In a field in the rural of northern Texas, a red portal appeared out of nowhere. One moment, there was nothing but leagues and leagues of open plain. The next moment, a doorway beyond anything human beings could possibly imagine stood there.

A figure stumbled through the portal. He was fully covered in a red armor. In his grip was a red weapon. A halberd. Basically, it was a spear with a little something added to the side. It could be used as a spear as well as an axe.

The man stuck the bottom of the halberd into the ground before turning around to the portal and waving his hand. This was enough to close the portal.

Finally, as the portal was nowhere to be seen and he was finally alone, the man was able to take a sigh of relief.

His sigh of relief was cut short when five figures appeared out of nowhere and surrounded him.

"Wow!" The armored man held up his hands in a gesture of peace. "First question. Are you for the Protectors or the Aggressors?"

The figures exchanged glances before one of them, a white, bald man in his thirties, replied.

"You are not of this world. You should not be here."

"Yes! I am well aware of that!" The armored man repeated. "Tell me! Protectors or Aggressors?"

"We don't understand your question."

"Ah. So unaligned." The armored man obviously seemed relaxed. "Look! We can reach a concession! I have knowledge that you can't even dream of! Just listen to me! What are you? Some sort of spiritual beings possessing human bodies?"

With a single glance, the man could tell these five men and women around him weren't exactly human. Well, at least the ones in control weren't. He could see some sort of white light shining in their bodies beyond their meat suits. The original owners of those bodies were still inside, but they were dormant, as if they were asleep.

The leader was unfazed.

"We are Angels of the Lord, and your existence is not a part of God's well. As such, you must be eliminated."

The five figures stretched their right arms out. Five shiny daggers fell into their hands.

Angel Blades. The most powerful weapon in this universe. Manufactured by God himself, they could kill almost anything. Demons. Hellhounds. Angels. Monsters. You name it.

"Seriously?" The armored man's expression was hidden under his mask, but the annoyance in his voice was clear. "I should be eliminated because I'm not part of God's plan? Even the Grand Protector's not that arrogant!"

Suddenly, without another word, the man reached out, grabbed onto his halberd, and jammed it to his right.

There, one of the five Angels was stabbed right in the chest by the halberd. Her eyes were filled in utter shock. How did this mere mortal sense her? Even more terrifyingly, a stream of destructive energy exploded out of where the halberd was and ripped her to pieces.

Red, as well as white, light exploded from her body. The red light came from the halberd. The white one was from the Angel's death.

"No…" The leading Angel whispered in sorrow. He could sense the struck Angel, along with her vessel, has been completely destroyed. She didn't even make it back to heaven. She was simply...gone. Killed.

After the initial kill, the red armored man charged forward without any hesitance. Years of war have taught him one thing. When you do strike, you strike hard. Either don't go at all, or go and go all-in.

Before the leading Angel could react, another Angel was stabbed through the chest. A third Angel moved forward, but the red armored man disappeared in a flash. When he appeared again, it was when he jammed his halberd into the back of the fourth Angel.

Within seconds, three Angels have fallen.

The leading Angel hasn't been sitting back this entire time either. He tried every weapon in the playbook. He tried to knock the man out, but judging from how the man was jumping around alive and healthy, chances were that failed. He casted a few other spells, but all of those failed as well.

He could try to smite the man, but that would require direct contact, and he doubted he could survive the man's halberd long enough to touch him.

At this point, the leading Angel has realized this was much more than anything he and the other survivor could handle. The prowess this entity has demonstrated, it was more deadly than anything else he has seen! And the power he used! What was that? What sort of power could kill angels this easily?

If anything, this power reminded him of the four Archangels. Lucifer. Michael. Raphael. Gabriel. Perhaps only they could be as powerful as this being here.

He quietly closed his eyes as the last Angel drew his angel blade and confronted the red armored man. He lasted a full ten seconds. When the fourth Angel finally exploded in a wave of light, the man turned back to the leading Angel.

"It didn't have to go like this...What?"

The man suddenly looked up into the sky. There, a light beam smashed down toward him.

The most powerful weapon in the Angels' arsenal. When the situation called for it, countless Angels from Heaven could combine their forces and perform a powerful smite on the mortal world, destroying everything in its path.

That was what the leader Angel has been summoning.

"We really don't need to be doing this!"

The man screamed as he raised his halberd. The next second, the light beam smashed into his weapon.

The clash went on for a full minute. Even the leader Angel had to close his eyes at the blinding glare. Finally, when he could see again, he realized the red-armored man that has slain four of his comrades was nowhere to be seen.

The Angel closed his eyes for a moment before making a conclusion.

"The outsider is dead."

Mere miles from where the battle took place, a car cruised through a rural speedway. Inside the car were three people. The parents sat in the front while a girl with blonde hair, no more than 6 years old, sat in the back.

Mom and dad were talking about the stock market in the front, and the little girl sat back in boredom. Suddenly, her eyes lingered on the window, where a cloud of red slowly started to make its way through the translucent barrier.

Perhaps even she herself didn't know why she would do it, but the girl lifted a finger and tapped the red cloud. The next second, the red cloud entered her finger and disappeared.

The mother, who rode shotgun, saw her daughter's movement.

"What's wrong, Jessica?"

The girl pulled her hand back.

"Nothing, mom."

A flash of red shined in her eyes.