Silver gates lood ahead as they staggered back into Heaven. Harvey could barely rember how confident he’d felt standing atop Sweetie when they’d strode out those gates just hours earlier. Looking at the angels, bloodied and broken, all he could feel was despair.
It was a good plan, he ruminated. We did everything we could, and it still wasn’t enough.
[We just need the rest of Heaven to get on board. We won our fight thanks to you bombing the opposition all night. If the rest of the army follows suit, we can win.]
Maybe, but what then? At best, we manage to push them back with a few lions left to spare. Then what? Unless we kill a lieutenant, all we’re doing is delaying the inevitable.
[So what are you going to do about it? I’m not letting you give up, Harvey.]
I… I don’t know! This is all so different from our trial. Marcus thought he could walk all over us, so he stumbled into every trap I set. If he’d fought with even a modicum of tact, we’d both be nothing but bones by now.
[Maybe that’s what we’re doing wrong then. I hate to break it to you, but you’re not exactly built for brutal assaults. You’re a planner. A builder. Yes, Marcus walked right into Veils End even though your story that everyone was hiding underground was shaky at best, but I also doubt he thought a newly integrated Veilstrider could blow up the whole Outpost.]
And? I don’t see how that matters.
[Why don’t you do the sa here? Instead of charging in like a headless chicken, why don’t you build a few traps to even the odds?]
That would never work, and even if it did, it would only work once. The battlefield is too big, and all I’d be killing are conjured creatures that will all co back tomorrow.
[God damn it, Harvey! All I’m hearing are problems! We’ve got enough of those, let’s start finding so solutions!]
Don’t you think I know that? This isn’t so secret manifestation bullshit! I can’t just have a better attitude and wait for the solution to miraculously appear!
It was strange having an argunt inside his own head, but it helped keep his mind off the dents and scorch marks covering Steve and Tyler’s armor. They were likely the only G-Grades to participate in that assault, and their bodies showed why. Even with the angels doing most of the work fighting the Helltaurs, the two caught plenty of strays in the chaos.
Celeste called for everyone to stop just inside the gates. They circled up on the erald-green grass in the shade of a tall tree. Exhausted, everyone but her fell to one knee, panting after their desperate escape. It felt strangely familiar to the post-ga pep talks where the team mom handed out Gatorade and orange slices while the coach talked about perseverance after a tough loss. The idea was utterly absurd after everything they’d just been through, but it fit nonetheless.
“I… I don’t know what to say,” Celeste sighed, head hung low. “We fought well, but it just wasn’t enough. I’m proud of all of you. Even – no, especially – you humans.” Her eyes wandered over the squad, pausing when they reached Steve and Tyler. Both nodded in thanks, and she locked eyes with Harvey.
“Heaven usually finds that bringing the future faithful into battle ends in unnecessary deaths, both for the humans lacking experience and the angels trying to keep them alive, but you three have surprised . You didn’t run. You didn’t freeze when things got scary. We had your backs, and you had ours, and we’re all still breathing because of it. For that, I salute you,” she proclaid.
“Hoorah,” Adrian smiled.
“Ma’am,” the female sniper from before interjected. “What are we going to do?”
“For now, we’ll head back to our posts and await instructions from the Commander,” Celeste replied.
“You know what I an,” she urged. “Sothing’s gotta give. We’ve been scraping by for weeks, and I’m starting to lose faith.”
Harvey expected Celeste to get angry. To scream at the woman for stepping out of line. But, she didn’t. Her body slumped, too tired to maintain her usually exquisite posture.
“I wish I had an answer, but I don’t. The best I can give you is that the Commander is doing the best he can. Heaven has overco these odds before, and we’ll find a way to do it again.”
Beside him, Harvey heard his father whispering a prayer under his breath. It was sothing he’d done ever since Harvey could rember, but now it actually had an effect on his stats thanks to his new Profession skill. What he really needed to do was break out a Bible so he could speed up his healing and essence regeneration, but Harvey figured his father wasn’t just praying for the benefits from his skill.
“Am I right in assuming that Hell plans to make their move on Saturday?” Harvey asked the group.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringent.
“That is our expectation, yes,” Celeste replied.
“So we’ve got the rest of today and tomorrow to prepare. Have we thought about setting traps on the battlefield?” Harvey asked.
[No, Julius! It will never work, Julius!]
Shut up.
“Generally, I wouldn’t say our kind are particularly proficient when it cos to traps, but that might be a good idea if the Commander does what I think he’ll do.”
“Which is?” the female sniper asked.
“Create our own defensive line. Force the demons to co to us. Those gluthogs aren’t ever getting up again, so we’d be fighting two days' worth of Hell’s usual advantage plus the creatures we couldn’t kill today,” Celeste explained.
The exasperated sighs and downcast faces of the angels all around proved just how long those odds were. Harvey chewed his lip while he fidgeted with a stick he’d found in the grass. There had to be sothing they could do. Blowing up the battlefield might solve their imdiate problem, but the only long-term benefit would be a few extra levels for him. Maybe if the angels could stall long enough for him to evolve to E-Grade, he’d be able to kill the lieutenants himself, but their own level restrictions were slowly lifting as well. Their first priority had to be surviving until Sunday’s ceasefire, but what then?
Thinking of Sunday, an idea flashed into his head.
“What actually happens on Sundays? Does the barrier just appear at midnight and stay until Monday morning?” Harvey asked.
“Pretty much,” Celeste nodded.
“Hypothetically, what would happen if an angel were on Hell’s side when the barrier ford?”
Celeste’s eyes narrowed, looking at him quizzically. “Everyone, back to your posts. Again, I’m grateful for your efforts today. That includes you, Harvey, but I don’t need everyone to hear whatever crackpot plan is about to co out of your mouth.”
“I’m sure it’s a good one,” Adrian laughed, clapping Harvey on the shoulder before walking towards the teleporter. Harvey just smiled, waiting for everyone else to leave until it was only Celeste, Cash, and the Thorne boys standing there.
“Hypothetically,” Celeste began. “Any angels stuck in Hell on Sunday would be cut off from reinforcents and forced to hide until they could escape.”
“So essentially, nothing would happen,” Harvey clarified.
“Yes,” Cash confird.
“Why don’t the demons try to sneak in on Saturday night, then?” Harvey asked.
“They do. We keep guards stationed until the barrier forms and do an extensive sweep of the neighborhoods closest to the wall before enjoying the sabbath,” Celeste answered.
“What about the angels? Have you tried sneaking into hell? What if we assassinate one of their lieutenants when they least expect it?”
“Why would we? First of all, it’s not in our nature. Heaven doesn’t have assassins. We are righteous and holy warriors,” Celeste began, pausing when Harvey involuntarily snorted. “Secondly, we’d never manage to get close enough without being discovered. The second they saw our feathers, we’d have all of Hell to contend with, no backup, and no way out.”
“But what if we could?” Harvey asked, pulling out the suit and jewelry he’d looted from Varek’s corpse and three sets of the black tactical gear the sinner gunn he’d killed all wore. The succubus’s dress had been consud by Varek’s ring, but Cash might still have one from the demon he’d killed back when Harvey first saved him from the ambush. The clothing was all torn and stained with blood, but it was nothing a few rounds in the washer and a good sewing machine couldn’t fix.
“No. No way,” Celeste flatly replied. “It’s too risky.”
“Cash, you still have that red dress from the other demoness, right?” Harvey asked, ignoring Celeste.
“The red one? Yeah,” he rummaged around in his slipsack before pulling out a red silk dress with multiple bloody bullet holes.
“NO!” Celeste shrieked. “You expect to wear that… slutty thing? No way. Even if it wasn’t a suicide mission, you’d never catch wearing sothing like THAT!”
“I think the real issue would be our wings,” Cash said.
“Can’t we just dye them black?” Harvey asked. “I know it’s not ideal, but it could work.”
“That’s what you’re worried about?!” Celeste raged at Cash.
Still ignoring her, Harvey continued with his plan. “I can use the legacy aspects I looted from Varek to make ink to transmute your aura. Is that even possible? I’ll have to test it. Anyways, we dress like demons, sneak into hell, find one of the lieutenants, and take them out! Preferably close to midnight so we can book it back to Heaven.”
“It’s not that simple!” Celeste complained.
“What other choice do we have! Your own soldiers are starting to lose hope. I’m not saying the plan’s bulletproof, but based on everything you told , it sounds like sothing the demons would never expect. I’ll bet all the rit I have that while you guys are sitting in church all day every Sunday, those demons are partying it up. They might be so wasted they don’t even think twice about your feathers!” Harvey urged.
“It’s not happening. End of story.”
“Celeste,” Cash lilted. “ It’s not like I’m stoked about the idea, but we should at least consider it.”
“What’s there to consider?” she squealed, her voice going higher with every word. “If you four are so bent on getting yourselves killed, I won’t stop you, but there’s no way in hell I’m… well, walking into Hell!”
With that, she stord off, making a beeline for the teleporter back to Elysium.
“She’s probably right, but I’m willing to hear you out,” Cash said.
“For now, let’s focus on surviving Saturday. I’m still going to see if my Mom can fix these up for us just in case,” Harvey replied, putting the dress, suit, and tactical gear back into his spatial ring.”
“Ack!” Steve groaned. Harvey and Tyler soon followed suit, buckling over as radiant light erupted from all of their weaves. Leveling up was the last thing on his mind at the mont, but it seed the System was tired of waiting. This had been the bloodiest battle Harvey had seen since the last stand at the Hell Hotel, and Tyler and Steve had both killed more than the last few days of fighting combined.
Your class, Forgefire Arsenalist, has reached Level 54. 4 Vitality, 4 Endurance, 16 Wisdom, 6 Willpower, 6 Free Points
Your Race, Gilded, has reached Level 51. 5 Vitality, 5 Endurance, 2 Wisdom, 2 Strength, 2 Dexterity, 3 Willpower
He’d gained three Class levels and 2 Race levels all at once, an insane haul for soone approaching late F-Grade.
“Ahhhhh!” Tyler scread through gritted teeth, getting louder as the light bursting from his weave continued to intensify. Their father was clearly getting plenty of levels himself, but the blaze of glory coming from Tyler reminded him of what he must have looked like after blowing up 300 Ossari all at once.
Harvey rushed over just in ti to catch him after he passed out. Carefully, Harvey lowered him to the ground, moving him to lie on his back.
“Tyler?” Steve croaked.
“He’s fine. Out cold, but fine,” Harvey assured. “I’m guessing he’s got an evolution waiting for him when he wakes up.”
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