(21 years ago)
The forest was huge, thick, and primal. Its canopy was ruled by giant banyan, ash, buxus, giant sequoia, sitka spruce and various monstrous trees. The forest was ancient as not a shred of sunlight could peek through the canopy. One could not even tell if its day as the forest looked darker than any moonless night. Coiling branches drooped from the occasional tree, and a variety of illuminating flowers, which was the only light source one could find in the forest, caught attention in the otherwise green scenery.
A clamor of beastly noises, predominantly those of varmint, echoed in the air and formed a chaotic orchestra with the sounds of a fight over dominance between larger animals.
"Arrrgghhhhhh" suddenly the scream of a young woman disturbed the ruling silence,
"Hold on dear, I will get you help" Another woman's voice could be heard after the first scream. In the light of blue fluorescent mushrooms and flowers, a girl lay on the lap of another girl. The girl on the ground seemed young and extremely beautiful but at the moment, mud and dirt soiled her beauty and the raven black hair. Her stomach had a bump, a bump that any woman would treasure with her life, her children. She was pregnant with twins. The girl holding the pregnant girl had tears gushing out of her eyes. She was holding the pregnant girl's hand tightly to help her fight the pain.
The pregnant girl was holding the girl's hand in one hand and holding a black sword in the other.
The two girls were other than Diana and Emelda. Twenty-one years old, they were Harrier and Erena.
"I can't…let them…take…my…sons" Diana grunted in pain. The words barely escaped her mouth.
"ARGH" Diana felt her twins kicking her belly from within her. This pain should bring her joy yet at the moment, it was anything but joy.
The pain she endured was so excruciating as the veins in her eyes popped. In addition to bloodshot eyes, her nose began to bleed. Emelda shuddered to see Diana bleeding through her nose and eyes, it was not normal during labor. However, the twins within Diana were two gods, God of Light and God of Darkness.
"ARGHH!" Diana grunted again as Emelda saw one of Diana's eyes turn completely white while the other turn pitch black.
"HELP US!" Emelda's scream echoed through the forest for miles. Yet no one heard her cry for help.
"There you are" suddenly a calm voice reverberated in the forest. The entire forest surrounding them gradually became brighter and brighter.
Slowly, three figures shrouded in white light descended through the dark canopy in front of Diana and Emelda. They radiated a holy light that made them look like deities. Soon out of the white radiance, several figures appeared. These figures were humans but wore cobalt blue armor. The armor completely covered them from head to toe. Each armor had glistening runes and engravings. Yet it wasn't the armor that would attract someone's attention, it was the wings sticking out of their back. They looked like angels.
"Angels, bring her to us" One of the figures who were shrouded in the light ordered the angels. The voice sounded robotic. Hence Emelda couldn't even tell if it was a woman or a man. She had bigger problems than finding out the gender of the figures.
The Angels rushed at Diana with a flap of their wings. While they were flying towards Diana, golden swords materialized in their hands.
"NO" Despite the excruciating pain, Diana grunted while picking herself up from the ground. She was kneeling on the ground while supporting herself with the sword in her hand.
Whoosh!
Among the twelve angels, one angel swung its sword at Diana. Although Diana knew it wasn't their intention to kill her, she would rather die than let them take her sons. When the golden sword was about to cut her in the shoulder, Diana deflected the golden sword before punching the angel in the face.
Cling!
The clash of their swords created an ear-piercing sound. Despite her weak state, Diana's punch had enough force behind it to send the angel fluttering behind. The angel left a trail of pearl white feathers along the way. The stumbling angel soon hit another angel and fell down to the ground.
The Angels witnessed Diana's power before, she was the best of them yet when they saw her fight in her current status, they were stunned.
"Argh"
"Harry!" Emelda shouted when she saw Diana clench her stomach with one hand. Diana almost fell onto the ground in pain but she mustered every single bit of strength she could to stand still.
"I…won't…let…you…" As she was grunting looking at the three figures enshrouded in the radiant light, another angel rushed at her. The three figures are still hovering in the air above her and looking at a pregnant girl's struggle without raising a finger.
Whoosh!
With a powerful flap, the angel dashed at her.
"ARGH!" Just as Diana wanted to evade, the twins inside her kicked her belly. The pain slowed her move down but her training and skill enabled her to evade the sword just in time before the golden sword pierced her chest. Although she avoided the major wound, the golden sword still cut her in the right shoulder.
The other angels also rushed at Diana from every direction. They circled her.
"Obliterenum!" Diana held the black sword in her both hands before stabbing the ground beneath her. The spell created a powerful beam of energy that knocked a few of the angels from the sky immediately. The energy beam produced by her sword glimmered in silver, not the usual silver but the mix of pure white and pure black.
Five of the angels lost almost all the feathers in their wings while the rest fluttered backward due to the force of the blast.
"ARGH" Diana felt her sons kick her yet again. This time, she fell down to the ground on one knee.
"HARRY!"
"Rrrr….run" Diana grunted the words looking at Emelda. She didn't know how long she could hold off the angels. Right at the moment, she was prepared to sacrifice herself to save her sons. She wanted to hold them off until her mentor arrived. If anyone could save them, it was her mentor.
Clenching her pregnant stomach in one hand, Diana picked herself up once again. Her legs were shaking in pain. She could barely hold onto her sword. If she wasn't pregnant and poisoned by her maid, she would have ripped the wings off the angels and sent them to hell. These angels trained with her but they were not at all powerful as Diana. Although they were all at the Core Formation stage including Diana, she had the strength to fight a Soul Refining Stage warrior head to head. She was a heaven-defying existence. Normal cultivation standards did not apply to her. That was what brought Skyhall's attention towards her in the first place. According to her mentor, she somehow inherited some of the energy particles of an Ancient God, Arrora. Even her mentor had no answer how she ended up with an Ancient God's energy particles in her body. The Skyhall was considered to be the most powerful existence yet even they knew very little about the Ancient Gods.
"Twinkle" Diana picked herself up while wiping off the blood leaking out of her nostrils.
"Twinkle" she stepped forwards towards a fallen angel. Since the angel lost most of its feathers, it struggled to stand up. Diana recited the poem to lessen the pain as well as remind herself that there's always light after darkness. The fallen angel struggled violently to dash away from Diana but it was too late. Diana stomped the angel in the leg, instantly crushing the bones beneath the armor. The armor crushing the bones let out a crunching noise.
"Little STAR!" Just as the word 'Star' escaped Diana's mouth, she plunged the black sword through the angel's helmet. Finally, the angel's frantic struggle had been stopped by her sword.
Diana slowly pulled back her black sword. She swung as the blood of the angel splattered on the ground. The black long coat Diana was wearing fluttered in the wind along with her raven black hair. Coupled with her bleeding eyes and noses formed a terrifying look as it sent a chill running through the angels' spines.
The remaining angels finally picked themselves again to strike her down.
"Smite her" as the angels ascended to the air once again, one of the figures ordered the angels. In a blink of an eye, the golden swords in the angels' hands disappeared. The very next moment, they all conjured a ball of the golden orb that had crackles of golden lightning dancing around.
"NO!" Seeing the angels were about to do something horrible to her little sister, Emelda ran towards Diana. The angels or the three figures didn't seem to give a damn about Emelda. The angels raised their hands above their heads.
"Eren…save…yourself…" tears gushed out of Diana's eyes. She wanted to hold off the angels until her mentor arrived except he didn't arrive. Diana wanted to kill herself before they took her alive but she knew if she killed herself, they would take away her sons. She was in a situation where she had no answer. If she tried to surrender, the Skyhall would kill one of her sons. If she didn't, they would kill her and her entire family.
Despite their threats, Diana was not ready to give up her son. She closed her eyes praying to the gods to save her sons and her family from the Skyhall.
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