Another wave of pain ripped through my chest before the crimson notification had even disappeared.
It was worse than the first.
The invisible tether connecting me to Ashfall seemed to tighten behind my sternum before violently pulling, and my knees buckled beneath me. I caught the edge of the marble altar with one hand, barely preventing myself from hitting the floor as the burial chamber swayed around me.
"Kira!"
Seraphina reached me before I could straighten, grabbing my shoulders as genuine alarm replaced every trace of her earlier amusement. Her eyes swept across my body as though searching for an injury she’d somehow missed, and when another pulse made me grimace, her grip tightened.
"Kira, what the fuck is happening?" she demanded, raising her voice when I didn’t immediately answer. "What’s wrong?"
"Humans." I forced the word through clenched teeth as the pain gradually receded into a persistent ache. The crimson warning still hovered across my vision, carrying an urgency I could practically feel through my connection with the Dungeon Core. "There are seven humans inside the Demon Frontier, and they’re heading toward Ashfall."
Seraphina’s concern hardened immediately. "How long?"
"Less than half an hour."
Her eyes shifted toward the corridor we’d entered through, and I watched the severity of our situation settle across her face.
"Fuck," she muttered, tightening her hand around the hilt of her new sword. "It took us nearly two hours to get here."
"Yeah, I know." Frustration clawed through me as another dull throb traveled through the Core Bond. Twenty-three people were sitting inside a dungeon with defenses held together by desperation and fucking optimism. At the same time, seven armed humans marched toward them, and their Dungeon Mistress was two hours away.
Then warmth stirred behind my shoulders.
My panic stalled.
Less than a minute ago, two enormous wings made from corrupted divine mana had nearly knocked me onto my ass.
I slowly looked over my shoulder.
Seraphina followed my gaze, and understanding immediately appeared in her eyes.
"No." Concern sharpened her rejection as she gestured toward my back. "Kira, you could barely stand when you manifested them."
"Standing and flying aren’t necessarily the same thing."
"That sentence doesn’t make any fucking sense!"
"It doesn’t need to." I grabbed our bulging pack and headed toward the corridor. "Ashfall doesn’t have two hours for me to learn properly."
Seraphina cursed beneath her breath and hurried after me. "You don’t even know whether you can carry another person!"
"Then I guess we’re both about to learn something."
We tore through the Sepulcher far faster than we’d entered it. Whatever lingering damage the Guardian had inflicted on Seraphina had vanished completely, and the difference was impossible to ignore. Her movements possessed a fluid strength that hadn’t existed before the Tear, forcing me to push my newly enhanced body merely to keep pace with her.
My own changes were just as startling. Every stride carried me farther than expected, my balance corrected itself almost before I noticed uneven ground, and the exhaustion that should have been dragging at my muscles barely registered.
We burst from the Sepulcher into the violet gloom of the Demon Frontier.
I dropped the pack beside Seraphina and stepped into the clearing.
"Okay."
"That inspires tremendous confidence."
"Shut up. I’m concentrating."
I closed my eyes and reached inward.
Black-gold radiance erupted behind my shoulders as Fallen Wings unfurled across the clearing, scattering dead leaves and illuminating nearby trees with corrupted divine light.
This time I could actually feel them.
Not as flesh or unfamiliar limbs.
They were made up of mana. The ground disappeared beneath me as I forced my mana to generate the two wings.
"FUCK!"
I launched upward with enough force to send my stomach somewhere near my throat. Branches rushed toward my face, and I twisted aside just quickly enough to clip the upper canopy instead of smashing directly through it.
"Kira!" Seraphina shouted from below. "Stop forcing them! They’re made from your mana. Control them like magic!"
"Fantastic advice now!"
I almost shouted something else before realizing she was right.
The wings existed because I willed them into existence. Treating them like physical limbs was the problem.
I drew a breath and stopped fighting them.
For one terrifying second, I dropped.
Then the wings responded.
My descent slowed until I hovered several yards above the clearing.
A laugh burst from me. "Holy shit! I can fucking fly!"
Seraphina folded her arms beneath her chest. "Your dungeon is still being invaded."
That killed the celebration.
I descended and extended my arms toward her.
Her expression immediately soured.
"No! Don’t you fucking dare!"
"We don’t have time."
"I refuse to be carried like some helpless princess."
"Then enjoy your two-hour walk."
Her glare could have peeled paint.
A minute later, one arm supported her back while the other rested beneath her knees. She held our treasure-filled pack against herself and reluctantly wrapped an arm around my neck.
"If you drop me," she warned as my wings expanded around us, "I will survive the fall specifically so I can kill you."
"That’s the romantic reassurance I needed."
"Kira..."
I grinned and pushed mana through my wings.
This launch went considerably better.
The forest dropped beneath us as I climbed above the canopy, Seraphina’s grip tightening around my neck when the ground rapidly disappeared. Wind tore through my hair while the Demon Frontier opened beneath us.
Violet-black forest stretched toward distant mountains, interrupted by ravines, forgotten ruins, and towering stone formations I’d never been able to see from below.
Another ache from Ashfall reminded me why I was flying.
I angled toward the pull of the Core Bond and accelerated.
We ignored everything that had slowed us earlier. Ravines disappeared beneath us, monsters became distant shapes moving between trees, and winding trails meant nothing when I could simply fly over them.
Maintaining Fallen Wings while carrying Seraphina wasn’t effortless. Mana continuously poured from me and sweat gathered across my skin, but my new reserves were fucking ridiculous compared to what I’d possessed before.
The journey that had taken nearly two hours on foot took thirty minutes through the air.
Ashfall’s cliffs had finally appeared beyond the forest when another pulse traveled through the Core Bond.
[HOSTILE AFFILIATION IDENTIFIED.]
[Order of the Sacred Dawn.]
My concentration faltered.
One wing flickered.
Seraphina immediately tightened her arm around my neck. "What happened?"
"The Core identified them."
Her eyes searched my face, catching the hesitation I couldn’t hide. "Who are they?"
I kept my attention ahead.
"Kira." Her voice dropped into a dangerous calm. "Who?"
"The Sacred Dawn."
There was no explosion of anger. Seraphina simply became unnaturally still in my arms as she turned toward Ashfall, her expression emptying until I couldn’t tell what she was thinking.
Her fingers slowly tightened against my shoulder.
"All seven?"
"Yeah."
She stared ahead for several seconds before answering.
"Good..."
A chill crawled over my skin.
The familiar cliffs rushed toward us, and I landed harder than intended, boots gouging through dirt as momentum carried me several stumbling steps forward. Seraphina slipped from my arms almost immediately.
Neither of us commented on the landing.
Voices were coming from ahead.
Seven figures stood beyond Ashfall’s damaged outer defenses, their white-and-gold clothing stark against the dark stone surrounding the dungeon entrance. Sunburst insignias decorated their tabards, armor, and ceremonial robes.
Sacred Dawn.
Behind them, Ashfall’s residents had retreated into the entrance. Lyra stood near the front with several others, crude weapons clutched in hands that had no business facing trained humans.
One of the men noticed me.
"Succubus!" he shouted, ripping his weapon free.
Steel rasped from scabbards as the group turned.
Then one of them saw Seraphina.
His sword stopped halfway free.
Color drained from his face.
"Seraphina?"
She froze beside me.
I watched the sudden rigidity enter her posture.
She knew him.
The cleric stared as though a corpse had climbed from its grave. "You’re alive."
Her hand settled around the hilt of the Aurelian longsword. "Disappointed?"
"No, I—" His gaze traveled across her restored body before settling on her eyes. "Saints above... your mana channels. How?"
Another cleric stepped closer as faint black-gold light crawled through Seraphina’s irises.
His face twisted with disgust.
"Corruption."
Seraphina’s shoulders stiffened.
A younger cleric raised his holy symbol toward her, revulsion replacing whatever uncertainty he’d shown moments earlier.
"Abomination."
Seraphina’s expression changed.
CRACK!
A fractured halo erupted behind her head.
Black-gold radiance flooded the clearing as pressure rolled from her body with enough force to flatten the surrounding grass. The golden inscriptions along her new longsword ignited before darkness seeped through them, corrupting the ancient holy script until black-gold light crawled along the entire blade.
The youngest cleric stumbled backward.
His contempt disappeared as sweat beaded on his forehead, and I could see him gulp from the tension.