It felt like a regular deployment at first, at least to her. She had done this thousands of times, killed thousands of Angels, and turned the tide on hundreds of battles. Yet, somehow, Lucifer knew that this day would be different.
It was Valhalla once again. She disliked fighting the Valkyries on principle, what with them being mostly exempt of her presence unless she engaged them directly. Although, if she was honest with herself, part of the reason was that her successor would be one of them.
She floated far above the UD's staging ground, wings turning lazily as her eyes scanned the horizon. The forest had recovered, even the parts that burned where Adelheid had unleashed the horde one and a half millennia ago; even her magically enhanced sight could not make out much below the foliage. For all she knew, there could be no defenders hiding there; it might as well be millions.
However, there was once thing that caught her eye. One tiny detail that told her all she needed to know.
On top of the central castle boxing in the UD forces, there stood a figure. No wings covered her back and none of the Valkyries bothered her even as they passed by. Clad in the same turquoise and silvery white she always wore when she passed by throughout time, there she was. Magical Girl Defiance, yet more than three millennia before the advent of humanity.
Heidi stood quietly, even after their eyes met. Even over this distance, Lucifer could see the glistening of unshed tears in the afternoon sun.
"So it is time," she murmured to herself. Her fingers tightened around the Blood Soaked Cross, but then relaxed again. She had known this day was approaching, had been counting for decades already. She knew her successor would exist, and so her own existence was to end one day.
Despite that, however, Lucifer had long since made up her mind. She would die as she lived, a menace to the Light. If this was the day, then she would sell her life to as high a price as she could.
She had often considered to bow out, to simply leave this war behind and settle down. She had considered to explore motherhood after meeting Maya, who had made herself a name in Hell over time. She had considered to... retire.
But the hollow feeling in her chest, the white-hot pain in her entire body gnawing at her every thought, only kept at bay by endless wrath; she could not stop, never could, never would. Heidi had taught her how to change, and Lu knew at heart that she might have been able to. Maybe she could have found something else to dedicate herself to. But that was a maybe, one which she never risked.
But, as it was, Lucifer was tired after such a long time of battle. Yet it was all that kept her mind off the flames and darkness within herself, and the pain that still echoed ever since her fall.
She did not feel that retirement was possible. Nonetheless, Lu was grateful for all the memories she could make with her dear friend, be it in her own time or the future she would never know otherwise. Heidi had even appeared to see her off.
So, with her mind as eased as it could ever be, Lu began to search for her target. Now that she knew it was a trap, she could tell the man displayed himself a little too openly on purpose; not enough to draw her attention normally, but noticeably enough once she knew what to look for. He appeared to inspect the castle defenses during a short time of respite.
Then the next tide of Demons began to march and the purifying light they normally feared was neutralised with her own presence.
The moment they hit the defenders' lines was the moment she angled her wings and dove; rapidly gaining speed, Lucifer homed in on her target as his wings failed him, spearing him through the heart in passing; she was long past before the defenders could react.
Yet, Lu did not even attempt to turn around once she passed enemy lines. She had done this many times and even pushed past the occasional ambush laid out for her upon turning, but today she knew to be different. So instead, she pushed further inland.
All around her,
thousands of Valkyries broke through the foliage. She could spy the armour of Heaven's First and Second Hosts in their midsts, together with the arcane shine of at least ten thousand Fey following. Lu grinned and slowed down to let the first volley pass where she would have been flying. Angelic presences were snuffed out by her own the moment they stopped suppressing them.
She turned in mid-air with thrust from her third wing, still able to see her friend in the distance; Adelheid had turned to keep watching her, but made no other motions. Nodding, Lu focussed back on the situation before her. Her mind discarded fleeing as an option; with that many, they would tire her out before she made it to safety. There were probably more waiting for her, too.
Instead she raised her weapon and dove to meet the defenders, angling herself to give as little surface area as possible. Her Blood Soaked Cross made the Fey's magic fizzle out before it ever hit her and all the additional volleys roared right past her.
Then she reached the Valkyries and began to dance amidst them. As prepared as they were, as fast as their elite acted, they could not shake the moment of horror when their wings truly began to fail them. Their two wings could not match the maneuverability a third wing gave her.
The cross swung around in rythmic motions, severing heads and wings wherever she aimed; some got away with deep cuts and bleedings, but she paid them no mind. More filled the open spaces, arms grabbing for her while swords, spears, axes, and so many others aimed to tear her wings.
Lu took note of the strategy and coyly pulled her wings out of their reach at the last moment each time. She was fighting outnumbered and the Valkyries began to cease under their allies' spellfire when she kicked them into its way. Heaven's Host merely ignored the magic as it failed to hurt them, continuing their assault as she ran circles around them with her superior speed and abused them as shields from their allies.
Then instincts screamed at her and her cross caught a blade millimetres before her face, redirecting the strike. The wave of displaced air that followed told her enough, together with the almost overwhelming presence of light.
The entire field seemed to pause for an instant when she and Gabriel locked gazes. She could see the regret in her assailant's eyes, perhaps even a hint of sadness in her posture. Perhaps she had even slowed down enough for Lu to react. She would never know.
However, Lucifer smiled. An honest smile. "Thank you." Her words were quiet, but nonetheless heartfelt. The other Angel's eyes widened, then bugged out in pain when Lucifer's cross ran over her ribcage. Gabriel received a kick to the stomach and dropped like a stone, though her wings soon regained their strength and stopped her descent.
Lucifer considered the arrayed Angels and went to hunt the First Host some more; she quickly took up speed, leaving Gabriel behind for the moment. Valkyries moved in again while Heaven's elite began to fight back, but they all knew this battle would just keep going. Lu's skin and flesh regenerated almost as fast as they hit her, every drop of blood soon returning when her cross drew more.
Then one got a hold of her bad arm, running a dagger through the wing; the Valkyrie died a moment later, but her weight pulled the weapon down and through the membrane. Another trickle of pain added itself to the constant agony, but she did not give to it. She had felt so much of this during her life, this was nothing in comparison.
Her advantage of movement gone, she continued to cut them up where she could; yet more and more got a hold of her wings, at first not long enough to matter, but soon capable of tearing into them. One of them she recognised, exchanging grim looks as she first got a hold of her waist as her presence began to wash over everyone, having been suppressed up to this moment to surprise her.
Looking down and finding the face of her old friend made Lucifer feel at ease somehow. Leliel, determined and angry as she was, would not let go that easily.
And then they all felt the magic up top, saw the giant forms dropping from the heavens; Lu found grim faces around her and quietly saluted their bravery. She saw Gabriel rush off, leaving the blast zone together with as many of her own as she could save; yet Lu had taken her toll, rupturing wings where she could. Most of them would not make it.
Under a gargantuan effort, she shook off her attackers one last time; only Leliel managed to hold on, but was unable to stop her from flipping the Blood Soaked Cross up. Lucifer aimed it like a javelin, eyes on one of the few fleeing Angels. One more she wanted to take.
Then, in an instant of consideration, her mind flashed to her friend. Adelheid was still watching and stood in about the exact same direction. Leliel had a hold on her, so she had no time to do anything else.
With what strength Lucifer had left, she aimed further upward; then her arm lashed out, propelling the cross into the sky at ludicrous speed. Her final deed done, she let herself drop and ran her good arm around Leliel's shoulder. "It's fine," she told her friend, who looked perplexed at the action. "If you're coming with me, I'm not scared of wherever we are going next. Thank you, Leliel."
Leliel's eyes widened. Yet, whatever her response would have been, it was taken away when the two Angels began to burn one last time.
. . .
IDENTIFIED BREAK LINE
. . .
The Valkyries were vaporised together with Lucifer, as were the Fairies; Heaven's Host may have remained alive, if buried under the rubble of the meteor, but the following ten definitely ended them.
Gabriel hated what they had to do this day. Five thousand Valkyries, ten thousand Fairy Battlemages, no less than fifty death Squads, and a tenth of Heaven's first two Hosts respectively. Even she had come as a last reassurance to Lucifer's end this day.
All but the Death Squads and a few stragglers were gone now, their ashes having joined the one opponent they came to defeat. The empty crater deep below spoke of it, and the shockwave that hit them a moment later reaffirmed what they already knew.
It was over. Lucifer was gone.
Gabriel's eyes reluctantly fell on Adelheid, whom she herself had granted permission to observe despite her subordinates', especially Leliel's, doubts. To her surprise, the human girl held the fallen Angel's weapon in hand; her expression remained unreadable, though the tears soaking her face were anything but.
Despite herself, Gabriel felt a pang of envy toward the dead.
She was an Archangel, one who stood head and shoulders above even her fellow Archangels. She led Heaven's Host despite not yet having obtained the title of Grand Archangel.
And yet she felt this way. Despite all the things she had and could have, Gabriel was missing such a simple thing. She wondered, by herself, whether there would be someone to remember her not as Archangel Gabriel, the strongest warrior of the Light... but simply as Gabriel. She was realistic enough to know even she would not live forever; yet she was sad to imagine having no one close enough to remember her for her.
The human below firmly grasped Lucifer's cross and offered her a thankful nod. Then she was gone, as if she had never been there to begin with.
Now Gabriel was alone with her thoughts once more. Her thoughts and the hope that perhaps Adelheid would remember her as the person she was; with how everyone else put her on a pedestal, this one young woman was the closest she had to an actual friend in a long time.
The other one, she had just helped annihilate.
