She had short, cropped hair, dark brown and practical for battle.
Her eyes were deep and shadowed, burning with an intensity that spoke of unwavering, almost divine fury.
Her skin was lightly tanned, marked by wind and sun, and her features were delicate yet unyielding, a reflection of strength honed through suffering.
She wore armor that had weathered countless battles, bearing the worn but sacred markings of an ancient order of the Church.
In her hand, she carried a sword that was more than a weapon, it was a relic of divine purpose.
The polished silver edge gleamed, alive with reflected light, yet it carried the weight of centuries, as old as scripture itself.
Etched along the fuller were five intricately carved crosses, each a silent witness to prayer, sacrifice, and judgment.
When she saw my expression, she tilted her head slightly to the left. "Are you wallowing in despair?"
Her voice was even, yet laced with a divine authority that made my own despair feel insignificant.
She stepped forward, burning through time and space as if the world itself obeyed her will.
Her hands lifted my chin, and in that touch I felt the weight of judgment and grace intertwined.
"You are brave. I pray you reach His kingdom," she whispered.
Her voice was pristine, holy, a melody that turned the earth beneath me into dirt, my presence into shadow.
She was beautiful, unlike any other I had ever seen.
Every line of her figure, the structure of her bones, the curve of her features, perfect, unyielding, radiant.
And yet her words, meant to soothe, only deepened my despair.
She exuded a force, an aura that encompassed everything in its radius.
Madikai could slay demons, could obliterate worlds, yet she was something entirely different.
She was a force of nature, relentless and singular, caring for nothing but the execution of her mission.
"Do you believe your actions are just?" I asked, tears burning my cheeks.
She exhaled, slow and certain. "The means justify the end. There is light. All who have died will return."
I clenched my teeth. "Is that why you can slaughter children, strike me down with such ease? Because we will come back?"
She shook her head. "I believe in the resurrection of self. I died, and was reborn."
The revelation hit me like ice in my veins.
Not only did they plan to kill every last one of us, they planned to revive us. I could only imagine the darkness behind such a design.
"Don't tell me…"
She released my face with a graceful gesture and rested her hand on her sword.
"Once you are reborn, He will grant us the mercy of Heaven once more. Its holy light… indescribably beautiful."
This wasn't a war. This was a massacre, a genocide masked as salvation!
They would slaughter humanity and beasts alike, only to resurrect us and deliver us into a divine judgment.
The absurdity was staggering, yet horrifyingly coherent. I understood now why they fought with such zeal, why they died without hesitation.
The means would indeed justify the end.
I looked around. Every being on this island, every soul present, felt the gravity of her power, and a part of me burned away.
"Noah was right," she whispered. "I should forfeit humanity's mercy… they never choose the right path."
It was the near end of my existence.
Madikai had sacrificed himself to bring me back, and all I could do was succumb once more.
I closed my eyes. "I hope… I hope I will see him again."
A voice answered, but it was not the voice of holiness. It was darkness incarnate. "Do not hope. That is for the weak. Instead… take!"
My eyes flew open as two women collided with terrifying might, a force capable of shattering not just this world, but all worlds.
I crawled back, gripping the crown atop my head as the woman who had saved me was flung backward.
Silver hair streaked with black and white shone against the cold landscape.
"Ni-Nicole!" I breathed, disbelief choking me.
She leapt back, fixing me with a gaze filled with equal parts disgust and resolve. "Go!"
I wasted no time.
My legs moved with a speed foreign to me, crashing into the snowy mountains without pain, as though my body had been severed from ordinary sensation.
Below, people wearing scarves stared up in confusion, their lives irrelevant to the chaos of power around me.
I leapt again, faster than reason could follow, and in an instant I found myself on a distant, desolate planet.
Ash and stone stretched endlessly, the remnants of a lost civilization whispering secrets of ages past.
I lay back on the barren ground, staring at the dark sky, and I cried.
I cried because, even with all my power, I was still weak.
And that weakness, that failure, had cost someone I loved with all my heart their life.
***
[Nicole Anstalionah.]
It was overbearing, the intensity of her gaze.
I had heard whispers of travelers from another world entering this one, and now I knew the truth.
I, along with countless others, was about to witness an existence unlike any I had known.
I stood tall as a massive white ribcage wrapped around my form like living armor, shielding the dark black cloak that draped over me.
The contrast was stark, light and darkness intertwined, a reflection of the tense moment before me.
"Who might you be?" I asked, curiosity forcing its way past caution.
She drew in a deep breath, the heat around her momentarily waning. "I am Jeanne la Pucelle."
The instant her name touched my ears, flames erupted deep within my soul, threatening to consume me.
Only through the sacrifice of a vast portion of my mana was I able to quell them, replenishing the spiritrons she had burned away.
This woman was dangerous, my foolish little brother would not survive a single moment against her.
"I do not wish to kill you," I said, my eyes narrowing with resolve. "But I will if I must. I will give you one chance to bow."
She raised her sword, and a pure, holy light radiated from it, so brilliant it made the air itself shiver.
"I bow only to the Son, the Father, and the Holy Spirit," she said.
She lowered her blade, and from the sky fell flames of retribution, raining down like divine judgment.
Winds roared from beneath, blocking the inferno with effortless grace.
"You are no match for me," I said, my voice tight with barely restrained force. "So why do you fight? What is it that drives you?"
Her gaze remained indifferent, yet she revealed one truth I had long sought.
"I wish only for you, and all others, to submit to the light," she said.
There was a faint sorrow in her tone, a quiet grief that spoke of something irretrievably lost. "Humans… they always choose wrong."
She lifted her hand with deliberate grace. "A spell created by Noah. I do love that old man… This is Ark."
The words themselves carried power, and in an instant, a grand manifestation took form.
Before me, a colossal ark of pure, radiant light emerged, its holiness so overwhelming it seemed to pierce the very air.
Yet, almost immediately, Jeanne added her own touch, a subtle flare of her essence woven into the spell.
The ark ignited, burning with an intensity that blurred the line between creation and destruction.
It surged toward me with terrifying speed, a force I could barely register. There was no time to react.
My body was crushed under its weight, ribs splintering, my form violently hurled into the air.
The ark curved with unnatural grace, then detonated mid-flight, sending a shockwave that shredded my cloak into tatters and scorched my skin.
I landed on my knees, coughing violently, each breath tasting of blood and ash.
She approached slowly, her steps deliberate and unhurried, yet the light around her was absolute, inescapable.
A beam of radiant brilliance fell upon my shoulder, blessing me with effortless authority.
She forced me to my feet, her presence a command that left no room for defiance.
"What's wrong?" she asked, her tone almost playful, almost tender. "Do you enjoy the smell of sand?"