"On your left!" A shout from Castyr warned Rae of the danger racing for him. Turning to face the demon craft aiming for him, Rae controlled his sword telekinetically and used the blue blade to deflect the deadly bullets flying at him.

Once the bullets had been deflected, Rae's sword flew back to him and hovered around the colonel as Azyr and Destil spiraled around each other as they zipped through the hovercraft, shredding it with their blades. Rae tightened his hold on the boy in his arms as he twirled around to assess the situation.

With the remnants of the demon craft falling toward the city below, the constant assault that had chased them over the city came to a quiet end. Being airborne, the angelic unit was easy to spot as Rae and his subordinates flew over Dexys. The closer they got to the city's edge, the more the assaults lessened until they eventually stopped coming.

Now that they had defeated the forces from Hades that had been pursuing them, Rae and his unit continued flying over the dark city. Power had been lost for several days, leaving Halim in utter darkness during the night. The only light provided was that of burning fires as Hades continued to invade the city.

Axel watched with wet eyes as his home faded into the night. The skyreachers grew smaller and smaller as the colonel carried him away from the war-torn city. This was the first time in his life that Axel had left his home, and he never could have imagined it would be to run from Hades as demons ransacked the city.

Dad... Jay... Callon... A single tear rolled down Axel's cheek as he mourned for those he had lost. The sudden war had taken so many innocent lives in such a short amount of time.

How...how did I survive all this...how did I survive when everyone else didn't...? Why? Why did I survive...? Axel closed his eyes as another tear was swept away by the cool, night breeze. Guilt and hollowness consumed Axel as he realized he had lost everyone.

Rae glanced at the boy in his arms as he felt a tear fall onto his neck. Reaching up, Rae placed a hand on the back of the hangel's head and began to slowly pat his golden head. The colonel's hand on his head startled Axel slightly, but the moment the angel began to soothe him, Axel began to feel calm.

The emptiness and anxiety that had flooded his heart began to drain as Rae gently patted his head. The hollowness was replaced with exhaustion. Axel had been running at a hundred-and-ten percent the past five days, and now that he was relatively safe and no one was chasing him, he allowed his mind to grow foggy as tears continued to roll from his closed eyes.

The flapping of Rae's wings eventually lolled Axel to sleep as the colonel and his unit continued to bring Axel far from the dark city. Rae flew through the night as he led Unit R deep into the remote areas of Earth. He was familiar with an area titled "Nature's Reserve" that the world government had set aside and preserved from technology and industrialization. This was his destination.

Nature's Reserve consisted of a small range of mountains and valleys and all the towns that were already established at the time of the area's preservation. No new cities were allowed to be built on the preserved property once the land had been placed under government protection, so the area was fairly rural and secluded from the bustling urbanism that decorated the planet.

The preserved land was vast, so Rae hoped to find a place in which they could settle and set up a base. They would be able to train and protect Axel until he was ready to re-enter the war. Seeing as there was no way to rebuild the Transport Tower without driving Hades' forces from the city, it would take a good while for the Heavens to send reinforcements.

Rae was sure Hades was also patrolling Earth's orbit and preventing aid from entering the planet's atmosphere, thus cutting the humans off from the rest of the universe. Unit R flew for several hours before they stopped to rest in a smaller city outside the vast reaches of Dexys. They had managed to restock on everything they needed — except for water — in District 30 before leaving Dexys. So, they only needed to fill up on hydrating liquids before continuing toward the countryside.

Axel was still fast asleep when Rae touched down on one of the city's skyscrapers. Being a smaller city, it did not have skyreachers like Dexys, but its small cluster of skyscrapers was still quite impressive. Making sure everyone from his unit had safely landed, Rae continued to hold the hangel in his arms as he motioned for everyone to begin making their way down to the ground level. Since this city had not been affected by the war as of yet, Rae chose to be as non-conspicuous as possible. So, landing on a skyscraper and filtering down instead of landing right in the middle of a busy street seemed like the right thing to do.

The angels were quiet as they exited the skyscraper and entered the bustling streets of Briam. News of the invasion of Dexys was displayed everywhere, and people ran back and forth preparing for their city to be attacked. The dispensers at grocery and convenience stores were emptied as citizens of Briam readied themselves to flee at the first sign of danger.

"Leave! What are you doing here?! Leave!! They're here because of you! You're the reason we are getting killed!" A voice filled with hate began to shout at the group of angels as they searched for a place to buy water.

Dressed in their uniforms, everyone who passed the group immediately knew they were angels from the Heavens. Many blamed the Heavenly Angels for being the reason Hades was attacking Earth. People who had just past the unit turned and began to glare at the angels as the woman continued to shout profanities at them.

Axel woke at the sound of the woman's screams. Rae set Axel on his feet as the hangel looked around in confusion. Spotting the woman who was shouting, Axel immediately knew why she was so angry. Blood and dirt covered her face, neck, and hands. She had escaped from the fiery hell that currently engulfed Dexys and had fled to Briam.

"Leave us alone! You are killing us!!" Tears streamed from the woman's eyes as she screamed and cried.

Sinjae's heart broke as he watched the woman's tears fall to the ground. Her sorrow and despair radiated through the ambassador as he locked eyes with the woman. The unit came to a stop as Sinjae turned and walked up to the broken human. The woman glared at him with hatred in her eyes, but she did not spit or bite as Sinjae lifted his hand and gently set it on her cheek.

Sinjae's gaze was soft as he gingerly wiped a tear from her cheek. Being an ambassador, he could feel every emotion that was coursing through the woman, and he understood her sorrow. She had lost her one and only son as well as her mother and sister. With nothing left, she had tried to leave her life, but she was saved by a captain in Dexys' military and put on a transport that took survivors to a nearby city.

The woman gazed up at Sinjae through wet eyes as the angel looked into her soul. I am truly sorry for your loss. The woman released a gasp as the man's voice sounded deep within her. His sincerity and care for her resounded in his voice as she gazed into his warm eyes.

The words from Sinjae broke down the woman's walls, and she sunk to her knees before covering her face with her hands and crying freely. She did not truly hate the angels. She hated the death. She hated the loss. She hated those who had stolen her family from her.

Sinjae gently rested his hand on her shoulder as Zetha walked up to the woman. Kneeling beside her, Zetha carefully took her hand in his. When the woman looked up at the man smiling down at her softly, she was healed. Her skin was beautiful and silky. The blood was gone, and so was the pain. Although Zetha could not heal the wound in her heart, he did his best to alleviate as much of her pain as he could. So, he continued to smile at her tenderly.

"I'm so sorry..." The woman apologized to Zetha as he gazed at her softly. "I don't hate you...I just want them back..." The woman continued to kneel on the ground and mourn for her loved ones as Zetha and Sinjae slowly left and rejoined their unit.

Axel remained by Rae's side as the colonel turned from the woman and led his unit through the city in search of water. After finding a small corner store that still had some in stock, the unit refilled their bottles before finding a skyscraper from which to take flight. Axel watched Briam fade into the night as Unit R resumed its journey across the planet in search of a place to call base.