Sam was speechless, his eyes torn open as he gazed up at the red sky.

At first, he thought it was just a flock of birds with some rather colorful wings, but with his vision zoomed in on them he soon understood who had just bombarded the Army of Black Stone Giants.

With their brilliant wings spread wide and their halos shining over their heads, the Angels descended on the Black Stone Devils and their army. One of them took the vanguard, diving faster than the rest. Lightning gradually enveloped her body until she turned into a single massive bolt, and the sound of thunder crackled through the sky as its light flashed in the distance.

“STORMBREAKER-” reaching the halfway point to the ground, the bolt suddenly shot down at light speed. “BLITZ!!!”

The tremendous bolt of lightning fell straight on one of the Demons, shattering it in an instant. The shockwave from the impact hurled the surrounding giant as if they were insignificant pebbles, and the tendrils of electrical energy slammed into them, shattering their stone bodies despite their high resistance to energy attacks.

A smile spread on Sam’s face as he recognized the person behind the massive lightning attack. Flying out of the dust cloud and spreading her wings once more, with her armored body still enveloped in lightning, Mjölnir retracted her helmet and allowed her short silver hair to flow along the violent wind. She immediately turned her gaze toward the pink dome at the center of the mayhem, and a second later, an expression of pure joy took over her as her eyes met Sam’s.

“Doctor!”

Even with such a long distance between them, Sam felt himself making eye contact with the silver haired Nephilim. A sense of relief washed over him and he almost lost balance, but before he could fall over Nino teleported to his side and helped support him. After taking a moment to regain his composure, he noticed a small window in the corner of his vision saying that his communicator had picked a familiar signal.

“Took you long enough.” He said, raising the small device to his mouth.

Doctor! Mjölnir’s voice came in. It’s really you! What are you doing here!!?

“Is that really a question to ask?” He replied with a weak chuckle.

Right! Mimir said you would come to investigate since we didn’t show up on time! Pausing for a moment, a loud scream suddenly came from her side. GYAAAAA!!!! WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT!!!?

Sam could tell that she had just noticed the otherworldly giant eyes in the sky. Since they seemed to be peeking in from a gap in the fabric of space, he had guessed that the Nephilim couldn’t see them from the angle they arrived from.

“Mjölnir, how many Cleansers do you have on your side?”

Cleansers? Ah! You mean those with Purification abilities? She asked. We have plenty! They’re in the back though, since, you know, they aren’t really useful in combat!

Her voice was drowned by the sound of lightning as she went back to battle; the surviving Stone Giants weren’t going to just let her stand there. The recurring loud impacts audible through the communicator suggested that she had taken out her hammer and was going around smashing boulders.

“You saw those things above, right?” Sam said. “I don’t know what they’re, but it seems they can’t handle the special Force Field the Cleansers create. I want you to tell every last one on your side to prepare themselves. We will need their power to stop those things before they replenish the ranks of their army.”

I… don’t really get it but roger that! Mjölnir exclaimed. Tell the Cleansers to prepare for a wide area Purge, is that it?

“Yes. Guard them very well. The Eyes might try to target them if they notice their presence.”

Ever since they first appeared, the giant eyes had kept their focus on Ichigo and ignored everyone else. Her Transcendent Purge was what prevented their tentacles from reaching whatever they were after and so Sam concluded that they would prioritize eliminating anyone else with the same ability, paying no mind to the others as if they didn’t register as a threat.

Roger that! The sound of fierce battle continued before the connection ended. Sam took one more look at the battle before turning to Nino who was still holding onto his arm and supporting his weight.

“Is this… is this the surprise you were preparing?” He asked the Japanese doll.

“Yup.” Nino smirked. “Everything should go smoothly from here on so you can relax.” She turned her sight to pink haired Valkyrie beside them next. “Ah! Ichigo, this might be a bit rough on you, but could you hold on for a few more minutes?”

Ichigo had to look up at Nino, having fallen to her knees from the pressure of the mysterious eyes gazing down at her. Her face was somewhat pale, and if it weren’t for the fact that Valkyries didn’t sweat at all, she would’ve been drenched at the moment after all the stress she was going through.

“Okay… got it…” she said after a moment then closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath. 𝒪𝗏xt.𝔠𝑶

“Doctor!” Three’s sudden call drew their attention to the plane where their equipment was loaded. She had teleported there after helping the others who went out to block the Demons’ spikes, and from the looks of it she was the only one still conscious.

Zero Five seemed to be in pretty bad shape and the other two appear to have sustained quite some damage. Though he wanted to see how the battle would play out, Sam quickly sealed his emotions once more and moved to do his job.

“I’m fine now.” He said as he propped himself up. “I’ll go help the others. Can you handle the rest?”

Nino stared at him for a moment, wondering if he really was okay. He realized that wiping his face clean of expressions didn’t help his Valkyries relax and so, while placing a hand on her head, he allowed a genuine smile to return to his face.

“You did great.” He said. “I owe you a big time.”

“Fufu~ well, if you say that~” Nino’s cheeks flushed as she allowed herself to enjoy the head pat. “I’ll be looking forward to our first night~<3”