Angel Monarch

The five of them wandered around the streets for a few hours, and now they sat inside a cozy restaurant. It was well over midday, so the place was mostly empty.

They sat at a corner table with Vicky in the middle, Kim to her right and Astrid to her left. The twins sat in front of them, each sipping their own glass of red wine.

The two of them still took wary glances towards Vicky. They have spoken little during their outing, which was perfectly fine for everyone. Vicky spent so much time talking that it was hard to get a word in.

They were still waiting for their food. From the corner of her eyes, Kim spotted the waiters whispering and pointing to their table, which meant they recognized them as Evolved.

It's a shame, Kim always liked to be treated as a regular person. She hated the extra attention. Explore stories on empire

Vicky spotted them too, but unlike Kim, she began acting like a fucking princess. She scrutinized each of the utensils and dishes like she was a health inspector.

The waiter watched the eleven-year-old girl with a terrified smile and trembling hands. When they sent him away, Kim could've sworn that the man was close to passing out from stress.

Throughout the past hours, they have done nothing interesting. Astrid and the twins led both of them around the city. Neither Kim nor Vicky had seen the famous buildings and beautiful parks hidden within.

They had a lot of fun, and after a quick pep-talk, Kim convinced Vicky to not randomly teleport away.

Their first destination was one of New Athens' famous Amphitheatre's. There were no rehearsals going on, so they just kind of wandered inside and looked around a bit.

After that, they went southwest until they reached the wall. There was a tall tower placed there, with a large burning fire on top. People nicknamed it the Lighthouse, even though no boats moved in the water.

The New Athens Military used it as the tallest lookout point, and since all five were Ascended, they could enter easily.

The tower is twice as high as the wall around New Athens, so about a hundred meters. From there, they could admire the entire city.

Vicky especially enjoyed that one, since she could sit out onto the railing and give a heart-attack to the regular soldiers. They all had terrified expressions on their faces, while Vicky just swung her legs while humming a cheery tune.

From there, they visited the zoo, which Kim didn't even know about.

The New Athens Zoo had a wide selection of animals, starting with the ones from the Old World, like elephants, tigers, lions, gorillas, etc.

Then there were a few more exotic ones, which were created in labs by a special scientist.

They were all hybridized. One of the combination was giant snakes with cats, which made a strange fluffy snake, with a very cute head. They were friendly, and the five of them spent a lot of time petting the long snakes.

The next creature was a combination of bears and eagles, which turned them into terrifying creatures.

They had the size of an average brown bear, with the addition of two giant wings, that gave them the ability to glide from trees. Their heads were also more eagle-like, but much larger.

Seeing them caused a shiver to run down Kim's spine. She could've easily killed them in a fight, but that didn't make her feel much better.

There were a few more strange combinations, like ants and scorpions, which were disgusting in Kim's opinion, but the twins seemed to like those the most... Weirdos.

After the hybrid section, they went to the few monsters they kept in the zoo, but they weren't nearly as interesting as the regular animals. The five of them had killed thousands of similar creatures, so they weren't anything special.

The regular humans had different opinions though, they were the most interested in these creatures.

After the zoo they became hungry, and they found this restaurant nearby. Now they waited for their food and listened to Vicky as she described the Realm of Boundless Frost.

"It was awful! We were stuck there, with the Gateway closed and it was freezing. Uncle Damien and his soldiers tried their best, but it was impossible to survive there for more than a few weeks!" said Vicky with a lot of excitement.

"Then how did you survive?" asked Eula with worry and awe.

Everyone at the table payed special attention to the story, since none of them were ever in another Realm. The story especially captivated the twins.

"It was because of my mother, of course! Bea had ventured out with Damien to hunt down a Corrupted of the 3rd Tier…"

"It was a giant tree monster that grew fruits, which enthralled anything that ate it. It also melted the surrounding snow and kept a lot of creatures safe from the constant snowstorm..."

"The fight was arduous, but since Damien is a Transcended, it wasn't too difficult. With it Bea became an Ascended, and using one of her abilities, she grew a similar tree, right in the middle of our small settlement."

"Is she growing a similar tree in the main hall?" asked Kim with curiosity. The rest of the table just stared at her like she was insane.

This was the first time the others heard about Bea, but Vicky had talked about her to Kim.

"Yes, but much smaller. The tree is really nice. It protected us from the cold and gave us shelter, plus there are tasty fruits growing on it! They gave us a delightful change. Eating only monster meat gave me stomach cramps!"

The four women stared at the girl, both in awe and amusement. She was stuck in a different Realm for two years, and the most she complained about was her cuisine!

"And how did you become an Ascended?" asked Astrid after a few seconds of silence.

After hearing her question, Vicky's face went pale. For a moment Kim saw Vicky's shadow moved unnaturally, but when she didn't pay it much attention to it.

"I... I... I..." she stammered.

The four women looked at each other in confusion, but before any of them could've said anything, the city shook.

One of the waiters hurried to their table and quickly informed them of the closing of the establishment.

"It seems the city is under attack, and by protocol, we have to lock down the building and enter the nearest shelter. We apologize for the inconvenience, and we assure you that your next meal with us will be free."

After saying that, the waiter and the entire staff left the building in an orderly manner.

Kim looked out the window and watched as everyone hurried towards the shelter, but nobody pushed around the get there first. They all moved with well-trained order and politeness.

It was very hard not to draw comparison to the day she lost her family. So much more people would've survived if they weren't selfish and fearful!

Vicky found a way out of the previous question, and with excitement, she jumped to her feet.

"Let's help the city fight!"

She was about to close her eyes and teleport everyone away when a slim woman stepped out of her shadows.

"Victoria! What did I tell you about trying to joining in fights!" asked the woman in a berating tone.

The little girl grumbled under her breath, then spoke with a deep, exhausted sigh...

"That I'm only allowed under an adult's supervision... But this is my mom's city! Please, Aunt Faith. Let's help them fight! I promise I won't go near the front lines this time! Please!"

The four women watched the interaction with confusion, but they were even more surprised when the shadowy woman named Faith rolled her eyes and agreed...

"Fine, but get the lazy trio too, just to be safe!"

The little girl began jumping from happiness and gave the woman an enormous hug. She chuckled and petted the girl on the head affectionately.

Without warning, all six of them were teleported atop the northern wall. The sudden change in atmosphere made each of them alert.

There was a lot of shouting around them, and few people even pointed their guns.

"Idiots! Those are ours! Point your weapons outside of the fucking wall!"

The regular soldiers didn't say a word of apology, they just moved away from them and began shooting outside of the walls.

Kim was about to turn around when three more people fell in front of them. She recognized them instantly. It was Cassandra and the other two who spent their time watching tv-shows.

They groaned as they stood up. Their faces were full of annoyance.

The blue-haired guy was still shirtless, which piqued the twins' and Kim's interest. The pale woman's eyes went to the little girl, then she ran at her and began violently tickling her sides.

"Oh, so you are in the mood for teleporting! Let me teach you another lesson!" said the woman playfully, while Vicky was laughing without stopping.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"No... Stop Aunt Lucy..."

She didn't stop until she heard the artillery going off behind the walls. Only after that did she spend time to actually look around her surroundings.

When her dark eyes landed on Kim, she looked her up and down once, then snorted to herself... "So you were the one crawling through the vents. You seem to fit in those easily."

The woman grinned down at Kim, who just rolled her eyes as a response.

"Okay guys, you know the drill. Whoever kills the most gets a point, whoever kills the strongest earns additional points. Let the best win!" said Will, then he jumped over the wall and run straight into the giant monster horde.

With mad laughter, Lucy grew out two black, cloudy wings, then flew at the horde too.

Cassandra just stared at Kim with silent contempt, then went near the wall and watched as the fight played out.

"So... What do we do?" asked Joan, while staring at the monster horde.

"What we are supposed to do, silly. We kill them all!" said the little girl in her tiny voice.

She then concentrated and opened an enormous portal in the middle of the monster formation...