The wind carried whispers of centuries old as Seraphim walked through the ruined village.
The river's black water had receded, leaving behind the stench of what had been devoured.
Yet her mind drifted, unbidden, to the day her wings first burned.
She saw it all again:
The golden city of Heaven, radiant and cruel in its perfection.
She had been one of them — a guardian, a blade of light.
And yet… she had failed.
A misstep. A misplaced mercy.
One soul spared. One sin tolerated.
And they called it betrayal.
They tore her wings, cast her into the mortal world, and erased her name from the heavens.
A shiver ran down her spine.
The memory faded, but its weight remained.
She was fallen, yes — but not lost.
The ground trembled again.
A shadow darker than the river emerged in the valley — the Second Seal.
It was no longer pale hands, but a monstrous form, twisted by centuries of malice.
Eyes like molten silver pierced her soul.
"You should have stayed in Heaven, Seraphim," it hissed.
"And yet you meddle in the world of mortals."
Seraphim drew her blade, its light merging with the lingering fire in her chest.
"I fell… but I still fight."
Then, a sudden calm — the air shimmered with golden haze.
From above descended a figure, half-human, half-divine, wrapped in clouds of silver and jade.
His hair flowed like liquid moonlight, his eyes holding the wisdom of ages.
A sword of light hovered by his side.
"You summon the Second Seal," he spoke, voice echoing like thunder wrapped in silk.
"Yet you would face it alone?"
Seraphim's heart skipped.
This was no mortal ally. Nor angel from her past.
He was something else — a deity, a celestial being, yet walking the human path.
A heavenly immortal with power beyond imagining… and, somehow, an answer to her curse.
The battle for the Second Seal had just begun.
And now, an unknown force had joined the fray.