Angel Monarch

Joan pointed her electric-blue longsword at Thor. Electricity danced along the blade and the similarly colored armor she wore.

A wide grin spread across Thor's face. He stood about two dozen meters away and raised Mjölnir, aimed at Joan.

Melinda simply covered behind her girlfriend. Her ability wouldn't affect Thor for a few more seconds, which gave him plenty of time to kill her and Joan. Right now, Melinda's ability was utterly useless, leaving Joan as her only defensive measure.

Electricity danced between the two people as their eyes met. They breathed in the potent smell of ozone as their weapons twitched, waiting for the inevitable clash.

"You know, it's been a few millennia since I fought against another Evolved who controls lightning. Last time I won against Seth and lost to Indra, while Zeus could easily beat us all... I wonder how powerful you'll be!"

Thor's excitement grew, and the lightning around his body began concentrating to his weapon. However, Joan didn't back down or look scared. She simply glanced at Melinda...

"Stand back, my love. This'll get messy!"

Melinda nodded, concern glinting in her blue-green eyes. She wanted to hug and give a good-luck kiss to Joan, but the electricity dancing around her body was too powerful.

She took a few steps back, and suddenly Joan's entire body exploded into powerful blue light. The whitish-blue hair on the unshaved side began floating, as the sound of heavy thunder filled the grand golden hall.

Her weapon glowed as giant tongues of electricity scorched the golden floor. Joan's electric blue eyes lost all their color as they became pure balls of lightning. Her usually dark-tan skin looked white from the powerful electricity shocking through her face.

Thor blinked in surprise, but soon a wide, delighted grin split his face. A booming laugh echoed from his lips as Mjölnir glowed even brighter.

"Don't disappoint me!" shouted the giant, as he released the condensed electricity in a continuous, powerful, dark blue beam, which could evaporate most people.

Joan's face looked deadly serious as a similar beam, albeit in light blue color, met Thor's.

The two beams met midair, sending a shockwave across the entire hall and part of the city. Mighty, hundred-meter-long lightning struck the ceiling and surrounding floors, creating a weird cage of pure, destructive electricity.

Melinda stood at the edge of the cage, watching the fight with worry from a safe distance.

The dark blue beam pushed Joan's back a few meters, but with an angry groan, she forced out more power. She restored the equilibrium, then pushed Thor's lightning back a few meters.

The giant's muscles strained as a loud roar echoed from his lips. His beam began overwhelming Joan's again, as the thunder-like roar mixed with the constant noise of lightning hitting metallic surfaces.

Sparks rained from above and rose from below as the golden ground and ceiling overheated. The Einherjer and Valkyries standing at the hall's edge, ran out quickly in screams of terror, while Melinda continued watching the battle in awe.

A hopeful expression appeared on her face every time Joan's beam made progress, while fear glinted in her eyes whenever her girlfriend lost ground.

This back-and-forth power display went on for an entire minute. Melinda tried sending waves of disease at Thor, but it seemed the layer of electricity dancing around his skin blocked her ability.

Their battle of attrition continued. They couldn't overpower each other, so their pool of essence served as the main denominator of this fight.

The glowing electric beams became more powerful with each passing moment, which meant their essence consumption also vastly increased.

Beads of sweat appeared on Joan's exhausted face, then evaporated a moment later. Thor clenched his teeth, his arm trembling from the amount of power he poured into Mjölnir.

Joan's hand also shook, so she held the longsword with both arms. The blade glowed as bright as the sun, and after a minute of constant stress, something unexpected happened.

Since neither Thor nor Joan was willing to stop the fighting, their weapons suffered the price. Tiny fractures appeared along Mjölnir's head, while a sudden deep fissure ran from point to hilt along Joan's blade.

They both knew who the fight would end if they continued. Their weapons would get destroyed, which gave a chance to win... It all depended on whose weapon would break first!

Their power output climbed higher, and the fractures deepened. The breaking point came closer for both weapons, and in the end...

Joan's sword exploded into shards of overloaded energy. Each one turned to dust as the enormous power contained within consumed the metallic shards.

She flew back as the giant shockwave of her weapon exploding shook the entire building. However, as Joan flew through the air barely conscious, Thor's beam continued moving towards her body undisturbed.

Melinda's eyes widened with pure horror, and she began sprinting towards her lover. Sadly, she was too far away, leaving Melinda useless yet again.

The beam pushed forward. Joan glanced towards her crying girlfriend with an apologetic smile. While she failed in beating Thor, Melinda lived, which was all that mattered to Joan.

Her electric blue eyes closed as the beam of energy met her body... That's when a blinding light exploded, causing both Thor and Melinda to glance away...

"Well, that was quite rude. Is this how you treat guests in the Northern Realms?" said a familiar female voice.

The Plague's teary eyes immediately snapped back towards Joan. Her entire body trembled with hope as she waited for the light to disperse.

"How are you?!" shouted Thor in outrage, while continuing to blast the blinding light with energy.

A light chuckle echoed around the grand hall, and a moment later the female voice spoke again...

"I'm your honored guest! And since you beat up and attacked my friends... I'm also your worst nightmare!"

With that, dozens of tall silvery metal poles appeared near the powerful beam, creating a zigzag pattern. They had larger spheres at their top, which bent the electricity's path.

From the beam, lines of electricity moved away towards the spheres. Its power decreased with each moment, and after a second, the beam fully dispersed before reaching the voice's owner.

Thor's eyes widened in shock as the blinding light disappeared, revealing a perfect being. Her body was covered in intricate golden armor. Three pairs of wings spread behind the woman's back, and between them, her long braided golden hair reached her waist.

Her fierce golden-green eyes met Thor's, displaying a comfortable and confident expression. A scar ran along her perfect pale face, creating a mysterious and dangerous aura around the Angel's body.

Melinda fell to her knees in relief as Sera stood confidently before Joan's unconscious form. James kneeled beside her girlfriend, administering aid, which was unnecessary, since Sera took the full force of the beam.

Through the relief, Melinda glanced over Sera's body. There was nothing unusual until she spotted something unusual on top of her head... A beautiful intertwining crown made of bright green vines, adorned with greenish-gold gemstones...

While staring at the crown, Melinda felt as if the object stared back...

"So you're the Last Angel. I must say it's pretty impressive you managed to teleport in here, given how many Runes protect Asgard and Valhalla!"

Sera snorted her laughter, but upon seeing the sincerity in Thor's expression, she began chuckling.

"Wait, you're serious?" she asked between laughs. "My daughter can tear the fabric between Realms! You seriously thought some puny Runes could stop her?... It took us a bit more than a minute, but cracking them wasn't difficult at all!"

The giant clenched his teeth and growled in annoyance. He didn't seem to enjoy Sera ridiculing his father's work.

He didn't shout in rage. There was no sign of his attack, which was so fast Melinda didn't even recognize it.

One moment he stood two dozen meters away from Sera, and in the next he appeared swinging Mjölnir at the Angel's head.

Her golden-green eyes focused on the giant's approaching weapon, yet she didn't try dodging... Instead, she simply grinned and let the hammer fall on her skull!

Melinda flinched, but from the corner of her eye she saw something unexpected. The hammer, which should've turned Sera's skull into red paste, didn't meet any resistance. It passed through Sera's head, chest, abdomen, until it finally exited near her waistline.

Thor's eyes widened in surprise. It was like the Angel's body turned into a liquid, so Mjölnir couldn't damage and kill her.

Even more shocking was the laughter echoing from behind Thor. He glanced around in confusion and saw Sera standing exactly where one of the pole was.

"You should give up, Mr. God of Thunder," she said mockingly. "You won't defeat me in your tired state. Hell, you could only defeat my friends because you caught them off guard and got lucky!"

He growled again and threw Mjölnir with all his power. Sera just chuckled mockingly, and just before the hammer could've connected with her head, she evaporated.

This time, Thor watched with his own eyes as another pole changed shape, turning into the Angel with her three pairs of wings and intricate golden armor.

Thor became even angrier as he tossed Mjölnir at the poles. Each time, they evaporated or liquefied before he could do any damage. Sera also made sure to laugh and embarrass him with each failure, further enraging the giant.

When all poles were destroyed, Thor took a deep breath and turned around. Throughout all his fury, he forgot about the original Sera, who happily stepped forward.

Just as his eyes landed on her, she twisted from the waist, and punched Thor in the face with so much power, he flew towards the hundred meter tall ceiling. He then broke a giant hole in its surface and went up multiple kilometers into the sky.

Sera knew that this punch wouldn't kill a Stellar, but he'll have a serious headache after waking up in a random mountain range!