The paths descending down into the depths of this chasm were super long, but not very steep, so we had plenty of time to admire the view of the big steam-punky cave we were inside of.

  It looked like the cave stretched pretty high up, the ceiling of rock being supported by wide pillars that were decorated much like the temple we’d just explored.

  Large chimneys were peeking out from the fogginess that blocked our view of the ground level, actively pumping more steam into the air and contributing to the smog. The sound of metal being struck could be heard between some of the loud piston noises nearby.

  Did we find the factory?

  Further down on the ramps the fog began to get much thicker, preventing us from seeing what was ahead or below.

  “All these dips and slopes make me think of a quarry mine,” Amanda said, her face contorting with sorrow, maybe from the smelly smog. “I don’t have very good thoughts of such places.”

  “They make me think of video games,” I commented.

  “Why?” Indena asked with disbelief.

  “I used to mine like this for resources,” I said. “Once I got all the diamonds and iron, I’d use all the stone pieces I collected to build a little village over the hole.”

  It took two and half forevers to make quarry mines like that, especially since I was in single player mode, but it did clear out a lot of space that needed to be covered back up with something. Otherwise there would have been a big ugly hole in the earth.

  “I fear the Nazalian’s had the same idea as you,” Amanda said. “Strip mine, then build civilization over the pillaged soil. It’s the perfect way to hide secrets if need be.”

  Right above us was Little Conberg, so she was onto something with that.

  “How old is Little Conberg?” I asked.

  Amanda explained that the Nazalian people used to have a major stronghold in this area before the Elkhearts tribe liberated it in the Age of Rebellion. “The capital city of Congerlin is currently seated on an ancient platform they created for their own city. It serves as the base for thousands of structures, and even extends out to part of Little Conberg too.”

  I didn’t realize that was the case, but it made me curious to look into these cities more and their historic roots.

  “So, you think this is an actual quarry?” Indena asked.

  “It’s just a theory. The Nazalian’s would have gotten all that metal from somewhere, yes? But even more than that, there's chunks of ore and other mining tools all around.”

  Huh... Now that she mentioned it, I did see ores laying around, waiting to be collected. There were even things like drills and pickaxes. This really was a genuine mine, wasn't it?

  “More points to the factory theory,” I really shouldn't have felt much pride in the fact that we were getting closer to our goal, since it meant that the humans had access to some pretty dangerous stuff. Holy steel, and any other occulat elements, were not meant for humans to make like a batch of killer cookies whenever they wanted.

  If I could have trusted them to not turn everything into a weapon, it wouldn't have been a big deal.

  “Indena, why do people always use scientific discoveries for war?” I asked, figuring she was wordly enough to know.

  “Because we're idiots,” Indena answered.

  “As a world leader, I can confirm that most of us are indeed idiots,” Amanda replied.

  No wonder humans need an angel to save them.

  We reached a point on the ramps where we could finally peek over the railing and not choke on smog. We had to be sneaky, since I was detecting movement on my map.

  On the other side of the railing we got a view of dozens of tall shadowy demons marching around like a colony of ants. Nephilim, no doubt. Each of them were holding different items associated with mining or blacksmithing, like pickaxes and hammers.

  And wouldn’t you know it? Some of them were even holding hot red sheets of metal.

  They were going in and out of a bunch of different buildings, some looked more intact than others, but all of the structures looked like they'd bearly survived an underground bombing run.

  We all agreed that this was probably the holy steel production factory we were looking for.

  “Yalda, any of that look like ferronium?” Indena asked quietly.

  Holy cow. Once again she shocked me with how she remembered such a scientific thing.

  “I can't tell from here,” I replied. “But you can bet it probably is.”

  Maybe I shouldn’t have been curious, but what kinda’ machines did the Nazalian’s leave behind that could make holy steel so easily? I needed to see for myself.

  To confirm anything, I'd need to get closer. That came with a risk of its own if we were spotted. But to be honest, we were not a stealthy bunch. So no sense in playing it safe.

  “Alright gang, let's light up this taco stand,” I said, standing tall, holding my spear at the ready.

  Might as well go guns blazing. The faster we took care of these demons and the factory, the sooner we could wrap this up and get a good night's sleep.

  “Huh?” Amanda uttered in shock.

  “Oh yeah,” Indena quietly cheered. “Let’s blow this place up.”

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  “No, you brutes,” Amanda scolded us, shoving us both back down under the railing. “We can't just blow this place up. We need to gather evidence and report it to the I.S.F. and have these people arrested.”

  “Yeah, and give the demons time to move out?” Indena retorted. “We can show them the ashes. Besides, you’ve got a camera. Time to take some action shots.”

  “It’s better to catch them in the act,” Amanda said.

  “She’m right,” said a weird voice behind us. “Bemter catc’em im actming.”

  I turned around to see a nephilim demon was just crouched down behind us as if he were part of the crew. We were all sorts of surprised to see him there.

  “Whoah!” I pointed my spear at him, causing him to jump backwards for distance. “A nephilim!”

  “Oi, that’s one of the demons who was working with Belphegor,” Indena commented.

  “Wh…” Amanda gave us both confused looks. “Demon… What are you two talking about? Who is this man?”

  Why would she ask a question like that? It’s not like these guys could be mistaken for anything else.

  “Whom am youm be?” uttered the nephilim’s uncoordinated voice. “Me no seem you before here. Imtruders?”

  I glared angrily at the lanky shadow demon. It may have sounded like a docile caveman, but these guys were good in a fight, and crafty too.

  The nephilim just sat idly, eventually scratching his head with his free hand like he was boredly waiting for a response from us. In his other hand however he was holding a bunch of rocks, ones that looked like shiny metal ores.

  I glared at the being of shadow, reinforcing my spear with light energy. The demon began to shiver at the radiant stardust power emitting from my choice weapon. He dropped his ores and was on the back foot, ready to flee.

  “No hurt me! Please!” cried the nephilim.

  “Wait!” Amanda jumped between us, preventing me from flying forward and attacking. “Don’t hurt that man! Have you gone mad?”

  “Oi, queen, can’t you tell what’s going on here?” Indena barked, lighting flames around her fist.

  “I’m keeping the two of you from harming an innocent man,” Amanda growled. “Look at him! He may be here against his will.”

  All I saw was a dirty rotten demon. On instinct I distrusted them. But whatever she was seeing was clearly different from what Indena and I were.

  The reality of the situation was that some people couldn’t see demonic things or their influence on the world. Sometimes they even interpreted changes as mundane inconveniences at most. In this case, I was sure the demon probably looked like an average person to her.

  “Amanda, that’s a demon!” I said authoritatively to her. “I know you think it looks like a normal person, but we can’t trust it!”

  “How could you say such a thing?” she offered up a spiteful look. “If you harm him, you’ll be hurting a human life!”

  Her words at first inspired a hint of doubt in my mind, especially when Indena began to question what we were seeing along with her… But I knew in my heart what I was looking at was evil, and I wasn’t going to waste time letting some sort of pointless empathy take the life of my friends.

  The demon began to creep toward Amanda, reeling back its open hand for a shadow claw attack to her back.

  “Move!” I flew in, shoving Amanda aside, and striking the demon's arm off with my spear. “You can’t fool me that easily!”

  The demon screeched loudly, fearfully stepping away from the stardust as an aura of darkness grew around it.

  “What have you done!?” Amanda shouted in terror, but I ignored her to focus on keeping those two alive.

  I twirled my spear around, striking the other arm of the nephilim, then continuing the momentum with a spin, slicing it at its core and cutting through its dark heart.

  The demon was no more after that. Reduced to a haze of shadow that dissipated into the steam filled air of these ruins.

  “You…” Amanda gazed at me, not with respect to my heroic action, but with disdain for how she saw me just kill a man. “How could you? That was a man you just took the life of… his blood is on your hands!”

  She screamed at me, falling to her knees and lamenting my decision… But I turned to her and saw the shadows creeping across her eyes.

  My gaze was sure and confident in contrast. I knew what I just did was necessary.

  Thanks to the ruckus we’d just caused, more nephilim showed up, each also holding an assortment of items. Some had hard hats on, others held pickaxes. But all of them were clearly here with the intention to stop our progress.

  I needed my whole team to be at full strength to take out these demons, and that meant Amanda was going to have to be on the same page as me.

  “Let me show you reality…” I lifted my hand, brightening it up as much as I could.

  A wave of light blasted away the fog around us. The demons that had lined up at both the top of our ramp and the bottom had to cover their featureless faces to prevent being burned by the shine.

  For a moment, the demonic domain was forced back, letting the stardust bathe all around in a revealing glow. Reality was truly shown, and Amanda was stupefied by the revelation she received.

  “My God…” she uttered, witnessing the horrifically tall and slender beings threatening us from every angle. “Those were just people… What happened to them?”

  That’s where she was wrong. These demons only seemed like people to someone who didn’t know any better. To her I’d just killed a man… But to me, I knew I only saved her life.

  “This is the true enemy I’m fighting,” I replied, resting a fist on my hip. “They’ll use any trick in the book to get mercy out of you, but they don’t deserve it. If you really believe I’m the Eighth Star Angel, will you trust me to fight what you can’t see?”

  I knew Indena was already on my side, because she’d seen what the demons could do. Her experience was enough to overwhelm her mild doubts. But Amanda hadn’t personally witnessed what demons were capable of and just how tricky they could be.

  She needed a pillar of certainty to cling to. Someone who would lead her and everyone else out of the dark world they were stuck in. Even with all her prior conviction, it was time for her to take a leap of faith and believe in my mission with all her soul.

  “I…” she uttered, closing her eyes.

  Coming this far meant there wasn’t any going back. She was dealing with demon forces now, and she either needed to accept that the reality she’d been seeing her whole life was flawed with darkness… Or that ignorance was truly bliss, and that I was going to be the enemy for trying to destroy that fake peace.

  “Hey, she knows what she’s doing,” Indena supported me. “She might be a kid, but damn if she doesn't know what a demon looks like.”

  It is my job to know, after all.

  The stardust that had shown her the truth now faded away, letting however she perceived the world claim her sight again.

  The conflict in her eyes was evident. Part of her believed, another part remained skeptical.

  All the demons surrounding us closed in, brandishing claws and weapons. What set these ones apart from any of the last were the dark auras that burned to life around them. I could feel their powers getting stronger by the second.

  “Indena, we don’t have time! Let’s do this!”

  “Right!” she nodded, standing in her dragon stance and preparing to attack.

  No matter what happened, we had to protect Amanda. I had a feeling she would come to terms with reality, but not if any of these demons got to her first.

  -Saiyan Day 2025 was yesterday, so I felt like making some artwork for it! I really love the Dragon Ball series, and I probably wouldn't be writing without it!-

  -(From bottom to top) Featuring Yamin the Saiyan, Yalda SSJ-Rose-3, Super Elite Indena and Earth's Defender Marek!-

  Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed, please support me, Taylor The Writer, here on Royal Road! :)