Angel Monarch

Chapter 194: Before the Siege

The room turned silent after that. Each person stared towards the area where The Oracle was taken... Everyone except Sera...

What the hag said meant little to her, but she knew for a fact that it wasn't a lie. She never lied. Only spun the truth until it seemed like a lie.

This was the second time she met The Oracle, but it was the first that she talked about her future.

The Oracle was a special kind of creature. It wasn't an evolved, at least the watch didn't classify her as such, but she held a very peculiar power. She could see anything in the past, present and future.

This would've made her the most powerful asset one could acquire, but this Sight ability gave her a serious problem... She was really fucking insane.

This insanity was caused by constantly seeing everything that happened, happens and will happen. It literally drove her crazy.

Luckily there was an other less dangerous and disturbing use for her. Her favorite food is anything related to minds... and actual minds.

For example the Spyworm inside Kathy's skull was a true delicacy to her, so using her power she could easily fish out the little grub from anyone's skull. After that though you have to move her away immediately, because then she would devour the inhabitant's mind too.

It's also nice that she could smell out any such creature, so they could use her as a hound to hunt such monsters.

While Sera thought about everything a groan came from the floor. Conrad instantly rushed to Kathy, which scared the shit out of her.

When she opened her eyes and saw a large man running at her, she yelped and quickly changed into a large gecko. She scurried away onto the wall, then onto the ceiling in less than a second.

Everyone's eyes was on her. The small lizard head moved frantically and her eyes scanned the people's faces. Her small chest heaved up and down really fast, but after a few seconds she calmed down and reverted back to her human form.

"What the fuck happened?!" She shouted, looking at Lilith.

She was still staring at the bend in the corridor where the hag had disappeared to. After another few seconds she sighed and turned back towards Sera. Her face was full of concern.

Nobody else in this room knew better than her that what the hag said wasn't a lie or something made up. It was the truth given to them by an insane person, but she knew exactly that everything she said will come to pass one way or another.

Future was tangible only until you have no idea what could happen. If you learn anything specific, then there will be a 99.9 percent chance of it happening.

This was the first time she heard The Oracle speak such a long rhyme, which caused great worry for Lilith.

She was so absorbed in her thoughts, that she didn't care to answer Kathy's angry question, which only increased her rage.

She took a threatening step towards her, but at that moment the three Order members stood closer to Lilith. There helmets hid their expressions, but their faces were turned towards Kathy.

This caused the cohort members to be distrustful, and even David seemed to be quite annoyed.

Sera just stayed at the side, while she furiously typed down the whole speech the hag gave.

"Why did you attack me?" Asked Kathy in outrage.

"I just did what My Lady ordered!" Said Lilith after finally realizing who Kathy was talking to.

"What does she mean Sera?" As she spoke the air in the large room changed.

It wasn't anything tangible. It felt like the the air was filled with electricity of sorts. It sent a shiver down most of their spines.

The two Sisters and two Brothers –the one that took the hag away came back as well– gasped in unison. They murmured under their breaths and one of the Sisters raised her hand, pointing straight at Kathy.

"Blasphemer! How dare you use our Lady's name!" With that each of the four summoned their weapons and stepped forward.

One Sister brandished two peculiar golden daggers with ornamentation and gems on the handle. The other held a slender curved blade, that seemed way too sharp for its width. The two Brothers both summoned greatswords, they weren't similar though. One was a bit longer and less wide, while the other was its exact opposite.

The four prepared to attack, when Sera finally finished writing down everything. She looked up and sighed. It was nice to have loyal followers, it was the opposite to have fanatic ones.

Her eyes met Lilith's who looked away with embarrassment. This type of fanatical, cult-level worshipping was the exact opposite Sera had asked of her.

"Stop!" Said Lilith after realizing her mistake. "Ask for forgiveness!" She said, then turned to Sera and knelt on the floor.

The four Brothers and Sisters done the exact same, with no care about Kathy. Their discipline was something unseen by anybody. The cohort members all stared at them dumbfounded.

Sera looked at each judgmentally, her gaze penetrating each and every one of them.

"I'm quite disappointed in all of you. This is how you represent me? By trying to kill one of my captains, because she didn't use my full name, or title? Is this truly what the Angelic Order stands for?" The five of them trembled as she spoke, but the scolding was far from over.

"You really think I give a flying fuck what anyone calls me? Everyone could call me whore for all I care! From now on anyone can speak to me using Sera, and it isn't blasphemy or any such nonsense! This whole weird religion thing is going too far. It was supposed to be a cover for the civilians, not something my soldiers actually believed in!"

Suddenly her eyes snapped to Lilith and she did something that will stay with her for the rest of her life.

Sera reached down and grabbed her hand with the seven pointed golden star atop. Using her flames she burned the mark away, leaving an ugly scar in its place. The air smelt of burned flesh, which made a few people nauseous, but nobody said a word.

The pain was excruciating for her and everyone waited to hear her scream... It never came. Her eyes turned teary and her face became red, but not the tiniest of squeals escaped her lips.

After the mark was gone Sera released her hand, which Lilith just stared at for a few seconds, before letting it hang by her side.

"I removed your mark, but I'm not cruel. You made one mistake and you will make more since nobody's perfect. Your mark will be earned back depending on how you perform during and after the siege." Said Sera in an even tone.

"Thank you Lady Seraphine!" She spoke while bowing her head and placing her disfigured hand onto her opposite shoulder.

"I see where I had gone wrong. I tasked Bran to write a long list of rules that you have to follow while recruiting and training. I had let you do your own thing for a year, but that seems to be a mistake, from today forth I will be closer to the Angelic Order. The leadership will still be in your and your husband's hands, but each of you have to make constant reports about anything worth noting!"

Lilith was still bowed as she nodded. "I understand My Lady. Your grace is truly a shining example of humanity's greatness."

While she spoke a small giggle escaped her lips, Sera just sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Shut the fuck up Lilith, and let your Brother heal your hand. We still have to do a bit of planning and place all those stupidly large bombs. The Sun will be up in about an hour and a half, so we got to hurry!" Said Sera. She then turned and walked towards the large table, which held a giant map of the city's southeastern segment.

The cohort watched with bewilderment as Lilith smiled brightly, then gave her disfigured hand to one of the Brothers. He touched it with his large gauntleted one, it was so much bigger that it basically devoured Lilith's own. There was a large bright flash, and a small yelp.

When the light passed and she raised it again, the skin on the hand was fully healed. The mark was still missing from it though, and she wouldn't be replacing it without Sera's permission.

The five Order members walked to the table as well, and Lilith motioned for the cohort to come too.

Hesitantly they all approached it and looked down on the map. There were a lot of different markings everywhere, basically everything important. There were enemy battle placements, Cassandra's battlelines, the places where the wallbreakers will focus on, but the most important and what they had to worry about right now were the explosives.

There were only five markings, two at gates and the rest near the wall where the wallbreakers will assault. They still had to find five different strategic placements for the rest, and they had to do it fast.

They all stared at the map for a few minutes before Sera sighed, straightened and looked at each person inside the room.

"Let's get this over with."

With that sentence ten minutes of planning began, then they spent an hour placing each metallic box. They also informed Frank, Jill and Cassandra about the places to stay away from.

When everything was ready, the Sun was already near rising. Sera stared at the rays of sunlight hitting the city street.

Somewhere far away an alarm sounded, which was soon echoed by the whole eastern part of the city.

It was time...