Lili walked into the rich green grass of the dense forest, her toga flowed with every movement she makes, her golden bow rests against her hand as she saunters deeper into the woods, she can feel her neck ache with movement, and she can hear her skin under her collarbone down to her upper abdomen.
The area surrounding her crumbled as she lurches in shock as she now stands before all angels, and at the center was no other than the Queen of all celestial beings, beside her was Lisa who looked confused, and Hyunjin who held a blank look as he stares down at her. The angels that sat around her looked baffled and confused.
She sees Lisa turn to Jessica with furrowed brows, "Your majesty, why is my twin here?"
The monarch didn't answer as she bore her anchor eyes at the Helios, until she had finally spoken up. "I'm sure all angels from their respective rankings are baffled, and I too, share the same reaction."
She stands up, making her twin stagger back as she steps in front for everyone to see, with a flick of a wrist, Lili's collar was yanked down to reveal dark tendrils providing from her skin, everyone lets out a gasp, including her sister who's eyes, faltered and panicked. "Lili!" She cried out, "What's the meaning of this!"
The monarch raised her hand to silence the seraphim, "It only can mean one thing, Lisa." She then turned to Lili, the other angels watch in stunned silence, "She has strayed far from her duties."
Her stance says it all...
"I, therefore, sentence the denunciation of the Helios Seraphim, " The crowd of angels gasped as Lisa shook in silent fury, "And the angel who will carry out her responsibilities will be Moonbyul, an angel who belonged to the rank of Powers."
"And as for you, " Jessica hummed, "You shall be exiled in the land of the forgotten Olympians by no other than the Seratian Seraphim, " She turned to Lisa, "We'll have it at dawn, you are all dismissed."
Lili looked at her sibling, and she could have sworn that she saw the rage and resentment that burned her once soft orbs.
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Irene's hands trembled as she held the ring, the twins stood with silent wrath as they see the ring reduced to a dark cloud of ash until it was nothing but dust. Jiah reached out to grasp her mother's shoulder, but froze midway and dropped her hand, "Is mom..." The raven-haired beauty trailed off as Jiwoo plants her feet, "No! Don't say that!"
She turns to the older demon, "She could still be alive, right?"
Irene clenched her jaw and stands up, the twins immediately surrounding her, "I can't answer that yet without knowing what attacked her."
She re-materializes the ring to find a green liquid dripping from the metal, "And by my guess, it might be a Lernaean Hydra."
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The darkness engulfs your resting body as you try to replenish your spent physique, the smell of fresh loam made it a bit comforting, and before you knew it, you inhaled and accidentally swallowed the water, making you gasp and cough as your body jolts and gets up from the marsh soil, you cough up until your lungs felt like burning. You hear water sloshing back and forth, making you furrow your brows as you sit up and crane your neck to examine your surroundings. Confusion and fear sporadically shoot through your body as you are now in a different place, the never-ending body of water surrounds you, you look up to see the crimson sky glowering down while the moon remains its natural color, alabaster. With one hand, you stand up, your legs shaky as you try to gather your bearings. Your head then looks at the severed, torn arm that's still protected by a red-scaled tendril that coils around your bicep.
You turned around, the water sloshing as you walk forward, and noticed a gothic castle in ruins, some pillars and debris floats in the air, even from a distance, you see vines growing out of the pillars, some just hanging from every nook and cranny. The red sky making it look ominous as you stalk towards it, the water now sloshed aggressively as the castle rumbled, you froze on the spot as you paint your feet hard against the soil, senses high on alert as you see the gothic architecture crumble to reveal a gargantuan black serpent, it's head thrown back as it releases a loud piercing snarl, you jolt back in shock as it locks its red beady eyes at your trembling figure.
It bared its jaw before charging directly at you with frightening speed, your heart stops as your blood ran cold. Your legs immediately moved before your brain could shout its instructions as you cursed inwardly, your body already felt strained and spent as you ran with all your might, your muscles burning, body feeling heavy as it was soaked. "FUCK!" You cursed out loud as you hear water splashing from behind, indicating that it's fast approaching.
Its tail circled and blocked all directions, fear and panic reeled in your body, your stomach dropping as it cages you with its body, you gulp down hard, body trembling as you slowly turn around to face the creature with hot tears rolling down your eyes, the gigantic serpent hissed softly before leaning down until you're able to see your terrified reflection from its beady red orbs.
"My, what a pleasant surprise," It mused as you staggered back, you let out a pained groan as you feel something pierce from your back and doubled over as red bloody tendrils escape the skin from your back and curled its red-scaled sharp apex directly at the creature before you as if threatening it. The tendril around your severed arm could itself tighter.
The serpent leaned a few feet away, yet still close enough to bite you in half as it made a show of its sharp teeth, voice cold and distorted, "Why are you here at the land of the damned?"
"Wh-what?" You stammered, making the serpent chuckle lightly as it circles your figure, but it kept its distance. "Are you a gift from the dead?"
The red-scaled tendrils relaxed and curled to your back, but remained there, as if on guard, "I-I'm not d-dead yet," You flinched as you said the words, feeling a shudder down your spine as its jaw opened once again and speaks, "If you're not dead, why are you here then?" Its eyes then looked at your tendrils, "And why do you have such abilities for a mortal who's injured?"
You opened your mouth to answer, but it huffed. "Never mind," It leans down, "Mortal affairs don't interest me."
"But you..." Its wide mouth twitched to a wide sinister grin, "I sense a modern demon's mana in you."
Modern demon?
"What do you mean 'modern demon'," You countered as you take a daring step closer, "And where am I?"
The creature before you looked intelligent, yet you watch your tone. "You're with me in the forgotten Olympus, the land of the old gods before e were trampled, vanquished, and left to rot."
Rot? Your eyes then scanned its body, there are some cracks in its scales, some were cracks and even showing raw flesh underneath. "Are you a god?" You ask, threading carefully, "You said something about modern demons."
"Ah finally," The serpent muses, "A human who knows the concept of celestial beings." It moves its body away from your figure, setting you free, but its presence remains threatening as your tendrils curled and point at it once more. "We once ruled the earth, my brothers and sisters were the gods of this realm, and humans worshipped us with passion."
"Do you know who I am, little one?" Red orbs bore into yours as you shake your head, the creature sighs. "My, she did eradicate anything there is to know about us,"
She?
"What are you talking about?"
"Jessica, ruler of the heavens." It lay on the water, making a huge splash as it trained its eyes on you. "Ah-and where are my manners, I'm Neosirth, the crimson demon." The serpent, Neosirth, then raises tall and proud as it locks with the red-scaled tendrils, "And those things that are attached to your back, are part of my abilities."
"Now Hwang Y/N, are you interested in having me as a guardian and source of power?"