Angel Monarch

The explosions sent vibrations far across the seawater. It took a few seconds, but soon the first of many giant sea monsters crashed through the surface, near The Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Enormous waves danced along the ocean's surface as a few hundred meter long monster tried swallowing the four horsemen whole. However, before the monster caught up, the horseman wearing a filthy white robe leaned back with unnatural, disgusting flexibility.

She held a bow made of white wood and nocked a nasty arrow, covered in every disease imaginable. Her pupilless eyes stared behind motionless as her weak-looking arms pulled back the bowstring.

Pestilence released the string, and the disgusting arrow shot towards the monster with unnatural acceleration. The beast had no chance of dodging the projectile.

It hit the creature on its forehead... or the place that looked like a forehead...

The arrow didn't penetrate deeply, yet its effects became noticeable immediately.

Enormous blisters and festering wounds appeared all over the monster's body. It shrieked in pain as blood flowed from all of its orifices.

The monster's moves slowed as blood, feces and other disgusting materials mixed within the water. Eventually, it stopped moving as its body died. It kept floating atop the water, yet no other monster approached the free food.

A shiver went down both women's spines as they watched a similar scene unfold multiple times. The horsemen known as Pestilence kept loosing arrows at any approaching sea monster.

A long, bloody line marked their journey across the Pacific as dead or dying corpses floated on the ocean's surface.

However, after traveling a tenth of the journey—about a thousand kilometers—finally a more powerful sea monster showed up.

The beast stretched for a few dozen kilometers and looked similar to a giant serpent. Its dark form stretched farther than the horizon, as its enormous head rose from the depths.

Its few hundred meter wide head moved up from the ocean. Unfortunately, it appeared before Sera's group, and rose just high enough to see eye-to-eye.

The giant snake's yellow serpentine eyes carried immense authority and an inherent need for destruction. Just from gazing into them, Sera's mind froze. Her entire body trembled as a single word echoed through her head... Jörmungandr... The World Serpent...

Sera didn't understand how she knew the name and title of this enormous beast. She never heard either, yet just from gazing into the beast's yellow eyes they popped into her head.

His piercing gaze moved from Sera as his enormous head turned towards the sky.

Loud sniffing noises echoed, and soon a loud, commanding voice reverberated through the Pacific Ocean.

"Yggdrasil?" he asked while continuing to sniff the air.

The giant serpent's head began moving again, getting closer to Alyrine and Bea. His enormous yellow eye stopped a few meters away, gazing at the World Tree's shivering form.

"Hmm... You aren't Yggdrasil!... A different World Tree?... This Realm already has one... We don't need you!"

His voice held pure horror within each word. They echoed inside everyone's skulls and reverberated through their bodies and souls.

With that, Jörmungandr's mouth opened as he prepared to swallow both Sera and Bea whole. However, when he moved his gaze away, Sera regained control of her body, and so did Kastral.

'Kastral! Grab them and full speed ahead!'

The hippogryph didn't say anything as his body burst into action. He flew forward and grabbed his mate and her rider. His claws closed in gently yet firmly, and in the next moment, he shot accelerated impossibly fast.

Not the Stellar horsemen nor the Ethereal World Serpent saw anything as Kastral's large body disappeared. Only a glowing golden line marked his path.

He didn't turn away from Jörmungandr's mouth. Instead, he flew straight into the abyssal darkness within.

Sera summoned an armor made of Angelic Metal around Kastral, so he wouldn't die from the upcoming impact. While they could never punch through an Ethereal's skin from the outside, the fleshy interior wasn't nearly as strong.

Kastral's fast-moving body hit the back of Jörmungandr's mouth, and a moment later, he appeared on the other side. A few meter wide bloody hole marked the path.

The gore quickly disappeared from Kastral's body as he continued speeding away. Sera glanced behind to see the World Serpent raise his head and scream at the top of his lungs.

His voice felt like getting hit with a giant hammer, yet Kastral barely dipped as he continued flying straight towards North America.

Both Alyrine and Bea hung limp from Kastral's claws. It seemed that receiving Jörmungandr's undivided attention made them pass out from fear.

'Don't slow down, Kastral. We'll land someplace safe, but we need to leave the Pacific Ocean. I'm sure that giant serpent will continue chasing us until we reach land!'

Kastral glanced back once and nodded.

The world moved by in a flash. At the fight with the World Serpent, they were still nine thousand kilometers away from North America, yet Kastral made the journey in less than a minute.

He could've made it faster, but carrying another hippogryph slowed him significantly.

When the giant landmass appeared on the horizon, he slowed down and flew higher. Sera climbed to her feet and spread her own wings. She flew separately from Kastral and began scouting the shoreline for a safe landing point.

"Damn, I really wish Faith was here... She always made scouting so much easier!"

Sadly, asking for Faith's help wasn't an option. The explosion must've collapsed the caves, meaning the Arachnid evacuation would take much longer, and the Shadow's presence is irreplaceable.

It might've been a mistake to explode the vaporized Angelic Metal, but she needed to get everyone's attention. This way, the horsemen wouldn't get suspicious about the cave entrance.

Everything worked out in the end, but Sera still felt annoyed. It was such a bother to search for safety.

The great trees, which reached a few hundred meters in height on the eastern coast, now stood kilometers high, with trunks that stretched at least a hundred meters in width. Each branch could've been its own great tree!

The green leaves grew to similar sizes as houses, while the roots below probably connected into a giant network of great trees.

Strangely, the enormous trees blocked out the sunlight, bringing pitch black darkness inside the forest, yet the foliage wasn't dead... Somehow everything seemed to thrive, as if some unnatural force kept it alive!

Sera flew closer to the ground when a loud roar echoed from inside the forest. The ground and trees shook as something heavy and gigantic moved towards the shoreline.

She didn't wait to see what beast smelled her out. Instead, she flew back into the sky, and ventured further north.

For the next half hour, Sera kept trying to land, only to get greeted by a monstrosity. Eventually, though, she found a nice giant branch without any monsters close by. Kastral and Sera settled there.

Sera went and checked on both Bea and Alyrine. They were both knocked out, but suffered no permanent injuries. The only genuine issue was Bea's smell... It seemed she soiled herself from sheer terror.

Her red dress smelled horrible, and her legs were quite dirty too.

She didn't want Bea to awaken covered in her own bodily fluids, so she decided to clean her. She had no ulterior motives behind this decision other than being kind to a close friend... It was actually insulting to think otherwise!

Sera flew down to the shore and brought up two giant buckets full of seawater. She made the buckets from Angelic Metal... An incredibly precious material...

"My Angel ancestors must be rolling in their graves. Out of everything, I use their precious metal to create buckets!"

The Angel laughed hysterically, and even Kastral couldn't help chuckling a bit.

The large hippogryph stayed close to his mate, his piercing eyes in constant search for any danger. However, every few seconds she glanced down at Alyrine with worry.

Sera paid them no mind. She just kneeled beside Bea's unconscious body and tore off the soiled blood-red petal dress.

Her gaze moved up and down Bea's naked body respectfully. The initial assessment of her dirtiness wasn't right.

The heavy winds must've spread the disgusting liquid and feces over her entire body, excluding her face and shoulders. Her feet, thighs, waist, stomach, arms and her lower breast area all had dirty spots, waiting to be cleaned.

She carefully cleaned everything with seawater and her hands. Unlike what most would assume, she wasn't a pervert. Her hands didn't linger, and she worked fast and efficiently, like a true professional.

Sera did feel a bit lustful upon gazing at Bea's beauty, but doing anything while Bea was asleep filled her with disgust. She wasn't a rapist, and even groping someone unconscious was wrong in her opinion.

However, despite all her self-control, she couldn't help herself and gave a small peck on Bea's cheek. She moved away with a slight, joyful giggle, then touched Bea's hand with one finger.

Liquid Angelic Metal flowed over every bit of Bea's body, except her head. The metal slowly solidified and turned into an intricate piece of armor.

Once Bea wasn't lying naked anymore, Sera took a deep breath and sat down beside her. She placed the magnificent woman's head on her soft lap, and with gentle strokes, she patted her shiny brown hair.

After a few minutes, she glanced at Kastral and said, "We'll wait until nightfall, then we'll leave for Europe. If anybody attacks us while we wait for them to wake, then we'll retreat immediately!"

Kastral nodded, and after another few minutes, laid down beside his mate.