Everyone familiar with Heaven's hierarchy knew that angels were divided into three great orders.
The First Sphere: The Divine Order
Seraphim
Cherubim
Thrones
The Second Sphere: The Son's Order
Dominions
Virtues
Powers
The Third Sphere: The Spirit's Order
Principalities
Archangels
Angels
Ancient traditions disagreed wildly on the actual number of angels in existence.
Some accounts spoke of only dozens or hundreds, enough to govern the planets, seasons, months, days, and hours.
Others claimed there were hundreds of millions.
Still others described countless heavenly legions beyond mortal comprehension.
Then there were the Fallen.
Lucifer and his followers occupied a category all their own. Some traditions even referred to them as a "Tenth Choir."
Whatever the interpretation, one fact remained unchanged.
Principalities occupied a remarkably high position within Heaven's hierarchy.
They were not expendable foot soldiers.
They were celestial rulers entrusted with maintaining divine order throughout creation.
In many pantheons, a being of equivalent rank would already qualify as a major god.
Even within Heaven, Principalities possessed immense authority and combat power.
As for the angels of the First Sphere, those were beings of extraordinary rarity.
Only the purest souls could ever ascend to such heights.
The people of San Venganza who had once fallen victim to Mephisto's schemes were a perfect example. Among those souls were individuals pure enough to attract the protection of Holy Light itself.
Which made Michael's announcement all the more shocking.
One point nine billion Principalities.
The revelation stunned every pantheon present.
Since when had Heaven become this powerful?
No one had noticed.
No one had anticipated it.
The various gods exchanged glances.
If Heaven was willing to carry the banner, then everyone else would contribute as well.
Those with armies would send armies.
Those without armies would provide divine artifacts.
The alliance expanded rapidly.
Before long, a true coalition of gods had formed.
And unlike previous campaigns, nobody was holding back.
The destruction of Olympus had served as a warning.
Every pantheon dispatched its strongest representatives.
Thirty Skyfather-level gods alone could be assembled for the campaign.
And leading them stood Michael himself.
An All-Father-tier existence.
Behind the scenes, even greater powers watched.
Single-Universe gods.
Dimensional entities.
Cosmic beings whose attention alone could shake realities.
All observed the coming conflict.
Meanwhile, the Heavenly Court remained completely unconcerned.
The dimensional gateway was left wide open.
After all, Drex Valen had never intended to close it.
In fact, he wanted enemies to enter.
Unfortunately, he was still occupied within the Gods' Quarry and couldn't personally oversee events.
That hardly mattered.
When the Alliance of Gods launched its invasion, the Heavenly Court was already waiting.
Not because someone had leaked information.
But because Thousand-Mile Eye and Wind-Ear had detected the coalition long before it arrived.
The invading gods were surprised to find Heavenly forces standing in perfect battle formation.
For a brief moment, they wondered if their plans had been exposed.
Then they reconsidered.
Moving an army of this scale without attracting attention had probably been impossible from the beginning.
Some members of the coalition intended to issue a declaration.
Explain their reasons for coming.
Perhaps offer terms.
The Heavenly Court gave them no such opportunity.
The moment they entered range, the celestial army attacked.
Millions upon millions of spears flew through the sky.
Crackling with divine lightning.
"It's Zeus's Lightning Spear!"
"There are too many!"
"They actually mastered its production!"
Shock rippled through the coalition.
During previous battles they had witnessed Heavenly soldiers carrying Lightning Spears and Aegis shields.
Most had assumed those were elite units.
Limited numbers.
Rare treasures.
Now reality hit them like a hammer.
Every soldier carried one.
Every single celestial warrior.
The sight was horrifying.
Hundreds of millions of soldiers armed with divine artifacts.
That wasn't an army.
It was a catastrophe.
Divine weapons could elevate ordinary warriors to absurd levels of power.
The first exchange devastated the coalition's front lines.
Thousands died instantly.
Then the armies collided.
And things somehow became worse.
The Alliance quickly discovered that the Heavenly Court's equipment was outrageously extravagant.
Lightning Spears.
Aegis shields.
And beyond those...
Many celestial soldiers carried Mjolnir.
Thor's hammer.
Thor's expression darkened immediately.
The Heavenly Court had mastered the ability to manufacture Mjolnir.
Not replicas.
Not imitations.
The real thing.
Every hammer felt authentic.
Every hammer possessed the same divine authority.
It was as if entire divisions of soldiers had become miniature Thors.
Of course, each individual wielder remained weaker than the true God of Thunder.
But there were hundreds of millions of them.
Even Thor himself would think twice before charging into that storm.
The battle unfolded nothing like the coalition had imagined.
They had expected overwhelming numerical superiority.
Instead, the Heavenly Court's forces pushed them backward despite being heavily outnumbered.
The celestial army fought with terrifying discipline and equipment.
Then the gods of the Heavenly Court entered the battlefield.
Their appearance only deepened the coalition's frustration.
Every one of them was astonishingly powerful.
Despite possessing greater numbers, the Alliance of Gods could only barely hold the line against them.
Then Michael finally moved.
As Vice-Regent of Heaven, his power surpassed that of many pantheon rulers.
Among all the angels mentioned by name in scripture, only Michael and Gabriel enjoyed truly universal recognition.
Yet Michael stood above even that distinction.
He was Heaven's greatest champion.
The Prince of Light.
The defender of divine authority.
The warrior who had stood against Satan himself.
His name meant:
"Who is like God?"
Across Jewish and Christian traditions, he appeared under many titles.
The Great Prince.
The Archangel.
The Prince of Light.
Every title carried the same implication.
Michael was Heaven's sword.
Its shield.
Its wrath.
And its mercy.
He embodied absolute justice.
Merciless toward evil.
Compassionate toward the innocent.
A being whose existence contained no trace of darkness.
Fire was his domain.
Fire was his authority.
Three pairs of enormous snow-white wings unfolded behind him.
Some spread wide.
Others wrapped around him protectively.
His simple white robes radiated a purity that seemed almost unreal.
His face was flawless.
Beautiful enough to defy mortal standards.
Yet strangely androgynous.
Almost beyond gender itself.
His expression remained completely calm.
No joy.
No anger.
No pride.
Only an eerie serenity.
When one looked into his eyes, there was no sense of individual personality.
No ego.
No selfish desire.
Only the cold certainty of divine purpose.
As Michael stepped forward, the atmosphere changed.
A sacred power spread across the battlefield.
The air trembled.
Invisible hymns seemed to echo from nowhere.
And the distant whispers of Heaven grew suddenly, unmistakably clear.