Broken Angel: Rising Demon

by I LIKE FEAR 1-2

The Age of Man, is over. The Age of Magic, is about to begin. A Demon stands upon the Earth. A beast, named goddess by right of passing. Darkness settles upon the Earth, will this goddess usher in a golden age for humanity? Or will she cast them aside to drown in their own sins? Behold the rise of the demon, and the Kingdom of Albion. (Sequel to Broken Angel)

32. 32: A World Devastated

Alright, time for the next chapter, hope you guys are all enjoying yourselves, let's get this show on the road.

First note, I'd like to say I'm sorry this took so fucking long. Please allow me to explain. This chapter I had to write twice. The first draft I hated so I rewrote the whole thing. So that pushed me back. The second reason this took so long is because I work in the culinary field, and with all the staffing problems going on I've been working 7 or 8 shifts a week for the past month or so, which has kicked my free time and my energy, square in the taint. So I'm really sorry this took so long, and I appreciate all the support.

Just wanna let you guys know that it doesn't bug me at all when you reach out to pester me about updates. I really enjoy that you enjoy it, so when I have people asking me when the next update is coming, it really encourages me to put some work into it, and get more done, so never feel nervous about reaching out to me, or even just dropping a pm to ask for clarification on some things or talk about an idea. Hell if you wanna talk about your own stories or story ideas, I'll happily do that too, so don't worry about annoying me, or bothering me, and I appreciate all of you who did reach out to make sure I hadn't been eaten by cats or anything. I really appreciate it.

A lot is going to happen in this chapter, so prepare yourselves, because it's a pretty big event.

Broken Angel: Rising Demon

Chapter 32: A World Devastated

-The Moon, September 7th 2000-

"Gods… what the hell!?" Naruko gasped in disbelief as a monumental red and white flash consumed the South pole.

"Shit! Shit!" Riley hissed, and quickly vanished in a flash, teleporting back to her mates.

"What's happening? What is that?" Sasuke asked, his eyes locked on the towering explosion.

Hashirama stared up at the cataclysm, his heart seizing in his chest. There it was, just as Luna had predicted. The apocalypse made real, and so soon after their victory over Toneri. Their joy had turned to ashes in their mouths, all would be for not unless something was done.

"Come, quickly! We must gather the others, and head back to the planet, we have to do something." Hashirama commanded to the others, breaking Sasuke, Naruko, and Hinata out of their stupors. All three offered him nods and raced after him as he headed for the hole in the moon. They had to move quickly, time was of the essence.

-Earth-

Riley appeared amongst her mates, having been able to see the event occur through her eyes all eight of them knew exactly what was happening, and were in the midst of panicking.

"Riley, what do we do?" Daphne asked, while Riley thought on an answer, wracking her brain about how she could stop what was happening.

"What's going on?" Itachi questioned them.

"The South pole just exploded, it's like Luna saw in her vision." Katie answered, earning surprise and disbelief from those around, like Superman, Green Lantern, Madara, and Shisui.

"What do you mean the South Pole just exploded?" Green Lantern questioned.

"I mean that Antarctica just exploded, what do you mean what do I mean?" Katie responded, a bit panicky.

"Quiet!" Riley snapped, her eyes shut as she ran through what she could do in her mind to protect her people. An explosion, and then a flood. That's what Luna saw, she could do nothing about the explosion as that was in the midst of happening, but she could do something to protect Albion from the flood.

"We need to head home, now! To Albion, and the Elemental Nations." Riley declared, addressing her mates and her comrades.

"You have a plan?" Artoria asked.

"An idea is forming." Riley responded, as she turned her gaze towards the people she didn't know. For a moment, her eyes held on Green Lantern, before drifting over to Superman. "The South pole just exploded, all of that ice will be melted in the blast, and the waves caused by it, will wash miles inland. Save who you can hero, protect those you love. If they are anywhere near the ocean, get them away."

Those not of Albion, who'd heard her, quickly began to depart, any of them that had loved ones near water, needed to get them out.

"Is there nothing you can do? With your powers, with magic?" Superman asked her.

Riley was silent for a moment as the veins around her eyes bulged out. She activated her Byakugan and extended her vision to the south. Her intent was to locate the incoming waves that she knew would be there. For only the briefest of moments, she noted how Toneri's memories allowed her greater understanding of the Tenseigan, and thus allowed her to control it's activation. She could now activate the Byakugan, without also activating the Tenseigan. It was a momentary thought, but it only lasted until her eyes caught sight of the waves racing out from the edges of a titanic explosion.

Blinding magic pulsed out of the explosion. Holy magic, ancient in way that reminded Riley of Excalibur. The explosion kept expanding outward, growing in size and intensity, and Riley's eyes pierced into it, extending into it's recesses as it grew.

At it's heart, she saw something, it was only there for the briefest of moments, less than the breath of a heartbeat, and yet she saw it clearly, in the blinding white of the explosion.

A towering entity, many hundreds of meters in height, something comprised purely of energy, it's shape was vaguely humanoid, but beyond that she got no greater details of it's appearance when it suddenly vanished. As the being disappeared, the expanding blast, halted. Then blast fell in on itself, leaving nothing but a massive dust and vapor cloud behind.

For a moment, Riley searched for the creature, but she could detect nothing amidst the near blinding cloud of radiant magic, that eye's like hers could see. The creature was gone, somehow, someway, it had vanished, leaving no trace behind.

It's disappearance stumped Riley, and left her confused for a moment. She felt Kurama growl, and grumble to himself, his own uncertainty clearly on display, and she also felt the Darkness shift, those it's movements were much harder to interpret.

Riley stared in silence for a moment before refocusing her attention on the waves, they were traveling at ludicrous speeds, nearly a thousand miles an hour, meaning it would take roughly twelve hours for the waves to travel from the South pole to the North pole.

"There isn't enough time. The waves are moving too fast. They'll reach Albion in about eight ours, maybe an hour less for the Elemental Nations, I'm not sure if they can be affected by this disaster or not, but best to be sure. I have to focus on my people, first and foremost, the best I can offer is to help people evacuate." Riley finally stated to Superman, bringing her hands together in a cross sign, and utilizing the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, summoning thousands of clones.

Riley's clones quickly swarmed off, each one headed for the southernmost parts of the planet, intent on doing what they could to warn or evacuate people.

"Thank you for this." Superman offered to her as he rose into the air, and began heading south.

"Don't thank me. A lot of people are still gonna die." Riley responded, not really addressing him, more so speaking to herself.

After several moments, she turned her gaze to her mates, they returned her stare, and after a moment they all approached her, as did the rest of her comrades.

"Let's go." Riley stated, using the Hiraishin to teleport most of them to Albion, while taking Gaia and Yugito back to their respective villages.

Riley dispatched more clones in the Elemental Nations to work with Yugito and Gaia to protect their peoples.

Sunagakure was far inland and in no real danger from the waves, but the Wind Capital was right on the sea. Neither the Lightning capitol, nor Kumogakure were close to sea level, but there were still towns along their coast.

Riley also sent clones to warn the Mizukage and offer what help she could, as she was one of their allies.

-Back in Albion-

"Alright Riley, what's the plan. I can see something forming in that head of yours so what have you got?" Daphne addressed Riley, as they finished gathering Artoria advisers, as well as Lucius, and the Round Table for a meeting.

"Tsunamis will strike every coastline on the planet, killing countless millions. There's no real way to stop all of the waves, and beyond that, the melting of the South Pole will raise the ocean level by dozens of meters. Coastal areas and lowland places will be completely wiped out. London will be destroyed, the Hidden Village, destroyed, most of our major urban centers are on the coast, and will be wiped out by the waves. The most logical answer I have is to raise the entire fucking island high enough into the air, that it isn't affected by the tsunamis." Riley said to them, her words carrying out through the room.

For several long moments, there was silence, when finally a member of the Round Table spoke up.

"Can you do that?" He asked, incredulously.

"Lifting up a piece of earth? Yeah, it's easy. The entire country? Bit more fucking complicated." Riley responded.

"But you think you can do it?" Artoria pressed her.

"Using Earth magic to stabilize the ground and prevent earthquakes. Earth Style: Mobile Core. Just gotta use it a shitload of times, I think I can make this work." Riley responded, voicing her thoughts, even as she was still refining the idea in her mind.

Silence filled the room for several long moments as people turned their gazes towards Artoria as she pondered Riley's plan. After several tense moments, the Queen spoke.

"Do it. Contact the Irish government, and inform them of our plans, if they wish to be a part of this, they have to accept quickly. Riley… do whatever you have to." Artoria commanded.

Riley nodded and quickly headed for the door, Madara, and Tobirama following by her side.

"You think you can pull this off?" Tobirama asked.

"I know I can do it. The question is can I pull it off in time, and can I do it in a way that doesn't level every building in Albion?" Riley responded.

"Any ideas on how to effectively pass your power out so that you can launch the jutsu on such a scale?" Madara questioned her.

"Chakra Receivers. A lot of them. I can use them to send Earth magic into the land to stabilize it, and all nearby buildings. Then I can use a literal shit ton of Shadow Clones and have them spread evenly throughout the country and all use the technique to the max they can pull it off." Riley answered.

"Do you know what that max is?" Tobirama inquired.

"Gonna send some clones to figure it out." Riley answered as she created a few Shadow Clones and sent them into Kamui where they could test the technique and see just how far Riley could push it.

Earth Style: Mobile Core, was a ninjutsu that involved raising or lowering a section of terrain. Usually the section was relatively small, several meters across at most, and it could be raised or lower dozens of meters. There weren't any technical limits to how big of an area one could raise, and how much they could raise it, it all just depended on the power they put into it. At least, Riley had never used the ability in such a way where she ran into a limitation of it's capabilities.

She needed to test it though. See how much area a single clone could manipulate and by how much. Than Riley would have to do some math to figure out how many clones she'd need and where to put them.

This wasn't going to be easy, but it wasn't the most complex magical act, Riley had ever come up with. Hell, if it worked, and she raised the whole damn country of Albion and Ireland, than perhaps she could do the same with cities, elsewhere in the world.

So with that possibility in mind, Riley set about working on this project.

Two hours passed, as Riley set everything up, moving as quickly as she could. Her clones reported back to her after testing the technique multiple times, doing their best to determine their limits with the ability.

Once Riley knew those limits, she set about getting everything ready.

After hearing about what was happening, the Irish were on board with whatever Albion was planning. Already the waves were washing over southern nations. Wiping cities, and towns, villages, and farms. Millions had died already, and millions more would die in the hours to come.

All across the world, Riley's clones along with various heroes rushed from town to town, village to village warning people on the coasts to head inland as fast as they could. In some cases, these heroes were left no choice other than the carry people to safety, which is what Riley's clones did a lot of.

In the end, it would be of little help. Countless people were still going to die, but something had to be done.

As she neared to finishing with her preparations, Riley sent out clones to collect any and all Albion citizens who were in the ocean around the country. She gathered them up and brought them to land, while Artoria made an address to the nation, informing them of what was coming, and how they were going to survive.

With the waves only an hour away from making landfall in Albion, Riley finished with all of her preparations. Clones were evenly distributed across the country, all throughout the British isles, from Ireland to the Hidden Village, from London to the furthest northern islands of Scotland, she made sure that all territory, officially under Albion's rule, were part of this.

By now the waves would be reaching the Elemental Nations, there Riley had plans to do much the same with the Wind Capitol to help spare it from the incoming disaster, as well as the Water Capital and even Kirigakure. Riley made sure that first and foremost, her friends, comrades, and family were all taken care of. That included the Delacours, who were thankfully in Albion, looking after Lucille while Fleur and Riley were away. Though during her preparations, Riley did go around to all of her friends and family and ask them about extended family that may live outside of Albion, and Riley sent clones to go and make sure they were safe from harm or even brought them to Albion. While she was doing this, Riley reached out to Hashirama, Naruko, and the others to also make sure they were alright and asked if they needed her to help anyone.

Naruko asked if she could help the people of the Land of Waves. Naruko and her team had gone there during their time as Genin of Konoha, and had helped the people escape oppression. Naruko had friends there, and wanted to help them if she could.

Riley accepted, and sent clones there to help raise the island and spare those who lived there.

All of the time she had, bubbled away in what felt like an instant, and she was finally left with little other choice but to begin.

Black Chakra receivers had been implanted in the ground throughout the British Isles, the Wind Capital, the Water Capital, The Land of Waves, and Kirigakure. Riley used these receivers to channel Earth based magic into the ground in the area, stabilizing it, and preventing massive vibrations from passing through the ground, which would hopefully stop buildings from collapsing.

While the real Riley focused her attention on that, her army of clones all simultaneously launched Earth Style: Mobile Core.

Albion rose.

It was an act that looked to be beyond possible. A solid wall of earth rose up into the sky, carrying upon it's back, the entire country of Albion and Ireland. To those upon the landmass, they felt their stomachs drop, but the world did not shake, or tremble, the ground seemed to hum and vibrate, but it didn't rumble. No buildings fell, nor was a person thrown to the ground. Those that had heard Artoria's address, and gathered near the coast to watch the event unfold, saw things beyond their wildest dreams.

The ocean fell away as the land rose up into the sky. All air traffic over land had been grounded to prevent anyone from getting hurt, only those that chose to stay outside of the boundaries of the nation were allowed to remain in the air, so several news helicopters got incredible footage of the land rising several hundred meters into the air.

By the time it reached it's final height, Albion now sat nearly a thousand feet higher than it had before. Like a great mountain of earth, the country now sat atop it's peak. Sheer rock face, now surrounded the country. Parts of the ocean were lifted up as well, but not much of it. For the most part, the country maintained it's shape. It now just stood on towering mountains of stone.

The whole process took a little over five minutes to reach it's conclusion, and when it did, the world suddenly looked very different for the Albions.

In the Elemental Nations, things were very similar, the Wind and Water capitols now sat on their own peaks, ensuring the cities were spared from the waves, Kiri was also raised, as were several villages throughout the Land of Waves.

-In Kirigakure-

Mei Terumi, the Mizukage stood beside one of Riley's clones as the village finished reaching it's zenith. The act of power was quite staggering though not the craziest thing the kage had ever seen.

"Wow, you did it. I almost doubted you there for a second." Mei noted with a smirk as the clone smiled.

"Well I wasn't certain I could pull it off. My homeland is safe, as is your capitol, and the Wind capitol, but a lot of places are going to be devastated. I don't envy the task you're going to have in helping the country." The Riley clone replied.

"The most important part is that we're able to help the country. Thank you for this. We are forever in your debt." Mei offered to her.

"Good luck, Lady Mizukage. I'll hand around to make sure nothing goes wrong, but after the waves pass, I'll depart." Riley said to her, earning a nod from the Mizukage.

-In the Wind Capitol-

One of Riley's clones stood at the edge of a cliff overlooking the towering wall of water that was rushing towards the city. The tsunami rose to titanic heights, nearly five hundred feet tall as it approached the shore. By Riley's side was Gaia who also observed the incoming devastation.

As the waters washed past the cliff's edge, the two stood in silence. Through Gaia's eyes, all of her fellow mates, got to see the tsunami race past the land below. None of them knew how far inland it would go, but they all hoped it would stop soon.

-Albion, a short time later-

It wasn't long before the waves finally reached Albion. Thousands gathered at the new cliff edge to watch as the sea rose hundreds of feet below them. There was a great silence among many of the onlookers, most realizing that this was happening everywhere, and that most people didn't have someone like Riley to save them. This disaster had shaken the world to it's foundation, and it wouldn't be for many days that people understood the true gravity of the situation and what had been lost.

The real Riley was one such onlooker, who stared down at the churning sea, as the English channel was swallowed up by the ocean. Riley had many clones racing around inland doing what they could to rescue people or divert the ocean. In the end, it may save many lives, but countless more would inevitably be lost.

"I'm going to find whoever or whatever did this, and I'm going to destroy them!" Riley snarled internally.

"The force of power behind this attack was gigantic. It almost seemed as if it was born of pure light, kind of like Artoria's sword." Kurama noted to her.

"It was him." The Darkness growled.

"Who?" Riley inquired to her child.

"This light. It was born of a precursor entity. Two came to this world long ago, but two could not exist here. The male was forced into slumber while the female spawned life. They are different, but they are the same. Giants of light." The Darkness responded.

As it did, an image flashed through Riley's mind, an image of a great cataclysm that befell the Earth long ago. A major impact with a massive solar body. And then another. Two catastrophic impacts at the dawn of Earth's existence. Through the eyes of the Darkness, Riley saw the two great entities. Beings of pure light and majesty, a male, and then a female. When the female arrived, the male faded, almost as if it was sealed away. And while Riley didn't know for certain, she suspected that the area where this entity had laid to slumber, had been buried under the Antarctic ice sheets.

"So this thing finally woke up. That was the power I felt. It's awakening destroyed Antarctica, and yet, it can't feel it's power anymore. It's almost like it was sealed away again." Riley responded.

"If it was sealed away, it was likely done by an outside force, most notably, mankind. Which means they were probably the ones to wake this thing up too." Kurama hypothesized.

"Damn humans! Messing with shit they know nothing about! If mankind was responsible for this, than I'm gonna find whoever set this in motion and make them wish they'd never been born." Riley growled with hellish intent.

While she cared little for the world, or it's inhabitants, her mates and friends did, and she knew this devastation would haunt them in the days to come. Riley hated when her loved ones were in pain, and always tried to do her best to make them happy. This would most certainty kill the mood for many years to come.

The devastation, the pain, the loss. All that the world would go through in the coming years… it would all weigh heavily on the minds of those that survived. Riley hated having that placed on those she loved, and if someone was responsible for this catastrophe, than she'd find them one day, and make them suffer.

-Elsewhere in a dark and hidden place-

"So it will soon be finished?" A voice spoke out from the darkness.

"Yes, the waves are soon to finish their travel. The opening act is nearing completion." Another voice spoke out of the shadows.

"The death toll is catastrophic, many nations will not recover from this. It is just as the scrolls foretold. Albion managed to escape without much trouble. The entire country was lifted into the sky. Truly a sight to behold." A new voice spoke out.

"Yes. Her powers are truly pristine. Albion has been saved, and in the days that come, there will be those that lash out at their survival. Human beings, by their very nature, are selfish creatures, and they will lash out at the Albions for doing everything in their power to survive. War is coming. The last of the great wars of mankind. That war will be the final sacrifice, afterwards, all will fall into place, and our plans may proceed." The second voice responded.

"All is going well. We need only way and observe as the world finishes setting up for the next act." The First voice spoke again.

"For now… we remain in the shadows. Our guidance is not yet needed. Only a few more short months, and everything will be ready for us to begin." The Third voice spoke out.

"And what about her? Her display of strength was unforeseen, she aided more than just Albion." The Second voice inquired.

"It's fine. Most likely an act of kindness for her bonded mates. We needn't worry. Everything is still going as planned." The Third voice dismissed the seconds concerns.

"Yes, all according to plan." The First agreed.

-September 8th 2000-

The world was in ruin.

Coastlines everywhere had been devastated by the tsunamis that had raced across the Earth's oceans. Countless millions were dead, and many more were left completely destitute.

Cities were swallowed by the ocean. Towns washed away. Farms were drown. Homes were ripped from their foundations and carried along the rushing waters.

'Why?' That was the question asked by all those who'd been spared the tragedy.

Why had this happened? What had caused this?

No one knew, and speculation was abound, at least among the Albions. If anyone knew for certain they'd yet to reveal that information to the world.

It was now a full twenty-four hours since the waves first struck land, and already, people were beginning to understand that there was no going back from this.

In some places, the tsunamis had gone nearly fifty miles inland. Massive parts of certain countries were completely eradicated.

Massive cities had been wiped out in mere moments by the force of the waves. New York was gone, Los Angeles was submerged. Most of Tokyo was now under water. Shanghai, Beijing, Sydney, Cape Town, Paris, Miami, Havana, Buenos Aires, Karachi, Mumbai, Rio de Janeiro, most of these cities were now heavily damaged, and in some cases, they'd been completely destroyed.

In one day, one event had caused the deaths of over a billion people.

Despite everything that Riley's clones had done, despite all the attempts of the various heroes who'd tried to use their powers to help. The strength of mother nature was just too great for humans to whether.

While Riley had focused her attention on helping those she loved and cared for, her clones did what they could to try and mitigate some of the damage. A group of clones had formed a massive Earthen wall across the Strait of Gibraltar, saving the Mediterranean, at least of the moment. This wall was nearly four hundred feet high, and stretch miles inland, and even now, Riley clones were busily carving seals into it, to reinforce it, and ensure the weight of the ocean didn't cause it to collapse.

Though it bought those areas some time, already waters were spilling over the Suez and into the Mediterranean sea from the South. Though it was a much slowly process, and ocean was still spilling in, and the waters would eventually rise, wiping out most coastal cities in the area.

Many people were rescued, but no one could be everywhere at once, and given how widespread the disaster was, there was no real hope of saving everyone. Those like Superman, and the Flash, did, and were still doing, everything in their considerable power to help people. The Flash had singlehandedly evacuated dozens of coastal towns, and villages, but he had his limits, and exhaustion eventually began to set in. The young man pushed himself as hard as he could, but he eventually gave out, and almost passed out due to fatigue.

Superman had difficulties determining where to put his strength and powers to use, logic would dictate to go where the most people were and help there, but he was a bleeding heart, and wanted to help everyone. He couldn't abandon people, even if it meant that more would die as a result. Despite their failures, Riley's clones had observed both men, and many other would-be heroes, and would later admit to herself that she was very impressed with their abilities, and their perseverance.

Many coastal countries were in bad way. Countless millions were fleeing inland from the devastation. Though the tsunamis had passed, the flooding was an ongoing issue as the ocean found spilled into it's new home.

It would be a while before everyone knew what the new ocean level was, but it had raised dozens of meters at least. Massive swaths of land had been lost now to the ocean, massive sections of territory that had once been usable land, was now gone.

The waves hadn't just been a problem for those on land. Out at sea, dozens of ecological disasters were sprouting up. Normally, tsunami waves were less of a threat out at sea because they were moving quickly and were more spread out, they may only be a few feet high, if that, and could be moving at hundreds of miles an hour, passing by so fast, you wouldn't really notice. The waves produced during this event were far more dangerous. Even out at sea they were tens of meters high, and moving at monstrous speeds. Ships were crushed by the force of the waves, basically every vessel out on the open sea was pretty much destroyed by the waves.

The big disaster though, were the offshore oil rigs. Those that were lucky enough to be in the right place, managed to survive the tsunamis, but many more were destroyed, causing countless millions of gallons of oil to begin leaking out into the ocean.

And unfortunately, there was no one around to clean up. Almost every harbor on the planet had been destroyed, and almost every industrial naval vessel had been as well. Only those ships operating far to the north had managed to survive, otherwise the only other places a ship could have managed was if it was in a place where surrounding land could shield it from the force of the tsunamis. It wasn't much, most of the world's naval power had been crushed.

Speaking of ecological disasters, there was another one creeping up on everyone. One that very few people knew, in Albion only Riley, her mates, and a few select higher ups in Albion knew of it.

-Antarctica-

Pillars of salt. That was all that remained of what had once been the South pole.

Stretched out for miles in every direction, all Riley could see were pillars of fused, melted salt, sticking up out of a churning red sea.

The ocean water had turned red, pretty much from the southern tip of Africa, south, the ocean had been dyed red. Riley couldn't tell what had caused it, but there was one thing she knew for certain.

Everything in the Red Sea, was dead.

"There's nothing left…" Kurama muttered, not really sure he believed what Riley was seeing.

For over an hour now, Riley had been staring out over the red ocean, trying to understand it.

She sensed magic within it, similar magic to that which had caused the explosion, but different as well. More natural. It was almost like the explosion had mutated the nature energy in this area, resulting in the ocean turning red.

A side effect was also that all life had seemingly been killed. Large patches of the Southern Ocean had floating islands of dead sea life. It was an absolutely haunting sight, one that Riley regretted seeing as she knew it greatly disturbed her mates to see kilometer wide swaths of dead animals floating on the ocean surface.

"This place almost looks… alien…" Riley thought to herself as she gazed out across the horizon. The red ocean, the standing pillars of salt, the eerie purplish coloring to the sky, it all made the area look nothing like the Earth.

"It's so strange. This place feels nothing like home anymore. It's unrecognizable." Kurama said with a sigh.

Riley most certainly agreed with that sentiment.

This event had done far worse than she could have imagined.

Countless millions were dead. Millions of gallons of sea water was spilling into the ocean at an alarming rate, which Riley had clones currently racing about trying to seal these wells shut, because the oil was killing sea life, and people would desperately need those resources in order to recover.

Now they had this red ocean issue which had no doubt wiped more than a few species off the face of the Earth, though thankfully, it didn't appear to be spreading.

The world was really in the shit right now.

As Riley floated above the red ocean, she felt a familiar presence lower from the sky near to her.

"Find anything?" Came the question from the Green Lantern.

"Nothing good." Riley responded, turning her gaze to the man.

"Well, I didn't come expecting good news. My ring can tell me a lot, but I'd also like to hear from you as well, get a different perspective." Green Lantern said to her, earning a rueful smirk from Riley.

"Some sort of being caused this. I caught a glimpse of it, during the explosion, but then it disappeared. I think it was angel." Riley said to him.

"An Angel? What the hell would give you that idea?" Green Lantern questioned her.

"I saw it. A being of pure light. The magic churning here is holy, in a way the reminds of other holy artifacts I've come across. I could be wrong, it could just be some sort of light oriented spirit or god, but I'm pretty sure I'm right." Riley responded, at she turned her gaze back out over the expanse of dead ocean.

A few silent moments went by as the Green Lantern hovered in silent contemplation. He then glanced down at his ring, and made a face.

Riley didn't need to be a mind reader to know that he suspected this was something angelic as well. No doubt his ring could pick up the same things she could.

"War is coming." Riley stated with a sigh.

"You seem sure about that." Green Lantern noted, turning his gaze back to her.

"The balance of power has been broken. A massive power vacuum was spawned by this event. It may not be for a few weeks, but people will eventually start fighting. It'll be bloody. I hope you've taken all those you care for and put them somewhere safe, because this is gonna get a whole lot worse before it gets better." Riley elaborated as she began to move, floating past him, as she spoke.

"I saw what you were able to do for the Albions, for your people. Some will wonder why you didn't try to help others." Green Lantern stated, turning his eyes to her back.

"I did plenty for them. I saved a lot of people, who weren't Albions. It took a lot of focus and preparation to do what I did with the Isle of Britain. Besides all of that, I'm not a hero. I'm not interested in being people's savior. All I care about is protecting the people that I love. The rest of the world, is a distant concern." Riley responded, still staring off. Green Lantern continued to stare at her for several long moments, taking in her words and realizing something as he did.

The way she spoke, reminded him of someone. It reminded him the dark being that called itself Venator. Pieces quickly fell into place as that thought struck him. Riley Uchiwa was known to have a demon sealed inside of her, she'd admitted to it on television. Everything came together as Green Lantern suddenly realized that the two had to be one and the same. The reason why Venator was able to defy it's nature as a destroyer and conqueror was because it wasn't a demon. It was a human with a demon sealed inside of it.

"What'll you do now, Venator?" John asked, testing his theory.

Riley was silent for a moment before glancing over her shoulder at him, and letting out a chuckle.

"You're good. Figured that out after only four meetings. I must be getting rusty." Riley noted.

"Put some of the pieces together. They seemed to fit. What'll you do now?" John replied, watching her closely.

"Depends on how the world reacts. But I have a feeling this is going to get worse long before it gets better." Riley responded with a shrug.

"I don't understand you. You'll kill people like their lives don't matter, and you'll save people, without any gain for yourself." The Green Lantern stated.

"I'm not a hero. If people hurt those I love, I'll kill them. If a see a person in need, I might decide to help them. Then again, maybe I wont. I was taught from a young age to fend for myself. I was taught to be a survivor. Dead today or dead tomorrow, some people can't learn those lessons. I could have sent millions of clones out over the world to try and rescue people, and most of the people I saved, would be dead within a week. Look around you. Everything is dead. Billions of lives were just extinguished. How many people relied on the resources of this ocean in order to survive? How many farms were wiped out? How many lakes and reservoirs have been tainted by sea water and debris spilling into them? How much sea life was wiped out by this event? Most people rely on the sea in order to survive. Within a few days, resources will run out, and people will start fighting. At best, it'll be anarchy, at worst, war. A lot of people died yesterday… and they're the lucky one. Those that lived, now have to endure this hell." Riley said back to him, explaining how her mind worked, and how she saw things.

Green Lantern was silent as he took in her words and reflected on what she was saying.

She was right, the world was in a desperate place right now, and countless people were still in harms way. There would be plenty of suffering in the years to come. So from a cold, detached, pragmatic sort of way, he did understand what she was getting at. His morals would never allow such decisions though. He would save whoever he could, whenever he could, but he at least understood her a bit better.

"Tomorrows a new day though. Maybe I'll be proven wrong and people will come together in song and sing the woes of the world away. I doubt it, but maybe it'll happen. Maybe a solution will be found come the dawn of a new day, and I'll regret not saving more people. There are plenty of maybes in the world, but I tend to live by what I know. People come together in the face of tragedy, but togetherness only keeps people kind for so long. Eventually… desperation begins to kick in. I hope it doesn't, but I'm not naive enough to believe it wont. I'm heading home now. I've seen all I needed to. Keep my earlier warning in mind, hero. Keep away from my loved ones, and you'll have nothing to fear from me. That goes the same for humanity." Riley finished up, offering him a few parting words before shooting up into the sky, and heading back towards Albion. She wasn't all that worried that the man had discovered her secret identity. It's not like it really mattered anymore. Not with everything that had happened.

As she made her way home, she reflected on the nature of the situation, and the creature responsible. Something ancient, something that had come to earth before even the Juubi had.

She was still trying to find a way to properly explain that to her mates, and her family, at the moment, she didn't quite know how she'd address their questions, and with everything going on, she chose to wait on having that conversation, but she knew she'd need to soon.

-September 9th 2000-

Rescue operations were underway in almost every part of the world. Already, major refugee crisis were erupting all around the globe. Millions of people had run for safety wherever they could, many even crossed borders into neighboring nations to get away from the devastation.

This didn't sit well with some nations, especially if they were also bordered by the sea. People in power were beginning to take stock of their own resources and what they had to work with. Some nations were absolutely devastated, losing most of their populations, their capitols, major resource stockpiles. Some smaller sea bordering nations had been completely wiped out, and already people were wondering if certain governments were going to survive or if they'd collapse, causing their countries to slip into anarchy.

In Albion, Artoria worked night and day to ensure that things were kept in order. The entire country was still reeling from the event, and their queen's solution to it. People now had the habit of gathering along the coast, to stare down at the sea below. All of the isle of Britain was now separated from the sea by a sheer cliff face.

In some places, parts of the ocean had been raised as well, sparing ports, and docked ships, though they were all now grounded, though once the ocean was settled and new ports were constructed, Riley offered to take all of these boats and put them back in the water.

Night and day, Artoria held discussions with her advisers on what they could do, conversations that were mirrored across the world in the Elemental Nations, as Gaia worked with the Daimyo to determine how they could go about adapting to the way the world had changed.

Things were tense, as millions of people tried to get a grasp of the situation and determine just how to go about recovering from this disaster. And while Riley only brought it up once to during one of the many meetings held by the Albions, everyone kept her warning in mind, that things were going to get a lot worse before they got better.

-September 10th 2000-

The first shot was fired in Pakistan, on the border with India. Various refugee groups consisting of Pakistani and Indian survivors began fighting over resources.

No one knew who had fired the first shot, but the end result was a bloody massacre. Three thousand refugees had been butchered in the fighting, and it was clear with the mobilization of armed forces on both sides, that the two nations were now at war.

Riley could only sigh when she'd heard the news. She hadn't had much hope that things would improve swiftly, but she didn't exactly enjoy being right either.

For the first time since leaving for her training trip, Riley spent the night at her home, holding her daughter in her arms, as she contemplated things, and what she would do.

Everything, it seemed, was falling apart. That first shot, triggered a cascade event around the world. People were hearing all sorts of rumors, and all these rumors did was inflame tensions to impossible heights. Some stories said it was one government or the other that had butchered the refugees in order to stop them from being a drain on their resources.

Such ideas unleashed waves of fear across the millions and millions of people who were now forced to rely solely on the kindness of others in order to survive. Within ours of the news getting out, armed conflicts began to rise up around the globe.

-September 12th 2000-

Civil war erupted in China. No one knew for certain what was going on, but there seemed to be some sort of military coup being played out, and it was causing the nation to destabilize.

The southern hemispheres were hit hardest by the tsunamis, and were now destabilizing rapidly. Resources were stretched to their limits and people were beginning to fight for their survival.

Already, people in Europe and the North America feared similar uprising, and infighting. The UN was cracking down hard, calling meetings with as many member nations as possible to begin pooling resources and ensuring that the chaos in the south, didn't overtake the north.

As these meetings were held, the Albions stood on the sidelines, watching from on high as the world below them descended into chaos. Requests for meetings were sent to Artoria but she had yet to officially respond, her attention focused on securing Albion and building ties with the Irish who now sat on the same elevated island that they did, and who's cooperation would be needed to ensure the two peoples could prosper in this new world.

Beyond focusing inward, Artoria knew exactly what the UN wanted. They wanted answers, they wanted help, they wanted Artoria to hand over the powers of her people, the magic that they had to the rest of the world to help save them. They wanted Riley, and her monstrous strength, to use her powers to save them. None of them knew how, and they had no idea what they were really asking, but they were desperate to survive, and Artoria knew that the second she agreed to those meetings, she'd never hear the end of their urging to send her magical populace out into the world to help others.

Already, unconfirmed reports had been leaking into Albion hinting that certain communities of magicals were being pressed into service to aid their countries, sometimes willingly, though some stories hinted that it was more like they were being coerced, or blackmailed into helping.

These rumors were unconfirmed and were mostly gossip shared with those who had magical relatives outside of Albion, but the news was concerning enough that Artoria was hesitant to get involved. The last thing she wanted was for her nation to become a workhorse for the rest of the world, dealing with their problems, and their issues while not being able to focus on Albion's own.

As a side note, the changes in Riley's mates went relatively unnoticed by most outsiders, due to Glamours, the ladies wore to hide the major physical changes. Fleur wore a glamour to hide her wings, and horns, Luna wore one to hide the changing colors in her skin, Gaia got away with wrapping her tail around her waist, much like Riley did, but Yugito had to use a Transformation technique to hide her tails as they were made of fire.

So most of their families hadn't noticed the major changes in them, and they'd yet to be truly addressed with everything going on.

Aside from the presence of the Rinnegan, most people wouldn't realize that there was anything different about them, at least, not without a sensor nearby.

With so much going on, little in the way of deeper discussions could be held, the last several days had seemingly flown by without a second to waste.

-Eastern China, September 14th 2000-

Riley and a squad of legionaries stood on a roof top overlooking a city being torn to shreds by fighting. Two different military forces had invaded the town and were engaged in brutal urban warfare. There was a coal mine nearby, and these groups wanted to secure it for themselves.

The Legion had come at the request of a Chinese magical, who was offering to emigrate to Albion in exchange for his family's safe retrieval. This magical was a technomancer, who'd been someone on Albion's watch-list since the Legion was first formed, and they had the idea of recruiting foreign magicals into the organization, though he'd refused their offers in the past, now things were far too dangerous for him to remain, many magicals in China were being forced to work for one of the many military factions that were rising up throughout the nation.

Shisui stood by Riley's side and held up a photograph of the man's relatives. Riley gave it a glance as did the other members of the team, memorizing the faces of their targets.

"Let's go." Riley instructed, as the group vanished in a burst of speed, heading towards the family's place of residence.

They arrived in time to find a squad of soldiers pulling them out of the house. The entire street had soldiers patrolling it, pulling the civilians out of their homes and demanding their valuables and any information they may have on the other faction of soldiers in the town.

Riley's squad didn't hesitate. The moment they spotted their target, they leaped into action. Riley and Shisui were the two quickest of the squad and easily decimated the non-magical soldiers. Most were dead before they even realized they were being attacked. In fact, by the time the first body hit the ground, over half of the force had been wiped out by the two. The remainder caught rifle fire from the legionaries.

The last surviving soldier fell to Shisui who appeared behind him and drove a short sword into his throat.

The group was quick to round up the target family and urge the rest of the people to flee while they could. The used porkeys to escape the city before reinforcements could arrive and brought the man's family to him, returning them all back to Albion together.

This was only one of many missions the Albions were undertaking in order to further secure themselves and strengthen their position in the world.

It wouldn't be long before word of this got out, and while the muggles would be angry and suspicious, other magicals would soon begin contacting the Legion to help them escape. The magical nation had survived better than most others, the only countries that were unaffected by the disaster were those that were landlocked, and even they were starting to feel the strain on resources and the threat of other nations who'd lost so much in the disaster and now needed more resources.

-Tokyo, September 19th 2000-

Riley hovered in the skies over the ruined city. Much of Tokyo had been destroyed in the tsunami, but the parts of it that remained were now nothing more than a crater.

A nuclear weapon had been detonated within the city, annihilating most of it, and killing many of Japan's leaders. Who had detonated the weapon was unknown, but the devastation was clear as could be.

Riley shook her head and growled in frustration. This was the peak of the astrocities committed so far, yet Riley knew it would only get worse.

All over the planet, people were fighting over resources and territory. Countries were rushing to seize surviving oil rigs for themselves.

The surviving parts of the US fleet that weren't wiped out in the tsunamis now heavily patrolled the gulf coast, where a large number of surviving offshore oil rigs were found. The nature of the gulf, helped to shield a lot of the waters there from the force of the tsunamis, and now the US guarded that area with vicious intent, and had already sunken a few unknown ships passing into the area.

Tribalism had started to take over, and the United Nations was powerless to stop it. Their attempts to form meetings and encourage cooperation was falling on deaf ears as many parts of the world fell into anarchy.

Civil war in China. The Middle-East was tearing itself apart. It looked like the Russians were planning to begin invading their neighbors to seize strategic resources nearby. Africa and South America had descended into pure chaos with armies and gangs fighting over land and resources. Australia had basically lost all of cities. Most of the population lived on the coast, and though some in the north made it to safety, the continent's population had dropped drastically.

Europe and parts of North America were the only places with any real semblance of order. Though still affected by the flooding, geography helped to save them from the brunt of the disaster. Or in the case of the US, they were able to hold onto their oil production facilities due to the benefits of terrain and were thus capable of drawing upon those resources to support their armed forces in establishing order on the mainland and displaying their power out in the rest of the world. No one save for the Albion's had escaped unscathed, though some were doing better than others.

"It's all falling apart." Riley hummed with disappointment.

"Yes, it is. The planet is enduring an unspeakable upheaval, but… if they manage to survive this, than they'll perhaps be ready to face threats of the future. Regardless, humans by their very nature, are survivors. They're like roaches, they'll find a way to live." Kurama responded.

"Yeah. They will. I just wonder how much blood will be shed before it's done. Some people are calling this the Third World War. If it wasn't for the fact everyone seems to be fighting everyone else, I'm sure others would agree. The planet is in a bad away. That's for damn sure." Riley sighed.

"If only we knew who was responsible for this, who or what awakened that creature, and triggered the explosion. At least then we could beat some answers out of them, and gain a bit of closure." Kurama noted.

"Yeah, if only. Unfortunately, they were probably annihilated in the explosion, so I think that's a dead end." Riley responded.

"Yeah… shitty thing, that." Kurama muttered as he laid down to go to sleep.

"The first nuke has fallen, but it wont be the last. Let's just hope this was a rogue element, and not a state sanctioned attack, otherwise this is gonna get a helluva lot worse." Riley thought to herself as she drifted away from the irradiated crater and back into the sky.

As she did, her gaze turned to the east, and she spotted the sun rising over the horizon. For some reason, as her eyes fell upon it, she felt something bugging her. Something that made her feel uneasy. She had no idea what it was, but something about that sunrise seemed off to her.

She didn't know what to make of it, and didn't care enough to dwell on it. Two days later, she would learn the truth, and it reveal just how bad the situation truly was.

-September 21st 2000-

Panic spread through developed nations, as a UN report was released, revealing a bit of concerning information. The Earth's axis was shifting.

To the disbelief of all, the explosion in Antarctica had altered the Earth's axis, or more accurately, was still altering it's axis.

Every day, the Earth's axis shifted a bit more with the north pole drifting westward, causing the Earth to begin changing the way it rotated.

Because of that, the location where the sun would rise, was very slowly changing with each passing day. The effect was barely noticeable at this point, with the sun appearing to rise about an inch off of it's standard path.

This revelation was confirmed to the Albion's by Riley who, when she heard, went up into space and simply viewed the way the Earth was spinning, and to her surprise, she was able to detect the slight difference in it's rotational axis.

This concerned scientists around the world as the change of the Earth's rotational axis would mean a major alteration to the way seasons worked in certain parts of the world, depending on how far off track it got. Thankfully it was happening very slowly, and the length of day didn't seem to change. The explosion had blown it off it's axis, but not altered it's speed of rotation.

Another point of note, which was a godsend, was that the alterations to the Earth's axis, still left it with a standard day/night cycle. Thankfully, it didn't stop the Earth's rotation or cause it to slow down, which was a saving grace to the people on the planet. At least, there'd been no noticeable changes to the length of day that didn't correspond with the shifting of the Earth's rotational axis.

So that was another huge problem, that could be a helluva lot worse than it was, especially because no one knew where the North and South poles were gonna land. Depending on where they ended up, certain countries could lose entire seasons, while others gained seasons they'd never had before.

Places along the equator may start experiencing snow for the first time in recorded history, while places that had always had a fall and winter, may lose them completely.

That meant that growing cycles for farmer would suddenly change. The crops that certain countries relied on would suddenly become inefficient and farmers, who'd been working the same types of crops for generations, would suddenly need to begin working with crops they'd never had a need too before.

With that, and the presence of the red oceans in the south that killed all of the animal life there, many countries, especially in the southern hemisphere, were now becoming desperate. The release of this information may have been done with the best of intentions, to keep people informed, but all it did was cause further chaos.

-Germany, September 23rd 2000-

Artoria arrived, alongside several of her advisers, including Merlin, and Hashirama, to a meeting of state leaders in Frankfurt.

She'd finally accepted the UN's request for a meeting, after ensuring that things were settled within Albion. Despite going with only her advisers and a contingent of guards, Riley had come as well, knowing full well that these people were going to be an annoyance, and she intended to deal with them herself, and now put the burden on Artoria to stand up for her.

The meeting began shortly after they arrived, with Artoria being the one in the hot seat, as it hadn't escaped anyone's notice, Albion's endeavors over the last several weeks. Like how they worked to protect the world from Toneri's attack, and than seemingly escaped the global catastrophe without so much as a scratch. People needed answers, and it appeared the Albion's had them.

Artoria was willing to speak with these various leaders, not just to finally get them off of her back, but to also hear what they knew, and gauge their speculations.

"Queen Artoria, you were asked before this gathering to answer several inquiries put for from members of this great body. We thank you for taking the time to speak with us." The UN chairman, overseeing the meeting began. This man, Keel Lorenz, stood as the head of the investigatory committee the UN had established to try and determine the nature of the event, along with what caused it, and why.

"This body requested representation from Albion be present to discuss matters surrounding the recent devastation that has crippled the world. For the sake of transparency, and cooperation, I have agreed to attend the meeting myself, and answer your questions." Artoria responded, her gaze focused on the panel of committee members, eager to question her. Surrounding the room were stands, where sat a number of world leaders, also eager to hear what she had to say.

"That is good to hear. Then let us call this inquiry to order. Let us begin. The nature of the incident is at the center of our concerns. We have all been struck gravely by this disaster, and we seek to understand why it happened. Current theories have begun to emerge, that the destruction of Antarctica was most likely the result of a meteor impact, caused by the attack from the moon. An attack we still have little understanding of, and have yet to have the opportunity to gain further insight into. They are calling this incident, 'Second Impact'. In reference to the first great impact of our planet's history, when a massive solar body was theorized to have impacted the earth, the result of which, was said to have created the moon. The Albion's were quite invaluable in their aid to the rest of the world during the attack, stopping many meteors from hitting the ground and sparing major population centers from disaster. The organization of the Albion armed forces, would indicate prior knowledge of the event, can you confirm or deny that you have prior knowledge of the event, in relation the attack from the moon, that brought our lunar cousin into relatively close orbit with the Earth?" Chairman Keel inquired, beginning the discussions.

Artoria listened to his words, taking in everything he said. Already these people had come up with their own theories as to what had happened. Believing that a meteor had caused the explosion was a logical train of thought considering what was happening mere moments before the explosion occurred, though Artoria didn't believe that the Chairman believed his own words. Something about the man concerned her. The presence of the Rinnegan in her eyes allowed her to see the man's energy, and the darker coloring to it, alerting her that he had a darker nature. That didn't necessarily mean that he wasn't telling the truth as they knew it, but it did mean she shouldn't trust him.

"Albion had no definitive information that would have alerted us to the attack from the moon." Artoria responded calmly.

"But you did have some information?" Chairman Keel questioned.

"Yes. A prophecy. A means of foresight present in some magicals that is highly unreliable. Albion has recorded thousands of prophecies over the years, and almost none of them have ever come true. There was no reason to believe this prophecy would hold greater validity than any other." Artoria answered.

"Tell us than, your majesty, what was Albion's part in all of this? What did happen with the moon? What stopped it, and what role did your people play in these events?" Questioned one of the members of the committee.

"The attack was carried out by a man named Toneri Ōtsutsuki. A descendant of an ancient, and alien magical race that came to our world long ago. He and his family had been living on the moon's interior for thousands of years. At some point in recent history, he lost all of his family, leaving him the last survivor. His isolation led him to lunacy, and he eventually used the great power amassed by his family to carry out his own prophetic destiny. He believed it was his duty to destroy the earth, as ordained by his ancestor, so he used his powers to try and slam the moon into the earth, and hammer the planet with meteors. We successfully launched a counter-offensive against Toneri, invading his moon fortress, and destroying the tool he had used to carry out the attack. He perished in the fighting, but the threat was successfully halted." Artoria explained to everyone, earning many whispers and quiet discussions from the surrounding people.

"How did you get there? The moon's interior I mean. And does that insinuate that the moon is hollow?" Keel asked.

"Yes, the moon is hollow, in fact most of it's mass was projected by the tool used by the Ōtsutsuki. When the tool was destroyed, the mass of the moon dropped significantly, though it's closer proximity to the Earth, means that the effects basically evened out. The tidal forces of the moon are still present, due to how close it is to the earth. As for how we got there… Lady Riley Uchiwa provided the means for us to reach it. In essence, using teleportation magic." Artoria responded, lying at the end, to avoid revealing the existence of the portal, and buying Albion more time to explore the moon's interior.

At the current moment, expeditions were being planned to go there and set up bases on the moon's interior for Albion to use. Ideas were thrown around to form military bases or even, a space colony. Though the loss of the Tenseigan artifact that powered the moon's functions, meant that it would soon become cold and lifeless once more, so they needed to replicate the technology somehow if they wished to reclaim it.

"Is it the opinion of Albion that the findings of the UN are accurate, and that it was a result of the attack perpetrated by the Ōtsutsuki, that resulted in the destruction of Antarctica and all that followed?" Lorenz inquired to her.

Artoria stared back at him for a moment, as she pondered his question.

"Are you seeking to validate your own opinion, or gain ours?" Riley mentally voiced her question in Artoria's mind. Riley watched the proceeding from beneath the invisibility cloak, hiding herself and letting Artoria handle things for now.

Artoria couldn't help but agree with Riley's sentiment, as his question was curious.

Riley had explained to Artoria, what she'd seen in the explosion, as well as what the Darkness had told her, so she knew what had actually caused the blast, but there was no reason to reveal that information now, especially with such a convenient alternative. Plus, Riley was still hoping to find whoever was responsible for awakening the creature in the first place, and it was her idea that so long as no one knew the truth, the number of people looking for this ancient entity would be minimal, meaning she was more likely to find the culprits, as they'd be the only ones really looking.

So after several long moment of silence and a few shared glances with Merlin and Hashirama, Artoria decided to answer.

"This committee's findings seem valid to me. A meteor tossed by Toneri in a final ditch effort to see the world destroyed. I see no reason not to find merit with the idea. The timelines do fit, and he was already attempting to use meteors to cause such damage. It would have been quite the object though, and with defenders out in force, I'm surprised it escaped everyone's notice." Artoria offered confirmation to his beliefs, earning a smile and a nod from the chairman.

Riley, felt triumph from the man as well, not just from him, but all the committee members. The why behind it, bothered her though.

"According to our reports, the meteor most likely responsible for this was small. Most likely only a few inches across and accelerated to near the speed of light. It's our belief that this is the reason why the object wasn't detected, and countered by your forces, or any of the others who used their strange abilities to try and stop the bombardment." Lorenz explained to her, as well as to the other world leaders.

Artoria was quiet and simply nodded along with the explanation, finding no reason to argue with it. Riley meanwhile, simply narrowed her eyes at the man. His explanation ensured that no proof would ever be found. It was a reasonable explanation, but Riley sensed deception from the man. He was lying, but why? The only reason that came to mind, was that this man was trying to pin the blame on Toneri, and ensure that both events were linked exclusively to him. The deception bothered her, because the lie was a good one, and if the man genuinely believed it, than Riley would just go with it being Occam's Razor, the simplest explanation, being the correct one. Toneri threw meteors at the planet, and so most likely, a meteor hit the Antarctic. It was logical, and a simple explanation that had plenty of evidence to back it up, so then why the deception?

Riley's suspicions grew as the meeting continued. With so many political leaders present, the explanation for what happened, this so called 'second impact' was heard by many, and with Artoria's validation, and the revelation of Toneri's involvement, who could then argue that it wasn't possible?

The problem was, that Riley could sense deception coming from all five members of the committee. Thought they hid it well, it was obvious to her that they were very pleased to have this information revealed.

Eventually the meeting reached a point of addressing Albion's reaction to the crisis.

"Lady Riley used her considerable magical abilities to raise Albion and Ireland, so that both countries could avoid the incoming threat. Such an act took time, and precision to accomplish." Artoria explained to them.

"The Albion's escaped the catastrophe, nearly unscathed. You've done very well for yourselves, but so much more could be accomplished, were the Albions to offer their assistance in full to others." Chairman Keel expressed.

"In full?" Artoria responded.

"Yes. At the moment, a multinational endeavor is underway. With the cooperation of most of Europe, and North America, we are endeavoring to unite our resources, cultural, agricultural, military, industrial, or even magical, in order to restore order in this chaos. Much of the world has descended into anarchy, and even now, the danger presented by the mass flooding and expansion of conflict, threatens to spill over into further wars. We must come together, in order to survive." The Chairman expressed.

"And what role would we play in this 'endeavor'?" Artoria questioned with a critical gaze.

"Well your magic, would be the primary source of assistance. Despite all of the valuable resources Albion has to offer, it is the power of magic you have so finely harnessed that would be invaluable to our efforts to restore peace, and ensure stability as we manage this crisis." Keel answered.

Artoria stared back at him for several long moments, blinking slowly as she did.

"Any and all individuals within Albion are free to offer their assistance or support to others, if they so choose. Their magic, is now mine to command. Magic is a power source, and a valuable resource, but it is a resource of the individual, not the state. You ask for our assistance, and that's fine. But I will not command any of my subjects to serve the will of a foreign state, or body. If you wish for Albion's assistance in certain projects, than that can be done on a case by case basis, but I will not place any Albion citizen under the authority of a foreigner. You are free to ask for our assistance, I am free to accept or decline. Those are the terms of our cooperation. The UN has proven hostile to Albion's sovereignty in the past, and recent world events have not changed our recent history. You require our help now, and so you will welcome us with open arms, but the moment you do not need us any longer… Albion has no need of fair-weather friends, and you have your own magical communities to turn to. My people have already saved the world twice. Once from the Ten-Tails, and once more from Toneri Ōtsutsuki. My people owe nothing to this world any longer. Any and all past debts were wiped away by those two acts. If you wish for our help, you may ask for it, but I will not submit my people to the UN's questionable leadership. Perhaps if you prove this endeavor of yours to be successful, in the coming months or years, than I will rethink Albion's position in this alliance, but until you've proven yourselves, I have no reason to trust your leadership, or your intentions. I believe I've answered all that I came too. Good day." Artoria's response was stern and powerful. Many in the room, felt her authority rattle through their bones. She remained cool, and confident, never showing weakness, or hesitance. As she finished, she rose to her feet, Hashirama, and Merlin following beside her, both smiling at her as they did.

Riley quietly beamed at her mate, taking great pleasure in the flabbergasted looks on some of the faces of various world leaders. Her gaze eventually found it's way back to the committee, and she took note that while some members seemed to be quietly fuming, Lorenz Keel, was slowly nodding, his hands folded before him as he took in Artoria's words.

The man seemed to be disappointed, but unlike some of his cohorts, he wasn't angry.

Some voiced their disappointment or anger, calling on the Albions to step up and offer their assistance to those in need.

"You do understand that without your aid, many more people will most likely die." Lorenz noted aloud.

"People will die regardless. Albion cannot be there to always rescue the world from disaster. Humanity must learn to overcome it's own perils. The strong must protect the weak, and give them the chance to grow. When the world is in peril, we will act in order to save it. Albion stopped the moon from crashing to the ground. You're all alive today because we offered our aid. Now is the time for you all to prove that you're able to survive. My loyalty and duty, is to my own people, and I will not send them to serve and toil beneath the heel of a government they owe no allegiance too. Your problems are your own. Deal with them in whatever way you can. Survive, and prove yourselves strong. You are all leaders of your people, if you must rely on my strength, and the strength of my people, than you have proven yourselves as failures." Artoria responded, her reply earning even more anger from the crowd.

"What right do the Albions have to such safety? Countless people are suffering, and you have the power to help! Innocent people are dying out there, but you wont do anything because of what? Pride, nationalism? You wont help us, because Albion wont be in charge? Most of the world has been devastated by this disaster, and you call us failures, for being unable to avoid it?" A member of the observing body shouted out, his tone carrying over the arguing. Artoria's gaze turned towards the man, and despite his fury, he couldn't help but quail as the Rinnegan focused upon him.

"Your inability to stop this disaster does not make you failures. This is a test, a challenge of mother nature. As leaders, you must do all in your power in order to save your people. I just told you that I will not place my own people under your directive, under the supervision and control of the UN, but that I may be willing to help on a case by case basis. Asking for help, does not make you weak, but relying solely on my help, my strength, to save you, means that you have won nothing, and have accomplished nothing. We have the means of protecting ourselves, means that you could have been cultivating since the moment you first learned of magic. Instead you reacted with fear, uncertainty, and even hostility in some cases. It is for those reasons that I will not subject my people to your authority. Nor will I be moved by the cries of your people as they fall. My duty is to my people, first and foremost. Not to yours, not to your will, not to this body, not to Europe, or mankind. My duty is to Albion, and every single Albion citizen. My people matter to me, and I must do all in my power to protect them, and see them prosper. I will not allow my people to be commanded by foreigners who have their own agendas and designs. You must fight your own battles, for if you require my help to win them, then the victory will be mine, and not yours. I am a Queen, first and foremost. My duty to my people outweighs any personal feelings I may have in regards to the suffering of the innocent." Artoria responded, her gaze never breaking from the man's as he slowly lowered back into his seat.

"Beyond that, this disaster is continuing to grow. You all know this. War is being waged on every continent, governments have collapsed, and countless millions have been displaced. I will not send my people to die in foreign wars, for foreign rulers, for no cause other than your survival. This wont end for many years, and I already know they'll be plenty of bloodshed before it ends. My people will fight the battles that benefit us, and we'll give our lives for our own causes. Perhaps one day, we will be able to stand united, and understand one another, but today is not that day. Good luck to you all. May whatever gods you believe in favor you."

The room had silenced at her words, as Artoria turned and departed.

Her advisers followed her, as did Riley, who very much agreed with Artoria's sentiment. They owed the world nothing. These people wanted Albion to join them, to use their magic to help save them, but Albion would not become servants of the world. The UN had tried to press for authority over Albion during it's formation. They tried to bully them, and threaten them, and now there was no trust between the Albion's and the rest of Europe. So Artoria wouldn't subject any of her people to the directive of the UN. Not when she couldn't trust them not to abuse her people.

Riley was perfectly ready and willing to tell everyone present to go fuck themselves, but that hadn't been needed, Artoria laid it out perfectly, and was far more cordial than Riley would have been.

So the Albions left the meeting, making their position very clear. They weren't going to bow to the will of the UN or anyone else. If people wanted to come to them for help, then they'd consider helping, but they weren't going to become the new world protectors.

Artoria had been right, in that war was still going to be waged, whether Albion helped or not. And she had no desire to send Albion's to die for other nations.

There was still some questions that needed answering, and so while Artoria, Hashirama, and Merlin headed home, Riley remained, intent on observing members of the committee and gaining some much needed answers.

-Later-

Keel Lorenz stood in a lavished office, overlooking the city of Frankfurt. He quietly sipped at a glass of wine, when he suddenly felt a presence in the room with him.

The hairs on his neck raised, and in the reflection of the window, he spotted a figure standing in the center of the room.

Slowly, he turned to face the figure, finding the hooded form of Riley standing there, eyeing him intently.

He took in a slow breath and set his wine glass on his desk. After several more quiet moments, he spoke.

"Hello, great one." He offered, bowing his head at her.

Riley raised an eyebrow at him, tilting her head slightly as she did.

"You don't seem surprised to see me." Riley noted.

"I am not. I had hoped this day would come." Keel responded.

"Why?" Riley questioned him.

"To stand before such majesty, it was always a dream of mine. Though this venue does little to allow your glory to truly shine, it is still a wondrous moment for me." Keel said to her.

"Hey Riley, I think you've found another follower of the Path." Kurama noted.

"Yeah, I'm starting to suspect that as well." Riley thought back.

"Tell me… are you a follower of the Path of Unification, or are your beliefs born of a different ideology?" Riley inquired.

"Our beliefs haven't gone by that name in a long time. In it's modern iteration, our beliefs have evolved, yet our tenets have long remained the same. We've been watching you for a long time, watching and waiting for the day when we'd finally be able to converse." Keel answered her.

Riley offered a slow nod at his words, thinking quietly to herself.

After several moments, she chose to speak.

"You've been watching me? You wanted to speak with me? Why?" Riley asked.

"You are divine. Our goddess, made flesh. We've been watching you from the moment you were first identified as living in London. We kept our distance, so as to not alter or affect your growth in any negative way. We did not wish to sully perfection. We could not approach you, not directly, but if you came to us… that was something else entirely." He explained to her.

"You want the world to believe Second Impact was caused by a meteor, why?" Riley inquired.

"Because it is a convenient cover-up. Because it's an easy lie for them to believe. Because it allows us to guide mankind in a direction that will help us survive." He answered.

"The creature that awoke in Antarctica… were you responsible for it's awakening?" Riley inquired, her aura turning dark, as she narrowed her eyes at the man.

"Yes. We awakened it." He replied, honestly.

"Why?" Riley growled.

"To spare the world a swift annihilation." Keel responded, with a sigh.

"Elaborate." Riley commanded, taking a step towards the man.

"My organization has existed for a long time… a very long time. In our early day, we followed Kane on a quest to recover an ancient set of scrolls. The Dead Sea Scrolls. These scrolls foretold of many future events, events that would shape the world. While not perfectly accurate, all that the scrolls have foretold, has come to pass. They predicted many a major events in history, including the birth of Christ, the fall of the Roman Empire, the Black Death, the Rise of the British Empire, the First and Second World Wars, the splitting of the atom, the atomic bombings in Japan. The scrolls even foretold of your birth. When our goddess would be born into this world of ours. With great accuracy they spoke of the birth of Albion, the return of King Arthur, the Fourth Great Ninja War, the return of the Ten-Tails, and your ascension to the throne of this world. The scrolls were never overly clear, yet all that they foretold was eventually proven to be accurate." Keel explained to her, earning genuine surprise from Riley.

"Are you kidding me? Kane located a set of scroll that detailed many of the major events that shaped the foundation of the modern world? Scrolls that even spoke of me, and my birth, and my defeat of the Ten-Tails? Who wrote these things? Where did they come from?" Riley questioned him.

"Not from Earth. Of that we are certain. The scrolls are Alien in nature." Keel responded to her, leaning on his desk as he did.

Riley was silent for a moment as she pondered this.

"Maybe these scrolls were written by the elder Elizabeth. I mean she did groom this timeline to match the one where all her siblings would be born. Maybe these scrolls were some kind of guideline she used to make sure it was all done right?" Kurama wondered.

"If that's true than how did these guys get it?" Riley thought back.

"Maybe she lost it… or left it for Kane to find…" Kurama suggested.

"If that's true, than that would insinuate that Elizabeth knew of Kane, and was working with him or using him. Hell maybe she was even using him to groom this timeline while she was on the run from the World-Eater version of me." Riley considered his answer and found that it did have some possibility to it.

"Alright… so you knew something bad would happen with that thing in the south, so you woke it up… why?" Riley returned to her earlier question.

"As I said, our awakening of that entity was done as a preemptive action in order to better increase humanity's chance of survival. You see… in a little over a decade, somewhere between thirteen and twenty years from now, this planet will be invaded by an alien race. More specifically… the progeny of that creature down south, and entity we refer to… as Adam." Keel explained to her.

"Adam? The being of light? You say it's children are going to invade the planet in just over a decade?" Riley responded.

"Yes. The scrolls foretell of the invasion, when the children of Eva reach puberty. One of those children was just recently born, meaning that we only have thirteen to twenty years before this invasion occurs. In this invasion, the offspring of Adam will attempt to reunite with their father. This unity will cause an event similar to the one that occurred in the South Pole, but far more powerful, and far more rapid. It will kill every living thing on our planet, save for a few, instantly." Keel continued to lay out everything he knew.

"An invasion… when some kids reach puberty… What's so special about these kids? And why would only a few beings survive this event?" Riley questioned him.

"The children of Eva, are those with the power to control and command the Evangelion… man-made gods of incredible might. Such creations have yet to be born, but one day, these children will serve as the key to controlling them, and it is these children that will defend the Earth from Adam's offspring. As for why only a few things would survive, it is because those things are not, or are no longer, Lilith based Lifeforms. Namely you, and your offspring…" Keel responded to her.

"What's a Lilith based life-form, is that the female entity that also crashed into our world, the so called 'First Impact' you mentioned during the meeting?" Riley continued with her questions, piecing together everything as he fed her more and more information.

"Exactly the one. Adam came to our world long ago to seed life into it, but Lilith crashed onto the planet as well. These were both life-giving organisms, created to seed life into worlds, but two cannot exist on one world. As the first one here, Adam was meant to be the fore bearer of all life, but when Lilith crashed here, the means to disable her were lost in the devastation, and because of that Adam was forced into slumber instead. In essence, Lilith usurped the right to seed this world from Adam, and because of that, when Adam awoke, he lashed out with extreme aggression." Keel continued.

"Okay, so most of life was created by this Lilith. If Adam wakes up, he can just destroy all lifeforms born from her. So that's what happened with the Red Ocean, that what killed all of the sea life and changed the terrain, it was all altered by Adam. Okay… so then why did you wake him up?" Riley questioned, upon earning a nod from the man, to show that she was right.

"When the invasion comes, Adam's offspring will try to reach their father and fuse with him. Adam would have sensed their awakening and tried to reach them, making their task all the easier. Our actions, awoke Adam from slumber, but we then immediately used the kill-switch on him, the one that had put him to sleep originally. The result of having just woken up, and then being forced to shut down again, triggered the explosion, that explosion being Adam shedding most of his form. Adam has now been greatly reduced, we've sent out our scouts to locate him, and once we do, we'll keep him imprisoned, and put in a safe location, one that can be defended when the time arrives. You see… in his current state, Adam cannot call out to his children, so even when they arrive, they wont know exactly where he is, that buys us time. All his offspring need to do, is find him, and touch their souls to his, and that will end all life on Earth. So by doing what we did, he has now been reduced to a much more manageable form. One that is small enough to keep contained, can't fight back, can't call for help, and has a much smaller soul as well. Meaning when the time comes, it'll be that much harder to reach him." Keel explained it all to her. Riley stood in silence as she digested his words. The man and his organization had essentially sacrificed billions of people, just to increase their chances in a future war. A war against a race of pissed off, holy beings, who were all rushing to find their daddy, and if even one succeeded, all life on earth was destroyed.

"That sucks…" Kurama muttered.

"That does suck. Why not just kill it? Adam I mean. Hell tell me where it is, and I'll kill it." Riley responded.

"I wish it were that easy. Adam and his offspring exist on a hierarchy. Destroying him in a conventional manner would only allow him to reform at full power, and attack us again. Destroying him permanently, using your greater powers, would also trigger the end of the world, as any one of his offspring would then assume the mantle of the First Angel. Essentially becoming the new Adam." Keel said to her.

"Why would that matter? If Adam is dead, wouldn't the other Angels just fuck off elsewhere, to go seed some planets?" Riley asked, taking note that he addressed Adam as an Angel, confirming her suspicion in regards to the creature and it's holy magic.

"No… they're here… on earth… All of them. Each one is slumbering… locked away in a deep sleep, and hidden by some unknown means. If we had a way of locating them all, and killing them before they awoke, then your suggestion would be very much plausible, but… unfortunately we lack the technology to locate them, and I'm assuming if you haven't found any with your considerable powers, than that means they're able to hide themselves from magical detection, or they're powers are so weak right now that they cannot be sensed with any measure of ease. That is the main issue we face. If the angels were elsewhere, that would be one thing, but they are not, they are all here, so if any one of them assumes Adam's mantle, we all die." Keel expressed to her.

"We can help each other. We've been waiting for you for a long time. My organization has the means to see your goals accomplished. I know a terrible thing has been done, and it cannot be forgiven, but I hope that you will at least allow us to pass our information onto you. So that you might prepare the world for this threat, and all those to come." Keel implored her.

Riley was silent for a moment as she took in his words. After several long moments, she took in a long breath and spoke. "Alright… tell me everything. Who you are… what your goals are… what you're planning. Tell me the truth, the whole truth, and I may be willing to concede this devastation. But make no mistake… if this meeting doesn't end to my satisfaction… I will kill you!"

Riley's threat earned a soft smile from the man as he leaned off his desk and circled around it. He sat in the chair and offered her one of the adjacent seats.

Riley was quiet for a moment before accepting the offered chair. She needed to validate, and than understand the nature of this new threat, and she also needed to locate these Dead Sea Scrolls, and determine their validity and if they had any knowledge on what the future may hold.

"Where to begin? Well… I guess to the best place to start is the name of our organization. We… are SEELE...

The world was continuing to spiral, and a new threat had revealed itself. Many secrets would come to light in the days to come, and Riley knew she needed to be prepared. Whatever it took, she would protect her precious people. Whatever it took.

-To be Continued-

Alright, there you guys go, hope you all enjoyed, hope my work schedule isn't shit anymore. Hope everyone is in good health, and I hope you all find twenty dollars tomorrow. Let me know how you liked it, your thoughts, ideas, and all sorts of cool stuff. One of my readers had the idea that I maybe start a discord to discuss story ideas, and share some of my writings with you guys, while I write it, in order to keep my motivation high while I'm busy with work. I actually really like the idea, nothing makes my day more than hearing from you guys, and having people ask about the story, so I might consider doing it, if people are interested, so let me know.