CHAPTER 61: TIME TO GO HOME...

Back on the screen, Yelena had now fully entered the frame, descending in a slow, graceful arc, standing atop her sword like a queen descending from the heavens.

Her expression was calm. Her stance poised. Her presence alone silenced everything. The wind whipped around her, but she didn’t even flinch.

The news anchor practically squealed. "As you can see, she’s already on the scene! There’s absolutely no need to worry, everyone! Please remain calm, as she will handle everything with her usual elegance!"

Almost on cue, Yelena raised one hand and instantly dozens, no, hundreds, of small glowing portals opened up in the air behind her in perfect symmetry. And from those portals, swords, sleek, glinting, and terrifyingly sharp, emerged like a swarm of precision missiles.

They then launched instantly.

For a moment, it looked like she was going to obliterate the sinking plane below.

The news reporter even gasped.

But the swords didn’t hit the plane’s engines. They didn’t pierce through its hull recklessly.

Instead, they struck its windows with surgical accuracy. Not destroying, but opening.

Then, one sword suddenly burst upward through the top of the plane, tearing a hole open wide. The reporter screamed again, until passengers started flying out.

Not from the impact. But from the swords, each blade having attached itself to a passenger and was now lifting them safely into the sky.

It was like a coordinated aerial ballet.

One by one, passengers were pulled free from the wreck. Some were coughing, some unconscious, some sobbing in disbelief, but they were all alive...All of them.

Even Charlotte realized, she herself had been lifted this way earlier, dangling from her mother’s sword...Now, she watched in awe as the same thing was happening to everyone else.

"I...I don’t believe it." The news reporter’s voice cracked with raw emotion. "She’s only just arrived on scene. Not even a full minute, and she’s already rescued every single passenger on board!"

Charlotte’s eyes shimmered too, and she found herself smiling, hands clutching her phone tightly in admiration.

"She’s so cool..." She whispered. "...My Mama’s the coolest."

And even Mika, quietly watching beside her, couldn’t help but nod in silent agreement.

This really was the woman he fell in love with.

That strength, that elegance, she held both beauty and noble bravery in equal measure. She stood there, calm and composed, commanding divine steel to rescue hundreds without breaking a sweat, like a angel descending from legend.

He couldn’t blame the world for cheering her name...he was cheering too, in his heart. Because how could he not?

No matter what the relationship had been before, it was only natural that he’d fall for someone like her. Someone who could move heaven and earth yet still smile so gently at those she saved.

And just as he sat there quietly admiring her, just like any other fan watching their hero, his eyes flicked to the screen again, this time catching that small flicker of distress on Yelena’s face.

He knew that look too well.

So, with a soft chuckle and a sudden grin, he stood and grabbed Charlotte from behind, pulling her tightly into his arms before she could react.

She yelped at the sudden contact, surprised by the sudden warmth of him against her.

"Looks like your mom needs a little help." He whispered into her ear with a smirk. "What do you say? Why don’t we give her a hand?"

Before she could even ask what he meant, the ship, once drifting gently through the air, jerked forward with a roar.

Whoosh!

It surged into motion, wind blasting against them, the world around them becoming a blur of rushing air and steel thunder. The sound was deafening, a low roar of momentum tearing through the sky.

Charlotte gasped and instinctively wrapped her arms around Mika, holding on tightly, desperately, because the speed was so sudden, so violent, that if she didn’t cling to him, she was certain she would’ve flown off the ship entirely.

—

Back at the scene of the crash, the chaotic disaster had turned to calm.

The passengers, one by one, were gently being lowered onto a vast sword-forged platform, that Yelena had made by stacking the swords on top of another.

Some collapsed into each other’s arms in relief, crying openly. Others laughed in disbelief, voices shaking with adrenaline and tears. Some were still on their knees, hugging the ground like they had survived the end of the world.

And everywhere, people were murmuring her name.

"Lady Yelena...Thank you...Thank you for saving us."

"You’re the reason we’re still breathing."

"Bless you, my lady...bless you..."

"I thought we were dead. But you...You brought us back from hell."

"You’re a miracle...You’re our miracle."

They thanked her, praised her, sobbed her name with gratitude, and to them, she only offered a soft smile, her eyes quietly scanning what remained.

But that calm didn’t extend inside her thoughts.

She looked up at the plane still in descent, burning at the wings.

She had options. Many options. She could destroy it easily.

One gesture, and it would turn to tiny pieces.

But then debris would rain down and the company behind it, another Federation puppet, would scream bloody murder and accuse her of damaging their property.

She could open a portal into her own void realm and send the wreckage there.

But no doubt, they’d whine again, this time accusing her of theft. Of "stealing" the wreck, as if they ever cared about the truth when it came to her.

As if they didn’t love using any excuse to come after her.

So she held back...She held it all back.

Even though her fingers itched to just swat the falling plane away and be done with it, she stayed still, gritting her teeth, thinking how satisfying it would be to slap the head of the Federation right across his slimy face.

And that was when she saw it.

Something massive in the distance. A shadow. A glint. A shape.

Everyone turned as well. Even the reporter gasped, announcing that a massive object was approaching. A ship, made entirely of swords.

"Lady Yelena’s ship!" The reporter declared. "It must be her! She’s brought along her ship!!"

But only Yelena stood there with a knowing smile tugging at her lips.

It wasn’t her ship.

It was someone else’s.

And she knew exactly who.

The colossal blade-forged vessel glided through the air like a titan, and without hesitation, it veered toward the falling plane.

Its sheer size dwarfed everything in sight, and with breathtaking precision, the ship tilted beneath the wreck slowly and caught it cleanly on its back deck, massive enough to cradle it with ease.

And then, as if the ship carried with it some quiet divine authority, the flames smothered out. The heat vanished. The engine’s last shrieks died into silence, completely leaving the plane intact as if the person who was doing all this knew exactly how to handle this situation without the Federation getting all up in Yelena’s face.

The plane, once a blazing meteor of death, now rested silently like a feather placed on still water.

"Lady Yelena once again saves the day!" The reporter cried, breathless with awe. "What a miracle!"

The people standing nearby erupted in cheers, her name echoing across the sky.

But Yelena...she only watched in silence, lips curved in a small smile.

Because she knew that even though she had saved the day, he was still the one who saved her from having a headache.

Yelena then sighed and headed straight for the front deck of the ship, the section where she had already brought down the platform carrying the rescued passengers. The plane, meanwhile, remained secured at the rear of the vessel.

As she landed, her sharp eyes scanned the crowd.

Just as she expected, neither Mika nor Charlotte was among them. She shook her head quietly, unsurprised.

Then she turned toward the pilot, who was already approaching her nervously. Despite his unease, he bowed slightly and expressed his gratitude, thanking her for the rescue.

"We didn’t know what we would’ve done if you hadn’t arrived when you did." He said.

"No, not at all." Yelena nodded gracefully. "You and your crew handled things remarkably well. Even while the ship was going down, everyone remained calm and seated. That says a lot about how perfectly you carried out your duties. You took care of your people."

The crew members, pilots and stewards alike, stood a little taller at her praise, a rare acknowledgment that meant the world coming from her.

"The ship will descend slowly and land in a secure zone." She continued, her voice steady. "The plane’s on the back, and it’ll be brought down along with the rest. Just keep everyone safe till then."

"...And also, if the Federation asks for anything about me, just tell them I was passing by and decided to help out and don’t want anything to do with the aftermath"

"Understood, Lady Yelena. I’ll see it through." The pilot nodded firmly, his posture formal.

She then offered a faint smile, then gave one last glance toward the passengers, many of whom were watching her with wide, admiring eyes, and without another word, she took off on her sword, flying gracefully away.

Some distance off quite a distance away from the ship that was floating down, she paused, hovering in midair as her gaze swept the horizon.

She was looking for one thing...And then she heard it.

"Mama! Mama! We’re right here!"

She turned sharply toward the sound. There they were. Charlotte, her daughter, waving with both arms in the air, standing alongside Mika who was seated.

But they weren’t on the sword shop anymore and instead were comfortably on a small boat made entirely of swords, floating above the massive ship, almost like a fishing boat pulled up casually beside a battleship.

A smile tugged at her lips as she flew over and stepped down onto the quiet little boat.

Charlotte was peeking at the livestream running on her device, reading out the flood of comments in a playful tone.

"They’re all saying you’re amazing, Mama. ’The Goddess of the Void saves the day again!’...’Please marry me, Lady Yelena!’...’I’d let her step on me’...Okay, ew, who wrote that?"

Yelena sighed, not even surprised, before sitting down next to Mika, who leaned back and said dryly, "You didn’t need to interfere. Some blessed were already closing in. We could’ve let them deal with it."

"I know." She replied, brushing a stray hair behind her ear. "I’m not obligated to protect anyone anymore. I’ve done my part already."

Then, after a short pause, she frowned.

"But I couldn’t just sit back and watch it happen...Especially when I have the power to make a change."

She said like she thoroughly understood the responsibilities that came with her power. Her voice then lowered slightly, and she added with a grimace,

"And if Anya finds out I didn’t lift a finger while all that was happening and knew that I was so close by...she’ll make me regret it."

"Yeah...she’d never let you live it down."

Mika chuckled knowingly, as she thought about Anya, one of the five battle angels, known as the, ’Celestial Maiden of Absolute Annihilation.’

He looked at her for a beat longer, then asked. "So? Want to go save anyone else today?"

She leaned back with a sigh and let her gaze settle on Charlotte, who was reading all the comments about her mother on her phone with a proud grin.

"No. I’ve saved enough for one day." She said in satisfaction before her eyes flicked to Mika. "Now I just want to spend time with the people I care the most."

He smiled and gave a small wave of his hand, and in response, the sword-boat lifted gently off the air, soaring forward.

They were going home...