Angel Monarch

The Aegis System was active, which caused permanent changes around all the city-states.

At first, it was only New Athens. From the Temple of Eternal Flame, a giant line of energy shot up towards the sky.

The people around the city started to panic, but soon came an announcement, which called everyone down.

Now they watched in awe as the energy reached its apex, and spread in a circular direction. Slowly, a large dome of energy encased the entire city.

The energy barrier ended about a hundred meters from the city wall, but it didn't stop.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The energy burrowed into the ground, encasing the city not just from above, but from below.

A few seconds after the barrier was fully established, it became transparent and invisible. Out of curiosity, some soldiers shot at it, but the projectiles were stopped with ease.

But the changes didn't end there. Bran was still focusing on the energy of the Tree of Life. After entering the red glowing circle, it split into four ways. Each leading to a different city-state.

The way they transferred the energy was truly magnificent and even magical. After discovering how to open Realm Gates, Mary implemented her knowledge.

They opened four different Gates, each leading to a different Realm. Four more Gates were opened in the different city-states, connecting to the Gates in New Athens.

It would take a lot of energy to create human-sized Gates, but these were only as big as a couple molecules. They were perfect for transferring energy.

The same light show happened in all the different cities, and the barriers had been created...

The Aegis System was working!

...

Before that day, another big event happened.

On the western front, deep within the Pyrenees mountain range, the largest army of the United Front had amassed.

This army consisted of 6 Stellars, dozens of Transcended, thousands of Ascended, hundred thousand Evolved, and a few million regular troops, with military vehicles.

They were about to take the fight beyond the mountain range.

This information was, of course, easily leaked, and the Federal Alliance was ready on the other side.

Their infamous military mastermind, who just calls himself Napoleon, led the Untied Front army.

He was a Stellar, and the main leader of the United Front. He was born in New Paris, the largest city-state in Europe. From childhood, he loved military history, and when it came to this war, he named himself from his favorite military strategist.

The Federal Alliance was led by the Central Command. They consisted of 6 Stellars, including Amygdala.

There was only one battle before the news about the East reached everyone's ears.

The Central Command became enraged when they heard about the uprising. In a single day, they lost Rome, Antalya, Sofira, New Constantinople and New Athens.

The worst part was that they couldn't do anything. This fight on the West needed all of their assets. They couldn't send them away to get the cities back under control.

They knew very well that Napoleon had loads of spies in the Federal Alliance. The Central Command was certain that if they sent even one powerful asset away, then the United Front would attack.

With their hands tied, they decided to focus on the West, then after they pushed back the attacks, they will visit the city-states that have risen against them.

...

Back in New Athens, they weren't waiting for the Federal Alliance to make the first move.

Currently, the people were divided. They wanted to get their leader back, and so the planning had begun. They needed the soul of the army to be back behind the Aegis barrier, in safety.

By their knowledge, Sera was still on the Island of Malta, inside Harold's research facility.

Sadly, they couldn't get conformation since the whole island was a dark zone. No matter what kind of signal it was, it wouldn't move beyond some point.

Even Kastral's mental connection was stopped, and so they were planning blind.

The operations center was full of people. Some Sera's past friends, some Sera's new. Some didn't even like Sera, but felt obligated to help. Some loved her from the bottom of their hearts and would've sacrificed everything to save her.

Even the people from New Constantinople were brought here by Vicky for this planning session.

There were close to thirty people inside the room, which even made this enormous space feel small.

At the front stood Bea and Melinda. They were leading the conversation, with mostly Damien and David chiming in. Bran couldn't attend this meeting, even though he really wanted to.

After spending hours focusing energy, he was exhausted. He had to be carried away after he eventually collapsed from the overload.

He also couldn't leave for the rescue operation, but not because of his exhaustion. Out of everyone, only he can recharge the Aegis System, which meant his presence was more valuable in New Athens.

Again, he tried to argue, but even he knew they were right.

In the past week, they had talked a lot about this exact operation, but there was still a lot that most people in the room didn't know.

"...I still think we should just teleport in, grab Sera and teleport out. Damien and Cassandra can hold up Harold, and we can fight whatever he throws at us!" said David, for the hundredth time.

The plan was by far the safest, but with how many unknowns there were, it was quite lacking.

"This is probably our only chance to rescue Sera, and we won't going to fuck it up because of lacking intel! We have to make a foolproof plan, or we don't make a move at all!" said Bea, maybe a bit louder than she was supposed to.

David grimaced and was about to object, but Melinda raised her hand, which shut him up. She was reading something on her watch with a serious expression.

With her hand raised, everyone stayed silent and waited for what she would say next.

Her eyes moved along the lines, widening, and the more she read, the paler her face gotten. After a few minutes, she sighed and looked at everyone in the room.

"I just got an urgent message from Bran. There was something he and Sera had discovered previously, but he forgot to tell anyone up until now..."

The people awaited what this new important information was, but Melinda instead turned toward Damien, and in a serious voice, asked... "What are Harold's abilities?"

He was taken aback by this question. Out of everyone here, he knew the Harold the longest, since he hunted him for more than two decades, but even he didn't know the full extent of his power.

"Well... He can teleport. He can summon creatures out of thin air. He can use illusions. He can manipulate memories. He can transmute objects, and maybe even living beings. And he can create objects out of nothing... That's as many as I know of."

A few people were surprised, others just waited where the conversation was going. Melinda was about to continue, but Cass had to chime in.

"How can one person have so many different abilities? You listed half a dozen, and these are just the ones you know about!"

She was a Transcended too, same as Damien and Harold. Her abilities weren't nearly as numerous as Harold's, and the same went for Damien.

This question caused a bit of murmuring in the room, but when Melinda began to explain, everyone's attention landed on her.

"That's the issue. These powers might seem different, but they all relate back to a single ability. It took Sera a long time to finally realize how Harold's power worked, and she only shared it with Bran..."

She took a deep breath and glanced at the message again, just to make sure she was understanding it.

"He can manipulate reality to some extent!" she said, causing everyone to stare at her with confusion, but before anyone could've asked something, she continued.

"He can't teleport. He connects to points in space, then takes a step. He also doesn't summon creatures, but does the same thing with them. He can also change a person's reality, so they believe the exact scenario he planted in their mind..."

"He can make illusions by changing the nearby light's property. He can change the state an object is in, and its atomic structure, which transmutes said object. And he can do the same with air molecules, so he creates objects out of thin air!"

The more she spoke, the wider everyone's eyes got, and by the time she finished, everyone was staring at her in shock.

Everyone of them thought Harold was really powerful, since he had so many abilities, but as it turns out, he was just extremely versatile. This didn't necessary made their job easier, but with this knowledge they would have a chance fighting him.

Not long after, the planning process continued and ended.

It was already night by that point, so everyone went on their way to take some time off before the main event tomorrow...