Somewhere in the juh an angel

  Katherine gnced around the shimmering barrier now enclosing them. Magic wasn’t usually her thing—too fshy, too plicated—but this barrier was thrilling.

  plex patterns wove across its translut surface, shifting and pulsing as if alive. She had seen nothing like it, not even the barriers crafted by Rateh, the dungeon boss. His shield seemed cheap in parison.

  Curiosity got the better of her, and she reached out to touch the barrier. The moment her fiips brushed its surface, the Bl lunged. Its ridiculous body, still charred and sm, smmed against the barrier, sending ripples of light casg through the magical weave.

  Katherine’s lips twisted in a disgusted grimace.

  Its malformed limbs and oozing wounds were worse than anything she’d seen, even in that creepy Czech museum exhibit where they’d recreated folklore monsters. Those creatures seemed almost charmio this abomination.

  When the Bl reared up and shed out again, its craggy limbs screeg against the shield, instinct took over. Katherine dove backward, nding with a thud.

  rust a magi.

  “Wut? Charlie?” she muttered, her gaze nding on the figure standing nearby. An angel?

  They were talking—Charlie, and the angel—something about css ges. Apparently, they’d been discussing it without her input. She frowned. “Wat’s a Glory Seeker?” Her attention wavered as her eyes nded on the angel’s sword, and a mad grin spread across her face.

  The angel, Sera, sent a barrage of stat ss her way, but Katherine barely spared them a gnce. Ss? Stats? Hu?! Who cares about those when you’ve got a sword like that?

  Katherine’s hand drifted to her own pitiful short sword, and she sighed. That’s the on I need.

  “Wat now? I want it!” she decred, her excitement boiling over, and turned on her rec. Fao see ‘tis!

  Sera began expining something about angels, honor, and responsibility, but Katherine’s attention had already drifted. The angel’s words droned on, more monotonous than her w teacher. Why her parents had ever forced her to study w, she’d never uand.

  It was like a fn nguage to her—she might as well be listening to someone speak ese.

  After what felt like hours, the angel finally closed her mouth—sadly, only for a sed. “Katherine, do you uand?” Sera’s voice cut through her daydream, anding, her pierg gaze log onto Katherine.

  For real, the same as teachers.

  Katherine blinked ily and nodded with feighusiasm. “Yas, dy Sera! stitutional norms are stitutive ventions!”

  The angel sighed, her patience visibly thinning, and gnced back at the invisible ss in front of her. “It seems we have approval. Are you certain you want to bee a Glory Seeker? From everything I’ve told you, only the ‘honorable’ part seems to apply to you.” Sera hesitated, a faint blush c her cheeks. “I may have… over-expined.”

  Katherine gnced over at Charlie, who was busy hunched over a cluster of bubbling cauldrons. There were at least ten of them, steam rising as they brewed.

  Katherine smirked.

  KatFan69 always thought long and hard about these things, a somehow, always reached the same clusion as her.

  “Yas! ‘tat swimme!” Katherine excimed, her voice teeming with anticipation. Her English wasn’t as perfect as her Czech, but nobody cared so far!

  Sera sighed again—long, drawn out, and heavy with resignation. Slowly, she unfastehe sword from her side, its bde catg the light as she ha over to Katherine.

  The on was massive, built for power and intimidation. Its bde, nearly a meter and a half long, gleamed with a red hue that seemed almost alive, faint tendrils of red swirlih the polished surface like trapped… something.

  Inscribed along the ft of the bde were strange ruhat glowed faintly with every movement.

  So goated!

  The hilt was ed in deep crimsoher, its grip finally broad enough to fit both her hands fortably, with ara gap to spare.

  As Sera ha over, Katherine reached out with both hands, her muscles straining as she lifted it. The sword was heavier than she expected, its weight grounding her, demanding band trol. She grinned as she ran her fingers along the hilt, feeling the fine edge.

  Katherine’s eyes widened, full of awe aement as she dropped to one knee in gratitude for the gift.

  The weight of the massive sword rested heavily in her hands. “Your friend is… resourceful…” Sera said, her gaze shifting to Charlie, who was absorbed in her unique alchemy. Steam wafted from one of the many bubbling cauldrons, and faint traces of herbs and minerals floated in the air. “Her pn is sound, but there’s a cra it.”

  Katherine gnced up from her position, tilting her head. “Wat?”

  She felt a pang of uanding whehought of Charlie. Their e ran deeper thaypical streamer-chat. While others in her chat sent short messages or bombarded her with emojis, Charlie always wrote full paragraphs. Detailed strategies, witty bahings that made Katherine smile.

  Even if she often ighe advi favor of her passionate approach, which was funny itself to see Charlie sending facepalm emoji.

  Sera turo her. “The shield isn’t meant to be used this way. The sequences be bad, even for a hero like her. If you gh with this, you know what must be done. Alone.” She gestured toward the pulsating barrier and the Bl still g at its edges.

  “Yas. Glory fight,” Katherine said with a nod, her grin bold. This whole prestige-css thing was right up her game. Head first, kick first, ask questions ter. She was nothing like her cautious cssmates, debating ws over and over.

  Sera allowed herself a rare smile. “Exactly.” Turning toward Charlie, she called, “Please bear witness, hero!”

  Charlie’s head snapped up like a startled kitten. Her hands fumbled with the alchemy kit, spilling a few vials in her rush. “Wait, wait!” she stammered, scrambling to her feet.

  But Sera, unbothered, tinued. “Katherine, do you willingly swear to abide by the ws of Feran, be bound by his rules, and bask in his glory? Do you swear to always meet your enemy with honor?”

  Charlie finally stumbled to their side, panting as though she’d sprinted a marathon. Her eyes darted nervously between Sera and Katherine.

  Meanwhile, Katherine was steady, unfazed, her grin widening. She held the massive sword out proudly, its bde glinting in the soft light of the barrier. She locked eyes with Sera. “Yup, I swear!” she decred, her voice full of fidence.

  Best stream!

  Sera’s expression remained impassive as she pced her bare hand on the bde’s sharp edge. Blood seeped from the cut, trag a thin red line doweel and pooling at the hilt before dripping onto Katherine’s hand.

  The moment the blood touched her, something shifted in the sword.

  Katherine couldn’t pinpoint it, but a chill settled over her, deeper than any winter she’d endured. It pierced through her like her ass was being plunged into an endless frost. The damy limit.

  Why did she set it at eighty pert?

  She screamed, her voice ripping through the meadow, before her world flickered and bnked out. By the time she regained her senses, she could barely register Sera’s voice. “I tear down the barrier.”

  A flood of blue boxes filled her vision. The system interface screamed for her attention, but she swiped it away irritably.

  Annoying!

  “Katherine, pull out a teleport scroll! Now! Marketpce!” Charlie’s voice was shrill with panic.

  Katheriuroward her new-old friend, her chest tightening. A pang of sadness settled iomach. She wouldn’t be able to help Charlie with the quest—not this time. “No. Always meet with glory.”

  “No!” Charlie’s voice was frantic as the teleport spell anchored her, pulling her body away in a glimmering haze. “Katherine, you ’t win! We’ll go on an adventure! Find the ring!”

  Each word hit Katherine like a blow, weighing heavily on her heart. She ched her jaw, f herself to ighe pang of sadness swelling in her chest. For Charlie to have a ce—she o face this alone.

  Only one o die.

  Her grip tightened on the hilt of the massive sword as she turoward the barrier. The cracks in the shield stretched wider with every passing sed, the magical patterns dist and flickering.

  rust a magi.

  Beyond it, the Bl’s distorted, triumphant screech burst through the air. It made the grouh her armored boots tremble.

  She checked the camera—it was still rec. “Ya die!” she yelled, her voice strong.

  With a deep breath, Katheriomped forward, the weight of the sword emp her. Her hair caught in the breeze, glowing like fire in the dim light. The barrier fractured further, shards of energy breaking away as the Bl’s monstrous limbs cwed at the opening.

  N baow.

  She activated her new sacrificial talent, [Glorious Fight]. Nothing outwardly happened, but she felt the power c through her. “Flory!” Katherine roared, raising her sword high.

  [Transformation plete. Glorious Fight was activated.]

  She willed her sed newly unlocked talent, [Katherine’s Fury], to activate. The moment she did, a sharp pull drained her reserves, but the effect was immediate.

  [gratution! Your skill, Katherine’s Fury, was activated.]

  Annoying! Stop!

  A surge of red energy erupted from the bde, casg down her arm like molten va and enveloping her in a burning aura. It wasn’t just heat—it ower, ing around her like a bzing, protective cloak.

  Then the fire caught.

  Fmes erupted around her, lig at the ground and igniting the air with a fiery glow. The meadow seemed to wither uhe iy of the inferno, and even the invisible Bl recoiled. It leapt to the right with unnatural speed, its razor-sharp limbs sshing at her side as it dodged the encroag fmes.

  “Wahahaha!” Katherine cackled madly, the pain from the swipe barely registering through the adrenaline and fire r within her.

  Blood seeped from her side, but she didn’t hesitate. Raising the massive sword overhead, she brought it down in a devastating arc. “[Judgment]!” she screamed, activating another newly gained skill.

  The bde moved faster than thought; the strike empowered by divine energy? Magic? Who cared, holy?

  It carved through the Bl’s form with a blinding fsh of red light, cutting through its defenses like they were one of her posters. The creature let out a distorted, ear-splitting shriek, its onvulnerable body flickering wildly as Katherine’s strike tore it apart.

  “See ya now!” Katherine roared, sshing her sword in a wide, horizontal arc.

  The Bl, with a speed that tradicted its absurd size, leapt back, evaditack. Its wounds, though deep and charred from her earlier strike, closed before her eyes, its body pulsating as it regeed.

  Katherine’s lips curled into a mad grin. “Oh, ya think ya’re tough, huh?” she muttered, more to her fans than the creature. With a ferocious cry, she lunged forward, her fiery aura fring with every swing of her sword.

  The Bl didn’t retreat this time. It crouched low, its skinny limbs spreading wide like a spider on the hunt, before ung itself at her.

  “Nope!” Steel met cws in a deafening csh.

  Katherine’s bde rang with each parry, her muscles straining as she blocked the Bl’s relentless swipes.

  The creature was faster than she expected, its movemeid uable. One limb darted toward her midse, but she twisted her body at the st moment, bringing her sword up in a sharp upward ssh. Sparks flew as her bde scraped against its hardened flesh, leaving a glowing molten streak in its wake.

  My mistr will be proud!

  The Bl snarled, its eyes narrowing as it tered with a sweeping strike of its own. Katherine ducked just in time, feeling the rush of air as its cws whistled past her head.

  She spun on her heel, using her momentum to drive her sword downward in a crushiical blow. The grouh them cracked as the impact sent a shockwave rippling outward, but the Bl dodged at the st moment, skittering to the side with magical agility.

  Katherine was using both her new skills liberally, always oack. “e on, ya coward!” Katheriaunted, fmes dang around her as she stepped forward, relentless in her assault.

  She sshed in a wide arc, f the creature to leap away, only for her to press the attack with a diagonal cut aimed at its exposed fnk.

  The Bl twisted its body unnaturally, avoiding the bde, aaliated with a flurry of rapid swipes.

  Katheriaggered back, her armor screeg as its cws raked across her shoulder. Pain grew, but she grihrough it, her eyes bzing with determination. “Hah! ‘tat all ya got?” she spat, gripping her sword tighter.

  The Bl let out a screech, its body half-invisible as it prepared arike.

  They cshed agaiher bag down. Katherine’s strikes were heavy and deliberate, her bde leaving arcs of fire in its path, while the Bl’s attacks were a chaotic whirlwind of sshes and stabs.

  As they fought, the surrounding meadow took the scars of their battle—scorched earth where her fmes had burned and deep gouges in the soil from the creature’s cws.

  At one point, the Bl lunged, aiming for her exposed side.

  Katherine saw the opening and sidestepped, bringing her sword down in a quick ter. The bde ected, slig through one of its limbs with a burst of fme. The severed limb hit the ground with a wet thud, but the Bl didn’t flinch. Instead, it turned and sshed at her with its remaining limbs, f her ba the defensive.

  Blood dripped from both batants now—her from the cuts in her armor, and it from the deep, sm gashes her sword had carved into its body.

  Yet her showed any signs of giving up.

  Katherine’s breaths came heavy, but her grin never wavered. “Ya tough, I’ll give ya that,” she panted, wiping a trickle of blood from her lip. The Blrowled low, its glowing eyes locked on hers. Its movements were slower now, more cautious, as if it, too, was feeling the toll of their battle.

  With a burst of energy, Katherine charged again, her sword fring brighter. “Got st juice for ya! [Judgment]!”

  The Bl roared in response, meeting her head-on in a final, frenzied csh. Sparks and fmes exploded around them as steel met cws, their movements a blur of fury and precision.

  A burst of red energy erupted from her sword, spreading like wildfire, ing the Bl in an inferno of divine fmes. The beast let out a distorted screech that shook her core, its limbs filing wildly as the fire engulfed it.

  Katherine pressed forward, her grin widening as she twisted the sword with all her might, cutting deeper into the creature.

  The Bl flickered and fractured.

  Its movements slowing as the fmes tore it apart.

  With o defiant cry, she sshed horizontally, severing its core in a single, decisive motion. The creature colpsed in a heap, its body disiing into a mass of ash and light.

  Then the meadow fell silent.

  The only sound was the crag remnants of her burning aura. Katheriood over the pile of ash, her chest heaving, sweat dripping from her brow. Her aura flickered, growing dimmer, and the weight of the battle finally caught up with her.

  And then, the cost.

  Her knees buckled, and she fell to the ground, her hands gripping the hilt of her sword to keep herself upright. The fiery aura dissipated entirely, leaving only the cool breeze.

  Pain coursed through her body, every nerve in protest as the price of her skills took its toll. Yet, despite the searing exhaustion, Katheriilted her head bad let out a breathless ugh, her voice trembling with equal parts triumph and madness.

  “I won,” she whispered, a grin spreading across her bloodied face as she turoward the camera. “I won.”

  [You died]