"How are you?" Makio's voice was what broke the silence that had settled over him and Axel. Seraphine, who walked in front of the two males, heard Makio's inquiry, but she did not react as she knew his question was not for her. Seraphine continued walking between the trees as Axel turned his gaze to the green-eyed angel.

"I'm fine," Axel responded quietly after a moment before returning Makio's question. "How are you?"

Makio nodded at Axel's response and gave the hangel a small smile. "All healed."

It had been two days since Axel and Makio's intense training session, and it was R-10's turn to send three of its members to scout the camp's perimeter for the night. Having rested for the past few days, Makio and Axel volunteered to join Seraphine in guarding the border of the small base. The three had been walking in silence for a good while before Makio made his inquiry, and they soon returned to inspecting the border quietly after checking in on one another.

"Have you been practicing your telepathy?" It was now Seraphine who broke the silence. However, as Axel looked up at her, he saw that she had not turned toward him and was still facing forward while continuing to guard the border. Her long, pink hair had been styled up in a high ponytail, and she was dressed in a white shirt and black cargo pants like the others in the unit.

Axel had always admired Seraphine's concentration and intensity with which she fought and trained. He had had the opportunity to spar Seraphine a few times throughout the past months, and each time, Axel gained invaluable skills and techniques merely by fighting her.

"Ae, but...I'm still not able to hear clearly. And I can't send any messages. No one can hear me," Axel promptly responded.

"But you've mastered telekinesis?" Seraphine's hand flowed to her back as she relayed her question. Axel had turned his check an area to his left as she said this, so he did not realize what the pink-haired was preparing to do.

"For the most part, b-" Before Axel could finish his sentence, Seraphine drew her sword from her back and threw it toward Axel as she twirled around to face him.

Woah! Axel's eyes widened as he saw the bright sword flying toward him. Using his telekinesis, Axel quickly connected with the sword and stopped it from flying into his skull just as it reached him. Although Seraphine had used her telekineses while throwing her sword — so it would not have harmed Axel had he not stopped it — she was still impressed with the immediate response Axel had demonstrated.

Axel's chest heaved up and down as he stared at the tip of Seraphine's blade as it hovered just before his eyes. That was close!

"Now, send it back to me." Seraphine stood still as she instructed Axel to return her sword. "Use your mind to return Crestyn."

Hearing Seraphine's command, Axel bowed his head in acceptance of the order before focusing on the blade that was still floating in front of him. Releasing a slow breath, Axel concentrated on the bright blade and wielded it to fly back to its master. During this time, Seraphine had not commanded her sword to do anything and allowed Axel full control of her blade.

Seraphine's lips curled into a proud smile as Crestyn turned around and flew back to her. Reaching out, Seraphine caught Crestyn as the sword reached her and promptly returned the sword to her body before nodding in approval toward the hangel. "Well done, Axel."

"Impressive!" Makio held out a thumbs-up and nodded toward Axel as the hangel brought his heartbeat back to its normal speed. He had not been expecting to have a sword fly toward him at amazing speed, so to say he was shocked and rattled by Seraphine's sudden actions would be an understatement.

While Makio praised Axel for successfully stopping Crestyn from zipping through him, Seraphine furrowed her brows as she concentrated on sending a telepathic message to Axel. After trying to relay her voice to the hangel's mind but failing to do so, Seraphine released a sigh before turning from the two males and continuing through the woods.

"So, you really don't have a grasp on telepathy quite yet," the angel observed as she walked away from the two males.

Hearing Seraphine's comment, Makio and Axel hurried after her where they engaged in a conversation about telepathy and its many intricacies. "It is definitely the hardest skill for most beings with angelic abilities to master," Makio said as he and Axel walked side-by-side.

"How long did it take you to grasp telepathy?" Axel inquired as he looked up at Makio,

Makio pursed his lips together for a moment before answering, "Not long. I got most of my abilities when my wings came in. They all came at once for the most part." After pausing for a moment, Makio then added, "Not all angels get all of their abilities at the same time, though. Some have to learn them gradually, you know, one by one."

Aware that Makio had added that to support Axel, the hangel nodded his head in understanding while continuing to walk beside the angel.

"And not everyone in the unit can use telepathy either," Makio continued. "Major Castyr can't use telepathy since he's not an angel. The only one who can connect with Castyr is his guardian, Lt. Colonel Kilo. Guardian angels and stars have special links that allow them to speak to each other telepathically and feel the other's emotions. So, when you do develop your telepathy, don't be surprised when you can't connect to Castyr."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you, Lieutenant," Axel said with a dip of his head in appreciation. Makio smiled softly and patted the hangel's shoulder as the two walked together before returning to surveying their surroundings. 

Upon concluding their small conversation, Axel gave his full concentration to inspecting the darkness that surrounded him. The night was reaching its peak, and the forest was relatively quiet. Except for the usual nightly animal sounds and insect chirps, the woods were calm. However, as the trio looped back around the camp, Seraphine suddenly halted and raised her fist in a signal for the other two to stop.

Axel watched Seraphine closely as the angel closed her eyes and listened to her surroundings. She had heard something in the distance, and it was approaching quickly. Quickly opening her eyes, Seraphine pointed toward the sky as a burning hovercraft flew over them. It was on a crash course.

"Alert the colonel," Seraphine ordered Makio before locking eyes with Axel. "We need to go check it out."

Nodding sharply, Axel quickly followed Seraphine off the small trail made by the unit while Makio brought up the tail after linking their commanding officer of the situation. The three raced through the trees in pursuit of the falling hovercraft, using the smoke trail as their guide.

The trees were too dense for the angels to spread their large wings, so they were forced to run on foot until they reached a clearing. "Fly, Makio," Seraphine commanded as she stopped in the small clearing and spread her wings.

Turning to Axel, Makio quickly instructed, "Follow the smoke trail," before following Seraphine in taking flight and lifting to the sky.

After watching his fellow soldiers safely take off into the night, Axel began chasing the smoke trail from the falling hovercraft. If a soldier was on board, they would need help should they survive the crash landing. In the split second that they had to observe the falling craft, Axel was able to determine it to be human-made and part of Earth's military force. 

Axel furrowed his brows as he ran as fast as he could. I have to reach it quickly. The arrival of a maimed human warcraft did not bear friendly greetings. It could only mean one thing: the war against Hades had reached Nature's Preserve.

Trees cracking and breaking sounded in the distance, indicating the hovercraft had finally crash-landed into the forest. Picking up his speed, Axel raced toward the site of the crash in hopes of helping whoever managed to survive the crude landing. With several months of training, Axel was able to run the entire distance without tiring. 

The endless hours Axel had spent training and practicing his abilities were paying off. He knew there would be a time when he would need to endure physical strain for hours on end, so he trained as hard as he could to prepare for when it came. And that time was now. He had been called out to aid in the assessment of a potentially deadly situation, and his teammates believed him to be ready. So, ready he would be.

After a few more minutes of sprinting, the smoke became denser and denser until Axel broke through into a clearing made of destroyed trees and brush. And at the end of the clearing was a burning hovercraft. Makio and Seraphine had already arrived at the scene and were pulling a human soldier out from beneath the wreckage.

Hurring over to the two angels, Axel knelt beside the dying soldier who feebly reached for him. Carefully taking the soldier's hand, Axel looked up at Seraphine who shook her head. They could not save him. Both she and Makio were of the warrior class, and there was no way Zetha or Minhyuk could reach them in time. 

Releasing a sad breath, Axel turned back to the soldier lying on the ground. His eyes were filled with tears, and pained groans filtered from his lips. He knew his life was ending, but there was a message he must relay before he passed. Using what little strength he had, the soldier tugged on Axel's hand, signaling for the hangel to lean closer.

Following the soldier's pull, Axel leaned toward the man as he whispered, "They're...coming. Run if you...if you want...to...live..."

Axel's eyes widened as he heard the man's weak words. "Who's coming?" He asked, strengthening his grip around the man's hand in an attempt to keep him from passing on. 

Seraphine closed her eyes and lowered her head. She already knew who was coming. She had noticed Rae grow restless the past few days, and the maimed human warcraft confirmed her suspicions. Rising to her feet, Seraphine left Axel with the dying human and walked to the middle of the clearing that had begun to catch fire.

"We need to leave," Seraphine said as she studied the dark sky above her. Makio also stood to his feet when she said this, but he did not leave Axel's side as the hangel tried his best to console the soldier.

"Wait...please," Axel said as he watched the soldier's breaths grow fainter and fainter and his eyes began to droop. Gently restating his question to the man, Axel once again asked, "Who is coming?"

With his last breath, the man answered, "Ha...des," before his eyes rolled closed, and his grasp around Axel's hand loosened.

"We need to leave now!" Seraphine instructed, her voice stronger this time. Now that the human had passed on, Axel sprung to his feet and obeyed the captain's command. "We need to get back to base as soon as we can. Carry him, Makio," Seraphine instructed the lieutenant as she spread her wings.

Following their captain's command, Axel held on to Makio as the lieutenant spread his wings and joined Seraphine in lifting toward the sky. Once the two angels were above the thick trees, they turned toward the direction of their camp and swiftly began making their way back to base. However, they would soon discover that what met the trio in the night sky would prevent them from reuniting with their unit.

The moment Seraphine and Makio turned around to head to base, their eyes widened upon seeing hordes and hordes of demon aircraft scorching the forests and mountains. Nature's Preserve was engulfed in flames.