Jenny dashed through the maze of ruined walls, the red sky taunting her from above. She thought she'd glimpsed a moon or a sun, but it kept changing direction. Either that or she was lost.

  The walls were fall apart in this area, the crumbling blocks stained by so much blood that they'd taken on a deep brown color. Some of them were colpsed, and Jenny jumped across, fending off angels with quick strikes. She wanted to help souls as angels grabbed them and tore into them in a bloody frenzy, but there were too many, and there was no way she could make a difference. She couldn’t protect them all.

  They will have to suffer for now, said Iblis who’d been quiet for a while in some corner of her subconscious. He was biding his time, waiting for a serious fight. But we will bring them salvation. Keep to your goals for now. Our forces gather in the other worlds and prepare for war.

  Jenny understood what he was saying, but it still hurt. The blood curling screams, the heart breaking cries for help, the begging and pleading. And there were just too many souls in this horrible byrinth. Too many souls to search one by one. How was she ever supposed to find Susan in this mess

  But I found Miriam of all people

  Was that just dumb luck? Jenny came to a stop at a corner, breathing hard. She'd spotted two wretched angels. A bright yellow one and an orange-brown one. Along one of the walls ahead, glistened a dozen or so sacs. Bile rose to her throat as she remembered the first time she'd seen the sacs. That stairwell on her way up to the third floor, and how the angels had gathered bodies, slowly draining them of blood to feed to their young.

  Was that happening here too? She stood close to the corner, scrutinizing the scene, and her heart skipped a beat. Just below the eggs, was an even bigger sac, a chrysalis that shone with green light. Jenny knew what was in there before the notification even showed up in her head.

  Desecrated angel (level 63)

  "Yeah, there are lot of them here," said a voice behind her, and Jenny whipped around, to see Miriam standing in the water, one arm crossed shyly over her chest.

  "What do you want?" said Jenny impatiently.

  "Nothing," said Miriam with a shrug. “There's nothing to do here but eat and scream.”

  "Then why are you following me?" hissed Jenny.

  "I just want to know what you're doing here. Maybe I can help."

  "I don't want your help."

  Miriam scowled, but she didn't say anything. Behind her, there was a trail of wandering souls. They drudged slowly through the water as though they were lost. They stared around helplessly, brows furrowing as they looked at cracks on the walls or heard a scream. It reminded Jenny of something she'd heard about goldfish once, that every few seconds, their memories reset. She didn't know if that was true, but she wondered if the souls were like that. All the ones she'd bumped into had forgotten about her moments after, and they even seemed to forget that angels were constantly feeding on them.

  Was that better for them? To forget? Or was forgetting a defense mechanism that helped them deal with the nonstop trauma?

  And how come Miriam didn't forget?

  Jenny looked at the thin, pale girl again, remembering the white exoskeleton covered monster with enormous hand-shaped wings that had wreaked havoc through the high school, that had caused Jenny to snap. Was it fair to bme Miriam for what Jenny had done?

  But it was her fault, wasn't it?

  She's the reason Susan's dead!

  No. It was my fault.

  I did that.

  I did all of that.

  Jenny suppressed a shudder of rage and squeezed her hatchet tightly. But then, she figured if Miriam was around, maybe they could work together. Miriam wasn't like the other souls. She could still fight, even if she didn't have any weapons or anything. And not being able to die must be helpful in a fight.

  "Okay," said Jenny. "I'm trying to find Susan."

  Her eyes went wide. "Susan's dead? That girl you liked?"

  Jenny grimaced.

  "Did you win then? Is that why you're here? Because you're not dead, right? So how did it end?"

  "I don't think anyone won," said Jenny. "But look. I'll expin that stuff ter. I’m trying to find her. And maybe... " She bit her lip, eyeing Miriam who looked so innocent now it almost hurt. Miriam looked helpless and weak, not at all like the demented bloodthirsty monster she'd been. Jenny wondered if it was alright to fill her in on what they wanted to do. "I'm working with some people who want to stop all this."

  "Stop what?" she asked, brows furrowing.

  Jenny gestured around her. At the screaming and wailing.

  "But why? Isn't this... Hell? Isn't this where we're supposed to be?" Miriam looked like she was about to cry. "I deserve to be here."

  "I don't know," said Jenny, taking a deep breath, running low on patience. "But something's fucked up about all this, and there's an angel doing all this to us."

  "What?" Miriam's eyes narrowed in disbelief, and Jenny was reminded of how she'd found the girl in a closet in the computer b, and how Miriam hadn't believed Jenny about the angels or the violence or anything.

  "Can you help me fight those angels over there?"

  Miriam's lip twitched. "I'm just... I don’t have anything but this. So I don't know. But yeah. I can't die again, can I?"

  Jenny was about to ask why Miriam was different from the other souls, but she got the feeling Miriam had no clue. Jenny wondered if it was cause Miriam had became tarnished and wretched before she died. Maybe that warped how someone's soul presented.

  But that thought wasn’t comforting at all. She didn't want to know the answer; she didn't want to wonder what her soul would be like. And she knew what she was asking of Miriam. Without any weapons or anything, the girl would be torn apart by the angels.

  And then a stranger thought entered Jenny's head as Miriam lowered her hands and stopped covering her chest, as a deep blush spread across Miriam’s face. Trying not to remember the horrible kiss from earlier, Jenny thought about using severed spirit on the girl just as she'd used it on the pilrs. Would it work? Would it.... Bring out her exoskeleton and give her more of a chance?

  But before she could ask, before she could bring up her idea, something swept down in a flutter of wings, and Miriam ducked, her hands over her head. Jenny raised her hatchet, but something sharp raked her arm, drawing sparks against her armor. It cwed at Jenny's face, wings smacked the side of her head, and she went down, spshing into the water, stinging and burning all over from the attack.

  Jenny shot back up, swinging her hatchet, but it was too te. The harpy had flown away, back up to the top of the wall where it nded, a half-human, half-bird silhouette against the red sky. "What the fuck is that?"

  Miriam shook her head, trembling. Water dripped from her face and shoulders. "They're worse than the angels. Harpies."

  Jenny readjusted her grip on the hatchet, not taking her eyes off the harpy. But the commotion had drawn the attention of several angels, and she grimaced. The angels being more powerful was slowing her down, and now she had to deal with a harpy too?

  Harpy (level 49)

  It was strong too. Jenny braced herself, but then heard a shout from Miriam. She turned to see the two wretched angels rushing through the water. The orange one was the closest, and Jenny turned to meet it head on, wondering if she could cut it down quickly.

  The harpy swooped down again, and Jenny dashed back with instant acceleration, expecting an attack from above. But instead, the harpy nded on the orange wretched angel. Its talons pierced the angel’s skull, right through the eyes and the back of the head, and even Jenny winced as the angel’s skull cracked. Gooey, thick blood oozed down the orange exoskeleton, and the yellow angel, a female that must’ve been the orange angel’s mate, screeched in agony before bounding away, spshing like mad up the corridor, forgetting all about the eggs and the chrysalis.

  “No, no, little angels,” said the harpy in a sing-song voice. Long white hair framed its astonishingly beautiful face – it had the face of a gorgeous woman who looked perpetually amused. Its eyebrows raised slightly. Its cheeks flushed rosy pink with warmth. It looked at Jenny with a half-smile on its plump lips.

  The harpy’s body was covered in lush white feathers. Instead of arms, it had enormous white, feathery wings. It had a narrow torso, and its thighs gave way to more feathers, but it had the feet of a giant bird, or a dinosaur. The talons were dark and razor sharp, and they gleamed with blood and other fluids as it remained perched on top of the orange angel. The dead creature stood motionless in the water, looking more like a rock now than the fearsome monster it was.

  "What brings you to the Garden?" asked the harpy, its voice like a melody as it cocked its head. Its long white hair flowed gently, and it almost looked serene. "I don't think I've ever tasted a live one before, but I’ve heard so much about the fvor. The texture."

  Jenny gnced at Miriam who was slinking away, pressing herself up against a wall. She seemed terrified of the creature. The harpy had its sharp stare fixed on Jenny.

  What were these harpies? They were supposed to guardians, but there was a violent ruthlessness to them that Jenny didn’t like. A disturbing aura that made her skin crawl. They were intelligent. They could talk. They weren’t mindless monsters like the tarnished angels.

  Careful, said Iblis.

  An image fshed through Jenny’s mind. It was one of blue fmes, but she told Iblis to hold on. Let’s see what it’s like.

  "Well?" asked the harpy, fpping its wings and raising the dead angel out of the water. Each wing must’ve been longer than Jenny was tall.

  "I'm just looking for a friend," said Jenny, bracing herself for its next attack. Blood trickled down her face from the harpy’s previous fly by.

  The harpy looked curious. "A friend? You came all the way here for a friend?" It blinked and raised its eyebrows wide as though it couldn't believe what it was hearing. “I wonder what the master would say about this...”

  “The master?” echoed Jenny, her heart racing. She couldn’t tell if that was her anxiety or Iblis’, but she was sure that the master the harpy was referring to was Azra’il.

  “But that would be such a waste...” sang the harpy, pursing its lips. “Your blood smells so sweet.”

  Perfect, thought Jenny. She adjusted her hatchet. “Come and get me then.” With a shout, she unched it at the harpy, aiming for its beautiful face.