Angel Monarch-Chapter 310 : Europe Aflame (2)
A lot has changed since Sera accepted Faith, and she became her Shadow. It gave her powers she didn't even know existed, and increased her strength by a lot.
The absence of free will presented the only issue, but Faith easily overcame it. Her permanent connection to Sera's soul eliminated the need to Evolve further. Upon Sera becoming Transcended, she too would rank up.
From all her new abilities, <Shadow Travel> seemed the most useful at first glance. The ability was fairly simple, giving her the ability to travel through darkness within the earth with insane speed. While moving towards her first destination, Faith recalled her new status window and everything it held.
Name: Faith
Title: Devout Shadow
Lady: Angel Monarch
Shadows Reserved: 10000/10000
Abilities: <Intangible> <Shadow Travel>
Passive Abilities: <Shadow Perception> <Dark Barrier>
Transformation Ability: <Umbra>
Heritage: <Heaven's Shadow>
Race: <Shadow>
Items: <Midnight Crown> <Something>
She possessed impressive new powers; however, she only tested <Shadow Travel> during last night.
<Shadow Travel>
Description: <As many trees' roots crawled through the earth like lazy worms, the tendrils of darkness weaved themselves through the Comos. Many cultures viewed nocturnal darkness as a tangible entity, not merely the absence of light. They thought Darkness came from the Roots beneath their feet, from caves of eternal night.>
Like the Roots of Darkness, you can travel through the world with exceptional speeds.
The <Dark Barrier> had quite a lot of potential as well, albeit it depended upon how strong it was.
<Dark Barrier>
Description: <Every Realm has their own Root of Darkness, like every Realm has at least one World Tree. These are mostly harmless, the children of Darkness himself. But with Madness's corruption, they turned into vile beasts of nature. Their only goal in life is to bring eternal darkness to every Realm.>
As a Shadow, the surrounding darkness protects you from harm.
While these two proved great, the transformation mostly confused Faith. Its description helped little explaining, or at least giving her an idea about the power the ability held.
<Umbra>
Description: <Each Root came from Darkness's seed, which was planted inside every Realm, when Life planted her own seeds. But Life and Darkness couldn't survive together, so Light had to be born. Together, Light and Darkness made a perfect cycle, keeping every Realm stable.>
Turn into an Umbra, and wreak havoc in the purest form a Shadow could possess.
Faith eagerly sought to test her transformation, yet insufficient time proved insurmountable. Despite their significance, she hadn't had time to show Professor Collins the descriptions yet.
The final description proved to be the most enigmatic, but also the most interesting. She did not know what it meant, but she was pretty sure it related to her and Sera's soul connection.
<Heaven's Shadow>
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Description: <A forlorn Lady of no renown. Someone with potential even Fate can't see. A rising star across the dark Cosmos. The brightest light casts the darkest shadows, and what else could be brighter than the bringer of light herself!>
You accepted your purpose and became something more than a mere forgotten shadow. Your life is now tied to your Lady, take care of her, and you will have eternal prosperity!
Since this was her Heritage, it made Faith really excited. She and Sera talked a bit about what it could mean. They came to the conclusion that until Sera lived, she would also stay alive, and if she died, Faith would also perish.
This brought up even more questions, since Sera could die and resurrect, which meant Faith would also die and resurrect, hopefully. There was also a chance she would simply stay dead.
Either way, today they would figure out the truth, since part of the plan included Sera's death. Faith felt a bit of terror about that part of her future, but she was more excited about her possible resurrection!
With her increased speed, she arrived at her first destination in about half a minute. Catania was a city under the Federal Alliance's control. It was located 750 kilometers west from New Athens, and 500 kilometers south of Rome, on the eastern edge of an enormous island called Sicilia.
The city was pretty small compared to others, with only about twenty million residents. Most of their defenses got destroyed when they marched to Rome, and the Federal Alliance didn't want to reinforce the settlement.
Faith visited the Angelic Order's Catanian Chapter, so they could make sure the city would never be a problem again. Their plan wasn't to destroy the city, but to take control of it.
After making sure everything was in order, Faith continued towards the next settlement. Through the ocean, Faith made her way to the shores of Barcelon.
A city-state of medium size, with 35 million residents. One of the core cities within the Federal Alliance.
The Angelic Order's job here wasn't taking control, since that was simply impossible. It held way too many soldiers behind its walls, because of its close proximity to the Pyrenees mountain range and the northern border.
They would only cause havoc within the city, by destroying military infrastructure, and prevent the soldiers from sending reinforcements to the real prize.
From here, Faith went on towards further west and south, close to the Atlantic Ocean. There lay a city spreading even further than Barcelon.
Lizbone was a truly marvelous place. The giant city held 50 million citizens within, but supported way more.
The city's sole purpose, from the Federal Alliance's perspective, was sustaining the Iberian Peninsula's food supply.
Below Lizbone, levels upon levels of hydroponic farms stretched. They used the old technologies left behind by their ancestors from before the Last War to provide sustainable food source to the city-states.
From hydroponic farms, to artificial meat growing, material cloning, and atomic assembly, they could easily convert energy to food, clothes, and other necessary products. The Evolved made the growth faster and more efficient.
The Angelic Order had no plans to destroy this bread basket, but to increase their control over the region, they planned on taking control of the facilities, locking the soldiers out.
This achieves little, since each city possessed sufficient provisions lasting them for over a year, but they planned on using the fear tactic on the defenders of Lizbone.
Replicating this old-world technology proved impossible for many; thus, destroying the machines risks widespread famine. The Angelic Order counted on the soldiers' terror, and they planned on threatening them, while keeping the farms as hostage.
When Faith made sure they were all ready to act, she moved on to the last two cities within the Iberian Peninsula. These two were the real prizes.
The Broken City way down to the south, and Madrid the beating heart of the Peninsula.
The Broken City was once one of the largest military facilities left behind after the Last War. Now it was a giant hive-city with over 85 million residents.
A place of true suffering. Around the city, the air permanently smelled of smoke and rust. While Lizbone served as the breadbasket of the Federal Alliance, The Broken City was the heart of its industry.
Factories pumped out smoke day and night, people working along the lines, assembling weapons, vehicles, ammo, everything a war machine required.
Sera specifically put a plan together about how to improve the city. But before they could start building a better future from this trash pile, it needed to be knocked down, consequently causing the Federal Alliance to lose their industrial complex.
The plan with Madrid was much simpler. The Angelic Order just meant to cause as much chaos and destruction around the military parts and city defenses as they could.
After Faith made sure the plans were clear for everyone, and she delivered the new orders from Sera, the Iberian parts of the Angelic Order burst into action. She left the place to burn and continued on her journey to the north.
New Paris was especially nice in early May, even though the largest city of Europe was full of enemy combatants.
Napoleon's propaganda or fear-mongering tactic worked great, it seemed. His army increased by a lot in the past month, and with two Stellars by his side, he proved to be a genuine threat to both the Federal Alliance and the Angelic Alliance, as everyone began referring to it.
The Angelic Order's presence was the weakest inside New Paris, but they still had jobs to do during the continent wide war. Their job was both the easiest and hardest, keep the citizens safe, and save as many as they could.
Napoleon closed down all the bunkers, so nobody could hide from their approaching doom. Vicky tried helping as many people as she could escape from the city, but it was impossible to help millions upon millions of citizen.
They were now stuck in a city, which prepared for an upcoming siege. The citizens could only hide in their homes, or, if they were lucky, inside their basements.
Faith's arrival brought hope to the lost, but she soon had to leave for her last destination… Wien…
One of the most beautiful cities in Europe, with close to 45 million residents living inside. It was a shame their leader was such a horrible traitor.
As with most other cities, the citizens weren't in agreement with Jonas's dictatorship, but they lacked the power to oppose his rule. But that's why the Angelic Order was there.
During the past month, they smuggled in thousands upon thousands of weapons, armor, and most importantly, manpower.
They weren't just planning to cause chaos within Wien, but straight up overthrowing their current government. This was Faith's destination.
Sera gave her one job during the war, take Wien one way or another, and she wasn't planning on failing.
From the shadows Faith stepped out of. Her body covered in dark smoke-like armor, in her hand a lone rapier rested, while atop her head, connected to her helmet, the Midnight Crown glowed gently in the council building's low-light.
The guards took a few long moments to notice her presence, which became a deadly mistake on their part.
