"Why did it have to be Adam?" Dean frowned. "Just because he has Winchester Family blood?"
"The testing for Apocalypse vessels is controlled by Raphael." Castiel looked at Adam, his expression complicated. "According to them, Winchester blood has a high compatibility with vessels for high-ranking angels. That much is true. But more importantly... Heaven is divided now. Raphael wants to use Adam as leverage to win over the neutral angel factions that are still sitting on the fence."
"Leverage?"
"Yes. After all, a controllable vessel with high compatibility means victory in the Apocalypse War. The human world is a very big cake." Castiel lowered his voice. "A civil war in Heaven is bound to break out sooner or later. Raphael is making arrangements in advance."
The room fell silent.
"Fuck," Dean finally said.
Castiel continued, "There's something worse. Raphael's faction has seen Eve's forces expanding too quickly and has given up waiting. They've dispatched a purification force. It will arrive in Grants Pass in three days."
"A purification force?" Sam asked.
"The angels' way of cleaning things up." Castiel's tone was grave. "They use massive holy-light bombardments to completely purify the entire city—everything in it, monsters, survivors, all of it—into ashes. They won't distinguish friend from foe."
"Without your balanced faction protecting it, the city can't be held at all."
Dean slammed his fist onto the table.
"Those feathered bastards!"
"We have to save everyone we still can before then." Sam looked toward the map. "But Eve's nest is too heavily defended. The previous three rescue attempts all failed."
"Then we hit the nest directly," Dean said. "Kill Eve with weapons forged from Phoenix Ashes. Once the monsters are leaderless, the rescue will be much easier."
"Too risky." Castiel shook his head. "Eve's power is so oppressive now that even