"Sultana, what's going on?"
"Look at the Los Angeles sky, and you'll see."
It was six in the morning, and in September, Los Angeles should've been bathed in sunrise by now.
But when Roy glanced out the window, the sky was pitch black, with a blood-red moon hanging high above—an eerie, unsettling sight.
"A blood moon? Vampires?"
"Exactly. Last night at eight, the Council of Elders launched a sudden, massive attack on the Shadowhunters' base…"
Sultana began explaining what had happened.
Not long after Roy's attention was drawn to the dark web situation, the Council of Elders rallied a horde of vampires to assault the Shadowhunters' base.
Luckily, Iris was at the base. With her help, the Shadowhunters managed to fend off the initial vampire attack.
But the Council wasn't done. Perhaps because Iris hadn't shown herself and the Shadowhunters did all the fighting, the Elders thought they still had a chance.
Then, thirteen third-generation vampires showed up.
Third-generation vampires were no joke. Even if they'd been dormant for years and hadn't fully regained their peak strength, these were still thirteen legendary-level vampires.
The Shadowhunters' defenses crumbled like dry leaves, without the slightest chance of holding out.
Left with no choice, Iris revealed her true form as an Archangel to stop the third-generation vampires.
Truth be told, the thirteen vampires were stunned when they saw Iris. They'd witnessed the power of an Archangel before the Great Flood, when Gabriel, one of the four Archangels, had brutally beaten Cain, the ancient vampire progenitor.
The vampire clans couldn't even stand up to the four Archangels, let alone third-generation vampires.
Iris had hoped to intimidate the vampires into retreating with her Archangel aura, as her human form's power wasn't enough to confidently take on thirteen third-generation vampires.
Unfortunately, smart people tend to overthink. If Iris had taken out a few vampires right away, she might've scared the rest off.
But because she held back, Valentine saw through her bluff. After some probing, the vampires realized Iris was beatable.
And so, a massive battle erupted at the Shadowhunters' base.
Back then, the sky wasn't yet pitch black, and there was no blood moon—just a lot of noise.
The people of Los Angeles were used to nighttime commotion, though, and no one dared come close to investigate. Only the FEA caught wind of the disturbance and sent all their FEAR units to check it out.
Well, "check it out" was generous—FEAR could only watch from a distance. Paxton Fertel, the deputy director of the Los Angeles FEA branch, tried sending clone troops into the Shadowhunters' base to see what was happening.
But within seconds, every clone that entered was drained of blood, reduced to desiccated husks.
With no other options, FEAR focused on evacuating nearby residents and sealing off the area.
The battle inside the Shadowhunters' base was clearly beyond what ordinary people—or even most supernatural beings—could handle.
You'd need to be at the level of the Apocalypse Coven's four witches just to qualify as a spectator.
---
After hours of grueling combat, Iris finally defeated the thirteen third-generation vampires. But in their dying moments, the vampires used their last strength to open a portal.
That's when the inky black sky and blood moon appeared.
"We have no idea what's happening inside the Shadowhunters' base now. The electronic interference is so bad that FEA's blockade had to pull back a kilometer just to get their equipment working!"
"Let me talk to Mr. Black!"
Suddenly, Roy heard Paxton Fertel's voice—it seemed he'd snatched the phone from Sultana.
"Mr. Black, FEA desperately needs your help right now!"
"Mr. Fertel, don't just talk about what FEA needs. Tell me what FEA's offering."
Paxton's voice carried a hint of anger.
"Mr. Black, this is a crisis! How can you ask for rewards at a time like this? Isn't Ms. Iris your friend?"
"So, you're saying Commissioner Smith can rake in a fortune, but heroes are supposed to work for free?"
That shut Paxton up. Maybe that was the difference between him and Gerald.
If it were Gerald, he wouldn't need Roy's prompting to offer compensation upfront, knowing how critical Iris was to FEA.
Another Archangel wouldn't bother cooperating with FEA.
Unfortunately, Paxton was a bit stingy, still hesitating even now.
Thankfully, Sultana had managed to contact Gerald, who was at headquarters, and got him on another phone to speak with Roy.
"Mr. Black, I've heard about the situation in Los Angeles. I'm heading back now. Please deal with this incident as soon as possible, and I'll ensure you're well rewarded afterward!"
Now that was more like it.
"Got it. I'm heading to the Shadowhunters' base now."
Just then, Claudia pulled up outside Minos Corporation.
"Niddy, Ashley, head back to school. It's safer with Professor Elizabeth there. As for you four, if you're scared, you can go with Niddy and Ashley to UCLA. I'll deal with your situation after I handle things at the base."
The four second-time players nodded eagerly. Surviving this far was already a miracle—after all, in the original story, none of them made it out alive, only the main characters did.
"Let's go!"
Roy led the group out.
It was only six in the morning, but Minos's factory had security guards on duty. Roy and the others immediately caught their attention.
"Who are you people?"
Roy flashed his FEA badge, shoving the guard aside.
"Out of the way! FEA business!"
The guard clearly didn't know what FEA was and reached for his gun to stop Roy.
But Roy was faster.
"Look, man, why risk your life for that measly paycheck?"
The guard realized he was outmatched.
"Sir, don't do anything reckless! Our company's linked to the Los Angeles Police Department!"
Roy raised an eyebrow. So, the LAPD might have ties to the dark web.
Using his Eye of Judgment, he scanned the guard. No trace of guilt or malice—just a regular hired security guy.
So, Roy decided to let him off.
"Thanks for the heads-up. Feel free to call the cops, but we're leaving."
He disarmed the guard, tossed the weapon to Niddy, and forced his way out of Minos Corporation.
"Niddy, Ashley, I'm heading out!"
"Roy, be careful!"
Ashley looked at him with concern. She hadn't caught the full phone conversation but knew it was serious trouble.
Niddy, on the other hand, had complete faith in Roy.
"Roy, don't forget your promise!"
"I won't!"
With that, Roy rode off on Claudia.
Watching him go, Black Sis suddenly thought of something.
"Niddy, is your boyfriend that Olympic champion?"
"Yup! Roy did win gold this year."
The four second-time players let out gasps of awe, but they didn't linger outside Minos Corporation. Any longer, and the LAPD might actually show up.
---
The Shadowhunters' base, an ancient museum, was now in ruins. The ceiling had collapsed, and large holes gaped in the walls.
A thick, black haze enveloped the museum, preventing the FEA outside from seeing what was happening.
Inside, Iris, clutching the Book of Genesis, faced a strikingly handsome but pale-skinned young man with black hair.
Iris looked worse for wear. Her once-pristine nun's habit was covered in dust, torn in places, revealing glimpses of her fair skin.
Behind her, a group of injured Shadowhunters was shielded by a wall of light. Clary was using her bloodline powers to heal them.
The black-haired man stared at Clary, his eyes gleaming with greed, seemingly unconcerned with Iris.
"Cain, God in His mercy banished you. You should not have returned!"
The young man was none other than Cain, the progenitor of vampires, shocking Clary as she tended to the Shadowhunters.
At Iris's words, Cain shifted his gaze to her.
"Uriel, you have no right to judge me. Only God does! Too bad that old geezer's gone!"
God's disappearance had left a power vacuum across Earth, Heaven, and Hell. Cain wasn't the only one with ambitions, but he was certainly the most brazen.
"How dare you question God's might! God is eternal!"
Iris, furious, glared at Cain.
Cain smirked and flipped her an international gesture of "friendship."
"Oh? If the old man's still around, let him show himself! Let him see what he turned me into! That old, decrepit, perverted piece of—"
Cain unleashed every curse word known to humanity to insult God. Even the most patient person would've been enraged.
Yet God didn't appear to smite him, which only made Iris tremble with anger.
"How dare you blaspheme God! God said: Let there be light!"
A beam of holy light descended, but it was quickly swallowed by darkness.
"Heh, these curses don't even begin to express my hatred! Do you know what I've been through? That old man banished me to the edge of the universe—nothing but chaos and darkness, enough to drive anyone to despair and suicide!
But thanks to his curse, I couldn't even die!"
Cain bore God's curse of immortality, unlike other vampires.
Regular vampires could be killed by sunlight or holy water, but Cain would only enter a death-like state under sunlight, reviving once it was gone.
This curse, bestowed by God, had the highest priority.
Back in the day, all four Archangels could pummel Cain, but none could kill him. He was tougher than a cockroach.
Eventually, God got fed up and banished him to the edge of the universe.
It was only today, when the thirteen third-generation vampires opened a portal with their dying bloodline connection, that Cain was pulled back.
And it seemed that, during his millennia of exile, Cain had gained some unique powers—enough to easily counter Iris's Great Prophecy spell.
Even though Iris had just fought a grueling battle against the thirteen vampires.
"Uriel, I can sense your weakness. Can your human vessel still handle your power?"
Cain had seen through Iris's true state.
Truth be told, Iris had only been in her human form for six months, yet she'd faced more trouble than Michael had in a century.
Mammon, Samael, the War Knight, Leviathan—she was practically a workhorse.
This was a massive strain on her human vessel. Often, she hadn't even recovered before facing the next challenge.
Especially after the battle with the War Knight and Leviathan two weeks ago—her powers still hadn't fully returned, which was why facing Cain now was so frustrating.
"Or are you stalling, waiting for a miracle?"
Cain sneered, then clenched his fist. A black abyss appeared beneath Iris, and countless dark tendrils shot out, wrapping around her.
If Roy were here, he'd recognize the attack as similar to his Touch of Darkness or the Slender Man's shadow tendrils.
The difference was that Cain's dark power was far stronger, the darkness so dense it was almost liquid.
"God said: Let there be light!"
Iris unleashed another Great Prophecy, summoning a holy light to dispel the tendrils.
But, just like before, the light was quickly consumed by darkness.
With no other choice, Iris burned more energy to transform into her angelic form, using herself as a source of holy light to barely hold back the darkness.
The problem was, maintaining her Archangel state while shielding Clary and the Shadowhunters with a light wall was draining her rapidly. Her human vessel was on the verge of collapse.
Cain, seeing her struggle, didn't rush to attack. He planned to wear her down.
"The greatest lesson I learned at the edge of the universe is that light and darkness are twins—neither is nobler than the other. Light can overcome darkness, but darkness can suppress light. It all depends on who wields the power!
God was strong enough to rule the world with light. So, if I master enough darkness, couldn't I become another God?"
Cain finally revealed his ambition.
Iris shook her head, looking at him with disdain.
"After God banished you to the edge of the universe, this is all you've come up with? How disappointing."
"Shut up! What do you—"
Before he could finish, a piercing sound cut through the air.
Iris—