Moments before the first angel descended into the Divine Realm. The Seventh Column had begun to glow.

Ira’s seven offenses were as follows: Personally stepping into Purgatory. Giving Avery divinity. Killing the Behemoth. Resisting ascension. Creating armor and a sword that could harm and defend against divine beings. Removing himself from reality. And finally, killing the Sea Serpent.

While seven taboos weren’t enough to summon the Gods it was enough to send a high-ranked angel.

Based on Ira’s behavior the Gods believed they could easily provoke him into doing more. After eight columns were a light, an army of angels could be sent. If they could push him to nine, they would be able to trap him with the Tartarus.

Kara Thynne didn’t attend the gathering held to discuss the plans for the Avarus. She was busy preparing to send a blessing for the first time. For her who believed that one should overcome problems with their own strength but she didn’t want her daughter or any possible descendants to suffer through an event like the Collapse.

Kara finally began making a breakthrough and a silver ball of light rose from her chest. It slowly faded from sight and Kara made a satisfied expression. Though if she realized that her blessing could be sent to any one of her possible descendants, including those that weren’t Valkyries, she would find herself troubled. It meant that even an unborn child could be the recipient. The silver energy traveled to the Mortal Realm with ease and blessed its target. Funnily enough, it was someone that was completely unexpected.

Kara put no more thought into it and closed her eyes to rest. As long as someone received the blessing it meant her job was done.

…

Avery narrowed her eyes at the loud aftershock that could be heard around the earth. She automatically suspected Ira as the culprit and could only hope that he was safe. Suddenly, a foreign yet familiar strand of divine energy tried to enter through her abdomen.

Avery channeled her divinity to ward it off but didn’t destroy it. It seemed the energy wasn’t for her but rather for the child growing inside of her.

“Why?” Avery whispered in confusion. She didn’t think her child would need a blessing but it was clearly sent for some reason.

“Great-grandmother.” Avery guessed that Kara was one of the possible senders but she had no way of confirming it.

Instead of letting the blessing reach her child, she added in her own divine energy to be safe. Since it was no way of telling who sent it, she thought it was best to accept it with caution. The silver energy underwent a few changes and then was absorbed into her. Avery didn’t know if Ira’s bloodline would adapt to the blessing but since she didn’t feel anything wrong she assumed it went well.

Suddenly, Ira appeared out of thin air and looked around, stopping on Avery.

“Ah, there you are,” Ira said happily as he hugged Avery.

“That noise, was that you?” Avery asked while embracing Ira.

“Yeah, I had to kill something big, why?” Ira replied while scanning the room.

“...No reason. If you’re looking for Raveria she went with Harper to see Zephyr.” As Avery finished speaking, both she and Ira put their guard up.

The sound of a trumpet played very faintly, but for Ira the sound was crystal clear. Avery, on the other hand, could not only hear the trumpet but feel her divinity react to it. They were both still until the sound faded away.

“Weird,” Ira muttered.

“Indeed,” Avery agreed. “You should check on Raveria and Zephyr.”

“Yeah, I’ll be back soon.” Ira smiled before vanishing.

…

Not so far away, Rhys found herself in a troubling situation. Sylvia had provided a lot of information for childcare and the one Rhys thought was the most important was bonding. She was saddened when Sylvia said that speaking to her child would help them get used to her voice.

Sylvia, who realized that Rhys couldn’t speak, quickly corrected herself. She told Rhys that making lots of facial expressions could also help them bond as well as entertain her son. So that’s what Rhys did. When Harper and Raveria arrived she explained it to them and they eagerly joined in.

Ira entered the room only to find the three making strange faces at Zephyr who laughed happily. Harper crossed her eyes and puffed up her cheeks. Raveria widened her eyes while sticking out her tongue. Rhys poked out her lips and closed one eye while squinting the other.

“...Uh, what’s going on here?” Ira cleared his throat and the three of them jumped in surprise while Zephyr kicked his legs excitedly as he heard his father’s voice in addition to feeling his presence.

“It’s good for Zeph and there was a loud sound that scared him so we had to calm him down.” Raveria tried to explain.

“Princess Sylvia said it would help with bonding,” Harper said.

“Uh-huh.” Ira nodded but he clearly had a skeptical look on his face.

“It’s true!” Harper stomped her foot angrily.

“Ok, I believe you,” Ira replied with a blank expression.

“No, you don’t,” Raveria saw through Ira’s poker face with ease.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” Ira approached his daughter and planted a kiss on her head. He ruffled Harper’s hair before he peeked over the crib to look at his son.

“Zephyr,” Ira smiled brightly while holding his son’s face.

Rhys stared at Ira and soon found herself completely distracted by him.

“I got a gift for him, Rhys.” Ira said as he turned to face Rhys who woke up from her daydreaming.

Her eyes filled with interest as she waited for Ira to produce the gift and he didn’t disappoint. He waved his hands and produced a small black pouch before opening.

“Here,” Ira grabbed Rhys hands and cupped them before pouring out the metal marbles.

For some reason, Rhys’ expression went flush when Ira held her hand. She found herself focusing more on him than the marbles.

“Try showing them to him,” Ira guided her hands toward Zephyr before letting them go.

Rhys blinked a few times and nodded before she showed Zephyr the handful of metal marbles. The infant was captivated by the new things he had never seen before so he reached out to grab them but failed to reach. Zephyr’s face showed determination and he even issued a few soft grunts. Slowly but surely, the metal marbles rose from Rhys’ hand and began to float toward Zephyr. He grabbed one and wrapped his tiny fingers around it before inspecting it.

“Huaaah,” Zephyr issued an exclamation of pure gibberish.

“He likes it.” Ira translated. He and Raveria could feel delight coming from Zephyr.

“But aren’t they too small, he might try to eat them,” Harper showed the most concern but Ira laughed while shaking his head.

“He’ll be fine, Harper,” Ira said. He could transfer his intentions through his bloodline resonance so warning Zephyr not to do something was easy but it wasn’t necessary. Zephyr was, at the very least, smart enough to understand he couldn’t eat metal. After all, it didn’t smell enticing and it was completely solid.

“Alright, Raveria it’s time for you to go back.” Ira tapped his daughter on the shoulder.

“Nooooo, I don’t want toooo,” Raveria dragged her words but she knew it wouldn’t change anything.

“Should I ask Avery to come get you?” Ira asked.

Raveria hurriedly shook her head and moved to leave the room. Harper followed behind and Ira was about to go with them but he suddenly stopped and turned to Rhys. He contemplated something for a few seconds but made up his mind.

“Rhys.” Ira called out to her.

Rhys listened closely to his words but he didn’t say anything. He moved close and wrapped his arms around causing her heart rate to rise.

“Thank you,” Ira spoke sincerely.

Ira loved his son and one could say he was thankful for Rhys since their child wouldn’t have existed without her.

Even if Rhys could talk she wouldn’t know what to say, she embraced tightly and closed her eyes.

…

In the Grenitan Kingdom, the streets were filled to the brim with the people who had survived the attack from the Tel’vian airships. They directed their attention to a platform that was clearly built with haste. Atop it, a tall woman held translucent scale that was glowing with the white-gold color of divine energy.

“Guilty,” She said emotionlessly.

A man tied in ropes that was kneeling in front of her looked horrified at her verdict. He would plead for his life if his mouth wasn’t blocked. A bright golden spear ripped through his chest and his body fell lifelessly before it was dragged away.

Another person was brought up, trembling and fearful of meeting a similar fate but unable to do anything.

The scales in the hands of the angel titled and she spoke accordingly. “Innocent.”

The man bound in ropes cried tears of joy as he was taken down from the stage. Seeing that he was the last one, the angel turned to face the crowd.

“Know that Divine Justice will never come for those who have not done any wrong.” Her voice was filled with pride that couldn’t be shaken.

The citizens witnessed the angel perform a mass execution but none of them felt disgusted or repulsed. The soldiers who served under Prince Hayden were the first to receive punishment. Nearly all of them were kill in one blow while the minority who hadn’t harmed anyone were spared. The next to be executed were the nobles who helped Hayden plan for the attempted coup in order to satisfy their greed. All but a handful were killed upon the platform after being judged.

The last person and key figure in all the destruction was Prince Hayden himself who still had a devastated look on his face. In his perspective, it appeared that the Gods themselves didn’t want him to be King. Otherwise, how could such a perfect plan fail. He put countless resources into seeing it completed and it all failed.

“Prince Hayden Windsor. You have murdered your own father and harmed innocent people. There is no need to judge you.” The Angel spoke with a grim voice that didn’t fit her appearance. She summoned her golden spear and stabbed it into Hayden’s heart.

The First Prince, whose name held weight against the common and noble people, died. His eyes showed a miserable reflection of his last thoughts. Confusion, regret, and most of all anger. He wasn’t angry with himself but the Gods who seemed to spiteful of his very existence. As the last trace of his breath left his body he didn’t realize that the person he should’ve hated the most was Ira.

“This terrible day shall serve as a new beginning, not only for the people of this Kingdom but the entire world.” The Angel spread her wings and a divine light began to pour out of them. The pure radiance caused the citizens to willfully prostrate themselves. At least, they felt they were doing so of their own volition. They sent praises to the Gods above, the same Gods that sent the world into a downward spiral but suppressing the Origin Force. The same Gods who only opened the barrier so that they could locate the last of the Avarus Lupum. The same Gods who cared very little for the possible destruction that could arise from trying to capture him.

The citizens were ignorant of the actions of those Gods and naively continued to send praise to them much to the satisfaction of the Angel.