“D-demon!” the driver shouted as his golden robes fluttered. He gritted his teeth and pointed at Palan. Four white chains appeared from the angel’s back and rushed towards the archdemon. The red tail that was holding Pyre lunged forward to intercept the chains. They wrapped around the snake’s body but did nothing to immobilize it. When the snake moved, the golden-robed angel was dragged by the motion.

Palan looked at Pyre while the driver screamed and separated the chains from his back. “Is that how this is supposed to work?” Palan asked. He had the urge to eat the leftover chains with his purple tail, so he did.

“You didn’t use any power?” Pyre asked and raised an eyebrow. The two conversed, completely ignoring the driver who was trying to sneak away. Just before he was about to get off the road, Danger Noodle uncoiled and lunged, sinking its fangs into the angel. He screamed as green tendrils emanated from the bite and rotted his flesh. After waiting for its victim to become motionless, Danger Noodle swallowed him whole and flickered its tongue at the passengers inside of the carriage.

“None,” Palan said as he made eye contact with his red tail. It hissed at him, upset that it was used as the experimental shield. Palan snorted. “Deal with it. You’re part of my body, not the other way around.”

“Then it seems like your body has some natural resistance to patience,” Pyre said. “We’ll have to test the others on you to see if it’s a singular case. And we’ll have to have an archangel of patience use their ability on you as well. There aren’t many recorded cases of archangels fighting against archdemons. For now, I’ll say your resistance was because he was only a greater angel.”

“Hmm,” Palan said. “Alright.” He glanced at the two passengers inside of the carriage who were hugging each other and trembling. There was a woman and a child. Pyre followed his gaze.

“Are you going to kill them?” the half-demon asked.

“No need,” Palan said as he shook his head before readying himself to leap towards Hailing’s direction.

“What?” Pyre asked. “Why not?”

“Do I have to step on every ant I see?” Palan asked as the two soared into the air. “No one has time for that.”

“Are you sure you haven’t gone soft after your evolution?” Pyre asked. He let out a gasp as his ribs creaked because of Palan’s tail constricting him. “I was wrong, was wrong.” The tail loosened. He frowned as the two continued to float in silence. “There’s a lot of carriages heading east. The rebel army must have displaced them. I’m going to guess that they’ve made it to the checkpoint by now. I wonder if they’re going to force their way through. I know they’re capable of destroying the wall.”

“Couldn’t they just dig underneath it?” Palan asked.

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“Yes,” Pyre said. “But they’d need a pretty big tunnel to accommodate their whole army. Even though the second sector was defeated, that doesn’t mean the angels are completely defenseless. A group of greater angels could pick them off as they trickle out of the tunnel if it’s too small.”

“Should I hunt them down?” Palan asked as he licked his lips. Even if Solra canceled out his powers, the physical prowess of his body couldn’t be suppressed. “There should be a level higher than archangel and archdemon, no? Maybe those archlings and archangels will get me there.”

“If there is, no one’s ever reached it,” Pyre said. “Unless you count the mutations caused by contracting with demons, like Raea. Speaking of which, last time you evolved, Raea entered her own metamorphosis. She should be evolving or have already evolved. If they’re keeping her to convert her back to a normal-looking angel, they might call their methods a failure and give up on her if her appearance changes again. I don’t think you have the time to play around with the rebel army.”

Palan’s expression darkened. His newfound power made him feel invincible, but Pyre reminded him that his life could be lost at any second. When the sun started to set, the two saw the outline of the checkpoint wall on the horizon. “How should we go through?” Palan asked. He remembered the wall between the borderland and third sector had ballistae mounted on it to prevent people from flying over.

“Just jump over it and use your powers to stop anything from hurting us,” Pyre said. “The standard defense is siege weapons. The walls are really just meant to stop ordinary beings from passing through, like harpies and centaurs. The soldiers on the wall will probably send a report to the higher-ups that someone they couldn’t stop went through. Then an archangel will chase after you.”

“Do they have enough archangels to spare?” Palan asked. “Raea gave me the impression that they were rare, and now you’re telling me they can be dispatched just like that?”

“Stopping a demon who passed through the wall is one of their top priorities,” Pyre said. “Do you know how much damage a greater demon or above could do if left unchecked? You’re all ruthless and hell-bent on survival and destruction.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Palan said. The wall was getting bigger now, and Palan could see dozens of soldiers patrolling the top while a few sat in front of the ballistae. Palan frowned as a few angels pointed at him. “I thought powers couldn’t be used on the wall.”

“You’re using it on things in the air above the wall,” Pyre said and waved his hand dismissively. “If you were inside the wall, you wouldn’t be able to call upon your powers. But you’re not.”

“Couldn’t they shoot arrows at me made from the same metal as the wall?”

“The metal’s really rare. They’d rather use it on building walls,” Pyre said and rolled his eyes. “Once they clear the borderlands, they’ll need it to create a fourth sector.”

Palan grunted as an arrow flew towards him. His eyes narrowed, and a black glow enveloped the projectile. It dipped downwards, flying off course, and screeched as it accelerated towards the ground. “See?” Pyre asked as a wave of arrows all failed to hit Palan. “Easy. And they wouldn’t position any archangels at the checkpoint. That’s just stopping their own power.”

Palan licked his lips as he narrowed his eyes at the soldiers on the wall. Their upper bodies started to glow with a black light, causing them to crash face first into the floor. But once their faces made contact with the metal, the glow disappeared as the metal dimmed. “I think I like this power,” Palan said. There were so many options now that he could use it from a distance. “But it still doesn’t seem as strong as that lightning avatar.”

“Give it time and some more experimentation,” Pyre said as the duo passed over the wall. “It took Melissa decades to create something like that.”