Cry of a peacock

Alice was on her bed, still unable to process all of the things that happened yesterday. She held her cellphone tight to her chest and, with a wide smile, stared at the white ceiling. She exclaimed her love. It still felt like a dream to her. But no matter how many times she pinched herself, she didn't wake up. She didn't want to. The half-angel opened her cellphone and gawked at its wallpaper. Here it was—the picture of her and Lilim being so close together. A quick photo that the succubus wanted to take with her to cherish the memories Alice felt her cheeks burn up just by remembering yesterday. Maybe it wasn't anything special; they mostly talked, but for her, it meant everything. She turned around, now lying on her stomach, and let out a muffled scream of joy into the pillow, which barely muffled it as she was swinging her legs from the excitement.

"Alice, is everything okay?" Beatrice asked, being rather unnerved by the commotion coming from the green-eyed girl's room. It's been like that since yesterday evening. "Are you sure that you don't have a fever? Your face is all red." The blonde angel added after the half-angel turned around to face her. The wide smile had not disappeared; instead, it was becoming even wider.

"Everything is more than okay. Let's just say that something great happened yesterday." The dreamy and joyful tone of her voice didn't leave Beatrice any more doubts. She could only guess that Lilim getting back home earlier had something to do with this. Speaking of succubus, she herself seemed to be in a much better mood than usual and had been wearing a slight smile on her face since morning. The blonde was left to wonder just what the great thing that happened was. Perhaps she should ask the green-eyed girl about it. It might have been a good way to deepen their bond. But then again, if the girl wanted to say anything about it, she would have done so by now. Trying to think this through, Beatrice sat on the corner of the bed.

"Seriously, you should have seen Lilim yesterday. It was the first time that I'd seen her so flustered, especially around me. We mostly talked; she hugged me from time to time and even walked me home!" At this point, Beatrice knew what drew half-angel into such a good mood. A young love where even mundane things like that are everything to you. Well, as long as the succubus clearly knew the boundaries and didn't overstep them, she had no reason to worry about Alice.

"It seems like you had a good time." Alice nodded at that and continued listing off things that had happened on the way home and before that.

As both angels were deepening their mother-daughter relationship, Lilim was in Beatrice's room, supposedly reading documents regarding demons and the way they were exterminated. After the first bunch of them, she thought of herself as deserving a little break. And taking a closer look at whatever was in the said room seemed to be the best way to spend it. Except for the monitors, it was like any other ordinary room. Small red rug in the center, a rather small and well-made bed right up to the wall, a bunch of shelves hung on the walls and filled with various books, and other cupboards placed everywhere.

Lilim went closer to one of the hanging shelves, checking if there was anything worth reading. It's not like she has read many books in her life, if any, but she loved listening to old poems, which back in her days were still new. From what she had seen, there were mostly older books and nothing she would be interested in. Something known as "Dziady", "Potop", "The Sorrow of Young Werther," and other positions filled the shelves. Though there have been ones where the books looked to be much more used than the others. Two of them especially caught her attention. "Advice for Single Mothers" and "Parenting for Dummies". Two of the most worn-out books had to be at least a decade old if the matted colors of the covers were anything to judge them by. Lilim couldn't help but smirk a little. Beatrice took all of the parenting way more seriously than succubus had imagined, which already was a lot.

She heard the doors open and close, followed by the sound of the lock being closed. It seemed like the blonde angel had already left for work. Slightly earlier than normally, but Lilim didn't mind it. Though before she was able to return to work, someone ran up to her and hugged her from behind.

"Lilim, can I stay with you for a while?" Alice asked while burying her face in the black hair of the succubus. The blue-eyed demon did not have the heart to say no to her, and it wasn't like the half-angel was disturbing her. In fact, she preferred her presence.

"Sure, but can you let go now? I kind of want to sit down." The green-eyed girl immediately did that, this time not bothering to hide her pink-tinted cheeks from the demon. Lilim sat on the chair, and Alice made herself comfortable on Beatrice's bed. She was looking at the screen with curiosity, but it quickly turned into disappointment when she saw that those were simply demon files. She has already seen them hundreds of times, if not more. If Lilim wanted to know about them, she could have simply asked. But she understood that an order was an order, and Lilim had to thoroughly read through them all.

"That reminds me, weren't you supposed to show me this whole Tetra, or however they were called?" Succubus asked, wanting to use the occasion of Beatrice not being home. No matter how many times she asked for access to those files, the blonde angel always replied that those were only for the higher-ups and no one else had access to them. Of course, Beatrice was one of the higher-ups, and Lilim wanted to know just what the demons who presumably wanted her dead even looked like.

"I guess I can show you. Knowing your enemy is important after all." The black-haired demon smiled a little bit. Alice really felt like the only person who actually trusted her in the entire Force. The rest of them either avoided her or kept their distance, like Beatrice. If they were afraid that she was going to betray them, then they really were stupid. As Lilim was thinking, Alice quickly found the files and typed in the password to open the folder. Only four files were inside, fitting for the name. The ginger-haired angel clicked on the first file.

A document titled "Adramelech" opened on the desktop. A picture at the top showed what seemed to be an old photograph of a rather huge peacock. Its body was somewhat human-like yet still resembled the bird's appearance. Both of its legs were like those of a bird and ended with long claws, while the arms were like those of a human and were forever joined with quite massive wings. The most noticeable feature of this demon was an enormous peacock-like tail that it seemed to be proud of, as its beak even in the picture seemed to form a smile. Though the most disturbing were his eyes, which were looking straight at both girls. Those were cold, and had a lot of sinister thoughts hidden behind them.

Later on, Lilim read that the picture was made in 1934, in the early spring. It was nearly eighty years old, and yet the document said that the threat was neither exterminated nor contained. Just how one demon managed to outwit the whole Force, if not the whole Vatican, for so long didn't fill Lilim with optimism.

The next document was under the name "Berith." In the photo, there was a knight clad in silver armor, riding a horse. Or rather, it looked like he was forever joined with the steed as it made for the knight's legs. He wielded a massive lance that was easily the size of a lamppost. This was probably the silver knight that Schwarz was talking about. Once again, the photo was taken in the 1930s.

Second to last was a pale woman who was completely covered in roots and blooming roses. Her hair was of the color red, if Lilim was to guess, and that was where the most roses were. It was hard to say where she ended and where the roots started. The more Lilim looked at them, the more the roots seemed to resemble a somewhat makeshift throne on which the woman, apparently named Alraune, was sitting.

Switching to the last one, Lilim at first thought that something had broken. She could barely see anything, as if the photo wasn't loading. She refreshed the document a bunch of times with the same result. Everything else was working just fine, so what could be the case? Defeated, she glanced at the photo, which showed a black mass that had taken up most of the frame. It wasn't until she read the description that she understood what it actually was. Flauros, whatever the hell he was, was an enormous demon, and in the photo was only his leg. Apparently, this was the last photo the photographer took before his demise. Luckily for her, someone has filled in the description of the mighty beast.

"Flauros is a force to be reckoned with. Measuring up to ten meters in height, his fur-covered body cannot be pierced by any normal weaponry, and silver bullets seem to be nothing more than an annoyance to him. From the recorded data, it appears that Flauros specializes in fire magic. His flames are powerful enough to melt the Vatican's tanks. As of now, the demon has not been neutralized."

This whole Tetra seemed tougher than she first thought. Granted, she hasn't seen them before, let alone made contact with them, but if they managed to live for so long and be an active threat, then that must have meant something. There was still the issue of why they wanted her dead. It didn't leave any doubt that they were sending all of those demons after her, but why? Perhaps they saw her as a threat? But if so, then wouldn't all four going all out to get her be more efficient? Unless that wasn't the case after all. Nevertheless, she closed the computer and turned around to face the half-angel.

"Hey, how about we go somewhere outside? I think I might need a slight break from all of that reading." Alice was more than delighted to hear that. Spending more time with her girlfriend wasn't something she could say "no" to. Plus, she still had some neat places to show her. Nothing too major, but rather a bunch of popular meeting spots. Nodding, she grabbed the succubus by the hand, and together they made their way out. Lilim only briefly had time to put her shoes on as Alice went to search for her wallet. The succubus could only wonder why she would need it. They were simply going out and not shopping, so there wasn't a reason to bring the money. As the black-haired demon awaited before the front door, the half-angel finally returned with a small beige wallet in hand. She wore the same light green shirt and white pants almost every day. Lilim wasn't the one to judge her, seeing as she only had the same white dress.

The streets weren't too busy at such early hours, as nearly everyone was at work or school. Occasionally, a car has passed by, but the town barely resembles a livelier version of itself. It was almost a pleasant change of pace. It's not like the succubus minded all of the commotion usually going on, but sometimes she pleaded for a less noisy area. She could only imagine how it was in the very heart of Znena. Granted, they already lived in the center, but not in the center. Maybe that was for the better.

Lilim was growing more and more accustomed to the town layout. She was most familiar with the center and its various spots, such as the park or the old town square. The succubus could practically arrive there blind. Then there was the west coast, where Znena met the sea. Despite having a fully operational harbor, it is barely in use these days. Now it acted more like a tourist attraction than anything else. Both the north and east were equally split into residential areas and workplaces. The further from the center, the fewer skyscrapers and more smaller houses emerged. At last was the south, the least dense area of all Znena, with its furthest part resembling more of a countryside, resting on rather hilly terrain. Overall, it was an interesting town where both old and new merged together.

Alice led the blue-eyed demon in the direction of a freshly built clothes shop. Its red and blue walls stood out among the mostly less aggressive-colored buildings. A little shopping trip it seemed to be. While much grander, it didn't have the same charm as the tailor's and shoemaker's shops. Lilim especially felt the lack of a great window from which she could see all of the dresses. Here instead were a bunch of smaller ones, all plastered with posters saying "NEW" or "SALE" from the inside.

The shop inside was also rather small. Most of the clothes were on the walls, resting on clothing hangers, while things like hats, gloves, socks, and other things like that were in a bunch of metal crates. On the right side stood a red, wooden checkout counter, and at the very end of the shop were three changing stalls and a wall mirror with a gray pouf in front of it. Currently, beside them, there was only one other person inside. A woman that looked to be in her forties, slightly on the bigger side, with brown hair, wearing a simple gray dress.

"Good morning, Miss Monica." Alice called out to the woman, who had just finished putting a new price on the clothes.

"Oh, Alice, what brings you there?" The brown eyes of the woman stopped at the black-haired demon.

"I've decided to bring Lilim on a little shopping spree, and if that wouldn't be much of a problem, I'd like to ask for your advice."

"But of course, my dear. So you are that Lilim that Veronica mentioned. My, oh my, you are just as pretty as she described you."

"Yeah, though I didn't think that Veronica would say that about me." The succubus muttered as the half-angel went to the older woman, and together with her, they were looking for something that would suit the blue-eyed demon nicely. Lilim herself went to them, but for the love of it, she couldn't find anything that she could see herself wearing. That, and she also didn't want to bother Alice too much with it. If she had just told her where they were going, she could have tried to find some money or asked that bishop if she could get a part of her pay earlier. But it seemed like the ginger-haired girl wanted it to be a surprise.

While Lilim was staring blankly at clothes, Alice had her hands busy choosing the best present for the succubus. Maybe not a present, but a gift. Whatever she could call it, it wasn't something she could half-ass. After all, this might have just been a small thanks for helping her so much, but for Alice, it felt much more personal. After all, she was making a gift for her girlfriend, so she had to put her whole heart into it. Finally, she noticed something that might just fit the succubus.

"Come on, Lilim, try on those." Alice handed Lilim a bunch of clothes. Mostly black and red. Honestly, the demon didn't really see herself in such colors; white was more her thing. But seeing the confident smile on the half-angel's face, she just couldn't say no. And there was no reason not to try them. Wasting no more time, she went into the changing stall and returned just a short while later. She didn't really know how she ended up looking, as there was no mirror yet in the stall, but the sparkles in Alice's eyes probably meant a good sign. She went to the mirror.

She still wasn't sure that black and red suited her all that much, but the succubus had to say that maybe she would warm up to them. An elegant long black skirt reaching all the way to her ankles, a long-sleeve claret shirt on which she put on a black jacket, and a small beret with the same color as the shirt didn't look too bad. Maybe a little too thick for September, but just right for October or maybe even November if the weather would allow for it.

"So, how do I look?" Lilim couldn't help but turn a little red after seeing that Alice's sparkling little emeralds were still fully concentrated on her. The older woman just nodded a bunch of times while helping the blue-eyed demon make sure that the beret was sitting just right. She really wasn't used to having something on her head.

"Well, young lady, I can surely say that you would make for a great model." Miss Monica said as she stood proudly while Alice took a picture of Lilim with her phone.

"Thanks, I guess." Succubus replied, being a little flustered. She couldn't remember the last time that a complete stranger had complimented her. The half-angel, of course, was doing it daily, but others not so much. which, honestly, she rather preferred. Unwanted attention had already caused her problems in the past. Returning to the stall and getting back into her white dress, she returned the clothes to the shopkeeper. Sitting on the pouf, she wondered how she could repay Alice. Though, before she could think of anything, the ginger-haired girl gestured at her to go.

"I appreciate the gesture, but you really didn't have to." The blue-eyed demon said as both of them exited the shop.

"Oh, come one, think of it as a welcome gift." Alice replied with a smile. But before she could continue, her phone buzzed. Location of a demon. It was in the south-west part of Znena, at the construction site. This was bad. Should the demon not be dealt with with extreme caution, it could lead to many casualties. Both girls could only hope that the construction workers weren't at the site, as trying to fight off an unknown demon while evacuating them would be a hard task.

Wasting no time, Lilim spread out her wings, grabbed Alice, and, following the half-angel's instructions, took off in the direction of the construction site. On their way here, Lilim felt quite a specific aura. One she had already felt a bunch of times. It was similar to Schwarz's and that one demon from the old railroad. At first, she thought nothing of it, but other demons they faced resonated with no such aura. Something fishy was going on.

Here it was. The already massive steel skeleton. From up in the sky, neither of the girls noticed any construction workers. The demon also remained hidden, so Lilim landed on the ground. She and Alice quickly ducked as a steel beam was thrown in their direction. It stopped at the nearest crane, pretty much piercing right through the cabin. From the inside of the skeletal frame came a bulky demon. Its lower body was that of a bull, with its abdomen covered by thick steel armor, and its bull head was looking furiously at the two girls. It summoned a massive war hammer, which ended with a lengthy spike on one of its ends.

"Are you those who have defiled the honor of Lord Berith's soldiers?" The twisted minotaur asked in a low voice. Even then, the fury in his voice was rather sensible.

"It depends on who is asking." Lilim replied with a smirk, which only made the demon much more furious. It swung its weapon and struck the ground with the spiked end. Soon after, the ground beneath both girls started to shake, and in the last second, they managed to dodge a stalactite that arose from the earth.

"None goes against my lord and lives to tell the tale.” The minotaur had to shield himself with his strong arms as Alice fired many electric arrows from her spear. The succubus used the occasion to swiftly run up to the demon and stab him in the gut. To her surprise, the minotaur used his free hand to grab Prince. He threw her with all of his might into the steel skeleton.

"Lilim!" A half-angel screamed, her voice full of fear. She calmed down slightly, seeing her slowly stand up and wipe off the blood that was leaking from her forehead, but she had no time to catch a break as the demon was charging straight at her. On the first charge, she managed to dodge, but the swiftness with which the minotaur had managed to turn around and charge once more caught her off guard. Her left shoulder was pierced by his horn as she held on tight to his right one. Alice used whatever remaining strength she had in her left arm and pierced the monster's neck with her spear. Minotaur stopped in his tracks and started flailing angrily; ultimately, he managed to fling Alice off.

Lilim caught the wounded half-angel and observed as the minotaur pulled out the weapon from his neck. It didn't even seem to phase him all that much. Just what the hell was he made of?

"Alice, stay here; I'm going to kill that bastard." The blue-eyed demon ordered, seeing the pale face of the ginger-haired girl. She was still clutching her wounded shoulder, and there was no way in hell that she would let her fight in a state like that. Would her flames be enough to get rid of that bull? She wasn't sure, but he couldn't hurt Alice and be left unscratched.

The minotaur was charging once again, but this time Lilim used Prince to create a wall of blue separating them. Her flames seemed to have some effect on it, as the bull screamed in pain as he crashed against the blue wall. Still, he came out on the other side, but both of his arms lacked a lot of skin on them. The chest piece was pretty much charred—nothing but a black slab. In rage, the bull demon ripped off its armor, showcasing his muscular body. Right on his chest was a silver crest showcasing two crossed spears with a sword right in the middle of them.

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Come on, Lilim, let me take him. I'm more than capable of killing him with one strike.

No. I'm the one taking him down.

The bull's war hammer was glowing in a fiery red light. The head of the weapon had turned into two enormous tongues of crimson-red flame. Minotaur swung it down, flames going in every direction as if they were snakes when the war weapon hit the ground. The flaming snakes quickly took aim at the succubus. Lilim, instead of getting rid of them, rushed straight at the demon, Prince covered in his own flame. A few snakes got to wrap around her legs, leaving nasty burns as they dug deep into the skin. The minotaur raised his hammer and released an arc of fire at the approaching blue-eyed demon. She got low to the ground, the flaming arc just barely missing her by a hair, after which she lunged at the minotaur. Prince struck the bull right in the chest before he had a chance to swing his weapon again.

The bull staggered as the blue flame started to burn him from the inside. He grabbed the black blade and was slowly pulling it out, the flame turning his hand into a bone. Seeing as the frenzied blue-eyed fiend kept on pushing the blade deeper, the minotaur hit her straight in the face with all of his might, hearing the crack of bones. Despite having her nose broken, the succubus kept her grin as the bull fell onto his knees. Flesh wounds were one thing, but being burned from the inside was too much, even for him. Though he doubted that he would get the break needed to recover all the damage done to him, first he had to get rid of that blue-eyed fiend. She had no weapon as of now. He had to strike. Lunging at the black-haired demon, he felt something cold hit his eye, temporarily blinding him. He flinched and hit the ground with such might that the blade had pierced him completely. He looked at the steel skeleton. That ginger really had dared to interrupt a duel by shooting him. They all truly lacked honor.

Prince returned to Lilim's hand. Shortly after, she released a wave of blue flame that cut the minotaur in half, his corpse setting itself in a muddy red flame. Wasting no time, she ran up to Alice, seeing as the half-angel had slumped against a steel beam. She was rather pale, still clutching her shoulder but continuing to smile as Lilim approached her.

"Can you stand up? Does it hurt? Want me to carry you?" Succubus continued to ask frantically. The half-angel replied with a slight laugh.

"You don't have to be such a worrywart." The green-eyed girl added as she slowly stood up, using the beam and Lilim as a support. "It looks worse than it actually is." Despite saying that, it did hurt like hell. Yet before the blue-eyed demon could do anything, they heard clapping coming somewhere from the upper floors.

"I see that our little troublemakers got rid of a problem." An elegant yet cold voice echoed through the skeletal frame. The aura that belonged to whoever was watching over them had shaken up the entire foundation, and both girls had to make a run for it as many beams started to fall from the upper parts of the unfinished building.

Before any of the girls could catch a glimpse of another demon, something had jumped off the skeletal frame, landing in front of them and raising lots of dust into the air. As it faded, a green-fleshed humanoid peacock stood in front of them. Its cold eyes were focused on the burning corpse as opposed to those responsible for it.

"Seriously, what's that fool thinking about? Losing two fine soldiers in such hard times. Berith is such a fool, don't you agree?" The peacock asked with a sinister grin. Neither of them had answered. Lilim only pointed Prince in his direction, standing protectively in front of Alice. Adramelech. Just what the hell was he doing here? Was the entire Tetra here? Or only he? No matter how much she tried to calm herself down, she couldn't stop her hand from shaking. Lilim thought that facing Tetra wouldn't be too hard. But here she was, shaking just at the sight of one of them. "What am I even asking? Of course you agree; you are smart girls. And because you are smart girls, you will lay down your weapons, won't try anything stupid, and just die." After finishing his sentence, Adramalech immediately appeared in front of Lilim. Before she could defend herself, the peacock slashed her eyes with his dagger-like claws. Losing her vision, Lilim couldn't tell what had sent her flying at a fence that isolated the construction site from the rest.

Alice didn't even have time to summon her armor, as Adramalech had snatched the Rosary from her hand. He seemed to study it with rather great interest.

"My, oh my, doesn't it bring back memories? Wouldn't you agree, Anastasia?" Alice froze upon hearing that name. It belonged to her mom. How, just how, did he know it? Has her mom confronted Tetra in the past? But Beatrice didn't tell her anything about that. "No, you are not her, are you? Unless your aura has shrunk in the past fifteen years." Now the green peacock was studying her instead. She still couldn't move. Could they know where her mom was? They seemed to know her. Yet the cold gaze of the demon already told her that she wouldn't get any answers.

Acting on instinct, the half-angel lunged at the peacock, catching him off guard and getting her spear back. Alice started stabbing and slashing. She wanted answers. She needed answers. If they knew anything about her mother, she would make sure that they spilled everything out. Adramalech, with no effort, sidestepped all of the stabs and gracefully dodged each slash as if they were moving slower in his eyes. The Rosary shone in red light. Yet no matter how hard Alice tried, she always ended up missing each strike. Alice felt that she wouldn't be able to go on for much longer. Glancing quickly at the still-lying succubus, she tried to endure for as long as the wound would let her. Lilim will wake up soon, and then the battle will be over. She wanted to believe in that. Adramelech had enough of this child's play and, with full force, kicked the angel. The clawed foot sent her flying five meters away from the green peacock. In the blink of an eye, the demon appeared before her, ready to dig his claws into her chest.

"I guess it is of little meaning now; corpses never answer back anyway." A wall of blue flame had stopped Adramelech's claws from reaching Alice's chest. Peacock looked at where the black-haired succubus was. Barely standing, her left hand over her eyes and a black blade in her right. "Huh, I wouldn't have guessed that you would be still standing after my punch." A punch?! That was just a punch? Lilim never would have thought that it was a mere punch. Just what were they even capable of? Her vision was slowly returning to her, but at a much slower pace than she would have liked.

"I can see why Berith wanted you among our forces, but~" The feathers on the demon's tail straightened up, no longer being mere beautiful black at the bottom, green in the middle, and tipped white feathers, but tough as steel and sharp as a blade weapon. The first layer shoots out like stray arrows right into the direction of the half-angel. While Lilim still couldn't see what was going on, she heard somebody fall to the ground and some projectiles soar through the air and dig deep into anything they could. Then came the second layer, this time aimed at her. The blue-eyed demon only saw a green blur coming at her. She ducked, hearing the feathers whistle around her head as they dug into the ground around her. "You do not go all out, do you? I can tell you could make me take you seriously, but for some reason you stay down. If the angel were dead, would you show me your true form?"

That's it. I am taking over. There is no way we are being killed by some oversized bird. This is not something Lilim I know would allow.

Shut up! Shut up! You are not doing anything; just heal my eyes. I can't risk hitting Alice.

We won't be able to save her if we are dead. Why aren't you trusting me?

Why would I? Everything was your fault!

"So what do you say? Will you prove yourself to me? I might even turn you into my servant. It would have been quite a shame to let such a pretty face go to waste." Adramelech suddenly felt something lacking in his hand. The spear was gone. He felt cold metal go right into his spine. The golden spear was slowly making its way inside his body. Peacock turned his head to have a better look at the ginger-haired angel. Being covered in armor and breathing heavily, she was using her entire strength to push the spear as deep as she could. The wall of blue flame was low enough for her to pull this stunt, yet still more than enough to keep him from reaching her.

"Youngsters these days... Something like that won't work on me, kid." Adramelech grabbed the spear and threw it in the direction of Lilim, along with Alice. "But I appreciate your effort. I can't really remember the last time someone got a hit on me from behind."

"Lilim, we aren't going to be fine, right?" The green-eyed girl asked as she barely stood next to the demon. She cursed herself for not being able to do anything. The Rosary didn't even seem to phase Adramelech. She doubted any spell that she knew would be able to do so either. He only seemed to be wary of Lilim's flames. The blue-eyed succubus didn't answer, instead gripping Prince harder. Lilim was wobbling, but she pointed a black katana at the peacock and covered her face with her left hand. An aura that shook the entire construction site left Adramelech curious and Alice frozen in place. Prince's flame was no longer light blue but almost sapphire. It was cracking, and the blade was going red hot. From the slight gap between succubus's fingers, Alice could see that her eyes glowed brighter than she had ever seen them do.

The sapphire flame shot out in the blink of an eye. A stream of fire made Adramalech summon an oversized version of his feather, which wrapped around him like a cocoon. Even then, sapphire fire burned through them as if they were nothing. Lilim's left hand had, with full force, tried to pull her right arm down, even digging her nails into the skin until they drew blood. It wasn't until Adramalech appeared on the higher floor of the building that the stream of fire stopped and Lilim could pull her arm down, sweat covering her entire face and making her look paler than usual.

"So you have it in you. But to think you would be able to burn through my feathers, Berith might not be such a fool after all." Adramelech complimented, yet the mocking tone of his voice stayed. Preparing yet another round of his feather projectiles, he momentarily felt another aura approaching. A meter-long white arrow grazed his face, burning green feathers on his cheek. It struck the ground behind him, shaking the entire construction and covering it entirely in dust. Three more arrows followed. Adramelech had barely dodged each of them, losing even more of his precious feathers. He knew those arrows all too well. If that damned archer was here, then he had to back off. Without any backup, he would be at a disadvantage. Ranged combat wasn't for him. Especially against that archer. Before the dust had settled down, he decided that he had seen enough and vanished from the construction site as if he were never there to begin with.

Not sensing Adramelech's aura anymore, Beatrice immediately landed right next to the girls. Even despite their wounds, they smiled brightly, seeing their savior.

"Beatrice-huf-Tetra... they've been here..." Alice had fallen to her knees, the adrenaline finally leaving her body. Beatrice picked her up and helped Lilim by letting her rest on her shoulder. Both of them looked like they were ready to pass out at any given moment. She couldn't blame them. Going against Tetra, let alone surviving, was no easy task. They were lucky that it was Adramelech alone.

"I know... Come on, we have to get you all patched up." Taking off into the sky, Beatrice flew in the direction of the Force as fast as she could. The medical staff was already waiting for them, as per the order from the blonde angel herself. When their radars picked up an enormous spike in Lilim's aura, she knew that something was wrong. But what baffled her was the fact that none of them had picked up Adramelech's. It was just too odd to be a mere coincidence. If the silver knight mentioned by that demon really was Berith, then they had a bigger problem at hand than any of them had originally expected. The medical personnel wasted no time and quickly took care of both girls.

The evening was closing in as the sun was slowly making its way down. Lilim had already been dispatched, as after a few hours her wounds had completely healed, and now Alice remained in the perfectly white room with only one window. Beatrice hadn't left her side for even a minute. After the incident, the ginger-haired girl had not spoken a word; her mind was still focused on the peacock's remark. Was he just trying to throw her off during combat? But why did he know her mother's name?

"Beatrice." She started, her voice barely but a whisper. Her green eyes avoided the gaze of the archer. "Has my mom fought against Tetra?" She was afraid to hear the answer. If not, then the peacock must have been observing them or gaining intel on them in some way. If yes, then she feared what fate might have befallen her mother and why she wasn't with them. No, she couldn't think like that. Her mom was alive. She had to be. Alice saw that Beatrice was taken off guard by her question.

"Alice, dear. What made you think so?" The blonder angel would have never expected Alice to ask that. Truth be told, in recent years, she has barely brought up the disappearance of her mother. That damned peacock probably had to do something with that.

"Adramelech, it seemed like he knew my mom." So she was right. Now, how was she supposed to answer that one? Before she could think of what to even say to the ginger-haired angel, Beatrice's phone buzzed. An incoming call from Ezekiel. If he resorted to calls, then it had to be important. Making a quick excuse for the green-eyed girl, she stormed out of the room and went to meet up with the bishop.

In the meantime, Lilim had been lying on the couch and jumping from channel to channel, her mind still on the fight with Adramelech. As much as she hated to admit it, she had saved them this time. But worse of all, she allowed Alice to get hurt. It was an absolute mess of a mission overall. And to think they might attack anytime. She sure won't sleep tonight. Maybe even for the next three more. The sound of the doorbell broke her train of thought. Lilim, with hopes of seeing Alice at the doorway, quickly went to open the doors, but her excitement quickly faded as she saw Veronica outside. The brunette was holding a medium-sized shopping bag.

"Sup, my mom asked me to bring this to you. Apparently you were in such a hurry and left this out. Oh, what happened to you?" Veronica asked as she pointed at the bandages on Lilim's legs. Right, those. She had forgotten to take them off. While being a demon, she had no need for bandages; they were useful to prevent the healing wound from getting dirty. And recovering an infected wound was much more pain in the ass than it was worth. "Are you home alone, perhaps? It's oddly quiet."

"Come on in; I'll tell you everything." Succubus already knew that it wouldn't be a pleasant talk. But she figured out if Veronica would hear about the current situation from her and not Alice. She won't omit any detail like the angel would in order to not worry anyone.

"And you let that all happen?" Veronica screamed right as Lilim had just finished talking. That's kind of the reaction she had expected.

"Look, if it depended on me, then I wouldn't let a hair fall from her head. But we have been ambushed by him. It's a miracle that we are still alive." After hearing that, the brunette immediately calmed down.

"Miracle, you say? If only Alice saw it that way. Knowing her, she won't learn anything from that and will jump straight into another near-death experience." Veronica's gaze was now avoiding the blue eyes of the demon. She had to be aware of that too. That's how the angel always was. It always kept her awake at night.

"That does kind of sound like her." Lilim really couldn't argue with that one. Especially rushing blindly into dangerous fights. With most of Alice's spells being long-distance, she should have stayed in the back. Succubus was more than capable of doing the heavy lifting by herself. "But why bring that up now? I know I've messed up. Still, Al is well now, and I swear on my life that I won't let anything like that happen again."

"I don't want to see my friend dead. It's really nothing complicated." Lilim bit her tongue. Of course, it was about that. And of course, it wasn't only Force who was worried about the ginger angel. Yet she still remained oblivious to that. "Sorry, I have to go now." Veronica mumbled out as she pretty much stormed out of the room, leaving succubus alone with her thoughts.

"Chairman Tvardovsky, could you please show Beatrice the measurements that caught your attention?" Ezekiel asked the much taller man, who had short black hair and a well-kept mustache. Even now, he wore his already coffee-stained and apparently never-ironed lab coat.

"Of course" He put three gray document binders on the bishop's desk. One of them was worn out by time, looking like it was just barely holding together. The chairman opened them and took the necessary documents.

"Now here are the measurements of today's demon." He gave the blonde-haired angel a graph showcasing an aura up to sixty lambdas in peak. Quite high for a normal demon. Most of them stopped around their thirties. "Here are some from the past few days." Another two graphs of rather high aura. This time, the high-fifties

"Demons of such auras are worrying, but what exactly do you want to show me?" The angel questioned, still not really understanding what the whole commotion was about. High auras were to be expected, taking into account just how many readings they get daily. And that only counts their own headquarters.

"When comparing them to the rest of our readings, they are abnormally high. I can't remember the last time we had a demon whose aura could measure up to the thirties, let alone the forties. And here we have three demons that have at least an aura of fifty lambdas or more." Tvardovsky then opened the oldest binder. "Last time, it was fifteen years ago." Beatrice froze upon hearing that. She already suspected what they were talking about. All of the papers showed similar graphs. All of the lambdas reached their sixties. Bunch of seventies.

"You see, Beatrice, I, together with Chairman Tvardovsky, have come up with a theory for such, should I say, unusual activity of Tetra and its forces. And now, taking into account the appearance of Adramalech and the potential appearance of Berith, it became clear."

"They might be preparing for another invasion. If not a whole war this time." The air in the office became heavy, almost suffocating. If that were true, then Beatrice feared what fate would befall Znena. Fifteen years ago, they miraculously managed to prevent it, but this time they might not be so lucky. "And those three peculiar demons? I'm afraid that they have been scouting. If our reckoning about their preparations is true, then it would explain why they were so hell-bent on taking Miss Lilim into their ranks. I can only assume that Adramalech also wanted to test the waters."

"Has any other station been notified of this situation?" Beatrice needed to be reassured in any way that if the worst came to the worst, Alice wouldn't have to face Tetra without any backup. Even if one angel of the higher hierarchy showed up, she would be more at peace.

"For the time being, we have only notified Grad. On the following day, we plan to contact every single unit in the region. I don't think I have to add that getting the Holy See's approval to use their angels would be quite a challenging task, so I'll see to it personally. For now, Beatrice focuses on keeping it hush-hush from Miss Alice and Miss Lilim. Unless we are certain about Tetra's goal, we don't have to upset them with our reckoning." As much as the blonde angel opposed the idea of keeping both girls in the dark, in the end, it was the bishop's words that mattered the most. Perhaps it should be fine for the time being. They already have enough stress as it is. Exchanging goodbyes, Beatrice made her way back to Alice's room.

The sun had already set, and the moon was just barely visible in the clouded night sky. The green peacock found himself standing on a hill in the Red Mountains, far to the south of Znena. Standing before what seemed to be just an almost vertical mountainside, he finally turned around.

"Alright, for how long do you plan to follow me?" He asked, seeing how his two stalkers no longer made an effort to remain hidden. With auras like theirs, even the strongest concealing magic could only barely hide their presence. At least that was true for the weird smoke cloud that circled around the black dragon standing on two legs. His body was rather human-like and really muscular. His tail was long, and his wings folded in his back. The unnervingly glowing eyes seemed to pierce him. The most curious thing about him was that he simply couldn't sense his aura. He had never seen them before, but if they wanted to pick up a fight, he was more than prepared.

"So it really is true that no demon can hide from Tetra." The dragon laughed, yet Adramalech sensed no genuineness in his laugh. Although that wasn't a mocking laugh either. "Now, now. We aren't seeking trouble. It's just that my dear little Abbadon over here has troubles keeping his form, and I thought that the four strongest demons in this region might be able to help him."

"Tough luck; we ain't wasting time and resources on some hoboes. Now get lost."

"There is no need for such incivility. In fact, we have been thinking of joining you." This time, Adramelech laughed.

"Look, buddy, we can't let any demon join our ranks. I think even a fool like you can understand that."

"To call me a fool when I just want to help my brothers achieve a goal we share"

"Excuse me?"

"You want to get your kingdom back, don't you?" Adramelech froze in shock. This bastard—who told him that? He was a complete stranger; he couldn't have known such a thing. "I wish to create a safe haven for my brethren. So I've thought to myself, why won't we join forces? It could benefit both parties''

"And you think we would share our kingdom? Look, my patience is wearing thin, so get lost while you still can."

"Oh, is that so? Then perhaps a physical demonstration will persuade you." In a second, an earthquake hit the mountain. Adramelech had fallen to the ground, and the world around him was shaking with such force that he could barely make out shapes around him. A chunk of the mountain around him has been falling to the ground. But the most terrifying of it all was the fact that the dragon had only released his aura. What kind of monster could crack mountains with that alone? Even long after the quakes subsided, Adramelech stayed low on the ground, his eyes wide open in shock and fear of the black dragon.

"Y-You! W-Who are you?!"

"Throughout my life, I've been called many things. A dragon, a djinn, a lion, a devil, a brother to fiends, and a companion to serpents. Pick whatever you think suits me the most. But it doesn't matter now, does it? Hmm? What is it, my dear Abbadon?" The dragon asked as he noticed the smoke cloud circle around him. "Had I been carried away? If so, then forgive my behavior. How will it be then, Adramelech? Will we help each other?" The dragon's smile showed rows of his sharp white teeth. Teeth that a peacock wouldn't want to be anywhere near. It was clear to him that there was no way for him to face the demon, and with no better choice, he just had to believe him. Perhaps a potential strong ally would genuinely help their cause. Muttering something under his breath, the stone turned inside out, now no longer a mountain but an entrance leading to a castle buried deep within.

"Let it be; let's see what others have to say about you." Adramelech said as he finally stood up from the ground, though he hated how the demon made him feel pathetic in comparison. He was never a combatant; he knew that much, but that thing right there made him feel like some complete imp.

"I knew you'd make the right choice." The dragon answered, entering through the gate along with a smoke cloud. Adramelech followed soon after them, hoping that he wouldn't come to regret that decision.