Angel Monarch-Chapter 360: A New Enemy

Xinya, Chang and Tai walked down on a beautiful corridor. It's been a few hours since they arrived back home, and now they went to deliver the news of their failure.

They had to shower and change into clean clothes. It would've disrespectful to make a report without proper decorum.

Xinya changed out of her dirty light blue dress, and into a similarly cut pinkish-white one.

It was a dress style commonly used thousands of years ago, but lost its cultural significance over time. Now, after the Apocalypse, people in Asia began using it again, calling it hanfu dress.

The dress's structure was similar to a robe, but with longer skirt and sleeves. It hid most of Xinya's body, except her face and neck.

By the side, she carried her dao, ready to draw at a moment's notice.

Next to her walked Tai, or as Chang referred to him, cockroach man. He wore a hanfu too, but his was dark brown, matching his limbs' skin tone.

The insectoid man hadn't stopped analysing the information they gathered. Even though their primary mission became a failure, they still learned much.

As Xinya's mentor always said: 'Information and intel are the greatest power in war! Even one person can defeat the strongest armies with enough knowledge!'

Tai embraced that quote to heart, since other than thinking, he wasn't good at anything!

Then there was Chang. A human being so stupid a rock could provide a more meaningful conversation.

He wore his usual clothing. Leather pants, combined with a shirt, a leather vest, poncho, and boots, with strange metallic stars at its heels. He also wore his dumb-looking cowboy hat, even though they were indoors!

At his side, a pair of dark silver revolvers glinted under the corridor's artificial light.

Together they walked along the long corridor until eventually they reached a large double-door with two 'servants' on either side.

Everyone always referred to them as servants, even though both were Transcended. But when you work under dozens of Stellars, they will treat you as mere servants!

These twos job wasn't protecting their Masters. They simply stood outside, so nobody could bother them.

Xinya stopped in front of the door and waited until the servants opened it. Since all three of them got summoned, the servants didn't send them away.

They both pushed the heavy, intricately designed door, letting the three inside the gigantic chamber.

Upon opening, the double door revealed a circular room with tables lining the sides and a wide podium at its center. Behind the tables, the leaders of their nation sat, idly chatting with each other, not even acknowledging Xinya's presence.

She took a deep breath and led her friends toward the podium.

While all the tables swam in darkness, from above, a single line of bright light fell onto the podium.

The tables seemed to disappear when standing below the bright light. The eyes simply couldn't adjust to the change in brightness.

The conversations slowly began to die down as the double doors closed once more.

Xinya, hearing a chair scrape, knew a Master had risen from their seat within the shadows. Everyone went silent across the room.

The trio's breath caught in their throat as they awaited the questioning.

"Hmm… Your report says you retrieved neither the Prince, nor the Princess… You also didn't manage to kill any person with codenames… Why did you even bother to return, Orphan?"

Despite the old-sounding voice, Xinya knew each Stellar in this room appeared no older than thirty… Blessings of Evolution, the remedy to aging!

Even if you reach a hundred, as a Stellar, your aging either stops or slows down so much it doesn't matter anymore. Even as a Transcended like Xinya, she could live for centuries, maybe even millennia!

A frown twisted on Xinya's face as she heard the usual nickname, the Masters, referred to her as… Orphan, an obvious mockery of her past and familial background…

Even though she wanted to act out, it wouldn't achieve anything. Instead, she did the smart move, and knelt before the Masters, as subserviently as she could.

"This foolish servant is sorry for her mistakes and begs for forgiveness! I have failed my mission and will happily accept any punishment the Masters deem necessary!"

Behind her, Tai and Chang went to their knees too. All three bowed their heads before the Masters.

"An appropriate punishment, you say?… How about spending a few years in the Seclusion Chamber? Or maybe some torture as a lesson to avoid future disappointments!… Any objections?"

The last question obviously wasn't aimed at Xinya. While every Master stood above her in rank, they could veto each other's commands.

With the older voice's questions, the Masters murmured between each other, but nobody outright objected.

Xinya sighed in disappointment and fear. She tried hiding her shaking hands in the folds of her clothing.

The Seclusion Chamber was by far the worst torture she ever had to endure.

Years ago, an old Ethereal created the Chamber, where time doesn't exist. While inside, you can't age or die. Years spent inside equated to mere hours outside.

The torture part came through isolation and hunger. The Chamber looks like a plain room, with nothing to keep yourself entertained.

You feel hunger and thirst inside, but without any food or water, and basic immortality, you spend years suffering inside.

Most people go Mad before the first year's end, while others simply regress into a broken state.

Xinya was one of the lucky few who stayed sane and didn't turn into a monster upon leaving the Chamber.

She found solace in isolation, training as much as humanly possible. But it seemed the time spent with training blinded her improvement.

Without training with someone else, she believed her abilities went beyond anyone on her Rank.

This harsh failure proved just how much more she could learn. Even though she feared the Seclusion Chamber, she knew it could provide a great opportunity for improvement. freeweɓnøvel.com

Xinya took a deep breath, preparing to ask for the Seclusion Chamber as punishment, but just as she prepared to speak, the air became heavy.

Since Xinya worked with Stellars—either Masters or servants like herself—she already gotten used to the passive aura they emitted.

However, there was someone even the Masters feared.

Above the trio, a shadow moved through the hatch, through which the sunlight fell upon them. A lone raven gently flew down, landing near Xinya.

It instantly turned into a tall man. His presence alone brought terror to everyone's souls. A gentle smile graced the man's face as the room filled with the smell of blood.

He wore a large cloak made of dark raven feathers. Atop his head, a top hat hid his unruly, long, black hair.

While his lips smiled, his black, glowing eyes only held contempt. In his right eye, he wore a monocle, making his expression older and more terrifying.

The man took a deep breath and stepped forward. In his hand, a cane made of some blackwood made a loud bang as it touched the podium's floor. At its top, a crystalline raven skull made his cane even more elegant.

The man's appearance scared the shit out of the Masters, but Xinya only smiled brightly at her mentor.

"So you want to punish little Xinya for her first failure? Yet, you all ignore the fact that her mission would've been successful given enough resources! Why haven't any of you 'Masters' helped her capture the Princess?"

His voiced sounded like a melody in Xinya's ears. And when her mentor basically spat the word Masters, her heart fluttered.

Silence reined over the chamber for a few seconds before the previous spokesperson cleared his throat and tried talking in an even tone.

"We… We couldn't risk ourselves being seen! That would've caused a clear war between us and the Angelic Order!… Without the Princess, we would be at a severe disadvantage!"

The Master's words actually surprised Xinya. She never expected these old, useless fools could make an actually good argument.

Indeed, Plague, Half and a few others had already met with the Masters, so they would easily recognize them, sparking a war between continents.

The argument made sense, if the Angelic Order was as foolish as the Masters. However, they weren't stupid and could put the picture together fairly quick.

Her mentor knew this too, and when hearing the Master's excuses, his smile widened.

"You are correct! Without the Princess's portal opening, we can't move our army fast enough to rival the Angelic Order!… But don't fool yourself, thinking we are still at peace! Maybe you should listen to the news!"

Suddenly many holo-screen ignited around them, lighting up the Masters' faces. They all read different news articles, but the headlines were the same on each… 'The Angelic Order marches to war once more!'

Xinya really wanted to laugh upon seeing the Masters' expression change from contempt to annoyance.

"As you can see, the worst outcome already happened! The Princess and her group already figured out your identity! Luckily, for all of you, Xinya managed to gather valuable intel, which will give you a significant advantage in the upcoming war!"

While speaking, her mentor's eyes went glassy. This happened to him quite often, every time he personally watched something through his subordinates' eyes.

Out of nowhere, the tall, scary man burst into laughter.

"Oh, clever! You already figured that one out too! One point to the Prince!"

His voice sounded amused, and like always, nobody understood what he was saying.

Her mentor's eyes changed back, and he turned towards Xinya. He reached down with one glowed hand, which she took and let herself get lifted to her feet.

A gentle smile played on his lips while staring down at Xinya. She gazed into his dark, glowing eyes as a small blush crept onto her pale face.

"Anyway, I suggest making a formal declaration of war. You can write whatever you want as casus belli. Nobody will care either way!"

The tall man spoke while walking towards the exit, still holding Xinya's hand.

Without turning around, he raised his cane, pointing it towards Tai and Chang. The two reacted immediately, turning into ravens and flying towards the man's cloak.

When their feet touched the cloak, they suddenly turned into feathers hanging from the clothing.

He continued walking alongside Xinya, smelling the air every now and then.

"Can you smell this little Xinya? The smell of blood, of pain and suffering… Can you smell war's approach?… People thought the War of Three Alliances was bad… They have no idea what's heading their way!"

The man's smile widened as a joyous giggle escaped his lips.

Xinya just continued watching the man with glinting eyes. She always loved seeing her mentor this excited.

"A war between a few puny city-states… What a joke!… Let's see what happens when the full force of Europe and Antarctica fight against Asia!… I wonder what the outcome will be!"