Where is the rest of the banquet? As the archangel Misery rolls to avoid another bolt, zie considers that they have been betrayed. After everything, after all the promises made, after all the rallying and recruiting, the banquet of Angelsteeth has not come to hir aid. Has abandoned the fight against the Heretics. Has let hir down, at the most crucial moment.

So. The archangel Misery is alone, except for hir closest allies. Vastly outnumbered by the enemy. Betrayed by those in hir closest confidence, yet again. A lesser being—a mortal—might fall into rage and despair, and be distracted from their mission. Not so the archangel Misery, blessed with divine purpose. Zie has come to destroy the Edgeless Blade, and nothing can thwart hir purpose. There is a narrow opening where zie can strike at the Heretic leviathan, and zie must use it, even if it means sacrificing other things in hir path.

Zie transmits hir intentions to the seraph. An answering surge of understanding, determination. The seraph is committed to their shared goal. Even if it means death. Even if it means losing everything.

First, a feint. The two units shoot away from the hidden warship, sword arms blazing, as though in retreat or in pursuit of another objective. The siegeships, sensing victory, sensing the tide of the battle turning their way, surge forward, even the ones protecting the Edgeless Blade. They will destroy these strange, otherworldly mechs before dealing with the half serving that has just materialized. As a finale. As dessert.

Just as planned. When they’ve drawn the siegeships far enough, when the gap in the Edgeless Blade’s shield is big enough, the archangel Misery jumps. A micro-jump, a momentary shifting of the space-time continuum that displaces hir infinitesimally. Zie reemerges over the rear of the Edgeless Blade, straddling its spine, and it is here, over the beating generation core that powers the Edgeless Blade, that zie plunges the length of hir blades. Just like zie had before. The archangel Misery is no stranger to destroying Heretic ships. Now victory is certain.

Except the Edgeless Blade will not accept its doom. As the archangel Misery turns its spine to jelly, its guts shift. The ship writhes, slippery, and the stone of its skin pulses with powerful light. The blast catches the archangel and throws it backward, wrenching its blade free of the Heretic ship. What was that? Zie can’t move. The consciousness of the archangel has been separated from its body, the two cleaved so thoroughly it’s as if a galaxy lies between them, unnavigable and impassable. What void devilry is this?