Chapter 27

I hid somewhere in the alley where no one could see me. I was panting hard, trying to catch my breath after that long fight. Ever since I came to this realm, I haven't had any rest. But now, fatigue has caught up to me.

My vision was getting blurry. Everything was spinning as well combined with a strong headache. My body was sore and my feet were going numb. I don't think I could fight without resting. But resting means death. Who knows how long I will be knocked out if I close my eyes today. Last thing I don't want to happen is dying in my sleep.

I turned in the corner and found myself standing on a pavement road. From the distance, I could see a building that looked like a mansion. As I got closer to it, it didn't look like a mansion at all. More like a prison. What is unique about this building is that it is sitting on top of a hill surrounded by dead trees, corpses, and bones of those who have rotten. The smell was disgusting.

I looked around before entering inside. When everything was safe and clear, I went in. I entered the building and my guess was correct. It is indeed a prison. I shut the door behind me real securely so that no one gets inside. And since I don't have any magic due to these chains, I don't need to worry about getting detected by the angels or by the Rulers.

I stayed up for a few minutes, clearing the building before I rested. When I deemed it clear, my back dropped on the ground and the chains rattling echoed throughout the empty building. I stared at the ceiling, wondering what my next plan was. But tiredness has fully caught up to me. And slowly, my eyes closed by itself until all I saw was darkness.

After who-knows how long I was asleep, I opened my eyes. For the first time since I arrived here, I felt fully awake and energetic. I stood up and did my stretching as I always do whenever I wake up from a sleep or nap. Then after a few minutes of stretching, I began to leave the building.

I don't know what to do to be honest. I have no plans in mind. But I know my next target was. Somewhere in the Sky Castle, there is a military base hidden from the public. If I remember it correctly, they called it the Temple. Those are where the Heavenly Army resides. Now, finding it would be difficult because I don't know where it is. But at the same time, since I am raiding a military base, I need to save strength. So I disguise myself as one of them.

I walked around the crowd and blended in with them. But there were more soldiers in the sky and ground than before when I first arrived here. It looks like they are looking for me. As I passed by the citizens, I also stole some of their wallets with lots of money inside to buy myself something to eat and to drink. I spotted one delicious food stall. Damn the smell is good. So I bought it and ate it quickly. The food was roasted beef with stuffing inside it. It was so good I bought a second one. Also, their drinks were good too. It is different from our realm. Surely, they have lots more delicious dishes here that you can only cook in this realm.

I wandered around the Sky Castle to search for the base. But after looking for it, I found none at all. So I went back to the abandoned prison and made my plan from there. Since it was hidden from the public, I'm guessing there might be a portal that leads to their base. If not, then there is a chance that it might be inside the castle and it is located underground. But the second theory was far too sketchy for angels to be underground, so I went with the first one.

As I was about to leave, I felt an ominous presence behind me. I turned around and swung my staff without any hesitation, but it was blocked by a bare hand. A monkey? No… A human?

"Who are you?" I asked, trying to pull the staff away from his hands. But his strength was better than mine.

The human held the staff and swung it hard, sending me flying to the nearest wall. "First, you have the audacity to come here and lodge in my house. Second, you have the guts to use my weapon against me."

My weapon?

"Most importantly, I saw you fight a few days ago. You really did it huh." He smirked. "Not only you killed one, but two Rulers in the same day. Impressive, but not enough." I stood up and swung my chains against him. The chains wrapped around his body, locking him up. I dashed forward and smacked his face with my knees, yet he didn't budge. "That won't kill anyone in this realm, girl." He said. He broke the chains, making my eyes wide. The chains broke, but they were still cuffed on my wrist and ankles.

"What the heck? How…" I asked, puzzled by what I just witnessed.

"Don't be surprised. After all, I was the one who made it." The human said and he laughed.

"You made these chains?" I asked without lowering my guard down. I walked around him like a hunter watching its prey closely to find weakness.

"Of course I did." The man said. He cracked his neck and began to stretch his body. "You are strong, but not enough. You've been relying mostly with your magic, imbuing it in your body. But now that you don't have magic, you are relying on pure strength."

I gulped. "Yes. How'd you know?"

"After feeling that knee strike you just threw at me, I instantly knew you were weak." He said, making me annoyed at his remark. I dashed forward and threw a combination of martial arts against him. He didn't dodge but he didn't budge as well. Whenever I hit him, it felt like I was hitting a thick wall that can't be destroyed.

I backed away from him to assess the threat. "Who are you?" I asked to stall time while I analyze him and search for weakness. But I found none.

He laughed. "Trying to stall for some time? That won't work, lady."

I clicked my tongue and dashed forward again, this time, trying to speed my strikes up. I didn't slow down. Instead, as time went by, the more I increased the speed of my attacks to catch him off guard. But he still didn't budge at all. "What are you even made of?" I roared, kicking him on his face. He didn't budge nor feel pain.

"Don't tell me this is all you've got? Come on. Have you been fighting with luck? With a brain? Or with strength? Which one." He mocked. "In war, you can only fight with one. So choose your damn weapon."

"Shut up!" I roared and punched him in his guts. Yet he didn't budge again. After many tries, I was getting tired already. So I gave up.

"Giving up now?" He asked.

I laughed at his mocking. "I can't even make you move. What makes you think I could win?"

Silence filled the air around us. After a few minutes of dead silence, he spoke. "You are strong. But you just don't know how to use your raw power."

I looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"You see, when you fight with magic, you imbue your body with mana that boosts your power. So when you hit someone, the damage is great because not only do you damage them from the outside, but you also damage them from the inside thanks to the mana you used." He taught. "But raw power is different. You damage them only outside. But with enough strength, you can also inflict damage to their internal organs."

"The Rulers have a hard body." I added.

"Yes and no. They shield themselves with magic to make it hard. But in reality, they are weak." He corrected me. Then suddenly, I remembered the Ruler of Wind, how he was protecting himself with wind to make my strikes not hit him.

"You don't have magic at all." I said after looking at the chains around his ankles and wrist. "But how come you have a hard body?"

"You flex your muscles." He said.

"Flex your muscles?" I asked, confused.

"Yes. The more muscles you have, the more sturdy they are if you flex them." He added. "By flexing them, you are making your body hard as an iron."

I tried to flex my muscles. It hurts. And I don't think it is supposed to hurt. "Why does it hurt?"

"Because this is your first time flexing them." He said. "You got muscles already. You just need to keep flexing them to make them get used to being hard."

"So, by flexing my muscles, I can be unstoppable?"

He laughed. "No. It depends. If you have a weaker opponent, they can't damage you. But if you have a strong one, they inflict damage to you by half."

"What do you mean by half?"

He thought about what to say for a moment. Finally, he spoke again. "Imagine a paper. If you punch a paper, it would fly and crumple. Now add a cement behind the paper. Punch it again and it would be hard. It won't fly nor crumple. It is similar to flexing your muscles. Softening your muscles is the same thing as being like a paper with no cement. But flexing them, you make them hard like a paper with cement behind it. You get it now?" He asked and I nodded.

After teaching me for a few minutes, I finally asked him. "Who are you exactly?"

"I am General Kalgaron. The General of the Heavenly Guards. The one who used to be at the right hand of the Heavenly King." He answered.

My eyes widened. The General of those monkeys. He doesn't even look like a monkey. He looks more… Like a human.

"So you are the General that those Guards were telling me about." I said.

"The Guards? Oh! So you've met them. How are they?" He asked, smiling when I mentioned the monkeys.

"They surely miss you a lot. But they are holding up." I said. Then I explained to him the strategy we made to defeat the Temple Army, rescuing the General, and destroying Vivian and her Rulers.

"Good plan. I don't know if this strategy would be enough, but we will go for it." He said.

"I have matters to settle with Vivian. A very personal one." I said, my voice coming out as a threat. Kalgaron laughed.

"Very well. I also have some matters to settle with the Rulers." He said in a serious tone.

"What do you think?I promised the Guards to meet with them in a few days, and the day has arrived." I said to him.

After pondering for a few minutes, Kalgaron finally spoke. "Let's go meet with them."

"I haven't even found the Temple yet." I sighed. "So I don't know if this plan will work."

Kalgaron smiled. "Don't worry about that, young one. I know where the Temple is located."

"You do?" I asked

"Of course. After all, I destroyed it." He laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world. This man is crazy. But again, no wonder why Vivian got wounded from the fight against this guy. He is crazily powerful. I could feel it. His immense power is hidden behind those chains. If he wanted to fight with magic, surely Vivian would lose.

"Well then. Shall we?" I asked, ready to fight once more.

"Of course. Today will be the day to fight back."

And thus, the day has arrived for the rebellion to strike back.

This is the last fight. No more excuses.

This time, I'll find Vivian and kill her.