Footsteps compacted the snow as delicate bare feet jogged lightly through the wintry forest. There might have been a pitter patter, had the snow not muffled most noise in the small forest clearing. The only sound other than the crunch of the snow was the rustling of the cloth gown on her body. She panted lightly in exertion – physical fitness was not her forte – as she was tailed by the enemies behind her.
The demonic fiends were chasing her, and to a casual observer one may believe that she was in danger. After all, she was a seemingly unarmed angel wearing nothing but a simple sleeveless, yet modest white gown that ran the length of her body to the knees. She wore no kind of shoes or boots, nor did she wear a hat. She wielded no weapon, but she didn't need one. After all, she was protected by the unyielding light of God.
Whispering a brief prayer over the course of three seconds, she turned and directed God's wrath towards the lesser demons that followed her. She stopped running as the beasts were engulfed in a holy flame and burned to a crisp. Smoldering corpses were all that remained of the imps that were chasing the angelic girl.
She had been killing these demons for well over half an hour. Her halo was engulfed in the very holy fire that she had been weaponizing only moments ago and her eyes were glowing with a golden hue that matched her perfectly straight, golden-blonde hair. Her feathery wings flared out as the blessings of God projected physically upon her body and spirit. A resolute smile was focused on the dead abominable creatures and her bright blue eyes seemed to sparkle.
Truth be told, she could smite these horrible bastards all day, but she had a specific goal in mind. The one in charge of the demons that were assaulting these once-tranquil woods was at large, and what kind of angel would she be if she let such a bastard roam free? She would see the cruel demon's head on a pike if it was the last thing she did. Luckily, she was nearing the edge of the forest, so she had to be getting close to the enemy.
The snowy grounds slowly transitioned to a scorched battlefield. It was still cold, sure, and the snow was still falling, but the ground itself seemed to be corrupted to the point that any snow that touched it melted into demonic flames and the grass that once likely covered this beautiful clearing in the summertime was also incapable of growing. Truly, the very world itself was being corrupted and only an angel's touch could purify it. However, before that, the angel had a more important task.
"Your blood will be desecrated by the beautiful unholy flame!" the demon lieutenant called out as she charged the angel from behind. Her scaled skin was a charred grey hue and her blood-red eyes were literally aflame with hellish black fires. She was wearing a skin-tight leather doublet that revealed a not-so-modest amount of cleavage and every curve that her voluptuous body was blessed with. Her long, black hair reached her ankles and she had a long, thin scar horizontally across her face. She wielded an unholy spear that had the look of a metal staff with two black blades – one on either end. The blade exuded an unholy aura and it was chipped and charred from countless battles. Blood caked the handle of the staff, creating a grip that shouldn't have worked as well as it did.
The blow from the tainted demonic spear was barely dodged as the angel ducked and rolled to the left. No words were given by the angel as she steadied into a combat stance and said a quick prayer for a blessing of protection. Her halo's shine intensified, and her radiance grew exponentially. The demon lieutenant, however, wasted no time as she charged in with a wide swipe of her weapon. The angel dropped to her back and slid under the legs of the demon as she avoided this blow as well.
Miraculously, she was surviving thus far, but she knew her luck would run out. She was a priestess, she wasn't meant to be fighting in close combat. She had been able to simple call upon the power of God to obliterate the lesser demons from a distance, but this being was far more powerful than the imps and other smaller demons that she had managed to fight before. At most, her power to smite the demonic hordes would be able to cause physical pain to this opponent, sure, but it wouldn't outright kill her so easily, and she couldn't afford to lower her guard like that against this foul thing. She hadn't known what to expect, but she mentally cursed herself for not being better prepared or recruiting some allies.
She conjured forth her wings once again and used her angelic power to uplift herself to her feet and twist to face the lieutenant. Her right hand followed her body in the twist in a slicing motion and a blade shaped burst of holy energy was released and slashed at the monster, but the fiend blocked it with a swirl of her accursed blade. The angel panted as the beast approached slowly, with her blade held at the ready.
She wasn't entirely sure how she would stand up to the beast, and she was quickly approaching her limit. Just as she was beginning to consider running away, however, she saw a new form of hope manifest before her. Another demon, this time appearing more human-like, charged into the battlefield with a sword of obsidian and blackened steel shield. The demon's long, wavy red hair was halfway down her back and her red demonic eyes were in a cruel gaze upon this evil lieutenant. Her large breasts seemed to struggle against the armor that was holding them back and her curvy body left little to the imagination, despite the lack of skin shown by her armor - a simple set of black plate-mail greaves with a matching breastplate and gauntlets. The armor was unsullied, so it would seem that she wasn't very experienced in the art of war, but her skill told another story.
She was obviously quite adept at slaying demons, apparent from the way her blade riposted through the spear and managed a few glancing blows upon the foul temptress. On the occasion that her shield failed and she herself succumbed to the opponent's spear, the angel managed to call upon the grace of God and heal the newcomer's wounds.
All in all, the two were making quite a good team, considering their polar opposite allegiances. Contrary to common expectations, this red-headed demon was in fact an ally of the angel in this case. While the two had never met prior to this, the demon girl was actually a part of a faction of demons that had reluctantly united with the angels for the purpose of stopping their former masters and their destructive plans that extended even to Hell itself.
The blades sang a song of promised victory and defeat, and the two warriors seemed to be in a dance of imminent death. One would fall, that much was certain, and each demon was determined to bring that death upon her opponent. Both blades bit into skin time and time again, but one of the demons had an advantage: an angel healing her wounds. It took time, but the outcome was truly predictable since the redheaded demon joined the fray. With a final slash of her serrated blade, she bisected the opponent diagonally with all the strength she could muster. Blood and bone coated her blade and splashed to the ground. As soon as the monster fell, the angel cast a holy spell of purification upon the ground, both purifying the ground they walked upon and incinerating the unholy corpse before her.
The angel and demon shared a look and the demon offered a nod with a thumbs-up and wink, and the angel returned with a radiant smile of her own. Suddenly the two were assaulted by a bright light.
Prologue Complete!
Level up!
Gained one skill point!
New Friend Request: Archdemon003
Gabriel yawned into her hand and took a long swig of the half-empty two-liter soda on the floor next to her laptop. She rolled to her back and scratched her belly before squinting at the screen.
She was currently playing a brand new MMORPG on launch day, and, like always, she had decided on a priest character. She played as a healer in all of her favorite MMO's, and this one was no exception. Her race was Angel, her class was Priestess. It was easily her favorite archetype and she loved the feeling of healing her allies and receiving all their adoration and praise. Something that she never grew to enjoy, however, was the leveling experience that comes with a brand new priest character. It was no secret that priests were squishy and dealt little to no damage.
During her unfortunately slow initial leveling process, however, Gab had lucked out, encountering a character that was on the same quest as her. Even more luckily, the character's race was Demon – so her evasion and endurance skills were higher than normal – and her class was Warrior – so she could use heavier equipment and was literally designed to fight in melee combat. The Demon Warrior had charged in enthusiastically and Gab had healed her through the fight.
The two had overcome the mini-boss and the quest had been completed. The end of the quest had triggered a portal that transported the two to their respective capital cities (The Sanctum of Insight in Heaven for Angels and the Obsidian Temple within the darkest pits of Hell for Demon characters) and they finally gained access to the auction house, class trainers, and job trainers. They also unlocked many social features such as friend lists and a group matchmaking tool for finding allies.
As soon as Gabriel had spawned into the city, she had received a friend request from the demon girl and she was definitely considering accepting it. It would surely help to have an ally that could tank for her in the speed leveling process, and the two may even form a guild. She usually formed her own guilds in MMO's, and this one would be no exception. The experience point boost would be welcome for sure. Opening the Social Menu in the game, Gabriel quickly clicked "Accept" and began typing a message to this other player.
((FallenAngel001: hey how r u))
((Archdemon003: Mwahahaha! I knew you would accept my friend request. Angels flock from across the Heavens and Earth to bask in the presence of I, the true Queen of Hell!))
"Oh. She's one of those players," Gab mumbled with a slightly amused chuckle.
((FallenAngel001: loser do you want to form a guild? ^.^))
((Archdemon003: . A guild? Why, of course! You should consider yourself lucky! For the honor of creating a guild alongside I, Satanichia, the greatest Archdemon of all realms!))
((FallenAngel001: im blocking you… -.-))\
((Archdemon003: WAIT! Please reconsider! I would love to make a guild!))
Gabriel was typing her response to the quirky role-player when the front door to her dorm was rudely opened and a hallway full of light furiously assaulted her eyes and she squinted as she tried to adjust to the brightness.
"Gah! What the hell!?" Gab shouted at the light in the distance. She couldn't see what was going on, but she had a good idea. Vignette April Tsukinose. That was the only answer. Vignette was Gabriel's absolute best friend. Neither girl really knew how they had become best friends, but it had had something to do with both of them being new to the city on the same day. Gab had been untouched by MMO's (pure, as Vignette had said) and she had kindly helped the Japanese girl to find her dorm room in this new campus. Gabriel, after all, was at least lucky enough to come from the European town, even if she was new to the boarding school itself.
Both girls had been excited to discover that they were in the same class at school. Things had escalated from there and their emotional bond had deepened. Now, a couple years later, they were the best of friends. Yet, while Gabriel did love her friend deeply, she had to stick to her theory that the girl was actually part-demon herself. Not that Gabriel necessarily believed in that stuff, but it was the only explanation for the cruelty that this girl showed on a regular basis. Forcing Gabriel to do her own homework? Making Gabriel clean? Coming into Gabriel's home right before bedtime with that bright light? All acts of cruelty. She was certainly the actual Queen of Hell that her new friend claimed the mantle of.
"Vigne, it's time for bed. Go home," Gabriel said in a monotone. Vignette sidestepped some of the trash on the floor of the younger girl's dorm and sat down next to the girl and her laptop.
"Gab, it's seven thirty in the morning. We have school," Vignette said in a frustrated tone. She should have been used to Gabriel's irresponsibility, but every time she thought she was growing accustomed to the ball of laziness, something like this happened. Vignette had seen her friend have all-nighters before, but this one was a new level.
"Can't be helped," Gabriel said as she sent a quick "gtg ttyl" message to her new friend, logging off and turning off her laptop. She crawled into her bed and yawned into her hand. Pulling her blanked above her mouth, she sighed in contentment and began to doze off. Vignette, however, wasn't having any of it. The unholy student pulled the blanket from Gabriel, ignoring all protests and threats. After all, when push came to shove, Vignette could be more threatening than Gabriel could even compete with.
After miraculously getting the slothful girl to roll out of bed and get dressed, Vignette prayed for some form of higher power to give her the strength to get through the day.
((FallenAngel001: gtg ttyl))
Satanichia McDowell stared with a blank expression at her character that was idling in the middle of the Obsidian Temple. The message had already faded in the flood of other players spamming the chat box with lewd jokes and early attempts to kick start the server economy, but the messages from FallenAngel001 were still running through her head. Truth be told, she had expected the other girl to refuse her friend request, as most others did.
She was, honestly, quite socially awkward. To say she could count her total number of friends on one hand was overstating it, since she literally had no friends. Having spent most of her life homeschooled alongside her little brother by her uneducated parents, she was quite socially inept. Her only meaningful social interactions had been in the various RPGs that she played in her free time. From Fantasy to Sci-Fi genres, Satanichia found herself quite proficient at the games and in her isolation, she became increasingly immersed in the stories.
Now, here she was, having bought her first MMORPG. She had longed for actual friends, and this was a golden opportunity to meet them. Unfortunately, however, the fake farce of overconfidence that she employed around her parents had been her go-to personality in game. She simply didn't know how else to best behave around others. Additionally, her love for single-player RPGs up until this point had caused her to inadvertently speak "in character" to other players. She had therefore been basically shunned by the common playerbase as early as the launch night of the MMO. She had played all night in an attempt to meet someone to adventure with across Heaven and Hell, but it had all been for naught.
Late into the night she decided she would simply give up. 'If I make it to the end of the prologue with no new friends, I'll just go back to my old games,' she reasoned. She had grown more disheartened as the quests ticked by. She slaughtered demon after demon and every quest reward killed her hopes little by little. Then: a miracle had happened. Satanichia came upon an angel character struggling against a mini-boss.
For whatever reason this other player had put literally all of her skill points in healing and buffs and had not leveled her combat skills in the slightest. Satanichia immediately charged to the Angel's aid. She was, after all, playing a tank build. Her and this player were completely compatible. The fight had went smoothly (albeit slowly) and the mini-boss had died. The end-prologue cinematic had heralded the full capability of this MMORPG and the realms of Hell were hers to explore, but she had other priorities.
In a panicked rush, Satanichia had found the other player's username and sent a friend request. After that, she had simply stared at the screen with her friend list open. Crossing her fingers and hoping against hope, Satanichia nearly jumped in joy at the ping! that accompanied the new (and first) addition to her friend list.
New Friend: FallenAngel001
The words they shared were a short, brief exchange, but it was the most non-familial social interaction that Satanichia had ever had and she couldn't be more excited. Nothing in the world could possibly bring the girl down from this high.
"Annabel, it's time for school."
Scratch that. Perhaps there was something that could bring her down. Her father, Dougal McDowell was calling from below. The man was as egotistical as he was unintelligent, but Satanichia had learned at a young age that the best way to avoid his wrath was to simply play along. So, whenever he called her Annabel, she simple smiled and carried on. Whenever he bragged about his upcoming promotion, she congratulated him and bragged about her own (made-up) achievements in school. That was something her father valued: bragging and pride in the McDowell family name. She quickly grabbed her blazer and backpack from her bed and made her way downstairs.
"Good morning, Father!" she excitedly greeted the middle-aged man. He smiled at her enthusiasm and nodded.
"Good morning, Annabel," he said, not noticing her brief wince, "Are you ready for school?"
"I am. It's time to demonstrate the superiority in intellect of the McDowell family!" she cackled maniacally. She hated this act, but it was better than actually verbalizing her insecurities and fears to her father. That certainly hadn't worked out the one time she had been foolish enough to try it. He accepted her act hook, line, and sinker.
"Mwahaha! That's my girl!" he said as he patted her lightly on the head, "Come, the class president can't be late!"
Satanichia simply let him have his moment and hoped she could find the resilience to get through another day in the hell that was secondary school.
