Angel Monarch

The portals opened to four general areas, where outposts got set up. North, west, south, and east.

North referred to the northern part of Europe, the Scandinavian Peninsula's top. The area was full of higher Class monsters, while its geography was a mountainous tundra with fields and forests covered in snow.

Lucy and Will led the first expeditions there. Despite having intel on the area, facing the high-class monsters was a real headache to deal with.

For better coverage, they both lived in separate outposts, so they entered the lab through different portals.

Neither changed much in the past year. Will still had his short, dark blue hair, but now the beginnings of a beard grew over his jaw.

His dark blue eyes seemed to light up as it scanned the surroundings and eventually landed on Vicky.

He tried to scoop up the not so little girl, but before he could, a black-haired, deathly pale woman was already hugging her.

Out of everyone, Lucy changed the least. She continued wearing her gothic black dress, which further enhanced her petite beauty and milky white skin.

In comparison, Will seemed like a wet rat with his tanned skin, cargo shorts and sleeveless white shirt.

They both hugged Vicky tightly, then looked at each other, surprised.

The setting up of outposts prevented frequent contact between them, so they hadn't met in a long time, either.

"Fuck me, how the hell do you still have a tan?! I haven't seen proper sunlight in months! And what the fuck are you wearing?!"

Will just shrugged and smiled. Without a word, he lifted Lucy by the waist and spun her around, while continuously kissing her.

Vicky giggled at their display of joy, then turned back towards the portals.

The west referred to the South American continent. Large jungle-like forests, enormous, swampy rivers, and tall mountains proved a great annoyance, hindering exploration.

Leslie and Sarah led the outposts there, with more or less success.

It wasn't easy to find a good region for setting up camps. It also didn't help that parts of the South American continent suffered greatly in the Last War.

The destruction was so bad towards the north, they couldn't even traverse the plains, and after getting in contact with a few survivors, they realized that the landmass connecting South and North America didn't exist anymore.

This hindered their explorations a bit, but also provided valuable intel.

At first, they planned on mapping both South and North America, but after what the locals told them, they refrained from traveling north.

Instead, they stayed and tried negotiating with the few city-state on the continent. They were quite welcoming and excited to meet other survivors.

Upon hearing Leslie's and Sarah's return to Europe, they jumped at the idea of sending envoys, furthering the bond between the continents.

Through the opened portal, Leslie and Sarah entered, leading about a dozen people wearing strange colorful clothes.

Lucy and Will changed somewhat during the year, Sarah and Leslie felt like completely different people.

The tall, taciturn man, with a commending aura, now seemed permanently angry, with a terrifying outlook.

Towering over two meters, he possessed two black, bat-like wings. From his long, bright red, disheveled hair, a pair of dark horns grew. A long, black tail, tipped with a dagger-like protrusion, swung with every step.

His face still held its otherworldly beauty, but now, deep within his blood-red eyes, a strong inextinguishable anger burned.

The man looked at everyone and smirked upon seeing Lucy and Will. He didn't rush towards them though, instead he moved and bent down to give Vicky a well-deserved hug.

Even through his monstrous changes on the outside, his mind stayed the same.

"Wow, you grew a lot since the last time I saw you! If you continue like this, it won't take long to surpass me!"

Vicky just giggled at Leslie's remark, but soon something changed.

The air pressure felt stronger, and the room filled with the smell of rain. A humanoid cloud coalesced before Vicky and Leslie, taking up the shape of a breathtaking woman.

Sarah's body became a lot different with her next Evolution.

Her bluish-gray hair reached the floor and constantly danced on nonexistent winds. The surrounding air formed into a magnificent flowing blue dress, which covered most of her body, showing ample cleavage.

On her face two stormy eyes stared at the people nearby, while her face supported unreadable, constantly changing emotions.

"Hello everyone! Long time no see!… Is that you Vicky?! Why are you hugging my man!…"

Confused, Vicky let go of Leslie and stared at Sarah's approaching figure. She also bent down and hugged her, which felt similar to being hugged by a cloud.

"Oh, I missed you so much!… But if you hug my man again, we will have a problem… I love you, Vicky!"

Her words sent mixed emotions, making Vicky even more bewildered.

Leslie sighed nearby and glanced at Lucy's and Will's curious expressions.

"Since her last Evolution, Sarah turned into a weather elemental, which means she became unstable and very emotional… Just act like nothing happened and it will be fine!"

"Hey, I heard that! You know if I didn't love you, you would already be dead!"

Shouted Sarah angrily, while continuing to hug Vicky, her hand gently petting the small girl's head.

"You are upsetting little Victoria!"

Leslie quickly consoled Sarah before separating her from Vicky and leading her away from the portals.

Luckily, the envoys were too curious about the lab, so they hadn't noticed Sarah's strange behavior… Either that, or they got used to it!

The portals leading to the east mostly referred to Asia's eastern part. These portals opened to the most diverse terrain, starting from wastelands, to simple grassy plains, to gigantic mountain ranges, and jungle-like dense forests.

Through these portals, Melinda, Kim, Astrid, Joan, Sam and two unfamiliar figures, a man and a woman, entered the facility.

The eastern expedition had the hardest task out of everyone. Unlike the other three, they actually had intel of the surviving Asian city-states, they just had to establish contact with each.

The issue came when Melinda realized how xenophobic these cities were. They all united under a single mega city-state, which dwarfed even New Paris.

An Ethereal supposedly led them, but Harold's maneuver four years ago locked away every Ethereal on the planet.

Dozens of Stellars now ruled the city, viewing the European envoys with contempt, looking down at their low Ranks.

Through long negotiations, Melinda acquired some relevant information about the state of the Asian continent.

The Japanese Isles sunk from the Last War. Bombings transformed much of the Indian Peninsula into a wasteland consumed by radiation. Dozens of Abominations took South-East Asia over, constantly fighting each other.

Australia sent only a distress call, mentioning monstrous spider-like creatures causing widespread destruction.

The few scouts sent by the Asian city-states never returned, so they deemed the area a death-zone.

Melinda's question regarding the envoy's absence prompted only amusement from the Stellars.

Later on, a Transcended servant explained that in the leadership's eyes, sending an envoy would mean lowering themselves to weaklings.

Since they had made up their minds, Melinda dropped the issue and now came home, perpetually annoyed at her own failure.

Her face only brightened upon landing on the little girl standing not far away.

Melinda, like Lucy and Will, didn't change on the outside. She kept her whitish-blond hair, and her blue and green eyes.

She did seem stronger and more dignified. Each step carried a newfound grace and confidence.

Even though she grinned at Vicky, her eyes held an infinite well of sadness.

When Bran died, Melinda broke in many ways. It wasn't easy to adjust to the new reality without her best friend.

She herself volunteered for the expedition, so she could get away from New Athens and all the memories it held.

The formerly depressed individual's demeanor seemed to change.

The year of freedom changed Melinda for the better. Her eyes still held the sadness within, but it lessened, and even her smile seemed more genuine.

Another person with a similar change was Joan…

Two years ago, she lost her sister mysteriously. In amidst the chaos, they didn't notice Eula's missing body, and Joan was unconscious during the rescue.

Joan eventually explained Eula's death…

Amygdala treated everyone cruelly, but the twins suffered the most. She saw how close each was to Evolving further. With her fear aura, forcing Joan to kill her own sister, and use her corpse for Evolution.

The event was so traumatic Joan couldn't speak or move for months. She was like a living corpse, slowly withering, but never dying.

Melinda spent a lot of time in her room, talking to her. It was easier, because Joan never responded, never judged or tried solving the problem. She could freely vent to someone without any repercussions.

When the news about the expeditions reached Melinda, she somehow convinced Joan to join.

The two women departed together, shattered by their losses, but returned, appearing alive and even somewhat joyful.

They both gave Vicky tender hugs and kisses on her forehead. Kim and Sam didn't show the same gentleness.

Like a rocket, Kim slithered towards the Princess. Her changes were the most apparent out of everyone's, since her previous transformation became permanent.

From the waist up, she remained mostly the same. Unnaturally pale skin, slender build, beautiful face with a hair of small snakes, each colored either green or brown. Her slit-like eyes glowed dark green as it stared down at Vicky.

From the waist down, a three meter long, silvery-white snake-tail stretched, moving from side-to-side as she slithered towards Vicky.

A specially made dress covered up her upper body and waist, hiding any intimate parts. It looked quite funny on the snake woman, but Vicky tried holding in her laughter.

"You can laugh at her all you want! I already said she looks ridiculous, but for some reason, she never believes me!"

The high-pitched voice belonged to the tall, lanky goblin grinning behind Kim.

Sam didn't change much over the year. His face stayed androgynous, with long, blackish-green hair covering his head. Dark green eyes scanned Vicky, while the smile widened on his face.

"Oh, my Goddess! You grew so much in only a year! I can't believe I missed the time when you surpassed Kim in height!"

Both Vicky and Sam giggled as he lifted the child and spun her around a few times.

"Hey! I'm now much taller than any of you!" Shouted Kim in outrage.

"We don't count your tail," Said a deep feminine voice, Astrid's voice.

The woman was tall before, but now she grew monstrous, with her 2,3 meter height.

She wore her usual golden armor, which was now covered in embellishments, and under her arm, she carried a winged helmet.

Other than growing a lot taller, the most prominent change on Astrid's body was the pair of golden-feathered wings growing from her back. It matched perfectly with her whitish-gold hair and eyes.

While Astrid walked towards Vicky, Kim used the opportunity to steal the child from Sam and give a hug of her own.

She pressed the Princess's face to hers, letting all the small snakes give kisses. It made Vicky a bit uncomfortable, but also gave a fuzzy, warm feeling in her stomach, so she let the snake kisses continue.

Astrid showed respect by kneeling before the small child.

But whatever Astrid expected to happen, Vicky didn't care. She jumped away from Kim's arms, leaving her pouting, and sat down on Astrid's neck.

"Stand up Astrid! I want to be tall!"

Demanded the Princess and with a booming laughter Astrid obliged. From her newfound height, Vicky watched the rest of the people's approach.

She watched the two individual. They both seemed familiar, like she saw them before. They also looked similar, as if they were siblings or other close family members.

They both knelt before Vicky, but they clearly didn't carry the same respect as Astrid.

Not like Vicky cared. After giving up on remembering their names, she turned away and looked towards the rest of her friends.