Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation

"Why not use the better stuff?" Luke Channing couldn't understand. The gear from H-country was top-notch, but Adrian picked the beat-up weapons that street thugs love.

"Very nice choice, that's also my style!" Franklin said, trying to please Adrian. He didn't really get what we were up to, but he still praised the choice.

What weapons Adrian used didn't really matter. I thought for a bit and handed him our only vampire radar.

"The elements in M-country are much stronger than in H-country. This means vampires here are more powerful. The vampire Ancestor is even worse! With this radar, you can at least sense if the vampire Ancestor shows up. It might also help find Raydwin," I explained.

We couldn't guess how strong the upgraded vampire Ancestor was. Since I meant well, Adrian took the radar without arguing and left with Franklin.

About ten minutes after they left, H-country military gave the order for all teams across M-country to start their missions.

"They're still on the way. It'll be a while before they reach IAA headquarters. Want to check on the other teams?" Luke Channing suggested. Adrian's video feed was boring - just two guys in a car driving to their target.

"Sure!" I nodded. Modern tech is amazing, especially military tech.

"Amazing! Feliciana from World 14 has already taken down several dangerous nuclear facilities in such a short time!" Luke Channing exclaimed. "The contact personnel with her said it was like a whirlwind tour. At each base, they only stayed for a few seconds before Feliciana said it was done, then she'd drag him to the next target!"

"What about the other teams?" I asked. I wasn't surprised by Feliciana from World 14's performance. I knew how strong she was, and she could teleport.

"Most teams have sent in their reports. Overall, things look good. Some have taken their first targets and are moving to the second!" Luke Channing shared more good news. Most teams had high-level angels like me, so big problems were unlikely. If this kept up, we'd soon remove the nuclear threat from M-country.

"How are the people from World 11 and 12 doing?" I asked, worried. Feliciana from World 11 was especially dangerous, and Feliciana from World 12 was too cunning. With everything going so well, I was most concerned about those two causing trouble.

"No unusual situations so far..." Luke Channing shook his head. Even though the teams with Feliciana from World 11 and 12 were closer to each other now because they changed targets, thankfully nothing weird happened. Their contact personnel were reporting regularly, and everything seemed normal.

"Uh... Teams 6 and 8 say they're having a harder time. They're facing tough resistance! But they still promise to finish on time!" Luke Channing reported some not-so-good news a few minutes later.

These two teams were mostly lower-level angels like Reed from World 9 and other worlds. They weren't as strong in a fight. But with Reed there, I wasn't too worried. Even Reeds from other worlds probably had amazing tricks up their sleeves.

The only team we hadn't heard from was Cyra's rescue team.

"They haven't sent any updates - no text, voice, or video. Headquarters is really worried. We can only wait," Luke Channing said, checking the software again. He switched the screen back to Adrian's feed.

We had no idea that Adrian's situation was super intense. While we were focused on other teams, he and Franklin had reached IAA headquarters and were in a fierce gunfight with the guards.

"Yeah! It's amazing! Shoot! Shoot them!" Franklin cheered excitedly. Adrian left him in the car, but he could still see what was happening. Through Adrian's chest camera, it looked like a shooting game to me - like playing with invincibility and auto-aim on.

The fight was intense. We planned not to upset the vampire Ancestor too much, so Adrian had to use Earth weapons. We wanted them to think it was just humans trying a rescue.

But Adrian was way better than normal Earth people. At his level, guns weren't very dangerous. No matter how many enemies or how many bullets, he could dodge them just by listening and sensing where they were.

When Adrian shot back, his super-sharp sense of space and control meant he didn't need to aim. Even while jumping and moving, he could easily hit one target per shot. Luke Channing kept shaking his head, saying Adrian was wasting his talent with a submachine gun - he could use a sniper rifle with no problem!

Just like we guessed, vampires controlled most of IAA. The whole headquarters was full of red dots on the radar. The security guards included many from the "Blood" gang Franklin mentioned earlier. There were so many of them! The whole building was like a fortress. Even a regular army would have a hard time taking it.

But Adrian was making IAA headquarters a bloodbath with just one old submachine gun. He didn't even get dusty. I grabbed the microphone and kept reminding him:

"Take it easy! Don't forget to hold back! Can't you miss a few shots?"

But it was too late. The security people rushing to help were almost all gone. In just a few minutes, Adrian accidentally wiped out most of the enemy forces. In the end, he had to pretend to roll around, acting like he barely dodged the few bullets left, before charging into the headquarters building.