Angel Monarch

The months quickly passed by, and slowly Sera's life became hell.

Three months after her departure from Europe, the pregnancy became officially confirmed. It happened on one morning when Sera got out of bed and tried pulling on her usual tunic, but it felt too tight near the waist and chest.

After a quick examination from Amayeta and Faith, it seemed obvious she gained some weight. There was a clear bump along her stomach, which was supposed to be perfectly flat and even muscular.

Her breasts also grew a bit in size, which was another sign of pregnancy.

However, the pregnancy became seriously worse afterward. Since her emotions fluctuated more often, her bloodlust also increased. She needed to kill at least twice a week to contain herself.

Vicky and Henry also visited as often as they could, but strangely, sometimes they disappeared for days during their visits.

Sera felt suspicious, since it seemed at some point Henry became an Evolved. However, her pregnancy took up all her concentration.

She couldn't find any position, which felt comfortable to sleep in. Her back was in constant pain as her stomach grew.

Even her feet became painful and enlarged. Luckily, Faith happily gave her massages!

At least the nausea never returned, and instead Sera only suffered from constant migraines. Sabyr also tried removing those, but even their powers couldn't suppress it.

The Angel and the Tree met nearly each day in secret… Well, it wasn't truly a secret, but nobody ever interrupted them, so no one else knew…

Sera continued feeding the Starving Tree, and in return, Sabyr shared information about Aerin. She also tried asking more about the agents and the Realm surrounding barrier, but Sabyr wasn't the most knowledgeable about those topics.

It seemed that Sabyr was the worst agent, since she mostly slept throughout each day, devouring any weak creature who wandered too close while ignoring the stronger ones.

The knowledge about Aerin, though, was also pretty useless. It was interesting to learn more about the Angels and their Realm, but it also caused Sera's migraines to worsen.

Just imagining the scales of their cities felt impossible. However, they were certainly magnificent, by Sabyr's description.

Aerin was a Realm made up of enormous floating islands. Below them resided the Endless Abyss, while above them glowed the Infinite Light.

Their architecture was one of a kind, with each enormous city having a different theme. Sabyr only saw one of Aerin's cities, but just her description left Sera speechless.

"Caduin, the Inverted City. While most cities in Aerin face up towards the Infinite Light, Caduin was the exact opposite. They built the city below an island, so it always faced the Endless Abyss!"

"The city's gigantic buildings stretched down into the darkness and illuminated it! Angels moved between them, flying around without issue. At the ground level, they inverted gravity, so people without wings could also experience Caduin and stare up into the Endless Abyss!"

"But the truly majestic part was the Floating Towers of Caduin! Carved out of pure Angelic Metal, they gently glowed and illuminated the darkness as they floated 'above' Caduin!"

"Even I felt sad when the city fell. All that beauty destroyed forever as the Endless Abyss claimed the planet-sized city…"

They told other similar stories during each session and, even though they were all sad, it took Sera's mind off the hellish pregnancy, which greatly helped.

As the months passed, Vicky tried visiting as often as she could. The little girl always looked worried about her mother, but also excited about her future sibling.

Sera tasked her daughter with finding an appropriate name for the baby. Vicky took her job extremely seriously, but since they didn't know the gender yet, she chose two names for each gender.

However, Vicky didn't reveal either of these names to Sera. Luckily, Henry knew and approved of them, so she had nothing to worry about.

While Sera truly believed in her daughter, she was still young and a bit naïve. That's why she like the close relationship between Henry and her daughter. The gentlemanly young boy will always help her!

Time flew, and the small bump increased gradually. By the 8th month, Sera felt like a balloon ready to pop.

Her existence became pure agony. All her muscles ached just from existing. The migraines became even more awful, and even her womb started to scream in pain.

The baby inside her stomach also didn't let life be easy. He or she loved to kick, which would've been a bit uncomfortable as a regular human. However, Sera's baby was a Transcended… Those kicks could've killed an Ascended…

Even worse, her bloodlusted rage never stopped. This meant two-to-three times a week, Sera went into the wilderness while heavily pregnant to kill monsters for her mind's pleasure.

Luckily, Vicky teleported her back afterward, so no scout saw her pregnant, naked, blood and gore covered body… It wasn't a pretty sight, and the first few times, Vicky threw up just from the smell…

Faith, as diligent as usual, never complained and just quietly cleaned all of Sera's body.

Other than Sera's own suffering, everybody at the Village was doing perfectly fine. The new planted seeds provided a more diverse diet, which really boosted everyone's health.

The plants weren't the nicest, but Migsi's, the lead scientist's, previous tests proved worthwhile. They gave insight into the plants' behaviour, and she found ways to avoid losing fingers while feeding them.

Their mouths were full of sharp teeth and they snapped towards anything moving by. It was obvious these plants would never survive in the wild, but they were perfect for the Village's restricted environment.

The only one who complained was Sabyr. They didn't like other plants growing on their body… However, after Sera gave them a few souls, the Tree quickly shut up and never brought up the issue…

The 8th month went by, and soon the time of birth began approaching rapidly. Sera, Amayeta, Faith and Vicky made plans for that eventuality, and until then, the soon-to-be mother continued suffering.

Her belly grew enormous, much larger than a regular human's, which probably meant the baby wouldn't be normal size either.

Amayeta began preparing the necessary tools for a C-section, weeks before the actual birth. It was highly unlikely that Sera could push the gigantic baby out normally.

Vicky also brought tools and equipment from Europe, which could help a lot during birth.

While Amayeta and Vicky worked on the technical side, Faith made sure her Goddess always felt comfortable. She also read books in the Village's library about patient care, which will hopefully prove useful during birth.

At nine months pregnant, Sera's body began to shut down. Her muscles felt extremely heavy, her breathing became laboured, a constant layer of sweat covered her body, and she spent most hours asleep.

Faith continued taking care of her, like a good nurse. She fed and massaged her multiple times a day. She even ordered a few workers to build a large bath, then asked Vicky to fill it with hot water.

The little girl needed a bit of creativity, since the nearby river was dirty and cold. However, she simply stole the water from Sera's mansion back in Europe.

Nearly a year went by, but finally Sera could take warm baths again. The scolding hot water sent waves of pleasure across her pained body.

This lethargic, painful experience only had one good side. Her bloodlust simply disappeared, so she didn't need to worry about accidentally killing anyone inside the Village.

As the weeks went by, her situation only gotten worse. Her face became extremely pale, her body screamed in agony, especially her womb. It constantly felt like someone was stabbing her stomach repeatedly.

Sometimes she woke up from her endless dreams with a groan of pain or a small scream of anguish.

She could barely keep awake on most days, her mind consumed by the suffering just wants to keep her unconscious.

The pain inside her stomach also became much worse, since the baby turned more lively. He or she constantly kicked and punched Sera's womb, sending waves of agony across her body.

Even her unborn child seemed to have enough of the pregnancy, as it basically tried crawling out of Sera's womb.

The moment this horrible image appeared in Sera's mind, she dismissed it. However, this nightmare continued haunting her while she slept.

The closer she got to the inevitable birth, the more nightmares haunted her. Near the last week, she couldn't even decide if the hell was reality or some nightmare.

Sleeplessness and exhaustion were her silent companions.

As the due date approached, Sera began looking like a living corpse, barely breathing, not eating or drinking. Her muscles completely stopped working, which led to her making a mess of the bed.

Faith always cleaned everything without a word of complaint, like an excellent maid and nurse. She happily helped her Goddess, especially in these trying times.

It even felt nice. Sera didn't have much use for her before her pregnancy worsened, but now she became an essential part of her wellbeing!

A few days before the probable due date, they moved Sera to a much better room. Vicky brought all the machines, which monitors both the mother and the child, into this room.

Amayeta already got familiar with them, which wasn't easy, but luckily Vicky also brought manuals about their usage.

With that, they prepared for everything they could've predicted. Now they just had to wait.

Finally, on February 13th midnight, a loud scream shook the Village, as Sera's water broke and her labour began…