Chapter 461: First Impact
Time melted before Amarena, until even stopping became just a minor interruption to the trial she endured. She had no idea of how many places she’d gone. The fields of Perdition were empty of portals. Tzal was now a smouldering bed of lava, with only a few familiar outposts to indicate there had ever been a city there at all.
She’d crossed the breadth of Hell several times over, and yet could not conceive that her task would ever finish. Not until he’d visited every last corner of Hell, as only grandiose liars would claim.
If not for her companions, Amarena knew she would have gone insane long ago.
The others had found survivors. Angels who had been outposted under the assumption of their victory. Demons who had hidden deep within their mountains. One group of demons had even lived beneath the same mountain as a Heavenly outpost.
It spoke volumes about how desperate they were that they now begrudgingly cooperated to survive against monsters. The angels with their bright wings dulled and heavy with ash. The demons with their hungry eyes. The ability of Hell to sustain life was dying out from under them, and yet, even then, their ancient conflicts could not be set aside.
That is what Amarena found when she returned to the three Aytherians, who had set up camp in the ruins of the Grand Palace of Naraka.
"Give it here, you little thief!" an angel snarled.
"You stole it from us first!" an imp shouted back.
"Lies, that’s all your kind ever speak!" the angel spat.
The moment Amarena appeared with a thunderous crack! on the other side of the once magnificent hall, those who were not in the fight stood, gathering into a half-moon arc as they organized themselves.
"What’s this?" Amarena asked, letting Orby float next to her as she released it. She felt concerned. The depth of mana she’d once felt in the construct had stopped feeling full, which meant its production had slowed. She’d laid tens of thousands of beacons, and the idea of failing at the end made her all too short-tempered as the mutual assailants brought their argument to her.