Angel's Ascension: Strife (Book Ten)

Chapter 24: A Moment of Weakness

Den kept his eyes on the road while he drove over a bridge. "I'm sorry to hear that about your father and the others. That must be awful on a young girl such as yourself." He bit down on a cigar and tapped his knife on the steering wheel.

"Well, I'm nineteen but I feel much older with all this emotional baggage. That angel looks a lot like Lucy and she showed no mercy to them." Myriah hugged her knees and sighed.

"This other Lucy, what do they call her?" Bel asked. "I rather not get them mixed up if we run into the original one."

Myriah shrugged at them. "I think they call her Lucina. She uses dark fire and is insanely strong."

Est rocked back in her seat and huffed. "Yeah, sounds like a real pain from what you've said. I wouldn't want to run into her."

"So where are we heading to? The White House to inform the president about this whole thing?" Ira asked.

"Or we could always go after Lucina and take credit for such a huge target." Col chimed in with a grin.

The van soon slowed to a stop when Den pulled it over. "You really think that Col? I doubt we're strong or on the same level as her." He noticed dark storm clouds rolling in. Thunder rumbled in the distance with harsh wind and cold rain.

Ira glanced out the window. "Huh, why did we stop? Are we out of gas?"

"No, I noticed something about this storm. It's not normal like the others we've seen." Den parked the van and stepped out. "Korsto, get your weapons ready for combat." Smoke rose from his cigar before he tossed it on the ground. His ears picked up on rain droplets hitting his vehicle. Darkness covered the skies before silence followed.

"What? The storm just seems like a normal one to me." Est replied.

Bel retrieved her bow and arrows. "Now that you mention it, see those particles up there?" She pointed to the sky.

Col held his chainsaw up. "It's strange but the boss is right. We gotta prepare ourselves for whatever's coming out of the sky." He along with the others left the van and stood by Den.

"I hope my father is still alive despite seeing her fly off," Myriah whispered to herself. "Same goes for Vesper and those generals. They were brave regardless of the huge power difference between them." She soon inhaled and stumbled out of the van. Her eyes darted from side to side and she noticed how empty the roads were. A single sign stood off to the side as the wind rattled it. Litter scattered across the road and flew into the ditches.

"Gang, this may be way out of our league but Korsto doesn't give up. We'll fight this angel to our last breath." Den quickly spun the knife on his finger with a grin. "And we've been working on a secret weapon for this very moment."

The clouds split open as a figure descended from the sky. Lightning bolts struck the ground as they landed. Lucina stared up at them when the rain stopped. Her wings folded and she slowly approached them. She stomped on the puddles while her reflection emerged from one.

Myriah raised her voice. "That's her! The one who killed the generals just an hour ago." She bit her lip and stayed close to the van.

Col revved his chainsaw and held it close. "Well, she certainly looks a lot like Lucy so you weren't lying. Guess she was behind this freak thunderstorm, too."

"This is where you ran off to? Another group of meat shields I see." Lucina blinked at them. "Oh, I see now. These fools are connected to Lucy in some way." She splashed the water before stopping in front of them.

"And what if we do?" Ira asked. He held a staff in his hands and twirled it.

Est retrieved a set of chains and spun them. "Just back away and let us be on our merry little way."