Now Victoria had reached her car, and the Truth Fairy was with her. Victoria immediately changed her scarf and clothes, placed them inside the car's storage compartment, and then drove off toward home without wasting a second. But she didn't know that her true motive had never been to destroy a demon—what truly mattered was protecting that artifact.
Driving at high speed, Victoria reached home and went straight to her room, where she sat down on her bed. The Truth Fairy was with her, completely shocked. Ever since Victoria had returned victorious from her fight with the demon, she hadn't spoken a single word.
Just then, Victoria's mother, Olivia, arrived and began calling out to her.
"Yes, Mom, I'm in my room. Please come inside," Victoria replied, letting her mother know where she was.
The moment Victoria said that, Olivia entered the room. She looked extremely distressed, tears welling up in her eyes.
"What happened, Mom? Why are you crying like this?" Victoria asked as she sat beside her mother.
"Victoria… I just got a call from the hospital. Your father said that one of the employees from his company tried to kill him and ended up killing nearly twenty to twenty-five people. It was only your father's good fortune that a girl suddenly appeared there—someone with many strange powers. She not only saved your father's life but also the lives of everyone present there," Olivia said before breaking down into sobs.
Victoria comforted her mother and then said, "Mom, let's go to the hospital and meet Dad. You get ready quickly, I'll take the car out."
"No, Victoria," Olivia said as she stood up from the bed. "Your father said he's fine now and will be coming home shortly. So let him come back on his own. Besides, after the attack on Olivia Tower, the entire city is under a curfew-like situation. It wouldn't be right to go out right now."
After that, Olivia left the room, and at that very moment, the Truth Fairy appeared in front of Victoria.
"Truth, you saw it, didn't you—how I defeated that demon? I'm so proud of myself. I'm really enjoying having these powers," Victoria said happily.
The Truth Fairy was also very pleased with Victoria's first battle. Congratulating her, she said, "You truly did something amazing, Victoria. When a normal person gains powers like these for the first time, it usually takes a long time just to understand how to use them. But the way you used your abilities—it felt like you were a born superhero."
Saying this, the Truth Fairy began humming a sweet, heroic tune.
But at that very moment, there was a knock on the mirror of the dressing table in Victoria's room. Both Victoria and the Truth Fairy were shocked, because the knock was coming from the other side of the glass—and something like that was impossible for any human. The sound made it feel as if someone was trying to cross over from the other side.
"Who is knocking on the mirror, Victoria?" the Truth Fairy asked, looking at her.
"I don't know either, Truth. Come, let's check together," Victoria said. With that, she walked over to the dressing table with the Truth Fairy and stood there, carefully staring at the mirror mounted on it.
But suddenly, a white light emerged from the mirror—shaped like a burning flame—and moved behind Victoria and the Truth Fairy.
"You seem very happy about winning your first battle, aren't you?" a voice echoed from within the flame.
Hearing that voice, Victoria couldn't understand anything, but the Truth Fairy immediately recognized it.
"Welcome, Angel Lysandra," the Truth Fairy said, bowing respectfully.
Seeing the Truth Fairy do this, Victoria also lowered her head before the flame and welcomed Lysandra.
"Yes… it was my first battle after receiving these powers, so I was extremely excited. But at the same time, I was also scared. Then I thought that I was fighting for truth and justice, and with that belief, I attacked with all my strength and defeated the demon. And I made sure that the man he had chosen as his vessel wasn't harmed at all," Victoria said with a smile.
At that very moment, the burning flame transformed into Lysandra. She sat down on Victoria's study chair and then said to her, "Victoria, tell me—why did I give you these powers?"
Hearing Lysandra's question, Victoria became slightly confused. She started thinking about what had happened that made Lysandra ask such a question. Feeling uncertain and nervous, she replied, "So that I can stop Aethna and destroy her army." Saying this, Victoria looked toward the Truth Fairy.
Just then, the Truth Fairy spoke to Lysandra on Victoria's behalf. "Angel Mother! Today Victoria truly did something extraordinary. If only you had seen her fight. She learned how to use her powers in such a short time," the Truth Fairy said with a smile.
But Lysandra seemingly didn't like the Truth Fairy interrupting like that. She glared at her angrily, her eyes signaling her to stay quiet. After seeing Lysandra's gaze, the Truth Fairy fell silent and quietly sat down on the pillow placed on the bed.
"Lysandra… have I made some mistake?" Victoria asked fearfully, looking at her.
"You know, Victoria, I brought you back from death so that you could stop Aethna from obtaining those twenty-one fragments. When joined together, they form an armor that would bring back a demon to Earth—one so powerful that humans and gods had to fight together for a hundred years to bury and imprison it. Because of that war, many gods and humans lost their lives. Today, you used your powers well, because I was there, watching everything. You did kill that demon, without a doubt—but you failed to save the fragment. No angel can touch that fragment, because every piece of that armor contains so much evil and dark power that it can enslave any angel to darkness. Otherwise, I would have collected those fragments myself and destroyed them," Lysandra explained to Victoria in a tone filled with reproach.
After Lynsandra's reprimand, Victoria realized her mistake, and it became clear to her that even after winning the battle, she had still lost.
"Lynsandra, I apologize for disappointing you," Victoria said. "But I promise you that I will bring that fragment back. No matter what I have to do for it, I will not step back." Saying this, Victoria dropped to her knees and bowed her head before Lynsandra.
"That is exactly what I expect from you," Lynsandra replied. With those words, she vanished from there.
After Lynsandra left, Victoria and the Truth Fairy finally caught their breath and let out a sigh of relief.
"I've never seen Lynsandra this angry before," the Truth Fairy said, sitting on Victoria's shoulder. "For a moment, I really thought both of us were done for today, Victoria."
"We did make a mistake, Truth," Victoria replied. "Lynsandra didn't say anything wrong. If I made a mistake, then she had every right to scold me. Honestly, after everything Lynsandra has done for me, I'm grateful to her. And if she wants something from me in return, there's nothing wrong with that." Saying this, Victoria began taking clothes out of the cupboard.
"Truth, you stay here. I'll take a shower and come back," Victoria said, and then walked into the bathroom to shower.
Far away, in the Dark Heaven, Aethna sat upon her throne, waiting for the demon she had sent to retrieve the first fragment to return with good news.
Aethna appeared as a terrifying and powerful Dark Goddess, seated on her throne in the middle of a cursed forest. Behind her loomed a massive, glowing blood-red moon, amplifying the presence of her dark powers. In one hand, she held an ancient weapon from which black smoke continuously poured, and in the other, a burning torch—both symbols of her dominion over that shadowed realm. At that moment, Aethna wore a crown upon her head. It was an ancient Demon Crown, forged from black iron and smoldering red gems. Its dark energy granted the wearer immeasurable power and marked her as the ruler of the Dark Heaven.
Around her stood four dangerous wolves, their glowing blue eyes enough to make any enemy tremble with fear. Mysterious magical shadows floated through the air, clearly revealing that Aethna was a master of dark sorcery. In the truest sense, Aethna was the embodiment of death and darkness—an entity with the power to bend the entire universe to her will through her black energies.
Just then, a demon floated into the air before her, appearing as nothing more than a black shadow. First, it bowed its head before Aethna and then knelt down.
"Speak, my messenger. What news have you brought from Earth?" Aethna asked the demon in a grave voice.
"Lord Aethna… Vortex has failed his mission and has been killed," the demon reported in a trembling voice.
The moment the demon said this, Aethna flared up with rage. Blue flames ignited around her, and in fury she roared, "What nonsense are you speaking? Vortex was no street thug from the human world. He was a beast forged from my dark powers. How could any human possibly kill a monster born of my black energy?" Saying this, Aethna stepped down from her throne and began moving toward the demon below.
"Lord Aethna! Vortex did succeed in obtaining the fragment, but I don't know from where a girl suddenly appeared. Her face was covered with cloth, and she defeated and killed Vortex," the demon said fearfully.
"What? A girl? If you had said that some muscular, gym-built man had killed Vortex, I might have believed it for a moment. But you are telling me that one of my commanders—who possesses the strength to fight a thousand men—was easily defeated and killed by a girl?" Aethna said in disbelief. As she spoke, she moved closer and began choking the demon.
"Lord Aethna! I am speaking the truth. Why would I lie to you? Vortex was indeed killed by a girl—but she was no ordinary girl. She had powers as well, and it appeared that she possessed angelic abilities, because white light was emanating from her," the demon gasped, his voice strained as Aethna tightened her grip.
Hearing this, Aethna released the demon, and he collapsed to the ground.
"What did you say—angelic power and white light?" Aethna asked, staring directly into the demon's eyes.
"Yes, my lord," the demon replied, backing away.
"That means Lysandra will never stop her tricks. She has given her power to a human—and that too, a girl—and sent her into the battlefield to fight against me. But Lysandra does not know this: first, I will kill her so-called miraculous commander, and then I will give Lysandra such a horrifying death that from then on, no angel will ever dare to stand in my way," Aethna said, bursting into a loud, terrifying laugh.
"Lord Aethna, do you have any new orders for me?" the demon asked while sitting on the ground.
"Go and tell my commander, UMBROXES, that I have summoned him. The time has come for him to go to Earth and take revenge on humans," Aethna said with a cruel laugh.
Upon hearing Aethna's command, the messenger demon bowed his head and left. Aethna returned to her throne and began stroking the heads of the four wolves, as if a dreadful plan was forming in her mind.
Meanwhile, in the real world, Victoria had finished her shower and returned to her room. She saw the Truth Fairy sitting on the screen of her laptop.
"What are you looking at on the laptop, Truth?" Victoria asked, wiping her wet hair with a towel as she looked at the Truth Fairy.
"Some people were just coming on your lollipop and telling something, and then suddenly they disappeared. So I'm just trying to find those people," the Truth Fairy explained innocently, as she was looking at the laptop for the very first time.
Victoria burst out laughing at Truth's innocence and then explained gently, "A lollipop is something you eat, Truth. This is called a laptop. And there was a video playing on it—that's where you saw those people. When the video ended, the screen turned off."
"Oh!!" Truth said and sat down right there.
"By the way, Truth, have you thought of a superheroine name for me?" Victoria asked the Truth Fairy while putting on her panties.
"No, nothing is coming to my mind at all. Why don't you just use your real name, Victoria? It's such a nice name," the Truth Fairy suggested.
"I could do that," Victoria replied as she lay down on her bed, "but think about it—if my real name and my superheroine name are the same, then the villains will find out my real identity too." At that moment, she was wrapped in nothing but a towel around her body.
After that, the Truth Fairy and Victoria started chatting about random things. But then Victoria's phone rang. It was Rozer calling, since college had ended for the day. The moment Truth saw Rozer's photo on the phone screen, she immediately answered the call, even though Victoria tried to stop her.
As soon as Rozer saw Victoria standing there in a towel, he burst out laughing and said, "Well, well, beautiful—looks like I've seen you in a pretty sexy avatar several times today."
Victoria looked at the Truth Fairy and said, "This is why I was telling you not to answer—it was a video call."
But hearing this, the Truth Fairy gave a mischievous smile.
"It's nothing like that. Tell me—why did you call, and that too on video?" Victoria asked Rozer, quickly changing the topic.
"That's because I felt like seeing you, and you did say you'd call me after classes," Rozer replied, glancing in the direction where the Truth Fairy was floating in the air.
Seeing this, both the Truth Fairy and Victoria were stunned for a moment. They felt as if Rozer might have seen the Truth Fairy.
"Listen, I'll call you after getting dressed, or we'll meet on the terrace tonight like we always do. Bye… bye, Rozer!" Victoria said and cut the call, even though Rozer was trying to stop her.
"Haven't you made yourself invisible right now, Truth?" Victoria asked, looking at her in shock.
"Of course I'm invisible. No one except you and other angels can see me," the Truth Fairy replied in her defense.
"Then why did Rozer look in your direction like he could see you?" Victoria said, lost in her thoughts. Truth was also quite surprised by what had just happened.
But Victoria had no idea at all that a new demon—UMBROXES—was about to arrive on Earth as a machine of destruction.