Velarion
It had been two years since Castiel vanished into Velmont.
No letters.
No sign.
No body.
Zera stopped asking questions. Not because she no longer cared, but because no one had any answers. Velarion's silence regarding his fate had become a wound that refused to scar over.
Still, life moved. Because it had to.
Zera had changed. Her Karnithesis — once barely awakened — had now bloomed into something people didn't speak of without awe. She was Chimera, able to shift her body into beast-hybrid forms, sleek and deadly. But she was also something far rarer… Occultum. The energy of the unknown. The unnatural. The forbidden.
Her Occultum abilities weren't refined yet, but they stirred when she dreamed — symbols she didn't understand, voices from places without light, and glimpses of her body doing things she hadn't yet learned while awake.
No human was ever meant to wield two Karnitheric types. The toll should've killed her.
But Zera lived.
She trained under the guidance of Velarion's finest — Eidolon Masters who once served under Castiel himself. Even Colt, once a stubborn hothead, had grown wise under their tutelage. His Pyra abilities now burned steady and deliberate, not like the wild infernos they used to be.
Velarion itself had changed too.
It had become a stronghold, a sanctuary. Its outer walls thrummed with Karnithesis barriers, and its guards were no longer mere soldiers — they were living weapons, bonded to their abilities, pledged to protect what remained of the good in the world.
Yet behind the strength, there lingered unrest.
Castiel's absence cast a long shadow. And with every demonkin encounter reported outside the walls — stronger, faster, more coordinated — they all felt it.
Something was coming, Velarion was preparing to fight without Castiel.
And then…
Far East
A boot crushed bone.
The wind stirred sand and ash, revealing the remains of what was once a fear demon, split clean from throat to groin.
The woman sheathed her jade-hilted sword with a flick.
Another one gone.
She didn't know their names. She didn't need to. All that mattered was that they died by her hand.
Her name was whispered among cultists and scattered demonkin enclaves like a curse — the Jade Warrior.
She was alone, always, with jade-green eyes and skin kissed by the sun. Tall and muscular, hair tied in thick cords, her presence was as commanding as a god's wrath.
She never spoke unless it was to condemn.
Her blade did the rest.
She tracked her path through scorched villages and dead forests until she saw it — a city still standing. Not just standing… thriving.
Briarhelm.
Gleaming banners with gold thread. Laughter in the markets. Soldiers in polished armor, strolling the streets as if untouched by war. But something was wrong. The joy here was too stiff. Too rehearsed. The guards were Karnithesis users — she could feel it from afar — but their aura was tainted. Oily. Twisted.
She narrowed her eyes. This city was not free.
It was ruled.
Watched.
Guarded.
Pride. The name echoed in her bones. She could feel his influence curling through the air like poison perfume.
But she didn't draw her sword. Not yet.
Instead, she melted into the crowd, the hunter watching the parade of prey.
Because cities like this didn't fall to brute force.
They rotted from within.
Hell
The demon's body trembled as it knelt before Lucifer Morningstar.
"S-sire…" it rasped, eyes wide with terror. "There is… another."
Lucifer raised one perfect brow.
"Another what?"
The demon swallowed. "Another human. Not Castiel. A girl… she carries jade. She banishes us without a second thought.Slays demonkin with no known rite. And…"
It choked back a sob.
"She smiles when she does it."
Lucifer rose from the Obsidian Throne.
"A Jade Warrior," he mused. "How nostalgic."
He turned toward the Veil of Flesh, the great wall of damned souls.
"Find her," he said, voice like cracking obsidian. "And if you cannot…"
He grinned, revealing all his teeth.
"Burn the world until she finds me."