Irene pulled out a special type of cigar to smoke while Alaksiej emerged from his hiding spot and escorted the demon boy to their armoured car to prepare their extraction, or most likely their escape. Irene just got a tip from Heresy that three people are on their way, and they are coming to their location fast.
‘Did you have to be such a dick to the boy?’ Crystal said to Irene through their intercom.
Irene shrugged, ‘someone had to. A little welcoming gift.’
‘Ass!’ Crystal chuckled, amused by the whole situation. But their little heart-to-heart won’t last forever. Now they needed to focus on the real threat that approached them from the skies.
Loud cracks could be heard across Finland, every person would be told that three fighter jets during a training exercise broke the sound barrier at the same time in three different locations. A believable lie that even the Finish military bought and didn’t second guess. The truth is far darker, for what came from the skies was a magical rift from a different realm, one similar to Hell. They were the soldiers of Heaven, three warriors that came from their realm to take what Dylan had. They were only a few minutes late to pick up their package.
They landed in front of Irene and aimed their beam rifles at the two men they saw. They wore black combat armour, their wings had thin metal armour known as Mary’s Blades that acted as protection or as a weapon, and their helmets covered their faces with a filtration unit that connected to their breathing apparatus on their back. To the ordinary person, they looked no different from a soldier with winged jetpacks from a sci-fi movie. Irene knew of the equipment they wore and used, besides the beam rifle, nothing they wore had any practical use for any human. Their armour is cumbersome to wear, their technology required the constant use of Angelic Magic to function correctly or at all. Gear only fit for an angel.
The leader took off their helmet, their long white hair hung down to the left side of their face. They looked handsome; their crimson-black skin was the only feature besides their wings that made them look anything other than human. He curled his lips; the angel knew the humans had taken the demon that teleported here. ‘Where are they?’ He demanded, he tapped his fingers on the side of his rifle to indicate that Irene and his companion should make it quick before things escalated.
‘Under our custody. Sorry lads, looks like you must return to your home in the sky.’
‘Don’t insult me, human. We both know what they have, and it would be in our best interest if you give them to us.’
Irene shook his head while he took a puff from his cigar. ‘Not gonna happen, I have granted him asylum and now he is under the protection of Earth and the Order. You have no jurisdiction or legal authority to seize the kid from us. If you have a complaint, I’m sure our representative can help.’
The angel huffed, irritated that a human would talk back to them. ‘What is your name?’
‘Names Irene,’ he smirked. ‘I am the person in charge of this operation and part of the Hell Blasters unit. We specialised in diplomacy with demons as well as killing them.’
‘Then you would know that we do have authorisation. The demon is carrying some important artefacts, and under the treaty that your species and Heaven had signed and agreed upon. You must give them to me.’
‘I’m afraid there is a misunderstanding, uh…’ Irene gestured at the angel, wanting to get their name.
‘Nexion.’
‘Well, Nexion. Under the Treaty of Olympia it states that if these artefacts are of suspected importance, then the forces of Heaven can go in and take them. What the demon had was just personal belongings. He only had a book on him, the report of the stolen artefacts said the thief took two important artefacts.’
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‘So you know what is taken.’
‘I deal with demons, angel. It is my job to deal with the demonic and understand what is happening in Hell. Same for the Angelica Unit, they know what is happening with your kind and Heaven. Speaking of which, why don’t you fly off to them? I am sure they will deal with whatever concerns you might have.’
The angel walked over to the human. Nexion was a foot taller than Irene. The angel towered over him in hopes of intimidating the human. But after breathing in the smoke from Irene’s cigar, the angel tried his best to hide his cough. Angels and demons are immune to almost every earthly element, they can breathe smoke, are immune to every human disease and virus, and can survive the deadly effects of radiation. The perfect creatures to fight and take over the planet. But what the angel smelt and struggled to hide his discomfort was no regular tobacco, but a cocktail of ingredients that are blasphemous to any creature of Heaven or Hell.
‘What is that?’ The angel scowled as he reached for his rifle.
‘Same shit to kill demons, the same stuff that can kill creatures like you. Funny how they call this stuff Angel Fire, isn’t it?’
‘Is that a threat, human?’
Irene waved his finger, ‘nuh-uh, a warning. I don’t care how the Angelica’s deal with folks like you. But my unit does things a little differently. For first, I will not take shit from you and if I say you should fly off, you perhaps should. My men are all capable of putting morons like you down, even without those fancy beam rifles.’
Nexion chuckled, amused by Irene’s threat. ‘You and the disabled freak? I didn’t know humanity is so desperate to allow the crippled to join their ranks.’
Irene flicked his cigar away, he wanted to punch the angel’s pretty face. But he knew that would only cause an all-out war between the planet and the realm if that happened. But his frown turned into a smirk when he realised who the angel insulted, he could only imagine his other teammates cackling if they heard what the angel said.
‘I will be honest with you, we both know well enough that the demon has some important items on them. We don’t know what they are, but it made a lot of people over in Hell upset.’
Nexion raised a brow, ‘so admit that you are lying.’
‘Of course, so I propose a deal. Unless you are afraid to deal with a human.’
‘All right, I’ll humour you. Name it.’
Irene pointed at Howard, ‘if you three can beat him in a fistfight. No magic, no weapons, nothing fancy. I will give you the kid and whatever they have on them. Damn, I’ll even allow you guys to wear your armour, minus the wing thingie because those are weapons. What do you say?’
‘And if you win?’
‘Well, we take him, and you guys get to go home.’
The three angels laughed to themselves; Irene couldn’t help but smile as they indirectly agreed to his challenge. Nexion shook Irene’s hand, reading himself for what he assumed would be an easy fight. ‘I’ll accept it.’
‘That’s the spirit, but before you three handle my friend. I’ll just give him a little talk-to, just to bring his spirits up if you know what I mean.’
‘Be my guest, just don’t take long.’ Nexion replied after removing the armour from his wings.
With a smile, Irene walked over to Howard, tapped him on the shoulder and whispered to him. ‘Make sure you don’t kill them. Dinner is on me once you are done.’