Angel Monarch-Chapter 539: Failure to Beyond Perfection

The group took a few hours to recover, then eventually they moved back towards the Village. However, they didn’t teleport back there instantly. Instead, Vicky opened portals at hundred-kilometer intervals.

Bea made this suggestion, since she felt something strange within the great forest. She smelled death within the woods, and after finding the first corpses, it became clear...

"Fuck me... She killed them all..." said Bea, her voice full of astonishment.

Each time they teleported, a new massacre site appeared before the group’s eyes. It made Faith reminiscent of the times she watched Sera butcher monsters within the same forest... The memory made her smile...

"Yeah, it seems North America is safe once more. Also, we’ll need to figure out a way to feed the Village, since their primary source of food just got annihilated... That can wait though. They still have at least a year’s worth of reserves!"

While Sera spoke, Vicky opened one final portal, leading the group back into the Village. Luckily, Sabyr hid her tree, so no human got killed like the monsters.

Another celebration soon commenced as the group returned. However, this time it was a genuine party as the news of North America’s safety spread across the Village like wildfire.

Sera and Bea also attended the celebration. They needed to let off some steam after the emotional rollercoaster they suffered through.

The party lasted until dawn, when the group finally prepared to leave. They said their goodbyes, and then Vicky opened a portal right into the main lounge room of Sera’s mansion.

The room stood empty, since the sun had barely risen yet. Nearly the entire group used this opportunity to sneak into their room, and sleep for a few hours.

Eventually, only David and Cass remained inside the lounge room. At some point, Hestia prepared them some tea, which now they sipped slowly.

"How’re you doing, honey?" asked Cass after a few minute silence. Her free hand absently brushed against David’s bald head, while her concerned pink eyes stared into her lover’s purple serpentine ones.

David gently caught her hand and pressed his lips against her ring finger. He then smiled at her girlfriend and locked her fingers together with Cass’.

"Don’t worry about me, my love. My Evolution wasn’t bad, like Bea’s... Actually, I feel pretty amazing. As if I gained a new understanding of reality and the forces affecting our lives!"

Cass rolled her eyes with faked boredom, then without any warning she leaned in and gave a long kiss to her boyfriend. She then moved away and continued sipping her tea, as if nothing had happened.

"Do you think they’ll be alright?" asked Cass after another minute of silence.

Both David and his lover glanced towards the tall ceiling. As Stellars, their senses reached unrealistic proportions. They could easily feel Sera and Bea’s exact presence through the ceiling and multiple walls.

"I think so," answered David. "We’ve both seen how strong those women are firsthand. They’ve been through so much, yet their spirit never succumbed, and they kept on fighting... Let’s just hope this tournament will achieve the peace we all desire!"

A shiver ran down Cass’ spine, as if some unknown presence glanced at her. The feeling didn’t even last a moment though, which made her question whether it was hallucination or reality.

The hours went by, and when lunch arrived, everyone gathered in the dining hall. Everybody congratulated on Bea’s Evolution, but then Sera surprised everyone by revealing David’s new Rank.

"What?! You became a Stellar too?" shouted Lucy in outrage.

"Yeah. It was a lucky accident..." answered David in discomfort, which made Cass chuckle.

She knew how much her lover hated, when his plans fail. He hated even more when the failure turns into a success because of luck!

"What the fuck, man! I should’ve gone too! Then I might’ve also Evolved into a Stellar by now!" said Kim, while her snake-tail moved from one side to the other, mesmerisingly.

The group that went on the expedition glanced together, with wide grins and light chuckles. Kim looked at each in confusion and asked, "Why’re you laughing?"

Suddenly, Cass reached over the half-snake’s shoulders, and answered between giggles...

"Oh, it’s nothing. We just find your words ironic since David Evolved using a giant snake!"

"Huh? No way! Dammit, I shouldn’t have stayed behind!" shouted Kim, her body trembling from annoyance.

Sam stood beside her and gently moved his palm over her back in small circles. It calmed the snake-woman down and made all her frustrations dissipate.

With a deep sigh, she leaned back in her chair, which pressed Sam’s hand closer into her back.

"Whatever... I guess I’ll need to find something to Evolve with on my own... But do tell us the story though! It must’ve been amazing if you managed to accidentally Evolve!"

David glanced towards Sera, who took the initiative with the storytelling. However, David took over the story soon to tell them about his planned execution of Jörmungandr. Finally, Bea closed off the story by talking about Yggdrasil’s death.

The room became silent as they finished the story. But after a few seconds passed, Lucy loudly banged her head against the table while groaning in annoyance.

"That must’ve been so much fun," she said, ignoring the fact that most of the group nearly died, while Sera needed to be brought back to life. "You’re so selfish for leaving me behind!"

Everybody ignored Lucy’s dramatic behavior. Only Will paid attention and tried shutting her up by feeding some of Hestia’s delicious cake to her.

"Well, I must say, your mission was an utter failure, which you then turned into a success beyond perfection," said Sarah, while chewing on a piece of meat. "To be honest, I didn’t expect anything less from the Mrs. Last Angel and her team!"

Sera began nodding and smiling. However, soon she narrowed her eyes while staring towards the Storm Spirit.

"What do you mean ’Mrs.’? Did I get married without noticing?"

Sarah didn’t answer. She just giggled and glanced between Sera and Bea, who sat awfully close to each other. With a quick movement, she bent down and stared at them from under the table... They were holding hands!"

"Ha! I knew it!" declared Sarah triumphantly, while climbing back to her seat. "Lilith, did they do it?"

Lilith, trying to make herself small, pulled her large hood further down until it covered her entire face. She then shook her head once and ignored Sera and Bea’s glares.

"They kissed though!" said Cass, while balancing her chair on its back legs. She didn’t ignore the women’s glares. Instead, she gave a smirk to Sera, then turned back towards the people seated at the table.

"Pay up, everyone who bet on them not kissing yet or declaring their love!"

Many annoyed groans rose from the crowd as people began pulling out silver coins. A few cheers also echoed, but far fewer.

"Dammit, you horny lovebirds! Couldn’t you’ve waited a week and kissed in August!" said Leslie, while tossing a coin to Sarah, Lilith, Adam, Will and, surprisingly, Agnes.

Sera glanced at the short, dark-haired woman with a questioning gaze. She noticed the curious expression of the Angel and shrugged innocently.

"What? You know how easy it’s scamming these fools? They barely pay attention to your relationship and how you act together, then bet on when you’ll reach the next step in your life together... Ridiculous!"

However, while Agnes spoke down about all the gamblers, Sera saw the excitement in her eyes as she collected all the losers’ coins.

"Hypocrite..." whispered Sera, but she couldn’t hold a tender smile from appearing on her lips.

Bea scooted closer and leaned her head on the Angel’s shoulder. They felt like mothers watching over a table full of children as everyone argued, giggled, mocked and laughed together.

The room felt peaceful, and Sera wished for this joy to never end. For this burning warmth in her chest never to disappear.

"Okay, everyone! Remember, the bets about their intercourse are still in effect!" shouted Cass over the bickering crowd, which caused quite a few people to glance in Sera and Bea’s direction.

They didn’t even say anything. Instead, they just glanced away, trying to hide the deep blush growing on their faces.

"Glad we left Nick and Jo with Faith. Don’t they realize this is a family household?" asked Sera in faked outrage, causing Bea to giggle and lean closer.

Bea’s greenish-gold eyes stared into Sera’s golden-green ones. They both moved closer to each other until their lips met in a gentle kiss.

A second of silence passed, giving them plenty of time to enjoy the taste of each other’s lips. However, soon a loud cheer went up, as the entire group shouted their joy.

Their kiss ended then, as they both rolled their eyes and turned back towards their friends with satisfied smiles.

The lunch continued on for hours until it turned into a dinner. At some point, Nick and Jo arrived, since the young girl and boy needed sustenance too.

The day went by fast as the celebratory atmosphere persisted. However, the actual party only began after Nick and Jo fell asleep and Freyja arrived carrying a wagonload of mead.

Nobody knew who had invited her, but they accepted the gift and let her celebrate in the mansion with them. She felt quite shocked upon hearing Cass’s drunk tale about the Last Angel killing two Ethereals... She vastly overexerted...

David later cleared up the story and told Freyja to inform Odin when she had time.

The primordial goddess didn’t seem heartbroken upon hearing about Jörmungandr and Yggdrasil’s demise and happily accepted David’s request.

The night went by fast, with drunken celebrations. Hestia sighed sadly upon seeing the mansion state the next day in the morning...