Angela returns

For Angela, this was definitely not a pleasant trip. Clearly, the man had no intention of letting her experience a journey marked by comfort, ease, and enjoyment. And for Angela, none of her three transmigrations had been worse than this one.

The first time, she was unharmed thanks to Li Lin's magical protection. The second time, although it was sudden, she returned to her original plane, and Angela took timely protective measures, so she was only disoriented. However, this third time travel caused Angela considerable suffering.

As she had predicted, the man's Power of Origin easily shattered the barrier between planes. However, Angela hadn't expected this journey to be so painful. The moment she stepped into the spatial rift, the little creature sensed immense pressure bearing down on it. Although unfamiliar with dimensional travel, its previous experience had given it considerable insight. Based on its judgment, this pressure came from another plane; it instinctively sensed an intrusion from a different plane and automatically activated its protective mechanism!

This makes Angela's work much more difficult.

As the Power of Origin of "destruction," its power and dominance are beyond description. Even the protective forces of a plane cannot stop it. What Angela did was to closely follow behind it, using this slight gap to seize her opportunity. It's like a person sprinting at 100 meters speed behind a train traveling against a strong wind. If he falls behind even slightly, the enormous wind will immediately and mercilessly drag him away, causing him to fail at the last moment.

Angela's risks were far greater than that. She could only follow behind on her own, but the destructive force did not distinguish between friend and foe. While ruthlessly tearing apart the protective barrier of the plane in front, it also released powerful energy backward. Thus, Angela's situation was not only equivalent to running behind a train, but could even be seen as sprinting behind the engine of an airplane.

The repulsive force of the plane, the influence of the destructive power, and Angela's focus on maintaining her speed rather than defense all contributed to the little creature suffering considerable damage. However, even so, she remained steadfastly behind the destructive force, unwavering. Regardless of whether the plane wall it breached belonged to Li Lin's plane, the little creature would never give up hope.

Finally, the beam of destruction completely pierced through the plane's defenses, tearing open space in an almost brutal manner and penetrating the Prime Material Plane. Attracted by Li Lin's Magic Power fused within it, it naturally identified Li Lin's direction, which was the truth behind the previous ambush on Li Lin —whether the man knew this beforehand and deliberately unleashed such a powerful beam of destruction remains unclear.

Following the destructive beam cannon, Angela returned to this world. She had no time to survey her surroundings; instead, she first folded her wings to withstand the final impact.

Because Angela had exhausted all her strength during the dimensional traversal, she crashed to the ground almost solidly. Fortunately, although the little one was disoriented from the wind, she still managed to spot the large, dark hole blasted out by the beam of light. This allowed Angela to narrowly avoid falling into the hole at the last moment; otherwise, she would probably still be floating in the air.

"That damn human, can't he just be normal for once?!"

Only after getting up from the ground did Angela have time to complain. She looked at her clothes with heartache; the black dress was now tattered and torn, and her wings weren't in much better shape. The power of the plane had left indelible marks on her jet-black wings, which were now completely torn in several places, with bright red blood slowly seeping out. It seemed that it would take some time for them to recover.

"Damn it."

After cursing that hateful man a hundred and eight thousand times in her heart, Angela slowly got up. She brushed the dust off her clothes and looked around, hoping that this was the world she wanted to return to, and not some other place—but so far, Angela had not seen any familiar signs.

This is understandable. Although Angela was also involved in the battle in the City of the Federation, the entire City of the Federation was almost completely leveled after the destructive power erupted just now. Even Li Lin couldn't recognize the city in front of him, so Angela naturally wasn't in much better shape. Although the enormous moon in this world is a very good reference point, the dense dark clouds that had been dispersed by the beam of destruction had now covered the sky again, so Angela couldn't see anything.

What kind of hellish place is this...?

Angela frowned, looking left and right, but she no longer needed to confirm.

A warm hand pressed against the little one's head and gently stroked it.

"How did you get back, little one?"

"Owner?!"

Angela was startled, and then she immediately jumped up and looked in the direction of the sound, where she saw Li Lin's figure.

For Li Lin, this was also an unexpected event. He had initially thought it was a sudden attack, but when he saw Angela, Li Lin was equally astonished.

She's back? She actually came back all by herself?

Although Li Lin had great confidence in Angela's power, he wasn't entirely confident she could return. Firstly, the little one wasn't familiar with interdimensional travel, and her magic was rather primitive, lacking the ability to traverse dimensions. Secondly, time flowed differently in the two dimensions; even if she could find a way back, it would likely take a very long time—perhaps hundreds of years might have passed on his side. Therefore, Li Lin had already decided that after ending this war, he would return to Earth to search for the little one.

Therefore, Li Lin never expected that Angela would return to his side so quickly.

You look quite disheveled.

Suppressing his inner turmoil, Li Lin smiled and looked at Angela before him, stroking her little head while gazing at the pair of incomplete wings behind Angela, a hint of tenderness in his eyes.

"Perhaps you need to rest for a while longer?"

"Of course, I'll eat first!"

The news of Angela's return immediately alarmed the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys, which was also unbelievable to them. However, Angela herself did not show any signs of missing her. After all, in the little one's eyes, she had only been away from this world for no more than ten hours and did not feel anything special. But for the people living in this world, not seeing the little one for several months made their feelings quite complicated.

Of course, what they cared about most was how the little one returned to this world and where she went.

This time, when faced with everyone's questions, Angela answered truthfully without any attempt to evade or evade the question, which showed that the little one was in a very good mood after returning to this world. After hearing Angela's experience, everyone was also somewhat surprised, as they had never understood the energy forms of that world. However, the fact that someone could so easily break through the dimensional barrier was truly unimaginable.

"The humans on that plane called Earth are truly powerful."

This was the first thought of the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys after hearing Angela's story; of course, Angela herself did not take this thought seriously.

"Most of them are just stupid trash and idiots; only a very small percentage of humans possess great power."

After listening to Angela's account of how she returned to this plane, Li Lin was secretly alarmed. As a user and Manipulator of magic, he naturally understood why he had been attacked after Angela explained the connection. However, Li Lin was also very fortunate that he was fighting the Godspawn in the City of the Federation at that time; otherwise, if he had been in Ringwraith City, it was hard to say whether those destructive beam cannons would have blasted the Ringwraith City through—that would have been a completely ridiculous situation.

But at this moment, in the United Kingdom, the situation is completely different.

For certain purposes, Li Lin did not kill all the Allied forces, but the losses incurred were quite severe. Of the 300,000 elite soldiers, less than 100,000 were able to return to the United Kingdom. Moreover, as if mocking humanity's folly, the swarming Scourge Legion then took back all the cities previously occupied by the United Kingdom in just half a month, turning them once again into temples of death and destruction.

This time, no one said that the undead didn't understand any strategy or tactics.

This battle not only annihilated the allied forces, but also dealt a heavy blow to the fighting spirit of the United Kingdom. The previously active warmongers within the kingdom fell silent, and the people no longer supported any acts of war. In fact, when the allied forces withdrew and the undead army launched its second attack, widespread panic arose among the people of the United Kingdom. Many believed that this battle had angered the Magic Empire, prompting them to deploy their army prematurely. Panic gripped the nation, with reports of people fleeing from various cities. Fortunately, after recapturing those cities, the undead army refrained from further action, which somewhat calmed the public's initial fears.

But the matter did not end there.

The defeat in this war was quickly brought to the forefront, and the mysterious man naturally became the first to be criticized. However, since he was already dead, blaming the dead was meaningless. But the officers who had miraculously survived did not escape this fate. Many members of the council and the public believed they had failed to grasp the direction of the war and had pursued pointless strategic maneuvers, leading to the deaths of many elite soldiers. Furthermore, the families of the fallen, incited by certain individuals, staged protests, denouncing the incompetent leaders and their reckless strategies that had caused the deaths of their loved ones. Therefore, to suppress these public outcry, the council ultimately had to sentence some high-ranking officers to death and remove many from their posts, barely managing to stabilize the situation.

However, it wasn't all bad news for the United Kingdom.

In this Allied battle, only Catherine escaped all criticism and blame. This was because, at the very beginning of the war, she had repeatedly expressed her opinion that rash advances were not a wise move. At the time, her opinions were criticized by the pro-war faction as cowardice, and they even concluded that this was precisely why women were incapable of accomplishing anything.

However, Catherine's statement was brought up again, and this time, those who initially opposed the war immediately gained the upper hand. They used Catherine's recent remarks to express their dissatisfaction with the foolish bureaucrats, while praising the great saintess's keen observation and undeniable wisdom. Many even suggested that Catherine should directly take charge of all military affairs to prevent a recurrence of the tragedy.

Furthermore, the fact that many soldiers and officers unanimously said during the final battle that if it weren't for Princess Catherine's return to aid them, none of them would have survived the encirclement of that terrifying undead army immediately propelled Catherine's personal reputation to its peak.

But one person was subconsciously forgotten among them.

That was Gabriel.

Although Gabriel herself did not approve of reckless advances, she was not Catherine, who could find an excuse to hide far away and protect herself. It was she who conveyed the mysterious man's orders and indirectly led the army to an extremely dangerous situation. In this respect, Gabriel herself could not escape blame. Many soldiers also questioned why the decapitation operation had failed, and why she was the only one among those who followed Gabriel to the center to return unharmed. Of course, it cannot be denied that in the subsequent breakout battle, the archangel did her best to protect the soldiers. After the soldiers broke through the encirclement, she didn't even have the strength to fly and collapsed to the ground. If Catherine hadn't rushed to her rescue, the archangel might have died.

Although she was largely responsible for the Allied forces' rash advance, she had done her best to protect most of the soldiers and ensure their escape. With her merits and demerits balanced out, no one mentioned her actions anymore, nor did anyone want to bring them up again.

However, Gabriel himself clearly did not see it that way.

"Gabriel."

Catherine pushed open the door and looked into the room. She saw the petite, frail girl kneeling before the statue of the God of Justice, praying softly. Gabriel had been like this ever since she was brought back here and awoke. Her once pristine white wings were now much uglier, many feathers scattered on the ground, revealing the bare flesh beneath. Although she heard Catherine's voice, Gabriel made no move. She didn't turn around as before, nor did she utter a single word to Catherine.

"The Temple has completed its review of the losses from this war, and the United Council will soon make a decision... Do you have any comments?"

"..."

Catherine was met only with a deathly silence.

"If you need anything, please call upon me immediately, Archangel Gabriel. Please do not forget that light and justice are always with you."

After saying this in a low voice, Catherine closed the door again.

But at this moment, deep within Gabriel's heart lay darkness.

Catherine was unaware that Gabriel had already communicated with the God of Justice after waking up. After all, she had many questions that needed answering, such as why the gods would send a chaotic and evil being down to help her in battle. However, the God of Justice did not provide a direct answer to her questions, and he seemed indifferent to the death of the mysterious man. But he showed great disappointment and anger at Gabriel's failure to uphold his duty and fight alongside the Godspawn.

This was something Gabriel couldn't understand.

She was an angel, and because of this, Gabriel's soul was pure and innocent. She believed in goodness and justice and obeyed order. Naturally, she would feel disgust and hostility towards the products of chaos and evil. In fact, judging from the situation at the time, Gabriel even felt that she might get along better with the Arcane Mage, since the other party was also an existence that obeyed order. Although equally evil, he was not chaotic.

However, the great god seemed unable to forgive her correct choice. He seemed neither to understand nor intend to understand Gabriel's persistence, which greatly shocked and saddened the archangel. After that, Gabriel discovered that the divine power originally contained within her had begun to gradually disappear.

At first, Gabriel thought it was a side effect of overusing her divine power, but she soon discovered that things were not so simple.

She has been abandoned by the God of Justice.

Gabriel didn't think she had done anything wrong, so she continued to pray to the God of Justice, hoping that the great deity would look upon her again and recognize her identity. But unfortunately, it seemed that things were heading in an irreversible direction.

Did I really do something wrong?

Gabriel stared blankly at the statue before him, his expression completely devoid of emotion.

"That idiot's choice was definitely wrong."

Sitting in the chair, Catherine smiled proudly.

"The God of Justice is indeed a bastard; he'll quickly discard anything that's no longer of use... So, you really have to think carefully before choosing who to follow, right, Nalu?"

"You are absolutely right, Lady Catherine."

The priestess who lifted her head from between Catherine's legs was no longer the holy and innocent girl she once was. Her face showed a greedy expression, and her eyes became hazy and wanton. At this moment, she was wearing a transparent silk robe that could barely cover her body, kneeling between Catherine's legs, sticking out her tongue, and wholeheartedly serving her.

"Your skills have improved again; you truly are a clever Weapon Spirit."

Catherine smiled smugly as she gazed at the girl beneath her.

"While it feels good with men too, it's still more comfortable with women... When your skills improve further, I'll recommend you to my master. Don't refuse then, okay? Otherwise, I'll be very angry."

"Of course, I would never refuse, Your Highness Catherine. It would be my honor to serve the great Arcane Mage..."

"However, I believe that the master does not need a worn-out woman to serve him."

Just then, a girl's voice rang out. Upon hearing this voice, Catherine immediately stood up, then respectfully looked at Angela, who had somehow appeared beside her, and lowered her head.

"Miss Angela, it's been a long time! Where have you been all this time?"

"I was just on vacation when I heard from you, Master, that you kept a Weapon Spirit, so I made a special trip to see it..."

As she spoke, Angela raised an eyebrow and looked at the devout priestess girl kneeling at Catherine's feet.

"Looks like your technique is pretty good. How about you make a couple of noises for us to hear?"

"Woof, woof."

Under Angela's watchful gaze, Nalu obediently rolled around on all fours, then raised her head and barked a few times. She then looked at her master with delight, her eyes filled with anticipation and longing for a reward. The strong young girl of the past was gone; in her place was merely another beast with a human form.

"Indeed, quite impressive. It seems you have a high level of comprehension."

Angela withdrew her gaze and looked Catherine up and down with amusement for a few moments.

"Well? Seeing her appearance, does it remind you of your former form, Your Highness?"

"Compared to you, I am still far behind. If I hadn't learned some magic from my master, I wouldn't have been able to proceed so smoothly, Miss Angela."

Catherine's face flushed slightly.

"But to be honest, I never expected that it would feel so good on a man... Miss Angela, would you like to try it?"

"For me, resorting to underhanded means is nothing but a despicable act."

Angela turned her gaze back to Catherine.

"We are women, so it's best to follow the rules of nature. Besides, speaking of gifts, you could set your sights on someone else and let me see your abilities... Compared to those two disobedient dogs around me, you're quite promising. Do your best and let me see your true strength. I heard from my master that your strength is not bad now, is it?"

"I will do my best, Miss Angela."

Catherine glanced at the Weapon Spirit still kneeling at her feet and immediately understood Angela's meaning.

After all, the fewer enemies the better, while the more slaves the better.