The Ancient God Religion was an organization that didn't exist in our world at all.
From what Galadra told Nicola, this organization was incredibly powerful, with a history stretching back thousands of years.
Their teachings claimed that the ancient civilization was actually a kingdom of gods, which suddenly disappeared for some reason. They believed that some gods might still be alive in another far-away world. As for the humans living on the Eldoria Continent today, they were supposedly all servants and descendants of these ancient gods. Therefore, they should show ultimate respect to these ancient gods to receive their protection.
At first, the Ancient God Religion was quite normal. They had many followers and were among the top three largest religious groups. They even established their own territory called "Lumina Sanctum."
However, about a hundred years ago, the Ancient God Religion suddenly announced they had finally contacted their ancient gods. This marked their entry into the radical era of "True Gods' Return."
They started demanding that all humans must have absolute faith in their gods. They began suppressing other religious groups and even launched "holy wars" to try to control the entire continent. Anyone who refused to convert was killed without mercy.
"Those demons finally found this place! Luckily, they can only influence their followers through spiritual power for now. Their actual arrival will take some time, but the future is uncertain," said Galadra from the Cyrae world, summarizing the gods behind the Ancient God Religion. She also mentioned that as these gods got closer to this world, the Ancient God Religion would become stronger.
As for what these so-called demons looked like, Nicola had never actually seen them. They were clearly different from the known monsters living in the Dark Continent.
To fight against the demons behind the ancient gods, Galadra believed the four Elemental Angels must reunite and work together.
Unfortunately, Michelle was difficult to control due to her stubborn personality. However, her power was essential for using the Angel Descent Formation to revive Feliciara, so rescuing Michelle became the top priority.
In the weeks after sending Cyrae away, the two Wind Angels and Galadra made a counterattack plan. They believed Michelle might be imprisoned in the underground buildings of the Ancient God Religion's branch in Ilandra Dominion Empire's capital.
But even with three Elemental Angels fighting together, the battle was incredibly difficult!
The regular followers weren't too tough, but the higher-ranking priests and bishops could use powers far beyond normal humans!
These included psychic attacks, space cutting, time stopping, and more. These powers were said to be forbidden divine powers given by their supreme gods, but using them had consequences and side effects, so they rarely showed them.
Nicola had never faced enemies of this level before. If not for Galadra's avatar helping her escape danger many times, she would have died by now! And this was just the power of one branch of the Ancient God Religion...
In the end, they couldn't find any trace of Michelle in the building - the mission was a failure. They didn't even see Fernando. However, Galadra's earthly avatar was damaged and couldn't affect the lower realm anymore, only able to communicate through soul connection.
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This setback made all three realize that the enemy boss's threat was getting closer. Their power alone wasn't enough to rescue Michelle - they needed to find more allies in this world.
Nicola first thought of returning to Edenmere, where some of her classmates remained. She especially remembered Reed asking her to collect elements from the air to make nuclear weapons, which gave her an idea.
Here's something special about Nicora that needs mentioning. Although she was weak at first, after Feliciara's death and sending Cyrae back to Earth, she was determined to get revenge on the mastermind. After just one battle, she quickly reached eight-wing rank.
But that's not all. Since the angel clan in the other world lost two powerful leaders, Elara and Michelle, the tension in Edenmere finally exploded into a civil war against Yvonne. During this chaos, Nicora surprisingly rose to power. She united all her high school classmates who had crossed over, successfully killed Yvonne, and became the new leader of the angel clan as the Ancestor's Inheritor. She then reached ten wings. Her power grew incredibly fast in just over a month, like riding a rocket!
Unlike the symbolic title of Ancestor's Inheritor in my world, Nicora had real power as the angel clan's leader! Under her leadership, with Reed and other classmates' support, the angel clan finally fought to rescue Michelle, but that's a story for another time.
Back to Nicola, who still had eight wings when she left with Nicora. Following Galadra's request, she went to contact a city I knew very well - New Parristol, also called Lantine Oasis.
In the other world, Adrian had single-handedly reclaimed Parristol's throne and protected this floating city, making him perhaps the most influential person on the Eldoria Continent.
However, Galadra didn't know about the history between Nicola and Adrian in this world. At first, Nicola definitely refused, as she couldn't stand to see Adrian's face at that time!
But after Galadra repeatedly emphasized Lantine Oasis's importance in fighting the Ancient God Religion, and mentioned he needed to recover after the last battle, Nicola reluctantly agreed, showing her "dedication to the greater good."
Actually, she had her own plan - she would beat up this world's Adrian first to vent her anger, then make him sing "conquest" while standing on him. That way, she'd successfully take control of New Parristol, right?
But surprisingly, Adrian, now King of Parristol, didn't seem to recognize her at first.
The entire city of Lantine Oasis, floating thousands of meters in the air, went into defensive mode against this strange angel seeking alliance. They wouldn't even lower their shield.
"Go back. Parristol only wants to recover peacefully now. We've promised not to target any country on the continent and don't want enemies!" A sci-fi-looking floating hologram of Adrian wearing a crown appeared before Nicola, stating his position.
"I'm here representing the angel clan to form an alliance with you! What do you mean? Shouldn't you at least properly welcome me first?"
Seeing her "revenge" plan failing, Nicola couldn't swallow this anger. After yelling outside the city for almost an hour with no response, she finally lost her temper. She treated this world's Adrian like her enemy too, punching and kicking the city's shield in frustration.
Usually, bare hands couldn't affect Lantine Oasis's shield, but Nicola was a reincarnated Wind Angel with a celestial weapon! Just a few slashes with her Condensation Sword opened several huge gaps in the city's outer shield.
As she kept striking, these gaps grew large enough for someone to enter. But she never expected what happened next - a light particle suddenly shot down from above, hitting her head precisely...
The explosion's shockwave made her dizzy, and Nicola fell several dozen meters from the sky.
"What was that? Damn, you dare fight back! You forced me to do this - let's see who can help you now!"
Seemingly forgetting which Adrian she was talking to, Nicola endured the pain and used her newly learned time control powers to restore her body to its pre-injury state. Then she immediately raised her Condensation Sword and charged toward the shield's gap again.
But as soon as she spoke, three more light particles flew over her head. This time, multiple "Divine Punishments" combined were too powerful to ignore. Nicola couldn't reverse time fast enough and was knocked unconscious!
Everything went black, and she passed out.
...
Who knows how much time passed before she finally regained consciousness. She found herself in a luxurious room, lying on a large bed in the center.
"Your Majesty, she... seems to be awake!" Just then, a maid-like girl opened the door. Seeing Nicola open her eyes, she quickly closed the door and retreated, reporting through what looked like a communication device.
Hearing her speak, Nicola noticed her whole body was in extreme pain. She felt very weak, barely had any strength, and could hardly move. She must have suffered nearly fatal injuries.