The Second Rift

“Ye’ve got to be shittin’ me,” muttered Gromni, but Galardos’ grim expression left no room for doubt. If the demigod said this was a dead Seraph, then a dead Seraph it was.

“Alaiel, cast a Dimensional Lock,” he ordered. “We can’t afford intruders.”

“On it,” replied the wolf, before erecting a powerful barrier encompassing the area.

“Wait, what’s going on?” Milla asked in a panic. To her, a dead angel was obviously a huge problem, but Galardos’ demeanor made it clear it was far worse than she imagined.

“If word gets out that a Seraph died in Imperial territory, then it’s all-out war with the Zarian Order. Forget a punitive strike — they’ll move to conquer us.” replied Galardos, staring at the dead body before him.

Milla swallowed nervously, cold sweat dripping from her forehead.

Even Gromni had gone pale.

“We must resurrect her, no matter what,” the demigod muttered, raising his hand as he mustered his magic. With it, he commanded the earth to rise and reshape itself into an altar next to the fallen angel.

“Can ya bring her back?” asked the dwarf, but it took Galardos a moment to answer.

“Not without risk,” he admitted. “I don’t specialize in healing magic, so I can’t cast a resurrection spell directly. I’ll have to use Reality Warp.”

Gromni shuddered at the words.

“Reality Wa— The hells, Galardos! You can do that!?”

“If he puts his life on the line, yes,” replied Alaiel for him. “That’s how serious this matter is. So, Gromni… the body, if you please.”

Pressured by the ancient wolf, Gromni mustered his courage and picked the fallen angel in his arms. Then, with every care not to harm her further, he placed her atop the altar Galardos had created.

“How awful...” Milla whispered, staring in horror at the bloody stumps on the Seraph’s back. By the looks of it, someone had yanked her wings off with brute force. Whether this happened before or after the angel’s death, though, it was anyone’s guess.

Galardos, on the other hand, had a stone-cold expression as he prepared himself.

“I can’t move while casting this, and if I botch the spell we’ll die. So if anyone shows up here, kill them. I don’t care if it’s the Inquisition or anyone else; this ritual must not be disturbed.”

Milla felt dizzy at the words, but Gromni nodded with grim determination.

“Look, Missy. We’re forming a square around Galardos and the girl. If anythin’ unusual shows up, blast ‘em. We’ll back ya up. And Lady Alaiel, ma’am. Can ye cover that side over there? I’ll have Betty take care of the other. Ya hearing this, Betty? Ya see anyone, ram ‘em!”

The goat answered with a loud bleat, walking over to where the dwarf had pointed.

“Ye’ll die if ye have to, am I clear?” he pressed on the goat, and Betty bleated back at him in exasperation, as if telling him “I’ve heard you already, so shut your trap.”

Milla stared at them in amazement, seeing how even the team mascot was ready for a fight. Could it be she was the only one feeling weak on the knees?

“All clear, boss. Let’s do this,” reported the dwarf.

Ready or not, the ritual was starting.

Galardos closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

Then, he uttered a litany of ancient, incomprehensible words.

Milla and Gromni had never heard the language before, but even in their ignorance, they could feel the impact it had on reality itself. Thick with the demigod’s magic, his voice commanded the world of Imrath to obey, bending its own laws to his will.

A tremendous gale of magical energy burst forth, coalescing around them like the eye of a hurricane. With every word from Galardos’ lips, the currents of mana became stronger, slowly consolidating into the image of a spell he desired yet did not possess.

It manifested as a golden sphere of light, its divine radiance encompassing the altar.

The fallen Seraph rose into the air, her lungs filled with the breath of life the demigod had conjured, her broken wings mended shut and starting to regrow.

No matter his incomplete divinity — by sheer strength of will, Galardos would restore the masterpiece of an angel before him.

Such was his resolve, and yet… at the very moment the Seraph opened her eyes, the demigod’s grasp on his magic slipped.

No. It was forcibly taken from him.

Without warning, the Seraph convulsed and her divine powers activated, tapping into the magical energy in the area. This extended to the Reality Warp spell Galardos was channeling, which the angel forcefully commandeered.

Try as he may to resist her, the Seraph’s might was inexorable… and erratic.

Without the careful guidance of the demigod, the spell immediately went out of control. It was unleashed by the half-dead angel in its great and terrible fury, trapping Galardos in its wake as its channeling medium.

The demigod groaned in agony as the angel funneled the haywire spell through him, making the forest twist and turn into impossible shapes. Reality itself was being shattered, except for the ritual’s area where Alaiel had cast a Dimensional Lock spell.

“Agh!!” came the wolf’s telepathic cry, as she desperately fought to keep their pocket of reality from collapsing.

As for Galardos, he thrashed and turned to break free, but to no avail. The Seraph’s magic had latched onto him with an iron grip, and it showed no signs of stopping. If left alone, she would continue to drain him until he turned to dust.

“Missy! Missy, run!” Gromni yelled on reflex, but it was a symbolic gesture.

The forest outside Alaiel’s barrier had turned to oblivion — venturing there would only give them a swift death. Yet the wolf’s magic was about to collapse, and Galardos himself was on the verge of crumbling.

To Milla, the sight of it was surreal.

Ever since she first met him, the demigod seemed like the stuff of legends. He was strong and infallible, deflecting Milla’s magic like a morning breeze, or butchering her captors in a heartbeat.

But there he was, about to die in front of her at the hands of the angel he tried to save.

And then there was Milla not doing a damn thing about it, even though she’d been the one who dragged Galardos into the whole mess.

Seldom before had she ever hated herself so much.

“What the hell am I doing…?” she muttered, activating the implant on her back.

A burst of raw mana shot out around her, sending shockwaves in all directions.

Her body was shrouded in a dense magical aura, making Gromni and Alaiel shudder at the sight. Then Milla broke into a sprint, rushing straight at the angel floating in front of her and Galardos.

“KNOCK IT OFF, YOU BITCH!!” she screamed, lunging at the Seraph.

The angel looked at her from the corner of her eyes, but Milla didn’t give her time to react. She forced her way into the torrent of mana connecting Galardos and the angel, and just like the Seraph had done to him, Milla challenged her to take control.

Driven by instinct, the Seraph fought to repel Milla with all her might, and the two of them descended into an all-out contest of will. It was the simplest of competitions between two mages: a tug-of-war fueled by their channeling abilities.

Even without her wings, the angel’s pull was tremendous… but Milla had no intention of losing this time. After all, Galardos was right in front of her, and Gromni and Alaiel were just behind.

She had only known them briefly, yet they had risked their lives for her several times.

How could she possibly face them in the afterlife if she failed them now? Now, of all times, when she could actually make a difference for them.

“AAAAAGH!!” she screamed her lungs out, resisting the Seraph with everything she had in her. Then, before she knew it —

The link between the Seraph and Galardos snapped.

Released from his torment, the demigod fell to his knees and the angel plopped down to the stone altar. Unconscious, by the looks of it.

“MASTER!!” the wolf’s voice echoed in their heads with urgency.

“I can’t… hold it…” she continued, struggling to stay on her feet.

Milla and Gromni stared in horror as the Dimensional Lock began to crumble.

Whatever the angel did when she hijacked the Reality Warp spell, she had turned the forest around them into a travesty of itself. Even now, the outside was engulfed in a raging tempest of eldritch energy, twisting and turning everything at its touch.

If Alaiel’s magic were to falter, the entire group would die. Milla had no spell in her arsenal to counter something like this.

Faced with their imminent deaths, however, Galardos staggered up his feet. He mustered what strength he had left, and with a wave of his hand, he conjured a portal.

Gromni stared at him in shock, amazed that the demigod could use such magic inside Alaiel’s barrier. This portal, however, didn’t look like a teleportation gate. The other side was dark and ominous, hinting that wherever it led to couldn’t be good.

“Get inside! Quickly!” Galardos urged them.

Braving her fears, Milla rushed over, and Gromni picked up the angel in his arms before racing after her.

Betty charged through, bleating in panic, and Galardos followed afterwards.

Then Alaiel, before crossing herself, used telekinesis to toss one of the abductors’ bodies inside.

The moment the wolf crossed the portal, the Dimensional Lock crumbled and everything it protected was overrun: the forest, the altar and all the bodies left behind, lost forever to the warped space.

And behind them Imrath howled, a fresh wound gouged upon its surface.