Everything happened so fast that Axel was still wrapping his head around the situation as he was being set down on a street a few blocks from the collapsing apartments. The man's white wings disappeared as he folded them against his back. Looking up, Axel's jaw hung open slightly in awe.

The man was dressed in combat gear typical of an angel of Heaven. His pants and shirt were hazy blue and matched with the jacket he wore over his grey bulletproof vest. His boots and belt matched the grey of the vest, and the guns and blades strapped to his waist, thigh, and calves were silver.

The man's golden eyes widened when he saw the bloodied cloth wrapped around Axel's arm. Reaching for the cloth, the man quickly unwrapped it and observed the gunshot wound. The man's brows furrowed as he removed the grey finger-less glove from his right hand and placed his fingers on the wound. Axel winced as sharp pain shot through his arm. After a short moment, the bullet flew out of Axel's arm, the man catching it with his left hand.

The angel studied the bullet for a moment before tossing it onto the ground. Noticing Axel's silver eyes, the man asked, "Hangel?"

"Sorry?" Axel voiced. What's a hangel?

"Half-human, half-angel," The man clarified.

Ahh, so that's what I am. "Ae." Axel's short reply brought out a smile from the man, and his whole demeanor changed.

"What's your name?" The man asked as he checked on Axel's arm before wrapping the cloth back around the wound. His voice was more cheerful, and Axel could sense a playful aura about him.

"Axel." He could tell the man meant no harm, so he decided it was safe to interact with him.

"Nice to meet you, Axel. I'm Destil," The angel returned. "Be careful with those bullets. They contain a demon's essence that can kill you if you get too much."

Axel's eyes widened at the man's warning. So, that's what that weird pain was.

The bullets shot by the forces of Hades were infused with demon essence to accomplish multiple tasks. If shot into an angel, the demon essence would act as a poison and slowly kill the angel. If injected into a human without the bullet killing them, it would turn them into a demi-demon, and if shot into a demon, it would strengthen them. The soldiers from the Heavens, who were on Earth at the time of the attack, discovered this after several of their fellow soldiers died from non-fatal gunshot wounds.

"There is a refugee camp being set up in District 17. They have medical aid there. Go and get your wound looked at," Destil said as he stepped away from Axel and unfurled his wings.

Axel furrowed his brows in confusion. "Can't you heal it? You're an angel after all."

Destil chuckled lightly at Axel's inquiry. "Not all angels can heal, Axel. There are different types of us. You'll need a Healer Class for that. I'm of the Warrior Class. Apologies."

Axel fell silent at the man's explanation. I forgot there were different types of angels. I must look so stupid right now.

"Stay safe, Axel. It was nice to meet you."

"Ermm," Axel sounded as Destil prepared to take flight. Stopping, the angel turned and looked at Axel, waiting for him to speak. "Thank you...for saving me."

Destil's expression softened at the boy, and he smiled. "My pleasure." Pointing to Axel's arm, Destil said, "Be sure to get that looked at," before running and jumping into the air.

Axel watched in awe as Destil flew into the night and disappeared between the skyreachers. Releasing a sigh, Axel brought his hand to grip the ribbon of cloth the angel had wrapped back around his arm before tilting his head back and looking up into the night sky. The night was filled with dust as a haze had set over the city in the aftermath of the crumbled buildings and explosions, veiling the stars.

Estimating his location to be on the south edge of District 20, Axel started walking north toward District 19. District 20 was fairly quiet. Explosions and sounds of battle could be heard in the distance, but for the most part, District 20 remained out of the immediate area of war. After being lightly culled through, Hades had left District 20 alone as they fought to gain control over the more central districts where the cultural and business centers were located.

Axel hoped that the routes from District 20 to District 17 were not blocked off, but he would have to find out for himself whether they were or not. Axel did not come across a single soul as he walked toward the edge of District 20. Bodies lay over the roads and sidewalks, but Axel was the only living person in the immediate vicinity.

However, the moment he crossed over into District 19 about an hour later, screams and shouts sounded from all around. District 19 was still a warzone. The district was lit with fire as forces from Hades culled through the homes and businesses. There seemed to be more and more demons arriving every second. And there were not enough Earth and Heavenly forces to keep them at bay.

Picking up a pistol from a fallen human soldier, Axel held the gun in his hand as he cautiously made his way down Avenue 1924. This was one of the quieter streets as most of the rampage was happening on District 19's main avenues. Avenue 1924 being a side street, Axel presumed it would be a safer route.

Knowing little about guns, Axel kept the weapon pointed toward the ground and could only hope it was ready to fire should he pull the trigger. He was vaguely aware of guns having safety features that could only be unlocked by the owner's fingerprint, so he prayed the soldier who owned the gun had already unlocked it and set it to be fire-ready. Because all Axel knew how to do was aim and shoot. That was the extent of his knowledge concerning guns.

Axel's hand shook slightly as he carried the metal object in his hand. The metal of the gun felt cold and foreign, and its weight reminded Axel of its power. Despite having limited knowledge about guns and how to work them, Axel was aware that if an angel, demon, or any being with angel or demon blood greater than twenty-five percent wielded a gun, they had the ability to infuse the bullet with their essence, thus making the bullet faster, stronger, and more accurate. Warrior angels with their ability of telekinesis could even guide the bullet with their mind to ensure it reached its mark.

Although curious about what angel class his heavenly half had, Axel knew it would be impossible for him to infuse his essence in a bullet without proper training. He hoped, that if by chance, his class was Warrior, he could use his mind to guide the bullets to where he wanted them to go in the case that his aim was poor. However, Axel knew that he would not be able to use his powers so fluently without receiving training. Thus, he would have to resort to using the gun as a pure human would: aim and shoot.

Trying his best to be as quiet as possible, Axel kept his footsteps light and hardly made a sound as he made his way down Avenue 1924. His journey down the street remained uninterrupted until he came upon its intersection with Boulevard 371 where shouts and yells met him. Turning onto Boulevard 371, Axel saw a group of high school students fending off a demon.

One of the boys shot fire at the demon; the second controlled a butterknife with his mind and was attacking the demon with it while the third wielded a baseball bat in his hand and was swinging it at their attacker. Seeing the situation, Axel immediately knew the boys were either pure demons or pure angels. If they were half, they attended an academy that specialized in training children of supernatural beings.

One look at their school uniforms gave Axel the answer. They all three donned the symbol of Dawning Academy, the school for supernatural youth. Dawning Academy was a pristine school that not everyone was able to attend. Status, family, connection, and ability regulated who could enroll in the specialized academy.

If Axel had had the privilege of attending such an academy, he would have been able to use some portion of his supernatural abilities. Angels and demons naturally did not grow into their abilities or get their wings until they had lived 150 years on average, but with special training and serums provided by specialized academies, pure demons, pure angels, or half-blood youth could tap into their abilities prematurely and begin training from a young age.

Realizing the three had received training to tap into their abilities, Axel was about to let them be and continue on his way. There was no use intervening when there was nothing someone powerless like him could even do to help. However, when the demon gained the upper hand against the three and knocked all but one to the ground, Axel found that he could not stop himself from intervening.

Raising the gun in his hand, Axel steadied his arms as he gripped the handle with both hands and aimed the barrel at the demon as it advanced toward the boy wielding the baseball bat. Releasing a breath, Axel steadied his body as he lined up the demon with the target assist of the pistol. Just as the demon knocked the third boy to the ground and was about to slice his throat with his glowing dagger, Axel squeezed the pistol's trigger and fired.

The three boys looked back at Axel as the shot rang out through the streets. Lowering the pistol, Axel was surprised to see the bullet pierced the middle of the demon's forehead. Bullseye!

The next second following Axel lowering the gun was filled by the boy, who had been manipulating the butterknife with his mind, used all his might to flip over a hovercar parked on the side of the road and land it on top of the demon. Without saying a word, the boy ran over to Axel and grabbed him by the wrist.

"He'll recover any second. We need to get out of here," was all the sky-blue-haired boy said before dragging Axel toward his friends. The moment Axel and the boy reached the other two students who had gotten back on their feet, the four of them began running away from the demon.

I thought I shot him in the head. How can he still be alive? And a hovercar was thrown on top of him too...

Axel was finding it hard to believe that the demon could still be alive when the boy holding the bat said, "He's still alive. The only way to kill them is to sever their cervical cord." It was as if the boy read his mind. Axel furrowed his brows when he pondered how that was possible. Wait! It was!

Axel's eyes widened when he realized how it was possible. "You're an Ambassador Class..."

"Bingo," the boy smiled at Axel as the sky-blue-haired boy continued to lead Axel and his friends away from the danger they had just managed to escape.

Realizing that they were most likely running aimlessly, Axel suggested, "Run toward District 17. There's a camp being set up there."

"Roger," the blue-haired boy said in confirmation before changing their course.

All four were injured in some fashion, each varying in intensity, so Axel thought it would be best for them to find the camp and get medical care as soon as possible. When the four had been running nonstop for a good while, the blue-haired slowed his pace and brought the group to rest in a café that had been abandoned.

"Thanks for the help back there," the blue-haired said to Axel as the four sat in a few sofas situated toward the back of the café.

"No problem," Axel said quietly, his eyes fixed on the gun in his hands.

"You half?" The boy with mind-reading capabilities asked.

"Mm," Axel sounded in response. "Half-angel, half-human."

"What class?"

"Don't know."

The three students from Dawning Academy fell quiet for a moment before the sky-blue-haired spoke up. "I'm Hakken. Half-human, half-angel, Warrior Class."

"I'm Eryx. Pure angel, ambassador class," the boy who could read minds introduced.

"Axel."

"Nice to meet you, Axel." Hakken smiled warmly before gesturing to the third boy who had shot fire at the demon. "This is Callon. Half-human, half-demon. He doesn't like to talk much and doesn't really warm up to people very well."

Callon dipped his head in 'hello' to Axel who returned to gesture before turning back to Hakken as the blue-haired asked, "So, how do you know about this camp in District 17?"

After relaying his rescue by Destil and what he had learned from the angel warrior, Hakken was convinced that the source was trustworthy and agreed that the camp should be their destination.

"We're at the edge of District 19 now, so if we can lay low and make it through District 18, we should be good," Hakken said before standing to his feet. "Let's rest for a bit and find something to eat. I bet we're all hungry."

Axel had not realized just how long it had been since he had eaten something. He never was able to try the tteokbokki Jay had bought for him, and he had been running for quite some time. So, his body definitely craved sustenance. And Hakken's words were the trigger to Axel's hunger.

However, as the other two followed Hakken to the café's display case where the pastries and sandwiches were stored, Axel found he was unable to move from the couch he was sitting on. Realizing when the last time was that he had eaten forced him to recall the memories with Jay as they went to lunch together and bought snacks before cram school nearly every day together for the past three and a half months.

Why did he have to be the one to survive? Why didn't Jay, who had a family and friends...why couldn't he have survived? Guilt filled Axel at the thought of Jay dying so young and without warning, and tears choked him as he lowered his head.

Jay...I'm so sorry...

Jay...