Chapter 19

  Wings of Beloved

  Part Two

  The celeriots above shot several beams into the ocean. But none of them had enough strength to inflict even the slightest bit of damage.

  “Vega, what’s with the ocean floor?”

  ‘Sorry Ms., no official information regarding that, but upon scanning, it appeared to be a door. There’s a high possibility of an unknown existence behind it. There are several paths on the land leading underwater. The biggest one is at the castle.’

  “And angels are trying to gain access?”

  ‘Yes, Ms.’

  Her eyes widened. “There could be a power source or core of this planet down there!”

  In the next moment, the giant’s leader, with his ruined wings, delivered a powerful punch at Manya.

  A blue light illuminated her eyelids, revealing a passive protective layer. Once she composed herself, her car was toying with the leader.

  ‘Ms?’

  “I am fine, Vega. Are you ok?”

  ‘Thank you for caring Ms., and don’t worry about me, it’s more of a warm up than a fight.’

  She started a chain of care among the assigned rankers and empowered them with forced motivational quotes. She excelled at managing the communication networks. Only mentioning the ranker number would make it work; don’t have to remember their name. For now.

  “I love being blue rank! I think I am a manager material. And life throws me at customer support.” She snickered. “Like it matters now. Let’s end this. Darsh!”

  She charged towards Darsh, but stopped at the sight of his growing body. He had no sign of explosive energy or objects near or within him. He stopped at 37ft. The wings she yearned to see on Dhruv once—blocked the sunlight. 37ft Darsh spread his arms wide.

  “All the chaos and now he wants a hug? Is that a grin?” she said. “Wait—is he entering God mode?” His wings shimmered with sunlight. His white halo took a golden hue. As he glanced, a shiver of charm crept her spine.

  “Vega!”

  ‘Yes Ms.’

  “What if I run away with my current strength? How far will I be able to go?”

  ‘Around 15.5 million light years away.’

  The heat in Darsh’s wings and chest increased rapidly—far greater than the powerful beam that hit her. But the angle of his chest puzzled her. His chest faced the sky, while his limbs hung behind.

  “What is he trying to do?”

  ‘Ms., it’s a ritual angel performs to call for help. You should run.’

  From the land, Vega launched many ranged attacks to target Darsh, but they were all absorbed by his skin.

  Manya received an alert about the broken link between her and Vega and all assigned rankers. Despite her efforts, she couldn’t reconnect.

  Darsh’s body showed the metrics of a being with the highest endurance levels. Before she could escape—an invisible yet powerful pressure restricted her movements.

  Without a delay, a huge white light emitted from his chest, blinding everything around it and overpowering the remains of her storm.

  As her eyes adjusted to the radiant surrounding, her heart sunk over Darsh’s painful expressions. The chaos and energy around him had silenced his screams. He… had received a quality of Dhruv—suffering for their loved ones.

  Four gigantic angel spaceships encircled the planet named “Heavath,” blocking communication and travel. Equipped with weapons to annihilate any entity approaching or leaving the planet. It was circular, with massive wings spread wide. Its surface adorned with carvings and symbols. At the centre was a series of concentrated rings, rotating slowly and had a glow that pulses rhythmically.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Even a kid could tell from where they would shoot a beam. But worried her was the strength it would contain.

  Darsh’s light destroyed her merpeople projections. And she had reached the limit to create more. “Vega? Veg? Ve? V? Vegu?”. But her weapons were still in perfect condition. “I can’t deal with those ships surrounding the planet, with this trash of features they granted me. Where are you, Yajvan?”

  She once again got trapped in the relentless attacks of her archenemies, their presence unsettling even if she surrendered with a white flag. “What if I treat them to a pizza? They aren’t from a stone age!”

  All the remaining features she had left with were for entertainment: changing clothes or music or movies or view. Being irritated, she chose the Anime view. “Holy f… Why haven’t I used this earlier?”

  For fighting, she had left with the energy orbs and weapons and, most importantly, particle food. She smashed them out. A delicate serving of strawberry pudding. The anticipation danced in her eyes upon the first bite. A symphony of flavours exploded in her mouth. The strawberries resembling the essence of summer. The creamy pudding melted on her tongue. A moment of profound bliss.

  The sudden movements around her forced her to snap her eyes open. “What? How?” she found herself inside the car, protecting her and running manoeuvres to avoid critical shots. “How are you still working? Haven’t they blocked all the technology? And who turned off the Anime view?”

  Darsh’s lackeys launched fierce attacks with astonishing agility. All futile against the car. However, even with all its power, it couldn’t breach the barrier, stretching hundreds of kilometres. Like she was the only threat.

  “What should I do? Think Manya think, you can’t just sit here and let it do all the work. Wait—why can’t I? Isn’t this my personal property?”

  She stayed inside the car. Now she could observe the angels and gather the information she needed for future encounters: their strengths, weaknesses and the address of the place that sold those wings.

  Angel’s barrier had blocked her every connection with MS or rankers. However, it failed to block the previous command she had given to the car; to protect her from forthcoming critical damage.

  An angel crashed on the car’s left door. As he trailed down, the door window zoomed in to the land. A massive group of angels was destroying everything they touched. “Vega?”

  ***

  The destruction of the civilian areas had already begun, and not enough rankers to stop it all. And a path to Vega doesn’t seem to appear. She had to deactivate or destroy the formidable barrier.

  Among the other rankers, Vega stood with wounds and torn clothes. Their eyes locked for a moment. And Manya screamed out her lungs, “This thing isn’t working!” She pointed at her ear. She gestured to her about the barrier and how she felt hopeless and weak.

  After a few seconds of stare, Vega gestured her to wait for her. Her mouth moving to form words. In an instant, a spear penetrated Vega’s chest. “No!!” A white spear with a golden head.

  The once warm mouth now dripped with blue blood. The surrounding members rushed to catch her, but the angels blocked their attempts.

  “So, do you have a boyfriend?”

  ‘I am two days old. Won’t it be appropriate to wait at least a week?’

  “Do you have someone in mind? Oh please, I know your affection for him, but he’s a king, and going for someone like him will only hurt you. And isn’t the relationship between humans and AI forbid?”

  ‘No, Ms. Pain, with him as a source, would be a blessing.’

  The rankers were fighting their way to reach Vega. Manya’s heart ached as Vega coughed up blue blood while removing the spear. “Vega!” Manya left the car and dashed towards the barrier. She mustered all her strength for the shot, but nothing worked against the barrier. The car acted as a protective barrier, preventing any attacks from angels reaching her.

  Another spear entered Vega’s body, and from behind—Ira appeared. Ira tore Vega’s wound by injecting white particles through the spear shaft. Vega trembled in agony. And all of it wasn’t enough. Ira removed the spear and shoved it again. Manya’s breath hitched in her chest, her pulse quickened at the sight before her.

  “I don’t know why all AIs here are crazy for him. What does he have apart from a pretty face, which is the easiest thing one can get here?”

  ‘It’s true, but Ms., it’s neither his face nor his strength.’

  “Then what?”

  ‘It’s his love, which is equal to all.’

  “Oh, this is the bull shiest thing I have heard since entering this land. Wake up, girl! He’s human, not a God.”

  ‘He helps all in need.’

  “I’ll say again, he isn’t God.”

  ‘I know, but he is our protector.’

  Another person was dying because of her.

  The giant’s leader trapped Manya in her grip. A layer of feathers enveloped the car and moved it into the ocean. The leader was three times her size, had a bitter expression and an aggressive gaze. His grip grew tighter with each passing second.

  Her best friend was killing her assistant. An assistant who asked nothing in return. Who always wakes up before her or maybe never sleeps? Whenever she had arrived back to her floor; Vega always used to stand by the entrance.

  Angel aimed the sharp edge of the wings at Manya, ready to strike. Floating sharper objects surrounded the edges of the wings, approaching her face. Their movements were hypnotising, alluring. With each movement closer, she wanted to feel those sharp objects.

  A deafening boom broke her trance, attracting her gaze to the sky. Millions of broken pieces of barrier, resembling glass made from white energy, were falling in an elegant formation, highlighted by the sunlight. Beautiful formations appeared with every stroke of wind.

  Tears flooded down her ears. An impact from the fallen celeriot in the civilian zone shifted her attention. Angels screaming in agony and relief on the faces of her rankers.

  “I expected more from you,” a voice trembled her soul. The world around her came to a halt. A figure erupted from the smoke of destruction—wearing a pair of rubber flip-flops and T-shirt with a text, “World’s Best Mamu.” “Miss me?”