Of course, Adrian and I didn't actually die from falling rapidly through the air, because we encountered a savior not long into the descent.
"So you two finally reached this step!"
Cyra looked at my incomplete wings, then at Adrian she was carrying in her other hand, and couldn't help exclaiming loudly.
"Uh..."
I felt a bit awkward, not knowing how to respond. What a coincidence, why did this person have to catch us red-handed? Just now she had directly faced Fernando's Light Dragon head-on, but didn't seem too seriously injured.
It wasn't strange though. The Light Dragon's main attack was just high temperature, which angels were basically immune to. As long as the wings weren't damaged, they could usually heal with recovery spells. The only real threat left was probably just physical impact force.
On a normal day, if Cyra encountered our situation, she would probably have teased me with all sorts of insinuating tones. But strangely, this time she didn't say anything more.
I couldn't help sneaking another glance. In the sunset's radiance, I seemed to vaguely see a hint of melancholy sadness appear on her beautiful face as she gazed ahead.
"Everyone fasten your seatbelts, I'm going to accelerate!"
Just as I was pondering whether I should say something to console her, mixed in with the deafening roar around us, Cyra suddenly blurted this out.
"Damn it, can't you take care of your passengers?!"
In an instant, I felt weightlessness and acceleration like a rollercoaster, catching me completely off guard and almost scaring me half to death. This girl really didn't care about life and death! Although she had advanced to six wings, don't forget this was a special situation carrying two extra people!
"No choice! We have to quickly leave the city's collapse zone, otherwise if we accidentally get hit on the head, we're all completely done for!"
Annoyingly, not only did Cyra not slow down, she defiantly refuted me while continuing to accelerate.
Close by, Adrian just shrugged when he saw this. Although his hair was quite messy facing the gale, he meaningfully pointed to his lips and smiled, gesturing to me.
"..."
Alright! Seeing this scene, I suddenly felt embarrassed again. My face instantly flushed hot, so I could only pretend not to see and turn my head away.
At a time like this, he's still flirting? I suddenly felt a bit regretful - this guy really didn't know how to read the situation! Cyra had even created an opportunity for him to hold my hand. Since I had kissed him first earlier, I couldn't bring myself to forcefully break free now.
So I'll let it go this time and consider it compensation for him!
Of course, no matter what, I was still very grateful to Cyra. If we hadn't run into her, Adrian and I would probably have become meat patties long ago! During the previous falling process, I had actually been trying to save myself too. But my newly healed wings couldn't support both our weights yet, only slowing our descent. Whether we could land safely still depended on Cyra's actual flying.
"Waaaaaahhhhhh-----"
Luckily, luck was still on our side. After a series of precarious zig-zag flying, Cyra finally managed to successfully deliver us back to the ground. Even if the last few dozen meters we basically plummeted straight down from a 90 degree angle in the air, at least we survived in the end, right?
"I'll absolutely never ride your crappy vehicle again!"
I rubbed my aching shoulders as I stood up, unable to hold back my complaint. Setting foot on solid ground, I looked up at the Sky City still collapsing from above. At this moment, everyone's heart probably felt some relief at surviving the catastrophe!
Our current location was still in that same vast, boundless desert from before. Although according to Adrian, the city had resumed horizontal movement even before the white aircraft crashed into Chromos Tower, it didn't seem to have gone far from the original spot now. Except for the immediate area which was too dangerous, in the distance on the horizon and ground, there were still many shadows of airships and gryphon knights visible.
Of course, what could be seen on the ground were basically just shadows of wreckage.
It's worth mentioning that due to the gradual depletion of power, the Sky City didn't fall all at once, only reaching the final stage around now. With the accumulation of rubble, an extremely tall and steep mountain of ruins had risen up from the ground, nearly a thousand meters high! Some of the debris rolling down from the peak had even surpassed our current standing distance.
It's foreseeable that in the future, this place will probably become a treasure-hunting site for many countries and individuals...
"So what's the situation with the others? Did Alfreed and them escape safely too?"
After confirming our safety, Adrian thought of this question first. I inwardly cursed - in the tense situation earlier, I had completely forgotten about these companions. The last we saw, the entire city surface was gone. If they fell with it, there was absolutely no chance of surviving!
"You can actually rest assured about that. Just when the city started showing signs of collapse, I already saw many church ships docking to evacuate people. You have to know, at that time there were still many combatants clashing at Chromos Tower. If nothing went wrong, they should have been safely taken away, right?"
Cyra thought for a moment and consoled him. She could have left with the rescue teams too, but in order to confirm my safety, and since she could fly herself, she stayed until the very end.
"...But even if everyone survived, where did they go now to regroup?"
However, a new problem arose. Looking around the sky, without the huge city obstructing the view, we could see the surviving allied forces weren't actually that numerous.
Since the "protection" target was gone, the Ilandra Dominion Empire's aerial forces naturally had no reason to keep fighting and had already retreated without a trace. Only less than half of Crestvale Republic's airships remained, and the church's airships were nowhere to be seen. They couldn't have been completely wiped out, right? How were we supposed to find them?
I suddenly realized that the aftermath of this incident was quite a tricky matter too! Not just these surviving military personnel, but also those ordinary civilians who evacuated on lifeboats during the collapse - where could they go now?
Just as we were preparing to have Cyra take flight again to scout the situation, a tiny shadow suddenly descended onto her head from the sky.
"What the heck is this thing? Get off!"
Taking a closer look, it was actually a rarely seen blue bird! No matter what exotic bird it was, of course Cyra wouldn't have a good reaction to an animal perching on her head. After failing to shoo it away multiple times and about to swing at it, something bizarre happened.
"This is the first time I've seen such a stupid angel...and a six-winged one at that? You're a elite among the wastrels!"
That blue bird actually spoke! Well, in this world where even lizards can get drunk, a talking bird was practically normal! But after hurling that venomous insult, it did inform us of an important piece of information.
"On the other side of the Ruins Mountain, there's a temporary camp of the Kingdom and Church. You all can go regroup with them first, but absolutely do not leave beforehand!"
After saying this, it quickly flew away, leaving behind Cyra spitting out feathers in bafflement.
It didn't seem like her fighting skills had made much progress, even after that two-rank leap...
"Was that bird sent by monsters? Could it be another trap?"
Unable to figure it out, I could only ask Adrian. After all, based on experience, animals speaking usually only happened with dark creatures.
"Not necessarily. It's said there are many mages on the continent who train blue birds to speak or deliver messages. Some countries even use spirit magic for real-time reconnaissance. So it's hard to say clearly who was behind it..."
Adrian thought for a moment before shaking his head. "But I remember the Astralrealm Kingdom didn't seem to keep blue birds in their military because of the Gryphon Knights, right?"
"How would I know?"
I couldn't help rolling my eyes. It seemed the best option now was to find that temporary camp.
Fortunately, our subsequent experience proved this indeed wasn't a trap. After crossing over the Ruins Mountain, the target did appear before our eyes as promised.
"I won't go over there yet. You two check out the situation first!"
Adrian suddenly called out to stop me and Cyra, reminding us as we were about to land.
"Yeah, given your current identity, that kind of place is indeed a bit sensitive!"
Cyra nodded, then set him down at a hidden spot not far from the camp. Afterwards, the two of us angels continued flying towards the target.
"We've been waiting for you! It's great that everyone is safe and sound!"
Unexpectedly, as soon as we landed, we received an enthusiastic welcome. First Alfreed, then Mike, Brennan and Eleanora appeared one by one, even the Legion Commander Douglas came out. They were all safe and sound, truly a miracle!
Next, we naturally couldn't avoid recounting our experiences and clarifying Adrian's stance, but those aren't worth mentioning. Only Mike's experience was a bit special.
Because he didn't catch the airship in time, he actually fell straight down from a height of nearly 10,000 meters! Although seriously injured, he miraculously survived and could even manage to crawl around looking for his companions. That's quite formidable! Of course, he was quickly treated after being rescued. Perhaps it was normal for others, but for us interdimensional travelers Cyra and I, it still felt a bit too absurd.
The only thing we could do was marvel at the power of Battle Qi and healing magic...
However, when we encountered members of the Church, there was some unexpected commotion.
"Welcoming the return of Her Majesty the Saint Angel!"
Facing rows of God's Devotees kneeling in neat lines before us, Cyra and I were dumbstruck and could only turn to Eleanora and the others behind us for help.
"What's going on here?"
"Allow me to explain! Mike has just told everyone about what happened at the Chronos Tower."
At this point, the red-robed Archbishop Eminem stepped out from the crowd, his expression was inscrutable without much sadness despite knowing Cysper's situation, even carrying a hint of a smile.
"The Pope followed the Lord's instructions, guiding the Saint Angel back. He himself accomplished his mission and returned to the Lord's side. For our Church, it is nothing less than a miracle reborn, a joyous occasion!"
"Er..."
I was speechless at this interpretation. After all, I had witnessed it myself - Cysper's attitude at the time was indeed rather sanctimonious, constantly muttering something like "Divine Revelation". From a secular perspective, his actions were more akin to suicide than sacrifice.
And Cyra accepted the Pope's light element advancement to a six-winged angel, with her name and number of wings matching that of the Saint Angel, so this misunderstanding was understandable. It's just that she herself seemed to disagree.
"Aren't you saddened at all? He was your Pope who had led you for thousands of years after all! You may never see him again!"
"How could that be? The Pope is the Holy Son of God, an eternal existence! Now with the guidance of the Great Saint Angel, one day we will await the true return of the Lord!"
Another devotee, who didn't wear red robes but seemed quite high-ranking, immediately responded.
"You're mistaken! I've said it before, I'm not this so-called Saint Angel at all!"
Still unable to accept this title and unworthy of this great responsibility, Cyra wiped her eyes with her sleeve and turned to leave the camp gate.
I had no choice but to leave those bewildered devotees behind and hurry after her. It was also time to report the situation to Adrian waiting outside. But there was still one issue to confirm.
"So that blue bird we saw earlier wasn't released by you guys?"
"Blue bird?" Alfreed asked in confusion, turning to glance at the others behind him, entirely clueless.
"It was us!"
Just as the words left my mouth, another voice suddenly interjected. Following the sound, I saw a few people approaching from outside the camp.
There were four of them in total, men and women. Most importantly, the one following at the very back was none other than Adrian!