranks with all their mass and power and sending bodies, weapons and armors crashing away in pieces, the Purifiers themselves ending up slammed backwards, sent crashing down the stairs or trampled underfoot, before some of them turned to blast out vortexes of black residue that consumed dragons and Seraphims into nothing but motes of energy, more deadly than any kind of acid.

Ira cursed under her breath at the sight, as the Purifiers that had been slammed back inexorably stood back up, their thick armor making them almost invulnerable, as even those under the paws of the dragons pushed upwards with fanatic, unstoppable strength, single-handedly shoving the dragons off their chests, as the Seraphim's blades bounced back against their indestructible shells and the explosions of magic barely made them wobble.

She slammed her heels into the flanks of Veronika, snarling as they went into another dive, the goddess bending down and leaning over her dragoness's neck as immense volleys of Unworld residue shot up against them, the dragon tucking her wings close to her body and spinning to shoot through, even as droplets and splatters fell upon the two, burning with vicious, cruel force through armor, scales, flesh, bones.

Veronika let out a howl of agony as the deadly stuff tore through her wings and deep into her back, and she groaned in pain as she flapped her wings one last time to shoot above a forest of spears and halberds before dropping down towards the ground, unable to keep course, and Ira pushed her forehead against her neck, patting gently on her head as she said: "Go, and stay away from them. Be careful... you'll be okay, I promise."

The dragoness nodded and let out an affectionate growl, her voice trembling with the pain even as she did her best to hide it, looking over her shoulders as Ira slid off her flank and dropped down upon the Purifiers, slashing Arctica into the hump on the back of one, sparkles flying from the clash of metal on metal as the blade cut deep through even the reinforced super-alloy, electricity cracking violently out of the breach, before an explosion of pure force slammed the cobra backwards. She gritted her fangs with a snarl as the wound in the tank rapidly sealed itself, nanomachines swarming over the breach to close it while sending pulses of power down into the bubbling, shifting mass of Unworld Residue before it could tear its way out of the force field. A Paladin immediately charged at her back with a spear, but Ira stomped one foot backwards, crushing the spear into the ground and sending the pole swinging up hard into the clone's chin, knocking him backwards before she blasted a sphere of energy into him, exploding his body into shreds before he could even crash on the ground. Her eyes were fixed on the Purifier instead, who turned around and aimed his flamethrower at her, blasting out a dark inferno of sticky, dense residue that she narrowly avoided by leaping into the air and snapping her chains down into the monster's neck, dragging him forwards and rushing against him, slamming both of her feet into his fully armoured face.

It stumbled backwards with a grunt as his thick helmet crumpled inwards, blood leaking out of the eye slits, before pulses of raw energy exploded out of him and knocked Ira back with a gargle, blood coming out of her mouth as she gaped in shock at the violence of the invisible fists suddenly hammering into her chest again and again and again. She gripped into the chains, however, and leaned down again, snarling as slammed her palm into his face and blasted out a beam of focused energy so great that it shot through and around his head and smashed into the other Purifiers behind, tearing the chest of one apart and burning the legs off from under another while straddled the Purifier's shoulders, riding the headless but still very functional body with the power of her muscular legs, forcing the beast to go where she wanted. She growled in rage as she tore her chain-hooks free of his shoulders just to whip-lash them down into his arms, the chains looping several times around the limbs while the hooked blades at the extremities pierced deep through armor and flesh, and she used the chains as reins to pull his arms up, aiming the flamethrower at chest level as she squeezed him savagely between her legs, the thick armor crumpling like paper as he stumbled awkwardly around to face his comrades.

They coldly turned against him, ready to fire, but Ira was faster, flashing a grin in their direction before sliding down the Purifier's back, using him as a shield while reaching for the handle under the flamethrower, pulling on it to send Residue flooding out over the other monsters.

She trembled and coughed up blood as the Purifier continued to blast her with pulses of tremendous force, but she gritted her fangs and flexed her powerful muscles, pushing the giant forwards into the crossing streams of Unworld essence, crouching behind him as the deadly fluid splattered past on either side in that suicidal trade.

Finally, the pulses began to grow weaker and erratic, and then stopped entirely as the Purifier rapidly dissolved, splatters of Unworld Residue tearing through his body and droplets splattering onto Ira, who hissed in agony and then kicked the melting corpse hard forwards, leaping away and grinning at the sight of a dozen Purifiers melting like ice creams, forming dark, bubbling puddles on the ground.

Electricity still crackled all over her form, but without the pulses it was dying away quickly... and her senses found their sharpness back, making her wince as an immense, distant explosion almost made her deaf. She turned towards the end of the canyon just in time to see a gigantic rail gun dart striking into one of the titanic warriors of stone, knocking the golem falling sideways to crash into the cliff, the impact sending out a shockwave powerful enough to almost knock her over, and she braced as best she could before the dart detonated in a huge ball of dirty orange fire.

The dart had arrived from the titanic guns of the artillery fort to the east... and a moment later a second came from the west, with a fearsome sound, as if the sky itself was ripping in half as the hypersonic round slammed into another stone titan, nailing it against the cliff on the opposite side of the canyon.

Vesta and Gaia have captured the forts. Good. Ira then made a grimace and snorted irritably, muttering: "And I'm still locked out of the goddamn temple."

She gazed to the side, seeking Veronika... and thankfully she spotted her, wounded but as combative as always, the badly damaged wings folded up but her talons and fangs bared and dripping blood as she rampaged over groups of Paladins and Executioners, helped by other dragons and by the Seraphims on top of them. Ira, instead, charged towards the entrance of the temple, muscles flexing and bulging as she shook the earlier fights out of her system and prepared for the clash with the stone titans. Horribly, even the two that had been directly hit by the mega rail-guns of the forts were standing on their feet again, their gigantic mass coming out of the vast clouds of dust and dirt and looming over everyone. Their chests and heads were badly damaged, one of them missing an arm entirely, torn off at the shoulder... yet, they continued to stomp, fight and destroy like nothing had happened.

The first titan spotted her even in the thick of the mass of bodies and corpses, and the gigantic statue immediately focused all its attention upon her, recognizing the threat she posed through the use of whatever magic-fueled intelligence it possessed.

The monstrosity let out a roar as it cocked back its gigantic axe and then swung it down with all its strength, stomping its stone foot down in the midst of the fight, crushing and maiming friend and foe alike and sending even the largest dragons crashing backwards like pins, a shockwave traveling through the entire canyon and blowing Paladins flying and Seraphims slipping off their saddles. The gargantuan axe chopped a dragon in two like it was made of paper, the majestic beast unable to dive out of the way quickly enough, and others were swathed out of the sky like mere flies, crushed into broken, bloody heaps against the flat of the monstrous blade.

Ira snarled and went into a slide, legs spreading and feet settling down as she rapidly grew, muscles bulging larger and thrumming with tremendous physical power as her height more than trebled in the space of a blink as she pushed her hands up against the immense blade, her scales turning harder than diamond as she shoved hard up against the titan's own strength.

The clash was tremendous, and she grunted in pain as she sunk into the ground, down to the knees, her arms trembling as they recoiled slightly before finding purchase into the sharp edge of the gigantic blade, her grip cracking the stone as the axe became motionless even though the golem leaned down with his whole body weight. The clash of blade and hands sent a shockwave exploding outwards with such violence that the ground all around Ira seemed to explode upwards into gravel, the marble bursting into fragments as deep cracks spread in every direction.

Paladins immediately charged at her from all sides, but the chains wrapped around her forearm arched up in midair, rearing like poisonous snakes ready to strike before shooting outwards in opposite directions, lengthening as they began to swirl around her, faster and faster, turning into a meat-grinding hurricane of cold, sharp steel that tore even through the Paladins' heavy Godblood armors, ripping their bodies into shreds and sending blood and gore splattering all around her.

The goddess gritted her fangs as the titan shoved his halberd hard down again, trying to crush her into the ground, and she elegantly slid one foot outwards, spinning on the spot until she was to the side of the blade rather than underneath it, and she let the halberd slide forwards over one palm, pulling back her other hand before smashing it forth with all her tremendous force, causing the immense axe to swing away from her, until its cutting edge faced sideways, the stone titan stumbling backwards with a growl of shock.

The cobra immediately flicked her arm upwards, sending her enchanted chains shooting upwards like missiles, the blades at the end of each sinking deep into the solid granite of the flat of the axe while she charged towards the titan to the right of the one she was facing.

The chains immediately tensed as she ran past the edge of the blade, roaring as she pulled with all his fearsome strength, her feet pounding craters into the marble as she ran, kicking up large chunks of stone and rattling the mountain with her speed and power, until she curved towards the second titan and leapt off the ground, dragging the chains behind her as she flew a semicircle.

The colossal axe was dragged hard to the side until it chopped right into the leg of the second titan, piercing deep into the stone and nearly chopping right through the ankle, causing the damaged colossus to howl out in fury as it swung its own gigantic axe in a vicious rising cut, forcing Ira to flick her wrist and snap her chains free, both deadly whips of metal retreating immediately to rest wrapped around her forearm while she twisted in midair to avoid the cruel slash, wincing as the mountain-sized weapon hurled upwards at fantastic speed, missing by just a few feet.

Immediately, the cobra fired her chain-blades into the axe as it sailed past, and allowed herself to be dragged up high into the sky, bringing her legs close and adding her own momentum to rise skywards, flipping above the titan's head and then snarling as she dropped like a stone behind his shoulders, dragging on the chains to pull the axe hard down against the titan himself. She let out a grunt as she slammed her feet down into the beast's shoulder, muscles flexing powerfully as she jerked hard on the chains, dragging the axe down until its rear blade tore right into the titan's face... but the monstrosity only let out a growl of rage, feeling no pain and unhindered by the damage even as the stone cracked and enormous boulders fell off. Before Ira could do anything else, the thousands of statues chiseled within niches all over the titan's body all turned towards her, their eyes glowing with powerful magic and their mouths opening absurdly wide to vomit forth a barrage of energy beams that crashed into her chest like meteors before exploding, blasting her backwards with a grunt of agony as blood exploded out of her wounds and leaked out of her nostrils.

Ira hissed in pain and confusion as flashes of light blinded her with every beam of energy that rushed against her, the vicious impacts making her bones creak and forcing all air out of her lungs as she let herself fall down along the monster's spine, her fangs gritted as she found enough focus to form a translucent shield of energy. The projectiles of magic slammed into the shield with a succession of violent explosions that threatened to tear her flesh off her wounds just with the tremendous shockwaves, but the goddess nonetheless found the strength to stab Arctica deep into the solid back of the titan, ice spreading rapidly on either side of the blade as she dragged it down, slicing down the length of the golem's spine and shattering every statue on the way down, before wincing as the immense titan howled in outrage and slammed his back against the barrier held up by the shield-bearers behind.

Ira cursed under her breath and spun in midair, slamming her feet into the barrier and pushing her hands out against the falling mass of the titan, crying in pain as her arms recoiled and creaked painfully as the monstrous mass of the colossus crushed her against the wall of energy behind, her spine bending painfully and her legs trembling as pushed back, trying to ignore the tremendous discharges of electricity that surged up through her form. Her eyes glowed as she let out a roar of agony and fury, using her unflinching discipline to overcome the pain and retain control of her body as she dropped her shoulder and let her wings explode into being with a burst of flame, spreading them in all their mighty span and flapping them to slam forwards into the centre of the titan's lower back.

The stone, made brittle by Arctica's ice, exploded into a hailstorm of fragments, and the titan stumbled forwards with a roar, falling onto one knee as a large part of its back collapsed into a pile of rubble, making his body suddenly slimmer and sending hundreds of statues crashing into the ground far below. Even so, the beast seemed unfazed, immediately standing up and taking a step forwards, preparing to turn around and strike a new blow, while two of the other titans, one from either side, swung their gigantic axes down against the cobra as she dived towards the ground.

Ira threw a sphere of focused energy into the first of the gigantic blades rushing down against her, but the explosion merely dented the sharp edge, the immense weapon cutting through the blast with unstoppable force, forcing her to fold her wings to drop like a stone, ducking under the slash and wincing as the halberd smashed into the shield-bearers' barrier with enough force to slam her away with the resulting shockwave.

She exploited the momentum to avoid the cutting edge of the second halberd as it rushed down, and she stomped down on top of the enormous pole instead, grunting as she landed hard enough to crack the solid granite, before making a grimace as the statues covering even the handle of the titanic weapon glared at her, the nearest one seizing into her ankles with fingers that had turned into terrible, flexible talons. The goddess squatted and furiously rammed the handle of Arctica into the head of the statue, crushing it into gravel and dust, a howl of anguish coming from within the shattered figure and rising even higher as she charged up the pole, tearing free of the stony grip by breaking the sharp fingers into fragments.

The damaged titan in the middle of the trio spotted her and let out a roar of inarticulate rage, spinning its bloodied halberd and preparing to slam it down into her, but as Ira looked up to respond, the beast suddenly grew stiff and stumbled hard forwards, before the center of its chest simply exploded outwards in a hailstorm of dust, boulders and slivers as Vesta tore through with a roar, her sickleswords crossing in midair and slashing out in the opposite directions, sending crescents of energy bursting forth out of the blades. They cut through the titan's torso down to the hips, where they exploded into massive balls of orange fire, sending much of the beast's body crumbling away... but even so, what remained continued to work, unfazed and unrelenting, propelled by whatever ancient magic was imbued in the granite and lodestone.

"Ideas...?" Ira snarled as Vesta landed on the pole, the gigantic halberd rising into the sky as the titan swung it upwards and reached down with an immense hand to squash them like flies. The queen of Seraphims spun around and slashed her twin sickleswords up into the giant hand, hooking the base of one stony finger between her blades and roaring as she forced the whole hand to swing out to the side, away from them, grinning as the thick digit snapped off and fell to the ground far below.

"Pound them till' they stop moving!" The tigress shouted in reply, before leaping away to smash into the arm of the titan to their right. The cobra snorted at her words, mumbling: "Of course, why did I even ask..." under her breath as she flapped her six dark wings and sailed high into the sky, tossing a large sphere of energy right into the face of the third titan, blowing the right side of its stony skull into a huge cloud of dust just to catch his attention. It certainly worked, as the colossus furiously slashed its double-headed axe up against her... and the goddess grinned, beating her mighty wings and flying away from the incoming blade, but right towards the titans.

The gigantic golem understood his tragic mistake and ceased his swing, beginning to cock back the gigantic weapon to stab at her with the spear tip instead, but Ira snarled and whipped both of her chains out to hook into the immense axe, her muscles bulging explosively as she wrestled the titan for control of the heavy weapon.

Vesta barreled in with a cackle, her own wings propelling her at amazing speed right into the tensed chains, and she snagged them in passing, catching them with her curved sickleswords and dragging them hard forwards. Before the titans could understand what had just happened, the combined might of Vesta and Ira tore the halberd out of the hands of the third of them and sent it spinning against them: the immense axe smashed into the chest of the first golem, tearing through from front to back and cleaving the damaged head right off, knocking the beast off its feet and slamming him against the barrier behind, pinning him down. Its enormous body loudly cracked and ancient magic glowed through each and every fissure for a few moments before dimming out, and the colossus fell apart, chocking up half of the canyon with its fragments and pieces.

The titan in the center of the group was caught by the thick pole, right at throat level, and it pinned him too against the barrier, even as he immediately pushed hard against the weapon holding him prisoner. Ira and Vesta took their chance immediately, as the cobra jerked her chains free and then snapped them down like whips into the immobilized titan, one wrapping around the monstrosity's neck with two loops, Ira catching the end of the chain with a cruel lick of her lips, savoring what was to come, while Vesta caught the other chain and dragged it downwards as she flew around the golem's waist, so that the sharp links of enchanted metal dug into his lower back. The two goddesses grinned predatorily as they immediately pulled on the deadly chains, and the titan howled in rage and denial, finally managing to punch into dust the pole of the halberd pinning him, only to fall apart as his head popped off like a cork and his legs were torn off his waist.

Two more titans remained: one was momentarily without a weapon but already scrambling to pick up the halberd of one of his destroyed mates, while the fourth and last was charging in from the far side of the canyon, where he had been beating back the Seraphims and dragons trying to break through.

Vesta dived over the disarmed titan just as it seized the pole of a gigantic halberd laying down across the canyon, and she landed upon its cracked, ruined head, stomping her combat boots into the granite and causing it to burst apart in a hailstorm of fragments, the whole golem falling down onto his knees with a roar of rage as blue flames of ancient, powerful magic erupted from the severed neck, while hundreds of the statues decorating the titan suddenly tore out of their niches and charged against the goddess, brandishing two-handed swords, axes, heavy staffs and crackling with malevolent energy, their mouths bombarding her with projectiles of focused magic that she slapped away with quick, masterful slashes of her curved blades.

Two large statues, easily as tall as her, charged forwards with long, heavy spears, but she flicked her wrist and elegantly spun one sicklesword down to hook both of the long poles, thrusting them wild off to the side and dropping her shoulder with a cackle, running forwards to slam into the heavy granite figures and smashing them into gravel before swinging the other sicklesword upwards to catch a third brute by the crotch, hefting him up into the air like it was nothing but a ragdoll before the blade glowed with her energies and chopped right through the stone like a laser through butter.

She grunted and stumbled as the titan beneath her feet stood up with a roar, jerking his massive shoulders to try and throw her off while he seized the halberd's handle with both hands and swung the immense weapon hard out towards Ira, but she did not fall, slamming her sickleswords down into another statue, hooking its shoulders and dragging him hard forwards, leaping onto its back as it fell and crushing it into pieces under her heels, using his spine as a ramp to leap high over the horde of ancient, angry figures assaulting her from all sides.

"Come and get it!" Vesta teased, easily flipping over a forest of spears stabbing up towards her and slamming her feet down through the skull of the statue of a particularly angry-looking Metatron, crushing the sculpture to dust under her boots and immediately slashing her sickleswords out to either side, mowing down six more aggressors as she bowed forwards and swung one leg up and backwards as if dancing, kicking a large Gigataur sculpture hard enough that it exploded and pelted its comrades behind with a hailstorm of fragments. Another statue, depicting a nun, charged at her with a long staff, but Vesta stepped right towards her, slamming the staff wide with a slash of a sicklesword and then kicking the nun in the face with a graceful, deadly somersault that sent the stony head bursting into a cloud of dust, the body crashing backwards and knocking a dozen more of the statues sprawling like pins.

"Come ON, you bitches!" The goddess taunted, cackling as she seized an Arkangel-statue by the shoulders as she exited from the somersault, turning into a back handspring, gripping into the stone hard enough to crack it as she lifted the enormous sculpture high above her and threw him across the sky like a toy, where Ira blasted it to smithereens with an instinctive throw of a sphere of energy behind her back, while Vesta landed right on the shoulders of another statue, squeezing its head between her mighty thighs and arching her back with a grin, throwing herself backwards and lifting the enemy clear off the ground, bringing him down with her and driving its head brutally into the stone floor, shattering it into a million pieces while she easily landed on her hands, licking her lips at the satisfying sound of destruction coming from behind.

It all happened in the space of mere instants, and the sculptures were completely unable to react swiftly enough, another two of them ending up exploding into gravel as she donkey-kicked her sharp, high heels into their chests before easily leaping onto her feet, sickleswords at the ready, eyes glowing with dark amusement and with bloodlust.

She ducked as the headless titan beneath her feet reached angrily up with a colossal hand, slapping at the air and knocking a dozen statues flying into the sky, many more exploding in a cloud of dust and fragments, giving Vesta the opening she needed to charge straight at a large crack in the "throat" of the golem: magic glowed from within the fissure, coming up in form of flames from the very core of the titanic construct, and she flicked her wrists to aim both sickleswords point-down, stabbing them viciously into the "wound" and roaring as she forced in the opposite directions, tearing the crack wider.

She snarled as the golem trashed furiously beneath her, reaching up again with his hand and clipping into her shoulder with terrifying force, making her howl in pain as the stony fingers tore a large chunk of flesh and muscle right off her bones before Ira managed to snare the gigantic hand in her chains, tearing it away from Vesta.

The fourth Titan ran at them with a howl of outrage, his steps rattling the whole desert, and Vesta glared at him, considering her options and quickly scanning his massive form for a weak spot... before her lips crested into a grin as Gaia flew up to its eyes, floating right before his face and pushing out one palm, slamming it into the root of the massive nose of the sculpture.

The shockwave from the impact was so powerful that it shoved even Vesta backwards, making her grunt in surprise as she stiffened her grip on the sicklesword to stay put, eyes glowing with interest and battle lust as large, terrible cracks spread all over the titan's body, before magma erupted in rivers and cascades from the fissures, the skull of the titan exploding as it became the mouth of a new volcano, as the goddess of Nature exerted her dominance over all elements.

"You rock, girl...!" Vesta shouted, laughing as Gaia pushed the immense titan backwards like it was nothing but a puppy, the goddess snorting in contempt and flicking her wrist almost lazily, sending cold, roaring floods of water exploding out of other cracks, shattering the golem from within as the flames of magic imbuing the stone trembled and dimmed like the light of a candle about to be snuffed out.

The two titans refused to admit defeat, however, both beasts pulling up their ungodly axes and swinging them hard towards Gaia, who calmly waited for them, floating in the air, arms outstretched... and then she raised both hands towards the sky, energy crackling around her and simultaneously exploding out of the earth far below in the form of gigantic roots and thorny vines that wrapped with vicious anger around the two golems, quickly ensnaring them into a prison of green that grew thicker and more luscious by the second despite their attempts to break out.

The tentacle-like vines shot up around the titans' arms and wrapped their coils around the halberds' poles, forcing both weapons hard down into the ground just as Killer and Alexis came charging on their horses up the divine staircase leading into the canyon.

Without hesitation, the two lovers split course, each aiming for a different halberd, the poles now making for steep but otherwise comfortable roads up to the chests of the monstrosities. Ruin and Wrath easily leapt up onto the poles and charged upwards with matching snorts of flame from their nostrils, chests heaving mightily with the effort as Killer and Alexis both leaned forwards into the saddles, pushing Wyvern and Blue Vixen out ahead of them, grinning hungrily and eager to make contact...

And a moment later, contact it was, as the two godly swords tore through stone and through magic, the two fiery stallions smashing their way through the damaged titans and tearing out of their backs, elegantly falling back down to the ground, where they landed heavily, their hooves leaving deep, burning craters into the marble.

The two golems trembled violently for an instant, both holed right in the center of their chests, cracks spreading all over their already damaged bodies before they both crumbled down in pieces, forming a mountain of rubble that obstructed the canyon from side to side, while an immense cloud of dust slowly moved away over the flank of the mountain.

Killer and Alexis led their horses in half-circles as they looked around for other enemies, but Ira's dragons were already rushing back to the battle now that the titans were gone, and they were making a quick work of the Paladins and Executioners remaining.

The two lovers shouldered their massive blades and quickly dismounted, patting their stallions lightly on the necks while Vesta, Ira and Gaia floated down to join them at the entrance to the temple.

"That was a cool entrance!" Vesta cheerfully exclaimed, fists resting against her hips and a wide grin on her features as she gazed at Killer and Alexis. "But we had already done much of the work with those two."

"True, true." Killer admitted, before wrapping one arm around Ira, squeezing her close to his side and giving her a soft, respectful smile: the floor of the canyon was covered in blood and gore and corpses, and quite a few of those were slain dragons and killed seraphims. The battle had been tough, and the losses had been severe before Ira's intervention had made it possible for the dragon knights to retreat away from the unstoppable mega-golems. The cobra felt horribly responsible for all those corpses, and her thoughts were very much centered on limiting any further damage to her legion and on how to rebuild it, as well as on how to best honor the fallen.

He looked down at her with concern, but Ira shook head slightly and straightened, giving him a little smile of reassurance. "I'm fine. Let's just move in and get this over with."

Manticora dropped down from the sky as well, right in that moment, and she grimaced at the sight of the other titans, the ones with the shields, stubbornly standing in the middle of the path and pumping energy into the impenetrable barrier that made it impossible to walk into the temple proper. "Yeah, about that... how do we hole that barrier...?"

"Punching it...?" Vesta half-seriously wondered, looking up at the gigantic shield-bearing statues and seemingly gauging their strength. She poked tentatively at the wall of energy, but immediately winced and pulled back as electricity viciously zapped up her arm.

Alexis and Killer stepped forwards, ready to try and overwhelm the barrier through sheer power, but Gaia quietly walked ahead and then turned to face them, announcing in a soft voice: "I might be able to help. Let me try."

Killer nodded in agreement, and the goddess bowed her head respectfully before shoving her palms downwards as thick, massive roots erupted out of her flesh and shot into the ground beneath, smashing through marble like they would through thin, frail glass. Her eyes glowed with a ghostly, pure white light as she was hefted high into the air as the roots grew and strengthened, the biggest ones surrounding themselves with spinning blades of smaller vines that drilled into the ground, snaked into each and every fissure and crack before growing and expanding, fracturing the earth and causing large slabs of stone to shift and bulge upwards, the floor of the canyon rippling and swelling as the roots found their path underground.

Mere moments later, the ground cracked and then seemed to explode beneath the shield-bearers' statues and right behind them, dirt and dust and pieces of stone flying all around like shrapnel as monstrous, ungodly tangles of vines and roots tore out of the depths and shot skywards, looking like ominous, thorny towers. A grin spread over Gaia's lips as she shifted her hands ever so slightly, guiding the force of life and Nature to send the roots smashing into the back of the titanic statues, stabbing through their massive bodies to tear out of their front, like gargantuan spears. But what was far more terrible was the multitude of thin, agile vines and roots than spread forth from the large ones, snaking all over the statues, sliding into every little crack, finding every weakness, every tiny hole, stubbornly working to penetrate deep inside the stone, where they began to rapidly grow and expand.

Killer shifted a bit on the spot, watching on in awe and fascination as the stone titans began to crack apart from within, the fissures growing larger and larger as the bodies swelled and bulged grotesquely out of shape as trees and flowers and plants and enormous thorny vines grew upon them, covering the stone with green life, until, almost in the same instant, all of the gigantic guardians broke and collapsed into mountains of rubble, the magic impregnating them fading away in a burst of blue flames that quickly dissolved.

The legions cheered as everyone realized that the barrier was gone, and Gaia was gently lowered by the roots until her feet touched the ground without a sound, the goddess taking a step forwards as the roots emerging from her palms neatly disconnected and turned into luscious little trees, a small forest now casting its shade upon the archways of the temple, the trees thriving upon the dusty ruins of the shield bearers.

"You scare the crap out of me, at times." Vesta commented, staring at the new forest with wide eyes, and Gaia flexed her massive muscles with an entertained smirk, idly dusting her powerful abs as she tilted her head towards the tigress and teased: "Well, thank you, dear. I like being scary."

The army waited expectantly for orders, the troops pulling silently and orderly up behind them, but Killer pulled up his massive arm with the hand balled up into a fist, signaling that they had to stay put and wait. Disciplined immobility immediately fell upon the canyon, the Seraphims interrupting their advance and rapidly spreading out instead to form a defensive perimeter facing the desert. The healers, meanwhile, moved through the ranks to reach the shrieking and agonizing casualties laying on the ground, followed by large groups of Seraphims bearing stretchers. The legions were well trained and well led by good, carefully picked officers, so the leaders could go on and explore the temple knowing that everything outside would progress in exactly the right way even in their absence.

"We are going in first. The whole place might be booby-trapped, and there might be ambushes set up in the tunnels or gods know what else." Killer announced, looking first to the right, then to the left, the goddesses around him nodding in agreement. They could shrug off a lot worse attacks than the Seraphims could, and the legions had taken more than enough damage for one day, without sending them scouting into tunnels which could easily become hellish slaughterhouses.

They walked forwards in silence, senses alert and one eye always fixed on Alexis, as her formidable ability to see and "read" the flows of energy to see into the near future made her able to sense danger well in advance. Most of the time, at least.

Killer looked up in awe at the tall, immense archways looming above, the ceiling so far above that it was hardly visible in the shadow, while thousands upon thousands of large and small statues stared at them from richly decorated niches and from the top of immense columns that formed a literal forest. They looked like titanic tree trunks, and the arches connecting them in row upon row were like branches interlocking to hide the sky with leaves, with wood and green. Everything had been carved into hard granite, marble, crystal, lodestone: the columns changed color constantly, revealing veins of other materials, including even gold. The worshipping masses that had spent millennia working on that temple had worked on without hesitation, chiseling whatever material they encountered, no matter how hard and frail and uncooperative.

The sheer magnificence of the temple, with its mile-high ceiling and the columns stretching as far as the eye could see, in every direction, made Killer feel small and lost. He could almost feel the many souls of those who had worked to create that masterpiece, floating around him like ghosts, making the very air unnaturally dense and warm. He thought of how much work, how much sweat had been poured into the temple, and he swallowed at the thought of how many had undoubtedly plunged to crash ruinously into the enchanting floor of lucid blue crystal during the works.

The awe was suddenly overtaken by rage and disbelief as they realized that a massive, wide corridor had been torn open in the forest of columns with the indiscriminate use of explosives, destroying hundreds, maybe thousands of columns to create a passage larger than a motorway. The floor there was completely devastated by the repeated movements of heavy tracked vehicles; and several train tracks had been laid down over the marbles and the carefully polished crystals, ruining them forever.

Killer and the others were left gaping in shock by such careless, disrespectful profanation, their rage mounting as they followed the tracks and saw more corridors opening towards the opposite sides, vanishing in the darkness in the distance. Huge trains had been used to move personnel and raw materials across the immense facility, and all trains had been used in the evacuation of the machinery and stores. All what remained was a sorry mixture of wreckage, shattered train cars, burned and destroyed railway engines and scattered pieces of machinery, lost documents and broken crates.

The main group of tracks, four running in parallel towards the centre of the temple, led them into a vast, immense dark cave that had been obtained with the use of huge loads of explosive. The bases of the columns could still be easily guessed in the ruined, cracked floor, and high above them loomed the broken stumps hanging from the ceiling. Killer found himself trembling in fury at the awareness of the ungodly devastation that had been inflicted on the temple without hesitation, but what truly made him furious was meeting more and more evident signals of the evacuation the enemy had enacted. There were enormous cables running on the floor, all severed in multiple places and crackling with electricity still. Broken wooden crates and empty barrels were piled up in disorderly piles at the base of many of the columns, and parchments and half-burned pages were scattered everywhere, along with abandoned charts and even forklifts and small trucks and train-like load carrying vehicles.

"They left in a hurry, but without leaving much behind... They haven't started packing up today. They have been carrying stuff away for a long time." Ira observed after a moment, her voice almost trembling with rage and frustration as she expressed the fear that was gripping each and every one of them. Her legion had taken severe losses in the canyon, and now she was sadly discovering that their costly victory had gained them very little. Too little to repay the losses.

"This is still only the entrance... there might be more, deeper into the tunnels." Manticora said, trying to reassure them all, as the doubts and rage and despair were already rooting within all of them. Her own voice sounded unconvinced, and Killer couldn't find the faith to give anything more than a grunt of agreement. We must find something. We can't have done all this for nothing...

But as they walked onwards, towards the centre of the immense cave, the scenario was always the same, depressing them more and more...

The vast, empty space they were exploring had been a laboratory as well as a production area. It was an easy guess, looking at what remained of the instruments and work environment, but all what remained in place was broken and useless. The enemy had removed and carried away everything that could be moved and that still held value, while the rest had been destroyed or at least irremediably damaged in place. Now there were severed cables littering the floor, their chopped bodies looking like snakes swarming in every direction. There were tables everywhere, many blackened by the fires that had been used to burn and destroy documents, notes, small equipment. The floor was covered in shards of glass from broken test tubes and other equipment, and there were destroyed computers everywhere, their memory banks torn out and carried away and everything else burned into black, stinky sludge.

Killer and the girls traded a look and a nod, splitting up and walking in different directions to search the immense room with attention, but their frustration and fury only grew greater as they found no useful clue, and nothing which suggested the enemy would ever want to try and return to re-conquer the place.

And then, to make things worse, Vesta called, her tone promising nothing but bad news. They all rushed towards her to see what she had found, and when Killer arrived, Alexis and Ira were already glaring at a chunk of dark metal that the queen of Seraphims held in her hands.

"What is that...?" The huge male asked, frowning and feeling the rage mounting within his chest, knowing all too well that he wasn't going to like the answer. Vesta looked up and, seeing the others walking closer as well, bitterly explained: "This is the proof that we are screwed. This is... well, I don't know how they call it. But I'll call it synthetic Godblood."

"You mean...?" Gaia enquired, looking horrified and staring at Vesta, hoping for a denial, for a different explanation... but only getting back a glare of angry, disappointed sadness.

"Yes. This thing isn't Godblood, but goes close enough to it in characteristics that it works as a decent replacement, for what I can tell with a quick look. And it is synthetic, created in laboratory via a clever mix of magic, chemistry and metallurgy." Vesta explained, and Ira barked the logical, painful conclusion that had dawned in all of their minds in the same instant: "A clever procedure that they can replicate anywhere they can build decent infrastructure, using far more readily available raw materials."

"Fuck." Killer muttered, glaring at the heavy ingot of metal in Vesta's hands. The queen of Seraphims made a grimace and nodded, sharing his feelings, before letting out a deep, long sigh. "I'll study this thing properly when we go back in Eaglenest. We need to understand how they produce it, and what materials are required to make it possible. We might still be able to track the movement of the stuff, right up to their production plants."

The hopes, they all knew, were very slim, but trying was imperative, especially because they had no other trail to follow.

They walked towards the far end of the laboratory, silently looking over the ruined tables of the laboratory and past shattered, large machinery which was mostly unrecognizable. Only Vesta knew enough about chemistry, magic and countless other topics to be able to form a clear picture of what had happened there, and eventually she stopped in front of a blackened, deformed machine which was as large as a train car even though it clearly missed a lot of pieces.

Vesta walked around it, slowly, tapping a finger against her chin and narrowing her eyes as she studied every detail she could still make out in the blackened devastation, until she announced: "This was some kind of press, able to generate enough force to melt materials together at atomic level. By the look of it, the core of the synthetic Godblood is composed of a tight network of nanotubes, each composed of a mixture of super-hard carbon derivatives and, probably, nanomachines."

"And to think that it looked like a useless piece of junk to me..." Killer commented, ironically but without any real amusement. Too many lives had been lost to make fun of anything related to what was beginning to look more and more like a failure.

Vesta did not reply, only giving a bit of a grunt and not looking up from the pile of ashes that she was half-heartedly blowing and pushing off one of the niches in the flank of the enormous machine, looking for better clues.

"You think they are building nanomachines directly into the structure of their synthetic Godblood...?" Ira asked, sounding horrified, and Vesta could only give a frustrated shrug, signaling that she was only pointing out an obvious, albeit very unpleasant truth.

"Yes, I think so. Nanomachines linked together to form microscopic tubes. That makes the tubes somewhat softer than if they were made purely of composites, but in exchange it gives them far greater flexibility and makes each tube auto-regenerating. So, this synthetic is not as hard as Godblood, but might actually work even better as material for weapons and armor plates. Less brittle, more adaptable and able to self-repair any damage it sustains. It is not at all simple to produce, but on the other hand they no longer depend on a single, irreplaceable source of raw material. All in all...? A bargain. This thing suddenly makes Godblood a lot less impressive." Vesta said, waving the piece of synthetic metal high up into the air, before irritably smashing it down against the ruined press, crushing the wreckage into a shapeless, crumpled mass of blackened metal. She snarled through clenched teeth, and after repressing a shiver of frustration she bitterly spat: "Funny, isn't it, to think that I'm basically voicing a heresy...? Typhon, of course, has spent years telling everyone that there could never be a material with the same properties of Godblood. 'It is flawless, it is indestructible, and it is holy. It is the blood of God solidified, and nothing can be better. Nowhere and never'. He made it part of the 'God is always right' laws. Bull-fucking-shit. In the background, he himself was promoting the creation of even more impressive composites."

Manticora closed her eyes and turned away from the machinery, making a grimace and holding her breath for a few long moments, repressing the rage, the horror and the shame in front of the actions of her father. Even though she had no part in any of his monstrosities, she was still painfully aware that he was part of her blood, and she couldn't change that, no matter how much it pained and embarrassed her. Killer gave her a look of affection and concern, but it turned into a soft little smile as Ira silently wrapped her arm around Manticora's shoulders and squeezed her gently against her side, in a companionable act of reassurance. It made the Zebra look up with a soft smile filled with gratitude, the relief evident in her expression.

They walked on, advancing towards the back of the immense room, occasionally pointing towards a bit of wreckage that caught their attention so that Vesta could evaluate it and tell them what it was. They were hesitant to split up again, because Vesta was pretty much indispensable in order to actually evaluate and understand their findings... and Killer, in addition, was worried about the apparent lack of booby traps and the fact that they hadn't met any kind of resistance. He fully expected something to go wrong at any moment, and the fact that the enemy had so carefully emptied the place and erased anything that might be useful made him extra wary. Surely they had taken their chances to set up some nasty surprise as well.

It took him a few moments to understand that, lost somewhere in the sea of rage filling his chest, there was the distinct feeling of being observed. It made him stiffen a bit, and he launched rapid gazes first in one direction, then in the other... before instinct took hold and he shot a gaze upwards instead, spotting a small camera looking down at them from high up on one of the columns.

He walked onwards like nothing had happened, trying not to make his suspects evident to whoever might be looking at the camera feed, but he discreetly checked the camera every few moments, finding that the device was definitely adjusting its aim to always keep them bang in the middle of the screen.

He looked towards Alexis then, and the femme fatale, walking a step ahead of him, flashed him the slightest of smiles and a tiny, imperceptible nod.

She was already more than aware of the cameras, of course... and he realized, with something like embarrassment, that the other girls also had all noticed well before he had, and they were keeping the camera under discreet, expectant control, waiting to see what, if anything, would happen as they went deeper into the temple.

A few minutes later, Killer's mind registered another interesting detail as he looked at one thick metallic tube running on the floor. It contained large, heavy-duty electric cables and, like all others they had found until then, it was severed, one end of it still crackling with high-voltage electricity.

That made him think: the whole facility clearly used to require enormous amounts of energy, and the evidence suggested that magic and power crystals were only a fraction of the answer. Mortal technology was clearly involved, and he could think of only one reliable, self-contained and powerful enough source.

"How do you think they powered all the machinery...?" The huge male idly asked, and Vesta immediately replied from up front, without thinking about it: "With nuclear reactors, of course."

There was a moment of pause, and then they all tensed up, realizing the implications as the queen of Seraphims muttered: "Oh. Crap."

"Took you long enough... and they say you are smart people." Typhon's voice taunted, in a melliferous, patronizing tone that made it ten times more irritating. The voice came from speakers hidden somewhere in the darkness above, and it left them in no doubt about who was looking at the cameras' feed.

"It is always a real pleasure to have your lordships visiting, but you barreled in without an invitation, and that, I'm afraid, must be punished. Don't you know that invading someone's home is a grave crime, punishable with a very, very hot flame...?"

"And don't you know that you must suck my cock and beg me not to slap your face into pulp with it, bitch...?" Killer taunted back, laughing darkly as he stepped forwards and let his energies surge forwards, bursting out of him in a hurricane of flames that swirled around him as his body began to rapidly grow, doubling in height in the space of a blink, then trebling, his muscles bulging explosively and tremendous physical power radiating from his form as he grew and grew until his mane brushed the roof, the stone columns around him collapsing away in huge clouds of dust as his body tore through them like they were made of flour, without him even noticing their presence, so puny and so far beneath his attention. "Don't you know that your genial trap is but a pitiful snack for me...? You'll only make me even stronger." Killer announced, grinning widely as he spread his powerful legs, displaying the full glory of his godly, impossible malehood in front of the camera, which now was barely level with the base of his flaccid but already titanic black cock. "But you do know it, right...? You hide like a rat in a dark hole somewhere, after all! If you have the balls for it, come out and face me, you coward!"

A snarl of fury came from the other side, causing static to crackle in the speakers, and then a hissed, vicious threat: "When I do arrive, you'll regret having been born. I'll eat the heart of your loved ones right in front of your face, using your body as my table."

Silence followed, and the attention of Killer had anyway already shifted to Alexis and the others as ripple of tremendous force exploded upwards from somewhere far beneath them, the floor cracking and splitting as an unbearable heat and a blinding white light erupted from each fissure.

Immediately, the huge male squatted down upon Alexis and the other girls, and he bent forwards to cover them all with his body, carefully picking them up in his crossed arms while his immense black wings burst into being and wrapped around him to form a solid black shield.

He closed his eyes as hot, blinding white light filled the cave, as the nuclear furnace beneath them became an out of control inferno that self-fed its inner chaos, forming a sphere of energy hotter than the sun and ever expanding.

In bare instants, the room around them simply vanished, dissolved by the expanding core of the nuclear explosion, Killer snarling in a mix of hunger and agony as the tremendous heat ground down on his body from every direction at once, burning his flesh and at the same time squeezing down on him like the hand of some titanic, malevolent divinity.

He focused on his hunger, however, knowing that he could devour all that energy, make it his own... and he chuckled darkly, despite the intense pain, as he absorbed the furious force of the nuclear reaction, feeling it pumping in his veins as his height increased even further, as his muscles bulged explosively, until he flexed and let out a roar that rattled the entire mountain range, his body glowing as the heat ceased, the light dimmed away, the nuclear furnace devoured and assimilated before it could actually produce the immense explosion that would have turned the entire mountain into nothing but a glowing crater of molten stone.

He let out a content growl, clenching his hands into fists and feeling the immense power of the nuclear apocalypse crushed down to a mere, trembling candle light within him, as he straightened slowly and spread his mighty wings, rolling his shoulders lazily. His body smoldered, his skin fizzling here and there, but the damage was immediately regenerated as he cracked his neck and smirked as he felt all that energy vanishing somewhere deep within him: it had felt like a massive, overwhelming force at first, but now he felt like it was a pitiful, laughable addition to his might. The pain receded and vanished quickly, but he still muttered: "Ugh. That is the second time today."

"No more than a tender morsel for you, huh...?" Vesta cheerfully asked, and Killer looked down to see the girls floating in open air, roughly at the height of his crotch. The scenery around them had dramatically changed: even though he had interrupted the nuclear reaction before it could actually explode, the expanding core of the fusion had swelled around them and melted much of the mountain into nothing but thin air. They now floated in the middle of a perfectly spherical cave with a diameter of easily a dozen miles. Its walls glowed red with the tremendous heat, the surface of the hard stone still melting rapidly into magma that slowly flowed down to form a lake at the bottom of the sphere.

All around them they could guess the holes of the tunnels that radiated out in every direction from what had been the central factory area. Miles and miles of those tunnels had now simply ceased to exist, but many more miles still stretched away, deep within the mountains on either side of them.

Killer filled up much of the spherical space, his mane brushing the roof and his toe talons touching the expanding lake of magma, which meant that he had grown almost twelve miles tall... and Alexis and the others, even though they had sized up considerably themselves, to increase their resistance, looked tiny as they floated near the luscious fur of his crotch. "All that power, and it amounts to nothing but a puny drop in your ocean... you know, this makes me almost sympathize with Typhon. He is a disgusting arsehole, but I'd hide into a ditch too, if you were after me." Vesta added, her grin so evident in her tone that it did no matter that Killer couldn't quite distinguish it on her features, small as she was to his eyes.

Killer snorted in entertainment at that, but then closed his eyes and took a deep sigh, shrinking down to his normal sizes while sending an icy wind spiraling out across the width of the new "room", cooling down the melting stone, turning the magma lake into an obsidian mirror of lucid, glass-like stone, and forming elegant bridges and paths of solid, crystal-like ice that rapidly connected all of the tunnel entrances.

He folded his wings and descended near Alexis and the others, his wings dissolving with a flash of fire as soon as his feet settled upon the solid bridge of ice. He looked at Alexis, and frowned in confusion at the wide grin on her features as she stood before him, arms crossed under her prodigious breasts, a lustful glint in her eyes. The others were looking at him in exactly the same fashion, and he followed her gazes, looking down at himself to see that he was still naked, his enormous shaft hanging heavily between his legs, in front of his huge, hefty testicles. He huffed, trying to hide what was really amusement, and quickly created new black jeans, covering himself up.

They were back to seriousness in an instant as he spurred: "Come on, let's continue the inspection. Perhaps we can still find out something in the tunnels. And we have to make sure there aren't other traps, too."

The goddesses nodded, and they split up to resume their exploration of the immense cave, each of them going after a different tunnel and working also to draw a map of the maze-like place, since anything Vesta had was completely and irredeemably out of date with how much new digging Typhon had ordered before abandoning the place. It was a task destined to swallow a long and very unpleasant amount of time.

Killer and Alexis had expended a lot of energies in the battle, and then they had toured the whole of the complex maze of tunnels, destroying every last bit of resistance and making sure to collect all the information they could get. They had found several groups of Paladins, including some of the new "Purifiers" with their fearsome Unworld flamethrowers, but nothing that could hope to truly stand up to them. The stay-behind parties looked more like forgotten bits lost during the evacuation of the tunnels that an actual plan to kill them... but, Killer realized, they would have been more than powerful enough to take down quite a few Seraphims had they sent the troops in rather than scouting in first person. They also discovered a lot of traps, but since most of those were based on runes and magic devised and powered by Metatron, most had been not operational. The death of Metatron had drained the power out of them, making them pitiful for the most part... and that was the one good thing in the whole operation: the death of Metatron was at least going to dramatically weaken the magic available to the Council's forces.

They hadn't discovered much more, because Typhon's forces had carried out an orderly evacuation and left very little behind. What was evident from their trip into the dark pits of the mines was the sheer scale of the whole operation: The tunnels seemed to never end, pushing to amazing depths into the core of Heaven and ending in enormous train-diggers which had a circular head formed of multiple rotating grinders of pure Godblood that could, slowly and steadily, turn any rock into nothing but dust, while the Godblood mineral, at most, would be cracked into smaller pieces. Large holes in the grinders, able to adapt thanks to their interlocking structure to the size of the fragments, allowed the dust and the Godblood pieces to be aspirated into the train, where they were poured on a conveyor belt and scanned by computerized sensors that separated the precious mineral from the dirt.

Only pure Godblood came out of the back end of the train, while the dust was either discarded along the way or used to produce cement inside one of the cars of the trains. A powerful robotic system was able to craft enormous semicircular blocks of reinforced concrete and slot them in place to form a solid tube around the train where the ground threatened to otherwise collapse. It was, anyway, a rare occurrence since the mountain was apparently all made of solid, heavy lodestone or, at the least, granite: an impenetrable chest that had once required ungodly physical effort in order to hand out its treasures in tiny amounts. Typhon had changed everything with the introduction of those titanic diggers, and the rhythm of production had skyrocketed to keep the rest of the enterprise going: entire tunnels had been turned into foundries where the Godblood was melted and formed into ingots, and many more of the tunnels had been turned into forges for the production of armor and weapons. Other tunnels had once been filled with the capsules where the clones were genetically engineered and then grown with injections of steroids, potions and other concoctions that Killer didn't even care to guess.

There were clear signs and hints of what had filled the tunnels... but none of it mattered too much, because nothing provided a clue as to where the other factories could be hidden, or how Typhon's gigantic plan could be crashed. To make things worse, they had found further evidence of machinery for the production of synthetic Godblood, and that had convinced them that the mines had been evacuated as soon as other sites around Heaven had been kitted out to mass produce the synthetic alloy, virtually eliminating the need for the real thing. It was absolutely evident that Typhon had ordered the evacuation of the tunnels long before Killer had decided to attack them: the Ruling Prince was far from stupid and had long guessed that the Sacred Mines would become an obvious target one day. He had used his time well, digging out as much material as possible while designing an alternative that could be produced elsewhere, in well hidden plants.

Some of the tunnels had been emptied years before, judging by their conditions and the accumulated dust... which was further proof of how Typhon had worked behind the scenes, even when God was still sitting in the throne and he was posing as the good, loyal right hand.

Killer and the others were left far behind, looking for clues and reacting to a plan already millennia in the works.

It had been a very frustrating and discouraging tour, lasting many hours. It would have taken weeks to reach the end of the tunnels, had they not been divinities, able to run at literally hundreds of miles an hour with little to no effort. Even so, it took them all night, and when they had re-emerged into the forest of columns at the entrance, they were all moody, sleepy and sore. They had still tended to their duties of leaders and commanders, putting their duty first... and again, Killer and Alexis had faced the longest and most demanding task, being overall commanders. Rather than caring for one specific legion, they had to think about literally everyone and every part of the plans. So they had checked the status of all the legions, made sure to review the long-term defence plans for the mines and the forts up on the mountains and had visited the troops to thank them for their efforts, but once all that was done they had surrendered to the evidence and sought a quiet corner where to sit down and rest at least for a few minutes.

Alexis had sat down in his lap and rested her head over his shoulder, curling up a bit against his strong chest, but their playful antics for once hadn't progressed into sex as they had both fallen asleep instead, the huge male hugging her tightly and covering them both with his black cloak.

All too soon, however, Killer grunted and squeezed his eyes, grumbling irritably as well known voices whispered in the room... he felt tired like hell, and he turned his head to the side, pushing his forehead against Alexis's, squeezing her even closer as he breathed of her perfume and tried to sink back into delightful sleep. He couldn't, however. Even as he kept his eyes shut, his brain quickly and fully awakened as he recognized Manticora's voice, and heard her talking with Gaia about what could be their next move in the war. They were keeping their voices low, and their whispers were barely audible... but the topic was so important that Killer's brain had stirred him immediately out of sleep.

He sighed dejectedly, shaking his head almost imperceptibly as he wondered for how long he had been asleep... it couldn't have been more than two hours at most, and he couldn't help but morbidly wonder when things were going to calm down enough for him to have a full night of rest. You could have slept more, had you renounced to some sex, his mind mercilessly remarked, but he forced that thought back into the dark as he opened his eyes and blinked to adjust to the light filtering into the laboratory.

Thankfully, even being so short, the nap had been immensely helpful, and he felt a lot better than before. Alexis also looked in good shape. Their bodies regenerated a lot better and a lot faster during the sleep, and their energy reserves never took long to refill, which was a very helpful trait, considering how busy they had been for... Hell, I don't even know. It's been a long while, though.

Unsurprisingly, when he gazed down at Alexis he found her staring up at him, a soft smile spreading on her lips as a flash of understanding and sympathy set filled her sapphire eyes as she reluctantly stirred, slowly stretching her spectacular body. Her rebellious golden locks were messy, the shape of her Mohawk a bit messed up after the nap, but if possible that only made her even more beautiful, especially as she clung to him greedily, hugging him tightly as she let out a grunt of frustration at the idea of standing up so soon.

He found Vesta snoring quietly at his side, curled up against his arm, which was tightly hugged by hers. He smiled in amusement at that, shaking his head slowly... and then he looked up as silence fell in the room, as Ira, Gaia and Manticora stiffened and turned to gaze at him with embarrassment and concern in their eyes.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb your rest..." Manticora quietly apologized, but Killer only held up a hand, dismissing her worries even as his jaws opened in a massive yawn.

"This is no time for sleep... So, do not apologize." Killer said after smacking his lips, rubbing slowly over his eyes and wetting his lips with his tongue as he tried to work the sleepiness out of his system. Alexis slowly slid out of the warmth and comfort of his cloak and stood up with a little sigh, cracking her neck and rolling her shoulders idly as she walked towards the other goddesses.

"It wasn't your words that awakened us, but the topic of your discussion. Years on the battlefield have made our ears very sensible to some noise and sounds which can be important. We have to plan our next moves, and it sounded like you had some good ideas going." The femme fatale said, moving her gaze from Ira to Manticora, the zebra lowering his eyes a bit as Killer walked up to them as well, leaving Vesta curled up against the wall, still sound asleep.

"I don't actually have much to suggest..." Manticora sadly said, shrugging a bit as she added: "There isn't much that we can possibly invent. Coming here for the Godblood was the right thing to do... but we knew it was also an obvious move, and I think no one here is too surprised by how little actual progress we have logged in. We expected it, even if perhaps in different terms."

"That is true..." Alexis agreed, before Ira slammed her knuckles into the table, voicing everyone's thoughts as she snarled: "But we did not expect them to have engineered a workable synthetic alternative to Godblood. This makes our conquest of the mines completely irrelevant... and the Council's armies are unlikely to come here to face us. We are back to square one."

"Unfortunately, we are." Killer was forced to admit, before looking to Manticora as he pursed his lips in thought. "He is still your father. You know him better than any of us. How do we lure him out...?"

Manticora sighed and shook her head slowly, looking down at the sliver of synthetic Godblood in her hand, absently swinging it between her fingers. "I'm afraid we are out of suitable targets. There is now nothing that we know the position of that we could attack and seize to degrade his ability to roll out more and more clones, and nothing that can be used to force him to accept battle before he is ready." She paused, turning to look up into Killer's eyes as she pushed out a breath through her fangs. "The only thing that remains is sheer provocation. Typhon is smart and cold enough to turn out a plan like this, but he is, ultimately, prideful and arrogant. He craves power; he needs to sit on top of everyone else and hates everything that can humiliate him. He hates to be proven wrong, he hates to have his authority undermined. He can lose his temper very quickly if he feels like someone is laughing of him. And believe me, he is prideful enough that it doesn't take much to offend him enough to cause an assault."

Killer nodded silently, and then gave them a soft smile of bitter entertainment as he admitted: "In that, he is very similar to me."

"So, the last thing left to try is... making him angry enough to do the brash, stupid thing...?" Ira hesitatingly suggested, making a bit of a grimace. "It is a bit desperate, really."

"Aye, it is." Manticora agreed without hesitation. "He has been working on this plan for too long to risk defeat by facing Killer before gaining a decisive advantage in the fight. He has been scarred very deeply by your shows of strength, and will not challenge you directly unless he has all the aces in his hand. I fear that, no matter how angry we might make him, he'll not fall for it."

Killer gave a small nod of agreement, and crossed his arms on his chest with a grimace. "I'm not going to commit troops to another battle of dubious usefulness. This gamble here was overall justified on the basis of what we knew, and it was worth trying, but we cannot afford to suffer other losses for so little gain." He paused, looking at the ground silently as he kicked one thick, torn electric cable, thinking of all the fine warriors that had fallen into the sand and the dust during the assault on the Mines and bitterly asking himself if their victory was worth such losses. Unfortunately, I'd say it isn't. And then he huffed all air out of his lungs and shrugged, wondering out aloud: "What alternatives do we have, though...? Digging holes at random in the hope of finding out his clone factories? That ain't gonna work either. Provoking him is the last chance we have, so I'm going to give it a try. I'll do it on my own, though. The troops are better used elsewhere."

Manticora looked at him nervously as he suggested going in alone, but she only bit her lower lip lightly, not even attempting to dissuade him, knowing that it would only be a loss of time.

"What is a good way to provoke Typhon, though...?" Alexis asked, tapping her fingers over a massive bicep and gazing at Manticora with one arched eyebrow. "You are his daughter, and you are here with his worst enemy, and he still does not come out to play."

"Well... if you finally turned me into a Disciple, it would make him furious beyond description. Would it be enough...? I don't know. But it would sting for sure. I'm sure he keeps Anahel's estate under close surveillance, so if we do it there, with Anahel watching, we can be sure Typhon will be staring as well."

"And frothing at the mouth in rage." Alexis commented with a smirk, nodding slightly, before Killer reached up to squeeze Manticora's shoulder, smiling at her as he said: "It will be a pleasure for me, you know it... I know you are eager and that I've kept you waiting for quite a while, but that is not because of lack of love and desire on my part."

"I know, I know..." Manticora reassured, tilting her head to the side and pushing her shoulder up so she could lean her cheek against his strong hand. "It is a shame that my sister Kimera is locked in Hell. She would gladly join us, if there still was a working passage she could use."But at least I can show you my daughter, and if I know her, she'll be eager to join in. I can order my useless husband to prepare the house for our arrival."

"I love the sound of that..." Killer said, licking his lips as he squeezed her against his side, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and squeezing into a large, firm breast.

"Anahel used to be pretty close to Typhon. Perhaps reading his mind will tell me where the asshole is hidden." Alexis tentatively observed, but Manticora shook her head slowly, making a grimace as she countered: "Anahel was never _that_close to Typhon. Typhon forced me to marry him just to tap into his political weight in the Council, his riches, his nobility rank, when the game was still political... That phase is long over, and these days, Anahel is an outcast, spending most of his time at home, knowing that I don't want him with us and at the same time shut out of all of Typhon's activities. Scan his mind all you want, but there is nothing useful in there."

Alexis snorted in annoyance but accepted her words as the truth, before her lips crested into a predatory grin as the zebra smirked and nudged Killer, announcing: "My mother, Echidna, is also an outcast these days: Typhon left her behind a long time ago. She knows nothing useful as a consequence... but she is a feisty, unsatisfied wife who will be all too eager to be fuckmeat for the mighty male that sent her husband into hiding. If we want to make him angry, let's do it well..."

Killer let out a low growl of delight at that suggestion, and Vesta snickered as her eyes snapped open, glowing a bright sapphire as she arched her back and stretched, quickly stirring out of her nap and walking over to join them, leaning into the male's broad back and wrapping her arms around his waist, squeezing appreciatively into the bulged-out armor plate protecting his massive organ.

"Fucking his wife, his daughters and his nephew as well...? Holy crap, if that doesn't make him furious, it means he has a computer-brain like his armies of clones." She leaned her chin over Killer's shoulder and laughed a bit, remarking: "I like the idea. Eons have passed since I last saw gods fighting it out not just out in the field but deep into wombs... and none of those gods could compare to your womb-destroying power. This will truly be something else!"

"But we will need something else too, literally. This assault will be very personal and extremely painful for Typhon to stomach, but you have been with Killer for a long while... your father already knows that he lost you, and might not care enough, at this point, to come out and do anything about it." Ira wisely cautioned, and Gaia stepped in to add: "We need something massive, something public, something that decisively damages Typhon's image as Ruling Prince, as warrior, as force to reckon with."

"There is only one target we can hit to achieve that kind of result: Killer must capture Caernarvon, the capital of Heaven. The loyalists are bound to doubt of Typhon's power and of his predestination if he can't even cling on to the Holy City. Losing the town will shower him in ridicule." Manticora immediately picked up, looking them all into the eyes, one by one, and nodding slightly in appreciation of the idea. "It could work."

"That would certainly sting... but the Senate left long ago, and the royal palace is also empty. Effectively, he has abandoned the capital a lot time ago already." Ira reminded, looking unconvinced.

"His flag still flies all over the town, however. And the palace is untouched. Heaven's throne is still his, even though he isn't sitting in it for now. The capital is considered unassailable, and until it remains in his hands, his authority is pretty much unquestioned. It is a powerful symbol we are talking about..." Gaia countered, before Killer frowned and asked: "Why the armies of demons made no attempt to capture the town? Why we ourselves have never discussed about taking it? And, if it is so well protected, why did Typhon and the Senate leave as soon as the war entered Paradise's borders...?"

"Juggernaut." Vesta said, matter-of-factly, as if it was the most obvious of things. But Killer wasn't quite sure what that meant, and the queen smiled softly as she saw his frown and the question flashing in his eyes. "Juggernaut is the gigantic Guardian of Heaven. He is a titan that dwarfs the golems that guarded the entrance to this temple... he is a creature made of stone, flesh and ancient magic, almost as old as God himself. He is thought to be invulnerable once he starts fighting, as he possesses immense and ever-growing reserves of energies. To give you an idea, he is the main source of power for the whole of Heaven: the excess energy flooding out of his form has fueled every town, every village, every last building of paradise for all these Eons. And even as more and more energy was required out of him year on year as the population constantly grew, he never flinched."

"Hell knows of Juggernaut's existence, and they do not dare going anywhere near the capital. He rests in a gigantic underground cave, said to be located exactly beneath the Senate. According to some texts, the main room of the Senate, the circular hall with its tall dome, is built directly upon Juggernaut's head, like a helmet or crown of sort. The holy texts say that he will stir out of his slumber and raise against the enemies of God if they ever become menacing enough to the throne. Having fame of being invincible, a fame he built for himself the first and last time it had to fight to protect Elelyon, at the time of the rebellion of the angels, he represents a formidable deterrent." Gaia explained, looking up into Killer's eyes with a serious expression that told him she was not exaggerating. He was pretty sure, after trading a gaze, that she had had a part in bringing Juggernaut to life.

"Typhon abandoned the safe haven represented by said deterrent, though... and ordered the Senate out of town, too..." Alexis thoughtfully observed, before snorting in bitter amusement as she found the answer by herself, voicing it and asking for confirmation: "He feared that Juggernaut would eventually raise against him and the Senate he so blatantly corrupted, didn't he...?"

"That's the most rational explanation we came up with." Vesta confirmed, shrugging a bit. "We can't be sure of what he was thinking, but I can't see any other valid reason for abandoning the capital. Before Typhon's times, the capital had never, never been abandoned. No matter how dire the situation, it was always the safest of all places."

Killer and Alexis traded a gaze at that, and then the femme fatale tilted her head slightly to the side, and pushed her fist under her chin, wryly observing: "I have to guess that we do not expect Juggernaut to be our friend either, though, considering that we never considered an attack against the capital, before today."

Vesta gritted her fangs in a bit of a wince, straightening and scratching nervously at her chin before finally admitting: "Well... yes. I fear he will fight us if we try to take the capital. We are not sure how he might react, but I fear it likely that he wouldn't appreciate our actions."

"Juggernaut is famous for his strength, not for his brains..." Ira grumbled, but the queen of Seraphims held up a finger and made a sound of disapprobation, tilting her head sideways in disagreement as she cautioned: "The common sentiment is that he is all muscle and no brain, but I can tell you that it is a misled belief. Juggernaut is not at all dumb. He was never the talkative type, even before being confined underground due to his force being all but impossible to control and harness; but his brain was always sharp and he always kept it busy." She paused, and Gaia quickly confirmed her words, before Vesta continued: "I'm sure Juggernaut will have spent the last while thinking long and hard about which side he hates the most. And most likely, he hates Typhon the most, with how he warped every possible rule and law in his favor, almost erasing the original teachings of Lord God."

"Yet, you expect that he'd fight against us." Killer insisted, looking quietly at Vesta until she nodded, slumping with a sad sigh.

"Yes, I do. Juggernaut is tied to his vows in unbreakable way. His loyalty is absolute, and he is the sworn defender of the capital, of the throne, of God's Senate and, of course, of God himself. Typhon sits in the throne as Ruling Prince chosen specifically by God, and Juggernaut is bound to protect him because of it. He won't break his oaths: they are literally part of the ancient magic that keeps him alive." Vesta fell silent and then made a grimace, stroking a hand nervously over her muscular forearm and looking down at the floor. "He will do the same thing that Gabriel did: he'll stick to his oath to the very end, even if he knows he is protecting someone who does not deserve his respect and even less his sacrifice. Only if God himself declared Typhon a traitor, the previous order would cease to matter. As of now, the only thing that matters to Juggernaut's magic core is that God invested Typhon with the role of ruling prince in his absence."

"So, unfortunately, it is almost certain he would fight us." Gaia quietly reinforced, and Killer made a grimace, crossing his huge arms and dropping his head backwards, shutting his eyes tightly as he felt waves of rage and of horror clashing violently within his chest. If Juggernaut really cared about the true God, and if he was aware that Typhon was betraying every teaching Elelyon had tried to bestow upon Heaven and the world, why didn't he intervene to stop the usurper...? Why couldn't he at least step to the side, and let someone else stop the warping and the corruption of Heaven...? At which point did faith and loyalty turn into stupidity and cowardly acceptation of evil? He hated the idea of getting into another avoidable fight, another clash against someone he had no real grudge against.

"So, to conquer the capital, I'll have to defeat Juggernaut." Killer finally said, snorting with a grimace before adding: "I will have to kill another being against whom I have no grudge, but that hasn't enough courage and initiative to break his oaths even though he sees the premises on which they were based have been and are being shattered."

"Yes, I'm afraid..." Manticora sadly confirmed, while Vesta turned away from them, looking at the wall without really seeing it, lost in her memories and thoughts. She was very evidently deeply disturbed and pained, no doubt tormented by the thought of Gabriel and his sacrifice, and of her own choice, dramatically different.

"You will have to destroy the creature whose legend is as old as the world itself; the warrior whose strength has made his name synonymous of unstoppable and invincible."

"That is the only part of the idea that I like." The huge male replied, his enormous biceps flexing lightly and bulging with vigor as a thrill of eager bloodlust run down his spine at the idea of demonstrating his supremacy even over Juggernaut himself.

"I am not surprised to hear it." Ira replied, grinning in amusement as she turned to look at the huge male, taking in the sight of his musculature flexing eagerly with every little movement, like they could barely contain his explosive strength. "And I'm glad to see you eager to go, because you will need to act like the old Killer, in a way, more than like the new one. This is a shock and awe mission, if there ever was one: you have to leave both Heaven and Hell speechless in front of your power. You must terrify. You must ridicule the strength of both supernatural planes, show that they are nothing but your bedside rugs. Your triumph will have to completely eclipse Typhon's figure, and destroy his credibility forever, if he does not come out of hiding to challenge you directly."

"The time for diplomacy has long since expired: do not hold back. Take Heaven like it was yet another bitch to fuck into coma, and slap your big, fat cock on her face." Vesta cheerfully remarked, slamming her fist into the palm of her hand. "Treat Heaven like a whore, punch her arrogant face into mush while you jerk off right in front of her eyes. If Typhon doesn't like it, he will have to come out and fight."

"That means conquering Heaven. It'll make me the usurper that they denounce me as." Killer hesitatingly observed, but Alexis shook her head slowly and wrapped an arm around his waist, squeezing him reassuringly against her side as she corrected: "It is not necessarily a long-term conquest. You will take the throne for as long as it takes Elelyon to return, and in the meanwhile you can restore the old laws for the good of the people of Paradise. Undo Typhon's poisonous work, and his position will become weaker and weaker even if he continues to send into battle new hordes of freshly produced genetic monstrosities."

Killer looked towards Ira, searching answers, and the cobra smiled and nodded deeply, before Gaia and Manticora did the same, the zebra putting a hand on his shoulder as she added: "It is the only plan left. The only one that will give us a victory even if we don't have enough forces to keep all of Heaven safe."

Vesta stepped in at that observation, her voice serious and focused as she left her usual antics aside to resume her part of true leader: "You take the capital and conquer the throne. We will then secure the perimeter of Caernarvon, and that of another few of the major towns. We only have enough troops to secure two or three of the big towns, but it'll be enough. Once you sit in the throne, all the pressure is on Typhon, and he'll be the one scrambling to find a good response to give. Let him feel the pressure, while we rebuild our forces."

"We will have to be cold, even merciless. We will not accept battle in the desperate attempt to secure every last village: we don't have the resources for that. Let the Paladins and the demons of Hell fight each other for the territory: it won't matter one bit, once you've you defeated Juggernaut and taken the throne. They want Heaven? They can take most of it. But eventually they'll have to challenge you directly for the throne, or it'll be all useless: nobody will see them as winners." Alexis remarked, while Vesta nodded her agreement. The huge male listened with attention, recognizing the wisdom in their suggestion but also noticing its limits: until Typhon lived and his factories of clones worked, the war could not end. "That will still leave the war in a stalemate, but with us in a far better position." Killer finally said, and he gave a nod of acceptance, approving their plan and immediately making his way back to where he had rested earlier, to pick up Wyvern, shouldering the enormous blade. "So be it. We need to move quickly. I want to move on into Hell as soon as possible, to put an end to the demons' assaults. There is nothing we can do about that from here, with the time difference putting us at such tremendous disadvantage."

"Killer, please, stop." Ira called, rolling her eyes in exasperation at his eagerness to always charge into the thick of the action. "Stop. It is true, we need to act quickly, but... not so quickly. You have had barely two hours of bad sleep after the battle, and there is no way in Hell I'm going to let you charge against Juggernaut like this. You need rest. And you need to prepare."

"I absolutely adore your brash, reckless lust for battle!" A voice said, seductive and tinged with amusement. It was a voice that Killer had already heard, but that he couldn't immediately recognize, and he gazed about himself in surprise, trying to spot the source, while the goddesses around him tensed and assumed easy positions of battle readiness, almost encircling him as they scanned the corners of the vast, dark room. Even Alexis seemed unable to locate the mysterious voice, her eyes glowing sapphire as she gazed from side to side, her fangs gritted and her hands balled into fists as she cursed the inability of her energy vision to help her in that moment. And then, suddenly, a hot, dry wind blew between them, pushing into Killer's back and then slowly spiraling around his massive form, making him stiffen up and swallow as he felt like a curvaceous female body was grinding into his body, touching and measuring him...until the wind vanished away like it had arrived, while the same voice echoed again into the room. "The virile, unthinking eagerness of the alpha male always ready to assert his supremacy over each and every rival. Oh, I don't think I've ever had the pleasure of admiring courage and a self-confidence like yours. Taranis was an arrogant bastard, yet even he looks like a little boy full of fears and hesitations if I try to compare him to you... but, then again, they say that courage is about balls, and yours are fucking enormous."

Killer tightened his grip on Wyvern's handle and his eyes narrowed, glowing a cold and murderous sapphire as the hot, almost incandescent wind once again spiraled into the room, grinding into him like a dancing, eager body. And finally, he knew exactly who was teasing him, and he commanded firmly: "Reveal yourself, Sekhmeth."

"With pleasure." The lioness replied, as the winds blowing in the room rushed towards the center of the laboratory and mixed together to form a large vortex right in front of Killer, red desert sand forming a cloud that radiated as much heat as the sun itself before it all fell away, revealing the leather-clad, black-furred lioness, her spectacular body magnified even further by how the sturdy belts of leather squeezed tightly into massive muscles and into large, prodigious breasts, hiding her nipples but simultaneously giving her even more prominent cleavage and epic underboobs. The Goddess of Destruction smiled at him sensually and slowly held up her bare hands, spreading her arms slightly and bowing her head respectfully, announcing: "I came unarmed, as a friend eager to help the most awe-inspiring and fascinating hunk ever seen."

Killer did not reply, and the goddesses around him looked at the lioness with suspect, reluctantly dropping out of their ready positions but not quite relaxing their powerful muscles. Sekhmeth, however, seemed not to mind, unfazed by their tension and only smiling widely as she reminded: "I've never been your enemy. I've never done a thing to obstacle you."

"You didn't help out either." Gaia flatly replied, immediately receiving a little bow and a nod from the dark lioness.

"That is true. I've kept a remarkably low profile in this entire story. Until now, at least... but I can assure you, I've followed you every step of the way. I wanted to measure the worth of the Amon Ra before judging him... and you've exceeded all my expectations." The lioness said, grinning as she eyed Killer over, from head to toe and back. "You are in a whole different league... Not just powerful, but predatory. You have steered Heaven across the tempest, avoiding the rocks and tracing a route of good... yet there is also darkness in you. You are evil enough not to shy away from the difficult choices, from the dirty jobs, from the hard sex. Elelyon was always so perfect, so annoyingly faultless, asexual, reflexive and chaste. He was dull. And oh, so boring..." She paused and licked her lips, making no apology for the frank comments she had reserved for God as her eyes glowed with lust and her index slid sensually down the solid profile of his chest as she added: "Elelyon was too damn good and perfect for his own good. I always knew he would lose control over his kingdom, eventually... It is what happens when you hand out too many second chances.

But you? You are always ready to crush your enemies underfoot to make sure you always stay firmly on top. And I love that. You are a true leader, never afraid to apply strength when needed."

Killer did not reply, only looking at her with calm curiosity: there was no hostility in her, and he sensed no menace in her actions and thoughts, but she was a dangerous and largely unknown force. Her sympathy for him had been evident from the very first time they had met, but there was still no real way to tell what shape would her interest take. The goddess of destruction was known as a fine schemer as well as an incredibly dangerous warrior. Her name meant "the powerful one", and she certainly kept faith to it, with both her physical power and her ability in positioning herself always on the winning side of the negotiation table. The simple fact that she had reached them, unannounced and undetected even by Alexis's otherworldly senses, was proof of her prodigious abilities, and Killer did not want to let down his guard just because she enticingly fluttered her long eye lashes.

The power she radiated was no longer terrifying like it had been at their first meeting, when it had so immensely dwarfed his aura, but she was a supernova, an incandescent and wild force of destruction that made the very air around them boil and ripple, causing droplets of sweat to roll down his musculature. Killer was very much affected by her rough, savage magnetism, her spectacular body speaking of strength and of feminine treasures, her enormous breasts heaving slightly with each breath she took, her firm flesh bulging out of the belt-like bra she wore, while other thick straps groaned weakly as they were stretched out by her bulging muscles when the lioness rested her hands on her hips and grinned, bending one long leg slightly as she assumed an easy pose for him, holding her breath as she felt his gaze rolling over her body with such intensity and hunger than it felt almost like a physical caress.

"You like what you see, and I like what I see... It has always been clearly written into the pages of Destiny that we could only be... allies." Sekhmeth said, putting a special emphasis into the word allies, after hesitating for a moment, just long enough to make it clear that there were more and deeper meanings attached to the term. The lioness grinned and stroked the back of her hand slowly down between her huge breasts and over the profile of her abs, before sensually pushing her fingers beneath the narrow strap of leather that covered her groin, groaning in delight as she spread her muscular legs wider before him, not at all ashamed to let the light reflect over the pearly fluids of her desire, revealing long streaks of juice rolling down her thighs. "My tribute to you, invincible conqueror..." Sekhmeth said, her voice husky and dripping desire as she stroked her hungry sex for several long moments and then finally pulled it back, shiny and dripping with hot juice, holding it up in front of his thick muzzle and grinding the delicious nectar between the tip of two fingers.

Killer hungrily inhaled the intoxicating, delightful scent of her desire, and without saying a word he seized her by the wrist and pulled her soaked hand against his lips, watching her in the eyes as he slowly, hungrily licked over her digits, savoring her hot fluids and finally taking her fingers into his mouth, suckling greedily on them for a short but delicious moment.

"You have made me spill plenty of nectar in all this time... but I stupidly kept the distance, instead of joining your ranks as I should have done all along." Sekhmeth said when he finally let go of her hand, with the courtesy of leaving the tip of her index drenched in juice just so she could suckle it herself, grinning playfully into his eyes.

"The loyalty of the first hour is worth a lot more than the loyalty that comes only after the victories have been gained." Killer calmly remarked, his voice soft and gentle yet carrying tremendous authority as he spelled out his judgment... but Sekhmeth showed no surprise, no resentment, no disagreement with his words, nodding instead in approval before saying: "That is very true, and I'm aware of my current, unfortunate situation... But, thankfully, I can be of great help exactly at this time, when your bold plan for the conquest of Heaven has taken shape."

"How so...?" Ira asked, glaring at the lioness a bit, her suspects not quite gone yet. Alexis and the other goddesses also faced the newcomer with silent, inquisitive gazes, trying to evaluate her words and actions to determine whether she was sincere or not.

"Helping him with his training, of course!" Sekhmeth exclaimed, throwing her hands out in a gesture of mild exasperation at having to explain what she evidently considered something entirely obvious. "Lord Killer, even with all your tremendous strength, you don't just go to Caernarvon and take down Juggernaut. If it was that easy, it would have already been done. You said it yourselves: his name has become just another way to say "unstoppable". There are reasons for it, and taking a longer nap before the fight won't be enough."

Ira grunted in agreement with her words, but she still made a bit of a grimace, folding her powerful arms and tilting her head to the side as she studied the lioness. Manticora stepped forwards and asked bluntly: "That is true, but what are you going to add to his training...?"

"I'm the goddess of destruction." Sekhmeth replied in a matter-of-fact tone, holding up one finger as she added: "That counts for something! I can take care of his training, be his sparring partner and supply him with loads of massive monstrosities he can use for target practice." She paused, and immediately Vesta and Gaia opened their mouths to counter that none of that was particularly special, but the lioness ignored them and firmly poked Killer's chest instead, until his remaining Seals crackled into view, making him grunt in pain as the massive chains clamped down on his ribs with extra determination as they came into view. "Here is another good reason why you need me..." The black lioness said, leaning in closer to inspect the two translucent chains. One was badly damaged, the thick links deformed and cracked, some of them all but torn apart, holding on just because the bend in the metal hadn't yet allowed the other link to slip out... but the other chain was still strong and undamaged. "You'll soon break Thanathos's Seal into pieces, but mine...? You haven't even begun to nick into it."

"It is only a matter of time." Killer calmly replied, but the lioness easily countered that by remarking: "Sure, but time is a luxury we do not have." Sekhmeth then turned to face Vesta just as the queen opened her mouth to speak, and her voice rose higher as she pre-empted: "And if all that wasn't yet enough... I helped God in building the construct that we now know as Juggernaut. And you, Vesta, know that."

The blonde tigress pointed a finger and mouthed a few silent words, trying to come up with a remark as she was taken completely aback, but eventually she sulked and muttered: "Bitch."

Sekhmeth grinned widely at that, celebrating her victory with a tiny little nod, and Killer couldn't help but snort in entertainment, shaking his head slowly before turning to look at Alexis. "Your call, lover. Should I trust her ...?"

The femme fatale took a moment to study the lioness once more, but there was nothing definitive she could determine with her ability to view and read energy flows. The lioness hadn't lied and apparently had no second thoughts hidden in the back of her brain, but Alexis still hesitated, knowing all too well that she couldn't quite explore the depths of the mind and soul of a goddess of Sekhmeth's caliber. The lioness could still have been hiding something, down in the deep... but even her instinct couldn't tell her what, if anything, was out of place. In truth, Alexis liked the lioness and as they gazed into each other's eyes, both goddesses felt a pleasant thrill running down their spines at the thought of sharing a bed with the massive male... and, occasionally, even without him, perhaps. Alexis hadn't yet put her ability to turn into a herm to much use, but she was eager to try, and she couldn't help but think of burying her immense shaft deep into the lioness. The sole fact that she was the goddess of destruction added a whole different and extra thrill to the image. "You like her, and I like her." Alexis finally said, smirking a bit as she eyed over the lioness's body, licking her lips slowly. "She is pleasant to the eye... and we can use the help." The ligeress extended her arm and offered her hand to the black-furred lioness, but when Sekhmeth immediately squeezed it, Alexis dragged her hard forwards and forced her down on her knees. "But be careful, black kitty... when you deal with us, never forget who is in charge."

Sekhmeth grunted in surprise but did not fight back, allowing Alexis to grab her by the skull and shove her face against the massive bulge in Killer's pants, the huge male grinning widely and letting his head fall backwards with a growl of pleasure, licking his lips as the lioness eagerly ground her features against his titanic member, her nostrils opening wide as she loudly, greedily sniffed up his thick, potent scent.

Sekhmeth only looked up with a dreamy grin when Alexis pulled her face off Killer's bulge, only to guide her features towards her own groin: the ligeress' pants were suddenly bulging obscenely, stretched out over the unmistakable shape of a colossal flaccid shaft that sneaked its way down one leg, and the goddess of Destruction eagerly nuzzled into this, rubbing her cheek against it and murmuring: "I will not forget it, no... You want to stay on top."

"Good..." Killer approved, smirking and trading an amused look with Alexis, before gazing at Sekhmeth as she quietly straightened back up to her full height. "So, what is your first lesson...?"

"Aren't you a fiery beast of war...?" Sekhmeth purred, licking her lips slowly as she squeezed lightly into his massive bicep, but she pushed her index gently up against his lips, her voice taking on a serious tone as she spoke: "I love how eager you are, but this is a deadly serious matter, Lord Killer... you are not ready, and it'll take time to prepare. My first suggestion to you is to forget about the attack on Juggernaut for the moment being."

Killer frowned at that, and opened his mouth to counter, but Vesta and Ira both gently seized his wrists and squeezed on them, silently signaling their agreement with Sekhmeth's warning, and he closed his eyes with a sigh, nodding slightly.

"Don't you worry, my Master... you will be too busy to regret having to postpone the biggest fight in history." The lioness assured, looking up at him with concern as she paused for a brief moment before glaring a bit at Ira and then at Vesta: "Take what I'm about to say as a further proof of my loyalty to you... just so the doubts can be put to bed once and for all." Both goddesses gazed firmly back at her, unfazed by her little attack and only listening with attention, studying her moves. "Hell is about to shift his attentions towards the Mortal Plane. They are about to launch a massive invasion campaign, with all the Princes involved: they are all preparing their armies, and the only reason they haven't yet moved is that each one wants to first build up a great advantage over the others, as they expect the war to turn into a land-grabbing exercise, in which the strongest and fastest conqueror will be able to secure vast swathes of the planet."

"That's not how it works. What about Satan...?" Ira interrupted, making a grimace of disapprobation.

"The High King is not in the position he used to enjoy. His personal army is now dwarfed by the massively expanded hordes following the Princes, in particular some of them. You know, it happens when someone starts to clone and mass-produce demons and monstrosities." Sekhmeth drolly countered, pouring sarcasm in the last comment and shooting a daggers glare at Ira. "The High King right now cannot quite control his lords, and they know it: they will keep their conquests for themselves, and Satan will pretend to like and approve of it, because he has no alternatives."

Ira didn't counter, and Sekhmeth smiled and gave an exaggerated nod of thanks for that kindness, before turning to face Killer once more. "Warn your people. Put your troops on high alert, and do what you can to prepare the world for what is coming: no nation is prepared for this invasion, not even your empire. The world will fall apart within two or three days at most, once it begins."

Killer said nothing, but inwardly agreed with her assessment: if what she said was true, and he believed it, then the Mortal Plane was doomed. Even his troops stood no chance in such a conflict: he had been working to train his soldiers in "demonic warfare", but the few pieces of equipment they had had the time to prepare were still going to be woefully inadequate to the task. They could work against minor monsters and low tier demons, but the Princes and their generals and their hordes...? He had to repress a shiver of horror at the thought. It is going to be a complete, one-sided massacre.

Sekhmeth looked into his eyes and seemed to catch hint of his thoughts, because she gave him a soft smile of reassurance before calmly insisting: "I don't know when it'll begin, but it'll be soon. Too soon to be able to prevent it in any way, but far enough away in time to let you catch your breath for a moment. So here is my suggestion: rest; clear your mind up, and spend some time with the people you care about here in Heaven, because it will be a while before you have the chance to do it again. Forget about Juggernaut for now: do what you can to prevent the Mortals from turning into Hell's breakfast, and then assault Hell directly. At the moment, Heaven is in a stalemate that no one has yet the power to break."

"I think that is a good suggestion." Killer agreed, sighing and dropping his shoulders in resignation, accepting that truth that he had unsuccessfully tried to change by attacking the Sacred Mines. He looked at the lioness and slapped his hands down on her firm, beautiful buttocks, dragging her closer to his body and pushing almost nose to nose as he enquired: "Will you help us in this fight?"

"Always." Sekhmeth replied without any hesitation, grinning as he squeezed firmly into her spectacular form, her hands pushing into his solid chest and then tracing slowly down over the chiseled profile of his masculine front. "I'll reach you in the Mortal Plane when Hell breaks loose... and I'll setup a proper arena in my Sanctuary, a place where I can train you and help you break your last Seals..." She paused, then snorted and turned slowly around to look flatly at Ira as the cobra loudly cleared her throat. "If your Mentor here has nothing against it, of course..."

"I don't quite like the idea, no. Why should he enter your Sanctuary...? Why can't you come to him instead...?" Ira coldly asked, her eyes narrowing dangerously as she looked at the lioness with suspect. The goddess of Destruction only smirked, however, and seraphically counter-asked: "Why should I enter his, or teach him while he is surrounded by an entire harem of goddesses? If he does not trust me, should I trust him...? I came here, unarmed, in front of all of you, at considerable danger to myself, so I've shown you that I trust your honor. I knew you would listen and evaluate my offer, at least, and so it has been. But I will not expose myself to a power as great as his without taking certain precautions. Unleashing his tremendous power in full will require him to experience rage, lust, pain. He will be angry, he will be eager to destroy. He will reveal power unlike anything that has ever been seen before. It could become very dangerous." She paused, letting her words sink into Ira's mind, knowing that they would remind her of times in which she had been in the line of fire of Killer when his self-control had failed, and she looked at the other goddesses as well, silently challenging them all to counter her argument. Finally, she smirked widely and turning back to Killer, leaning forwards and kissing his lips teasingly before playfully adding: "You know this beast well... he could very well decide to rape poor little me..."

Ira snorted irritably, grumbling something under her breath, but she couldn't find a proper comeback, and it was Gaia who stepped forwards, holding up one hand and quietly observing: "There is certainly sense in your observation, but surely you can imagine our own worries and difficulties with your proposal. Might I request that, at the very least, you agree to teaching him in our presence the first time...?"

"One of you can accompany him into my Sanctuary and assist to the first lesson." Sekhmeth replied, smiling a bit."But only one. You don't fully trust me yet... allow me to not trust you yet in return. If two of you challenged me on my home turf, I would still be able to hold out. If I allowed more of you in, I would leave myself no chances if you decided to literally take my power off my bones."

"If we wanted to do that, we'd do it now." Ira barked, but the lioness closed her eyes and shook her head slowly, smiling serenely as she countered: "No, you wouldn't. You are all tired and low on energy from the earlier battle, and I would be able to safely and orderly fight my way back to my Sanctuary."

"There is no need for all this, Sekhmeth. I'm more than willing to trust you." Killer calmly said, but the lioness only nuzzled him gently before lightly shaking her head. "That honors, me, Lord Killer... and please, be assured that I trust you all, and your honor. Yet, I know what kind of urges roar within you..." She paused and pointed a finger at Ira's collar, smirking a bit as she continued: "Beautiful as those collars look, I'm not sure I'm ready to end up with one around my neck. While I'm all too glad to bend over for a good old fuck with you, with Lady Alexis, with any of these fine ladies here... I still like my freedom. I must take my precautions to ensure it lasts... at least until I finally give in. Fuck, but you are addictive...! I've been here for mere minutes, and already I wonder how I lived so long without having your magnificent cock within easy reach."

"One of us will survey each lesson, not just the first one." Alexis finally stated, putting an end to the discussion with a tone that admitted no replies. "You need your safeties, but we need ours as well."

Sekhmeth bit her lower lip at that, hesitating for a moment and tapping a finger against her chin in thought, until she shrugged and cheerfully extended her hand to the goddess. "Fine, I guess that works for me." They shook hands, and the lioness grinned teasingly as she turned towards Ira, purring: "Is it okay for you too, sunbeam...?"

"Excellent." Ira coldly replied, before shifting her attention towards the entrance to the laboratory as Vicky appeared with a crackle of energy, floating in midair for an instant before elegantly touching down and walking into the room, her hips swaying deliciously and a smile on her face as she carefully cradled close to her chest a group of sheets covered in beautiful pencil drawings.

Vicky stopped on the threshold for a moment, blinking in surprise as she spotted Sekhmeth and hesitating for a moment, unsure about how to proceed. The lioness, however, only smiled warmly at her, and Killer did the same, giving a little nod to invite her in and signal that all was good.

"I will take my leave for the moment, I think. I'm glad I came, and I look forwards to working with you." Sekhmeth warmly said, smiling as she lovingly traced her finger down the powerful profile of Killer's chest before turning around to leave... but she stopped again instead, gaping a bit in surprise and admiration as she caught sight of the drawings Vicky had brought.

"Those are... spectacular..." The goddess of destruction whispered, sounding sincerely and deeply impressed, and Vicky beamed at her praise, looking down at her works and angling the sheets so the lioness could take a better look herself.

"Thank you... these are... well, symbols that I've prepared for Lord Killer."

"My congratulations... truly, they are amazing. They look alive, all of them! They look like physical things coming out of the sheet. I've never thought a pencil could accomplish such miracles." The black female said, shaking her head with a stunned face as she looked over the various drawings: each sheet was covered in two, three or more symbols which actually were incredibly detailed and accurate images of feral animals, with a theme in common: a even split of Light and Darkness, of wild ferocity and of serene, wise dominance. There were massive feral lions, their stony expressions speaking of wisdom, of courage and unflinching determination. There were feral tigers, and ligers, and sabertooth beasts, their muscular bodies drawn in dynamic poses that exalted the tension in each powerful band of muscle. There were a few dragons, too: Killer saw a white dragon and a black dragon facing away from each other yet coiling their massive snake-like bodies together; and another who had two heads and two diametrically opposed halves, one chaotic and wild and vicious and full of darkness and one reflexive and kind and elegant, shining with bright light. They were stunning, for their expressions, for the light in their eyes, for the amazing way the shadow played out over their powerful forms, for how each strand of fur and each scale looked perfect and stood out from the page.

"Well, I'm guessing that these symbols are meant to represent you." Sekhmeth amusedly commented, looking sideways at Killer as a smile crested her lips. "You are very much aware of your darkness, aren't you...?"

"I am, Sekhmeth... and Vicky here has managed to draw my inner struggle out in a fantastically telling way. That you asked your question after seeing her sketches merely confirms it. These drawings are epic, and choosing one is going to be a real struggle." The huge male replied, smiling warmly down at Vicky and ruffling her hair with affection as the doe blushed slightly and eagerly leaned up against his strong hand.

"That is absolutely true... but I'm sure the other drawings will be just as treasured... and I also think that many will end up tattooed on your disciples, won't they...?" The lioness gently enquired, smiling slightly as she gazed with curiosity and interest over the tattoos on Ira, Vesta and Alexis's powerful shoulders.

"That's very likely. It is a little tradition that is by now well rooted in the family." Killer confirmed while reverently taking the sheets in his hands as Vicky handed them over.

"I can see that. Makes me wish to have my own..." Sekhmeth replied, her voice taking on a sensual, suggestive tone as she shot Killer a lustful, accomplice gaze. He smirked a bit and tilted his head to the side slightly, a glint in his eyes telling her in very clear terms that he was always ready for new conquests, and even more ready to take care of her.

She smiled back in a way that told him that the message had been received and appreciated, and then she clapped her hands lightly, announcing: "Right, then. As I said, I'm going. I'll see you soon, either for our first lesson, or for helping against Hell's assaults. I'm afraid it'll be the latter, they are bound to move real soon."

With that said, Sekhmeth vanished from the spot with a loud crackle of energy followed by a howling, incandescent desert wind that rushed out of the room, leaving Killer and Alexis to trade an uncertain gaze.

"Well, that was... awkward." Vesta finally commented, and Ira grunted in agreement, leaning her back against the wall and folding her mighty arms on her chest.

"It was a bit... sudden." Killer mumbled, unsure of what to think of the whole thing, before turning his attention to Vicky, smiling at her warmly and whispering: "Thankfully, you came and brought something beautiful for us all to see."

"It's nothing, Killer, really..." The doe shyly replied, shaking a hand dismissively but blushing in pleasure nonetheless as she saw how much he appreciated her work. Gaia smiled warmly, then leisurely flicked her wrist and summoned the force of nature, causing roots and vines to break their way through the solid floor of the bunker to climb up the walls, covering them in soft leaves and fragrant, beautiful flowers, some of which glowed with a natural phosphorescence that illuminated the whole room. In mere moments, the dark, smelly and ruined laboratory became a delicious little Eden, and solid plants grew out of the floor to form a table and a vast sofa that could sit them all.

Killer looked at this with a little gape of awe, then he groaned in frustration at his own stupidity as he exclaimed: "And I slept on the goddamn floor. I could have... ugh. I'm an idiot." He looked at the snow leopardess with a soft smile of adoration, and said simply: "I love you, Gaia. I really do."

"I know." She lovingly replied, before playfully adding: "And I love you too. Even more so when you forget you are a god and mess around like a clumsy mortal."

"I must make for good entertainment." Killer chuckled, crashing down in the sofa and sighing in delight at how soft and welcoming it was, the vines and leaves flexing just enough to accommodate him in the best of ways as he rested his arms on top of the backrest. Alexis sat down to his right, leaning into his side and smiling contently, soon joined by Ira and Manticora. Gaia and Vesta sat down to his left, and he welcomed Vicky in his lap instead, watching from over her shoulder as he took her hands in his, holding up the sheets with the designs she had prepared. "Let's watch these masterpieces together, and choose one as our symbol, huh...?"

It took them a good ten minutes to look over all the drawings that Vicky had prepared, because each one was a spectacle in itself and deserved to be admired and studied for several long moments, just to take in all the details and admire the life in each gaze and the force in each flexed muscle, and the dominance in each roaring mouth. Gaia eventually prepared some of her soothing, delicious tea for everyone and they began discussing which drawing to adopt for their common, clan-wide tattoo. It wasn't an easy choice, because the drawings were all winners. But they took the time it required, enjoying every moment, savoring the magic of just being together and exchanging words, comments, antics and teases. The war had made those invaluable moments painfully rare, so they had to be enjoyed to the max when one presented itself.

Eventually, consensus had built up around one drawing in particular: it showed a feral male lion with a fiery mane and a muscular, mighty body that spoke of speed, of strength, of dominance. The lion's head was majestic, his features suggesting wisdom and leadership even though his expression was warped by a mix of rage and confusion. The lion was bent in a hind-leg battle stand, claws extended, muscles tensed, heavy paws striking out against an invisible enemy, and from his back extended two vast, glorious wings that surrounded him on both sides with their might span. One of the wings was black and made of deadly, scythe-like blades of darkness, while the other was a glowing, flaming angel wing of spectacular white purity. The image was powerful, and it spoke clearly of the inner struggle that Killer faced every day. The battle that his Disciples shared. The expression of the feral lion was simply breath-taking, as Vicky had managed to clearly hint at the darkness spreading over half of the mighty beast, a different shadow in one of his eyes, an almost imperceptible yet oh so clear intensity to half of his snarl... It was truly amazing, and from the very beginning it had ranked high in everyone's vote. Soon enough, they had agreed that it was the perfect symbol, the one image that could represent them all.

"I think this is perfect, Vicky... I love the wings, and the expression you gave to the lion is... wow. It is just so alive..." Killer whispered, looking down at the drawing once more and reverently touching it with the tip of one finger, feeling the pencil lines and struggling to believe they were true, so perfect the image was.

"I... was afraid it would kind of resemble Alexis's tattoo too much, at least in concept." Vicky softly said, smiling in delight at his words and obvious pleasure. She turned towards Alexis's mighty shoulder to admire the tattoo of the feral lion depicted while battling a giant poisonous snake, crushing it under its strong paws. "It was both an inspiration and a worry. I wanted something similar, yet completely different."

"And I think you have been successful, babe." Alexis gently said, smiling warmly and looking over the drawing once more. "This looks beautiful, and I'm totally in favor of it becoming our common mark."

"They are all so good...!" Vesta whined, holding up two of the other sheets and looking from one to the other. "It is terrible having to choose only one... but if I must, that one has my vote."

Gaia nodded in agreement, and Manticora squeezed gently on Vicky's shoulder to congratulate her and convey all her admiration for her amazing skills, while Ira took a long look at another sheet, holding it up in front of her and musing: "I really, really like this dragon, too... But know what? I'll have this as a personal tattoo later on. The winged lion is perfect to represent us all, as a clan and family."

"I'd say that settles it, then... I trust that Alcana, Adrasthea and Diana will approve, as well." Killer said, smiling as he rested back in the green sofa, his heavy combat boots discarded together with the rest of his armor. Vicky straddled him, one leg out on either side of his and hands leaning down against his solid, chiseled abs, her groin touching the massive bulge in his pants and somehow transmitting a formidable, amazing heat that he had a hard time ignoring. She kept faith to her role of goddess of Temptation, to say the least, even though she was sitting on his lap with all the innocence of a child, in that moment. She was completely focused on her role as his goddess of art, and her cheeks were slightly flushed with relief and delight at being showered with so much praise. Like most artists, and indeed more than many, Vicky was very hard on herself and her abilities: she always aimed for an ideal best that, to her eyes, always eluded her. She always wanted more and better, and all too often she had eyes only for the imperfections she perceived in her works rather than for their amazing beauty. That made her genuinely afraid of the thoughts of other people about her art, even though the comments always ended up being overwhelmingly positive. She always took to praise with a bit of surprise, as if she expected insults instead. Ascending to Godhood and becoming Killer's mistress of arts had not changed that aspect of her in any way: she was supremely confident now about most things, including her ability to face any fight, but she could still get moody and sad in front of a drawing that just didn't look the way she wanted it to. She still shifted from toe to toe when showing her drawings off to someone, trying to hide her obvious tension as she waited for comments like she expected people to glare at her with hate and derision.

Killer thought it both cute and sad, because it pained him to see her suffering so much even though her talent was so crystalline. He knew the feeling quite well, since, much as he didn't advertise it much, he liked to draw and even to write, and was well used to all the frustrations that came from it. He was nowhere near as good as she was, so he felt entitled to being moody about his attempts, but he thought she really had nothing to be worried about. He envied her skills greatly... and at times he even felt a sting of irritation at her nervousness over artwork that was so stunningly beautiful and perfect. If she worried over such perfection, after all, he felt kind of like his attempts shouldn't even be allowed to exist. But it was an irrational reaction, and he always suppressed it with ease. He could understand what she felt, and knew that it could not be helped.

"Should I... would you... let me tattoo it on your shoulder, then...?" Vicky hesitatingly asked, and Killer gazed at her with a soft smile, caressing her thighs slowly, enjoying her innocence in that moment of complete focus on art, before he gave a deep nod.

"I would be honored to have you doing it... and it is just as well, because soon we might all be very, very busy, and it could be a long while before we have another chance to take care of this."

Vesta grunted in agreement with his comment, watching on with interest as he shifted around in the seat enough to give Vicky easy, unhindered access to his massive, powerful shoulder, the doe immediately reaching up to massage gently the enormous chorded muscles, using a soft sponge to carefully clean up and prepare the whole area.

"When Hell attacks, the mortals will be in over their heads. We'll have to intervene to stem the tide, before thinking about moving directly into Hell. Otherwise, by the time we are there, the ruins of the Mortal Plane will be another province of Hell." Vesta said after a moment, once Killer was settled comfortably, and the huge male sighed and nodded in agreement, before he muttered: "Coming here was a mistake. We should have accepted the facts earlier: Heaven right now is an unsolvable problem, a forever war that can't be won by either side." He made a grimace of distaste and bitterly added: "But I do not like leaving things unfinished, and of course I had to find a way to move on the offensive. I should have known better: war at times requires moving backwards in order to make progress."

"Well, yeah, we should have moved into Hell already. We can safely say we would have achieved more in there. But attacking here was a decision we took together, and it did generate results: we should not undervalue the fact that Metatron is now gone; that Rogue is dead and that we now know the extent of the advanced weapon projects Typhon is running; and last but not least that we hold this sacred place. Typhon might technically be able to carry on without Godblood and without his facilities here, but his credibility has taken a really big hit." Alexis intervened, her voice firm and convinced, full of strength as she summarized their gains. "None of those victories are insignificant. Credibility means a lot, and I suspect that over the next while, everyone who is not a mindless clone will be wondering about Typhon's plans, his situation and his strength. I fully expect defections from the Council's side, and more Arkangels coming to our doors to repent and switch side."

"That is not unreasonable an expectation. But Typhon knows he needs the senators and the non-clone troops as well as his genetic monstrosities, and he will do all he can to keep them in his field... chaining them all to his throne, if necessary." Manticora cautioned, her lip twitching in distaste as she thought about it for moment and then grumbled: "And he's very likely already working on that right now. If you think about it, his order to evacuate the Senate to the bunkers in the Seventh Heaven was probably also a way to imprison it. A golden cage, but a cage nonetheless. Now nobody knows where the senators are held. The people of Heaven keep hearing the Council's orders... but we know very little about the status of the senators, don't we...?"

"That is also true." Ira muttered, crossing her long and mighty legs and tapping her fingers angrily on her knees, arm resting over her powerful thigh. There was silence for a few moments, and then the cobra huffed and crossed her arms under her prodigious breasts, resting back into the sofa and asking bluntly: "Sekhmeth. Do you trust her...?"

Killer hesitated for a moment, inspiring air into his nostrils for a long moment and then huffing in frustration, blowing out air until his lungs were empty before finally replying: "Yes. And no, at the same time." He paused, taking a moment to put order in his thoughts and looking down at Vicky's skilled hands working on his shoulder without really seeing them, but rather the dark lioness, thinking over their recent meeting. "I felt no hostility coming from her, and I'm convinced she is not an enemy. She has no interest in Typhon or in Satan, nor in the occult mastermind of our suspects. She is a lone wolf, putting her interests and her fun at the centre of her universe."

"She is deeply fascinated with you. She is the goddess of destruction, and she loves raw, brutal strength: it is not a surprise that she likes you. Her relationship with Elelyon was pretty cold: he had little use for her power and her suggestions as he always put diplomacy first and worked to always avoid conflict. Besides, Elelyon has never been interested in the physical domain, nor has he ever had a sexual drive. He was over and above these things of the flesh. Typhon interested her more... but still not much. Until Elelyon was on the throne, Typhon was just as restrained as she was, and too low down the food chain to interest her." Vesta explained, folding her arms behind her head and resting lazily back into the sofa, grinning widely as she gazed at Killer's massive form. "You? You are everything she likes, in a perfect package: power beyond measure; a spectacular body, embodiment of brutal strength; hunger for even more power and taste for destruction and blood and fighting, and a sex drive that makes the Hell of Lust look like a convent of cloistered nuns, and a cock so big that it makes every other dick look like a clit."

Killer grinned in entertainment at her choice of words, giving a little nod to show he had gotten the memo. "Yeah, I think she really does like me. But, at the same time, she clearly has something in mind. She is most definitely not the shy type: she doesn't want me alone and locked up in her house just because she doesn't want you lot to join in and make it an orgy. She must have something else in mind."

"Maybe she's just afraid of Alexis." Vesta suggested, poking the femme fatale's massive bicep and grinning widely as she teased her: "You get quite damn territorial when someone dares too much with Killer. You fear that you might end up losing your special place...?"

"I'm irreplaceable, and no one can dream to steal my lover away." Alexis easily replied, grinning predatorily and with full belief not just in Killer's endless and sincere love, but in her own feminine arts and in her unmatched sensuality. "But still, yeah. I'm territorial. I'm in control of all you little bitches, and that's how it'll always be."

"That works for me..." Vesta teasingly purred as Alexis seized her by the throat and throttled her playfully for a few moments, the queen of Seraphim's hands stroking over the goddess's massive muscles.

"I'm glad you listen to your upstairs brain as well as the downstairs one." Ira playfully commented, looking at Killer with affection before frowning thoughtfully as she added seriously: "Sekhmeth is planning to do something with you... but what? She doesn't want you dead, that I'm reasonably certain about. What could she want...?" She paused, her voice dying away as she frowned and put order in her thoughts, trying to find and seize the truth, feeling it close and yet impossible to reach. "I do not know what's on her mind. And I can't understand why she accepted to let one of us escort you. I expected her to fight back, to demand exceptions, to try and obtain better terms, yet she accepted without blinking. She must think that, whatever she has in mind, she can do it even with one of us present."

"And that is very odd." Gaia added, putting down her cup of tea upon a large green leaf that extended towards her like the hand of a waiter eager to serve her. "If I didn't trust everyone here more than I trust even myself, I would say she had an accomplice in our ranks. But this, clearly, is not the case... Not to mention that she accepted the presence of one of us at any one time, not a specific one of us. And that further limits her options."

"She is very powerful, but even in her own Sanctuary, she can't take on you and one of us combined, and she knows it." Alexis intervened, looking Killer in the eyes and squeezing his hand in hers. "We'll have to make sure she doesn't manage to separate us when we are in her Dimension. If we allow that to happen, we sign up for trouble."

"I can't believe her nerve!" Ira irritably muttered. "She thinks she can trick not just you, but one of us too, at the same time. I hate it, and I hate having no clue about her plan."

Killer smiled in soft amusement at the irritation on the cobra's face, and he moved slightly towards her, pulling up his arm... before wincing and babbling a hurried apology as Vicky tackled it and held it down, exclaiming: "No! Stay still!"

She was already drawing the contours of the tattoo on his shoulder, and he had almost ruined her work by carelessly moving without warning her. "Sorry, sorry. Was... thinking. Distracted."

Vicky glared at him a little, but then tilted her head to the side in acceptance and shrugged the incident off, bending down to lovingly kiss his enormous bicep while drawing the fluid, fiery lines that composed the feral lion's mane.

He smiled warmly down at her, and then one thick, powerful tentacle of black flesh stretched out of his back and arched through the air to wrap companionably around Ira's shoulders, giving her a loving squeeze.

"You know, this would creep a lot of people out to no end." The cobra amusedly commented, closing her eyes and smiling softly as she enjoyed the simple, supportive contact, before she pulled her powerful arm up, inviting the tentacle to coil around her limb like a snake, leading it in front of her lips. She didn't need to open her eyes to know that the end of the tentacle had morphed into a massive, fat cockhead, and she leaned forwards to kiss it gently, squeezing firmly into the thick flesh as a grin spread over her features. "And it is part of why I love it."

"I figured." Killer snorted-laughter, before looking at the cobra with soft affection as he added: "You'll accompany me at the very first lesson, so you can see with your own eyes. If something there will be out of place, I'm sure you'll immediately notice it. You are still my mentor, Ira."

"Course I am. I will make sure that it is safe, and that it is not a waste of time. If I dislike what I see, I'll wallop Sekhmeth right on the ears." The cobra replied, winking and grinning widely as she relaxed into the sofa.

There was silence for a little while as they watched Vicky working her magic on Killer's shoulder, each purposeful movement of her hand leaving more of the lion's shape perfectly printed over his massive musculature. They took those quiet moments to rest, even though they all fought back the sleepiness, trying to keep their eyes open for the moment. Eventually, it was Manticora who quietly observed: "Whatever she might be scheming, Sekhmeth didn't lie about Hell's offensive, right? I think we all agree on this."

"Absolutely." Vesta confirmed, her eyes closed but her mind still awake and sharp. "Hell has no doubt realized just as well as we have that the situation in Heaven cannot be solved, for now. They have every reason to shift their attention to the easy target, and take over the Mortal Plane."

"I'm surprised they didn't do it earlier, if anything." Ira added, squeezing her sleepy eyes and flexing lazily, her toes curling as she stretched her long legs. "They must have waited out on our very own attempts against Typhon, hoping that either the Council or we would fall apart, leaving only one force to contend with."

"I think the key question is whether we trust her also on the picture of Hell that she's painted: is Satan truly in difficulty controlling his kingdom? Who holds the real power down there, now?" Gaia asked, playing idly with a long, thick vine branch blossoming with large white flowers. Manticora took a moment to think, and then nodded deeply, explaining: "It matches what we know. I've been unable to talk to Kimera for quite a while and there's no way to ask her for confirmation, but Satan was definitely in trouble already a long time ago. He didn't want this war, remember? He had agreed to let Killer come into the supernatural dimensions and he had granted his authorization for him to face half of his training within Hell's borders. Then, everything escalated and degenerated out of control."

Ira grudgingly nodded in agreement, admitting: "I'm sure that she said the truth about Hell's situation. I teased her on the matter specifically because I wanted to hear her reply, and I must say it was completely realistic."

"It is the very reason why Hell right now is a solvable problem, while Heaven isn't. In Hell, there are multiple powerful actors that work together to run a massive military campaign while looking for an opportunity to strike their rivals down. Their alliance is fragile, and balance of power is everything. The princes of Hell venerate power and thirst for it and for conquest: they cannot play hide and seek like Typhon does: they must be aggressive, brash, and fight in the first line to remind everyone else of their power, because they depend on it. If they appear weak, even for a moment, someone within their own armies will rise against them. This means that demon lords, unlike Typhon, can always be found." Vesta explained, her eyes glowing faintly as she gazed towards Ira and Manticora, to see if they would agree with her.

"That's correct... Hell is based upon raw power. A Prince won't last long in his throne if he hides from battle." Ira confirmed, nodding slightly. She had lived in Heaven for the most of her life, but she was nonetheless a high-rank demoness, born and raised in Hell, daughter of a once powerful hell baron that she had eventually slain with her own hands to put an end to his abuses on her and to his dictatorial approach to fatherhood. She had a very direct and good experience of what she talked about, and Killer listened with complete attention as she continued: "I don't think this will ever change. And it is the very reason why Satan ended up joining the war and now pretends to lead it: he couldn't continue to preach for peace from the sidelines while his princes gained more and more victories; more and more power."

"And now he needs this war more than ever before, because through it he hopes to rebuild his power, eroded by the princes who are using clones and mortal technology to enhance their armies." Alexis completed, easily grasping the consequences. "If he drops out of the fight, his armies will lose faith immediately, and the Princes will immediately get rid of him. If he continues to fight but gets outdone by the princes, his authority still takes a hit... He's in a nasty corner, with no real ways out of it."

"His weakness might result in him being interested in negotiating. If Killer sided with him, restoring his supremacy over the Princes, Satan might be able to recall the hordes and put an end to the war." Gaia speculated, looking towards Ira with hope in her eyes. The cobra, however, shrugged with a bit of a grimace before replying: "Maybe. But probably no. Hell is not particularly fascinated with diplomacy, and Satan will be ridiculed if he accepts to depend on someone else's strength to restore his authority. And even if he accepted such a proposal, it is unlikely that he'd be able to put an end to the war anyway: the hordes can smell blood and plunder in the air at this point, with the Mortal Plane ready to fall and Heaven on the verge of collapsing as well. They will not listen to a recall order while they are convinced that victory is in their hands. The mere proposal of a stop to the hostilities will be met with a revolt against what would be inexorably considered a weak and inept High King."

Gaia nodded sadly at her words, accepting the truth of what Ira said, and Killer reflected in silence for a few short moments before firmly stating: "What can be found can be fought and killed. Once in Hell, I can assault the demonic armies right in their training grounds and in their factories of weapons and in the cloning facilities. I can take down the Princes themselves." He paused, and then clenched his hand into a massive fist as he coldly added: "I will tear apart Satan himself, if it is what is required to crush Hell into obedience."

"And that is probably what will be required to stop the war, at this stage." Ira said, looking down at the floor for a long moment before continuing: "There is a possibility that destroying some of the princes and establishing your power as a dominant force over a great part of Hell will suffice to get the others to drop their weapons, but knowing Hell, that is unlikely. It'll take an overwhelming victory to give your word the weight needed to crush everyone else's ambitions... and that means killing whoever tries to resist, and strike down the current High King."

Killer nodded in agreement and acceptance, swallowing a bit as he thought of the immensity of what lay ahead of him: the conquest of the thrones of both Heaven and Hell, effectively. The mere thought was enough to send a shiver down his spine, not so much of fear but of exhilaration, anticipation and sheer disbelieving awe. It was the apex of a long yet dramatically quick escalation in the gravity of the war: when he had first entered Heaven, the plan had been entirely different and, in many ways, a lot less dangerous and ambitious. He had never really thought seriously about becoming the master of Hell, or Heaven, and even less had he thought about conquering both... especially since Elelyon was, they thought and sincerely hoped, still alive, busy somewhere across the universe, fighting his own part in that confused, immense clash of wills, powers and ambitions. Thinking of tearing the throne out from under Satan's ass was already impressive enough, but thinking of taking away God's throne made him even more nervous. He couldn't quite understand the flurry of his own emotions, but when he tried to put order in his thoughts, he realized that taking Hell's throne seemed right, in a way, for him, while taking Heaven's own seat of power felt like a crime. Even while he kept telling himself that he would have handed it back to Elelyon as soon as he eventually returned.

He felt uncomfortably at ease with imagining himself sitting in Hell's throne, and it was a feeling caused by a variety of reasons, going from one spectrum to the other. For example, he felt he would make an excellent lord of the Underworld thanks to his darkness, to his cruel lusts, to his violence and hunger for power and blood. He also felt that Hell was the right place for him, considering the sins and crimes he had committed in his life. And he also was sincerely more interested with Hell's fiery nature than with placid, soft Heaven.

He did his best to hide his conflicting emotions, smiling instead as Ira gazed at him, and he closed his eyes for an instant, feeling warmth spreading in his chest as Alexis wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a loving squeeze. He knew that she could guess and feel his emotions, share them, understand them in full, and it was comforting as he re-affirmed: "Whatever it takes. If I have to take the throne for myself to crush Hell into accepting peace, then I'll take the throne."

Ira and the others smiled at him, showing him their affection and reaffirming their complete loyalty, and after a moment he admitted, to nobody's surprise, that the idea of conquering Hell had him excited and eager to begin, even though the difficulties to be faced were immense, beginning with the problem of how to enter Hell. The Underworld had sealed itself against external intrusions, and the Cataclysm had obliterated all the ancient, permanent portals and even most of the Cracks in the seabed of the Middle Sea. Hell's defences were powerful, sustained as they were by the undiminished ranks of the Scholars and Scribes, that from the dark chambers of the Central Spire could control every movement, every use of magic, every action of the creatures living within the many provinces of Hell.

Teleporting directly into Hell was not advisable, as it meant challenging the combined might of Scholars and Scribes, in their very own favorite field of action. It would have been like facing Metatron and his ministers all over again, and while the number of metatrons had been eroded over time, Hell's guardians still enjoyed nearly full ranks. With the backing of Satan and the Princes, they could fight back each and every attempt of breaching into Hell.

"With Satan now firmly on the list of the enemies, there is no easy way to enter Hell. You are no longer welcome, and the magic of the Scholars will make sure that, whatever access you try and use, you'll always end up in the marshes around the river Styx. That means going through all their layers of defence and torture just to get to the Black Gates. Once there, you'll have to smash through them, because you can be that knocking won't be enough." Ira announced, turning in the sofa to face Killer directly and leaning forwards slightly, hands gripping into her folded legs. Her emerald eyes glowed with love and concern, worries and confidence at once. There was a clearly visible, undeniable excitement in her too, at the idea of him tearing through Hell's ancient and inviolate defences. The idea worried her and at the same time aroused her and made her eager to see it happen.

"No one has ever managed to invade Hell. Not once, in the long wars past and present, did the forces of Heaven manage to make their way beyond the Black Gates." Vesta said, tilting her head backwards and thinking of the few occasions when she had seen the monumental entrance to Hell up close. "Gabriel and I kept the fortress under siege thrice since the Night of Times. The first time was during the rebellion of the angels... Lucifer and Satan created the gates right in front of us, each of them erecting one of the two towers, while the other Princes shaped the wall and the other bastions. It was a spectacle that I'll never forget..." She paused, lost in the memories for a long moment, until she grimaced and spat: "The following years were the most miserable period of my life. The siege went on and on and on, but the towers seemed invulnerable and the gates just could not be breached. God himself, along with the Council of the Seven Gods, tried to force the gates open, but Satan and the Princes pushed back from the other side with just as much strength. Typhon, conveniently, was nowhere to be seen..."

"If I have to guess, Typhon had sneaked into Hell and helped the Princes... but in all this time, no one has been able to prove it, and Lord God officially ordered all suspects cancelled and banned already Eons ago." Gaia bitterly intervened, flexing her fingers slowly and staring at them for a long moment before gazing from Vesta to Killer. "I was there, of course. Thanathos wasn't: at the time, Azura was still alive and in charge, and she was right at my side. Taranis wasn't there either... Ares was. Taranis and Seth killed Ares and took his place only Eons later..."

"It never ceases to amaze me that you've... literally seen the whole of the story of our world, from its Creation onwards. I forget it, because you definitely do not look Eons old..." Killer paused briefly from his quiet admission, looking at Gaia and Vesta with awed amusement and slightly bowing his head forwards in sign of respect and affection for both. "And so every time I think about it, it blows my mind once more."

"I don't like to think about how old I am..." Vesta flippantly exclaimed, before flexing her mighty arms, kissing her bulging biceps with a grin and boasting: "But hey! For all my years, I have these guns, a drop-dead spectacular body and you'll definitely find no wrinkles on me."

"I can attest to all of that." Killer agreeably commented, while Gaia covered her lips with one hand, her eyes betraying her laughter for an instant before she straightened and continued in a serious tone: "We were unable to force the gates to open, and the war dragged on and on, leading to no results other than always new massacres. Eventually, Lord God convinced Satan and the other fallen angels that the only way out was finding an agreement on the new shape for the world and on different, renewed relationships between Heaven, Hell and the Mortal Plane. That led to the construction of the world we have known until this new war has changed everything."

Vesta nodded wisely, looking down into her cup as she shook it quietly, causing the tea inside to ripple and mingle. "In a couple of other occasions, during successive periods of conflict, Gabriel and I drove back Hell's armies to the Black Gates and set up a siege, but the fortress always resisted to each and every assault. Thankfully, in none of the two occasions we had to keep the siege up for long: the marshes are a simply horrendous place where to camp, and the river Styx howls continuously as the doomed souls within its non-water cry out in misery. They will savagely claw and rip into everything that comes within their reach, and Charon, the ferryman of souls, has this very annoying power of controlling the river's size and behavior..." She paused and made a grimace of distaste, shivering a bit in revulsion at the memory of what she had seen. "When it completely flooded the marshes and invaded our camp, it all got very, very messy, I can assure you... and gravity is extremely violent in the marshes. Flying is not possible and even basic movements require immense effort. We had the Metatrons on our side, easing the pressure with their own magic, but we still couldn't fly more than ten feet off the ground on a good day."

"And then there is Cerberus, too." Manticora reminded, gaining a grimace of disgust from Vesta, the queen of Seraphim slapping the back of her hand on top of her muscular thigh as she remarked: "Ugliest puppy you'll ever see. He drools constantly. He has fucking ropes of the stuff at the corners of his mouths all the damn time. And that crap is dense and acid like hell."

Killer made a grimace at that, but did not comment, instead looking down at Vicky's working hands, watching her skilled moves as she drew the lion and its large wings, her movements rapid yet perfect, her whole body tense, her focus complete. It was a joy to watch, and it kept his mind relaxed... at least as much as was possible while discussing such matters.

"I'll get through all of that, in a way or another... I must, if things are to change for the better." Killer finally said, shrugging a bit as he accepted the inevitable. "If it was easy, I wouldn't be needed, I guess. What really worries me is: how do I get there...?"

"There is only one option available: finding one Crack that hasn't collapsed on itself during the Cataclysm. We'll have to search the bottom of the Middle Sea, and find out which passage Hell's own forces are using." Ira immediately replied, ignoring the groan that came from Vesta and looking right into Killer's eyes instead. "Look, I could try and sugar the pill and promise that some kind of alternative solution will fall from the merciful sky to save the day, but we all know it won't happen. It never happens."

Killer nodded in agreement, accepting the unpleasant news without any comment, even though he felt like groaning in horror just like Vesta had. The Middle Sea was an awful ocean of non-water which was cold and dense, suffocating and icy enough to feel like death from thousand cuts, and that was before adding to the equation the gigantic and extremely aggressive fauna that filled its dark depths. The idea of diving into that hostile puddle was discomforting, and he was going to have to fight even just to reach the shore, since all of it was within the territory controlled by Hell's hordes and already corrupted into a blackened wasteland.

Once there, he had to make his way through Hell's reinforcements as they came, and move through the same passage as them, just in the opposite direction... "It is going to be interesting right from the very beginning..."

Eventually, silence fell into the room again as they all rested and watched Vicky working on the tattoo. They had agreed on the necessity of thinking about the Mortal Plane first, even if it meant weakening the garrisons in Heaven. The painful but necessary decision of deliberately limiting the military effort in Heaven to the capture and holding of a few major towns was taken with little discussion: it was the only workable plan with the few forces available. The flow of refugees escaping from other towns and villages would have been helped, guided and protected to the best of their possibilities, but the Legions were not going to run to the aid of every small town like they had done until then. The apparently infinite supply of Paladin clones and demons made such efforts ultimately suicidal, because they had not enough troops to hold the ground captured, and because every loss suffered in combat was a massive blow. While the enemy could use clones to regenerate entire divisions within days, each fallen Seraphim was a nearly definitive loss, with how long it took to grow and train a true warrior.

Accepting every battle started by the enemy was a noble but suicidal approach, and the only smart choice, as painful as it was, was to focus all effort on a few key areas and let the rest go.

Nobody liked the idea, but everyone accepted its inevitability. Each angel and Seraphim that could be spared from the tasks in Heaven was immediately diverted to special legions destined to the fight for the Mortal Plane. Advance parties of Seraphims had already been sent down to earth to set up observation positions and a number of hidden camps, setting up points of entry for the reinforcements to follow. A number of angels gifted in the art of shapeshifting were tasked with the infiltration of the military commands of the mortals, to make sure, as much as was possible, that they would have a good leadership in place when Hell's massive invasion started.

The shapeshifters had also the task of detecting, attacking and eliminating Hell's own shapeshifters, which undoubtedly had begun the same kind of operation, intent on further weakening the mortal's ability to resist.

Killer and Alexis announced their intention to go back to the Mortal Plane to lead the resistance from the front, beginning with their Empire, which they expected to be not just the favorite target of the demons, but the main obsession of the RA. They even expected the Northern Empire to be the victim of furious retaliations coming from the other mortal countries: as absurd as it was, much of the rest of the world insisted on saying that the Northern Empire was responsible for the spreading of the "mutants" and "monsters" that plagued the planed. Most countries preferred to believe to fantasies of chemical and genetic experiments gone wrong, or super organic weapons created in laboratories up in the frozen and "primitive and feudal" north rather than accepting that Hell itself had broken loose.

By the time Vicky had completed the tattoo on Killer's powerful shoulder, the gears of the new plan were already moving quickly, even as Killer and Alexis took some time to rest. When the time came for deciding who would be the second to get the clan tattoo, Killer traded a word with Alexis and then, with her understanding, suggested that Vesta should get it.

He intended to move out with her as soon as the tattoo was done, and go back to Eaglenest to visit Katy. He wanted to turn the little girl's dream into a reality before having to leave Heaven... but he didn't immediately explain the matter to Vesta, only warning her that he had a big favor to ask.

She had been surprised by his hesitation in detailing the request, but she had enthusiastically promised to help him, exclaiming: "Absolutely yes!"

"Absolutely no...!" Vesta cried out, making a grimace of distaste at the long white tunic that Killer hesitatingly held up before her, startling the few people making their way along the street. The huge male recoiled with a bit of a wince, but it quickly turned into a sigh of resignation, as he had been expecting nothing different. That was why he had hesitated so much, and only brought out the uncomfortable request now that they were back in Eaglenest, making their way towards Katy's little home as the sun shined above, noon not far away. The tunic was long and made of pearly white silk, draped elegantly and long enough to reach the ground and extend into a sizeable train. It had long, wide sleeves which would easily hide the hands entirely when they were joined, and it had a high neck, decorated with golden lines and simple flower drawings highlighting the fully enclosed cleavage area.

It was the least revealing dress in the universe, and the double leather belt that Killer had mercifully added would only marginally improve things by at least keeping the flowing cloth close to Vesta's narrow waist and spectacular hips, revealing her perfect shape. "I hate that kind of crap!" Vesta decried, pointing a finger at the tunic and then pulling it back immediately as if the white cloth could bite her.

"I know, Vesta, I know. But... Sylvia will close the door on your face and call the guards if she sees you in your usual attire." Killer softly replied, giving awkward, embarrassed smiles to the passing people that threw them curious glances.

Vesta tilted her head to the side a bit and pouted her lips, throwing her powerful arms out to display her muscular, spectacular physique. "Hey, not my fault if she is a damn flat-chested bitch that likes to hide into tent-like clothes. I'm fabulous, I do not need to hide."

"Sylvia is not flat..." Killer dumbly replied, even though he knew all too well that it wasn't the point. Sylvia had become his victim in the past exactly because she was far from flat and uninteresting: she had been young, fresh, firm and shapely at the time, a delicious prey, and now, in Heaven, she was just as beautiful.

"You don't work out all of Eternity to build a body like this to then hide it into a damn sack!" Vesta exclaimed, turning around to show him her mighty back and firm, perfect buttocks before putting her fists at the hips as she bent down over a Benevolent passing by, a tall stallion with a toned physique that was still dwarfed, even at 6.2, by her nearly 20 feet of height. "Hey, you! Do you think I should cover my body up...?"

The stallion froze mid-step and stared up at her with eyes as wide as plates, his lower jaw gaping down low and a string of drool forming as he eyed her over, completely dumbstruck by her beauty and by the sight of her largely bare cleavage, her prodigious boobs bulging out of her armor top to full effect as she bent down in front of him.

The horse babbled something unintelligible, smiling a wide, dumb grin and staring at her in awe until Vesta grunted agreeably and patted him gently on the head, grumbling: "Thought so."

She straightened and walked past, the horse and several other males and females turning around to continue gazing over her beautiful form as she strolled down the street, with Killer following a step behind.

"It'll just be a matter of minutes, come on!" Killer urged. "Katy, I'm sure, won't mind. It is just Sylvie... if she sees you like this, she'll think I've corrupted and warped and made you un-holy and evil and who knows what else."

"Bullshit." Vesta grumbled, but Killer walked up to her side and looked into her eyes with seriousness. "Vesta... what I did to her... I killed her and her loved ones in such horrible, cruel fashion. I raped her into pieces...!"

"Like you did to many, many others. And most of them thankfully haven't turned into supremely icy, suspicious, bigot bitches." The queen of Seraphims replied, rolling her eyes with a sigh of frustration as she stopped and turned around slightly, smiling tiredly at him. "It is really that important to you, huh...?"

"Very." Killer confirmed, nodding deeply. Vesta beamed at that, even as she shook her head in quiet, affectionate amusement. "Is Katy as brilliant as I've heard, at least...?"

Killer smiled widely at that, beaming with fatherly pride even as he kept his answer sincere and prudent: "I think she is extremely brilliant, but I don't know enough myself to truly test her knowledge. But she has been studying countless books, and reading all she could on your theories about the Anchors."

"Holy crap." Vesta exclaimed, blinking in surprise, a dancing flame of interest glowing in her eyes even as she commented: "Either she is truly interested in revealing the secrets of the universe, or she likes extremely complex and boring reads."

"If it can comfort you, I found your texts about the Anchors extremely interesting." Killer sincerely said, trying not to make it too evident that texts about other topics had been remarkably less pleasant reads, even if not in any case because of Vesta's writing style. "But maybe it is just due to how fascinating and impressive the topic is." He playfully teased after a moment of exaggerated reflection.

Vesta grunted at that, shooting him a flat sideways glance, but her lips curved into a little smile nonetheless, and she finally sighed with a bit of a dreamy note, which carried over into her following words: "If her wish to study and learn is real and it doesn't break, I'll be happy to have her with me. Having someone to talk to, to share the work with and to further my own reasoning is very helpful, and while I still have Ira and several other researchers... I've never really had a true assistant and apprentice. Ira is brilliant, but discontinuous: she has not enough patience and passion to face the many boring and frustrating hours of failures and disappointing results which are part of full-time research. The other researchers are excellent, but they only ever managed to master one, two fields of knowledge at most, and I like instead to go from one extreme to the other, touching everything in between."

"Your kind of brain is extremely rare, Vesta." Killer quietly remarked, looking at her with affectionate amusement. "I wonder how your skull hasn't burst apart yet, with how crammed with notions and projects and ideas it must be."

Vesta grunted agreeably, then smiled a bit and tilted her head thoughtfully to the side. "Alexis is exceptional. She scares me, at times, because I think her brain might well beat mine by a good bit. But she is not interested in spending her life in research, unfortunately for us all..." Her voice died away, and then she glared at him with a hiss, realizing what she had just said, and she exclaimed: "Oh crap. Oh crap. Promise me you'll never tell her that I said that! Fucking forget what I said, or she'll read it right into your mind...! She'd have a field day taunting me if she knew of my admission."

Killer winced in surprise at her sudden explosion, but then zipped his lips and gave her a reassuring nod. He was well aware of how the two femme fatales playfully teased and taunted each other, and he thought that Alexis did not really need yet another victory. He smiled a big to himself, fondly thinking that she was more than enough of a winner as it was, and he did not want to make it too easy for her to outdo him and everyone else.

"So... let's do it." Vesta dejectedly said, taking the tunic in her hands with a grimace of distaste, like the fabric was some kind of ugly, slimy and dangerous creature, and she closed her eyes as she swiftly put it on, willing the whole thing to end quickly. "Don't you dare telling me anything about my current looks...!" The queen hissed, before her head poked out of the high neck and she rolled her eyes, staring at the sky even as she dusted herself and settled the tunic over her spectacular form. Killer bit his lower lip, repressing laughter at the sight of her exaggerated frustration, and he handed her the thick belts, which she immediately clasped around her waist, to underline the perfection of her physique even while it was hidden. Killer swallowed a bit, looking on in delight as the fabric, squeezed tight at the waist, draped breath-takingly over her enormous breasts, exalting their glory and making it even more evident how they proudly stood on her chest, young and firm and plentiful.

She did not miss his awe, but she did not comment, only flashing a little smirk before explaining: "I've never been a fan of these things. Lord God tried to get me to wear these for a long time... like a good father, he attempted to get me to dress less revealingly, even without reaching this extreme... but I never wanted any of it. It just isn't for me."

"I know, Vesta... I wouldn't have asked, if it wasn't important." Killer quietly replied, gazing for a moment at the nice wooden house ahead, seeing curtains moving both at ground floor and at first floor, meaning that both Sylvia and Katy had seen them coming. "But this is the only way to ease somewhat Sylvia's fears. She needs to believe in her own idealized version of you, in complete contrast to what she thinks of me. So... play the good, god-fearing, chaste, impeccable angel for me, huh...?" He looked at her pleadingly, giving her his best interpretation of puppy eyes, and Vesta snorted and looked away as she grumbled her assent.

"I will not get any closer to the house, for now. I'll wait back here." Killer announced, and Vesta frowned a bit, studying him with a raised eyebrow, asking with a wondering voice: "Who the fuck is this bitch, which can have you behaving like this...? Should I fear for my life or something...?"

"Well, she did try to cut my cock off with a kitchen knife, last time I visited." The huge male quietly replied, making a bit of a face. The seraphim goddess grunted, but there was entertainment in her voice as she observed: "That's nasty. But it would only sound scary if I didn't know that the only casualty can only have been that poor knife."

Killer grinned a bit at that, nodding slightly and admitting: "That is also true..." Then he looked over Vesta again, and saw the high neck of the tunic open, revealing the collar beneath, the lion-head clasp in full sight, with the silvery ring ready to be connected to a heavy leash. "The... the collar could have Sylvia wondering."

"Let her wonder, then." Vesta firmly replied, her voice full of determination. She turned to look at him with a smile that was also a prayer, one hand reaching up to stroke over the lion head with affection. "I'm not removing, nor hiding, my collar. For no one and for nothing. If you really want me to hide it, master, you'll have to order it explicitly. I will not disobey then. But I hope you won't ask."

Killer looked back at her, falling silent and freezing in place, watching at the delicate movements of her fingers over the solid metal of the collar, seeing, perhaps for the first time, the full extent of her reverence towards the symbol of her disciplehood, of her love and dedication to him and of his love and dominance over her. A smile slowly spread over his features, warmth filling his chest in front of such dedication, until he bowed his head and shook it slightly. "I will not order that. I... I won't even ask you. It honors me that you wear your collar with such dedication and love. And I hope it'll be this way forever."

"For forever and more." Vesta reassured, smiling widely now, beaming as she whispered: "Thank you for understanding, Master." She paused, then threw her arm around his shoulders and squeezed him against her side, letting out a deep sigh before grinning widely as she announced: "I'm going to do this, but afterwards you'll better fuck me so hard I forget having had to wear this frigging sack."

"Has that ever been a problem...?" Killer teased, wrapping his own arm around her waist and giving her a cocky sideways gaze. "Will you put up a bit of a fight, for once...? Winning easy is nice, but sweating my victory would be fun, for once."

"You bastard...!" Vesta amusedly exclaimed, before shoving him playfully backwards. "I'll make you sweat for it alright, just wait and see..." She walked away, advancing towards the distant wooden house, and Killer leaned his back against the wall, crossing his arms and smirking to himself as he looked at her hips swaying sensually, her grace matched only by her power as she joined her hands and strolled elegantly up to Sylvia's door, teasing him deliberately with each step.

He watched from safe distance as Vesta carefully knocked at the door, and he swallowed nervously when Sylvia opened and stared at the queen of Seraphims from the threshold. Several moments passed, Sylvia frowning and glaring at the far taller goddess, and Killer anxiously tapped his fingers upon his bulging bicep, fearing an explosion of rage and a slammed door at any moment... But then, finally, Katy rushed out of the door instead, absolutely beaming with joy and almost jumping from toe to toe as she took in the majestic sight of Vesta towering in front of her.

It was an immense relief to see the little girl hefting a huge bag of books, because it meant Sylvia had given her permission, much as he could see her fuming and hesitating even from where he stood. When Katy attempted to shoulder the bag of books, Vesta kindly bent down over her and took the burden away, and then the two females parted from Sylvia and walked towards Killer, sending a smile spreading over his lips as he straightened and stepped forwards, away from the wall.

Sylvia did not retreat inside the house, standing instead on the threshold and surveying everything, glaring at Killer across the garden. He pulled up his hand in greeting, but she only snarled and slammed the door closed with all her force, making him wince and then sigh deeply.

He found comfort in the sight of Vesta and Katy already locked in earnest conversation, the goddess nodding in agreement with something the little girl had just said, as satisfaction and interest flashed in her eyes.

He smiled at that, delighted to see Vesta's evident approval, and he went down to one knee, opening his arms as Katy spotted him and ran forwards, cheerfully calling: "Daddy! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I didn't think you'd be back so soon!"

She launched into his arms, leaning her head against his powerful abs and gripping tightly into his simple black shirt, hugging his massive frame as best she could with her little arms. Amazingly, she seemed able to encompass more of his huge waist than he remembered, and he looked at her with greater attention as he lovingly wrapped his arms around her. She looked definitely taller, by a good lot of inches, and there was something... different about her. More mature. Has she grown since we first met...?

"I'm glad to be back, Katy... but it won't last as long as I'd like. We expect things to become very busy over the coming days. And that's why I took the first chance to come and see you while I can. Before... before things drive me away." He hesitated and eventually did not mention the war, even though Katy was well aware of what was going on and could easily imagine that more fighting was on the horizon.

"I understand, dad..." The girl quietly said, looking at him with concern and yet with full confidence in his strength and in his skills. "Just... be careful. And... thanks for thinking of me. Thanks for coming here and bringing Lady Vesta with you. It's a dream come true for me!"

Killer easily lifted the little girl up into the air, settling her gently down on top of his shoulders and holding her softly by the legs as he straightened up in all of his massive height, trading a look with Vesta as she gained his side. The goddess made a grimace of exasperation to go along with a jerk of her head towards the house in the background, and Killer nodded imperceptibly in agreement, all without Katy noticing, or at least so they thought and hoped. Dealing with Sylvia was indeed exasperating and irritating... but Sylvia had excellent reasons to hate his guts, and in any way he didn't want to say anything against Katy's mother while the girl was around.

They walked down the street and soon passed the first corner, going out of sight from the house and, no doubt, of Sylvia spying on them from behind a curtain. Vesta looked behind herself for a moment, and when she was satisfied that Sylvia could no longer see them, she turned to Katy and ruffled her hair gently, quietly saying: "No need to call me lady or anything. Just Vesta will be fine. I just hope you have nothing against me removing this tunic...? Because you know, I find it hateful."

Katy blinked in surprise at that, not sure why the goddess should have been so upset with her own clothes, but she nodded her agreement, staring them with interest as Vesta cackled and gripped into the neck of the robes, effortlessly ripping the fabric and tearing the garment in half, tossing the shreds away to reveal her spectacular body only very scantily clad in her two-pieces armor, a very short leather skirt, high heel boots and fishnet stockings. "Oh, freedom!" The goddess exclaimed, gripping the back of her head with her hands and grinning a bit as Katy blinked again, a deep flush on her cheeks as she observed Vesta's powerful, muscular and yet supremely feminine body.

"L-lady Vesta... you... you are beautiful..." Katy commented, stammering a bit as she took in the details, including the collar and the very explicit tattoos on her strong, enchanting body, including the cobra wrapped around her right leg, the rampant feral lion on the right shoulder and the "Death Angel" stamp on the back of the left leg. Killer was just kind of grateful for the fact that, from her current position, Katy couldn't yet spot the "Property of Killer" writing upon her right buttock. The skirt, although very skimpy, covered that for the moment, at least until Katy looked down at it and not up.

"No 'lady', I said." Vesta gently reminded, turning to smile at the little kitten. "But thank you. I'm very proud of my body, and wearing those heavy robes is not part of my character. I couldn't wait to get rid of it, but Killer said that your mother would disapprove."

Katy nodded quietly, then sighed a bit and pleaded: "Please, don't think badly of my mom. She is a fantastic mother, and she just worries about me a lot. She... she does indeed need to believe in a... a... different vision of you, considering your rank, because she thinks that is the only guarantee of my... safety."

"She imagines a less slutty, less bragging, less party girl, less tattooed, less Killer-loving me." Vesta easily said, smiling amusedly and nodding, entertained by Katy's embarrassed hesitation and her careful search for a diplomatic way to explain the problem. The little girl blushed deeply at that and looked down in embarrassment, but Vesta shook her head with a warm smile and reassured: "Hey, don't worry. It is fine. She is not the first and won't be the last person that disapproves of me. It is not too advertised a fact, but I'm "the angel that acts like a demoness", and the Council has pretty much always hated my ways." Vesta paused, snorting in amusement as she thought back to now distant times, when she used to sit right beside Lord God's throne, grinning tauntingly towards each senator that dared bringing up the matter of her looks and actions. "I just hope that, over time, we will be able to show your mother that, even with all my tattoos, I am who I am, and I can be trusted. Most of the time."

Katy chuckled at that, hiding her mouth behind her fingers, and Killer smiled warmly, glad to hear her voice, to feel her tiny, precious weight upon his neck, happy to have her hands gripping into his mane and delighted by how she and Vesta were getting along. "It is nice, Lad... ehm, Vesta, to discover the true you. The books and newspapers and stories tend to paint a picture of you far closer to my mother's thoughts... even though I did read tales that I now can tell where more accurate and honest." Katy quietly said, smiling softly as she took another long look at the muscular goddess. "Curious, but very nice. I think it makes you even more interesting and impressive."

"Thank you, my dear... If I was just a complete god-fearing, prissy bookworm in long, flowing robes I would be the image of all what is boring in the universe. Not to mention, I would have probably jumped off a cliff Eons ago, to escape from my own boringness. Or died on the battlefield: the power of the brain is a wonderful and mighty thing, but knowledge alone won't stop Gigataurs from squishing you like a fly if you haven't strengthened your body and honed your skills." Vesta kindly replied, bowing her head a bit to thank the little girl.

Katy thought over her words for a little while, and then she looked up and quietly announced: "You know, daddy... I... I grew up a bit since we met. And it is something that hadn't happened in forever..."

Killer listened to her with interest, trying to gauge her tone to guess if it made her happy or not, and he suddenly regretted not asking about it earlier. Would she think he paid no attention to her looks and health, now...? He bit his lower lip a bit, unsure of what he should be doing, but finally ended his hesitation and said: "I had noticed a change in you, Katy... you grew by a fair bit. But I did not dare asking right away, because I'm not sure what you think of it. Does it make you happy? I hope so."

The little girl smiled and laughed softly, nodding cheerfully as she replied: "Of course it makes me happy... being trapped forever in the body of a child is... not as cute as some think." She paused, a shadow of sadness clouding her eyes for a moment as she no doubt dealt with many unpleasant memories of taunting and abuses about her interrupted, incomplete growth, before she turned to Vesta, eyeing the goddess with discretion but also with recognizable interest and, maybe, a bit of envy. "I would love to see my body maturing, one day. I've been wondering so much about how I'd look, how it would feel... what changes it would bring into my life. An adult mind feels imprisoned, within this little body. So much is precluded."

She paused again, clearly putting order in her thoughts for a few moments, and Killer and Vesta walked on in silence, leaving her the time she needed. The huge male sadly wondered about all the pain little Katy had gone through, unable to even imagine what it had to be like, to be forever stuck into a childhood that must have ceased to be pleasant a long time earlier, with how most other kids were kept away from her by families who considered her origins a crime against all what was holy. Besides, he figured, she struggled to make friends exactly because she was too mature to truly enjoy the company of children and, at the same time, many adults didn't consider her worthy of their time, stopping at her appearance and seeing a tiny child. The children she had known in her early years had long since become adults, and she had been literally left behind.

It took him a long few moments to realize that, with her mind fully matured, her sexual needs and interests had long been awake, but impossible to satisfy. The thought saddened him, but there was a sort of horror in him that made it hard to think of Katy and sex in the same moment: she had an adult soul, but he could only see in her his little girl, his young daughter. Someone too pure and perfect and vulnerable to be associated with the thought of sex, even with how admittedly debauchee he was.

It was Katy herself to distract him from thoughts suddenly turned embarrassing and troubling, her voice coming to his ears again as she talked to Vesta: "If I ever grow to maturity, I think I would love to work on my body, and build my shape. After all these years of complete physical weakness and vulnerability, I would love to be able to build some muscle of my own... although I would probably stop short of your massive musculature, Vesta. Beautiful as it is on you, I don't think the bulk would suit me quite as well."

Vesta tilted her head to the side in sign of understanding, but she smirked warmly as she cautioned: "You can't say that, dear. Maybe you'll discover that you look even better than I do... or, more importantly, that you just really like to build it up, which is what matters the most, anyway. But whatever you'll decide, I'll be happy to train with you, and show you the ropes." The goddess paused and looked at the kitten for a few moments, studying her and crossing her arms thoughtfully, reaching up to rest her chin over one fist. "And Katy... I don't know you so well yet, but... from what I heard and from what I know, I think there might be an easy explanation to your sudden growth, wouldn't you agree...?"

The little girl blushed a bit at that, turning to look down at the top of Killer's head and leaning down to hug his thick, strong neck as best she could, kissing one of his ears. "Yes... I think it is because I finally have my father. Finally I know my origins. Finally I know what's behind the trauma... and maybe I can now leave it behind."

Killer swallowed thickly at that, his body tensing as he immediately felt the weight of her emotions shifting, feeling the relief mixed with rage, with shock. Love absurdly, painfully mixed with hate and with a desperate need to understand. He closed his eyes, seeking Vesta's hand for comfort and thanking her from the bottom of his soul when he felt her squeezing on his fingers as he put forwards his question: "Did you... talk with mom about... what I did to her?"

"Yes..." Katy replied, her voice quiet yet filled with ice, with confusion, with pain, with rage, until she harshly continued: "And you were right... I was not ready for the full extent of the story. Not ready to see her broken and crying and despairing at the memory. Nothing of what I read could have ever prepared me properly for... for what I've had to hear."

Killer felt his shoulders slumping under the weight of his responsibilities and of her anger and pain, and he closed his eyes as she hissed out her torturing feelings, feeling ice spreading over his heart at the thought of losing her, of being the object of her hate rather than of her affection... but she was there, on his shoulders, still hugging his neck, and that kept hope alive, told him that she maybe hadn't given up on him yet. But he realized all too well that he needed to speak; that silence was cowardly and not an option, even if he felt like each and every word coming up in his mind would sound not just useless but even offensive. And so, after a short moment of silence, he forced himself to speak, trying to give voice to his regret, sorrow and to his sincere promise for the future.

"Katy, I... there is really nothing that I could ever say that could make any difference. I warned you, and I wanted you to know at the same time, exactly because of how horrible it was. I cannot change the past, and I don't want to hide it. I only want to remedy to what I did... I only want to... keep you safe, help you, protect you... give you back what you and your mother lost because of me. In a way or another, I will do all I can, no matter what it takes, to pay my debt..." His voice died away into silence, his eyes closing as he fought back the tears, and then he added, in a broken voice: "Just... please. Don't push me away. It's what I deserve, yet... I ask you to be the angel you are. Have mercy on me, and keep me. I will protect you from a distance, if you order me gone. But I pray you... I pray you to keep me close instead. Because I need to be your dad, not just your guardian."

Katy trembled, he could feel it. A mix of rage and sadness and confusion rattled her, and he could hear her sniffing and strangling her sobbing, her hands gripping into his neck with greater strength as she buried her face into his mane for a few long minutes. He held her, gently and reassuringly, by the legs, waiting in silence for her decision, giving her time and peace even as his heartbeat took on the tone of funeral bells, even as he bit his lower lip and prayed to the gods to give her the strength and the mercy needed to keep him close rather than wish him gone forever.

Vesta delicately put her hand on the girl's back, looking at her with affection but staying silent, not trying to influence her, knowing that she was more than capable to make her own choices.

And finally, after a time that felt like endless torture, Katy straightened a bit and murmured: "I... I don't wish to think about it again. I don't wish to talk about it, ever again. One day, maybe, when you'll be able to explain why you did such things... then I will listen. Because I can't imagine a single good reason."

Killer swallowed thickly and felt his strength gone, his body growing rigid and cold as a shiver of fear ran down his spine at the thought of her next words, at the thought of the sentence looming over him.

"But... daddy... you are my dad. I've waited all my life to meet you. I dreamed of our family being whole one day. And... I met you. I met today's you; the savior, not the destroyer. I... I'm unable to hate you. For all the rage, there is also affection. There is the wish to believe in today's you. What I see is good, is caring, is generosity and valor." She paused, clearing her throat as her voice became hoarse with emotion, and then, after taking a deep breath, she announced: "I do not want you gone. I want you with me. I want you to be my daddy. We... we will get past it all, will we not...? Maybe... maybe things can still be fixed..."

Killer closed his eyes and trembled in blissful relief, a long held breath washing out of his nostrils as he squeezed Vesta's hand and she squeezed his, looking at him with a loving little smile. He bowed his head forwards and gently squeezed Katy's leg in his other hand. "Thank you, Katy... you have lifted an immense, icy burden from my heart. I don't want to lose you... I want to, one day, the sooner I can, remove your own icy burden. And Sylvia's too, if there is a way." He carefully tilted his head backwards to look up at her, and the little girl gazed at him with eyes glinting with barely restrained tears, and with cheeks streaked with those she hadn't been able to stop. "I promise you, Katy... I will not let you down. Whatever it takes, I'll do. And I'll give you all you deserve, all you might need, and more. Just... be patient with me. Guide me, when you see that I need it. Let us walk this path together, so we can steer each other along."

Katy shivered visibly, and a trembling smile conquered her lips before the leaned down to kiss his forehead, hugging his neck tightly, clinging to him with affection and need, crying out the single, precious word: "Daddy..."

They walked on in silence for a while, the huge male gently holding Katy's legs and soothingly caressing down her thighs as she held on tightly to him, face buried in his mane, hiding her tears while her breath steadied and normalized, one of her hands every now and then reaching up to stroke his cheek, ever so delicately, filling him with warmth, gratitude and determination to keep faith to his promise.

They could have teleported up into the High Castle far above, but Killer didn't want to rush things. He wanted to savor the sad yet wonderful relief of the moment, grateful for the chance she had given him. And he wanted to give her time to put order in her thoughts and feelings, as much as possible, before entering Eaglenest: he wanted to give Katy the chance to fully enjoy her first visit into the fabled monastery, and he was determined to give her the time she needed to shed the tears that needed shedding, and to regain her composure before she was seen by any of the other Seraphims and by the other members of the family.

What was going on outside, in the suffering world, could take a back seat for a little while, he decided. Katy needed him and needed some time, and he was going to grant her both things, walking quietly along the road heading out of town and towards the immense monolith topped by the entrance to the fortress. Vesta walked at his side, smiling reassuringly at him every time he gazed towards her, the goddess showing full understanding and support.

And Katy showed all of her courage and composure, dominating her emotions and soon stirring up, sniffing lightly as she wiped her eyes clean with the back of one hand. Killer thought about saying something, but words felt completely inadequate and he settled for a smile instead, tilting his head back to look up at him as best he could. The girl flashed him a little, soft smile, shaking her head to reassure him that all was okay... and he gave the tiniest nod in answer, walking on in respectful silence.

It was Katy that, a few minutes later, quietly broke the silence: "I'm sorry, Vesta, that... you had to see me... us... like this. But..."

"Don't say it." Vesta gently replied, pulling her hand up to signal that there was no need for explanations. "Killer told me about the gravity of the situation, and I have the deepest respect for you and your pain. And, my dear, you made the right choice: to pardon and give second chances is a little but invaluable miracle. You give the world a chance to become a better place." The goddess paused, looking fondly at Killer for a moment and then touching her massive, muscular shoulder to show her rampant lion tattoo to the far smaller feline. "You see...? This is the mark of my own choice about Killer. The choice to trust him entirely, to the end. He is walking a difficult, painful and challenging path to make up for his past, and he needs help and understanding. He has done much to save us all in this world, and that makes him worthy of our love and support. He is keeping himself on tight, short, sturdy leashes, and for this he deserves respect and admiration."

Katy looked at the tattoo with interest, smiling slightly as she gazed into Vesta's sapphire eyes, searching the sincerity and the depth of her promise and love and gauging it, finding that there was no space for hesitation or doubt or reserve in her dedication. The two females ignored Killer's attempt to shield himself from Vesta's praise, trading instead a long gaze worth a million words, that left Katy gaping slightly, blinking quietly in surprise at the depth of love she discovered in the goddess's expression. After a moment, Katy absently stroked her hand through the male's mane, looking down at his head with new affection, hesitant and yet deep and sincere, and it was only after a few moments that she quietly said: "I... think I see why you wear that tattoo, Vesta... And... over time, I believe I'll understand it better."

Vesta smiled at her and nodded in supportive agreement, then, after a brief instant, she winked and playfully added: "Doesn't hurt that he is a big, handsome hunk."

"Goddammit, Vesta!" Killer exclaimed, throwing up his hands in frustration... but Katy chuckled a bit, trading an amused look with the goddess, before mercifully stepping in to change topic. "I hope I can be useful help during your researches... I do not want to lose you valuable time."

"I'm sure you won't, Katy... that you have such a good grasp of even my theories about the anchors is deeply impressive. Makes me think that I will not have much to teach you that you don't already know." The goddess replied, smiling softly and looking at the collection of books inside the girl's bag. "Girl, you've read a lot. You must either love knowledge a damn lot, or you need a boyfriend and are seriously short of pastimes. No offense meant."

"N-none taken." Katy hurriedly replied, blushing deeply and shifting a bit upon the male's broad shoulders, looking surprised and embarrassed by the unexpected comment. "I do love knowledge a lot... and I guess the books have been my friends in all these years, you know...? I've never been able to travel, to see much of Heaven, especially when things have become so dangerous. The books have allowed me to travel the universe far and wide, without my weakness being a risk."

"Books have that magic about them, along with many others." Vesta agreeably observed, before encouraging: "But we'll get you to travel the world for real, in good time. And I'll help you strengthen yourself until you'll have nothing to fear."

"We all will, Katy." Killer intervened, gazing up at her with a smile. "I will train with you, if you'd like me to. And I'm sure all the other girls will be ready and willing to help you with whatever you might need. I have a lot of people to introduce to you... when you'll feel like meeting them."

"I look forwards to it, dad..." Katy softly replied, before a smirk spread upon her features as she added in a teasing tone: "Although it sounds like mom's warning was not unreasonable. "Girls", huh...? She warned me that I'd probably end up in a harem of collared, scantily clad, slutty and pliable women."

Killer winced at that, coughing embarrassedly and seeking the right words to explain the reality of his "family" of sorts, realizing how much it looked like a misogynist construct to those who looked at it from outside, and immediately aware of how complex it was going to be to put the truth into words... but Katy laughed and shook her head, patting his shoulder with affection as she exclaimed: "Don't worry, dad, don't worry... I already see, from looking at Vesta, that your lovers can be many things but they certainly are not pliable, not weak, not stupid, not held against their will. I... I look forwards to meeting them, I really do. Through them, I think I'll better understand you, as well."

"We are a happy bunch, Katy, as you'll see. We do not expect everyone to understand our ways... And sincerely, we simply do not care what people might think. We love each other, and we feel well together. That is what there is to know." Vesta gently remarked, looking straight into Katy's eyes until the small girl nodded her understanding. And then, smiling cheerfully, the goddess clapped her hands together and asked: "What topic should our first studies cover, then, my dear...? Lately I've been busy collecting reports about the damages and changes in the various provinces of Heaven to map out the new world as it emerged from the Cataclysm. You are probably aware that there are still vast areas to explore, and entire regions we know little about: entirely new areas were born and others were completely reshaped, making all previous information completely useless. But there are other studies on my desk, too."

"I will be glad to provide any help I can, Vesta. It honors me that you are willing to have me around at all." Katy quietly replied, bowing her head forwards in a sign of gratitude.

Killer, on his part, thought about the matter for a moment and then quietly asked: "Would you girls consider a request from me...?"

Vesta tilted her head to the side curiously at that, but it took her mere seconds to understand what he had in mind, and she nodded immediately, observing: "You are right, of course. That would be very helpful... also to make sure that Sekhmeth isn't lying. I think we should give maximum priority to digging up every bit of info we can find."

"What is the topic...?" Katy curiously enquired, and Killer was ready to answer.

"Juggernaut."