Upon the beach of a small planet,
Zhao Chen looked at Charlotte and Lilith in their wedding dress.
Charlotte was all in a white wedding gown, with her tail and her pair of ears left out on purpose; the overbearing air of other days was quite gone, and she seemed for once something sweet and small.
Set against her, Lilith upon the other side wore a red gown with a red veil upon her head; the close-fitting dress set off Lilith's proud figure, and gave a feeling at once mysterious and alluring.
"Have you truly settled to hold our wedding here?" Zhao Chen looked at the two women with some hesitation.
For his wedding with the two of them, Zhao Chen had in truth had a plan in mind long since.
It was to have been at the turn of the year, but by reason of another matter it had to be brought forward.
But in Zhao Chen's thought, the two of them were to have a wedding that would astonish the world.
What he had not thought was that the two would overturn his notion outright.
Charlotte said with a smile: "We never wanted any wedding to shake heaven and earth. We wanted only a stretch of time in which to be with you. Just us."
Lilith said softly: "Hereafter… you are fated to be watched by every living thing among the stars. But the you of now belongs to us alone."
Zhao Chen and the two women embraced.
Upon the whole planet there were only the three of them.
And Zhao Chen had given his order besides.
That from this day forward none but the three of them might set a single foot upon this planet.
The managing of the planet was given wholly over to artificial intelligence,
so that this space belonged truly to the three of them.
"Whatever standing I may hold hereafter. I shall be at your side! Through all the sea of stars." Zhao Chen held the two of them close, and spoke without wavering.
One planet, three people: so they sat upon the sand, watching the sky, recalling what was past, and dreaming freely of what was to come.
And so a wedding ended.
None would ever have thought that the wedding of the man who now held the highest power among the stars should take place in so unremarkable a spot.
Thereafter, for seven days running,
the Angel Race, the Machine Race and others besides could not reach Zhao Chen at all; and even Lilith, who commonly took no holiday in all 365 days of the year, could not for once be reached either.
The answer given by the Owl Dragon's chiefs was that all affairs were now in the Secretariat's charge.
Five days after the feast of victory,
the war throughout the Demon Castle star system might be reckoned wholly at an end; and after the Demon Castle's fall, those Demon faction fleets still struggling in their death throes elsewhere within the system.
Either died or surrendered.
From this time the history of the Demon Race would begin an altogether new chapter.
"Where is your Commander? How is it that he still cannot be reached? This is a matter of the greatest importance. It bears upon the management of the Demon Race's territory hereafter!" The War Angel King's holographic image kept up its shouting from the other side.
In this stretch of time he had contacted the Owl Dragon's chiefs nearly every day.
"My lord War Angel King, it has been said before. The Commander has matters of the greatest importance in this time, and cannot free himself. When our Commander has returned, I shall contact you of my own accord," explained a secretary-officer of the Secretariat charged with Angel Race affairs.
"Matters of importance? What matter could be more important than a war just ended!" The War Angel King looked as one who could make nothing of it, and clutched his head in both hands.
At this the Holy Angel Queen beside him spoke, and urged him: "Enough. They have said that he has no time now, so wait a while longer. At the least the business of the Demon Race has been swept clean by us. There is no threat left."
"Here now, here now. Is there some mistake! The business of the Demon Race is finished, but those two hive-race nests over there, are they ornaments? Are they trinkets to hang up? We have urgent need now to develop the resources within the Demon Race's territory, and to put our military strength in order again in the shortest time. And then to stand ready to meet the threat of the two hive-race nests! These are all matters of the greatest importance!" The War Angel King looked all anxiety, and at last he waved his hand: "Never mind. I shall contact you again tomorrow! Tomorrow I must be put through to your Commander!"
So saying, the War Angel King cut the communication.
The Holy Angel Queen looked at the secretary-officer with apology: "Forgive him; that is simply his temper; he has always been hasty and hot."
"It is understood. Once we have reached the Commander, your side shall be told immediately!" the secretary-officer said with a smile.
"My thanks, then." So saying, the Holy Angel Queen cut the communication.
The Holy Angel Queen looked helplessly at the light-figure opposite, the very War Angel King who had cut the call so abruptly a moment before.
"That temper of yours wants mending; do not be forever in such a heat. And against the Owl Dragon of all people. It must be known that the Angel Race of today is not the Angel Race of before. And the Owl Dragon of today is not the Owl Dragon of before."
There was plainly a second meaning within the Holy Angel Queen's words.
The War Angel King folded his arms, gave a cold snort, and said: "I know well enough that the Owl Dragon of today is not what it was. And our Angel Race has taken hurt to its strength after this campaign. But if for such reasons I am to bow my head to the Owl Dragon. That I cannot do. Even if it came to a real falling-out with the Owl Dragon, though I could not win, I could still bite a piece of flesh out of them!"
Seeing the War Angel King with all the air of a child who had never grown up,
the Holy Angel Queen shook her head helplessly.
A long lifespan does not mean that one's temper will come to maturity; the War Angel King was the proof of it.
"Next, our Angel Race has three plans of development. The first is to deepen our cooperation with the Owl Dragon. It is past all doubting that the Owl Dragon now stands upon an equal footing with the Machine Race, and has besides some mysterious relation with them now; so we cannot make an enemy of the Owl Dragon. The second is to restore our strength quickly: the fighting power our Angel Race holds at present comes to only five parts in ten of what it was at our height! The third is to be ready to meet every danger. The sudden appearance of the two hive-race nests is, I feel, not so simple a thing. Above all in the present state of this universe, I feel that some great matter must be about to happen." The Holy Angel Queen looked at the War Angel King in earnest.
The War Angel King looked at her and nodded: "I understand. Let all these matters be done as you have said."
Rash though he was a little, he knew very well that in this line the Holy Angel Queen was far more skilled than himself, and that one could not go wrong in following her.
"Report! A strange interstellar warship has appeared suddenly above our Holy Temple!"
An angel came running in haste before the Holy Angel Queen.
"An interstellar warship?" The Holy Angel Queen was dumbfounded.
She glanced at the War Angel King opposite, then walked outside the Holy Temple and raised her head to the sky overhead.
And sure enough she saw an interstellar warship a hundred meters long hanging there; and upon the warship she saw besides the figure of a woman officer in uniform.