Angel of Doom

XXX

On an island far away from the three continents, in a place only a chosen hundred knew of, an Angel landed.

The island was a lush one, jungles filled with green tree's and vines lining mountainous terrain, alongside the occasional lagoon and grassy plain. It was a beautiful place.

One that was about to play witness to an intimate exchange.

There was a brief flash of light, and above a cliff overlucking a thick line of jungle, a winged figure appeared. Clad in silver armor from head to toe, long white wings behind her, she gently landed feet first on top of the cliff. Grass gently swayed as her wings flapped before folding behind her. She held a long ebony colored axe in hand, one with a blade point in it's end. Calmly, she planted it blade side first into the grass, left hand clutching a sheathed blade at her side and right hand holding onto the shaft of the axe. With it's long shape, and gleaming sharpness, the purpose of the weapon could be understood with a keen eye.

This axe wasn't for battle.

It was a tool of execution.

From her face she lifted a silver face plate with single blue eye jewel in it's center, dropping it to the ground and exposing a gentle, expressionless face as shoulder-length white hair spilled out from behind her head.

She calmly looked around the area, the sun setting while large scaly figures resembling naked birds flew in the above her, occasionally squawking at one another.

With that, her neutral expression morphed into something else entirely; a long smile grew on her face as she suddenly reared back, laughing and bracing herself on her axe.

Tilting her head, the angel spoke.

"It's a beautiful day for an execution. Truly, you are all lucky to experience this." Flashes of light appeared behind her as more figures appeared behind her.

Four more of them with extended white wings. They too wore silver armor, this time with full helmets that covered their heads instead of a single faceplate.

They all held swords respectfully sheathed at their sides.

Valkyries. The subjugator class.

The same could not be said for the sorry state of the other group teleported in.

Chains of light were bound across their arms and legs, bags tied across their heads.

Some of them were in rags, others in faded, torn white clothing. There was five of them in total. Red marks and dirty stains on their exposed skin left clear signs of long captivity.

Smirking, the axe-angel walked over to one of them. With a grin, she snatched a bag off the first small figures head.

With a gasp, the young angel fell forwards, coughing as the bag was pulled from her head. She shook herself, brown hair swishing from side to side as if she was a dog trying to wash some foul sent off.

Armored gauntlet creaking, the axe-Angel grinned and tossed the bag to the ground.

"So.." She spoke, surveying the other angels. "You runts must be the fallen angels Illias told me to take care of, eh?" Chuckling lightly she looked down at the young angel, whom was still restrained. The other hooded and restrained fallen shook in their chains, terrified, as the one in front of her blinked blue eyes and defiantly looked right at her. "What Illias did was wrong! Remina was a peaceful place, so what if monsters and humans were living together, they weren't hurting-"

Rolling her eyes, the angel casually kicked the fallen angel to the side. She fell with a groan, spitting up light colored fluid.

"Heh." The lead angel said. Tilting her head, she grabbed the young fallen's face and looked right at her. "Stupid kid. You're Ninth Order. Scholar levels right? You girls don't look half a century hold, maybe even less. Heh. Probably explains the juvenile attitudes. And how you were snooping around the Remina containment zone against regulations, too. If you and your friends had just left, you might have lasted a little longer. But you just had to go an call the Big Boss a monster to her face. Now you are here with your power and fate sealed. Kids today are so annoying." She tsked, shaking her head unhappily. Then the older angels grin seemed to grow once more after briefly settling into a frown.

"I'll have you know you aren't the first to rebel. I'm sure you heard of either that redheaded lunatic or the Daystar. Filthy traitors, both of them. But at least you and the other Fallen will get to suffer, just like the other groups have."

A muffled "EH?!" was heard from the other captives. The young child sized angel in front of her blinked, eyes wide in shock. "Others?"

"Yessss," the sadistic Valkyrie hissed out. "Some other angels, young and old, have indeed rebelled against our Mother. Some for power, others for the same petty moral reasons as the Daystar. That's where I come in. " Grinning, she walked back to the axe.

"I was specially handcrafted to be different from the other Valkyries. I'm no warrior. I am-" She pulled the axe from the dirt.

"The Executioner."

Grinning widely, she approached the young fallen angel, who was now desperately struggling backwards, a look of panic on her face.

With ease, the Executioner planted her foot on top of her. "Whenever there is a traitor in Heaven, I put them down hard. I'm allowed to do it wherever and however I wish. Her loyal servants do the job of cleaning the rest up." She then pointed the axe at herself. "When she forged me from light, she made sure that I would be something meant for the job. An appreciation of blade work and a creative streak. A lack of remorse. All was planted into my thoughts. It's made me a bit of an outcast due to my profession, but I don't really care. After all, I'm perfectly content with my work, unlike you. So I have no reason to think...independently."

"After all, that invites treachery. Now for the next part." Grinning, she pulled her captive along by her hair, the girl yelping as she was dragged to the edge of the cliff.

"See?" She crooned at the tree line below them. "A long time ago, when Mother first came to this world, the main things populating the surface were these big reptilian things. They were savage animals, unable to be communicated with. So she released her power and burned the world. However..." She giggled. "Life found a way."

The jungle came alive. Under the glare of the sun, scaly shapes moved from out of the tree line. They came in, hissing and growling.

A large lizard with a frill around it's neck.

A large two-legged beast with big, boxy head and a fierce fanged maw that contrasted with it's comically small two-fingered arms.

A pack of feathered creatures, ones the size of humans with sickle-shaped toes.

More and more of them emerged from the woods, varied in shape and size but with an identical, feral hunger in their eyes.

The Executioner grinned and spread her arms, her voice getting louder like some madwoman. "Some of them survived her purge, washing out from sea on these far out islands away from her sight. "

"Like I said, life finds away. Here on these islands, they've evolved over generations into forms faster and stronger then their ancestors. When a cursory glance from Illias found this far off paradise, she saw no reason to destroy it. After all, what threat were a bunch of animals to her? But I see differently. They are without remorse-" One big reptile opened a fanged maw, hissing out a steaming breath as it's teeth gleamed "And with beautiful blades as a part of their very nature. Yessss-"
She crooned, patting her captives back. "They are exactly like me. Perhaps this is why I've used this island as a staging ground for my executions. I have a feeling that if I died and reincarnated as one the creatures on this island, I would be just as content as content as I am now. But it's not just the sights I like here."

From her side, she held her sheathed blade as she pulled the young fallen angel up by her head.

"I would toss the bodies of the traitors I beheaded over this cliff when I started coming here. The locals would come for the free meal sometimes. Now, they always gather expectanly when I fly over because they know they will get a treat. Heh, maybe it's something in our blood. Something that acts like a narcotic to them. Probably explains why so many gather. Sometime for fun, I'd toss one of you traitors in still alive just to watch the quick little chase before the feeding frenzy. Great night entertainment, eh?" She laughed, looking at the other Valkyries.

Aside from the nearest armored angel tightening a gloved fist, they reacted with indifferent professionalism.

Rolling her eyes, she gently pressed the side of her axe to the young angels face, making her whimper. The Executioner continued talking.

"Now for an additional history lesson.." Raising the axe wide, sun gleaming off of it, she laughed and brought it down.

Impacting into a mound of dirt right next to the young scholar, the girl blinking in surprise to find her head still attached to her body. Grinning like her face was about to split, the Executioner pulled the blade from her sheath.

It gleamed in the lowering sunlight, vein-like blue inscriptions glowing on it.

"A long time ago, the Arch-Traitor forged a weapon for the Tyrantslayer. A weapon that could kill or seal as the user saw fit. But he turned against us, and before he was ripped to pieces by his own bloodlust, the sheer amount of angels he killed tainted the weapon, rending it a misshapen, lumpy thing covered in agonized imitations of it's victims. The terrible blade itself was taken away by the First of the Fallen before it could be destroyed, one she used with devastating effect during her escape from Heaven and self-exile. It's current location is unknown. But whose to say-"

Her manic expression reflected of the sword. "-That it was the only one of it's kind?"

The young angel's eyes widened as the realization came to her. "Yes indeed young lady. This sword in my hands is the exact same kind as the one the Tyrantslayer and the First of the Fallen used. A Blade that can kill or seal, forged in the Heaven's themselves. Do you really think that Illias would just make one single blade? No!"

"An Angel can only be killed by another angel. While my axe is made of the same material, I have to admit that it is nowhere as near as intimate as this blade of mine. I myself am one of the very few chosen by Mother to wield one of these powerful sealing blades, and I wield it well. Want to know what's going to happen?"

"Please, Don-"

Laughter bloomed above the valley, a few scaly flyers actually looking down at the convulsing Executioner as she grabbed the young angel by the throat, lifting her up. She finally composed herself and calmly spoke more.

"I've grown very experienced with this blade. I've found that if I strike with just the right amount of force, I can render my victim mortal!"

Gleaming, she pressed her face nose to nose with her wide eyed young charge.

"Vulnerable to the forces of the natural world. You will essentially become as fragile and killable as any human. Then, I will toss you to the animals. It will be a frenzy."

"It will hurt, and I'm going to enjoy every moment of your screams. And then, I'm going to do the same to your friends, just like I did to the last group that tried to rebel."

"And they are going to have to watch it happen before their turn comes up."

Pulling her face away, her smile seemed to grow even toothier. One hand around her neck, she forced the young fallen to the ground. She turned her around so that her back was facing her. Feeling her victims rapid heartbeat and panicked breathing, she smiled and slowly drew her sword back, aiming to the side of her chest.

There was no greater thrill for her, and with a huge grin she reared up and prepared to bring the blade down.

Mother...is this what it is like to be a Goddess?

"You will never know."

A soft voice, and then a sudden coldness in her back.

The Executioner gasped in sudden pain, her sword dropping from her gauntlet bound hands into the jungle below. "What-"

She looked down at the gleaming blade now protruding from her chest.

Shaking, silvery fluid my own blood?! dripping down her mouth as she craned her neck, an expression of utter shock on her face.

The nearest Valkyrie, armor gleaming stood in front of her, blade on the handle where she had shoved a sword right through the Executioners body.

The young angel on the ground turned around and sat up, leaning on a nearby rock, her eyes just as wide as everyone elses. Shaking, the Executioner fell to her knees in utter horror and pain, before looking up at the Valkyrie-

The armored angel dragged the blade down, further carving a trench through her chest. Silver blood poured out, and with one last choked whimper, she slid from the blade off of the cliff.

Time slowed from her perspective, utter shock numbing the pain as she fell, the steel covered gaze of the Valkyrie watching her all the way down.

With a thud, she hit the bottom.

Coughing through blurred eyes, she heard the sound of scaly feet all around her.

Two burning reptilian eyes stared right at her, two horns on the side of a red head.

A Juvenile. She thought almost dispassionately.

Then a squeal, right before two sets of sharp white teeth dashed into her view.

Just as she predicted, it was a total feeding frenzy.

XXX

The other three Valkyries looked on in shock at their sisters sudden betrayal, the traitor casually flicking the blood off her sealing blade. With a flash of movement, she cut at the sealing chains on the young fallen angel. Immediately, a pair of head sized wings bloomed from her back as she gasped for air. She looked up to the Valkyrie, eyes wide. "Thank you-"

"Not out of the woods yet, kid." She said, before turning to the other three. Immediately, they drew their swords and held them to the necks of the other restrained fallen, pulling the bag/hoods from their heads, revealing them all to be as young as their leader. "Take one more step and we'll destroy them-"

The betraying Valkyrie calmly reached up to her helmet, and with a simple tug, she pulled it off.

Metal clanked on the dust.

Shoulder length blonde hair spilled out to the side, the gentle expression on her face utterly contrasting with the ice cold intent in her blue eyes.

The young fallen gaped in surprise. "You're Lu-"

"LUFCIFINA THE ARCH-TRAITOR!" One of the Valkryies yelled, horror and anger in her voice. Captives forgotten, they all took to the air and rushed forwards, wings and swords blazing. "Kill her before she kills us-"

The Blade of Judegment comes for all.

Flash Kill

There is another sound of falling metal as the three charging angels break in half simultaneously onto the ground below, then nothing as they burn into dust, Lucfiina's blade blazing with fire in that brief moment.

Immediately, she hoisted the young fallen to her feet before walking towards the other four. Immediately, there were questions. "How did you-" one young angel with her green hair in braids says before getting an answer. "Through careful power dampening techniques, careful observation of a Valkyrie known for keeping her armor on for long periods of time, and with a whole lot of making things up as I went along."

Lucifina casually said this as if she weren't the first Fallen Angel, as if she hadn't snuck back into Heaven unnoticed, as if she hadn't just sliced three elites of the elite in half. With a flourish, she cut the chains on the young fallen. "Get up. If you have any more questions, you can ask the one who sent me here when I take you five to safety."

As they got up, there was the slightest of shifts in the air.

Eyes, narrowing, Lucifina immediately drew her blade just as a black tendril the size of an arm burst from the mud under her.

With a clang like that of a sword hitting a wall, she knocked it back with all she had.

The black tendril drew back, shifting under the dirt and mud.

Then, a groan. Several meters away, a dark figure burst from the ground, scattering dirt around her.

Three tendrils moved and sifted on the left and right of a body, pulling their owner out. Her body hoisted itself into the air, black tendrils acting as hooks as they extended.

Underneath a dark, long head of thick, messy hair that reached to the ground, a single red eye balefully regarded Lucifina, whom stood with her sword raised, young fallen behind her. The entity in front of her wore no clothes, her skin covered in certain places by the long dark hair. She snarled, her dark appearance utterly contrasting with the glowing white wings flapping on her back.

Lucifina's eyes narrowed.

"Zeruel."

"Lucifina." The entity droned out.

Then, it charged forwards, tendrils slamming forwards as two red eyes furiously gleamed-

Lucfina moved forwards-

and slid between Zeruel's legs. Without hesitation, she pivoted and leapt to the side, swinging her blade-

Zeruel drew back, hissing as one of her tendrils separated from her side in a burst of fire, the limb twitching before going still.

Lucifina got to her feet, blade in both hands. "I see you've gone through some...changes since the last time we fought. You may be the Angel of Might-"

Zeruel roared and charged once more, swinging her remaining tentacles in a flurry blindingly at Lucifina.

Like a blur, she moved and dodged between each strike, narrowly avoiding her tendrils as small craters burst into the ground around them.

I have to finish this quick.

Lucifina grinned slyly. "-But you're a thousand years to late if you hope to match me."

Zeruel screamed, her mouth seeming to fill with fangs as golden energy crackled into her five remaining tendrils.

She leaped forwards at Lucifina, tendrils sparking as she brought them all down onto her-

A dazzling star rises from hell.

An explosion of blue light sent Zeruel flying backwards with a guttural scream, blue fire lining her form as the part off the cliff she was standing on ceased to exist.

With a roar, Zeruel plummeted down into the frenzy below.

While they didn't have a big need for air, the young fallen around Lucifina were still gasping as they walked towards her. "Holy-"

"This-"

"You really are-"

"You saved-"

"Who sent-"

Lucifina was quick to reply; "Stay by me if you want to escape."

Nodding rapidly, they got around her like chicks to a Hen.

Lucifina took a moment to sigh, ready to teleport-

"Angel!"

Eyes opening, she beheld a sight below the destroyed cliff.

The Executions Axe lay impaled into the head of a large small-armed carnivore, Zeruel's hands firmly around it's handle. One remaining tendril lay attached to her, and a sickle-toed beast was shrieking as it was swung around by said tendril. Other reptiles, big and small surrounded Zeruel.

They were roaring up a storm, but otherwise they did not attack, waiting for Zeruel to drop her guard.

The bloodstained angel hatefully glared up at Lucifina, ash on her body and charred redness on one side of her face.

Lucifina dispassionately matched her gaze before grinning coldy.

"Till we meet again."

Zeruel pulled the axe out of her dead foes head, pink and red matter dripping from it.

She snarled, then made as if to throw it.

"LUCIFINA!"

She threw it with all of her hate, the blade soaring.

With a flash of light, all six fallen angels vanished moments before impact.

As the massive reptiles finally charged, Zeruel raised her fists and screamed with every fiber of her being

XXX

The moon was bright in the sky when they successfully teleported across the world.

In a flash of light, Lucifina managed to land legs first on the ground with ease, the five fallen angels tumbling forwards somewhat clumsily. Ahead, they could see torchlight and the a few large wooden structures.

"This is the safe place.'' Lucifina said, pointing ahead. "Follow me."

Dishelved but relieved, they nodded and walked forward, Lucfina's blade glimmering in the moonlight.

"Welcome to Enrika."

The young fallen looked up with a start as an older looking woman wearing a green outfit and matching silk gloves calmly walked out from behind a tree.

"I got a new batch of Fallen, Micaela." Lucifina quickly responded, seeing the awkwardness unfolding. One of the fallen, the brown haired angel who was nearly the first to die looked back and forth between them, rapidly. "Micaela the Seraph? Sister of Lucifina? But we were told that you were on a distant mission-"

"Illias says a lot of things." Micaela calmly responded, smiling slightly. "Anything that could make her look bad or encourage more defections from her angels is not something on her agenda." Nodding slightly, stunned, another young fallen, this one with short blue hair and matching eyes looked around the village as they slowly approached, seeing elven guards walking the premises. "So, this is where the other fallen are hiding? Those who weren't caught like us?" Micaela nodded. "Indeed. Not just angels, but monsters and humans who wish to live in peace come here to avoid Illias. Lucifina sometimes helps those wishing to get here." Both sisters have one another a look before Micaela turned to the fallen. She pointed to a large lodge. "There are other fallen angels in there. Talk to them when you get there, they'll know what to do with any injuries you have. I'll answer any questions you have, about what happened today and what will happen from now on once I'm finished with my...current business." She spoke, looking to Lucifina all the while. With some hasty nods, the fallen five began moving down a moist dirt path to the lodge as fast as they could.

Crickets chirping, both sisters looked at one another for awhile before Micaela leaned on a tree near Lucifina, who leaned on the same tree, her stolen Valkyrie armor still gleaming.

"I saw Zeruel again." Lucifina spoke casually, breaking the silence.

Her sister nodded. "Was she any different?"

"She had six bladed tendrils and tried to eat me. Most likely explanation is that she had herself experimented on by the one calling herself Promestein."

Micaela looked down. "That could set a precedent. The young generation tends to look to the old. We may see other angels willingly undergoing or trying to imitate the same process as Zeruel."

Lucifina spoke up again. "She was far faster then the last time I fought her, back when I first went left Heaven. I severed almost all of her tendrils this time, and I left her bleeding on an island surrounded by those ancient carnivorous reptiles."

"She was still putting up a hell of a fight right before I left her there."

Micaela silently digested this before responding. "If you didn't see her die with your own two eyes, she's bound to show up again."

Lucifina sighed and shook her head. "It's a risk I'm willing to accept. Now that I've saved this batch, I'll find another thing to occupy myself until you need my help again."

With that, Lucifina leaned off the tree and began to walk away again. There was more to her leaving Enrika for the night.

Having two Seraph class angels, even in an area as well warded and hidden as Enrika, was too much of a risk. They could not chance out Illias or her allies sensing out their location based on the power of two of them in the same location for a long amount of time.

She began to walk away, a stoic expression on her face.

One that morphed into surprise, blue eyes widening as she felt Micaela's gloves hands wrapped around her waist from behind, her sisters face pressing against her back. "You did a good thing today, Lucifina." Micaela softly said. "You saved the lives of those young angels and stopped Illias from taking those lives in the first place. Never forget the good you've done."

Lucifina opened her mouth as if to speak, then shut it before smiling.

"Thank you, big sister." She gently replied, holding Micaela's hands from where they were around her waist.

They both stood like that for a while.

XXX

Lucifina didn't really know the name of this Sentoran tavern, nor did she really care.

All that she knew was that after last night, it wouldn't hurt for a celebratory drink, the fact it was morning be damned.

With her experienced form and a set of silver and blue Sabasan armor, it was easy enough to pass herself off as an adventurer.

Strolling in to the old wooden place, she casually propped herself down at a nearby table and gestured to the bartender, a middle aged bald man in an apron.

"Give me a full bottle of the strongest stuff you have." She said, not bothering to see his reaction before leaning down, face on her folded arms. I could use a quick nap...

She was interrupted by a surprisingly loud commotion. Blearily blinking, she lifted for face from her arms and turned to what seemed to be a small group of arguing young adventurers nearby one table down from hers. They seemed to have laid out a map and were pointing at it.

"Listen Laz, I'm telling you that the Goblin nest in Clef's Cave is the the closest and thus first-" A young man wearing a set of robes said before being interrupted by a women wearing an outfit emblazoned in crosses she recognized as that of a Healer's outfit down south. "The people in Gulchtown are sick with the new plague. These people need our help now. This isn't like some monster just waiting around for us to find-"

A man with shoulder length black hair got between them both, his hands up. "Look, I say we deal with the Dragon at Ironhide Pass first. Better to get what will be the hardest of these sidequests out of the way first before we do the others-" As the group seemed about to descend into more argument, Lucifina sighed and prepared to turn away. "Not my problem"-

"Everyone calm down please!"

Her eyes widened at the sight of the purple-haired man wearing simple shirt and a red cape whom got between all three parties. "Heinrich?!"

"We have over three possible quests to take. How about this: Karen, you and Merlin can take the Gulchtown mission. Both of you have the knowledge needed to deal with that kind of stuff. Lazarus and I have the short swords and close melee skill that would be best in close quarters; we'll deal with the goblins. After that, we can all join up again and deal with the Dragon, okay?'' His nervous speech contrasting with his stance and calm expression. Perhaps he was the lader of this band. The man with the black hair nodded and stroked a small beard on his face. ''It sounds good to me, Marcellus." The healer and the robed man turned to one another then back to the newly identified Marcellus. The woman was the first to speak. "Alright, this plan of yours seems solid. But I think we should discuss it more in-depth back at the Inn-"

The man called Merlin interrupted with "Why do I have to go with her? I could use some combat experience, and I know a few light spells that could help with the cave!"

Marcellus turned to him and replied. "Let's not make a scene here. I'd say that Karen is right, we should go back to the Inn." At the mention of her name, the young woman blushed, and Lucifina rolled her eyes at the complete lack of reaction from Marcellus.

Okay, so he's not Heinrich. But he definitely has a few similarities.

Lazarus sighed "Why are we doing this again?" he gruffly replied, before folding up the map as he began to walk to the entrance of the tavern, seemingly intent on heading back to the Inn.

Marcellus followed, with Karen and Merlin following him. "Isn't it obvious!" He shouted, throwing his arms up into the air. "We need quest experience in order to get strong enough to defeat the Monster Lord-"

Chuckling softly to herself, Lucifina grabbed her ordered drink and casually took a sip as she leaned back on a chair, putting her legs over the table, politeness be damned.

That group thinks doing some "sidequests" is going to make them strong enough to beat the big bad Monster Lord. With an overly naïve attitude like that-

She softly shook her head, grimacing inwardly.

Someone in that group is gonna get themselves killed someday, mark my words.

Pausing from a long swig, she frowned. Then again, it worked for Heinrich.

Smiling slightly, she tilted her head backwards and began the process of rapidly emptying the tankard.

Perhaps one day, Marcellus and his crew will tell their kids about the time they fought a Monster Lord, if their born in the first place.

Especially the leader. With a personality and looks like that, that man's bound to end with a few brats.

With a content sight, she slamned her tankard down onto the edge of the table.

Who knows what the future will hold?

-END

XXX

A chapter from one of my other fics, I figure it can stand well enough on its own.

Lucifina deserves more love, damnit.